Surgeries lead to workplace harmony

BUSINESSES could achieve dramatic improvements in workplace harmony and productivity by circumventing internal HR departments and using external professionals to hold regular coaching surgeries.

Arnie Skelton from Effective Training & Development says that most workers have niggling problems and issues that they donít want to discuss with their managers or HR department because they seem too trivial.

The reality is that over time these concerns can have a damaging effect on morale and performance in the workplace, says Skelton.

We certainly arenít criticising HR professionals, especially as they are the ones who appoint us, but the fact is workers often keep concerns to themselves because they fear they may be ridiculed or because they donít want to discuss certain confidential topics with people from within their organisation, not even their HR department.

Skelton says one effective solution is to outsource coaching surgeries.

We hold surgeries at organisations across a wide range of sectors, and all have reported a significant improvement in morale and productivity.

Typically, we will go in for a day once a month and operate a drop-in surgery where individuals pop in to see us to discuss any issues they have. The range of things that people want to talk about is astounding. We have helped with personality clashes among team members, advised about managing workloads better and coached those wanting promotion. Weíve even helped people overcome worries about what others think of them and dealt with a number of bullying issues, too.

Terry Biltcliffe, Deputy Managing Director and Head of Training at Guardian Media Group adds, Effective has been holding regular surgeries for our staff for eight years. They have certainly helped improve morale and their presence and input is viewed as a definite perk by everyone. People feel much more confident opening up to someone from outside who is confidential and who can remain impartial at all times.