People

Chasm has have a fundamental issue with job descriptions as they are generic and very broad; for example, “good with KPIs” , “Used to leading people” .

The Chasm approach favours role profiles such s-as:

• What exactly do we want that person to do?
• Which KPIs do they need to manage?
• How well do they need to understand them?
• What are the competencies required for the very specific tasks of the job?

A role profile will be very detailed and links the job description to the actual tasks and competencies needed for a role.

Having the right structure to manage reporting lines, management layers and the organisational culture requires planning, coaching and support for the people involved.

Aligning that structure to individual needs, management styles and cultural preferences is very difficult.

Using a series of analysis tools we work to find out what structure is right for your business:

• layers of management,
• shift cover,
• reporting lines,
• span of control etc
• Cultural objectives

Then align all this to the processes & systems that run the business on a daily basis.

Do your people want to be there, are they invested in the business or just here for teh money?

Understanding how people feel about your business (and even yourself as a manger) may often be a bitter pill to swallow.

Asking people direct what they think may not produce the whole truth.

Chasm have a range of tools that interlink to provide an accurate understanding of what people think, what they say, what they do and importantly Why?

Engagement surveys – We have a range of tools to understand how engaged your people are.

• What motivates them to come to work?
• How do we tickle those motivators?
• How do we get and keep them involved in CI and driving the business forward?
• What is stopping them moving elsewhere?

Attitudinal surveys – what do people think about the organisation?

• What do they think about the management?
• How do they think the business operates?
• Fairness
• Use of systems
• What is the individual’s readiness for change?

The labour market has taken a dramatic swing over the last 5 years. What used to be a common, cheap commodity has now become hard to find and even harder to keep.

Understanding the labour market close to you is a start, understanding where the competition for labour is coming from and why that might be a better option for people?

• Do they pay more?
• Better shift patterns?
• Working environment?
• Pay & perks….

Then how do you compete in that arena. We work with you on;

Recruitment – how do you recruit the right talent that has a cultural fit for the business and has the competencies we need?

Get clarity and be specific so that it is not down to being a nice person with a good CV who can talk well.

Retention & succession – what are the strategies for retaining the staff we have?

• How do people move up levels
• What additional competencies do they need?

This is then aligned to some form of individual performance review process.

Quite often people grow into a role through natural progression and a person who started life as an operative is suddenly Factory Manager.

Equally often the training & development given to that person outside the technical skills of running a line, executing a plan & getting product out of the door is lacking.

There are a range of tactical skills people need to do the jobs we are expecting of them. Agreeing what those competencies are, the level of competency needed and the status of each individual is where Chasm support.

Starting with initial agreement of core competencies from our years of experience, followed by a series of diagnostic tools;

• Personal assessment (PAQ) used to score competencies with a situational and self assessment tool.
• Attitudinal survey (MAQ). Do people have the competence and desire to increase their skills
• Interviews – very good to dig into specific areas with an individual.

Using these and a few other tools helps us build a picture of the gaps and individual development needed.

Then we build a detailed competency framework of skills needed by function / level and the relevant plans to support that development, be that a skills matrix or other tool.

Once people’s need have been assessed through competency frameworks and other relevant activities we are in a position to build individual development plans.

Deliver of this competency training will follow several formats depending on the competency, person and their role in the organisation.

• Workshops – usually quick understanding sessions. We prefer lots of smaller hands on sessions than death by PowerPoint workshops.
• On the floor – deliver of practical delivery where the person works
• 1:1 – maybe some specific skills around man management that require closer development
• Online – we partner with industry leaders in online Gamification led training solutions

What is important is we ensure the training is specific to that person’s needs rather than generic (sheep dip) delivery and we make the delivery fun so that people engage and want to learn.

Having a collection of highly skilled individuals does not necessarily produce a highly effective team once they are put together.

Clashes in personality, conflicting priorities, SILO driven structure are all elements that impact team effectiveness.

Our goal at Chasm is to ensure that the essential parts of your business fit together and one of the key parts of that is  your people.

We take a behaviour led approach developing your people and processes simultaneously. This includes:

• Development of management teams
• Working together
• Team building and cohesion.

It’s the fluffy stuff that many people avoid but we love.

The learning academy is where we pull all the people & competency work into a structure of continuous personnel development.

Building the framework for all training and development from onboarding new people in the business right through to job specific competencies.

The learning academy will bring together the training materials and infrastructure to support ongoing learning and development for all personnel.

Additional to the specific competency development tactical skills there is often a need for targeted coaching and mentoring.

It may be a person struggling in a role that needs support and guidance.

It may be a strategic requirement for a department or specific business project that needs support.

It may be a newly formed team that needs guidance developing their collective performance.

Whatever it looks like Chasm have the mechanisms and people to help.