Posts in CAREER
On KPIs and giving actionable feedback
On KPIs and giving actionable feedback

I was working with an intern recently and was struck by how much her work improved over a week. The reason: I gave her useful feedback that was clear and implementable. Her performance and commitment weren't issues - my poor feedback was the issue. Like everything else, it's simple when you know how!

We can't give employees results to aim for if they're not clear on how to actually achieve those results. Saying 'you need to improve' or 'get more sales' doesn't help anyone because it's not actionable.

Read More
CAREERRonan KennedyEngagement, Employees, career goals
Execution trumps strategy
Execution trumps strategy

Strategic visions, strategic plans and strategic goals all look and sound great, but what actually comes of them? According to research carried out by the authors of the book '4 Disciplines of Execution' only 15% of employees actually understood the strategic goals of the company. In other words, only 15% of employees knew the meaning of their work. Naturally, this begs the question: 'how could they expect to achieve the goal or feel good about it if they don't know what it is?'.

Read More
BUSINESS, CAREERRonan KennedyStrategies, Execution, Engagement
The new currency: Concentration
The new currency: Concentration

If 'time is money', then it must at least be a certain type of time - e.g. time spent working to create value. But if it takes one person two hours to complete a valuable task, and another person only one hour, then the second person is obviously more valuable (all other things being equal). The reality is that these days all other things are often equal: we have access to the same technologies, resources and all the same information online.

'There might be a difference in skill sets' I hear your say

Read More
CAREERRonan KennedyConcentration, Work, Engagement, Personal Development
Making the right choice
Making the right choice

What's the best thing to do? What's the ideal way to go?

'The more choice the better' - that's what we have been led to believe. If you are careful and choose which you prefer the most, you'll be happier - even if it's just a small improvement.

But that's not true. The reality is that we can suffer 'paralysis by analysis'.

Read More
LIFE, CAREERRonan KennedyChoice, Decision-Making, Career
8 Traits of good managers
8 Traits of good managers

Project Oxygen, a research study undertaken by the tech giant Google, collected over 10,000 pieces of data about managers — across more than 100 variables, from performance reviews to feedback surveys. They found that a good manager has 8 specific traits:

  1. A good coach
  2. Empowers and does not micromanage
  3. Expresses interest and concern in subordinates’ success and well-being
  4. Results oriented
  5. Listens and shares information
  6. Helps with career development
  7. Has a clear vision and strategy
  8. Has key technical skills
Read More
BUSINESS, CAREERRonan KennedyManagement, Coach, career development
The High Achiever's Achilles Heel
The High Achiever's Achilles Heel

You love goal-setting and are exhilarated by goal-achievement. You’ve probably read all the articles, blogs and books on how to work better, live better, feel better and think better. You’re not always sure what you want, except for two things: more growth and more success. Do you also feel little pleasure in winning but great pain in losing? Congratulations, you are a high achiever...

Read More
CAREER, LIFERonan KennedyGrowth, Goal-Setting, career goals
Fight distraction and embrace deep work
Fight distraction and embrace deep work

Videos, news articles, social media, emails and phones are all common distractions throughout our workday. How many of them are work related compared to just communicating about work? I'm writing about this not because I can do this perfectly myself, but because it’s something I’m focusing on improving. Deep Work, a book by Cal Newport...

Read More
CAREER, BUSINESSRonan KennedyWork, Career
15 Tips to Improve Communication in the Workplace
15 Tips to Improve Communication in the Workplace

Effective communication in the workplace is one of the most searched terms in Google in terms of job-related stress. We all have different ways of interacting with others, different perceptions of what is good communication and varying opinions of what is or is not appropriate in the office. With all those factors and more, there’s bound to be constant challenges. Often there are imperfect solutions or outcomes to interpersonal problems, however, that doesn’t mean we can’t seek to improve as much as possible. Here is a list of tips which will hopefully help with these issues: 

Read More
CAREERRonan KennedyLanguage, Communication
Manageable ways for accountants to change jobs and maintain their salaries
Manageable ways for accountants to change jobs and maintain their salaries

Accountancy is an alluring profession: solid career progression, stable jobs and almost guaranteed employment. But what if you decide you need a change but don’t want to sacrifice your salary level? It’s a fear that many have even though it’s unfounded most of the time. Changing jobs may lead to a reduction in salary but not necessarily. If you have strong qualifications and good experience, why would it? Let me explain...

Read More
CAREERRonan KennedyAccountants, Career Change, Opportunities, Salary
Overcoming office politics
Overcoming office politics

People engage in office politics because they think it will lead to better career prospects for them in the future. They align themselves to influencers, which by default means they will also be distancing themselves from others in the organisation. But who is actually influential? Sometimes we know, but sometimes we don’t. Lots of companies will have hidden influencers that employees aren’t aware of. This could be the receptionist or the security staff,  the canteen manager or the IT administrator. 

Read More
BUSINESS, CAREERRonan KennedyOffice Politics, Relationships, Emotions
Am I being managed out?
Am I being managed out?

'Managing out' refers to when management makes an employee's working life so unpleasant, the employee decides to hand in their notice. Some employees aren't aware that this is a management tactic, even though they may be the victim of it. 

It's quite difficult to legally sack a worker if the management of a company is unhappy with them; that's why they have to use covert strategies to make life unpleasant for the individual. This process could include: criticising an employee's work repeatedly and never giving them credit; not supporting them in learning or developing; keeping them out of communication loops; ignoring their requests or making their life at the company difficult in general. 

Now, let's think about what it's like for both parties involved.

Read More
CAREER, BUSINESSRonan KennedyManagement, leadership, Employees, Engagement
Distinguishing content from process
Distinguishing content from process

Do you ever feel like you can't do something? Or that you don't have the skills? Most people do.

It's easy to fall for the idea that you don't know how to do something, even if it seems entirely different from everything else you've ever done.

The content could be different, but the process is often the same. In other words, the 'what' may be different, but the 'how' is often similar. That's where transferable skills come into play. 

Read More
BUSINESS, CAREERRonan KennedyContent, Process, Passion
Avoiding Peter’s principle
Avoiding Peter’s principle

In his book published in 1969, Laurence Peter proposes the Peter Principle: "In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.”

Many promotion decisions are beyond logic, such as promoting an engineer to a manager because they are an excellent engineer. The decision is made based on the employee’s performance in an engineering role, but engineering and management are completely different sets of skills and should be treated as such.

Read More
CAREER, BUSINESSRonan KennedyEponym, Promotion, Management, leadership
Coping strategies for dealing with stress
Coping strategies for dealing with stress

Stress is part of everyone’s life at some stage or another. I think of dealing with it in three different ways: avoiding it if feasible; reducing it where possible; and finding better, more elegant ways of coping with it.

If you don’t know your favourite and most effective ways of dealing with stress before it happens, you’ll find it difficult to come up with them at short notice; that’s why it’s important to have them prepared in advance. Different situations will call for different responses, so we need to have flexible solutions. Here are some strategies that I find useful:

Read More
LIFE, CAREERRonan KennedyStress, Strategies
Esoteric education in 2017
Esoteric education in 2017

Esoteric: "intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialised knowledge or interest.”

What are you allowed to know?

I believed there were certain things that I could learn and other things that weren’t permitted - by some fictitious social law unknown to me. It’s an absurd concept when you think about it but it’s quite common. I certainly fell for it for a long time.

Read More
CAREERRonan KennedyBeliefs
Failing continually is crucial
Failing continually is crucial

Firstly, let’s distinguish between failed and failure. If a project doesn’t achieve the desired result - we could say that it failed, whereas if we believe that it hasn’t gone well and nothing could be improved, then it’s a failure. ‘Failure’ doesn’t leave much room for hope; it sounds so terminal. So let’s consider the alternative - never failing. 

Read More
CAREER, LIFERonan KennedyFailure, fear, Career, career change