Don Harris - TalkBack: 
Facilitating Better Internal Communication
Employee Engagement
Better Employee Engagement 
Much Better Employee Productivity.
There’s no swift answer to deciding which form of engagement strategy is suited best to you in order to connect better and more effectively with your employees. One thing is certain however, it’s going to involve one to one conversations with your people, some of whom you may not have considered opening a line of communication with before now.
Again the solution may begin with a question, actually several:
- What is the rationale for implementing an Employee Engagement Strategy?
- Is there a communications disconnect in the office going on under your nose?
- Have you identified if you can be part of the solution or do you apportion blame all around you?
- Who are the people you can trust to take on the mission of improving Employee Engagement in your organisation? Are you one of them?
All these are factors to consider as you commence a plan to tackle the Employee Engagement issue.
Fortunately TalkBack is in the business of improving Employee Engagement in companies and institutions. Let’s start by having a conversation with you soon.
After you’ve engaged TalkBack you’ll find matters will improve on a daily and weekly basis. There will be more smiles about the place, meaning greater and consistent delivery of work .
Internal Communication
For whatever reason despite, (or as a direct result of!) the many forms of communication channels available to people working in organisations throughout Ireland, the UK and across Europe, there is often a breakdown in communications between management and employees, employees and their colleagues and companies and their clients. How can this be you might ask?
The plain truth is that as a society at work, we are not having enough conversations 1 to 1 these days. Increasingly we are relying on email to communicate a message to a person seated just yards away, often not even following up with a ‘phone call on the company comms system, whatever that may be. We have relentlessly drifted into a form of blame game which has as its central core the premise that once an email has been sent somehow the receiver has the responsibility to reply, sender duty done – off the hook so to speak. This can lead to all kinds of employee work relationship breakdown over time, suggesting a gradual decline in good employee engagement. TalkBack facilitates the return of focussed conversation between employees, line managers and management teams providing a better workplace environment and improved company productivity. The old ad line still applies – ‘It’s Good to Talk’. It’s also ‘Good to Listen’, but sometimes we need prompting.
Through listening and action, organisational trust is restored
Dialogue Development
How do you communicate effectively with your people?
- Do you use emails, newletters, presentations or think-ins?
- Are you enjoying meaningful dialogue with your people already or does it even exist in the way we have all come to understand?
- The reality can be a little daunting, downright confusing even. If you are talking to somebody surely that’s enough. Don’t they understand that what you say is all that matters, you are the boss after all.
We like this gem from Arthur Ashe too:
“Start where you are, use what you have,
do what you can”
Development of an effective plan for encouraging more open and active two way dialogue in your workplace takes time and patience. Trust will play an important part in building confidence amongst your colleagues. Trust that proposed changes will take place and all management and employees will have their opportunity to be part of the programme of change, not become detached or excluded for some unexplained reasons.
When it comes to talking more and opening dialogue lines, we are pleased to say we have the ways and means to help you – it all starts with a conversation. With your company at the center of the discussion.
Feedback
We like this enlightening quote from James E Burton..
“Spending time with your people is one of the most powerful forms of recognition you can bestow. Genuinely seeking their opinions and feedback costs nothing but your time and the dividends are priceless. You’ll see increased morale, more open communication and greater sharing of solutions to business challenges. You’ll also get to know some truly remarkable people in the process”
Are you spending enough time listening to your people?
If the answer is ‘not really’ then you may be missing out on some vital feedback that could be the difference between your organisation moving forward or staying put. There’s nothing surer than the old saying “if nothing changes everything remains the same”.
At TalkBack one of our particular strengths is to use compelling open questions to elicit revealing answers. Instead of your people clamming up they will open up due to our pro-active approach. Does this sound familiar territory? It’s possible we should be talking.
Ignore feedback at your peril!
Too often we tend to listen whilst thinking about our response.
When we listen to understand, our focus shifts to how can we help
Executive Coaching
I have been in the business of Coaching for many years, working with colleagues at first then developing a client base.
Seeing the progress made by people who I have had the privilege to work with is one of the best parts of my job. To be successful, a coach must inspire, challenge, work to deadlines and be in a position to measure effectiveness. The feel good factor from the person or group to benefit from a Coaching session/s is particularly pleasing and seriously motivating. People frequently discover that once they know what they want, one of the reasons a Coach is engaged, exceptional co-incidences appear to take place which tend to bring their aim closer. The golfer Gary Player was often quoted as saying ‘the harder I practice the luckier I get’. This fits nicely with the notion of Coaching.The more a Coachee puts new practices in place, the more likely they are to notice unusual (to them), changes in behaviour and unexpected outcomes or achievements. The combination of Coaching and Empathetic Listening skills is a powerful formula for delivering extraordinary results in greater productivity.
Mindful Active Listening
By developing an awareness to listen fully to the person in front of you, you will hear a lot more of what they actually said. How often have you had a conversation with somebody to whom you thought you were giving your full attention, to discover sometime afterwards you cannot recall what they said? The message they were communicating to you was lost in translation, perhaps you were distracted and lost focus. Mindful Listening is based on the premise first offered by Jon Kabat- Zinn that Mindfulness means ‘paying attention in a particular way, on purpose and in the present moment, non-judgmentally’ At TalkBack we practice what we preach, the results are a powerful testament to the strength and value of active listening in a mindful manner.
Facilitating Better Internal Communication
Mediation
When all is said and done, where a situation exists where words and actions have taken their toll in a work or home environment, the prevailing atmosphere between individuals can be become fraught and tense.
Conflict often requires mediation between the parties involved in order to reach a workable agreement to help all involved work together. Mediation is a process for resolving disputes where an intermediary helps conflicting parties have a conversation to jointly resolve their concerns and move towards reaching a resolution.
Qualified mediators are available through TalkBack to help all involved address the situation.
Mentoring
Don is somebody who has been mentoring and coaching clients facing a wide variety wide of challenges in a personal and business capacity for more than 35 years. He brings a wealth of knowledge to his role as an experienced Mentor, Coach and Mediator whose background is steeped in people well-being and engagement productivity projects.
Speaker & Broadcaster
Don Harris is a regular Speaker and Broadcaster who’s radio show ‘You and Your Business’ airs on Dublin City FM (103.2 FM) every Friday at 12.30. The opportunity of meeting so many different interesting guests on the programme, with such a diverse range of business stories to tell, gives Don a unique view of how businesses operate here and elsewhere. It’s this broad inside track experience and knowledge of people’s working lives that provides the background to most of his Talks to business organisations in Ireland and the UK. Topics such as Employee Engagement, Active Listening, Mental Fitness and Well Being in the Workplace are some of the issues he is available to talk about, sometimes along with colleagues who speak about their own specialist areas and contribute their particular style and blend of skills to any presentation.
I improve Engagement using Empathetic Practices
Listen here to a welcome message from TalkBack…