Tag Archive: employees


STEEP Theory

Filed Under: Businesses by Kirsty — Leave a comment
March 30, 2010

The external environment is the world in which the business operates, it is a large ever changing place made up of:

• Organisations
• Employers
• Suppliers
• Customers
• Other Stakeholders

A business can’t operate with being influenced by and impacting upon the external environment. A key success factor for any business is an accurate understanding of the external environment. A long-term analysis of what is happening in all areas of a business can be monitored, anticipated and dealt with accordingly. The external environment can be defined & analysed using on of the following:

• STEEP – Sociological, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political
• STEP – Sociological, Technological, Economic, Political
• PEST – Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological
• PESTLE – Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal, Environmental
• STEEPLE – Sociological, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal, Ethical
The idea is the same for all of the models; that there are several main external influences on a business.
The STEEP model uses the 5 headings listed above.

Sociological Factors:

These include demographic changes in:
• Age
• Structure of the population
• Patterns of work
• Gender roles
• Patterns of consumption
• Changes in culture

Technological Factors:

• ICT is lowering the barriers of time and place
• ICT creates new industries
• Many individual jobs and internal service functions have been transformed and are now largely or solely based on ICT systems.

Economic Factors:

• Rate of economic growth
• Interest rates
• Inflation rates
• Energy prices
• Exchange rates
• Levels of employment

The state of a country’s economy pervades all aspects of business life as it affects demand for goods and services, the availability and cost of resources (land, labour, materials & buildings). Both individuals’ and businesses’ behaviour reflects their expectations of economic trends. Governments use changes in the interest rate to try to achieve short-term in levels of demand, investment and spending. Global communication technology has resulted in very high levels of currency trading, which leads to a great volatility in exchange rates.

Environmental Factors:

These are of growing importance as people all over the world are very concerned about the impact of businesses on the natural environment. The following are factors that businesses need to consider:

• Legalisation – Environmental Legalisation is increasing, with the emphasis on pollution control and waste disposal. However there are regulations affecting packaging, transport and distribution and sourcing materials.
• Information – Businesses report regularly on their environmental performance.
• Employees – Employees are interested &concerned about the environmental credentials of their employers.
• Shareholders – Most shareholders of larger businesses are financial institutions who are driven by financial performance. However in several countries a category of ethical investors is emerging.
• Pressure Groups –In the late 20th Century there was a massive growth in pressure groups, most of which were established to deal with particular issues. Many of them broadened their membership bases and became a permanent part of the political scene; these groups include groups such as Greenpeace and Stonewall.
• Customers – There are opportunities for businesses that are operating to high environmental standards to gain market advantage.

Political factors

Political influences affect/most of what we all do. Here are only a few political factors for businesses:
• Legislation – This affects a lot of different aspects of business life. The CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development).
• Trading Relationships – Examples of this are the World Trade Organisation and the European Union.
• Government- In many cases the Government is either the largest employer or purchaser of goods and services or in some cases the only customer.
• Public Services – Health Services, Education and the Police Force are all determined on political grounds.
• Taxation – This is a pretty big one for businesses.

The distinction between the factors defined in the STEEP model are rather artificial, this is because in reality the factors are often interlinked.

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360 Degree Appraisals

Filed Under: Training & Development by Kirsty — Leave a comment
February 8, 2009

A 360 degree appraisal also known as a 360-degree feedback, multi-rater feedback, multisource feedback, or multisource assessment, is employee development feedback that comes from all around the employee (subordinates, peers, managers and may also include a self assessment). The results from 360 degree appraisals are often used by the person receiving the feedback to plan their training and development. The results can also be used for making promotional or pay decisions.

There are numerous benefits to this particular method of appraisal:

  • A study on 360-degree feedback to leaders conducted by Arizona State University has supported the hypothesis that improvement in a leader’s consideration and employee development behaviours will lead to positive changes in employees’ job satisfaction and engagement, and reduce their intent to leave.
  • Individuals get a broader perspective of how they are perceived by others than previously possible.
  • Increased awareness by senior management that they too have development needs.
  • Encouraging more open feedback — new insights.
  • Reinforcing the desired competencies of the business.
  • Clarified to employees critical performance aspects.
  • Identifying key development areas for the individual, a department and the organization as a whole.
  • Identifying strengths that can be used to the best advantage of the business.
  • Supporting a climate of continuous improvement.
  • Starting to improve the climate/ morale, as measured through the survey.
  • Focused agenda for development. Forced line managers to discuss development issues.
  • Perception of feedback as more valid and objective, leading to acceptance of results and actions required.
  • Gaps are identified in one’s self-perception versus the perception of the manager, peer or direct reports.
  • Customizing the questions to one’s organizational competencies.

    • So in summary there are alot of benefits to this method of appraisal but there is one notable criticism:

    A Watson Wyatt’s Human Capital Index tudy found that 360-degree feedback programs were associated with a 10.6% decrease in shareholder value.

    If you decide to adopt this method of appraisal there are numerous sites that offer a framework for setting up 360 degree appraisals one particularly good site is www.medicology360.co.uk. I can guarantee should you decide to adopt this method it will provide valuable information that will ultimately enhance performance.

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Deception in the workplace

Filed Under: Uncategorized by Kirsty — Leave a comment
February 8, 2009

There seems to be a growing number of employees who are working hard, but not at being productive instead they are working at looking busy and thus making them appear indispensable. This is because workers fear they will join the growing number of workers becoming unemployed if their bosses see how little work they have to do. As a result some engage in “busywork” such as reorganizing files while some attempt to trick their bosses into thinking they are working late nights. However this is not a phenomena that is confined to times of economic uncertainty even when the economy is good, some workers will go to great lengths to appear busy, but these people are usually the slackers who are bunking off on company time. When the economy turns for the worse, it’s only natural that every employee wants to look indispensable and some start using the same techniques perfected by the slacker in an attempt to secure their job.

Some workers will go to extreme lengths to convince their boss that their are indispensable:

  • An attorney, who wanted the boss to think he was working late into the night, brought an oscillating fan to his office so that it would produce movement and the lights wouldn’t dim when he left his office.
  • A sales associate refolds clothes even though they are folded perfectly already.
  • A worker in the financial industry scatters papers on his desk.
  • An advertising executive is busy but not at the advertising business. While at the office, he is designing toys for the baby he is expecting. His computer is facing toward the window in his office building so no one can see what he has on his computer screen.

In some cases spend their time with busywork because they have no real work to do. A professor argued that busywork probably does more for the individual’s psyche than for the company’s productivity. Some claim that busywork may have an individual value for the person who is doing it because it’s difficult going into work and having nothing to do, particularly if the person is used to having a substantial workload.

Basically if you are not productive the company will cease to exist as it is highly likely that you are not the only one doing busywork instead of work that is productive thus beneficial both to you and the company.

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