Articles and News

Employee engagement and motivation are vital for any business to thrive. An engaged employee will be willing to work harder for your company and is less likely to leave. According to Scarlett Surveys, “Employee engagement is a measurable degree of an employee’s positive or negative emotional attachment to their job, which profoundly influences their [...]

Every business needs engaged and motivated employees in order to thrive. All business managers know that employees who are motivated are less likely to have time off for stress related issues, are likely to be vastly more productive and less likely to resign and move on. Something that can prove difficult is empowering employees to [...]

This article is written by the developers of the PassionWorks!™ engagement model. PassionWorks!™ is at the heart of our Employee Engagement and Passionate Leadership courses. It is based on in-depth research into the nature and components of passion – or engagement – at work. That research led directly to a new definition of passion at [...]

To open up an interesting conversation with your team and to check-in on each person’s PassionFlow!™ (PF) as well as the overall team’s PF, try the following activity:

Draw our PassionWorks!™ Model on a flipchart.
Next, ask each person to think about what phase they think the team is in, predominantly. What is the primary phase at [...]

WARNING: This article contains the top 3 ways to avoid creative thinking!
Clive Lewis, Founder and Managing Director of Illumine Training looks into this very important, but widely ignored subject from the perspective of a senior manager and business leader.
I looked at the first question above and was reminded of the single question, two hour philosophy [...]

Stop for a moment and consider the most successful companies of the last 50 years. Do you know what made them successful? Their employees and the fact that the company heads tapped into the creative thinking of those working for them. The more you use the talent at your disposal, the better your company will [...]

Leading with passion and for passion is essential. Being able to share your own passion for something is one thing, but being able to lead others so that they are able to consistently experience passion in what they do, is something else entirely.
Passion, in a work context, is one of those misunderstood phenomena. As a [...]

If you, as a manager, coach or a trainer, want to help people to find their passion what should you do? Here are our top ten tips to help you start thinking.

Every day we learn more about the brain. It’s the most important and most mysterious organ of the body, as it controls everything we do.
However, we do know that a few simple changes can give your brain a great work out, keeping it in shape and helping you to stay mentally healthy for the rest [...]

Tired, overwhelmed, just in need of some mental and physical nourishment? You could be stressed!
According to numerous pieces of research, we remain healthy and stress free, if we eat high energy and nutritious foods that provide the energy and stamina to cope in potentially stressful situations. Conversely, we are more likely to end up in poor health, have [...]

NURTURE yourself each and every day of the week with these 7 tips:
1. N – NUTRITION (nb UK’s growing weight problem)

Importance of breakfast – breaking the fast.
Water – 2 litres a day.
Healthy snacks - fruit, energy oat bars, nut and dried fruit mixes. Instead of high sugar and fat alternatives.
Fruit and vegetables – at least 5 [...]

With ever increasing volumes of work and the need to be more conscious of the work/life balance and well-being, how can individuals and organisations overcome becoming stressed about it all?
At work, stress is caused by a multitude of reasons and situations with different people showing different levels of resistance. In this article we are going to look at [...]

Everyone has a different approach to being organised for learning and to suggest that everyone takes the same approach would clearly be folly. However, it is worth setting up an environment that is conducive to effective learning. Here are a few things to think about that are taken from our exclusive delegate only Post Course [...]

In this article, Vanda North introduces Mind Chi – an 8 minute a day program that can give you the reins of self control, allowing you to overcome problem areas or achieve goals for greater overall success and fulfilment in business and life.
Your Mind Chi Basic 8 minute program takes 28 days to create the [...]

In a previous article we used Mind Chi to create a Plan for ‘Achieving your Perfect Size’ (go to that article).  In this article, Vanda North provides a complete 28 day exectution to ensure you reach your goal. We’ve adapted the following from the book ‘Mind Chi – rewire your brain in 8 minutes a day’
You need to be [...]

But what exactly is engagement? Not surprisingly there are a number of definitions. The CIPD makes sense of it in the following statement.
“Employers want employees who will do their best work, or ‘go the extra mile’. Employees want good work: jobs that are worthwhile and turn them on. More and more organisations are looking for [...]

What needs to happen if leaders want to have more engagement in their organisations?
One part of the answer here is that almost everyone needs to recognise that engagement is their priority – from the CEO down to the latest office recruit.  This doesn’t mean that everyone has to engage in the same way, but it [...]

Given the clear association between engagement, job satisfaction and performance, it is clear that there is a big incentive for managers to seek to drive up levels of engagement in their workforce. But in difficult economic times there are some specific obstacles that organisational leaders need to be aware of.

Many managers and leaders will tend to keep [...]

Why should you care whether or not your people have any passion for their work?
The answer to that is that when people care about what they are doing they work with more commitment, energy and inspiration. Anthony Landale reports on a key business issue.
We all want more out of our work. That, surely, is the [...]

To create PassionFlow!™ for yourself, you must create a feeling of progress. However, if you are feeling stuck and don’t know what actions to take to create progress, try using a single, but powerful question: ‘How can we… (e.g. advance our market position by five points)?’ Putting this question before our minds will kick start creative [...]