In Box: Link RWC win to profits

The All Blacks’ Rugby World Cup win is just the ticket out of the doldrums for many companies.
So says Amanda Jongeneel, London-based specialist whose company Jongeneel & Associates focuses on complex change and employee engagement.
Jongeneel says the RWC win provides the perfect opportunity for organisations to leverage the nation’s increased sense of pride and community spirit. This, she says, can make tangible difference to corporate’s bottom line.
According to Jongeneel, now is the perfect time to:
•Introduce changes to business as people will be more resilient;
•Increase sales targets as employees will be more optimistic and more focused on achieving goals; and
•Introduce new strategies as teams will be feeling an increased sense of shared goals and responsibilities.
“With morale at an all-time high, now is the perfect time to be talking to teams about their successes in 2011,” she says.
“Get discussions going on how to build on that success for 2012 or how to deal positively with any changes you’re thinking of introducing.”
She suggests executives harness current high levels of optimism and resilience as building blocks for next year’s change plan or strategy.
“Discuss ways to build on successes, focus on your combined strengths rather than on what’s weak or what went wrong. Focus on the positive, keep productivity up, keep morale high and it will keep customer service levels high.”
Jongeneel suggests executives work with their teams using tools such as World Cafes or appreciative enquiry questions, or pick up on learnings from the All Blacks win.
•Talk about the All Blacks as team: what was it about their teamwork that won them the world cup?
•What elements of that teamwork do we/should we be using in our own workplace to drive success?
•What did we do in the team/business really well this year?
•What can we do in the team/business to build on those successes in 2012? M