The document discusses different leadership styles and approaches to conflict that tend to work best in various industries and sectors. It finds that commanders and drivers tend to predominate in management and sales/marketing roles, while democrats, motivators and pragmatists are more common in customer service, education, and technical fields. Avoidance and compliance are prevalent in customer service, education, and healthcare, while cooperation and conciliation dominate in the public sector. The document cautions that a common approach may not necessarily be the most successful one.

1. Engaging People
Which Approaches Work Best?
Dr George Sik
eras ltd
1 of 45
CIPD 2013

2. When it comes to engaging people, it’s
not a ‘one size fits all’ solution – it’s
strictly horses for courses
2 of 45
CIPD 2013

3. So what seems to work in the
following areas…?
•
Customer Service
•
Education
•
Finance & Administration
•
Management
•
Healthcare
•
IT
•
Production
•
Sales & Marketing
•
Technical
…and, of course, good old HR!
3 of 45
CIPD 2013

4. How different are the Public and Private
Sectors?
4 of 45
CIPD 2013

5. 5 of 45
CIPD 2013

6. We chose to look at approaches to
Leadership and to Conflict
6 of 45
CIPD 2013

7. Leadership
The Commander: Listen to me!
7 of 45
CIPD 2013

8. Leadership
The Democrat: I speak for the
people!
8 of 45
CIPD 2013

9. Leadership
The Driver: Give me 110%!
9 of 45
CIPD 2013

10. Leadership
The Motivator: Ask not what I can do for
you…
10 of 45
CIPD 2013

11. Leadership
The Pragmatist: Give us the tools and
we’ll finish the job!
11 of 45
CIPD 2013

12. Leadership
The Visionary: Here’s my idea…
12 of 45
CIPD 2013

13. Conflict
Avoidance: ‘Sort it out amongst yourselves!’
13 of 45
CIPD 2013

14. Conflict
Competition: ‘You get nothing for coming
second!’
14 of 45
CIPD 2013

15. Conflict
Compliance: ‘Anything you say!’
15 of 45
CIPD 2013

16. Conflict
Conciliation: ‘Give a little, take a little…’
16 of 45
CIPD 2013

17. Conflict
Co-operation: ‘Let’s work together!’
17 of 45
CIPD 2013

18. But out of all these ways of behaving, what
seems to work best where?
Remember the categories:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
18 of 45
Customer Service
Education
Finance & Administration
Management
Healthcare
HR
IT
Production
Sales & Marketing
Technical
CIPD 2013

19. The Commander: Listen to me!
19 of 45
CIPD 2013

20. Commanders predominate in Management
and in Sales & Marketing
They are rare in Customer Service, Finance
& Administration, Healthcare and IT
20 of 45
CIPD 2013

21. The Democrat: I speak for the
people!
21 of 45
CIPD 2013

22. Democrats predominate in Customer
Service, Education and Healthcare
22 of 45
CIPD 2013

23. The Driver: Give me 110%!
23 of 45
CIPD 2013

24. Drivers predominate in Sales & Marketing
and are rare in IT
24 of 45
CIPD 2013

25. The Motivator: Ask not what I can do for
you…
25 of 45
CIPD 2013

26. Motivators predominate in Customer
Service, Education and Sales & Marketing
26 of 45
CIPD 2013

27. The Pragmatist: Give us the tools and
we’ll finish the job!
27 of 45
CIPD 2013

28. Pragmatists predominate in Finance &
Administration and Technical roles.
They are rare in Customer Service,
Education, Healthcare and HR
28 of 45
CIPD 2013

29. The Visionary: Here’s my idea…
29 of 45
CIPD 2013

30. Visionaries neither predominate nor are rare
in any areas we have examined. I guess they
are ‘one offs’!
30 of 45
CIPD 2013

31. Avoidance: ‘Sort it out amongst yourselves!’
31 of 45
CIPD 2013

32. Avoidance is common in Customer Service,
Education, Healthcare, HR and IT
It is rare in Management
32 of 45
CIPD 2013

33. Competition: ‘You get nothing for coming
second!’
33 of 45
CIPD 2013

34. Competition is common in Management
It is rare in Customer Service, Education
and Finance & Administration
34 of 45
CIPD 2013

35. Compliance: ‘Anything you say!’
35 of 45
CIPD 2013

36. Compliance is common in Customer
Service, Education and Finance &
Administration
It is rare in Management
36 of 45
CIPD 2013

37. Conciliation: ‘Give a little, take a little…’
37 of 45
CIPD 2013

38. Conciliation is common in Customer
Service, Education, Healthcare and HR
38 of 45
CIPD 2013

39. Co-operation: ‘Let’s work together!’
39 of 45
CIPD 2013

40. Co-operation is common in Customer
Service, Education, Healthcare and HR
It is rare in Technical roles
40 of 45
CIPD 2013

41. As for differences between the
Private and Public Sectors…
Very little stands out in the Private Sector,
which may not be surprising, given the
diversity of company sizes, roles and
cultures.
However, it DOES seem that there is a very
noticeable Public Sector culture…
41 of 45
CIPD 2013

42. The Public Sector is especially likely to sort out its
differences using Co-operation and Conciliation (NOT
Avoidance, in case you were wondering – in fact, that’s
a little more common in the Private Sector!)
It has more than its fair share of Democrats but is very
short on Pragmatists
42 of 45
CIPD 2013

43. One final thought: because these different ways of
behaving predominate in different areas, it is natural to
think of them as being routes to engagement in those
areas.
However, it’s important to remember that just because
something occurs frequently, that doesn’t necessarily
make it successful. What we see every day, isn’t
necessarily good.
43 of 45
CIPD 2013

44. 44 of 45
CIPD 2013

45. Thank you
45 of 45
CIPD 2013