The 10 behaviours of effective employees is a hiring and career management process I developed when scaling teams 100% year-on-year.

On this page:

  1. Details of the book
  2. The 10 behaviours
  3. Video and Podcast
  4. Workshop Details

I didn’t want to hire people into the team and hope for the best, without trying to ensure they would enrich the culture.

I wanted to maintain the rich culture, build a team to get things done and create an atmosphere of improvement, progress and respect.

I knew that our culture was positive because of the people in it. I therefore studied the very behaviours of our people - to understand what they actually did, said and produced that lead to a positive work culture.

I came up with 10 core behaviours. I used these to grow our team, from recruitment, to managing performance but more importantly, at least for me, was I used these to build my own career.

Read on for more, including a video and details of my 10 Behaviours Workshop.

Download the free eBook

The 10 behaviours

Here are the 10 behaviours of effective employees

  1. They are visibly passionate
  2. They are open minded
  3. They are not constrained by their job title
  4. They become company smart
  5. They focus on the customer
  6. They relentlessly improve the process
  7. They do what they say they will
  8. They are good communicators
  9. They add skills and skills and skills
  10. They are brave

Video & Podcast

Check out the YouTube video where I chat about the 10 Behaviours of Effective Employees.

Or the podcast if that's your thing.

The Workshop

The 10 Behaviours workshop is an immersive “creative” workshop, where we use our minds and hands to create posters, objects, vending machine products or books that represent each of the 10 behaviours.

The goal with the workshop is to produce something tangible at the end of it. Something we can touch, feel and smell (if you wish to).

The workshop is about bringing the behaviours to life – and to have fun creating something with our hands.

Downloads – Slides, Outputs and Career guides

  1. The Slides for the workshop (in PDF format) are available to download here.
  2. Some posters from a workshop are available here as a ZINE.
  3. Of course, if you haven’t already, you can download the free eBook too.

THE WORKSHOP FORMAT

This is an all day workshop.

Together, we will make a series of posters, podcasts, videos and products that will articulate what each of the 10 behaviours means to you and your team.

These tangible "products" brings to life what it would mean to live and breathe these behaviours - and therefore bring about the culture you desire.

Of course, you may not like all 10 or have your own - that's why we deconstruct them at the start and modify the list to make it 100% relevant to your organisation.

After the workshop I compile the products into a suitable medium, or simply a Dropbox folder with everything in, for you to share and/or print. Here's an example Zine from a conference where we focused heavily on posters.

By collectively articulating what each behaviours means to the team, in a variety of mediums and products, we can really bring these behaviours to life. It also gives you various products to communicate widely in your organisation.

I also provide ideas in the slide deck for how to start exhibiting each behaviour too.

Schedule and Location

Space is needed for this. I provide the materials, you provide the brains. Ideally a suitable room with plenty of workspaces (floors, desks etc).

  • 08:30 – 09:00 – Set up work space
  • 09:00–09:30 — Introductions
  • 09:30–10:45 — Building products for the 10
  • 11:00–12:30 — Building products for the 10
  • 13:30 – 15:00 — Building products for the 10
  • 15:30 – 17:00 – Showing our artwork - discuss next steps to bring them to life in work.

Location is up to you – your office, a local hotel, factory – somewhere with parking, coffee and space to create.

Instructions

  1. Before the workshop begins, please do some pre-thinking about the kind of culture you have, and/or wish to have.
  2. Ensure your team have no meetings or tasks scheduled – it’s important everyone is engaged.
  3. Turn up, leave politics at the door and put your creative hat on. This is a behavioural workshop and individual opinions and ideas matter a lot. “Disagree and Commit” is a useful mantra to come prepped with.

After the workshop

  1. It’s expected that someone will transcribe the next steps into your suitable work management tool for action.
  2. I will write up the day’s notes and send this over to you within 2-3 working days.
  3. I will compile the outputs for you to print / distribute

howdy@cultivatedmanagement.com

Reading to aid behaviour change

Affiliate Links - All {book} links are affiliate links to book I have personally read and got value from.

Positivity and Passion

Positivity by Barbara Fredrickson {book}
The Obstacle Is The Way – Ryan Holiday {book}
Authentic Happiness – Martin Seligman {book}
The Art Of Being Brilliant – Andy Cope and Andy Whittaker {book}
7 Simple Tips for dealing with negative people – Zen Habits
– Mind Body Green
8 Steps for strengthening self-esteem when you have depression – Psych Central
8 Ways to a positive day – Pick The Brain
– Switch And Shift
6 Simple Rules For Life – John C Maxwell
Perma Model of Happiness – Mind Tools
10 Ways To Instantly Build Confidence – Pick The Brain
10 Hard Ways To Make Your Life Better – Life Hack
10 Stress Busters – NHS
6 Things Happy People Never Do – Marc and Angel Life Hack
Top 10 Reasons Managers Become Great – Scott Berkun
Strategies for Apprehension Management – The Communication Blog

Change and Open-Mindedness

Switch – Chip and Dan Heath {book}
Who – A Method – Geoff Smart and Randy Street {book}

How Successful People Think – John C Maxwell {book}

Growing A Business – Paul Hawken {book}
Knowing What To Leave Alone – Jerry Weinberg
Deming’s 14 Key Principles For Management – Deming
How To Be An Expert In A Changing World – Paul Graham
How To Become Open Minded – Forbes
Is It Important To Be Open Minded In The Workplace – Chron
How To Be Open Minded To New Ideas – Evan Carmichael
5 Characteristics of Open Minded Leader – People Development Magazine
Breaking The Code – Attracting Tech In The UK – Talent Culture
The Resume Is Dead – The Bio Is King – 99U
Get Rid Of Job Descriptions And You’ll Hire Better People – Ere Media
6 Ways To Enhance Your Problem Solving Skills – Life Hack
Hiring Purple Squirrels – Ere Media

Process Improvement and Personal Development

The Vanguard Method – John Seddon
Reinventing Leadership – Paul Thomas {Book}
How To Fail At Almost Everything And Still Win Big – Scott Adams {Book}
The Toyota Way – Jeffrey Liker {book}
The Toyota Kata – Mike Rother {book}
The Slight Edge – Jeff Olson {book}
The Compound Effect – Darren Hardy {book}
The Miracle Morning – Hal Elrod {Book}
James Clear Blog on Habits – James Clear

Communication

Key Person Of Influence {book}
Bareknuckle Presenter {book}
What Every Body Is Saying {book}
I Want You To Cheat {book}
How to anyone {book}
Louder Than Words {book}
How To Win Friends And Influence People {book}
Steal the show {book}

Tools for boosting communication effectiveness – INC

Characteristics of good communication – Iowa State University
Contexts of communication – Oregan State University
Communication models – SH Kaminski
Effective organisational communication – Your Article Library
Entropy and Redundancy in communication – SLT Info
A crash course in communication – INC
Purposes of communication – Indiana University
Communication Models – SH Kaminski
Getting the most out of Meetings – Business 2 Community
Effective Organisational Communication – Diana Femi Adjei
Do As I Say – INC
– Citrinitas.com
How To Communicate Like A Pro – Nido Oqubein
Get Your Point Across without Being Rude – INC
Social Leaders: The New Frontier for CEOs – Talent Culture
– The Guardian
10 Secrets Of A Master Networker – INC

You may already have a copy of my free eBook called “10 Behaviours Of Effective Employees”, if not grab a copy here – it’s free!