Taranaki

Flora Gilkison’s leadership and management philosophy is based around people and how they fit into an organisation.  She believes the inherent design of an organisation can explain why new staff members tend to adopt the working style of their predecessors.  Understanding how inherent organisational design operates and being able to communicate changes clearly are therefore critical to any organisation’s success.

Flora is the Principal of the Pacific International Hotel Management School (PIHMS) which provides integrated hospitality education and training for future hospitality managers.  Based in New Plymouth, PIHMS was recently admitted to the prestigious “Leading Hotel Schools of the World” group.

Looking to complete her Doctorate in January, Flora says that as her management career has developed, she has increasingly appreciated the need to understand and incorporate theory into management practise. 

“My early leadership style was very instinctive, it was real seat of the pants stuff.  Since then, I have studied more theory and absorbed a lot of information.  My management philosophy now is based around being a situational leader – understanding what the other person needs.  I am not a fan of hierarchies because they tend to create silos.  It is better to work, where possible, in a quite flat, integrated manner.  That means working cross-functionally inside an organisation and having strong linkages to the external environment,” Flora says. 

One of her key learnings was gaining an understanding of the inherent design of organisations.  The inherent design of an organisation is more fundamental to change than an organisational chart.  As such, it needs to be understood before a new structure can be put in place.  In her experience, some organisations are natural bureaucracies, especially in education, while others are natural ‘start up’ innovators.  The reason many changes don’t work is the inherent design has not been understood and the new organisation chart doesn’t take this design into consideration.  She believes this means some changes can be doomed before they even start.

“In my organisation, like most education institutions, there are two broad groups of staff.  The lecturers are professionals who get their credibility from external sources like their peer groups and professional bodies such as NZICA.  The other group is the support staff who get their credibility from internal sources - namely the people they work for.  This inherently means two different modus operandi,” Flora says.

When an organisation needs to change, it is often a cultural change as well as a structural change.  Flora says this means “the two groups have to understand each other better.  This involves thinking where the other person is coming from and what each other’s needs are.  Organisations and individuals have a much greater chance of success if they understand what others need rather than focusing on their own views.  If leaders model this kind of behaviour it is quickly adopted by others,” she says.

One of the simplest ways to break down silos and improve communication is to reduce the hierarchy.  “Hierarchy does not work well because it does not value employee’s expertise in the same way as flat management does.  Of course, some people who are used to the traditional structures flounder initially in a flat organisation.  You have to give those people an understanding of how it works and what the expectations are.  Usually, they just need to understand the new boundaries and responsibilities.  When moving to a flat structure it is important to consider how it fits with the organisation’s inherent design.  Change won’t work if it doesn’t take account of the inherent design,” Flora says.

Working with change is a constant challenge in the 21st century.  Flora first learned the real importance of communication during a change process at another organisation.  “Some staff complained that there had been no communication about the changes.  As the management team, we counted up 23 separate pieces of communication about the change.  But we had missed the point.  We had not thought about how that group of staff wanted to hear information,” she says.  “Change involves ensuring everyone is familiar with the process and the rationale for it.”

Drawing on her prior experience as a teacher, Flora noted that people learn in three ways, orally (hearing and talking), visually (seeing) and tactilely (feeling and doing).  The change process should be communicated in those three ways.

“Having your leaders’ model the behaviour you want is a tactile change.  People really feel it and start to take it on.  Naturally, people are nervous during change and often put up to covert barriers to change.  You have to sit down, unpick the issues, work through it and reassure them about the future,” Flora says.

Flora flags that there is a danger managers can get so involved in running the organisation that they lose sight of the values and behaviours they want to see in their staff.  “I’m always looking at our mission – to be integrated with our industry – and our values.  Our values reflect the hotel industry – honest, trustworthy and hard-working.  If you want your staff and students to have those values, the leadership team have to walk the talk,” she says. 

There are obviously pitfalls.  “There are some well sign-posted mine shafts out there.  I call them that because if you sign-post them at least you don’t fall in,” Flora laughs.

One of those pitfalls is not taking your time to present your case.  “I can sail in with a wonderful idea and assume everyone will be as excited as I am.  That is not necessarily the case.  No matter how excited you get, you have to take the time to check your ideas against the organisational design and also think about what other people actually need. That makes a big difference to how successful the change may be,” she says.

When setting up new groups, Flora stresses the need to remember the four group stages - forming, storming, norming and performing.  Every group will work through the process differently and at a different speed.  Flora warns “if you don’t factor this in you can get stuck on storming.”

She also emphasises the importance of ‘backfilling’ while change is going on.  “If you are giving people new jobs, try to provide some support or backfill with their existing tasks.  You can’t always do it but at least let them know you appreciate them taking on the new roles for a time.  Don’t just add it to their job later – people hate that.”

“Be a bit flexible with training and development.  It should be about what the individual thinks they need though it obviously has to be in line with the organisation’s requirements.  If someone is doing a degree in marketing but wants to include some piano courses, what’s the harm for the organisation if the person loves what they are doing?” she asks.

Work-lifestyle balance is very topical these days and is importan, says Flora.  “My Board is very happy for me to have a role on Taranaki District Health Board as a way of participating in the wider community.  When we talk work-lifestyle balance, we usually mean young people with families.  We often forget middle-aged people with aging parents who also may be under enormous pressures to assist their parents.  Balance is not just for young people.” 

Finally, a sense of humour can make a huge difference.  “You have got to have some fun.  Never forget the importance of having a good laugh,” Flora says.