Examples

TREBOR-SHARPS - maker of Trebor Mints - Long Association with the Action Profile®

The long connection of Trebor Sharps and Movement Analysis began in 1952 when Managing Director, Colonel Sidney Marks, invited Warren Lamb to Trebor’s factory in Forest Gate London. Colonel Marks and his Production Director listened patiently as Lamb expounded his thesis that a manger’s working style could be assessed from body movements.

As Lamb concluded, Colonel Marks said – “Why don’t you do us two, right now”? Lamb agreed, taking movement observations on the spot. When he returned with his findings, both men were very impressed, feeling they gained valuable insights into themselves and their working relationship.

As a result, Trebor embarked on a programme of assessments of other Directors, Senior mangers and Area Sales mangers. These included assessments of Colonel Marks’ two sons – John and Ian – who were to succeed him in leadership.

After 15 years of using Profiles - in 1969 John Marks, Chairman, and Ian Marks, Managing Director, decided it was time to validate the work Lamb had undertaken for Trebor Sharps. They appointed psychologist, Pamela Ramsden, for this purpose.

Ramsden’s validation study underscored the benefits of the Action Profiling® approach. She found that the brothers had been able by using the Profiles not only to surround themselves with capable senior mangers who worked together effectively, but also to create an open-minded business environment. Their management groups would sit down together, all with Action Profiles® in front of them, and discuss how best they can complement their strengths to meet current and future needs.

Managing Director, Ian Marks, explained that Profiling “has enabled us to achieve a balance of strength within our various management teams. For example we recently found that the Customer Service Division – the ‘engine room’ of the business – was being squeezed from both sides – by customers and by the Production Department. We looked at a few Profiles and found certain team weaknesses. We then looked at the Profiles of people in other departments and transferred into Customer Service one or two. We now have a Team capable of pushing back. You might say it’s become almost too strong! “

Action Profiling has also enabled Trebor Sharps to look within for many of its senior appointments. “Today” says Chairman John Marks, “we have to do business in rapidly changing and often chaotic conditions. The situation is likely to continue, so we must train ourselves to solve problems as they arise, and this we will do by team building”. Ian Marks concluded, “We look upon (Action Profiling®) as an insurance premium to avoid expensive wrong appointments. ……….. We like to marry the Company’s needs to the applicant’s talents and preferences and with the information we are given, we are only wrong about 10% of the time, whereas in the ‘track record and hunch’ days, it was closer to 40%”.

Trebor – Sharps was sold to Cadbury Schweooes who were then bought by Kraft

Research Study

The initial study was of 10,000 mangers in 400 Companies across the world. The research question that was asked was “What are mangers’ actual thought processes when they make Decisions”

"It was discovered that common to all is the fact that they go through Three Stages in Decision making. Each Stage is characterised by a different mental attitude to the task" - Pamela Ramsden

Continued Study has shown that every manger will concentrate more activity into certain Stages of action and will correspondingly neglect others. This inbuilt Pattern of behaviour remains constant regardless of a particular job or situation. If a manger is able to act in accordance with this spontaneous Pattern she/he will be effective and satisfied. If she/he is prevented the manger will be ineffective and dissatisfied. Motivation is gained from acting in accordance with the Decision Pattern.

Unlike other Leadership situations there is nothing good or bad about anyone's particular process or approach - thus there are no bad Decision making Patterns. However there is an issue if Leaders/mangers are unaware of the particular Decision Pattern that they hold and the personal Decision Impact on the Organisation.

One of the most important principles to grasp is that the highest 'value' area in our Decision making process represents our area of highest motivation and potentially has both strength and vulnerability. Equally, every low area also has the potential for both strength and vulnerability. It is a common error for us to assume that our low areas have little, if any, value. In fact in this model, it is completely reversed; the low areas can be of positive value once we have understood how to optimise them.

tip

Another key factor in our understanding is that each of us begins our Decision making process in the area where we have the highest motivation. It is inevitable that we will spend more time and energy in these areas - and only when satisfied will we progress through the other aspects in order of their relative 'importance' or 'value'.