It’s that time of year when college and universities around the world will release onto us the great minds of the graduating Class of 2013.
This always makes me think of the popular advice given at a commencement a few years ago – “Wear Sunscreen.” (see below)
While this advice might be from 1999, it still rings true today. But like everything else in the world, this advice can be added to and expanded upon. Read more…
Sometimes, we need to air our HR dirty laundry.
Let’s bring into the light of day how surveys are traditionally conducted and then acted upon. Indeed, let’s stop torturing our employees with bad surveys – especially bad employee engagement surveys.
Frankly, the survey itself is rarely the problem. The questions are usually quite good in terms of defining the information you and the organization want to learn about employee attitudes, satisfaction and engagement.
Let’s look at the three most common failures of employee surveys as typically implemented today: Read more…
Networking. To be honest, most people are horrible at it.
The vast majority of people network out of necessity, but few do it consistently. It is a needed business skill, so why do people struggle with it so much?
The HR Roundtable in Cincinnati gathered in April to take this on. They started with the following questions to get discussion going:
Of the many obstacles to improving employee engagement in an organization, creating buy-in for employee engagement surveys and respective change initiatives is perhaps one of the most challenging — and the most prolific.
Are senior executives actually indifferent about employee engagement? Are managers too close-minded to realize the positive effects of engagement? Are employees too needy or too hard-to-please?
The answer to any of these questions is simply “No.” Don’t believe me? Keep reading. Read more…
We want a seat at the table? We want to add value? We want to positively influence the success of the business?
OK, then let’s stop giving away one of our best tools – the art and science of performance improvement!
No, not performance management, where managers spend as little time as possible each year providing feedback to employees that is as bland as possible.
I mean real performance improvement; the sort of improvement that gets the attention of executives and builds the bottom line. Performance improvement that brings together the social sciences to examine and adjust human behavior through assessment, action and evaluation. Read more…
Hello. My name is Tim Sackett, and I’m a hugger.
Being a hugger can make for some awkward moments. What if the other person isn’t expecting a hug, or doesn’t want to hug, and you’re coming in arms-wide-open!?
Fast Company had an article recently titled To Hug Or Not To Hug At Work?, that delved into this subject. Here’s a piece from the article:
Awkwardness is … ‘the uncomfortable feeling you get when you realize that your concept of your relationship with someone else doesn’t match their concept. The intensity of awkwardness roughly corresponds to the magnitude of difference in relationship concepts.’ ” Read more…
Strategy is one of my passions. I’m fortunate that helping clients formulate strategy is also my job.
Indeed, my title is Vice President, Client Strategy and Consulting. I greatly enjoy my work helping organizations of all stripes develop a strategy for proactive management of their company culture. Yet, I also believe that everyone is (or should be) strategist in their organization.
Two pieces on strategy I read last week helped me coalesce my thinking. First, from Strategy + Business comes the ideas of Cynthia Montgomery, Timken Professor of Business Administration and former chair of the strategy unit at Harvard Business School. Read more…
By Howard Mavity
It’s not our fault — it’s their fault.
I’m not talking about kindergarten playtime or its “adult” equivalent — politics.
Any time multiple employers are involved, labor and employment matters becomes much more complicated. The classic example is a construction site. OSHA refers to such settings as “multi-employer worksites.” Read more…
Let’s face it — the active candidate has become a second-class citizen.
Conventional wisdom says that there continues to be a glut of in-transition executives in the job market. Just post a job on Monster.com and you can expect an avalanche of resumes to bury your inbox. Or, set your corporate recruiter loose on LinkedIn and within a few days, she will be sitting in your office with a stack of profiles from which you can choose your next VP of [insert job title here].
The only catch is that the vast majority of these candidates are either out of work or have something going on in their current companies that is pushing them out the door. Read more…
“LOL”
— Laurie Ruettimann on Everything That You Really Need to Know About LinkedIn, 12 minutes ago
“Ha ha!”
— Crystal Spraggins on Five Reasons Your Employees Like It When You Stay Home, 16 minutes ago
“You are so right Scott. I started as HR, shifted to OD and am also now one of those . . . ”
— Carol Anderson on It’s Not Easy, But Here’s Where HR Can Add Value to the Business, 1 hour ago
“Crystal - Don't take my word for it - just go up and Hug her - she's really too small . . . ”
— Tim Sackett on My Rules For Hugging at the Office, 1 hour ago
“Beth - Hugs back! Thanks for the comments, T.”
— Tim Sackett on My Rules For Hugging at the Office, 1 hour ago