I recently met with a client responsible for organizational development in the financial services sector who was seeking ideas, information, and input from ImagineNation towards cultivating a “fail fast” organizational culture. It caused me to explore what might be some…
Talent Management
Feeling Overwhelmed? Take a Focus Break
The human resource leader’s role is rapidly evolving with ever-changing technology. Many of the responsibilities which formerly fell to HR departments have become automated. Chatbots answer employees’ questions regarding company benefits. Employees may be responsible for enrolling themselves in health…
Employees Looking for a New Job Want to Be Caught
Employee engagement levels continue to remain dismally low across the globe, and a surprisingly high number of us are looking for new jobs. If you’re one of those seeking greener pastures, there’s a curious fact of brain science you need…
Evaluations Still Have a Place If You Do Them Right
Employee performance reviews are undergoing an evolution from annual evaluation to something else. It seems there are almost as many different schools of thought about the most effective way of grading an individual’s performance as articles written on the subject….
4 Pieces of Advice from One Working Mom to Another
Since the greatest gift you can give a working mother is time, I will spare you a long introduction. After reflecting on the one-day-a-year mothers are publicly acknowledged, I thought it would be helpful to share what I have learned…
How Companies Can Develop Anti-Bias Strategies that Work
It was the video seen round the world: Two black men in a Philadelphia Starbucks being arrested. Their crime? Sitting in the coffee shop without so much as buying a nitro cold brew or smoked-turkey protein box. A manager had asked…
What to Look For In an E-learning System
Once a corporate training alternative, e-learning services have become the new norm. Managers appreciate the way they streamline coaching; employees like educating themselves in the most convenient way possible. It’s no wonder global e-learning has grown by more than 900% since…
How to Convince the C-Suite to Make Learning a Priority
For most organizations, every dollar or minute spent on the company’s dime is constantly under evaluation and fierce scrutiny. Although reskilling employees and providing career development often take a back seat to business priorities more directly tied to revenue, workplace…
Here’s What You Need to Attract and Keep Your Young Talent
Are you having trouble recruiting and retaining young talent? Recruitment has been an ongoing concern for human resources for a number of years, particularly with regards to the younger generation. It has recently come to light that more and more…
5 Ways to Make It Safe for Others to Speak Up
The reality of hierarchical social systems is that people hold deeply ingrained, taken-for-granted beliefs that it’s dangerous to speak up or disagree with those in power… It’s up to leaders to foster the climate of psychological safety required to overcome…
Come Journey With Us Through the Career of a 21st Century Worker
Note: This article is part of an occasional series dedicated to exploring the contribution of human capital assets (people!) to the valuation of a business. Welcome to The New ROI: Return on Individuals. I was looking forward to seeing one of my favorite bands again…
With Practice and the Right Approach, Feedback Can Be a Gift
Annual performance reviews are controversial. Some people praise them in public, but most hate them in private. For starters, they are a waste of time — that’s why many companies are ditching annual reviews. Also, research shows that they make…
5 Steps to Developing a World Class Sales Training Program
The following is an exclusive excerpt from Sales Enablement: A Master Framework to Engage, Equip and Empower a World-Class Sales Force. Tamara Schenk and I co-authored this book to explore the exploding business function of sales enablement. Sales enablement has…
Don’t Wait For December, Pay Bonuses Year Round
If you’re like most companies, you probably already give annual bonuses to thank and reward people for their work throughout the year. Except, there’s a problem: A yearly bonus isn’t always the best way to do that. For starters, it’s…
Do You Have a Culture of Stress? Here’s How to Tell
This article is excerpted from Tom’s recent book, The Stress-Reduction Pyramid: A Guide to Managing the Greatest Threat to Employee Health and Productivity. ∼∼∼∼∼ It’s Monday morning, and you’re standing at the edge of a swamp. Looking out, you see…
How to Create a Company Where People Stay
Employee retention is an ongoing challenge for many organizations. Across industries, there are talent shortages at almost every job level, and employers face an increasingly competitive job market. Though candidates and current employees have many career options, there are steps you…
Help Your Employees to Have a ‘Line of Sight’ to Goals
Incentives remain one of the most powerful, and yet also one of the most misapplied, management tools out there. While research has shown that group incentives can deliver significant return on investment (CARS research showed a median plan ROI of 134%…
Where Did We Go Wrong with Leadership Development?
Most of us seem to intuitively understand the connection between leadership and success, because collectively we invest a lot of time and money in self-help classes and books intended to improve our leadership skills. In 2011, the self-help market in…
How to Work With a Micromanaging Boss
If you haven’t worked for a micromanager, you’ve heard about them. Employees buzz about these bosses over lunch, complain about them around the water cooler, and chew them up at the dinner table with their family. At the worst situations,…
Compliance Training Doesn’t Have to Be Boring
The modern workplace expects employees to be flexible, accessible and fast moving. Shouldn’t the same apply to online compliance training? Yes, and the good news is that compliance training is breaking out of its boring lane. Traditionally, organizations have used…