Rock Star employees make a huge positive impact and help to increase the valuation of the business. That’s why finding a Rock Star is the goal of every hiring manager. But is that really a good strategy? Should organizations be focused on the…
Talent Management
Make Workforce Planning Real by Dumping Position Management
Given that people costs make up the largest chunk of the operating expenses for a typical organization, getting the workforce plan right is fundamental to good corporate fiscal health. Yet most finance departments still develop budgets for people the same…
Keep Your Employees Happy and You’ll Keep Your Employees
March 20th was International Day of Happiness. Those celebrating had one united goal in mind: to create more happiness in the world around them. In today’s America — where happiness is dropping — it’s more important than ever to take…
Can Culture Be as Simple as Just 19 Words?
It’s well understood that culture can make or break a workplace. Understanding what “culture” means, however, is a whole other matter. As a working concept, culture can’t be easily defined or measured. Merriam-Webster offers six different definitions (and even named…
3 Questions Every Manager Should Be Asking Themselves
Even though I was a teacher for 25 years, I was not a model student. And whenever I was in trouble at school, I knew it not because of my teachers’ words, but based on his or her actions. A…
Now, Being a Great Place to Work Means Great For Each Employee
Last month I attended the Great Place to Work Institute’s annual conference, and once again I was struck by how things have changed. Great Place to Work Institute (aka GPTW) is the organization responsible for Fortune’s annual “100 Best Companies to Work For”…
Don’t Let ‘Meaning’ Be Missing From Your Engagement Strategy
Meaning is one of the five keys in building employee engagement and it may be the most powerful of the keys. The power in meaning comes because it is self-determined. Meaning is found when your work has purpose beyond the work itself. How…
5 Ways to Make New Hires Wish They Turned You Down
When it comes to the employee lifecycle, no period of time is more important than those first few days and months in a new job. Both the employee and the organization want to start off on the right foot, making…
Today’s Learning is Nothing Like Tomorrow’s Is Going to Be
Organizations are investing in talent development now more than ever. According to LinkedIn’s 2017 Workplace Learning Report, talent is the top priority for 69% of learning and development (L&D) professionals. And despite the rise of new learning technologies, 78% of L&D…
Your Workforce Tools Are More Strategic Than You Might Think
This is not a typical article about attracting talented job candidates or retention — while a rich topic, it has become a little tired. There are volumes of research on employee retention – some focus on affirmative strategies; others on…
What If Everyone Had a Personal Coach at Work?
What’s better than a performance review? If you said a poke in the eye, you’d be right there with the vast majority of workers. Kris McGuigan says 4 out of 5 workers say their performance evaluations aren’t working. She didn’t…
5 Reasons Why Working Too Many Hours Is a Bad Idea
24-year-old copywriter Mita Diran’s last Tweet, several hours before she lapsed into a coma and died. One thing most millennials figure out faster than workers of older generations is that work/life balance isn’t just important, it’s crucial. While exceptions like Miss…
Appeals Court Says Prior Salary Doesn’t Justify Pay Differences
Just in time for Equal Pay Day, a federal appeals court today ruled today that an employee’s salary history alone is insufficient to justify pay differences between male and female employees. “Reliance on past wages simply perpetuates the past pervasive…
How to Use Data to Improve Customer Service Performance
The relationship between increased employee engagement and a company’s revenues are strong. Multiple studies, including research from Gallup, have found that the odds of success were nearly double for those workers in the “engaged” group versus the “disengaged” and the…
What’s a Mentor and Why Don’t More People Mentor?
The March (Cincinnati) HR Roundtable dipped its toes into a more personal side of professional development to discuss the topic of mentoring. There are countless recommendations about mentoring and encouragement to either have a mentor, be a mentor yourself, or…
What Exactly Is Employee Engagement?
Have you ever wondered why there were so many definitions of employee engagement? Organizations around the globe are striving to build a culture of engagement, yet the various definitions often cloud their efforts. Rewards and recognition, learning and development, health…
Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect. Deliberate Practice Does
“Ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness.” – Malcolm Gladwell, Canadian writer and journalist. Per the classic joke, we all know how to get to Carnegie Hall: Practice, practice, practice. More recently, Malcolm Gladwell has distilled the concept of…
If You’re Privileged, Embrace It to Help Others
If you’re privileged and you know it, clap your hands. Is that the sound of one hand clapping? “Were all privileged in some way. And yet,” says Kristen Bakalar, “We’re scared to talk about it in the workplace.” If insisting…
HR’s Role When Divorce Impacts Performance
Despite the general pattern of the divorce rate declining, there are still plenty of married couples who untie the knot. Doing so is obviously life-changing, but it can also have a severe impact on your career and ability to work…
6 Steps to a More Effective Performance Management Program
Traditional methods of managing performance aren’t working anymore. Companies are moving away from traditional performance management tools, like annual reviews, to new techniques that emphasize real-time feedback. You know the drill: managers and employees sit down once a year to…