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…
Retention & Engagement
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
How and Why to Make Onboarding a Strategic Priority
For several years, organizations viewed the process of onboarding new hires as the automation of required tasks like completing paperwork, and then it was often up to the new employee to integrate into their new surroundings. But focusing on paperwork…
When Money Isn’t Enough: 4 Drivers of Motivation
Most existing recognition and incentive programs have been designed utilizing traditional economic theories which suggest: People tend to act rationally and in their own best interests when making decisions Money is the most effective motivator This conventional approach (that rewarded…
If Your Onboarding Program Means Filling Out Papers, Say Goodbye to Your New Hire
There is no time period more paramount to an employee’s career than onboarding, yet so many companies are failing at the process. With up to 30% of new hires quitting in their first six months and 22% leaving in the…
5 Ingredients for a Successful ‘Goodness’ Program
It takes more than perks to attract, retain and engage today’s diverse, socially-conscious workforce. Purpose, passion and an ability to make an impact are important to employees — especially millennials, who are projected to make up 50% of the global…
Get Better Ideas, Higher Engagement and Even Improve Your Managers By Encouraging 2-Way Feedback
Every successful relationship works via a careful process of give and take. We need to learn how to express ourselves, our ideas, and our interests. Equally, though, we need to really listen. Proactive listening can prevent a lot of issues…
Recognition Can Help Connect People to Your Values and Mission
When it comes to mission and values, there are two ends of the spectrum. On one hand, you might be thinking: “Of course I care about my company’s mission and values!” As an HR professional, this is music to my…
That Seat at the Table Is In the Library
“I spend so much time reading now. As I am finally a member of the executive team, there are so many areas that I needed to brush up on as the organization is in such a growth spurt.” This discussion…
HR 101: 5 Ways to Win Back Your Stressed Out Workers
According to a survey administered by Kronos and Future Workplace, 46% of human resource professional respondents (at organizations with 100 to over 2,500 employees) blame burnout for up to half of their staff quitting each year. The top three reasons…
Give Them Purpose by Giving Them a Fight Club
Many of today’s organizations find themselves in a death-spiral, speeding towards mediocrity. Worse, many a re already on the slippery slope to irrelevance. The free fall is fueled by the inability to attract, develop and retain the best talent of…
Everything You Wanted to Know About Pulse Surveys
Many organizations and survey software providers use the terms “employee pulse surveys” and “always-on survey” (or variations of always-on, such as “continuous feedback” or “real-time feedback”) interchangeably. While this makes sense on the surface, pulse surveys are technically more similar…
How HR Can Save Us from Employee Engagement’s #EpicFail
Our attempts to improve engagement have been an epic fail. This, according to the most recognized organization involved in this arena. In the Worldwide Employee Engagement Crisis, the Gallup Organization authors state: “Though there have been some slight ebbs and…
Is Team Building the Secret to Improving Engagement?
There are myriad factors that influence the productivity of any given organization. Employee engagement is one of the most crucial, thanks to its direct relationship to productivity. Organizational strategies and tactics implemented by progressive, productivity-minded HR executives can have a…