Human resources is experiencing a massive shift. For years, organizations have relied on a single annual engagement survey to collect feedback from employees. These surveys have become a ritual for many companies, and a lucrative industry has sprung up around…
Editor's Pick Archives
Get Your Employees to Work Less and Be More Productive
“They work hard and aren’t afraid to put in extra hours, blood, sweat, and tears to accomplish their goals.” This is how many company leaders would describe their top employees. However, these extra, hard-worked hours actually become overwhelming and are…
All Work and No Play? Not At This Accounting Firm
Every year, when you grapple with your income taxes, know that any stress you’re feeling is nothing compared to the crunch that the accountants at BDO are under. Tax season is the busiest time of year, when 50-, 60-, even 70-hour workweeks…
We Want Meaningful Work and a Meaningful Paycheck
I’m going to stop fighting. For years I’ve been fighting morons who claim that millennials would rather do “meaningful work” than making money. That is actually one big lie, I believe perpetuated by employers who don’t want to pay market…
HR’s Embarrassing Secret: We’re About the Least Diverse
For those of us working in HR and those who partner with us, it’s no secret that the majority of HR professionals are women. This rings true across the country and across all levels. Women currently account for 75% of…
How HR Can Leverage Technology to Help Employees Cope With a Merger
“Dear colleagues, I’m excited to announce that we’ve agreed to be acquired by Company X! We have an exciting future ahead and are looking forward to sharing more information in short order.” – Executive Leader, Company Y Historically, HR has…
More Than Just Diversity, HR Must Develop a Cultural Competence
We are facing a dynamic and consistent cultural shift in the U.S. Population research conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that by 2020 over 50% of the children in the U.S. will be majority-minority, and by 2044 the general…
Stop the Employee Engagement Survey Madness
Millions of words have been written about employee engagement, and over a billion dollars is spent annually in the US alone on employee engagement surveys and improvement interventions. Yet the needle has essentially not budged in over 15 years. In…
How Emotionally Intelligent Is Your Culture?
How often have we heard it said, “He wears his heart on his sleeve”? In some settings this can be a compliment. But let’s be honest, in the work context, particularly in industries such as engineering, it’s often said as…
To CEOs and CHROs: This Is What You Need to do If Talent Really Is a Priority
Dear CEO and CHRO, After years of reading those McKinsey and Gartner ‘what are the CEO’s priorities’ survey results, I felt I needed to send you this note. Chances are, you may have also read and possibly participated in those surveys…
Red Teaming: How to Get At The Truth Within Your Organization
General Martin Dempsey, the former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, tells a story about the day he was promoted to the Army’s highest rank back in 2008: “I had (another) four-star coming through the receiving line to…
What HR Should Do In the Wake of United’s PR Debacle
By now, most of us have seen the shocking video where United Airlines had an unwilling 69-year-old passenger dragged off of one of their airplanes. Many are also aware that United also recently refused to let two teenage girls fly…
Women May Be Better Leaders Than Men, So Why Aren’t There More?
This is first of two parts on gender diversity in leadership positions. Today’s article discusses the current lack of women leaders, the reasons why, as well as describing the benefits women leaders bring to an organization. Part two, offering solutions,…
Is Your Company Suffering from Expectation Alignment Dysfunction?
It happens to the best of us — Expectation Alignment Dysfunction, or EAD. If you haven’t experienced it yet, you probably will. It’s fast becoming the leading killer of employee engagement and a detractor from the Employee Experience (EX) in…
Why HR Can’t Lead Cultural Change
Edgar Schein and the subject of organizational culture are forever linked due to his pioneering efforts in the field. His hallmark book, Organizational Culture and Leadership, has been a resource for more than 30 years. Ed shared insights from its…
It’s the Small Things That Make a Great Leader
Leadership development is slowly becoming like late night TV ads. Over the past few weeks, I get these notifications of leadership development seminars that promise to make you a terrific and dynamic leader: “Become an effective leader if you do…
Deloitte Report: Technology Is Changing All the Rules
Deloitte’s annual human capital report was just published. I look forward to this one every year because it’s backed by a massive amount of data collection and analysis, it’s easy to read, it always throws at least one curve ball,…
The Rush to the Cloud Is Putting HR In Charge of its Tech
It’s a good time to be in the HR technology industry. Last year over $1.96 billion was invested in HR tech startups across 13 categories, including recruitment, career development and automation. There’s also a dizzying number of mergers & acquisitions…
5 Unique Ways to Pump Up Employee Recognition
When you think of NBCUniversal employees, who do you think of? Most people tend to think of the people in front of the camera. But Jayzen Patria, executive director of talent development for NBCUniversal, sought to change that image with…
The Case For Junking 9 Box Assessments
The “9 box” is one of the most popular assessment methods in talent management. I first encountered the 9 box in the 1990s when it was a key part of GE’s highly influential Session C performance management method. Since then…