“Lone eagles, soaring in the clouds, fly with silent, peaceful poise, While turkeys, in their earth-bound crowds, fill the atmosphere with noise.” Those words of scholar William Arthur Ward succinctly capture the different characteristics of two kinds of birds. But Ward is talking about more than just birds. He is…
2009 will go down as a year to remember but for many businesses the memories may be painful ones. As we move from depths of the recession into the glimmer of a recovery we have an opportunity to reflect on valuable HR lessons learned and use those lessons to become…
Imagine tomorrow morning you discover that 40% of your staff is out sick and the missing people are in clusters wiping out entire critical functions within your business for the NEXT 10 DAYS! How would you make sure that your business survives this very real situation? What would you do…
Last year we joked about the grumpy HR Grinch, ready to shut down your rollicking good time this holiday season. You know, the anything goes office party where your employees leave their inhibitions at the door. The celebratory occasion that provides months of post party gossip. This year, more employers…
What have ineffective managers contributed to organizations around the world? No list would be complete without these “gifts” from those who manage poorly: The 80-hour work week Discouragement of initiative, creative thinking and risk-taking Massive turnover Ultimate failure of the organization This is the story of business that gets repeated,…
Having really enjoying Keith McFarland’s last book, The Breakthrough Company, I was looking forward to reading his newest one, Bounce. It’s a very quick read, but tells a strong story. There have been some mixed opinions about McFarland’s choice of style for this book. He uses a fable to tell…
“Social media is content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies…” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media Social media has expanded exponentially in recent years, leaving many businesses and their employees in uncharted territory. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogs, Instant Messaging… and countless others means of humans interacting electronically. People are interacting…
2010 is shaping up to be an especially dangerous year to be a California Employer. We have the national health care debate, massive losses in the unemployment system, and let’s not forget workers comp. While we have no idea what will come out of Washington or Sacramento, what we do…
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every workplace operated in a harmonious way? Fortunately, for many companies in our community, this is the case. Organizations with people who work in harmony have capabilities that nurture their capacity for pleasure and work. Ultimately, companies in which people collaborate best will have a…
Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman We’ve all had that employee who we hired with such great expectations. Their resume was impressive, including both experience and education that indicated they could be a star employee, and they generated such confidence during their interviews. However, they failed to engage with other staff,…
