With all the great posts hitting the Blogosphere this past week on the topics of leadership development, talent management, and human resource management, I would like to point you to five blog posts thatpI consider to be the best of the best for the week ofpMarchp23rdpto March 29th,p2009.
Steve Roesler, All Things Workplace: Can You Pass The Cicero Persuasion Test? - Anyone looking to climb the organizational ladder quickly finds that persuasion and empathy are among the most important skills that one can cave.p Steve takes a look at the art of persuasion through the eyes of one of our oldest and wisest philosophers - Cicero - and asks if you can pass the Cicero persuasion test.
Bob Sutton, Work Matters: Revenge Versus Indifference: The Virtues of Letting it Go - With a seeminglypendless stream of media headlines uncovering the less than scrupulous behaviorpby the leaders of our nation's largest companies, it is easy to get caught up in one's emotions and find oneself downright angry at these individuals and wanting revenge.p Bob Sutton examines our inclination towards revenge and points out some of the downsides of chasing these charged emotions.
Drea Knufken, Business Pundit: 10 Ways to Make Better CEOs- Drea weighs in with a great list of ten suggestion for how organizations can create and develop better leaders in this critical position.p
Seth Godin's Blog:pGetting Serious About Your Meeting Problem - Seth wants you to get serious about your meeting problem that is robbing you from hours of productive time and provides nine tips for you to follow if you want to make more out of your meeting time.
Carmine Coyote, Slow Leadership: What it Takes to be a Genuine Leader - Carmine Coyote responds to a "sobering" article from Management Issues and provides thoughts on what it takes to be a genuine leader.
Every Friday I like to feature an online resource that I feel will help you in your quest to Maximize Possibility in your organization and your life at work. Today I would like to share one of my favorite online publications: Business Week.
The Resource: Business Week Online
What It Covers: A better way to phrase it might be "what doesn't it cover." Business Week is about as broad as it gets when it comes to business publications. Consider it the USA Today or Washington Post for business professionals - covering everything from the stock market and leading financial news to the latest technology and productivity tools just to name a few.
Why You Should Check It Out: One of the last things I remember before graduating college was my strategic management professor encouraging the class to purchase a subscription to Business Week and to treat it as the text book for the rest of our professional lives. While it was several years before I acted on my professor's advice, I couldn't be more thankful that I did.
Business Week is an excellent tool to keep your business mind sharp and up to date with the latest business news and industry trends. Best of all, you may be surprised to hear that everything you get with a print subscription, you can access for free from the Business Week website along with many extra features including blogs, research, and even book reviews and recommendations.
While I still keep my print subscription, Business Week Online is a great resource for anyone who enjoys a solid stream of on-demand business news and information. Check it out today!
Features You Will Enjoy:
With all the great posts hitting the Blogosphere this past week on the topics of leadership development, talent management, and human resource management, I would like to point you to five posts (and a bonus pick!)pthatpI consider to be the best of the best for the week ofpMarch 16thpto March 22nd,p2009.
Wally Bock, Three Star Leadership: Moments of Truth - There is an old saying that adversity doesn't build character, but rather reveals it.p Wally encourages us to remember this when making tough decisionspduring these trying economic times.
Dan McCarthy, Great Leadership: A No Bull-#$%!pPerformance Review Process -pTired of all the "BS" associated with the dreaded annual performance review?p Dan offers up an excellent "no bull" performance evaluation process.
Michelle Malay Carter, Mission Minded Management: How to Match People to Roles -ppMichelle takes a look outside the role personality plays in matching candidates to a job and looks at the very important role that cognitive ability plays in putting the right person in the right position.
Peggy Andrews, The Career Encouragement Blog: A Little Bit About Leadership...- Peggy provides a pair of excellent thoughts on leadership during tough times in this great post.
Karl Staib, Chief Happiness Officer: 5 Ways to Retain Superstar Employees- Now more than ever, it is critical that your organization retain its top performing, superstar employees.p Guest blogger Karl Staib provides hispfive suggestions for retaining the top employees within your organization.p
Bonus Pick: Be sure to check out Gautam Ghosh's commentarypon a recent CFO.com article imploring CFOs not to trust HR.
Every Friday I like to feature an online resource that I feel will help you in your quest to Maximize Possibility in your organization and your life at work. Today I would like to share one of my favorite "must read" blogs: Alison Green's Ask a Manager
The Resource: Alison Green's Ask a Manager
What it Covers: Alison writes prolifically on just about any work related management topic you can dream of. Structured with a classic question and answer format, Green answers readers' questions on their workplace challenges, dilemmas, and outrages. From nightmare employees and confronting co-workers with less than ideal personal hygiene, to identifying the best candidate for the job and creating a successful leadership development plan Alison takes on her readers' questions and provides them with her candid insight.
Why You Should Check it Out: One of the things I love most about the Ask a Manager blog is that I never know what I'm going to get when I hit Alison's posts in my Google Reader. One day she's advising a frustrated manager on how to better communicate with her team and the next day she's giving her sobering feedback to a reader who feels entitled to a promotion he wasn't offered.
Regardless of the question she is answering, I have come to count on Alison for honest answers to difficult workplace questions that leave me thinking of my job as an organizational development consultant in a slightly different light.
Head on over to the Ask a Manager blog to find out for yourself!
Selected Posts You May Enjoy:
Erik Samdahl and my friends over at the Institute for Corporate Productivity (I4CP) are hosting the latest installment of the Carnival of Human Resource with a special productivity themed carnival. Head on over and check it out for a great collection of posts from the industry's leading bloggers!
With all the great posts hitting the Blogosphere this past week on the topics of leadership development, talent management, and human resource management, I would like to point you to five posts (and a bonus pick!)pthatpI consider to be the best of the best for the week ofpMarch 9thpto March 15th,p2009.
Feyi Boroffice, The Recruiters Lounge: Layoffs Are Not a Panacea - Guest Blogger at The Recruiters Lounge Feyi Boroffice makes a compelling case as to why layoffs are not the panacea many want to be in this difficult economic climate.
Gautam Ghosh on Human Resources: Human Resource and Social Media - In a follow up to an excellent post a couple of months ago on what he calls HR 2.0,p Gautam further expands on his vision of HR 2.0 and how human resource professionalspcan leverage social media tools to optimize the level of talent it recruits.
Steve Roesler, All Things Workplace: Want to be Effective? Then Answer This- In an excellent and provocative post, Steve Roesler challenges you to answer the following question: What are you genuinely committed to that reflects your most deeply held values?
Ann Bares, Compensation Force: On the Possibility of Driving High Performing Talent from the Places wepNeed it Most -ppAnn muses on the delicate issue of compensation and bonusespfor Wall Street executives and the possibility of over-regulationpdriving the best talent away from this important industry.
Carmine Coyote: Slow Leadership: The Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective Leaders - Carmine pulls a 180 on Steven Covey's popular work and points out the seven destructive habits that highly ineffective leaders share.
Bonus Pick: Be sure to check out HR's very own Punk Rocker - Laurie Reuttimann - and her take on the other side of using social media in HR and the hiring process.
Every Friday I like to feature an online resource that I feel will help you in your quest to Maximize Possibility in your organization and your life at work. Today I would like to share one of my favorite research sites that, as an economist by trade, I don't think I could live without: the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Resource: The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics
What it Covers: As its name would suggest, the BLS provides statistics on the U.S. labor market such as unemployment rates, workforce sizes and trends, inflation data, employee turnover rates, productivity levels, and compensation data and trends just to name a few.
Why You Should Check it Out: The Bureau of Labor Statistics is without a doubt one of the richest sources of employment and labor data available. And best of all, the data is provided free of charge to the public (that pays for it with their tax dollars). The data reported by the BLS is highly reliable, published on regular intervals, and even seasonally adjusted and revised to provide the most accurate data possible on the U.S. employment and labor market.
The level of reporting that comes out of the BLS is phenomenal, with data reported on national and state level all the way down to the county and even the city level. This makes it possible to not only keep track of what is happening in the labor market on the national stage, but also what is happening in your own back yard.
The BLS has also made great strides as of late to make their data more user friendly and easier to use with interactive historical charts for much of the data it reports.
If you are a statistics person who enjoys getting lost in a mountain of data, the BLS is just the site for you. Even if you are not, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is one of the best places online for business professionals to go to keep abreast of the latest economic trends and conditions.
Features you will enjoy:
It's that magical time of the year for basketball fans. That's right it's time once again for March Madness! During the coming weeks offices and workplaces around the country will be abuzz with the latest news and information about the big tournament and high hopes will be set for alma maters participating in the Big Dance. All this excitement brings with it office pools and wagers placed by workers who try to predict how the 64 team tournament will pan out. Not surprisingly all this extra-curricular office activity will have an impact on productivity: a 3.5 billion dollar loss in American productivity by some estimates.
Stop! Before you rush to send out a scorching e-mail to everyone in the office warning of the repercussions for office gambling and using company time to get in on the March Madness action you should know that there is an upside. All this time spent by workers on March Madness encourages camaraderie between workers and can do a great job of boosting the morale and engagement of your workforce.
Try as you may, but it is highly improbable that you can stop the March Madness bug from floating around your workplace - at least not without appearing to posses the iron fist of a cruel dictator . It is inevitable that somebody will be filling out tournament brackets during work hours.
You could monitor worker's online activities and threaten termination for anyone participating in office pools or online tournament brackets to ensure your organization stays productive during the coming weeks. However one must consider the time and effort this would take to enforce, the high costs of employee turnover associated with terminating the offenders, and of course the negative impact this would have on organizational morale.
Given the strong correlation between employee morale and levels of production, customer satisfaction, and firm revenues a better approach could be to actually embrace the phenomena that is March Madness and sponsor an event within your organization.
Sponsoring a March Madness event or tournament poll allows you to control the the "Big Dance" on your terms. Consider using any number of sports sites such as Yahoo! Sports or ESPN to host the tournament bracket for you. This can eliminate much of the time an ambitious employee might spend setting up a bracket on paper and printing it off for others to fill out.
Taking control of the office pool can also go along way in preventing illegal office gambling. While rarely enforced, gambling in the workplace is illegal in most instances and could pose a potential liability to companies that knowingly allow it to take place. Consider offering a small prize such as a college sweater or free round of golf to the winner or top placers in the office pool. Better yet, customize the prizes to show that you care about your team member's personal interests.
Consider using a scheduled break time (usually 15 minutes) twice a week to get together and discuss the tournament pool and how everyone's favorite team is doing is a great way to minimize excess time talking about the tournament. Many organization allow for a 15 minute "coffee break" in the morning and afternoon that this get-together could easily take the place of.
Camaraderie can play a huge factor in the effort to retain employees and this is a great way to for team members as they get to know each other by talking about where they went to college, who their favorite teams are, or who the next Lebron James is going to be. Imagine... marketing and manufacturing discovering that they actually have something in common!
Another way to leverage March Madness to improve morale and engagement (without killing productivity) is to designate a day of the week (Fridays are always good) where team members are encouraged to wear ties or sweatshirts supporting their favorite team or alma mater. Add to this by hosting a pot luck lunch where employees can bring their favorite game day foods to share with others.
What this all boils down to is mmployee morale and engagement at your organization. High levels of morale and an engaged workforce have countless benefits including increased employee retention levels, reduced turnover costs, higher levels of productivity, and most importantly increased sales and profits.
It should be no surprise that happy employees stay in their jobs longer, produce more, and drive revenue growth.
There is no secret formula for achieving high levels of morale. Rather it is often the little things that management does that say, "work can be fun" or, "this is a great place to work". March Madness is just one of these little things. Avoid the temptation to scorn the big tournament as these efforts will probably be ill received and ineffective at best. Instead embrace what makes March Madness great – the camaraderie it encourages between people of all backgrounds. I will bet that any temporary loss of production will soon be recouped by the positive benefits associated with improved employee morale.
Now go Maximize Possibility!
Other blog posts you may be interested in:
Chris Young helps organizations Maximize Possibility through talent management, cultural transformation, and strategic intervention.p Bring Chris in today!
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With all the great posts hitting the Blogosphere this past week on the topics of leadership development, talent management, and human resource management, I would like to point you to five posts that I consider to be the best of the best for the week of March 2nd to March 8th, 2009.
Ray Subs, Brilliant Leadership: Become the Star You Are Meant to Be - Ray offers an inspiring post on becoming a star employee with five tips for improving your chances of success at work. I especially like that Ray recognizes there is a lot more to being a star at work than being technically proficient in your job.
Nina Simosko, Slow Leadership: Smarter Growth for Better Leaders - The best leaders are continually learning, growing, and developing into more effective managers and leaders. Nina relays Umair Haque's four pillars of smart growth for better leaders and provides her always insightful commentary on them as well.
Tara Craig, The Work Clinic: Rehiring Retirees - Are They Worth It?- Retiree's are often a goldmine of organizational knowledge that is rarely tapped by the organizations they loyally served. Tara offers up her thoughts on retirees in the workforce and weighs in on the pros and cons of rehiring retirees.
Alison Green, US News and World Reports: 7 Things to Leave Off Your Resume - If you are in the market for a new job, the current employment market has no doubt left you wondering what you should and shouldn't include in your resume to make a great first impression. Alison Green - a seasoned HR professional - shares some inside information about what to keep and what to get rid of on your resume.
Jon Hyman, Ohio Employer's Law Blog: A Textbook Example in Handling a Problem Employee - While I write often on the strategic management side of managing low performers and "problem employees" I don't often dive into the legal side of performance management - and for good reason: I am not a lawyer! Jon Hyman, however, is a lawyer and reports on a "textbook" example of how to handle a problem employee from a legal perspective.
One of my favorite leadership bloggers, Dan McCarthy, is hosting the March edition of the carnival of leadership development at his blog - Great Leadership. Head over to Dan's blog for a special St. Patrick's Day themed carnival jam packed full of leadership and management advice from some of the best bloggers on the web!
Every Friday I like to feature an online resource that I feel will help you in your quest to Maximize Possibility in your organization and your life at work. Today I would like to share one of my all time favorite authors: Tom Peters
The Resource: Tom Peters! Blog
What it Covers: As one of the best-selling business authors of all time, Tom Peters has the authority, credentials, and insight to write eloquently on a wide range of business topics. Peters does just that on a regular basis with his blog. With the addition of guest articles from "Cool Friends", Tom's blog is an excellent resource for commentary and insight on important topics such as hiring the best talent, developing the leaders of tomorrow, personal branding, and innovation just to name a few.
Why You Should Check it Out: As far as I am concerned, Tom Peters is a legend. Even after writing over a dozen books in the past 25 years - many of them best-sellers - Tom is still publishing fresh and provocative content on a regular basis at his blog. Thanks to the speed of digital publishing we no longer have to wait for Tom to publish a new book or newspaper article, but rather get a timely look at what one of the best authors of our time is thinking about today's hot topics. Just one of the many reasons to check out Tom Peters Blog!
Features You Will Enjoy:
With all the great posts hitting the Blogosphere this past week on the topics of leadership development, talent management, and human resource management, I would like to point you to five posts that I consider to be the best of the best for the week of February 23rd to March 1st, 2009.
Dan McCarthy, Great Leadership: 10 Ways to Improve Your "Executive Presence"- Dan takes a look at one of the great leadership "intangibles" - executive presence - and offers up 10 great tips for improving your executive presence.
Frank Roche, Know HR: Pay Transparency Survey Results: Part I - Frank Roche goes straight to the horse's mouth (over 600, in fact!) to find out how people really feel about the idea of pay transparency. In part I of his series Frank releases the findings from his survey.
Lisa Haneberg, Management Craft: Engagement - Rarer Now. Needed More Now - Employee engagement hasn't gotten a lot of press lately with the recession temporarily improving rates of employee retention and leading managers to believe their employees are happy with their state of employment. However, Lisa reminds us that despite improved levels of retention employee engagement is rarer now than ever and need more now than ever. Lisa offers 10 tips for improving engagement in your organization.
Timothy Thomas, Brilliant Leadership: Power Shift- Timothy takes a look at two opposing paradigms of organizational power and makes a case for a shift in the way organizations view power.
Dan Bobinski, Workplace Excellence: Free White Paper on Value Selling- Dan offers up a free white paper download on value selling. Don't miss this great free resource!
