Regardless how they obtain the skills they need for the job, employees worth their paycheck have the desire to get better at what they do. They want to acquire and develop new skills, talents, and abilities that will help them increase their value to their present employers and other prospective employers. To ignore your employees’ need…
It’s astounding how often it happens… You’re in a conversation with a sales person, service representative, or an associate of an organization and you ask a question or make a passing comment about something that’s happened within their company — something interesting that made the headlines or the evening news — and they look at you as…
Guest Post by Mark Sanborn, Author of the NTY Bestseller, The Fred Factor and Fred 2.0 Over the years, I’ve used several definitions of the term leadership. Here’s one I keep coming back to: Leadership is the ability to help people and organizations surpass themselves. Essentially, leaders enable others to be better than they’ve ever been,…
Standing 726 feet high, and weighing more than 18 Empire State buildings combined, the Hoover Dam is a jaw-dropping wonder of the industrial world. It was built in the early 1930’s during the Great Depression by a consortium of six major tunnel, railroad, and highway contractors that went by the name Six Companies. The promise of above-average…
Roy and Beth have been dating for a year. One night after a romantic dinner in a posh restaurant, Roy pretends to drop a napkin on the floor. While reaching down to get it, he falls to one knee, pulls a big, shiny ring out of his coat pocket, and proposes to Beth. Totally caught…
On-fire employees—the kind you’re perpetually attempting to hire, develop, and retain—need some latitude to make decisions in the workplace. The companies that are known for being the best places to work in their respective industries train, trust and empower their people to think and act on their own. In its 2014 Employee Satisfaction and Job Engagement…
“We’re adding a little something to this month’s sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac El Dorado. Anybody wanna see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is…you’re fired.” In the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross, Blake—famously portrayed by Alec Baldwin—issues this decree, exposing an artful…
To get back to Kansas, Dorothy never had to jump through all the death-defying hoops the Wizard put her through. She had everything she needed (ruby shoes) from the very beginning. All she lacked was the understanding of how to unlock their magical powers. Since they began making their way into the workforce in the late 90’s, business leaders, owners, and…
Back in 2006, I published a Special Report titled More than 50 Great Interview Questions to Ask a Gen Y Applicant. The questions were gathered from hundreds submitted by clients, readers of my books, and HR managers from a wide variety of companies and organizations across multiple industries. Now that the focus of my work…
Every manager has been told that it’s important to acknowledge, recognize, and reward their top performing employees. Unfortunately, most haven’t been coached on how to do this effectively. And if one of the goals is to get the performer to continue performing at a high level, the why has to be linked to the what. “You’ve done a good job…