Engaging Employees: Don’t Overlook That They’re Your Greatest Experts

"We need to have a discussion on your work ethic.”

This message was the response sent in reference to an email that was mailed at 9:20 pm on a recent evening. The recipient was still at her desk toiling away. The sender, her boss, was already home.

When I saw this woman a few days later, I asked her to tell me about the work ethic conversation her manager mentioned. She said, in a matter of fact manner, “Oh, she does not want me working that late every night.”

Nothing was mentioned about the department being short one person, or, that the one person they were short had left because of long hours.

Getting close to the problem

Doing the Right Thing Is Always the Right Thing

 Even though she didn't put in the $20, the crew at Keller Williams decided to kick in a bit of their winnings — they won’t say how much.

“As a team, we put together a fat pile of money,” Finkelstein Reader said. “If we do the right thing and always care about other people, the right thing will happen to us.”

Those were the remarks from a realtor at Keller Williams concerning their good fortune of winning 2nd place in the recent lottery – which just so happened to be a cool $1 million. By now we have all heard about the winner of the top prize, but 2nd place provided for me a more compelling story about human nature.

“Creating workplaces everyone wants to be part of”

You Can’t Solve Today’s Problems With Yesterday’s Solutions

 “Twenty-first century leaders might benefit from thinking of themselves as being in the center of a web rather than on top of a pyramid” — Dr. Ben Dattner.

When I read that statement over at Smart Brief as their quote of the day, I was pleasantly surprised to see my good friend Dr. Dattner being quoted.

He is a nationally known organizational psychologist that I have worked with numerous times over the years. His recent book, The Blame Game, is centered around two words that causes so much angst in an organization: the dynamics of credit and blame that is percolating 24/7.

Today’s problems, yesterday’s solutions

4 Steps to Career Success and Fulfilling That Longtime Dream

 When did you know?

“When I caught that pass and realized that I was about to score a touchdown, that is when I knew. I have replayed this scenario numerous times since the time I was a kid playing in my front yard. Now I am in the Super Bowl and it is happening”

A Hall of Fame pro football player was recounting his childhood dream and how it all came true.

What were your childhood dreams?

The Most Important Organizational Dynamic? It’s the Art of Managing Up

 “No, I just know how to kiss ass.” 

My immediate reaction was simple: What?

The answer was in response to a question I asked someone about how she was getting along with her manager.

This person had a rough relationship with her manager initially. They seemed to always be butting heads on the smallest of issues. Most of time, she did not feel she could connect.

The most important organizational dynamic

The Power of Frequent Feedback: It’s a Key to Driving Better Productivity

 “Listen, I want you to take the lead in LA on the next project. You are doing an amazing job and deserve it. You continue to impress me. Keep up the great work!”

If you got this note from your boss, would you be pumped?

Well, the recipient of that note was. She shared that with me and was very excited. A written note sharing some feedback — how powerful is that?

What’s a cheap, fast, and easy way to stoke employee productivity and interest? Just tell them how they’re doing and provide some feedback. It took just a few seconds to send that note over, but the employee’s ROI was through the roof.

What is this thing called leadership?

Turnover is Turnover: What Churning Employees Says About Your Culture

“You are not going to believe this, but our admin just quit. She just handed in her two weeks’ notice.”

This is the third admin to come in within the past year and within a month all showed signs that their exit is imminent. Working till 10/11 pm three to four nights a week will cause anyone to rethink a job, especially if you are the new person on the block.”

As our discussion continued, I asked what the manager/HR is going to do about this. Her remarkable reply was, “Oh, they just reposted the job.” I almost dropped the phone reacting to that statement.

How could you allow the job to be re-posted after having three people walk out the door?

When this turnover issue first surfaced, I was told that the first person in the job had been there for just a few weeks, went to lunch one day and did not return or call back. The phrase for that is quitting over lunch.

Doing the “Pope Thing”: Lessons From the Day I Walked in and Quit My Job

 When I got in my car the other morning, the news flash that came through was that Pope Benedict XVI had resigned.

This was big news since apparently a pontiff has not resigned in the past 600 years. That is quite a record since the last resignation was by Gregory XII in 1415.

As I drove along my HR mindset kicked in. Although it was reported that the Pope resigned for health related reasons, I was fixated on the act of resigning. We have all at some times is our career had jobs that we could not wait to resign from.

When I walked in and did the “Pope thing”

The Remote Work Advantage, or Why a Big Storm Wasn’t a Big Problem

Sometimes when we hear weather reports we tend to turn a blind eye or ear depending upon your medium.

This past weekend in the New York City area, we were warned of a big snow storm that was bearing down on the region. By all estimates, it was a giant one.

I thought of this when I read a press release earlier in the week titled Telecommuting Could Save Employees and Employers Time, Money, Grief. This release by outplacement consultants, Challenger Gray & Christmas discussed the big question about whether the nation’s employers should consider making a serious commitment to expanding the use of telecommuting strategies.

Working during the storm