I think the thing about “engagement” that concerns me the most is that it is about the “symptom” if you will. Managers want engaged employees because there is evidence that translates engagement to results. What I think we all want, and what we try to build toward, is a workplace where employees bring their best efforts to…
Culture – Scapegoat or Driver?
No matter the institution – your family, your school, your workplace – there is a culture that the participants all assume. The assumptions lead to statements such as: That’s perfect for us! The dean will never approve that. Are you kidding? You think we could do that here? That’s right up our alley. That a…
Open Door – The Shift Worker’s Dilemma
The “Open Door” stories are all composites. Real situations I have faced in one form or another, but written with respect to those who have shared parts of their lives with me at work. And if you’ve worked in HR very long, you have dozens like these. “You need to help me get my schedule…
Is Your Workplace a Floundering Cruise Ship?
Last month one of my friends commented on how Lance Armstrong should be grateful the Manti Te’o story broke, and Manti should be happy that Lance went to see Oprah. Why? Because when you can’t avoid the attention of the media, nothing beats a good distraction. So the audience gets split. Corporate reputations are kind…
Have You Earned Your DEPP™ ?
I have read enough LinkedIn profiles and resumes to realize that adjectives have taken over. There is an adjective-based claim that many people are making that I believe needs some sort of certification. It seems there are growing numbers of DEPPs in every profession. Dedicated, Engaged, Passionate Professional. All I need to do is find…
Waste in Disguise in HR Processes – Policy Exceptions
If you’ve spent any time at all in Continuous Improvement training, you know about waste. Waste is not just the stuff you throw away, but it is anything you lost as well. The time spent repairing a machine for the same failure is waste, especially if there is an opportunity to design a permanent solution…
The Rule of Three in the Workplace
Whether or not you have ever heard of the “Rule of Three” you have been exposed to it. You’ve heard (or told) a joke with three characters. “A priest, a rabbi, and a monk walk into a bar…”. You’ve experienced it in story-telling, where character number one fails one way, character number two in another…
Don’t Stop, Be Leaving
One of my favorite assignments involves teams that are new or growing. When I get a chance to work with a leader in those instances, I usually start with telling them that “Everything is decisionable”. Clean Slate. Greenfield. We don’t have to do everything exactly the same way we always have. And when you try to implement…
Blink or Think, Just Not Extinct
This is the last post in my series on decision-making. The idea behind these posts came from a couple of books that are all about how we think and how we make decisions. In Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell explores the incredible speed with which our minds work to resolve problems,…
The HR Seat Brain at the Table
This is the fourth post in a series on decision-making. In yesterday’s post, I challenged you to decide on which of two options to take for two different scenarios. One scenario involved gain, and the other involved loss. They both involve the same basic math, but people seem to be more likely to take bigger…
