You might believe your benefits package is top-notch, but would your employees agree? Possibly not: A surprising 36% of respondents to Capital One’s 2019 Work Environment Survey say that their company offers none of the benefits they expect. This, of course, can have a major impact on your workplace morale and productivity. I promise this is not an article about wooing Millennial employees by offering back rubs, b...

Leaders are encouraged to develop their strengths and sharpen their skills to maximize their effectiveness. Many resources are available, including books, seminars, conferences and qualified executive coaches. A coach, of course, can address your specific needs, and customize an approach that perfectly fits your personality, circumstances and goals. Most leaders understand that all their beliefs and behaviors are exposed...

A leader can make the difference between success and failure. A good leader has a futuristic vision and knows how to turn ideas into real-world success stories. Unfortunately, there are many managers out there who are poor leaders. This is largely because of the time-honored practice of promoting people into management solely on the basis of their technical knowledge and ability, rather than because they are effective manag...

I’ve noticed something interesting lately in my conversations with corporate leaders. Naturally, there are a few common themes: increasing demands and endless meetings that suck up valuable work time. (I’m guessing you can relate to that.) But when I ask these leaders how they personally contribute while in meetings, I almost always get an answer that involves status updates. Giving them or getting them. Briefi...

Companies that love to brag about their distinct and defining cultures often cite culture as a significant recruiting tool. In turn, their hiring managers often regard the nebulous “cultural fit” as the most essential factor in evaluating candidates. But is this a good way to hire? Not always. What tends to happen is that rather than hiring for cultural fit, managers hire for personal fit. Instead of seeking out...

Avid gardeners know from experience that accelerating the growth of a tree…requires pruning it. To make it grow bigger, you have to cut it back. That counterintuitive principle also applies to professionals. If we want remarkable business growth, we need the courage to prune things back, our schedules, our projects, and our commitments. We must be willing to drop our dependency on some of the things we’ve a...

As an executive joining a new organization, you are expected to achieve a higher level of productivity within the first few months with a lower learning curve than other employees. Executives must be ready to make an immediate contribution once they’ve accepted their job offer. You can achieve this by knowing everything you can about the organization, its culture, your team, your executive colleagues, and the Bo...

Let’s face it. Hiring can be tough. The unemployment rate is low – just 3.8% according to the Department of Labor Statistics – and employers have to compete for good employees. So what can you do? Here are a few tactics to turn to in order to step up your recruiting and hiring success rate. Obtain Data from Exit Interviews A first step to creating successful recruiting, hiring and retention strat...

If you follow my blog, you know that one of my pet peeves is #LazyRecruiting and its cousin #LazyHiring. Lazy hiring/recruiting is rampant in any job market. When it’s an employer’s market, it takes the form of hiring companies kicking back, and having job seekers do all the work. In a candidate’s market, like we are in now, lazy hiring is represented by hiring companies that appear desperate to fill posit...

Every day we generate 2.5 quintillion bytes of data. This information has led to some tremendous breakthroughs with the potential to improve thousands of lives. As leaders, we also have mountains of data available to us—honestly, more than we can assimilate or make sense of. Yet huge decisions are made every day based solely on the numbers. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love numbers! But, in my years working wit...