Much has been written and discussed about Gen Y in the workplace, including in our own webinar with Lisa Orrell. As this article in the Wall Street Journal shows, Millennials are becoming “good workplace citizens.”
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These are two simple words that are becoming rarer every day. If you don’t believe me try this experiment: For the next week, every time you make a purchase (in person) pay attention to what the clerk says at the end of the transaction. I have been doing this for a while and have found that there is a very good chance the response will be “have a nice day” or “here you go.” Warms your heart doesn’t it? I find myself saying thank you at the end of a transaction far more often than the clerks do. Yes, I do believe these two words are getting rarer. We could get into a discussion of why this is happening, but to my point today… If the thank you is becoming rarer, it is even more important that you remember to thank the people we work with. Expressing appreciation is a critical element of recognition that works. Continue reading » »
By the way, the questions are valid for everyone, not just managers and supervisors… The purpose of this inventory is to help managers and supervisors assess and improve their working relationships. What follows are some of the questions from this inventory along with my commentary. Do the people you work with value the recognition you are currently giving them? This question comes first because it is an excellent barometer of the health of your work relationships. If the answer is no, or not as much as you believe they should value it, you will have one or two more areas that could use a bit of tweaking. Two more questions: Continue reading » » The May 2009 edition of Harvard Business Review includes an article on, “The Definitive Guide to Recruiting in Good Times and Bad.” The authors point out that during a downturn smart and able companies prepare a hiring strategy to anticipate the needs of the future. Most other companies don’t:
Bev Kaye’s webinar on May 20 focuses on the bottom-line reasons for keeping your best people engaged now, during the downturn, or risk losing them later.
Finally, a note on the possible pandemic emerging from Mexico. Like the 2008-2009 financial crisis, environmental concerns, and the SARS epidemic of 2002, we now have another illustration of the reality of globalization. The suddenness of the impact on financial, trade, and tourism markets is startling. Upcoming presenter, FG Ghadar includes “disease” as one of the 12 categories he discusses in his book, “Global Tectonics.”
I’m speaking on May 20 about engaging the “kept-on” workforce, a topic I believe is the most important workforce challenge organizations are facing right now. If your company has recently experienced significant layoffs and churn, I bet you understand why. Such events hit morale and performance hard. The survivors may be lucky to still have a job, but they’re also traumatized by the uncertainty of those changes, and may be holding back on their best efforts or even actively spreading discontent with other employees and customers. A balance sheet can look better after a cut-back in positions, but without a strategy for engaging the kept-on workforce, the organization is going to bleed money through losses in performance, productivity and customer satisfaction. It’s difficult to make that argument with senior decision-makers, however, if you don’t have numbers to back up your gut-feel and your anecdotal stories. That’s why Career Systems International developed an “engagement calculator.” Real dollars are lost when employees underperform because of disengagement. You need to understand the magnitude of those losses, then you need to re-engage your workforce and turn their improved performance into a competitive advantage.
You can try our engagement calculator here. For more information on the costs of disengagement download here. About Dr. Beverly Kaye Continue reading » » |
  
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Because even the greatest managers can generally benefit from a bit of self assessment, I have decided to share this assessment tool with you.
