Category: Employee Engagement
America’s Workers Got Talent: Uncovering Employees’ Untapped Potential
June 24, 2009
Last month, I mentioned the virtue of uncovering employees’ hidden talents, and now I have even more evidence to support the argument for doing so: This Business Insider piece about the ordinary jobs Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and the like held before becoming some of today’s most powerful CEO’s. It just goes to show that you never know where the next great business success story is lurking…like maybe in your very own office. (Whaaa?)
Chances are your employees also believe that they’re future chief executives just waiting to emerge…A recent study from Accenture reveals that American workers feel they have more to offer their employers than what their current jobs demand of them. If that’s true – if you’re not enabling your employees to meet their true potential – that means you’re missing out on opportunities to get better business results.
- Categories: Employee Engagement, Employee Retention
CareerBuilder Leadership Series: Spotlight on Jon Luther of Dunkin’ Brands
June 22, 2009
What exactly is the key to great leaders’ success? What do strong and successful leaders know that we may not — and how can we learn from them and apply those findings in our own businesses?
In the weeks to come, we will feature leaders in industries spanning from sales and marketing to health care. We will share their answers about their business insight, leadership strategy and philosophy, methods of finding and retaining top talent, and much more.
CareerBuilder recently interviewed Jon Luther, executive chairman of Dunkin’ Brands, and picked his brain a bit about his leadership philosophy, his role in Dunkin’s talent strategy, the secret to being a great leader, and how he balances inspiration versus reality in today’s economical environment.
Read the full interview:
5 Things New Leaders Can Learn from Conan O’Brien
June 2, 2009
No, really… After scanning some of the reviews from last night’s premiere of “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” while waiting for my morning coffee to kick in, I started thinking about how Conan’s transition into his new role as “Tonight Show” host isn’t unlike that of someone taking on the role of a new manager…
Take, for instance, the media speculation over how and to what degree “The Tonight Show” would change with a new host. Don’t we all wonder how the workplace will be affected with there’s a change in management?
- Categories: Employee Engagement, Employer Advice, Leadership Development
Taking the Bull#*$% out of Work: Cursing and the Workplace
June 2, 2009
Britain’s Got Talent’s Susan Boyle is just the latest in a string of public figures to bring profanity into a place of business. However, not all profanity in the workplace stems from extreme anger or, as in Boyle’s case, apparent stress and exhaustion.
On the contrary, many places of business weave cursing into lighthearted banter or jokes and consider it an accepted part of the job. In fact, in some workplaces, one may feel out of place not to join in on the forbidden-word fun. I came across a recent Chicago Tribune article about cursing in the workplace, and although the article brought up some interesting points, it was the comments that really made for some great debate.
One commenter, “Hoofty,” wrote:
I worked for a company in which the “F-Word” could be used as a noun, adjective and verb all in the same sentence and was done so on a regular basis. And this was in the office!
I didn’t think much about it, until my wife brought up the fact that when I switched jobs, my language had cleaned up 1000%.
I guess the moral of the story is that profanity in the workplace can spill into private life. Question – WHY are they cursing? Out of anger, frustration, or in jest? Does it matter? What kind of example are you setting as a leader? What if you take away the meaning behind the words? Is using “fudge” really any better?
“Hoofty,” among others, brings up the idea that not only can cursing in the workplace environment spill over into one’s personal life, but that using a replacement such as “fudge” or “Nutter Butter” for a profane word or phrase while in the office is conveying the same idea and emotion as the original word (and in my opinion, the latter may simply serve to make workers hungry). So does this really solve the profanity problem in the workplace — if swearing in the workplace is even a problem to begin with?
Many think that profanity has no place in the workplace, and that it leads to toxicity, hurt feelings and hostility, and will lead to bigger issues as a result.
Other commenters, however, say that cursing is the symptom, not the disease — and that it points to a larger issue in the workplace. In their view, employers should be taking stock of their employees. Workers are likely frustrated, angry, experiencing low morale — or all of the above — and cursing is simply the outward expression of those feelings. The problem itself must be solved, they say, and the cursing likely will, too.
Positive effects of workplace profanity
- Categories: Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Employer Advice
7 Great Recruiting Practices You Haven’t Tried
June 1, 2009
I recently listened to a great podcast, titled ”Trends in Employee Selection,” with Learn.com’s Senior Professional in Human Resources, Michael Sabbag, and Senior Vice President of Marketing, Don Cook, in which they discuss what I think a lot of us are forgetting in this economy: Despite today’s high unemployment rate – and supposedly bigger pool of available talent – many organizations are still having a tough time recruiting right people to fill specific positions.
For these organizations – as well as those that will soon need to fill their talent pool again – Sabbag talks about some surprisingly simple measures companies can take to engage both job seekers and employees, which I’ve listed below:
- Categories: Employee Attraction, Employee Engagement
Are Your Workers Among the 30 Percent Burned Out Post-Layoffs?
May 28, 2009
Do you count yourself as a survivor? No, I’m not talking about your obsession with the Beyoncé video (and you should probably keep that to yourself), but about company layoffs. As a leader, if you are a survivor of a layoff, you have a unique perspective on its effects on the employees who remain — after the employee boxes have been packed up, goodbyes have been exchanged (if that’s even an option) and the dust has settled.
Results of a new CareerBuilder survey of more than 4,400 workers nationwide have revealed that workers who have survived layoffs within their organizations are facing new challenges in the forms of increased workloads and heightened stress.
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