5 Ways to Recognize and Utilize Talent
Editor’s note: This is a guest post Mike King of Learn This.
Talent is an interesting topic and one that is SO critical in the workforce. Talent makes the difference between the top performers poor performers. It can be cultivated and enhanced. Unfortunately the biggest problem is that talent is not always recognized by those who can see a use for it and individuals do not always see or even know how they can use it. Luckily sometimes talents are obvious and people do utilize them in their life and work, but more often than not, talent is lost because it is difficult to recognize. Here are 5 specific ways to recognize and utilize talent!
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How to Improve Traditional Management Training
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Phil LeNir of CoachingOurselves.com. As many of you noticed I’ve been writing more from a personal view of careers and personal development. I published this piece on organizational development because anyone can apply these concepts to their business and life.
There are a lot of management development training programs out there. They help managers and employees to improve their skill sets and become better at what they do.
But what if there was a way to apply self-help concepts to the corporate world? What if managers could train each other, learn through discussions, and be inspired by stimulating material?
Keep reading to find out how we found ourselves doing exactly that.
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How to Use Performance Reviews to Make Employees Happier at Work
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Sean Conrad of the Halogen blog
A lot of employees and managers experience performance appraisals as a negative process. This is true even for employees who are generally good performers. At the core, the reason why we experience performance appraisals negatively is because we are being judged and rated by another.
But you could change the whole experience and improve the business value of performance appraisals simply by changing their focus. What if the goal of your performance appraisal process was to find way to encourage and inspire people to be happy at work and to be their best, rather than to critique, rate and rank them?
There are several things an individual manager or better yet an entire organization can do to make performance appraisals a positive experience that encourages and inspires:
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The 100-100 Divide
In a perfect work environment we give 100% and our company gives 100%. Of course this never happens because we make choices based on how well we think we are treated. If your company didn’t give you a promotion, that you thought you deserved, would you still work as hard the next day?
No?
Wow, big shock.
When your manager/boss sees that you just don’t have the pep that you once had, they also pull back their desire to help you. This creates a divide that leaves everyone searching for answers
You may pull back and only give 75% of your energy, maybe taking slightly longer breaks or surfing Amazon for a new book. Your company wants you to work harder, but they’ve seen this reaction 700 times before and they don’t try to open a conversation to improve the disconnect.
Now that you’ve pulled back to 75% and no one cares, you realize that you can pull back to 50%.
You’re now working at 50% of your capacity because you can. You avoid work on some days and accomplish a lot on others, but on average you are giving 50% of your energy.
Your employer is troubled, but thinks it’s probably just a phase and before they do anything about it they realize that they’ve just created your expectations about what kind of work you need to do to get by.
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The Secrets to Workplace Leadership
I shared a drink with a friend who manages a team of five people. He was wondering how people’s moods can fluctuate in such a broad range, which affects the quality of their work. One of his employees is always up and down. He is engaged with his work one week and then he seems to lose interest. His interest fluctuates and he isn’t sure why.
We all have this problem it’s just that most of us force ourselves to stay focused. My friend told me that he has tried giving this employee various kinds of work to see what interests him, but that didn’t work either.
I asked him if he ever sits down with his staff to explain the reasoning behind the work.
He said he didn’t. He never really thought of that because it’s pretty obvious to him. They need to design websites that exceed the customer’s expectations.
He was losing out on a huge opportunity. People often stop looking at the larger picture because they get comfortable. This comfortable feeling reduces their desire to go above and beyond the normal effort.
A study at the University of Alberta showed that people need a sense of purpose in order to feel engaged with their work. A ‘Spirit at Work’ intervention program for a group of long-term health-care workers boosted morale and job retention. This program urged employees to rethink their job, which reduced absenteeism by 60% and turnover by 75%.
“We discovered that people who are able to find meaning and purpose in their work, and can see how they make a difference through that work, are healthier, happier and more productive employees,” said Val Kinjerski, a University of Alberta PhD graduate who co-authored the study.
- E-science news gathered this information from the Journal of Gerontological Nursing.
By helping your people understand why they do what they do – you can increase happiness and productivity.
I’m going to give you a few ideas that might help your employees/coworkers to connect with their work.
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Netflix Company Culture – Freedom & Responsibility
Netflix believes in creating a culture that supports Freedom and Responsibility. They don’t promote to placate or keep people around out of loyalty. They know they have to make people happy and in order to do that they need to challenge and engage their employees.
Seven Aspects of Netflix Culture:
- Values are what we Value
- High Performance
- Freedom & Responsibility
- Context, not Control
- Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled
- Pay Top of the Market
- Promotions & Development
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