Any organization can begin to improve employee engagement by implementing a simple and practical strategy. This one technique will immediately increase the frequency and quality of conversations taking place between managers and direct reports—a relationship that is critical to employee work passion. The best way to reduce turnover and increase engagement is to make sure…
When other companies are moving ahead and yours isn’t, it creates a gap that impacts your employees’ perceived value of your company. “The number of job transitions is only increasing, so high potential people are looking for opportunities to grow and develop. Organizations that don’t address this need are in for a rude awakening,” says…
Dear Madeleine, I manage a fairly large team of supervisors. The days are long and hectic but I have a good flow going with the group. Recently, though, it has become clear that one of my best people—the person I am grooming to take my job, as I am up for a promotion—is looking for…
In their 2014 Employee Engagement Trends Report, consultants at Quantum Workplace looked at survey findings from more than 400,000 employees at nearly 5,000 organizations. In exploring the importance of various drivers of Millennial engagement and retention, Quantum researchers found that Professional Growth and Career Development came in at number one. They observed: “If young employees…
In a recent webinar on A Closer Look at the New Science of Motivation, best-selling business author Susan Fowler opened with an interesting question for attendees, “Why are you here?” And it wasn’t just a rhetorical question. Fowler wanted attendees to take a minute and assess what their motivation was for attending. Here’s what she…
When I was 16 years old, my first job was serving ice cream at a Baskin-Robbins store. Not only did I love ice cream, but I was very social and felt that this job suited me very well since I loved talking to people. Unfortunately, I think I’m still trying to lose those extra ice…
A new Towers Watson research paper is shedding some light on what attracts employees to an organization (and what keeps them there after they’ve joined.) The 2012 Global Workforce Study includes responses from 32,000 employees in 29 markets around the world. Here’s what people said attracts them to an organization and what would cause them to leave.…
Ask employers why people quit a company and 9 out of 10 will tell you it’s about the money. Ask employees the same question and you’ll get a whole different story. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) discovered this when they asked 19,000+ people their reasons for leaving as a part of exit interviews they conducted for clients. The…
When people work in isolation—or with incomplete information—their imagination can run away with them (and usually not in a good way.) Here’s an example. Has something like this ever happened to you? My wife has started a new job recently. Like many people, it involves working in a cubicle interacting with customers primarily by telephone…
My wife is six months into a new job. She has been through a lot of training since she started and just recently completed a four-week class to qualify for an advanced role. She’s been struggling to learn all of the different components of the new role and she hit a low point this past…