In a two-part series on The Tougher Workplace, Los Angeles Times reporter Alana Semuels takes a look at how the recession has negatively impacted working conditions for both hourly and salaried employees. One of the main themes of her story is that businesses are asking employees to work harder without providing the kinds of rewards—financial…
Trust, commitment, and morale all took a hit as many companies struggled through the economic downturn of the past two years. Ken Blanchard believes that there are three key strategies that leaders can employ to return a wounded organization to full health: Be a bearer of hope Make your people your business partners Become a servant…
Years ago, business owners were asked, “If you had to choose between a fire that wiped out your facilities versus having all of your people quit and walk out at the same time, which option would you take?” Almost everyone said they’d rather lose their buildings and equipment because to rebuild their human organization would…
Organizations like Southwest Airlines, Chick-fil-A, WD-40, and Wegman’s have all enjoyed long term success in part because of an unwavering commitment to their employees in both good times and bad. What traits do the leaders at these organizations have in common? Three things—they are bearers of hope; they treat their people as their business partners;…
What’s the best way for leaders to impact their organizations after a layoff, merger, or acquisition? If you had to choose between focusing on your people, financials, or customers, where would you begin? We asked that question to 700 frontline, mid-level, and senior executives who attended our webinar on Revitalizing the Downsized Organization this past…
The debate between what’s better for company’s experiencing a downturn in sales, layoffs or pay cuts, continues to draw differing opinions. In today’s US edition of The Wall Street Journal, columnist Cari Tuna reports that while 65% of companies resort to lay offs when faced with economic short falls, a growing percentage are choosing mandatory…
Join Blanchard consultants Jim Atwood and Alan Youngblood at The Ken Blanchard Companies LeaderChat blog beginning at 10:05 a.m. Pacific Time for a 50-minute Q&A session. Jim and Alan will be stopping by right after they finish their WebEx webinar on Keeping People Focused and Productive during Uncertain Times. Over 400 people will be…
We just published the results of our annual corporate issues survey. This year’s survey shows that executives and company leaders are somewhat optimistic that the US economy will rebound in 2009. Following the 2008 slowdown that has crippled economies around the world, over 70% of those surveyed expected the economy to begin its recovery sometime this…
We had a great turnout for Ken Blanchard’s webinar on Leading in Uncertain Times yesterday. Over 1,600 people joined us online for the live event and over 700 people joined us here at LeaderChat afterwards to ask additional questions. Ken identified a couple of key points about leading during times of change that I…
At a time when everything seems topsy-turvy, it was comforting to enjoy the touchpoint of the Super Bowl. I listened to the game on radio while catching up with some work and it was reassuring to hear the ads for Lincoln-Mercury (focusing on batteries, tires, and brakes), Subway (eat healthy), MotorCraft batteries, and Barbasol shaving…