As more organizations continue to shift their approach from recovery to growth, there’s naturally a growing concern developing about the potential risk of losing their key talent to competitors, as well as how to attract the talent they need to help their organization strengthen their competitive edge.

In most cases, these discussions tend to focus either on discovering key talent within your organization or how to attract the talent you need to join your team. Unfortunately, these strategies tend to be limited in scope and can cause leaders to overlook the advantages of developing their employees to meet the evolving needs of their organization.

One of the most effective ways to do this – with the added bonus of increasing employee retention – is by offering training programs. By offering such programs, employees are given the opportunity to not only refine and develop their skills in order to be more effective in their roles, but it also encourages them to take the time to evaluate their career goals and come up with ideas of how their organization can help them to achieve them.

Granted, one of the reasons why most employers are reluctant to provide employee training is because they fear that they will lose the investment made through such efforts if their employees leave the organization to work elsewhere. However, such fears don’t Click here to continue reading »”Are You Employing This Tool To Fuel Your Organization’s Growth?”

When it comes to what we communicate to our employees, few messages have as much impact as offering words of praise to those we lead. The importance of praise to an organization’s success has been shown in numerous studies performed by management experts, psychologists, and neurologists. One study even demonstrated how just saying ‘thank you’ to your employees can lead to an increase in productivity and employee engagement.

Of course, even without the empirical evidence proffered by these various studies, most of us understand the value of praise and its potent ability to serve as a positive motivator/driver for action. So if we’ve read the studies and/or are familiar from our own personal experiences and education about the importance of praise, why then aren’t leaders communicating it more to those under their stewardship?

In most cases, the easy culprit to pin the blame on is the increasing number of distractions now on our collective radars, or the stresses brought on by trying to navigate a global economy that’s in perpetual flux. But is this lack of praise really do to external factors, or is it perhaps more a reflection of how we communicate praise to those we lead or work side by side with?

Is it not possible that in most cases, what we’re seeing is not a lack of praise being offered but a lack of effectiveness in relaying that message in a manner that is meaningful to the person we’re giving it to?

If so, how do we make sure we’re effective in giving praise to our employees so that they do understand how much we value and appreciate their contributions to our shared purpose?

In the article “The Power of Praise in Business — and How to Do it Right”, a number of suggestions are offered on how to improve the way you give praise to your employees. While there are many good points, perhaps the most important Click here to continue reading »”Are You Effective In Giving Praise To Your Employees?”

When it comes to communicating the vision or goals you have for your organization, few vehicles serve to deliver your message as effectively as the art of storytelling. In fact, some of the most respected leaders have relied on storytelling to not only communicate their vision, but to encourage their employees to embrace the changes being put forth by their organization’s leadership.

For example, former IBM CEO Lou Gerstner used his man-on-the-outside perspective to introduce new stories that not only communicated why changes were needed to ensure their competitiveness, but of how his employees could play a part in creating this new reality.

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, on the other hand, used the story of the struggles the company endured going from simply being an online shoe retailer to a company that “delivers happiness” to remind his employees of how their culture and values help them to fulfill their shared purpose.

Unfortunately, despite the obvious benefits that comes from using storytelling to communicate a message or idea, these two leaders are among only a handful who use this medium to share their vision or purpose with their team. One reason behind this is that most leaders Click here to continue reading »”How To Create The Story Behind Your Organization’s Purpose”

If you had to save something from a neighbour’s house that was on fire, what would you retrieve to help them out – one of their prized possessions or a coat?

For most of us, the answer is obvious since we view this scenario in terms of what we’d like others to help us save when faced with the risk of losing our home to a fire. However, as revealed in a story shared by Mark Bezos, sometimes these assumptions can obscure our vision of what’s really needed by those we’re trying to help.

During the work week, Mark heads the Development and Communications department at the non-profit organization, Robin Hood, but in his off-hours, he also serves as the assistant captain for a volunteer fire company which provides support to the town’s fire department.

As Mark points out, when you’re a volunteer firefighter, you have to get to the fire scene as soon as you can if you’re to have any chance “to get in on any action” and he certainly managed to get himself an interesting piece of that at his first fire scene.

When Mark arrived at the scene of this particular fire, he found the fire chief talking with a woman standing under an umbrella wearing pyjamas and no shoes, someone he’d later find out was the owner of the burning house. Before he could reach the fire chief to offer his assistance, another volunteer firefighter approached the fire chief and was given the task of saving the woman’s dog. When Mark got to the fire chief and asked what he could do to help, the fire chief looked at Mark and told him he needed Mark to go into the house to get the homeowner a pair of shoes.

Mark and the other volunteer firefighter went into the burning house and searched for the items they were told to locate. As they exited from the house, the other volunteer firefighter understandably received all the attention as he handed the saved dog to the homeowner while Mark gave the woman the pair of shoes he ‘rescued’ from the flames.

A few weeks after the fire, the fire department received a letter from the homeowner in which she Click here to continue reading »”Do You Lead Your Organization To Meet Or Exceed Expectations?”