Like most gardeners, I welcome the arrival of spring as an opportunity to review how my plants did last season, as well as to plan the work that will need to be done in the upcoming weeks. While inspecting my rose garden, I came upon one plant which I remembered had struggled to grow last summer and which made fewer blooms than the other roses, despite the fact that all of the roses had received the same amount of feeding and care.

In comparing this plant’s location to the other roses, I could see that it was starting to get crowded in because of the rapid growth of a nearby flowering bush. Given this and its poor performance last year, I decided that it would be best to move the rose to a new location where it could regain its strength to grow and flower. Of course, this wasn’t an easy decision since any such disruption to a plant’s growing cycle could possibly kill it. And yet, given how poorly it had fared last summer, I figured that the move, though risky, was still the best option to help get this rose back in shape.

In dealing with this problem of how to help this rose regain its ability to contribute beautiful blooms and foliage to my rose garden, I noticed that there were some interesting similarities between this situation and the steps employers can take to help struggling employees get back onto firmer ground. Click here to continue reading »”How to Help Struggling Employees Find Their Space”

There are certain moments I look forward to at this time of the year as indicators that Spring has indeed arrived and we can safely put away the snow shovels and take off the snow tires. Things like tulips rising from the ground, opening their petals to welcome the return of the neighbourhood’s pollinators. Or opening the windows to allow the sweet smells of lilac and apple blossom to drift into our home.

There’s also the return of the various bird populations, migrating back home from their winter sojourn to once again fill the air with the sounds of bird song. The most well-known example of migrating birds has to be the Canada geese, flying in their distinctive V-shape formation across the sky. While their appearance does serve as another reminder of the change in seasons, an examination of this behaviour can also reveal some useful lessons about leadership and the value of collaboration. Click here to continue reading »”Migrating Geese – A Lesson in Leadership and Collaboration”

Over the last few posts, I’ve been writing about the subject of employee engagement – of how it can be fostered in the workforce without elaborate plans or costly incentives, as well as pointing out what employers would gain in creating an engaged team of partners in place of a group of subordinates.

Of course, despite everything that has been written here and elsewhere about the value of employee engagement, there are inevitability many leaders out there who simply refuse to incorporate this viewpoint into how they lead their teams. For employees who work under such leadership, it can be a frustrating and demoralizing experience. However, even though your boss doesn’t see the value in engaging his workforce doesn’t mean employees can’t nurture a respectful and motivating work environment.

Again, we have to remember that creating an engaged workplace is not about Click here to continue reading »”Employee Engagement Is Not Just For Leaders”

Employee engagement is certainly a hot-button issue these days, and with good reason. With businesses struggling to gain a stronger foothold on an increasingly global market, companies are starting to look beyond their current practises in order to find that magic bullet which will give them a competitive edge.

However, some leaders still resist the idea that we need to foster a sense of engagement in the workforce as a possible means of gaining traction in their market, mainly because they don’t see this assomething businesses need to focus on. After all, shouldn’t we expect employees to do the job we’re paying them to do? On the surface, it certainly sounds like a fair and reasonable statement. So why, then, do we need to concern ourselves with engaging our employees? Well, it all comes down to whether we want a group of subordinates as opposed to a team of partners.

It’s a common reality of the business world for companies to Click here to continue reading »”Why Employers Need To Engage With A Purpose”