Topic: employee-engagement
Our bookmarks on this topic are also at pinboard.in/u:unison/t:employee-engagement/
An HR lesson from Steve Jobs: If you want change agents, hire pirates
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 · Topics: apple, change, employee-engagement, org-change, org-culture
From FastCompany: Why? Because pirates can operate when rules and safety nets break down. “It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy.” This quote, made back in the days of the original Mac development team, says a lot about how Steve Jobs viewed people and selected them for teams. It also speaks to the kind of team and team behavior he admired. To build a team, all organizations seek the best and the brightest people, particularly for their innovation and new product development organizations — that’s not what’s in question here. By seeking out the pirates, Steve took the idea a big step further. · Go to An HR lesson from Steve Jobs: If you want change agents, hire pirates →
Work your proper hours: A campaign against unpaid overtime
Friday, January 20, 2012 · Topics: employee-engagement
From FastCompany: Chances are, you worked more than eight hours yesterday, and ate lunch at your desk. A new campaign would like you to stop doing that, please (and to stop your boss expecting it). It’s killing you and it’s ruining the economy. · Go to Work your proper hours: A campaign against unpaid overtime →
A one-two punch to foster creativity
Tuesday, November 22, 2011 · Topics: creativity, employee-engagement, innovation
From strategy+business: Both incentives and training are needed to spur innovation. · Go to A one-two punch to foster creativity →
Turning social capital into financial capital
Monday, November 21, 2011 · Topics: employee-engagement, social-media, social-networks
From Marcia Conner at ChangeThis: Social media has the potential to dramatically improve the inner workings of every company. The interstitial connections can quickly cross business silos, inform decision making, educate people at all levels, and allow employees —- especially new entrants —- to pick up the natural rhythms of how people around them work. But only if the company allows access to social networks. And most companies don’t.” · Go to Turning social capital into financial capital →
Forget Cinderella, find Fred Astaire
Monday, November 21, 2011 · Topics: employee-engagement, gender-differences
From ChangeThis: Most companies would like to become more gender balanced at all levels, with women and men dancing together in a smooth and natural way. They have been trying for decades to attract, retain and promote more women. They have tried to grow their female customer bases. They are embarrassed by the all-male faces on the boardroom website, dancing to the tune of their own drummers. Most have gotten rid of the photos, but not the problem. Yet some companies have tried really hard, for a really long time. And almost everyone, male and female, is suffering from gender fatigue. Why so much effort for so little result?
Because we have over-focused on kissing Cinderella awake from her slumber and inviting her to the ball. But nobody ever bothered checking if the prince can actually dance. · Go to Forget Cinderella, find Fred Astaire →
When employees talk and managers don’t listen
Thursday, October 13, 2011 · Topics: command-and-control, employee-engagement, leadership
From Strategy+Business: When faced with important decisions, managers can choose to rule in an autocratic (making unilateral choices) or democratic (inviting employees to have a say) way. Managers are often encouraged to take the democratic approach (generally called participative management) because research has shown that motivation, job performance, and morale increase when employees have the opportunity to contribute their concerns and ideas.
But this study finds that there’s a consequence to giving employees a voice: A company then has to listen. If employees conclude that a manager is just trying to win points by paying lip service to consulting them — and has no intention of acting on their advice — they are likely to stop offering input and, worse, act out their frustration by clashing with their colleagues. · Go to When employees talk and managers don’t listen →
The power of trust and mistrust
Monday, October 10, 2011 · Topics: customer-experience, employee-engagement, trust
From Dr. Judith Bardwick at ChangeThis: “When trust levels are high, so is the quality and performance of business—and the reverse is also true. These facts are demonstrated dramatically when we look at the financial outcomes of companies that are among the best to work for and their peer companies that aren’t.
Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For have roughly double the rates of return, income, return on assets, profits, stock market returns and employee and customer retention rates compared to peer companies.” · Go to The power of trust and mistrust →
Put your mindset to work: The secret weapon in winning, keeping, and flourishing in the best jobs
Friday, June 10, 2011 · Topics: employee-engagement, job-change, job-interviews
From ChangeThis: What does it really take to win, keep, and flourish in the best jobs? Let’s begin by shattering a sacred assumption. If you want a good job, it’s all about qualifications. Put another way, the best way to increase your chances of getting a great job is by upgrading your skills. Right? Wrong!
That is, at least according to the thousands of the world’s top employers we formally surveyed. Their answers to these four questions can and should have profound implications on your entire career.
Mindset utterly trumps Skillset. Not by a little, but by a landslide. That’s why trying to win the best jobs by doing yet-more skills training is like training for a marathon by doing sprints and hurdles. It may help, but it’s not going to win the race.” · Go to Put your mindset to work: The secret weapon in winning, keeping, and flourishing in the best jobs →
