01
Mar

5 Reasons HR needs to increase digital IQ and embrace social media

The internet has changed the way businesses market, the way we shop, get our news, watch TV, and communicate with friends and family. It’s time that HR and organizations realized that we must also embrace web 2.0 to better connect and engage our workforce. The Social Business, Enterprise 2.0, or whatever you want to call it, is here to stay, and …
31
Oct

12 key steps to shaping organizational culture

Organizational culture is defined by BusinessDictionary.com as: “The values and behaviours that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization.” Every organization has a culture. Whether it is a positive one, or the one that is desired by C-level leaders, is a different question. If an organization wants …
08
Sep

How can you create memories for your customers?

I’ve always loved this story of Johnny the Bagger, a grocery store bagger who was inspired by creating memories for customers and found his own special way to do so. Anyone can create memories for customers.  How are you inspiring your team to do so?          
10
Aug

6 things leaders can learn from dog training

My dog, Piper, is awesome.  The reason she’s awesome: shortly after getting her from the local SPCA, I spent a lot of time training her.  I have continued training her over the past 9 years.  The more time I have spent training her, the more I have noticed parallels between dog training and employee training.  Here are a few principles that …
26
Jul

10 Rules for how to be a good leader

I recently wrote a post about how to be a good employee, and promised an upcoming post about being a good leader.  Here’s what I’ve learned from working for some great leaders and from doing the best I can to lead my team effectively. Get to know your team as individuals.  I don’t mean that you should become best friends with your …
10
Jul

A personal story of lack of feedback and it’s impact.

I recently wrote a post about how to give constructive feedback.  It reminded me of a personal experience I had with a lack of feedback.  As an extremely driven individual, I am motivated by feedback.  I actually crave it.  I want to know what I’m getting right and what I’m missing so I can continuously improve.  Here’s a story …
20
Jun

Listen Leaders! Show your people you value them

One of the most important elements of engagement is a feeling of being valued.  The problem is that many leaders don’t know how to show that they do value their teams. When I’ve discussed this essential need of feeling valued, managers often think that they’ve done all they can to make employees feel valued.  “I got business …
12
Jun

Do pyjama (pajama for my US friends) days build engagement?

I was chatting with friends the other night and one of them mentioned that morale was poor at their workplace, so they were having a “wear your pyjamas to work” day. Will having a pyjama party actually improve morale?  No way. In fact, my friend was dreading it, and thought it was somewhat impractical in a work environment where half of …