Employee Management

Six Ways to Lead with Compassion

As a human resource executive Michael had the unpleasant task of eliminating a warehouse manager position. It was difficult for him because the manager, Rose, was a “longtime employee, had an excellent track record, and was 100 percent reliable.” She had to be let go because her warehouse was being consolidated with four others. When he met with Rose to explain her separation package and severance benefits, he was astonished to learn some things about her family life. For the last 17 years, she had gotten up daily at 5:00 a.m.

Seeing Ourselves

"O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us / To see oursels as others see us! / It wad frae mony a blunder free us, / An' foolish notion!" -Robert Burns

Burns' famous quote is far better known than its source. It comes from a poem entitled "To a Louse," in which he pillories a self-satisfied society lady with a head louse strolling across the back of her bonnet. Art often imitates life and almost certainly provides commentary on human foibles, so there is much to be appreciated in the poem.

Widen the Circle of Involvement

Our local taxi service takes me to and from the airport. A few years ago the company installed a new computerized dispatching system along with new credit card terminals. On paper, it looked great: faster dispatch, improved cash flow, quicker and more accurate credit card processing. Drivers, customers, and the company would benefit.

Change the Conversation

Change your company culture by fostering adult-to-adult conversations.

Entering the Blogosphere

Harness the Web log to benefit your organization.

The blog–short for “Web log,” a kind of online diary–has exploded on the Internet in the last 18 months. According to one recent study, eight percent of Internet users are writing blogs and 39 percent read them. Three types of Web logs have an impact on the workplace: externally-facing organizational blogs, internally-facing organizational blogs and personal blogs. Yes, what people write on their personal blogs can have an impact on the office–but more on that later.

Pulling the Plug on Low Performers

Hold low performers accountable for commitment and quality.

The Course of Culture

By Art Dykstra

Judging by the invitations to read that come across my desk or computer screen, it is obvious that today much attention is being given to the matter of corporate or organizational culture. Perhaps management consultants and academics are becoming more aware of the impact culture has on organizational productivity and performance. Mindful leaders in touch with their organization have known this for a long time.

Rebuilding Trust in the Workplace

The Great Recession rocked workplaces everywhere, and now it’s time to rebuild trust. But how? Start here, with a proven seven-step process for leaders.

The Great Recession—the deepest economic downturn since the 1930s–created chaos in workplaces everywhere. In the process, the very underpinnings of trust were upended.

Creating Accountability with Constructive Feedback

Why Managers Should Care About Employee Loyalty

Happy employees make for happy customers. This maxim is so ubiquitous as to be cliché. Intuitively, we believe this to be true. And viscerally, we want this to be true because it appeals to our sense of fair play, which craves an underlying truth that good intentions and good-faith efforts ought to have positive outcomes.

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