Leader's Beacon | The Leadership Experts » Employee Engagement

Do We Stop Growing after Schooling?

Ian Cook — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:30:03 +0000

I ran across a recent posting from the Gallup Management Journal that made a point have I never thought about before: “Raised through a childhood in which each new year brought novel opportunities, playing at ever more difficult levels of sports, growing physically, educated in a system of cleanly delineated grades — freshman, sophomore, junior, [...]

Helping or Harping?

Greg Schinkel — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:30:54 +0000

When front line supervisors and managers are asked to share some of the characteristics of the best manager or supervisor they had ever worked for, they will include “supportive” on that list. One participant was even more emphatic – his best boss was focused on “helping” not “harping”. A boss who is constantly critical and [...]

Is Laziness a Powerful Motivator?

Greg Schinkel — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:35:54 +0000

Could laziness be the most powerful motivator of all? And if it is, how can you use this to your advantage? As a people watcher have you ever noticed that the majority of people gravitate to the easiest way of accomplishing a task? Instead of being aggravated as a manager or supervisor, perhaps you should [...]

Interesting Things Google Does re Its People

Ian Cook — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:30:02 +0000

I recently attended a presentation by Shannon Deegan, Google’s Director of People. Now, a lot has been written about this company and how it is up there in the stratosphere of “best places to work,” as decreed by Fortune magazine and others. Not surprisingly, Google received around 2 million resumés last year and filled 5000 [...]

(Re)Frame their Job as Something that Matters

Ian Cook — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:30:17 +0000

Richard Florida is a provocative thinker around social and economic issues. He first became noticed from his book, The Rise of the Creative Class. In his latest book, The Great Reset, he shares data that the future growth of jobs will be in two areas: (1) knowledge, professional and creative jobs and (2) lower paying, [...]

Employee Engagement in Action–an Example

Ian Cook — Mon, 30 May 2011 13:30:06 +0000

I actually came across this article from Forbes.com in 2009 but never got around to sharing it. The piece tells about Douglas Conant, the new CEO of Campbell Soup Company, who came on board in 2001 and over the next eight years grew EPS by 5-10% every year. His strategies included invigorating their work force [...]

4 ways great leaders use the 4-Drive Model to impact employee’s motivation

Kurt Nelson — Sat, 21 May 2011 03:08:55 +0000

How leaders can impact employee’s motivation using the 4-Drive Theory The 4-Drive Theory of Employee Motivation states that there are four main drives that motivate employees, these are the drives to: Acquire & Achieve, to Bond & Belong, to be Challenged & Comprehend, and to Define & Defend. In order to maximize motivation leaders need [...]

Stressing Metrics Has a Downside

Ian Cook — Mon, 16 May 2011 13:30:33 +0000

A client organization of mine has a culture that values measuring everything. This makes good business sense. It enables you to monitor, recalibrate and optimize your processes and results. The downside is that too great an emphasis on numbers at every level breeds compliance,especially at the front line. People complete the required audits and checklists [...]

NeuroEngagement: Using Insights from Brain Science to Heighten Employee Engagement

Scott Campbell — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:30:20 +0000

Employee engagement is all the rage these days. It’s commonly touted as the key to transforming an organization from good to great. When a new organizational effectiveness ‘truth’ comes along there are two common responses. The first response is an unreflective jump on to the bandwagon. Managers keen to improve their own and their organization’s [...]

Does Job Satisfaction Lead to Better Results?

Ian Cook — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 16:30:04 +0000

This question has been studied for decades and no direct relationship has been established. Despite what would seem to be a slam-dunk connection, happier workers don’t necessarily result in a bumped up bottom line. A recent study by researchers at Cornell, however, has mapped a path between the two. It is not a direct route. [...]

Employee Engagement: Getting an ROI Out of Your Most Valuable Asset

Lisa Mattam — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:30:16 +0000

Our tumultuous economic climate is forcing many business owners to make many tough choices. But the bottom-line to remaining competitive is to stay committed to investing in your most important asset: your employees. Studies show that only 30 percent of employees are actually engaged at work. Of course, no two employees come to work for [...]

People Just Want to be Noticed…and Appreciated

Ian Cook — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:30:34 +0000

I came across a quote from Oprah Winfrey, interviewed in the Dec. 26/10 issue of Parade : Everybody just wants to be heard…Do your eyes light up when I enter the room? Did you hear me and did what I say mean anything to you? That’s all they’re looking for. That’s what everybody is looking [...]

Rethinking the 4-Drive Model of Employee Motivation

Kurt Nelson — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 13:44:46 +0000

I have been touting the 4-Drive Model of Employee Motivation since I first read the 2008 Harvard Business Review article “Employee Motivation: A Powerful New Model” by Nohria, , Groysberg, and Lee. You could say I’ve been a very BIG advocate for this model! It is a powerful theory on human motivation in general, and [...]

Keep (Career) Development on the Table

Ian Cook — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 14:30:03 +0000

In the hurly burly of meeting deadlines, doing more with less, and achieving performance goals, it is easy to forget to keep up the dialogue with each of your staff about: How they are doing vis-à-vis their performance How they are doing vis-à-vis their well-being Their continuing development and growth And, if we do manage [...]

Five Engaging Questions about Engagement

Ian Cook — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 14:30:33 +0000

The research and consulting firm, BlessingWhite, is currently offering a complimentary 2 1/2 hour session, called “Impacting Engagement in 2011: The Leader’s Role,” in many major cities around the U.S. Here they reveal an advance peek at the results of their brand new global survey on employee engagement. Check out the time and location in [...]

The Four Strategic HR Challenges for the Upcoming Decade

Ian Cook — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:30:32 +0000

Boston Consulting Group, in conjunction with an association of people management associations worldwide, completed a comprehensive on-line + live interviews study on how they are approaching strategic human capital development for the next decade. It’s called “Creating People Advantage 2010″ and worth downloading if you are concerned with the strategic element of human resources in [...]