Why Focusing on Shareholder Value Is Wrong

Submitted by Derek Irvine on April 30th, 2011

Are you focused, before all else, on increasing shareholder value as the best marker of company success? If so, you are aiming for the wrong target. By focusing instead on customer satisfaction and employee engagement, financial success will follow naturally.

Tags: business, company, customer, employee, engagement, executive, financial
Posted in Performance | Comments (0)

Methods for Isolating Impact of Training

Submitted by Leslie Allan on April 28th, 2011

Many trainers get very stressed at the thought of objectively measuring the business impact of their training program. A prime cause of the stress is the difficulty of isolating the impact of the training program from other influences.

Tags: analysis, learning, results, trainer
Posted in Processes, Training | Comments (0)

Life Lessons

Submitted by Richard Derwent Cooke on April 25th, 2011

Do all life lessons have to be learned painfully? Do we recognise these lessons at the time, or if it is only with hindsight that they stand out?

Tags: learning
Posted in Change, Training | Comments (0)

Fear or Excitement: Employee Attitude Closely Tied to Company Success

Submitted by Derek Irvine on April 20th, 2011

For your company to succeed, drive out fear of failure in employees. Recognize and praise workers when they show the right behavior in your organization.

Tags: behavior, communicate, culture, employee, feedback, rewards, trust
Posted in Communication, Performance, Talent | Comments (0)

Linking Training to Business Results

Submitted by Leslie Allan on April 18th, 2011

Trainers sometimes ask how they can link the impact of a training program to actual business results. Drawing an impact map with the key stakeholders is a sure-fire method for connecting the dots between training and business outcomes.

Tags: behavior, business, learning, objective, results, skills, trainer
Posted in Performance, Training | Comments (5)

Learning from Others

Submitted by Richard Derwent Cooke on April 15th, 2011

When someone works out a better way to do something, our reaction tends to be to mock them, to ask why they are not conforming. Perhaps there are some life lessons to be learned from our cousins in the animal kingdom, from Japanese macaques and my cats.

Tags: employee, enthusiasm, learning
Posted in Change, Training | Comments (0)

Coaching and Training Transfer

Submitted by Leslie Allan on April 13th, 2011

Are coaching and skills transfer to the job natural cousins? Does it go without saying that a properly coached person will automatically behave differently (and better) on the job? Can the GROW Model of coaching provide a structure supporting changing behaviors on the job?

Tags: behavior, coach, goal, learning
Posted in Training | Comments (0)

More How and Why; Less What

Submitted by Derek Irvine on April 10th, 2011

Employees usually know the “what” aspect of their goals. Their understanding is much less for the “how” and the “why” it’s important that they achieve their goals. Focusing on these aspects of the goals is a powerful motivator.

Tags: behavior, communicate, culture, employee, engagement, feedback, goal, leader, manager, motivation, rewards
Posted in Communication, Performance | Comments (0)

Employee Engagement Taskforce

Submitted by Leslie Allan on April 6th, 2011

The UK Government has launched a new taskforce on employee engagement. The taskforce is to investigate how best to assist both public and private sector organizations raise employee motivation and productivity levels in the UK.

Tags: culture, employee, employer, engagement, human capital, management
Posted in Change, Performance, Talent, Training | Comments (0)

Stop Turning Rewards into an April Fools Prank

Submitted by Derek Irvine on April 4th, 2011

Does your rewards and recognition program encourage employees to game the system? Is it focusing on recognizing and rewarding the right behaviors? If not, your program could be doing your organization more harm than good.

Tags: culture, employee, feedback, incentives, integrity, rewards, system
Posted in Performance, Talent | Comments (0)