Tag Archives: Communication

Employee Training Needs More than a Script

Posted on

by Andy Molinsky

You want your employees to become more effective and emotionally intelligent communicators, savvier negotiators, more compassionate and effective deliverers of bad news, better coaches, and more sophisticated cross-cultural communicators. So you offer them interpersonal skills training. It’s a packaged solution that can pay great dividends for your business. Right?

Well, not so fast. Skills training is a huge industry, but also one with an equally huge failure rate. Companies spend billions of dollars annually helping their employees develop all sorts of interpersonal skills with questionable return on their investment. And the big question is, why? Why does training seem like such an obvious solution to a real problem when it doesn’t prove fruitful much of the time? Continue reading →

Mentoring or Coaching: What’s Best for Your Company?

Posted on

by Lis Merrick and Steve O’Brian 

Mentoring and coaching strategies translate to better employee engagement and retention. But it pays to know the key differences between coaching and mentoring to implement an effective program.

One of the major effects of the recession was a lack of investment in developing business skills for younger, midlevel workers. Today we’re faced with a serious talent gap and, with the improving economy, greater difficulty in recruiting highly skilled employees to fill those positions.

As organizations realize the depth of their talent predicament, many are developing strategic talent pipelines, with eight out of 10 saying they are “taking the steps to grow the talent pool and ensure access to the rights skills that will help drive business results,” according to “The Talent Shortage Survey: Research Results,” a ManpowerGroup survey. Continue reading →

8 Ways to Conquer Your Leadership Blind Spots

Posted on

By Bruna Martinuzzi

To be a successful leader or entrepreneur, we need to become intimate not only with our strengths but also with our blind spots, those aspects of our personality that can derail us. John C. Maxwell defines a blind spot as “an area in the lives of people in which they continually do not see themselves or their situation realistically.”

All of us have blind spots. A Hay Group study shows that the senior leaders in an organization are more likely to overrate themselves and to develop blind spots that can hinder their effectiveness as leaders. Another study by Development Dimensions International Inc. found that 89 percent of front-line leaders have at least one blind spot in their leadership skills. Continue reading →

Employees Who Feel Love Perform Better

Posted on

by Sigal Barsade and Olivia (Mandy) O’Neill

“Love” is a not word you often hear uttered in office hallways or conference rooms. And yet, it has a strong influence on workplace outcomes. The more love co-workers feel at work, the more engaged they are. (Note: Here we’re talking about “companionate love” which is far less intense than romantic love. Companionate love is based on warmth, affection, and connection rather than passion). It may not be surprising that those who perceive greater affection and caring from their colleagues perform better, but few managers focus on building an emotional culture. That’s a mistake. Continue reading →

WorkLife – How to Make an Impact in Onboarding

Posted on

By Stephanie Shaw

 

Onboarding, or organizational socialization, is a topic that can seem somewhat daunting for companies to embrace. Going beyond the simple employee orientation, onboarding ensures that new hires feel welcome and prepared, while giving them the confidence, trust and freedom to succeed in their new position. Most companies have some form of onboarding practice, but it is often regarded as tactical, rather than a strategic endeavor in the talent management process.

 

The Aberdeen Group, an organization that conducts business research, found in 2013 that companies are interested in re-evaluating their onboarding strategies. They found the top reasons for revamping onboarding practices were to improve new hire productivity (68 percent), engagement (67 percent) and retention (51 percent). Aberdeen also found that 90 percent of organizations believe that new employees make a decision on whether to stay at a company within the first year. This means employers need to make a great first impression and have a full year to make sure their top talent stays. Continue reading →