Tag Archives: Human Resources

Unplug Your Ears and Listen

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by John Beeson

There’s a wonderful scene in The Odyssey when Odysseus prepares himself to steer his ship and his men past the treacherous Sirens, creatures who sing a seductive song that can lead a person astray. It’s a great moment in literature — and an extremely useful image for managers intent on ferreting out the feedback they need for career advancement. To prepare for his challenge, Odysseus orders his crew members to put wax in their ears, but to be able to hear the Sirens’ message, he leaves his own ears unplugged. But he asks his men to strap him to the ship’s mast to prevent him from recklessly heeding the Sirens’ call. Continue reading →

Is It Time to Quit Your Job?

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by Amy Gallo

Everyone has bad days at work or even long periods when they feel disheartened about their job. But how do you know the difference between ordinary, occasional dissatisfaction and a genuine mismatch? How do you know when you’re truly ready to move on? And how do you then get out gracefully?

What the Experts Say Quitting a job can negatively impact your career and disrupt your personal life. But staying in an undesirable situation can be worse. “I find a lot of people paralyzed by their unhappiness with their current reality,” says Leonard Schlesinger, the president of Babson College and coauthor of Just Start: Take Action, Embrace Uncertainty, Create the Future. It’s often easier to stay put. “Most people stay too long in bad jobs because the corporate world is geared towards keeping us in roles, not matching individuals up with their ideal roles,” says Daniel Gulati, a tech entrepreneur and coauthor of Passion & Purpose: Stories from the Best and Brightest Young Business Leaders. But don’t let yourself get stuck. Here’s how to decide whether it’s really time to quit, and if so, how to leave effectively: Continue reading →

Want Productive Employees? Treat Them Like Adults

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by Tony Schwartz

For more than a decade now, I’ve struggled to define what fuels the most sustainably productive work environment — not just on behalf of the large corporate clients we serve, but also for my own employees at The Energy Project. Perhaps nothing I’ve uncovered is as important as trust.

Much as employers understandably hunger for one-size-fits-all policies and practices, what motivates human beings remains stubbornly complex, opaque, and difficult to unravel. Perhaps that’s why I felt so viscerally the shortsightedness and futility of Marissa Mayer’s decision to order Yahoo employees who had been working from home to move back to the office, and Hubert Joly’s to do the same at Best Buy. Continue reading →

Managing an Unpopular Change Effort

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by Bo Vestergaard

Produce more! Make it better! Spend less!

If you’re a first or second line manager, these demands from upper management may sound familiar. And odds are, you are going to fail at accomplishing them — two-thirds of transformation efforts do. In fact, 8 out of 10 times I can predict if companies will be successful. But I’m not a fortuneteller; I just look and listen for two things: Are the frontline employees engaged in crafting and implementing solutions? And do they express a sense of ownership about the purpose of the change? Continue reading →

Two Ways Women Can Network More Effectively, Based on Research

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by Athena Vongalis-Macrow

Despite their many efforts, networking continues to challenge women. Numerous studies back up this conclusion. Herminia Ibarra’s classic study revealed the centrality of networking for male workers, indicating that many networking opportunities are organized around male interests. The male-centeredness of networking means that making connections to get ahead continues to be an issue for many women seeking to progress their careers. Fellow blogger Sylvia Ann Hewlett notes that while affinity groups have shown to be successful, these networks tend to “devolve into a group of peers who gather to gripe about how it sucks to be a woman at our company.” For Hewlett, leveraging women’s potential career boost from networks lay in seeking sponsors or mentors to provide access and exposure to the executive levels. Continue reading →