Productivity Not an Indicator of Employee Engagement, New Study Finds

employee-performance

Ideally, we’d want the highest performing employees to be the most engaged with the company; the ones that are motivated to give 100% and would think their company is a great employer. However, this isn’t the case. New analysis from employee engagement survey firm Leadership IQ reveals just the opposite. In 42% of the organizations surveyed, the lowest performers were much more engaged than the high and middle performers. The worse part: low performers don’t even know they are low … [Read more...]

Do Well By Doing Good, Part 3: The Final Chapter

volunteering

After all that preparation your community service activity is over! Whether it met your initial expectations or not, any effort you made should be classified a success because it is more than was done before! And your first step should be to congratulate YOURSELF on a job well done! But some top level evaluation can help make subsequent efforts even more successful -- no matter where you are starting. … [Read more...]

Do Well by Doing Good, Part 2: How to Increase Awareness of and Participation in Your Community Outreach Program

community-outreach

In most company cultures, people are motivated by a spirit of competition. Last week we looked at ways to start a charity endeavor within your company -- a proven way of raising company pride and internal spirit. But what if you threw a party and no one came? This week we'll look at ways to increase awareness and participation. … [Read more...]

Do Well by Doing Good, Part 1: Tips on How to Start a Community Outreach Program at Work

yellow-sun

Want to improve company morale AND do something good for your community? If your company doesn’t have an organized community outreach program established, pioneering one can be an incredible way to foster engagement as people from different departments and with different skills all work together toward a common cause. … [Read more...]

“I Can’t Do It, I Have a Meeting”: Tips for Cutting Down on Meetings

meeting

Whether you are managing multiple projects or a large team, your calendar has a tendency to fill up quickly.  It becomes easy (and second nature) to get caught up in the “let’s schedule a meeting” game.  Eventually this leads to days full of non-productive meetings with associates, unable to do their regular job, left to make statements such as “I don’t have time to work” or “Why am I even in this meeting?” Let’s face it, sitting in meetings all day isn’t much fun.  … [Read more...]

I Gave at the Office (Again and Again and Again)

fundraising

It's Girl Scout cookie time. And Little League plant sales. And dance studio wrapping paper. Do you have kids who are dying to sell something and think your workplace is the answer to their Trump-ian dreams? Or are you the one constantly feeling like someone else is hitting you up to buy their dear darling’s magazines and cookie dough? … [Read more...]

Burn Your Weekly Status Report! On Second Thought…

stack of paper

Each week is the same process. You begrudgingly pull up last week’s status report and stare at it.  Given the “high level” milestone format there is little to change.  You update the date to reflect the current week, attach to an email, and hit send.  No one is reading your status report and this is confirmed during weekly meetings with your supervisor.  Is it your fault or their fault?  The answer is YES.  You are both at fault – you, for creating a useless weekly status report … [Read more...]

It’s a Wrap! Avoid the Gift Gaffe

presents

It’s hard to find an area more fraught with potential angst than gift giving. And if it’s treacherous to buy for your family and friends who love you anyway, gift giving at the office can be downright terrifying. Many offices discourage gift giving, and that’s probably smart. Or they organize a “Secret Santa exchange” and call it good. … [Read more...]

How the Grinch Stole the Holiday Spirit: Four December Disasters for Smart Office Workers to Avoid

holidays-office

Tis the season for jolly, jingly joy! And, oh yeah….your job. Yes, even if the rest of the world seems to be reveling, in most offices work still needs to be done. In the first of this two-part series, we’ll talk about getting through the holidays with your ho ho ho intact by avoiding four common office avalanches. … [Read more...]

“A Day in the Life” Finding Ways to Juggle Work and Family More Efficiently

sleeping at desk

Anyone here a lawyer? There’s a blog called “Above the Law” that featured a memo from an associate at a high-profile law firm who was quitting… As part of her “quit memo” she included the following schedule of her daily life. … [Read more...]