Blog Posts

Leveraging Corporate Social Responsibility for Employee Engagement

Corporate Social Responsibility

I recently had the honor of giving the Opening Keynote at The Doolittle Institute in Niceville, Florida. In their words, “The Doolittle Institute has the privilege of providing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education to thousands of underserved students, many of them military personnel. These hands-on programs include robotics, coding, computer-aided design, managing job stress, time management, and others. One of our primary goals is to inspire and educate our country’s future workforce.” About half of my audience were in uniform. Needless to say, I was inspired to bring my “A game” and deliver a kick-ass keynote speech. ...

11 Things You Need to Know About Generation Z

Generation Z

Millennials, Millennials, Millennials.  Very much in line with Millennials’ insatiable desire for recognition, it seems like the last ten years of articles, videos, and speeches, were all about Millennials. As the first surge of Generation Z enters the workplace, organizations may be surprised at how different they are from Millennials (also known as Generation Y).  Organizations, human resource leaders, and managers will need to learn about, and fully understand, this unique generation especially since they may be the solution to the never-ending talent attraction and talent retention challenge.  Thus, employers will need to also adapt and bring ...

Bringing Your Own Unique Style To Even The Most Mundane Jobs

mundane job

While giving keynote speeches and leadership development workshops, I am often asked how to engage employees who work in the most repetitive or boring jobs. In this post, I want to highlight an awesome individual who provides the most telling answer to that question. The Tarmac Dancer, as he's come to be known on social media, is stunned by his sudden viral fame, though for passengers and employees at the Greater Rochester International Airport it's nothing new. His name is Kyran Ashford, and he's worked at the airport almost five years. He is employed by JetStream Ground Services, which is ...

Ten Predictions for the 2018 Workplace

As luck or prescient knowledge would have it, seven of the ten workplace predictions I made last year turned out to be correct. While I am happy with that outcome, I hope to do even better in 2018. Here are my top 10 predictions for the 2018 workplace: Digital workplaces will continue to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI), further promoting “the intelligent workplace.” For 2018, AI will likely have a profound effect on both workplace and culture, continuing to change how everyone works (i.e. the practical flow of how work is accomplished). Specifically, AI will no doubt replace certain ...

Four Tips for Making 2018 Your Most Engaging and Rewarding Year

Happy New Year! Many people ring in the new year with renewed commitments to improve aspects of their lives that have previously been challenging. Often, these commitments are made around individuals’ jobs and careers. As my New Year’s gift to those of you looking to be more engaged at work, here are four strategic measures you can consider to lead you to quite possibly one of the best work years of your life. Seize the power of reflection. Studies have repeatedly shown that disengaged workers are often disengaged because they are in the wrong role, are performing tasks they do ...

The Sweet Gift Of Employee Engagement And Strategic Brand Promotion

sugarhouse casino

On the heels of being a motivational employee engagement keynote speaker for a client in Las Vegas, one of the key executives sent me the most unique post-event thank you gift. The gift so resonated with me since it leveraged three of the most impactful drivers of both employee engagement and brand promotion and recognition. First, I’ll share the gift with you and then I’ll highlight the drivers it leveraged, such that you and your team can use them to make a difference for your employees and customers. The gift was from Wendy Hamilton, the General Manager of SugarHouse Casino ...

A Lesson On Employee Engagement From Thomas Edison’s Mother: Never Let Them Put You Down!

One day, as a small child, Thomas Edison came home from school and gave a paper to his mother. He said to her, “Mom, my teacher gave this paper to me and told me only you are to read it. What does it say?” Her eyes welled with tears as she read the letter out loud to her child. “Your son is a genius. This school is too small for him and doesn’t have good enough teachers to train him. Please teach him yourself.” Many years after Edison’s mother had died, he became one of the greatest inventors ...

Lessons On Engagement From My Native American Sister And Iraq War Veteran

Native American Sister

Last weekend I went home to the Native American Indian Reservation in northern Wisconsin on which I was raised. I always find it so grounding to go home to the “Res” as it is known to the locals. It was especially grounding this trip because I got to spend two and a half peaceful hours with my Chippewa little sister, Melissa Doud, on her new pontoon boat. Although I am not Native American, and not her blood brother, we share kindred spirits and souls, and much family and Native American history, not the least of which was dancing in the ...

Recognizing Millennials

Recognizing Millennials

Millennials are a unique generation in the workforce for a variety of reasons, including their plans for staying with their current employer. Unlike other generations, Millennials aren’t afraid to pick up and leave a company if a better offer comes along. This new approach to career development has many managers scrambling to retain Millennials, but most don’t do the single easiest and most effective thing to engage these workers and entice them to stick around for the long haul. In just two minutes, this video shows you how to be a better boss for Millennials. ...

The #1 Driver of Employee Engagement: Recognition

Scientifically proven through Key Driver Analyses done by multiple employee research organizations, nothing beats recognizing employees for their hard work.  In partnership with the ATD, this video reveals: The single greatest mistake organizations make vis-à-vis Recognition. The three-step recipe for making Recognition efforts most impactful. The importance of establishing a peer-to-peer Recognition platform ...

6 Easy Ways to Engage Salespeople

Engage Salespeople

Last week I conducted a Leadership Development workshop for a large Fortune 500 company on the East Coast. The workshop centered on the very hot topic of how to successfully engage a sales force and reap the benefits of that engagement. The sales managers and salespeople attending the event left on a real high, fully ready to take their game to a whole new level. The data and tips related to salespeople engagement are especially important given that: - Salespeople are more engaged than non-salespeople (23% fully engaged versus 13% for non-salespeople). Yet, salespeople are much more likely to be ...

The Perils of Disengagement

employee disengagement

In partnership with the Association for Training & Development, this video explores just how damaging it can be to tolerate Actively Disengaged employees on your team. I should know. My former account stole $110,000 from my company over the years. But even worse, she sabotaged a deal I teed up to sell the company. (The potential buyer was an auditing firm and she was scared the transaction would unearth her secret, so she stopped at nothing to avoid being caught.) This shows how employees who don’t have the company’s best interest at heart cannot be tolerated. You must learn ...

Employee Engagement: The Dividends

employee engagement dividends

This video illuminates the myriad dividends that come with building a culture of world-class employee engagement, not the least of which are great talent attraction, retention, creativity, innovation, productivity, customer service, and ethical behavior.  Is your organization reaping all of these benefits?  Find out. ...

Video Blog: Employee Engagement – The Disengaged Employee

Disengaged employees

This video explores the third category of employee engagement, that being the Actively Disengaged. Thirteen percent of the workforce is Actively Disengaged. Is there a successful solution to transform these workplace terrorists into productive and Actively Engaged members of your team? Find out. ...

Video Blog: Employee Engagement – Different Types of Engagement

Employee Engagement - Different Types of Engagement

Welcome to the second of a series of videos on Employee Engagement, Culture, and the Best Practices on each of the key drivers of engagement. This video unveils how many working people fall into two categories of engagement, that being Actively Engaged, and Neither Engaged Nor Disengaged. It also clearly defines these two buckets of engagement and discusses the Key Driver Analysis that was conducted to determine the most impactful drivers of employee engagement, which will take your organization to the next level. ...

The Best Bosses Say These 9 Things

best bosses

Employee engagement is always greatly heightened by excellent communication. That’s why the most tremendous bosses use these 9 statements on a regular, and in some cases, daily basis. Start using these phrases regularly and watch your success as a manager take flight: 1. “Thank you.” As discovered when we did the key driver statistical research for my New York Times Best Seller, recognition is the number one driver of employee engagement. Furthermore, Millennials crave feedback and recognition. Make sure your recognition efforts are both consistent and meaningful. Your team members will really appreciate it. 2. “Regarding your career development, ...

The Employee Engagement Checklist – The 6 Steps Employees Can Take On Their Own To Increase Their Employee Engagement

Employee engagement checklist

One of the single greatest mistakes organizations make when trying to increase their levels of employee engagement is forgetting to encourage their employees to accept some responsibility for increasing their own job engagement. Even if you hire the right employees, they still need to know the steps they can take to stay engaged at work in the long term. Many employees know the “to-dos” of engagement, but they often forget to implement them, or execute them consistently. So why not give them a checklist? Well, I created one for you, based on a key driver analysis of millions of survey ...

The Employee Engagement Checklist: The 6 Steps Employees Can Take On Their Own To Increase Their Employee Engagement

Many employees know the “to-dos” of engagement, but they often forget to implement them, or execute them consistently. Share the following checklist with your employees to empower them to take ownership of their engagement. DOWNLOAD NOW ...

7 Employee Engagement Takeaways From Our World Champion Chicago Cubs

The Cubs' Way

I have been a Cubs fan all of my life. Some of my fondest memories of Wrigley Field were shared with my step-grandfather Victor, who has long since passed away and never got a chance to see his Cubbies win a World Series. I brought him with me in spirit to Game 3 of the World Series this year. While at the game, I also teared up seeing the many father and son duos in attendance, in addition to the many octogenarians who had waited their entire lives for this moment in time. Is it a coincidence that there are ...

The 5 Employee Engagement Warning Signs

Employee Engagement Warning Signs

How confident are you that your employees are staying engaged? Here are five of the most common signs that employee engagement is waning: 1. Productivity suffers. Engaged employees are all about going the extra mile and putting in extra effort. Employees who are not engaged are all about doing the absolute minimum. How are you measuring employee productivity and its close parallel to employee engagement? 2. Higher absenteeism. Companies with less engagement have employees take more sick time. In fact, one study by HR Zone concluded that companies with the lowest level (bottom 10%) of engagement, experience 2.3 times ...

9 Lessons on Employee Engagement From Willy Wonka

Lessons on Employee Engagement From Willy Wonka

I was saddened to hear the news of Gene Wilder’s passing on August 29th, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease, a terrible illness that my Father has as well. Born on June 11, 1933, in Milwaukee as Jerome Silberman, Gene Wilder touched the hearts of millions as the character Willy Wonka, in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Although the film was not a commercial success, it later gained a cult following and an Oscar Nomination for Best Score. Wilder also earned a Golden Globe award nomination. In Wilder’s memory, I’d like to highlight nine best practice lessons on employee engagement ...

Employee Engagement in España

employee engagement in Spain

I recently gave a keynote address in Brussels, Belgium and took some time off to visit the Basque Country in Northeastern Spain. It was there that I got to hike many miles of the famed Camino de Santiago, also known as “The Way of St. James.” Tens of thousands of people have trekked this pilgrimage path as a retreat for spiritual growth and as a method to re-engage in their life purpose. The journey ends at the beautiful shrine to St. James the Great in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, in western Spain. I used the journey to ...

Employee Engagement Saves Lives!

Employee Engagement Saves Lives

There are myriad positive outcomes that come with building a world-class culture of employee engagement, not the least of which are higher productivity, more ethical behavior, less turnover, and greater profitability. But I have a favorite outcome, which exists within the healthcare industry: better safety compliance. Sadly, each year hundreds of thousands of people are admitted to hospitals with moderate health conditions, only to leave later in a body bag. The culprit? The spread of infections in the hospital. The gravity of this situation first got my attention when I learned Americans are five times more likely to die of ...

Benefits, Take the Wheel! Six Ways Your Benefits Can Drive Employee Engagement (and Retention)

employee benefits communication

Ever feel like your company is in a high-speed chase towards the elusive goal of employee engagement? Take a wrong turn and your competitors will beat you (and lure your top talent away). Go too slow and your employees will be bored, unhappy, and unproductive at work. So what’s a savvy benefits pro to do? Turns out, putting the pedal to the metal on your benefits communication strategy can help keep employees engaged and happy at work so they stick around longer. I recently presented another well-attended webinar for SHRM, sponsored by Jellyvision, called Benefits, Take the Wheel! Six Ways Your ...

Mile High Employee Engagement

As an author, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing someone reading your book. The first time I witnessed this was on an airplane, when the woman sitting next to me pulled my book, Building a Magnetic Culture, out of her bag and started reading it. Needless to say, I smiled widely. I then asked her, “How do you like that book?” Thankfully she said, “I love it. It’s full of neat and new ideas that we are implementing at our company to build and foster employee engagement.” She then asked me if I had read it and ...