Finding the Best HR Practices for YOUR Firm

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Sometimes when the HR department at your company tries to apply a best practice in use somewhere else, it doesn’t seem to work out quite the way the department had planned. That was the experience at one HR shop, where they were having trouble with succession planning and talent management. Human resources managers had spent… Read more »

Looking Forward or Looking Back: Which Motivates Best?

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Do you start projects with great gusto, work consistently for a few hours or days and then peter out as the project continues, losing interest and steam? Many people are just like you, paying attention to the beginning of a task but ignoring its ending. We lose focus. We procrastinate, missing deadlines. So how can… Read more »

Knowing When to Pull the Plug

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In business and elsewhere, we sometimes get into a situation where we find that the methods or strategy we are using aren’t working. When this happens, it is often difficult to admit failure and try something different. This has been evident with the military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan, where inappropriate strategy led to cries… Read more »

Creating a Corporate Culture and Making it Work

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Corporate culture.  It’s the kind of thing that companies too often only talk about but do little in the way of action.  Establishing a culture and keeping it running are too often not taken very seriously. One of the reasons culture may get short shrift is because of its nebulous kind of nature.  Trying to… Read more »

Realistic Optimism

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A lot of self-help books and motivational speakers have a simple message when it comes to optimism – if you believe in yourself, then you will achieve success.  But there is one problem with this little mantra, according to psychologist Heidi Grant Halvorson – it’s not true. The focus on achieving success almost effortlessly, if… Read more »

The Importance of Setting Small Goals When Working Toward Large Goals

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When you are facing a really big, complex challenge, it may look impossible to achieve. But before becoming too discouraged, the best course to take may be to break the project down into a series of small tasks, to make it more manageable. Each task then has a specific, achievable goal. By doing this, you… Read more »

Helping Your Employees Reach Their Potential

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How can you as a leader help your employees realize their capabilities? Here are a few ideas from one business analyst. 1) Perhaps one of the most important things to do is listen.  Listen to your employees’ ideas, and to their career goals and aspirations.  You may not have the same opinion that they do… Read more »

Why HR Professionals Should Participate in Social Media

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If you haven’t started participating on one or more of the social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) you’re missing out on a terrific way to communicate with potential candidates and the public at large. In fact, the days of choosing not to be on Facebook or Twitter may fast be ending because a recent… Read more »

Ethical Business Practices: Is Your Company One of the “Good Guys”?

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Enron. Worldcom. The Wall Street meltdown. These are all some of the more noteworthy examples of corporate skullduggery, a lack of regard of and concern for ethical behavior. But some business experts see these examples as the exception more than the rule.  There are thousands of companies with millions of employees who do the right… Read more »

Learning From Failure

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Sooner or later it’s something we all must deal with – failure.  How we respond to it and how we learn from it can make a significant difference on the path our career takes. How should we approach failure?  How should we think about it?  Here are a few thoughts on thinking about something we’d… Read more »