Categories for Blog
Employee engagement differs from employee satisfaction. A Gallup poll found that only 32 percent of U.S. workers are engaged in their jobs, for instance. Yet employees who don’t love their jobs can and should still be engaged. Custom Insight distinguishes employee engagement from employee satisfaction. Engagement is defined as “the extent to which employees feel passionate about their jobs, are committed to the organization, and put discretionary effort into their work.” Satisfaction relates to “love”—or how happy employees are. The Purpose and Nature of Work We must remind ourselves that the primary purpose of work is to provide for our needs—food, shelter, clothing.... Continue reading...
September 24, 2018 3:14 am
Sometimes “life” takes us different directions than we were expecting. And sometimes life’s events illuminate the inter-relatedness of various areas of our life more vividly. That has happened to me in the past few weeks. (This is a highly personal entry. I feel like I need to let you know upfront that I’m not writing this to gain sympathy but just to share “where I am” and lessons I am trying to learn.) Less than four weeks ago, my older sister, Kathy, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer that was already quite advanced within her body. A week later... Continue reading...
At Appreciation at Work, our focus is on building positive, healthy relationships in the workplace, and we largely do this by helping people learn how to communicate authentic appreciation, build trusting relationships, and relate to others in a respectful way. But we also have to deal with life as it exists, and another avenue to build positive relationships is to address the issues that interfere with that process. This is the focus of my new book, The Vibrant Workplace, which is subtitled: Overcoming the Obstacles to Building a Culture of Appreciation. Negativity is one of the most common, and deeply... Continue reading...
Employee engagement is a major goal for many leaders (and most HR professionals). But employee recognition has provided disappointing results. Authentic appreciation is the key missing component – and knowing how employees want to be shown appreciation is critical. A core concept foundational to demonstrating authentic appreciation is that not everyone wants to be shown appreciation in the same ways. Some people like verbal praise, but others feel valued when you spend time with them. A number of employees feel supported by receiving some help when they are overwhelmed, while others are encouraged if you bring in their favorite cup... Continue reading...
Memorial Day in the U.S. is a holiday that seems to be slipping in its meaningfulness to many in our country. As the distance in time grows from recent military conflicts, and even further from the major wars of the past, the desire to pay honor to those who fought to protect our freedoms wanes. This is a normal process of life – past losses and pain fade as time goes on. But a common life event brings the significance of Memorial Day back into focus quickly. That event, the death of someone close, was an experience I had multiple... Continue reading...
Let’s be honest, some people are more difficult to work with than others. There are weird people; angry, irritable colleagues; and people we just don’t understand. And appreciating these individuals can be even more challenging. Let me share a few tips on how to communicate appreciation to a “difficult” colleague: Don’t try to fake it. Whatever you do, don’t try to “act like” you appreciate someone if you really don’t. Most people have very sensitive “radar” when they believe others aren’t being genuine. You risk undermining any trust you may have with your colleague if they don’t think... Continue reading...
How do you communicate appreciation to a colleague who works virtually? This is a growing challenge for supervisors and colleagues in today’s world of work. The following statistics have been discovered about remote worker trends: 53% of companies in the U.S. continue to have standard workplaces, with nearly every employee coming into the office 4 or more days each week. 37% have a main office with some people working remotely. 10% have no office space at all. Increasing numbers of employees work in locations separate from their colleagues and supervisor, with “virtual teams” occurring across cities, states and countries. This... Continue reading...
Government agencies are extremely concerned about their low levels of employee engagement, and rightfully so. When staff don’t feel valued, they become discouraged, passive, apathetic and cynical. This can result from a variety of factors including not feeling respected by customers, poor communication within the agency, a sense of powerlessness to make improvements, and not ‘heard’ by upper level managers and directors. The issues seem to be the same whether the agency is at the city, county, state or federal level (but federal employees seem to be the most frustrated.) We receive reports from all levels of government employees (frontline... Continue reading...
Not everyone feels appreciated in the same way. The more often we communicate appreciation in the ‘language’ and specific actions preferred by our colleagues, the more likely we are to ‘hit the mark’ in truly encouraging them and helping them feel valued. As we have trained thousands of employees in the concepts of authentic appreciation (both directly and through our Appreciation at Work Certified Facilitators) we have found that: A person’s primary language of appreciation is often the language in which they are most easily offended! So if you have a colleague or supervisor who seems to get upset easily... Continue reading...
“Physical touch in the workplace-to show appreciation? Really?” is one of the most common responses we get from some participants when training groups in the 5 Languages of Appreciation. I was in the midst of posting this article when a friend forwarded me this video aired by NBC Nightly News about Chobani Yogurt, where the owner is sharing ownership of the company with his employees. But the video also shows Mr. Chobani hugging his employees and the piece ends with the statement: “where the money means a lot but being appreciated means even more”. Using physical touch to communicate appreciation... Continue reading...
According to Forbes.com, multitasking is a dangerous pursuit: “You’ve likely heard that multitasking is problematic, but new studies show that it kills your performance and may even damage your brain.” “Research conducted at Stanford University found that multitasking is less productive than doing a single thing at a time. The researchers also found that people who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information cannot pay attention, recall information, or switch from one job to another as well as those who complete one task at a time.” Fast Company takes it a step further: “Clifford Nass, a communication professor... Continue reading...
One of the lessons that aspiring leaders and those who want to continue to develop their leadership abilities must learn is: to be an effective leader, you have to learn how to lead individuals who are different than you. If you don’t, you will only be able to gather and lead those who are similar to you in personality, perspective or ability; and this, in turn, limits what you can accomplish. Although at first the idea seems intriguing, you actually don’t want to lead a group of “Junior You’s”. You may be talented but you can’t do everything, and to... Continue reading...
I continue to have the opportunity to provide career coaching for a number of individuals — from high school students, to college graduates, to adults considering changing their career path (and almost every stage in between). I thought I would share some repeated misconceptions I hear in working with career-seeking individuals in our culture. Here they are: *MISCONCEPTION #1: The first thing to do is to figure out what you are interested in. WRONG: Nobody (except your mom) cares about what you want to do or are interested in. Ask any art history or English literature major still looking for... Continue reading...
September 16, 2014 9:11 am
Since I have worked as a psychologist and business coach over the past 20 years, I have had the opportunity to observe and interact with thousands of individuals and groups. Obviously, some people are more healthy and functional than others. We all have problems, so the existence or experience of having difficulties in our lives is not the factor which discriminates between individuals who are doing well in their lives and those who are having ongoing, significant challenges. There are individuals who (for whatever reason) live their lives according to a different set of rules — principles which really do... Continue reading...
The news is repetitive and blaring: employers are complaining about the inability to find qualified applicants for positions that need to be filled. I have seen three articles in business magazines this week about the issue. Part of the discussion is about the irony — having 10+ million workers who can’t find work, while employers reporting they can’t find potential employees who meet the needs they have. (In fairness, there are employers interviewed in the articles saying they aren’t having this problem.) The issue is both national and local, and across multiple industries and workforces. Key term to understand: qualified... Continue reading...
Friends, I am aware that the links to the two video clips did not work (they somehow got changed in the posting process). I have corrected the links and you should be able to view the videos now. Sorry for the inconvenience! * * * * * * About a week ago, a frustrated young professional posted a video announcing and celebrating her quitting her job (ironically, at a company who creates videos to be watched on the Internet). If you haven’t seen the video yet, please click here and take two minutes to watch it. Why? Well, first, it... Continue reading...
Friends, I had the opportunity to be interviewed by David Hassell of 15Five.com for his blog. David is a young entrepreneur and sports enthusiast who was recently on the cover of Forbes magazine and cited as “the most connected man you don’t know in Silicon Valley”. I was able to share some of the lessons we have been learning about the workplace over the past couple of years, including the fact that most employee recognition programs don’t have much impact on individual team members feeling valued and appreciated. The interview is short (< 15 minutes). I hope you’ll take the... Continue reading...
This may seem to be a bit of an “about face” for me – given my previous writing on how cynicism is a result of “bad recognition” or when employees question the authenticity of appreciation communicated. But it occurred to me that, really, cynicism can be a positive influence in our workplaces. How? When people are cynical, they are giving us honest feedback about how they really feel. When was the last time that you heard a cynical remark from a colleague and you accused them of not being honest regarding how they really feel? (Aside from the sarcastic remark:... Continue reading...
One of the benefits I receive from the work I do with family-owned businesses and successful business leaders is the opportunity to hear their life (and business’ life) story, and learn from them (hopefully!) . One of the questions we typically ask in our interviews is: “To what do you attribute your financial and business success?” Common answers are “perseverance”, “sticking to it over the long haul”, “continuing to do what we knew was right”. (Other frequent responses are: “being in the right place at the right time”, “luck”, “God’s blessing”, depending on their worldview.) It is often helpful to... Continue reading...
February 10, 2013 9:56 pm
I have been working with families, kids, teens and young adults for 30 years now. One of the most common challenges I see individuals experience is knowing when to let their family members experience the results of their choices and when to intervene and “rescue” them from the negative consequences they will be facing. (Interestingly, the situation often occurs with adult siblings, as well as the more common incidents with children – regardless of their age.) The pattern can start subtly and innocently (for example, taking Johnny’s report to school for him when he left it home accidentally) but, if... Continue reading...
Now is the time when many of us are starting to think: “I’d like to get my boss a gift for Christmas — just a little something — but what? I don’t want it to look like I’m trying to gain her favor. But I don’t want just to give her some token ‘something’ that will look schmaltzy. (And I don’t want to spend a lot on it.) What could I get her?” I think I have a good option for you. But, first, let me frame the scenario: Most of us don’t need another “thing” (or the “things” we... Continue reading...
This past week I had the privilege of taking a short vacation to the mountains in Colorado with my wife. We had a delightful time (just the two of us, our four kids are ‘out and about’.) We were in awe of the majesty of the mountains; we couldn’t believe how many trees there were (alive and dead); and we loved the power and beauty of the rushing rivers. While enjoying the time away from work, being with my wife, and in nature, I had some time to reflect on “vacation” — what it is, what it means, and often... Continue reading...
Memorial Day in the U.S. represents a variety of things to different people: A day off of work (possibly even paid!) The beginning of summer Going to the lake Having a barbeque with friends and family Having to get together with family The Indianapolis 500 Visiting family gravesites Veterans parades and celebrations Watching old war flicks For me, especially when getting together with children, teenagers & young adults, I start to think about — what does Memorial Day mean to them? In some ways, maybe it doesn’t matter — it is what it is and it is their life. But,... Continue reading...
