Posts Tagged ‘Organizational Culture Change’
Thursday, May 7th, 2009
Credit: © Frenta | Dreamstime.com
The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy; I mean that if you are happy you will be good. —Bertrand Russell
If it seems weird for a column about making work more fun and engaging to open with a quote from the philosopher Bertrand Russell—then honey, you don’t know Bert.
Some philosophers spend their time working out obscure problems that don’t seem to have much to do with you and me. But Bertrand Russell spent a lot of his time thinking about everyday things—like happiness, and what it means to be good. (more…)
Tags: Company Culture Change, Culture In the Workplace, Employee Engagement, Employee Motivation Ideas, Engaged Employees, High-Performance Culture, Improving Morale, Inspired Workplace, Joy at Work, Love Your Work, Motivating Employees, Office Morale, Organizational Culture Change, Positive Attitude, Workplace Motivation, Workplace Performance
Posted in Culture Transformation, Employee Engagement, Improving Morale, Motivating Employees, Personal Transformation, Self-Growth, Workplace Performance | No Comments »
Friday, May 1st, 2009
© Monkeybusinessimages | Dreamstime.com
Admit it. The first time you heard the phrase “Hoopla Team®“—maybe last week, or last month, or ten seconds ago, in that headline—you rolled your eyes. Oh you did so.
But the eyes stop rolling when people hear about the remarkable turnarounds happening across the country when leaders get serious about the transformation of their workplace culture—a transformation that has the Hoopla Team smack dab in the center of it. (more…)
Tags: Company Culture Change, Culture In the Workplace, Culture Transformation, Employee Motivation Ideas, Hoopla, Inspired Workplace, Joy at Work, Motivating Employees, Organizational Culture Change, Workplace Performance
Posted in Culture Transformation, Hoopla Team, Workplace Performance | No Comments »
Friday, March 20th, 2009
Customer Service is Key
Customer satisfaction. Now there’s a nice phrase. It’s so, you know…nice. Everybody likes to be satisfied.
Heck, everybody likes to be fed, too. But when’s the last time you picked a restaurant just because they would feed you? EVERY two-bit restaurant will feed you. Whoop de doo.
Thing is, just about every business will “satisfy” you, too. They’ll get your dry cleaning done, your package delivered, your hair cut. So if just about everybody can step over the low bar of customer “satisfaction,” why do we keep talking about customer satisfaction as if it’s a meaningful goal? (more…)
Tags: Culture In the Workplace, Customer Service Training, High-Performance Culture, Inspired Workplace, Joy at Work, Organizational Culture Change, Positive Attitude, Sales, Sales Culture, Workplace Performance
Posted in Culture Transformation, Personal Transformation, Sales Culture, Self-Growth, Training and Development, Workplace Performance | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
Credit: © Monkeybusinessimages| Dreamstime.com
When’s the last time you heard someone say, “The problem with working here is I’m just appreciated way too much?” Healthy cultures have appreciation and celebration as their cultural backbone. They create an environment in which everyone oohs and aahs over each other’s successes and contributions.
Notice I said EVERYONE, not just managers. You might convince yourself that the manager who high-fives the top salespeople is just doing his or her job. But once you get celebration and congratulation flowing from peer to peer, you know you’ve created a celebration culture.
So how do you get there? By creating rituals of celebration. (more…)
Tags: Culture In the Workplace, Employee Engagement, Employee Motivation Ideas, Engaged Employees, Happy at Work, High-Performance Culture, Hoopla, Improving Morale, Inspired Workplace, Joy at Work, Love Your Work, Managing Employees, Motivating Employees, Office Morale, Organizational Culture Change, Sales Culture, Workplace Motivation, Workplace Performance
Posted in Employee Engagement, Hoopla Team, Improving Morale, Managing Employees, Motivating Employees, Sales Culture | No Comments »
Monday, March 16th, 2009
It happens all the time. You are having your best quarter ever. Then comes the drama. Maybe you get sick. Maybe a big account blows up. Suddenly, the record-setting month is looking average at best. The people around you are surprised, saying, “Gosh, it just seems like Jack(ie) should be a superstar. I wonder what’s wrong?” You wish you could tell them.
If this has ever happened to you—well, welcome to the human race. But even if it’s common, it ain’t good. This plight is as disastrous to the success of a salesperson as the lack of skills. For experienced salespeople, it is usually the biggest part of the problem.
So how do you overcome the demon who has your number? By taking out your “head trash” on a regular basis. (more…)
Tags: Organizational Culture Change, Positive Attitude
Posted in Personal Transformation, Self-Growth | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
Credit: © Philipdyer | Dreamstime.com
Imagine yourself transported to an unknown city by helicopter. A stadium comes into view below you. The chopper descends and lowers you gently into a seat. You are handed a hot dog and a pennant and given one instruction: Cheer for the home team.
You glance at the pennant to see what team you’re rooting for, then start cheering halfheartedly: Uh…woohoo. Go, uh…team! Beat the visitors.
No matter how many foot-longs they feed you, this is gonna get old fast. You can’t plop me down in a random stadium in a random town and expect wholehearted, red-in-the-face cheering as if it was MY team! You’ll go through the motions until you’re full, then all bets are off.
Seems like a wacky scenario, doesn’t it? But take a look around corporate America and you’ll see much the same approach to employee morale and productivity. Employees are expected to be productive and loyal to the company that happens to own the chair they’re sitting in just because it keeps them in hot dogs. And it doesn’t work. (more…)
Tags: Company Culture Change, Culture In the Workplace, Culture Transformation, Employee Motivation Ideas, Engaged Employees, Improving Morale, Inspired Workplace, Managing Employees, Motivating Employees, Office Morale, Organizational Culture Change, Workplace Motivation
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Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
Photo credit: © Beatrice Killam | Dreamstime.com
Every once in a while, there’s a dandy—a whopper of a mistake that throws you for a loop. And then there are the little, repeated, and rarely addressed ongoing mistakes that show up all too often.
As a leader, employee mistakes can hurt your reputation for quality and make your footing unsure.
So how do you deal with employee mistakes? (more…)
Tags: High-Performance Culture, Managing Employees, Organizational Culture Change, Workplace Performance
Posted in Managing Employees, Personal Transformation, Training and Development, Workplace Performance | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
Photo credit: © James Insogna | Dreamstime.com
Does this sound like your life? You work from 7:00 in the morning until 7:00 each night and go home exhausted, thinking about all the unfinished work that continues to pile up.
You take work with you on “vacations,” and your ringing cell phone competes with the sound of the surf at the beach.
And despite all this, you STILL feel like you’re falling ever-further behind.
If this feels like you, you’re not alone. In fact, it’s the norm for American executives. But it shouldn’t be. It’s not just insane, it’s counterproductive. That kind of relentless schedule diminishes the quality of your life AND your work.
So what can you do to build some sanity and results into your life? (more…)
Tags: Company Culture Change, High-Performance Culture, Managing Employees, Organizational Culture Change, Workplace Performance
Posted in Culture Transformation, Managing Employees, Personal Transformation, Workplace Performance | No Comments »
Friday, February 27th, 2009
Joe
Remember in the middle of the presidential election when Phil Gramm said we’d become a “nation of whiners”? “How could he SAAAYYY such a thing?” people whined.
It may have been an impolitic thing to say, but he was right. You’re a whiner. I can say that, because I’m a whiner too. At certain times and in certain situations here in the sandbox of life, we’re ALL whiners.
But it ain’t good, especially in the workplace.
Instead of telling you what can be done, whiners spend hours vividly outlining what’s wrong, what CAN’T be done and why it can’t, and why you shouldn’t even really bother trying. Had whiners ruled the world, we’d still be sitting in our caves, huddled around the fire complaining that we can’t find the remote control. (more…)
Tags: Culture Transformation, High-Performance Culture, Managing Employees, Organizational Culture Change, Positive Attitude, Workplace Performance
Posted in Culture Transformation, Managing Employees, Personal Transformation, Workplace Performance | 1 Comment »
Thursday, February 26th, 2009
I’ll never forget Judith. Halfway through college, I took a job in an office for the summer to pay the bills and get some experience.
Boy did I get some experience.
As the boss showed me around the office, I could feel the eyes of one woman sizing me up. Not two minutes after I sat at my desk, she was there.
“Well, if you won’t introduce yourself, I guess I’ll have to take the initiative. My name is Judith. I’ll tell you at the end of the week whether I’m pleased to meet you.”
I was speechless. But it was only the beginning. Judith peppered my first few days with five-minute visits in which she “brought me up to speed” on the dynamics of the office. Don’t trust Jim with anything. Watch out for Nancy, she’s gunning for your job. Karen is worthless, don’t listen to a thing she says. No thanks needed—you’ll have plenty of opportunity to repay me. (more…)
Tags: Culture In the Workplace, Culture Transformation, Employee Motivation Ideas, Organizational Culture Change
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