We all accept that good leadership requires a balanced, equilateral approach to our team members. Of course, we should never have a favorite employee; HOWEVER as human leaders, every one of us has had that one superstar team member that we rely on greatly and yes, even like a whole lot. It is not hard to prefer “Sally” as the employee who happily volunteers to fill in and rarely demonstrates even the slightest bit of stress. So while we would never have favorites, it is difficult to not favor Sally when her counterpart, Jimmy, is hiding the fact that Facebook is now his home page on the company laptop and that his longer and longer breaks are due to him hunting Pokemon in the back parking lot.

Human Resources experts see obvious value in creating organizational cultures that attract and retain exceptional people, yet we find it’s not always easy to convince other business leaders to focus on culture. In fact, lots of times, when we talk about spending time or resources on improving culture, leaders instantly think “culture” equals “fluff”: activities that ultimately make people feel good but don’t positively impact the bottom line or mission, and therefore, it’s not worth the investment. But, what happens if we don’t take the time to invest in culture?

One of the hottest topics right now I'm seeing with many of my clients is how to manage multi-generations in the workplace. It is the first time the workplace has seen so many generational "forces" all at once. Today's workforce includes Pre-Boomers (Born 1925-1945), also known as The Silent Generation and Traditionalists, Baby Boomers (Born 1946-1964), Generation X (Born 1965-1976), Generation Y, also known as Millennials (Born 1977-1994), and Generation Z (Born 1995 and later).

Regardless of the nature of the transaction, during a merger or acquisition, all employees find themselves surrounded by change, impacting everything from organizational culture to the snacks in the kitchen. From here it is an exercise in simple logic - with change, comes uncertainly - with uncertainty, comes attrition. Is there no way to interrupt this equation?

The Trillion Dollar Jackpot Lurking in HR Companies, large and small alike, are always trying to find ways to increase bottom line results and return profits to the organization, shareholders and employee base to signal healthy business operations and strong leadership. I cannot name one client of mine who is not laser focused on some form of growth or revenue strategy to either sustain or grow their footprint within a given region or industry. In fact, most of my compensation related engagements center on the design and implementation of incentive plans to motivate employees to either capture more revenue or enhance business operations in an effort to optimize business and financial results. In most cases organizations achieve better business results by expanding product offerings, cutting expenses or deepening its expertise in a particular area. I can vouch that the aforementioned measures usually do result in improved fiscal and operational results; however there is one place many decisions makers are overlooking to unlock financial gains and operational efficiencies…..you guessed it, Human Resources.

What we Learned from Live! with Kelly & Michael... On Tuesday, April 26, 2016, the television show, Live! with Kelly & Michael’s audience welcomed Kelly Ripa’s return to daytime television with a standing ovation. Kelly returned to the show after taking a few days off to celebrate her wedding anniversary and a few extra impromptu days (sick days) were taken off to allow her time to process Michael Strahan’s departure from Live. According to entertainment news, Kelly did not receive the news of Michael’s departure until a few moments prior to the information being released to the public. She was given no time to process and according to news articles, Michael Strahan was not allowed to discuss his departure with others.