Thank your employees, or coworkers, 365 days a year. It seems like a simple thing to do. Find something - anything - one of your direct reports or coworkers has does well on the job and compliment them about it. After informally polling a random sampling of friends, coworkers and family members, I was not surprised to find the vast majority of people answered affirmatively that they do not do this. The most common response back to my informal poll was, “I don’t compliment my coworkers 365 days a year, but I try to do this as often as possible.” While this is a good start, and with the impending holiday season is upon us, it got me thinking: how can we all thank the people we work for, and with, every single day of the year?

Every day I hear the terms “manager” and “leader” used interchangeably. However, when you really start to explore what it means to be a leader, you will find that there are distinct and important differences between the two titles. While a manager can be a leader, the two terms are not mutually exclusive.

In the last several years, we have seen a significant increase in the number of employees requesting the ability to telecommute. Given the technological advances that have occurred to promote web-based collaboration in the workplace, it seems that telecommuting is quickly becoming seen as a standard to the current workforce. Telecommuting is defined as a working arrangement in which employees are able to work from a location other than the normal worksite and utilize technology to complete their work and communicate with co-workers, customers, and managers. Stepping into the world of telecommuting can be intimidating for an organization. You may find yourself asking how you even begin to transition into the telecommuting world. Consider the following when determining the parameters around your potential telecommuting program.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with our founder, President and CEO of Helios HR, Kathy Albarado to pick her brain on leadership. As Kathy’s passion is working with enlightened leaders to build a culture that attracts, retains and engages exceptional people, I wanted to find out what leadership means to her and how she believes others can become great leaders. Read the full interview below!

Guest Post By Kimberly Gladis of Steve Gladis Leadership Partners

Have you ever considered an Up or Out personnel policy? While traditionally used in the military and academics, I recently had a client shift their career development approach to an Up or Out policy in order to attract, retain, and motivate high performing individuals.