Apollo Honoree, Salient Federal Solutions, shares the challenges of merging two cultures and what they do to help employees engage and embrace the change. Read more about how Salient brings cultures together in this interview with their Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resource Officer, Kay Curling, below.

What drives the use of employee development programs? Are the funds used mostly around the time of an annual review as a result of an employee realizing they are eligible for a raise by obtaining an industry specific certification? Are the funds used primarily as a result of the criticism on a deliverable or a behavior being recognized as needing improvement? If so, it may not necessarily be the availability of the benefit itself causing the disinterest in the program. It may be that the program needs to go beyond that which develops employees. The program must be designed so that it strengthens employees.

Have you ever known a colleague that never participated in social activities, avoided all group activities, and managed to keep a very "high wall" around their area in the office? It's likely that person was not moving up through the ranks, not receiving impressive peer reviews or performance evaluations, and they were not being recognized for outstanding contributions to the organization. The power of networking should not be underestimated because of the many possibilities it can bring forth in personal, career, and business development gains.

No matter how exciting that new job is, without the proper welcome on the new hire’s first day, it may resemble the first day of freshman year of high school – awkward! Those age old questions resurface and new hires begin to think: Where will I sit? Where will my workstation or office be? Will I fit in? Will my co-workers like me? We all have experienced those uncomfortable feelings at some point in our lives and I think I can speak for us all when I say, let that be history!

As human capital consultants, we receive a lot of calls from CEOs asking us if we can help with Employee Engagement. And we, of course, love working with our clients to identify ways to get their employees wanting to come to work every day and thinking of retention strategies for the long term. It’s important to note though that employee engagement can have several different interpretations depending on who you are talking to, so let’s address the first question.