4Cs Blog: Happy Employees = Happy Customers
Yahoo Bans Working From Home?Richard Branson Weighs InI have to admit I was completely surprised at Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's recent announcement that the company will ban teleworking for most of its employees. It seems like a backwards move for a company struggling to maintain its mojo, which I doubt will do anything to improve morale at the company. Mayer has come in for much criticism for the move and today Virgin Group founder Richard Branson weighed in on the decision too with the following tweet: We agree with Branson on this one. Study after study has shown that giving workers more flexibility improves productivity, loyalty and engagement. What do you think? Read full post HR Priorities for the New Year in 2013What are the most important goals for your oranization in the coming year? The folks over at Ceridian have an interesting infographic giving some answers to this question. The following is a summary of what they found: Read full postSend Your Robot to WorkWasn't this a hilarious Big Bang Theory episode? You know, the one where Dr. Sheldon Cooper decides to send himself to work via a PC screen attached to a mobile robot. Double Robotics has created this novel device which allows you to turn your iPad into a movable virtual presence device just like Sheldon's making plain old teleconferencing look positively stone age. Read full postHow to Motivate your EmployeesHere's an interesting TED talk on the puzzle of motivation from Dan Pink. Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think. In other words, carrots and sticks don't work. Hit the Read More link below to watch the video. Read full post Hire Employees for Their PersonalitiesCollaborative enviroments are an important factor in highly engaged workplaces. In this short video from Harvard Business Review, Robert Chavez, CEO of Hermès US, argues companies should consider the personalities of the people they hire as much as the skill sets they have. Qualities like a sense of humor, cheerfulness and easy rapport with others are a huge benefit to your organization as a whole if they come naturally to the people you hire. "We can't teach people how to smile." says Chavez. Read full postDon't Tell Your Employees How To VoteElection day is upon us! After what seems like an especially long campaign, it's finally all over but the celebrating (or the weeping). We've seen a number of stories come out during this election season (purportedly as a result of the Supreme Court's "Citizen's United" decision) that describe an increasing tendency for some employers to "encourage" their employees to vote for one candidate versus another. Whether it's company-wide memos in favor of the CEO's favorite candidate, or "mandatory" participation in political rallies for one party over another, or even going so far as threatening job loss for a wrongly cast ballot, there's one thing we are certain of. It's a very bad idea. By all means, encourage them to excercise their right to vote and participate in our democracy. Go the extra mile and allow them time off in order to do so. They'll think you're a hero! But please don't badger, intimidate or coerce your employees into voting the way you want them to. Then they'll just think you're a heel. Jeffrey Pfeffer over at the HBR Blog Network agrees. Besides being just the wrong thing to do, it probably won't work (we think it will backfire big time) because as Jeff points out...
There are many challenges to running a company and maintaining a workforce that's both committed and engaged and rooting for your company's success. As Jeff says: "The last thing a company facing a difficult economy and competitive challenges needs is a CEO that uses communications channels with employees to introduce yet another distraction: Politics." We couldn't agree more. Read Jeff's complete blog posting at HBR here. Read full post 57 Free Ways to Recognize EmployeesFound this great list on the University of Washington's Human Resources Web Site. It has 57 ideas for reward & recognition that won't cost you a penny.
Click on the Read More link below to see the full list of 57 ideas. Read full post9 Habits of Highly Engaged ManagersBased on our normative Employee Engagement database, there are a number of factors that have a powerful influence in building job satisfaction and engagement, including:
Click here to read the full article and learn the 9 habits that engaged managers exhibit to create positive cultures. Read full postIs Having Fun at Work Important?According to the 2012 Great New Zealand Employment Survey, yes it absolutely is! According to the survey, 50 per cent of employees list having “fun and working with great people” as the most important factor in their employment. We have found similar results here in the US in our Annual 4Cs Benchmark Survey. Read full postThe High Costs of Disengaged EmployeesMuch research into employee engagement has identified something referred to as the "Engagement-Profit Chain". Simply stated, engaged employees lead to higher levels of service, quality and productivity, which in turn leads to higher customer satisfaction, which results in increased business and higher levels of profit. The opposite is just as true. Disengaged employees pretty much guarantee lower levels of service to your customers and it's not a stretch to see how that will impact your competitiveness no matter what your industry. Let's take a look at some areas where improvements can have a significant impact on how engaged your employees are. Read full post |
AboutInsightlink Communications are experts in employee survey design, data collection and analysis. Since 2001 we've helped companies of all sizes measure and improve their employee satisfaction and engagement.4Cs Blog Home Recent PostsTowards Sustainable Workplaces: Why Going Green in Offices Matters for Employees Mastering Workplace Stress How Settlement Agreement Solicitors Protect Employee Rights During Negotiations From Contracts to Culture: Employment Law’s Role in a Satisfied Workforce The Remote Revolution: Transforming Teamwork Beyond the Office CategoriesAdvancement (3) Commitment (10) Communication (15) Compensation (15) Culture (143) Employee Surveys (85) Engagement (100) HR Practices (82) HR Technology (29) Management (41) Miscellaneous (43) Mission/Vision/Values (3) Motivation (40) Performance Reviews (2) Recognition (19) Training (16) Work/Life Balance (35) Favorite LinksEngaged Employees Blog HR ToolKit Guide to Employee Surveys Good info on how to write surveys Insightlink 360 Makes 360 assessment surveys easy. HR & Skills Development Canada Canadian Labour Market Information Statistics Canada Labour Market Activites SHRM Society for Human Resources Management HRPA Human Resources Professionals Association Harvard Business Review Essential Information for Leaders |