Dear Madeleine, I am a manager who has done well at a professional services company. I run a large and growing group of entry level professionals who manage logistics and customer service for the entire organization. I absolutely love my job. I enjoy helping people be successful as well as being seen as someone who…
Everyday the spirits of millions of people die at the front door of their workplace. There is an epidemic of workers who are uninterested and disengaged from the work they do, and the cost to the U.S. economy has been pegged at over $300 billion annually. According to a recent survey from Deloitte, only 20%…
Earlier this month, I noticed that a few of my Facebook friends were posting a link to a Wall Street Journal post titled What Do Workers Want from the Boss? The article describes the results of a Gallup study showing that employees want communication, a trusting relationship, and clear measurement standards from their immediate supervisor.…
Carrot and stick motivational schemes may drive short term compliance, but they don’t work very well when it comes to increasing long term performance, retention, effort, endorsement, or even intentions to be a good organizational citizen. That’s what researchers at The Ken Blanchard Companies found when they looked at the impact different motivational outlooks have…
I’ll say it right up front: I’m not a fan of the infamous practice of ranking employees and continuously turning over the bottom 10 percent. I think it is bad business. So when I speak about eliminating performance problems, I am not suggesting we get rid of employees. That should only be considered in rare…
The ability to grow in both your job and career is a key driver of employee engagement but the results of a recent study suggest that leaders are falling short in meeting the expectations of their direct reports. Researchers from The Ken Blanchard Companies teamed up with Training magazine to poll a cross-section of 456…
Good leaders bring out the best in their people. Bad leaders diminish performance. When you add up the costs over an entire organization, the bottom line impact can be staggering—an amount equal to 7% of a company’s sales according to responses from people at 200+ companies who have used The Ken Blanchard Companies Cost-of-Doing-Nothing Calculator.…
“It’s all about values and principles. It’s not about the numbers.” Leaders, perhaps the most ambitious, will tell you that this is their mantra—but when you take a close look at what’s really going on, let’s face it: it is all about the numbers. It’s about hitting goals, frequently even at any cost. The urgent…