Holiday Policies Offer The Flexibility Employees Are Looking For
The city of Seattle will celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day on October 14, a day when many organizations are observing the federal holiday of Columbus Day. Indigenous Peoples Day recognizes and honors Native American history and culture rather than Italian explorer Christopher Columbus. There’s a lesson here for companies thinking through their holiday policies. With increasingly […]
Conquering Negative Self Talk is the Key to Unblocking your Communication
Negative self-talk is one of the most powerful inhibitors to good communication, and it’s entirely within our control. You might not think about it much, but we are constantly talking to ourselves. Not in words, per se, but in the narratives we each create in our minds about everyday situations. Those narratives have the power […]
Take charge of your values
If you go to any company and ask employees to name the values they see lived out in the organization, they’ll have answers – be decisive; have fun; customer first; this isn’t a safe place to make mistakes. The question companies should be asking is what their lived values are, if those are the values […]
Supporting Working Parents During Back-to-School Season and Beyond
Back-to-school season is an important time for company leadership and managers to be aware of the challenges faced by their employees who are also parents. The beginning of a new school year involves a number of stressful changes for working parents, such as more complex commutes and busier mornings getting children ready for school, lining […]
The Business of Happy Employees: How to Create a Company Culture That’s More Human, Less Resources
Hiring great employees is only half of the secret to success. The other half? Keeping them happy. PROOF OF PRODUCTIVITY Want to get the best performance out of your staff? Marketwatch reports that happier employees are 10% more productive than their disillusioned counterparts, confirming that employee wellness is vital to your company’s bottom line. However, […]
Is Hiring for Culture Fit Hurting Your Bottom Line?
When corporate culture goes sideways at companies like Uber and now Miramax we’re reminded that organizations with otherwise innovative and sustainable strategies, services, and products can still experience irreparable damage when they don’t get it right. While quoting “culture eats strategy for breakfast” from Peter Drucker may feel like a cliché, creating a healthy culture […]
#Decency Pledge
It’s been an amazing week for decency in Seattle, and it’s not over yet. While Uber and Binary Capital are going through very public reviews of errant behavior, it’s spurring some of the best conversation I’ve heard about culture. The Uber example is especially poignant because it demonstrates how a toxic culture can ruin a […]
Practical Ways to Improve Relationships at Work
Being a good manager, CEO, or supervisor is a difficult task that’s been written about endlessly. New economy companies (especially in the tech sector) have notoriously flexible guidelines a bout behavior at work, with most managers taking a hands-off, “cool boss” or good friend approach to management. Studies have shown, too much structure can lead […]
