Does your personal vision statement inspire others to greatness? Is it hardwired into the DNA of your people? If not, take time today to further refine your vision, and collaborate with your team on an action plan to bring your company’s vision to life…. Read More»
To many executives, involving rank-and-file workers in business strategy is a strange concept. Isn’t business strategy better left to those trained in it? Can’t the VP of operations provide all the insights a regular employee could — and then some? The reality, however, is that strategic planners tend to be a homogenous bunch, and organizational creativity thrives on diversity. Three-quarters of a strategy team might be ex-consultant MBAs or members of the executive suite. Sure, their ideas might look great in 2×2 or 9-box matrices, but they’re all several degrees of separation from the factory floor. Innovation happens when those executive-level ideas collide with equally valuable ones from everyday workers…. Read More»
Four years from now, Millennials will make up half of the global workforce. They were raised in different times and in a different way, and this often leads to misconceptions. Older generations often accuse Millennials of being entitled, less accountable and even lazy. More than 6 out of 10 HR professionals believe that Millennials are “hard to manage” and perhaps even “unprepared for the workplace”. Millennials themselves also seem unhappy, with only 29 percent feeling engaged with their work. As a result, 6 out 10 Millennials leave their companies in less than 3 years at an estimated cost of $20,000 per person to replace. As the Baby Boomer generation retires in the upcoming years, it is critical to understand Millennials’ different working perspectives in order to develop the right HR approach to attract and retain Millennial talent.
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The responsibilities of any business leader include setting company goals and developing plans to reach them. Setting goals, however, is only half the battle. To achieve success, you need your employees to buy into those goals and dedicate themselves to meeting them. You can’t run the business by yourself, but your employees can’t help you if they don’t know what you want to accomplish. So, how do you effectively share company goals with your employees? We asked the experts at the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) to weigh in.
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Accountability is both the sweet spot and Achilles heel of many leaders. Leaders learn early the importance of “holding associates accountable” for results. Despite its downbeat reputation accountability, effectively executed, remains the keystone for trust between leaders and associates, and associates with their customers…. Read More»
Trying to stay focused in the Age of Distraction requires a considerable amount of effort, but that doesn’t mean we stop trying. “Focus is the new I.Q.,” Dr. Newport writes, and we can get better at it with practice. While I close out the fifty tabs I have open in my browser and check out the chatter on our Twitter page, enjoy these tips from nine YEC members who use planning, prioritization, and technology to help focus on the tasks that will drive their business forward…. Read More»
You spent a lot of time constructing an eloquent mission statement — one full of promises and overflowing with trendy jargon. Top management applauds it, and clients appreciate it. But do your employees see it merely as rambling, meaningless verbiage? Less than 50 percent of the nation’s workers feel motivated by their employers’ core value statements. And that disconnect between what workers need and what they get is causing a catastrophic drop in team accountability. The people who are most important to your business’s success deserve a mission statement that’s more than a snappy sound bite. Your core values must resonate at every level, providing dependable anchors on which personnel can rely.
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Is there a goal you’d like to see more progress on? Is it one of the above (being more grateful / professional development / physical fitness / staying in touch with friends / learning to play an instrument) or is it something else? Set a new offensive policy, for this week or for the rest of the month. It will make a difference.
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Service unleashed is all about being really, really good. It means customers experiencing you raising your hand as high as you can – right out of the blocks. The pursuit of excellence says to your colleagues and customers, “You are so important to me that you get my absolute best.” “Being really, really good” includes service with an attitude — an unmistakable disposition of passion and confidence…. Read More»
Collaboration has certainly become a buzzword in business circles — and with good reason. The ability to work together with both internal and external teams will make or break a business. But some see collaboration and competition as two opposing ends of a spectrum; you get one or the other. Fortunately, it’s not an either/or. Building a successful collaborative culture, while maintaining competitive success, requires business leaders to understand the meanings and advantages (and even disadvantages) of both styles, and what these mean to business success.
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