Stop trying to block the exit door. Instead, focus on getting your employees engaged in opening new doors within your organization.

One of the biggest issues facing many our Groove Management’s clients is employee retention.  Turnover is up across the board.  Voluntary attrition rates continue to climb because the job market has heated up.  Employees are recognizing that there are a lot more opportunities in the marketplace than have existed during the past eight years.  With the aid of LinkedIn and other socialrecruiting tools, recruiters are doing a better job of identifying passive job seekers.  The end result is that companies are struggling to hold onto their top talent.

 One helpful activity I ask my clients to do is to create a visual career timeline.  On the X axis I have them create a timeline listing years from the time they graduated from high school to the present.  On the Y axis I have them create a legend for career growth.  The next step is to plot points on the graph that show each job or pivotal career cross-roads that they have faced. 

A quick and affordable way to make your refrigerator more energy efficient.  LED bulb upgrade.

"Life might be finite, but one's legacy can be eternal".  Dr. Fromme, or “grammpa” to me, was a psychologist, teacher and writer.  He taught at City College of New York, Sara Lawrence and Columbia University, wrote seven books and practiced psychology for over fifty years. He is also remembered for his popular lecture series at New York’s 92nd Street Y. A graduate of the City College of New York and Columbia University, Dr. Fromme was a life-long learner.  He firmly believed in the never-ending quest for knowledge, which is one of the most important leadership lessons he taught me. 

The toughest interview question I ever faced was frustrating at the time, but turned into one of my greatest career learnings.  

Most companies have come to recognize that there is a direct correlation between employee engagement and financial results.  Employees who are engaged give discretionary effort and do the right things for their employers.  That translates into better business results.  However, too many companies fail at effectively measuring employee engagement.  In working with several clients on their culture and employee engagement, we have found that companies often confuse employee satisfaction with employee engagement.  The two terms are used synonymously, yet their definitions are quite different. 

Whether you are looking for a new job, driving sales for your organization, building your business or looking for love try leveraging your connections for introductions to their connections.

Rather than seeing the top leadership role as being the person to provide the answers, he saw his responsibility as asking the right questions.  Too many leaders today think that leadership is about having the right answer and showing how smart you are, when in fact leadership is about bringing out the best in others.  

Having seen many Chief Human Resources officers fail to build the credibility required to succeed in an organization as well as witnessing those who have had a positive impact from the start, I have established a short list of high impact initiatives for any senior HR leader joining a new organization.

An engaged workforce can dramatically improve an organization's performance and conversely disengaged employees can be the poison that ruins an organization.  Many organizations, especially large ones run an annual or bi-annual employee engagement survey to measure the level of engagement in their organization.  If designed properly and administered well these tools can provide a good gauge of employee engagement.  

Similar to starting a new job or a new school, the Panthers entered the 2014 season feeling good about themselves.  They had completed a winning season the year before despite being eliminated in the first playoff game.  This season got off to a decent start with a 2-0 record.  The fans were on board and everyone had high hopes.  Then the Panthers hit a wall.  It was as if someone had cast a spell over them.  They won only one of their next nine games; well they did have a tie in there.  Entering December with a record of 3-8-1, the fans and everyone else had counted them out.  Maybe next year they would get their act together. 

Action learning programs exercise the strategic muscles of an organization, build leadership capability, drive employee engagement and improve business results.  Why not trust your strategy projects to your high potentials?

Smartphone icebreaker for team meetings.  Easy to setup and a fun lesson on the importance of perspective.

A few employment branding ideas,  each one serves the purpose of building a stronger employment brand.  The products connect your employees to your brand in a unique and fun way.  Even more importantly they connect your employees family to your company and your brand.

Understanding what drives you for success is the first step in the journey towards fulfilling your vision.

Not only was Oscar de la Renta a progressive fashion designer, he was also an insightful leader who recognized the importance of creating a succession plan.  Too many creatives allow their egos and sense of self worth stand in the way of creating an organization that can carry on in their absence.  Oscar de la Renta was unique in this regard.  We can all learn a lesson about just how fashionable succession planning can be from Oscar.

What really makes superman great is that he is a self-aware leader. He knows his strengths and he leverages them in his quest for peace. He is also fully aware that kryptonite is his weakness. Self-awareness is a strength that all great leaders have learned to leverage. Superman epitomizes a leader who knows how to leverage his strengths. Superman’s super power that very few talk about is his awareness of his own strengths and weakness.

Recognizing employees for a job well done is a key to being a great manager. Positive recognition brings out the best in people and it can be equally rewarding for the manager doing the recognizing.

Does your organization have a well developed talent acquisition strategy?  Have you considered your existing customers as a potential target audience for your open roles?  Are you sick of your current job?