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Prioritize Your Time With The Power of 80 / 20 - By Erik Luhrs

As a Professional Organizer, I work under the presumption that each client and each client’s issues are unique. Thus, every project I undertake is basically a “start from scratch” process. And just like the best cooking, starting from scratch always yields the best results.
Nonetheless, there are some standard rules, diagnostics and processes that I use and/or suggest to almost all of my clients. One of my favorites is based on the theme of 80/20.
There are three variations on the theme of 80/20...... read more

7 Jokes About Employees You Wish You Didn't Hire - By Michael Mercer

Every manager hired some employees they wish they never hired. To make light of - and also put light on - hiring losers, I now give you a special gift:
a. Jokes about types of employees you wish you never hired
b. Solutions: Methods you can use - so you avoid hiring such creeps
Solutions include pre-employment tests, special interview tips and more to help you stop putting lousy employees on your company's payroll.

LAZY
Joke #1 = Some employees are so lazy . . . even if they have a work-from-home job, they still get to work late...... read more

Thinking Out of the Box : Why & How - By Ashok Grover

How often have you heard about "thinking out of the box"? May be, very often. And how often have you wondered what a box has to do with this? Possibly, never!
Well, perhaps this term "out of the box" is derived from a famous puzzle created by the early 20th century British mathematician Henry Ernest Dudeney. You might have come across this one, in which you are asked to connect nine dots in a three-by-three grid by drawing...... read more

Is Professional Networking Important? - By Prabal Aggarwal

I am writing this article, because I have recently observed my friends from premier B Schools like IIMS & ISB, and premier engineering colleges like IITs and very good career path in top positions of leading MNCs not able to get the opportunities, which they deserve. The point is that they don't know how to search for these options. In other words, they don't have good professional networking skills.
Now, professional networking or any type of networking can't be taught, it is inborn skill. But, yes you can sensitize the one and help the one to discover the skill within...... read more

Building a Customer Centric Culture - By Lynn Hunsaker

What Does it Mean to be Customer-centric?
To have the customer's best interests as the focus of your attention - not to be pre-occupied in your own interests at the customer's expense.
To do this, you need to: (1) Really know the customer in order to anticipate their best interests...... read more

Are You Stuck In One Of The Common Motivation Traps? - By Tim Connor

Everyone is motivated. However they aren't always motivated by the things that we would like them to be motivated by.
There have been countless studies and case histories done on the subject of motivation. Although there are many similarities as well as differences in their ultimate results there are several concepts that can be pulled from ...... read more

Five Powerful Techniques For Relaxation - By Steven Dylan

Stress takes a major toll on each of us. It cuts into the time we have to spend with our families, with the energy we are able to devote to our jobs, and with the way we ultimately feel about ourselves. It runs down our immune systems and even plays a role in unhealthy weight gain. It may not be possible to remove all of the stress from our activities, but it is possible to deal with it more effectively. By learning some simple relaxation techniques we have the power to minimize the negative effects...... read more

Beyond Replacement Planning : Towards Succession Planning - By Ashok Grover

John was quite active even at the age of 66 years. As a business head in a large conglomerate, he had three unit heads reporting to him. When Guru, the management consultant asked him what were the company's plans for his succession, John took no time explaining to him that out of the three unit heads, one was very new to the organization, another was purely an operations guy and yes...... read more

How to Control Your Anger - By Daniel Gibbs

Anger, a feeling experienced by every one of us, can manifest in many ways. Some will cry, or shout, or become silent. No matter how you show your anger, you may have tried to control your feelings, but failed. Here you have a few simple steps to get over your anger.
First, you have to take...... read more

5 Motivation Killers and How To Avoid Them - By Dr. Leif Smith

Motivation is an oft-discussed subject, particularly with regards to whether or not it is something that can be "taught." Some people believe that motivation is something that can be "caught" like a virus, whilst others (myself included) believe that motivation is something that has to have start from within, and for personal reasons.
What is seldom discussed with regards to motivation is those obstacles that ...... read more

What Is the Meaning & Importance of Corporate Strategy? - By Sudesh 1

Corporate strategy is supposed to be the means by which an organization achieves and sustains success. Yet, it rarely rises to that level, despite an abundance of corporate strategy theory and significant research from many organizations over the past few decades. The changes over the years are considered in the form of small, theoretical refinements, rather than large and significant steps required for...... read more

Nurturing Creativity in 2 Steps - By Dennis Bradford

Are you curious about why nurturing creativity is valuable?
After all, we inhabit the dynamic domain of becoming rather than the static domain of being. Since we confront incessant flux, we must respond to its challenges in original ways. Therefore, it would seem that we do not require creativity training for the simple reason that it is natural for us to be creative.... read more

Talent Retention – How You Can Leverage it to Elevate Your HR Career…- By Alan Collins

As I'm writing this there's lots of buzz in the sports world about LeBron James. In case you've never heard of LeBron, here's all you need to know: he's 25 years old, never went to college, is an Olympic gold medalist and arguably the best basketball player in the NBA.
There is great media speculation that when his contract is up that he ...... read more

Employee Motivation - The 5 Factors That Drive Performance - JP Maroney

Employee motivation is a mystery for many managers. But, it doesn't have to be. Instead, understanding how motivation impacts employee performance, and understanding how to use motivation to improve performance can be reduced to five master keys. Organizations desiring to improve employee motivation need...... read more

How to Get Candidates to Disclose Things They Would Prefer Not to Tell You During the Interview - By Peter L Mitchell

It is a sad fact that many people who attend interviews have information that they will withhold. This puts you, as the HR Manager, at a huge disadvantage because you cannot explore areas that are kept hidden from you. When you are interviewing you need to have strategies and tactics that will open up your candidate so that you can make an informed decision...... read more

Have Exit Interviews Lost to Stay Interviews ? - By Ashok Grover

In corporate world, job hopping is quite a normal phenomenon and employee exit interviews have been used and misused with equal expertise. Interestingly, the two main arguments against the use of this tool are opposite to each other - First, anyone who is leaving will not like to burn the bridges and will no say anything against anyone...... read more

In the Race for Numero Uno - By DP Sabharwal

Everyone wants to succeed in life. The desire for success is a basic human requirement which forces a person to put-in extra effort. The word ‘success' in fact, is a stimulant. It puts each one of us on a lofty pedestal. That in all probability is the reason that a majority of us are quite satisfied if we succeed in our endeavors. Most of us, most of the times, do not even think or realize that success is not the end of the road. There is something ahead of it too...... read more

Six Business Presentation Tips That Your Customers Will Love - By Naz Daud

In business, like in life, presentation is important. Your customers' perception of your sales staff, your back-office staff, and your brand help to mould how they perceive your business and their likelihood of doing business with you. Here are ten tips that you can follow which will entice your customers to sign on the dotted line.
Look Smart: As the saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover. Unfortunately, people do and you can use this to your advantage. Make sure you're looking well groomed for the occasion. The consequences are far less severe if you...... read more

Seven Steps to Making Better Decisions - By R Mike Bennett

Heads or tails? Have you ever agonized over a decision and wound up wishing you could just flip a coin for a quick yes-or-no answer? Or do you catch yourself twiddling your thumbs and hoping no one will notice you're stalling? Some decisions have life-or-death consequences-and some are even more important than that.
Education, career and marriage choices can affect the course of our whole life...... read more

How Not to Implement a Balanced Score Card - By Ashok Grover

Balanced Score Card, initiated less than two decades ago, was hailed as one of the 75 most influential ideas of the twentieth century. Today, 70% of Fortune 1000 have implemented the same... and there are many turnaround and success stories floating around as a result of its successful implementation.
Yet, many untold stories speak volumes about failure as well...... read more

Business in Competitive Environment - Can HR Make a Difference? - By Ashok Grover

An oft-repeated, powerful statement by Henry Ford reads, "You can take my factories and burn up my buildings, but give me my people and I'll build the business right back again." Its relevance and realization has only increased over a period of time. Extending this logic further, the people with the responsibility of 'talent management' should be even more valuable because they take care of this most important asset of the organization.... read more

How Often Do You Sharpen the Axe? - By DP Sabharwal

Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter asked for a job to a timber merchant and he got it. His salary was really good and so were the working conditions. The woodcutter decided to work with full energy and zeal and prove his worth to the merchant.
His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to fell the trees.
First day he axed and brought 15 trees...... read more

The 7 Bases to Cover When Hiring New People - By Rob McKay

What is the most burning question you have When Hiring New Employees? Diane du Preez from South Africa challenged me with this interesting question last week : "What are the top ten obvious things I should look out for to let me know the candidate is not right for me?"
When I bounced this question off Brent here in our office he said, "Tell her to make sure they are...... read more

Empower People to Enhance Your Power - By Ashok Grover

Yes, my boss had full confidence in me. In my manufacturing plant at Hosur, I was facing labor problems and as Unit Head, I found that not only the union leaders were quite unreasonable; but were also trying to adopt all kind of unfair means when they realized that I meant business and was not ready to budge from my principled stand.
In the midst of all this, my executive director, who was based in Chennai...... read more

7 Relaxing Tips For Stress Relief - By Michelle H Smith

Horse & buggies and telegrams - those were the days before the information and technology era. Now we have SUVs, iPhones and so much more to keep us busy and productive. Modern technology has improved our existence right? Or has it?
In today's hectic world, stress levels are higher than ever before. People are dropping like flies from heart attacks and other stress related health problems. Now...... read more

Why Ethics Are Important in Business - By Megan Feiglstok

When working in the business world, it is a necessity to encompass moral ethics. Ethics is also especially important when working with financial information. It is very difficult to trust someone handling lots of money. Companies in the past have distorted their financial statements in order to look better to stockholders, without thinking of the consequences that may follow if they get caught. If a company does not promote good ethical behavior...... read more

We Reward Terror - By Ashok Grover

"Attitude determines altitude", some of my experiences in the corporate world questions this statement of wisdom. We in order to create world-class organization, employ several tools and instruments to identify and reward right attitude and behavior. At the same time knowingly and unknowingly, we also have been rewarding "Spiteful leadership". Live examples in my article reflect the same.... read more

Excuse or Reason : Does it Make Any difference - By Ashok Grover

I didn't know it was so urgent.
I was so much busy, couldn't find time for it.
I thought I had told you.
These things take time.
The customer was unreasonable...... read more

4 Keys to Effective Meetings - By Jane Schulte

Meetings are a vital part of the organization of work and flow of information. They are sometimes mocked as being dull, a waste of time and inconvenient. When asked to attend a meeting, determine if it is worth your time. If it involves the exchange of views and the communication of current status of related projects, then you should be generous with your time.... read more

Talent Intelligence - Apples and Oranges - By Chuck A Reynolds

The last year has been like a tsunami for the global economy. Ten years ago, who would have thought expected that GM would face bankruptcy or that IBM would stop making PCs? Without question, today's economy and rapid pace of change are creating many challenges that organizations must rise to. There is one thing that hasn't changed much, however - organizations don't achieve results...... read more

Negative Side of Competency Mapping - By Ashok Grover

Improving performance of employees and in turn that of his organization was an issue, which had been on the mind of the Chairman for so long. Therefore, when Guru, the management consultant, suggested competency mapping, he took no time to fall in agreement and gave an immediate go ahead for the same. It all sounded very positive and he appeared to have gotten an answer to put his company on the fast track of growth ...... read more

A High Performance Workforce - Key Principles - By Peter Leather

Research from the Corporate Leadership Council concludes that to build a high performance workforce - organizations need to think beyond the typical performance management system. A high performance culture is much more than filling in appraisal forms and following a performance management process. It is not a quick fix and it requires commitment to creating a sustainable approach to performance improvement. It is a culture...... read more

How to Remove Your Inner Negative Voice - By Julie Ann Williams

Are you always talking down or negatively to yourself?
Do you often find yourself after an argument with someone or after performing a particular task and you feel like you could have performed better, or perhaps reminiscing about something from the past that you are repeating the conversation to yourself inside your head, over and over again...... read more

Planning a Career : An Important Exercise - By DP Sabharwal

In life every one works. While a few like artists, work for pleasure. Many like housewives work as a matter of duty. But majority of us work for a livelihood. And in doing so, most of us tend to have a career and try to pursue it. Needless to say, everyone aspires to have a good career which basically means getting a job, preferably a decent one to start with and then smooth progression in the chosen career so as to rise to...... read more

Amazing Power of Affirmations - By Ashok Grover

Young girls were quite excited when the chief guest told them that he had a recipe for increasing height and was quite willing to share it with them. It was something like dream comes true for the college students to have such a nice gift on the occasion of their College Annual Day celebrations.
So, they waited with a breath abated. And see what this gentleman had to share, "You start thinking and imagining that you are getting taller, especially in the night when...... read more

5 Tips For Getting the Most Out of Onsite Training - By Caitlina Fuller

When a company decides to do onsite training for it's employees, it does so primarily out of a need to have them well equipped to do their jobs effectively. This kind of corporate training also allows the company to have the training customized to fit its current and future needs. Here are five tips to getting the most out of the training.
Tip#1. Be clear as to your company's needs. To get the most out of...... read more

Job Hopping - A Generational Understanding - By Rick Weaver

The Builder Generation never changed jobs. Baby Boomers only changed jobs when they had to. Then along came Generation X, affectionately referred to by human resources professionals as the "Job Hopping Generation", and everything has changed.
Today, job hopping does not have the stigma it once had -- in fact it is expected!... read more

The Five Areas of Personal Growth - By T Patrick Phelps

Imagine a business that had five departments: Sales, Marketing, Distribution, HR, and Admin. )Very typical set up for a small to medium sized business.) What do you think would happen if the CEO/President decided that increasing sales was the most important focus for the company, then put all focus on the Sales department, while practically ignoring all the other departments? I'm sure you would agree...... read more

Money Can Not Buy Everything, Certainly Not the Time - By Ashok Grover

Bobby, the newly joined President rang up the secretary of the Chairman and sought an appointment with the chairman for next day. He was asked to be there at 10 in the morning.... And here he was.
He found two more presidents and the marketing chief in the ante room. Wondering what was going on...... read more

After Goofing, What Next ? Five Golden Rules - By DP Sabharwal

"An Engine technician was installing an idling device on an engine when one bolt broke inside while he was tightening the bolt. In order to conceal this from others, he tried to drill out the broken bolt all by himself by holding the idling device in a bench vice. All he succeeded in achieving was to drill an eccentric hole thereby damaging the internal threads of the idling device. The whole assembly had to be sent to the repair agency."...... read more

How to Move into Management - By Kevin M Burns

Years ago, I sold copiers and faxes for a living. The company I worked for was a Canadian division of a worldwide copier company. Our sales training took place about every eighteen months and was facilitated by our US trainer. One two-day training session every eighteen months was far below the needs of the organization. The turnover rate of salepeople in this industry was high so training every year and a half was hugely...... read more

Leadership Versus Management -By Kevin M Burns

If everyone seems to know what leadership is when they see it, why do most organizations seem to bewail lack of leadership continuously, and why is there an apparent huge dearth of leadership at the top of most corporations these days?
Is it a) Accident of birth? Leaders are born not made?...... read more

14 Practical Tips for Increasing Mental Concentration - By Ashok Grover

The issue of lack of concentration is not limited to young children only. Many adults complain about it and look for advice on how to increase concentration. During coaching sessions, I have come across many such requests and here are some tips that I found to be ...... read more

6 Keys to Increase Profits Using Organizational Development - The Role of Human Resources - By L. John Mason

What is the role of Organizational Development, also known as Organizational Effectiveness, in Human Resources? Why is this so important to an organization? Will OD affect the profitability of your organization? There are 6 keys to help HR professionals increase your organization's profits.... read more

To the Top of a Ladder : A Rare Perspective - By DP Sabharwal

Going up in life is everyone's ambition, if not a goal. It is natural. It is desirable.
It appears to be easy, but it is not so!
Yes, it may not seem to be difficult, but in reality it is.
The going up needs steps, the kinds in a ladder.
Everyone knows how to climb the steps, yet everyone does not reach the top.
The reasons could be many, but the fact is one...... read more

Role of HR in Navigating the Economic Downturn - By Ashok Grover

Economic meltdown, widespread lay-offs, crashing stock markets, bankruptcy of super giant corporates.... What more was needed for the HR guy to immediately ban all fresh recruitment, cut down on every training activity and try to save his company though all possible cost-cutting measures!
Though this may be the most common and perhaps most obvious approach; but does that also mean to be the "most appropriate"? Certainly not! At best, it can be termed as the easiest, panic triggered knee-jerk reaction instead of ...... read more

Self Hypnosis - By Winston Saga

Hypnosis is not sleep but a heightened state of awareness similar to day dream. In 1775 Franz Mesmer developed healing by animal magnetism which was later renamed hypnosis. Hypnosis is a state of mind which has been experienced by everyone at one time or the other. In fact everyone goes into hypnosis everyday of their lives. The time you are day dreaming you are in a form of hypnosis. The ability to achieve hypnotic state are already within us. It is simply a question of unlocking the secret...... read more

Improving Your Memory - By Stan Hyman

There are many ways to improve your memory. Getting enough sleep, eating right, reducing stress and not abusing drugs or alcohol are important for obvious reasons. However many of the tips I offer in this article are memory assisting (mnemonic) methods that you can employ today.
Concentrate/Pay Attention: Sounds like a no-brainer but for Acquisition...... read more

Mind Matters - By Ashok Grover

The young lady was asked to wait after she met the Chairman with HR Chief and a Business Head. The HR Chief was quite positive and enthusiastic having found the right candidate.
Interestingly, the Chairman and the Business Head were also impressed with the candidate. The young lady was working in an organization known for its World - Class HR practices and wanted a change for personal reasons....... read more

Confidence and the Workplace Attitude - By Kevin M Burns

Have you noticed the lack of eye-contact from a clerk while being served in a retail establishment? Have you noticed some of the people you work with who are reluctant to be forthright with customers and clients either on the phone or in-person? Have you noticed a propensity in your own workplace of people who don't seem to speak up when it comes time to address an issue that needs to be talked about?...... read more

Re-invent Yourself : 7 Steps to Becoming a New You - By Oma Edoja

Do you like your life the way it is? Would you like to change some, or all of it? Well, here’s good news: You can re-invent yourself. I know, because I did!
You may have a whole lifetime to undo or re-invent, but if you are determined, and ready to put in the effort, anything is possible. You can have a new you!
Here are 7 steps to a new, improved, re-invented you!...... read more

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