Management, Books and Learning

Create a Work Environment  That Encourages Employee Engagement Your Managers Are Key When You Want Engaged Employees BY  SUSAN M. HEATHFIELD Does your workplace encourage employee engagement? Probably not. But, it should. It's a powerful factor in your business success. Engaged employees are more productive, customer-focused, and profit-generating and employers are more likely to retain them. According to the Gallup organization, employee engagement is a necessary strategy for companies that want to succeed in the marketplace.  Employee engagement is not a Human Resources initiative that managers are reminded to do once a year. It's a key strategic initiative that drives employee performance, accomplishment, and continuous improvement all year long. It's the outcome from how your organization interacts with people to drive business results. Just as organizations cannot create employee empowerment, employee motivati...

4 Lessons in Staffing From the Apple Store Apple is running a seriously smooth operation in their retail stores. Each employee has a distinct role to play, understands that role, and does his/her part to deliver the level of service we’ve come to expect from this powerful brand. All of this requires serious alignment of brand, business goals and people process. Finding the right people to work in the stores is half the battle. There are things that Apple’s retail arm does particularly well in organizational development–things any organization could learn from: 1.                      Make Work Meaningful. When your employees know that what they’re doing matters, it’s easier to inspire them to do their best. And no one appreciates this more than the employees staffing the stores, who are on the front lines of the customer relationship. Apple would be hard-pressed to deli...