Crushing your biggest fan

This week I watched as a friend was crushed by his supervisor.  He has worked for the company for the past four years, and is the perfect example of an individual who “owns” his job.  His relationship with the company goes beyond employee / employer but might be better described as he is a “FAN” [...]

Read Full Post »

Promoted beyond the customer?

Most companies will testify that first and foremost that their employees are their greatest asset.  Read most mission statements and they will say some version of “our customers are our number one priority”.  Neither statement could be truer, or more crucial, yet many companies have an alignment problem between the two.
Consider the typical employment model: 
                [...]

Read Full Post »

Building a 21st Century Business

Daniel Pink (author of A Whole New Mind) gives a compelling case for why extrinsic rewards, namely pay for performance, are not successful in helping a 21st century business tackle the complex problems in the current market place. This Ted Talk has created a buzz around our office. Set aside 18 minutes to view the [...]

Read Full Post »

EQnomic effect of Performance Management

Performance management is one topic on which we provide training at PeopleSmarts.  Over the course of the past several weeks we have been internally discussing this topic and the launch of a software application to support and provide additional resources in conjunction with our trainings.  While performance management is a comprehensive process, one piece of [...]

Read Full Post »

Am I really better than 80% of people?

This week I was talking to a friend who reported hearing a story where two figures were quoted:  one was that 95% of people thought they were “better than average” drivers , and that 95% of people thought they performed at work at an “exceeds expectations” level or higher. 
Of course, an hour of Google searching [...]

Read Full Post »

Changing Course

I’m in the office recounting my recent river trip on Cataract Canyon. Nothing like the roar of 16 foot waves and an accidental swim to get the blood pumping and to focus the mind. Have you ever planned a course of action, only to discover midway through that life and the elements were taking you [...]

Read Full Post »

Customer Service creates your brand

Ever wonder the effect your customer’s experience has on your brand identity and the public opinion?
In March 2008 musician Dave Carroll flew from Halifax to Omaha, transferring planes in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Apparently baggage handlers in Chicago caused damage to Carroll’s guitar http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-biz-united-breaks-guitars-video-ual-july8,0,4414385.story and after a year of trying to negotiate and work with United’s [...]

Read Full Post »

Quality product / service = repeat business = higher revenue

We have been talking a lot this week about employee engagement and the effects on business. As a business owner, you know that it is critical to have repeat customers. Repeat customers only come from satisfied customers. Dissatisfied customers spend their money with your competition – if this is not the case, you are quite [...]

Read Full Post »

Playing to Win

Clare and I just returned from the 2009 International Conference on Emotional Intelligence in Toronto.  It was by far one of the best conferences I’ve attended in my career, with a lineup of speakers who really knew their stuff.  My main goal was to learn as much as I could from other practitioners about why [...]

Read Full Post »