Category Archive

Okay, that was a trick question, because if you read my last post, you know I’m not a fan of motivation as a way to keep people on track and moving forward. So what can you do? Don’t worry. I’m not suggesting you have to leave it up to chance and whim. In fact, as the leader of your team or department, …

Several years ago, I read a fascinating book called Punished by Rewards: the trouble with gold st★rs, incentive plan$, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes by Alfie Kohn. The basic premise is that, as the back-of-the-book blurb summarizes, “people actually do inferior work when they are enticed with money, grades, or other incentives. The more we use artificial inducements to motivate people, …

There’s a lot of flutter and angst around employee engagement and the latest trend of employee experience. Questions abound on everything from how to measure engagement on through to how to improve employee experience, leading to the ultimate dilemma: is it really worth the effort? Do happy employees actually improve the bottom line? For those of us who care about …

As a manager, supervisor, and leader, you want to treat your team fairly. But just exactly what does “fair” mean? When we’re little, we tend to interpret “fair” as “equivalent” (even though “equivalent” probably isn’t in our vocabulary!). If Johnny gets a peanut-butter cup, then we should get one too. But as we grow up, we learn that maybe this …

None of us have any idea how much impact we have on people. A year and a half ago, a young woman saw my husband and me with our Golden Doodle, Bonnie. It was a crowded sidewalk. She was coming toward us, passed close by, tapped Bonnie on the head and said, “Doodlepop!” We’ve never forgotten that, and often call …