One of the most important ways for an organization to support successful coaching is to encourage manager support of the coaching process. Investing in coaching and striving to build a coaching culture is important, but engaged manager support will ensure that a company reaps a real return on investment. What does engaged manager support of coaching look like? Coaching…

Handling employee needs, growth and disputes can consume a lot of time for Managers and for the HR professionals who support them. As managers and HR professionals, we want to be helpful — we want to solve problems or help folks solve their own problems. However, many times, the focus…

Successful succession planning requires more than a cursory glance at who could fill key leadership posts. Ideally, succession planning will be an ongoing process to identify (and guide, coach and mentor!) prospects for a wide variety of vacancies across all levels of the organization. When there are other pressing demands…

Employee retention is beginning to matter a lot more to many businesses. We saw this as the Great Resignation swept the US last year, with millions of unfilled job openings and reportedly more than four million workers who quit their jobs — both significantly higher than in recent decades. It’s…

Parenting experts estimate that toddlers hear the word “no” as many as 400 times a day. From a leadership perspective, how many times do you think adults have heard no from managers, supervisors, team members and clients? It’s likely equally staggering! Thinking in terms of strictly yes or no is…

There are several HR trends we’re seeing as we return to a new normal two years after the Covid-19 pandemic swept the globe. As we’ve discussed before, there were some surprising lessons we learned from working remotely during lockdowns. It makes sense that a common theme we’re hearing from our…

As we’ve seen throughout the pandemic, managing new government regulations can require a rapid response (and ongoing realignment!). We’ve also seen companies introduce new products, technologies and adapt to working remotely. Even before the pandemic, with its seemingly never-ending changes, many companies would undertake minor organizational changes annually — and…

When leaders or HR managers walk through the office and feel tension, it’s a concern. Has there been a confrontation? Outburst? Hurt feelings? Sometimes it’s not what has been said, but what hasn’t. Difficult conversations are easy to put off, which often leads to resentment, hurt and growing tension. It’s…

For years there have been countless articles written about the need for work-life balance. It’s a seemingly never-ending problem. As leaders, we want our teams to be productive and challenged. What is too much work and how do you know? Do you see signs of overwork? It can be especially…