It is time to do away with the word “onboarding.” With the workforce seeing multiple generations, shortages of specific talent and individual preferences, we should be humanizing the process and the words we use to describe it. This is particularly important if a new employee is going to be remote or hybrid, as it might be a long time before they actually meet their supervisor in person.
Delegating can be a struggle for many leaders. I see it quite often with the leaders I coach or train. One of my clients is a capable and talented leader who knows her stuff. She is often sidetracked when a team member comes to her with a challenge they can’t seem to solve. As they discuss the problem, she usually figures out a solution. Since she knows how to solve it, she says to the team member, “I will do it, and you can continue to work on the other project.” She repeats this at least once a week with members of her team. She wants her team to be productive and not bogged down with issues. She feels good because they can work on things they are familiar with. This makes sense to her. Except she is becoming extremely busy and not able to complete her own work because of the additional tasks she is taking on. She is beginning to feel burned out.
I tend to view things in a positive way and as a new month unfolds, I get excited about the potential. Recently I started reading a book my niece sent me by Tho Ha Vinn, called A Culture of Happiness. To be honest I hadn’t really planned on reading as I thought it was about being an optimist and having a “just do it” attitude. There is nothing wrong with that, but those books don’t resonate with me.
Out of respect for my niece, I committed to reading it. As I read, the concepts felt familiar and my reading picked up. The book talks about how to apply the framework of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which is a way to measure happiness. Lately, happiness at work has become a topic, particularly when related to mental health.Read More
You may have heard a story similar to this one. Bob is amazing at programming. He can create algorithms and find bugs faster than most. He stays focused for hours and enjoys sitting at his computer. If your business needs coders, Bob might be a great fit. Bob is autistic.
In this example, Bob is a fictional character, illustrating that all of us have unique talents and can contribute positively to the workplace. Read More
Dr. Francis Eberle shares some tips on how you can review your own planning and organizing skills in both your personal and professional life and how to improve these skills to become more accountable.
Three Strategies to Keep Your Best Employees
These famous song lyrics have become a rallying cry of sorts for the workforce, capturing many employees’ mindsets right now, after a few challenging years.
With a multigenerational workforce, competition for a shrinking pool of working-age employees, new awareness around diversity, and a post-pandemic view of the workplace, it can be hard engaging and retaining people. Yet there are a few leading strategies that can help. I think of them as purpose, respect, and support. Let’s look at each. Read More
Dr. Francis Eberle, HR.com, June 2022
To connect is human. But connection during the pandemic was limited, which inevitably caused a shift in the workplace, leading employees to change jobs at a record pace. The upside of this phenomenon is that leaders now have an opportunity to connect with their people in new ways.
By Dr. Francis Eberle
Leadership development is worth the effort and time. According to a Lorman survey, retention rates rise 30-50% for companies with strong learning cultures. And 74% of surveyed employees feel they aren’t reaching full potential at work due to lack of development opportunities.
Particularly with workforces shifting, employees retiring, and younger employees taking over those roles, leadership development is a crucial need. It can help address the gaps created, fast pace of work, demands for effective and agile teams, and employees’ desires for advancement.
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Dr. Francis Eberle
Recently a client of mine who is a self-starter decided to change jobs. Moves like this take a great deal of effort. They disrupt your routines, your work style and sometimes relationships. For my client, the new position required moving to a new state and learning new roles, people and systems. As we talked, I realized she wasn’t talking about her Why: what drives her and why she wanted this position.
So I asked her, what about this position was worth all the transitions and new challenges? Without much hesitation she stated her reasons. It was not really a surprise that they were grounded in her principles and values.
I tell you this because self-starters can often be quick to action. They can sometimes do things without asking or try new things to just to test them. Throughout my management career and coaching work, I’ve seen that it’s not just about the action itself. In fact, self-starters who are successful have a deeper, more intrinsic reason for their actions, even if those decisions are made quickly.
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By Dr. Francis Eberle
These days we hear and read a lot about collaboration. Organizations say they value collaboration, and teams want more of it. Most of the time collaboration is a good thing. But sometimes it isn’t the best approach.
There are different ways to solve a problem depending on context, relationships, tools and platform. Context has to do with the outcome desired and by when. Consider if the problem is large enough to warrant bringing in additional people. Or can it be quickly solved by a few? A quick decision can sometimes be the best choice. If there is lead time and the problem is complex, requiring varied input or expertise, then it is likely that multiple parties are needed.
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