Most companies give lip service re: the importance of good employees, but they don’t act on that by treating them as though they are important. I visited Yum! (Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut) in Louisville recently, and they literally walk the talk.David Novak (CEO of the year in 2012) gives out chattering teeth with…

A colleague of mine just joined Proctor & Gamble. One of the great cultural activities there is something called a “Join Up.” Before two people conduct a business meeting 1:1, it is important that each colleague knows a little about the other. So, every employee has a 1-sheet summary of who they are as a…

One health care system just laid off 25% of their workforce in order to find hundreds of millions of dollars in savings to comply with the recent regulation and legislation. The loss of jobs is staggering, and the expectation for the surviving employees–to maintain the same level of service with much lower headcount–is demoralizing.I asked…

27 years ago…..on January 28, 1986, Roger Boisjoly, an engineer at Morton Thiokol, warned his bosses that the frigid conditions would endanger NASA’s space shuttle voyage. 73 seconds after launch, and after his bosses rebuffed his concern, his warning materialized with an explosion that killed astronauts. How do you escalate effectively?

A friend recommended the Navy Seal book on the firsthand account of killing Osama Bin Laden. In reading the book from a human capital perspective, it highlighted the Navy’s: Selection Process – a rigorous program to find candidates who had what it took (aligned knowledge, skill and aptitude with the job requirements); Learning & Development – a…

The average family’s net worth dropped 40% between 2007 and 2010, wiping out 18 years of savings and investments (Source: Federal Reserve). The average college-educated man’s annual salary maxes out at age 48 and $95,000. People with incomes from $50-99K give 6% to charity, while incomes greater than $200K give 4.2%. Households with less than…

PwC’s 15th Annual Global CEO Survey (2012) found that: 31% of CEO’s believe talent constraints limit their ability to innovate, 29% were unable to purse on opportunity. Thus, CEO’s want to change their talent management strategy and reporting principles. Inspired by 1939’s Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for accountants, there is a movement to standardize…

IBM’s 2012 Global CEO study (n=1700) found that people skills are the 2nd highest priority, behind technology. This is because employee engagement is the key source of sustained value. Aon Hewitt reports that every bit of incremental employee engagement generates a bump in operating income. That is probably why Molson Coors spent $1 million deploying…

With Mitt Romney’s past at Bain Capital a part of the recent presidential election, private equity is in the news quite a bit right now. A quick look at the industry: Identify 3-5 key goals for a a target/portfolio company to achieve Assess the company’s profit potential Execute improvements to realize that potential next level…

In 2012, I emceed the e-Learning Symposium. Here are some key takeaways: What: Learning should include content, practice, and assessment (recall vs. comprehension) via a performance audit; Where & When: Learning is not about teaching, but positioning knowledge – so employees know where to find what they need to know when they need it; How:…