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employee engagement

Using Values to Build Engagement and a Meaningful Workplace

February 17, 2016 —

Using Values to Build Engagement and a Meaningful Workplace

Fifth in a series. “People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou The goal of employee engagement is to drive employee attitudes, behavior, morality, and ethics in such a way as to improve their productivity, morale, satisfaction, and usefulness within the organization. However, many companies have struggled with converting their proclaimed values into compelling, work-changing experiences for their employees. Often, the problems have been that the values are typically expressed with meaning-neutral (if...
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The Meaningful Workplace: It Takes New Ways of Thinking, and Acting

February 12, 2016 —

The Meaningful Workplace: It Takes New Ways of Thinking, and Acting

The Meaningful Workplace is the fourth in a series.  How do you build an workplace where people are willing to bring their gifts of initiative, creativity, and passion?” – Gary Hamel You can’t build a workplace that is meaningful to people using the old mentality and outdated tools. Old techniques are no good if they have rendered your current workplace meaning-neutral or, at worst, meaningless. To forge meaningful alliances with meaning-seeking employees requires new ways of thinking and acting. Familiar business constructs that have formed the foundation of employer/employee relations are...
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The CEO Challenge – Turning Corporate Vision Into Reality

February 2, 2016 —

The CEO Challenge – Turning Corporate Vision Into Reality

The corporate vision statement We’ve written before about the gaps between what business leaders believe and what their employees think when it comes to the company’s corporate vision and values. Today we’d like to explore another gap. This is the gap between what the CEO sees as the company’s vision, and what employees are doing to help achieve that vision – often referred to as the Corporate Vision Statement. In some cases, the gap exists simply because employees haven’t been informed of the vision. As such, they are left to their own devices, pulling the...
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Why Workplaces Aren’t Meaningful Now

January 27, 2016 —

Why Workplaces Aren’t Meaningful Now

Third in our Meaningful Workplace series. Disillusioned by the age of conspicuous consumption, worried by the state of the planet and its people, rocked by war, corruption, and financial crises, and immersed in a swirl of information, news, opinion, and gossip, people are searching for meaning in their lives. Today they feel a need to align with people, ideas, and companies that make them feel they’re part of something bigger than themselves. People are seeking a sense of purpose, a reason for being, and the answer to the question, “Why is this good?” Today their idea of good is shaped by an...
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Getting Employees to Respond Positively

January 20, 2016 —

Getting Employees to Respond Positively

Getting Employees to Respond Positively is the second in a series on Meaningful Workplaces. Meaningful Workplaces are built by companies that aim to produce a more meaningful outcome from, and for, their people. To become meaningful, these companies adopt a new stance vis-à-vis their relationship with their employees. They strive to reduce the distance that’s been imposed through organization structures and prevailing attitudes. They seek stronger emotional connections up, down, and across their enterprise. They see their task as making their company fit for the future by making it fit for...
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