Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Culture”
Company culture. The go-to excuse or ultimate reason for everything good or bad that happens at a company. It’s never the people – it’s the culture. It enables idiots and sinners. It encourages geniuses and visionaries. It is what makes each company different and unique. It’s also what everyone shares, making us the same. It is the ultimate paradox. It is both good and bad. It is common while still being individual. It allows you to mold it while …
I clearly remember a time in my career when I tried to act like I had way more experience than I really had. “Oh yeah, I’ve been doing HR for ten years!” Assuming you count four years of experience I had working part-time service jobs in college as “HR” experience. Then one day you wake up and someone is reading …
So, the question for today is how do you bury the dead in your organization? As I discuss this, I am reminded of a scene in the Monty Python classic movie “The Holy Grail”. During the black plague, dead bodies are being loaded onto a horse drawn cart and an individual says to the body taker that he is not …
Confession time…I have never been and will never be a 30 year employee. 3 yrs, 5 yrs, 10 yrs…I can hit those milestones. But beyond that, fat chance. My career has been guided by gut and need and not always in that order. Why by gut? Work should be fun. You should love what you do and where you are and …
Management fads come and go, but one thing never changes — the fact that that most management fads don’t seem to last. That’s why I was surprised when I saw this recent Wall Street Journal article touting “agile management” as the hot, new management trend. My doubt was fueled by the third paragraph of the Journal story that openly admitted …
I attended an awards luncheon where the nominees were asked the question, “What would you have expected to have given up by now?” Answers involved a lot of childhood sweets, biting nails and imaginary dogs (that was not mine). Slap that question on the HR profession and I have a few ideas around the answers. Some are common sense and …
Have you ever noticed that as soon as you believe your organizational dysfunction has reached a peak, you always can find another organization that takes it one step further? We love to think that our “Sh*t Show” is the worst, but we always know it’s not. Recently, I was speaking with some colleagues about some stuff going on and I …
A few years ago, I received a crash course in the importance of balancing head with heart when serving employees. As I went about my HR routine, I would engage with a particular employee in polite banter. We commiserated on how we dreamed of retirement, shared a love for southern cooking and travel; and who was serving the best food …
“Fast Times at Ridgemont High“. One of the all-time greatest flicks with almost as many life-affirming lines as “The Big Lebowski“. Sean Penn played the iconic Jeff Spicoli, who more than once was late for class, causing Mr. Hand great frustration. Mr. Hand: Mr. Spicoli, what’s your reason for your truancy? Jeff Spicoli: I just couldn’t make it on time. …
Onboarding of new hires is a tricky thing. Your company is running fast, and if you do anything to announce someone’s arrival at your company, you’re likely to do one (if you’re above average) or more (if you’re really purposeful about it) of the following things to make new hires feel welcome: 1–You send out an email announcing the new …
