Back when I was Editor of a talent management magazine, I gave out an annual Stupidus Maximus Award to honor the “most ignorant, shortsighted and dumb workforce management practice of the year.” This was a VERY popular feature, and it ended when I left the magazine back in 2010. But after all the colossal management stupidity over the last year coming out of …
Not a Whole “Lotto” Thought Went Into That Decision, United
You’ve all read about United Airlines replacing bonuses with a lottery and trying to tie it to their Core4 mission to become “known as the most caring airline in a highly-competitive industry”. It didn’t go over so well. In fact, it crashed and burned. The announcement was made public on a Friday, and by the following Tuesday United announced they …
Duck Season, Wabbit Season, Conference Season and March Madness
Unlike most of my posts, this one is a mixed bag with multiple topics. First, it’s conference season for the talent community as there is a smorgasbord of offerings and some cool places to travel to. Austin, Vegas, San Diego, and later this year Chicago. Let’s not forget some overseas offerings as well. Big, small, and everything in between. For …
FREE TRADE THURSDAY: Trump and a Simple Change Agile Experiment
I’m a sucker for leaders taking BIG SWINGS at BIG problems. I think that’s part of what makes a leader great. Name a leader who got great things done in difficult times, and you’ll usually find a risk taker who makes a calculated bet to zig when others are convinced the status quo of zag is the best option. Which …
I Love Amazon, But It’s Scary Thinking They’re The Most Effectively Managed U.S. Company
If you read a lot of business coverage, you know this to be true: The last thing we need is yet another list touting the “best” companies. As my PR friend Robin Hardman points out, “Each year you see them — shouting from business journals, websites, magazine covers… “Best Companies to Work For” lists are everywhere: there are local and regional …
Tesla Fired Hundreds….To “Improve Morale”
When you geek out on talent like the folks here at FOT, it’s fun to sit back and watch high profile companies make big talent decisions. Intrigue, strategy and risk are all embedded in public leadership transitions, succession planning, business strategy pivots, acquisitions, mass firings….wait, what? Mass firings? Who announces those and makes them public? Well, Tesla does. Backstory intro …
A Prayer for Texas
As a native Houstonian, now living in Austin, I feel beyond helpless. I offer up a prayer, mashed together from social media posts, texts and thoughts over the last few days from my family, friends, HR pros, colleagues, neighbors and fellow Texans. Now I lay me down to sleep. While the sound of rain used to comfort, it now is …
Remember, Clueless Management Never Goes Out of Style
It’s late summer, everybody out here in the People’s Republic of California seem to be on vacation, and Labor Day is still a couple of weeks away. So, it’s time for some old school clueless management from the good people over at Tronc. Don’t know what “Tronc” is? I’d be surprised if you did, but it’s the silly name given …
Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation
You probably saw the internet dust-up a few weeks ago when Talia Jane (formerly of Yelp) posted an Open Letter to My CEO where, among other things, she complained about low pay, a slow path to promotion and flavored coconut water. It seems the only thing that people agreed with her on is that flavored coconut water sucks (it really …
Donald Trump… You’re Fired!
Have I mentioned before that I love politics? Well… I do! I love the argument! I love the drama! I love the insults! I follow all of it, and I love to dissect every little piece of info that comes around. But, lately, I’m annoyed. I’m annoyed at this talking hairpiece named Donald Trump. What, exactly, annoys me? Simple… I …
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