Manager speaking during meeting
People Management

How to sell an idea to resistant team members

Whether you have a business idea you’re ready to pitch, or a team to lead into the next quarter, it’s important to know how to sell an idea. Unfortunately, the very prospect of “selling” something can turn off team members. This is because selling suggests there’s a better or equal alternative—even when there isn’t. So…

Ted Olson · 4 min read

HR manager talks with employee
Employee Engagement

5 inspiring human resources quotes for HR professionals

As a leader, you should always strive for continuous learning and personal development. One smart habit to adopt is a morning routine: highest achievers have one. Try waking up early to begin the day with positive thoughts and some reading to help you improve yourself. Here are five inspirational HR quotes to get your day…

Erin Balsa · 4 min read

Don't be afraid to ask your underperforming employee tough questions
People Management

5 questions to ask your underperforming employee

Underperformance can stem from many issues. Unclear expectations from management, poor cultural fit, and a lack of constructive feedback are just a few. Underperforming employees prevent your company from meeting its business goals. They can also dampen the rest of the team’s spirits. Bad energy is contagious. As a manager, you know you need to…

Will Otto · 5 min read

workplace book club books
People Management

Be a great manager with these 12 leadership books.

12 leadership and team management books that have had the biggest impact on the way I manage and lead.

Drew Fortin · 8 min read

47' brand leader
People Management

The one trait all great leaders must possess

To become a great leader you must take control over one major part of yourself: your ego. Keeping your ego in check is a lifelong pursuit.  As Charles Duhigg explained in his book “The Power of Habit,” our bodies naturally want us to create habitual behaviors. Basically, our brains try to find the most efficient way…

Wilfred Hirst · 4 min read

Office plants like this one reduce employee stress.
Company Culture

5 office plants that can reduce employee stress

Stress in the workplace is common. According to the American Institute of Stress, 80 percent of workers experience on-the-job stress. What’s more, 40 percent of employees said their job is “very” or “extremely” stressful. As a manager, you want your people to be happy and engaged—not tense and checked out. You’ll be glad to know…

Erin Balsa · 5 min read

At the heart of "how to run an effective meeting" is strategy.
People Management

How to run an effective meeting

Think about the worst meeting you ever attended. Maybe one person monopolized the conversation and spoke ad nauseum about a topic that wasn’t important to everyone else. Perhaps the meeting started 10 minutes late because the previous group ran over their time slot. Or your facilitator struggled, in vain, to get the conferencing software to…

Erin Balsa · 7 min read

Good employees leave bad managers
Employee Engagement

Good employees leave bad managers with these 4 traits.

If you don’t yet have access to an employee experience survey, read on to discover four reasons why good employees leave bad managers.

Erin Balsa · 5 min read

Manager sits behind desk at office
People Management

The traits of great managers (a data-driven analysis)

We recently released the results of a study of 5,000+ employees about their perspectives on their managers. From it, we gleaned some amazing findings, all of which can be found in our People Management Study report. I had the chance to have a conversation with Craig Weber, author of Conversational Capacity, to talk about our…

Thad Peterson · 1 min read

Meeting room discussion
Employee Engagement

The art of giving feedback

Feedback is a little like management oxygen – we tend not to think much about it and take it for granted but when it’s absent we quickly encounter problems. We know feedback is an important element of management, and I’ve written about it on occasion, but I can’t say I’d seen a lot of insightful…

Victor Lipman · 4 min read

Manager ratings and employee engagement levels
Company Culture

We asked 5,103 people about their managers. Here are 3 fascinating findings.

The idea for this study was hatched in April when I was out there poking around the interwebs, trying to dig up some hard data about what traits are found in great managers (and terrible managers, for that matter). What I quickly found was there is an abundance of self-proclaimed management experts who opine about…

Thad Peterson · 4 min read

How to build leadership capacity
Leadership

What drives us? Understanding personality in the workplace

Almost all issues in the workplace are people issues. Master your understanding of those, and you’ll have a much easier time in your career.

Matt Poepsel, PhD · 16 min read

People Management

The key to success: confidence

Whether asking for a raise, presenting in front of a large group, or taking on a complicated project confidence is the key to success

Thad Peterson · 5 min read

People Management

The mixed messages you’re sending employees

Tom was a new sales support manager who’d been in the role for about a month. One of his employees, Rhonda, was quite a sensitive person, and although she’d been in the job three years and knew the role well, Tom felt she needed to be more forceful and decisive when dealing with the company’s…

Steve Messina · 5 min read

Employees in meeting
People Management

Not everyone is born to lead and other management myths

I recently met up with Marissa Mias, marketing coordinator on my team, to discuss why some of the most infamous management myths exist, shared perspectives, and provided some tips to help managers at all stages of their career (watch the video). We scoured the internet, tapped our networks, surveyed hundreds, and leveraged our own experiences and…

Drew Fortin · 10 min read