A recent Gallup article discussed ways that companies can continue employee development in spite of tighter budgets. Among the many good points raised, the author emphasizes that leaders could focus on the development of behavioral skills that are key to high performance.
Some leaders express frustration over the need to consider employee development when there are so many “more pressing” issues to consider. This is short sighted.
The answer to this question requires action! Reflect on the conversations you’ve had recently with your clients or customers. Do you really know what’s on their minds, or are you making assumptions?
Often, we project our opinions onto our clients. If we are struggling with COVID related problem X, we assume that our clients are also struggling with the same problem.
Creativity is so important for businesses, now more than ever during the pandemic. Leaders who have taken the position of “we’ve always done it this way” have found themselves in dire conditions. Revenue that plummeted is taking far longer than ever imagined to return.
Most companies that find themselves in this situation have made at least some efforts to modify how they do business to generate new sources of revenue. But small changes aren’t enough to keep troubled companies in business for the long term.
A Case Study of The Brooks Group
Organizational culture is a topic that baffles many executives because culture seems like a soft and squishy topic. After all, you don’t go out and buy a how-to manual on creating corporate culture! Although the topic may seem soft, hard, tangible results can ensue when your people are aligned with your culture.
An organizational culture is a set of shared values and beliefs that are disseminated and understood at every level of a company. It’s an easy concept to understand, but not necessarily easy to implement. Everyone should be able to answer the question, “What is important to your company?”
As the reopening continues, leaders are once again facing new situations. The “current normal” (I don’t want to call it the “new normal”) is about making do with less. Fewer people are doing the work of many. Expenses are under scrutiny.
Leaders have been inevitably stressed with the myriad difficult decisions that have been made in the past several months. But it’s important to remember that everyone is stressed.
Although parts of the U.S. are reopening and people are slowly returning to places of business, many companies are still operating remotely and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
The changes in the business environment have been exceedingly challenging for all leaders, and you should feel great about keeping things together as much as you have during the past three months.
Who would have guessed that our already challenging environment, dominated by the impact of COVID-19, would have catapulted to another extraordinary level so quickly?
The protests and demonstrations following the death of George Floyd have consumed our country and overtaken our conversations.
Stunning as it may seem, there are only a few days left in May. Monday is June 1, and for most of us, business as unusual continues.
Rather than continuing to trudge along reacting to the environment, it’s time to take a hard look at what you can do to move forward.
Most of you are still leading remotely with your staff also working remotely, sometimes even with a skeleton crew in your place of work. Although we have become more accustomed to this after two months, it still feels surreal, doesn’t it?
I know you have been working tirelessly to keep everything together at your company. The new rules of work are changing all the time, so you’re reacting as the environment morphs.
Wednesday was National Nurses Day, and I know that you join me in saluting the awesome work that our nurses have been doing on the front lines. They’ve been working dutifully, passionately, and tirelessly in the worst situations imaginable.
I am in awe of them.