3588 Posts Found

In his book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel Pink identifies three key motivations:

• Autonomy
• Mastery
• Purpose

But these words rarely show up in job descriptions, recruitment material, performance reviews or annual meetings.

Content: Quotation | Author: Vipula Gandhi | Source: Gallup Management Journal | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior

While I definitely agree that people are your most important asset, I’ve noticed that most content doesn’t talk as much about the systems. While early employees are of course a driving factor for the company culture, they’re only half the equation. The other half is the foundational systems. The comparison I like to draw is the nature versus nurture debate. Both your genes and your … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Kevin Fishner | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Organizational Behavior

If we think of employees as consumers of the workplace, then many of the principles of customer experience apply:

• How do employees find us?
• Why do they choose us?
• What do they feel when they are with us?
• And are they likely to refer us when they leave?

[…]

Customer experience experts have known for years that customer experiences are deeply emotional. And yet many organizations still approach employees with cold … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Vipula Gandhi | Source: Gallup Management Journal | Subjects: Human Resources, Organizational Behavior

Middle managers have long had reputations as ineffective or weak supervisors. But research shows that, in fact, they’re often the people that make an organization run smoothly between hierarchies. Especially today, as companies become more reliant on virtual modes of management and communication, investing in these managers as “connecting leaders” is vital. To do so, focus on four key types of connecting leaders and their … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Zahira Jaser | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Identify who among your employee base are Rainmakers (people with sales talent and an ability to manage risks), Experts (innovators with a focus on product development), or Conductors (high management talent). Capitalize on their natural talents. Develop and position them in appropriate roles on teams. Strengths-based development of your builders and teams is key to increased entrepreneurial behaviors, which, in turn, lead to higher engagement, … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Sangeeta Bharadwaj Badal | Source: Gallup Management Journal | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior

Most people are actually trying pretty darn hard, and they have good intentions. So when we ran into an issue or a problem, [Jeff] Bezos would always ask, ‘Do we have a mechanism in place so it doesn’t happen again? Because if this high-performing or well-intentioned person tripped up, there’s probably a process that we need to fix.

Content: Quotation | Author: Colin Bryar | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Wharton management professor Saerom (Ronnie) Lee has a word of warning for aspiring entrepreneurs who envision an egalitarian workplace where there are no bosses and every employee ranks the same.

According to his latest research, startups with flat organizational structures often fail.

Content: Article | Author: Saerom (Ronnie) Lee | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Organizational Behavior

Someone defined horse sense as the good judgment horses have that prevents them from betting on people. But we have to bet on people — and I place my bets more often on high motivation than on any other quality except judgment. There is no perfection of techniques that will substitute for the lift of spirit and heightened performance that comes from strong motivation, The … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: John W. Gardner | Source: Farnam Street | Subject: Organizational Behavior

It’s a commonly held belief, one that gets played out daily in organizations around the world: Employees who receive performance feedback are much more likely to improve their performance than those who don’t get feedback. But research tells us that it’s simply not true. Typically, performance after feedback improves only modestly — and over one-third of the time, it actually gets worse. People who receive … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Katherine Klein | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior, Training & Development

People tend not to factor their own ignorance into their decisions. Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman described this phenomenon as “WYSIATI,” or “what you see is all there is.” My colleagues and I developed an antidote to this called driving to the known, which plots knowledge along two axes: what you know and what can be known. Confirmed facts are what you know. The questions … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Eric McNulty | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Decision Making, Management, Organizational Behavior

Great meetings don’t just happen, they’re meticulously crafted. At its best, an executive meeting strengthens the bonds of your leadership team, surfaces mission-critical problems facing the business, and carves out plans for the future. But as you wade into the executive meeting waters, there are waves that can toss you around.

The executive team’s time is worth a lot, so it’s a shame to waste it. … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Communication, Management, Organizational Behavior, Teamwork

These simple principles, based on the empathetic, iterative practice of design thinking, can help you help your people perform to their fullest potential.

Content: Article | Authors: Angela Lester, Claudia Montgomery | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Organizational Behavior

Employees must be continually “re-recruited” by their employer throughout their career. And when it’s time for an employee and employer to part ways, a great employee experience can last longer than the job. Employees should exit organizations feeling appreciated for their contributions and proud to be part of the alumni network. This can be a pivotal moment for an employment brand, because exiting employees can … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Andrew Robertson, Ben Wigert | Source: Gallup Management Journal | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior

Satisfaction isn’t the same thing as engagement. Gallup research shows that satisfaction is an attitudinal outcome, like loyalty or pride, and doesn’t always relate to employee performance. Engagement is different, deeper and more emotional, and it predicts important business outcomes, like profitability and productivity. Job satisfaction beats misery or annoyance any day, but it’s not exactly something to strive for.

Content: Quotation | Author: Rujuta Gandhi | Source: Gallup Management Journal | Subjects: Human Resources, Organizational Behavior

People who are more creative also tend to be more playful, unconventional, and unpredictable, and all of this makes them harder to control. No matter how much we say we value creation, deep down, most of us value control more. And so we fear change and favor familiarity. Rejecting is a reflex.

[…]

When the same tests are applied to decision-makers and authority figures in business, … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Kevin Ashton, Shane Parrish | Source: Farnam Street | Subjects: Hiring, Human Resources, Innovation, Organizational Behavior

As the business environment has become more complex and interconnected in recent years, many companies have mirrored these changes in their organizational structures, creating an ever-more convoluted matrix. Unwittingly, they are betting on organizational complexity to solve market complexity.

This is a losing bet. Future-ready organizations, by contrast, structure themselves in ways that make them fitter, flatter, faster, and far better at unlocking considerable value. Their … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Aaron De Smet, Chris Gagnon, Elizabeth Mygatt | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Leaders hoping to create a robust performance culture need to start by cooking up their organization’s own unique “secret sauce.” The main ingredient: specific, observable behaviors that employees at all levels of the company adhere to.

Broad themes won’t cut it. Instead, behaviors must be made an integral part of core business activities and specific work tasks, especially for the moments that matter.

Content: Quotation | Authors: Aaron De Smet, Chris Gagnon, Elizabeth Mygatt | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Ask executives about their company and you can expect to be shown an organization chart. No wonder. The management concepts that the org chart visualizes—coordination, hierarchy, a matrixed organization—are the ones leaders grew up with and know best, as did generations before them. The original org chart hails from 1854, and was introduced to help run the New York and Erie Railroad during the age of … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Aaron De Smet, Chris Gagnon, Elizabeth Mygatt | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Organizational Behavior

Before you decide, check how the question is framed to ensure you have all the information you need and have considered all your options.

Content: Article | Author: Eric McNulty | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Decision Making, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

Organizations are shifting their focus to inclusion and equity in order to advance beyond the state in which the workforce is demographically diverse, but opportunities remain unequal and voices go unheard. In an inclusive work environment, employees feel included and valued as their authentic selves, actively engaged in the organization and recognized without judgment for their contributions. Equity means that systemic barriers and unfair advantages … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Ira Gaberman, Neeti Bhardwaj, Steven Berger | Source: Kearney | Subjects: Diversity, Human Resources, Organizational Behavior