Blogs / 2006 / December

Baby Boomers are approaching retirement. Employers will soon face the inevitable talent exodus. In fact, the rapidly aging population will result in a steady decline in the number of working-age Canadians in the 2010s and 2020s. Who will take their p... More...

The ocotillo bush thrives in the dry deserts of the southwest. Most of the year, its upward reaching branches are bare revealing only intimidating thorns that extend up and down the plant. It’s the time of year when visitors from all o... More...

The recent scandal involving former Congressman Mark Foley has made everyone aware of instant messages (IMs). New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd described his fall as "Death by Instant Message." She wasn't surprised that... More...

QUESTION: Not in Control of My Career? Dear Merry, I am a senior OD Leader and it was interesting to read in your last column about some of the leadership tendencies that are typical of women. I think I have an issue "aski... More...

Trust is the currency of effective communication. It is at the foundation of all truly good relationships, whether they are of a personal or business nature. With trust, you can build all kinds of things. With trust things move more sm... More...

Outsourcing trends and continued growth in emerging markets, combined with increased globalization have changed the cultural makeup of the average workforce. In 2004, multinational companies based in the United States employed 8.3 million people abro... More...

Process re-engineering is on its way to becoming the latest pet rock of management techniques. The reasons for its faddish popularity are clear: it is a way of tackling the enormous problem of flattening our over bloated, inefficient bureaucracies ... More...

It’s always interesting to look beneath the surface and see what is really going on in an organization. Bob Marshak has been working in this area for a long time; he has more than 30 years’ experience working for the private and public se... More...

The process of review and feedback is common in most organizations. What do employees do with the information? Most organizations and individuals don't know how to use the feedback they receive to improve their performance. As a result, n... More...

Simply put, the emotional climate is the atmosphere in which we relate to each other. It is the tone or the mood that exists in a company, school, family—any environment in which people relate to each other. It is the subjective environment in ... More...

It’s quite funny, really, whilst contemplating the relevance of policies and procedures in companies of any size, an article appeared in a local newspaper about a rather big organization concerning this exact matter… and it most definite... More...

Dear Joan: My name is James and I am a graduate student. I am writing a paper on the attributes of a successful business. My question is: Do you think that when starting a company (big or small), that it is important to discuss strategies... More...

QUESTION: Coaching Program for Women? Dear Merry, I am an OD Director and I want to put together a coaching program for women. In your experience are there strengths and gaps that are unique to women leaders that I should address in my... More...

HR and poker don't have much in common. After the cards are fairly dealt in poker, bluffing, deception, and lying are part of the game. In HR, though, honesty is always the best policy. There is one lesson HR pros can learn from poker pros: Recognize... More...

These thoughts were started at the end of November 2006 and only influenced by observations of certain groups of people who seemed to be able to function within their environments, not in spite of them. It is now the first week of December (2006) and... More...

Earlier this year, Mercer Human Resource Consulting asked finance executives around the world to answer several questions about the management of their defined benefit (DB) pension risks. Topics included: Concern and actions regarding le... More...

The most contaminated nuclear plant in the United States; Rocky Flats was an environmental disaster and the site of rampant worker unrest. Now on its way to becoming a wildlife refuge, the project is running 60 years ahead of schedule and $30 billion... More...

Where you live affects how much you are paid. A job that commands a salary of $30,000 nationally can pay as little as $27,840 in Birmingham, Ala., or as much as $37,680 in San Francisco, Calif., according to the 2006 Geographic Salary Differentials s... More...

Arupa Tesolin believes that using intuition more in business can generate a lot of value with surprising little effort. "Intuition is easy," she says. "It's just our thinking that gets in the way. People today stand t... More...

What word pops into your mind about a recent customer service experience? Was it good, or was it bad? Customer service in this country seems to be headed in the same direction as the Titanic. Why? One reason is most Americans feel customer service ... More...

Co-authored by Bruce Katcher and Robert Gatti As a service to the HR community, every two years Discovery Surveys, Inc. conducts a survey of human resource professionals designed to help HR professionals learn how their views of their own jobs com... More...

In 1985, one of us (David Maister) wrote an article for the Sloan Management Review called “The One-Firm Firm.” It identified a strategy common to leading firms across a broad array of professions — creating institutional loyalty an... More...

Isn't technology wonderful? It has changed the way we do just about everything. I have two small children and often think about the world in which they will grow up. They will never have known a world without cell phones or Movies On Demand. And, tha... More...

On November 28, ICCO hosted a thought-provoking teleforum by David Rock called "A Brain-Based Approach to Coaching". Recent studies about how the brain works are shedding some light and providing some theories about how coaching can be so effec... More...

Tags

News

“One size fits all” not enough for Canada’s Generation Y

Management In Real Life

I'm in trouble over IMs

Ask the Coach - Issue 26: Not in Control of My Career?

Trust As Currency

The New Global Workforce: Catering to global generational differences

The Newest Pet Rock Needs a Firm Foundation

Thought Leader: Dr. Robert Marshak, Covert Processes at Work

Thought Leader: Joseph R. Folkman on “The Power of Feedback"

Climate—the Emotional One That Is

Policies, Procedures, People… Pointless!

Joan Lloyd's HR Words of Advice: Conflict Resolution in the Workplace

Coaching Program for Women?

From The Poker Table To The Boardroom Table

Diversity at Its Finest

Global Pension Risk Survey

Thought Leader:Mark Lavine on “Making the Impossible Possible”

Salary Levels Linked to Where You Live

ting ! Why Intuition is Winning New Respect As A Smart Business Skill

Customer Service is Not a Four-Letter Word

A Survey of Human Resource Professionals for Human Resource Professionals

A Survey of Human Resource Professionals for Human Resource Professionals

The One-Firm Firm Revisited

Your Corporate Website (and Biggest Missed Opportunity)

Teleforum: "A Brain-Based Approach to Coaching"

	Good Guy = Bad Manager :: Bad Guy = Good Manager. Is it a Myth?

	Base Pay Increases Remain Steady in 2007, Mercer Survey Finds

	Online Overload: The Perfect Candidates Are Out There - If You Can Find Them

	Cartus Global Survey Shows Trend to Shorter-Term International Relocation Assignments

	Rewards, Vacation and Perks Are Passé; Canadians Care Most About Cash