Organizational Development Do managers who move up the quickest in organizations do the same things as managers who do the best job? You might think the answer is yes, but research shows that this is not always the case.

A study of more than 450 managers* found that manages engage in four activities: [Read more...]

Employee Development Until the late 1980s, business school curricula emphasized the technical aspects of management, focusing on economics, accounting, finance, and quantitative techniques. Course work in human behavior and people skills received relatively less attention. However, over the past three decades business faculty have come to realize the role that understanding human behavior plays in determining [Read more...]

Talent Management Despite the current depressed economy companies need to think ahead to find high quality employees. This will become all the more important as the economy picks up and baby boomer workers start to retire in droves.

Consider this: Hispanics represent the largest minority group in the United States, but also the fastest growing. [Read more...]

Career Development When you decide that employment inertia is no longer working for you or you find that economic conditions beyond your control have thrust you into a job or possibly a career change, then you need a plan. The better you accept and strategically deal with change, the more likely a positive outcome can be realized. [Read more...]

Change Management Harvard professor, and change leadership and management thought leader, John Kotter defines an adaptive organization as one where there is a strong receptivity to change and innovation, where risk taking is encouraged, and where people are pro-active and supportive of each other both in their work and personal lives. Perhaps most importantly he highlights the importance of trust [Read more...]

HR Policies Whether we like it or not social media (e.g. Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, etc) are here to stay. Organizations that have not already done so should put a Social Media Policy in place to protect themselves from the unwanted side effects of the new media. Because social media is widely accessible it has quickly transformed how people share both personal content and work-related news. [Read more...]

Leadership Development Many new supervisors have little or no experience of managing other people, and for most people new to the supervisory role it takes time and training to make to adjustment. A key to making a successful transition to a supervisory role is to understand and avoid the most common pitfalls. Here are five that seem to crop up time and again: [Read more...]

Assessments Have you ever noticed how unevenly developed most of us are? Some people are highly developed in, say, logical thinking, but poorly developed in emotional feelings. Some people have highly advanced cognitive development (they’re very smart) but poor moral development (they’re mean and ruthless). Some people excel in emotional intelligence, but can’t add 2 plus 2. [Read more...]

Organizational Development There are several stage-based models of organizational development (OD) that provide a systematic overview of the culture and developmental potential of organizations. The Spiral Dynamics model developed by Don Beck and Chris Cowan is one of the most user friendly and actionable. Spiral Dynamics takes an easy to understand color coded approach [Read more...]