Workplace 101: A Profiles Global Business Blog

Despite a negative economic environment and high unemployment rates, Woodmen of the World life insurance is thriving. The reason? High engagement levels among its employees.

Original content by Deiric McCann, Profiles International

Would you like to be a successful charismatic leader and get extraordinary results from your people?

Leadership Charisma covers many steps to developing this, and outlines when you put to work in service of your business, it can have enormous impact. Since the launch of Leadership Charisma in January 2011, one topic in particular proved most popular.

Volunteerism Builds Employee Engagement and Customer Loyalty

Participating in charitable and community events as a company enables you to pursue team building in an unusual way while engaging and motivating your employees and supporting worthy causes.

For the past 18 months, the Profiles Research Institute conducted an ongoing study to help organizations bridge employee generational gaps.

In the past, managers were generally older than the people they managed. In recent years, we have seen this is no longer the case. Research clearly shows that this presents some unique challenges and that these managers need help  managing multi-generational workforces to avoid conflict and a decrease in staff morale.

Everyone gets sick sometimes. Some illnesses are mild inconveniences while others can knock you on your butt. As we enter cold and flu season, what’s the impact on profits and productivity from employees who either call out sick, or who come to work and underperform while infecting their coworkers? And what policies do you have to cope with sick employees?

Why Best Buy Delights While Its Neighbor Disappoints

Engaged employees can make all the difference in a business. My local Best Buy and its neighboring competitor coexist in shocking contrast to each other. The Best Buy is a shopper’s paradise with neat and orderly displays and plenty of helpful staff to offer great advice in a low-pressure environment. Meanwhile, the adjacent office supply store (that shall remain nameless) has stale displays and several areas are in need of cleaning. Worse, several employees seemed to spend most of their time on cell phones — and the conversations were not about work.

Guest Post by Alissa Finerman, Coach/Speaker and Author

“There is no passion to be found playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” ~ Nelson Mandela

Life is a series of choices. Everyday we are given the opportunity to make new choices that align with our values and goals. Our choices can range from something simple such as getting out of bed or hitting the snooze button when your alarm rings (often not that simple) to changing jobs, starting a new business, leaving a relationship, or relocating to another city.

How to Engage at the Organization, Managerial, and Employee Levels

Unless something dramatically changes, looking ahead to 2012 will be similar to looking back to 2009. A challenging economy demands that companies run lean and maximize workforce productivity. Managers and employees must “do more with less.”  Leaders who can foster a culture of engagement throughout their workforce will prevail.

Creating a healthy work environment keeps our key people engaged and loyal in an era when we’re demanding they do more with less. Not healthy in the sense of lots of fresh air and few toxic chemicals knocking around (although that’s always a good start), but a healthy psychological work environment—one where providing recognition for exemplary performance seems normal. There are several key elements to achieving this.

It is easy to complain about how our employees don't live up to our expectations. Yet how often do we ask ourselves if we are enabling our employees to be effective and productive? Probably not often enough.