What's the X Factor in Culture, Engagement and Talent Management?

Spoiler Alert: It’s managers and leaders. Now let’s talk about how and why – and what that means about your company’s sustainable growth and success.

How Do You Create a Leadership Pipeline?

Who’s responsible for developing the leaders of your organization’s future? Recent research from DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast suggests that 2/3 of organizations have programs in place for identifying and developing high-potential leaders and that in 85% of those organizations senior management is responsible for identifying and developing those individuals. But it’s a tricky needle to thread for a senior management team. Four key questions help. Who? How many? How? Why? 

Great Culture Goes Beyond Coffee and T-shirts

Read any description of “Great Organizations” and you’ll find a laundry list of customs, rituals, perks and slogans touted as elements of their unique cultures.

Beware!

Customs, rituals, perks and slogans become intertwined with an organization’s culture and help clarify it. They become signs and expressions of cultural values. But they can’t stand alone to create culture. Picking them up from one organization and plunking them down into yours is not a great strategy for optimizing your culture. Too often, looking from the outside in, even smart leaders can miss that point and put the cart before the horse in their efforts to drive culture. Here’s a story to illustrate:

Are You Asking the Right Questions About Engagement?

Engagement may be starting to lose ground as a buzzword in the human capital management conversation, but whatever we decide to call it, it will still impact business performance. Articles recently published in Forbes (May 11, 2015) and (April 4, 2015) are just a couple of examples of where that conversation is heading. The crux of the issue is this: