Thinking to Break the Box: Asking Fresh Questions

by Cynthia Clay

It's as important as ever to bring fresh, innovative thinking to the problems we face in the workplace. Continual change, expanding technology, and competitive forces put increasing pressure on us to create solutions to old and new problems.

How do we expand our thinking? How do we get free of thinking ruts that lead to the same old approaches and conclusions? If we are to think outside the box, how do we break out of it?

There's a mistaken notion that managers and experts are paid to have the answers. Creative thinkers know that it's more helpful to expand the range of questions. Asking fresh questions is an essential break-the-box method.

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Leadership Learning Transfer

by Telly Courialis

In light of current global business trends, strategies, and goals, it is increasingly apparent that leadership is no longer just a function for senior executives. Kotter (1988) believes that even lower-level managerial, professional, and technical employees require leadership capabili­ties to function adequately. Because of increased demand for leadership skills at multiple levels, leadership training is among the most common types of organi­zational training in demand today.

At the core of leadership training is the issue of transfer (Goldstein & Sorcher, 1974), or the ability to behaviorally reproduce or transfer what is learned in training to one’s job. Leadership training design must link learning to application. Unfortunately, not all leadership train­ing programs are designed to produce substantive behavioral changes. In fact, researchers have indicated that only a frac­tion of the skills and knowledge learned during training are really transferred to the job (Baldwin & Ford, 1988; Burke & Baldwin, 1999).

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The Rules of Engagement: How to increase productivity and keep your best employees

by Lynda Silsbee

An alarming number of employees are either moderately engaged or disengaged with their current employers, reported the Towers Perrin 2003 Talent Report, “Working Today: Understanding What Drives Employee Engagement.” But with turnover so low, why should your company care about how invested your workers are in your business?

Given the current economic climate, many organizations (particularly those with small work forces) are struggling to do more with less. If you can motivate your workers to give more freely of themselves, productivity will rise. Plus, it won’t be an employers’ job market forever. You need to take steps now to minimize the chances your best workers will leave later.

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Five Easy Steps to Guide Employees in Negotiating Promotions and Raises

by Jeanette Nyden

Did you know that 69.1% of employees feel that they are underpaid for their qualifications, according to a recent job satisfaction survey of full-time employees conducted by PayScale, Inc.

Here are additional statistics on employees:

Did you know?

• 57.9% wish they earned more money and had better benefits.
• 39.3% say that salary issues will lead to them quitting their job.
• 29.8% feel that job growth is the most important factor in staying in their job.
• 21% actively wish that they had more growth opportunities.

The point is that 2 out of 3 employees are walking around feeling underpaid and 1 in 3 employees are seeking job growth opportunities that will presumably lead to more pay.

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