Her name meant love. She had been in the industry for twenty years, and she always told us that she purposefully brought love to every aspect of her work. I was in a vocational school, and she was my teacher. I wasn’t sure yet about this field; I’d sort of picked it on a whim. I didn’t know yet if I’d like it or be any good at it. I couldn’t even imagine doing it; I just needed to show my parents that I wasn’t completely aimless.

As a modern-day business, it’s absolutely essential to make sure you’re taking the time to see whether your employees are engaging with your business. A lack of engagement will indicate far less productive within the different areas, a higher rate of employee turnover, and usually an absence of job satisfaction.

Employees are the real asset for any company. To run a business successfully, you have to keep constantly elevating the skill level of the workers. How well a business is doing is directly proportional to the performance of the employees working in that organization. A mindset of milking the best out of the workforce won’t yield the best results. There is a method to it.

Carol Dweck, a Stanford Psychology Professor, wrote a book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success in which she discusses the concept of the fixed versus the growth mindset. Applying this concept is useful within a business context. Employees with a fixed mindset believe they have a pre-determined capacity that they cannot exceed. Others with a growth mindset firmly believe they can go beyond their current limitations.

Name one HR intervention that has a high failure rate. Is ‘Mentorship’ the first word that came to mind? Anyone who has told you otherwise has you fooled. Ever since organizations were built, whenever anyone in HR attempted to run a successful ‘mentorship program’, Mentor turned in his grave. Yes, Mentor is a character straight out of Greek Mythology and the man after who the modern day mentor is shaped.

In today’s economy, it is not only difficult for people to find a good job, but it’s also difficult for employers to hold on to their employees, which is pretty contradictory. You see, once you do manage to find the right person to fill a particular position inside your company, you are going have to win them over.

When I was first asked to write about encouraging employee development, I thought "cool, this should be easy." After all I'm a huge proponent of professional development. I have my HR certifications and regularly attend learning sessions, in person and online, to maintain those certifications.

Games make for the perfect supplemental training tool during leadership work. Games promote all the characteristics a great leader should have: communication, enthusiasm, accountability, and collaboration. Watching your leaders in training play can also provide insights into how they’ll manage setbacks and a work to boost morale. If you’re not sure about bringing games into your leadership training sessions, keep reading.

It's incredibly beneficial for companies to provide training programs for employees to take part in in-house or to give them access to off-site learning. In this digital age, online learning is bigger and better than ever, and a wonderful tool for both businesses and their teams. Read on for some key reasons you should be utilizing online learning in the workplace today.

Life at home after heeding the call of duty takes a lot of getting used to. For many veterans, the switch includes finding suitable work — and businesses don’t always make it the easiest for them to join their ranks. But many qualities and skills come with military training that are transferable to any workplace. In other words, you shouldn’t overlook these servicemen and women.

The days of putting the responsibility of your development in your employer’s hands are over. We are moving into a world where many will partake of the new “gig economy”, where artificial intelligence will render some of our jobs historical relics, and where jobs will be more like “tours of duty” and short project-based partnerships. Therefore, all employees must become stewards of their own “start-ups” (i.e. careers) and cultivators of their “product” (i.e. their skillset and value-proposition to an employer) and personal brand.

The youngest generation graduating college otherwise referred to as Gen Z is often seen as lazy, disconnected, and tech-obsessed. However, here's some a list of why you should look forward to working with them!

Human Resource managers must address issues surrounding turnover and retention for sustainable growth to be realized. One of the best strategies for achieving employee engagement and retention is by employing effective onboarding of new employees. Facilitating the quick and smooth performance and social adjustment of new employees in the workplace is a key element of managing talent.

In my role as a talent development professional, I have been helping managers become better leaders for longer than I like to admit (think decades, not years). When I facilitate leadership sessions, participants are often surprised to learn that I believe credibility is the most essential trait of a leader. I am not surprised to learn that they often don’t agree with me, or that our perception of credibility and the day-to-day interpretation of it, are vastly different.

Each company is interested in investing in the career development of their employees. Providing the employees with training programs doesn’t only improve their knowledge and make it more specific, it also positively influences the productivity of the whole company.

Business executives and company managers tend to talk about the importance of critical thinking but they rarely ever try to encourage it in their own teams. As the matter of fact, most of them don’t even know how to describe and explain this phrase. By definition, critical thinking is the ability and willingness to assess claims and make objective judgments on the basis of well-supported reasons.

Leadership is an important part of any organization. With proper leadership, employees will be more efficient, achieve organizational goals, and learn to work together as a team.

Can you identify the main factor that makes a modern leader different from the leader of the past? The ideal leader of the future is not seen just as someone who leads people towards a common goal. He’s seen as a person who develops strong partnerships inside and outside the organization.

The process of Goal Setting can be an incredibly powerful Employee Experience driver. Goal setting gives direct reports an opportunity to work with their manager to discuss what their professional future holds within the organization and connect short-term motivators with a longer-term vision. Although there are numerous methods you can use to set goals, I’m a fan of using the SMART Goal method to structure goal setting.

We all understand why it is crucial to train employees. However, it is common to see companies not make training a priority. Oftentimes, companies think training programs have to be expensive or they might have to sacrifice too much time and resources into building a robust internal training program. If you're on the fence about implementing a training program in your company, you should consider the benefits it could bring to your business.

To save a company time, energy, and money, it always pays to find ways to increase retention rates, engage employees, and improve the company culture, so that your top workers stick around for the long-term and new team members don’t have to be constantly selected and trained.

Understanding employees wants and needs are a part of the organization's goals. Our employees deserve the best, how can we keep those employees happy and coming back to work is the question.

The first day of anything is typically a nerve-wracking day for most anyone. As scary as the first day might be for a new employee, it can be equally scary for the employer.

Every company needs a strong team of employees to become successful. That is why HR managers and company leaders pay so much attention to employee development. However, developing your employees successfully is not just about letting them learn new skills or incorporating effective team-building strategies.

Communication is key! We’ve heard that numerous times throughout our lives regarding the relationships we have. Did you know that the same rule applies to the workplace as well?