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One of the key frustrations that employees have identified with returning to the office is that they haven’t heard what the plans are.
I get that. As a leader, you want to have a plan that’s solid, one that’s been checked out and can be committed to your folks. Otherwise you might look flaky.
But you have to fight that urge. Your people deserve more respect and need to know what’s in the works before it’s totally solid. And you need their feedback.
Recently I had a chance to connect with the Fort Collins Chamber’s Talent Summit, which focused on the 2021 emphasis of workers returning to the office. There were a number of golden nuggets that I’ll explore in the coming weeks.
McKinsey has done a big study on Return To Work, and discovered that 29% of employees would consider switching employers if required to return to the office full time. That’s a stunning number, something we couldn’t have predicted a year ago.
If this transition is mismanaged, you could easily lose over a quarter of your workforce. And probably the most valuable workers, since they have the greatest mobility to other companies.
Read the rest of this entry »I’ve been noticing that a lot of people seem to be rethinking their lives now that the pandemic is getting more under control. We’re not out of danger yet by any means, but we’re thinking about whether we should truly go back to life as we knew it a couple of years ago.
I ponder that myself when I think about what 2021 and 2022 should look like for me. I’m of the mind to make some changes.
This raises a couple of questions for you. First, what do you want to increase and what do you want to decrease as you figure out your future?
Read the rest of this entry »I want to express my appreciation for all of you who have stuck with me for so many years. I’ve been publishing a newsletter since 2010, and have received an incredible amount of support and valuable feedback.
Thank you.
And that’s the subject of this article, actually. Expressing thanks for the great work that people are doing, whether paid or not. This is something I’ve learned with leading volunteer groups, but just as important for my employees.
Read the rest of this entry »We learn very early in life to conform, to fit in, to copy.
Unfortunately this doesn’t usually lead to success in business. And it doesn’t make you a leader.
Instead, you have to figure out how you’re going to be different, to stick out and be memorable. But this takes courage.
We live in an imperfect world. Which means that things are always less than ideal, less than perfect.
There are three ways to come to peace with this fact: First, to change the world to be what you want it to be. Second, to change your expectations to agree with what the world gives you.
But there’s a surprising alternative:
Read the rest of this entry »We’re always focused on limits. They provide comfort and security, in a way, because they clearly identify how much achievement is enough.
When somebody says, “give it 110%!”, it’s really just a gentle nudging outside the comfort zone. But that’s not where true breakthroughs come from!
Breakthroughs are 200%. Or 1000%. Or entirely changing the rules of the game.
Read the rest of this entry »This week’s idea is very straightforward, but I’m often surprised to see how many people struggle with the idea.
When I do something which is remotely complicated, I look for whether it’s worth turning it into a process. When I write these articles, for instance, it’s based on a template that I created many years ago. And I use a simple three-step process to find and include the graphics.
Why would I bother? This is pretty simple, right?
Read the rest of this entry »The future will be different than the past. That’s basic, right? Yet we love to make projections based on an expectation that only 2% will change.
Well, the pandemic upended all that. It felt like EVERYTHING changed.
As we achieve a high rate of vaccinations, we’d like to think that we will “return to normal” — namely, 2019. But it’s not happening. We’re moving into something new.
We expect our business leaders to have a clearer view of the future, or at least to act like they do. But we’re in a state where NOBODY really knows what the future holds.
Read the rest of this entry »When inspiration lights you up, the impact can be unstoppable.
I had the chance recently to speak with Gary Nickell, founder of Scott’s Roofing in Colorado. They do commercial and residential roofing work, so not exactly what you might consider a leading edge, fancy industry.
And I have to admit it’s an industry without a great reputation. We can have some severe hailstorms around here, so every year we have numerous people contact us about assessing hail damage – even when there hasn’t been a storm. Many of those people aren’t based here, and may just disappear with your deposit.
Unfortunately, many home maintenance services have this kind of reputation.
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The Values-Based Business 