Another week has passed and it was time for our next brainstorming session. 

?I?ve been doing a great deal of thinking over the last week about what we need to do to start attacking our problems? I began.  ?You all know that my son Bobby has Asperger?s Syndrome, right?? There were confused nods around the table as they wondered where I was going with this.  ?Well, I think his new therapist may have given me an idea that may help us?.

Joe was perplexed.  ?You talked to your therapist about our issues at work??

?Are you gonna take ...

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Linda was waiting for me in my office when I got back after the meeting. 

I was ready for typical Linda.  Gruff, non-nonsense and pissed-off at my overly sensitive attitude towards our staff.   I?d had enough and was ready to end it right here. She was a problem that had to be dealt with and a potential cancer within our organization.

I started to speak and Linda interrupted. ?Andy, if you want me to resign, I totally understand?.  Her voice sounded shaky?like she could cry at any moment.  I?d never heard her like this.  I was in ...

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Another week has passed and it was time for our next brainstorming session.  This week our group was shy one member.  Linda was a problem that had to be dealt with.  She was a potential cancer in our organization so, although it would stretch our leadership team even thinner, I decided to let her go.  I knew our team needed to be fully behind the changes we needed to make without exception. 

?I?ve been doing a great deal of thinking over the last week about what we need to do to start attacking our problems? I began.  ?You all ...

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?Honey, can you get Bobby off of Nintendo? Susan yelled from upstairs.  ?We?ve got to leave in 15 minutes.?

It was time to see Psychologist number four.  I had long ago stopped thinking that there?d be some magic answer to Bobby?s Asperger?s issues but I still held out hope that a competent therapist would help add some sanity to our lives. 

?Bobby, it?s time to get off Nintendo!? I yelled (in my house, we yell all the time) into the den, where Bobby was mesmerized by strange characters running, jumping and killing God knows what ...

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A week passed and it was time for our leadership team meeting.  I was hopeful the directors had some productive discussions with their teams.

The meeting was scheduled to start at 9AM and everyone was there on time except for Linda.  We waited about 5 minutes and then decided to get started anyway.

?Thanks for your efforts this week guys.  I?m sure it wasn?t easy preparing for this meeting and still getting your jobs done.? I stood up and walked over to the flip chart.

?Kim, let?s get started with you, what?d you find??

?I had ...

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?I really think this Psychologist knows what he?s talking about? Susan said after we put the kids to sleep.  ?I called two references and they loved him.  He specializes in Asperger?s and has some pretty unique ideas.  He sounded real nice too.?

?Okay, what?s the next step??

?We need to make an appointment to go for an initial evaluation.  There?s only one problem?he?s not on our insurance.?

?So what?s it gonna cost us??

?He charges $250 per week?

?Susan you know we can?t afford that right now.  We?re barely getting by ...

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The next morning it was time to tell the team John had quit.  I?m sure most already knew, but I needed to make it official and get their thoughts.  I scheduled a meeting of my leadership team for 9AM.

When I arrived at 7:15, the message light on my phone was on.  That was never good news.  For some reason, if someone left a message during the day it was 50/50 whether it would be good news or bad.  But, when someone left a message overnight, it was almost always some problem that would screw up most ...

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The drive home that night was a chance to unwind.  Listening to motivational CD?s or upbeat music would do the trick.  Instead, it was The Who?s ?Quadraphenia?.  A rock opera about suicidal youth in 60?s London?not exactly upbeat.  Alone in the car, screaming every word to every angry, suicidal song changed my mood alright.  I?ve always liked anger better than depression anyway.

I said it was a ?chance? to unwind, I didn?t say I actually unwound.

As I put my key in the door, I heard yelling coming from inside the house.  Either my ...

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I arrived at 7:15AM as usual. I was always the first one in and the last one out of the office. I used the quiet time to work on things impossible to get to when employees and clients were awake.

This morning?s goal was a new attendance policy.  In consulting, it?s important to be there when your clients are. That usually means you?re in before they are and out after they?re gone. We like to think it gives the illusion of non-stop work (although I don?t think our clients are really that naive). 

During ...

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What the hell happened?

Success had always been a given for me. Job with a top consulting firm right out of college and it was a career rocket launch into space from there. Staff, Senior, Manager, Senior Manager?there was no stopping me. Traveling all over the country, working with Fortune 500 companies, it didn?t get any better than that?except for the traveling all over the country part.

Three years ago I decided I?d had enough of parenting and husbanding (is that a word?) by phone. Being out of town Monday through Friday was getting incredibly old ...

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Many of you have probably heard about the "pending" labor shortage. Analysts are predicting that by 2010, there will be a shortage of over 10 million employees in the U.S. This is not a problem that will magically appear in 4 years. The problem is NOW!!

This labor shortage has resulted in the need for companies to do more with less. More job opportunities have also lead to increased employee turnover.

How should companies weather this storm?

Companies can maximize the passion and productivity of their employees by employing four breakthrough concepts:

1.       Acceptance

The first step is to ...

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Two significant trends are causing a dramatic age shift in the workforce:

• Between 2000 and 2010, the workforce population for aged 55-64 will grow at a 52% rate. This compares to an 8% growth for 25-34 year olds and a 10% decrease in workers 35-44.

• Traditional retirement has become a thing of the past as people work well beyond the traditional retirement age of 65.

This "mature" workforce could be a great prescription to help companies solve the challenge of today's tight labor market. Adding to the pure numbers are the facts that this age group tends to be ...

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Studies show that 79% of people are not truly engaged by their work. That means 8 out of 10 employees are just trying to get through the day.

Imagine the impact of injecting more passion into your team. Imagine a company where 8 out of 10 people were truly engaged. What would this mean to your teams' productivity, morale, retention, and ability to recruit?

How do you know if you have a passionate workplace?

• You don't get crushed by the stampede out the door at 5PM.
• Team members offer their help without being asked.
• Team members offer their ideas ...

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My 11 year old son hates school. To him, learning is boring. If I told him that starting tomorrow, he needs to be interested in school and think of it as fun, do you think his opinion would change? Of course not.

What if I asked him to focus on making science class fun for the next month? What if I was to buy him a science kit, devise some cool science games and reward him the number of fun science facts he learned each week? Might that make science fun? If it did, might that make it easier to ...

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This is one of those real simple concepts that can easily be read and discarded. Of course we need to praise our employees. Of course we should show them our appreciation. Easily said, but how many of us do it and do it well?

Why is praise so important?
As managers, we often take it for granted that our employees know how they're doing; especially our highest performers. We tend to spend so much time with our problem employees; we neglect the very people that are working their butts off for us. Recognizing and appreciating their value will create ...

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What is your state of mind as your reading this?
Are you tired? Energized? Frustrated? Confident? Bored...I hope not!

Our state of mind changes dozens of times throughout the day; a boring meeting, a difficult phone call, an accepted offer, a misunderstanding with a demanding client. We know that all of these things affect our state and, as a result, our performance. But, do we understand how it affects our co-workers and staff?

As a manager, you can't afford to let your state manage you; you need to manage your state instead. Teams tend to mirror, and even ...

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I?ve always said I?d make money in the staffing business one way or another. I?ll either make it on job placements or writing a book about the excuses I?ve heard.

At the risk of divulging too much about my future book, here are a few of my favorites:

• It?s too humid out. I don?t work well in this humidity.
• I can?t get in to work on time today, so I think I?ll stay home, rather than go in an hour late.
• I got to the interview 10 minutes late and the receptionist ...

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Quick, we need to recruit new employees!! Better call the recruiter!!!
Quick, we need to do a better job retaining our employees!! Better call the...retainer??

Who's responsible to employee retention anyway? Is it the recruiter? Is it HR? Is it the manager? Is it a combination of all three? I would argue that at most companies, no one is responsible.

It's true that many strong HR departments do things like measure employee retention, provide guidelines for performance evaluations, implement training programs and plan the company picnic. That's a good start, but it's not enough.

People ...

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