March 1, 2013 | by Kimberlee Morrison
Human Resources has a reputation for being a department of policies enforcers. While it might seem intuitive that the role of HR would be to serve the employee as a customer, this isn’t usually the reality. Instead, HR is most often seen as being responsible for protecting the interests of the business — sometimes at the expense of the employee.
According to Anita Grantham, VP of Culture Development at Infusionsoft, “HR is where dreams go to die.” So why is it that even in companies fully committed to culture HR is seen as a necessary evil? As organizations continue to outsource the payroll and benefits function of HR and the trend toward organizational culture driving performance and engagement continues, it makes sense to assign a team to focus specifically on Culture Development. [continue…]
February 26, 2013 | by Kimberlee Morrison
Last week we talked a bit about establishing a system of discipline and accountability. And while discipline is an requirement for greatness, Infusionsoft CEO Clate Mask admits that discipline is not a natural state of being for human beings.
Motivating people to be disciplined is a hard thing to do. Most people don’t want to hear the hammer of “discipline and accountability.” It takes a special person naturally inclined to discipline to internalize that message, and a special leader to leverage discipline as a motivational tactic. [continue…]
February 22, 2013 | by Kimberlee Morrison
February 20, 2013 | by Donavon Roberson
Last week we looked at how dreaming enhances performance in the workplace through the happiness equation and aligning employees to the overall company mission.
This week we are going to look at dreaming and answer the question “Aren’t you afraid that people will stop doing what is required of them?”
Before we start there, it is important to answer the question: “What is required of our employees?” There are multiple answers to this question but at the core of them all is the idea that we need every employee to “show up” and bring their very best to work with them.
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February 19, 2013 | by Kimberlee Morrison
You’ve set the Vision, you’ve created a high-performance TGIM environment and you practice strategic alignment to ensure strong employee engagement. These things are all very important. There are two more crucial elements of any high-performance culture: discipline and accountability.
According to Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and Built to Last, “a culture of discipline is not a tenet of business; it’s a tenant of greatness.”
You may be asking discipline to what? Discipline to establishing accountability. Without accountability there are no checks in place to ensure everyone is doing what needs to be done to ensure the organization is achieving its goals. Deadlines and quarterly reviews are great, but as Infusionsoft CEO Clate Mask often says, “performance improves exponentially when measured and reported publicly.” [continue…]
February 13, 2013 | by Donavon Roberson
“What does the dream program have to do with the business?”
“Aren’t you afraid that people will stop doing what is required of them?”
“What if your top performers dream and realize that their dream doesn’t keep them at Infusionsoft?”
These questions are legitimate. These questions speak to some real concerns. These questions are very real. These questions are questions that I have really tried to answer and understand. The more time I have spent considering how best to answer these questions I discovered a problem with these questions. These questions come from a place of fear and scarcity, not a place of abundance. [continue…]
February 11, 2013 | by Kimberlee Morrison
It’s no secret that employees are more engaged when they know their work is meaningful. While providing clarity around organizational purpose doesn’t necessarily create grand meaning in life, it sure does give individual employees context for how their work fits into the big picture.
One way to provide such clarity is by involving employees at all levels of the organization in the strategic planning process. There are many methods of strategic planning, but it’s generally an activity during which the big vision for the company and the plan to achieve it are developed. It’s also typically reserved for executives, with little to no input from employees. [continue…]
