The Culture+ Blog
Insights to help you create a compelling and connected culture
High-performance teams come from high-performance cultures
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A simple “why” is more authentic
The "why" is simple. I was at a middle school open house the other night. The teachers seemed to be following a prescribed playbook. Instructed from on high to "share your why with parents!" They worked hard on their answers. A good thing! But I heard long winded statements. Too many words with too many syllables. The raw and resonant truth was hidden beneath. I wanted to share with them that this should be simple. Just a few words that express your drive. But the pull is too powerful. We want...
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Work small, win big
In his latest TED talk, Bill Gates said that the goal was to stop outbreaks before they become pandemics. I heard Tony Robbins once say that we should kill the monster while it is small before it is eating the city. A few thousand years ago the sage, Lao Tzu, said...
Why your referral program to find new employees hasn’t worked yet
Your cash referral program to find new employees isn't working? There are many reasons... One reason might be that your people don't understand the program. A communication problem. They heard about it once a few years ago, but have forgotten about it. Fortunately,...
Need people? Focus on building your employer brand
"How can I get more people?" Over 12 million open jobs. More open jobs than ever. Record low unemployment. Stories of job postings attracting zero interest. Stories of candidates not showing up for phone interviews, in person interviews, or even their first day after...
What do we owe the people who work for us?
Other than a paycheck, what do we owe the people who work for us? Benefits like health insurance?Perks like free food Fridays?A dedicated space to work?Work tools like a computer and mobile device?Mentoring?Thoughtful growth opportunities?Freedom from harassment or...
A challenge and the triumphant return to humanity
"I love [bank] because they treat me like a human!" In the lobby at the ATM I happened to catch sight of this testimonial and advertisement. I lingered on the sentiment for a moment while the ATM machine made a series of "this is such hard work" noises that accompany...
The hard work of making something easy
Make it easy. Make the concept easier to understand. Make the work easier to finish. Make the gathering easier to attend. Easy is hard. Easy is where the real work hides. Many of us attempt to make our idea easier to understand by barfing up more and more information....
Almost done? Do you choose to walk or sprint
Wednesday is not for everyone. Late in the afternoon during my last strategic planning session, I asked my group how they were doing. I could tell the energy in the room was waning. Not unnatural. Each of us only has so much gas in the tank, and on that day we were...
What do these candidates want? Uh, why don’t we ask them
What's at the top of the personal decision hierarchy for a candidate looking at your job offer? Don't know. It's different for everyone. Some people respond to pay. Others respond to flexibility. And still others respond to benefits. In the past I was surprised when...
You are the differentiator in the market
I drive to Seattle four times a year to see a mostly naked woman holding a tiger cub while clinging to a rope ladder that's attached to a helicopter. Relax, it's art. A massive piece of art that is hanging on the ceiling of my dentist's office. When the hygienist...
Need to hire more great people? Develop an employee journey
Want more people? Develop an employee journey. Customer experience (CX) professionals use the concept of the customer journey to literally map out the path a new customer takes when interacting with the brand. CX pros want to understand it all. How did they first...
You are slow (and it’s a good thing!)
You are slow. And so am I. It's a good thing, but it can be frustrating. We are slowly being conditioned by tech that speed is good. Page load times, shipping times, instant communication. Tech can't go fast enough. But people are slow. And, really, being slow is a...
Why is there a surplus of people in real estate instead of your industry?
"There's almost a surplus of people coming to real estate." Interesting article in the New York Times today talking about the pandemic boom in new real estate agents. Where many of us are experiencing "worker shortages," real estate is attracting tons of...