Unless you’ve been living under a rock, the concept of an “engaged workforce” isn’t brand-new information. Over the course of the last 10 years there have been thousands of research papers and studies highlighting the positive effects of the engaged employee. Much of the research on employee engagement shows that engaged employees perform better than their peers. Engaged employees not only work harder, but also work smarter and are able to produce better results. Being fully engaged allows your team to get more out of their workday while feeling energized and committed to their work. For many managers, we try our best to follow the many theories and guidelines to creating an engaged employe
Google has created an environment for employees to thrive that goes beyond stocking its kitchens with free gourmet food and on-site laundry service. Its intentional corporate culture is one of the reasons it is consistently ranked a great place to work. Google values the opinions of employees and hires new associates by committee. It communicates an environment of playfulness from whimsical doodles to April Fool’s Day jokes. What’s important though is that the company regularly measures dozens of factors to understand what makes people productive and happy. This research has shaped Google’s workplace culture in myriad ways—from the company’s open workplace design to the provision of its slee
In the last 5 years, there has been a notable shift in the way organizations define their human resource functions. We are seeing departments such as "People Services" or "People Operations." Human Resource professionals now have titles such as "Chief People Officer" and "Vice President of People" and we see entire departments focused on enhancing an organization's people. The role of Human Resources is changing, and no matter what an organization call it, one thing is clear: people are at the center, finally. We’re seeing a shift from the traditional HR functions of rolling out generic HR models and universal best practices to HR professionals now looking to customize solutions that support
