Back in March, Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, gave an awesome presentation at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival about culture.
You can check out the presentation and download the audio below (subscribers click through).
Here are some of Tony’s HR insights. Keep reading…
This article is part of the Renegade Manifesto Series.
When you recruit people, train them, and lead them, understanding what motivates them is really important.
Most companies fixate on what’s called instrumental motivation – things like merit increases, cash bonuses, free days of vacation and so on. It’s carrot and stick management.
Does it work? Sure. Almost everyone is motivated at least somewhat by money.
If this is the only way you motivate your employees, though, you’re missing a huge opportunity. There are four other “types” of motivation:
Tapping into these other four – particularly intrinsic and goal identification – is how you move beyond just motivating your employees and start inspiring them. Keep reading…
Is HR a science? Last week, Laurie Ruettimann of Punk Rock HR posted an article in which she wrote,
I’m asking my fellow HR colleagues out there to quit pretending that our profession is rooted in science. It isn’t.
HR can actually be more of art – I’ll give her that. When you’re dealing with people, things are rarely black and white. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t act like a scientist. Keep reading…
How does Subway try to differentiate themselves from Quiznos, D’Angelo’s, and the plethora of other sandwich shops throughout the country?
It’s tempting to think “speed” – they are a fast-food franchise, after all. But they don’t claim to be faster than the other sub shops, so it’s not that. Think about their motto: “Eat fresh.” What comes to mind?
Quality. Subway competes on quality, and with their new “Five dollar foot long” campaign, also on price.
As a franchised business, Subway’s corporate office has little control over the management practices of their individual stores. So how do they align their talent management at a shop level with their UVP (unique value proposition)? Keep reading…
The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris is a book about quitting your 9-to-5 to pursue the life you’ve always dreamed of. This isn’t about running your own business – it’s about owning a business that runs itself so you can stop living on a “deferred life plan” and start enjoying your golden years right now.
Is it unrealistic? In many regards, of course it is. But it’s not quite as far out as you might think. I recently read The 4-Hour Workweek and to my surprise, a book about quitting your job had a few things to teach people about talent management. Keep reading…
Last week, I wrote about a car dealership that really gets HR. The dealership puts a tremendous focus on aligning their HR programs and practices with their service-oriented business strategy. I ended up buying my car from them, but over the last week or so, I also got to witness some of the unintended side-effects of their service-focused HR strategy.
I hate reading articles about Generation Y (my cohorts’ generation, ranging from still in high school to around 30 years old – also known as the Millennials or Echo Boomers). I can remember being 23, new to the workforce, and excited to see that people actually thought we were influential enough to write about us. I tore through article after article. Hell, I even attended a seminar on managing Gen Y.
Then I came to a quick and somber realization: About 90% of the articles written about Millennials are complete and utter crap. Most of them focus on how my generation needs constant coddling, and then go on for pages about how to effectively “manage” us.
This article isn’t about how to manage Gen Y. It’s about what Gen Y can teach you about managing an entire workforce. Keep reading…