One of the more interesting ongoing discussions I’ve had at work has been about how to incorporate gaming elements into learning and development.
The following TED Talks video explores that very issue (email subscribers click through).
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section. How might we apply these ideas to learning, performance management, even recruiting?
Today’s article is a guest post from Leon Noone, an HR Renegade from Sydney, Australia. Leon’s got some pretty radical ideas. I’d love to hear your thoughts on them in the comments section.
For decades, it’s been fashionable to laud personal accomplishment in the workplace. Truth is, nobody achieves much at work without a lot of help from others.
The individual accomplishment myth is inimical to effective teamwork. We extol Jane’s or Jack’s virtues in rising from backroom researcher to Director of Advanced Technology in less than five years. It’s easy to forget that lots of other employees co-operated to help Jane or Jack advance.
The individual employee, no matter how clever or skillful, can’t achieve much within the business by acting alone. But we’ve been taught for decades that the individual is the basic human unit in the workplace. That’s The Great Fallacy. Keep reading…
Four years ago, Traci Wood walked into the Tipton County Animal Shelter, in Tipton, TN, in search of her friend’s lost dog, Snowflake.
Snowflake wasn’t there (she was found alive and well later that day), but what Traci saw shocked and saddened her. “The pitiful dogs and cats that I saw there that morning – some injured, many sick, cold and wet – and the absolute hopeless expressions on their little faces made my heart sink to my feet.”
Tipton County has an 85-percent kill rate. For every ten dogs that go in, about nine never leave.
Traci started going to the shelter several times a week. She took photos of the dogs and posted them on Petfinder. She emailed various rescue groups around the country asking for help.
One-by-one, she started pulling dogs out of Tipton County and placing them in loving homes. Keep reading…
It’s well-known in the design community that the layout of a space affects mood and behavior.
Retailers and entertainment venues take advantage of this all the time. The layout, the colors, the flow through the space – it’s all carefully planned to evoke particular moods, feelings and behaviors. (Casinos are a great example of this.)
So why do we ignore design completely in work environments?
Most corporate workspaces more closely resemble hospitals than anything designed to inspire energy and productivity. Isn’t it time we changed that?
Knock down the cubicles, throw some color on the walls, and add a bit of character and personality to the workspace!
I live in a heavily wooded area. (The picture above was taken from my deck.)
Among the trees, I feel serene, awe-inspired and creative. I feel at one. It’s where I’m most comfortable, and where I do some of my best work.
When technology allows most people to do their work from anywhere they want, why shouldn’t they?
What value do dress codes add to a business?
I get why rules like “no open toes” exist in manufacturing facilities. I also get why sales folks need to dress to meet the expectations of their clients. But I don’t get why web coders and finance pros and marketers and, yes, HR peeps, have to wear dress pants, ties, and suit jackets.
They don’t improve productivity. I’d argue that in many cases they hurt it. Uniforms, done right, can unite teams and energize them.
The way “uniforms” are done in the corporate world, though… it just sucks the life out of people.
So what’s the deal. Why do we need dress codes?
The dudes over at ERE.net have put together a spinoff site called TLNT.com. It’s basically ERE, but with a focus on the performance management side of the business instead of on recruiting.
It’s awesome. My good blogger buddy Lance Haun is one of the writers there. Definitely check it out.
Here are two of my recent favorites from the site:
My only gripe with TLNT? They post a lot. Like, several times a day. My RSS reader is bursting at the seams!
