New research suggests employee engagement may not tell the whole story of the employee experience at work. For years, HR leaders and professionals have been laser-focused on measuring and improving employee engagement. In fact, Josh Bersin noted in a Forbes editorial that the roots of engagement surveys go all the way back to the late 1800s when Fredrick Taylor studied how people’s attitudes impacted their productivity in the steel industry. And we’ve been focused on engagement for good reason—it’s linked to lower turnover, fewer safety incidents, and lower absenteeism. Click here to register.

Learn more about Globoforce’s pre-packed integration for social recognition in our webinar this Wednesday. Are you a Workday customer or currently going through a Workday implementation? Did you know you can quickly and easily launch a recognition solution that integrates seamlessly with your Workday HCM solution? Globoforce is the only certified Workday partner offering pre-packed integration for social recognition. That means you get: Faster and easy recognition deployment. Greater talent insight for performance reviews. Lower maintenance costs. Read the full Q&A below.  . 1.

If I had to choose the two topics that most intrigued me at the HR Tech World conference in Paris this week, they would be unicorns and bureaucracy. That might seem like an odd mix. Let me explain. For those unfamiliar with the term, a unicorn (in business) is used to describe a venture-backed, private company valued at $1 billion or more. Examples of unicorns include Uber, Airbnb, and Snapchat. Unicorns get big fast,” reads an HBR article from earlier this year. This makes it easier to take decisions and put them into practice very swiftly. Should other companies emulate unicorns? Maybe.

Who would have guessed that the city of love is also the city of HR technology? This year’s HR Tech World conference will be held in Paris again on Tuesday – Wednesday (October 25-26) of next week. And if by chance you’re attending the show, Globoforce will have a few sessions for you to choose from, depending on your area of interest. For sweet enthusiasts , drop by stand #217 in the expo hall and we’ll be sure to give you something sweet to get you through the day. For data gurus , don’t miss joint sessions with Globoforce and IBM on Tuesday at 2:10 p.m. and Wednesday at 1:40 p.m.

Join Globoforce for a webinar with Eaton next Thursday. How do you engage a workforce of more than 100,000 employees, working in the United States, China, Switzerland, and Brazil? What if 50 percent of the population is offline, without access to a company computer? These are just a few of the challenges faced by Eaton, a leading power management company that sells to consumers in 175 countries. With such a diverse workforce, Eaton partnered with Globoforce to create E-STAR, their social recognition program to support a culture of recognition across the company. Don’t forget to register here.

LinkedIn’s Talent Connect conference was held in Las Vegas last week. LinkedIn’s annual Talent Connect conference , a gathering leaders in HR, recruiting, and talent acquisition, was held in Las Vegas last week. As I walked along the Las Vegas strip each day, I couldn’t help but think that the strip serves as a bit of a microcosm for the greater talent landscape. Everywhere I turned, casinos and bars were fighting for my attention—handing out drink coupons or blasting top 40 hits. One person was even offering free limo rides. Be a maverick. Others made him carry heavy luggage.

See Adam Grant live at WorkHuman 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. Long-time readers of the Globoforce blog know that we are huge fans of Adam Grant. Not only is he a New York Times bestselling author , but he’s also Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania’s top-rated professor, and ranked one of the top 25 management thinkers in the world. Did I mention he’s only 35? We’re such big fans of his work that we invited Adam to be a keynote speaker at our inaugural WorkHuman conference back in 2015. Want proof? Here are 3 HR lessons from Adam Grant: Givers are your secret weapon. RELATED POSTS.

Get insights from Tom McMullen on finding the right mix of rewards for employees. Which reward programs provide the greatest impacts and ROI for employees? What role does peer recognition play in driving engagement? For the first part of our Q&A with Tom McMullen , senior client partner and North America rewards expertise leader at Korn Ferry Hay Group , we asked about the latest trends in pay practices and why salary increases have remained stagnant. In part two below, we take a deep dive into rewards that are both cost effective and drive performance. Read more below. RELATED POSTS.

Click the image to download the report and learn which practices create more human employee experiences. Which factors contribute to a more human employee experience in the workplace? How can organizational cultures and practices be enhanced to become more human-friendly themselves? These questions are even more critical as the boundaries between people and technology become blurred. While machines are now able to learn, reason, and interact with humans naturally, people— humans —are at the forefront of realizing the benefits of new technologies. Download the full report here. Purpose. Vigor.

 . We’re now just four days away from the 19 th annual HR Technology Conference & Expo  in Chicago. And And if you’re anything like me, you like to go in with a game plan. This field guide to HR Tech from John Sumser at HRExaminer is a great place to start. It includes session guides, a vendor directory, and tips & tricks. Be sure to add Globoforce booth #1610 to your list (we’ve got some sweet treats for you). You can also check out both of our sessions at the beginning and end of the conference: How Can You Build a More Human Workplace? Introducing a New Global Index. The 5 Tips.

We sat down with Tom McMullen, senior client partner and North America rewards expertise leader at Korn Ferry Hay Group. When was the last time you looked at a breakdown of your total rewards spend? Are you getting the return—in engagement, motivation, retention—that you’re striving for? Many HR professionals are asking themselves the same questions, wondering whether traditional reward strategies like the annual 3% pay bump really makes any difference. To get some answers, we sat down with Tom McMullen, senior client partner and North America rewards expertise leader at Korn Ferry Hay Group.

Join the movement and apply to speak at WorkHuman 2017. WorkHuman is unlike any HR or business conference out there. And we’re looking for the forward-thinking humans—the thinkers, speakers, authors, academics—who can help us create a stellar agenda that leaves attendees feeling energized and armed with the tools they need to create a more human culture in their organization. Do you have research, expertise, or a compelling story to share? Send us your application to be a speaker at WorkHuman 2017! Apply Today. Proposal deadline : November 10, 2016. You’re in good company. Make a difference.

We’ve covered the changing performance management landscape from several different angles on this blog—from the death of the annual review to the growing use of crowdsourcing and adoption of new, cutting edge practices that encourage continuous feedback. But what do executives have to say about the latest trends? After all, much of the organizational change (or lack thereof) is driven by leadership and vision at the executive level. Am I moving in the right direction? Do you think I’m progressing? Nobody’s going to wait for an annual cycle to get that feedback.”– Employees hate it.

One indication that we’re experiencing a renewed focus on inclusion can be found with a simple Google search. The top three questions associated with “diversity and inclusion” are: What is meant by inclusion in the workplace? What do you mean by inclusion? What is inclusive diversity? There’s a lot of curiosity around inclusion—and for good reason. By 2025, less than 10 years from now, millennials will comprise nearly 75 percent of the workforce. The Millennial Take. Essentially, millennials are bringing more humanity to the discussion. Deeper Dive on Inclusion & Belonging.

Some people lay on beaches for their vacation. We run road races. This past week I returned from a vacation in Iceland with my boyfriend, Andrew. Yes, I am probably one of the only people who would choose to go somewhere colder for my summer vacation (the average temperature in Iceland in August is 55 degrees). But the trip was perfect for me. You see, I love to run. Prior to this vacation, the longest race I had run was 10 miles and I was looking for something a bit more challenging. So back in March I pulled the trigger and signed myself and Andrew up for the Reykjavik half marathon.

In preparation for our webinar with John Baldino this week, we’ve been exploring this idea of “feel good” moments at work. What is a feel good moment? What is its business impact? How can we capture and amplify those stories across the organization? By the way, you can register for that webinar here if you haven’t already: John Baldino & The Power of Feel Good Recognition Moments. Wednesday, August 31 st  at 11:00 am ET   |   10:00 am CT     |     8:00 am PT   |  4:00 pm BST. To me, feel good moments are instances where we are able to show our humanity and authenticity at work.

“Most of us now work in teams, in office without walls, for managers who prize people skills above all. Lone geniuses are out. Collaboration is in.” – Susan Cain, author and co-founder of Quiet Revolution. Do you agree with Susan? Has your office succumbed to the open office, collaboration-heavy trend? Do you think it helps or hinders productivity? Susan calls it “ The New Groupthink ”—and argues that it’s taken over offices and schools. Seventy percent of Americans now work in open office plans and have lost 300 square feet of personal work space since the 70s. Collaboration Overload”.

If even traditional companies are doing away with annual reviews , what is replacing that process? How can you leverage crowdsourcing to get a better picture of an employee’s performance? And what role can social recognition play in humanizing performance management? These are a few of the questions we asked in part two of our interview with Gerry Ledford, senior research scientist at University of Southern California’s Center for Effective Organizations ( catch up on part one here ). Read the conclusion of our Q&A with Gerry below.    . This was not practical in the paper era. management.”

We’ve all encountered people in our careers who are firm believers that workers are strictly motivated by money. Don’t you wish you could convince your stubborn colleagues of the business value of praise and recognition? Thankfully, there is a ton of research in this area. Just last year, Harvard Business School published a study on the connection between praise and productivity. Participants visited the Harvard Decision Science Laboratory and were asked solve a problem. The study also notes that participants who received praise were also significantly less stressed. And that’s just one study.

One of the most obvious reasons that so many companies are re-thinking traditional performance management processes is because the term itself has become outdated—performance management. Are we really trying to manage performance? Or are we looking for the most effective ways to motivate, coach, and lead our people to even greater success? Gerry Ledford, senior research scientist at University of Southern California’s Center for Effective Organizations , is keenly interested in this topic and is a nationally recognized authority on aligning human capital practice to business strategy. Now what?

How can two words—“thank you”—transform a work culture? And what happens in the absence of true appreciation and gratitude at work? This is perhaps best illustrated through a story. David Novak, co-founder and retired Chairman and CEO of Yum! Brands is a firm believer in the power of recognition. Then I asked what her employers had given her to note that amazing milestone — four decades of saving lives! With a shrug of acceptance rather than indignation, she laughed and showed me a plastic key chain that had been mailed to her. Every employee craves recognition as a basic human need.

When we talk about defying tradition in the business world, how often are we referring to HR? What opportunities are there to elevate the role of HR and encourage more entrepreneurial thinking? These are topics close to Josh Linkner’s heart. As the founder and CEO of four tech companies (and author of bestsellers The Road to Reinvention and Disciplined Dreaming ), Josh Linkner has extensive experience in adapting quickly and taking risks. At the same time, he’s a firm believer in putting people first. They realize that people perform at their very best while feeling supported and appreciated.

Spencer Rascoff, CEO of Zillow Group, recently launched a podcast called Office Hours , where he chats with other CEOs about what leadership means in the digital age. His first guest was Dick Costolo, former CEO of Twitter. They both agree that there’s “no such thing as overinvesting in corporate culture,” and Spencer expanded on his thoughts in a commentary piece for Fortune : While standing desks and organic snacks are appreciated by Zillow Group employees, these perks aren’t what inspire and motivate them to do their best work. At Globoforce, we wholeheartedly agree that culture is king.

Andy Swann at WorkHuman 2016. In the first part of our Q&A with WorkHuman speaker Andy Swann, we discussed organizational purpose—how to find it and why it contributes to a thriving culture. Andy also shared a bit about his work driving organizational change with a people-first mindset. Even as we work to give people more flexibility with when and where they do their work, there’s still a high risk of burnout. In what ways can we incorporate more human workplace practices into our day-to-day operations? How does social recognition improve connections and relationships at work?

Are you making gratitude all about yourself? Gratitude is the key to happiness in the workplace and everywhere else,” WorkHuman speaker and UC Davis professor Robert Emmons told us in an interview last year. Indeed, the personal benefits of cultivating more gratitude are well documented—including improved sleep , self-esteem, psychological and physical health, and mental strength. And according to Emmons, gratitude in the workplace acts as a “vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic.” He explains: In many organizations the workplace culture is toxic. Sort of—but there’s a catch. RELATED POSTS.

What drives community and purpose at work? How can we affect change without losing sight of our people? And why do some people seem to flourish at work while others flounder? These are some of the philosophical questions about work that WorkHuman speaker Andy Swann investigates. And as someone who has worked in a myriad of jobs—from journalism, to management, business ownership, recruitment, and bar work—he certainly has a wealth of experience to draw from. He’s also a thoughtful writer. Check out his wrap up WorkHuman 2016 in the Medium piece, “ How to be a Human.”. And why does it matter?

In the U.S., many of us are busy preparing for the Fourth of July holiday weekend—looking forward to fireworks, cookouts, and sunshine. But do you ever stop to think about why we celebrate the Fourth of July? July 4, 1776 was the day that the Continental Congress declared that the thirteen colonies were a new nation, separate and independent from the British Empire. This is an unwavering statement of the United States’ autonomy, a concept which continues to have moral, political, and social implications. Why is autonomy so important in our work lives? How can we encourage more of it? Certainty.

Last week Kevin Walling, Chief Human Resources Officer at The Hershey Company, wrote a LinkedIn post titled, “ The Goodness We Share.” It’s an important reminder of the incredible impact HR can have on business results. As Kevin and his team focus on developing, “a remarkable workforce and a compelling workplace,” The Hershey Company has earned several honors, including: #6 out of the top 500 U.S. companies in Newsweek ’s 2015 Green Rankings. Listed as one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality” in the 2016 Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index. Register now!

I’ve just returned from the annual SHRM Conference & Exposition in Washington, D.C., where the theme was Breakthrough —an ode to the ‘aha’ moments of clarity that we experience in our professional careers. While other HR bloggers like Mary Faulkner and Ben Eubanks wrote great posts about the value of the relationships and connections we make at SHRM, my breakthrough came in a moment of complete silence, stillness, and peace. It was Monday morning during # WorkHuman speaker Pandit Dasa’s Master Series session on Mindful Leadership. Which brings me to my first big takeaway from SHRM 2016.

Download the new SHRM Foundation report. Much of what has traditionally been labeled as the “softer” side of workplace culture – like civility , thriving , and playing to peoples’ emotions – are now coming to forefront as part of the # WorkHuman movement. HR practitioners and business leaders know—innately—how important they are to a thriving business. But now we are beginning to see the tangible ROI and benefits of focusing on new, more human workplace practices. Christine has studied the affect thriving white-collar employees, which are: 32% more committed. 72% more satisfied with their job.

In part one of our Q&A with author and consultant M. Tamra Chandler, we discussed the 8 fatal flaws of performance management, the changing manager-employee relationship, and the need for crowdsourced recognition. So perhaps you’re convinced that performance management needs to change. Where do you start? How have other companies found success? And what exactly is replacing the annual review? Tamra shares a real-world example and explains how social recognition, “can play a significant role in the performance management reboot.”. Then turn your attention to your leaders. So much power!

Every week, it seems, we read news about more companies “blowing up” performance management. Just a few days ago, GE executives said they are considering scrapping the annual raise in favor of, “being more flexible and re-thinking how we define rewards.”. On the blog, I’ve recently written about the death of the annual review , the growing emphasis on coaching and feedback , and performance management’s fatal flaws. It’s also a trend that came to the forefront at WorldatWork’s Total Rewards conference last week, which I covered in my wrap up post about the event. hope you’ll join us! Now what?

While at WorldatWork’s Total Rewards conference in San Diego this week, my colleague and I visited a local spot called The Cat Café. And it’s exactly what you would expect—a place where you drink coffee and play with cats. There are rules, though. You can’t pick up the cats. Only 8 people are allowed in the room at once. And noise must be kept to a minimum. I’m sure there are people who find The Cat Café a bit bizarre. But for cat lovers and cats, it’s perfect (or should I say purr-fect?). Feelings matter. In Mel Robbins’ opening keynote, she focused on practical motivation strategies.

Will you be in San Diego next week for WorldatWork’s Total Rewards conference? This is one of the top conferences that Globoforce attends every year. Last year it was held in Minneapolis and I wrote a wrap up post on the 10 top things I learned. I’ll be posting another wrap up this year, but I thought I would also list some of the sessions our blog readers may find most pertinent for their work and professional development. Annual Salary Reviews: Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze? Monday, June 6 at 1:30 p.m. Check out the blog post I wrote on this topic earlier this year: R.I.P Now What? Now What?

There goes another nail in the annual performance review coffin. The most recent company to publically announce its revamp of performance reviews is Goldman Sachs. In a memo to employees, CEO Lloyd Blankfein and COO Gary Cohn wrote, “Providing high-quality and ongoing feedback is at the heart of our culture, and is an important investment we make in our people.”. Why doesn’t traditional performance management work anymore? And if we do away with ratings and annual reviews, will there by any accountability? M. Read part 1 of our Q&A with Tamra below. 1. Hmmm, right? RELATED POSTS. Now What?

People at Google love data. They measure everything. A few years back, they launched a research initiative called Project Oxygen, in order to measure and improve key management behaviors at Google. This initiative is highlighted in a 2013 Harvard Business Review piece by David A. Garvin, professor at Harvard Business School. Garvin writes, “Compared with leadership, managing remains understudied and undertaught—largely because it’s so difficult to describe, precisely and concretely, what managers actually do. They also identified eight behaviors shared by high-performing managers. Menna.

Soren Lockwood, CEO of SEB Pension in Denmark. wrote a post a couple of weeks back about how to kill happiness at work. It’s quite simple, really, and it happens all too often. What’s interesting about the whole “happiness at work” discussion is that people either become immediately skeptical or they overthink the concept to death. Soren Lockwood, CEO of SEB Pension in Denmark, perfectly illustrated this in a recent talk posted by Woohoo inc. He said: To me, happiness at work and results are not opposites at all. Can you measure that it works?” just don’t get it! ways to build alignment.

Incivility can be a surprisingly common and accepted behavior at work. Think back to past roles or even your current position. How often have you experienced small or significant moments of incivility and rudeness? Did it impact your mood and motivation at work? According to Mike Sliter, assistant professor of psychology at Indiana University-Purdue University, incivility is defined as a “low intensity deviant behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the target, in violation of workplace norms for mutual respect and courtesy.” New research on incivility. You can catch rudeness. How Rude!

This past week the second annual WorkHuman conference was held at the Orlando World Center Marriot, with more than six million people reached through twitter using the #workhuman hashtag. Even Michael J. Fox dropped by to share his personal story of hope, optimism, and gratitude. There was also a wall of cookies (yes, you read that right). For those who couldn’t make the conference, we captured all of the great content from the pre-conference workshops, keynotes, and concurrent sessions on the live blog over at www.workhuman.com. Read more here. Read more here. Read more here. Thank you.

As part of the WorkHuman movement, we often talk about the notion of authenticity—of creating a work environment where our teams and our employees feel comfortable bringing their whole, human selves to work every day. What does that mean in practice? And how can leaders make this a reality in their organizations? recently had the opportunity to chat with WorkHuman speaker Steve Pemberton, vice president, diversity and inclusion and global chief diversity officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance. We are a 350,000-person company that operates in 25 countries. My favorite band is Journey.

A human workplace is more than an idea–it’s a proven way to improve work culture, make employees happier, and propel a business forward. We know this because we conducted a survey of more than 800 full-time workers in the U.S. to determine the ROI of such human workplace practices as recognition, transparency, and trust. Check out the infographic below, The Science of Building a Human Workplace , to learn more about the findings from  the survey. To read the full report, click here. Infographic] The Science of a Human Workplace #workhuman Click To Tweet. RELATED POSTS.

WooHoo Inc. whose founder, Alexander Kjerulf, sat down with us for a Q&A last summer ) recently released some interesting findings in its survey of more than 700 workers from around the globe about bad days at work—how common they are and what makes them bad. Some may argue that a bad work day could have nothing to do with the job itself. And that’s true—but rarely. The survey asked, “The last time you had a bad day at work, was it bad because of factors at work or factors outside of work?” 74% of respondents said it was factors at work, while only 2.8% So what about work makes us unhappy?

Do you work with someone like this? Negativity can have a profound impact on our work lives, whether it’s incessant complaining from a cube mate or the overall mood of an organization. But new research from positive psychology can help. Last week I shared part 1 from our Q&A with WorkHuman speaker and positive psychology researcher Michelle Gielan. She shared how her background in broadcast journalism sparked her interest in ideas like the ripple effect, optimism, and how to change your story for greater success. She also shared the research on why positivity is better for business.

We all have that friend or colleague who is defiantly positive, no matter what situation they are up against—a difficult client, a disorganized project, or a negative work culture. Maybe you are that person (lucky you!). I am convinced WorkHuman speaker Michelle Gielan is one of those people. Michelle is the bestselling author of Broadcasting Happiness and founder of the Institute for Applied Positive Research. She studies the science of positive communication and how to use it to fuel success. How do they impact culture? What are some tips for leaders to communicate more positively?

Do you have this level of trust in your coworkers? How much do you trust your coworkers? Your boss? How about senior leadership? If you’re striving to build a culture that really stands out from the rest, one key piece of the puzzle is trust—in colleagues and in leaders who are responsible for setting the tone for the rest of the business. And if you’ve ever worked in a company with high levels of mistrust and suspicion, you know full well how it can seep into every corner of your work life. It can impact your productivity—can you trust your colleague to finish their piece of the project?

Optimists don’t just see the world through rose-colored glasses. They are a key piece of the fabric that helps our organizations and businesses run more smoothly. According to positive psychologist Martin Seligman , “pessimists tend to give up more easily, feel depressed more often, and have poorer health than optimists. Optimists, on the other hand, generally do better in school, work, and extracurricular activities. They also often perform better than predicted on aptitude tests, are more likely to win elections when they run for office, have better overall health, and may even live longer.”.

This webinar will be presented Thursday, April 14th at 1 p.m. ET | 10 a.m. PT | 5 p.m. Register now to attend. Do you ever look at other companies and wonder, “What’s their secret?” How do they get people so excited, motivated and optimistic about their work? Is it just luck? The short answer is no. There are proven ways for HR and business leaders to make a significant impact on culture. And in the new report from the WorkHuman Research Institute at Globoforce, we get to the heart of that data. In fact, the report has so much great content (it’s 30 pages!) Register now to attend.

While most of us aren’t professional actors, managing the emotions that we express to other people at work is par for the course. It can also be exhausting. What kind of toll does such emotion regulation take on well-being? How does it impact team functioning and culture? Surface acting at work is a topic Sarah Rose Cavanagh, associate professor of psychology at Assumption College, will be discussing at WorkHuman next month. Read more in her column for Psychology Today, Once More with Feeling. Read the full Q&A below. What’s one thing most people don’t know about you? Absolutely!

Attention graduate and undergraduate students! You still have time to enter to win a free trip to Orlando next month! We have extended the deadline to submit entries for our WorkHuman Fellowship Essay Contest to this Friday, April 8th ! See the original post with contest details below. — WorkHuman 2016  is fast approaching and so is the end of the semester for many college and university students. Do you know a college or graduate student in the U.S. or Canada who is passionate about HR, leadership, and organizational psychology? Are you one, yourself? Want a sneak peek at the experience?

Every two years, WorldatWork surveys publishes a report on trends in employee recognition. Last year’s report confirmed that recognition is still an important HR tool, with 89% of organizations having a program in place. Organizations are also recognizing employees more frequently. The response, “more recognition than 12 months ago” rose 9% from 2013 to 2015. Interestingly, the report notes that a goal of increasing retention and decreasing turnover through recognition rose to 51% last year. Why the change? It’s clear that recognition has a profound impact on retaining talent. Register here.

In this week’s edition of HR influencer Q&As, we chat with Laurie Ruettimann. You may know her by her blogs, The Cynical Girl and Punk Rock HR, which was named a top 100 website for women by Forbes. Laurie is a well-known speaker and a consultant, and writes regularly on her blog at laurieruettimann.com. She’s also co-hosted a couple of webinars with Globoforce over the years, including How to Get Buy In for Recognition and The Power of Thanks Roundtable Discussion. Read the full Q&A below to learn what Laurie thinks about the future of HR, recognition, and what it means to work human.

In a recent post on how to elevate the role of HR , I mentioned that culture and engagement ranked as the number one trend in Deloitte University Press’ 2015 Global Human Capital Trends report. The 2016 report was just released, and interestingly, executives were asked about culture and engagement separately this year (though both rank as top trends). The reason for the separate rankings, the report explains, is because “they are different concepts…Culture describes ‘the way things work around here,’ while engagement describes ‘how people feel about the way things work around here.’”. Respect.

As life and work gets busier and more distracting, companies like Google, Target, and General Mills are all investing in mindfulness to improve productivity and corporate culture. Even Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll encouraged players to meditate daily before their Super Bowl win. Could mindfulness help your work culture? What are some simple tips for bringing mindfulness into daily life? Where has it worked? There are a few questions we asked WorkHuman  2016 speaker Rasmus Hougaard— writer and founder of Potential Project. Read the full Q&A with Rasmus below. RELATED POSTS.

Forward-thinking HR and business leaders are focusing more on metrics related to employee well-being and happiness, in addition to traditional satisfaction or engagement. But how do we define happiness and well-being? Are they related? WorkHuman speaker Shawn Achor defines happiness as “the joy you feel striving toward your potential.” He outlines four main qualities that sustain happiness: Optimism – believing that our behavior will eventually matter. Social connection – the breadth and depth of our relationships. The way we perceive stresses – as challenges instead of threats. RELATED POSTS.

What makes someone “gritty”? Is it possible to build more grit into our workplace? And how can we raise performance standards while building compassionate, human-focused work environments? These are some of the questions we asked WorkHuman speaker Caroline Adams Miller, a positive psychology coach who’s worked with senior executives, professional athletes, and politicians. Caroline shares tips for giving effective praise, the opposite of grit, and the most damaging kind of feedback. Read our full Q&A with Caroline below.  . What is grit and why do you think it matters, especially now?

Unwanted turnover is a costly liability and pervasive business issue. million Americans workers voluntarily left their jobs in December—which is more than in December 2007, the first month of the recession. And a recent Towers Watson survey showed 50% of all organizations globally reported difficulty retaining their high-potential and top performers. In fact, according to the most recent SHRM/Globoforce report , retention is the #1 challenge faced by HR organizations—topping the list for the first time in the history of that survey. Content loading… Quiz Retention turnover

According to Randstad , U.S. businesses spend more than $110 billion on talent acquisition. That’s more than $3,000 per hire. Just looking at the numbers alone, there is not a company in the U.S.—and and I would argue the world—who can afford to ignore their employer brand. For one, job seekers are more informed than ever before. Consider the fact that nearly half (46%) of Glassdoor members read company reviews when they first start their job search, even before speaking with a recruiter. And nearly half of job seekers now use social media to look for work. Transparency is key. you ask?

Curious what’s trending and top of mind in HR today? We’re kicking off a Q&A series with some of HR’s biggest influencers—people who have been in the trenches and know what it’s really like to work in HR. First up is Tim Sackett, HR blogger and president at HRU Technical Resources. With 20 years of experience in HR and recruiting, Tim lives in Michigan and previously worked at Sparrow Health System, Applebee’s International, ShopKo Stores, and Pamida. Take a look at his blog and the webinar he co-hosted last year. Read the full Q&A below. How do we find talent? How do we keep talent?

WorkHuman 2016 is fast approaching and so is the end of the semester for many college and university students. Do you know a college or graduate student in the U.S. or Canada who is passionate about HR, leadership, and organizational psychology? Are you one, yourself? Here’s your chance to tell us your story. We are excited to announce the second annual WorkHuman Fellowship Essay Contest. Two essay writers from North American universities will be chosen as our WorkHuman Fellows, and flown to WorkHuman 2016 to live-blog the event. Want a sneak peek at the experience? See below for more details.

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Actually, according to a user on Quora , it has taken about 1,009,491 days to build Rome, based on the traditional founding of the city on April 21, 753 BCE. It’s still being built today. The point is, important work takes time. Why should we take stock in this today? Because tomorrow, March 4 th , is officially Employee Appreciation Day. Break out the balloons! Bring in the free pizza! Say thank you! Hold on a second. That last part—saying “thank you”—sounds right. But why should we celebrate our employees just one day a year? How about employee appreciation YEAR?

Can you guess which trend ranked number one on Deloitte University Press’ Global Human Capital Trends report last year? It was culture and engagement—or what the report aptly describes as the “naked organization.” It’s all about transparency in the “Glassdoor era,” where every week companies make headlines for their cultures, whether good or bad. The survey asked more than 3,300 business and HR leaders from 106 countries to assess the importance of specific organizational challenges and how prepared they were to meet those challenges. Why culture is king. million in December. RELATED POSTS.

Are our organizations really inhuman? What will it take to make them more human—more transparent, open, and collaborative? In this third and final part of our Q&A series with WorkHuman speaker Gary Hamel, we discuss the annual performance review (or lack thereof), how social recognition impacts culture, and what it means to have a more human workplace. Gary makes a compelling case as to why recognition is so motivating and why our inhuman organizations need to change—and fast. Can you share your thoughts on this and how you see performance management evolving? think this move is healthy.

Imagine if a coach just sat on the sidelines, watching their team win and lose games without giving any feedback. If they saved all of their coaching and strategizing for the last game of the season, it would be too late to even make a difference. They would likely be fired for incompetence. And yet, this is essentially how businesses have designed performance management since the third century. Fortunately, that’s changing. More and more companies are ditching the demoralizing and ineffective annual performance review in favor of more frequent communication and coaching throughout the year.

Adaptability. Innovation. Inspiration. All too often, these traits are entirely missing from modern organizations. What can we do to change that? In Part 2 of our Q&A series with WorkHuman speaker Gary Hamel, we talk about how organizations can overcome their “core incompetencies.” Gary believes that by taking a very systematic approach to building new capabilities, and by learning how to “hack” core management processes, we can accelerate the pace at which we build future-capable organizations. Read his Q&A below. Are there any common mistakes you see organizations and leaders making?

This webinar will be presented on Tuesday, February 23rd at 1 p.m. ET | 6 p.m. Register now to attend. Many of us in HR are laser-focused on employee engagement. But does measuring engagement really cover the full spectrum of employee experience? Is there more we can do in 2016 to give that “wow” experience to our employees? Take leading consumer product and service companies, as an example. They focus relentlessly on the customer experience. Every interaction between the customer and the product/service provider is measured for continuous improvement. Register now to attend. RELATED POSTS.

At  WorkHuman  2015, Wharton School professor Adam Grant stressed the importance of getting the right people on the bus—of hiring the right people that will help build a culture of givers. “If we create networks with the sole intention of getting something, we won’t succeed,” he said. “We can’t pursue the benefits of networks; the benefits ensue from investments in meaningful activities and relationships.” ” Grant’s research is backed by other studies that show that the act of giving is linked to happiness, and happiness is linked to the act of giving.

What will it take to make our organizations more transparent and more collaborative? Are we focusing on the right skills to develop the next generation of leaders? How can we finally move beyond the 100-year-old, top-down—inhuman—management model? These are some of the challenges that WorkHuman 2016 speaker Dr. Gary Hamel is most passionate about. He’s also written 17 articles for the Harvard Business Review and is the most reprinted author in the Review ’s history. Gary’s writing often touches on topics at the heart of the WorkHuman movement. ” – @profhamel Click To Tweet.

Last year marked the beginning of the WorkHuman movement —to galvanize organizations and leaders worldwide to create a more human workplace. It’s about realigning the way we interact with one another. It’s a shift to focus on recognizing and rewarding each other. It’s changing the way we build and nurture relationships at work. WorkHuman is about building a work culture that harnesses the true transformative power of human connections and well-being, one that unites all employees in the pursuit of shared goals and greater business success. We are humbled that Michael J. Why Michael J.

The emotional cast of Pixar’s “Inside Out.” ” Type “emotion in the workplace” into Google search and you’ll get pages of how-to articles on managing your emotions—from the perils of crying at work to controlling your temper and other negative emotions. While these articles are well intentioned, there is more to the story on the role emotion plays at work. After all, we are all emotional beings (as evidenced in Pixar’s heartwarming film Inside Out ). Companionate love at work. The Influence of a Culture of Companionate Love in the Long-term Care Setting.”.

Stress gets a bad rap. It’s been called the silent killer. We often look for quick, easy tips for reducing stress in our lives. We worry about loved ones who experience too much stress. But just as change is constant, so is stress. According to Psychology Today , “Stress is simply a reaction to a stimulus that disturbs our physical or mental equilibrium. In other words, it’s an omnipresent part of life.”. Not surprisingly, studies show that the majority of our stress is felt in the workplace. Oxytocin and social connection. It’s also good for the body. What does that mean for business?

As you may have noticed on our social channels, these past couple of weeks we’ve been taking a look back at our most popular blog posts from the past year. From work-life balance and mindfulness to social capital and The Power of Thanks , we explored the many facets of the human workplace. More than ever before, 2015 showed us how important purpose, appreciation, and respect is for employee well being and business success—and how social recognition can help get us there. 10.  10 New Studies on the Benefits of Gratitude. We often share research on the benefits of social recognition on this blog.

We’ve announced several new WorkHuman speakers over the last couple months, and we will continue to make more exciting announcements as we get closer to the conference. But for now, get to know our growing roster of keynote speakers below. Shawn Achor. You have to train your brain to be positive, just like your work out your body.”. If you attended WorkHuman 2015, you will recognize a familiar face—happiness expert Shawn Achor. We are thrilled that Shawn continues to be part of the WorkHuman movement this year. Watch him here: The Happy Secret to Better Work. Gary Hamel. Amy Cuddy.

We spend a lot of time in HR and management talking about employee engagement. But are we all talking about the same thing? Or are some of us just talking about employee satisfaction? And why is the difference between the two terms so important to gaining that competitive edge and retaining employees? recently sat down with Catherine Flavin, WorkHuman 2015 speaker and Managing Partner at Thrive Leadership , to tease out answers to some of these topics. Trained as a political scientist and survey researcher, Catherine’s life work is in supporting leaders who want to engage their followers.

The holiday season is officially in full swing, with only a few short weeks left until New Years. While this has traditionally been a season when people schedule vacation time with family and loved ones, research shows that has changed. The lost week. Project: Time Off , an initiative of the U.S. Travel Association, recently published a report on the effects of the new normal–the work martyr: “Americans are taking less vacation than at any point in the last forty years–just 16 vacation days today, down from an average of over 20 days taken 15 years ago.” It does.

In today’s showy culture, it can be easy to lose sight of what really matters during the holidays. Seeing those perfectly filtered photos of Thanksgiving meals or reading announcements with the hashtag #blessed can start to feel like the exact opposite of thankfulness and gratitude. But what is the opposite of gratitude? According to gratitude expert and WorkHuman 2015 speaker Robert Emmons, it’s entitlement: “Gratitude helps us see that we are the recipients of much more than we are entitled do; an attitude of entitlement says it’s never enough.”. Take our quiz below and find out.

‘Tis the season for thanksgiving, and in the workplace, the time when our thoughts turn toward gratitude. Gratitude has gotten a lot of press recently, as studies show how great it is, not only for us as individuals, but also for our organizations. Two years ago at this time we shared a whole bibliography of studies on gratitude , showing some of the connections researchers have made between feeling grateful and things like emotional well-being, resilience, physical health, organizational citizenship and achievement. We thought we’d give you an update. We think of it as a core human need.

Does your boss ever remind you of Michael Scott—selfish and offensive? Or maybe Don Draper—absent and ungrateful? Unfortunately, lots of managers and companies are still way behind the times when it comes to workplace culture. Take our 8-question quiz and see which decade your company really belongs in. Content loading… [Quiz] Is your company stuck in the 1900s? Click To Tweet. Company Values and Culture General Interest Quiz The Human Workplace Culture quiz WorkHuman

We all have the best intentions on January 1 st —making resolutions to eat healthier or workout more or get more sleep. What if you made a resolution to live more gratefully? That’s the goal Janice Kaplan set for herself in her New York Times bestselling book, The Gratitude Diaries. She writes in the first chapter, “I knew that how I felt about the twelve months ahead would probably have less to do with what actually happened than with the mood, spirit, and attitude I brought to each day.”. Janice has long been interested in gratitude. What insight did you glean from the gratitude survey?

Connected Recognition is inspired by Cisco’s values. While at HR Tech in October, Claire Gray, senior director of global compensation at Cisco Systems (a Globoforce customer), presented a session titled, “How Cisco Fuels a Culture of Innovation for Employees.”. Claire opened her talk by introducing Cisco’s People Deal, which is an ambition for the kind of experience Cisco hopes to create for its employees. A key part of this total employee experience is Connected Recognition, Cisco’s social recognition and reward platform. Tell me about your role and responsibilities at Cisco.

Are you coming to WorkHuman 2016? Make sure you reserve your spot today and save $700 on your pass to the conference that countless attendees called the best they’ve ever been to. Did you see our announcement last week that author, researcher and happiness expert Shawn Achor will be joining the WorkHuman 2016 speaker lineup? Shawn was a huge hit at our 2015 conference, wow’ing the audience with his stories and statistics about happiness in the workplace. Shawn was one of our top-rated speakers, so we are thrilled to bring happy back for 2016! Don’t miss it! Just $795 ($1495 value).

The HR Tech World Congress in Paris has just concluded (in a most magical way) and it was fantastic. This year had a terrific showing, with around 3,500 reported attendees. wanted to take a moment, before we head home, to do a little recap of some of the major themes coming out of this year’s show. Simplification. From open to close, the strongest drumbeat by far at this year’s conference was one of simplification. “We use I.T. to automate mess,” said opening keynote speaker Yves Morieux from BCG, “not to manage complexity.” Yet simplification is the key to efficiency and engagement, he said.

The Globoforce team is officially back from the HR Technology Conference and Expo in Las Vegas! We had some great conversations at the candy booth and a fantastic session with Cisco on Tuesday (more on that soon). And as promised, here’s a wrap up of some of trends I heard after spending three and a half days in sessions and keynotes. We need to re-think talent management data. The days of top-down, manager-driven performance ratings are long gone. Marcus Buckingham opened his Monday keynote with this stat: 61% of a performance rating is a reflection of the rater, not the ratee. and U.K.

Are you going to be at the HR Technology Conference and Expo in Las Vegas this weekend? We’ll be there! In fact, a few of my Globoforce colleagues are en route as I type. While the fun doesn’t officially kick off until Sunday night, we thought we’d give you a preview of some of the exciting things we have planned for the next few days, in case you’re there too! The Candy Bar at booth #1253 – I don’t know about you, but there’s something about being in sessions all day that makes me crave sugar. at the IBM booth. Come check it out! Mike Wood does an excellent job live tweeting.

Americans work the longest and most “extreme” hours of any industrialized country in the world. So that means we get a lot done, right? Not exactly. Countries like Norway, where people work shorter hours, are actually more productive per hour than the U.S. Instead of making us more productive, the pressure to prioritize work before everything else has made us really bad at time management. WorkHuman 2015 speaker Brigid Schulte explores this idea of time pressure in her New York Times bestselling book, Overwhelmed: Work, Love & Play When No One Has the Time. RELATED POSTS.

Are you a passionate promoter of a better future for the workplace? Are you a great storyteller with research, expertise or experience to share with our audience of HR and business leaders who want to build stronger, more successful and—above all—more human workplaces? Do you have a unique and compelling story to tell? We are constantly on the look out for more speakers and ideas to incorporate into our conference, and we’d love to hear from you! Proposal deadline is November 30, 2016. Proposals will be assessed as they are received—on a first-come, first serve basis—so be sure to submit early!

The wait is over! Here’s your official invitation to WorkHuman 2016! Mark your calendar for May 9-11, book your flights for Orlando, and forward this to everyone you want to bring along. You’re not going to want to miss a moment of WorkHuman 2016. The second year of this influential gathering will be held at the Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida, and it promises to be the must-attend event of the year for HR and business leaders who are focused on a creating a better, more human place to work. That’s why we want you there! WorkHuman 2016 promises to be even better.

Today is World Gratitude Day. But I’ll be honest—when our copywriter extraordinaire, Sarah Payne , told me today was World Gratitude Day, my first reaction was to say “But that’s ridiculous! Every day should be world gratitude day!”. And if you want to take my word, just ask Pope Francis , who recently identified three phrases for a happy life, one of which was: “’Thank you’ — our society has great need for gratitude, which makes us more sensitive to the dignity of the human person and the demands of social justice. But then I simmered down a little. can increase happiness levels by around 25%.

Did you know that Scandinavians actually have a word for happiness at work? In Danish, the word is arbejdsglaede —pronounced ah-bites-gleh-the. Alexander Kjerulf, a Danish expert on happiness at work, says it’s the feeling you get when you really enjoy what you do—when you do great work that you’re proud of with people you enjoy being around. It’s being appreciated and knowing that what you do directly contributes to the goals of the organization. Simply put, it’s waking up on a Monday morning and actually being excited for the week ahead. Is arbejdsglaede even possible? RELATED POSTS.

Hasty communication can break relationships and ruin careers. Too often we write an email or send a text without double-checking the content or being mindful of the tone of the message. We have no idea how that message will get interpreted. Once you hit the “send” button, it’s kind of too late. Here are some communication tips that will keep us from burying our head in our hands. The following five recommendations are coming from my own personal communication blunders. 1. Don’t write emails or texts when you are angry. Hold Your Horses. ” 3. Clarify.

So, it turns out that toxic environment at work could actually be causing you serious problems at home. Everyone has bad days at work. But can bringing home a bad mood from work also affect the lives and work of your partner, your roommates, and your children negatively? Research suggests yes. Psychologists have long known of a dynamic they call the Spillover Crossover Model. This model describes two effects: Spillover: When you come home from work in a positive or negative mood, it affects the quality of your home relationships, accordingly. ” It also makes us lousy parents.

Do you know the Law of Jante? Are you schooled on lingonberries and lagom? Do you know how recognition is unique in Scandinavia? In our ongoing series on Recognizing across Cultures , we will discuss the cultural and business norms on a region by region basis and use our experience to give you some recommendations for making recognition relevant and powerful for your employees. Scandinavia. Overview. When it comes to culture, Scandinavia is unquestionably the world’s darling. They may wonder how growing moves toward meritocracy can comfortably exist in a collectivist society? Remember the team.

If you’re looking for a way to quickly bring new managers and leaders up to speed, psychologists say you might find inspiration in a surprising place. In fact, they suggest that you take a page from the pre-school playbook, and implement a version of Show & Tell in the workplace. You remember Show and Tell? Where kids proudly hold out something to their peers for observation and then explain why it matters? Its a form of exposing kids to new ideas and sharing learning, and it turns out the principles translate into the work world. Observing and sharing is how we learn.

 . A few weeks back we published the latest in our series of reports from the SHRM/Globoforce recognition survey. In this 2015 report, more than 800 HR leaders and practitioners share their perspectives on the challenges and innovations that are transforming today’s corporate cultures. The report includes: How values-based recognition is moving the needle for company culture. What are the biggest challenges facing today’s HR professionals. How organizations are building a more human workplace. Top objectives and best practices for years of service programs. Join Darcy Jacobsen and Sr.

Lest you categorize the idea of gratitude as “fluff,” or not worthy of attention in business, consider this statement from Robert Emmons: “Gratitude is the high-octane fuel without which we’d be in relational ruin. mean, organizations, families, societies would crumble.” Gratitude literally powers our every interaction. Anyone concerned with employee well-being cannot afford to overlook it. You may have had the chance to see Robert Emmons’ session on the science of gratitude at WorkHuman last month. He is also the author of the books, Gratitude Works! It developed quite independently of it.

You read that right. think you should put your workforce to sleep. But in the best possible way, I promise.). And it may not be as easy as you think to get them sleeping more. have a friend who tells me all the time he doesn’t need sleep. He is military special forces, and insists, based on years of long experience, that if you take a nap and simply adopt the right sleeping position and wake up at the right point in the sleep cycle, you can fool your body into thinking it’s had a full night’s sleep. Which he puts into effect not only on missions, but in order to fit more into his day.

A couple weeks ago we hosted a webinar with The Hershey Company to share the success of their Hershey Smiles recognition program. You can check out the recording here. As an added bonus, I recently had the chance to chat with Cesar Villa, Director, Compensation Global Functions, and ask him more about the Hershey Smiles program on its one-year anniversary. Can you tell me a little bit about your role at The Hershey Company? I am responsible for defining and building strategies for compensation on a global basis—but acting locally to reflect the local trends and win the marketplace. Any stories?

In late February, when tickets went on sale for Burning Man 2015, they sold all 40,000 passes in less than 45 minutes. That, I think we can all agree, is very high affective commitment to a culture. In case you’re new to the Burning Man phenomena, it is the annual art and performance community that creates, overnight, a self-governing virtual city in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. One week later that city vanishes, leaving virtually no trace of its existence. Burning Man may not be your cup of tea, but it is undeniably a highly magnetic culture. The value of a gift is unconditional.”

Thousands of HR professionals descended upon Las Vegas this week for the annual SHRM conference to network and learn the latest trends and best practices in the field. I was lucky enough to be part of this incredible event. Here are a few things I learned (besides the fact that I am a huge fan of air conditioning): HR needs better data. 61% of performance management data is more about the rater than the person being rated. Marcus Buckingham , Tuesday’s keynote speaker, said this results in bad data. Use culture to fight turnover. It’s the dawn of the Participation Age. What does that mean?

Have you had a chance to look at the new report /technology overview Gartner has published on Employee Recognition and Rewards Software? Does your company still use a spreadsheet program to track employee recognition and rewards? Are you looking for a new, flexible platform that offers greater impact? Recognition, says Gartner, has become a hugely impactful way to influence culture in medium- and large-sized organizations. ” Most of us know that recognition for a job well done is a proven method for increasing morale and engagement. Interested in reading the report?

Sweet Success at Hershey. Tuesday, June 23rd at 2 p.m. ET | 11 a.m. PT | 1 p.m. CT | 6 p.m. Register now to attend. How does your company recognize employees? Do you have disparate programs or one comprehensive strategy? The Hershey Company grappled with the same questions. From 2012 to 2013, the recognition and reward category in their “Many Voices” employee survey dropped 8 percent. But all that changed after Hershey Smiles. You will learn: Tips for engaging employees to support program adoption. How to create a communications campaign that drives viral awareness. Register now to attend.