If you’ve worked in any large organization, you’ve probably been encouraged to write S.M.A.R.T. goals. This easy-to-remember acronym was originally introduced in a 1981 issue of Management Review by authors George Doran, Arthur Miller, and James Cunningham. If one of their goals was to develop a memorable model that would stick in management practice, then they’ve been extremely successful. In fact, when I speak to groups and ask, “Has anyone heard of ‘SMART’ goals?”, almost every hand in the room goes up. However, despite its memorability and simplicity, the SMART goal approach by design has limitations. As suggested in the authors’ original article title – “There’s a SMART Way to Write Management Goals and Objectives” – the focus of the model is on the structure

‘Tis the season of New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, improve finances, and stop a myriad of bad habits. But if leaders want to improve their work life as much as their personal life, they also should be contemplating the resolutions it will take to make real progress in improving staff engagement and retention this year and beyond. Not surprisingly, every senior leadership team I’ve talked with over the past several months has listed “improving staff engagement” and “reducing turnover” among their top organizational goals. High turnover is not only extremely expensive; frontline managers and staff tell us it is exhausting. Recruiting, interviewing, selecting, and onboarding require focused physical, intellectual, and emotional effort for the entire team. And when someone resigns, it starts all over

Conflict. Just the word can make even the most confident and assured of us at least a little uncomfortable. So the idea of embracing – sometimes even encouraging – workplace conflict as a strategic leadership practice is one many managers, especially new ones, struggle with. One school of thought professes that workplace conflict is always good, emphasizing that different points of view help a team make better decisions and constructively challenge one another. A recent Harvard Business Review article, “Why We Should Be Disagreeing More at Work,” points out that disagreements are an inevitable, normal, and healthy part of relating to other people. Indeed, there is no conflict-free workplace. But even those who believe that more is better when it comes to conflict will admit

No human resources strategy has gotten more attention over the past several years than diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) – and, more recently, belonging. In addition to being the right thing to do, smart companies know that making their workplace more welcoming and equitable to employees of all backgrounds increases the total talent pool they can attract and then retain. This is the third installment in our series Stuck in the Middle, which takes a fresh look at the challenges facing frontline leaders in today’s labor market. In a word, DEI is about differences – valuing them, embracing them, and supporting them. And post-pandemic, one of the most significant emerging differences across workforces is where employees work. Whether you believe remote work is the best way

During a lively discussion at a workshop session on staff burnout in the middle of the pandemic, a brave middle manager in the back of the room shouted out during Q&A, “What about me?! I’m more burned out as a leader than I’ve ever been.” Nearly every head in the room nodded in hearty agreement. Studies by Gallup and other major research organizations document the fact that an employee’s manager is by far the most influential factor in their engagement, loyalty, and retention. The relationship between frontline employees and their boss supersedes every other factor of employment. That includes compensation, benefits, and even elements of the work itself. This is the second installment in our series Stuck in the Middle, which takes a fresh look

When you ask senior executives about the toughest job in their organization, many will quickly admit, “It’s our middle managers. They are the glue that holds this whole place together.” Executives’ sense of the importance of frontline leaders is backed up by research and explains growing interest in management development training. Gallup studies tell us that 70 percent of the variance in employee engagement is explained by one thing: the manager an employee reports to. No other factor comes close. For today’s frontline leaders, the challenge is not just that their job is hard; it’s that it’s getting even harder every day. This post is the first in our series “Stuck in the Middle.” Over the next several weeks, we’ll explore ways that organizations can

Without question, employee turnover is one of the most expensive, vexing problems facing organizations today. But another expensive problem that many companies may not track is candidate turnover – having too many people say “no thanks” after receiving your job offer. Finding good candidates, encouraging them to apply, interviewing them for fit, then having them turn you down takes a toll on the HR budget … and the emotional state of recruiters and operational managers. Multiple issues affect any individual employee’s level of satisfaction in his/her job. But at the heart of the problem of employee turnover within most companies is the extent to which staff feel a meaningful sense of connection to the organization, their manager, and customers. Following are four important connections prospective

Among the many workforce transformations prompted by the pandemic, work-from-home (WFH) strategies are among the most hotly debated by managers and frontline staff alike. But by focusing solely on how to make WFH work for the organization and some of its employees, companies may be missing a much more problematic issue: how it affects dedicated, hard-working staff who don’t have an option. In many service industries – especially healthcare, hospitality, and brick-and-mortar retail – individuals who provide the core functions of the business don’t have WFH options. And they often resent those who do. We’ve seen this tension first-hand in focus groups with staff in healthcare organizations. One staff member on the front lines related, “I was at a meeting and overheard an executive thank