http://www.42rules.com/employeeengagement_blog A practical, straightforward and fun look at what it takes to build community, commitment and a culture of engagement Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:46:33 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en For some reason, I have always felt that “thank you” was the phrase that would accompany the end of a customer transaction, but this seems pretty rare today. Feeling that a purchase is somehow incomplete without it, I now provide the “thank you” myself, just so things feel finished. I buy ... http://www.42rules.com/employeeengagement_blog/?p=22 When I spotted a bumper sticker that that boldly proclaimed: “I hate my job” I carefully considered the risks taken to announce this concern publicly during a time of so few new jobs in the market. The economic environment seemed to scream out the severity of this problem, but I ... http://www.42rules.com/employeeengagement_blog/?p=21 I stood in the long line waiting to board flight 1059 and eventually shuffled my way toward the gate. When I got close enough, I was able to observe the mechanical way customers handed their pass to the attendant who quickly scanned the ticket and handed it back. No interaction, ... http://www.42rules.com/employeeengagement_blog/?p=20 It seems that encouraging autonomy would be highly desirable in today's lean workplaces...and it certainly would support employee engagement. Yet many leaders struggle to give employees autonomy on the job. I'll be asking about this issue during my interview with author Lee Colan on Bookends this week. Lee is the author ... http://www.42rules.com/employeeengagement_blog/?p=18 I was driving to a client site yesterday when I got behind a pickup truck with a bummer sticker that said, “I hate my job.”  Now there’s a message if anyone is actually paying attention. It flashes like a neon sign as this employee pulls in and out of the ... http://www.42rules.com/employeeengagement_blog/?p=17 We’ve run our company on Apple computers  for 23 years…long before the world discovered what we’ve always known:  Macs are cool. As much as we’ve loved our Mac’s, we’ve always had one or two applications that required a PC. Since the newer machines now have Intel chips, we easily can ... http://www.42rules.com/employeeengagement_blog/?p=16 To develop a fully engaged team, everyone in your organization needs to be a leader.   This means the entire team needs to be able to exercise judgment on the day-to-day challenges and opportunities that present themselves. Whether or not this happens has a lot to do with your approach to ... http://www.42rules.com/employeeengagement_blog/?p=15 I was having lunch with a group of women attending a conference where I was presenting who were engaged in a lively discussion about far-off family members who attempted to stay in touch by sending occasional pictures of family happenings through email. They were lamenting that they did not care ... http://www.42rules.com/employeeengagement_blog/?p=14 It is spring in Pennsylvania which means things are coming up. Tulips, Daffodils and Johnny Jump Ups are everywhere. As are dozens of little trees that were planted by “our squirrels.”  I watch them each fall running everywhere planting walnuts from the crop of trees found in our neighborhood. But today ... http://www.42rules.com/employeeengagement_blog/?p=13 Last weekend we visited Pittsburgh, PA- what a great town! After parking we found one of those pre-pay machines on the way out of the parking garage that “asked us” to insert our ticket. My husband promptly pulled what he through was his ticket from his wallet and inserted it ... http://www.42rules.com/employeeengagement_blog/?p=11