Do not refer to employees as “human capital” in front of Dennis Bakke, co founder and former CEO of AES, the largest provider of electricity in the world. Bakke values people far too much to lump them together with fuel or other capital, or to consider them as a mere means to an end. Which is not to say that AES does not make money-- since its inception in 1981, profits and revenues have been impressive, with over 40,000 employees, plants in 31 countries, and revenues of $8.6

Today’s workplace culture is not only experiencing a shortage of motivated, experienced and skilled workers; but businesses are struggling to understand why over half of those employees are unengaged, according to Gallup. In an article by Shep Hyken, in Forbes Now, the role of empathy in creating and maintaining an engaged workforce is explored, as well as how costly unengaged employees can be for business, with a staggering $600 billion in lost productivity. Consider the st

PROVIDE TANGIBLE BENEFITS FOR YOUR EXISTING EMPLOYERS How many times have you heard an existing business owner say, “The city and economic development office will do anything for new businesses coming to the area but my business has employed people in this town for 20 years and they do nothing for me?” Perhaps a better question may be how many times have you heard that comment this month? The point of this blog is not to open a dialogue regarding economic development practice

Several years back, I recall coming to the conclusion that most of my generation was wimpy. I remember the stories my grandparents told about the Great Depression. They sucked it up. They did what needed to be done and didn’t complain. Being a child, I often did not understand much of what they said, but I did grasp that they were tough, which is definitely an admirable attribute. But these days the buzz is all about passion… purpose…. Inspiration...engagement. What’s the b

Despite recovering more than 1 million positions since 2010, according to a recent report in the New York Times, the manufacturing sector of the United States workforce is the least engaged occupation across the United States, according to Gallup’s State of the American Workplace. This article summarizes some ideas of what you can do to combat this trend. 25% Engaged Manufacturing companies and factories have not kept pace with the rest of the ever-changing work environment.

The name Peter Drucker is to business management what the names Mario Andretti and Dale Earnhardt are to professional racing. Drucker’s more than 60-year career as a teacher, consultant, and management thought-leader inspire his title ‘the father of modern management.’ So when the Drucker Institute, founded to advance the ideals of the management guru, presented the Management Top 250 early in December, business ears perked up. Interestingly, unlike other rankings, this “bes

What if there was one thing that ultimately motivated all of us? One ultimate why. Knowing that would be the key to everyone’s hearts and minds. Let’s put the discovery of the ultimate why in perspective. It's like the fictional future discovery of the warp drive in Star Trek. It was a breakthrough that launched humanity into the exploration of the stars. The story line is that Zefram Cochran discovered a system that created more energy than put into it, resulting in an expon