By Carl Robinson, Ph.D., copyright 2006 In the aftermath of the recent defection of Alan Mulally from Boeing to run the Ford Motor Company, I had several discussions with executives about the rationale behind the choice (his reasons and Ford’s). It seems appropriate, therefore, to review the current best thinking on the criteria used by Read More >

By Carl Robinson, Ph.D. copyright 2007 To stay successful, companies cannot simply focus on recruiting because the demand for excellent employees is always strong, even in difficult financial times. Most successful companies have acknowledged that they must go out of their way to provide incentives to their top employees and executives to induce them to Read More >

By Carl Robinson, Ph.D., copyright 2009 One of the hallmarks of highly effective executives is their willingness and ability to act proactively regarding their own and their employee’s professional development. I am constantly amazed, however, about the frequency in which we (I refer to my colleagues in the Society of Consulting Psychology of the American Read More >

By Carl Robinson, Ph.D., © 2010 Given the expense associated with recruiting executives and the high cost of making poor choices you would think executives would want to do this well. However, I am continually amazed at how frequently senior HR folks will tell me that they have a very difficult time getting their bosses Read More >

Advanced Concepts: Evaluating Training Programs One of the questions that I get frequently is “How will we know that a training effort is working?”   It’s a good question – and one that deserves a thorough answer. Whether you are an HR Director, Training Manager, Department Manager, or even a classroom participant it can be helpful Read More >

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs starts with the basic physiological needs for survival. To sustain life, those include food and shelter, but to sustain a satisfying career, they include stable employment, a good salary and meeting needs for security, belonging, esteem and self-actualization. Many studies show employee engagement is a big factor in productivity, and employers Read More >

When asked to identify their biggest hiring challenge for 2015, 63 percent of respondents said finding qualified staff was their biggest obstacle, according to a recent poll of 200 Northeast region C-suite executives, directors and managers by The Execu-Search Group staffing and recruiting firm. This number jumps to 80 percent in the accounting and finance Read More >

Make no mistake: your top-performing talent is aware of their value to the company. They also hold the company to a higher standard because they know they deserve it. Finding this sometimes-elusive talent—and keeping them—requires that senior leaders humanize their companies by investing empathy and communication, and a good deal of trust in the employees Read More >

“Good leadership is hard to measure on a daily basis, which is why so many default to doing what’s easy to measure instead.” This quote, pulled from the Twitter feed of best selling leadership author and TED Talks speaker, Simon Sinek, gets to the heart of a real issue—when we can’t tell how well we’re Read More >

The face of the American workforce is getting younger. Millennials—born in the last quarter of the 20th Century—now comprise more than one-third of working-age people in the U.S.This generation cut their teeth on rapidly-advancing technology, financial prosperity, immediate gratification, and multi-culturalism. Here are the top 10 things you must know about managing Generation Y employees: They Read More >