Motivating people

Brewer says inclusion and equity are about making employees feel seen and heard.

Bonuses and other forms of incentive compensation are an effective motivator of executives to achieve ever higher earnings per share. The drive to produce short-term results, however, often influences management to forgo investment in capital equipment and R&D that would benefit the corporation several years hence even more than improved earnings next year would. The […]

Network groups for black and Hispanic employees had been an unqualified success. Now a Christian group was forming—and Bill Thompson didn’t know what to think about it.

Apparently, my post on the “lunch lesson” rubbed some people the wrong way. When I opined that I found that leadership = responsibility = not always getting to eat lunch, this was, for some, the most heinous concept short of universal healthcare for illegal aliens. The comments that disagreed with me fell into a few […]

When companies cause emotional pain through nasty bosses, layoffs, and change, a certain breed of “healing” manager steps in to keep the gears moving. They are toxic handlers—unsung corporate heroes who save the day, but often pay a high price.

The latest wave of Covid-19 is pushing us to new depths of personal resilience.

Using the results of a survey of 380 companies in 34 industries, this author examines three basic types of compensation plans: salary, commission, and combination (salary plus commission). Most companies in the study favored a combination plan, but such plans have some disadvantages to offset their obvious attractiveness. The author sets out the possible reasons […]

The finding: People whose performance peaks in the morning are better positioned for career success, because they’re more proactive than people who are at their best in the evening. The study: Biologist Christoph Randler surveyed 367 university students, asking what time of day they were most energetic and how willing and able they were to […]

For decades the difficulty of motivating salespeople has been frustrating sales and marketing managers. To the most effective ones, two things are clear: one, the job is difficult; two, there is no one simple solution. Believing that “good salespeople are born, not made,” many managers recognize that recruiting is important. Others holding that “if you […]

At this large GM plant the union and management jointly seek to change the meaning of work itself

Health insurance, flexible hours, and vacation time.

And how organizations can develop more of them.

by Paul Michelman

You’re speeding toward a goal when you hear sounds that make the brakes squeal: “The procedures don’t allow this.” “It will take months to process.” “Submit more forms.” Or worse, you request cooperation but don’t get a response. You curse petty bureaucrats for causing the screeching halt. You wonder if you should offer favors or […]

I was lifting weights at my gym, a community center in New York City, when he caught my attention. His name, I later found out, was Marvin Moster. He...

Thoughtful gifts are better motivators.

The primitive, emotional parts of our brains have a powerful influence on the choices we make. Now, neuroscientists are mapping the risk and reward systems in the brain that drive our best—and worst—decision making.

How to get them to explore new possibilities instead of exploiting the tried-and-true.

Some situations call for dominance, and others call for prestige.

The answer isn't always to push them out.