What is Employer Brand and Why Does it Matter?

Like it or not, every company has a brand. In the traditional marketing sense, a brand is what differentiates one good, product or service from another. A name, design and reputation all shape a brand’s image and the public’s understanding of the value proposition. Similarly, employer brand is the look, feel, and reputation of an employer and is what current and prospective employees use to evaluate whether or not your company is an attractive place to work. Often, employer brand goes hand-in-hand with consumer brand - but not always.

Galvanizing Career Management with Career Coaching Conversations

Organizational models today are shifting from hierarchical to flat. Careers are no longer an upward trajectory, but more likely to be a series of experiences, projects and development opportunities. But, a lack of awareness around the new flat organization dynamics is resulting in a perceived lack of opportunities for career movement within companies, and frustration among employees and leaders.

The New Organizational Currency: Designing Effective Teams

Teams are essential for accomplishing business goals in today’s work environment. Businesses are becoming increasingly reliant upon teams for solution finding and production. Additionally, virtual teams are increasing in acceptance and popularity, as five million employees are projected to work remotely by 2016. Based on these trends, research is warranted in exploring teams. What are the characteristics of effective work teams? What challenges are teams faced with today? Are there uniquely important aspects which distinguish effective virtual teams from effective face-to-face teams?

Year End Review: Don’t Dread it. Embrace it!

Leaders often see the end of the calendar year as a time of planning and fiscal review. This comes naturally to most leaders. However, what does not, or is often not welcomed, is the most dreaded component of the talent cycle – annual performance reviews.  It harbours fear in some of the most seasoned leaders, offering relief only when it is ‘finally over.’  On occasion, I have met leaders who have embraced and mastered the talent management agenda.

The Corporate F Word... Feedback

Leaders often preach the importance of constructive feedback but do we practice it? Corporate communications, job descriptions, engagement surveys, and even corporate values all point to the significance of feedback and yet we rarely provide it and when we do, it is often not done well. We even go so far as to let someone go so we don’t have to give them honest, constructive feedback. So what makes it so hard? In countless sessions I have given on feedback the overriding concern remains the same – “I don’t want to hurt them.” Sadly, not giving feedback will hurt them even more.

The Personal Side of “Downsized”

Not to sound pessimistic, but sooner or later, almost everyone has to deal with the implications of being downsized. How people deal with it is as different as night and day. I’ve seen a wide and varied range of emotions and responses from those who experience job loss. How you deal with it can determine how quickly you turn-around and your ability to capture opportunities in front of you.

Leadership in Academia: What is Leadership?

Universities as organizations have always been more complicated than their private or public sector peers. Bi-cameral governance, the impact of academic freedom on the nature of the faculty’s relationship with the institution and the reliance on government funding with all the strings that are attached make for a challenging environment. And as Dr. Ross Paul points out in Leadership Under Fire. The Challenging Role of the Canadian University President, the university has become an even more complex institution to lead from within.

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