company culture – Alister & Paine

How to Find the Right Candidate

Danny InyNovember 7, 2018

A college degree has long been a hiring prerequisite for certain jobs. If a candidate didn't have one, he or she just wouldn't get past the gatekeepers. That's because the degree is a "signal": a psychological shortcut we rely on to help us make smart decisions without having to investigate every option. But this particular signal has lost its meaning—and when employers doggedly cling to the "degree" requirement, we miss out on some great candidates...

Top Mistakes Businesses Make with Employees

Terry DuncanOctober 10, 2017

In the job market today, employees don’t stay in one place for as long as they used to. While numerous factors can contribute to this, there are a few things bu...

Taking Conversations from Difficult to Doable

Lynne CunninghamJune 20, 2016

At some point you will have to have a difficult conversation at work. There's just no way around it. Whether you're giving not-so-positive feedback to an employ...

Seven Big Rules to Follow When Firing a Client

Michael HoulihanJune 13, 2016

Firing a client is one of the most difficult decisions a business owner will ever make. And when push comes to shove, few actually do the deed. First of all, fi...

Let’s Bring Back REAL Relationships: 19 Little (Low-Tech) Ways to Weave Stronger, Richer, Deeper Bonds With Friends and Colleagues

Nancy O'ReillyMay 4, 2015

Nothing makes for a rich, fulfilling life quite like really great relationships. Our bonds with family members, friends, and (to a surprising extent) coworkers ...

The Shifting Sands of Employee Motivation

William DannApril 20, 2015

I recently attended a speech by best-selling author Daniel Pink in which he summarized research on shifts in employee motivators. The old “if-then motivators” o...

Serve to Be Great: 11 Leadership Lessons from a Prison, a Monastery, and a Boardroom

Matt TenneyMay 27, 2014

A recent Gallup poll shows that only 30 percent of Americans are actively engaged at work. And honestly, that doesn’t come as a big surprise. From dull, unfulfi...

Exclusive CEO Interview: Billy Nachman and Hobson Brown of Criquet Organic Golf Shirts

Alister & PaineMay 12, 2014

At the age of five, Billy Nachman and Hobson Brown were forced into their first collared shirts to attend an all-boys school in New York City. Although initiall...

How to Revive Wilting Employee Engagement This Spring

Todd PatkinApril 14, 2014

What were your last 10 or 15 employee conversations like? Chances are, they included phrases like, “I need you to finish that projection by the end of the day,”...

Getting Your Employees to Commit to Customer Service

Bill Sims Jr.March 10, 2014

It’s a business no-brainer that happy employees make happy customers. But how do you get happy employees that deliver the best possible customer service? It...

The Last-Minute First-Quarter Save: Five Tactics to Help You Snatch Record Profits from the Jaws of Defeat

Suzanne EvansMarch 3, 2014

Like many business owners, you rang in 2014 with great optimism. This was supposed to be the year you moved results to the next level. So, when you sat down at ...

Communication Lessons that Business Leaders Can Learn from Historic Personages.

David E. JohnsonFebruary 18, 2014

Business leaders need to be strong communicators. Today’s consumer and media expect the CEO, President, or Chairman of the Board of a company to be the company...

Risk, Reward, and Investments – How to Balance Them to Maximize Returns

Winsor HoangJanuary 27, 2014

A fundamental driving force in human nature is avoiding loss or the risk of loss. Realism in establishing goals, especially financial goals, involves assessin...

Making Accountability Stick in 2014

Julie Miller and Brian BedfordJanuary 13, 2014

As a leader at your organization, you like to think that you run a pretty tight ship. But if you’re being honest with yourself, you know that you let a few thin...

Critical Actions Leaders Can Take to Build the Perfect Company Culture

Julie Miller and Brian BedfordDecember 30, 2013

Almost every leader has been there. One minute you’re living the company values, and the next you’re making an exception—for yourself. Perhaps you have an offic...

Rescuing the Problem Project

Todd C. WilliamsDecember 2, 2013

Big or small, how do you turn around a problem project? I like to follow a few simple proven methods… Quit searching for someone to blame. It does not solve the...

No Shortcuts to Engagement: Eleven Ways to Create Real Employee Engagement from the Ground Up

Michael HoulihanOctober 28, 2013

These days we hear plenty about employee engagement. We know disengaged employees are bad for business. We know an office full of innovative, collaborative empl...

Does Your Workplace Meet These Three Powerful Human Needs?

Christine ComafordJune 3, 2013

You want to grow your business and you’re pretty clear on what you need from your employees. Hard work. Efficiency. Innovation. Motivation. Results. But what do...

How to be a Powerhouse Leader

Melissa LukeApril 22, 2013

CEO’s struggle with making employees happy and creating an effective corporate culture. This is a daunting task, much like keeping an old AM radio in tune; it ...

How Core Values Drive Sales Performance

John R. TreaceMarch 19, 2012

As a senior sales officer charged with effecting business turnarounds for bankrupt private and pre-IPO companies, I witnessed firsthand the importance of core v...

Create a Stellar Company Culture

Micah SolomonFebruary 27, 2012

A strong, consciously developed pro-customer (and pro-employee) company culture is a business advantage that will serve you for years—and inoculate you against ...

Maximizing Shareholder Value?

Dan AdamsFebruary 6, 2012

Maximizing shareholder value—a mantra made popular in 1976 by the most-cited academic business article of all time, Jensen and Meckling’s “Theory of the Firm”—i...

CEO Interview: Tony Hsieh

Alister & PaineAugust 19, 2010

Tony Hsieh, new author and CEO of Zappos on cultivating company culture and the pursuit of happiness