One of the biggest misconceptions organizations make is treating coaching and performance management as if they are the same thing. Both matter and both play an important role in leadership and development, but they serve different purposes. When those lines get blurred, leaders and employees often end up frustrated. At AJO, one of the conversations […]
Leadership Looks Different Today Leadership has always been challenging, but the expectations placed on leaders today feel fundamentally different than they did even a few years ago. Organizations are moving faster, teams are leaner, and change is more constant. Leaders are being asked to navigate uncertainty while continuing to move work forward and create stability […]
And How to Actually Start Them There are conversations that most leaders know they need to have. The knowing tends to come from instinct, from experience, from the quiet awareness that builds over time when you work closely with people. Something in the organization feels off. Expectations are not being met. A behavior is showing […]
Performance review season has a way of surfacing what has been sitting beneath the surface. Leaders move from conversation to conversation, trying to be fair, thorough, and clear. Somewhere in the middle of the process, it starts to feel heavier than expected. Not because the process itself is difficult. Because of what it is asking […]
The Hesitation Is Real There are times when what’s happening in the world starts to show up at work. You see it in the headlines before you open your laptop. You hear it in conversations at home. And then you step into your role as a leader and ask yourself: Should I say something? Or […]
Over time, the way leaders pause to acknowledge people becomes part of the culture they’re creating. In the day-to-day cadence of balancing priorities and responding to pressures, those pauses are often the first thing to disappear. Gratitude can feel personal, informal, or even optional compared to the constant pull toward results and urgent priorities. But […]
The following article on leading with empathy appeared in Human Capital Innovations on June 14, 2024 , written by A.J. O’Connor Associates President Shannon O’Connor Bock. Read the original article here. It is clear that nowadays, employees seek authentic connections with their managers and colleagues. EY’s Empathy in Business report found that mutual empathy between […]
Onboarding is more than introducing the new hire to the team and handing them administrative paperwork. It is your company’s first impression, and this impression sets the groundwork for your new hire’s success. The goals and benefits of onboarding far outweigh the initial investment. That said, companies are seeing almost 40% of new hires leave […]
Gone are the days of punching in, keeping quiet, and punching out. Today, employees want genuine connections at work from their managers and coworkers alike. EY’s empathy in business report found that mutual empathy between leaders and employees creates a safe, agile culture that increases efficiency, creativity, job satisfaction and innovation. That said, 52% of […]
What is a “Stay Interview,” and why should you conduct them? Stay interviews are an excellent opportunity for managers to gauge their personal performance as leaders and their employees’ satisfaction. Through properly and consistently conducted interviews, companies will see improved retention rates and a more positive company culture. The Do’s and Don’ts While these interviews […]
