Getting on a “Best Place to Work” list is not just a matter of having great programs and practices. It’s a matter of conveying this fact to whomever is compiling the list. Application processes for these lists vary, but nearly all include at least one invitation to describe your company’s programs, policies and practices in […]
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Are We Dying to Go to Work?
Work can be sickening. Literally. In a riveting appearance at the recent Great Place to Work annual conference, Stanford business school professor Jeffrey Pfeffer presented a devastating case for the negative effects of U.S. workplaces on our health. Pointing out that human sustainability ought to be at least as important a goal as environmental sustainability, […]
Top 10 Things I Learned in New Orleans
I’m just back from yet another conference—this one, the annual Great Place to Work (GPTW) conference in New Orleans. And I want to start by making clear that after four or five days in the Big Easy, I am now able to pronounce its name correctly (“New OR-lins”) at least 50 percent of the time. […]
The Goldilocks Rule
Subtlety has its place in writing, of course. Specifically, it has its place in literature, where it’s often agreed that the more interpretation possible, the better the work. But subtlety has no place in employee communications. And it certainly has no place in “great place to work” applications. At least, not in the actual part […]
You Know You’ve Got a Great Place to Work. So How Do You Get on That List?
On Tuesday, I’m heading to Atlanta, where for two-plus days I’ll barely step out of the Hyatt Regency. Am I excited at the prospect? You bet! That’s because I’ll be spending those two days at the Great Place to Work Conference, run by the institute that developed and administers all the Fortune “Best Companies to […]
What’s Your POV?
Remember that high school English teacher who kept harping on passive voice? That professor who made you write a paper on the narrator’s perspective? That communications teacher who talked on and on about your “target audience”? To some extent, what they were all yammering on about is Point of View. (I’m going to stop right […]
