Power Idea by Amy Riley, Alliance Partner of HPISolutions How can you be the most powerful leader possible? By doing leadership YOUR way. In the consultative and coaching work that I do, I have the opportunity to work with leaders at all levels and in various functions and industries. I see leaders being powerful in

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, Chairman of HPISolutions Over the past few weeks, I have been writing about the ideas of Leadership and Continuous Learning.  Why do I keep harping on these two concepts, you ask?  I’ll tell you why.  They are indispensable. After 56 years in the business world, with 30 of those years

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, Chairman of HPISolutions The quote that is the title of this week’s Monday Message is so true that it deserves constant recognition.  The pandemic, despite all its downsides, gave individuals the greatest amount of autonomy they have ever experienced.  Work from home, hybrid work, the great resignation, quiet quitting, etc.,

Power Idea by Carol Burnett Vest, Alliance Partner of HPISolutions For the purpose of this discussion, we will consider the definition of Continuous Learning as the deliberate, consistent practice of attaining and comprehending new information, skills, abilities, attitudes, or values through formal or informal processes.  This concept applies to both employees and leaders of all

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, Chairman of HPISolutions The Entrepreneur as a Continuous Effective Learner… What’s That? As I sat down to write my first Monday Messages of the New Year, there were a couple of themes I wanted to focus on this month which include the art of Entrepreneurism as well as the idea

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, Chairman of HPISolutions Our friends at Trusted Advisors Network (TAN) have been entrepreneurs, literally, for most of their adult lives and have built an amazing national network of independent affiliates who use the curriculum and related services produced and supported by the TAN organization.  This is the epitome of being

Power Idea from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions 2022 – In Like a LION and Out Like a LION? What a crazy year in our business… perhaps you can say the same for your business.  This special Power Idea is my chance to talk about the key points for HPISolutions in 2022, and

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Valuing Others… The Secret Ingredient Ok, I will let you in on a little secret… it’s no secret! The truth is that all this stuff you hear from us consultants is horse puckey (well, maybe not ALL of it!) The truth of having a happy

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions How Well Can You Read Other’s Emotions? In the last Monday Message, I introduced you to Tom Lemanski, a long-time industry colleague and friend.  In the last article Post-Pandemic Hangover? we talked about the idea of a Pandemic Hangover, or the impact that this challenge

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Post-Pandemic Hangover? Long-time colleague and friend, Tom Lemanski of Leadership Breakthroughs, recently wrote an article and was happy to allow us to share some of it with our readers. The question is, Are You Now More Risk Adverse?  The answer is, how could you not

Power Idea by Laura Dillingham, Executive Strategic Partner of HPISolutions The world of work is changing and it’s going to continue to change. Do you have a hard time with people working a hybrid schedule or remotely? Are they getting the work done and meeting the goals? Do you feel uncomfortable if you can’t physically

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions The Only Certainty is Change I am a big fan of the book, Who Moved My Cheese?, by Spencer Johnson and Ken Blanchard. Written in 1999, was so far ahead of its time in explaining how people tend to deal with change in their lives…

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Where do you work? One thing is for sure, the world of work is changing at a pace more rapid than anything we have experienced in the past…and it will continue. The name of the game, I believe, is to be flexible and open to

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions I don’t know about you, but I am always on the lookout for examples of Real Leadership.  When one departs on this journey, I can tell you it isn’t always to find truly inspired leaders… although they do exist and they are truly inspiring. I

Power Idea by Teresa Adams-Nault, Alliance Partner of HPISolutions THE RIGHT ONBOARDING PROCESS CAN INCREASE ROI & BOOST EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT Onboarding starts before they start and is ON-Going.  A strong onboarding experience can improve and increase the new employee’s engagement long term. An onboarding process that provides new employees with a thorough understanding of their

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions There has been a lot of talk recently about the power of Onboarding as a tool for long-term retention of your key talent in the organization. It’s also a valuable tool in the ability to continually attract the best talent and make sure these hard-fought

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Last week, I introduced the concept of Transactional Analysis.  If you missed reading it, go back now and read it, before you continue with this week’s message. The idea that we are a compilation of both our natural DNA and the nurturing influences of those

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions In the 1960s, Dr. Eric Berne, a psychologist, developed the science of Transactional Analysis to assist in understanding how we are all influenced by our development and is a practical approach to understanding self and others. Research has indicated that each of us possesses three

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Have you ever taken the time to think about Who You Are, What You Want, and The Uniqueness of Purpose You Have in the World? Now, that was heavy!  Seriously, when you think about the future in a deep way, you begin to realize that

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Apprenticeships for Business – An Old Concept Gets a New Life I was listening to an interesting newscast recently about an “innovative” program in the Arizona School System called “Residency.”  Modeled after the idea of the medical professions residents process, the School System has enrolled

Power Idea from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions THE LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE of Houston Partners International It is so appropriate that in our 30th year of business, delivering leadership training and development to organizations around the world, that we would birth the next level of Leadership Learning with the announcement of a new entity,

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions THE BIG RESET I know I have mentioned this before to all of you but one of my heroes in this world is Gary Burnison, CEO of Korn Ferry, one of the world’s predominant consulting firms.  Gary always seems to put his finger on the

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Like most of the world, I have spent a considerable amount of time watching a once-in-a-lifetime event of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II after serving the United Kingdom for 70 years.  A life well-lived indeed, she “approved” the 15th Prime Minister during her reign.

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions In a survey completed in April of 2022 through McKinsey & Company identified some key issues, explaining why people leave their positions.  This study was conducted with 13,382 employees in Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.  Here are the results:

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Last week I talked about the idea of your emotional quotient, or in other words your ability to understand and manage your emotions.  If you missed reading that Monday Message click here. This week I want to talk about what makes up our emotional quotient

Power Idea from Laura Dillingham, Executive Strategic Partner, HPISolutions The organization has employed a person who has the knowledge, skills, and abilities and yet is not successful in a leadership position. Why aren’t they successful? Is it from a lack of training, support, or is it more? I would ask you to consider Emotional Intelligence

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Over the next several weeks we are going to focus on a critical topic for Leaders… Emotional Quotient (EQ). I will focus on what Emotional Intelligence is, and ask you to examine where you are at on the Emotional Quotient spectrum. The definition of Emotional

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions One of my heroes in the industry is Gary Burnison, CEO of Korn Ferry, one of the pre-eminent Human Development Consulting Firms in the world.  I want to share with you a piece of a recent article that Gary published.  It is so profound, and

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Lead, Follow, or get out of the Way! No doubt you have heard this saying, however, I wonder, have you spent any time thinking about what it means? In order for an organization to be effective, someone has to take a leadership role and others

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions LEADERSHIP IS ALIVE AND WELL Recently, I was watching the early morning news and a piece came on about an amazing program called S.T.E.P. which invites high schoolers to apply to the organization to participate in wilderness leadership experiences in their sophomore year.  During senior

Power Idea from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions The Power of Non-verbal Communications in Leadership Have you ever experienced communicating with someone and yet the words are not matching their actions?  Take a minute to focus on how it made you feel.  Did it engender a feeling of trust, of valuing and respecting

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions “What We Got Here is a Failure to Communicate” This famous line from the movie, “Cool Hand Luke” (starring Paul Newman) became a catchphrase for millions of people.  Why? I talked last week about the idea of communications being a significant challenge for leaders and

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions The Art of Leadership Communications Why is it that when we ask what the biggest challenge is in leading people, the subject of COMMUNICATIONS is identified over 98% of the time? What is it about communications that seems to have constant breakdowns between people?  This

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions On July 10, 1992, I took the biggest risk in my life.  I left Corporate America, after 20 years of progressively climbing the ladder, to end up as a Senior Vice President of Operations.  It was always my goal to attain an executive-level position by

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions The Crisis of Leadership – Speaking Out I went into formal leadership at the tender age of 23.  Like many leaders, I got thrown into the pool with little to no preparation for the new role.  Now, over 50 years later, I have a few

Power Idea from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions LEADERSHIP – the Key Ingredient As I sit down to write the June Power Idea, I am reminded of our rapidly approaching 30th Anniversary of HPISolutions on July 10, 2022.  It is quite amazing to think that we have been unlocking the power of human

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Leadership Crisis – Where have all the Employees Gone (far, far, away?)      One of the key struggles all leaders are facing today is that of finding the best and brightest talent… and retaining them.  Here are some tips that we hope you find

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions THE CRISIS OF LEADERSHIP; Ready or Not Why on earth would I describe Leadership as a Crisis… just look at the facts. The number one reason that employees leave their jobs remains the way they are treated by their manager (be careful, it is certainly

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions SWIM WITH THE SHARKS Without Getting Eaten Alive! One of my favorite authors and business professionals is Harvey Mackay.  Mackay is a best-selling author, the founder of Mackay Envelope and a self-made millionaire many times over. In his best-selling book, “Swim with the Sharks Without

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Are You Ready?  During the second quarter of 2022, we are going to be discussing the idea of PREPARING FOR LEADERSHIP.  My first question to each of you is, Are You Ready? Despite all of the talk about leading, all of the books written, seminars

Power Idea by Tammy Bryant, Alliance Partner of HPISolutions Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Leadership… It Matters! This week has been filled with hate crimes, racism and violence.  After the weekend’s mass shooting and hate crimes, inclusive leadership is paramount.  Employees are dealing with fear, grief, anxiety and a host of other fears.  It is your

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions I don’t know about you, but my parents are in my head.  Even in my advancing years, I can still hear them… “Honor your father and mother” “Don’t chew with your mouth open” “No elbows on the table” “It’s impolite to stare” “Say PLEASE and

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Are You a Continuous Effective Learner? During our all-partner meeting (Partner Forum) last week, we discussed a new program to assist all partners in furthering their knowledge of an important segment of our business, Analytics.  We have known for many years that the first order

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions In the fall of 2020, I published a book entitled, “The Eccentric Entrepreneur.”  Why this title, you might ask?  The word Eccentric can be taken in a lot of different ways.  Different, odd, a little left of center, peculiar… you get the idea.  This title

Power Idea by Kathy Huska, Strategic Partner of HPISolutions We have reason to CELEBRATE! HPISolutions has been named Brand Ambassador of the Year from TTI Success Insights! TTI Success Insights is an international organization represented in over 90 countries around the world.  They are the premier producer of analytic tools that assist organizations to maximize the

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions ARE WE ALL ROWING IN THE SAME DIRECTION? It occurs to me that one of the great challenges of leadership is getting the whole team to row in the same direction… at the same time.  Try to imagine a rowing team, all in one longboat

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions I don’t know about you, but I find that in this era of pandemics, war, shootings, rising inflation, gas prices and supply shortages, it is easy to get discouraged.  That said, we all should step back for a moment and feel blessed for all that

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions I want to throw down a challenge this Monday.  You are an entrepreneur… I am an entrepreneur… we are all entrepreneurs. Why would I say this?  What is an “entrepreneur” anyway?  Wikipedia describes it as “a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses,

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions In any work situation (or at home, by the way) you have a choice to be assertive, aggressive, or non-assertive.  Your choice depends on many factors, of course, but which one is the right one… most of the time? Let’s start this morning with a

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Friends: I am a huge fan of Korn Ferry and their insight to all issues related to the world of work.  In a recent article, FUTURE OF WORK, Korn Ferry talks about 7 key trends that we all need to be focused on: REINVENTION –

Power Idea by Sandy Mitchell, Alliance Partner of HPISolutions The last two years have been tough. Businesses and organizations had to cut back, perhaps close down, at least for a period of time, or maybe were able to pivot. With the economic indicators now continuing to move in a positive direction, other challenges arise –

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions We attended an interesting webinar by the founder and creator of a new process we are now using with clients, The Prioritized Leader, Mr. Brandon Schaefer.  We are never disappointed when we attend one of Brandon’s teaching webinars, as he has a profound understanding of

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions IS YOUR PLATE FULL? Each week and month, I have opportunities to talk to many leaders in a variety of industries.  It comes with the territory of leading a company that is in the business of unlocking the human potential in organizations. There has been

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Be the CHANGE that you wish to see in the world. ~Mahatma Gandhi Over the past several weeks we have had a lot to say about asking you to get out of your comfort zone and embrace the idea that in order to survive and

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions If you did know, what would the answer be? It is truly a fortunate person who gets to work with people he or she likes and admires, who is also amazingly competent and visionary.  One of those people is our Executive Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell.

Power Idea from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Who would have thought that a fledgling little company, starting in business in the dining room of my home on July 10, 1992, would be celebrating 30 years in business in a few short months?? I think all of you know that surviving and being

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Let’s describe how people are alike: Two Eyes                                             Two Ears                              One Nose                            One Mouth Two Arms                                            Two Hands                          One Brain                            One Heart Two Feet                                             Two Legs                               Feelings/Emotions          Etc. You get the

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions And the answer is… ? There are so many questions that leaders are struggling with during this time of significant change. Many of the leaders that we talk with are asking how they as leaders can: set priorities that will help them to add clarity

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions I thought I would focus on a specific issue that ties into the People Module of The Prioritized Leader series we have been writing about.  It is impossible to meet your organizational purpose and your goals and objectives when the team is feeling disengaged… how

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions This is a bittersweet time of the year for me.  On one side it is the fact that both of my NFL teams are sitting on the sidelines during the remainder of the playoffs, and all I can do is say “Wait until next year.”

Power Idea by Teresa Adams, Alliance Partner of HPISolutions What employees want now, more than ever, is position alignment with their employer’s purpose and values. The talent market has greatly changed. You may have heard about The Great Resignation – Americans quitting their jobs at a record pace – more open jobs than there are

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions What is PERCEPTION?  Wikipedia describes perception as the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.  A way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something, a mental impression.  Have you ever heard that if someone perceives something strongly enough it becomes their

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions I was thinking about one of the key tenets of becoming an organization that has its priorities right and spent time thinking about PACE. The organizational pace is set by the leader.  Some organizations are hard-charging and others tend to be more “plodding.”  The pace

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Profitability Follows Purpose Last week I talked about the great things I am learning by reading Mike Michalowicz’s book, PROFIT FIRST.  If you missed that article, go back and read it… it will be worth your time. This week, I want to tie that article

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions I am quickly becoming a fan of Mike Michalowicz, author of PROFIT FIRST, and also bestsellers, The Pumpkin Plan and The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur. In his book, PROFIT FIRST, Mike points out that the old way of thinking by entrepreneurs is that you pay everything

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Normal, according to Oxford is “conforming to a standard, usual, typical or expected.”  As we look back at 2021, and forward to 2022, what is “Normal” for business? Is it “back to normal,” or  “the new normal,” or some other kind of normal we don’t

Power Idea by Carol Burnett Vest, Alliance Partner of HPISolutions “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” Years ago, when I first read this quote by Maya Angelou, I thought “OK, this makes sense, this is what we all do.”  Then years later as I began

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions There is a time-tested statement that “as the leader goes, so goes the organization.”  Truer words have never been spoken.  In my 30 years in this business, I have become fairly adept at analyzing an organization, simply by walking around with the top person and

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions We have been celebrating the latest new process from HPISolutions, The Prioritized Leader, over the past several months and I wanted to share some information with all of you this week. The Prioritized Leader (TPL) is a discovery process to assist our clients in their

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Can you feel it?  Is there a feeling of impending dread?  Are your palms sweaty and your heart racing? NOT TO WORRY, the end of the year is coming whether you are ready or not!   It is a common theme for most leaders that

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions A word has been popping up in my face over the last several weeks and I felt compelled to share it with all of you;  KINDNESS Kindness is a quality of being friendly, generous and considerate.  It is helpfulness towards someone in need, not in

Power Idea by Sandy Mitchell, Alliance Partner of HPISolutions Who Am I? The Prioritized Leader People often ask each other “What do you do?” A better question to ask ourselves is “Who am I?” and “Who do I want to be?” as a leader and as a person?  What’s important to me? How can I

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Jim Collins (Good to Great) made the statement that a sign of a Great Leader is Humility and Will. I was recently reading a daily devotional that told a very important tale about humility.  Something for all of us as leaders to think about… Columnist

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions I must say that I am bursting with pride over some recent accomplishments of my team of partners and just had to share some of the accomplishments with all of our readers. Carol Burnett-Vest, a relatively new partner, has completed her DISC certification, gaining a

Power Idea from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions As I begin this month’s Power Idea, I want to credit my friend and industry colleague, Larry Klimek, Chief cook and bottle-washer for the ideas and words for this writing.  Much has been said about leadership and many leaders strive to read all the books,

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions COWS DON’T GIVE MILK A good friend shared this story on LinkedIn and I couldn’t resist sharing it with all of my readers.  Enjoy this refreshing perspective!  Thanks, Lisa Pennock, for sharing.  A father used to say to his children when they were young: “When

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Another Key Indicator of Leadership Success… Resiliency Over the past few years, another key accountability has emerged, in addition to the three I referenced in last week’s Monday Message; self-starting, self-management and personal accountability.  This new accountability is being RESILIENT. What is Resiliency? The capacity

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions About Leadership… if it is to be, it is up to me Taking responsibility is a key factor of great leadership.  In an age of CYA behaviors, it is easy to stand out among peers if you believe in our headline for this Monday’s message.

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions One of the great challenges of growth is making sure it is managed growth.  Over the years we have seen case after case of an organization “imploding” because they did not manage the PACE of the business. What is PACE? Discerning how quickly or slowly

Power Idea from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions There are many misguided thoughts about the value or need for a coach, especially for executives.  Some actually think that getting a coach is a sign of weakness when the opposite is true. I have had many coaches during my career, both in private industry

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions “The only problem I deal with is PEOPLE!  If I didn’t have any, things would run a whole lot smoother!” This is an actual statement from an actual client some years ago, and he wasn’t kidding.  His view as a leader was that people were

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Leadership is a sticky wicket.  Leadership demands technical know-how, you need to be a psychologist, and a soothsayer, and sometimes a priest!  But what comes first, in order to lead effectively? PURPOSE What is the purpose of your business, and for that matter for yourself? 

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Tomorrow is a big day!  At 9:00 am PT, Alliance Partner, Skip Wilkins, will present a free webinar that focuses right on the title of this Monday Message, The Art of Questioning, with a powerful presentation of the concept of APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY. One of the

Power Idea from Alliance Partner, Skip Wilkins As a leader, you are a catalyst for your employees.  Your goal is to get them to think and act in ways that better serve your team, your organization, and your customers. Think about this: You’ve achieved a leadership role, based in part, on being a successful problem-solver. 

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions We all have heard the old saying that we were given one mouth and two ears so that we can listen more than we speak.  Most of us also know good communication practices indicate that we should listen 80% of the time, and speak only

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions I want all of you to stop for a minute…think about the person or persons in your life who really listen to you.  Maybe it is their eye contact, repeating to affirm what you said.  Maybe it is nodding in agreement.  Whatever communication they are

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions As goes the leader, so goes the crew. This saying rings truer than we sometimes think.  After over 29 years in the consulting industry, I have learned to have a keen eye in the observation of leaders. Some of this observation happens when taking a

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Over the next 30-60 days we are going to be talking about Leadership in a very practical way.  I moved into corporate leadership when I was just 23 years old… which was 50 years ago and I continue on in that role to this day. 

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions In my book, The Eccentric Entrepreneur, I do some writing about my own back story.  As a part of that story, I talk about my belated wife, Lorraine. Lorraine was a professional homemaker.  She excelled at keeping things exactly in order, doing an incredible job

Power Idea from Amy Riley, Alliance Partner of HPISolutions All successful, courageous leaders who achieve extraordinary results have something in common. In my work over the past two decades of coaching executives and developing leaders at all levels, I’ve identified the one trait that powerful leaders share. They all have a defined purpose to their

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions This saying, made by President John F. Kennedy’s father, rings true when you think of courage.  When things are going along smoothly, it’s very easy to lead.  By comparison, when things are not going so well, it is quite another matter.  And that is when

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions On July 10, 2021, the HPISolutions team celebrated the beginning of our 29th year in business.  It is a testament to how fast life goes by to think that more than half of my entire career has been spent in this wonderful organization, working side by

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions “There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity.”                                                                 -Douglas MacArthur During the month of July, we are going to focus on the topic of Leadership Courage, finishing with an amazing opportunity to hear Amy Riley, Alliance Partner at HPISolutions, CEO of

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Like most people, I tend to take for granted the freedoms we enjoy in the United States.  245 years ago, people very much like you and I laid down their lives and fought against overwhelming odds to enjoy the reality that all people have the

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Normally my goal is to write the weekly Monday Message from Jerry on the preceding Thursday each week.  That said, here it is Sunday, a full week before this message is due… WHY, you ask? One of my weekly routines is to watch CBS Sunday

Power Idea from Deb Mazzaferro, Senior Alliance Partner There’s been much lamenting in the news about the lack of job seekers as the economy roars back from the COVID pandemic lockdown. In our consulting practices, we hear how difficult it is to fill jobs. Twenty + states have decided to reject Federal funding that allows

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions I can’t express clearly enough how the topic of finding, onboarding, and developing top talent for your organization has become more and more challenging every day.  We have spent a good part of our time over the past several weeks, talking with clients who are

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Last week we talked about if you had ever made a bad hire.  We talked further about the idea of where you should focus your attention; skills, experience, education, personality issues, etc.  We also talked about the truth that we tend to hire for the

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Have You Ever Made a Bad Hire?  Is this an oxymoron?  Who among us has not made a mistake in hiring… now don’t beat yourself up!  Human beings are the most complicated machine in existence.  We, as a species, are very complicated and intricate.  Even

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Last week I sat through a 20-hour certification process on a program called The Prioritized Leader (TPL).  This is an amazing program and I am happy to have earned my Master Certification in this process which will further assist our clients in their journey to

Power Idea from Laura Dillingham, Executive Strategic Partner Culture begins with the leader. Simply stated, the leader sets the tone for the organization. If the leader cannot effectively manage their emotions, communicate, and collaborate within all levels in their organization, then even if they have exceptional technical skills, it will not matter. Leadership is important.

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions I sometimes think that, after being in business for over 30 years, I have heard and seen it all… NOT! Let’s talk about the bribe. Have you been watching and reading the news?  Have you been paying attention to what organizations are doing to get

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions I have been talking about Emotional Intelligence (EQ) this quarter and it occurred to me I may be misleading all of my readers! Emotional Intelligence is certainly a major factor when it comes to understanding how a person acts and reacts to stimulus in the

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Studies have shown that employees with higher Emotional Quotient (EQ) scores tend to also have higher scores on measures of interpersonal interactions, leadership abilities and stress management. Let’s talk about comparing EQ. EQ is an important quality for more than CEO’s and top-level managers.  It

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Remember the old saying that “there is no room for emotions in business decisions?”  That is so interesting to me, and it should also be interesting to you!  Since every transaction we experience interfaces with how we “feel” about the experience, how is it that

Power Idea from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions e-mo-tion-al in-tel-li-gence is the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically. “Emotional intelligence is the key to both personal and professional success” In HPISolutions speak, Emotional Intelligence or, as we call it, Emotional Quotient

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions As our regular readers know, we have been talking about Emotional Intelligence this quarter, but there is a looming issue that we would like you to weigh in on; THE SHORTAGE OF PEOPLE FOR ENTRY LEVEL POSITIONS. We are beginning to receive calls talking about

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions One of the benefits that accrue to our clients is that only fully certified partners at HPISolutions will write evaluations or conduct debriefs of assessments on your candidates or team members.  This comes to my mind because this week I participated in a recertification of

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions During the second quarter of 2021 (can you believe we are already there?) we are going to spend time writing about a fairly new science; Emotional Intelligence.  In HPISolutions speak, we call it Emotional Quotient (EQ). During this second quarter, we are going to dig

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions As I was prereading the current monthly Power Idea (A Key To Employee Engagement – Alignment) by Alliance Partner, Skip Wilkins, I first thought, what on earth does alignment have to do with engagement?  Wisely, I continued reading Skip’s article and found it to be

By: Skip Wilkins, Alliance Partner of HPISolutions Stop for a moment and ask yourself, “In the world around me, what has to be aligned?”  As you ponder the question, a number of responses may enter your mind; 1) the tires on my car, 2) the braces on children’s teeth, 3) railroad tracks, 4) the door on

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions For the past three months, we have been writing, blogging, and sponsoring a webinar on this important topic: Disengagement.  It has been one of the best-received topics in the history of Power Ideas, Monday Messages from Jerry, and our Social Media posts.  The first Webinar

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions One of the things I learned from my Father was to have respect for women.  “Hold your tongue around women” he would say.  “Be respectful,” “Do what your mother tells you to do.”  I also clearly remember a swift kick to the seat of my

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions I am positive that everyone reading this week’s message has been angry, at least once in the past couple of weeks.  Anger is a natural human emotion.  Given the state of things; COVID, the challenge of getting an appointment for a vaccine, the constant infighting

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Have you ever wondered why it is so difficult to get started on your new objectives for 2021? I am reminded, for some of us, that getting started is the most challenging part of getting it done.  If there was a National Association of Procrastinators,

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions I don’t know how many of you have had the time to read our monthly Power Idea for February by Senior Alliance Partner, Ginny McMinn (click here to read), where she talked about feelings and especially a feeling of resilience.  I strongly urge you to

By: Ginny McMinn, Senior Alliance Partner of HPISolutions “Many of us feel stressed and get overwhelmed not because we’re taking on too much, but because we’re taking on too little of what really strengthens us.” –Marcus Buckingham I was always the one in my family that everyone counted on to be strong, to help everyone else

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Today is President’s Day, an event originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington’s Birthday.  The holiday became properly known as President’s Day in 1971 under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s workers.  While

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions Last Tuesday morning, 2/2/21, we held our first live webinar for 32 registered guests to discuss this very important topic.  This interactive process was well received and the vast majority of attendees participated at very high levels throughout.  Clearly, this was a topic of great

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions I am really looking forward to our upcoming webinar, Disengagement… The Next Pandemic? live on Zoom tomorrow, February 2nd at 9:00 AM MT.  If you haven’t signed up click here and get registered for this very interactive discussion of disengagement and vision in the workforce.

By Jerry Houston, CEO of HPISolutions One of the most significant things that happen in a democracy is the transition of power that occurs when administrations change.  When the team shows up it is what I refer to as an opportunity moment.  It is a time to set the tone for how we will conduct

By: Jerry Houston, Founder and CEO of HPISolutions During the first quarter of 2021, we are going to focus hard on the topic of DISENGAGEMENT! The title of this Power Idea is from a book written some years ago by Terri Kabchnick, a friend and industry colleague (her book is available on Amazon).  Terri could

By: Jerry Houston, CEO of HPISolutions Last Monday I talked about the idea of ARE YOU READY?  I promised my readers that I AM READY and am invigorated and excited about 2021. On February 2 at 9:00 am MST we will be offering a no-cost webinar on the subject of Disengagement.  Note that we call

By: Jerry Houston, CEO of HPISolutions I don’t know about you but I have already heard unending comments about how glad people are that 2020 is finally over.  This is as if the changing of the calendar has ended all things bad and that somehow all things good are on the way.  While we all

TIME OUT! Depending on your age, there has been a commonly used discipline tactic that parents refer to as TIME OUT.  Now, I go back much further than time out.  I am from the era of “spare the rod and spoil the child!”  But let’s stay on point. This tactic was used to get the

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION…WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Is diversity about tolerance?  The goal was to accept people who were different from you.  The truth is that it is really about understanding. In our new leadership module from Trusted Advisors Network entitled, UNDERSTANDING DIVERSITY WHILE CREATING INCLUSION, we have learned that diversity is about understanding, valuing, and

2021 Planning, Projections and Budgeting “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” is a stalwart adage. “Numbers are the language of business” is another favorite. In 2020, there have been extreme winners and extreme losers. Some people have gained time that used to be spent commuting; others are struggling because they lost their

Does Your Company Value You? I have some questions for my readers today regarding value: How do you know if you are valued at your company? How do you think you contribute to the success of your organization? If you do not feel valued, how does that impact your performance? How do you think your

TALK IS CHEAP! Focus on moving forward. There has been a lot of conversation across America about the pandemic and the impact it is having on the world, both from a human and economic perspective… and I am tired of it!  How about you? Talk is cheap! That said, I would prefer to focus on

REBOARDING – The Challenge of Bringing the Team Back to the Workplace SURVEY RESULTS Reboarding is a story of the pandemic and also of whether your employees are engaged or disengaged, especially during this time of COVID. We have been conducting over the past several weeks a survey to determine how COVID-19 has impacted your

How Engaged is Your Team? Have you wondered how your team is faring, especially during this time of COVID?  We have been hard at work at HPISolutions and have been partnering with Zbig Skiba at SKIBA ASSOCIATES to bring a variety of tools and resources to assist you in the struggle of staying engaged during

ARE YOU DISENGAGED? What is disengagement?  Why does it matter? How can you impact your own engagement and that of others? Disengagement is the action or process of withdrawing from involvement in a particular activity, situation, or group.  It is a process by which people gradually stop being involved in a conflict, activity, or organization.

Employee Engagement (or lack thereof) and the impact of the COVID Economy We are focusing on the issue of employee engagement or disengagement for the balance of 2020 as you plan your strategies for the coming year including continued work from home scenarios and also full or partial re-boarding of your employees back to the

Are Your People Re-Boarding? COVID-19 has spawned a lot of new ways to function in our world, and also spawned new terms along the way.  One of those terms was WFH, commonly known as Work From Home, when millions of Americans created make-shift offices in their homes, workarounds regarding spouses, kids and dogs, and traipsing

Human Resources – it isn’t the Personnel Department anymore! For young folks (anyone under 70!) you may not remember when the Human Resources Department was called the Personnel Department.  It was a small office, usually right near the employee entrance and the main focus was to write job postings, job descriptions, pass through applicants to

A Sense of Community During this past week, I attended something titled a Power Summit, inside of the industry organization that I have had the privilege of being a part of since 1992.  The difference is that we met for the first time in a Virtual Setting… and it was awesome! In this time of

A Story of Historic Proportions I love history.  I am fascinated about where we have come from.  For example, I learned that my maternal grandfather, Benjamin Greenberg, was born at sea, in American waters, because his parents were fleeing German persecution of the Jews.  History is important because it teaches many important lessons (positive and

LIFE AS AN ENTREPRENEUR As I write this week’s Monday Message, I am sharing some excerpts from the epilogue from my book, The Eccentric Entrepreneur, which is available for purchase on Amazon, starting tomorrow, October 20. 2020. The epilogue points out that we must all fulfill our WHY, and achieve our life purpose as an

Executive Presence in a Virtual Environment Our world has changed dramatically this year, calling for different ways of thinking and operating. Leaders everywhere are trying to find new ways to inspire and engage team members in a virtual environment. A skill many are looking to develop is demonstrating executive presence virtually. First, what is Executive

Mutual Benefit, Respect and Trust As Chapter 10 of my soon-to-be-released book, The Eccentric Entrepreneur, points out, in the end all business conducted in this age of information needs to a have a human foundation.  Everything that gets accomplished, gets done through people.  In order to accomplish tasks, it is necessary to have mutual benefit,

Is Everybody Happy? I recently read an article by Marketing Guru, Robert Middleton, who recently had to evacuate his home, fleeing the fires in California.  Robert is always an interesting writer, but this article was different because it addresses the question of:  Are we happy because we are successful OR are we successful because we

The Dynamics of Organizational Change Organizations are dynamic and not static. They experience change on a periodic basis – some are planned and some are unplanned. Change can be disruptive and prohibit the attainment of strategic goals that are critical to organizational success. To the extent possible, the change initiative should be planned. During the

Passion is great, but there are still some rules! In my upcoming book, The Eccentric Entrepreneur, I talk a lot of passion and the value of caring deeply about what you do because of who you are.  That said, in Chapter Six of the book, I spend some time talking about some of the basic

The Early Days How many of you remember the early days of your business, or your career, depending on the direction you went?  For most of us, it wasn’t pretty.  Prior to starting my company, HPISolutions, or even prior to my 24 years in private industry working for others, I started a music studio in

Is it Time to Retire the Annual Performance Appraisal? Who loves the annual performance review process? Anyone? Is that crickets I hear? In my experience, it’s almost as painful for managers to deliver appraisals as it is for employees to receive them. Not surprisingly, research by Gallup shows only 14% of employees agree that the

Are you an Eccentric Entrepreneur? I wonder how many of my readers have asked themselves this question?  What I do know is that many people enter the world of entrepreneurship totally unprepared.  We believe that we have an expertise in some discipline (i.e., engineering, sales, IT, and so on) and that people will be out

The HPISolutions team will be focusing on Human Resources in the next quarter. Before we take that “deep dive” into HR, let’s first look at the bigger picture. As business leaders, you have a lot to balance: work results, new business, profits, problem-solving, and managing assets including human assets. In that list of responsibilities, is

COURAGE If you are like me, at the start of any major undertaking, I feel this little twinge of panic and the question, HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?, bounds into my head. For those of you old enough, you may remember there was a character on SNL television by the name of Stuart Smalley.  Stuart

WHAT IS YOUR WHY; YOUR PURPOSE? In my book, The Eccentric Entrepreneur (targeted for a late September launch on Amazon), I explore the idea of why we exist, or what our real purpose is, especially related to career.  There are many honorable, meaningful ways to do work that is satisfying and that makes a difference

Attitude Your attitude is important because it influences your choice of actions, as well as your responses to challenges, incentives, and rewards. It is only when we have the right attitude, will we get the best results. All the smiles, handshakes, or elbow bumps are not going to get someone far if they do not

The Value of Emotional Intelligence “According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, Emotional Intelligence will be one of the top 10 job skills in 2020.” Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a valuable job skill; it doesn’t matter what job. In many cases, it even surpasses technical ability. Beginning in 2010, hiring managers and

There is no room for emotions in decision-making Are you kidding me?  The opposite is actually true. Have you ever wondered why some people over-react, even to minor stressors?  Do you wonder why you feel certain emotions, yet don’t understand where they are coming from or how to deal with them?  Do you find it

Tips for Building an Effective Virtual Team Most teams find themselves working remotely during the coronavirus pandemic period. Employees are under stress to produce superior results. This is complicated by tight time frames and low budgets. External customers’ desire and demand for quality products and services have not decreased, but have increased at an accelerated

Team Building is a Matter of Culture Plant what you want to reap. Company culture results from the organic material you plant. What attitude do you want to have in your company? Collaboration? Results-driven? People first? Strong work ethic? Accountability? Inclusion/diversity? Innovative? Who doesn’t want all of these things? Like most things in life, it

In part one of this focus on the impact of behavioral style on Team interactions, we paid attention to your natural behavioral style and how it may be dissimilar from other styles and may create some natural conflict in your teams.  We talked about the DISC behavioral system and the four quadrants of behavior: Dominance

Ever wonder why there is conflict on your team?  Why is it that your team members sometimes disconnect and are at odds with each other?  Why can’t these grownups just get along? The simple truth is that conflict is sometimes caused by behavioral differences, brought on by emotional responses.  Here is how that works: The

The discourse in organizations presently focuses on understanding and meeting the challenges of working in and leading a virtual team. Here are some researched based suggestions to understand and adopt: Communication. This is more critical now than ever. Differences in communication styles must be considered. Whatever the style is, it must be supported, understood and

Of the many factors that influence how effective a team is, one of the most important is the role of the leader, manager or sponsor. Whether for an intact work team, a special project team or a cross-functional improvement team, the leader must provide mission, resources, empowerment and rewards for the team to be successful.

Virtual teams are not only on the rise… they are here. Using equipment, phones, and Wi-Fi, most people can do their jobs from anywhere. Organizations can reduce office space and all associated costs, as well as, attract and expand their talent pool. Employees can manage their personal and work lives, have more flexibility, and interact

Communicating in a Crisis. Power Idea by Alliance Partner, Diane Janovsky. As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has turned the world upside-down. In all businesses, the stress level is high. Many leaders are being forced to make gut-wrenching decisions like layoffs or closing their doors. And even employees who are fortunate enough to be

Overlooked Opportunity….. ………..doesn’t this conjure up a ton of interesting thoughts? So what are the overlooked opportunities in your business… and your life? Understanding the players… the basic organizational chart and each function’s strengths and weaknesses:   Many entrepreneurs focus heavily on the creating stage… developing new products, innovating flavors, chasing trends… or even hoping

This is a special release of Power Ideas from our CEO and Founder, Jerry Houston.  This is a must-read for all of our Power Idea fans.  Before you dive into this article, a quick note about our continuing interactions with all of our clients and partners. The Leadership Team at HPISolutions has taken a position

How to Achieve Equitable Pay for Employees Under the federal Equal Pay Act, all employees regardless of gender must be paid an equal amount for jobs of “equal skill, effort and responsibility” and performed under similar working conditions. Exceptions to this requirement can be based on a seniority system, a merit system, a system that

I discovered that as far back as 2007 only 28% of companies offered any type of training on delegation* and it hasn’t improved much since. Why is that? Delegation is a critical skill, not only because it teaches employees how to think, ask the right questions and expand their knowledge, skills and abilities, but it

Unless an individual is a sociopath or psychopath, people know the right thing to do. Unfortunately, this is not the same as doing the right thing. ‘Knowing’ is the moral foundation to do the right thing. ‘Doing’ is having the courage to do the right thing. True leaders must possess and then demonstrate that they

Leadership Skills are Leadership Skills… and they are learned. At a recent leadership team meeting at HPISolutions Virtual Headquarters, we decided enough is enough! Many people approach us each year (for the past 27 years!) with the same old story.  “It’s different in our organization” or “it’s different in the _____ industry” yada yada yada…

When I began working in Human Resources, my family-held employer routinely processed increases of $100-200 per month for male employees, $75-100 per month increases for female employees, and $100 per month raises for new fathers. This was well after the passage of our nation’s Equal Pay Act (EPA), yet this practice was blatant, illegal and

If ever there was a loaded word this is it. Diversity is the state of being diverse…variety. It means a range of different things such as, “a diversity of views.” In the workplace, it is the act of attracting and employing people who may be different from each other and who do not all come

We believe in the power of Virtual Training at HPISolutions. Today, JP Rosso, Strategic Partner, expands further on the topic introduced in last week’s Power Idea. Benefits of Virtual Training In the past, management development, leadership development, executive development and more, were delivered ‘live’ via a coach, a consultant or in a classroom setting. While

I can clearly remember making the statement, years ago, that HPISolutions would NEVER offer training on a virtual basis… fast-forward to today and we are in our third year of virtual training and expanding our offerings at a rapid pace. WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? There are many factors to support VIRTUAL TRAINING as a clear alternative to a

As explored in an earlier “Power Idea”, the basic motivations for all people are virtually embedded into our DNA. We’re all motivated to secure food, water, shelter, warmth when it’s cold, safety and security from predators (human & animal). However, once our basic needs are secured, each of us has different motivators that influence the

In the final quarter of 2019 (hard to believe!) we thought it would be good to look at the bigger picture. For most of us as leaders, managing people is our most important responsibility. It is more important than the tactical tasks and never-ending stuff on our “to do” lists. As I think about this

Over the last quarter, we have brought forth a series of articles designed to help our readers understand various ideas and concepts that would assist them in the continuous development of their new hires and knowing how to create the right environment for the various generations that work inside of all of our organizations. We

There is continuing discourse in all sectors (public, private, healthcare and non-profit) regarding the effective retention of talented employees. There is consistent agreement that this activity is more problematic and challenging than hiring these people. The retention of employees is a Human Resources strategy that contributes to the effectiveness of the organization. Effective employee retention

Organizations are setting challenging strategic goals to remain competitive in the marketplace they do business in. They are also striving to lead in that marketplace. They all agree that the driving engine to success is the performance of their employees. They must be highly skilled and motivated to perform at a high level. This has

The 21st century will continue to be challenging and problematic for organizations and their leaders. There will be unanticipated and unplanned change, uncertainty and marketplace upheaval. There will be increased pressure from the boards and directors of organizations to remain in a competitive and leadership position. This will manifest itself in the quest to produce

Organizational leaders, self-pro-claimed generational experts and marketing specialists overly use generational labels and their associated stereotypes. These labels seem to conveniently simplify the complex diversity of people in today’s workplace. Ask yourself, are the characteristics assigned to these generational labels accurate or even appropriate? If we’re not vigilant, we may replace a real understanding of

Generation Z (also known as Gen Z) are those workers born between the mid-1990’s to early 2000’s and depending on the final dates the number will either be the smaller generation or will roughly be about 2 billion people. Let’s continue looking at this generation in today’s workforce and discover their values, strengths, beliefs and

Generation Y (also known as Millennials, Net-sters, the Internet Generation and the Echo Boomers) are those workers born between 1981 and 1996 and number roughly 75 million people. Let’s continue looking at this generation in today’s workforce and discover their values, strengths, beliefs and what shaped them. Communication • computers • internet has always been

Generation X (also known as Xers) are those workers born between 1965 and 1980 and number roughly 70 million people. Let’s continue looking at this generation in today’s workforce and discover their values, strengths, beliefs and what shaped them. Some well-known people born in the Generation X era are J.K. Rowling (Author), Tiger Woods (Professional

Baby Boomers (also known as Boomers) are those workers born between 1946 and 1964 and number roughly 73 million people. Let’s continue looking at this generation in today’s workforce and discover their values, strengths, beliefs and what shaped them. Communication prefer face-to-face hold meetings having flexible schedules/working from home is a negative preferred feedback is

In today’s world there is a lot of pressure on businesses. Businesses are dealing with a global market, partnerships, interdependencies and connectivity. A critical piece of increased demands is the use of technology. Overall most businesses are doing more with less; however, programs and processes have not kept up. While some generations may have an

Predictions are that by 2024, approximately 25% of the workforce will be over the age of 55. This is up from the early ’90s when workers over the age of 55 totaled about 12%. The results are that there are as many as five generations in today’s workforce for numerous companies. There are multiple factors

Let’s look at one type of learning being employed in some companies, social business or as it’s most commonly called social learning. Social learning is a very old concept with a new name. It is basically employees learning about the organizational culture and many aspects of the job from each other. It is not the

The discourse in this country in general, and in organizations in particular, is that dynamic leaders are critical for organizational success. Distinctions between managers and leaders have been well discussed and factually supported. There is no question that both are needed and must be supported. However, the value of being a good leader is sometimes misinterpreted. Dynamic

The basic motivations for all people are virtually embedded into our DNA. We’re all motivated to secure food, water, shelter, warmth when it’s cold, safety and security from predators (human & animal). However, once our basic needs are secured, each of us has different motivators that influence the rest of our lives. The first work

Over the past three months, we brought an idea to our readers that there is a Critical Path in Talent Management. It begins with hiring the right person for the right position, onboarding them correctly, paying them fairly, managing in an inclusive way, letting them know they are valued, and keeping them engaged and excited

Over the past three months, we have been discussing a very important topic…CRITICAL PATH – Finding, Developing and Retaining the Best Talent. We borrowed the term Critical Path from the Project Management world and applied it to Talent Management, a very critical path for your organization. We defined the path this way; “a critical path

A 2018 study confirms that employee turnover costs can range from 50% of the annual salary for an entry-level employee, to 125% for a mid-level employee or manager, to 200% for a senior manager or executive. Turnover at any level is hugely expensive in actual dollars to replace the person, lost productivity, employee morale, and

In Part I, we looked at how finding great talent is stressful, time-consuming and extremely difficult in today’s market. Even more challenging is keeping the talent you have so they will stay and continue to be involved. Now let’s look at a couple of questions and some suggestions for developing your employees and building and

Finding great talent is stressful, time-consuming and extremely difficult in today’s market, but more challenging is keeping the talent you have so they will stay and continue to be engaged. Successful onboarding, on-going training and re-investing in your employees to help them reach their full potential may be just some of the answers. Even knowing

We have been talking a lot this quarter about this Critical Path Process of finding and keeping the right talent in your organization. I was talking with a long time client and friend over this Memorial Day Weekend and she recanted a story about a difficult position that a couple of supervisory level employees put

As employers recruit and hire applicants for jobs, it’s critical that this process is executed in a lawful manner. Under the laws enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), it is illegal to discriminate against someone (applicant or employee) because of their race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity), sexual orientation, pregnancy, national

Hiring managers & HR pros’ looking to fill positions are experienced at developing ‘job descriptions’ & ‘basic requirements’ for the candidates to bring to the table.  Then they go ‘on the hunt’ and post the job. In today’s world, more & more companies are taking advantage of algorithm-driven, artificial intelligence platforms to collect & parse

Organizations are competing for the BEST talent to hire. This is critical as the marketplace becomes increasingly more competitive for the delivery of goods and services – – domestically and globally. At the beginning of each year (calendar or fiscal), organizations set strategic goals and monitor them throughout this period. The attainment of these goals

Last week we talked about the Job Benchmarking process and how it can be used to select the best candidate for each position in your organization resulting in lower turnover and increased employee satisfaction. (If you missed this Power Idea, click here). This week we will describe how the benchmarking process is conducted. Subject Matter

“You need to have a collaborative hiring process.” – Steve Jobs I am going to start by asking two questions… 1. Why do good employees leave? 2. Why do employees leave that have the right skill sets, but are just not a fit for the job? Take a minute and consider the cost of turnover.

“In the business world … each job has certain requirements that must be met in order for that job to be done properly and for that organization to survive and prosper.” ~Ron D. Burton In recruiting and hiring new employees for your organization, it is important to understand first what the job requirements are. What

If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there. ~Lewis Carroll When looking at the current tight labor market, skills shortages, and increasingly specialized job responsibilities, it is crucial to do an effective job of attracting, hiring and engaging with the best employees available to fill positions in your organization.

In the next three months, our team of experts will engage in a series of writings on the topic of CRITICAL PATH – Finding, Developing and Retaining the Best Talent. We decided to call this series a CRITICAL PATH, a term usually reserved for project management which is described as, “the sequence of stages determining

Over the past three months, our team of experts has been writing on the topic of maximizing the power of your people to increase organizational excellence and sustainability. While we all know this has always been true, it has become even more significant in this age of very low unemployment and a scarcity of the

You’ve heard how tight the current job market is. And if you need to hire employees, you will need to cope with the market as it is. There are steps you can take to assist in your quest for new hires. Steps you can take to enhance your organization’s appeal to candidates include the following:

There is increased focus on individual and team performance in organizations. Employees are encouraged to participate in training and development activities. This occurs inside and outside the organization. There are numerous attempts to measure the value of these activities. This is measured to stakeholders using the balanced scorecard as well. Organizations set strategic goals and

Ok, I need your help. What are the characteristics of a Great Leader? Shut your eyes for a minute. Clear your mind. Now, think of the greatest leader you know or worked for in your life. What were the characteristics that make you believe this person is a great leader? Use this form, Characteristics of

Have you ever been stood up? Had a friend make plans and then not show up? Or simply disappear from text, email or social media contact, without warning or explanation? Welcome to a practice known as “Ghosting”. This practice is upsetting in social relationships. And now Ghosting has begun to appear in workplaces.  Work-related Ghosting

According to several polls, over 50% of employees who quit their jobs cite the manager as the reason. They join the organization for several reasons such as organizational culture, career opportunities, compensation, the mission of the organization and its reputation. Organizations spend time, energy, effort and money in hiring an employee. This includes onboarding and

“According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report emotional intelligence will be one of the top 10 sought after job skills in 2020.” Emotional Intelligence is a valuable job skill; it doesn’t matter what job, and in many cases even surpassing the value of technical ability. Beginning as early as 2010, hiring managers

Everyone who has worked in HR or as a ‘hiring manager’ for more than 10 years has experienced the tsunami of applications received when recruiting for an open position. AI, with their almost ‘magical’ algorithms, certainly takes away a lot of that burden. A push of a button and, ‘voila’, a small stack of virtually

An important part of leadership is ensuring that your team continues to learn and develop. This is especially true when it comes to your current and emerging leaders. Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham, takes this opportunity to use an example out of HPISolutions. We took a bold step to move from a company who delivered

Our CEO and Founder, Jerry Houston, opens a new Power Ideas series focused on Leadership Development, and the HPISolutions approach to Adult Learning. There are 7 key principles in adult learning and Jerry will help us to understand those principles and their importance not only to learning itself, but also to long-term retention of the

Our series on Building a Strong Foundation is coming to a close and we hope you enjoyed our series of Power Ideas as much as we enjoyed bringing them to you. If you missed any of the articles written by our leadership team you will find them on our website at www.hpisolutions.com under the Power

Lots of people like to use the phrase, “let’s think outside the box.” Many people like to think they do this. Unfortunately, very few people have the courage to actually do this. Most people tend to be guided by “conventional wisdom.” Why? It shields them from criticism. One only has to look at professional sports

In this week’s Power Idea, Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham talks about an important topic. INTEGRITY is fairly easily to define but living up to its ideals is another matter. We hope you will consider Laura’s words carefully. They are truly words to live by. “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want

Credibility is defined as the Quality of Being Trusted and Believed In. It is further defined as the Quality of Being Convincing or Believable. However you define it, Credibility is essential for long-term retention of talent in your organization. Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham, has some great insights on this important, foundational component to having

Mutual Benefit, Respect, and Trust are the underpinnings of our cultural foundation at HPISolutions and have been for all of the almost 27 years we have been in business. Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell, is focusing this week’s Power Idea on the idea of organizational trust. Without it, success is greatly impeded. We know you

Among many other things that we admire about Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell, it is his ethics and core values of honesty, integrity and a determination to do the “right thing”. In this week’s Power Idea, Charles explores the meaning behind Organizational Core Values and the impact on business today. Core values are reviewed when

One of my favorite jobs at HPISolutions is writing the openings for our Power Ideas, and this one is no exception. Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky helps us to understand the power of your organizational culture with a specific focus on EMPLOYER BRAND. Don’t miss reading this one! We’ve probably all heard the familiar quote “Culture

As we launch our new series of Power Ideas on the topic of BUILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION, Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky offers up an excellent article on the idea of PURPOSE. Why is it so important for organizations to have a defined purpose? Let’s see what Diane has to say. One of the most memorable

Readers, this week, it is our pleasure to introduce a new member of the HPISolutions Leadership Team, JP Rosso. JP was for many years a client of HPISolutions and is very knowledgeable about our products and processes over that decade-plus period. In addition, JP has a very strong background in Business Development, Operations Management and

Readers, for our final quarter of the year, we are going to be writing on the theme, BUILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION. We all know that a house built on sand will soon fall and this certainly aligns with our businesses. We cannot survive or prosper and grow, unless the foundation of our businesses are rock

Over the past quarter, we have been writing on the topic of creativity and innovation. In this wrap-up article, Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston shares some thoughts about what we have been sharing with our readers over the past few months and also, at the core, what creativity and innovation really are. Enjoy this week’s

Among her many talents, Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham is a great facilitator. She has an uncanny ability to help people get out of the box and have “A-HA Moments.” In today’s article on Creativity and Innovation, Laura helps us identify what creativity is and that we all possess it, used or unused. We know

Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell has an uncanny ability to boil things down to the facts. His systematic and ordered brain allows him to distill complex ideas into working strategies. It is with this developed talent that Charles shares this week’s Power Idea about creativity and innovation as it relates to workplace structure. We know

Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky, reminds us that we can create a creative environment for problem solving by utilizing learning from the world’s most creative thinker, Dr. Edward de Bono. We know you will enjoy and benefit from this proven science to get out of the box when your team is problem-solving or creating new, innovative

Last week Charles Parnell introduced the components of an innovative and creative workplace. He posed some thought-provoking questions to examine. Now that you understand the components of an innovative and creative workplace, Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham explains that the next step is to ask yourself to consider the benefits of promoting creativity in the

As we continue our series on Creativity and Innovation, Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell provides some real world questions to ask yourselves about your organization and its role in creating an environment that allows for Creativity and Innovation throughout the entire workforce. We think you will get a lot out of this week’s Power Idea.

Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky really hits it out of the park with this different view of Innovation and Creativity, by providing some very interesting examples of not only how new product innovation is viable, but also ways to enhance the customer experience. Don’t miss reading this truly innovative Power Idea! When business leaders think about

Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell, brings home the concept of Creativity that leads to Innovation. Enjoy this insightful look at this week’s Power Idea. One of the discourses in the workplace is how to capture creativity and innovation. They are central to organizational performance. As the knowledge-based, interconnected global marketplace continues to move ahead with

In last week’s Power Idea, we left off our discussion of imagination with the question of how we can actually start the creative process and stimulate the flow of ideas. To find an answer, Diane Janovsky, Strategic Partner, turned to one of the classic books on creativity, A Whack on the Side of the Head

As we continue our journey on creativity and innovation, Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky, weaves a tale of how many great inventions and organizations were born, right out of thinking in non-traditional ways to achieve extraordinary results. Enjoy part one of a two-part story of: Why Didn’t I Think of That? Innovation is the life blood

In this week’s Power Idea, Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham, continues our discussion on creativity and innovation with some concrete ideas on how you as leaders can foster this way of thinking and enable your team to bring fresh new ideas that solve problems, create new opportunities and bring improved products, service and support to

The theme for the third quarter of 2018 for our Power Ideas is CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION. We all know that staying ahead of the curve in identifying new solutions to problems, and developing leading edge products and services depends heavily on all of our people being creative and innovative when focusing on challenges and opportunities

TALK IS CHEAP! In this continuing series on Crucial Conversations, CEO and founder, Jerry Houston, makes the point that Talking is NOT COMMUNICATING. Communication requires an honest, two-way interaction that is based on understanding the message. Enjoy this week’s Power Idea! I had the pleasure of sitting in on the final class of our Virtual

ARE YOU STUCK? Sometimes we get bogged down when we are trying to effectively communicate with others. This is especially true in Business, when it is very important to have conversations with others when there are issues that must be dealt with. In this week’s Power Idea, Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham discusses a topic

It takes a big person to admit that they are flawed in the way that they sometimes communicate…or don’t. Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham, an expert in the facilitation of communication skills (and a darn good one!) confesses her own shortcomings, at times, about avoiding crucial conversations, and how feelings and emotions often times get

In this week’s Power Idea, CEO and Founder, Jerry Houston, discusses the idea about why we need to have CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS in our professional and our personal lives. We hope you enjoy this perspective on an important topic. I am always surprised when people tell me things that are just a little bit beyond real!

In our continuing focus on communications, Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky, demonstrates that there is clearly more than one way to communicate! In fact, you might say that it is a “graphic exposé” of other methods to make sure that the message is received as intended. Enjoy this week’s Power Idea! One of my favorite quotes

This week, in our continuing discussion of leadership, Diane Janovsky, Strategic Partner is cooking up some great advice about how managers and leaders can be great communicators. We think there are some tasty tidbits in this article so enjoy this week’s Power Idea! For managers of people, one of the most important skills to possess

Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston, is going to take time this week to talk about the art of communications and explain that truthfully, communicating is a process, more than an art. Once we understand and follow the process correctly we will learn that following simple rules is necessary to have clarity of our communications and

“WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE”. Never was there a better quote for this week’s topic (do you remember where this line came from? See the bottom of this Power Idea for the answer). Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky shares some really important revelations about communicating with impact. Enjoy this week’s Power Idea.

In a related article to last week’s Power Idea, Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell, discusses the idea of life positions as a foundation of how we “feel” about each other and how that impacts our communications with each other. Relate this back to our discussion about the Parent, Child and Adult Ego States that Charles

One of the most useful tools in improving communications and interactions between people is the art of Transactional Analysis. Over the next two power ideas we will discuss this concept and help our audience understand a powerful methodology to enhancing interactions between people. In this first article, Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell takes us on

Our fearless leader, Jerry Houston, has been in leadership roles since he was in his early twenties (many decades ago). He has been in the position of making many, many decisions in his life… some big… and some small. Nonetheless, he knows full well that decisions are sometimes very difficult and there may be many

Which way to go? How to get there? What to do next? These, and many other questions must be made every day. The truth is life is filled with decision-making and how to best manage this process in our businesses takes some forethought. In this week’s Power Idea, Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky, talks about Deciding

Everyone in the HPISolutions Leadership Team is tasked with different responsibilities with regard to the production of our weekly Ezine, Power Ideas. It struck us that we are in our 26th year of writing Power Ideas each and every week (somewhere around 1300 issues!). Our fearless leader, Jerry Houston has the assignment of writing the

Over the past three months, we have endeavored to bring you our best ideas about how to be a more EFFECTIVE LEADER IN THE 21ST CENTURY. In this final Power Idea, Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston, is going to reflect on what we have brought to our readers and what, we hope, has kindled some

Remember the little train that could? I think I can, I think I can, I think I can! We all admire self-confident people. We see them as winners, as someone who is in control of their actions. We also admire those who are motivated to achieve. When a person is motivated, they don’t need prompts

“I’m Late, I’m Late…For a Very Important Date” Does it seem like there is just not enough time to do everything on your “to do” list? Well, there isn’t… life is all about selecting priorities and doing those things that are most important and most beneficial to your overall happiness and success. One of the

In this week’s Power Idea, we thought we would touch upon a topic that all Leaders and Managers have the potential to deal with, especially in these times of a heightened awareness and sensitivity to harassment that has been leading the news stories, almost daily. Strategic Alliance Partner and our expert in all matters Human

Our founder and CEO, Jerry Houston, has been in management and leadership roles for over 45 years, and has learned some things to do (and not to do) during those four-plus decades. Leading and Managing is personal. It has to do with your view of what makes for a good leader or manager….and the job

Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell is a very goal focused individual. It is very natural for Charles to write this week’s Power Idea, as goal setting is something he teaches and preaches! This article focuses on the reasons why Goal Setting is so important if you want to increase success in your business and your

As I reviewed this week’s Power Idea from Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky, I was reminded that, in the end, it is about our purpose, not just about making money. Now, don’t be fooled by my comments because making profit is critical to the long-term success of all businesses. That said, we are all here for

Sometimes we just need to keep it simple. One of the foundational steps of great leadership is to be clear on what you want to accomplish. That leads us to ask the question, do you know where you are going and know the steps to get there? In this week’s Power Idea, Senior Strategic Partner,

Is there is difference between Manager and Leader? This is an often asked question and there continues to exist a great deal of confusion. Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell, offers some wisdom on this topic in this week’s Power Idea. We know you will benefit from his insights to this important question. There continues to

If there is one thing that Charles Parnell knows about, it is change. After spending over 4 decades in business and teaching at the University level, Charles is keenly aware of the changing landscape of business and the impact it has on leading, especially in the 21st Century. Enjoy this week’s article about what it

Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky shares some very important resolutions for leaders at all levels of the organization. As the labor market continues to heat up and tighten up, these factors are going to be increasingly important as you not only work to recruit best talent, but also hang on to them for the long haul.

Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston, leads off with the first Power Idea of 2018…EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN THE 21ST CENTURY. As Jerry pondered this theme for the first quarter of the new year, he ran across an article that really caught his attention….Why?…because it is foundational to what will be required to win in the 21st

Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell is wrapping things up for 2017, by reminding all of us of some important indicators that we must pay attention to as we evaluate 2017 results and look ahead to 2018. The year is coming to a close and businesses are assessing their successes and challenges for the ending year.

Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky, is preparing us to switch our mindsets from closing out 2017 and moving on to forward thinking for 2018. In this article you will revisit a great tool that has been reliable for many years to take a “SWOT” at where you are currently, and a lesser known tool to understand

‘Tis the Season indeed as Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky reminds us of the pace of the Holiday Season and how quickly the New Year will be upon us. In business, this is a time to pause and reflect. Diane shares some great ideas about how to get focused on the coming year, even in such

Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell, has some sage words of advice on the topic of wrapping up and closing out 2017 and what needs to be thought about for 2018. We hope you enjoy this week’s Power Idea. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, or need some guidance regarding some of

Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky, brings a very compelling conclusion to our series on the continuous development of employees in your organization. She points out that there are many ways to provide growth and learning opportunities that not only benefit the employee in their professional growth, but also the organization through applying new skills and collaborations

Long Term Development is an experiential dive into constant and real experiences in order to hone the natural and learned abilities of an individual. In this week’s Power Idea, Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston explores an idea that he often uses with coaching and mentoring clients as a way to assist them in taking stock

Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky, has been developing employees, mentees and coachees for most of her career, in private industry as well as in the realm of professional consulting. She has a lot to say about taking a long term perspective about developing employees for the long haul. When employees believe that you care about their

Our theme for the current period is Long Term Employee Development. Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston weighs in on this important factor that continually improves your people power and advantage over your competitors. One of the things I have learned over the 26+ years in this industry is that the real strength of an organization

The level of Employee Engagement in an organization continues to have a strong correlation with the overall performance of the business. Over the last few weeks, we profiled the critical elements and timing of the onboarding process as the foundation for a positive employee experience. In the month of October, we’ll turn our attention to

Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham, wraps up her series on the topic of OnBoarding with this great article that has specific advice on what to do during the first 30 days of a new employee’s time with your organization. So now your new protégé can swim, but you still need to keep an eye on

In this week’s Power Idea, Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham, continues her series on Onboarding and explains what should take place during the first week to ensure a successful onboarding process for a new employee. Enjoy! Many times a new employee will arrive in the middle of a busy work week. This should never keep

In our continuing series on On-Boarding and Employee Development, Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham focuses her attention on the issue gathering all of the pieces of what to do for a successful onboarding, before the first day of work. Enjoy this week’s Power Idea. Having a quality onboarding process that starts with a checklist costs

Have you ever started at a new organization and been plunked down at your new desk, handed a bunch of policies and told to “have at it?” Well maybe that is a little extreme, but what we do know for fact is that many organizations do not much more than show and tell, hoping that

Over the next several issues of Power Ideas, the experts at HPISolutions (and perhaps input from other professionals) will be talking about these important issues. Once you have gone through the recruiting process, invested a fair amount of time and money, and made a selection in a candidate or candidates that you are now going

Over the past several weeks, the HPISolutions team has been writing on the topic of GROWTH and how to manage it in your organizations. In this final article on the subject of Growth, CEO and Founder, Jerry Houston, has a few final words on this subject. Enjoy this week’s Power Idea. Over the past several

Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky proves the statement that “one plus one, does not always equal two.” The truth is that as your organization grows, and adds staff operations become exponentially more complex. No worries, Diane brings answers to those challenges. Enjoy this week’s Power Idea on Growth! When business owners or leaders drive for growth,

In the final Power Idea in this series, Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham shares the final factor from John Kotter’s eight-step growth and change process. We hope you have enjoyed and benefited from this series. In the previous power idea we shared the first four steps in John Kotter’s eight-step growth and change process to

There is a substantial amount of important information in what was initially going to be the final power idea of Our Iceberg is Melting…Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions. To keep our commitment of providing information that is easily read and applied, the final power idea will be shared in two parts and is the

In her continuing series on the impact of change during Growth, Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham discusses the concept of how change during growth impacts your most valuable asset… your employees. Read On! With any growth comes change and for organizations that may be one of the most important processes they’ll ever go through. How

Growth brings change, there is no question of that. Over the next four Power Ideas, Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham is going to explore this concept of change during Growth, starting with “the organizational factor”. Enjoy this week’s Power Idea. When organizations make a choice to grow they are also making a choice to change.

In this week’s Power Idea on our continuing series on GROWTH, Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston talks about the importance of a strong foundation of talented people. In the end, we are only as good as the weakest link…and in today’s competitive world, there is no room for a weak link. As I reflect back

In our continuing series on Business Growth, Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston, talks from the heart about the impact of Growth on an organization…..the good, the bad, and the ugly! Enjoy this week’s Power Idea. After almost 45 years in the business world, it has occurred to me that all of us chase the same

In this week’s Power Idea, Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham talks about the impact of culture to create a Great Place To Work. How does assuring that that the motivators valued in the organization align with an individual’s motivator values? Enjoy Laura’s thoughts on discovering the power of motivator values. HPISolutions believes strongly in two

Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky, a Certified Stages of Growth Consultant, has hit it out of the park on this week’s Power Idea. Diane shares with us what has happened since the Great Recession ended and how businesses are now required to manage differently as they begin to grow….some very dramatically in the last few years.

Growing a business is very challenging. There is much written on the subject and in this week’s Power Idea, Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston, explores the challenges of growing a business…and how to meet them.   I was pondering this whole idea of growth and decided to google the phrase “Business Growth Challenges” recently and

Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham, knows a great deal about people in general, and especially when it comes to working with teams. She understands the importance of people and being REAL. Enjoy this week’s Power Idea and put some thought to if you (and your team) are keeping it real! Building a Workplace about People

In our continuing series on Great Places to Work, Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky, reports in on a key issue that exists in Great Companies… Great Communications. Diane takes a new and innovative look at the idea that we just can’t keep people in the dark… like mushrooms! Enjoy this week’s Power Idea. People Are Not

We think you are really going to enjoy this week’s Power Idea that profiles a truly Great Place to Work, The Great Organization! Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston shares a story of a dynamic, boutique business in the custom millwork industry in Scottsdale, AZ. It takes inspired leadership to create a GREAT PLACE TO WORK,

This week, Diane Janovsky, Strategic Partner, shares a concept that is seldom discussed… WORKPLACE STRESS. Diane reveals the seven sources of workplace stress and what you can do about managing healthy stress while eliminating chronic stress in the environment. Enjoy this week’s Power Idea in our continuing series on Great Places to Work. Seven Sources

In our continuing series on Great Places to Work, Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston, discusses some key points that you need to know to become an Employer of Choice. We hope you enjoy this week’s Power Idea. EIGHT VALUES OF AN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE There is no question that being a Great Place to Work

I ran across this Power Idea, recently, from 2014, and it was so relevant to our discussion of Great Places to Work, that I thought we just had to share it. Rituals are so valuable in organizations to help employees have a sense of belonging, that this one is worth a re-read. RITUALS….What are the

Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky really hit it out of the park this week in our continuing series on GREAT PLACES TO WORK. She touches on a universal issue….FAIRNESS. Everybody wants to believe that they are being treated equally, with the same set of rules and the same consistency when it comes to meeting expectations. Enjoy

Over the next several Power Ideas our team is going to write about a topic that is getting a lot of press these days….GREAT PLACES TO WORK. What does it matter whether your place is a GREAT PLACE TO WORK? How do we measure the impact of being an EMPLOYER OF CHOICE? Read on as

Over the past several Power Ideas, we have explored the issue of High Impact Leadership. In this week’s Power Idea, we will put a wrap on this series in the form of some opinions from our Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston. We’re sure you will find Jerry’s thoughts interesting, and hopefully thought-provoking as each of

Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham has been leading teams for more than 30 years and understands deeply the needs of others, and what it means to be a leader that can be trusted She knows what she is doing, how to get others to join in the cause and how to move to action, doing

As we continue our series on High Impact Leadership, Strategic Partner Diane Janovsky brings us this comparison of two very different management styles characterized as the Watchmaker and the Beekeeper. In our ultra-competitive business world, which one is most likely to support long-term profitable and sustainable growth? Read on to find out. EMBRACE YOUR INNER

As we continue our journey in Formal Leadership, we need to talk about the different styles of leadership that exist. You have met each of these types of leaders in your journey…they will sound familiar and you will like some types better than others. The real question is… which type are you? Enjoy this week’s

Over the last two sessions, we have been writing about Formal Leadership. If you have missed the first two articles, contact info@hpisolutions.com and request the series. In this edition, Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston discusses the idea of authority and power in leadership. We hope you enjoy this week’s Power Idea. AUTHORITY AND POWER Have

Over the next few Power Ideas, Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston, will take us through a concept of leadership that will help us think, situationally about what High Impact Leaders must do in order to maximize their effectiveness. We start with the idea of “A Concept of Leadership.” FORMAL LEADERSHIP Throughout the years, many volumes

In this week’s Power Idea, we continue the idea of High Impact Leadership. Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston leans on friend and professional colleague, Dale Halm, from his recently published book, “The Excellence Agenda” where he talks about key points that cause excellence in leadership and organizations. We think Dale is onto something! We hope

We hope you have enjoyed our last two installments of Power Ideas on Conscious Capitalism and what it means to be a Conscious Leader. Strategic Partner Diane Janovsky will wrap up our third and final Power Idea on this subject by identifying how to grow and develop your capabilities as a Conscious Leader.  In the

Last week, we introduced “Conscious Capitalism” as an idea, an organization and a movement, which is based on four basic principles:  Higher Purpose, Stakeholder Orientation, Conscious Leadership and Conscious Culture. In keeping with our focus on high impact leadership, in this week’s Power Idea, Strategic Partner Diane Janovsky will look more closely at the topic

At HPISolutions, leadership is a subject that is near and dear to our hearts, and we’re always in search of valuable research and new ideas that we can share with our clients. Recently, we’ve been exploring the concept of “Conscious Leadership”, which is part of an overall model called “Conscious Capitalism”.  In this week’s Power

Leadership is all about results… unfortunately the desired results are not always well defined or understood by those on the team that must execute on the activities that should lead to the desired outcomes.  Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell shares his extensive experience and provides some important suggestions to become a results-based leader.  Enjoy this

One of our favorite sources of learning and understanding what is going on in the world of leadership is by being an avid follower of Josh Bersin from Bersin by Deloitte.  If you haven’t yet subscribed to their work, go to www.bersin.com and sign up.  In this week’s Power Idea, CEO and Founder, Jerry Houston,

Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham has many talents:  Teambuilding, Coaching, Emotional Intelligence Training, Leadership Development and on the list goes!  Probably her greatest skill is Public Speaking.  The need for strong public speaking skills is ever present, regardless of the line of work you are in.  Pay close attention to this week’s Power Idea; Laura

Longtime friend and colleague, Bill Sprietzer at Excellerate Solutions wrote this week’s contribution to Power Ideas.  We just had to share it with all of our readers.  We hope you enjoy Bill’s straight forward simple truths about leadership.  His message that we should “sweat the small stuff” couldn’t be more true in this world of

Ask any manager what is their least favorite aspect of the job, and they will probably tell you it is dealing with “people issues”.  However, being a manager means getting results through people, and having the ability to effectively deal with human emotions and behavior is perhaps the greatest skill a manager can possess.  As

Do you remember the movie that had the famous line, “what we have here is a failure to communicate?”  We have provided the answer below in this week’s Power Idea from Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham.  Laura is one of our foremost experts on communication and is going to bring us back to basics in

In our last Power Idea we talked about the concept of Transactional Analysis (TA) and the power this science has in helping us to understand and manage transactions, or interactions between each other.  If you missed reading that article, click here and read it before reading this week’s message.  In this second half of the

In our continuing series on managing and leading in the 21st century, Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston, takes us into a very interesting topic, Transactional Analysis, or, in other words, the transactions that occur between people.  While this is not a new science, it is as valid and important today as when it was developed

Have you ever heard it said “if you do not make a decision, you have still made one?”  One of the keys to great leadership is the ability to make clear decisions in a timely manner.  Not to do so causes confusion in the ranks and leaves forward motion to flounder.  In this week’s Power

I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date! There never seems to be enough time to get everything done… and if you feel that way, you are correct. Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell helps us to understand that Time is a fixed commodity. There are only 24 hours in a day and 365 days

Strategic Partner Diane Janovsky re-starts our series on Management Development with an article about one of the most important responsibilities of management, which is to establish Organizational Goals. Read on to learn more about how you can supercharge your company’s performance and growth by effectively deploying Organizational Goals. As organizations grow, it becomes more and

Well, here we are at the end of Laura Dillingham’s articles on Emotional Intelligence…or is it at the beginning? In just a couple of days we will begin our first ever Virtual Course on this topic. Register now before you miss out on this opportunity. Enjoy this week’s Power Idea. You probably know someone who

In this week’s Power Idea, Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham continues to discuss the issues uncovered and managed through a clear understanding of Emotional Intelligence. Remember to get signed up for our Virtual Course on Emotional Intelligence ASAP! This is a course you will not want to miss. There are two emotions that can cause

It has been said that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. You have a wonderful opportunity to learn about this important aspect of EQ (your emotional quotient) and how you can improve your EQ and advance your ability to interact with others more effectively. Remember to take a look at our

We are so excited about our first ever VIRTUAL COURSE ON EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE that we are bursting at the seams. SIGN UP NOW to gain early registration discounts and read on as Senior Strategic Partner and course facilitator Laura Dillingham describes Emotional Intelligence in very specific terms. What is Emotional Intelligence and why can it

We have been talking about Emotional Intelligence a great deal over the past several months….and with good reason. There is clear evidence that leaders who possess high levels of emotional intelligence and maturity excel well above leaders who lack emotional intelligence or maturity as they interact with superiors, peers and reports. NOW IS THE TIME

In this latest installment in the Management Development series, Strategic Partner Charles Thompson explains the importance of creating action steps to achieve goals and bring solutions to fruition. This entails not only setting realistic timelines and target dates, but it also means anticipating and managing potential roadblocks like procrastination and frustration. Like the Cowardly Lion

In this week’s Power Idea, we continue our discussion about Strategic Alignment.  This is an extremely important topic and I want to thank our lead expert on Stages of Growth, Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky.  This week Diane talks about 5 non-negotiable rules for each Stage of Growth that must be followed to ensure success and

Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell knocks it out of the park as he discusses what NOT TO DO when it comes to recruiting qualified candidates to the organization.  Charles has spent most of his adult life as a professional HR Leader, or teaching HR topics at the University of Phoenix and through HPISolutions.  Enjoy his

Industry colleague Lynda McNutt Foster is singing a familiar tune to us at HPISolutions when it comes to the importance of Emotional Intelligence (we call it EQ – Emotional Quotient) and how it ties to our behavioral design.  If you want GREAT LEADERS vs Good Leaders, this is an important article for you to read. 

Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky hits a bulls-eye with this on target message about effective job posting and the impact they have when properly constructed.  Most important is the idea that more and more employees want to connect with the culture and style of an organization that aligns with what they want from their work experience. 

To kick off our series on Hiring, Retention and Development, we thought the article below would be a great start as Jennifer Lawhead of TTI Success Insights shares with us five trends that all businesses must pay attention to in the new year.  Throughout the next several articles we will flesh out these trends and

We don’t know if there is anyone more knowledgeable than our own Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell, when it comes to understanding the strategies behind hiring and retaining employees.  After over 20 years in Human Resources Management for Dial Corporation, Charles has literally seen it all.  In addition, Charles teaches a wide variety of HR

In this final article in the series of strategic alignment, stages of growth, founder and CEO, Jerry Houston will put a bow around the conversation we have been having over the first month of 2016.  This article is a call to action for all of you that are experiencing growth (or want to) and finding

Last week, we introduced the concept of Seven Stages of Growth, which is based on the book “Navigating the Growth Curve” by James Fischer.  This week, we’ll be discussing the “27 Challenges”, which is the first layer of the model for creating strategic alignment.  Enjoy this article contributed by Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky. When an

In the second article of our Strategic Alignment Series, we examine the issue of Building/Protector ratios that exist in various stages of growth for your organization. CEO and Founder, Jerry Houston, challenges you to think whether you and your leadership team are builders or protectors, and what is appropriate at this stage in the business.

This week, CEO and Founder of HPISolutions, Jerry Houston, shares his thoughts on LEADERSHIP AND COURAGE.  Are you a courageous leader?  How do you know if you are courageous?  We hope you enjoy this week’s Power Idea in our continuing series on LEADERSHIP. Do you remember the Cowardly Lion in The WIZARD OF OZ?  Why

Can you really motivate someone, or is motivation an internal issue?  If you are inspired to do something, that gets to your very being, are you more likely to achieve, than if someone is doing their best to motivate you?  Diane Janovsky, Strategic Partner at HPISolutions has some great insights to the idea of Motivation vs. Inspiration.

No one we know has a better handle on what makes a dynamic leader, than our own, Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell.  Besides being a very successful senior leader, he has led more leadership development processes than most and has an uncanny way of facilitating change in leaders for well over 35 years. Enjoy this

Last week Diane Janovsky, Strategic Partner, brought a very important topic to light about Leadership wrongdoing that can have high impact on profits and people.  If you missed that article, please write to info@hpisolutions.com  and request Part One of this series.  In this week’s Power Idea, Diane shares what actions are necessary to guarantee consistency

This may be one of the most important articles we have written.  You will not want to miss reading this article because, Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky, is right on the money about this critical topic in today’s world….do we have Corporate Values that can stand over the lifetime of our businesses, or not?  Do we

“Not having a goal is liking throwing a dart at a blank wall.”  As Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell points out, Goal Setting is a very big part of personal and organizational success.  Identifying objectives, developing SMART goals around those objectives and executing on them is essential to the accomplishment of critical objectives for your

Making decisions is an incredibly important part of effective leadership.  As Charles Parnell, Senior Strategic Partner at HPISolutions tells us in this weeks’ Power Idea, part of what defines your success as a leader is the ability to make effective and timely decisions.  Remember, even when you don’t make a decision, you have already made

Over the past several weeks, our Strategic Partner team has been writing about various workforce development topics (if you missed this series, write to Drea@Hpisolutions.com and she will get you copies!) and we hope that you have enjoyed and benefited by our efforts to keep you informed about how you can have the very best,

Who cares if there is an “official” organization chart? Who bothers to look at the chart or even cares whether there is a current chart or not. Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky is an expert in organizational structure and ensuring that the processes that support your people are in place to accurately support the team and

One of the key challenges businesses face is communicating messages when the situation is a difficult one. Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham, shares this insightful article taken from the book about having difficult discussions and achieving the desired outcome. Enjoy this week’s Power Idea. Difficult Conversations By Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Sheila Heen The following

It has been said that the “only certainty is change.” Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell, brings an interesting topic to our series on Workforce Development….Change, and what causes it, the impact, and what mangers and leaders need to do to embrace change and manage it in the workplace. Enjoy this week’s Power Idea. Managers are

DEALING WITH DIFFICULT EMPLOYEES is a challenging topic. Think for a minute about how much time you as a leader spend on the difficult person(s) on your team. Yet, does the person have redeeming employment value…the answer is usually yes. This is why it is so tough to let go when you know in your

It’s no longer enough to just run an ad and expect to get the best employees in the market. IT is a competition for talent and your organization has to understand how to develop your “EMPLOYER BRAND.” Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky, has some words of wisdom to share on this topic. Enjoy this week’s Power

Organizations of all types are increasingly concerned about their employees and are taking action in record numbers. Corporate wellness programs, mandatory vacation time and other methods are being employed as evidence of their corporate consciousness continues to grow. In this issue of PI, CEO and founder Jerry Houston, tackles the issue of stress in the

Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell is a long standing expert in team development, having worked with thousands of individuals over the years in non-profit, for profit and governmental agencies. Teamwork is essential and is a continuous learning tool for all organizations if you truly want to continually develop your workforce.  Enjoy this week’s Power Idea.

In the second article on TRUST in the workplace, Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham shares with us the signs of high trust, and the results of low trust. Enjoy the conclusion of this two part article. If you missed the first part, write toinfo@HPISolutions.com and we will send you a copy. There are signs that there is

Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham kicks off our two month long series on WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, focusing on the issue of TRUST. Enjoy this article and the one that will follow. We promise it will be reading that is worth your while. Let’s look at a basic premise, trust. Trust can be defined as a belief

Charles Parnell, Senior Strategic Partner at HPISolutions, is right on with this week’s Power Idea about World Class Customer Service (WCCS). He brings to our attention what WCCS is and the outcomes that must be achieved to attain it. Enjoy these views and determine if your organization has achieved WCCS!   As organizations navigate the

Here is some great advice from Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky, as she strongly states, LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS! Enjoy this week’s Power Idea.  When a business first starts up and customers are few, maintaining relationships is fairly easy. Listening to and taking good care of the clients who generate those precious sales dollars is frequently

Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky asks what is important regarding the “customer experience” that we all need to pay attention to. Somewhere along the way many organizations have been so internally focused, they have just plain gotten “stupid” about what the customer really wants. Enjoy this week’s Power Idea! If you are a business owner or

I realize how busy our readers are, however, I would ask that we have a moment of silence to observe the slow and painful death of our friend, Customer Service. Customer Service at one time in the past was King. For us Baby Boomers and Matures, we remember the attendant running out to our cars

I just suffered through another “lack of service” experience and thought the timing was right to remind all of our readers about the basic rules of customer service….and yes, I did send a copy of this to my supplier who provided poor customer service….who knows, maybe it will help! Your customer’s fury is building, and

As usual, Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham knocks it out of the park with this insightful article regarding finding the right fit for the job. Laura points out that it is well documented about the soaring costs of making hiring mistakes…and yet companies continue to commit “Olsen’s definition of insanity – continuing to make the

Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell, reminds us that while there are job boards and all that good technology stuff to find candidates, some of the more traditional methods can work extremely well. Every hiring assignment starts with a VERY CLEAR POSITION DESCRIPTION AND KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES for the position. Without these things, hiring is little more

Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham, is right on with some very thought provoking questions regarding hiring. Enjoy her article on getting clarity on job requirements, not just on skills, experience or education, but also on matching the behavioral needs of the position to the person.  You would think that in today’s economy potential employees would

Once you have a new employee, how do you retain them? Have you thought about how much effort and cost goes into recruiting, interviewing, evaluating, conducting meetings to make the hire decision, training, orienting, putting a person on the payroll, etc., only to lose them down the road…..ugh! Read this week’s Power Idea from Senior Strategic

Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell, is certified in Making Every Hire Count and has a long career in Human Resource Leadership, including teaching Human Resources at the University of Phoenix. Read on as Charles talks about a very significant issue… Having an effective hiring process that allows your organization to hire the right person for

Joan Graci is Owner and President of a human capital firm, APA Solutions. She is an industry colleague and also an author of the book, “No More Bad Advice.” Joan makes some very interesting points about this week’s topic, Are You Making Your Employees Stupid? Enjoy this week’s Power Idea. Let’s face it: We’re all

As usual, Senior Partner Diane Janovsky is right on the money in the article below entitled “Human Capital.” This is very timely as we all toil to make 2015 a great year in our respective businesses. Diane reminds us that we can’t just be thinking about tangible assets. We really need to be paying attention to

After weeks of interviewing a number of senior leaders from many of our client organizations, we are happy to present a White Paper – What Do Leaders Really Want, for your reading enjoyment.   We hope you will take the time to read this report in its entirety. There are many insights that we have gained thanks to the honest

In the final installment of my series on what to expect in 2015 regarding Talent Management, I would like to talk about what employees are expecting and how shifting to this new way of recruiting, retaining and developing your team will pay big dividends in the new year. Again, many of these ideas come from

In last week’s article, I shared with you some thought-provoking issues related to the need for a stronger Talent Management system and commitment going forward in the New Year. Today, I’d like to talk about the Human Resources role in all of this. The HR function (whether separately managed in your organization or as a

Dear Readers…First we want to wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2015. This is an exciting time as we look forward to a robust year. Hopefully your greatest challenge will be to manage your growth as your organization moves towards the attainment of your goals and objectives. I recently received and read an outstanding

Have you ever spent time thinking about the strategies you need to deploy at any given time in the growth or planned growth of your organization? Read on as HPISolutions CEO, Jerry Houston describes the process that helps you to understand what stage of growth your organization is in and where it is headed. Understanding

There has been a lot of improving news as the country emerges from the worst recession in history. So why are we so challenged during this time of growth? As a certified Stages of Growth consultant I have learned that it is critical to know what stage of growth your organization is at and whether

The emotional climate of a workplace either supports or deteriorates performance. Ignoring this layer of the workforce reality is perilous because when emotional intelligence is low, it can result in very negative consequences to the organization’s bottom line. This week our CEO, Jerry Houston, discusses the real world impact of low EQ (Emotional Quotient) in

Ask your front line staff about their crankiest customer experiences and you’ll likely be met with story after story of seemingly irrational behavior. Your grouchiest customers are upset because they have a problem. They haven’t received a return phone call. They can’t download a file stored on your website. They believe the invoice you sent

Take it from one who knows….Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell is an expert when it comes to Leadership and Emotional Intelligence. This week’s Power Idea will be one of great value to read. Enjoy! There has been an enormous amount of research and discovery regarding the characteristics and traits that separate extraordinary leaders from those

Dear Readers, we certainly owe Laura Dillingham, Senior Strategic Partner, a debt of gratitude for her terrific series on Leading the Generational Workforce. In this final article, Laura ties together what we have shared with you and works to help you see the value of understanding the differences in the generations and how hiring from

Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham continues her examination of the various generations in the workforce in Part Three of this continuing series. The most recent generations, X and Y are clearly the future workforce. Their attitudes, views and work styles are critically important to understand in order for leaders to maximize productivity in the workplace.

In Part Two of Leading the Generational Workforce, Laura Dillingham, Senior Strategic Partner discusses the two oldest generations in the workforce, Traditionalists and Baby Boomers. Enjoy this reading and also learn about the “older generations” and what is important to them in the work environment. Feel free to contact us if you have something to

Over the next few weeks and in our November webinar, we will be talking about a VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE…multiple generations in the workforce.  Never in the history of our nation have we seen so many generations intertwined in the workforce. Different generations see things differently, and this can be very challenging to manage. One of

Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky brings up a very important issue, reference checks. Most of us feel that no one in their right minds would give us a bad reference…and we are right! So if you uncover something in a reference check, you should pay careful attention to that discovery. In addition, previous employers are very

As most of our readers know, we are dedicated to unlocking the power of human potential. Part of that mission is understanding how to get the most out of the various teams that operate in your organization. Senior Strategic Partner, Laura Dillingham is a well-known expert in team dynamics. Enjoy her Power Idea about how

Industry colleague Steve Morris gives us some great advice about mishires… Bad hires are draining, both financially and emotionally. We might also add that they are very disruptive to business. Today, more than ever, it’s important to understand the system you employ to find new talent will determine whether you make a sound and strategic

In our continuing discussions of hiring and retaining the best people, we submit this week’s power idea as evidence of the growing need to hire the right person, in the right position, and then continually develop them for top performance. This is very true today, but will be increasingly true tomorrow. The Millennial Generation has

Implement Effective Selection with a Total Person Analysis Many of our regular followers know that we are dedicated to maximizing the human potential inside of our client organizations. They also know that in order to have a powerful and effective team, it starts with finding the right people for the bus, and making sure they

Why Paying Unhappy Employees $25K to Quit is Crazy  One of my heroes in life is Bill Bonnstetter, Chairman of TTI Success Insights and Target Training International, and producer of one of the world’s greatest line of assessments available to business today. Bill wrote such an interesting article recently, that I just had to share it.   Bill knows

On July 10, 2014, Houston Partners International turned 22 years old. As the Founder and CEO, I am no stranger to the good and “not so good” of getting older. We have been hard at work on a “facelift” and some extensive “reconstructive surgery” and are proud to introduce: Along with our new trade name

“A team is only as strong as its weakest link.”   When people are unhappy at work it costs a lot… more than just money! Morale slips, people feel disengaged and eventually they are no longer competent. Read this article from Tom Lemanski where he tells us to have a strong team, that isn’t leaving, it is always about

No one in the world knows better than Bill Bonnstetter, Chairman of Target Training International (creators of the TriMetrix Hiring System), when it comes to understanding what it takes to find and retain the best people for your organization. Here’s what Bill has to say about “If the job could talk.”  Job Talk  If a job could

The telephone rings, the email beeps – you have new mail, an employee knocks at the door, the cell phone vibrates, on and on go the demands of your time. Each of these deserves some level of attention, but what priority should they be given? It is a tough question to answer as each situation would present

Selling is the one game in town that pays the bills, that keeps the doors open, and that nobody wants to admit they do! “I’m not in sales; I’m a supervisor, doctor, lawyer, banker, administrator, accountant.” “Don’t look at me, I’m just the secretary, nurse, receptionist, shipping clerk.” Funny – if nobody sells…how do you get new

Author and international expert, Ed Oakley, is a master at asking truly effective questions. In his book, Enlightened Leadership, he describes what makes effective questions, effective. Here are excerpts from Ed’s book on this important subject.    In simple terms, the human mind, which is far more powerful than any computer devised by mankind, basically

From the experts at Resource Associates Corporation, here are words to the wise about avoiding surprises during the sales process.   One of the worst things that can happen to you is a surprise loss. Your job when talking to a prospect is to be in control of your sale: To know what’s going on in the

If you live or work in Arizona, and especially in the Valley of the Sun, you undoubtedly know the name Ginny McMinn. Ginny is the Founder and President of McMinn HR and is considered one of the foremost HR experts (and our Alliance Partner!) in the region. She has learned a great deal over the years in our industry and I know

Did you know there are a “second” set of commandments? They offer very sound advice! One of my all-time favorite leaders is Harvey Mackay, Chairman of Mackay Envelope Corporation. His great gift is keeping the message simple and useful. The following article was found in the Arizona Republic and suggested to me as a Power Idea by our own

Sustainability means different things to different organizations, and it should as size of organization and industry most definitely play a role in the definition.  However, there are commonalities to sustainability that apply to every organization, and it is a profitable proven business strategy when implemented effectively.  It creates a competitive business advantage while positively impacting

SUSTAINABILITY RESULTS Economic Impact The results are in! Implementing a sustainability strategy is no longer just for large organizations. Following are some real world examples: A small manufacturing company increased their capacity within one week by participating in a tailored cycle time reduction process, saving 1.2 million. They redesigned their production scheduling and work-in-processes to

There are many proven reasons to implement a sustainability strategy. Here are some that you may find of value for your organization: Improving your profitability (doing good things in order to do well) Existing or impending regulations Your customers are (or will be) demanding it Your competition is doing it and they look better as

Sustainability means different things to different organizations, and it should, as size of organization and industry most definitely play a role in the definition. However, there are commonalities to sustainability that apply to every organization, and it is a profitable, proven business strategy when implemented effectively. It creates a competitive business advantage while positively impacting