What’s Reflected in Your Brand Mirror?

To hold on to your customers amid strong competition, it’s important to provide a positive customer experience. But where do you begin? You start from the inside out with the employee experience because the way employees feel is the way customers will feel – and if your employees don’t feel valued, neither will your customers.  

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Strengthening Your Company’s Brand from the Inside-Out – Podcast Interview

What a joy to be a guest on the “Profitable Happiness™” Podcast, hosted by bestselling author and musician, Dr. Pelè, who focuses on workplace happiness as a key to success. In our engaging 30 minute conversation, we talk about what lead me to bridge marketing and human resources with internal marketing to create a positive 

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True Confessions: I’m Tired of Employee Engagement

I started working on employee engagement long before the “e” word came into vogue, and I’m tired of it. Here’s why. Overused as a business buzzword, the term “employee engagement” has become meaningless. It gets talked about in executive suites and management meetings, yet few companies actually do anything about it because too much effort 

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At the Heart of a Successful Brand

This powerful statement is from the late Bob Wood, former Chairman of Wood Dining Services, whom I had the privilege of interviewing for my first book on internal marketing, Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most: A Guide to Employee-Customer Care.  Bob was the epitome of an engaged leader who truly cared about his employees 

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Internal vs. External Customers: Who Comes First?

In many organizations there are employees who not only serve customers, they ARE customers. These “internal” customers are employees who rely on the information and resources provided by fellow employees who work in support functions such purchasing, HR, accounting, IT/information, etc. The level of quality service and support that “internal” customers receive from them impacts 

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“You’re facilitating with what … ?!”

I’m proud to announce that I’m now a Certified Facilitator in LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®. That’s right, I can help companies “solve real problems in real time in 3D” using specially selected LEGO® bricks. LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® is a proven methodology based on extensive research from the fields of business, psychology, learning, and organizational development. It uses 

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Workplace Engagement: an Inspired Strategy

We know that people can show up for work fully engaged only to have their enthusiasm and energy chipped away over time; i.e., once engaged doesn’t mean always engaged. That’s because numerous factors contribute to one’s engagement levels that include an employee’s personal situation (involving health, family, financial well-being, and support systems) and his/her workplace situation 

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When Strategic Change is Designed to Disengage

After hearing from clients and colleagues undergoing organizational restructuring, I’m totally confounded by their descriptions of what’s happening. Managers are brought in from “corporate” or outside the organization and placed in positions to make changes without gathering any input from current managers who are running successful business units. Yes, I get that company execs can 

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Serving Like a Wise Owl — Guest Post by Chip Bell

[Note: this special guest post is by Chip R. Bell, renowned keynote speaker and the author of several award-winning, national best-selling books. See more about Chip at the end of this post.] Audubon Magazine features annually their photography awards. This is the magazine of the National Audubon Society, the oldest conservation organization in the world for the 

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