Catching up with Karyn

Employee Engagement and Corporate Culture

These are two buzzwords that have been trending over the past few years. But there’s a reason they’re trending – these circumstances can make or break an organization!

I’ve worked with a lot of executives and high performers who have been passionate about improving employee engagement and their corporate culture, and it’s incredible that leaders are recognizing the impact these two factors have on today’s workplace.

But let’s back up for a moment. Why are employee engagement and corporate culture so important?

New Workforce

A recent study reports that 35% of working Americans are aged 21 to 36 (Pew Research and MarketWatch). That’s a huge percentage. The workforce is getting younger, and in addition to this, people are moving in and out of organizations with increasing speed. Your organization needs to put effort into attracting and retaining this large new talent pool.

A “firings will continue until morale improves” culture won’t cut ...

An experience that makes your customers ‘Feel Good’ is an experience that is going to bring those customers back to you. More than that, “Feel Good” creates word of mouth: customers love to tell their friends, co-workers, and at least some of their relatives about the fantastic time they’ve had, so that their friends, colleagues, and family can enjoy the experience as well.

The problem is that not everyone wants your customers (or patients, if you’re in a healthcare setting!) to feel good. In a book I’ve recently written with two of the smartest people I know (T. Scott Gross and Greg Ayers), we examined the three types of people you’ve probably got working for you, and how they feel about creating a “Feel Good” experience for your customers.

Never Teach a Pig to Sing…It Wastes Your Time and Irritates The Pig!

Not everyone is psychologically capable of extending “Feel Good” to perfect strangers. That’s just a fact of life, and no amount of training, no incentive program, no creative ...

My youngest son, Adam, is a student at Second City, the school of improve in Chicago, the springboard for so many of the Saturday Night Live cast. Finally people who can appreciate what his high school teachers could not—his comedic genius! (How many trips to the principal’s office for entertaining his classmates?)

Recently I asked him how he was applying his lessons at Second City to other areas of his life (hoping that my tuition dollars were getting the most bang for the yuck, so to speak). I was pleasantly taken aback by the wisdom he has acquired. He works evenings waiting tables (as many starving artists do) at a local restaurant/jazz club: Andy’s Jazz Club. (For those of you living or visiting Chicago, definitely check this place out—great food and great music [and amazing waiters—at least on certain nights…]).

He explained that the two most important rules of Improv are 1) Never say no. Whatever the situation, say yes—take whatever situation you’re given (especially the unexp...