Blog Archive
July 2007
I read a great story on my way to work this morning – which given the aura of glumness hovering over my fellow commuters – seemed timely as well as thought provoking.
Most of us understand that having a positive outlook is preferable to that of a negative one, but how many of us simply react emotionally to most situations rather than consciously choosing to apply a positive attitude to what life throws our way?
I’m not advocating that we all go around grinning moronically (although the entertainment value of this alone may be worth pursuing!) but we do have a choice.
I have always disliked the term ‘human resources’. It implies that people are resources just like anything else at the company’s disposal. Yet people are the company. And whatever plans, strategies and missions may exist, it’s the people – the company – that will succeed or fail in those quests.
I’ve just come back from a fantastic holiday in Dubai. The weather was incredible – 45 degrees each day (too hot for some!) whilst the sea resembled a bath with temperatures holding a steady 35 degrees…Oh, and the skies (in complete contrast to the UK this Summer), remained cloudless for the entire 2 weeks.
Aside from the idyllic weather though, the thing that really strikes you about Dubai is the sheer ambition of the place.
There are so many definitions of this phrase Employee Engagement. It’s become a mini industry in itself, with a range of companies operating in this field. Web and intranet designers, event producers, pensions and benefits companies, survey companies, healthcare companies – you name it, a vast number of them view themelves as agents of employee engagement.
I recall a great story when a little boy, sick from eating so much sugar beet, was taken by his mother in desperation to Mahatma Gandhi for guidance. She walked for days to get there, but was promptly sent home again by the great man and told to return in a month. The reason? Gandhi needed a month of sugar abstinence himself before telling the boy not to eat any more sugar.