05/14/10 by Ankit Patel | factoid, lean transformation, motivating employees |

Employee engagement is a key success factor for organizational transformation. In a recent McKinsey survey, nearly 100% of respondents who characterized their companies’ change-management initiatives as extremely successful said employees could contribute ideas to shape the efforts. And nearly a quarter of the extremely successful transformations were planned by groups…

04/30/10 by Ankit Patel | factoid |

Greater happiness is associated with higher future income, research shows. A one-point increase in people’s assessment of their happiness on a five-point scale was linked to a 3% higher income five years later, according to a study cited by Saatchi & Saatchi S. Source: Small Actions Big Impact: Foundations of…

04/23/10 by Ankit Patel | factoid |

To reduce ink use and save money, the University of Wisconsin Green Bay’s IT department has changed the default font for Outlook to Century Gothic, which it says requires 30% less ink in printouts than Arial, the most commonly used default font. Ink accounts for about 60% of the cost…

04/16/10 by Ankit Patel | factoid |

Studies have shown that people with high stress levels perform 50% worse on cognitive tests than people with low stress. Source: Brain Rules by John Medina In today’s workplace where high stress is a norm, how much productivity are we loosing due to too much stress? How many hears off…

04/09/10 by Ankit Patel | factoid, motivating employees |

Scientist Sam Glucksberg once conducted an experiment where he divided a collection of participants into two groups, assigning both groups the Candle Problem. He gave one of the groups a cash prize incentive if they solved the problem faster than the average person who took the test. Surprisingly, members of…

04/02/10 by Ankit Patel | factoid, layoffs |

40% [of companies] reported that downsizing did not result in reduced expenses and more than 60% did not experience higher profits after cutting staff Source: Estok, D. (1996, June 3). The High Cost of ‘Dumbsizing.’ Maclean’s 109, 28-9 Why are companies so quick to pull the layoff card? My thoughts…

03/26/10 by Ankit Patel | factoid, motivating employees |

What motivates employees? It’s not necessarily money. Here are factors that motivate employees from a Business week article in 2008: Empowerment to Make Decisions Opportunities for Growth & Development Variety Mutual Support and Respect Sense of Purpose Desirable Future Find out more at an article Motivating Employees Without Money

03/19/10 by Ankit Patel | factoid, motivating employees |

Here are some statistics on why employees leave a company: 25% of respondents reported leaving employers because of ineffective leadership22% cited poor relationships with their managers21% said their contributions were not valued Source: http://www.worldatwork.org/waw/adimComment?id=26632 We see all kinds of issues related to company culture. Employee retention is not only a…

03/05/10 by Ankit Patel | factoid, multitasking |

Studies show that a person who is interrupted takes 50% longer to accomplish a task and makes up to 50% more errors. Source: Brain Rules by John Medina “How do you prevent multitasking?

02/26/10 by Ankit Patel | factoid, stress and productivity |

Adults with high stress levels performed 50% worse on declarative memory tests (things you can declare) and executive function tests (the type of thinking that involves problem solving). Both are skills needd to excel in school and business. Source: Brain Rules by John Medina How does your company lower stress?…