Showing results by publisher "Ascent Audio" in Workplace & Organisational Behaviour

Accelerating Performance is not just another "warm and fuzzy" change management book - it's a practical, comprehensive, data-driven action plan for picking up the pace and achieving more. Cowritten by one of the authors of Beyond Performance, this audiobook draws on a combination of empirical research and decades of experience advising global companies to show you how to reduce time to value by building and changing momentum more quickly than your competitors.

From dealing with underperformers to fighting off lawsuits, employee problems are the bane of a manager's existence. So what do most do? Ignore them! And that's a recipe for more problems. Written by a seasoned HR expert and employment attorney, Hard-Won Wisdom takes you inside the messy reality of situations gone wrong. These sometimes funny, always cautionary tales reinforce crucial lessons for managers.

Why does a CEO who has already made hundreds of millions of dollars continue to work? Why does a rock star who has made a bundle continue to tour? Why do retirees' miss work as soon as they stop doing it? Why do we all wrestle with our life's work and talk about it incessantly? The thing about work is that we love it, we hate it, we need it, we miss it, we measure ourselves by it, we judge others by it - we are addicted to it. Work often defines us and fulfills us.

Organizations are coming to the reality that work-life balance is no longer solely an issue for working women. As we progress further into the 21st century, workers and ways of working are changing. We have four generations operating together in the workplace and a tremendous variety of professional expectations, values, goals, and needs. People want to work, but more and more need work to work better in their lives.

Leaders have talked about the importance of corporate culture for decades, but the success of iconic companies like GE, Apple, and Google show how culture is a strategic lever that can be utilized for driving growth, change, and innovation. In this new age of globalization, rapid technology shifts, and constant disruption, the 21st-century marketplace is more volatile and uncertain than ever. To thrive, businesses need a new kind of emphasis around culture.

Is your workplace working for you and your employees? Studies show that unhealthy work habits, like staring at computer screens and rushing through fast-food lunches, are taking their toll in the form of increased absenteeism, lost productivity, and higher insurance costs - but it doesn't have to be that way. Companies such as Google, Apple, Aetna, and Johnson & Johnson have used innovative techniques to incorporate healthy habits and practices into the workday and into their culture - with impressive ROI.

The Etiquette Edge gives you a crash course on modern business manners. New advice explains how to navigate sticky situations at work, including digital interactions that are easy to misinterpret - and hard to mend. From interviewing etiquette and dress codes to working in close quarters and communicating upward, you'll master the essentials of making a great impression and building relationships.

In the last 10 years, the number of nonprofits and social sector organizations has grown by almost 25 percent, while charitable giving declined 30 percent over the same period. As a result, many organizations are chasing grants, tweaking and adding to their core activities to match what they think funders are looking for. Almost half of nonprofits surveyed nationally in 2014 said they added additional programs in the last year. The result is colloquially known as "mission creep" - organizations trying to be everything to everyone.

If your answer to any of the following questions is yes, listen to this book now. Don't walk into another situation without being 100 percent confident. 1. Have you ever been unsure as to who should be introduced first? 2. Have you ever placed your keys, purse, or cell phone on a table at a restaurant? 3. Have you ever worn your name tag on your left lapel? 4. Have you ever buttered your entire dinner roll before taking the first bite? 5. Have you ever sat down to dine and not known which glass was yours?

Mentors are over-utilized, undertrained, and often under deliver. From an employer's perspective, assigning a mentor is often a band aid to a larger problem. From an employee's perspective, a lack of formal mentorship is seen as a serious, career-inhibiting problem, the equivalent of sailing a boat without a rudder. In The Mentor Myth, Debby Carreau represents this dichotomy, explaining that while a mentor's counsel can be invaluable, it is not the silver bullet human resources professionals claim.

In her newest book, Be Bad First, Erika explores how we can become masters of mastery; proficient in the kind of high-payoff learning that's needed today. She encourages listeners to embrace being bad on the way to being great - to be novices over and over again as we seek to learn and acquire the new skills that will allow us to thrive in this fast-changing world.

Funding falls apart. A similar product is unveiled by a more established company. A key employee jumps ship to work for a competitor. These are the unexpected obstacles that derail even the most promising new ventures. Entrepreneurs determined to keep up with today's constantly changing business environment need to stay nimble enough to shift their strategies, products, and services on a dime. Yet many fail to master this essential new mind-set: agility.

Disruption creates 10 times the opportunity to advance your organization and your career, according to former CEO and author Peter J. Boni. In All Hands on Deck: Navigating Your Team Through Crisis, Getting Your Organization Unstuck, and Emerging Victorious, Boni shows any leader or aspiring leader exactly what to do. Following his advice, recognition and rewards come quickly.

Supported by the latest research, this eye-opening audiobook argues that our best work is the product of a positive environment. That's good news for you as a manager. While you can't personally transform the corporate culture, you can influence the workplace climate and create meaningful and lasting change.

When it comes to getting a job, the smallest thing can trip you up. For 30 years Dr. Paul Powers has asked thousands of successful job hunters a few basic but important questions.

Play is an essential, necessary, and natural human activity, and it's for adults and companies, too. Funny Business will show you how adults and companies can recapture and use this powerful tool to foster innovation, increase their competitive advantage, and create a vibrant and satisfying workplace. It delves into the concepts of play and what makes it so powerful in children's development' and dispels the myths and beliefs that have made play a dirty word.

The authors discuss the current research on unconscious bias and insider-outsider dynamics and focus on how to translate that current research into best practice for leaders. SET for Inclusion follows the stories of three diverse characters in a large modern organization - a top executive, a middle manager, and an individual contributor. Each of these characters is working to make inclusiveness real, to provide tangible benefits for them as individuals and for the organization.

When people are kept from moving - whether they're sitting through a presentation or stuck behind a desk - they become restless, and their attention waivers. Yet most training ignores the innate human desire for motion, resulting in participants learning less.

Investing with Impact: Why Finance Is a Force for Good outlines the roadmap to reinvigorate a skeptical public and demoralized financial services industry by making the case that contrary to popular misconception, finance is not the cause of the world's problems, in fact, it can provide the solution. Author Jeremy Balkin presents the case that the finance industry can improve the state of the world by positively influencing the allocation of capital.

Learning to Succeed insists that an integrated model for corporate education - one that links development programs with strategic goals - is critical to building agile and resilient learning organizations that will survive in our fast-evolving business landscape. Companies need to assess continually where they need to go in relation to where they are now - and use training to bridge the gap.