Today we’re sharing insight from guest Art Betancourt, Principal & Founder of AEBetancourt. We hope you enjoy Art’s wisdom and perspective.

If you’ve ever been to a Disney resort or theme park, then you know that the level of service Disney's staff of “Cast Members” is unmatched. No detail is beneath their attention; their entire focus is on ensuring your family has the best possible experience during your stay.

What you may not realize is how incredibly difficult it is to land a spot in Disney's team. For instance, on a recent visit to Disney World, my family was delighted by a particular waitress at the Rose and Crown Pub. When I asked her how she came all the way from England to our table, she told me that she was one of the 40 hand-picked out of a pool of 6,000 applicants, or that position to join the cast—0.007% of applicants made the cut.    

While most organizations may not have the luxury of being as selective in their hiring decisions, you must admit Disney is on to something. Their success aligns with significant research on talent sourcing and development as well as the best practices in finding, selecting, and growing talent.

So, what can we learn from Disney regarding hiring and retaining top talent in today’s labor market?

Have you made any New Year’s resolutions? Perhaps to spend more time getting in shape? Eat healthier? Your health and wellbeing are very important, but we’d also encourage you to consider some personal risk management resolutions this year!

Here are 4 suggestions to help you improve your risk management strategy this year:

The holiday season is upon us once more! 'Tis the season for family and giving, festive decorations, social gatherings and office parties, tasty sweets, family meals, shopping, and more.

With so many jolly activities to participate in, it's important to make sure you, your loved ones, and your organization are safe and healthy this holiday season. Consider the following resources to get you ready for the holidays!

We at Gibson would like to extend to you and yours our best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving this year! We are thankful for you - our friends, family, clients, and colleagues. Give thanks, and enjoy the family, food, and frivolity!

We all have our favorite Thanksgiving traditions. It could be eating turkey and pumpkin pie, spending quality time with family, watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, cheering on your favorite football team, preparing for Black Friday shopping, or perhaps you’re someone who loves to start the day by running in a local turkey trot race. This week is a time to gather with friends and family, and to give thanks for our blessings.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Dr. Julie Lauck, Superintendent of Valparaiso Community Schools. We hope you enjoy Dr. Lauck’s wisdom and perspective.

Great ideas often come from simple beginnings. Much like the beginning of a favorite movie of mine, Out of Africa begins with “I had a farm in Africa…” the story of an initiative we started this year in our district begins like this, “I had a Yorkie with a tummy ache.”

I took my dog to the vet late last spring. Dr. Bill Donohue and I began talking about his sponsorship of our one and only therapy dog. My comment to Dr. Donohue was that I would have a therapy dog in every school if I could. Dr. Donohue offered to sponsor any dog we could place. He added that he had a patient expecting a litter of ten English Cream Golden Retrievers. I looked at him and said, “I’ll get every single one placed.” He provided me with the contact information… and so it began.

We all struggle to get ahead of the talent challenges of today's workplace. At Gibson, we care so much about this topic that we have partnered with employee engagement software leader, Emplify, to bring insights and tools to the table as trusted advisors.

In this webinar, we’ll be joined by Emplify CEO and Co-founder, Santiago Jaramillo, as he shares actionable takeaways to build your own personalized culture framework to help you not only mitigate culture challenges, but get ahead of them.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Joel Swanson, Certified EOS Implementer and Speaker. We hope you enjoy Joel’s wisdom and perspective.

It has almost certainly happened to each of us - you’re driving down the road on cruise control. You’re not doing anything reckless, but your mind is on a million things besides the stretch of road you’re on. You’re thinking about your destination, how long it will take to get there, whether you have enough gas, what’s for lunch, and why no one seems to know how to use a turn signal any more.

The next thing you know, you’re literally shaken back into focus by the rumble strip just on the other side of the white line. You’ve drifted a bit, so you make a slight course correction to straighten things out, and continue on your way with more focused direction.

No big deal, right? Right. But things could have gotten really dicey if it weren’t for that rumble strip.

The rumble strip was there to serve a purpose: it let you know that you were off course before you barreled into the ditch. It nudged you into making a small adjustment so you could avoid disaster.

There are rumble strips available to your business. Are you using them?

Nobody thrives in a plague or does their best work while fending off lions. And it doesn’t take a catastrophe to throw stress reactions into overdrive. When people don’t trust that they’ll be able to complete their work without surprises — especially those that come with negative consequences — engagement is nearly impossible. 

Being prepared to maintain employee engagement by addressing the difficulties that come with change is mission critical when triggers arise. Change is tough to absorb individually and as a company; keeping tabs on exactly how it affects your team should guide your efforts to maintain engagement through the shift. Without this feedback, you risk adding to your difficulties by setting the stage for disengagement and its costly sidekicks — low productivity, absenteeism, subpar customer service, and turnover.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Renea Boots, EVP & Chief Administration Officer for Farmers State Bank. We hope you enjoy Renea’s wisdom and perspective.

I recently ran across the following quote.

“Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere.” – Ronald Reagan

Reading these words, I felt myself smiling, remembering that I have often said “Get great people, empower them, and get out of their way!” Maybe I read this quote earlier in my career and stole it from President Reagan, or maybe it just made sense and great minds think alike (except that I don’t consider my mind great).

Regardless, there is tremendous truth in the statement. As my career has morphed from HR into corporate leadership, I’ve learned that developing self-confidence in people, removing hurdles when needed, praising good work, and occasionally cleaning up a mess is really the true day-to-day nature of my role. The other focus of corporate leadership is looking out to next month, next quarter, next year - and preparing the organization for what lies ahead.

Mid-level managers are best equipped to handle most challenges an organization faces each day. The question is - are you letting them?