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Showing posts from November, 2017

Welcome Home: The First 90 Days

My first shot at writing a book was about 11 years ago.  The book was to be titled, "Welcome Home," and its basic premise was that onboarding new staff during the first 90 days should be similar to welcoming guests into your home or community. The first 90 days is crucial to new hires, and to employers as well.  Up to 25% of new hires leave during the first 90 days.  Those hires could have cost healthcare organizations millions of dollars a year.  I contend that like any organization where someone is "new..." a workplace, a church, a community, a school... that it is the organization's responsibility to make the newcomer feel welcome. Let's examine the case of Pauline.  Pauline was hired by a health system to be a clinical researcher.  She had several years experience as a floor nurse, and she wanted to move away from floor nursing.  Her former employer was not able to provide her with opportunities to leave floor nursing, so she accepted the new position.

To Work From Home or To Not Work From Home?

My first work from home experience was as a medical transcriptionist.  I initially began the position on site at the hospital. Then, the hospital decided that transcriptionists would be more productive and the hospital would save expenses on overhead if the transcriptionists worked from home.  Their assumptions turned out to be true.  Productivity did increase, and the transcription office was utilized for other purposes.  Even though I am an extrovert, at the time I really enjoyed my work from home experience.  I went to school full time during the day in a traditional university setting, and I worked full time at night.  I was able to do my homework on breaks.  Also, I didn't feel isolated because I had my classmates for my social experience.  Moreover, my coworkers and I had already developed a bond in the office and would get together for coffee or to take walks or to go shopping.  Our department director, furthermore, required the transcriptionists to come into the office at l

Bullies Are Resource Wasters

Some may say to be successful, three legs are needed on their chairs: time, talent and money.  Energy should be added as a fourth leg.  Unfortunately, rather than moving individuals and organizations toward success, bullying hinders success, leadership and growth.  Bullying wastes valuable resources like time, talent, money, and energy. Bullying Wastes Time Time is a valuable resource, and bullying wastes time. Thousands of hours are spent a year on school, community, and business anti-bullying programs.  Teachers, administrators, executives, community leaders, and even Congress spend time every year addressing bullying issues and receiving training to address bullying issues.  Moreover, when bullying does occur, time must be taken to address the issue whether the bullying occurs at a school, in a workplace or in the community.  Investigations, treatments and reprimands take valuable time away from other important activities. Bullying Wastes Talent Talent is human capital. Wor