By Michael McCarthy   Once upon a time, Performance Improvement Consultant Russell Justice wisely said: "The best positive reinforcement is anything that gives us a story to tell."   People go home from work with stories to tell every day. Most of the stories are not very positive. We want to give people good stories to [...]

        When I was 11,  I cut the grass in my family’s yard all by myself for the first time. Tired and sweaty, I was so proud. A family friend drove into the driveway just as I was finishing. His first words out of the car were “You missed a spot behind the shrubs.” I [...]

   A manufacturer had hired 24 employees from a company which had laid them off. Most had been with that company for a long time and had trained newer co-workers (who weren’t laid off). These 24 people were still feeling “burned” from their experience when their new boss asked them to cross-train each other. The goal [...]

Start your department’s new year off with a book club. Learn something new and fun, and make your workplace more positive in the process. May I suggest You Made My Day: Creating Co-worker Recognition & Relationships, by Michael McCarthy and Janis Allen, available on www.janisallen.com - just click on "bookstore."  Here’s an exerpt from the book:      Recognition and [...]