Linda Dulye

Reverse mentoring unites 20-something employees with senior executives for a skills and knowledge swap. These days, the Gen Ys teach their Boomer big bosses how to maneuver around iPads, Facebook, and social media trends. In exchange, the junior employee gets face-time with their firm's top brass and a view from the top (location of many C-suites).

I had a call with a business leader last week to talk about the business horizon for 2012. It was the first time I had spoken with this leader, who heads manufacturing operations at a major global company. One of the things I wanted to know about was his business plan for the new year. He immediately started talking about safety, quality and some other operational goals, which was expected. After a few minutes, I asked him where communications fit into the business plan and he responded that it

What happened to fall? I'm one of those shivering Northeast residents – hit by a Halloween weekend snow storm and power outages – who is asking that question while breaking out shovels, rock salt and heavy boots that I thought had another month of storage. Just as the seasons are racing by, so are 2011's work days.

Let's face it. Telling the truth isn't always easy. It can be uncomfortable and scary when it comes to certain situations at work. In fact, lying on the job is pretty common these days, according to a recent poll by my firm, Dulye & Co. Participants reported that the prevalence of lying has increased over the past five years, and among the biggest factors driving employees to dodge the truth are fear of reprisal and leadership behavior.

Here today, gone tomorrow. Or perhaps, in a month. This is the unfortunate fate of many corporate engagement programs—from mission statements to employee surveys to improvement initiatives. Focus fades quickly after fanfare-laden rollouts fall victim to everyday routine, and attention shifts to another POM-POM (Program of the Month, Program of the Minute).

It seems the nation's top human resource executives are having a hard time getting a good night's sleep - and for good reason. In a new survey of nearly 800 Human Resources executives, 74% said their job stress level has skyrocketed in the past 18 months due to several key concerns including retaining top talent, developing leaders and controlling health care costs. But above all else, keeping employees engaged and productive was rated the biggest workplace challenge by those surveyed. That's

The following morning Cook sent an email to Apple employees with his view of the organization, his new role leading it, and what the future looks like.

From spring employee survey campaigns come fall engagement programs. Unfortunately, many companies rush to create engagement initiatives without fully understanding what they are doing. As a facilitator of engagement programs in major companies, my first counsel is to be clear and unified around what engagement is and what you expect it to accomplish. Define, review and refine. What is your definition of engagement? What is your objective? You can't successfully start an engagement progr