I recently watched a movie on television called Coach Carter. In this true story, Samuel L. Jackson plays Coach Ken Carter, a well-groomed, highly respectful, professional basketball coach who steps into Richmond High School in California in 1999 to coach the high school team. Coach Carter finds the team to be rude, disrespectful and belligerent.

According to a recent Gallup study, 71% of our workforce is probably not nearly as productive as they could be. The number of actively disengaged employees in the workplace outnumbered the number of actively engaged employees by nearly two to one. And in the North America, 29% are engaged, 54% not engaged, and 19% are actively not engaged, meaning they are “unhappy and unproductive at work and liable to spread negativity to coworkers.”

Throughout my travels to clients and other events, I do a lot of facilitating for Helios HR and the number one question I am asked is, “How much does it cost? “ My answer is always the same…” it depends.” Training programs are offered in many forms, and there are several areas to consider when looking at the options for how much it will cost and the effectiveness.

You just called Bill to come to your office to discuss a deadline that was missed…and here he comes. While he’s on the way, you get anxious…your palms sweat, you feel a little “queasy” and you know that no matter what you say, he either won’t get it or will get defensive. HELP! What’s a leader to do?

Let's face it, engaged employees drive your business.

At Helios, we are often asked to define (and provide) strategic HR to an organization in need of change. Strategic HR is a big "buzz" term that has been used in senior leadership circles for quite some time. It is widely known to be the future of HR, is talked about at every HR conference, and is what most executives tell us they want when we work with them. But what is it? How can you determine if your HR department is working strategically? What is Strategic HR?