Eric Chester's Blog

Back in 2006, I published a Special Report titled More than 50 Great Interview Questionsto Ask a Gen Y Applicant. The questions were gathered from hundreds submitted by clients, readers of my books, and HR managers from a wide variety of companies and organizations across multiple industries. Now that the focus of my work has shifted from Generation Why to developing the 7 essential core work work ethic values that every employer demands, I'm going to replace the existing s

The unemployment/underemployment problem facing millennials predates the great recession. It goes back to the early programming they received from their parents when the economy was booming in the early 2000’s. And parents haven't let up. Dreams? Passion? Love? Sounds more like the teaser copy on the back of a smutty romance novel than sage career advice. The mindset of today’s parents is all about getting their kid to aim for the stars, to believe their dream, and to

With roots steeped rich in Celtic, Roman Catholic, and Protestant tradition, the annual Trick‑or‑Treat ritual that takes place this week can be traced back centuries. Originally, children would adorn hand‑made ceremonial costumes and go door‑to‑door singing out “a trick a treat!" Then they’d entertain their neighbors with carefully rehearsed songs, skits, and dances. If they performed well, the neighbor might reward them with some bread, fruit, or nuts. This encouraged the

You invested a lot of time, energy, and money bringing on that new employee. They show up on that first day ready for your orientation doing their best to disguise their nervous anxiety. Feeling a bit anxious yourself, you want to get them up and running as quickly as possible so as to maximize your ROI. After all, you need to prove to yourself and your team that you made a great hire. As the day draws to an end, you begin to reflect on how things went on Day #1. But it's

Imagine walking into a room where you are invited to play a game where you could win $1000 or more. In front of you is a large bulletin board that has pinned to it the logos of twenty large well-known companies; brands most everyone is familiar with. Next to this is another large board pinned with twenty white index cards, each imprinted with the mission statement and core values of one of those companies. The object of the game is to correctly match each logo to the index

DISCLOSURE: This isn't a commercial endorsement, although it may sound like one. Consider me a raving fan. I hold great respect for my speaker/author colleagues who are academics by trade. Those who have gone to great lengths to research current trends, have unearthed actionable methodologies and strategies, and who provide compelling statistics to make valid points about change, leadership, and business management. Larry Winget is not among them. Larry's a no nonsense, s

Firing an employee is a task that no manager enjoys, but one that often appears inevitable. Yet it's a proven fact that hiring a replacement employee will cost a great deal more than retaining the one you have, if that individual can be deemed salvageable. That's why it's imperative to have a checklist of questions you ask yourself prior to pulling the trigger on your expensive turnover revolver. Here are five introspective considerations to include on your checklist: Wer

Guest post by Shep Hyken Building the ideal corporate culture doesn’t happen by chance. If you are a leader of a company or organization and you want to instill a customer service culture, how do you make it happen? To become a customer-centric company requires first building an employee-centric workplace. If you want your customers to be amazed – and loyal, and refer their family and friends to you, etc. – what you need to do first is . If you want a real-life example tha

My daughter and her husband have a handsome 2 yr. old Boxer. Titus is 70 pounds of energy, love, and affection. And man, he is a handful! He chews, digs, barks...and when she's walking him, Titus pulls my 105-pound daughter like an eighteen wheeler with an empty load. Whitney did a lot of research to find a really experienced behavioral trainer, and she hit pay dirt with Clem, an honest-to-goodness dog whisperer who's worked with canines for almost fifty years. Clem doesn'

My last day of teaching high school and coaching football was June 3, 1986. Due to declining enrollment of the school district where I was employed, my position was being eliminated. I didn't know it at the time, but looking back, I think I escaped just before the Apocalypse. Back then, I never feared parental retribution by giving a student a bad grade or by getting up in a player's facemask and yelling "Dammit Johnson, you're not giving 100%!" In all but a few isolated

Ever have a job where you felt picked-on, intimidated, harassed, and micro-managed by a tyrant boss? Most of us can recall working for a real jerk at some point in our job history, most likely when we were just entering the workplace and at the bottom of the totem pole. And maybe the way you were being unfairly treated made you want to 'get even' with your boss, so you called in sick on a day when you knew you were desperately needed, or you found a quiet corner to take per

One of the very best leadership speakers and authors on the planet just happens to be one of my closest friends, Mark Sanborn. His renowned book The Fred Factor has sold more than two million copies worldwide and has become the corporate bible for many companies and organizations. I asked Mark to share his thoughts on relationships with my blog readers and he's graciously accepted by providing this excerpt from his sensational new book, Fred 2.0 which has just been release

Michele Klein, HR Manager for Fidelity Exploration and Production (a large player in the booming oil and gas industry) was doing an exit interview with an engineer who was leaving to take a similar job with a competitor. As her final question, she asked, "If we had known that you were thinking about leaving several months ago, would there have been anything we could have done to keep you?""Absolutely." the engineer replied. "I didn't realize that you had bigger plans for me.

"...but he interviewed so well!" the frustrated manager lamented at a leadership conference I presented for last week. "He was so sharp...so prepared. I thought he'd be a great fit. But when he came in for training, he was like a totally different person." "That's because you didn't interview him. You probably interviewed his parents." I replied. When you discover that a good friend, colleague, or your own son or daughter is going to interview for a job, naturally you wan

It made for a dreadful commute. The crater-like potholes dotting the main thoroughfare near my office were wreaking havoc on my car's alignment. I wasn't the only unhappy camper. The city was inundated with complaints from angry neighbors and shopkeepers who demanded repairs. Finally, a road-crew was sent to fill the gaping cavities and restore drivability to the busy street, and they did a very nice job. Do you think the city has received any thank you calls from the neigh

There is an epic war being fought along the front lines of every business in the world. Business owners and managers across all industries are engaged in heavy conflict with employees who aren't able to get through a shift without checking the screen on their smart phones, many of whom check it every couple of minutes. To the manager, the almost ubiquitous smart phone has become a distraction that limits performance and interferes with customer service. To a young employee

...they want a career. They may not openly confess to their employer that this is what they want. (Heck, they may not even admit it to themselves.) But while we continue to hear so much political rhetoric about "creating jobs," what Americans really want is a career. And there is a monumental difference between a job and a career. "When you have a career, there ain't enough hours in a day. When you have a job, there's too many hours." Chris Rock What Mr. Rock is sugge

The wife and I were out running errands on Saturday morning when we happened upon an unexpected and rare energy explosion. As we approached an intersection, we noticed a human billboard doing his very best to get the attention of the passing motorists; and getting attention from motorists is obviously what an individual in this occupation is paid to do. Human billboards have become commonplace in our metropolitan area, but this particular young fellow was going all out. He

Postal workers get a bad rap and are frequent fodder for comedians and late night talk show hosts. But aside from the renowned story of Fred in The Fred Factor, here's another glowing example of a remarkable postal worker. "It's just part of our work ethic," Deborah Ford said when asked how she's retiring from the U.S. Postal Service after 44 years without ever calling in sick. The 'our' part of her response was referring to her 86 yr. old father who also never missed work.

...unless you re-subscribe. I'm shifting platforms to a new blog feed and I'm worried that you will get lost in the transition. Even though it will only take 10-15 seconds to re-subscribe to the new feed, I know it's a hassle. For that reason, I will make it worth your while. My next blog is all about how to deal with distracted workers (Texting and Facebooking through the workday). At the bottom of that post, you'll see the word "Thanks!" I'll make that word a hotlink t