Tim Noonan

YPO’s recent survey of 1,700 business leaders identifies challenges, outlook
As we enter 2022 and approach the third year of this shape-shifting pandemic, chief executives continue to navigate uncharted waters. Nevertheless, some companies are able to convert their obstacles into opportunities and grow. Others struggle against supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, inflation and high staff turnover.
How have the past two years of challenge affected the outlook and enthusiasm of the world’...

Tips for executives on managing a workforce combining remote and onsite employees.
The onset of the Coronavirus pandemic required companies that could, shift to partial or total remote working. Suddenly, a slow, measured evolution borne of the Internet age leapt into hyperdrive.
Before 2020, the number of Americans telecommuting, as it was called, was about 4.7 million, roughly 17 percent. That reflected an increase of 20 percent during the previous five years. Within months, Gallup determine...

In the lengthening shadow of the pandemic, studies show increasing workplace concerns.
Awareness of corporate leadership’s responsibility for safeguarding and even bettering mental health has led to improvements in recent years. For decades, consultants had advised executives of the need to provide wellness programs for both employees and management personnel.
In the lengthening shadow of a subsiding pandemic, businesses are gaining a sharper awareness of the very real vulnerability of the in...

To foster innovation or just stay fresh, smart businesses are encouraging curiosity.
Curiosity has had its share of bad connotations. Curiosity is an oddity, scorned as nosiness, and even blamed for killing the cat!
Nevertheless, it’s a primary driver of human evolution, and many businesses today are openly embracing it. It’s now among the desirable traits sought in corporate leaders, along with standbys like intelligence and trustworthiness. It is also seen as a valuable quality for employee...

Successful executives who hope to remain successful know they must prioritize employee relations. Whether they are new staffers or seasoned managers, employees who don’t feel engaged inevitably become disengaged.
The latest Gallup report of U.S. Employee Engagement found that slightly more than a third of those surveyed described themselves as engaged in their jobs. About half said they were not engaged and the remaining 13 percent were “actively disengaged.”
With so many disconnected, effect...

With no end-date in sight for Covid and its variants, smart businesses are adopting strategies and processes in line with the new realities.

As 2021 and the second year of Covid-19 wind to a close, new virus variants continue to delay a “Covid-free, post-pandemic” era. Perhaps there isn’t going to be a Covid-free future and we will just vaccinate annually as we do with the flu.

Whatever the future brings, much of the business world is already adjusting to a new norm. We can see that safeguard...

How can corporate leaders curb escalating workforce turnover?
Companies large and small are losing employees at a national rate of 3 to 4.5 million employees per month. And the trend is increasing.
As executives, we know that the impact to our companies goes far beyond lost productivity, which alone drains U.S. businesses of $1.8 trillion annually.
The causes are varied and numerous. The Work Institute identified 52 reasons, which HRForecast then grouped into ten categories. The most common a...

Corporate Leadership is Driving a New Level of Community Involvement
Christmas decorations cheering up retail outlets, supermarkets and business offices aren’t the only signs that the year is winding down. Gentle nudges from non-profits to make our 2021 tax-deductible donations are another indicator.
Good cheer and charity, of course, aren’t restricted to December. And in the case of latter, an increasing number of corporate executives are making giving back to their community an integrated, ...

One of the earliest requirements of a successful business is laying out clear goals and objectives, and that must be followed by outlining an ambitious yet realistic business strategy to attain them.
In my experience, any strategy is “the art of getting things done.” Simply put, an organization’s success relies on its capacity to implement vital organizational processes and decisions effectively, efficiently, and consistently.
A business strategy will continually guide managerial decisions th...

At Lockton Pacific Series, we are fortunate to have many of our industry’s top talent among our leadership ranks.
It didn’t happen by accident.
Building this stellar leadership team required a strategy that combined developing and promoting talent from within the organization with recruiting proven prospects from outside our company.
This mixing of insiders who understand a company’s history, culture, operation and employees with those who gained experience and perspective at other companies ...

We’ve all felt it and seen it in our coworkers – a positive link between job satisfaction and productivity.
When we’re happy with our company and our role in it, when there’s a healthy level of challenge to keep us engaged and when we feel we’re contributing to the team, we are motivated to do our job … and do it well!
But when something happens to turn any of those positive aspects toxic, we can quickly be pushed over the edge with stress that sends both job satisfaction and productivity int...

Managers and leaders play a key role in the function and success of an organization. Bad management can be incredibly detrimental to the organization, both operationally and culturally, and unfortunately, every professional will face working with a bad manager at some point in their career. What makes for a bad manager? Here are a few common management mistakes to avoid if you’re looking to creating a dynamic, productive team in your workplace.
Micromanaging
While from a boss’s perspective mi...

Every business decision has consequences, and with so many factors to consider – and many unknowns we can’t consider – those consequences can be serious. For the executive whose decisions may impact large numbers of employees, vendors and consumers, it can feel like a high-wire ride on a unicycle.
Now, toss ethics into the decision-making process, and keeping balance on that high-wire ride becomes even more challenging.
But making ethical decisions in a commercial world doesn’t have to be suc...

At Lockton Pacific Series, we are fortunate to have many of our industry’s top talent among our leadership ranks.
It didn’t happen by accident.
Building this stellar leadership team required a strategy that combined developing and promoting talent from within the organization with recruiting proven prospects from outside our company.
This mixing of insiders who understand a company’s history, culture, operation and employees with those who gained experience and perspective at other companies ...