NOBL Academy

How Hyatt Increased Competition and Boosted Employee Morale

Turnover, employee empowerment, and company goals can all coexist together in internal programs. Hyatt’s example demonstrates that employees are clamoring to be more creative and have more choice in their work. While this might not be possible in day-to-day responsibilities, organizations can create programs that celebrate hidden talents and encourage employees to remain loyal to their companies.

Explainers

How to Improve Your Company’s Employee Retention Rate

In order to improve employee retention, you must put employee engagement at the center of everything you do. Get HR and leadership on board to reprioritize employee happiness to the top of the company’s business goals.

Explainers

HR is Often the Least Engaged Team in the Building, Why?

Spotify is known for being a progressive company that treats their people right—we’ve even covered some of their practices, from how they find talent to how they manage career progression. But news is leaking out that the people who are arguably in charge of the great work culture at Spotify are, in fact, not happy about the environment at all.

Explainers

Innovation Defined: The Differences Between Optimizing, Diffusing, & Disrupting

“Innovation” is a broad term for different activities, and confusion can lead to under-performance.

Quick Studies

How 3M Integrated Its Design Team into the Entire Organization

While legacy organizations are often resistant to change, a clear process—and a lot of patience—can convince key stakeholders of the importance of innovation.

Tools

Use a Framestorm to Generate New Ideas

If your brainstorms aren’t yielding the innovative ideas you’d hoped for, try a different approach that involves coming up with questions about a problem, as opposed to solutions.

Explainers

How to Delegate Decision Making

Avoid unnecessary escalation by choosing the right people to be involved in decisions, and give them the tools and authority to make the call.

Quick Studies

Why Whole Foods Hires Employees by Vote

While we are strong proponents of empowered employees whose voice within the company matters, when it comes to deciding the fate of another employee, proceed with caution.

Explainers

Managing Up Without Sucking Up

In order to do your job effectively, you must develop a healthy working relationship with your manager, being clear about expectations and delivering consistent results.

Explainers

Addressing National Tragedies at Work

Workplaces aren’t sealed off from the cultures around them and the events that shape those cultures. More and more, your teams are coming to work and looking to each other to find community and support.

Explainers

Six Questions to Ask before Opening an Innovation Outpost

Gather your leadership team together and run a diagnostic test of your company’s innovation goals and needs before establishing an innovation outpost.

Quick Studies

How Soma’s “Work from Anywhere” Week Boosts Productivity

For teams that are used to working in an office setting, getting to work from anywhere might take some adjusting to. With proper planning and communication, though, a work from anywhere week can boost productivity while providing new sources of inspiration.

Explainers

Don’t Get Overwhelmed by Real-Time Data

Using data to guide the iterative process is crucial to the survival of any company. Know how to separate the signals from the noise to avoid burdening your team.

Explainers

How to Unplug from Work at Night

Set up a culture of self-care on your team, inside and outside of the office. With sleep as an important part of work performance, discuss with your team how to minimize after-hours emails and fire drills so people can do their best work the following day.

Explainers

How to Encourage an Abundant Mindset

Schedule short, daily actions with your team to shift their mode of thinking from a scarce, limiting mindset to a more open and positive paradigm.

Quick Studies

Why Betabrand Encourages Colleagues to Say “Thanks”

While monetary employee rewards are a nice perk, they’re no substitute for frequent (but genuine) displays of appreciation. Finding opportunities for you and your team to regularly express gratitude is a simple way to make work better.

Explainers

Workplace Survival: Practical Ways to Reduce Stress

Stress management as a team also improves workplace cultures overall. Supporting and encouraging coworkers lays the foundation for better communication, collaboration, and self-awareness.

Quick Studies

Why Potato’s Employees Set Their Own Hours

While your team needs to be available to customers, encouraging greater scheduling flexibility and autonomy will create a happier, more productive workforce. Start by identifying which roles and tasks are vital to the core business and work in weekly sprints to get more accomplished in less time.

Explainers

Avoid the Mighty Mouse Trap as a New Leader

When people step into a new leadership role—especially for the first time—their instinct is to jump in and start doing things right away. Frank Crowson, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Guitar Center, calls this “Mighty Mouse Syndrome”: you leap into action, proclaiming “Here I come to save the day!”

Explainers

Why Listening Is So Important to Leaders—and How You Can Improve

Being a good listener is extremely important as a leader. Listening helps you get energized about work, identify problems more quickly, and make the best decisions based on the thoughts and feelings of your team. Practice basic techniques to make sure you’re getting the most out of meetings with the rest of your team.

Impossible is temporary.

How Hyatt Increased Competition and Boosted Employee Morale

How to Improve Your Company’s Employee Retention Rate

HR is Often the Least Engaged Team in the Building, Why?

Innovation Defined: The Differences Between Optimizing, Diffusing, & Disrupting

How 3M Integrated Its Design Team into the Entire Organization

Use a Framestorm to Generate New Ideas

How to Delegate Decision Making

Why Whole Foods Hires Employees by Vote

Managing Up Without Sucking Up

Addressing National Tragedies at Work

Six Questions to Ask before Opening an Innovation Outpost

How Soma’s “Work from Anywhere” Week Boosts Productivity

Don’t Get Overwhelmed by Real-Time Data

How to Unplug from Work at Night

How to Encourage an Abundant Mindset

Why Betabrand Encourages Colleagues to Say “Thanks”

Workplace Survival: Practical Ways to Reduce Stress

Why Potato’s Employees Set Their Own Hours

Avoid the Mighty Mouse Trap as a New Leader

Why Listening Is So Important to Leaders—and How You Can Improve