Category: Leadership

The best working experience of my life …

Paul Wagenaar

At the beginning of the pandemic, I left a job I had spent forever doing and volunteered to work at a local charity. My volunteer work lead to a job working with food banks, meal programs, and community gardens to help alleviate local food insecurity. It began a process that opened my eyes to an entire world that had been mostly invisible to me.

The journey was filled with surprises, lessons, and revelations; please take a few minutes so I can share them with you.

Don’t be too quick to say “NO”

Paul Wagenaar

I regularly speak about topics such as job searching and keeping a job from an employers perspective to high school students and other adults. Recently, several people suggested writing about employee retention from the employee’s perspective.

Playing “The Game” Well

Paul Wagenaar

I look for inspiration everywhere, in the people I have know, in the people I meet, in everything I see, feel, or touch.

Most recently I was inspired by a documentary on Ernie Coombs, the man who was Mr. Dressup on the CBC. I had been working on a post about how to succeed though building others and he provided the impetus to finish this post.

A Primer for Small and Medium-sized Organizations

Paul Wagenaar

Organizational toxicity is a major problem for some small and medium-sized organizations. Failing to acknowledge and effectively remove the toxic elements could result in poor morale, low staff retention, and left unchecked the elimination of the organization itself.

Today’s post is a primer, a short guide to creating a plan to change the dynamics of your organization for leaders, managers, and everyone else in the affected organization.

Tools Everyone Can Use

Paul Wagenaar

Perhaps the most important of the posts for small and medium sized organizations of all stripes I have written so far. Looking after your people effectively will make the difference between success and becoming a “train wreck.”

When your organization is not your organization

Paul Wagenaar

Internal dynamics in any organization are interesting. All organizations, large or small, for-profit or not, all face external challenges. What happens though, when the greatest threats to growth, adaptation, and evolution come from inside?

A Recurring Theme

Paul Wagenaar

I believe “for-profit” and “not-for-profit” organizations both can and must make a difference in our communities. Since my return to the “for-profit” sector my posts have refocused on issues and concerns shared by many small and medium-sized organizations; however, the perspectives and lessons learned while working for the United Way and Canadian Mental Health Association are just as important as marketing, sales, and logistics.

Please take five minutes and see if there are any tools in this post you can use. Change starts with one person and we need your help.

Common denominators

Paul Wagenaar

People are the heart and soul of any organization. Finding the “perfect” hire seldom occurs, when any organization “goes to market” the best they can hope for is to find the very best person available. The search can be difficult, but can be made easier by looking for the common denominators the “best people” often share.

Adapting, Improvising, and Overcoming

Paul Wagenaar

For small and medium-size organizations of all stripes, finding good people in a challenging labor market has never been harder. Take five minutes and consider some unconventional solutions.

“The customer is not always right”

Paul Wagenaar

“The customer is always right …” is not a valid argument. “The customer has rights,” is. You have rights and you have responsibilities.

Take a few minutes, you will find this to be a short guide to finding the right retail organizations for you.