People Solutions

We've all met them throughout our careers and difficult employees come in many forms.  The negative impacts they can have on our business can't be ignored: lower performance and morale, poor customer relations, turnover, etc.  In this podcast, Sue and Alyssa define various types of difficult employees and provide tips for leaders to confront these situations with less stress and more objec...

Sue recently had an opportunity to be a guest on Predictive ROI's  Sell With Authority  podcast.  Stephen Woessner is a terrific host, and they had a great conversation about how small business owners can put themselves first, allocate their time more effectively, build depth on their teams, and make the space and capacity to focus on business development. Identify what you're doing that w...

Art and Sue recently attended the annual AMI Build a Better Agency Summit hosted by Drew and Danyel McLellan.  Although the conference targets leaders of small to mid-size marketing and advertising agencies, the struggles are common across many industries and the solutions are applicable across the board.  Tune in as we talk about our experiences. Providing opportunities for your people to learn,...

In this episode, Art and Sue are joined by Drew McLellan, CEO of Agency Management Institute (AMI).  Drew literally co-wrote the book on Selling with Authority and talks about how to apply the same concepts used to attract right-fit  clients  to attracting right-fit  candidates .  The power of knowing exactly what you do and who you do it for Making the connection between brand and culture How to...

In the second of this two-part series focused on internal leadership development, Art and Sue are joined by Danyel Newcom McLellan, partner and president of Agency Management Institute (AMI).  AMI teaches and consults with small to midsize marketing agencies about running their businesses better and Danyel is an expert and developing leadership internally.  She talked to us about transitioning lea...

In the first of this two-part series focused on internal leadership development, Art and Sue are joined by Danyel Newcom McLellan, partner and president of Agency Management Institute (AMI).  AMI teaches and consults with small to midsize marketing agencies about running their businesses better and Danyel is an expert and developing leadership internally.  She talked to us about growing young high...

In this episode of STM’s People Solutions podcast, Sue and Alyssa are joined by Sydney Walsh, a senior at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business.  Full disclosure, Sydney is Sue’s daughter!  Normally we wouldn’t have family members on the show, but Sydney had been sharing her ups and downs of the job search and had some interesting insight to share with those listeners who are trying to a...

Workplace burnout is very much on the rise and has significant negative impacts on employee productivity, energy, drive, and engagement.  In this podcast, Sue talks with the woman who literally wrote the book on the subject, Shauna Moran.  Tune in as we address the key elements driving this shift.   What exactly is workplace burnout? How can you deal with it? Why should you care?   Read STM’s blog...

In the second installment of our Leadership Fundamentals series, Sue was joined by special guest Dr. Sandra Bryant.  Dr. Bryant has a wide variety of significant leadership experience as is currently a professor teaching leadership to MBA and PhD students at Tidewater Community College, Hampton University, and St. Leo’s University.  In this episode they address the topic of “Mindful Leadership”.  ...

In this podcast episode, Art and Sue are joined by George Foster of Foster Marketing to talk about his “succession journey” which involved transitioning ownership to an internal successor.  He talks candidly about how he determined who would succeed him and how he was able to make that happen.   ·         Answer the question, do you want a lifestyle business or a legacy business? ·         It’s ne...

In this episode, most of the STM team comes together to introduce the first in our series Leadership Fundamentals which will cover essential tools and techniques of leadership.  In this episode we tackle Agility & Adaptability and its importance in making connections.   Everyone comes to the table with a natural style and preferences, but the most effective leaders can adapt to meet others whe...

A subject about which Alyssa is particularly passionate is the link between job hopping and people’s desire to climb the salary ladder.  In this podcast, she and Sue talk about that link and the potential consequences of responding to pay increase requests with “we just can’t afford it”.   ·         Younger generations prioritize career growth (including salary growth), flexibility, and sense of p...

On this week's episode, Art and Alyssa re-opened a recent conversation in which they discussed different communication tactics and communicating with remote employees. ·         It goes beyond scheduled formal conversations ·         Don’t underestimate the power of spontaneous and informal interactions ·         Communication has to be a priority, and it is especially important with remote em...

In our latest podcast episode, Sue talks with Sharon Toerek of Legal + Creative about the legal implications of using AI in business applications.  Listen in as we discuss: Who owns what goes in and how to protect what comes out Avoiding unintended consequences and liabilities What you should be thinking about when adopting AI in your work or in your hiring practices Creating policies and standard...

In our latest podcast, Sue was joined by Karley Cunningham of Big Bold Brand to talk about differentiation – both from a company/product/service perspective and from an employer perspective.  Listen in to hear what Karley had to say about: ·         Looking internally to define what makes you unique and special ·         Defining the language that you use when you talk about your brand ·         I...

Art and Sue recently had an opportunity to talk with David Jean, a partner at Albin, Randall & Bennett and head of their succession planning division, Altus Exit Strategies. David is very knowledgeable in the areas of the financial challenges of business succession and often works with STM to address the people side of the equation. David tells us that it’s never too early to start thinking ab...

Unless you’re living completely off the grid (in which case you wouldn’t be reading this email) you’ve been hearing a lot about artificial intelligence (AI) – some of it fascinating and some of it downright terrifying.  In this podcast Art and Sue talk with Melinda Byerley, founder and CEO of Fiddlehead Marketing and an experienced marketing analytics leader.  Earlier this year, her clients urged...

In our latest podcast Sue is joined by Noel Andrews, CEO of  JobRack.eu , who specializes in helping businesses hire amazing remote team members. As we all struggle to find awesome talent in our own markets, and more potential employees are expecting to be able work anytime from anywhere, being able to successfully manage remote teams is an essential leadership skill. Listen in as Sue and Noel tal...

Art and Sue recently had an opportunity to talk with one of our clients about their experience with STM’s leadership coaching.  Listen in as we chat with Ellen Didier and Sarah Macaluso of Red Sage Communications and discuss our unique approach to this process:     •          It’s not about fixing a weak performer; it’s about helping someone with strong leadership capacity improve their leadership...

In a recent team meeting, the subject of work-life balance came up and how people from different generations have different perspectives on what it really means. It was then that we realized that among the four of us on the full-time STM team, we have four generations represented. That would make a great podcast, right? Listen in while we talk about: Common threads Differences Maximizing generatio...

In our latest podcast, Art and Sue tackle the issue of Influence vs. Manipulation.  Empathy and the ability to read people is an asset, right?  What if that ability is used for selfish or political gain?  Listen in as we talk about:  What are the differences between these closely related capacities? Why is it important to be able to determine one from the other? How can you determine if someone is...

In our latest podcast, Sue and our Senior Consultant for Training & Development, Chris Massaro, discuss internal mobility and how to give your employees opportunities to grow without creating false hierarchies in your organization. What is internal mobility? How can business leaders provide meaningful growth opportunities? What are some strategies that ensure internal mobility benefits both th...

Sue and Alyssa have been talking a lot about engagement, both with employees and with candidates, and put their thoughts into our latest podcast.  Listen in as they talk about: The Candidate Experience & Onboarding Factors that Affect Engagement How to Measure Engagement We’ve created a complimentary resource that we hope you find helpful – The Dos & Don’ts of Engagement https://strategict...

In the second part of our conversation with Jim Robins of Spectrum Assessments – the creator and mastermind behind STM’s assessment technology – we dig into the issues of how to choose and use assessments.  In that discussion, we address: Privacy and informed consent Issues of legality and the appropriate use in hiring selection Validity and reliability What to look for in choosing assessments for...

In our latest podcast, we offer up part one of our recent conversation with Jim Robins of Spectrum Assessments. Jim is the creator and mastermind behind STM’s assessment technology and has a wealth of knowledge about assessments in general. In this first installment, we talk about: How to know if an assessment is really measuring what it claims to measure (face validity)  What our assessments meas...