Must Reads for This Week – Coaching, Perks and Where You Sit at the Table Edition

A few must read blogs posts I wanted to share with all of you:

By now, you’ve probably seen (or at least heard) of Susan Boyle, a contestant on the show Britain’s Got Talent. Peter Bregman has a great post over at the Harvard Business Blog on how Susan Boyle is a great lesson in talent management. Her talent wasn’t obvious based on her appearance, she was an unexpected contender who is now expected to win the competition. For managers, the lesson Bregman shares is that “Great managers see the unique talents of each employee, and then create the role that’s a perfect vehicle for those talents.” This post does a solid job of explaining why managers as coaches should do this and how this benefits the organization as a whole.

A common item of discussion in the HR community is about “getting a seat at the boardroom table.” Over at the HR Capitalist, Kris Dunn has a post on You Are Where You Sit at the Table. Great insights on how the seat you pick can impact perception. So, maybe the conversation shouldn’t be about getting a seat at the table, but about picking a better seat at that table?

Susan Heathfield shares some interesting findings on the About.com HR Blog in her piece Employees Don’t Get Benefits. She points out how while many employees don’t understand compensation packages, they really don’t understand the value of benefits. She looks at some ways organizations can better communicate the value of benefits to their employees, and not to assume they understand it.

Speaking of benefits, I really enjoyed this piece from Jason Pankow on Fistful of Talent. He looks at what is really a perk, and what’s a stretch. I actually laughed out loud at one point, as we’ve all seen organizations cite something ridiculously simple as a perk of working there. Jason points out that free parking, soda, coffee and birthday celebrations are better left off the pitch. I may beg to differ on the soda, as one of my friends recently was nothing short of outraged when his company eliminated free soda as a perk. Sometimes, it is the little things that really matter to your employees. Paid parental leave, educational assistance and matching gifts made Jason’s cut as true perks.

Happy reading!