Articles by Dan Bowling

The work-life balance discussion seems to be at a fever pitch these days. Here is what Psychology at Work had to say about it last year in a post you may have missed. While we all sing the praises of work-life balance and look for it in our own care...

Engagement may be a popular buzz word, but it is a bit bland, isn’t it? Safe, middle of the road. Boring. Sure, it is better to be have employees who are engaged than not, otherwise you have cubicles with people staring slack-jawed at replays of Olym...

Last weekend I attended a conference at the University of Toronto - famous for the invention of insulin, 10 Nobel Prize Winners, and not having a football team - for the first annual conference of the Canadian Positive Psychology Association (CPPA). ...

In these post-recessionary times (or should I say post-apocalyptic) we need resilience. Resilience, the ability to bounce back from tough times, is a key factor in whether your workforce is built for the long haul with its inevitable ups and downs....

Google is my search engine of choice, like it is for most people. But I am switching to Yahoo. Why? Because it just named Marissa Mayer its new CEO.  I might drop a few bucks into its stock as well. This has nothing to do with the fact she is a highl...

According to the Harvard Business Review, HR might be headed for the dustbin of history. At least that's the conclusion I drew from their pages this week.  In a blog that quickly went viral amongst those who care about such things, Craig Mundy, an HR...

How are you this 4th of July week? Busy, right? Forget relaxing by the pool, slurping frozen concoctions, waiting for the hot dogs to be cooked - you are catching up on some paperwork, aren't you? Checking the comments on your latest blog post (ahem)...

I'm not getting much done this summer. You? Sure, we have big plans - don’t we? - but vacations, conferences and early happy hours with the folks in purchasing keep getting in the way. And day baseball. Don't forget about day baseball. This is not e...

Recently, I wrote about the challenges of dealing with corporate legal departments. Several of you wrote in response to tell me horror stories dealing with various members of the profession I call my own. That is OK, I love hearing from you and I und...

If you work in talent management, sooner or later you will butt heads with someone in your legal department. It most likely won’t be pleasant - sort of like playing Twister with a bullsnake. Or you might be in the legal department yourself; a refugee...

Several key lessons emerged from this week’s Talent Strategies D.C., a conference and expo hosted by Talent Management magazine’s parent company, Human Capital Media (including the fact that when U.S. Customs Services agents attend a convention in th...

Oops, he’s done it again. Just when the so-called “War on Women” was fading from the political headlines with nary a shot fired (beyond those on talk radio and cable TV gabfests), former GE kingpin Jack Welch tossed a hand grenade into our midst l...

Autonomy or autocracy. Rules or freedom. Which kind of leadership style works for you? This is not a trick question. While the word "freedom" resonates emotionally with most managers in Western countries, there are good arguments to be made for and a...

Congratulations, human resources managers! According to a widely publicized list released last week by a career services firm, yours is the third best job in America. Apparently, this is because it is stress-free and you make a cool $100,000. So igno...

If you are a college football fan, you are familiar with ESPN Gameday, the live show filmed before big games. It's like a traveling circus rolling from campus to campus. Excitement reaches a fever pitch as game time nears, with thousands of students...