AMBASSADOR UPDATES

TJ’s advice on the challenges and market changes relevant to SME construction companies searching for talent on the West Coast.

Frequency: every month or two (see archive).

October 7th, 2022

TJ Kastning

“When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.” – Simon Sinek Employee retention rates are not only in the best interest of the company but the employees as well. It is in everyone’s best interest to have a reason to keep a good job for […]
August 28th, 2022

TJ Kastning

I was just asked “How should we digitize tracking employee engagement to reduce the management burden?” There is a dangerously flawed assumption in this question that engagement can be digitized. Measuring employee engagement cannot be boiled down to a simple equation based engagement metric. Employees must be actively engaged by their managers in order to […]
August 23rd, 2022

TJ Kastning

“I really dislike the hiring managers that did not disclose the known toxicity of their hazardous workplaces to me.” ― Steven Magee Most companys struggle to describe culture because they don’t trust their perspective. They know they have a bias, especially in great companies. Additionally, what leaders feel the culture is may not be the […]
August 12th, 2022

TJ Kastning

One thing I’m noticing and watching closely is a growing relational disconnect between employers and employees. This is apparent in the prevailing viral LI posts, media, and our personal experiences here at ASG. We believe there is something here for all of us to learn from. We also believe this is intrinsically related to the […]
August 5th, 2022

TJ Kastning

Culture – in business – is how we manage the process of negotiating values, and it all begins with the vision. As a leader, you never intend to have a toxic culture, and no leader necessarily believes their culture style is toxic. It is all quite subjective in reality. Finding the candidates that align with […]
July 29th, 2022

TJ Kastning

In Keith Ferazzi’s Never Eat Alone, he speaks immensely on the importance of growing your network and how to do it to grow your career, brand, or company. His knowledge and tips apply at the managerial scale as well. Every great manager is a multi-faceted creature but would be nothing without the collective efforts of their […]
July 29th, 2022

TJ Kastning

There is a cultural/media reaction going on to the concept of boss vs leader. You see a lot of memes and pithy quotes on the difference. Some have this idea that leadership can be a process of entirely positive reinforcement, devoid of hard accountability, and that is sadly mistaken. Management is presented as top-down and […]
July 12th, 2022

TJ Kastning

Sometimes we vent to one another and say frustrated things we would not say to the involved parties. We often write this off as “I wouldn’t say this to them, but…..” In a way this is quite understandable, not all of those emotions will benefit the conversation, particularly if the other party is defensive. Let’s […]
July 12th, 2022

TJ Kastning

If you’re not proactively managing your online reputation, someone else is. In 2021, it is impossible to grow and succeed as a company with a bad online reputation. For those that aren’t actively online expressing their culture and values, the story gets told for you by unhappy employees and customers. Below is the full scoop on […]
July 6th, 2022

TJ Kastning

Everyone who is honest with themselves finds interviewing, job-seeker or employer, challenging; infuriatingly, bewilderingly, and expensively challenging. There are so many unknowns. Personalities, performance expectations, relationship dynamics, cultural standards, and more. The fact is, and I speak from extensive experience, everyone finds interviewing extremely challenging. The best companies I know with phenomenal leadership, top-tier work, […]
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