This article relates to the Manager/Supervisor competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. This competency evaluates an employee's feelings regarding their direct manager or supervisor. The manager/supervisor competency covers topics like clarity of goals, manager support, coaching and feedback, and regular reviews of performance. The old adage that "people leave their managers, not organizations" is often true. Of all the workplace stressors, a bad immediate manager is one More..

Tales From the Corporate Frontlines: Diversity in the Workplace: Ethnic Considerations

This article relates to the Diversity in the Workplace Competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. This competency explores whether your organization provides understanding and supports interaction among diverse population groups while respecting individuals' personal values and ideas. Research shows that by fostering a climate where equity and mutual respect are intrinsic, an organization can create a success-oriented, cooperative and caring work environment that draws inte More..

Reflections in the Glass Ceiling

The recent news about one of America's most powerful woman ceo's being removed from office has raised the discussion about gender bias, again. It disappoints me that in 2005, I still hear women clients talking about "the old boys' network". They say "glass ceilings" are holding them back in terms of advancement, pay equity, recognition and career satisfaction. While I have no doubt their assessments are valid; it's important that we don't generalize too much. There are other reasons as well. Fi More..

Great Employees = Passionate Consumers

Companies spend millions of dollars each year identifying their brand, and then communicating their brand promise through various media. Employees are the primary "media" in the majority of brand contacts. Raise your hand if you think a majority of your employees understand your brand promise well enough to live it and articulate it clearly. Gallup research of 300,000 businesses indicates that 75% to 80% of your people are achieving much less and feeling far less enthusiastic about their work More..

Workplace Violence - People are Dying Going to Work

Workplace violence has become a tragic reality today. From minor instances of harassment to homicide today's workplace is littered with danger. Violence can be described as the unjust or unwarranted use of force and power. Many people in their workplaces are the victims of violence, including verbal abuse, threats, harassment, physical assault, serious bodily injury and death. We know that violence can occur in any occupation and in a variety of situations. It can be internal to the workplace, More..

Business Knowledge Management

In the last few years a lot has been written about Business Process Management, and about technologies supporting it such as BPMS, SOAP and Web Services. Most of these theories, tools and techniques refer to processes of a highly structured nature. Typically, BPM theorists and practitioners have focused on highly structured processes, like back-office processes of industrial or administrative nature. These processes are highly standardized and repeatable, produce a consistent output and are lik More..

Entitlement Programs Kill Productivity

In articles I've written over the years, I have used "laissez-faire," a term more frequently used to characterize governments than businesses, to describe a rather laid-back management style. When I use this term, I am referring to management personnel who put very little pressure on employees to achieve their full potential by pushing them toward peak performance levels. Laissez-faire managers had much rather maintain a stress-free relationship with their personnel than face the antagonistic e More..

Succession Planning for Your Business - 7 Key Benefits

A core activity in many successful businesses, Succession Planning is simple and quick to implement - here are seven reasons why you will find it of great value in your business or organisation. But, you need to lead - it works only as well as the support it gets! TimeSuccession Planning creates capable people. Capable of taking the weight from management, to ensure they don't have to do it all. This is hugely relieving for a manager and means that they can focus on bigger picture issues. Time More..

Plan for Business Success - 6 Reasons to Succession Plan

Succession Planning provides many valuable assets to your business. Yet it is easy to do, with a game plan. Here are some reasons why the business leader will find it a useful issue to put some focus on. Personal DevelopmentA manager starts to learn new skills. Far from the chaotic living from day to day, this is a new level, where the challenges really are evolutionary, for their employees and themselves. A chance to take the time to develop a strategic sense for the business or organisation. More..

Top Ten Tips About People Management

To get the best results you have to be very good at Managing People...and it's not as hard as you might think. Here are the secrets of the very best managers:- The best at Managing People... Manage!They focus on getting their people to deliver the key activities and don't attempt do too much themselves. The best managers delegate widely, using the ethic 'Ask for forgiveness, not for permission' to free their people from blame or wrongdoing. Build the Best TeamsLeveraging the exceptional talen More..

Top Ten Tips About Communicating with Your Employees Effectively

Communication is the basis of who you are as a manager/leader in business. The rules are simple and the good news is that you can learn them and develop your skills...and it's quite easy! Here's the low-down on great Communication:- The best communicators... Keep It SimpleGreat Communication is about making what you say very easy to understand. Just realise that important messages get across better without loads of technical jargon or 4 (or more!) syllable words. Less is definitely more. Know More..

Top Ten Things About Creating a Business Vision

To visualise where you are going, is deeper and more sensory than anything you have ever done before. And these are the skills of those who are able to create a vision you can really live and breathe. These people... Are FocusedThey are able to visualise in a focused and very clear way what 'perfect' will truly look like in the future. Involve OthersBring others into the contribution, such that they might try things they might never have before. Realise Core StrengthsWhilst being ultra-keen t More..

Meeting Your Meeting Expectations

"To get something done a meeting should consist of no more than three people, two of whom are absent." ~Author unknown One of the complaints I hear most often is about the number of meetings people attend during any given week. It isn't only the quantity, but the duration and ineffectiveness that seem to cause problems. Conducting effective meetings is part of practicing effective time management and something we cover during my workshops, so I thought a recap of some meeting guidelines would b More..

The Measurement of Manager Training

THE MEASUREMENT OF TRAINING: Evaluation is one of the most valuable - and challenging - aspects of a training manager's job. A well-planned and on-target evaluation process can be the tool which separates a superlative training department from a merely satisfactory one. Evaluation can help you determine whether what you are offering is successfully meeting existing corporate needs. It can help you to identify needs which have previously not been expressed, and tap a source of new training oppo More..

Tales From the Corporate Frontlines: An Unexpected Benefit

This article relates to the Compensation and Benefits competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It tells the story of a company that offered a new benefit to its employees, solved the problem of lagging productivity, and boosted morale at the same time. The Compensation and Benefits competency focuses in detail on how your employees feel regarding their compensation and benefits packages. The questions included in this competency will help your organization determine wheth More..

Steps in Using the Critical Incident Technique

STEPS IN USING THE CRITICAL INCIDENT TECHNIQUE: 1) The incident. Read, review, or assume roles. Begin the investigation of the incident situation. 2) Fact-Finding. Collecting the details of the incident occurs in the small group discussions where the participants determine what they know about the situation and what else they need to know before making a decision. They decide what questions to ask the instructor. 3) The issue. When the groups have all the facts needed to decide the case, they More..

Across The Interview Table!

Job interviews are easier for the interviewer or the interviewee if you plan and prepare and use proper interviewing techniques. On this page are job interview questions and purpose of each interview question, because there is a purpose behind each and everything that we do and similarly there should be a purpose behind each and every question that we ask in interview. Good job interviews processes and methods increase the quality of people in an organization. Poor job interviews methods result More..

Learn to Assert Yourself

Pinpoint your own blocks to assertiveness: fear of disapproval, need to please others, fear of being too masculine or feminine, or the dread of making mistakes. Visualize yourself dealing effectively with a problem situation by considering alternative responses. Do not act hastily or in anger-calm yourself before the confrontation-take a deep breath with eyes closed and concentrate on controlling your temper. Practice remaining calm, collected, courteous. Be prepared to present yourself rationa More..

Giving a Good Appraisal Interview

Although this performance discussion is an opportunity for you to discuss your employee's work during a given period of time, it is also, and importantly, a time for you and your employee to check perceptions and reach mutual understandings and agreements about the purposes and priorities of their jobs. This discussion can positively influence your mutual working relationship. For the performance appraisal process to fulfill its purposes, both of you need to actively participate. If you find tha More..

Implementing Change

There are different reactions that individuals experience during time of change. Understanding the emotions of an individual may better help them get through the period of unexpected change. A possible reaction is anger towards person(s) responsible for or involved in the change. One may return to old habits, the familiar comfortable way of doing things, avoiding reality and denying the change. Thinking becomes rigid and new ideas, methods, structures, etc., are perceived as threatening so one w More..

Read more About Delegation Obstructions

Deciding What to Delegate

DECIDING WHAT TO DELEGATE: Once the benefits of delegation are established and obstacles removed, the next step in the delegation process is to decide what work can and should be delegated. In general, work to be delegated should adhere to the following guidelines: - It can be handled adequately down the line. - All necessary information for decision making is also available down the line. - The work involves operational detail rather than planning or organization. - The task does not require sk More..

Delegate Tasks to the Right Person

SELECTING THE RIGHT PERSON: To whom should tasks be delegated? Selecting the right subordinate to do the work is an evaluative process, and managers must be able to identify individuals both capable and willing to handle responsibility. DETERMINING EMPLOYEE RESPONSIBILITY: A careful review should be made of past assumptions about personnel. Some employees' capabilities may be overestimated, others underestimated. A personnel survey or personal interview is an excellent tool managers can use to More..

How to Delegate Effectively

ACCOUNTABILITY: Delegation is not complete unless subordinates are held accountable for their work. They should be accountable to only one person-usually their immediate manager-and must understand what criteria will be used in judging their performance. They must also understand that unless the job is done successfully, they will be replaced. Though ultimate accountability cannot be transferred and does rest with the manager, managers must be willing to support the actions and decisions of thos More..

How to Overcome Your Fear of Firing

OVERCOMING FEAR OF FIRING "It was obvious that this employee could not relate well to clients. But I could not bring myself to fire him.? and while I wavered, things only got worse for everyone in the department." Having to fire someone is one of the most difficult actions any manager or executive may have to take. It is an action that many manager's find endless excuses to avoid, as did the executive quoted above. Yet, in certain cases it is unavoidable. Firing is a managerial art that many oth More..

Human Resources: The Misidentified Subject

Interest in the field of human resources has exploded in recent years due to the promises it offers for a better understanding of human beings at work. The term is now as ubiquitous as it has once been obscure. It is taught in schools and universities; it has turned into one of the main functions of a corporation in addition to marketing, finance, and accounting. Yet despite this trend, there are still many challenges facing the field. It seems like the subject of HR is talking the talk but not More..

Muggers in Our Midst - When Rumour and Gossip Pay You a Visit

'I heard it on the grapevine' the old song goes. But the grapevine has the potential to cause your business strife, misunderstanding and ruin! In effect the rumour mill and gossip are dangers you cannot ford to ignore. People who indulge in these behaviours are like muggers - they leave you feeling you have been robbed! Many small business owners and managers are so busy that they fail to take notice of the poison disseminated through their organisation like a cancer silently consuming all befo More..

My Companys Leadership Sucks!

Maybe it's the season or just a more buoyant job market;but lately I'm sure involved in a lot more discussionsabout leadership. I'm receiving more requests for help defining the keycharacteristics which make a great leader; and I'm hearinga lot of negative stuff from clients about their bosses. Most leaders die with their mouths open: I recently read an article in Fast Company magazine whichreflected on the issue of leadership. In it, they quoteRonald Heifetz, the founder of Harvard's Center More..

When Being A Facilitator DOESNT Help

I talked with a group of internal consultants last week - they felt they had to wear too many hats in their work. They had to be consultants, facilitators, coaches and trainers - sometimes in the same one-hour session. They weren't always sure what role to be in and they felt that all this role-switching was draining them and was decreasing their credibility and effectiveness. After learning a bit more, I suggested two things to them: 1) At times they were trying to serve as facilitators when More..

I Cant Use This Approach Unless My Boss Does - Power, Accountability, and Consequences

People who work with us often struggle with this dilemma: in theory, they come to believe that it would be very helpful to use our approach with people who have more power than they do, and in practice, sometimes it seems too risky to try. Some examples of things that feel too risky include raising questions with your boss about his or her performance, disagreeing publicly with people who have more power , or otherwise sharing information that might lead you or the person in power to feel put on More..

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Improving Workplace Safety

This article relates to the Safety and Working Environment competency and explores how your employees feel with regard to their physical and environmental working conditions, the quality of their equipment and tools, and overall attention to safety within the workplace. Every organization is responsible for ensuring the health and safety of their employees. An unsafe working environment can lead to accidents, lawsuits, and missed work. Such incidents can result in significant costs to your organ More..

Transparency: A Key To Your Effectiveness

Last month I talked about the Skilled Facilitator principle of being curious. This month I want to talk about the complementary principle transparency. Transparency has recently become a popular topic in business as organizations seek to build (or rebuild) trust with customers, shareholders, and employees. This morning as I opened the op-ed page of my Sunday New York Times, the title read, "The New Public [NY Times] Editor: Toward Greater Transparency." Whether you are a leader, consultant, faci More..

How to Reduce Temporary Employee Turnover

The use of temporary services to stock a farm of employees is beneficial in a number of ways for an employer, and detrimental in others; but the one that will always be heard is that good labor is hard to find when using these services. This is a very real and expensive reality for some, and the blame always falls on the employee. However, denial is a great way to be unsuccessful, and the word can be added to the overhead of any business that chooses to be less attentive. Big businesses cultiv More..

Dont Take New Hires for Granted

Hiring good people is only half the battle. The other half is keeping them, especially in a relatively strong economy where quality people are difficult to attract. Let's face it. It has never been tougher to find quality people. While national unemployment figures have increased over the past year, there are many markets that are still classified as tight labor markets. In these markets, especially, this means that just about anyone who wants to work is already working, so to find quality peop More..

Five Steps to Successful Business Succession

The great majority of family businesses in North America are still owned and operated by descendants of the founder. The business acumen that these first, second, third, and sometimes fourth generation managers possess largely determines how much longer the business will remain under family control. To perpetuate a business, the current owners and managers must first identify and then prepare a successor to take the reins. There are exceptions, of course, but most owners have difficulty develop More..

Saying One Thing, Doing Another...

This week I was asked to speak at an internal conference for a bank. The subject was how to build a great customer experience. However, the reality was somewhat different to the title. I sat listening to speaker after speaker - all coming along with the same message "how can we stuff more products into our clients and achieve our targets". As I sat there I started to think, why do people say one thing and do another? Do they really think people are that stupid that they cannot see the conflict More..

Behavioral Extensions and Its Implications at Workplaces

The study of Behavioral extension involves investigating the source of an actual demonstrated behavioral action. According to Behavioral Extension belief, no action can be seen as a disconnected expression. Every action is a result of deep set embedded Behavioral sets that are almost unalterable. The unalterable Behavioral set is a result of rooted beliefs and/or prejudices built and integrated into the psyche as a part of growing up. This Psyche ends up dictating the very personality of a perso More..

Having Your Phil

February 2nd, at approximately 7:30 a.m. local time on Gobbler's Knob in a small town in western Pennsylvania, 20,000 people and a national radio and television audience anxiously await the prognostication of America's favorite furry forecaster. In a tradition dating back 119 years, Punxsutawney Phil emerges from hibernation?and if he sees his shadow, it's back into the burrow for six more weeks of cold weather. The celebration of Groundhog Day in America and Canada has its roots in the ancient More..

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