Management

Setting performance review goals for your early career employees—or, more accurately, helping them set appropriate goals for themselves—is a very individualized and personal endeavor. Adding the right elements to the recipe, so to speak, therefore varies significantly depending on the individual’s needs and aspirations. Still, your key focus always lies in customizing a blueprint or template for success to help your staff members find new ways of increasing their own productivity, which of course improves your departmental and ultimately company performance. The big bang of the performance review and goal-setting process always comes from making it an individualized and tailored...

People who practice mindful meditation maintain that it changes their mindset and that change in how they think leads to different, improved behaviors. When we change our mindsets that changes how we act in response to the events that occur around us. How we act changes the outcomes. To be able to best manage the mavericks, cynics, divas, and other difficult people and situations, we have to first change our frames of reference in how we think about them. Here are 7 mindset shifts you need to make so you can lead difficult people: Appreciate the diversity of every person...

Which of the following statements do you believe embodies employee engagement? You’re doing so great in your role! How can I continue to support you? You’re doing so great in your role! What do you want to do next? For all the talk about how disengaged employees are, it’s rare to see any managers or business owners actually practicing true employee engagement. Contrary to popular belief, employee engagement doesn’t stop at checking in on how your employees are doing. That’s just the start. True employee engagement asks not what your employee can do for you, but what you can do...

A performance review isn’t as much a form as it is a process—a means rather than an end. It is a system of ongoing feedback; recognition; and, when necessary, redirection that helps you, the supervisor, lead effectively and stand out as a rarity among your peers. It also represents a system of ongoing engagement with your subordinates that creates for them an environment of job satisfaction and motivation (which, of course, typically results in greater retention). As you’re preparing to write a subordinate’s performance review, keep the following suggested guidelines in mind in order to amplify the benefits of this...

Coaching is just one tool that a manager must use to be successful. Used in the right situation at the right time, coaching can make the life of a manager immensely easier. Countless surveys and studies have shown that employees become discouraged when they don’t get three things from their bosses: Help or support Praise or recognition Vision or strategy Coaching is a perfect mechanism for managers to provide each of these crucial elements of the employment experience so that people stay longer and perform better. What does it mean to coach an employee?  Our definition of a coach is...

Executive Summary Looking for ways to engage your employees is always a good thing, but unless your employees find meaning in their work, the engagement will merely be fleeting. That's why managers need employee engagement ideas that inspire direction, discovery, and devotion. Employees who find meaning in their work will engage more, which leads to finding more meaning, which leads to a deeper sense of fulfillment. This extraordinary cycle results in a phenomenon called "profound performance." Find a creative way to remind employees of the "why" behind the work they do every day. Helping employees connect with their work's impact...

Executive Summary Breaking down the walls they have between their work and each other so they can focus on common goals and values is key to successfully leading a “bad” team. Even the strongest leaders can end up with an unhealthy and unmotivated team. Whether they realize it or not, your team is relying on you to help break down the silo walls they have built around them—the health and the morale of your team depend on it. Using your listening skills, identify what makes each team member feel needed and essential, and then do your best to validate the...

Executive Summary If you’re lucky enough to manage a 10x employee, you might be surprised to learn that the key to seeing them succeed is more about getting out of their way than showing them the way. Not all employees work in the same way. Given the right tools and the necessary freedom, a 10x employee can surpass your greatest expectations. Don’t be afraid to let a 10xer dive deep. Shallow work that poses few challenges won’t get either of you where you want to go. Could it be time to reevaluate your company's work model? Today, many companies have...

If you think about what are the best performance management programs that have been put in place, they're usually systems that can really differentiate top talent from not quite top talent. Too many times, what I've seen, companies will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars putting in these great software systems but they still fall victim to the number one problem plaguing performance reviews in companies across America: grade inflation. We know that the path of least resistance is avoidance, and people generally avoid confrontation whenever possible. This all too human trend often finds its way into the annual performance...

An arbitrator asks a former employee/plaintiff in a wrongful discharge action, “I see that your former company offered you an opportunity to take part in an EAP program. Did you contact the EAP?” The former employee’s flat response is, “No.” The arbitrator then asks, “I see that you were encouraged to fill out a section of this write-up regarding your own performance improvement. It’s blank, though. Why is that?” The apologetic response is, “Well, I guess I didn’t have time.” The arbitrator continues: “I see. Hmm. Your company paid to send you to a one-day off-site training program on conflict...

A collections clerk’s productivity is not acceptable, and her work requires constant rechecking for accuracy. A hospital orderly delivers wet wheelchairs without cleaning them first and fails to deliver bottled water as instructed. In both cases, the manager had outlined performance expectations. In both cases, the employee failed to live up to those expectations, despite prior notifications that a change would be required to maintain their employment. HR expert and author of 101 Sample Write-Ups for Documenting Employee Performance Problems, Paul Falcone, isn’t new to creating performance improvement plans for production problems. These are some of the most common friction...

Executive Summary You know the saying "do as I say, not as I do?" Well, turns out it is detrimental to your effectiveness at managing resistance to change in the workplace. If you want your team to accept change, you have to first be able to accept change yourself. Managers can admit their disdain for change while still expressing their support for it, especially when it benefits other members of the company. Empathize with the individual who is hesitant in the face of new circumstances. The fear of the unknown causes employees to put their skills into question, even if...