Annual Performance reviews are often dreaded on both sides of the desk. There are a number of reasons for this unfortunate truth. Performance goals may not have been revisited since they were set a year ago, and both the manager and the employee are uneasy about whether or not they are still valid, let alone whether or not … Continue reading Employee Performance Reviews that Work
Employee Staffing, Placement, and Selection If you have ever calculated the cost of a bad recruitment decision, you’d never spend less than 24 hours on an interview ever again. Scientific recruitment techniques have been available for decades and yet employers still recruit almost on impulse and then blame the candidate when it doesn’t work out. Yes, … Continue reading Effective Recruitment Techniques
Managing Under-Performing Employees If an employer is asking how to take disciplinary action against under-performing employees, they have not been paying too much attention to the local employment law. Most situations can be managed using a reasonably clear disciplinary procedure that follows the test of reasonableness. There are some situations where you, as an employer may … Continue reading How to Take Disciplinary Action — Under-Performing Employees
Techniques for Motivating People We can learn a lot from Jack Sprat when it comes to the subject of motivation. According to the nursery rhyme he and his wife had differing tastes and you could only stimulate their appetites by presenting the correct food to the appropriate person. How like real life that is! Some people wake up … Continue reading Motivating your People — Management Techniques
Train that Staff… Then, Take the Day Off! If you own or manage a small business like a dry cleaning store, restaurant, hardware store, tour company, flower shop or sporting goods store, you probably struggle to find time for yourself; not just because you are busy running a business, but because you can’t trust your … Continue reading Train that Staff: Small Business Employee Training
Do’s and Don’ts Employee counseling can be one of the most difficult aspects of being a good manager. Since employees can come to you with a variety of different questions, needs, etc, it is important to follow some key guidelines to ensure your employee counseling sessions are productive and bring resolution to any issues at hand. … Continue reading Employee Counseling Session Issue Resolution
One of the most significant challenges any manager faces is dealing with employees who are not motivated or not performing as you want or need them to. Situations like these are frustrating, time-consuming, and downright difficult. That doesn’t mean they can’t be dealt with. Consider your Own FeelingsFirst, consider how you would feel if you … Continue reading Coaching the Marginal Employee: Performance and Motivation
When you are looking to purchase something or are trying to sell something, it is important to possess strong negotiation skills. Not everyone is good at negotiating — many are intimidated by “confrontation” or “conflict”, and perceive negotiation to be along those lines. For those who do not like to negotiate, but find themselves frequently in situations … Continue reading Negotiating Skills: Purchasing and Sales Strategy
Workplace ResolutionWhen we have a problem in life or in business, we often rush to solve it, without considering the possible causes. While the cause of a problem may seem obvious, it is often more complicated or hidden than you might think. Many variables and factors affect business processes and relationships. These factors may not be readily apparent … Continue reading Solving Problems in Business (Work and Life)
Depending on where you work, you may dread a meeting invitation or look forward to meetings as opportunities to solve problems or accomplish goals. The difference is in how an organization handles meetings, and the methods are almost as diverse as are organizations themselves. LocationFirst, the organization in general should decide what the criteria for even … Continue reading Conducting Effective Meetings at Work
The telephone sits unobtrusively on your desk but it can dominate you unless you tame it! To use your telephone effectively, you need to manage its use. Outward calls should be scheduled to suit your timetable and that of your respondent. Inward calls should be filtered, if possible, so that you are not interrupted in … Continue reading Basic Business Telephone Skills
I had the opportunity recently to go through an old file cabinet at a family member’s home. In addition to personal papers, I came across some real relics — carbon copies of business letters typed on onion-skin paper. For those of you who don’t remember a world without personal computers, it may be a challenge to understand … Continue reading Communicating Effectively in the Workplace
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