Posts tagged as:

performance

Yes to Unvarnished Truth, No to “Unvarnished”

April 13, 2010
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I’m going to play my 2-year-old self today.  “No-no-no-no-NO.”  What brought that on?  Hearing the proposal for a new website called “Unvarnished.”  It allows for employees to be reviewed anonymously, for the world to see, with no way of removing a negative review. Like the sites RateMyProfessors or RateMDs, the intention is to reflect a [...]

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Managers: What Are Your Good Intentions Costing You?

April 9, 2010
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Do You Know Diane? Diane is both the supervisor and project team leader for her group. She is finding it hard to count on one of her employees, Robert.  He has a hard time juggling multiple priorities.  He gets bogged down to the point where he’s paralyzed and doesn’t know what to do next.  He shows up in [...]

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Managers: Why You Don’t Need Team-Building

April 2, 2010
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I have a bone to pick with team-building.  In my experience, it often involved ropes, boards, puzzle pieces, the wilderness or all of the above, and I didn’t really get how it would help.  It seemed like it was setup with a hope and a prayer that we would all end up liking each other [...]

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Hear the Clip! Do You Think There are Some Employees You Just Can’t Motivate?

January 24, 2010
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…Don’t Make This Common Manager Mistake As a former HR Manager, and long-time coach, I’ve found 5 common mistakes I see managers of people make over and over that create a rut of overwhelm, confusion, and frustration.  These mistakes practically guarantee you’ll keep struggling against yourself and your employees. By avoiding these mistakes you’ll allow [...]

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Managers: Don’t Make this Common Mistake with Your Own Development

January 19, 2010
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…Thinking There’s So Much to Change That You Don’t Change a Thing You know the feeling.  You get inspired by a new idea you learn from an HBR newsletter or Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book.  You’re intrigued by applying your learning to actually turning around that problem employee or creating better communication among your sniping team [...]

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Be a Better Manager by Appealing to Your Employees’ Most Noble Intentions

December 29, 2009
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Last week I had a discussion with my sister, an educator. She and her husband teach subjects related to optics and light, which require some pricey equipment. They’ve had items “disappear” in the past. To head this off, they have come up with this groundrule they announce to classes up front: “If you feel you [...]

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Taking Interest in ‘EEs Lives: Don’t *Act* More Human, Be More Human

October 20, 2009
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A client called me recently asking my opinion about an article he read in BusinessWeek titled, “The No-Cost Way to Motivate.“  His take on it was, “the author says to take more interest in your employees’ personal lives.  I say, is that really a good idea?” Maybe.  If I already had a relationship with my [...]

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Get the Report: Employee Development Needs in This Economic Recession

October 11, 2009
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“Things are always changing and we need people who are energized by change and look for opportunities for themselves to grow with opportunities and to help our company and our customers grow as well.” ~ Survey Respondent It might seem like an uphill battle, to get the kind of energy and initiative described above.  After [...]

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