This morning I heard numerous references to this Florida State survey regarding lying bosses. I caught up to the story and found a slightly different read – Study: Bad Bosses Abound in U.S. Really? I’m not sure how this is newsworthy, but it hooked me. Here are the stats from the upcoming survey: 39 percent of workers said their supervisor failed to keep promises. 37 percent said their supervisor failed to give credit when due. 31 percent said their supervisor gave them the “silent treatment” in the past year. 27 percent said their supervisor made negative comments about them to other employees or managers. 24 percent said their supervisor invaded… Read More
Continue ReadingTime-Wasting Miscommunication
The information topic seems to be appearing everywhere we look this week. Now this article from Selling Power – The Cost of Poor Communications – attempts to put some metrics to inapt communication between managers and employees. While managers are off worrying about sales trends and marketing plans, they often overlook a primary drain on productivity: poor communication. 55 percent say their employees are not easily able to find information they need. 44 percent say the information they use lacks appropriate detail. What amount of money could this miscommunication be causing your company? There is a way to neutralize this problem – assess your team and provide your sales manager… Read More
Continue ReadingInformation Motivation
Yesterday I posted on an interesting article involving the importance of providing information to your employees. Now I as I catch up on my RSS reading for this week, I have kicked up a complementary Selling Power article with a quick reference to the same topic – Low-Budget Motivation. From the article: 4. Keep them in the loop Your people often depend on you to be the intermediary to the corporate powers that be, and the information that may affect them and their jobs. You need to honor that role by keeping them abreast of whats going on as much as possible. In the midst of bad times, your candor… Read More
Continue ReadingUpward Mobility
Thomas Register has a blog. If you have worked in the industrial market, you probably are familiar with their encyclopedia-like register. I used to be a sales manager for a high precision sheet metal fabricator and was quite familiar with researching the Thomas Register. The fact that they have a blog today speaks volumes. ThomasNet.com (online name) has a post that plays off of the CareerBuilder.com 2007 Job Forecast that was released earlier this week. Their 7 tips are all excellent including number 7: 7) Better training In light of a seeming shortage of skilled workers within their own industries, employers are looking for transferable skills from other industries. Seventy-eight… Read More
Continue ReadingHow To Motivate Employees
I’ve been reading Hidden Business Treasures blog of late and have found some…well, treasures. Their post today – Stupid Motivational Tricks – provides an excellent suggestion to managers in regards to motivating their employees. We measure motivators using our assessments, but I think they hit on a more fundamental, over-arching principle that applies to all employees. Employees have been cross-trained, sensitivity trained, multi-tasked and quality circled. They’ve been enhanced, advanced, mission driven and value positioned. They’ve even been downsized, right-sized, smart-sized and out-placed. Don’t you think its time for just plain informed? What motivates employees? The same thing that motivates you. Trusted members of any team must have access to… Read More
Continue ReadingTop 10 Corporate Gift Ideas
Having been a manager of 100+ employees, I always seem to get drawn in by articles like these, especially when they give it in a top 10 list (they hit on 2 of my weaknesses). This CareerBuilder article came through my RSS reader late yesterday. Most of you have probably completed your office gift-giving, but today may be the day for many of you. Fifty-six percent of the 1,150 hiring managers polled said they would be giving gifts to their employees this year. Of those 56%, about one-third plan to spend $10 or less, one-in-five expect to spend more than $25 and nearly one-in-ten expect to spend more than $50… Read More
Continue ReadingA Failure To Communicate
From salary.com: 82% of managers believe they provide clear goals to their employees prior to their formal performance review, but only 46% of employees say the same. Nearly half of the employees surveyed said their performance has at some time been reviewed against goals that were not previously communicated. A bit of an indictment of manager’s communication skills. Of course, employees have been known to hear only what they want to hear also. Whatever the reason, may I suggest assessing your existing team to ensure you are communicating with them in the most effective manner? Part of our business is solving these problems for companies by identifying the ideal communication… Read More
Continue ReadingAre Your Employees Looking?
Apparently yes. From a recent poll conducted by Career Journal of nearly 500 employees: 41% of respondents admitted they are actively searching for a new job 35% considered themselves passive jobseekers 21% indicated they were not looking for a job at all So the obvious question is what are you doing to change those numbers within your organization? With 3 out of 4 of your employees potentially leaving, are you properly rewarding and motivating them on an individual basis? No two employees are the same so understanding their rewards and motivations will help ensure that your team is happy and content.
Continue ReadingSocialize With Your Younger Employees
From Rasmussen Reports – Younger Workers Want More, Connection That Is. Not really a surprise here, but a reinforcement: On top of everything else, Generation Y employees also prefer more frequent social interaction with their managers. One-quarter (26 percent) would like to socialize with their boss at least monthly. This is compared to 21 percent for Generation X, 16 percent for Baby Boomers and 17 percent for Traditionalists. That seems to be a strong trend towards socializing amongst the younger workers. If you have a retention problem at your company, this survey provides a good place to start correcting it.
Continue ReadingEuropean Vacation
Millions of vacation days go unused caught my eye this morning. A week before Christmas is a good time to release an article on this topic. One statistic worth noting: In 2005, U.S. workers left a total of 424 million days on the table, Expedia also found. That is a lot of days to forfeit. However, that number does speak to the drive of the American worker. I see a number that large and instantly think of what a pioneering, resourceful country we have. Of course, there should be an appropriate level of work-life balance in one’s career especially since there are tangible benefits. He pointed to findings of the… Read More
Continue Reading