After weeks or months are trying to find the “perfect candidate,” you finally hired that new employee! On Day 1: they came in, did their paperwork and you whisked them off to their new department to become familiar with their new position and new employees. Your job is done, right? Sure, if all you wanted […]
The Power of Integrative Thinking
In her classic book, The Change Masters, Harvard Business School Professor, Rosabeth Kanter, found that the key difference between truly innovative change leaders and those who focused only on incremental change came down to two different mindsets. The innovative leaders – those who succeeded in leading change projects that crossed boundaries and addressed formerly unseen […]
How to respond to an inappropriate request for acess to personal social media
The Employer’s Issue: “You can’t ask that.” Fourteen states have passed legislation that “prohibits an employer from requesting or requiring an employee or applicant to disclose a user name or password for a personal social media account.” Employment lawyers and social media consultants have spent the last year hammering home the message, “You can’t ask […]
Performance management: 33 unwritten rules of management
These rules are credited to Bill Swanson. In a news story several years ago, it was revealed not all the rules are original. Whatever the source, they are useful aphorisms for life management.
Social Media – It Rocks the Working World
We all know how social media has impacted our personal lives. How has this impacted the way that people work? Has it made employees more or less productive? How do employees value social media relative to other time alternatives? I had the opportunity to review an early copy of a two-hundred page study released today […]
Your Employee Is an Online Celebrity. Now What Do You Do?
Mixing social media and on-the-job duties can be a win-win. Or not. A growing number of professionals are using social media to build a personal, public identity—a brand of their own—based on their work. Think of an accountant who writes a widely read blog about auditing, or a sales associate who has attracted a big […]
All About Toxic Employees in the Workplace
If you run a business, you’ve likely encountered a “toxic employee.” You hear complaints about or you experience a worker who is mean or abusive. But you hesitate to deal with the employee because he/she might be technically gifted/hard to replace.
How Great Change Leaders use Stakeholder Agility
In today’s business environment, leading change has become an integral part of a manager’s job. It’s also become more challenging. One of the biggest challenges is gaining sustained commitment from those whose support we need to be successful. This post is about a particular kind of leadership agility we need to lead change effectively: “stakeholder […]
Overlooked Practices Which Improve Team Decision-Making
Here’s a practice you can use when you make decisions with your team. It can significantly increase your team’s commitment to decisions made and as well as their trust in the decision-making process. The practice has two steps, both frequently overlooked. The first is the easiest: For each topic you introduce for discussion as team […]
When It’s Time to Terminate An Employee
Small business owners should add terminations to their list of management training priorities. By Michael Essany