Positivity Amid The Wreckage; 30 Coaching Skills; Become A Better People Person

by John Walston August 27, 2016

You’ve probably heard that newspapers are dying. And they are.

They’ve been dying since the 1970s, long before the Internet came around and starting pounding nails in their coffins.

I know. I was an editor for six of the ones that died. (Note: I didn’t kill them. They all died after I left.)

Sounds depressing, eh?

But actually it wasn’t. It was the most exhilarating time of my career.

Why? Because I worked with the most positive people you’ve ever met.

They were realistic and talented, too. They understood what they were up against.

But the #1 trait they had was they were POSITIVE.

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Hiring

13 Crazy Stunts Job Candidates Are Using To Get Your Attention

by Rich Henson August 21, 2016

You want crazy?

Sit down with your favorite hiring manager and ask him or her about the job candidates they’ve had the pleasure to interview lately.

The job market may be improving, but the competition remains stiff. A great cover letter and strong resume only go so far these days in getting job candidates noticed, according to a recent Careerbuilder survey of 2,300 hiring managers.

Instead, for better or for worse, some of the current crop of job hunters yearn to be indelibly seared into the minds of interviewers.

And that’s where the crazy comes in.

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Employee Engagement

14 Morale Boosters That Will Make Employees Do Cartwheels (With Little Or No Budget)

by Renee Cocchi August 14, 2016

Thanking your employees and showing them you care is important. But how to express that is hard!

Reason: Different strokes for different folks.

Not everyone is going to like one specific reward.

And, most importantly, not every company has lots of money to spend on elaborate gifts.

So what’s a manager to do?

The experts say give options and get creative when offering morale boosters.

Here are 14 suggestions to help spark your imagination:

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Leadership

7 Tell-Tale Hints Your Employees Have Checked Out

by Lisa McKale August 7, 2016

When employees are happy, their productivity level jumps 12% — but it drops by 10% if they’re unhappy.

So can you tell if your team has slid from happy and content to bored and unmotivated?

Or have you already lost your team and don’t realize it?

If you catch them before they hit rock bottom and start looking for greener pastures, you can turn them around.

Be alert for these seven signs that your staff has checked out:

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Professional Development

Stop Procrastinating: 9 Ways To Get Your Butt In Gear

by Renee Cocchi July 31, 2016

“Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today!” Ben Franklin’s words ring hollow for the 20% of us who are chronic procrastinators.

That’s right, 20%.

And 95% of us procrastinate at least some of the time, reports Piers Steel, a University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business human resources professor.

But procrastinating isn’t a desired trait when you hold a leadership position.

So how do you break what some consider to be simply human nature?

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Leadership

We’re Not Great Listeners; Lead With Your Brain; Truth In The Trenches

by John Walston July 30, 2016

We’ve spent a lot of time the past two weeks writing about the right way to give employees feedback so it is positive and productive. If you didn’t catch those emails, go back through your inbox. There was some great advice.

But we didn’t emphasize enough one of the most important things – listening.

The late Steve Jobs may have said it best: “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”

We’re better managers when we listen. I mean really listening to our employees. If you listen enough, they’ll tell you everything you really know to have a successful company.

But I’m afraid we don’t do it very well.

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Leadership

7 Signs YOU Are The Biggest Obstacle To Your Team’s Success

by Rich Henson July 24, 2016

So, what if you asked: “Team, what’s the biggest obstacle you face in getting the job done?”

And in one of those rare moments of unbridled honesty, they replied with a resounding “You.”

Yes, you. Their manager.

As hard as it may be to accept, it’s quite likely that managers – people like us – are the major roadblock to our team’s success more often than we want to know or admit.

We certainly don’t mean to be. But it happens.

Here are a few reasons why.

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Professional Development

What 42% of Managers Don’t Do; Productivity Secrets; 2 Words Innovators Never Use

by John Walston July 23, 2016

You’ve heard it a million times already. Most employees are not engaged at work.

Don’t believe it? I do.

Gallup’s research says only 31.5% are engaged.

And an exclusive ResourcefulManager survey of 2,107 managers and executives provides a big hint as to why.

According to our survey, 42% of managers don’t meet with their direct reports one-on-one at least weekly.

Here’s the breakdown:

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Performance Management

Why Bad Feedback Is Better Than No Feedback [Infographic]

by Lisa McKale July 17, 2016

Most managers dread giving negative feedback, and most employees hate hearing it.

Our brains tend to go on the defensive the instant anyone launches into corrective feedback.

But good managers still know they have to do it.

When employee feedback is done well, you end up with a better performing and even happier employee.

As it turns out, even bad employee feedback is considered better than no feedback.

The statistics paint the picture of what’s really going on.

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