Open Issue Irritation
Open Issue Irritation As you move towards building a more constructive and engaging culture, one area that can positively impact employee engagement is how well the supervisors and managers identify, record, implement and close-out employee suggestions, issues, questions and concerns. Also, if too many issues and concerns drag on and on, it can open the […]
MoreUs and Them or We
Us and them or we? Does your management team inadvertently have an us versus them mentality? One of the symptoms is when managers speak poorly of supervisors or employees or vice versa. Or it might be assuming that the front line fully understands the direction and strategy when in fact they don’t. It might be […]
MoreForget Motivating
Forget Motivating, Avoid De-Motivating For all the efforts that organizations and front line leaders place on creating a motivational climate, they should put some attention on reducing or eliminating the de-motivators. Here are some of the ways you might be de-motivating your employees and how to turn it around: 1. Punishing your good performers To […]
MoreHow Trustworthy are You?
How Trustworthy are You? Newspaper headlines focus on a never ending series of trust breaches in institutions, government, politicians, CEO’s, and companies. Because trust has been breached, everyone is inconvenienced. Long security lines at the airport, extra hoops to go through when applying for a loan, and lots of fine print to read and re-read. […]
MoreDealing with the Dysfunctionally Defensive
Whenever we teach our Front Line Leadership program for supervisors and managers, inevitably we get approached by a frustrated participant who has an employee with a seemingly bizarre behavior that seems to defy logic. The key indicator that there is a dysfunctional behavior is a persistent or out of the ordinary reaction that doesn’t fit […]
MoreAre you really listening?
If you are like me, your ability to listen fluctuates from being an excellent and attentive listener to being distracted and disinterested. And most of the time, we aren’t fooling anyone – they can tell if we are really listening. I’ve also noticed in myself, that my listening skills tend to fluctuate depending on my […]
MoreDealing with Unacceptable Employee Behaviors
Fortunately the majority of employees are motivated, pleasant and productive. Unfortunately, the small number of employees with attitude, behavior and performance problems can disproportionately and negatively impact the front line supervisor/manager. Should you accept or correct unacceptable behaviors? Dealing with difficult employee behaviors is a challenge for most supervisors and managers. Unlike a tangible performance […]
MoreInternal competition: Motivator or Demotivator?
Internal competition – motivator or demotivator? Managers typically are more competitive than average employees. So it’s natural for managers to want to create a competitive spirit between employees, shifts, divisions and locations. And some employees respond really well to this competition. It can even get carried away to include gaming the system to […]
MoreForty percent of employee motivation is optional
Admit it; you’ve had managers you wanted to see succeed and you’ve likely worked for others that you didn’t respect or trust. And you’ve had occasions where you threw everything you had at your job and other times where you dialed it back to idle. Managers and supervisors often think that the wages or salary […]
MoreMistakes of Managing to the Metrics
You’ve likely heard the expression, “What gets measured, gets managed.” And companies have improved their capability to measure dozens, or sometimes hundreds of data points that reflect how the business is performing. Unfortunately, managers are falling into the trap of “teaching to the test” which means that they harp on the metrics without coaching the […]
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