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Showing posts with the label employee management

Are Rude and Aggressive Managers Destroying Your Business?

We have become accustomed to the hard nosed manager that guides employees on the really important aspects of business. The problem is, such managers, even though well intentioned, lower satisfaction in the workplace and are counterintuitive to development. A study of 200 full-time adults found that positive relationships superseded mentoring even though both contributed to organizational commitment and job satisfaction (Madlock & Kennedy-Lightsey, 2010). The image of the strong and tough manager that gives it to their employees straight is something that should be left in the manufacturing plants of yesteryear. The same can be said of the sarcastic and aggressive personality we often associate with upward mobile career oriented people. Their ability to develop greater commitment and satisfaction among employees is likely as them having a sunny disposition. Researchers found that mentoring behaviors and positive verbal communication created higher levels of communication sa

Funny Reasons Why Employees Call in Sick

Career Builder recently released statistics on some of the most outrageous excuses for missing work. Over the past year 28% of employees called in sick which is an improvement over the 32% the previous year.   When probed for a reason 30% stated they simply didn’t feel like going to work, 29% said they wanted to relax, 21% to attend a doctor’s visit, 19% to catch up on sleep and 11% wanted to avoid bad weather.  Considering that employees in professional positions don’t generally provide a reason to use their personal/sick days there is little reason to track these statistics. One could simply decide to watch reruns of Lost and that would be excuse enough under company policies. Those who do not have an allotment of sick or personal days must call in with a reason or risk termination.  Some of these excuses boarder on being quit funny and seem to beg employers to question their legitimacy. A few interesting top responses employers reported are: Employee just put a casser

Conference: Legal & Effective Discipline & Documentation

In our litigious society, it has become more and more important for supervisors to know how to document and discipline employees to avoid law suits and manage employee performance effectively. “ If It Wasn’t Documented It Didn’t Happen: Legal & Effective Discipline & Documentation ” on Tuesday, January 28, 2014 . Areas covered in the topic Analyzing poor work performance & help employees turn it around Avoiding the negative consequences of inadequate documentation & discipline Utilizing the range of disciplinary options. Responding quickly and appropriately to common disciplinary infractions Keeping a legal Performance Log Distinguishing between subjective and objective documentation Working with employees to develop Performance Improvement Plans How to write a performance improvement plan Filling out formal HR disciplinary paperwork Protecting yourself and your organization from legal landmines And much more!!  Excl

Biology and Personality Influence Communication Styles

The authors Waldherr and Muck (2011) discuss how biology and personality contribute to communication behavior. They advocate embedding language into the Five-Factor Theory to better assess language as a characteristic adaptation to personality. The arguments put forward in their literary research lean more heavily on personality as a key factor that has two major running themes.  Communication is a circular process as each of the actors is both the communicator and the recipient at various times during a discussion (Schramm, 1954).   Each person encodes, interprets and decodes messages differently making the communication process unique. Most of this process is internal to the individual and cannot be easily evaluated. Focusing on verbal, non-verbal and para-verbal language cues can help in evaluating communication patterns.  Communication is seen as a reoccurring behavioral pattern that is personality based. It is expressed in varying ways in different situations to achieve

Having Difficult Conversations with Employees

Serious conversations within the workplace can be difficult for even the most seasoned managers. Managers are often at a crossroads when trying to determine whether to avoid or initiate conversations of destructive employee behavior. Jacquelyn Polito discusses four related approaches that may help managers break through those difficult barriers while still addressing the essential issues (2013). As with all highly emotional discussions, there are a number of considerations to think about before moving forward. Stone’s Five Steps to Productive Conversation (Stone, Patton, & Heen, 2010):             1. Understand the three points of view that are going to be seen within the conversation.                         -Get the facts and be open to new facts.                         -Understand your emotions with the issues.                         -Understand what is at stake.             2.   Ensure that the conversation is worth having and if it is the best approach.   

Book Review: When Generations Collide

When Generations Collide, by Lynne Lancaster and David Stillman, provide insight into the manners, decision making choices, values and work habits of four generations within the workplace. The Millennials, Generation X, Baby Boomers, and Traditionalists each have their own perception and needs within the workplace. Understanding how these generations act and interact with their environment fosters better ways of encouraging cross-generational understandings. The book discusses concepts including generational turbulence, WWI to WWII, race, religion, gender, language, and different approaches to management. Understanding how each generation views the workplace and sees their contribution to the environment is important for managing these different vantage points within the workplace. Furthermore, the book also provides some insight on how to get these groups to work more closely together and understand each other. There is an outline of the approximate generational groups: 1.) Tr