The only two things that your employees need to know

Each employee you have does multiple things, with multiple steps and tasks, and multiple potential outcomes and consequences.  How do you, as their manager, instruct them, guide them, and keep an eye on their work with so much to juggle? You do that by focusing on the only two things that your employees actually need…

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Enjoy being corrected: it means you learned something

Last week’s conversation with Mark Galvin on his How’s my ePresence podcast covered many different subjects, once of which was conflicting opinions in the workplace. It is not the first time that I have warned against the dark side of “hiring for culture“. When hiring, you want to make sure you are allowing for, and…

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Cultural Hiring Risks

Learn the Lessons

Last week we discussed the risks associated with making hiring decisions based exclusively on company culture.  If your business lacks a diversity of ability and thought, it will struggle to grow and develop.  This week, let’s dive into a few of these risks to see them in action.  Skills diversity You will always need people…

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Hiring For Culture – The Bad

The bad?  But this blog often stresses the importance of values, guiding principles, and culture. Employees respond to working environments and shared goals.  What is “bad” about hiring for culture? The challenge For one thing, it is easier said than done.  A description of corporate culture is challenging enough for any business to achieve. People…

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From Risk to Opportunity

Risk and opportunity must coexist in business every day. Focus only on risk, and your business will become stagnant. Ignore the risk for opportunity alone, and you will outpace your resources. Somewhere in between Kodak and Pets.com lies the successful business. Right now, COVID19 is doing its part to highlight the risks. Let’s also address…

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Employee Onboarding – A Success Story

“His work is always good quality, and yet every project is a struggle”.  My client was ready to bring a contractor on as a full time employee, but knew that something was still missing. The employee’s work was always good quality and done to standard. And yet… everything seemed to take longer than it should,…

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Business Values: Management Starts Before You Hire

It is the eternal dilemma of the manager or business owner: how to manage people with inspiration, leadership, and motivation, still maintaining a results-driven approach? Of course you want to nurture your team, let people develop their strengths, create a job they will enjoy, and more. But not to the detriment of meeting targets. How…

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How I work – Professional Competencies

Professional competencies speak to how technical skills are applied. They will demonstrate an employee’s potential for promotion within the business. Everybody claims to want the same competencies in a candidate, so I examine how these are exhibited in the workplace, against the company’s goals. With this I build a prioritized competency table, like a point…

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How To Ask Bad Interview Questions

Let us also dedicate a few words to bad interview questions. Here are some formats to avoid: Yes/No questions. Especially ones where the obvious answer is yes. “Are you good at problem solving?” If anybody answers no let me know, I would like to interview that person for this blog. Trick or silly questions. “If…

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How To Ask Good Interview Questions

Interview Questions matter – having spent the last few weeks explaining competencies and their value in the hiring process, it is worth discussing how to ask the right questions during the interview process. Job interviews are difficult to handle. Candidates are nervous, anxious to please and make the right impression. Employers are hoping for a…

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