Civility

May 1, 2010

Are Star Performers Born Or Made?

Today, employers have an opportunity to select from a pool of qualified applicants. Using behavioral interviewing to select the star performer makes sense as long as your environment supports outstanding employees. Graham Jones, cofounder of Lane4, an international performance consultancy works with Olympic athletes and business professionals. He sees many similarities in the two groups. He declares elite performers are not born but made. Though specific skills are required, the most important is mental toughness. Jones draws these parallels; both groups love pressure, compete only with themselves, focus on long-term success with a detailed plan for achievement, use competition, desire […]
April 1, 2010

Mind Your Manners

Professional courtesy is declining. We may blame it on economy-related stress; having no time for nice during financial insecurity. A number of surveys indicate coworkers as the primary source of incivility. The Journal of Occupational Health Psychology surveyed 1100 workers; 71% had experienced workplace incivility in the past five years.
October 1, 2009

Civility

Many people think being civil is the same as having good manners. Civility includes getting along, sometimes to the extent of making sacrifices for the good of the whole group. Civility also includes a sense of reciprocity. Workplaces have a set of unspoken rules for verbal and non-verbal behaviors which reflect the level of respect and civility that exists. Such rules are established by example of all levels of management.
June 1, 2009

Pointy-Haired Boss

We can laugh at the pointy-haired boss whom Dilbert suffers and with Michael Scott on “The Office” because almost everyone has had a bad boss. More than one study reveals nine-out-of-ten employees have worked for a bad manager. John Hollon of Workforce Management recently proclaimed Sam Zell, the CEO of the Tribune Company as the winner of the Stupidus Maximus Award. This award honors the most ignorant, shortsighted and dumb workforce management practitioner of the year.