Engagement

December 2, 2013

Categories

Performance

Avoid Mistakes When Correcting Others

There may be reasons why employees cannot be corrected in a timely manner. Those reasons don’t matter. What matters is the employee continues to do something incorrectly or behave poorly. When employees are finally told about the poor performance or conduct, managers should expect them to be surprised. The employee has been breaking small rules, or getting away with less than adequate performance for a while. Both parties may well ask, “What makes this mistake or incident different?” Employees will be especially surprised if they just received a positive performance appraisal. The performance appraisal process isn’t perfect and neither are […]

September 24, 2013

Categories

Performance

Interruption-Rich

Open office designs promote flexibility and space conservation. When combined with multiple electronic communication systems an interruption-rich work environment is created. Evidence shows exhaustion, error rates, stress, anxiety and physical ailments increasing with frequent interruptions. A Rice University study published in the Academy of Management Review distinguished four types of work interruptions; intrusions, breaks, distractions and discrepancies. The study looked at the type of work and the personality style of the employee to discuss the impact of each type of work interruption. An intrusion is defined as an unexpected encounter initiated by another person that brings an individual’s work to […]

January 28, 2013

Categories

Performance

Optimize the Most Valuable Asset

Several terms depict managing a workforce: human capital management, talent development and performance management. The understanding of each of these terms is varied. Perhaps the new terms are an effort to move from a narrow view of employee discipline to making the best of each employee’s work-life. Yet, many organizations continue to focus on discipline or corrective action; others add the performance appraisal process; and some look at the effort to optimize the employee’s life from recruitment to retirement. There are several strategies to increase employee engagement, and many can be considered performance management, or talent development strategies. Performance management […]

July 2, 2012

Categories

Performance

Engaging Employees

Companies with a highly engaged workforce have 26% higher revenue per employee, according to a WorkUSA survey of over 13,000 respondents. This survey’s analysts linked engagement scores with business measures. Those measures may include sales, customer satisfaction, profit, absenteeism and turnover. There are many definitions for engaged employees. This survey defined engagement as the combination of commitment and line of sight. Committed employees are proud to work for their companies and motivated to help drive success. Line of sight refers to the focus and direction that guides employee efforts. These employees can see how their efforts contribute to the company’s […]