Remember in high school when you had book report due and you never found the time…correction…never MADE the time to read the book?  How did that usually work out for you? You think Siskel and Ebert were as successful as they were by just watching movie trailers?  No, they MADE time to watch...

Today’s post is from guest blogger Rachel Rowan. Rachel has over 15 years experience in the field of human resources and recruiting and is the lead writer for the Jobscience blog which provides news and insight on the latest in HR tools, technology, regulations and practices. Jobscience provides recruiting...

Documenting the progression of our employees’ training, performance and development is critical for managers because documentation provides independent and objective evidence of what happened or what didn’t happen. Somewhere along the way, howver,  documentation has become the way managers...

No one likes to be changed but it seems that HR and change frequently go together: The manager we counsel to change his/her abrasive management style The employees we counsel to change their work style Discussions we have about changing the organizations culture I’ve been in on discussions like the...

In February 2012, I wrote a post entitled So You Got a PIP…Your Life Isn’t Over. Based on the monthly hits this post gets (many times in the hundreds), it leads me to believe that many of you are facing the reality of being placed on a performance improvement plan (PIP) or perhaps coming close to...

“Ugh, This Place Sucks, I Hate Working Here!”. Believe it or not about half your employees say that to themselves or out loud every day! I’m not scared of you, I can tell you the truth with no fear. As a Consultant, I get to talk to and work with a lot of people and it’s awesome....

There are a lot of overused, misused, and stale management words used in the workplace, especially buzz words like “granular”, “leading-edge”, “synergy”, etc. Like me, I’m sure you hear them every day, and you have your favorites. There are those that make you cringe every time someone...

So we’re talking misused and abused workplace words at PIC this month. The one that annoys me the most? Coach. As in, “I coached him on XYZ-thing and he got better” or “All she needs is some additional coaching.” It’s been used so much that now “coaching”...

I’m working on reviewing and revising the employee handbook at work… I’m not sure there is anything more soul sucking then wading through labor law disclosures. Luckily for me I’m on a great team that is working hard to blow up the current version and make the new manual/handbook/guide (we haven’t...

If you evaluate the organizational structures utilized by most organizations today, you could easily translate these structures as a tower of people. Meaning you have layers of people building up to one person, usually the CEO of the organization. However, just as easy as we formulate these organizational...

Are you paying attention to your organization? The people? The processes? The sounds? Yes, the sounds of your organization can tell you a lot. Silence is deafening – ever been in a house with kids and its really quiet? Like too quiet, so you go lurking to investigate the silence? Sometimes they are...

As I speak with colleagues and look at different organizations in regards to effectiveness and buy-in, I see a consistent theme:  managers talk too much. There’s always an opinion, and not enough implementation. Too much yapping and not enough listening. So I got to thinking about how managers...

Accountability. If you reflect on the word, what does accountability mean to you? Webster defines accountability as:  the quality or state of being accountable; especially : an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions. When it comes to accountability,...

Search the word “leadership” online, there are over 300,000,000 results on Google and 125,000,000 on Bing.com. There is a lot of obvious advice out there about what are good and effective leadership traits but there is no general – all-encompassing leadership model or definition. Since...

New years bring new dreams and goals for many – employees, managers, organizations, and people in general. In particular with organizations, you have on one hand, employees getting caught up in the “this is gonna be our year!” hype. On the other hand, you have fiery, inspirational leaders...

Unlike basketball, in hockey, goal tending is a good thing – well, when it comes to achieving quarterly goals in corporate America you also need a good goalie! Let me explain. It’s the first quarter and there all sorts of exciting goals to be set for the year ahead. Meetings led by the CEO or...

Why do my employees always look so tired and worn out? Why do my employees often seem disinterested? Why do my employees just never seem to give their very best? Why can’t my employees just see and buy into the vision I have for the organization? These questions are often asked by managers without...

I’ve been socially aware for about 2 years now and I was late to the party. However, as late as I was there are even more people who are just now coming to terms with social media’s power and influence. For instance, LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional social media network, is really...

Even the best marketing campaign can’t make up for a poor candidate experience. Think about it, you’ve interviewed with a company and had a horrendous experience. Now every time you come across marketing for that company, you shake your head and think “yeah, right!” And like most...

Productivity. What does this word mean to you? Given the shear nature of the many things workers face in today’s workplace – phone calls, IMs, text messages, emails, internet, and so forth – what does productivity look like today? If you had to measure your overall productivity of work...

So there has been a lot of hype lately about how the late, great Steve Jobs managed people. Turns out he wasn’t always the nicest manager…but he sure did get results. Well it now turns out there are a whole lot of people who think that is “the way” to manage people. I really hope that fad falls...

In today’s ever evolving world of communication, more companies are relying on graphics to convey an initial impression or message to the consumer/customer through logos, commercials, company names, etc. But have you ever given any thought as to what it was in that organization’s commercial...

I received a call from a friend the other day who asked me a question about the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). First I was surprised that he even knew what the FLSA was, most people don’t realize that the law that governs over time, independent contractors, etc is called FLSA. So my friend had a...

Perusing my old blog, XtremeHR, I came across this post I wrote in November 2010, and decided I would like to share it again – let’s bring back the accountability folks! This past week, San Francisco banned McDonald’s from luring children with toys in the Happy Meal (effective December...

New Manager? Seasoned Manager? Middle of the road? Still trying to figure out what your employees think of you? Here are ten quick tips on how to be the best manager your employees have ever had: Ask their opinion – only do this if you are really interested in it. Also prepare yourself for how...

Once upon a time, I had an assistant. I put her in charge of finalizing a small project while I was on vacation. We’d made an update to the procedure manual for cleaning one of the machines. The training was complete and the addendum with the new procedure had been added to the manual. My assistant...

… And someone is always getting thrown under it. At least, that is the case everywhere I’ve worked. Hearing one person accuse another person of “throwing them under the bus” happens almost daily. And I’m over it! Listen up: Not everyone is going to like you or the work...

I’ve worked with leaders for years. Quite honestly its a privilege to have a job that provides support to people in some of the most tense situations in the workplace. Through the countless hours of meetings however, I’ve noticed that because so many leaders are perfectionists they believe...

I was in a meeting discussing the pros/cons of partnering with a new vendor. The price point seemed reasonable and the functionality seemed awesome but there was concern about our ability to train the staff and monitor it’s usage in light of some other projects we have going on. There was no point...

The other day I was reading USA Today and there was an article discussing toll roads across the United States and which states had the most toll roads. Now, if you live in a city with toll roads, you come to have a love-hate relationship with these things. I know you may be asking how you can have a...

This post comes from inspiration when I was living and working in Memphis, Tennessee, a couple of months back. The surrounding area where I used to work was a popular area for those trying to be the next Lance Armstrong – you know what I mean:  ten-speed bikes and full-body jump suit. Truthfully,...