Tag: Human Resources
-
Beware of Greeks bearing gifts, especially when it’s wrapped in a big compensation package
A friend of mine just got off the phone with the head of HR from a national company. The HR executive noted that his company’s growth prospects were being limited by the lack of executive talent due to a depleted bench. He felt that “outside” talent was needed to expand their footprint and to bring in…
-
Forcing Honesty in the Workplace
One of the most difficult managerial tasks is providing honest feedback to employees, especially for new managers. Providing objective feedback, delivering the feedback in an appropriate manner, and being able to handle the employee’s reaction takes hours of preparation and can be anxiety producing. This is so difficult that many managers avoid providing honest feedback…
-
Leadership Stories: Things are not always what they seem
All outward appearances were that this old lady should not be taken seriously. Unfortunately for the salesperson, she had honed her negotiating skills with more than 10,000 hours of experience. Here is the story. A Master at Work One of my favorite things to do with my grandmother, Baba Vickie, was to go shopping. It didn’t…
-
Fair is not Equal: How to win the hearts and minds of your people
I once had a union official lodge a complaint that we were not treating everyone in the factory the same and that it had to stop. I told him that if he insisted, at my next “all hands” meeting I would announce that the union told me to treat them all poorly. The reason –…
-
If You Want People to Listen, You Have to Listen to Them
If you’re trying to tap into the power of employee engagement, you can’t stand on a mountaintop with a megaphone. You have to create an active, ongoing dialogue. And that means you have to listen—really listen—to the people on your team. That may seem like an obvious point. But a lot of leaders just go…