By Marcia Zidle on March 6, 2012
How much of money do you spend on hiring the right people and then waste by pouring cold water on their enthusiasm on that very first day? Almost all companies do an orientation for new hires but few pay much attention to them. Often workers come to work excited about the prospects of a new […]
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By Marcia Zidle on February 28, 2012
“I mean it. I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven here. If things stay this way, I’d like to spend the rest of my working life for this company. You feel like a real person, not just a number.” This a quote from the book “The Enthusiastic Employee: How Companies Profit by Giving […]
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By Marcia Zidle on February 21, 2012
Our company is going through some hard times because of the economic uncertainty. We are tightening our belt and trying not to lay off our folks, but we may be forced to. How do we make the best of a bad time for our business? It is easier to be open with employees when the […]
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By Marcia Zidle on February 14, 2012
“I find myself trying to avoid those annual appraisals with my people. Much as I try to keep the meeting focused, we always seem to get side tracked and involved in personal stuff.” – Health Care Manager During a recent training on performance reviews, I asked managers when they experienced problems. Many said it was […]
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By Marcia Zidle on February 7, 2012
“I’ve taken over a project team and there are several problem employees. One spends more time socializing than doing her job. Another is making too many mistakes that slow down the team. How should I handle these problems as the new leader?” One of a leader’s toughest jobs is dealing with problem employees. The best course […]
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By Marcia Zidle on January 31, 2012
The office holiday party was a huge success. Was it just a way to thank your workers for a job well done this past year? Or do you expect it to have the lasting power to motivate your workers for the next twelve months? I’m not trying to be a scrooge or put a damper […]
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By Marcia Zidle on January 24, 2012
“Many managers make poor staffing decisions. By all accounts their batting average is no better than .333. At most, one-third of such decisions turn out right; one-third minimally effective; and one-third outright failures. In no other area of management would we put up with such miserable performance.” – Peter Drucker, management icon. I recently gave […]
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By Marcia Zidle on January 17, 2012
“Managers who coach their people become known as good managers to work for, developers of talent, and achievers of business results. They also become better leaders in the process.” Jack Welch, Former CEO General Electric Why Is Coaching Important? Good managers regularly keep their people and team informed about work performance so that they can […]
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By Marcia Zidle on January 10, 2012
Are you seeing a decrease of employee motivation and morale, especially with your top performers? Don’t look for causes and solutions out there. Instead, chances are you’ll find critical employee issues are actually resulting from a host of internal management practices. Here are five “demotivators” – sure ways to dampen the enthusiasm of your best and […]
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By Marcia Zidle on January 3, 2012
Stop at the red and go on the green. Wait your turn. Treat others the way you would like to be treated. Certain timeless rules are better obeyed than broken. But are there certain rules that may need to be broken? In today’s constantly changing business world, many of the rules that guided previous generations of managers […]
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