Let your direct reports know how much you value them? (And if you don’t value them, what have you done to rectify the situation?) Asked your direct reports what you need to do differently; stop doing; start doing and keep doing? Walked around your ‘turf’ looking for real reasons to compliment your people? Asked your […]
I recently wrote about the sad situation of disconnected directors. Too many leaders, directors executives or supervisors, are disconnected from the current reality and their people. The reasons are straightforward: In the case of directors, they have become more focussed on compliance and governance and the fear associated with directors’ liability. Consequently they can overlook […]
There’s a severity about our overall culture that seems to be embedded in our workplace. It has to do with judgement, punishment, revenge and isolation. We are quick to demonise others’ transgressions, forgetting our own errors and lesser choices of behaviour. Once a person is judged, s/he is ‘branded’. We hold on to our judgements […]
Most people behave acceptably at work, despite too high a level of employee disengagement across the entire workforce. However there is a minority of people who behave unacceptably and are definitely disengaged. These people cause the greatest problems and weaken the enterprise culture dramatically. This is where I get most requests for help, when the […]
One of the traits of an effective leader is problem-solving. Unchecked, a leader is constantly looking for problems to solve. Although the intention to improve things is positive, the results can be negative: Perceptions of micro-management “We only see the boss when something goes wrong” No attention being paid to success and achievement, resulting in […]
That it’s about employee engagement. It’s really about leadership engagement, without which there is no employee engagement. That’s where the focus needs to be first and foremost. Too many leaders are too busy to be engaged with their employees, so they outsource or delegate to HR professionals etc. Damn shame isn’t it? Proof of how […]
Can you remember a time when you were acknowledged for having done great work? How did you feel? Too many people in the workplace feel they aren’t recognised or acknowledged for having done great work. The cost of not acknowledging great work is high – it leads to employee disengagement, frustration and a lowering of […]
We have been taught that we are all equal. That is true regarding respect, justice and our humanity. But we are not all equal when it comes to our talents, skills and preferences. Too many organisations follow the mantra of ‘one size fits all’. This leads to people being deployed in roles for which they […]
It’s a fundamental requirement that employees know exactly what is required of them at all times. Without that clarity they will be unable to perform at their best. Too many leaders and managers assume their people ‘already know’ exactly what is required of them in this moment and the next. I have discovered that some […]
The research by Gallup shows that 82% of management appointments are the wrong people. Having the wrong people as managers is the greatest cause of employee disengagement, loss of productivity, less profit, and lost customers. On the other hand companies that choose or develop management talent outperform their competitors by 147% in earnings per share, […]
