In this issue:

Message From the President

Feature Article - Three Powers Every Manager Must Have

Dealing with people can be a challenging task; managing people is even harder. Business owners and functional managers are often perplexed at why people just don’t do what they’re supposed to do. Wise managers get the most out of their staff when they demonstrate strong hire, inspire and fire power.

Hire power

One of my marketing slogans is “The right people, in the right jobs, doing the right things, right!”

In the past, you may have been burned by people who were great interviewers but didn’t perform once on the job. Smart managers use behavioral rather than hypothetical interview questions to learn how candidates have handled specific situations in the past. They also use validated, reliable diagnostic tools to assess applicants, in advance of hiring them, against profiles of ‘star’ performers in their specific jobs. This objective assessment allows them to increase the likelihood the new employees will be successful in their new roles. It also minimizes the financial losses incurred by bad hires that quit too soon or must be managed out because they aren’t performing up to standard.

Inspire power

Once the employees come on board, managers must engage their hearts and minds sufficiently to build loyalty, commitment and drive.

Several years ago, I worked with a call center that was experiencing significant turnover. The supervisors and manager all believed the employees were irresponsible ‘kids’ who didn’t have any work ethic and needed to be controlled. This belief created an environment where morale, understandably, was quite low.

At one point three employees who, out of frustration with the environment, misbehaved badly and were terminated.

Performance Improvement Partner™ PIP Tip