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Productivity / Performance

Court finds Hillsborough County did not discriminate

03/01/2008

 A counselor for the Hillsborough County Children’s Services Department (CSD) lost her disability discrimination case against the county in U.S. District Court for the Middle District in Tampa …

360° evaluations help when charge is ‘Failure to get along’

03/01/2008
Courts are naturally suspicious when employers trot out subjective discharge reasons like “not a team player” or “fails to inspire subordinates,” which may mask an underlying discriminatory attitude. One way to add credibility to subjective evaluation criteria is to ask co-workers and subordinates for their confidential assessments …

Effective evaluations are management tools, legal protection

03/01/2008

Ah, the “halo effect”—the practice of inflating an employee’s annual evaluation to increase overall morale and avoid the unpleasantness of telling underperforming workers what their weaknesses are. Too bad using the halo strategy both undermines performance and exposes employers to legal risks …

3 free tools to perk up employee teamwork

03/01/2008

If your organization hasn’t moved beyond “reply all” e-mails as its sole means of online employee interaction, promote any of these three options to spark more interaction and productivity …

Simple ways to salvage ‘Below-Standard’ employees

02/26/2008
Every manager has employees who perform below standard. They’re not terrible employees, but they’re not achieving the quality or quantity of work they’re capable of. Try these tips for letting underachieving employees know what’s expected and get them moving in the right direction.

Praise Your Way to Success: 6 Steps to Effective Employee Recognition

02/05/2008

Many managers can muster up praise for their workers only during annual reviews … if at all. That’s why you need to teach supervisors how to give employee recognition and give them the tools to make it easier. Here are the six steps …

Succession planning is a dying art: Don’t settle for ‘Succession by Default’

02/05/2008

In their zeal for short-term company goals, an increasing number of U.S. organizations are allowing  managers to wallow in daily routines instead of preparing them for the next job. As a result, the next job is often with another company.

Consider 360º evaluations to catch supervisor-Bias problems

02/01/2008

Sometimes, it’s hard to see what’s actually going on down at the frontline supervisor level. A rogue manager may be spouting all sorts of garbage and getting away with it—until he fires someone who ultimately sues. Then, it may be too late to save the company from a costly jury verdict. One way to spot potential problems is with a simple HR evaluation technique—the so-called 360-degree evaluation …

Employee perks that won’t break the bank and won’t affect compensation calculations

02/01/2008

Q. We are entering our busy season. Although our budget is tight, we’d like to reward those employees who go above and beyond with some sort of additional “perk.” Can you recommend some low-cost ways to reward exceptional performance? …

Tell supervisors: Absolutely no ethnic comments allowed

02/01/2008

What seems like a joke to members of the majority can be deeply hurtful to members of a minority. These days, that’s a particular issue in areas with a large concentration of people of Middle Eastern heritage—such as Michigan. As the “war on terror” shows no signs of abating, it makes sense to remind managers and supervisors to stay away from any comments on ethnicity …