Productivity / Performance

Rosy reviews: 99% of bureaucrats are good at their jobs!

08/12/2016

A new U.S. Government Accountability Office study of performance reviews found that 99% of federal government employees were rated as being good at their jobs, and almost two-thirds do “outstanding” work.

Remind bosses: Genuine constructive criticism doesn’t create a hostile work environment

08/05/2016

Some employees are difficult to manage. Maybe they have talent, but they’re not amendable to constructive criticism. Tell managers and supervisors that shouldn’t make them shy away from offering suggestions on how employee performance might improve.

Keep workers’ stress under control

08/05/2016

Often managers feel caught between a rock and a hard place. Challenged to meet organizational goals in a tough economic climate, they push teams to do more and watch the stress levels rise.

Are they ready for the next level?

08/01/2016

When is an employee ready for more responsibility?

Variable pay strategy: Teach workers to ‘manage the boss’

07/20/2016

The biggest trend in employee compensation is pay-for-performance. In many organizations, less employee pay is fixed; more is contingent on performance. In reality, too few managers do what’s necessary to make pay-for-performance work. Solution: Teach the employees to “manage the boss.”

… a worker’s not ready for a job he wants

06/28/2016

Here are some guidelines on how to respond to an employee who wants to take on a job you believe he is not able to do.

New boss challenge: Balancing own, others’ work

06/13/2016

New managers face a number of challenges, but which is the most daunting?

5 legal ways you can monitor your employees

05/13/2016

There are fine legal lines to watch for when electronically monitoring employees.

Appraising workers in alternative job arrangements

04/28/2016

Alternative work arrangements—flextime, permanent part-time, job-sharing, telecommuting—require managers to adapt in many ways. One of these, often overlooked, is performance appraisal. What’s the best way to evaluate the work of someone who’s working where you can’t see them?

Snapshot: Where do we receive job-related training?

04/22/2016

There are a number of ways employers and employees pursue professional training.