Productivity / Performance

Celebrate spring by sparking staff creativity

03/11/2024

Worried that staff is on autopilot, just doing the same things the same way, day in and day out? Did the last productive meeting happen six months ago? Has initiative curled up under a comfortable blanket of conformity? Help your organization’s managers and supervisors banish winter’s stale doldrums and welcome the fresh air of springtime with these three suggestions for sparking creative thinking.

How to Wipe Out Fraud and Abuse Under FMLA

02/16/2024

The medical certification process is your most potent weapon for combating potential FMLA fraud. But obtaining a certification is only the first fraud-stopping step. Here are 10 more things you can do to keep employees from gaming the FMLA system.

8 steps to becoming the manager your employees need

02/16/2024

In an effort to “empower” their staffs, too many managers take a completely hands-off approach, leaving employees alone unless they really need help. But this can create a rudderless ship, says management expert Bruce Tulgan. That’s not leadership! Here’s how effective managers provide genuine support to their employees.

Study: No lasting productivity gains from remote work

01/29/2024

Remote workers are no more or less productive than their on-site colleagues, concludes a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The finding throws cold water on hopes that significant productivity gains reported during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns would continue post-COVID.

Writing job descriptions: An 8-question checklist

12/20/2023

Inaccurate or incomplete job descriptions can create costly legal risks. Here are eight questions managers should ask themselves when drafting a job description.

Top 10: The most productivity-inspiring songs and most popular artists for workplace listening

12/04/2023

According to an apparently rigorous analysis of Spotify playlists by TollFreeForwarding.com—why a phone-number brokerage does this, we don’t know—these are the top songs for promoting workplace productivity.

How to manage a remote worker experiencing performance problems

11/10/2023

Smart managers do not hesitate to address an underperforming worker. They know that rectifying the situation quickly is in the company’s best interest. This mindset holds true regardless of where the employee performs the role. Effective leaders realize, however, that root causes and possible solutions sometimes differ when the individual works remotely. Here, we look at ways to assist a struggling off-site staff member.

A rock-star employee leaves: Now what?

10/20/2023

The hole left when an outstanding employee departs can seem big enough to swallow up the productivity of that person’s whole department. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are four tips to maintain order and productivity when a top employee moves on

Cut turnover by training managers to give better performance feedback

10/16/2023

When managers give lousy performance feedback, employees are much more likely to quit, according to new research by Textio, an artificial intelligence software firm that specializes in hiring and retention solutions.

Take every opportunity to deliver positive feedback

09/27/2023

For some employees, hearing words of praise is better than a cash bonus—and such praise is a key reason people want to stay in their jobs. Yet many managers can muster up such phrases only during annual reviews … if at all. Here are 10 key ideas managers should consider when offering positive feedback to employees.