Memos to Managers

Identifying applicant skills: 50 great interview questions

04/27/2012

In addition to giving job-specific tests, the best way to tell if applicants carry the skills to perform specific tasks is to ask very direct questions about how they’ve used each skill in the past. Here are some sample questions hiring managers can use to spot whether these 10 important “soft” skills are present:

The ‘Great Boss’ checklist: How do you rate?

03/23/2012

Great bosses aren’t born, they’re made. Becoming a great boss requires honest self-analysis and periodic reassessments. The following checklist was designed to guide you in that analysis. Use it to take stock of your people skills. Be honest with yourself.

Interviewing: The 10 most common manager mistakes

02/27/2012

Conducting job interviews requires managers to strike a tricky balance between politeness and assertive evaluation. One wrong word or action can drive an applicant away—or even trigger a lawsuit. Warn managers to avoid these top 10 mistakes when interviewing job candidates.

Team dysfunction: Why it happens and how to fix it

01/27/2012

Managers can bring the most intelligent, creative people to their departments, but if the employees aren’t able to work as a team, the department’s productivity will suffer. If your team isn’t firing on all cylinders, it’s important to identify the reasons why … and what you can do to overcome the dysfunction.

How to become a great manager, the Google way

01/23/2012

Google, the king of search engines, recently set out on a search of its own—to identify the qualities that make the highest quality managers at Google Inc., and then to replicate those qualities across the entire company. The end result: a simple, yet elegant, list of eight management practices that the best Google managers consistently do.

How to manage employees who are grieving

12/29/2011

When an employee experiences the death of a family member or close friend, it’s tempting for supervisors to take a hands-off approach to the employee’s grief. However, silently waiting for the employee’s emotional recovery isn’t the best strategy. Take the following four steps to sensitively manage grieving employees and their impact on co-workers.

The art of giving negative feedback: A 7-step approach

10/28/2011

Giving feedback is an important management task but certainly not an easy one—especially when the feedback isn’t all sunshine. Fortunately, it’s a skill that can be learned.

Interview questions: What’s legal, what’s not?

09/26/2011

Conducting job interviews is one of the most legally dangerous tasks performed by managers. One misguided question could cause an applicant to think he or she was rejected due to one of the federally protected categories. Take this hiring quiz to see if you know which questions are legal and which are not:

How to manage ‘super-qualified’ employees

08/31/2011

With unemployment still running above 9% nationally, many people are taking jobs that are lateral—or even downward—moves in their careers. As a result, many managers are supervising employees who have far more experience than the job requires. Use the following guidelines to effectively manage overqualified workers and lengthen their stay:

‘Can we talk?’: How to handle requests for secrecy

08/01/2011

Say one of your employees stops by your office with a troubled look on her face. She has a complaint, but wants to speak with you “off the record.” Can you comply with her request for confidentiality? Should you? It all depends on the content and context of the complaint.