I was reminded again this week of the many ways organisations can be incompetent.
I had been asked to help a manager whose staff were argumentative, surly and uncooperative. ‘There’s nothing I can do with them,’ he said. ‘They just don’t want to work!’ On the surface it looked as if this manager had indeed inherited [...]

Managing employee performance is all about managing inputs and outputs. That sounds easier that it is in practice.
It all seems to go wrong from the start – with agreement on outputs.
Jobs are created so that certain outputs will be delivered. If you deliver the output required by your job, you deserve to be rewarded. [...]

I’ve spent the last week talking about KPAs and competency frameworks with three different clients. Two have been with HR people who are trying to get acceptance for their performance appraisal processes. One has been with a line manager who is confused and frazzled by the whole thing.
Some things change. A lot of things stay [...]

I’m sure you are familiar with the terms Baby Boomers and Generations X and Y.
Baby Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964, so they are starting to retire.
Generation X was born between 1965 and 1979. They are now between 28 and 42 years old so many are in managerial positions of authority.
Generation Y was born [...]

As managers, many of us do indeed talk straight. We identify problems, decide on solutions, allocate responsibilities, communicate it all to our people with standards and deadlines … but the job doesn’t get done! Managing would be easy if only people would do what they have been told to do. And they have been told. [...]

It’s fascinating how much one can learn about people and the culture of their organisations by listening to the conversations they hold.
There’s the manager who has been around for a while, knows his job and can see a mistake at ten paces. His conversations are short, sharp and one way. Don’t look to him for [...]