Management
Guiding Your Team Through Change
All entrepreneurs know that change is always inevitable, especially in today’s environment. But a lot of the time, change is HARD. In a past blog post, we shared some tips to help you embrace difficult changes. As a leader or a second-chair leader, you have a critical responsibility to help your team navigate change, whether…
Read MoreIncreasing Engagement with Remote Employees
It’s easy to feel distant from remote employees when you don’t see them in person. To truly increase employee engagement and culture, HR must take steps to bridge the gap and include all employees, not just those who sit in a chair in your office. As working remotely becomes more common, you’ll likely have teammates…
Read MoreChange is Hard!
My kids, ages 16, 14, and 12, have been back at school about a month now. Full speed ahead, super active, and super teenagery (is that a word?). When school starts back, my wife and I’s world just changes. Back to games or practice every night of the week – usually with three kids going in three different directions. We are back to studying late at…
Read MoreWhat You Need to Know About Developing Your First-Time Managers
You believe you’ve identified the perfect employee to fill a management role at your business. Now what? Unfortunately for many first-time managers the next step is figuring out how to lead or manage people without being provided with formal leadership training. In other words, “winging it.” According to The Ken Blanchard Companies’ First-Time Manager Survey,…
Read MoreHow to Identify Potential Managers Within Your Ranks
If you have a spot open in management it’s tempting to look only to your top performers to fill it. Or maybe it’s time to conduct an annual performance review for your account executive who keeps blowing up her sales goals. She’s been with your organization for three years and is hoping for a promotion.…
Read MoreHow to Protect Your Brand in the Face of Online Employee Reviews
It used to be that you reviewed your employee’s performance. In today’s digitally connected culture, employees now get to review you. Current, potential, and former employees have countless platforms on which to share their good and bad experiences with your workplace. Your potential hires are likely reading any number of employment sites such as Indeed,…
Read MoreWhen Two Become One: How to Manage Merging Cultures During an M&A
For the past few weeks we’ve been talking about the practical implications of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on payroll and your core HR functions. This week we’ll cover what’s likely the most challenging piece of an M&A to navigate—the blending of two cultures. When Two Become One Mergers are often compared to marriages because in…
Read MoreFour Ways You Can Soften the Impact of an M&A for Your Employees
AOL Buys Time Warner for $162 Billion Exxon-Mobil Merger Not Expected to Raise Prices at Pump Will Whole Foods Benefit From the Amazon Effect? When we read headlines about mergers and acquisitions (M&As), the focus is typically on dollars and cents (billions of dollars, potentially), the impact on the consumer, and projections about the potential…
Read MoreA Better Way to Do Performance Reviews (Part 2)
As part of our series on best practices, we made the case for why you need to prioritize giving feedback to your team through a scheduled performance evaluation. This week we’re going to talk about a better way to conduct performance reviews. Good management includes an element of coaching. If you watch coaches they are…
Read MoreDon’t Skip Employee Performance Reviews: Here’s Why (Part 1)
Chances are performance reviews aren’t something you or your employees get stoked about. They can be awkward and ineffective, especially if it’s the only time of year you provide feedback. (This is a bad idea, but more on that later.) The truth is, timely feedback is critical. And your employees likely want it, even if…
Read More