Blog
Most Bonus Plans Violate the “4 C’s of Variable Pay Plans”
Currently I have four projects re-designing “bonus” or profit sharing plans for a wide range of clients (from 30 to 3000 employees, and from a local company to two mid-sized regional to a global one). They all are faced with the same challenges: Bonus calculations are...
Do you have a Scrooge leading your team?
Does "Scrooge" the manager still exist? I love this holiday themed article by research group Zenger & Folkman. They research the key differences between high and low performing managers, and recently searched their database of 45,000 managers to identify the...
Too busy? 5 simple steps to delegate more
According to Toronto productivity consultant Mark Ellwood, managers spend 20% of their time on administrative and paperwork tasks that by definition do not advance business goals. Some of these tasks are essential to your business success (for example, meeting with...
20 Competencies of a Great Coach
Would you want to work with someone who has passion, focus, integrity, and positivity? Or how about someone with great planning and interpersonal skills? Of course! (No wait, give me that team mate who is Debbie Downer, always late with her work and tactless...) As a...
Beggars can’t be choosers
Really- why not? I hear this phrase far too often from managers who are now urgently rushing to fill an open position. Perhaps someone quit on short notice, or an employee on leave decided not to come back. Or you had to take decisive action to terminate an employee...
Wrong manager is chosen 82% of the time
Want passionate engaged employees? Then you need a passionate engaged manager with great leadership and coaching ability. One who focuses on productivity, accountability, and also cares about and builds trust with his or her team. According to Gallup research, they...
Sinking or Swimming After a Promotion?
It’s a common story- Jane was great at her job- a quick learner eager to do more. So you gave her more- a whole lot more. But now she seems overwhelmed, unsure, and downright frazzled. Will she start swimming and get her head back above water? It depends—does she lack...
Training won’t solve an issue with Job Fit
The following is a version of a conversation I have regularly with clients: Client: “We really need some help with our sales process. Some of our bids require hours of preparation and document gathering. Our estimator needed extra help as he uses all his time to get...
6 Practices of Leadership
Hundreds of studies have demonstrated that the most critical factor that impacts employee productivity, performance, retention and engagement is the relationship between an employee and his or her direct manager. As the book title clearly states “people leave...
Was she really “trained?”
When we have an employee who seems to be struggling with part of the job, we think back and exclaim "but she was trained!" Often a person has been “trained” but still does not adequately complete the job duties. There are multiple reasons “training” doesn't succeed:...
Free Guides
