Get the Recognition You Deserve...Learning how to get praise...!!

Imagine this: You stay late at work, consistently win accounts that your co-workers only dream of, never miss deadlines, and never show up late – and to top it all off, you finish even your worst projects successfully and ahead of schedule.
You'd think that by doing all of this, you would, at least once in a while, get thanks and recognition from management? Well… you wish. Unfortunately, your boss is busy dealing with a "problem" member of the team, and as a result, she forgets to show any gratitude to her stars. That includes you.
Have you ever been in a situation like this? Working hard and getting ignored by your boss can be rough. That's why you sometimes have to take matters into your own hands.
Boasting of your own accomplishments can feel awkward. But look at it this way: If your boss doesn't notice your hard work, and you don't point it out to him or her, then what happens when you ask for a raise? How will he or she know you're ready for that promotion, or if you can handle that huge-but-fascinating project?
Things don't have to be like that. We'll show you how to get the recognition you deserve without looking like you're seeking attention. Believe it or not, there is a way to do this..
There are many types of recognition, so decide what type you want.

Step One: Decide What You Want
Companies often thank staff with awards, certificates, or bonuses. However, people often just want simple praise.. We want to know that our work is meaningful and that we've made a difference. An "Employee of the Month" certificate, or a cold, hard check doesn't always communicate that.
So, what exactly are you looking for? It's important to really define this, because everyone wants something different. Do you want a simple "thank you"? An award ceremony in your honor? A raise?

Step Two: Define Why You Deserve Praise
Don't walk into your boss's office with no advance preparation to say what a great job you've been doing. Why? Firstly, it would seem odd. Then, if you're a bit nervous, you might forget something important that you've done. You might forget the help a co-worker gave you, and leaving out that person could speak poorly of your character.. Be sure to make yourself look good, but also share credit where credit is due.
Make a list of the accomplishments you'd like to discuss. Beside each one, list the value that accomplishment has brought to the company.

Step Three: Praise Yourself
This is where you've got to get creative. You know your boss and your business environment, so think of ways to let your boss know how hard you've been working.
If you tell your boss directly, then do it carefully and tactfully – in a private area. You know that list of accomplishments you just created? Read that over a few times before your meeting. As you talk, emphasize how you had help and how your co-workers should be rewarded for their hard work as well.
If this feels a little too much like bragging, then think of ways to let your boss know what you're doing without being so obvious or bold. For example, send your boss an email every time you win a new account, or when you're finally able to please your company's worst customer. These little "progress reports" keep your actions in the open in a delicate, not-too-obvious way.
You can also praise others in front of your boss. By bringing their hard work and accomplishments to your boss's attention, she may also notice the great job that you've been doing.. Keep it genuine and honest, however. If you appear insincere, then people may notice, and you may look bad. If you have something good to say, then say it, but don't speak up if you don't really mean it.

A Few Tips
· Look closely at your boss's actions – he or she may be praising you, and you don't even realize it. For example, let's say you spent hours writing the annual message to shareholders, and your boss only quickly glanced at it before passing it on to be copied. Before you get upset, consider that her actions may really say that she trusts you to do top-notch work, and she doesn't have read every line to know you've done a great job. Yes, a "thank you" for a job well done is nice, but this kind of trust is also a compliment.
· In your work environment, perhaps all the problem behaviors get noticed, and all the really great ones seem to be ignored. If so, then you may have to do something bold to get management's attention. Tell your boss honestly how members of the team need some recognition. Keep the focus off yourself, and help your boss understand how everyone would be more motivated if they just got a little praise now and then.

Key Points
Although not everyone is comfortable talking about their accomplishments, you might harm yourself if you don't speak up.
If your boss doesn't see the great work you've been doing, he or she might give that promotion or special project to someone else without knowing any better. It's up to you to prove that you can handle the added responsibility – and to do that, your boss has to know what you've already done.

Apply This to Your Life:
Ready to put this into action? Here are some easy ways to use this tool in your life right now:
Begin by recognizing the accomplishments of others. If you notice co-workers doing something great, send them emails praising their efforts, and send copies to your boss. This can show your boss that you're leading by example.
Don't forget that your boss might need some praise and recognition too. Send him or her an email when she's made a difference in your day, and consider copying that email to his or her boss.
If you're a team leader, keep your eyes open for activities and co-workers that deserve praise. Whenever someone does something that's earned a heartfelt "thanks," send that person an email and copy it to your boss.
These are just a few ways you can "raise the bar" in your workplace to get other people thinking about praise and recognition. When you recognize the efforts of your team, you should steadily earn your own praise as well.

Power of Positive Talk! - By Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

I remember my dad teaching me the power of language at a very young age. Not only did my dad understand that specific words affect our mental pictures, but he understood words are a powerful programming factor in lifelong success.
One particularly interesting event occurred when I was eight. As a kid, I was always climbing trees, poles, and literally hanging around upside down from the rafters of our lake house. So, it came to no surprise for my dad to find me at the top of a 30-foot tree swinging back and forth. My little eight-year-old brain didn't realize the tree could break or I could get hurt. I just thought it was fun to be up so high.
My older cousin, Tammy, was also in the same tree. She was hanging on the first big limb, about ten feet below me. Tammy's mother also noticed us at the exact time my dad did. About that time a huge gust of wind came over the tree. I could hear the leaves start to rattle and the tree begin to sway. I remember my dad's voice over the wind yell, "Bart, Hold on tightly." So I did. The next thing I know, I heard Tammy screaming at the top of her lungs, laying flat on the ground. She had fallen out of the tree.
I scampered down the tree to safety. My dad later told me why she fell and I did not. Apparently, when Tammy's mother felt the gust of wind, she yelled out, "Tammy, don't fall!" And Tammy did… fall.
My dad then explained to me that the mind has a very difficult time processing a negative image. In fact, people who rely on internal pictures cannot see a negative at all. In order for Tammy to process the command of not falling, her nine-year-old brain had to first imagine falling, then try to tell the brain not to do what it just imagined. Whereas, my eight-year-old brain instantly had an internal image of me hanging on tightly.
This concept is especially useful when you are attempting to break a habit or set a goal. You can't visualize not doing something. The only way to properly visualize not doing something is to actually find a word for what you want to do and visualize that. For example, when I was thirteen years old, I played for my junior high school football team. I tried so hard to be good, but I just couldn't get it together at that age. I remember hearing the words run through my head as I was running out for a pass, "Don't drop it!" Naturally, I dropped the ball.
My coaches were not skilled enough to teach us proper "self-talk." They just thought some kids could catch and others couldn't. I'll never make it pro, but I'm now a pretty good Sunday afternoon football player, because all my internal dialogue is positive and encourages me to win. I wish my dad had coached me playing football instead of just climbing trees. I might have had a longer football career.
Here is a very easy demonstration to teach your kids and your friends the power of a toxic vocabulary. Ask them to hold a pen or pencil. Hand it to them. Now, follow my instructions carefully. Say to them, "Okay, try to drop the pencil." Observe what they do.
Most people release their hands and watch the pencil hit the floor. You respond, "You weren't paying attention. I said TRY to drop the pencil. Now please do it again." Most people then pick up the pencil and pretend to be in excruciating pain while their hand tries but fails to drop the pencil.
The point is made.
If you tell your brain you will "give it a try," you are actually telling your brain to fail. I have a "no try" rule in my house and with everyone I interact with. Either people will do it or they won't. Either they will be at the party or they won't. I'm brutal when people attempt to lie to me by using the word try. Do they think I don't know they are really telegraphing to the world they have no intention of doing it but they want me to give them brownie points for pretended effort? You will never hear the words "I'll try" come out of my mouth unless I'm teaching this concept in a seminar.
If you "try" and do something, your unconscious mind has permission not to succeed. If I truly can't make a decision I will tell the truth. "Sorry John. I'm not sure if I will be at your party or not. I've got an outstanding commitment. If that falls through, I will be here. Otherwise, I will not. Thanks for the invite."
People respect honesty. So remove the word "try" from your vocabulary.
My dad also told me that psychologists claim it takes seventeen positive statements to offset one negative statement. I have no idea if it is true, but the logic holds true. It might take up to seventeen compliments to offset the emotional damage of one harsh criticism.
These are concepts that are especially useful when raising children.

Ask yourself how many compliments you give yourself daily versus how many criticisms. Heck, I know you are talking to yourself all day long. We all have internal voices that give us direction.
So, are you giving yourself the 17:1 ratio or are you shortchanging yourself with toxic self-talk like, " I'm fat. Nobody will like me. I'll try this diet. I'm not good enough. I'm so stupid. I'm broke, etc. etc."

If our parents can set a lifetime of programming with one wrong statement, imagine the kind of programming you are doing on a daily basis with your own internal dialogue. Here is a list of Toxic Vocabulary words.
Notice when you or other people use them.
Ø But: Negates any words that are stated before it.Ø Try: Presupposes failure.Ø If: Presupposes that you may not.Ø Might: It does nothing definite. It leaves options for your listener.Ø Would Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn't actually happen.Ø Should Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn't actually happen (and implies guilt.)Ø Could Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn't actually happen but the person tries to take credit as if it did happen.Ø Can't/Don't: These words force the listener to focus on exactly the opposite of what you want. This is a classic mistake that parents and coaches make without knowing the damage of this linguistic error.
Examples: Toxic phrase: "Don't drop the ball!"Likely result: Drops the ballBetter language: "Catch the ball!"
Toxic phrase: "You shouldn't watch so much television."Likely result: Watches more television.Better language: "I read too much television makes people stupid. You might find yourself turning that TV off and picking up one of those books more often!"
Exercise: Take a moment to write down all the phrases you use on a daily basis or any Toxic self-talk that you have noticed yourself using. Write these phrases down so you will begin to catch yourself as they occur and change them

Transformational Leadership

Assumptions
People will follow a person who inspires them.
A person with vision and passion can achieve great things.
The way to get things done is by injecting enthusiasm and energy.

Style
Working for a Transformational Leader can be a wonderful and uplifting experience. They put passion and energy into everything. They care about you and want you to succeed.

Developing the vision
Transformational Leadership starts with the development of a vision, a view of the future that will excite and convert potential followers. This vision may be developed by the leader, by the senior team or may emerge from a broad series of discussions. The important factor is the leader buys into it, hook, line and sinker.

Selling the vision
The next step, which in fact never stops, is to constantly sell the vision. This takes energy and commitment, as few people will immediately buy into a radical vision, and some will join the show much more slowly than others. The Transformational Leader thus takes every opportunity and will use whatever works to convince others to climb on board the bandwagon.

In order to create followers, the Transformational Leader has to be very careful in creating trust, and their personal integrity is a critical part of the package that they are selling. In effect, they are selling themselves as well as the vision.

Finding the way forwards
In parallel with the selling activity is seeking the way forward. Some Transformational Leaders know the way, and simply want others to follow them. Others do not have a ready strategy, but will happily lead the exploration of possible routes to the Promised Land.

The route forwards may not be obvious and may not be plotted in details, but with a clear vision, the direction will always be known. Thus finding the way forward can be an ongoing process of course correction and the Transformational Leader will accept that there will be failures and blind canyons along the way. As long as they feel progress is being made, they will be happy.

Leading the charge
The final stage is to remain up-front and central during the action. Transformational Leaders are always visible and will stand up to be counted rather than hide behind their troops. They show by their attitudes and actions how everyone else should behave. They also make continued efforts to motivate and rally their followers, constantly doing the rounds, listening, soothing and enthusing.

It is their unswerving commitment as much as anything else that keeps people going, particularly through the darker times when some may question whether the vision can ever be achieved. If the people do not believe that they can succeed, then their efforts will flag. The Transformational Leader seeks to infect and reinfect their followers with a high level of commitment to the vision.

One of the methods the Transformational Leader uses to sustain motivation is in the use of ceremonies, rituals and other cultural symbolism. Small changes get big hurrahs, pumping up their significance as indicators of real progress.

Overall, they balance their attention between action that creates progress and the mental state of their followers. Perhaps more than other approaches, they are people-oriented and believe that success comes first and last through deep and sustained commitment.

Discussion
Whilst the Transformational Leader seeks overtly to transform the organization, there is also a tacit promise to followers that they also will be transformed in some way, perhaps to be more like this amazing leader. In some respects, then, the followers are the product of the transformation.

Transformational Leaders are often charismatic, but are not as narcissistic as pure Charismatic Leaders, who succeed through a believe in themselves rather than a believe in others.
One of the traps of Transformational Leadership is that passion and confidence can easily be mistaken for truth and reality. Whilst it is true that great things have been achieved through enthusiastic leadership, it is also true that many passionate people have led the charge right over the cliff and into a bottomless chasm. Just because someone believes they are right, it does not mean they are right.

Paradoxically, the energy that gets people going can also cause them to give up. Transformational Leaders often have large amounts of enthusiasm which, if relentlessly applied, can wear out their followers.

Transformational Leaders also tend to see the big picture, but not the details, where the devil often lurks. If they do not have people to take care of this level of information, then they are usually doomed to fail.

Finally, Transformational Leaders, by definition, seek to transform. When the organization does not need transforming and people are happy as they are, then such a leader will be frustrated. Like wartime leaders, however, given the right situation they come into their own and can be personally responsible for saving entire companies.

Work Concept

One evening a scholar was addressing the participants on the concept of work culture. One of the participants asked the following question :
"I am a senior manager of Materials Department and I joined an organization 25 years ago as an Engineer Trainee and over the last 25 years I have gone through every experience in the organization.
During the initial part of my career, the job was very challenging and interesting.
However, all those exciting days are gone since I do not find my joy any more interesting because there is nothing new in my job. I am now feeling bored because I am doing a routine job.
However, Sir, I am living in the same house for over forty years, I am the son for the same parents for over forty five years, I am the father for the same children for the past ten years and the husband for the same lady for the past twenty years !( the toughest job!)
In these personal roles I do not feel bored Please tell me why I am bored of the routine in the office and not in the house?"
The response from Scholar was very interesting and convincing. He asked the executive the question:
"Please tell me for whom does your Mother cook ?"
The executive replied that obviously the mother cooks for others.
Then the Scholar said that the mother "Serves" others and because of this service mindedness, she is not feeling tired or bored. But in an office,we "Work" and not "Serve". Anything we consider, as service will not make us feel bored. That is difference between Serving and Working.
He asked the executive to consider his work as service and not merely a work !! This was a very interesting analysis!! Whenever you put a larger context around your work and see a broader meaning for your work, you will take interest in your work and it will make a very big difference in your internal energy.
Attitude Matters !!!
If you think you are working for the organization you will get frustrated. If you feel you are doing a service and getting some service charges you will feel happy. After all -doing what you like is freedom But liking what you do is happiness!

Don't Recruit The Best People - Attract Them

Smart leaders don't recruit the best people, they attract them. Why do they do it? They do it because it makes their lives easier, and their companies more successful. How do they do it? They have a clearly defined corporate Purpose For Existing (PFE), they tell the world about it, they live it, and the best people come to them. They don't recruit, they attract.
The success of this method is based on two principles. The first is a very basic tenant of life on the planet; "Birds with same feather flock together". It is this reason that zebras run together on the African plains,
geese flock together in v-shape formation, similar looking fish travel in schools. In any given crowd of people, each sub-group is composed of individuals with similar characteristics or persona. They experience a level of mental comfort, which enables them to be at peace with themselves. A leader who has defined their company's PFE is saying in essence "I am a zebra. If you too are a zebra, come out here on the plains and join me."

The second principle is that the best and the brightest in the work-force seek more than just a paycheck from their job, they seek fulfillment of their own personal Purpose For Existing (PFE). On average, employees spend 70% of their waking hours Monday through Friday either at work, getting to work, or preparing for work. For the most part, their work is their life. The best and the brightest know this, and understand this. They want to make sure that while spending 70% of their life at work, they are in some way fulfilling their own PFE. They seek out companies where the organization's PFE supports their own.

The concept of attracting vs. recruiting might not seem like an important topic in an era of economic uncertainty where companies are laying people off, or freezing the hiring process. The U.S. has been in that situation now for almost three years. However, data from the National Bureau of Labor Statistics, and independent studies from professional staffing and Human Resource Management firms indicate a change is coming. Projections are for labor shortages starting this year in certain industries and increasing to approximately 6 million skilled workers in 2012. India faces a similar situation where companies are on a recruitment spree considering the tremendous growth opportunity existent in their respective field. The repercussions of such a shortage won't just be felt in lost opportunity costs as companies can't get the necessary qualified talent to serve new customers. More painful and directly impacting will be the costs felt as employers try to fill open positions. According to Human Resource studies, total costs to replace a skilled managerial level employee can total as much as 150% of the departing person's salary by the time recruiting, training, and productivity costs due to losses with current customers are factored in. With studies showing 55% of salaried people planning on moving as jobs become available, this cost could be substantial for individual companies.

From the staffing perspective this will be the year of the wake up call for many people in HR/Staffing roles. The economy is in the midst of a full swing change and what you did in the past to attract, hire and retain your talent will simply not cut it anymore.

Every indication in the last two fiscal quarters suggests that hiring is on the rise. It doesn't take much of an effort to see that a good number of these jobs are of the meaty variety, which simply means that people who will be looking have more selection and more meaningful jobs with real opportunity within their grasp. The idea of taking a job just to stay employed (and in many cases underemployed) just won't cut it anymore.

If you haven't checked the pulse of your own company recently you might be surprised to find out the mix of engaged, quasi-engaged and completely disengaged employees you have on staff. If the only way to verify this statistic involves checking your turnover rates on a weekly/monthly basis – you're in deeper trouble than you think - when turnover begins and a few success stories start to trickle in from the outside concerning your ex-employee who is now working for your competitor and has a team of 10 working under him. This ignites the hidden ambitions of present employees who feel they are been let down by their organization, and can get a good bet outside.

Organizations can avoid this phenomenon by making sure that there is goal congruence between individual and organizational PFE. This will eliminate the culmination of ambitions due to external influence.

In light of this looming future, the opportunity to attract versus recruit the best people, as well as the issue of maintaining the right employees, both become more relevant. Leaders play a vital role in changing a given situation by influencing by their deeds. Those leaders interested in creating an environment where they attract instead of recruit the best candidates should follow three key steps.
1. Clarify Your PFE
2. Tell the World What Your PFE Is
3. Fulfill Your PFE

Clarify Your PFE:
What is your organization's Purpose For Existing (PFE)? Why was the organization formed? What unique function does it serve? Many organizations already have their PFE as a deeply imbedded part of their culture, and often it exists in some written form. It may seem obvious to you as a leader, or to your employees. Now is the time to either turn it into the written word if it isn't yet, or make sure it is clearly articulated if it already exists in writing.
An example of a PFE that is clear, impacting, and to the point is that of Merck & Co., Inc. Merck is a global pharmaceutical products and services company that focuses heavily on research. Their PFE is stated in the following way "Our business is preserving and improving human life." They back this up with the following sub statement. "All of our actions must be measured by our success in achieving this goal."

Tell The World What Your PFE Is:
When you have a clearly articulated version of your PFE, let the world know what it is. Put it on all your marketing materials, internal documents, web sites, and your communications with buyers, suppliers, customers, campus placement offices, and partners. Make sure that when people hear the name of your company, they automatically know what your PFE is. It is through these efforts that you are saying to the world "I am a zebra. If you too are a zebra, come join me". Your PFE will have an impact on the people who interact with you. Those who have a personal PFE that is similar to your organization's and who in fact can fulfill their PFE by helping your organization fulfill its PFE, will now be attracted to you. Think in terms of Merck. How attracted do you think someone is to Merck if their personal PFE is to improve human life?

Fulfill Your PFE:
Ralph Waldo Emerson said "What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you are saying." This is something for organizations to remember. To succeed in attracting, not recruiting the best people, an organization must live up to the PFE that it identifies and promotes to the world. Exhibiting actions incongruent with that PFE will quickly damage the company's credibility and decrease their attraction. However, for organizations that live the PFE they create, every action they do makes the attraction that much stronger for potential candidates. Organizations that follow these three steps will find themselves approaching hiring in an entirely new way. Creating awareness about the organization's PFE and then interviewing people attracted to the company will become the norm, not recruiting. For organizations that are doing the three steps very successfully, having to work hard to recruit someone should be an indication that they are trying to get the wrong person. If someone clearly understands your organization's PFE and your organization has done an effective job of fulfilling its PFE, but the person still needs to be convinced, then you don't want them in your organization.

Make your life easier and make your company more successful. Don't recruit the best people, attract them.

Stress in the Workplace - A Management Responsibility : By Leslie Hardy

Stress is considered to be the main cause of many medical conditions, including heart problems. At the same time, the nature of stress is multifaceted and difficult to define, and the reasons for its increase are poorly understood.

Stress in the workplace can have a disastrous effect on peoples' health and lead to sickness and absence. It can also seriously disrupt the business and reduce profits. Yet many organisations consider stress to be a personal problem of individual workers, and something which an organisation can do little to address.

The amount of stress in the workplace is generally considered to be increasing. The concept of a job for life has been consigned to history and most workers will need to learn new skills during the course of their career. Male manual workers in traditional heavy industries such as mining, steel and manufacturing may need to adapt to the very different work situation of an office environment. Advances in Information Technology mean that staff will need to become computer literate and this can be a major challenge for anyone over 40 years of age.

The cost of labour is invariably the biggest cost of any organisation in a western economy and dwarfs the costs of machinery and business premises. Most large firms have an opportunity to relocate part of their operations in a low wage location such as India, and this increases the pressure on management to increase the productivity of staff in the mature economies of the west. All companies are searching for ways to reduce their staff and to make their existing staff work harder and to greater effect.

In one sense, stress can be productive. Giving people targets and deadlines invariably generates mild levels of stress and this state of agitation can help to focus attention on the tasks to hand.

However, many workers report symptoms of stress which are decidedly unhealthy and lead to sickness and prolonged periods of absence from work. It has always been the case that high flying, young male executives experience high levels of stress and this often leads to burn out at an early age. These high flyers were often difficult to work with and received little sympathy from colleagues whom they had mistreated over the years, in the event of a physical or mental collapse.

In recent times, stress has permeated the entire workplace and there are many people who genuinely feel that they are unable to cope with the demands of work. Responses vary. Some staff will seek to avoid responsibility and try to get others to make difficult decisions. Others will turn down opportunities for promotion. Some will simply start looking for a job elsewhere, and eventually leave the organisation. Worse still, some may embark on regular and prolonged periods of sickness, while still drawing their salaries and other benefits of employment.

Most articles on the subject of stress focus on ways an individual can try to reduce stress in work and learn how to cope. While these are undoubtedly useful, it should also be remembered that the management of the organisation is ultimately responsible for the welfare of staff. A stress ridden workplace, with high staff turnover and excessive sick leave is neither beneficial for employees nor the organisation itself.

A progressive company should always be looking for new ways of working more efficiently and effectively in order to reduce costs and increases revenues or profits. The management of human resources is probably the most crucial element in this quest.

There are several things an organisation can do -

1. The organisation of work in a company should be a top management function, and should be the subject of company wide, regular reviews. This does not mean that emphasis should be place on rewriting job functions every few months. In fact many argue that excessively detailed job specifications are the source of inertia and atrophy. What is required is an appreciation of the human implications of corporate strategy. In other words, as the activities of the organisation change or expand, then careful thought should be given as to how the workforce should adapt to these changes in order to make the strategy a success.

2. Recruitment of skilled and capable staff is essential to the achievement of corporate objectives. In all organisations, there will be leaders and followers, and poor selection of leaders will inevitably lead to corporate collapse. Therefore great care should be given to the selection process for the recruitment of key staff. In addition to personal qualities such as vision, intelligence, energy and dynamism, it is also important that key staff can inspire and motivate their junior colleagues.

3. Management styles have, or should have, moved away from the traditional hierarchical and authoritarian based military model. In other words, staff perform tasks, not because they are simply told to by management, but because they appreciate the value of their role in the organisation as a whole. On this approach, the remit of a manager is to assist staff to perform their roles and to inspire commitment based on his or her personal example.

4. There should be a culture in the workplace whereby staff who are experiencing difficulty in discharging their tasks have an informal forum in which to discuss these matters. It is simply incorrect to think that the reason why a person is not performing well must always be due to a personal failure on their behalf. Staff are often given targets which are impossible and deadlines which are unrealistic. In this case, the failure lies with the manager who allocated this task, rather than the unfortunate person who was given the job.

5. All workers should have a personal development plan. The plan should identify the skills they need to develop and discharge their responsibilities more effectively, and provide training or supervised learning experiences which will assist in skill building. If a member of staff is content with his or her current responsibilities and is not seeking a pay rise or promotion, then one should be able to articulate this preference without fear of ridicule or discrimination.

If these steps are implemented then the staff of an organisation will learn how to work imaginatively and proactively. This will invariably lead to a reduction in stress.

Article Source :
http://www.bestmanagementarticles.com
http://human-resources-mgt.bestmanagementarticles.com

About the Author :
Leslie Hardy is a noted writer on North Cyprus Property and the UK Chairman of Wellington Estates Ltd. He has spent most of his life in University Business Schools.

Employees Don't Come With Instruction Manuals - Robert Cameron

Don't you wish employees came with instruction manuals? Studies show managers spend 60% of their time dealing with people problems. That leaves only 40% to work on the organization's objectives. Have you ever become frustrated by an employee's inability to follow simple instructions or ideas, or surprised by an employee's hostility to you or their co workers? It happens all the time.

What is often missing is objective information on an employee's personality and behavioral makeup. If you understand the employee you can communicate more effectively with him, boost his morale and increase his productivity. You can't go on "gut feel" or keep doing the same old thing. You can lose a good employee that way.

There a number of different employee assessments to help solve this problem, but most managers and business owners aren't psychologists, and don't aspire to be one. They should look for a well validated assessment tool that is easy to administer (the good ones can all be done online) and, most of all, provides an easy to read report for both the employee's manager and the employee.

Let's look at an assessment tool called the Profiles Performance Indicator. It can be done online and generates easy to read reports that are like an "instruction manual" for an employee. So what does it tell you? First of all it will tell you whether an employee will adapt to change, a constant in today's business world and if he is a team player. Next it measures seven more behavioral tendencies including;
Productivity
Quality of work
Initiative
Problem solving
Response to stress and conflict
Work motivation
Motivational energy

This will help you easily create a unique professional development plan for the employee. Every person is different and you want to use the right approach with each employee. Morale gets a tremendous boost because you are using a personalized communication plan for each employee. He sees that your attention is directed at his specific needs and personality. Plus he gets a report designed specifically for his own professional development.

Employee development expert, Robert Cameron, states, "Understanding an employee better will make a manager more effective. With the talent wars raging you can ill afford to lose a good employee just because he was not managed effectively". Cameron goes on to say, "Imagine if you had a unique instruction manual for each employee, wouldn't that make things run so much smoother in the workplace?"

Employees quit supervisors not companies, often because we simply don't understand each other well enough. With this simple 20 minute online assessment you can gain a much better understanding of an employee and how to get him to improve his individual and team performance. It can eliminate much of the time, 60 %, spent resolving misunderstandings, stress issues, and other interpersonal problems.

The bottom line is you don't want to risk losing your best employees. Use the tools that are available to gain a better understanding of "what makes them tick" so that they will be happy, contented and productive employees.

Article Source :
http://www.bestmanagementarticles.com
http://human-resources-mgt.bestmanagementarticles.com

About the Author :
For more information contact Robert A. Cameron & Associates, Weston FL. Mr. Cameron works with employers to help them increase the effectiveness of their employee selection, retention and development. They can be reached at 954-385-8701 or visit their website at http://www.racameron.com

The Science of Successful Teams -- Dr. Ellen Weber

How would you describe the best team you've experienced? If team projects are part of your work … you'll be interested to see factors Scientific American Mind just laid out to show the science of team success. Results come from research that shows how groups systematically enhance their performance. Steve W. J. Kozlowski and Daniel R. Ilgen show how research affirms why some teams work so well together.

The authors considered 50 years of research on teams and highlighted factors that characterize the most effective, as a way to help teams perform better. They found that…

1. Teams need sufficient resources to accomplish their goals.

2. Delicate balance between meeting team goals and individual goals keeps members working together.

3. Questions should be addressed… such as… Could an individual do the work as easily? Another question the authors suggest is what type of team structure is required?

4. Teams should focus more on the task … than on interactions among peers and should set minimum requirements for knowledge, skills, abilities, and values of the group.

5. Gather information about what members think, and use their ability to access and apply their own and others' expertise efficiently.

6. Team members benefit from their collective knowledge when they learn together. People in newly formed groups are less likely to have the right mix of skills to complete the task efficiently. They knew less about one another's strengths, and it was discovered that group knowledge was lost when people were replaced.

7. Face-to-face interaction seems to help teams to share and grow knowledge among team members throughout their project.

8. The emergence of an overall objective, mission or strategic imperative of the group—or team climate -- holds a powerful effect on teams. Teams with more frequent informal social interactions showed more consensus on climate.

9. The teams' emotional state affects their performance. Positive attitudes tend to reduce the number of absences in teams and lower the likelihood of people leaving the group. Group-level emotional changes occurred, both from positive and negative attitudes of members.

10. Teams do better when there is evidence of general teamwork skills requiring that contributions to be visible and that members be accountable.

Although these skills can be taught, and while they reliably give teams a heads-up advantage, yet they rarely are. Do you agree? What have you found to make or break a team?

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