These are some common competencies that extensive research indicates make managers more effective. Many of these are tied to communications and interpersonal skills. Few people develop very good communications skills without formal training, coaching or a good mentor. Increasing your managers' competencies in these areas increases retention, improves execution, and enhances your success.How would you assess yourself and you...

Dealing with performance issues is a critical component of any manager's job. Since this often involves conflict and difficult emotions, many managers put off such problems until it is too late to effective solve them. Remember: your success is directly related to the performance of your staff.What causes inadequate performance? Far too often, it is failures in the system rather than the person. Peter Drucker, other managem...

The decision on whether to hire a person is especially critical when you are just beginning to grow or are small enough still to need specialists you are not sure you can afford.How do you decide whether or not to hire employees?1. Is this work which must be done by an employee over a long term or could you buy it in some way?Work can also be done by: independent contractors who specialize in the area, temporary staffing se...

Whether you are just starting out, mid-to-late career or evaluating your next steps, you need a good support system. The members of your support system will help you progress in your career, find a new job when needed, assist in changing careers or in starting your own business. And if you are lucky – and smart – some will turn into long-term friends.But how, in the crunch of other things to do, can you build or improve you...

If you have more than a few years of working ahead, you need to consider both your immediate career goals and your long-term plans. And consulting a palm reader is not really a substitute for thinking about your future. How do you look at what you may want to do 5, 10, 15 years from now? Actually there is a lot of research on career planning. Sure, you cannot forecast what will happen that long in advance. But you can i...

In the end, your most dominant sustainable resource is the quality of people you have.-Howard Stevenson, professor of Entrepreneurial Management, Harvard Business SchoolRecruiting the right people in a timely manner is a critical element of success for companies. Growth, revenues and reputation may be at risk. Have you recently looked at how effectively you are staffing your operations? Do you know where you are having prob...

What Do We Know About Retirement?Retirement is a very recent concept. "Social Security" was designed to move older workers out of the workforce during the depression so that there would be jobs for younger people. Early retirement is often driven by health issues or job loss. Many voluntary early retirees have returned to work. Baby Boomers, in a 2002 survey, indicate that a majority do not plan to retire at all or before t...

Research by a number of organizations over the past decade clearly demonstrates that organizations which practice effective human resource management are significantly more likely to have higher productivity and stronger market performance. Here are some of the more recent studies:Watson Wyatt 2002 SurveyFive key human capital practices led to average 30% greater shareholder value. The five are: excellence in recruiting cle...

When you are looking for a new position, you often focus entirely on the search process...the hard work of finding opportunities and selling yourself. And then an offer comes along and instead of being delighted, you suddenly have the decision-making blues! You thought the job offer would solve everything, didn't you! So how do you evaluate your options? What do you do now? Job offers come in a variety of ways. Some...

"Attract, develop, retain good performers" is at the heart of every organization's needs and every manager's job. Yet, too often we ignore these activities until top performers start leaving or we cannot find enough people to grow our organization.What are some of the main reasons people leave? Most are unchanged over the past decade: problems with one's supervisor, lack of opportunity, limited or non-existent career develo...