In the world of work, there are not many constructs that are as widely acknowledged yet largely misunderstood as the notion of job performance. It is such a large and ambiguous concept that most of us, managers, employees, and specialists alike, have our own unique definitions of what it is and what it looks like. [...]
More and more organizations are discovering the need for trained facilitators as they move in the direction of implementing continuous process improvement (CPI), Lean, and Six Sigma. In this blog I will refer to this position as Lean facilitator. The purpose of this blog is to (a) describe the roles and responsibilities of Lean facilitators, (b) describe the areas of knowledge [...]
The IRS Audits Itself In response to a potential shortage of managers and technical employees at the IRS, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) recently audited the agency’s new-hire onboarding processes. The results of this analysis highlight the need for all organizations to have a strategic process for hiring, integrating, and retaining new [...]
We all know that employee turnover is costly: the average cost associated with turnover for an entry level employee is equivalent to roughly 1/2 of his or her yearly salary. There are a number of direct and indirect costs associated with turnover, and this infographic from Compliance and Safety does a fantastic job of breaking down those [...]
Adult learning is a science, and an important one at that. Almost every employee is provided training, and effective organizations regularly provide opportunities for formal training. Most organizations hire training and development professionals to design and provide such opportunities, and when we work with organizations in this capacity we are guided by principles based on [...]
Years of research has established the fact that job burnout and depression go hand in hand: job burnout can lead to depression and depression can lead to job burnout. Likewise, annual studies by the National Institute of Mental Health indicate that about 7% of adults are depressed. Studies by the American Psychological Association report that about 1/3 [...]
To follow up a previous blog on the most effective selection methods, we are also going to look at more common and universally ineffective approaches to hiring. Traditional, unstructured interviews are the hallmark of employee selection, and as it turns out, not a bad tool for assessing job applicants. Based on organizational research findings, this [...]
Why would we ever want to use something like social media profiles to inform selection decisions when there are much much more accurate ways to evaluate applicant skills and fit? One reason, we thought, might be due to the overwhelming number and type of selection tests available. The purpose of this article is to help deal with [...]
Organizations of all sizes are turning to mentoring programs as a way to make use of existing talent to develop new employees and high potentials. While mentoring programs are cost effective and capable of fulfilling several important objectives, they still must be carefully planned and supported by the organization. In order to build success into [...]
Employees want to feel heard. In fact, the desire to influence, interact with and have an impact on our environment is basic human nature. So when people feel powerless or micromanaged in their work, what do they do?