Research shows that ‘knowing what’s expected of them’ consistently ranks highly as a motivator in employee surveys. One of the biggest challenges for managers is defining their expectations of behaviours. In this series of articles I’m going to share with you a range of behavioural performance objectives that you can copy, edit, revise, correct and [...]

Research shows that ‘knowing what’s expected of them’ consistently ranks highly as a motivator in employee surveys. One of the biggest challenges for managers is defining their expectations of behaviours. In this series of articles I’m going to share with you a range of behavioural performance objectives that you can copy, edit, revise, correct and [...]

A story
Some years ago I worked with the MD of a commercial publishing business. I had spent a day facilitating a business planning session with him and his senior management team. At the very end of the day, and apropos of nothing as far as I could see, he did the following:
1. Pushed back his [...]

I was recently talking to a manager who was complaining that some of her staff had a tendency to accept work from her which, it later transpired, they did not have the time to do (or at least to the deadline she had set). She just couldn’t understand why her staff didn’t seem to have [...]

I’m often asked by clients how to ensure that the learning from training courses results in improved performance in the workplace.
As an example, a client has recently asked me to develop a ‘Leadership Skills’ training programme and to outline a plan for ensuring that the learning from the programme would lead to the delegates improving [...]

Managers often tell me that they focus most of their managerial attention on the “numbers” part of their staff’s performance. They set objectives for producing the right amount of work on time, meeting a deadline, achieving the % increase in sales or the £ of savings. They monitor the numbers and, sometimes, they give feedback [...]