Are you beginning to think that finding great employees is an impossible task? Have potential employees interviewed well, only to turn out to be duds later?

You’re right. There are hundreds of good, even great people out there – many of them probably saying ‘good bosses are impossible to find’.

How long is it since you reviewed your interviewing and hiring process? Is your process attracting the wrong people? And once you have hired them, are you and your company delivering on what was promised in the advertisement and the interview? Continue reading →

Spending a ton, but still not sure how effective or efficient your advertising is? Here is some advice for figuring it out.

First measure your results. Do you know where your business is coming from? Is your marketing and advertising targeted towards your most likely or ideal customer? Do you know who your ideal customer is? If not, start by creating a composite picture of your best customers. What are their likes and dislikes about dealing with businesses like yours? Continue reading →

Among your terrific staff, you have one unmotivated employee who is not only not performing, she has a really negative attitude in the office. Despite sending her to a motivation coach, she still struggles.
What’s the solution?

The very first thing to do is to have a one on one with either her manager, or if there is no designated manager, the person who employed her, to find out what’s really going on. There is clearly a problem and it needs to be uncovered. If you all hired her, your problem could lie in the fact that there doesn’t seem to be any clear reporting lines and it’s perceived as three against one. Continue reading →

…provided they are the right systems and provided everyone has buy-in.

Your employees need to understand why the systems are there, and what difference having them there will make to them and the way they work. If systems are imposed rather than being developed consultatively, they can cause resentment and elements of rebelliousness.

So, the questions are, who developed the systems? Did your employees have input into them? Do they understand why the systems are there? Do they have a context for the systems? Have you shared your vision for the business with them? What was the environment into which you introduced the systems? Continue reading →

What do you do when you have employees/staff members who won’t work?

Quite often they might start with enthusiasm and agreement to complete a given task, but for some reason fail to deliver – or may experience few or poor results.

This is frustrating for you and for them.  To the point where you become totally frustrated and begin doubting your own management abilities. This is not helpful to either the manager or the direct report.

You need to address this in a one to one meeting. Continue reading →