Mdina blog

3 common workbased "crimes"

A few years ago I noticed that different managers in different companies had similar problems with their staff.

I tracked the problems, and over a few years have noticed there are three that seem to blight most companies. The good news is they are all relatively easy to fix with a little extra management time.

The top 3 workplace crimes, and the solutions are:

1. Staff wasting time at work: Wasting time is actually a symptom of an employee without a clear goal. When you measure employees by their workload rather than their progress towards a specific goal, you inadvertently encourage them to waste time when they perceive they have done everything expected of them. Every employee needs a clear goal and the knowledge of how to achieve it. That focus in their job makes them feel more accountable.

2. Pulling sickies: Staff get away with pulling sickies regularly because managers don’t keep accurate records. Many senior managers would be horrified how often some of their junior staff call in sick. If it happens regularly across a whole department, it’s often a warning sign that the manager isn’t performing well. An inter-net based Talent Management System can help to raise the alarm to senior staff early on.

3. Moaning about pay:  Employees complain about pay when they are not being managed properly. When they understand what the company is trying to achieve and their part in that, it is easier for them to understand why they earn what they do. At the same time every business should give its employees the opportunity to earn extra money with performance-related bonuses.

 

Mark

Fewer sickies in recession? Well-managed staff don’t go sick anytime

UK managers who are enjoying record low levels of "sickies" from workers terrified of losing their jobs, could easily keep good attendance records when the economy picks up again.

 

Employees who are well motivated and have a clear goal to work towards are less likely to pull a sickie.

 

I have helped to train thousands of managers, and has analysed data from 11,000 staff managed using the DART web-based management software.

 

The latest absence management survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) reveals that private sector workers took an average of 6.4 days off because of illness last year, down from 7.2 days in 2007.

 

All the data we have consistently shows that managers who delegate a lot and spend their time managing their team rather than “getting things done” have lower levels of absenteeism and tend to achieve more overall.

 

High absenteeism is a sign of a struggling manager. When an employee doesn’t know what they are working towards they are less motivated to go into work every day. A nice summery Monday morning after a heavy weekend is just too tempting to miss.

 

The number of sickies might be low right now, but it is only the effective managers who will see them stay low when the recession is over.

 

 Mark

Management Development

I have just finished running a 1 day per month for 8 months Management Development programme and it is really refreshing to see how potential Can develop when given the opportunity

I really think there are a lot of people particularly Managers who do not have help to capitalise on their potential.

We as trainers see this everyday.

Here are some pictures of my delegates, they should all feel proud

Why do managers not manage?

When I was a UK sales manager, I fell into all the classic management traps that meant I was too busy "doing" rather than managing. We call this the activity trap and it seems that many managers that we help develop get caught in these traps.

It seems that corporate life is really about managing the interruptions in our daily lives to allow time to do the job - and that is getting harder.

There is only one person that can break the activity trap and that person is reading these words now.

So if you barely have time to eat lunch let alone spend quality time with your team, see if this helps Download The Activity Trap paper.

Mark Jacobs