Tag Archive: Performance management

Why Your Teenager Must Have a Job this Summer

Teen girl car hop

A close friend of my wife invited us to a celebration of her daughter’s high school graduation. Jenna’s a great kid who did very well in school and was involved in several extra-curricular activities. But at 18, she’s never had a real job.  She applied at several boutiques in the mall but never made it…

Why You Shouldn’t Judge Every Applicant by their Background Check

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Imagine that you have one opening you’re trying to fill, and sixteen eager applicants aged 17 to 22 — all with more than adequate skills for the job — awaiting their second interview. Before the interviews begin, you discover that among those candidates are five recovering addicts, two pregnant unwed teens, three who are on…

The Slippery Slope Between Brand Hyperbole and Employee Dishonesty

Cookies.002

Last week on an upgraded flight between Denver and Orlando, I was given a warm cookie after the meal service. This is a nice touch United Airlines does and has done for first class passengers for years. But as I examined the little brown paper sack the cookie came in, I was amused by the…

Why You Need to Stop Pursuing Work-Life Balance

HarveyJugglerCartoon

Work – Life Balance. As a baby boomer teen born to depression-era parents, I never heard that term once.  Didn’t exist back then and, if it had, it would have never come out of my father’s mouth.  Hard work was his life, and when he had a day off, he worked.  To my dad and…

When Managing Millennials, Don’t Lower Your Expectations; Change Them

RotaryPhone Latino Teen

A customer service manager of a regional banking chain recently told me about a challenge her managers were having in getting young tellers to handle incoming calls when they were assigned phone duty. “It’s astounding how many will answer our business line by just saying ‘Hello’ or ‘Yo. Wat up? This is Monique.’ It’s almost…

Beyond a Paycheck: Motivating an Employee Who Doesn’t Need the Money

paycheck

If you woke up today and discovered that you had won millions in last evening’s lottery drawing, would you still work? Always a great conversation starter, the number of Americans responding ‘yes’ has declined from over 80% in 1955 to 66% in recent years according to Psychology Today. So what happens when there are people…