If you have employees, you probably spend more time with them than your own family. That being said, you want to do everything in your power to build respectful relationships with them, giving them as much compassion and empathy as you can, otherwise, you’re going to end up driving each other nuts. But when you’re dealing with something like time theft, you have to find a balance between maintaining those…
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If you’ve never taken the time to ponder this question, you might think there’s no difference between a boss and a leader. I mean, they both get to tell people what to do, they both typically command some sort of a team, and in their day-to-day duties, they tend to wear a lot of the same hats. But while these two roles may share many of the same functions, the…
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A lot has been said about the importance of employees making a great first impression. But the truth is it’s just as important for employers to make a great first impression on employees, and much of that impression is formed during the onboarding process. In my experience, a lot of companies’ onboarding processes tend to be fraught with issues and inadequacies, and this seems to be especially true when it…
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In this day and age, workplaces are more diverse than they ever have been. And while this diversity offers a long list of benefits, it also poses a unique set of challenges, not least when it comes to generational differences in the workplace. Like it or not, people from different generations often see the world from completely different perspectives. They work differently, communicate differently, and have different values, goals, strengths,…
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If you own a business, or you’re leading a department, you’re probably well aware of how tough it can be to motivate employees. But believe it or not, one of the best ways to do this is by creating key performance indicators (KPIs) that clearly define what success looks like. Now, depending on what you think about KPIs, this might sound a bit counterproductive, but trust me on this. After…
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Retaining your best and brightest employees can be difficult, even in the best of times. But when inflation is through the roof, eroding the value of every dollar, employee retention gets even tougher. This is nothing new, though, as the relationship between inflation and people quitting their jobs has been well-known for years. According to an article from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, research has shown that there’s a…
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When promoting employees, a lot of employers don’t put enough thought into it. From an employer’s point of view, it usually seems like a good idea, and it feels good to give employees more responsibility, recognition, and compensation. At the same time, when employers promote employees, they tend to feel like they’re doing them a favor, and they expect them to be grateful for the opportunity and the perks that…
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With so much at stake, you’d think more employers would know the difference between a contractor and an employee. Still, despite the consequences of not understanding this distinction, this is an issue I’ve had to help clients with time and time again, and it doesn’t look like it’s going away anytime soon. According to a survey from Gusto of more than 1,200 American business owners, since 2017, the ratio of…
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The last couple of years have been absolutely devastating for business owners, and even more so for those who run small businesses. Whether it was supply chain issues, lockdowns, reduced hours, increased cleaning requirements, or some other kind of restriction on how businesses are run, very few business owners made it through the pandemic unscathed. A survey from OnDeck, which took place from March through April 2020, shows just how…
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In an age when everyone seems to be attached at the hip with multiple different devices, you’d think responsiveness wouldn’t be as much of an issue, especially when it comes to your employer. But for whatever reason, people still seem to have a tough time picking up the phone, responding to a text, or replying to an email. Maybe doing most of our correspondence digitally has eroded our ability to…
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