Menu

Category: people management

What’s Your Tag Line?

November 13, 2016
| No Comments
| Categories: HR, job search, Learning, management tip, people management, Recruitment, tag line, Training

Many years ago a recruiter connected with me. During our conversation he asked me what's my tag line. My tag line, what's that? I asked. He said, you know, like someone is a "Problem Solver", or "Deal Closer" etc. You need to have a tag line that describes you, he said to me.The conversation got me thinking. Before that time I had never thought what was my tag line. After some thought, I chose "Enabling People" as my tag line. I like to enable people deliver better, by creating an…

Read More

Objective Subjectivity

June 11, 2013
| 4 Comments
| Categories: appraisal, bell curve, HR, Human Resources, Management, moderation, people, people management, performance appraisal, performance management

 (Image source) So we've moved away from moderation in performance appraisal in our organization. Over the years moderation seemed the best though not always perfect way to grade performance of people. It made sense to rank people with relative performance levels. There was a bell curve to be followed forcing supervisors to push people in defined performance bands. However, the most difficult part was to push people in lowest performance bands. It was imperative that we identify the top performers and the worst performers. Not every supervisor was able to…

Read More

Firing is Easy

July 1, 2012
| 1 Comment
| Categories: appraisal, constructive feedback, feedback, firing people, HR, Leadership, making people succeed, Management, negative feedback, people, people management, performance, performance management, Success, Work

We mostly hear how hard it is to give negative feedback and fire people. I have been wondering about this. Yes giving negative feedback is hard and firing people is harder. However come to think of it, actually this is a easiest thing. We are all critical of others and so giving negative feedback comes naturally. We more often than not, find it easier to find mistakes rather than appreciate what's going on well. And if a subordinate isn't working out, firing is an easy way out. The work pressures…

Read More

Lies While Quitting

March 4, 2011
| 3 Comments
| Categories: HR, Jobs, Lies While Quitting, people management, Work, Workplace

@sidin posed a question on Twitter about lies we give while quitting a job. I am sure there’s a full article out with a lot more research. Over the years, I have heard many reasons that people give while quitting. These reasons are not necessarily lies in all cases. These are just a collection of some reasons that I figured were lies after the person had left the organization."I want to do something different" (when the will continue in the same industry doing the same thing)"I am getting a better…

Read More

Career Paths for Trainers

December 20, 2010
| 3 Comments
| Categories: Career, career paths, Jobs, Learning, Management, people management, trainers, Training, Work, Workplace

Someone asked a question on the career growth paths for trainers on one of our internal forums. And about the same time I came across this interesting blog post which talks about not worrying about career path and living your career story, written by Jason Seiden. It is from Dan McCarthy’s list of 20 Best Leadership Blog Posts of 2010. Just loved the way Jason explains the need to dump career paths and focus on building your career stories. . So, what could be a Trainer's career stories? While it…

Read More

Would You Fire Your Best Performer?

September 27, 2010
| 9 Comments
| Categories: appraisal, case study, Jobs, Management, people management, performance management, Supervisor, talent, Work

Sanjay is a great team leader aspiring to be a manager. He has shown good results in the projects he has handled. He has shown willingness to go the extra mile in the tasks assigned. He has been constantly told he is a great performer and the company would not like to lose a great team leader. Regular feedback and company awards have made him proud and self confident. However he has had some issues in his ability to handle larger projects and teams. His view of the industry is…

Read More

Changing Context

September 26, 2010
| No Comments
| Categories: Blogging, Context, Contextual learning, Leadership, Management, organizational development, people management, Recruitment, Social Media

During a recent organizational development workshop that I attended, the facilitator talked about changing context. It was an interesting discussion that got me thinking about my changed context. I could recognize a few that I have experienced in the last couple of years.About two years ago my context as a manager and leader changed about the way I was managing my teams. I moved from "I have to do everything and I have get everything done” to “I have to enable people to do their jobs"This significantly changed my approach to…

Read More

Top 10 Qualities of a Good Manager

May 26, 2010
| 3 Comments
| Categories: Lists, Management, people management, qualities of a manager

Loved this post by Taruna Goel where she asks if you are a manager by choice or by chance. Taruna nails it when she shares her view of top 10 qualities of a good manager. These are:It is about people.It is about management.It is about mutual respect.It is about work ethics.It is about being responsible and accountable.It is about letting go. Good managers never micro-manage.It is about communication.It is about thinking out-of-the-box.It is about developing yourself.It is about still being friendly.Head over to her blog to read the whole post.

Read More

Recognition Beyond Awards

March 15, 2010
| 4 Comments
| Categories: acknowledgement, Management, people, people management, recognition

A few years ago my boss said to me in a review meeting that we weren’t doing enough recognition. I defended we were probably doing too much. We had Star of the Month, spot awards, recognition mails etc. I also felt exceptional work should be recognized not just great work. And then a little while ago, an Aha moment for me happened. Recognition is not just about awards, it is also about acknowledging the work being done that is just supposed to be done. A simple Thank You can go…

Read More

Dealing with Office Bully

February 3, 2010
| 10 Comments
| Categories: case study, Management, Office bully, people, people management, Work

I recently received an email seeking my advice on how to deal with an office bully. Hi Manish, It has been a long time since I interacted with you. The project that I am on is beginning to gain momentum and it seems it's going to be a rugged and enjoyable ride throughout the year. Today I write seeking your guidance. A guy in the office who has been in the company for not more than 5 or 6 months has developed a tendency somehow for irritating me. He does…

Read More