Performance Reviews

Study: Good-Looking people suffer a ‘Beauty penalty’ at work

Studies in the past have shown that attractive people generally earn a "beauty premium." That is, they earn more money, enjoy better performance reviews and...

Sample Policy: Peformance Reviews

Setting clear performance standards

"I didn't know what you expected ... Well, no one told me to do it that way!" Have you heard this complaint before? Probably so.

Managing your average performers

Studies show that nearly all the time most managers spent on "people work" is divided between their best performers and their worst ones. The people in the mid­dle...

Ways to boost employee morale

Question: First of all, let me thank all of those who have given me advice in the past. My frustrations have finally been solved. All this time, I thought no one cared...

Don’t feed the ‘alpha pup’

Can’t follow what the younger members of your staff are talking about? Here’s a quick sampling of business buzzwords:

5 warning signs of performance-review problems

Job reviews shouldn’t be paper-moving programs that return zero value. Here are five symptoms that warn of trouble in a supervisor’s appraisal process,...

Three keys to high-performance teams

In her new book, Contagious Success: Spreading High Performance Throughout Your Organization, Susan Lucia Annunzio identifies three characteristics that "consistently...

A 5-step cure for worrywarts

Gee, my team might lose this sale. If that happens, we could miss our quota. If we keep losing sales, I could lose my job. These days, out-of-work managers need months...

7 ‘sins’ that can blacken your image

You may think of them as “merely vices,” but succumbing to even one of the seven deadly sins can cripple your ability to lead.

Promise discretion, not confidentiality

An employee wants to confess wrongdoing or alert you to sensitive personnel or safety matters. But before opening up, the worker asks, “Can you keep this...

Speed up slow employees

When you hire people, it’s almost impossible to tell how quickly they work.

Turn nitpickers into pushovers

Some people love to pick apart whatever you say. Rather than cooperate, they raise objections or challenges.

Submerge your disdain for co-workers

We all have to work with people we don’t like. While some of us grin and bear it, others implode, seethe or turn caustic.

Secrets of motivating laggards

Turning slugs into gung-ho workers often calls for a less-is-more strategy.

See through smooth talkers

New managers often regard the most talkative, confident employees as the most intelligent members of the team. That can be a faulty assumption.

Use ‘expectations list’ when you delegate

When dishing out assignments, don’t just explain the job and walk away.

Create a feedback loop

One of the most important but vastly overlooked aspects of good management is telling employees how they’re doing. Many workers operate in the dark, wondering...

Menopause falls outside ADA

A federal district court in Minnesota recently decided that menopause is not a disability covered under ADA.

Rephrase objections as polite questions

If an employee refuses to do work or argues with you, resist the urge to fight back by declaring “that’s unacceptable” or “you better...