Managing Employees

“Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.” –Harriet Braiker

Take a moment to ask yourself where you put your emphasis on – excellence or perfection.

Do you have an understanding of the difference between excellence and perfection?  Being clear around the differences will help you make better decisions for yourself and in managing employees.  Let’s first define the two words:

Perfection: the quality or state of being perfect: as freedom from fault or defect

Excellence - very good of its kind : eminently good

What is perfection?

Imagine it’s Monday morning and you walk into your department, look around and see only top-performing ‘star’ employees sitting at their desks.   You smile to yourself and say, “I’m so lucky to have all stars.”   You know the production in your department will be the best in the company…because you have all ‘stars.’   It will make your life so much easier.

Would all ‘stars’ be the perfect solution to managing employees and raising the productivity of your department?

I know that people learn through different modalities.  I’ve been writing about coaching and counseling of employees and helping managers handle the day-to-day operations of working with team members.  I thought I would try a different venue to share information around managing employees.

I found this video on UTube that offers guidance on the basic issues that supervisors/managers face in managing employees.  Though the title focuses on the new supervisor, it covers a lot of material that is great for a more seasoned manager.

The video covers S.M.A.R.T goals, coaching and counseling employees, new managers, motivating employees and other thoughts on managing employees.  

Ok…it’s been awhile since I’ve created a post…I’ve been on vacation in “not so warm” Florida.   Since my post today is about goals, I have to share that I have a goal to go on two vacations a year.  

When I go on vacation, I leave behind my work.   Unless there is a true emergency, I use this time to think, play and surround myself with new interests to build up my creative juices.  I then come back and take time to think about my goals.  It’s important to regularly review where you are with your personal goals.  Remember, work is one part of your life. 

Happy New Year!  

My wish for you this year is a strong working relationship based on mutual respect between you and your employees.

Creating Employee Goals

The business goals are in place and now it’s time to align your employee’s goals to the business. 

Most businesses have two parts to their performance management systems…evaluation of last’s year’s performance and creation of this year’s goal(s)…employee deliverables.  I would suggest that you use “deliverables” to your employees as it’s clearer regarding what is expected of them…to deliver.