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#Leadership : 9 No-Fail Tips for Giving #ConstructiveCriticism at Work (Infographic) ….Learning How to Give Honest, Constructive Feedback to All Types of Colleagues will Help you Be a #BetterManager and Will Help your #Employees Develop.

April 16, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Though criticism is an inevitable part of any workplace, most people find it difficult to give negative feedback to direct reports. Whether you are offering real-time observations or engaging in a formal review discussion, it can be stressful to critique the work of your colleagues.

Don’t let yourself be intimidated by difficult feedback conversations! Honest evaluations are essential to employee development, engagement, and retention. Most employees understand the value of constructive feedback for their company and for their own personal development. A Zenger/Folkman surveyfound that 93% of people agree that when negative feedback is delivered correctly it can be an effective way to improve performance.

Learning how to give honest, constructive feedback to all types of colleagues will help you be a better manager and will help your employees develop. By providing specific direction based on employees’ actions, you can provide criticism in a way that will help people develop, without making them feel attacked.

Check out this infographic for tips on how to criticize constructively:

Fundera.com | March 23, 2018 | Meredith Wood

Original Post: https://www.fundera.com/blog/how-to-criticize

Your #Career : How to Build a Positive Relationship With Your Boss and Colleagues…Mutual Respect Makes the Office Much More Pleasant.

December 9, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

In the past, an employee’s relationship with their direct supervisor was found to be one of the most influential factors on whether or not the employee enjoyed their job. Over time, this dynamic has somewhat changed.

In recent years, relationships with colleagues have become increasingly influential in the perception of job satisfaction. Part of this has to do with younger generational workers highly valuing collegial relationships — as demonstrated by their desire to work together on tasks more than Gen X or Boomers do.

Another aspect is that, in many settings, there is a greater amount of cross-departmental collaboration that creates more than one reporting relationship. For example, a team member in customer service may work with marketing to give input on how to market to existing clients, and the marketing supervisor oversees the project.

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Another factor that may reduce the importance of the relationship with one’s direct supervisor or boss is the myriad of ways an employee is assessed in today’s workplaces — including 360 degree feedbacks and other objective measures of work. A few thoughts about how to build a positive reporting relationship, even in shifting times:

Be appreciative. Bosses and supervisors don’t hear thanks very often. They hear a lot of complaining and problems they are expected to solve. Occasionally thanking someone — and being specific as to why you are thanking them — can go a long way to start to build a positive relationship.
Be respectful. One of the most common complaints I hear from supervisors, especially in cross-generational relationships, is that they feel disrespected. Most of us aren’t sure what makes us feel respected, but we clearly know when we feel it. Having a general conversation with your boss about actions that lead them to feel respected or disrespected would be wise.
If you are going to raise a concern, make sure it is specific, not vague and general, and that it is a behavior or issue your boss can address. Don’t whine about management or a colleague in another department, where your supervisor has no influence.
Do your job well, and be willing to go above and beyond. Remember, you are there to accomplish tasks and do them well. When you do quality work and, at least occasionally, do more than is required, you make your boss look good to his or her colleagues and supervisor.

The goal of building a positive relationship with your boss isn’t try to suck up to them and win undue favoritism. The purpose is to develop a healthy, positive relationship of mutual respect, which will lead to better communication, the ability to work through disagreements and can build a partnership where you can support one another through difficult times.

Entrepreneur.com | December 9, 2016 | Paul White

#Leadership : The 9-to-5 Workweek Is Dead. Here’s What’s Next…Could Reimagining the 40-Hour Week Grind Make your Company More Productive?

December 7, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Your mind could have drifted thousands of miles away, but as long as your body showed up to work at Dallas-based tax firm Ryan, that was all that mattered. “We literally ranked people by hours,” says Delta Emerson, president of Ryan’s global shared services.

“Even if someone worked 24 hours the day before, they still had to book at least eight hours Monday through Friday.” The clock was seen as an easy proxy for work ethic, and employees who logged marathon sessions at their desks “wore their hours like a badge, practically tattooed on their foreheads,” Emerson says. “But it was at a cost.”

Emerson didn’t want to just tweak the workweek. She wanted to bust it open. But when she pitched the idea of flexible hours, she was almost thrown out of the CEO’s office. A resignation letter from a rising star finally got her the green light. Now the firm measures results–not time. Some staffers work as little as 20 hours a week; some start at 7 a.m., others at 10 a.m.; some commute to the office only twice a week. Since the 2008 shift, revenue has grown 15 percent year over year, customer satisfaction is higher than ever before, and turnover has plummeted.

The Case for the Enlightened Schedule : In the war for talent, flexibility is no longer just a perk.

29%

of college students think being able to work remotely with a flexible schedule is a right, not a privilege.

66 percent

of Millennials say having a boss who doesn’t support flexible schedules has factored into their decision to leave a job.

72%

of working parents say that people who work flex hours have fewer pay/promotional opportunities.

Is the headache of uprooting an orderly 40-hour, anchored-to-the-desk schedule worth it? All the indicators point to yes. “Millennials may have sent flexibility to the top of HR agendas, but now it’s increasingly the norm across all generations,” says Lisa Horn, a director at the Society for Human Resource Management. Technology has made working from anywhere possible, and the uptick in dual-earner families makes rigid hours less attractive to talent.

“The idea that employees are like machines–if they put eight hours in you’ll get x dollars out–is absurd,” says Ryan Carson, founder and CEO of Portland, Oregon-based startup Treehouse, an education technology company, which lets its employees set their own schedules. “Why not give people flexibility so they don’t have to choose?” You can reinvent your company’s workweek using this advice as a guide.

1. Debunk the 40-Hour Myth

The eight-hour workday was introduced by Henry Ford in the early 1900s as a way to attract autoworkers, many of whom were accustomed to 12-hour shifts. More recently, Basecamp’s Jason Fried thought it was time to modernize the workday to fit the needs of employees at his Chicago-based software company. “There’s nothing magical about 40 hours,” says Fried, whose staffers work just 32 hours a week from May through August. The co-founder (and Inc. columnist) says having fewer hours to complete a task sharpens employee focus.

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2. Adapt to Peak-Performance Styles

When Nate Reusser revamped the schedule at Roanoke, Indiana-based web developer Reusser Design to four 10-hour days, he realized he’d traded in one type of rigidity for another. “Some people loved it, but others were so wiped by Thursday that they couldn’t keep up,” he says. Now he lets employees pick whichever schedule best suits their working style. “The real goal is to remove interruptions so that people can be productive,” says Reusser.

3. Synchronize Schedules

When Ryan first began unshackling teams from the clock, “our biggest mistake was not training our managers,” says Emerson. Now managers have a blueprint to help with their team’s unorthodox schedule: Are there any days when the whole team comes into the office? Are there certain hours that are off limits for meetings? Emerson says, “You have to do the work to set those ground rules so people can really work together”–even when they’re in different places or putting in different hours.

FROM THE DECEMBER 2016/JANUARY 2017 ISSUE OF INC. MAGAZINE

By Kate Rockwood

Freelance writer

#Leadership : Promoted From Coworker To Manager? 7 Tips For A Smooth Transition…Remember, your Job as the New Manager Shouldn’t Be about Trying to be Popular – it’s About Leading Others to Achieve Results.

October 4, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

One of the more difficult career situations I’ve coached people through – and been through myself – is being promoted from within a department to become the manager of that group.

As one client found out, going from a peer who previously talked “trash” about the manager with other colleagues to the person others talked about can make it a stressful transition.

“Madison” realized that her previous personal relationships with coworkers had to be moved to a different level, because she was no longer a peer – she was the person who now assigned the work, analyzed productivity and held performance discussions.

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Making the move from coworker to department manager was a tricky transition because, as the new manager, Madison was responsible for the productivity and results of her department. Oftentimes, former coworkers, either because of jealousy or out of habit, didn’t want to treat her as the boss – they wanted to continue treating her as one of the peer group.

Here are seven tips for making the transition easier:

• See your HR business partner to find out what training and support is available as you take on your new role.

• Sit down one-on-one with each person in the department to discuss their feelings about your transition to the manager of the team. Talk about the expectations you have of each other and get potential issues out on the table, so you can address them.

• Remain professional at all times. And treat each and every employee fairly and with respect, by listening to what each person has to say (listen more, speak less).

• Eliminate your water-cooler or break-room gossip and venting sessions with employees.

• Don’t allow previous work and/or friendships with your former peers to influence your new managerial responsibilities. You must now learn to remain unbiased, no matter what situation arises.

• Ensure that everyone on the team understands your new role as their manager and the responsibilities that are expected of you by senior management.

• Work out a game plan for how you and your team can work together to achieve the goals and objectives of the group. (Be sure to clearly and concisely communicate those goals and objectives).

Over time, as the team observed my client’s leadership skills and professionalism, they stopped seeing Madison as their peer and came to accept her as their manager.

Remember, your job as the new manager shouldn’t be about trying to be popular – it’s about leading others to achieve results. You may not win over everyone in the group, especially if one or two others also applied for the position you ultimately received.

No matter what happens, keep the focus on the work to be done, give it your best effort every day, treat everyone fairly and with compassion, and you will earn their respect over time.

Lisa Quast is the author of Secrets of a Hiring Manager Turned Career Coach: A Foolproof Guide to Getting the Job You Want. Every Time.

Forbes.com | October 3, 2016 | Lisa Quast

#Leadership : 5 Reasons Employees Don’t Trust Their Boss or Their Company…Recent Report find that a Lot of Workers are Very Skeptical of their Bosses, and the Companies they Work For. In Concert, that Impacts Productivity, can Lead to a Toxic Workplace, and Hurts the Bottom Line.

August 21, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Trust and loyalty are difficult to come by in the professional world. While the millennial generation seems happy enough to job-hop their way to the top, more and more employers are looking for ways to increase employee loyalty within their organizations. Finding new and trustworthy employees is difficult and expensive, and even as many people are willing to lie on their resumes to get the job they want, most wouldn’t want their employers betraying their confidence in similar fashion.

But there have been signs that the tides are turning. Employers have started to implement new ways to keep employees around, and the numbers show that more raises and promotions are being handed out to loyal, long-time workers. That means there is at least some sort of divide being bridged between management and labor, in some organizations.

When we dig a little deeper, however, it becomes clear that there’s still a wide gulf when it comes to confidence in our employers. The latest Trust Barometer report from Edelman all but confirms it. The annual report, now in its 16th iteration, took the pulse of tens of thousands of workers, in an effort to see just how much trust (or distrust) is prevalent in the economy.

The findings? A lot of workers are very skeptical of their bosses, and the companies they work for. In concert, that impacts productivity, can lead to a toxic workplace, and hurts the bottom line.

This is a wake-up call for any business leader who underestimates the importance of building trust with employees,” said Nick Howard, executive director of Edelman’s employee engagement business in Europe in an accompanying press release. “Edelman’s special report on Employee Advocacy shows that non-trusting employees are far less likely to say good things about their employer. And worryingly, the bad things they say will be believed by consumers.”

Christopher Hannegan, executive vice president and lead of Edelman’s employee engagement business in the United States, echoed Howard’s sentiment. “The findings are very clear,” he said. “Consumers trust companies that treat their employees well. Companies that have ethical business practices. Are transparent and open. And respond well to problems and crises. Equally clear is that these are the topics that employees are most trusted to talk about.”

Here are five of the chief reasons Edelman’s Trust Barometer says employees don’t trust their employers. Do you agree with any of them?

1. Engagement

Where there’s a lack of engagement and communication, there’s a lack of trust. We see the same dynamic at play in our personal relationships, and that extends to the employee-employer relationship as well. When there are limited lines of communication and engagement, skepticism bubbles up. You start to worry about potential changes that you may be missing. It’s difficult to manage — and employers who keep employees in the dark are feeding distrust and discontent in their ranks.

It also leads people to believe there is something to hide, which obviously leads to distrust.

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2. Short-term thinking

“Short-termism” is when a company or leadership team puts short-term profits ahead of an organization’s long-term goals and survival. It’s how you end up with car companies cutting corners like GM or Volkswagen’s recent scandals, or how we end up with huge disasters like Deepwater Horizon. It’s about making the quarterly numbers look good, at the expense of long-term projections. And employees hate it.

“More than two-thirds of people feel that CEOs are too focused on short-term financial results,” said Howard.

3. Belief in the company

Do you believe in your employer? That is, do you believe in the company’s mission and purpose? People want to work for employers who are addressing society’s needs, and positively impacting their communities. That may mean taking measures to protect the environment, or simply taking care of employees so that they can afford life’s necessities without struggling. But there’s an evident gap in Edelman’s numbers that show employers are coming up short. And that breeds distrust and contempt.

4. Product quality

This is a call back to the discussion around “short-termism.” People trust companies that create and sell high-quality, reliable products and services. It’s easy to work for a company that puts pride into its work, and pumps out products people love. Think of companies like Apple, for example. If you can personally stand behind your employer’s products, it’s easy to trust them.

Now, put yourself in the shoes of a Comcast employee. You’re consistently fielding calls from angry customers about being overcharged, and how their service is out. That’s going to take a toll on your pysche, and how much you trust your company.

5. Ethics

Most of these other points boil down to this: ethics. While we’re all taught to act ethically, so many headlines fill the newspapers and cable news networks about corporations or individuals taking short cuts, ultimately earning a big pay day at the expense of everyone else. We saw ethics go out the window during the financial crisis, and by decisions made at (again) GM and Volkswagen.

Employees want to work for ethical companies, who aren’t doing shady things, and are cleaning up after themselves. If they don’t, then what kind of example are they setting? It becomes hard to trust your company, and its leadership, when all kinds of unethical behavior is being exhibited.

If your own employees don’t trust you, you can bet that customers won’t trust you either.

Check out Edelman’s complete Trust Barometer report.

Follow Sam on Facebook and Twitter @SliceOfGinger

CheatSheet.com | August 21, 2016 | Sam Becker

Your #Career : 4 Ways To Bounce Back When You’re Treated Unfairly At Work…You can Get Even, Or you can Take the High Road—Where the Outlook’s Much Better for your Health and Career.

August 7, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Depending on how you see it, there’s more than just death and taxes on the short list of things life throws at pretty much everybody. There’s also unfairness (which cynics might even see as the umbrella term for both death and taxes), as many a parent has informed a 5-year-old who’s too young to know what taxes are but has no trouble grasping what’s not fair.

But simply accepting that life isn’t fair doesn’t mean we respond to its injustices with perfect equanimity—especially where our careers are concerned. Maybe you’ve been passed up for a promotion you deserved. Or management made a big decision impacting your job without you having a say. Maybe you were just disrespected by a colleague.

Being treated unfairly violates basic human needs for autonomy, belonging, and morality.

Organizational researchers like the University of Georgia’s Jason Colquitt call these types of offenses “distributive,” “procedural,” and “interpersonal” injustice, respectively. And they’ve been linked to lower levels of self-esteem, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and performance.

That may not come as a shock—it’s just about impossible to avoid feeling mistreated at some point or another at work. Georgetown professor Chris Porathestimates that 98% of the thousands of workers she’s surveyed have experienced incivility at work firsthand, and 99% have seen it take place.

But the good news is that while work, like life, isn’t always fair, you don’t have to stew in your sense of being wronged. In fact, you can even use the experience to become a little more resilient for the next time you’re slighted. Here’s how.

WHY UNFAIR TREATMENT STINGS

You may feel hurt that you’ve been mistreated while at the same time wondering whether it’s petty of you to take offense. But psychologically, unfairness communicates a lot more than the act itself. Being treated unfairly violates basic human needs for autonomy, belonging, and morality. It thwarts our agency, makes us feel like we aren’t valued, and tramples on the basic social principles that bind people together.

So it’s no surprise that violating these mores reliably leads to feelings of anger, outage, and contempt—emotions that lead us to act in ways that both harm our careers and are typically inconsistent with our own values: When we’re wronged at work, many of us isolate ourselves or retaliate. And while that may lead to short-term reprieve or catharsis, the longer-term consequences are rarely good.

Instead, we need better ways to respond to mistreatment at work—strategies that can actually improve how others see us and how we see ourselves—so we can minimize the likelihood of it happening again.

1. WALK BACK FROM THE CONCLUSIONS YOU’VE JUMPED TO

Leadership gurus Chris Argyris and Peter Senge are known for introducing the“ladder of inference,” the process by which people make a sequence of assumptions about others’ intentions. It’s important to remember that injustice is in the eye of the beholder, so it’s critical to make sure you’re seeing the situation accurately.

The simple act of confiding in others can strengthen your relationships around the office and mitigate the negative feelings you’re experiencing.

And to do that, there’s no substitute for perspective. Talk to a trusted friend or colleague to get their point of view before taking any action. Whatever they say, the simple act of confiding in others can strengthen your relationships around the office and mitigate the negative feelings you’re experiencing.

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2. TAKE THE MORAL HIGH GROUND

Sometimes it’s actually okay to get up on your high horse and stay there. In fact, refusing to match slight for slight can help you sidestep the indignity you’re feeling and avoid boiling in anger. From that vantage point, you may even be able to look at the situation more critically and learn something about your coworker, your organization, or even yourself—to understand what’s happened in a more detached way.

3. LOOK FOR WHAT’S STILL GOOD, FAIR, AND RIGHT

Sure, you’ve just been treated unfairly in one context, but there are certainly others where you’re still clearly valued and respected at work. And one principlelong familiar to psychologists is our tendency to focus on the negative at the expense of the positive. So make sure you’re considering this recent mistreatment in light of other good things at work, which will help you put it into perspective.

It may be the last thing you’re inclined to do while you’re feeling upset, but consider making a list of the positive aspects of your job—the upsides that haven’tbeen affected by this incident—so you don’t act rashly.

4. FORGIVE WHOEVER’S RESPONSIBLE

This may be the hardest one yet, but it might pay off. Research suggests that forgiveness is critical for mental and physical health in the aftermath of being mistreated. You don’t need to excuse the incident or convince yourself you’re being dramatic, you just need to acknowledge that the bad thing they did to you is something you can live with—that, as Whitney Houston memorably put it, “It’s not right, but it’s okay.” Forgiveness, at any rate, can be a surprisingly powerful way of moving on without carrying a chip on your shoulder.

Let’s be real—being treated unfairly at work can be painful, upsetting, and frustrating. But it can also be an opportunity to build resilience—not just to others, but to your own, less-than-productive knee-jerk responses. So take the high road. The view is much better from there anyway.

FastCompany.com | August 4, 2016 | David Mayer

Your #Career : 4 Signs Your Boss Is Spying on You…Bosses have Been Spying on Employees for as Long as They’ve been Hiring People to Work for Them. But New Technologies have Made it Easier for Companies to Track their Employees’ every Move While at the same Time making it Harder for Workers to Tell If they’re Being Watched.

June 15, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Chances are, your boss is keeping an eye on you. Forty-three percent of companies actively monitor employee emails, according to the American Management Association (AMA), and roughly the same number track the time you spend on the phone and who you call (16% go so far as to record those calls). Nearly half of companies say they use video to reduce theft and workplace sabotage.

Workplace monitoring is nothing new, of course. Bosses have been spying on employees for as long as they’ve been hiring people to work for them. But new technologies have made it easier for companies to track their employees’ every move while at the same time making it harder for workers to tell if they’re being watched.

From GPS tracking to snooping on your social media profiles, it’s not hard for a company to keep tabs on you, and unless your boss tells you’re he’s spying, you may never know. (To be fair, many companies do inform employees that they may be subject to monitoring, the AMA says.) This stealthy on-the-job surveillance is perfectly legal in most cases, which may come as a surprise to many people.

“Privacy in today’s workplace is largely illusory,” the AMA’s Ellen Bayer told The Week.

Not sure if your boss is using sneaky techniques to keep tabs on you? Here are four signs that you’re being watched at work.

1. You’re secretly planning to quit – and your boss already knows

More companies, including Credit Suisse and AOL, are mining big data to make predictions about which employees are likely to leave their job in the near future. VoloMetrix, Inc., an analytics firm, examined employee emails and calendar data and discovered that it could predict up to a year in advance who would be putting in their notice, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company says the data it gathers for its clients is anonymized, but it’s not hard to imagine a savvy boss getting a report that there’s a flight risk in a certain team and quickly picking out the squeaky wheel.

And then there’s social media. If you’re connected to your boss on LinkedIn or have a public profile, he may get suspicious if your network suddenly starts to grow or you link up with recruiters or industry competitors. If your company is tracking the website you visit or logging keystrokes, you may also alert your boss to your on-the-clock job search.

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2. You’re called out for a conversation that you thought was private

If your boss reprimands you for a less-than-professional conversation or email exchange that you thought was private, there’s a chance you have a tattletale co-worker. Or your supervisor may be spying on you, perhaps by scanning your email, monitoring your phone conversations, or even looking at the text messages you send on your work-issued device. If they’re using a key-logging program or other monitoring software, they may even know what you’re saying in your personal emails.

Don’t make the mistake that your boss doesn’t care about your idle workplace gossip, either. Thoughtless emails can come back to haunt you, as a newspaper reporter in England discovered after he was reprimanded and eventually fired for sending an email to a colleague about two other coworkers who were having an affair.

“Employers own the content on their own internal email systems and have the right to monitor what you write and to whom,” Jennifer Lee Magas, an employment law attorney and vice president of Magas Media Consultants, LLC, told MainStreet.com.

3. Your boss knows what you did this weekend before you tell him

Does your boss seem to know an awful lot about your personal life? He or she could be checking out your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or other social media profiles, even if you haven’t added him to your network or given him your password (something that some employers really do ask for, though laws about that are changing). Stalking your public profiles is a bit creepy, but it’s not all that unusual. Many people have been disciplined or fired after their employers stumbled upon inappropriate posts, photos, and comments online.

In 2014, an Ohio teacher was fired for comments he made that were critical of factory farming. A Maryland prison guard lost his job after making a tasteless crack about prison rape and then tagging his boss in the post. And then there’s Ethan Czahor, the Jeb Bush staffer who only lasted a day before resigning after some offensive tweets he’d posted came to light. Czahor, at least, saw an opportunity in his career misstep – he created Clear, an app thatscans your social media for posts that you get you in trouble.

4. There’s some suspicious software on your devices

If your company’s IT department is monitoring your computer use, it’s not always going to be immediately obvious. However, you can poke around on your desktop to see if there are any telltale signs of monitoring software (Online Tech Tips has some advice on how to do that, if you’re so inclined). The same goes for unusual apps installed on smartphones. But don’t be too quick to uninstall something that looks suspicious or your boss may fight back.

Myrna Arias, who worked for a California money transfer firm, was told by her boss to install a tracking app on her phone. The app allowed the company, Intermex, to track the movements of its workers so closely that her boss allegedly told her that “he knew how fast she was driving.” Not only that, but the company wanted her to keep her phone on all the time. Arias objected to the 24-7 monitoring and uninstalled the app; she was later fired and is now suing her former employer.

Follow Megan on Twitter @MeganE_CS

CheatSheet.com | June 15, 2016 | Megan Elliott

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#Leadership : 14 Signs your Employees Secretly Hate You…If you’ve Been Labeled a “Bad Boss,” you’ll Probably Be the Last to Know.

May 29, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

“Your staff will be very adept at making it a well-kept secret because they will do everything to keep their job security intact,” says Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and the author of “Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job.”

“But if you decide to boost your emotional-intelligence radar and look for subtle signs that your team may be unhappy, you’ll uncover a wealth of actionable feedback.”

Michael Kerr, an international business speaker and author of “The Humor Advantage,” agrees that it’s important to know how your employees feel about you. When they don’t like you, there are consequences, he says. For instance, they’ll be less happy and more stressed (which affects things like their productivity and creativity); they may quit on you (which will cost you and your company time and money); they may give you bad reviews or complain to HR (which puts your job in jeopardy); and you’ll have trouble earning their respect, being viewed as credible, and getting them to listen to your opinions.

“Your goal as a manager is not to be liked by everyone; if it is, you won’t be making the best decisions for the company,” says Taylor. “But if you’re an insensitive manager, no amount of intelligence or business skills will ever take you far in your own career advancement. You will always need a strong team and following to thrive in your career.”

So to avoid having to deal with those consequences, among many others, you’ll need to recognize the signs and make changes to your behavior, attitude, and approach to leading.

Here are 14 subtle signs your employees may secretly hate you:

You’ve got a (bad) gut feeling.

Soon/flickr

“The very first sign that things are going awry in your relationships with employees is a general gnawing feeling that you can’t put your finger on,” Taylor says. “No manager can be liked by everyone, but there are far too many bosses who are not respected by enough of their staff.” If you’ve got that gut feeling something is off, be aware and start looking for other signs.

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They can’t maintain eye contact with you (but can with everyone else).

Bradley Gordon

It’s difficult for an employee who is angry to look you straight in the eye, says Taylor. “They’re afraid that you may be able to detect hostility, so the path of least resistance is for them to look away or avoid being around you wherever possible.”

They avoid you like the proverbial plague.

Andy Morales/flickr

If you notice they take the stairs every time you’re waiting for the elevator, or they manage their schedules in such a way that they rarely overlap with your primary work hours, that’s a good sign they’re avoiding you. And employees typically only avoid people who intimidate them or who they don’t like, says Kerr.

They call in sick a lot, especially due to stress-related reasons.

Flickr/Laura Taylor

Having an employee who goes on “stress leave” or constantly calls in sick could be a sign that they are not comfortable working under your direction, Kerr explains.

“Your employee(s) may not be showing up at work as often, may come to work late, leave early, or are just seemingly never at their desks, because of long, needed breaks,” adds Taylor. “Leaving the scene can take many forms — and it’s a common way that your staff copes with stress. A bad boss-employee relationship is a leading cause of stress and illness,” she says.

They don’t smile around you.

Flickr / Leo Hidalgo

We’re not talking about the occasional bad day or mood swing. If one or more of your employees seem to look miserable every time they’re around you — but you’ve seen them smiling while talking to others in the office — something isn’t right.

“It’s difficult for any employee to put on a happy face when they’re talking to someone they [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][dislike],” says Taylor.

They stop laughing and bantering the moment you walk into the room.

Daniel Goodman / Business Insider

Not smiling when they’re around you is one thing — but clamming up when you step into the office kitchen or conference room is a pretty strong sign that your employees reallydon’t like you and don’t consider you part of their inner circle, Kerr says.

They seem less passionate about their work than they used to be.

Flickr/sunshinecity

You may not be the reason for this (so many things affect one’s level of motivation or enthusiasm at work) — but you could be.

“If their level of enthusiasm has waned, and you’re not seeing your staff jump at the opportunity to help out on new or existing projects anymore, it may be a sign you’re disliked,” says Taylor.

They never invite you to social events.

Flickr / beyrouth

If your employees don’t include you in any after-work social events or happy hours, it very well may be because they don’t want to spend any more time with you than they absolutely have to.

They communicate with you via email, when they talk to others in person.

Shutterstock

“Your unhappy employees may change the way they communicate with you, such as through email, voicemail, or IM, instead of in-person communications,” Taylor explains. “You may detect less personal contact, so that there is less of an opportunity for potential confrontation.”

They’re short with you.

Vancouver Film School/flickr

If you ask, “How’s it going?” and they always respond with “Ok” or “Fine” — or if their emails to always get straight to the point, and never begin with a friendly “Hello” or “Good afternoon,” this may be a sign they’re not a huge fan of you.

“If your employees are beginning to sound like your moody teenager, then that’s a pretty big red flag,” says Kerr.

They give off negative body language.

YouTube

Whether it’s a subtle eye roll or constantly assuming a closed-off position with arms folded across their chest, your employees’ body language will often reveal their true feelings towards you, Kerr says.

Their door is always closed.

A National Acrobat/flickr

“Many employees don’t have the luxury of their own office these days, but if they do, and their door appears closed more often than not, they may be commiserating with friends, family, or even other colleagues,” Taylor says. “They may be seeking advice, or worse, checking out greener pastures.”

They constantly disagree with you.

Leonid Mamchenkov/flickr

“Not all employees shy away from confronting the personality clashes as they pertain to business, thankfully,” says Taylor. “You may find that your staff seems increasingly more difficult and disagreeable, whereas before you were never questioned. This may be because before, they tolerated a more dictatorial management style — but now they’ve realized that they have nothing to lose by challenging you, in the hopes that they will see changes.”

They resign for no good reason.

YouTube/Marina Shifrin

Scads of surveys indicate that “the boss” still ranks as a top reason for employees leaving a job. If they don’t provide a good excuse or reason for leaving, there’s a good chance it’s you.

Businessinsider.com | September 2, 2016 | Jacquelyn Smith

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#Strategy : The 5 Best Ways to Say ‘No’ to Your Co-workers…If you’re Constantly Shifting your Schedule to Accommodate a New Project, or you’re Picking up the Slack for another Co-Worker on a Frequent Basis, your Own Work will Suffer.

April 13, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

You have to say ‘yes’ to a lot of things throughout your day. You answer emails and questions, get roped into mandatory meetings, and need to pick up projects at the last minute in order to meet company deadlines. In some cases, you won’t have a choice about those new tasks that get added to your already-full plate. And in almost every situation, it feels easier to say yes and pick up another assignment rather than risk upsetting a colleague, boss, or people who depend on you. But saying yes too often — or every time — has negative effects, too.

If you’re constantly shifting your schedule to accommodate a new project, or you’re picking up the slack for another co-worker on a frequent basis, your own work will suffer. You might think that it’s showing you can be a team player, or that it’s just a one-time occurrence that won’t happen again. But habits are rooted in repeated events, and you can be sure that if you’re in the habit of saying yes too much, that eventually you’ll wonder where all your time went.

When you say no once, you’re more likely to say yes to the next request — especially if it’s from that same person. Be careful not to fall into that trap if the second question also doesn’t line up with your goals. “They feel so guilty about saying ‘no,’ they feel they need to salvage the relationship,” Vanessa Bohns, assistant professor of management sciences at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada told the Wall Street Journal.

If you want to prevent this, or if you’re already at that point and need to get out of the cycle, there are effective ways to say ‘no’ without damaging your workplace relationships, while also establishing clear boundaries for yourself. In some cases, those boundaries are good to let others know where you stand, but more often than not they’re the most beneficial to helping you see where your priorities lie. It makes you more productive and ensures that when you do say yes to a new project, you won’t be burnt out and will be able to give it your full attention. Here’s a list of five tips you can use as a starting point, and adapt for the situations where you need to turn down a request.

1. Frame every task through your overall goals

Before you can even assess individual requests, you need to know what your overall goals are. In the case of the workplace, figure out what your long-term vision is while you have your position. Is your goal to get promoted quickly? Do you want to complete a certain project that’s going to take most of your concentration for the next month? If your goal is to get promoted, you might take on a few extra projects, even if they are more taxing, in order to make a good impression with those above you. But if you’ve set your sights on that one particular project, you might be less inclined to break your concentration, and leave the ‘yes’ work to when it’s complete.

“A ‘goal first’ approach is about defining your vision. Because if you do not have a vision, it will be difficult to understand what major requests are aligned with your goals and your direction and need your attention longer term,” writes Brian de Haff, CEO of software company Aha!, in a post on LinkedIn.

It also allows you to make better informed decisions about what times throughout your day you need to reserve for reaching those goals. Jocelyn K. Glei, the editor in chief and director of 99U, calls this “focus blocking.” To reach goals for that day, week, or month, you proactively block out chunks of time (Glei suggests 90 to 180 minutes each, so you have enough time to settle and focus on those tasks). That keeps other people, and yourself, from interrupting that time for less-important causes.

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2. Show you’ve listened to the request

You might decide within the first few seconds of a co-worker approaching that you don’t have time to help them with whatever they’re about to ask. That’s perfectly fine, and probably healthy for you to recognize. But if you want to maintain a positive work environment, respecting your colleague is more important than honoring the question itself. In other words, hear them out.

“If someone asks you to do something or for something, you should assume that it is important to them for one reason or another. They likely would not ask you otherwise. It’s your responsibility to get to the heart of the request and why it matters,” de Haaff writes.

If you listen intently, de Haff explains, you’ll be able to fully absorb the question and make sure you’re understanding what the other person is asking. That way, you can stand by any decision you might make to say no. The added benefit to not cutting someone off mid-question is that you’re showing you respect the person enough to at least consider what they’re requesting.

3. Don’t drag your feet to answer

Actually saying no — answering the “what” — can be the most difficult part. But answering the “why” sets up a transparency that makes it easier for others to understand your motivations for rejecting what they’ve asked you to help with. This is more than just being nice, as it allows the other person to understand your reasoning and perhaps even affect what they ask you for in the future.

“The benefit to you is that if you share your assumptions and motivations and they are wrong — the other person will have a chance to help you see a better way. If you simply provide your answer and when pushed respond with ‘My mind’s made up’, you will avoid ever having to change your course, but you’re limiting your opportunity for growth,” de Haaff writes on LinkedIn.

While you’re explaining why you’ve said no, however, don’t fall into the trap of offering to help with that same issue another time, unless you actually mean it. “Don’t add something like, ‘Well, maybe next year,’ to soften the blow,” Lesley Ronson Brown told The Wall Street Journal. “The person on the other end of the phone has just thought, ‘Gotcha. For next year.’ ”

If you do want to soften the blow a little bit, try the “sandwich” method of putting your rejection in between other more positive statements, Ni writes in the Psychology Today article. In the example of rejecting someone who wants to borrow your car, it could look something like this: “I understand you need a car this weekend. Unfortunately, I’m really not comfortable lending my car. Hope you can find another arrangement.”

5. Set up good habits for long-term success

If you’re able to get through a few rounds of saying no, which might seem incredibly awkward to you at first, it will set you up to have healthy boundaries. That way, you can look back on the things you were able to accomplish instead of a mess of half-hearted commitments. Matt Ehrlichman, founder and CEO of the startup Porch, wrote in an article for Inc. that saying no to spontaneous requests, as well as new projects, are often key. Ehrlichman has startups in mind especially, but the same holds true in any job you have.

“Steve Jobs once stated that, ‘Focusing isn’t about saying yes, focusing is about saying no.’ It means that great accomplishments can often be measured by the large list of things you didn’t do instead of the ones you did,” Ehrlichman explained.

One last thing to be aware of: When you say no once, you’re more likely to say yes to the next request — especially if it’s from that same person. Be careful not to fall into that trap if the second question also doesn’t line up with your goals. “They feel so guilty about saying ‘no,’ they feel they need to salvage the relationship,” Vanessa Bohns, assistant professor of management sciences at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada told the Wall Street Journal.

Follow Nikelle on Twitter @Nikelle_CS

CheatSheet.com | April 12, 2016 | Nikelle Murphy

#Leadership : 9 Things That Make Good Employees Quit…Managers Tend to Blame their Turnover Problems on Everything Under the Sun, while Ignoring the Crux of the Matter: People Don’t Leave Jobs; they Leave Managers.

February 23, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

It’s pretty incredible how often you hear managers complaining about their best employees leaving, and they really do have something to complain about—few things are as costly and disruptive as good people walking out the door.

Free- Man at Desktop

Managers tend to blame their turnover problems on everything under the sun, while ignoring the crux of the matter:
People don’t Leave Jobs; they Leave Managers.

The sad thing is that this can easily be avoided. All that’s required is a new perspective and some extra effort on the manager’s part.

First, we need to understand the nine worst things that managers do that send good people packing.

1. They Overwork People

Nothing burns good employees out quite like overworking them. It’s so tempting to work your best people hard that managers frequently fall into this trap. Overworking good employees is perplexing; it makes them feel as if they’re being punished for great performance. Overworking employees is also counterproductive. New research from Stanford shows that productivity per hour declines sharply when the workweek exceeds 50 hours, and productivity drops off so much after 55 hours that you don’t get anything out of working more.

If you must increase how much work your talented employees are doing, you’d better increase their status as well. Talented employees will take on a bigger workload, but they won’t stay if their job suffocates them in the process. Raises, promotions, and title-changes are all acceptable ways to increase workload. If you simply increase workload because people are talented, without changing a thing, they will seek another job that gives them what they deserve.

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2. They Don’t Recognize Contributions and Reward Good Work

It’s easy to underestimate the power of a pat on the back, especially with top performers who are intrinsically motivated. Everyone likes kudos, none more so than those who work hard and give their all. Managers need to communicate with their people to find out what makes them feel good (for some, it’s a raise; for others, it’s public recognition) and then to reward them for a job well done. With top performers, this will happen often if you’re doing it right.

If you want your best people to stay, you need to think carefully about how you treat them. While good employees are as tough as nails, their talent gives them an abundance of options. You need to make them want to work for you.

3. They Don’t Care about Their Employees

More than half of people who leave their jobs do so because of their relationship with their boss. Smart companies make certain their managers know how to balance being professional with being human. These are the bosses who celebrate an employee’s success, empathize with those going through hard times, and challenge people, even when it hurts. Bosses who fail to really care will always have high turnover rates. It’s impossible to work for someone eight-plus hours a day when they aren’t personally involved and don’t care about anything other than your production yield.

4. They Don’t Honor Their Commitments

Making promises to people places you on the fine line that lies between making them very happy and watching them walk out the door. When you uphold a commitment, you grow in the eyes of your employees because you prove yourself to be trustworthy and honorable (two very important qualities in a boss). But when you disregard your commitment, you come across as slimy, uncaring, and disrespectful. After all, if the boss doesn’t honor his or her commitments, why should everyone else?

5. They Hire and Promote the Wrong People

Good, hard-working employees want to work with like-minded professionals. When managers don’t do the hard work of hiring good people, it’s a major demotivator for those stuck working alongside them. Promoting the wrong people is even worse. When you work your tail off only to get passed over for a promotion that’s given to someone who glad-handed their way to the top, it’s a massive insult. No wonder it makes good people leave.

6. They Don’t Let People Pursue Their Passions

Talented employees are passionate. Providing opportunities for them to pursue their passions improves their productivity and job satisfaction. But many managers want people to work within a little box. These managers fear that productivity will decline if they let people expand their focus and pursue their passions. This fear is unfounded. Studies show that people who are able to pursue their passions at work experience flow, a euphoric state of mind that is five times more productive than the norm.

7. They Fail to Develop People’s Skills

When managers are asked about their inattention to employees, they try to excuse themselves, using words such as “trust,” “autonomy,” and “empowerment.” This is complete nonsense. Good managers manage, no matter how talented the employee. They pay attention and are constantly listening and giving feedback.

Management may have a beginning, but it certainly has no end. When you have a talented employee, it’s up to you to keep finding areas in which they can improve to expand their skill set. The most talented employees want feedback—more so than the less talented ones—and it’s your job to keep it coming. If you don’t, your best people will grow bored and complacent.

8. They Fail to Engage Their Creativity

The most talented employees seek to improve everything they touch. If you take away their ability to change and improve things because you’re only comfortable with the status quo, this makes them hate their jobs. Caging up this innate desire to create not only limits them, it limits you.

9. They Fail to Challenge People Intellectually

Great bosses challenge their employees to accomplish things that seem inconceivable at first. Instead of setting mundane, incremental goals, they set lofty goals that push people out of their comfort zones. Then, good managers do everything in their power to help them succeed. When talented and intelligent people find themselves doing things that are too easy or boring, they seek other jobs that will challenge their intellects.

Bringing It All Together

If you want your best people to stay, you need to think carefully about how you treat them. While good employees are as tough as nails, their talent gives them an abundance of options. You need to make them want to work for you.

What other mistakes cause great employees to leave? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

Forbes.com | February 23, 2016 | Travis Bradberry