As a manager, I can’t say that I was effective in giving feedback; and I discovered I made more than one mistake when designing my training courses focused on the topic. Now I am going to tell you about some mistakes I made; I will talk about the feedback the boss gives to the staff […]

A medium-sized company was facing strong order growth, which needed to be supported by properly skilled staff. The HR director had built up a network of head-hunters with expertise in many different sectors. As far as engineers and project managers were concerned, he used a company he had known for years, the Italian branch of […]

What can we learn from this cartoon? If you decide to reprimand someone you must be aware that the main point is not his/her mistake, but the performance he/she will express on the first occasion. And if, when he has made an error, you turn him into a rag, what can you expect?   If […]

Captain, we’ve been waiting for a landing for over an hour and I have a feeling we’re running out of fuel. Beg your pardon? The fuel, Captain, according to the fuel gauge we have only a few minutes left. Shall I request an emergency landing? A few minutes? Maybe… We’re fallinggggggg! What I have reported […]

I want to add a few comments. Which works better, in your experience? A pat on the back or a kick in the butt? If I’ve tickled your interest, you can learn more in the e-learning course Improving staff performance. Enjoy!

This scene stems from my first presentation as a business manager: the names are irrelevant. Indeed, none of those who participated in that meeting is still with the organisation, as far as I know. The presentation took place one week after I’d been hired, and it was about a strategic decision that was to entail considerable […]

How often have you heard that? The truth is that supervisors tend to refrain from praising, for two reasons. The first is that praising is complicated and can be damaging: better hold back. No action, no mistakes, right? The second reason is that for many managers their staff are invisible: they don’t notice the people or their […]

Changing people’s behaviour is an art. As we already know, the reprimand is used to change undesired behaviour. And as a loyal reader of my blog, you are undoubtedly familiar with both the constructive reprimand and the destructive reprimand. But what do you do when you want to reinforce a behaviour you wholeheartedly approve? I know, of […]

Who doesn’t remember a terrible reprimand for quite questionable reasons, received at some point in life by a ham-fisted boss? Not to mention how embarrassed we’ve felt when, having climbed up into the position of a boss and being fully entitled to reprimand ourselves, we’ve seen our ham-fisted reprimand meet with the astonished glance of […]

Some time ago I was thinking about how dangerous praise can be: I’m sure you’ll find the following story quite instructive. Goods duly delivered. Enjoy your holiday. Excellent emergency management! Congratulations. Thank you. I hope you’ll remember that when you’re approving salary raises! These text messages exchanged were in a few minutes by a manager and […]