Leadership Tips

Hiring

	Wanted: Salesperson Who Can Sell Ice Like Hot Cakes - Key Traits in Top Salespeople In order to avoid hiring a bad salesperson, you need to understand what makes a good one. The most successful salespeople, regardless of what it is they sell, leverage all of their skills in order to drive business. It may also be helpful, even before the interviewing process, to consider some of the tools available to evaluate character, work habits and personality.
	How much is that hiring mistake really costing you? Most companies can survive the occasional bad hire, but when hiring is done by trial and error, you get a cumulative effect. If your recruitment process is lacking, chances are that there will be consequences. Not only does this cost a lot of money, it also has an effect on the rest of the team.
	Using tests for HR purposes The onboarding process is crucial to getting new employees started on the right foot. It's an opportunity to clarify tasks and roles, to ease them into the social environment, and clear up the shell-shock of starting in a new place. With assessments, you can help an employee adjust more quickly to their new position. Here's how:

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Employee Development

	"Meeting Postponed, Sorry for the Incontinence" - Preventing This, and Other Miscommunications, in the Workplace Effective communication can be a complex matter that requires diligence and practice. It encompasses the ability to speak clearly and concisely, a capacity for social insight and empathy, assertiveness, and self-monitoring, along with the often overlooked and undervalued skill of listening. Here are a few simple communication tips to keep in mind:
	Declarations of Independence - Developing an Autonomous Staff There are many advantages to hiring an employee who is autonomous and who can work relatively unsupervised. Aside from the fact that you can trust this person to put in a good day's work and to be able to hold his/her own, an autonomous employee is more likely to feel empowered. Here are the key traits of a self-sufficient worker:
	Like Seeds in Fertile Soil - Work Environments That Nurture Productivity In a business world where company loyalty and morale can't be boosted by simply dangling a bonus like a carrot, employees are more likely to be dedicated to a manager who understands and motivates them. Here are some ways to promote a healthy work environment for workers and the organization as a whole:

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Leadership Development

The Ultimate Leaders: PsychTests Releases Study on Leadership Qualities That Differentiate the Best from the Rest It's important for companies to recognize that management and leadership are distinct, and that in order to bring out the best in employees, a person must have the business know-how of a manager but the finesse of a leader. Good leaders are in a class of their own with a very distinct personality profile.

The Managerial Jigsaw - Finding the Right Piece to Fit Your Company's Puzzle One of the most difficult positions to fill in a company is, arguably, a managerial one. It has to be filled by someone who can wear a lot of different hats - coach, cheerleader, leader, innovator, visionary, etc. Finding a manager who possesses the right set of competencies is important, but so is the type of organizational atmosphere and circumstances you're hiring for.

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Motivation

	Work Motivators - When Money and Coffee are not Enough Everyone holds different values in regards to work and needs different things in their job to feel satisfied and fulfilled. Motivation is at the heart of every productive employee, and the missing link in those who are not living up to their full potential. If managers truly want to get the best out of their workers, they need to start viewing motivation as a case-by-case issue.
	Do Your Employees Spell Team with M-E? Reasons Why Teamwork Isn't Always a Pleasant Experience Teamwork is the foundation of success for many companies. Creative ideas are more easily generated, large workloads can be shared, and it's always great to have others to turn to for help. For many people though, teamwork rarely works like a well-oiled machine - more likely, they see it as a rusty set of gears that creak and squeak at each other.
	Performance Evaluations Don't Need to Taste Like Brussels Sprouts - Making Reviews an Appealing Experience Giving evaluations, especially where there's some negative feedback involved, is like a ripping a band-aid - you just want to get it over with, and suffer as little pain as possible. Here are some tips on how to ensure that the performance appraisal process of your company is a productive one.

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Employee Well-being

	The different types of stress It's important to make a clear distinction between "stressor" and "stress. A stressor is a stimulus that can either be viewed as good or bad. Stress is our response to this stimulus. The factor that determines our reaction to the stressor is our perception. Here is a breakdown of the different types of stress we endure in our day-to-day lives.
	Developing stress-fighting strengths means knowing your weaknesses We all have a stress tolerance threshold. This threshold is based on past experience, the type of stressor you are dealing with as well as its intensity, your perception of the stressor, and the coping skills you have readily available in your arsenal (if any). There are, however, certain factors that can make a person more vulnerable to stress.
	Techniques to help you deal with the physical impact of stress Not all stressors are avoidable, but their influence can be buffered by adopting healthy coping strategies. Coping skills are like any other skill: The more you practice them, the more effective they will be. Dealing effectively with stress is a four-step process: Recognize the signs of stress, identify the source, evaluate its impact, and decide on a course of action.

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