Leadership Tips

Hiring

	An introduction to mining for top performers with psychological assessments What do you think is the most dreaded managerial task? Hiring and firing win this unpopularity contest, hands down, and for a good reason. The process of hiring has become a lot like our morning routine: predictable, boring, and uninspiring. Here are a few suggestions on what to look out for when interviewing a new hire.
	Want to use a pre-employment test? Here's what to look for A test may ask all the right questions and assess all the skills you are looking for, but it needs to be able to perform well statistically. Any theories, regardless of the field of study, only become fact if they can stand up to rigorous analysis. You don't need to be a psychologist to assess the quality of a test. Use this checklist.
	What pre-employment tests can do for you... and what they can't do Using personality and job fit assessments can be really useful when trying to find the right employee for your company. They're easy to administer, objective, and insightful. Like all hiring tools though, they have their advantages and disadvantages. This is why the recruitment process needs to incorporate a multi-faceted approach.

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Employee Development

	Bridging the gap analysis Whether you're assessing a job candidate's potential or want to optimize the performance of your existing staff, the next step (after assigning psychometric tests and reviewing test results) is to conduct a Gap Analysis. Here are a few tips on how to optimize a new hire's performance by bridging the gap between their skills and your company's needs.
	Multi-tasking is for Jugglers, Not Employees Multitasking may seem to be a simple concept but it is actually a complex and frequently misunderstood mental process. Unlike a computer, we can only perform one complex task at a time, regardless of how fast we think our brain works. Employees in a busy organization obviously need to be able to work on many different projects. So what's the alternative?
	When You Don't Have a Picasso or da Vinci on Staff - Developing Creativity in Employees Creativity is one of the least understood areas of human ability. Our ideas about our creative selves are too frequently discouraged in our early years by others whose ability to judge this matter should be questionable at best. To nurture creativity in employees, it's important to uncover if there are any psychological obstacles that can be snuffing their creative fire.

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Leadership Development

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.

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.

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Motivation

	Quarterback, Shortstop, Goalie, Bob - Finding the Right Team Player for Your Company We all know that a team player is someone who places the success of the team frst and is willing to make personal sacrifces. Of course there is more to being an effective team player than simply a desire or willingness to be one. There are specific attributes that constitute an effective team player, as well as different types of team players.
	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.
	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.

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Employee Well-being

	Sources of Stress at Work Most employees go into work with the intention of doing the best job they can. As a manager, your goal is to create an environment in which employees can thrive so that they can provide the best work or service possible. Here are 5 common workplace stressors that employees face on a regular basis:
	Snuffing Out Burnout Burnout can turn the best employees into a shell of their former selves, too tired to care about what happens to their job, their clients, their projects, or themselves. And long before the body shuts down, a person with burnout will have already"signed o?" on a mental and emotional level.
	How to help a distressed employee Not all employees are comfortable talking to their managers, let alone telling them that they are feeling stressed. This is why it's important for you as a manager to create an atmosphere in which your staff will be at ease coming to you for help. Here is a quick guide for managers on how to handle a stressed-out employee.

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