1 Stop HR

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Core Duty of Managers

As I have been sitting here putting the final touches on a full day workshop for a management group, I am swimming with all kinds of thoughts in my head around the core duties of a manager. We can absolutely talk about what makes an effective manager, we can talk about the importance of feedback, conflict management, and so many other components that make a manager great, however I find myself continually going back to one main trait.

Can you guess what it is?

Think about when you have been an employee and the major complaints that you had….

Ok, here it is…listening.  Everything seems to stem from this imperative skill.  If a manager isn’t listening to his or her team, listening to the comments, complaints, concerns, that come forward, they can’t effectively manage, improve and enhance the team.  If a manager doesn’t truly show the team that they are listening and ACTIVELY listening, they will lose the respect of their team. Confidence in their abilities will diminish and the downward spiral begins.

I consider Active Listening to be among the most important management functions, from here there are so many other things that all come into play to strengthen the management relationship and effectiveness.

Are you a great listener?  What makes you a great listener? What could you improve upon?

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Effective Feedback

I teach at a local college and was teaching this morning on Effective Feedback.  This is such an important concept in the workplace both as someone who is the receiver of feedback and the one giving the feedback.  Quite often managers tend to want to be liked by their team members and are therefore afraid to give any constructive feedback…they stick to positive feedback.  This does nothing to assist the organization or the individual to improve and grow.  People are also reluctant to ask for feedback when they have not received it, but this too is important.  It shows our managers that we are keen, we are interested and we want to give back and contribute effectively to the company.

Feedback is essential in our performance reviews…telling someone that they “did very well on the XYZ project” is great, but how they did well, providing them with examples and giving some constructive feedback on what to work on for the next time takes things to a whole different level!

Here is a video that helps hit on some of the points above…enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnSE-Cuxp40

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Great day!

As I sit in my newly renovated office and look out at the sun shine (it’s about time!), I feel happy for all that I have and for a business that I truly love.  I can truly say that I love what I am doing.  How about you?  Can you say this?  Why or why not?  What would you change to make it better?  What is holding you back?

If you find yourself sitting in a dead end job or a job that isn’t making you happy, I challenge you to look at why that is.  What is it that needs to change?  Do you need to upgrade your skill set?  Is your boss driving you crazy?  Have you told him/her about your feelings?  Is it time to move on?

Many of us get comfortable in our jobs – or let me say “uncomfortable” but we are afraid of what might be on the “other side”.  So instead of doing something about it, we sit and sit and sit.  At some point our unhappiness starts to impact our health.  I can tell you from experience – it is not worth it!

BE the change you want to be!  Life is too short to be unhappy!  Own the change you are looking for – don’t expect that it will just come to you because if it ever does, it may be too late.

Happiness is in your hands….go get it!

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Fun Team Building Exercise

So it has been a while since I have used the Marshmallow Team Building Activity…until today!   Have you ever used or been a part of this activity?  So fun!    Easy to do!

Put your groups in teams – max of 8 I would say.   Give each team the following:

20 pieces of uncooked spaghetti
1 yard/metre of string
1 yard/metre of masking tape
1 regular sized marshmallow

Teams have 18 minutes to design the tallest free standing structure which must have the marshmallow (whole) at the top of the structure.

The different ideas that come forward are pretty funny.

After the exercise – show the following video for more laughs…

http://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower?language=en

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Interview Questions

Do you tend to shoot from the cuff when you are interviewing candidates?  Meaning, you don’t have any formal process or questions, you just ask away as the questions come to mind?  Some people are quite skilled at doing this, many of us lack the ability to keep interviews consistent if we don’t have a set form with a set list of questions to use as a guide.

Keeping consistent with your interview process and core questions becomes key especially if you are interviewing multiple people for the same position.  It can become difficult if you have candidates that seem to be similar in their skill sets if you didn’t ask them similar questions.  As well, it makes it  difficult for other team members (not present during the interview) to be able to review and compare candidate responses if candidates were asked different questions.

Keep this in mind the next time you find yourself embarking on

Learn More About US

1 STOP HR was founded by Christie Ferguson, CHRP CHRL Christie is a certified Human Resources Professional & Leader with many years of hands on HR expertise.

Contact US

Tel: 226-750-3160
Email: info@1stophrconsulting.com

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