Saturday, May 31, 2014

Goal: Coaching and Mentoring Your Employees




Being able to effectively coach and mentor your employees on an individual basis allows you to build both trust and respect within your work environment. It provides your employees with an added level of comfort knowing they can not only count on you when they need your help but that you are also advocating their own successes. Supervisor training often omits skills this aspect of education.

A successful employee leads to a successful company. Keep this in mind and you'll make the right decision 90% of the time.

Exercise:

Note: Depending on the number of employees under your supervision, you may want to increase the number of employees you meet with each week.

Select one day a week to schedule an hour of your time to meet with one employee for a
one-on-one session.

To make the selection process easier, begin with an alphabetized list of your employees, by first or last names. Start at the top of the list and work your way down the list until you have met with each employee over the time frame allotted.

Prior to your one-on-one, type a list of questions, concerns, goals, etc. to act as your personal guide throughout the meeting. The following is a suggestion to help you create your personal guide:

1. Begin with setting expectations for the meeting and thanking employee:
           
            a. meeting length: approximately one hour
            b. purpose of meeting: recognize goals/projects completed
                                                 address employee concerns
                                                 establish future goals/projects
c. "[Insert employee's preferred name], I appreciate you taking the time to meet
               today. Our meeting shouldn't take more than about an hour. The main purpose
               is to evaluate your performance the past quarter and address any concerns you may have."


2. Recognize and acknowledge goals/projects completed:
            a. Provide construction feedback on any goals achieved during the past quarter
            b. Briefly discuss projects completed during the past quarter
            c. Ask employee for his/her own feedback in regards to goals/projects
                        1. Were you able to meet your goal(s) in the time you hoped? Why or
                            why not? What can you do in the future to ensure you meet all of
                            your quarterly goals?
                        2. Were you able to complete all assigned projects/tasks in the allotted
                            amount of time? Why or why not?
                        3. Are you satisfied with the outcome of your goals and projects? Why or
                            why not?
3. Addressing employee concerns:
            a. This is the time to address any of your employee's concerns that have not been yet
                been raised during the course of this meeting
                        1. Outside of what we have discussed thus far, do you have any concerns that
                            need to be addressed today?

Monday, May 26, 2014

Don't Panic If Your Employee Calls Himself an Alcoholic


You won't hear this in supervisor training courses ,but many alcoholics in an active recovery (especially 12-step programs) who are abstinent from alcohol and mood-altering substances refer to themselves as alcoholics or recovering alcoholics depending on whom they are with and the context of the social or occupational setting. The recognition that one is an alcoholic is not unlike employees who refer to themselves as diabetic even if the disease is well-managed. Many alcoholics believe their very next drink could be the one that leads to their death, because they have come so close to it in the past, tried so many times to get sober, or both. Their sobriety is therefore first and foremost. This attitude of awareness and gratitude is one of self-preservation. Practicing and feeling comfortable with describing oneself as an alcoholic is usually viewed as an important part of their awareness of who they are and the fragile nature of sobriety, and it is a reminder that they could lose it all tomorrow.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

New Supervisor Training: Are You Putting Your New Supervisors to Sleep ZZZZ

Do not use video action movies with actors to train new supervisors. These expensive videos (which you will not replace very often) contain too much fluff. Today, new supervisors are used to getting information fast and furiously. Their brains are trained that way since daycare. So use new supervisor training PowerPoint programs that are converted into videos. Now you have something that is still a move-like product, but intense with no Fluff. Here's an example of exactly what I am referring to..http://bitly.com/new-supervisor-training