Deciding how to manage underperforming employees is a headache for many business leaders. In particular, leaders tell me it can be difficult to know when to draw the line and give up. I recently spoke to one line manager who described a series of six conversations with a consistently underperforming employee – he wanted my advice as to whether or not he should escalate this to his senior manager. I admire his patience but not his management of this individual! ...

With Halloween upon us, our thoughts turn to things that go bump in the night and what may be lurking in the shadows at the bottom of the garden. We all like to get the adrenaline flowing with a scary movie or spooking the kids, all done with the knowledge that we are secure in our homes and the witch next door is not real… Well, for some of your employees, every day at work holds as much fear as Hallowe’en. Fear of ...

Getting internal communication right is important for every organisation. During a crisis, its importance rockets. And yet this is a time when leaders fall foul of the most obvious mistakes. Perhaps you’ve already learned some painful lessons from your own experiences. Or maybe you wonder how you’d react should the worst happen. You shouldn’t feel alone in this. No leader finds it easy to get internal communication right when so much around them seems to be going wrong. To help you avoid the ...

How long is a piece of string? The frustrating truth is that there is no ‘one’ answer. The same can be said on how much a company should expect to spend when looking to change their company culture – as much as it takes. In the past, I’ve worked on developing and improving company cultures for many different types of organisations (all with very different budgets), and I know it can be tough going – but hang in there. Below, I’ve put together some important points ...

Have you ever had to deal with a negative employee? Negative people can be frustrating to manage because they never seem to see the bigger picture or are unwilling to move forward from ‘issues’. However, having helped many organisations deal with negativity over the years, I know that sometimes these individuals can be drivers of innovation and positive change. It’s important to understand how to manage negative people, how to distinguish them from pessimists, and then, finally, what to do with those negative employees. Below I ...