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human resources director at desk

Make common sense a part of your human resources strategy.

3 min read

The best human resources leaders run departments that are fluid and proficient. This requires shaping effective processes but also knowing when to bend the rules. In fact, when we asked our people operations team to highlight top HR sins, recruiter Will Otto warned that process isn’t everything. Prioritizing process over common sense can come back to…

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People managers must deal with conflict

Good managers can’t fear conflict.

4 min read

Victor Lipman is a management trainer and author. His online course on Udemy is The Manager’s Mindset and his book is “The Type B Manager.” He has more than 20 years of Fortune 500 management experience. He contributes regularly to Forbes and Psychology Today, and his work has appeared in Harvard Business Review. Dealing with management conflict…

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Mike McKee on leadership lessons learned

An interview with an NHL player turned CEO

24 min read

From a Princeton pizza shop to the NHL, from Goldman Sachs to software solutions, Mike McKee, CEO and Director of ObserveIT, has worked on and led teams of every flavor. But whether it’s delivering pizzas or developing security software, it always comes down to people. The Predictive Index Senior Director of Marketing, Thad Peterson, sat…

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Manager speaking during meeting

How to sell an idea to resistant team members

4 min read

Whether you have a business idea you’re ready to pitch, or a team to lead into the next quarter, it’s important to know how to sell an idea. Unfortunately, the very prospect of “selling” something can turn off team members. This is because selling suggests there’s a better or equal alternative—even when there isn’t. So…

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HR manager talks with employee

5 inspiring human resources quotes for HR professionals

4 min read

As a leader, you should always strive for continuous learning and personal development. One smart habit to adopt is a morning routine: highest achievers have one. Try waking up early to begin the day with positive thoughts and some reading to help you improve yourself. Here are five inspirational HR quotes to get your day…

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Don't be afraid to ask your underperforming employee tough questions

5 questions to ask your underperforming employee

5 min read

Underperformance can stem from many issues. Unclear expectations from management, poor cultural fit, and a lack of constructive feedback are just a few. Underperforming employees prevent your company from meeting its business goals. They can also dampen the rest of the team’s spirits. Bad energy is contagious. As a manager, you know you need to…

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workplace book club books

Be a great manager with these 12 leadership books.

8 min read

12 leadership and team management books that have had the biggest impact on the way I manage and lead.

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47' brand leader

The one trait all great leaders must possess

4 min read

To become a great leader you must take control over one major part of yourself: your ego. Keeping your ego in check is a lifelong pursuit.  As Charles Duhigg explained in his book “The Power of Habit,” our bodies naturally want us to create habitual behaviors. Basically, our brains try to find the most efficient way…

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Office plants like this one reduce employee stress.

5 office plants that can reduce employee stress

5 min read

Stress in the workplace is common. According to the American Institute of Stress, 80 percent of workers experience on-the-job stress. What’s more, 40 percent of employees said their job is “very” or “extremely” stressful. As a manager, you want your people to be happy and engaged—not tense and checked out. You’ll be glad to know…

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manager evaluation form on a computer

8 questions that need to be on every manager evaluation form

5 min read

No one has a more immediate impact on employee engagement, productivity, and workplace satisfaction than direct managers of staff. Yet, most performance evaluation models are top-down—employees receive feedback from the people they report to, but managers rarely receive feedback from the people they manage. In fact, many companies don’t utilize manager evaluation forms at all. Good employees…

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At the heart of "how to run an effective meeting" is strategy.

How to run an effective meeting

6 min read

Think about the worst meeting you ever attended. Maybe one person monopolized the conversation and spoke ad nauseum about a topic that wasn’t important to everyone else. Perhaps the meeting started 10 minutes late because the previous group ran over their time slot. Or your facilitator struggled, in vain, to get the conferencing software to launch. Whatever…

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Good employees leave bad managers

Good employees leave bad managers with these 4 traits.

5 min read

If you don’t yet have access to an employee experience survey, read on to discover four reasons why good employees leave bad managers.

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Manager sits behind desk at office

The traits of great managers (a data-driven analysis)

1 min read

We recently released the results of a study of 5,000+ employees about their perspectives on their managers. From it, we gleaned some amazing findings, all of which can be found in our People Management Study report. I had the chance to have a conversation with Craig Weber, author of Conversational Capacity, to talk about our…

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Meeting room discussion

The art of giving feedback

4 min read

Feedback is a little like management oxygen – we tend not to think much about it and take it for granted but when it’s absent we quickly encounter problems. We know feedback is an important element of management, and I’ve written about it on occasion, but I can’t say I’d seen a lot of insightful…

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