The New Manager's Tool Kit: 21 Things You Need to Know to Hit the Ground Running - Softcover

Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Don Grimme is a co-owner of GHR Training Solutions, which provides training for companies and government agencies including Motorola, NASA's Kennedy Space Center, and Auntie Anne's. He is a frequent keynote speaker and presenter at national conferences.

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As a new manager, you've got your work more than cut out for you: all new skills to learn, different personalities to deal with, and greater responsibilities to fulfill. The New Manager’s Tool Kit arms you with the fast, practical advice you need to:

increase productivity • unlock hidden talent in your people  • work with different types of employees • communicate effectively with your reports • diagnose problems • coach good or problematic employees • turn on teamwork • avoid burnout • eliminate conflict • and even nurture the next generation of managers!

You'll learn how to understand and work with fundamental personal and interpersonal components of your job including attitude, assertiveness, and managing stress and anger. You'll also discover powerful techniques for mentoring and motivating employees, optimizing performance, and encouraging positive and productive communication. In addition, the book covers issues of special relevance to today's workplace, such as retention, diversity, rapid or unexpected change, different generations in the workforce, disabilities, harassment, workplace violence, and more.

Ranging from basic skills to those more advanced, The New Manager’s Tool Kit helps you take on the many challenges of management without missing a beat, offering you advice, encouragement, and practical, no-nonsense methods for immediately succeeding in your new role.

“Useful at every level of an organization, it is a practical and comprehensive guide to becoming a skilled manager of people.”

—Peter Schwartz, Chairman, Monitor Global Business Network, and author of The Art of the Long View

Don & Sheryl Grimme are co-owners of GHR Training Solutions. They train companies and government agencies, including Pfizer, AOL, Nestle-Purina, NASA, and the Veterans Administration, and speak at national conferences. Based in South Florida, the Grimmes travel throughout the U.S. to deliver their training and speaking services.

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TOOL 1

Turn On Talent ... and Turn Off Turnover

There is a crisis in America today. The one we?re talking about has noth-

ing to do with telemarketing, as annoying as that is, or even the troubling

economy. Rather, we're referring to the diminishing ability of organizations

in every sector of our society to attract, retain, and motivate talented

employees, that is, to survive.

It is employee retention especially that has emerged as the workplace

issue of the decade. In 2006, the Society for Human Resource Management

(SHRM), in its Workplace Forecast, predicted that the number one

employment trend most likely to have a major impact on the workplace is

a greater emphasis on retention strategies.

And in a 2007 study by the global employee retention research firm

TalentKeepers, 88 percent of employers reported turnover had stayed the

same or increased...and 45 percent forecasted a further increase in

turnover (only 3 percent predicted a decrease).

You see, our longheld assumption of an everexpanding talent pool

has been shattered by such factors as the retirement of aging Baby

Boomers, lower birthrates, tighter immigration rules, and an increase in

the skills demanded for today's jobs.

The first three factors explain this quantitatively. But it is the last one,

the qualitative factor, that is the sticking point. More than a shortage of

bodies, this is a crisis of abilities--the talent in "talent pool."

In addition, employee loyalty is down. According to a 2005 survey

conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, 79 percent of

employees are job searching, either actively or passively. In fact, the most

frequently asked question put to SHRM is, "How can we keep talent from

jumping to our competitors?"

Fortunately, every crisis contains not only danger but also opportunity.

In this tool, you will learn the secret to transforming this dangerous crisis

into an opportunity for you and your organization to flourish.

TRANSFORMING DANGER INTO OPPORTUNITY

Employers are groping for ways to attack the problem. The 2005 SHRM

survey found that the techniques used are salary adjustments, job promo-

tions, bonuses, more attractive benefits and retirement packages, and stock options--

all of which are expensive and (as found in the 2007

TalentKeepers' study) not very effective. The reason, as you will see, is that

they are misdirected.

Rather than leaping to implement techniques, it is important to begin

with an understanding of what really energizes and instills loyalty in

employees. Otherwise, you won?t know whether any technique is effective

and you won?t be very effective in implementing it.

UNDERSTANDING HUMAN MOTIVATION--THEORY

The best known motivation theory is probably Maslow?s Hierarchy of

Needs, shown in Figure 1.1.

Maslow categorized human needs into five sets:

1.    The most fundamental is survival. This is our need for food,

water, and shelter, and in the modern era includes medical services, electricity,

transportation, and phones, all of which are jeopardized by natural disasters.

Visualize the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

2.    Next is safety/security for which we look to the military, police, fire-

rescue, and insurance. All of these were called into play on and since 9/11.

3.    What then emerges is social/belonging--our need for family,

friends, coworkers, and associations.

4.    Then comes self-esteem--confidence, respect, appreciation, and recognition.

5.    And the ultimate is self-actualization--fulfillment and happiness, which

most of us meet through career, marriage, and/or parenthood.

Maslow did more than just categorize. He posited that these needs do

not have equal force all the time. When our fundamental needs of survival,

safety, and security are threatened, say, by hurricanes or terrorism, that?s all

we care about. As South Florida residents, we have firsthand knowledge of

this. For the first several days after Hurricane Wilma in 2005, local televi-

sion stations had no network programming, not even national news. All

they reported was where to get water and ice, and where and when power was being restored.

However, for most Americans most of the time, these needs are met.

They become merely basic expectations (what psychologist Frederick

Herzberg called ?hygiene? factors) that we pay little attention to. What we

care about and are motivated by are the three highestlevel needs.

   Maslow?s hierarchy provides a springboard for our own 3-Factor Theory (Figure 1.2),

which consolidates two other theories (Herzberg's 2-Factor Theory

and the Kano Model of Customer Satisfaction) from an employer's perspective.

As notated in Figure 1.1, employers satisfy Maslow?s fundamental sur-

vival, safety, and security needs primarily through a paycheck and benefits

plan: Earnings and Benefits. This is how employees buy groceries, put a...