It’s no secret that technology has slowly invaded today’s work world. Technology has completely transformed the way we transfer information and create relationships with people that we work with. In light of everything going on in our world today, technology has become even more involved in the workforce as millions of people transition to working remotely. While technology has several benefits for organizations (we discussed a few in a recent blog post, which you can read about here), the constant access to work through technology also comes with some downfalls. Workplace Telepressure is a concept that has recently emerged and is important to be aware of because of potential negative consequences. Here are 3 things you need to know about Workplace Telepressure: 

In our previous articles on the DISC, we mentioned how this useful assessment could help motivate your employees and help increase employee engagement. In our last article of the DISC series, we will be focusing on how the assessment could bolster your customer service training. The combination of customer service and the DISC not only helps employees become self-aware of their own customer service style, but also gives them the ability to adjust their style to meet the demands of the customer in various situations. This article will help you understand your customer service DISC profile, how to improve your customer service style, and how to improve customer service with other DISC styles.

There has been a lot of buzz around the term “employee engagement” since Gallup released their 2017 edition of the State of the Global Workplace report. The aggregate data collected from 2014 through 2017 exposed the staggering numbers of worldwide employee engagement at just 15%, with U.S./Canada leading at 31%. One of the main strategies to increase employee engagement in companies is to provide training and development that fosters a culture where continuous development occurs. This sends a message to employees that the organization values them and believes in their potential.

There are many effective ways to engage employees (see our E-Reader- Motivating Others: 8 Tips to Engage Your Team) including:

• Get to Know, Develop, and Empower your People
• Set Clear Expectations
• Notice What Gets Done
• Provide Meaningful Work
• Create Coachable Moments
• Act on Employee Feedback

Measuring employee performance can be challenging, even when every effort has been made to develop the very best employee appraisal program for your particular organization. The truth is, we are all affected by a wide variety of rater biases that impact how we select our ratings during an evaluation. These biases might unfairly skew employee scores exceptionally high or remarkably low. Failing to take rater biases into account is a mistake many managers make, and this can result in not being able to obtain a true estimate of an employee’s performance.

It is worth spending some time learning about common biases and rating errors because they often happen unconsciously. Understanding these biases can prevent decision making errors, which strengthens your ability to use performance appraisals to their fullest potential. Read on to find out the most common types of rater biases and suggestions on how to reduce the likelihood of their occurrence.

Do you or your employees often get upset after performance appraisals? Have you received any complaints about your performance appraisal ratings? Do your employees think rewards or promotions are given out in an unfair and unjust manner? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then it may be a sign that your performance appraisal system needs a serious makeover. Your first knee-jerk reaction might be to jump on the bandwagon and scrap your performance appraisals all together. However, without extensive preparation, training, and a strategy for replacement, eliminating your formal appraisal system may do more harm than good.

We have previously outlined a number of ways to Engage Employees in our E-Reader- Motivating Others: 8 Tips to Engage Your Team including: 1) Get to Know your People, 2) Set Clear Expectations, 3) Develop your Employees, 4) Notice What Gets Done, 5) Empower your People, 6) Provide Meaningful Work, 7) Create Coachable Moments, and  8) Act on Employee Feedback. 

 Click here to download our presentation: DISC: Enhancing Communication