The biggest takeaway from our research is this: The vast majority of managers do not provide feedback often enough. For the most part, micromanagement is a rare occurrence. However, while most managers should be giving more…
Every time a manager provides feedback, their credibility is on the line. Giving feedback that is generally inaccurate—off-base, unfair, unbalanced, or factually wrong—is a surefire way to undermine that credibility. On the other hand, employees come…
Most managers today would agree that feedback is key to employee success. But unless that feedback is high quality, performance will never improve, no matter how frequent your one-on-ones with direct reports. The results of…
One of the most insidious pieces of advice in modern management is to “stay out of your employees’ way” and “let them do their best work”. The intention is to display trust in the people working…
Despite how unique your management challenges may seem, the common denominator is likely unstructured, low-substance, hit-or-miss communication. When things are going wrong in a management relationship, that is usually at least part of the cause. What…
After huge recent fluctuations in the job market—and despite ongoing downsizing, restructuring, and reengineering—unemployment is at record lows and employers are facing more severe talent shortages than any time since we at RainmakerThinking began our workplace…
Our research shows that when things are going wrong in a management relationship, almost always, the common denominator is unstructured, low substance, hit-or-miss communication. With the added complications of managing some combination of remote, hybrid, and…
There are a number of myths that prevent managers from being strong, but one of the most common questions we hear at RainmakerThinking is, “How can I possibly keep track of my employees’ work on a…
When people leave their jobs voluntarily it is almost always—at least in part—directly attributable to their relationship (or lack thereof) with their immediate leader, manager, or supervisor: Their manager fails to regularly keep track of…
If you want to gain a strategic advantage in today’s talent wars, step one is defining a clear value proposition to potential new hires. Decide who or what you want to be as an employer and…
