It's hard to believe that such an employee exists, isn't it?  But unfortunately we know all too well that they're out there.  So if you are faced with a situation like the one shown in this clip of "The Office," all you need to do is walk away.  Do not try to cajole an employee into having a conversation about his or her performance.  It's not worth it.  If they don't care, why should you?  

Give him or her one more shot.  Suggest meeting on another day, when you expect the employee to be ready to actively participate in a review of his or her contributions to your business.  If that doesn't work, let 'em go.

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Early last month a judge ruled that the case of a former Iona College assistant men's basketball coach should go before a jury. The plaintiff is Craig Holcomb and he claims that he was fired because his wife is black. 

Typically, plaintiffs are covered under the Civil Rights Act Title VII in the event that they themselves have been discriminated against for race. But extending that protection to cover family members, or people with whom someone may be associated is new. 

Frankly, I’m surprised that this hasn’t come up sooner, because the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that it really shouldn’t matter who the target is. Discrimination is discrimination. 

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I never really understood the debate over why friendships at work were considered a bad thing and why companies have historically discouraged personal relationships as if they somehow clash with professional ones. In my career, since day one, if I haven’t been working for or with friends, I’ve had friends working for me. There have never been any problems. In fact they are the strongest relationships and best work experiences I’ve had - by far. 

Recently, the pendulum has begun to swing away from the taboo notion that friendships at work threaten business results and toward what value may be inherent to having friendships in the workplace.  Employers are&n...Read More

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It’s amazing to me how often I am asked to sort out common organizational problems and then inevitably learn that someway, somehow, there is a person with a pesky attitude problem at the heart of it. Every time it happens I think there is a Buffoonery School of Business hidden on some corner of the earth that I don’t know about and which teaches “All About Me Management.” I am sure however, that I have come face-to-face with many of its graduates. They tend to be overbearing, obsessed with control, always have to be right, override other people’s decisions on a whim and basically screw up the flow of work for all innocent bystanders. 
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I have an idea.  I think we need a peeve of the week blog.  Because venting is so therapeutic and it helps purge the things that bother us most, why not end the week every so often by “letting it out.”

So for me, this week, what really irked me was the lack of people’s responsiveness.  For some reason there are folks who think it’s not noticeable, but acceptable, when they “yes you to death” but then have a complete inability to actually get something done, like call you back or reply to an email.

Ironically, these are the same people who kick up the most dirt when someone disregards their calls, messages or requests.  Do they not see it, or do they think it’s OK to treat people in exactly the way that they don’t want to be treated?

Not sure.  But I feel much better now.

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For anyone in retail specifically, or who is in charge of training and managing managers generally, there is a PAX deli in New York City where you can go and get a lesson-by-example firsthand in how to manage. I happened to be there twice this week, and have to say, I felt as though I’d landed on another planet. 

Why? Because the manager was a breed that I thought had been declared extinct long ago.  And since we can’t yet clone management behavior, here are the things I wish every manager could do:

On Day One

1. He was on the floor during peak hours arranging chairs, putting supplies away and running back and forth to and from the kitchen to get whatev

...Read More

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I‘ve long been befuddled by Jekyll and Hyde routines of people, especially at work.  But my all-time worst experience was with a boss I had early in my career who made the Tasmanian devil look like a tame soul. She was pretty in a scary way, kind of like Elvira.  She was also cunning, witty and mean. I in the meantime, was confused. The fact that she didn’t realize how she siphoned the life from the people who worked for her utterly escaped me.

Initially I was her favorite, a position that brought with it special attention and favors like taking time to...Read More

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Cracks me up.  But it is baffling too. Why does everyone hate training so much?  Is learning really so bad?  You wouldn't think so, not when you consider the amount of money that people spend on classes and lessons to learn how to do things.  So what has gone wrong in corporate and organizational learning?

I think it comes down to one very simple thing that for some reason has thus far eluded the world of work.  And that is, people want to learn to do, not learn to know.  Knowing is boring. Cognition for most is simply not enough.  People want to be engaged, active and challenged.  So until we see a fundamental shift ...Read More

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When tempers flare at work, everyone feels it by the time its effects have rippled through an organization. And for all intents and purposes, it’s not positive. While managing emotions is difficult on many levels both professionally and personally, anger is one of the most destructive and crippling emotions when it comes to work and productivity.   Here’s why…

Anger intimidates people by creating fear and uncertainty. It will shut employees down and prevent them from speaking up, offering ideas and putting forth their best efforts, all of which will prove to be death to a business. 

So a good way to manage your own anger is to exercise whatever amount of discipline it takes to make...Read More

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Someone sent me the link to this video recently from The New York Times business section of their website about how it feels to be bullied at work.  Apparently, there is also talk about making it illegal for a boss to verbally abuse an employee the same way harassment (sexual and otherwise) and discrimination have been outlawed. All very interesting indeed, but what really got me was the idea that adult bullies are nothing more than throwbacks from a mean-spirited childhood. 

But how could someone not outgrow that? Or more importantly, why wouldn’t people want to? It’s such an ugly thing to be as a child, you would think that any normal, well-m...Read More

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Aside from logging on everyday to my last blog entry, or youtube, to watch baby Ethan become hysterical over ripping magazine pages apart to get a laugh, there are more strategic things you can do to work humor into your workplace.

1.     Humor is in the eye of the beholder. Set boundaries of what is appropriate and what is not, because what some people find humorous, others will find offensive. Parameters of acceptable behaviors can...Read More

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It’s often said that laughter is the best medicine. But, not only is humor good for our health, it can also be a valuable workplace tool. Because humor has an uplifting effect on people, organizations can benefit by using it to create a positive and more productive workplace. 

It’s the levity that humor generates which makes it important for work atmospheres because it has the power to make people feel more open. This openness, when used properly, encourages better learning, communication, morale and teamwork.

On the other hand however, something as ostensibly positive as humor can have its pitfalls if companies don&rs...Read More

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