Terry's Blog | Daily strategies, insights and inspiration to help you achieve your potential

The Skills Transfer Gap

Few employees seem to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to their jobs - and the further removed the locus of learning is from the locus of application, the larger this gap becomes.

          * www.terrymckennaspeaks.com

Talent Team

In a 2012 study of a large company's front-line supervisors, the National Bureau of Economic Research concluded that, as one summary put it, "The most efficient structure is to assign the best workers to the best bosses.  Does this reflect your company? 

          * www.terrymckennaspeaks.com

Performance Standards

Why do so many companies lack the discipline to build a robust, focused set of measurable objectives for employees?  These companies instead default to subjective assessments or to objectives that are redefined when it comes time for evaluation.  And as a result, performance suffers.

          * www.terrymckennaspeaks.com

Collective Intelligence

As a organization, we are already more intelligent than we are as individuals.  We are part of a collective intelligence. 

          * www.terrymckennaspeakes.com

#Motivation

How does your organization motivate employees: extrinsic or intrinsic?  If you must use extrinsic motivators, then do so to reinforce intrinsic motivation.

          * Terry's Blog: www.terrymckenna.typepad.com 

Public Scoreboards

Teams don't play at their best unless they are emotionally engaged, and that happens when they can tell if they are winning or losing.  Do your teams know the score?  The key to engagement is a big, visible, continually updated scoreboard that is compelling to the players.

          * Terry's Blog: www.terrymckenna.typepad.com 

Accountability

The accountability to their peers is an even greater motivator of performance for most individuals than accountability to their boss.  People will work hard to avoid disappointing their boss, but they will do almost anything to avoid disappointing their teammates.

          * www.terrymckennabooks.com   Small Books - Big Results!

Scoreboard

People play differently when they keep and know the score.  The difference in performance in a team that knows the score, is amazing.  People disengage when they don't know the score.  When employees can see at a glance whether or not they are winning they become profoundly engaged.  Why?  Because no one likes to lose.  Want to improve employee job performance?  Create a visible, and compelling scorecard.

          * www.terrymckennabooks.com   Small Books = Big Results!

Ask More Questions

Most people perform at their best not because they're specialists but because their deep skill is accompanied by an intellectual curiosity that leads them to ask questions, explore, and collaborate.

          * www.terrymckennabooks.com   Small Books = Big Results!

Keeping Score

Employees perform their jobs differently when they are keeping score.  When employees themselves are keeping score, they truly understand the connection between their performance and reaching their goals, and this changes the level at which they perform their jobs.

          * www.terrymckennabooks.com   Small Books = Big Results!