Productivity / Performance

Study: No lasting productivity gains from remote work

01/29/2024

Remote workers are no more or less productive than their on-site colleagues, concludes a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The finding throws cold water on hopes that significant productivity gains reported during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns would continue post-COVID.

Writing job descriptions: An 8-question checklist

12/20/2023

Inaccurate or incomplete job descriptions can create costly legal risks. Here are eight questions managers should ask themselves when drafting a job description.

Top 10: The most productivity-inspiring songs and most popular artists for workplace listening

12/04/2023

According to an apparently rigorous analysis of Spotify playlists by TollFreeForwarding.com—why a phone-number brokerage does this, we don’t know—these are the top songs for promoting workplace productivity.

How to manage a remote worker experiencing performance problems

11/10/2023

Smart managers do not hesitate to address an underperforming worker. They know that rectifying the situation quickly is in the company’s best interest. This mindset holds true regardless of where the employee performs the role. Effective leaders realize, however, that root causes and possible solutions sometimes differ when the individual works remotely. Here, we look at ways to assist a struggling off-site staff member.

A rock-star employee leaves: Now what?

10/20/2023

The hole left when an outstanding employee departs can seem big enough to swallow up the productivity of that person’s whole department. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are four tips to maintain order and productivity when a top employee moves on

Cut turnover by training managers to give better performance feedback

10/16/2023

When managers give lousy performance feedback, employees are much more likely to quit, according to new research by Textio, an artificial intelligence software firm that specializes in hiring and retention solutions.

Take every opportunity to deliver positive feedback

09/27/2023

For some employees, hearing words of praise is better than a cash bonus—and such praise is a key reason people want to stay in their jobs. Yet many managers can muster up such phrases only during annual reviews … if at all. Here are 10 key ideas managers should consider when offering positive feedback to employees.

Post-pandemic, get new hires up to speed fast

09/22/2023

A July poll conducted by Intelligent.com revealed that employers believe newly minted high school and college graduates aren’t as academically and socially skilled as they were just five years ago. Plus, they said recent grads are more likely to have unreasonable salary and benefit expectations. If you’re struggling to assimilate young employees into your workforce, here’s how to bring those new hires up to speed.

Use performance logs to simplify employee reviews

09/15/2023

It happens to every manager: You sit down to prepare a staff member’s review and realize you can remember only what the person has done the past few weeks. Or you allow only a single incident (good or bad) to color your assessment. If you’re relying solely on your memory to evaluate employee performance, you’re […]

Survey: Returning to the office improves productivity

07/31/2023

Employees may grumble when their bosses order them to scrap remote work and come into the office, but they acknowledge the post-pandemic transition has its upsides.