By Mel Kleiman, president, Humetrics If your answer is: “Not a thing,” you must not be asking any questions and that’s the biggest mistake a manager can make. Your people are the ones in the trenches and they know exactly what’s going on, but they’re not going to tell you unless you ask. Here are…

By Mel Kleiman, president, Humetrics Even though every talented person who ever left one job for another told their employer it was “for the money,” money is rarely the real reason anyone quits. Over the years, research studies have shown time and again that the No. 1 reason people leave is because of their dissatisfaction…

By Mel Kleiman, president, Humetrics It is not about doing things right; it is about doing the right things. Year-end is a great time to look at all your activities and tasks and ask yourself the following questions: Is this activity adding real value? Who benefits from this activity? What are the consequences if I/we…

By Mel Kleiman, president, Humetrics When you are asking for information, skip saying things like: “How’s it going” or “Is everything okay?” All you’ll get are answers like: “Fine” and “Yes.” To elicit meaningful feedback, do what doctors do when they want to assess how much pain a patient is experiencing and ask: “On a…

By Mel Kleiman, president, Humetrics You do your organization and your employees a tremendous disservice if you avoid correcting and improving performance, behaviors and processes. If you want to grow the organization, you must grow your people. And, to do that, you cannot be reluctant to share your experience and expertise. While it’s good to “catch…

By Mel Kleiman, president, Humetrics The race  to hire for either skills or experience is over. Today, it’s all about hiring attitude and talent. So, what is the difference? A skill is the ability to do a particular task, like the ability to drive a truck, design a building or cut hair. Experience hones those…

By Mel Kleiman, president, Humetrics A   NOTICE TO ALL JOB APPLICANTS FROM THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT: We expect 100% accountability. All of our employees accepted employment here knowing we expect them to be 100% accountable, 100% of the time. We only pay for results! We will not pay for excuses! We will not pay for blaming! We…

By Mel Kleiman, president, Humetrics Here’s a timely reminder to help you compete for the best of those left in the rapidly evaporating labor pool… Get creative with your recruiting ad headlines; make them fun and exciting. For example:  “Truck Driver” becomes “Master of the Road,” and “Restaurant Manager” becomes “Director of Fun and Food.”…

By Mel Kleiman, President, Humetrics If you find yourself easily distracted by the overwhelming amount of possibly important, but definitely not urgent, information we’re all asked to deal with every day, here’s a simple exercise that can help keep you focused as well as help guide your decision-making process… Ask yourself, “What one word would I…

By Mel Kleiman, President, Humetrics Make it a practice to tell your people that the things you need them to do are hard, even when you know the tasks at hand are easy. Here’s why: Rabbi Chefitz had all the Cub Scouts sit in a circle with a big tom-tom in the center. He beat a particular…