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Six Keys to Stress-Free Management

by Dennis D. Boylin

93 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-1306; ISBN 1-4120-0937-5; US$14.95, C$19.95, EUR12.95, £8.95

Employees are not the enemy! Discover why employees don't always do as expected and how managers can totally eliminate these reasons.

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about the book      about the author      sample excerpt      catalogue info

About the Book In a concise, easy to read format, learn why employees don't perform as expected and what supervisors can do about it. This book identifies six key areas of supervision that are critical to success: understanding your role, clear communication, focused goals, coaching skills, managing conflict, and managing your time. Through a clear understanding of these key areas, you can significantly reduce stress for yourself and your employees. Through application of the basic principle described in this book, many managers have significantly improved employee productivity and experienced considerable reductions in employee grievances.

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About the Author Dennis Boylin is a unique and straightforward trainer, speaker, and coach whose goal is to help managers develop practical skills and immediate on-the-job impact. This book is based on his highly rated supervisory skills course that has been offered at several colleges and presented internally for numerous organizations. Dennis is president of Boylin Management Institute, a management consulting and training organization. He has served as a consultant to manufacturing, government, transportation, hospitality, and retail organizations. His business experience includes positions at supervisory and executive levels. Prior to development of his own training organization, he served as vice president of training and development for an international restaurant chain.

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Sample Excerpt

Understand this, and understand it well. People don't quit organizations, they quit managers. Regardless of the benefits and pay, top performers will not stay in a job where they are treated abusively or have no clear direction.

One more thing, if you have a couple of problem employees, then you merely have a couple of problem employees. However, if you have several problem employees, your employees have a problem manager. You must look inside yourself and correct this problem from within.

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Key #3: Goals and Action Plans

• Gain employee commitment
• Establish a clear action plan
• Follow-up to assure success

We all like to be involved in decisions that impact our lives. Your employees probably feel the same. Being open with them, trusting their abilities, and getting their involvement will come back tenfold in commitment and performance.

A 25 year study at the University of Michigan showed that the most highly productive managers are good communicators who keep employees involved and encourage employee involvement in making decisions.

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excerpt from Introduction: Employees Are Not the Enemy

During my seminars and workshops, there are always a number of participants who truly believe their employees are the enemy. Typically, these managers blame all their problems and woes on the employees who just don't cooperate. The problem employees are perceived as "determined to undermine my success." These managers have difficulty looking beyond blame and never really place responsibility where it belongs, on their own skills as supervisors. These managers are causing themselves undue stress. Even worse, they are causing their employees significant stress.

Your ability to lead and provide clear direction determines the success of your employees. Most employees want to do a good job. Most employees prefer not to waste time on a job with unclear objectives or targets. Most people want to feel worthwhile and productive. This has been demonstrated time after time when so called bad employees become top performers under different styles of supervision.

Unfortunately, when a productive, hard working, positive employee is promoted to supervision, there are usually difficult times ahead. These top performers are given the position and responsibility of a manager, but little or no training on how to supervise others. These managers are quickly frustrated when their employees don't perform as expected. With limited understanding of a supervisor's role, it's not surprising that many new managers blame the employed for problems on the job. It is easier to blame than to fix.

Actually, in the long run, it is much easier to fix the problem than to assign blame. Blame continues to erode productivity. Blame increases stress. Blame eventually destroys the whole organization.

On the other hand, positively correcting a problem and preventing further incidents builds teamwork and dramatically improves productivity. Employees become enthusiastic profit generating partners for your organization.

With the proper tools, it is much more rewarding to fix the problems and develop your employees. After all, employees are not the enemy. They are your partners for success.

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Catalogue Information

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