GOOD (and BAD) WRITING SKILLS STAND OUT on the JOB?(California Job Journal)

Here's an article that speaks to something dear to my heart! You'll find this of interest whether you are someone who hires employees or someone who could at some time be looking for a new job.

Expressing yourself well in writing is a skill that used to be taken for granted, because schools gave it more importance that seems to be case now. But as you'll see when you read this article from the California Job Journal, many prospective employers use it to weed out unskilled candidates for jobs.

By the way, if you need some help with your own business writing skills, I have two learning tools at my website that can help you. Check them out:

Message Received and Understood!
101 Grammar Gaffes and How to Correct Them

GOOD (and BAD) WRITING SKILLS STAND OUT on the JOB?(California Job Journal)

Unfair treatment is poor management

Earlier today I posted a piece about how relationships change when you become the manager of people who were once your peers. This is a related problem that sometimes occurs: you inadvertently play favourites among your people.

When you give preferential treatment to one staff member over others, you lose credibility as a manager. When the preference is due to superior work, you may be able to get away with it, but when it's due to a previous friendship, common interests or other non-merit reasons, you are asking for trouble.

Take some time out and take a calm look at how you interact with all your people. Are you scrupulously fair? Do you give the benefit of the doubt to some, while assuming others are at fault, without careful analysis of the situation? Make a point of going through this exercise at the end of each day. Think of your interactions with each person during that day. Your management diary or notebook is a good tool for this—I'll talk about that in another post.

Could you reasonably be accused of favouritism? If so, make it a point to rid your management style of this insidious problem, which will set other employees against you and make it more difficult to manage effectively.

Effective managers are fair managers.

The Manager's Journey

If you've ever wished you could learn the skills of management without interrupting your day-to-day work, I have the answer for you.

Some companies do offer training for their new managers, but it's usually a one-shot workshop, three days of brain-numbing information overload—most of which is forgotten next day when reality hits. I don't believe that kind of training is effective, but I do believe it's stressful.

Because my clients have complained about this problem to me for years, I've now come up with an exciting solution. It's a program I call "The Manager's Journey", and I invite you to visit my main website and read all about it. It's a grand adventure! Just click on the title to this post and you'll be taken right to the page.

By the way, if you know other managers who'd like realistic training, do send them the link.

Manager or friend?

When you've been promoted to manager in the department where you once worked, you have a unique challenge. People who used to be your peers, and perhaps in some cases your friends, now report to you. Many new managers try to wear both the "boss" and "friend" hats, which is a mistake. Although you will still want to be friendly and treat them well, you must make it clear from the outset that your relationship must now change.

I suggest you hold a meeting as soon as possible with your staff. Tell them how pleased you are that your new position still allows you to work with them, and that your knowledge of the group and their skills and talents will make your job easier. Do say that your relationship must change somewhat now, and that you hope you will have their support as you lead the team towards even more success than before.

Your staff will also be feeling a little awkward at this time, so addressing the situation up front is the best first step towards a "new and improved" relationship.