The Boss's Survival Guide: Workplace 911 for the Toughest Problems Today's Managers Face Book

Special Acknowledgments xiii

Acknowledgments xv

Chapter 1 The Forgotten Four 1

The Forgotten Four 5

Fairness 7

Flexibility 9

Leverage 11

Empathy 14

Forgotten Four Summarized 16

Do the Right Thing 17

Chapter 2 The Essential 10: A Short Course in Management 21

Surviving Tough Times: The Essential 10 22

Having a Bigger Impact at Work: The Essential 10 23

Staying Out of Jail: The Essential 10 24

Keeping Your Best People: The Essential 10 24

Chapter 3 Managing Yourself 27

Managing Up: How to Keep Your Boss Happy 28

Your Career: How to Stay Competitive in the Job Market 32

12 Questions to Measure Your Effectiveness 37

360-Degree Feedback: How to Get the Truth (and Improve Your Performance) 38

Mission, Goal Setting, and Finding Opportunities: How to Sort Out the "Where To?" of Work 42

Time Management: How to Make the Most of Every Hour 46

Stress: How to Cope with Workplace Pressure 50

Project Management: How to Stay on Top of What You Need to Do 54

Walk the Talk: How to Align What You Say and What You Do 58

Listening Skills: How to Hear What People Really Have to Say 62

Apologizing: Why Managing Often Means Having to Say You're Sorry 69

Chapter 4 Managing Performance 75

Leadership: How to Vary Your Style to Get Results 76

Managing 101: How to Be the Boss Today's Employees Need 83

Keep Employees in the Loop: How to Fill the Information Vacuum 91

Job Descriptions: How to Draft Blueprints for Results 97

Behavioral Expectations: How to Direct the How of the Job 105

The Handbook: How to Use the Rules to Your Advantage 109

Informal Recognition: Howto Keep Employees Motivated 111

Formal Recognition: How to Celebrate Milestones 118

Documenting Performance: How to Be Fair, Complete, and Legal 123

Performance Reviews: How to Keep Employees on Track 128

Personnel Files: How to Keep Your Records Useful and Legal 140

Overtime/Comp Time: How to Pay People 144

Negligent Supervision: How What You Don't Do Can Cost You 147

Training: How to Keep People Learning and Growing 151

Meetings: How to Get Things Done (Without Wasting Time) 161

Working with HR: How Human Resources Can Help You Get the Most Out of Your Team 169

Chapter 5 And Then There's Real Life 177

Conflict Management: How to Resolve Disagreements (Without Bloodshed) 178

Fear and Mistrust: How to Overcome Negative Emotions That Infect the Workplace 181

Sexual Harassment: How to Recognize and Prevent Inappropriate Behavior 184

Privacy: How to Balance the Rights of Employees and Your Company 197

Medical Problems and the FMLA: How to Help an Employee Through a Personal or Family Medical Crisis 202

Drug and Alcohol Abuse: How to Confront the Addicted Employee 210

Chapter 6 It's Not Your Father's Workplace 217

Innovation: How to Get Creative in Tough Times 218

Organizational Culture: How to Manage in Sync with Your Company's Values 222

E-mail: How to Manage Electronic Communication (and Not Let It Manage You) 228

The Internet: How to Keep an Asset from Becoming a Liability (or a Lawsuit) 234

Texts, Tweets, and the Next New Technology: How to Stay Connected (Without Losing Your Mind) 240

Virtual Employees: How to Manage the People You Can't See 245

Emotional Intelligence: How to Recognize and Use the Data in Your Emotions 250

Chapter 7 Today's Diverse Workforce 261

Cultural Values: How to Get Past Race and Ethnicity 262

The Generation Gap: How to Help Everyone Get Along (and Get Things Done) 267

Disabilities: How to Help Employees Give Their Best 276

Religion: How to Respect Established Practices 285

Sexual Orientation: How to Include the Invisible Minority 290

Parents: How to Help Employees Balance Work and Family 298

Employees Without Children: How to Reap Rewards by Recognizing Personal Lives 303

Chapter 8 Making Successful Hires 311

Sourcing Candidates: Where to Find the Right Person for the Job 312

Applications: How to Get the Basic Information You Need 325

Résumés: How to Spot the Hype and Find the Truth 329

Assessment Tools: How to Be Sure Candidates Will Fit In 334

Physicals: How to Be Sure Candidates Will Be Able to Do the Job 347

Reference Checks: How to Get the Whole Story 351

Background Checks: How to Find Out What Candidates Don't Want You to Know 356

Interviews: How to Get the Information You Need 363

Job Offers: How to Structure and Negotiate a Win-Win Package 378

Closing the Deal: How to Turn Candidates into Employees 392

First Days on the Job: How to Lay the Groundwork for Success 398

The 90-Day Review: How to Decide Whether the Employee Should Stay-Or Go 407

Chapter 9 Discipline and Termination 413

Discipline: How to Change Problem Behavior 414

Termination: How to Let People Go Fairly and Legally 420

Constructive Termination: How to Protect Yourself from Claims That People Were Forced to Quit 431

Termination Letters: How to Write a Document That Protects Your Company 433

Resignations: How to Get Closure When People Move On 436

Alternatives to Layoffs: How to Keep Top Talent (and Still Cut Costs) 440

Layoffs: How to Cut the Risk of Lawsuits 443

Postscript 447

Index 449