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Competencies Related Topics
how can I keep my star performer, without being able to pay or promote him (while his less competent coworker earns double)?
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AUGUST 29, 2016
The 10-year, Cecil, is a competent enough engineer, but he’s slower, he often requires information that the client doesn’t have to start a project, he isn’t as capable with technology, and he lacks the personal skills to effectively coordinate with other departments. In this case, you can’t offer those things, and to add insult to injury, he has to watch a less competent colleague getting all the benefits and recognition that rightfully should be his. A reader writes: I am a partner in a small engineering firm. have compensated him with raises every year.
how to reject an internal job candidate
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FEBRUARY 19, 2016
But she is out-competed by the other candidate, who has better technical skills and seems more adept with software. A reader writes: I was just promoted at work, into a position that comes with an assistant. The hiring process for the assistant was already underway. really like one of the candidates and I was ready to hire her. But at the last minute, the person who is temporarily in the assistant role applied. like her, too, and she has done a good job. She also generally seems more enthusiastic. But I think it is the right thing to do. hiring
can I bring a crib sheet into interviews to help me answer questions?
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DECEMBER 21, 2015
A reader writes: I work in a sector where it is common to ask competency questions in interviews (apologies for being vague, but if I stated my work area you’d probably respond with “oh yeah, those guys probably DO get a lot of competency questions”). could honestly answer any competency question with “well, speaking as a senior X, my first move would be to look up current practice in that area,” and I assure you I and my colleagues are never far from a reference manual in the real world! Needless to say I loathe the things. interviewing
how long can it take to hear back after a job interview?
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JULY 27, 2015
It’s polite and appreciated when they do, of course, but HR people and hiring managers usually have lots of competing priorities, and it frequently results in follow-up emails from candidates being pushed to the back burner. A reader writes: There is this company that I have wanted to work for since I got into the work I do now. About a week later, I received an email from the HR manager following up with how the interview went and to let me know they are still in the process of conducting interviews but that I would be informed when final decisions are made. How long is too long?
Leaving performance reviews behind: Where to start [Guide]
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weaknesses in the competency by completing a 10-15 question. And together decide whether you would like to do more work on this competency or push ahead to the next journey. to eight core leadership competencies. competency is given a two-month window, during. competency, the learning management. develops the key competencies that new managers. At the same.
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how can I say “I don’t know” without saying “I don’t know”?
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AUGUST 17, 2016
In fact, one of the things that people who are great at their work and widely respected have in common is that they’re willing to say “I don’t know.” It actually makes them look more confident and credible because they’re secure in their overall competence and standing, and they know that they don’t have to (and can’t) have every single answer. I’m curious about these coworkers who are telling you that admitting you don’t know something will reflect badly on you. A reader writes: I am in a scientific field in a project management role. Now I have responsibility for Project X.
I get bored with all my jobs and don’t know what to do with myself
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JUNE 22, 2016
Decide that your goal right now is steady income and work you can do competently, and maybe some time to write too. A reader writes: I’m 22, out of school, and will not graduate. didn’t even like what I was studying in school (art-related) and I’ve changed majors three times now. Besides, I’ve never been good at it, and university has gotten me depressed, which is why I dropped out. The sadder part of my dropping out is that I can no longer afford an education anyway. My greatest dream is to be a novelist, but we all know how slim those chances are. Write.
one of our coworkers is putting nails in our car tires, company gifts that include pork and alcohol, and more
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JULY 4, 2016
If the person in charge of selecting the gifts is at all competent at her job, she’d appreciate a heads-up that the gift posed a religious conflict for a bunch of you. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. think one of our coworkers is intentionally putting nails in our car tires. I’m concerned that one of our employees is intentionally putting nails in our tires as some sort of retaliation for trying to hold him/her accountable for their quality of work. This recent batch of hires was brought on-board by our former management team with no interview or screening process.
8 tips for parents returning to the workforce
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JANUARY 18, 2016
After all, you’re competing against candidates who didn’t step away from a professional track, your skills might feel rusty, and it might have been years since you interviewed. If you’ve been a stay-at-home parent who’s now returning to the work force, you might feel intimidated. But with some effort and the right mindset, you can get yourself back to work. At U.S. You can read it here. tips for parents returning to the workforce was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager. job searching
Ditching the formal performance review? Kineo shares 3 Elements for Success
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weaknesses in the competency by completing a 10-15 question. And together decide whether you would like to do more work on this competency or push ahead to the next journey. to eight core leadership competencies. competency is given a two-month window, during. competency, the learning management. develops the key competencies that new managers. From Performance Management. to Performance Development eGuide 2Part 2: A Roadmap. for Change In Part 1 of this eGuide, we explored the confluence. of factors that’s driving change in how performance. Moving.
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is it ok to be Facebook friends with people I manage, returning from vacation early, and more
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JUNE 19, 2016
Also there are some jobs I can’t apply for since there is a non-compete clause, so the whole situation is just sucky.). It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Is it okay to be Facebook friends with people I manage? Within the last year, I became a manager of a small team (five people). This is my first management role, and it has been going rather well. Everyone gets along well and works effectively with one another. One of the people sent me a friend request on Facebook and I accepted it. Or do I just continue as-is seeing as it hasn’t caused any problems yet?
my employer wants me to apologize for job-searching, how far back should your resume go, and more
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NOVEMBER 8, 2015
The company (in investment banking) was sold shortly after I started and due to a non-compete agreement, I was not allowed to move into another position in the private banking part of the company that remained. How can I even compete? It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Do I owe my employer an apology for interviewing elsewhere? I was laid off a couple of months ago and took another job to help pay the bills. have had my eyes open for another position, and went to interviews. Somehow that card made its way to the general manager’s desk. Should I run? Do you?
bad manager or deliberate saboteur?
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JANUARY 29, 2016
So if you have a bad manager, maybe she’s just an incredibly competent saboteur. A reader writes: I thought you might find this old OSS/CIA manual from 1944 as interesting examples of bad management. The purpose of the manual was to instruct employees and citizens of enemy states to sabotage the enemy from within. Some of the sabotage tips sound quite familiar from some of the reader letters. Discriminate against efficient workers; complain unjustly about their work. Employees: Work slowly. ” Attempt to make the committees as large and bureaucratic as possible. work habits
coworker keeps making gross bathroom joke, manager took pay cut to protect our bonuses, and more
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SEPTEMBER 1, 2016
But if you let a couple of years go by before you start looking in your field, you won’t be a freshly minted grad anymore, and you’re going to be competing with people who are. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Coworker keeps making gross bathroom joke. I’m recently out of college and still newish at my job, and I sit directly across from a mid-level man in (I think) his late 40s. The problem is when this extends to jokes that weren’t ever funny, and especially when they’re about me. What?! Who … why … I don’t even know how to comment on this.
Move Beyond Learning to Applying: A Modern Management Development Program
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weaknesses in the competency. apply the competency. do more work on this competency. 1 kineo.com [email protected] 312-846-6656 Hard to believe that it’s been almost 20 years since the term “eLearning” entered the corpo- rate learning lexicon. And just in the last five years, the velocity at which new solutions have entered. the market has gone through the roof. We now.
I got someone else’s performance review, interviewer asked for a doctor’s note, and more
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NOVEMBER 1, 2015
All of this seems very out of character, as my manager has never given me reason to doubt his attention to detail or his competence. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Can a prospective employer ask for a doctor’s note when I don’t even work there yet? I was scheduled for an interview last Friday and missed it due to a miscarriage, which I ended up going to the hospital for. later in the evening sent an apology email and explained it was due to a minor surgical emergency. refuse to have them see why was the reason I missed. Is this legal? Should I quit? short answers
I found a horrible blog about a coworker — and it’s true
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MARCH 14, 2016
There’s a certain head of a department who I have to work with occasionally who is rude, dismissive, and just does not seem competent enough to do her job. I’ve spoken with other coworkers and they think the same of her. A reader writes: What should one do when they find a nasty blog written about a coworker, but the horrible statements are true? And she writes her emails in Comic Sans, so clearly not a person worthy of respect (I kid! Sort of…). found a blog written about her. She’s a recruiter, and it sounds like it’s written by a candidate she worked with.
my office smells like a corpse, my fired coworker blames me, and more
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MARCH 1, 2016
We were discussing resumes today during a meeting, and someone mentioned that the current trend is now a one-page resume. I am having a hard time fathoming such a thing – it was hard enough to bring my four pages to two for a staffing agency. A one-page would make it difficult to put anything more than my address, phone number, work history and competencies. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My office smells like a corpse. My office is an older building and half of it is up on a small crawl space. And then the smell begins to permeate the office. What are our options?
interviewer is bringing his kid to our interview, do my coworkers all pity me because my job is boring, and more
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OCTOBER 4, 2016
John has done this work before and is competent, but his output is much lower, which has led to him having a smaller range of responsibilities, and he requests more guidance on simple tasks. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My interviewer is bringing his kid to our interview. have just been advised that the attorney I am interviewing with will have his middle-school-aged child in the interview. find this inappropriate and unprofessional. What is your take on this? And if asked a question of the child; am I obligated to answer? If he were, I’d tell him not to do it.
The Performance Management Storm: Four Macro-Trends Driving the Change
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develops the key competencies that new managers. 1Why Your Company Will Need to. Rethink Performance Management eGuide Part 1: The Argument. for Change 2 3About this Guide Organizations are increasingly. moving from traditional performance. management systems (organized as. an annual review process) to newer. performance development systems. organized around real-time dynamics). it happen.
I’m panicking that I might suck at my first professional job
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JANUARY 4, 2016
That’s especially true if you’re used to feeling competent — if you’ve always done well in school and are used to walking around feeling like a generally competent person, it’s rattling as hell to be in a situation where suddenly you feel inept. A reader writes: I graduated in May and started my first professional, full-time job in September. I’m a receptionist at a pet resort and, after working in retail (which I’d worked for over three years), I was really happy to work in a job that just seemed so much better. guess my question is, how would you approach this situation?
are professionally done resumes worth it?
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FEBRUARY 11, 2016
For example, you do not want the words “ core competencies ” on your resume.). A reader writes: I have been out off work for three years. have sent out a lot of resumes and filled out a bunch of job applications, but I have not received any calls back. I was talking to a friend about it and they suggested that I get my resume done professionally. I’ve checked the price for this and it is not cheap. So I was wondering, will having my resume professional done worth the price or will it be waste of money that I honestly don’t really have? Look at their actual work.
should employees have to train their new manager?
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NOVEMBER 9, 2015
A reader writes: What is your opinion about direct reports training a new manager? I’ve experienced this twice now, where I have taken on a management job where my direct reports (usually less than a year in their own position) were appointed to train me. When I first experienced this, I wasn’t a complete career changer, but this time around I was hired more for my managerial skills rather than my product knowledge. I’m not completely without that knowledge, but it’s different when it’s not something you have worked with directly. What do you think?
manager leaves to get her hair done during the workday, should I sing a song at my interview, and more
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MAY 1, 2016
Assuming she’s generally competent at her job and the department is not falling apart because she leaving work a couple of hours early now and then, you should stop thinking of this as a problem. 2. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My manager leaves to get her hair done during the workday. work for a small firm with a fairly laid-back environment. One of my bosses regularly schedules her multi-hour hair appointments for workday afternoons. Every other month or so, she leaves work at 3 and comes to work the next day with freshly styled hair. Is this appropriate?
The Performance Management Storm: Four Macro-Trends Driving the Change
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develops the key competencies that new managers. 1Why Your Company Will Need to. Rethink Performance Management eGuide Part 1: The Argument. for Change 2 3About this Guide Organizations are increasingly. moving from traditional performance. management systems (organized as. an annual review process) to newer. performance development systems. organized around real-time dynamics). it happen.
asking new employer to send me to an awards banquet, should I let a mediocre employee work remotely, and more
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MAY 16, 2016
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My professor wants me to ask my new employer to send me to an awards banquet. With the help of a professor who mentored me in college, I just got my dream job! When I told her I got the job, she strongly suggested I ask my future boss about attending an annual awards banquet for people in our field. My problem here is twofold: first off, I’m not sure I’m comfortable making this request. Is this just my social anxiety talking or do I have good reason to feel weird? If I were to ask, how could I do so without seeming entitled?
managing someone who doesn’t want to move up, conflicting instructions, and more
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JUNE 29, 2015
My other employee is very competent but is not interested in advancing outside of her current position. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Managing someone who doesn’t aspire to move up. I’m a fairly new department head with two direct reports. This is my first experience managing full-time staff (I’ve previously managed numerous short-term interns), and I’m curious if you have any advice for how to lead these two employees with very different career goals. Any suggestions? Is she great at what she does? Is your company okay with that? ” 3.
should you give job candidates the interview questions ahead of time?
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MARCH 26, 2015
Candidates who are newer to the work world tend not to be great at interviewing, and they often struggle to come up with useful answers to questions like “tell me about a time that you improved an existing system” or “tell me about a time that you had to juggle lots of competing priorities” or any of the many other “tell me about a time when…” questions I like to use. A reader writes: I searched on your site and saw you have given examples of common questions interviewers ask. why did you approach it that way? did you worry about X? hiring
should you list a fun but fake fact on your resume to intrigue an employer?
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FEBRUARY 4, 2015
That’s the only path, at least if you’re screening for competent managers (and you should be). A reader writes: I am currently job searching and have heard that sometimes people put one fun thing on their resume that normally wouldn’t belong, which might seem to make them more interesting to a job recruiter who would want to know the rest of the story. One such suggestion was to list that you are Time Magazine’s “2006 Person of the Year.” ” Now, this wouldn’t technically be a lie. Time Magazine listed “You, yes You!”
our IT guy is an unresponsive jerk
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JULY 13, 2016
The complaint I hear most often is that he makes people feel stupid because they lack the technical vocabulary to describe exactly what’s wrong. I’m reasonably competent when it comes to IT issues, but even I have been subject to the heavy-sigh-and-eyeroll combo. I’m middle management, and I get these complaints from my team. A reader writes: We’re a small company, and our IT department consists of one individual. He often works on high pressure, involved projects that affect the entire company. Direct interaction with him is almost unheard of, even when he’s in the next room.
my new coworker keeps spouting offensive political views
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NOVEMBER 12, 2015
It’s not excessive to do that; her comments could create a hostile workplace ( legal definition , not colloquial one) and make people feel unwelcome and generally are exactly the sort of thing that a competent HR department will want to shut down. A reader writes: I work in a busy office with people from all different backgrounds, and my team is the first port of call when people come into the building. believe we have a large responsibility to make sure the company looks professional to anyone coming into the building. out of the workplace. Or should I talk to HR?
my new employee lied on his resume, are ponytails professional, and more
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APRIL 12, 2015
So far his work for the company is competent, if not particularly thrilling, and it’s certainly not his fault that his previous manager didn’t catch these issues when she was interviewing him for his original position. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My new employee lied on his resume. joined my current company last year and was recently promoted from my former position (more IT-related) to managing another department. One of the team members in my new department expressed an interest in the role I was vacating. Do I address these lies on his resume?
how to answer “how long have you been job searching?”
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JULY 16, 2015
Those that do are usually asking because they’re wondering whether you’re just at the very beginning of exploring options and possibly inclined to spend some time looking around, or whether you have a search well underway and might have a competing offer soon (and thus they may need to move quickly if they’re interested). When asked how long you’ve been job hunting, what are they trying to figure out? Does your answer matter? Honestly, it’s a weird question, and most interviewers don’t ask it. ” how to answer “how long have you been job searching?” interviewing
should I email my whole team to air my grievances when I resign?
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MAY 18, 2015
As a manager, she seems both nice and competent. A reader writes: Would it be career suicide to send an email to everyone at my current job explaining why I’m leaving it? My boss turned out to be a two-faced liar who viciously targeted and drove out several coworkers (while quite a few who weren’t targeted left because they couldn’t stomach how others were being treated). liked that job and team too! Here’s the full potential letter text below, in case you’re interested. I’m pissed enough that it’s actually fun to write the story out. However.
employee deserves a higher performance evaluation rating, how to respond to “is everything okay?” and more
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FEBRUARY 23, 2016
The typical advice on prioritizing competing demands is to lay out trade-offs: “I can’t have X until Tuesday, unless I prioritize Y. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My employee deserves a higher performance evaluation rating than I can give him. Yearly appraisal time. About a month ago, I was told to turn in any requests to rate employees at the highest performance level of “significantly exceeds standards.” The deadline for giving the highest rating was early so that those involved had time to review the documents and approve it. ” 4.
my manager is terrible at PowerPoint, having employees’ backs against racist clients, and more
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MARCH 30, 2016
For this reason, when the employee feels confident in handling the microaggressions with my back-up, I’ve been encouraging that–but should I just be jumping on the phone with these clients, making it clear I know exactly what they really mean when they say I just “seem more competent,” and firing them? It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My manager is terrible at PowerPoint. My manager creates PowerPoints that are very bad. Is this likely to hurt us in clients’ eyes, or am I nitpicking? He’s brilliant, of the overlooking-the-mundane variety.
family members stopping by work, should I say goodbye to coworkers when I leave, and more
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OCTOBER 4, 2015
But it seems to me that demanding major-league personal stuff about employees goes way beyond the realm of professional competence and into that of a) the EAP provider’s greedy curiosity about the demographics of their clientele, or–I really doubt this is the case, but it struck me as horribly plausible at the time, prima facie–b) the employer’s greedy curiosity about their employees. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. EAP’s gatekeeping procedures scared me off. The hotline staff pretty much grilled me, though. work in an office. short answers
the friend I recommended for a job pushed a coworker, how to handle goodbyes for a hostile employee who’s leaving, and more
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MAY 30, 2016
The problem isn’t her attitude (she’s actually really nice) – it’s her overall competence. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Should I have a goodbye party for a hostile employee who’s leaving? An employee of mine resigned today by walking into my office and saying “I am leaving. My last day is Friday.” When I asked her to come into my office and explain, she initially refused, saying that she was busy with clinical work. She has been a very challenging employee for me from day one (the rest of the team is very respectful). Yes, Google.
my boss helped my girlfriend’s mom ambush her at our house, what does “polished” mean in job postings, and more
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AUGUST 30, 2016
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. What does “polished” mean in job postings? I’m office temping and looking for a full-time job. I was at first focusing on nonprofits, but after some great experiences temping in the corporate world, I’m expanding my search. Every now and then I see in a listing that they’re look for a “polished” assistant. The first time I saw this, it was for work with a luxury brand, and I immediately imagined a conventionally attractive woman with sleek hair and freshly manicured nails. mess was an understatement.
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