Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE's Page

In the face of this severe, take-no-prisoners economic downturn, far too many organizations are responding in knee-jerk reaction to the thought of holding all but the smallest of meetings. Training budgets are slashed. Employees hunker behind their desk, hoping that no one from HR can find them or else they're huddled around a PDA, text messaging about possible layoff scenarios, pending mergers, or hiring freezes. Performance? Productivity? I think not.

Now more than ever, managers at all level… Continue

Micromanagement and lack of trust are cries often heard in today's business arenas. In this age of accountability, downsizing, larger spans of control, complex global competition, and job uncertainty, all managers are faced with getting results through people. Managers preach empowerment and yet, if the results are not right, who gets the blame?

And so, I think, the issue of trust resembles a crystal with four facets. The first facet has to do with that term "empowerment". Too often management… Continue

Often large organizations promote their corporate values to the public in order to increase sales but what happens if you get caught not living up to those lofty ideals? Before you even lose one single customer by not following the stated values you will lose employee enthusiasm, motivation and trust. The employees know about corporate scandals and leadership lapses in judgment first before the general public. They will then communicate this knowledge (often meant to be secret) to customers in a… Continue

The June 9, 2008 issue of First For Women magazine printed an article on a topic that is a hot spot for many people in business. The title is “Meeting madness! Yes, it is possible to survive, even thrive, during those mind-numbing, time-sucking office gatherings”. I especially liked the idea that attendees attitude and behavior can be the real problem. If you expect to be bored, you will be. Instead First recommends that you research the topic of the meeting and come up with a few ideas that you… Continue