Entries with tag management .

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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
08 Apr 2019 - 11:21

null Artificial Intelligence signals the arrival of Big Brother

The ability to harvest large quantities of date gives bosses the means to monitor in detail how staff are using their time and when they are wasting time. The ability to record stokes on a key board, when emails are received, read and responded to gives a minute by minute record of staff behaviour. It can also lead to the assumption that an individual who takes their hands of the... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Mar 2019 - 12:24

null Managing the Millennials 

Millennials are defined as the children of baby boomers. By 2020 they will make up 20% of the global workforce. Do they expect to be managed differently? Yes, more engaged, more involved and more valued. They may appear to welcome the demise of the traditional corporate culture with its emphases on hierarchy and time served in favour of a more sink or swim culture where its possible... See more
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Blair McPherson
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19 Feb 2019 - 13:54

null This charming man/woman

Ever wondered why candidates with less experience and knowledge get promoted so quickly? Could it be they charmed the interview panel? “He must have had quite a lot of charm ,as he was promoted by people very quickly”. Do you recognise this individual ? Are you all too familiar with the practice? Why is charm stressed above other qualities that might be assumed to be of greater significance... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
22 Jan 2019 - 15:39

null Angry Bosses

Angry, aggressive, volatile, unpredictable bosses you’ve had one or may be you have one. The good news is they have had their day. The shouty, sweary boss is on the way out. It’s debatable whether it ever motivated staff more likely intimidated and inhibited, making them afraid to make a mistake. The angry boss is being replaced by the Nice Guy. This doesn’t mean that the new style boss never... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
14 Jan 2019 - 14:49

null Bullies are not bad people

Your boss may be a bully but that doesn’t make them a bad person. We have a problem of bullying in the public sector and we’re not going to solve it by treating it as just a few bad people. Getting rid of these individuals or putting more safe guards in place that reduce the ability of managers to abuse their power won’t  work. Even if it were that simple it wouldn’t work because the... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
19 Dec 2018 - 17:20

null Even the special one can get the sack

It’s not such a disaster and certainly not a disgraced to get the sack. Provided it wasn’t for accessing porn on your work lap top or making a racists joke at the office Christmas do.  It’s a myth that being forced out of one authority you won’t be welcome in another. In my view if you have never been asked to leave you probably haven’t been trying hard enough. The reasons they wanted you... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
06 Dec 2018 - 11:21

null The Tail Should Not Wag The Dog

  I once told the head of HR that the tail shouldn’t wag the dog. I didn’t last long in that organisation. I leant my lesson.  I had been in post about a year when there was a management restructuring and the chief executive offered me the post of assistant director operations. A couple of weeks later the director of HR invited me to head office to discuss how we would work together... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
26 Nov 2018 - 15:21

null Who will protect us from the bullies?

In the past the answer would have been senior management, the Trade Union and HR. But senior management can no longer be relied on to set a good example, the trade unions have been weakened,  so that leaves HR !   Let’s be brutally honest where there is a bulling problem there is also a lack of confidence in HR to tackle it. This is probably unfair on HR. They have developed the... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
22 Oct 2018 - 16:04

null Non of your business

  Just how much should a manager know about an individual’s personal life? What if you like to keep your private life private but your boss wants to really get to know you, those you live with and what you do when you’re  not at work? Phil Neville the England football manager is adopting a very different relationship with his players. He wants to really get to know them, not just... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
04 Sep 2018 - 13:12

null People who know me like me

Obviously it’s part of the job to make decisions that will please some people and leave others disappointed. I am expected to challenge as well as support. I will defend in public and criticise in private. I’m not saying everyone likes me I know some people think I am opinionated, which I don’t  see as a fault, others think I can be abrasive which is something I need to work on and I have... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
31 Aug 2018 - 16:10

null Why my manager likes me and why my manager doesn’t like me 

My manager likes my positive attitude, my enthusiasm and my creative approach to problem solving. My manager likes that I bring solutions not problems to our meetings. My manager appreciates being kept informed and an early warning when things aren’t going to plan. My manager recognises I do have insight into how my behaviour effects others. My manager is confident that I will deliver on... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
31 Aug 2018 - 14:00

null Getting a top job

After years of interviewing candidates for management posts I have identified the qualities that get people the top jobs.The most significant personal qualities are ambition and bounce back ability. But these qualities say nothing about the individual’s ability to do the job.   It turns out that there are two types of managers those who are ambitious and those who are not. Note I am not... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
20 Aug 2018 - 12:51

null Can you climb the mountain again and again?

In football they call it the difficult third year. Despite your success in the first two years you get the sack in the third year. It’s as if everyone had given all they had and now you can’t get any more from them. You weren’t able  to build on your success.  I have heard the same speech from a team manager to their front line staff and from a chief executive to there senior... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
21 Jul 2018 - 13:33

null Facts,Logic and Scientific Management 

“ Every hour spent cycling adds an hour to your life” department of human geography, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands ( advert in weekend papers selling bikes) So as long as you never get off your bike you will live forever- or will it just seem like that.  As my old English language teacher use to say “just because all sheep are animals and all sheep have four legs doesn’t mean... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
11 Jul 2018 - 09:33

null Just because you own a garage doesn’t mean you can fix cars

A friend has just come back from a family holiday in the south of France. They went with another couple and their children who are the same ages.  They stayed at a “gite” complete with a swimming pool and acres of wood land for the kids to explore and ride their mountain bikes. They went via the Euro Tunnel and drove down through France breaking the journey by spending the first night in... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
23 Jun 2020 - 13:49

null Managing a Diverse Workforce 

On holiday in New York, first night go for a drink in the hotel bar with my son in law. The bar is crowed, we eventually catch the attention of the bartender and I order two drinks where apron the bartender asks my son in law how old he is. My son in law is rather surprised by the question he is in his late thirties. His polite reply is greeted by a terse, “ You don’t look it” and... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
18 Jun 2018 - 14:33

null It’s not the huge confrontations it’s the daily skirmishes 

      Why do people behave badly in team meetings? The same manager who is charming and agreeable to partner agencies is abrasive , argumentative and opinionated to colleagues in team meetings.    In business you don’t go around having massive confrontations. You try and find the things you agree on rather than what you disagree on. The common ground. So your not... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
19 May 2018 - 19:36

null Who will make it in management 

It’s difficult to predict who will make a good manager. Past performance in your chosen profession is no guide. Who would have thought that the strident, bolshie young social worker, the bane of management as a trade union rep would go on to be a director  and then a chief executive. Everyone seemed to think the outstanding practitioner would make an excellent manager but their first... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
04 May 2018 - 11:11

null “Managers take too much credit when things go well and too much blame when they don’t.“ Brian Clough. 

  The best place to read about leadership and management is not the business section but the sports pages. If you want to understand about performance, if you want to see how big data can be used, if you want to know what motivates teams, if you want see how an expert manages a hostile  media and a critical  public, if you want insights into the relationship between a manager... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
01 May 2018 - 10:25

null I’d be a foolish manager if I didn’t listen to my team

Things are not going well. Moral is at rock bottom. Performance against a number of key indicators has drawn criticism from all quarters. We are at the wrong end of the league table and our prospects for improvement are described as, “poor”. Some are questioning the strategy I put in place, others complain of budget pressures and cuts that have limited our options. There is a view that we... See more
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