Posts by Bruce Tulgan
What Is Undermanagement Costing You?
I’ve said it before: undermanagement can be difficult to identify. And yet, it is the number one cause of the most common preventable problems in the workplace. How is undermanagement going unnoticed? There are two factors at play here: managing people is getting harder, and there are seven key areas of management with which leaders…
Future-Proof Your Staffing, Whether It’s Boom or Bust
With all the economic fluctuations in this era of uncertainty, one business truth is not going to change: Talent is the number one asset of every organization in every industry. In good times and bad alike, leaders must get more work out of fewer people, and that means the best people are always in…
Two Strategies Hiring Managers Miss When Sourcing Young Candidates
Whether you are hiring young people on the high end or the lower end of the talent spectrum, my guess is that you need to increase your supply of new job applicants. How can you do that? The first places most managers and organizations go to look for new applicants are the very same…
14 Tired Myths About Gen Z for Managers to Replace
These are some of the things that today’s young people are telling us in interviews: “They act like their power is unquestionable, but anyone can be cancelled overnight.” “My boss doesn’t fully trust me to work from home. What? Like I’m going to pretend to work? I could pretend to work just as easily if…
What Has RainmakerThinking Been Doing These Past Few Months? Big Updates and Changes!
It’s been very busy and eventful since RainmakerThinking and I last connected with you! With our many ongoing consulting relationships, numerous speaking engagements, trips across the country and internationally, moving, and new additions to our team, there was no drought of excitement From USA to Thailand! I was honored to participate in the…
What Is High-Structure, High-Substance Dialogue?
Our research shows that when things are going wrong in a management relationship, almost always, the common denominator is unstructured, low substance, hit-or-miss communication. With the added complications of managing some combination of remote, hybrid, and in-person employees, managers are more prone to low-structure communication than ever. The key is to replace the unstructured, low…
Employee Burnout? That Could Be a Sign of Undermanagement
Burnout was first formally recognized by the WHO in 2019, before the rapid transformations of 2020 caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, burnout has only increased in organizations, and it is again coming to employers’ attentions in the midst of the Great Resignation. The WHO defines three symptoms of burnout: Feelings of energy depletion…
Is the Work Getting Done? Five Ways to Monitor Employee Performance
There are a number of myths that prevent managers from being strong, but one of the most common questions we hear at RainmakerThinking is, “How can I possibly keep track of my employees’ work on a regular basis?” So many managers feel there is simply not enough time for them to effectively monitor each employee’s…
Make Your Management Concrete: Turn Company Values into Actions Employees Can Take
Building a strong culture, one that attracts and retains the best talent, is a huge undertaking for any organization. Undoubtedly the most difficult part is aligning the entire company on whatever values—old or new—constitute the core of the culture. Managers play a pivotal role in creating that alignment. Of course, it’s not easy. There is…
Four Ways to Tap into the Short-Term Transactional Mindset in Order to Improve Retention
Attracting, hiring, and retaining the best employees is a lot more complex than it used to be. It’s no longer enough for employers to offer the same basic benefits or rely on long-term rewards to keep employees loyal. People today are savvy enough to know that in an uncertain business environment, no long-term reward is…