If there were ever two words that are almost interchangeable, it’s commitment and engagement. The Collins English Dictionary (CED) describes both as accepting an obligation or pledging allegiance. But when you look, it’s not hard to drive a wedge between them. And driving a wedge is essential to understand how, as a manager, you motivate your people for optimum performance. First there’s commitment. Then there’s engagement. Engagement follows commitment. Here's how it works.

In the UK today there are around five million people who work for themselves. They run either sole-trader or limited liability firms in which they are the only employee. Those workers seek to sell their labour to entrepreneurs. This labour market gives the entrepreneur rich picking of very skilled and motivated individuals without having to employ them. So how does the entrepreneur tap into this resource?

Intuitively we know that it’s worthwhile telling our staff how we think they are getting on. Intuitively too, we believe that we should all be tasked through objectives so that we strive for excellence. We know too that appraisal and objectives are linked – without the former, the latter would not be achieved. But what’s that link and how does it affect the staff and managers in an SME as they go about their business day to day? How do they both link to the firm’s strategy?

Management has the right to manage. But it has to behave reasonably and have good reason for its actions. This paper addresses the general question often asked: can management implement routine screening, testing or other surveillance of employees, their goods, information and health? It goes on to show how management should go about its introduction in cases where screening or surveillance is appropriate.

Every person associated with a firm should be under some contract or other. Employees will have employment contracts. Sub-contractors will have sub-contract contracts. And self-employed must be under contract too. Even those working through agencies must have a relationship with the principal. Here's why and how.

Research suggests now that that inferred personality can be used with targeted emotion-laden stories to drive a person's behaviour. This blog updates on this research and notes how this links to psychometrics used in recruitment.