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In the UK, we get the idea that our staff need to be technically trained, but we have little or no understanding that the job of 'manager' is neither innate nor obvious. It can't just be learned by trial and error. Simply, we don't train our managers and, as a nation, this lack of management training is killing us. Here's what to do.
How hiring managers should differentiate one young applicant from another
Written by John Berry on 19th December 2017. Revised 16th January 2018.
6 min read
Hiring managers are faced with young people seeking apprenticeships and employment without previous experience in the mainstream workplace. So what should hiring managers do to judge which young person will perform well in the role? Since vocational identity predicts performance, hiring managers should listen to the young person's story.
Deconstructing software roles: understanding the jobs of an industry
Written by John Berry on 25th December 2017. Revised 27th December 2017.
7 min read
The job that a software professional does is linked to where on the lifecycle they work and how much of that lifecycle they embrace. It also depends on how much of the technology they cover – user interface or full-stack. And salaries go with those definitions. Here's the structure of the industry.
Performance appraisals: essential whatever you call them
Written by John Berry on 20th November 2017.0
5 min read
Performance appraisals have come in for some serious criticism recently. And yet the books and articles written which criticise simply advocate performance appraisal by another name – or rather a collection of names. Here's an analysis of the issues.
Winning employee commitment by granting idiosyncratic employment deals
Written by John Berry on 21st October 2017. Revised 30th October 2017.
32 min read
Commitment matters. If managers can get all staff to be committed, other management and leadership activities become possible. Without committed staff, there’s little the manager can do to achieve goals and the firm will just drift. This paper describes commitment and outlines research that shows what managers can do to achieve commitment. The research shows that there is correlation between the idiosyncratic granting of developmental opportunities and affective commitment in those benefitting.
Determining Personality Using Mr Men
Written by John Berry on 1st May 2017. Revised 27th July 2017.
5 min read
Timpson’s interviewers seek to determine which Mr Men character the candidate most closely resembles. Using personality as a criterion is valid but the Timpson method is likely far from accurate. Here's why.
