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Managing the gig economy
Written by John Berry on 21st June 2018. Revised 15th July 2018.
7 min read
The gig economy describes the present state where workers need not necessarily be employed by a firm. They can be engaged for the duration of a ‘gig’, after which they stand down until needed again some time later. There can be advantages for managers to employ workers or the self-employed instead of employees. Read how.
Setting incentivising commission payments
Written by John Berry on 14th May 2018.0
5 min read
Designing a sales commission policy and associated commission operating system to remunerate staff for sales performance is complex. The scheme must incentivise, and be fair to all. This blog considers some of the thinking that should go into incentive design.
Culture Matters: Maximising People Contribution Through Collective Behaviour
Written by John Berry on 5th May 2017. Revised 24th April 2018.
25 min read
The culture that exists within a firm will in the long run make or break it. This paper analyses culture. It first discusses culture as a concept. It looks at what part culture plays in our working life and how it affects the firm. It researches current thinking on culture. And finally it looks at how one might measure and where necessary change culture in a firm. The aim is to provide practicing managers with a tool: something theoretically sound and something practical.
Social managers enjoy greater success
Written by John Berry on 8th June 2017. Revised 22nd April 2018.
5 min read
Power is important. Persuading staff to do your bidding means that you must have power over them – to order them, to make them do, particularly since they might otherwise do something else. But how that ‘ordering’ is done is all-important because social managers enjoy greater success. For some, being a social manager comes naturally. For others it can be learned. Here's how.
Emotions obey laws
Written by John Berry on 8th June 2017. Revised 22nd April 2018.
6 min read
What should a manager to do when someone in a meeting is getting emotional – they become so angry that they disrupt the meeting? Frijda’s Laws of Emotion tell us much that will help us first understand this situation and then suggest a course of action that the meeting chair might take to recover good order. Managers can successfully deal with anger because emotions obey laws. Here are the details.
Engagement Follows Commitment
Written by John Berry on 9th June 2017. Revised 22nd April 2018.
4 min read
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.
