BLACKPOOL HEALTH LIBRARY: At the Heart of Quality Information on the Fylde Coast! Management Update from your Library: a collection of the recent news reports and updates!

 

Why People Lose Motivation — and What Managers Can Do to Help

At some point, every leader has dealt with a person — or, worse, a group of people — who has lost motivation. It’s frustrating, isn’t it? As much as we’ve been there ourselves, sometimes it’s hard to sympathize with others who are disengaged from work and unproductive as a result. Sometimes, we view their unhappiness as a bug in their mental makeup — and, therefore, we think they should be able to suck it up and snap out of it.

Although it’s easy to fall into this mind-set as a leader, this type of thinking is counterproductive and it ignores the underlying reasons why people lose their passion for what they do (or never find it to begin with).

In order to get at the crux of the problem, it’s crucial to understand that as humans we want to feel motivated and to find meaning in the things that we do…

 

How to Manage an Employee Who Cries Easily

Most managers feel uncomfortable when employees cry during business conversations. Many of us may recall a time we’ve cried at work, but for some people it’s not a rare occurrence. Some individuals seem to react excessively to disappointment or challenge, with repeated bouts of apparent sadness or fear accompanied by tears, shaking, or reddening. If you manage someone who tears up easily, you may find yourself leaving important topics or issues unaddressed to avoid upsetting them.

Some employees are quick to cry because they lack strong self-management skills; they may be embarrassed by their own emotionalism, and grateful for any advice you can offer on keeping a more even keel. Some cry as a form of deflection or manipulation; I’ve worked with a handful of people whose frequent crying served as a first line of defence against criticism. Of course, they may

also be handling a tough situation in their personal lives – from illness to difficult family situations. And perhaps the most positive reason for crying occurs when your employee trusts that you have the kind of boss-subordinate relationship where tears are nothing to hide or be ashamed of.

You can’t know what’s going on inside your employee’s head, or whether they cry because they trust you, are trying to manipulate you, or happen to be overwhelmed by personal issues outside of work. If the issue is personal, you may want to refer them to your HR department or your company EAP, so they can get some additional support. Regardless of the cause of their distress, though, you’ll need to find a way to work around – or through – their tears. These six steps will help you and your subordinate keep a humane and professional focus on the work that still needs to get done.

 

How Being a Workaholic Differs from Working Long Hours — and Why That Matters for Your Health

We generally assume that working too much is bad for our health. But what exactly is unhealthy about this is unclear. Is it working long hours that increases our risk of developing health issues? Or is it something else? We sought to unravel the difference between behaviour (working long hours) and mentality (a compulsion to work, or what we call workaholism).

 

How to Manage a Grieving Team Member: Supporting People in Times of Sadness

If you’ve experienced personal loss, you’ll know just how painful it can be. Perhaps you’ve suffered bereavement, broken up with your partner, or lost your house. Naturally, when events like these happen, emotions tend to take over and your priorities can change. Work is often the last thing you’ll want to think about.

Managing a grieving team member has its challenges, too. Should you act like nothing’s happened? Or, should you talk to him or her about it? But, what if you say the wrong thing? How do you respond if he gets angry or upset?

And then there are the practicalities to consider. How will his grief affect his work? Will he need to take time off? Will his workload need to be reduced? Will you need to arrange cover?

In this article, we’ll explore what grief is and how it can affect people. We’ll also look at strategies that you can use to ease the burden of work when someone in your team experiences personal loss.

 

This Wasn’t in My Job Description! Dealing With the Unexpected Reality of a New Role

Alix stared at her screen. Another spreadsheet. She was growing tired of seeing them, but this was what her new job seemed to consist of: reports, processes and administrative duties. She sighed.

Alix knew that her strengths lay in managing clients – in communicating face to face and solving problems. Those were the skills that she had expected to be using – and that her interviewers had assured her she would be using – when she was offered the role of client relationship manager. Form-filling was low down on her list of responsibilities.

Many people face a similar unhappy situation, finding themselves in jobs that aren’t what they thought they would be. Forty percent of those who left jobs in 2017 did so because they didn’t like what they were doing. And, for many more, the opportunity to use their existing skills was the key attraction of a new role.

In this article, we explore what you can do when the job that you do falls short of the role that you accepted.

 

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Victoria Hospital

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