Do you supervise people? If so, this book is for you. One of a manager’s toughest—and most important—responsibilities is to evaluate an employee’s performance, providing honest feedback and clarifying what they’ve done well and where they need to improve. In How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals, Dick Grote provides a concise, hands-on guide to succeeding at every step of the performance appraisal process—no matter what performance management system your organization uses. Through step-by-step instructions, examples, do-and-don’t bullet lists, sample dialogues, and suggested scripts, he shows you how to handle every appraisal activity from setting goals and defining job responsibilities to evaluating performance quality and discussing the performance evaluation face-to-face. Based on decades of experience guiding managers through their biggest challenges, Grote helps answer the questions he hears most often: • How do I set goals effectively? How many goals should someone set? • How do I evaluate a person’s behaviors? Which counts more, behaviors or results? • How do I determine the right performance appraisal rating? How do I explain my rating to a skeptical employee? • How do I tell someone she’s not meeting my expectations? How do I deliver bad news? Grote also explains how to tackle other thorny performance management tasks, including determining compensation and terminating poor performers. In accessible and useful language, How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals will help you handle performance appraisals confidently and successfully, no matter the size or culture of your organization. It’s the one book you need to excel at this daunting yet critical task.

Firing at Will shows managers and employers how to do the most difficult part of their jobs: firing employees. Written by a leading employment lawyer in a refreshingly unlawyerly style, this guide takes the reader through the always-risky process of letting an employee go. Many employers and managers are afraid to pull the trigger when the employment relationship has broken down, and will postpone the decision by using progressive discipline and performance-improvement plans. However, an employer must be able to unload employees who threaten to undermine the company and its prospects, regardless of the risks involved in a termination. This book explains how to do it, how not to do it, and how to minimize the danger of an expensive employee lawsuit. No one said being an employer or a manager was easy. Fortunately, knowing how to fire employees will make your job much, much easier in the long run and save you heartache. Firing at Will teaches you what you need to know, without any legalese or boring recitations of statutes and case law. This book is filled with plain-English common sense, based on Jay Shepherd's 17 years of protecting employers in court. The style is conversational and often irreverent, but the lessons and tips are battle-tested. If you want to be a successful manager or employer—and sleep easier—you need to know how to fire at will. Gives employers and managers real-world advice on how to fire employees Teaches how to keep your company—and yourself—out of expensive employee lawsuits Guides you toward building a workplace where you'll need to fire fewer employees

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

My name is Tina Alberino, and I wrote this book to save you. This is not another lame book full of generic beauty business advice. This book serves as the literary equivalent of a kick in the ass and a punch to the throat. You hold in your hands compendium of harsh lessons and a raw depiction of the true nature of this industry. The vast majority of these lessons aren't taught in schools and don't appear in textbooks; they're learned through experience--often in a way that is less-than-gentle. This book will help you navigate this tumultuous industry. The waters run deep, the currents are swift, and the tides shift quickly. The journey can certainly be treacherous. Don't learn these lessons the hard way.Learn how to avoid scoundrel salon owners and crackpot contracts, build a loyal following of glamorous gals and gallant gents, and land your first big break before graduation day!

A breakthrough for business owners and entrepreneurs of small to large businesses and companies looking to achieve more success. Whether you are a young company that's just starting out or a mature business looking to grow, business entrepreneur Bob Pritchett gives hands-on advice and practical examples that are a must-listen for every manager, business owner, and entrepreneur. You will not find Thirteen Incontrovertible Laws of Excellence. You won't find motivational clichés to frame and put on your desk. There are no step-by-step instructions for writing a business plan. In Fire Someone Today, you will find: What Pritchett has discovered through his years of experience as an entrepreneur and small-business owner. Practical and tested advice for leaders seeking to better their company. Strategic tools and tips that will help your business be more successful. Fire Someone Today is a book about what to do, what not to do, and why. For your business, it could be that one piece of advice that makes all the difference, and even give you a few laughs along the way. Diagrams are included in the audiobook companion PDF download.

"There is no doubt that managing people is the hardest part of running a small business. It is complicated, challenging and changing. Natasha Hawker has written a book to demystify managing people, and delivered it in a way that makes sense, it is hugely practical and a must read for any business owner."- Andrew Griffiths, Australia's #1 Small Business & Entrepreneurial Author"From Hire to Fire and Everything in Between should come with your ABN as a handout. I wish this book was around when I started in business, it would have saved me a lot of heartache."- Angela Vithoulkas, owner of Australia's only small business radio show Eagle WavesThe barrier to start a business is at its lowest but the task to start, build and run one is as difficult as it has ever been. There are legal challenges to be faced within employment law; there's the cost of hiring and managing employees, whilst trying to avoid and prevent discrimination, bullying and terminations - to name just a few.From Hire to Fire & Everything In Between reveals Natasha's 9 Step Employee Life Cycle, which shares everything you need to know to keep you out of court and makes managing your employees' career journey easier. Doing the right thing by your employees is good for them and for your business.