Friday, August 12, 2011
Managing the Unmanageable by Anne Loehr & Jezra Kaye - Book review
Managing the Unmanageable
How to Motivate Even the Most Unruly Employee
By: Anne Loehr, Jezra Kaye
Published: July 15, 2011
Format: Paperback, 256 pages
ISBN-10: 1601631618
ISBN-13: 978-1601631619
Publisher: Career Press
"This book is about managing an employee's bad behavior. Not bad behavior in the criminal sense, but behavior that is costly, disruptive, divisive - trouble", write management consultant Anne Loehr and communications coach Jezra Kaye, in their very practical and results oriented book Managing the Unmanageable: How to Motivate Even the Most Unruly Employee. The authors describe how seemingly unmanageable employees can be found in any workplace, but with patience and the application of a few proven strategies and techniques, those former problem people can turn into star performers.
Anne Loehr (photo left) and Jezra Kaye offer guidance for working with the difficult employees who behave in two very different categories. An employee can behave in an unmanageable manner for personal or organizational reasons created by specific circumstances. The authors consider these staff people to be prime candidates for transforming into great employees. The other, but thankfully smaller category, involves people who simply can't act any other way but as problems. These employees are often better in another workplace. The authors share valuable techniques for telling the difference between people in the two groups. Once the repairable employees are identified, the authors share methods for helping each problem employee to reach their fullest potential.
Jezra Kaye (photo left) and Anne Loehr base their techniques on the principle that good people are often let down by circumstances within the organization. The author share ideas for developing a proactive plan for reinvigorating the employee into a productive performer. At the same time, the authors provide ideas for hiring and integrating new employees into the workplace so they are motivated from the very beginning. For the unmanageable employees within the organization, who have been identified as salvageable, the authors provide five step methodology that they refer to as the 5 Cs. These proven and easily understandable techniques are:
* Commit or Quit
* Communicate
* Clarify Goals and Roles
* Coach
* Create Accountability
For me, the power of the book is how Anee Loehr and Jezra Kaye meet the challenge presented by the unmanageable employee directly, and with a proven action plan in place. The authors combine a strong theoretical framework for identifying the different types of unmanageable employees, how to address each particular type, and how to transform the former problem individual into a first rate performer. The authors bolster their theory with techniques, proven to work in the real world, with formerly problem staff members who became star employees. The authors also recognize that employees who are considered problems are often displaying the symptoms of larger issues within the organization itself. In that sense, the authors understand that unmanageable employees can be a gift to a workplace as they can lead to discovering deeper problems within the work environment itself.
At the same time, the authors are realistic in their assessment of problem workers, and understand fully that there will be some unmanageable employees who cannot be salvaged and who are better off working elsewhere. This dose of realistic thinking and action is a critical part of the process, and the authors do well to address it openly and honestly. The authors also provide a very useful and timely section, for working with the potential challenges presented, by clashes between employees of different generations.
I highly recommend the insightful and very hands on book Managing the Unmanageable: How to Motivate Even the Most Unruly Employee by Anne Loehr and Jezra Kaye, to any managers who are faced with the challenge of managing problem employees. Instead of giving up hope that the staff member will ever be a productive member of the team, this book offers a road map for transforming that formerly difficult individual into a star employee.
Read the effective and organizational changing book Managing the Unmanageable: How to Motivate Even the Most Unruly Employee by Jezra Kaye and Anne Loehr, and discover how even the seemingly most incorrigible and difficult employees can become successful and highly motivated members of the team. The book will help you to understand why those individuals act as they do, and how to transform that undesirable behavior into a force for greatness within the organization.
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