How to increase buy-in among employees

DEAR WW: My team simply does the minimum to get by. I need them to work much smarter than this. What can I do to light a fire under them? NOT BOUGHT IN
DEAR NOT:
Did you hear about British garbage collector Tim Byrne? Hs is so committed to his job that for the last 11 years [...]

How to motivate yourself

Dear WW: I’ve always been a real go-getter at work. But recently I’ve had problems motivating myself. Any advice on how to light your own fire? LOOKING FOR THE FUSE
Dear FUSE,
Recently IBM created an “artificial passenger” device to try to combat dosing drivers. If the device detects that you’re getting drowsy it can change the [...]

How to satisfy people intrinsically-instead of just using more cash

Dear WW: Given the economy, money is very tight. So I can’t just throw cash at my people to keep them. Is there anything that I can do that doesn’t involve wads of cash to keep people on board? STICKY WANNABE
Dear STICKY,
Over the years we’ve developed all kinds of bribes, I mean rewards, to keep [...]

Best business quotes

Dear Readers: I’m Bob and I’ve got a confession to make; I’m a quote junkie. I’ll list some of my favorites and I’d encourage you to participate in our weekly contest and email me yours (bob@workingwounded.com).”So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.” Peter Drucker
“A company is [...]

How to reward your employees

Dear WW: I just lost a really talented worker to a higher paying competitor. I don’t control salaries in my company. Is there anything that I can do to prevent this from happening in the future? SIEVE
Dear SIEVE,
Did you hear about the Kentucky man who recently cashed a $200 bill? Walked away with $192 and [...]

How to motivate people at work

Dear Readers: This week we’ll cover the second biggest headache in the workplace, according to the audiences that I’ve surveyed-how do you motivate people at work? With all the turbulence and anxiety out there it’s tough to motivate others. Heck, it’s tough to motivate yourself much of the time. And don’t forget to check out [...]

When to not praise someone

Dear WW: I have always gone out of my way to praise the people who work for me. Recently I was in the bathroom and I overheard two of my employees making fun of the praise that I’d given the team earlier that day. NO MORE BON MOTS
Dear NO,
You know the old wedding saying, “Something [...]