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| Effective management - Interviewing |
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It's your choice  |
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 The aim
To provide managers with all the necessary skills to conduct an effective recruitment interview.
About the programme
A selection interview is a bit like detective work. Suspects must be eliminated until the right person is found, whether from inside or outside the organisation. Making the right selection choice means knowing the budget was spent well, a valuable asset has been acquired and that colleagues will be motivated by the new team member.
It's your choice shows that too many people get the costly decision wrong, introducing three managers who make common mistakes. It then shows the viewer how each manager learns from these mistakes.
Ethelred the Unready is unprepared, knows little about the job or the candidate, and is constantly interrupted by colleagues as the interview progresses. It is not until he is more organised and professional that he is able to make the best choice.
Ivan the Terrible would rather trumpet his own opinions than encourage the candidate to talk. He eventually learns about asking open questions and listening to what the candidate has to say.
Gillian the Silent allows the candidate to take over. She fails to probe or voice her doubts, and realises she has to be more affirmative and specific to gain the information she needs.
The benefits
- Targeted at inexperienced staff conducting recruitment interviews
- Uses the memorable wrong-way, right-way approach
- Breaks learning into three separate scenarios
- Includes interviewee tape for internal candidates (available for separate purchase) |
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| Can you spare a moment? (Counselling skills for managers) |
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The Aim
To understand the techniques of handling delicate situations and encouraging staff to overcome problems proactively.
About the programme
Many people are still not comfortable talking about their personal problems openly at work but in general we've come a long way from the 'lunch is for wimps' attitude that characterised business just a few years ago. Indeed today people are more concerned about how they can achieve work/life balance rather than being macho about their workload.
The drivers for this change in focus aren't hard to find. Market competition is fierce, the pace of work is intense and change is endemic. Add to this environmental stressors such as commuting and the ongoing demands of home life and it's no surprise that companies are looking ever more seriously at the ways in which they can support their staff.
It's within this context that forward-thinking managers need to develop their counselling skills. All managers will face the issue of dealing with staff whose personal problems are affecting their work and they need the know-how and sensitivity to address such situations.
The benefits
- Complements any interview skills or management course
- Suitable for inexperienced managers, team leaders or personnel staff
- Realistic yet light-hearted drama reinforces key messages
- Key sections are ideal for supporting role-plays |
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| I'd like a word with you (The discipline interview) |
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The aim
To ensure managers appreciate how to maintain people's long-term performance by applying necessary discipline.
About the programme
This programme shows managers and team leaders who have responsibilities for staff just how badly a discipline interview can be handled. By analysing the wrong way to interview, it then shows how the right skills can keep staff motivated and working towards the same goals.
I'd like a word with you introduces three managerial styles that need improvement. Ethelred the Unready treats the discipline interview as a ritual rebuke and is completely unprepared. He has to learn how to identify the gap between the individual's performance and standard.
Ivan the Terrible fails to ask questions or listen to explanations. He discovers that he must use these skills to uncover the true reasons for the individual's lack of performance.
Gillian the Silent is expecting a battle of wills and fears she'll lose. She learns that she must work out an agreeable plan to bring someone's performance up to the expected standard. In each case the programme shows how conflict can be avoided and a potential problem turned into a valuable team performer.
The benefits
- Explores essential interviewing skills
- Most suited to first-line managers and team leaders
- Engaging and amusing drama to reinforce the messages
- Three scenarios that are ideal for introducing role-plays |
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| The dreaded appraisal (Both sides of the appraisal interview) |
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 The aim
To ensure managers conduct positive appraisals that focus on staff motivation and business effectiveness. About the programme
The dreaded appraisal, one of the world's best-selling learning resources, reveals the techniques required for effective appraisal interviewing. The programme is highly watchable and illustrates some typical problems managers and team leaders are likely to face in their interviews. Then it demonstrates how to turn the interview into a positive experience for both employer and employee.
It starts by introducing three common interviewee styles that are difficult for managers to deal with - and precisely shows how the interview can be made to work productively.
Shy Sharon bottles up her opinions and worries, so that her team leader is unable to find out her true feelings. He then treats the interview as an unworkable chore for both of them. However, when she is asked open questions and is praised on her abilities, she is encouraged to participate more productively.
Touchy Tracey easily takes offence and her team leader gets drawn into an unproductive argument about personality, not performance. The interview is turned round when she is asked to analyse her own performance through self-appraisal.
Aggressive Alan sees the interview as his chance to appraise the organisation and condemn everyone except himself. His manager becomes exasperated and loses control of the interview, but when Alan is asked to focus on facts and agree to realistic and measurable targets, he looks at his work in a more positive light.
Also included with the main title (or available for separate purchase for £50) is The appraisee preparation programme, a short video that will help staff prepare for an appraisal, understand its objectives and so get more from the interview.
The benefits
- Integral part of any management skills programme
- Suitable for all managers and team leaders
- Amusing and watchable drama with three learning scenarios
- Highly memorable, highly effective content
- Short video also available to enable better staff preparation |
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| How am I doing? (The perfect appraisal interview) |
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 The aim
To show managers how to understand and address the needs of their staff.
About the programme
Appraisal interviews offer managers a golden opportunity to identify problems and opportunities, motivate staff and improve performance. But beware! the mishandling of such interviews can create the very opposite effect.
Three inept managerial characters show how an appraisal interview should not be conducted: The first never prepares or makes time; the second is too fond of the sound of their own ranting and, the last manager, cannot bring themself to make any criticism for fear of creating bad feeling.
Understandably, the poor employee who is subjected to these face-to-face farces becomes increasingly disenchanted, baffled and alienated.
How am I doing? uses the analogy of the distraught interviewee's medical checkup to highlight each manager's mistakes - and to illustrate exactly how an appraisal should be handled.
The benefits
- A brand new version of the classic programme on appraisal skills
- Suitable for any management skills course or workshop
- Promotes use of appropriate behavioural skills
- Targeted at managers and team leaders |
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| Performance matters: the importance of praise |
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The aim
To ensure that managers understand how to use praise to make their staff realise that their efforts are appreciated.
About the programme
At the top of the list of why people think of leaving their jobs is the fact that they feel they aren't appreciated enough.
This new programme makes the point that giving praise where it's due is a management tool that's powerful, cheap and easy to use. It can bring amazing results in terms of increasing the quality and quantity of the output of the people who work for them, providing it is correctly applied.
A department with a high staff turnover is in danger of losing another member: the individual displayed initiative and commitment in helping a customer, yet their manager could only criticise the unauthorised expense of a taxi fare.
The employee's attitude changes with renewed enthusiasm when the manager shows interest and appreciation in a job well done. Among the rules learnt are that it's important to let people know why they are being praised, make sure that the effect isn't ruined by a sting-in-the-tail remark, and to pass on praise from customers or superiors.
The benefits
- Addresses the reasons why managers don't praise
- Shows the value of adding praise to the corporate culture
- Makes managers aware that it's important to seek opportunities to praise staff
- Provides six easily-remembered rules for praising staff correctly
- Proves that praising is not a natural gift but a learnable skill
- Performance matters: the need for constructive criticism |
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| The best of motives (No one ever tells us) |
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The aim
To ensure managers inform and involve their teams in order to improve motivation and productivity.
About the programme
Research shows that the two most common complaints in organisations worldwide are 'nobody ever tells us' and 'nobody ever asks us'. The best of motives consists of two videos which tackle each of these issues.
In part 1: Nobody ever tells us, a manager believes that his staff are idle and need constant chasing. However he is failing to put their roles into context and not until he receives the same treatment from his fitness instructor does he realise that he needs to adopt a more motivational approach. This means keeping people informed, knowing how to measure performance and offering praise and encouragement.
Part 2: Nobody ever asks us shows how projects can fail when a manager tries to take on too much responsibility. It is important to let the team help decide the best course of action to help the project succeed. Lessons managers will learn include welcoming suggestions, requesting help and using the individual skills of the team. The final lesson is that people need results to achieve, not tasks to perform if they are to be productive, successful and willing to contribute to the business.
The benefits
- Engaging drama using humour to make messages stick
- Realistic workplace scenarios that are easy to relate to
- Targeted at individuals with responsibilities for a team
- Shows the key steps to empowering staff |
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