A Manager's Guide for Improving Workplace Performance February 01, 2008 (By Roger Chevalier, AMACOM/American Management Association, 212 pages, $19.95)
By Melissa F. Thompson
Overall Rating: 4 Stars
"Never lose track that you (manager) create the work environment for your people."
One of the most important roles of a manager is to improve and maximize workplace performance to achieve organizational goals. Improving workplace performance requires managing change; however, many managers believe that if they change the knowledge of the individual or group, behavioral change will follow. This most often is not the case.
Studies have shown that most performance issues are the result of environmental factors and are not the individual’s fault. So why do most managers try to fix performance problems by focusing on the individual when the root cause most likely is an environmental factor? Where should a manager concentrate his or her energy to identify barriers, create synergy, and develop the team for optimal employee performance?
In "A Manager's Guide for Improving Workplace Performance," Roger Chevalier relies upon his three decades of experience to provide a step-by-step approach that will help you analyze root cause problem areas and create real-world solutions to manage change. He describes practical strategies, tips, case studies, and application exercises that, when applied, will result in a high-performance work environment that motivates and aligns employee performance with organizational goals.
"A Manager's Guide for Improving Workplace Performance" is well written. The tools provided are both applicable and useful, and can be implemented immediately. The book is highly recommended and one you will return to again and again.
Melissa F. Thompson is project manager/instructional designer at Innovative Print and Media Group in Phoenixville, PA.