The Truth About Managing People...and Nothing but the Truth

1. Behavior Counts More Than Traits in Hiring

The best predictor of a person’s future behavior is his or her past behavior.

Focus on past actions. Traditional hiring often emphasizes personality traits, but these are unreliable predictors of job performance. Organizational settings are strong situations that heavily influence behavior, and individuals adapt their traits accordingly. Instead, concentrate on an applicant's past actions to gauge future performance.

Situational influence. Traits are more influential in weak situations, while organizational settings tend to be strong due to rules and norms. This minimizes the impact of personality traits on behavior. People are also adaptive and change their traits in response to organizational situations.

Experience-based questions. When interviewing, ask questions that delve into previous experiences relevant to the job. For example:

• "Describe a time you demonstrated creativity in a previous role."
• "What was a goal you didn't achieve in your last job, and why?"
  By focusing on past behaviors, you gain a more accurate understanding of how a candidate is likely to perform in the future.

2. Realistic Job Previews Reduce Turnover

You’re more likely to keep your new hires if you’re straight with them from the beginning.

Honesty upfront. Many managers oversell the positives during interviews, leading to unrealistic expectations and quick resignations. Realistic job previews (RJPs) provide both favorable and unfavorable information to applicants before an offer is made. This approach helps avoid mismatched hires and disillusionment.

Managing expectations. RJPs balance positive aspects with potential downsides, such as limited interaction with coworkers or workload fluctuations. Anousheh Ansari, COO at Telecom Technologies, purposely paints a gloomy picture to scare off less committed candidates.

Benefits of RJPs. Applicants who receive realistic previews have lower, more accurate expectations and are better prepared to cope with job frustrations. This results in fewer unexpected resignations and a more committed workforce.

3. Structured Interviews Improve Hiring Decisions

Every manager needs to be capable of conducting effective interviews.

Standardized questions. Unstructured interviews are prone to bias and inconsistency. To improve the process, use a set of standardized questions for all applicants. Avoid yes/no questions and leading questions.

Creating a positive environment. Begin the interview by putting the applicant at ease. Introduce yourself, be friendly, and preview the topics to be discussed. Encourage the applicant to ask questions.

Probing and clarifying. During the interview, use follow-up questions to probe more deeply into the applicant's responses. Encourage elaboration and clarify any ambiguous information. Remember the power of silence to encourage the applicant to continue talking.

Post-interview evaluation. After the interview, write your evaluation while the candidate's comments are fresh in your mind. Review your notes and assess the applicant's responses against the job requirements.

4. Hire for Disposition and Cultural Fit

If you want pleasant employees, focus your attention on the hiring process.

Genetic predisposition. Some people are inherently more friendly and upbeat than others. Studies suggest that approximately 80% of differences in happiness are attributable to genes. Therefore, focus on selecting candidates with positive dispositions.

Cultural alignment. Hire people whose values align with your organization's culture. A good fit ensures that an employee will be perceived as a high performer. Mismatched hires often lack motivation, commitment, and job satisfaction.

Assessing fit. Determine the applicant's propensity to be innovative, take risks, focus on the big picture, emphasize means or ends, be team-oriented, and prefer the status quo to growth. These elements identify organizational cultures.

5. Motivation Hinges on Clear Expectations and Rewards

If employees aren’t motivated, the fault is with managers and organizational practices, not the employees!

Three key relationships. Employee motivation depends on three relationships:

• Effort leads to performance
• Performance leads to rewards
• Rewards are valued by the employee

Addressing weak links. Low motivation often stems from a breakdown in one or more of these relationships. Employees may not believe their effort will be recognized, that good performance will lead to rewards, or that the rewards offered are desirable.

Strengthening the links. To improve motivation, ensure that performance appraisals accurately reflect effort, that rewards are tied to performance, and that rewards are tailored to individual employee needs.

6. Productivity Drives Satisfaction

While there may be a positive correlation between satisfaction and productivity, it tends to be quite small.

Reverse causality. While it's tempting to believe that happy workers are productive workers, the evidence suggests that productivity leads to satisfaction. Focus on helping employees become more productive, and satisfaction will follow.

Investing in productivity. Instead of solely focusing on satisfaction-boosting perks, invest in training, job design, better tools, and removing barriers to performance. These actions are more likely to lead to higher employee satisfaction.

Personal experience. The author's experience with writer's block illustrates that productivity (writing output) leads to satisfaction, not the other way around. Generate quality output, and satisfaction will follow.

7. Trust is the Bedrock of Leadership

Trust and trust-worthiness modulate the leader’s access to knowledge and cooperation.

Foundation of influence. Trust is essential for effective leadership. Employees must believe that their leader is honest, reliable, and won't take advantage of them. Without trust, it's impossible to lead.

Building trust. Actions that build trust include:

• Being open and transparent
• Being fair and objective
• Speaking your feelings
• Telling the truth
• Showing consistency
• Fulfilling your promises
• Maintaining confidences

Trust in times of change. In today's volatile workplaces, trust is more critical than ever. People turn to personal relationships for guidance, and the quality of these relationships depends on trust.

8. Effective Leaders Frame Issues and Build Dependency

Political leaders live or die on their ability to frame problems and their opponent’s image.

Managing meaning. Framing is using language to influence how events are seen and understood. Effective leaders frame issues to shape followers' perceptions of the world, the meaning of events, and visions of the future.

Language forms. Language forms that help frame issues include:

• Metaphors
• Jargon
• Contrast
• Spin
• Stories

Building dependency. Effective leaders build a power base by making others dependent on them. This is achieved by controlling important and scarce resources, such as expertise or access to information.

9. Communication Channels Matter

High-performing managers tend to be more media sensitive than low-performing managers.

Channel richness. Communication channels differ in their capacity to convey information. Rich channels handle multiple cues, facilitate rapid feedback, and are personal. Lean channels score low on these factors.

Matching channel to message. Routine messages can be communicated efficiently through lean channels. Nonroutine messages require rich channels to avoid misunderstanding.

Examples. Face-to-face communication is the richest channel, while impersonal written media are the leanest. E-mail and memos fall somewhere in between.

10. Teams Require Clear Purpose and Managed Conflict

Effective teams have a common and meaningful purpose that provides direction, momentum, and commitment for members.

Essential components. Effective teams require:

• Well-designed work
• Skilled and flexible members
• Adequate resources
• Effective leadership
• A performance evaluation and reward system that reflects team contributions
• A common purpose
• Specific team goals
• Managed conflict

Constructive conflict. Conflict can improve team effectiveness when it stimulates discussion, promotes critical assessment of problems and options, and leads to better team decisions.

Avoiding social loafing. To prevent social loafing, provide means for identifying and measuring individual efforts within the team.

11. Reward Systems Shape Behavior

Managers routinely reward employee behaviors they’re trying to discourage and fail to reward the behaviors they actually want.

Aligning rewards with goals. Managers often reward behaviors they're trying to discourage and fail to reward desired behaviors. Review reward systems to ensure they align with organizational goals.

Small adjustments, big differences. Modifying reward systems doesn't have to be complex. Small adjustments can make big differences. If you want quality, reward quality. If you want ethical behavior, reward ethical behavior.

Rewarding joint responsibility. Rewarding joint responsibility typically results in a precise and fair outcome.

12. Acknowledge and Address Work-Life Conflicts

Employees are increasingly recognizing that work is squeezing out personal lives and they’re not happy about it.

Blurring boundaries. Global organizations, communication technology, longer hours, and dual-career couples have blurred the lines between work and personal life, creating conflicts and stress.

Providing flexibility. To help employees manage work-life conflicts, offer flexibility and options, such as:

• Flexible work hours
• Telecommuting
• Paid leave time
• On-site support services

Benefits of work-life balance. Managers who help their people achieve work-life balance will find it easier to attract and retain capable and motivated employees.

Last updated: February 28, 2025