For decades, we’ve helped organizations improve performance, productivity, and profits through a purely scientific method. Our approach works because our recommendations are based on hard science and not on passing trends or the management theory of the month. Companies we have helped include B.F.Goodrich, Heller Financial, Navistar, and Fieldcrest Cannon.

Each business has its own set of needs, requiring a unique combination of tools. Rather than using an off-the-shelf program that may or may not work for your company, we conduct a thorough diagnosis of your situation, your problems, and your goals. We help in the following areas:

Motivation

No, not the usual cheerleading or Tony Robbins coaching that comes to mind, but rather a well-designed program using leading edge knowledge of human thinking and well researched methods, taking your situation into account. We go beyond the simplistic solutions of throwing money at a motivation problem or offering nice parking places. In fact, giving pay increases is rarely the solution to motivation problems. Instead, we determine which of the major components of motivation needs to be addressed and work with you to help achieve results.


Decision Making

Decision making has become crucial in today's business climate. Not only are the consequences of management decisions more crucial than ever before, critical decisions are being made even further down the organizational chart. And it gets even more complicated than that - many decisions made today in the workplace are made by groups, rather than by individuals. The relatively new (and largely unknown) field of human decision making has made astounding strides in the past two decades in understanding why, how, and when individuals and groups make poor (sometimes disastrous) decisions and how to avoid the most common "decision traps." We can help you navigate around these problems so you and your employees can make better decisions.


Leadership

The good news is that leaders aren't just born - they can be made. Even better news is that we can help you make them. Today's competitive world requires leadership abilities in employees beyond the boardroom. Good leaders are needed throughout the organization and they need to lead in more creative ways than they did in the past. No longer can leaders expect compliance based solely on their titles or on the authoritative power commonly used a few decades ago. They must be flexible, innovative, and know when and how to lead, and when to get out of the way. Unfortunately much of what is circulated about leadership today is actually misinformation. The study of leadership has a long and byzantine history, making it a haven for snake oil salesmen. We can help separate the myth from the facts, helping your organization become more productive and innovative.


Performance Appraisal

Gone are the days when the boss checked off a few boxes on a form, added a few comments to the bottom, and filed away the appraisal form to some forgotten file. In today's competitive and legalistic environment, accurate and fair measurement of employee performance is critical. We can help you create the precise and defensible appraisals needed in today's business environment.


Selection and Training

Sometimes an employee may not be performing up to par. Sometimes it's an entire department. The question is "Why?" Was the wrong employee selected for the job or was the employee not trained correctly? Or could it be both? Or could it be neither - it might actually be a motivation problem! We can help you get to the bottom of these questions, and help you make sure you have the right employees for the right job and that they're trained to help the organization meet its goals.

Let's face it. Most of your management headaches are actually people headaches. People making bad decisions, people putting their own agendas ahead of the teams', people who can't (or won't) communicate, people with a bad attitude, a chip on their shoulder, or people who just don't care.

There are two ways to approach people problems. One way is the traditional, "play it by the seat of your" pants method. Sometimes that works, more often it doesn't. The other way is harder, but a lot more effective - use what experts know about human minds & brains, how they work (and when they don't) to improve your people. Better yet, have experts in human cognition and behavior look at your particular people problems and apply the huge (but largely unknown to most people) current body of knowledge to generate customized and creative solutions to your people problems.

Modern business is as much about people as it is about technology {actually business has always been mostly about people}. Improving your people's decision-making, communication, and teamwork skills and their knowledge base can reap a huge variety of benefits both obvious and subtle.

But aren't people pretty much "givens"? People can't change their personalities or improve their brainpower can they? The short answer is Not True. Humans are wonderfully adaptable and capable if you know what to teach them. The cognitive and psychological sciences have made immense progress in the last 30 years. But (as with many scientific discoveries) that body of knowledge is largely buried in the scientific journals or in university laboratories. How many people have heard of "judgment heuristics" or "regression to the mean"?

That's where we can help. We not only understand the scientific literature, we know how to practically apply it in the workplace - giving your organization smarter, more productive, more effective managers & employees. And that's what it takes to make a business succeed in today's competitive global market.

Copyright © 2006, Performace Minds Inc. All rights reserved.

 

 

Copyright © 2006, Performace Minds Inc. All rights reserved.

 

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