Yearly Archives: 2019

preventing employee health issues

Preventing Employee Emotional, Mind and Physical Health Issues

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Promoting good health at work can pay off in improved performance, better attendance and lower group insurance costs. Every business can contribute to the wellbeing of their employees and it will reap rewards.


Last week I met a software company and one of the products was a test for early stage dementia. I spoke with the project manager and learned that there is no cure for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Bit studies show that keeping the mind and body active can prevent the onslaught of dementia.


Continuous training and learning at work will keep the neurons firing, generate positive emotions and this will cause greater motivation for work and life.


preventing employee health issues

Physical exercise at work will give employees the possibility to move their bodies and stay more flexible and have better energy. It will also reduce absenteeism, which can be costly and hinder production.

Businesses can offer in-house workshops to employees, or partner with local community groups like the YMCA.


If the business owner and top management value employee wellbeing, then it does not take much to implement new programs. An employee project team could be setup to plan and organize these types of workshops.


Of course, it’s up to each employee to look after their own development and health, but perhaps given the opportunity will be just what they need to change some bad habits.


highly motivated employees

Implement These 3 Key Practices to Have Highly Motivated Employees

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Using these three best practices in leadership and management will ensure highly motivated employees.

  1. Hire the right person for the job. This is kind of obvious in that who would want to hire the wrong person for the job. Yet it happens often because we often don’t see the whole picture objectively.
    • Hire for skill fit. When a person can use their skills and strengths on the job abundantly, they feel they are growing and learning on the job.
    • Hire for company fit. People need to feel they fit in.
    • Hire for job fit, thinking style, behavioral traits and occupational interests. This can only be properly measured using a psychometric assessment like the PXT Select.
  2. Provide interesting and challenging work. When people are using their skills and strengths as previously mentioned and they are challenged with interesting work, they experience a sense of personal satisfaction. This is a very powerful self-motivation force.
  3. Reward or pay for performance. Top performers should be paid more than average performers and when you have a clear reward policy, then everyone should see the pay structure as fair. Also use recognition, feedback and show appreciation so that top performers know they are highly valued. If you fear you might inflate their ego, then it’s up to you to keep it in check if it gets overblown.

If you currently have people in the wrong job you need to correct that before you can implement the other two practices.


Apply these three motivational factors and watch the performance of your organization grow.


clone your top performers

How to Clone Your Top Performers

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clone your top performers

How would you like to have more employees like your top performers?

According to a recent article in the Les Affaires business publication and taken from a study by Denis Morin a professor specialized in compensation at the University of Montreal, top managers generate 49% more profits than managers performing at a satisfactory level.


The same is true for salespeople who according to the study, top performers generate 67% more in sales that the average performing salesperson.


The first thing you need to do is understand what drives these top performers. You can do that through conversation, but the best way is to use a psychometric assessment, especially one like the PXT Select that allows you to compare candidate to a performance model based on your top performers.


Top performers in a job share certain thinking style attributes, behavioural traits and motivational interests that are best suited to the position. At the foundation, this is what drives them to standout in their job compared to average performers.


clone your top performers

Higher performers enjoy their work more and perform better because the work suits them very well as they can use their skills and strengths in greater capacity. The work provides a greater sense of personal fulfillment and they usually get noticed and rewarded accordingly.


You can learn more about the PXT Select and request sample reports and a test run.

training and development

Training and Development is Crucial for Good Employee Performance

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training and development

I recently took up mountain biking or at least I bought a mountain bike and attempted to navigate beginner trails. I found myself having great difficulty handling the bike on the trails and was quite fearful of falling and getting injured. My cycling experience was with road cycling, but those skills did not transfer to the mountain bike.


I quickly realized that I needed help, or my bike would be sitting idle in the garage. I signed up for private lesson and that allowed me to get more comfortable with the bike and learn some essential skills to better control my ride. The result was an immediate difference in my ability to handle the bike on the trails, less fear and more enjoyment.


This made me think of how important training and development is for skills development and improved performance.


Training and development is not just for new employees or to address changes in work procedures or technology. Training and development should be ongoing for all employees as everyone can continue to learn and improve their skills.


Training and development can help employees:

  • Stay current and relevant
  • Reduce fear of change
  • Improve skills
  • Improve work performance
  • Enjoy work more
  • Take on new challenges

One suggestion is to have a highly skilled employee with a specific skill set train other employee to have them also improve their skills. This will provide recognition to the trainer and keep the costs of training low.


You can refer to my article and video on the Seven Steps for Training and Coaching Employees for more about this.