Practical Strategies for Optimizing Workforce Performance
Gary English, Ph.D.

Solving the People Puzzle is about management control of an organization and its people: How to get it, how to use it, and how to keep it. The author provides the perspective of a behavioral and social scientist to make a strong case for effective management systems. Through many years studying and managing human behavior, Dr. English has seen too many failures in people performance caused by failures in systems. How many people are promoted who don’t work out? How many performance problems are ignored until the problem blows up? How many people who are fired have a file full of good reviews and a history of normal raises?

Get your systems in order and find out just how good your workforce can be.

This book goes beyond humanistic management approaches, re-engineering, and team approaches to provide you with practical strategies for getting the most out of your workforce.

Learn the underlying factors that guide the design of effective management systems and policies that don’t just look good on paper but reflect “how things are really done around here.” Explore specific ways to establish and manage a high-performance workforce that will optimize your operation.

Address key performance-management systems including:

• Selecting good performers
• Choosing staff-selection assessments
• Using interviews to predict performance
• Establishing performance expectations
• Managing the performance review process
• Coaching for high performance
• A positive approach to dealing with performance problems
• Mentoring and maximizing your human assets
• Training and performance improvement
• Leadership, management, and motivation

Selected content:

• Untying Bureaucratic Knots
• Management Madness versus Rationality
• Forget the Peter Principle
• Problem-Patching versus Problem-Solving
• How to Coach Your Boss
• New Scientific Management
• ABCs of Motivation