Growing Great Employees Garners 1800ceoRead Finalist Nod for Best Books 2007 Human Resource - Organizational Development Category

Best-selling management author provides Ten Tips for "Building a Better Organization in the New Year".

New York, New York (PRWEB) December 24, 2007 -- Erika Andersen's "Growing Great Employees" has garnered a finalist nod in the prestigious 1800CEORead.com Best Business Books for 2007 Awards announced this week -- http://www.800ceoread.com/bookawards .

"I'm humbled by the 1800CEOread.com folks and everyone who finds the book helpful in terms of managing employees. It's wonderful to see the book resonating in so many diverse arenas and businesses," said Andersen.

"Growing Great Employees…creates the sense that you've got somebody with you every step of the way, somebody who knows what you're up against and can help you be the kind of manager and leader you want to be." -- Doug Herzog, President, Entertainment Group MTV Networks

"Growing Great Employees" has also been released in paperback version this month just in time for Christmas and continues to garner rave reviews as the "handy portable organizational handbook for managers."

Perdido Magazine said of the book, "The best management training book I've seen…beautifully organized, comprehensive and straightforward."

Geraldine Laybourne, president and CEO, Oxygen Networks said of the book, "In Growing Great Employees," Erika is sharing that practical, smart, soup-to-nuts insight on how to be the best kind of manager with a broader public."

The newly released paperback includes a new forward from Ms. Andersen as well as a link to the online reading guide for groups. The site for the book is www.growinggreatemployees.com .

Ms. Andersen's blog can be found at http://thesimplestthing.typepad.com/ .

In addition, Andersen shares the following tips for "Building a Better Organization in the New Year."

10. Make sure you're hiring the people you really want: Are you actually hiring the best employees for your business, or are you just settling for OK? Now's the time to get clear about the skills and characteristics that will support your success, and then revamp your hiring and interviewing approaches to help you find and hire the people who have them.

9. Be generous on lots of levels: Every business has to control costs, but there are lots of ways to be generous to your employees. Share information, genuine praise, inclusion, responsibility and your own time and wisdom. (And, by the way, also compensate people as well as you can.) Generosity builds loyalty and inspires people to do good work.

8. Support your best people: In too many organizations, poor performers and excellent performers don't get treated much differently. Great employees start wondering why they're working so hard. Create an environment where excellence gets rewarded -- with promotions, bonuses, plum assignments and developmental opportunities.

7. Involve people in change: No doubt, there will be changes in your organization in the coming year. Too often, managers try to "protect" people from change by not sharing information or responsibility. Insofar so possible, include people in the process: their resistance to change will go way down -- and you'll have the benefit of their knowledge and insight.

6. Practice what you preach: Telling employees to do something and then not doing it yourself is death to your credibility…and makes it much less likely they'll do what you're asking. Do a clear-eyed review of your own actions, and resolve to do as you say in the coming year.

5. Admit your mistakes and move on: The best managers don't waste time making excuses or blaming others when they screw up. They acknowledge mistakes and focus on correcting them. Be rigorous in doing this, and the organization will waste less time in useless finger-pointing -- and your employees will respect you more, as well!

4. Do the simplest thing that works: Sometimes managers allow complicated, inefficient processes and systems to linger on, even though employees complain. Fix them! They may be sucking more money and time from the organization and creating more frustration than you realize.

3. Share your vision: Employees want to know their leaders have a real sense of where the organization is headed and how to get there. Do you have that sense? If not, get clear on your vision. If so, share it!

2. Listen: Most managers talk way too much, thinking they're supposed to be the person with all the answers. This year, resolve to listen: get curious and invite others' points of view. There's no better way to find out critical information to improve your organization's results and to demonstrate genuine respect and openness.

1. Make sure your managers know how to manage: Simply saying "people are our most important resource" is easy. This year, deliver on that sentiment by making sure your employees are well-managed: provide managers (yourself included!) with the skills and knowledge they need to hire well, to get people started right, and to keep them growing and productive. By doing that this year, you'll be building a better organization for many years to come.

Images:

Book Cover and Author Photos at http://www.growinggreatemployees.com

Podcast Interview:

Cranky Middle Manager show - http://tinyurl.com/2sw9w6

Video:

*Forbes.com interview - http://tinyurl.com/2sadqu

About the Author:

Erika Andersen:

Since 1980, Erika Andersen has developed a reputation for creating learning and change processes and programs uniquely tailored to her clients' challenges, goals and culture. She offers practical methods and skills for individuals, teams and companies to clarify and then achieve their hoped-for-future.

Much of her recent work has focused on organizational visioning and strategy, executive coaching, and management and leadership development. In these capacities she has served as consultant and advisor to the CEOs and top executives of a number of corporations, including MTV Networks, Molson Coors Miller Brewing., NBC Universal, Hewitt Associates, Union Square Hospitality Group, Turner Broadcasting and Comcast Corporation.

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