Peter Barron Stark Companies | Management Consulting
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Peter Barron Stark Companies is a nationally recognized management consulting firm that has surveyed and trained a quarter of a million managers and employees around the world over the past 20 years. Our mission is to help build organizations where employees love coming to work and customers love to do business.
Peter Barron Stark Companies | Management Consulting
3w ago
We are working on several coaching projects where CEOs struggle to hold their team members accountable. When we ask these leaders why they don’t hold employees accountable to do the things they are responsible for doing and in the timeframe they have set for accomplishment, some of the common excuses include:
They expect their direct reports to communicate, collaborate, and work well with their cross-departmental colleagues and do not feel they should have to resolve conflict between team members.
They are too busy getting the operational parts of their job done and have not had the time to s ..read more
Peter Barron Stark Companies | Management Consulting
2M ago
Over the last few years, the staffing questions on our Employee Opinion Surveys have been sitting in the lowest-rated questions for a lot of our clients. One contributing factor is the hot employee market causing people to change jobs at record highs. During the pandemic, we had people out of the office quite frequently for illness, quarantine, etc. In 2023, there have been several rounds of layoffs, especially in the tech industry, causing a real or preserved staffing shortage. The result for most employees and managers is the pressure of having to get more done with less, i.e., get the ..read more
Peter Barron Stark Companies | Management Consulting
4M ago
When we look at the most desirable characteristics of a job, having meaning in our work always comes up in the top three. That is because it is human nature to want to belong to something bigger than ourselves. As we start to come out of the hot employee market, it’s important to remember that money alone is not enough to push us to do our best. We feel personally at our best and most motivated to contribute when we feel that our work has meaning.
Doing meaningful work is important, not just for your mental health, but also your physical well-being. The opposite is also true. W ..read more
Peter Barron Stark Companies | Management Consulting
4M ago
The quote “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time” is a great reminder by Zig Ziglar that we need to have goals to be successful. One thing that we have learned about planning and goals is that you can guarantee that something will always change that will cause you to have to adjust. The faster we can pivot and adjust, the more successful we are as leaders and as team members. Despite our best planning, occasionally, things just don’t turn out the way we expected.
With 2024 approaching quickly, now is a great time to set or revisit your goals. To help with that task, bel ..read more
Peter Barron Stark Companies | Management Consulting
5M ago
When you think of a leader, you may think of someone who’s confident, caring, decisive, and determined. While these are all very important attributes, leaders should also leave room for employees to respectfully challenge their ideas.
Some of the strongest and most successful leaders we have coached, make decisions, or talk them through, in groups. Sometimes you may think that you’ve got the answer, or covered all of your bases, and then, out of left field, an employee says, “What about…” and provides a great idea that hasn’t been considered. Be thankful for these employees. Confident emp ..read more
Peter Barron Stark Companies | Management Consulting
6M ago
As we start to see the tough employee market ease some, we are hearing from our clients that they are working on growing their staff again. While this is good news, some companies are still struggling to retain their top talent. As well, there are still reports coming out that more than half of employees are still looking to leave their current employer. Basically, it is still a challenging time for recruiting. The question remains: how do you retain your top performers?
Now more than ever, the pressure is on keeping the employees you have, especially your top performers. We have always ..read more
Peter Barron Stark Companies | Management Consulting
6M ago
“We’ve never done it that way before.” Nothing cripples change and innovation faster than these 7 little words, and the mindset of the person who spoke them. The individuals pointing out the obvious are, in fact, usually correct. If it’s a change, chances are it hasn’t been done in that way either by the company or the team. Change is uncomfortable, and hesitation is to be expected. When that sentence is used to justify why change shouldn’t happen, however, you’ve got a problem.
“If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you will keep on getting what you’ve always got.”
As ..read more
Peter Barron Stark Companies | Management Consulting
7M ago
Over the last two years, many of our clients have seen a great deal of turnover with employees and their leadership teams. It is not uncommon to hear: “We have an almost all-new leadership team.” Since organizations have so many new leaders in leadership positions that they are experiencing a leadership gap in some areas. A leadership gap is a lack of experience or skills in certain areas. As leaders take on new roles, it is natural to have a learning curve. The difference this time is the sheer number of new leaders and turnover in leadership positions over the last year that has created this ..read more
Peter Barron Stark Companies | Management Consulting
10M ago
Most seasoned managers have had, at some point in their careers, to deal with two employees who either disliked each other or refused to work together. When managers find themselves with employee conflicts on their teams, they often find that the morale and productivity of their team has been impacted as well. If the conflict is substantial enough, you might even find yourself with a downright toxic workplace environment.
In these situations, the manager has a few choices.
You can leave your employees to handle it and hope they work out the differences on their own. Sometimes, the ..read more
Peter Barron Stark Companies | Management Consulting
1y ago
Several people we coach have asked us about developing their executive presence. To the team members we coached who asked us about this topic, we asked them, “What does executive presence mean to you?” Or, “When you think about leaders who have executive presence, what traits come to mind?” Not surprisingly, each leader had a very different answer. We define executive presence as a leader who inspires confidence in their boss, direct reports, peers, internal and external customers, and gives these stakeholders the feeling and belief that this is the type of leader they are motivated to follow ..read more