John Slimp Training and Development

Customer Service, Where Is It?

There is always a lot of talk about Good Customer Service. Everyone always boast about their company and the high level of service they provide to their customers. Where is it? Has customer service become a thing of the past becoming nothing more than a c... Read >

Blackberry Employee Have You Picked Yours

It's Blackberry Season! Have you ever been blackberry picking? If not you need to go. WARNING: wear a thick long sleeve shirt and jeans. The thorns are long and sharp! There is a strategy to picking blackberries. You have to search out where the best ... Read >

Communication Over Kill

I recently received this question on Ask John: "Is there such a thing as over communicating? Daily, I receive tons of work e-mails from Store Managers, Assistant Managers, DM's, RM's, HR, DLPM, supervisors, etc. etc.! Many e-mails include the same info... Read >

Road Block Ahead. Detour or Proceed With Caution?

I recently received this question: "What do you recommend as far as developing a direct report that is constantly looking at what is wrong instead of seeing the progress. This is my road block at work!!" I am certain we have all experienced this roa... Read >

Good Company

We all work very hard these days. Long hours, traffic, expected to do more with less and we often feel over worked and under-appreciated. If you are hourly you are probably working between 32 and 40 hours, that is if you only have one job! If you are sala... Read >

How Companies Build or Destroy Employee Loyalty

A blog, like art should inspire conversation, debate and yes at times even controversy if it creates awareness or stirs thought. The goal and objective of a company is to make a profit. The question that a company needs to answer is; Do we make a pr... Read >

Performance Evaluation

"We need to discuss your performance." These words often bring discomfort to managers at every level. However, when conducted well, performance discussions create stronger working relationships, highlight priorities, and identify developmental needs... Read >

The Wolves Within

We all have conflict and drama in our lives. Some of it is real; some of it is exaggerated or even imaginary. Yes, conflict and drama do exist but it is up to us how we handle it. We all have wolves within that fight over control of our emotions but we co... Read >

Time

How Are You Spending Yours? Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What woul... Read >

Pity Potty

We all sit on the Pity Potty now and then; it is human nature I suppose. My employees don't work hard enough, I work too many hours, the people I work with are stupid, no one listens to me, the dog dug a hole in the garden, the kids are screaming, I ha... Read >

Employee or Friend?

I recently received this question on Ask John: "How do you keep the employer and employee dynamics when overtime the employee becomes a good friend? You want to maintain the separation but don't want to lose the friendship." Excellent question and... Read >

Communication. How well do you Communicate?

You think you communicate fairly well because you like to talk and you might even pride yourself on the fact that you can talk to almost anyone. A lot of people seem to talk just because they don't like silence or because they just like the sound of their... Read >

Leadership – Today – Everyday

Many Managers possess the qualities to be truly great Leaders, but lack one necessary and crucial component; consistency. Too many Managers believe that Leadership is something to be saved for just the important times, when they can make an impression, wh... Read >

Leader Is Just a Word

What do you think of when you hear the word "leader"? The word leader itself is like the word car or food. Cars can be big or small, fast or slow, expensive or affordable, and they can be status symbols or basic transportation. They come in colors you ... Read >