Shutterstock Dear Liz, I went on a job interview last week and was shocked to find that the interviewer asked me nothing but a long list of “Tell me about a time when…” questions. Hasn’t that old-fashioned style of interviewing died out yet? I remember going to seminars to learn how to ask “Tell me about a time when…” questions back in the ’80s, when I was the supervisor of a department at a retail store.

Shutterstock When I was a corporate HR leader I had an informalMaslow’s hierarchy of HR in my head. Before I could spend time on the fun stuff — leadership and communication, culture and fizz and building good energy in the organization — I had to make sure that our HR engine was functional. We had to pay people correctly. We had to know who was on the payroll, when to pay them, how much to pay them and whether they were hourly or salaried.

Shutterstock Dear Liz, I’m disgruntled this morning because I thought my job search was over, and now I’m not so sure. I just got a voice mail message from the HR Manager at the company that is interviewing me for a Project Manager job. I made it through three interviews and I am expecting an offer.

Shutterstock Effective leaders have widely different personal styles. There is no one right way to lead. We can approach leadership from many different angles, but the key to success is developing strengths. I often find the concept of “using your strengths” is confusing to some individuals. So today I want to share some truths I’ve found through researching strengths-based development to help leaders gain more knowledge (as well as to clear up a few misunderstandings). 1.

Shutterstock The need to research a company before you apply for a job there should go without saying in 2016. Whether you rely on Glassdoor or another site, potentially parsing hundreds of reviews for real insight can be overwhelming. While you should take everything you read in an anonymous review of a company with a grain of salt and question the review writer’s motives, there are certain phrases to look out for.

Shutterstock “Can we schedule a time to discuss my performance and compensation?” For many people, even the thought of uttering this phrase to a manager can create sleepless nights and acid indigestion. Conversations about money are difficult in their own right. Discussions about one’s merit are even more emotional, as can be tied to feelings of self-worth, likeability, and evoke the primal fear of rejection.

Shutterstock Dear Liz, Maybe I am naive, but I thought my personnel file was confidential. Last week a manager in our company, Gina, walked up to me and said “I am going to have a job opening in my department and I hope you’ll  apply for it.” If that sounds flattering it’s not, because Gina is the worst manager in our company and I would rather join a chain gang than work in her department.

Shutterstock My clients represent for profits and non-profits from 38 industries and there is one incredibly costly mistake they all make repeatedly. I see it in large organizations about to embark on major change with many decisions of consequence. I see it in smaller organizations when the CEO hopes to make a quick decision in a weekly staff meeting. It occurs at the executive level as well as every other level in the organization. And yet, it is so simple to fix.

Much is written about how to keep our employees happy, how to motivate and inspire them, but sometimes we need to remind ourselves about the simple mistakes we make that will really set them off. And of course, send them directly in to the waiting arms of our competitors. Some level of turnover in any organization is inevitable, but there are ways we can mitigate this and build a strong culture of which great employees want to be a part of. So here is a short list of what not to do.

Shutterstock Dear Liz, I got laid off in June and I was confident enough about my job-search chances that I took June and July off. I started job-hunting in August and it’s pretty slow going but I’ve had a few interviews (no offers yet). I was shocked that an HR Manager at a healthcare facility near my home called me in for an interview but then told me “I’m sorry, I thought from your resume that you were still working at your old company.