The end of the year is a good time to reflect on your business's progress over the past year and plan how you want your business to develop. Do you want increased success or the chance to enjoy the success you've achieved more? These top 10 New Year's resolutions are designed to help you strike a better work-life balance, so you can achieve a truly satisfying success in the New Year.
1) Learn how to delegate and do more of it.
There are so many things to do when you're running a small business, it's easy to delude ourselves that we need to do all of them. Then we wonder why we're so tired and frazzled and have no time to do anything else! Determine Your Personal Return on Investment, and decide to let someone else do some of the tasks for a change. Delegation is the key to a healthy work-life balance.
2) Promote your business regularly and consistently.
Too often the task of promoting a small business slips to the bottom of the to-do list in the press of urgent tasks. If you want to attract new customers, you have to make promotion a priority. Make a New Year's resolution to hire a marketing expert, or take the time to create a marketing plan on your own and follow through. Try some of these Low-Cost Ways to Promote Your Business to get started.
3) Make business planning a weekly event.
Planning is vital if you want a healthy, growing business. Business planning lets you take stock of what worked and what didn't work, and helps you set new directions or adjust old goals. So why do it just once a year or once a quarter? Set aside time each week to review, adjust, and look forward - or even better, make business planning a part of each day. Not only will this help you avoid costly mistakes and stay on track, but you'll feel more focused and relaxed.
4) Learn something new.
What you choose to learn may be directly related to your business (as are the four free ecourses I offer on this website) or completely unrelated. Learning something new will add to your skills and add a new dimension of interest to your life - another important part of achieving a healthy work-life balance. Depending on how you choose to learn, you may meet new and interesting people, who may become customers, colleagues, or friends. How will you find the time to learn something new? By delegating, remember?
5) Join a new business organization or networking group.
There's nothing like talking to other business people for sparking new ideas, refining old ones, and making contacts. Whether it's a group specifically designed for networking or an organization dedicated to a particular type of business, in person or over the 'Net, making the effort to be a part of a group will revitalize you and your business.
6) Give something back to your community.
There are all kinds of worthy organizations that make a difference in your community. Make a New Year's resolution to find a cause that matters to you, and give what you can. Make this the year that you serve on a committee, be a mentor, volunteer, or make regular donations to the groups in your community that try to make the place you live a better place. And those that give get. As I say in Top 10 Ways to Get Known, nothing will seed and grow goodwill for you and your business better.
7) Put time for you on your calendar.
In Schedule Time for You, I point out how important it is to take the time to recharge and refresh yourself; a healthy work-life balance demands time out. All work and no play is a recipe for mental and physical disaster. So if you have trouble freeing up time to do the things you enjoy, write time regularly into your schedule to "meet with yourself" and stick to that commitment. If you won't invest in yourself, who will?
8) Set realistic goals.
Goal setting is a valuable habit - if the goals lead to success rather than distress. Make a New Year's resolution that the goals you set will be goals that are achievable, rather than unrealistic pipe dreams that are so far out of reach they only lead to frustration. If you have trouble setting realistic goals, see Goal Setting Is the First Step to Achievement for a formula to help.
9) Don't make do; get a new one.
Is there a piece of equipment in your office that's interfering with your success or something that you lack that's making your working life harder? Whether it's an old fax machine that's a pain to use, or the need for a new employee to lighten your work load, make a New Year's resolution to stop putting off getting what you need. The irritation of making do just isn't worth it. You'll find information on both office equipment and business software in the Running Your Office section of this site.
10) Drop what's not working for you and move on.
All products aren't going to be super sellers, all sales methods aren't going to work for everyone, and all suppliers or contractors aren't going to be ideally suited to your business. If a technique or a product or a business relationship isn't working for you, stop using it. Don't invest a lot of energy into trying to make the unworkable workable. Move on. Something better will turn up.
Achieving a healthy work-life balance is like maintaining a good relationship; you have to keep working on it. But if you apply these New Year's resolutions throughout the year, your success is guaranteed!
Happy New Year for Everyone...
An article by Susan Ward at About.com
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Showing posts with label Management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Management. Show all posts
December 30, 2009
December 23, 2009
Handling the Holidays - Be careful and Accomodating!
Yes, it is once again the holiday season. The holidays often have employers and managers racking their brains about how they should handle them. Do you say “Happy Holidays” or do you stick with “Merry Christmas?” Is it okay to let people have days off or to let them leave early to observe different holidays? Which types of office décor are appropriate and which should you leave at home? Just thinking about all of these questions might give you a headache, but it’s very important to know how you intend on handling the holiday season in your office.
There are only two simple options when approaching holiday décor. You can either ALLOW all of it or BAN all of it. If you play favorites and tell your employees that they may display Christmas trees, but there are to be no Menorahs in the office, not only are you being unfair you are discriminating. Discrimination is most definitely an illegal offense and you don’t want to find yourself in court over something like an electric Menorah. If you let one employee decorate for the holiday that they celebrate, be prepared to allow everyone else to decorate the way that they wish to as well. On the other hand, though it might sound cold and Scrooge-like, you may choose to ban all holiday decorations regardless of religion. If you choose to go that route, be prepared to enforce the ban all year-round (watch out for Valentine’s Day and Easter!) However, if you are a public employer, it is always recommended that holiday decorations are limited to secular holiday symbols such as snowflakes and candy canes.
During this time of year, you will likely have many employees requesting time off for one holiday-related reason or another. Generally, the best way to handle these requests is to be flexible and accommodate employee’s requests to the best of your ability. Encourage employees to schedule these days well in advance. An easy way to do this would be by using an automated time and attendance system to allow employees to submit early leave requests. By submitting these requests early, you are given time to adjust the workload of others to compensate for the missing worker. Try your absolute best to accommodate your employee’s needs through flexible scheduling. You can also allow them to work longer shifts to make up hours and, provided that there’s no local or state law against it where you are located, you could also allow them to work through their lunch. If you choose not to accommodate a certain employee, be prepared to explain why and provide documentation to support your decision. If you say an accommodation is too expensive, for instance, be prepared to show the numbers. For the most part, if you encourage employees to schedule their time off early and plan for their absence, then accommodating each and every employee’s time off needs should be fairly simple. Be sure to discourage last-minute requests and remind employees of disciplinary actions that may be taken for any unscheduled absences.
The holiday season is a very important time in one way or another to most people. As an employer or manager, it is your job to respect everyone’s beliefs and handle things appropriately if you don’t want to be accused of discrimination. So make your “holiday game plan” now if you haven’t already. How are you going to handle all of the time off requests and religious icon decorations? Remember to be consistent in your rules to avoid harassment and discrimination accusations. Simply thinking ahead will help you make this holiday season as peaceful and happy as it should be.
Source: Legiant
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
There are only two simple options when approaching holiday décor. You can either ALLOW all of it or BAN all of it. If you play favorites and tell your employees that they may display Christmas trees, but there are to be no Menorahs in the office, not only are you being unfair you are discriminating. Discrimination is most definitely an illegal offense and you don’t want to find yourself in court over something like an electric Menorah. If you let one employee decorate for the holiday that they celebrate, be prepared to allow everyone else to decorate the way that they wish to as well. On the other hand, though it might sound cold and Scrooge-like, you may choose to ban all holiday decorations regardless of religion. If you choose to go that route, be prepared to enforce the ban all year-round (watch out for Valentine’s Day and Easter!) However, if you are a public employer, it is always recommended that holiday decorations are limited to secular holiday symbols such as snowflakes and candy canes.
During this time of year, you will likely have many employees requesting time off for one holiday-related reason or another. Generally, the best way to handle these requests is to be flexible and accommodate employee’s requests to the best of your ability. Encourage employees to schedule these days well in advance. An easy way to do this would be by using an automated time and attendance system to allow employees to submit early leave requests. By submitting these requests early, you are given time to adjust the workload of others to compensate for the missing worker. Try your absolute best to accommodate your employee’s needs through flexible scheduling. You can also allow them to work longer shifts to make up hours and, provided that there’s no local or state law against it where you are located, you could also allow them to work through their lunch. If you choose not to accommodate a certain employee, be prepared to explain why and provide documentation to support your decision. If you say an accommodation is too expensive, for instance, be prepared to show the numbers. For the most part, if you encourage employees to schedule their time off early and plan for their absence, then accommodating each and every employee’s time off needs should be fairly simple. Be sure to discourage last-minute requests and remind employees of disciplinary actions that may be taken for any unscheduled absences.
The holiday season is a very important time in one way or another to most people. As an employer or manager, it is your job to respect everyone’s beliefs and handle things appropriately if you don’t want to be accused of discrimination. So make your “holiday game plan” now if you haven’t already. How are you going to handle all of the time off requests and religious icon decorations? Remember to be consistent in your rules to avoid harassment and discrimination accusations. Simply thinking ahead will help you make this holiday season as peaceful and happy as it should be.
Source: Legiant
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
November 24, 2009
HR Strategy to Keep Your Workers Happy
by George Butler
Human Resources (HR) is a major growth industry in the small business and corporate arena. Gone are the days where bosses got away with making ridiculous demands of their underpaid, unhappy and frequently on-strike workers. In these current times, good employees are hard to come by and even harder to keep - strategy planning is essential. If you research an effective HR strategy ahead of time, that takes into account your most valuable assets, you'll be saving money, enhancing productivity and growing a more positive working environment!
Your Most Valuable Asset.
Believe it or not, it is not your product, nor is it your enormous brain or fantastic location - it's your workers! Without them nothing happens - you can't do it all! Without strategic management, retention of your staff can be difficult. Going through the ordeal of replacing an unhappy staff member can cost up to three times their original annual salary. Couldn't that money be better spent on trusted, loyal employees that reflect your business values? On a quality HR strategy? On simply making them happy? Side effects of looking after your most valuable assets include; lower staff turnover, attraction of the 'right' talent when you do need new people, higher productivity and output and increased customer satisfaction. Sounds like a terribly successful way of doing business doesn't it?
What Workers Really Want.
So what makes for a dissatisfied worker? It could be one of many things... lack of advancement in their position, boredom with job content, low wages, long hours, managerial gripes, bullying, company dynamics or personal problems. What a way to spend eight hours, every day - for whatever reason, it's pretty evident that this person will either leave or eventually stop doing their job effectively. A happy worker on the other hand, envisions a workplace where they are valued and feel appreciated, where they feel a shared ownership in the brand or company.
Opportunities for professional advancement, training in and access to new technologies, and a pay cheque that reflects their contribution to the business also helps! On a more human level, workers just want to communicate and feel heard once in a while. They'd love it if the boss would acknowledge that they have a life outside the office and be flexible for family and social commitments.
How You Can Deliver.
First and foremost, if you have a large company and are not trained in human resources yourself, get an expert in strategic management in to look after it. Whether on a contract basis, or a permanent addition to your team, an expert in HR strategy will ultimately save you time and money. Even if you don't have a huge number of employees in your own small business there are lots of ways to get your staff morale flying high above the bar and raise the stakes for your success! Try being more flexible, both with hours and job roles. Allow timeshare or trading for parents or students; where they can either work from home or take a 'part time' or different roles when outside pressures and commitments arise.
Work with people's natural circadian rhythms; have rotating shifts for morning and afternoon people - as long as the same amount of work is getting done, does it really matter when? Offer genuine thanks for good work; this is so simple, but almost never done properly. Have readily available opportunities for advancement available, in-house or external professional development can only help give you an edge over your competitors. Any which way you look at it, an investment in your workers happiness via quality strategy planning, will reap major rewards for your overall business performance.
About the Author:
George Butler is a successful businessman who believes in utilising your human resources management to the best of your abilities. His areas of interest are human resources planning and technology resources to help business grow.
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
Human Resources (HR) is a major growth industry in the small business and corporate arena. Gone are the days where bosses got away with making ridiculous demands of their underpaid, unhappy and frequently on-strike workers. In these current times, good employees are hard to come by and even harder to keep - strategy planning is essential. If you research an effective HR strategy ahead of time, that takes into account your most valuable assets, you'll be saving money, enhancing productivity and growing a more positive working environment!
Your Most Valuable Asset.
Believe it or not, it is not your product, nor is it your enormous brain or fantastic location - it's your workers! Without them nothing happens - you can't do it all! Without strategic management, retention of your staff can be difficult. Going through the ordeal of replacing an unhappy staff member can cost up to three times their original annual salary. Couldn't that money be better spent on trusted, loyal employees that reflect your business values? On a quality HR strategy? On simply making them happy? Side effects of looking after your most valuable assets include; lower staff turnover, attraction of the 'right' talent when you do need new people, higher productivity and output and increased customer satisfaction. Sounds like a terribly successful way of doing business doesn't it?
What Workers Really Want.
So what makes for a dissatisfied worker? It could be one of many things... lack of advancement in their position, boredom with job content, low wages, long hours, managerial gripes, bullying, company dynamics or personal problems. What a way to spend eight hours, every day - for whatever reason, it's pretty evident that this person will either leave or eventually stop doing their job effectively. A happy worker on the other hand, envisions a workplace where they are valued and feel appreciated, where they feel a shared ownership in the brand or company.
Opportunities for professional advancement, training in and access to new technologies, and a pay cheque that reflects their contribution to the business also helps! On a more human level, workers just want to communicate and feel heard once in a while. They'd love it if the boss would acknowledge that they have a life outside the office and be flexible for family and social commitments.
How You Can Deliver.
First and foremost, if you have a large company and are not trained in human resources yourself, get an expert in strategic management in to look after it. Whether on a contract basis, or a permanent addition to your team, an expert in HR strategy will ultimately save you time and money. Even if you don't have a huge number of employees in your own small business there are lots of ways to get your staff morale flying high above the bar and raise the stakes for your success! Try being more flexible, both with hours and job roles. Allow timeshare or trading for parents or students; where they can either work from home or take a 'part time' or different roles when outside pressures and commitments arise.
Work with people's natural circadian rhythms; have rotating shifts for morning and afternoon people - as long as the same amount of work is getting done, does it really matter when? Offer genuine thanks for good work; this is so simple, but almost never done properly. Have readily available opportunities for advancement available, in-house or external professional development can only help give you an edge over your competitors. Any which way you look at it, an investment in your workers happiness via quality strategy planning, will reap major rewards for your overall business performance.
About the Author:
George Butler is a successful businessman who believes in utilising your human resources management to the best of your abilities. His areas of interest are human resources planning and technology resources to help business grow.
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
June 8, 2009
Monday Wisdom Makes You Wiser to Act
What is seen outside is 15% - 10% (appearance). What's really happening inside is 85% - 90% (emotions). Emotion is like gravity. You know it's there. You know it exists but how do you define it? It is always experienced by the people.
Emotional intelligence -"Is a term used to describe the various competencies that are essential for building, developing and managing relationships" (Peters, 2008, p.13). Emotional intelligence consists of two dimensions; intrapersonal intelligence and interpersonal intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence or Emotional Quotient is simply defined as "Knowing what one feels good, what one feels bad, and how to get from bad to good. Knowing your emotions and knowing emotions of others." It refers to emotional management skills, which provide competency to balance emotions and reasons so as to maximize long term happiness.
"Emotional Intelligence is the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships. Emotional intelligence describes abilities distinct from but complementary to academic intelligence," said Daniel Goleman (1998).
Are we giving EQ training in school?
Are we giving training for how to control emotions?
Are we training people how emotions related with one event change their future?
My answer is "NO."
Emotional competency, Emotional maturity and Emotional sensitivity can be learned and develop person.
Bad News!
EQ abilities are declining in children. More impulsive, aggressive, and angry entry level employees need more training in EQ competencies.
Good News!
EQ is teachable and tends to increase over your lifetime (maturity).
Work climate is dependent on EQ level of management. Majority of employees choose to leave or stay at an organization based on relationship with their manager.
What is observed in the life is that people take emotions heartily and break down the relationship. People react with emotions towards others and this hurts the other one. The other one takes it personally instead of taking it professionally. Other people do not take it as a reaction to an event but treat it as a critic to him and take it personally. This breaks down the long time relationship for life time.
Emotional reactions spoil relationship, future goals and tend to change destination. Other people also treat it personally and react badly to the action, which hurt the people and love in the relationship is slowly drop down where as bitterness starts flowing in the relationship. Finally, no one wins, and team spoils off, relationship spoils off and organization is spoils off.
Today's conclusion of Monday wisdom is Emotional competency, Emotional maturity and Emotional sensitivity. It can be learnt by developing person. Emotions should be treated mentally instead of personally.
Article by Dr. Shailesh Thaker, a business coach and young power-house of Motivation and Leadership, holds Ph.D. in Cognitive Thinking and Creative Writing (INDIA). He is also one of the third named fellows of JCI University for the International Training Fellowship from SAARC countries.
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
Emotional intelligence -"Is a term used to describe the various competencies that are essential for building, developing and managing relationships" (Peters, 2008, p.13). Emotional intelligence consists of two dimensions; intrapersonal intelligence and interpersonal intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence or Emotional Quotient is simply defined as "Knowing what one feels good, what one feels bad, and how to get from bad to good. Knowing your emotions and knowing emotions of others." It refers to emotional management skills, which provide competency to balance emotions and reasons so as to maximize long term happiness.
"Emotional Intelligence is the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships. Emotional intelligence describes abilities distinct from but complementary to academic intelligence," said Daniel Goleman (1998).
Are we giving EQ training in school?
Are we giving training for how to control emotions?
Are we training people how emotions related with one event change their future?
My answer is "NO."
Emotional competency, Emotional maturity and Emotional sensitivity can be learned and develop person.
Bad News!
EQ abilities are declining in children. More impulsive, aggressive, and angry entry level employees need more training in EQ competencies.
Good News!
EQ is teachable and tends to increase over your lifetime (maturity).
Work climate is dependent on EQ level of management. Majority of employees choose to leave or stay at an organization based on relationship with their manager.
What is observed in the life is that people take emotions heartily and break down the relationship. People react with emotions towards others and this hurts the other one. The other one takes it personally instead of taking it professionally. Other people do not take it as a reaction to an event but treat it as a critic to him and take it personally. This breaks down the long time relationship for life time.
Emotional reactions spoil relationship, future goals and tend to change destination. Other people also treat it personally and react badly to the action, which hurt the people and love in the relationship is slowly drop down where as bitterness starts flowing in the relationship. Finally, no one wins, and team spoils off, relationship spoils off and organization is spoils off.
Today's conclusion of Monday wisdom is Emotional competency, Emotional maturity and Emotional sensitivity. It can be learnt by developing person. Emotions should be treated mentally instead of personally.
Article by Dr. Shailesh Thaker, a business coach and young power-house of Motivation and Leadership, holds Ph.D. in Cognitive Thinking and Creative Writing (INDIA). He is also one of the third named fellows of JCI University for the International Training Fellowship from SAARC countries.
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
June 4, 2009
Ten Common Hiring Mistakes Done by Managers
The Consistent Risks Inherent in All Hiring Decisions
To errors in hiring is human - and is considered to be very expensive. Many "standard" hiring procedures are actually common mistakes, so to choose more competent candidate, you need to be prepared to revise your hiring methods. Learn the consequences of the hiring errors managers often make, and then eliminate them from your hiring practices to help you choose only the cream of the crop. Most, if not all managers would agree that there are always risks when hiring new employees. These risks exist whether the new hire is a fresh-out-of-school Field sales rep. or a new chief executive officer.
Some concerns are rather low-level risk issues. "Does this candidate always dress like that?" Other questions are more qualitative. "Does this candidate's education and experience truly 'fit' the requirements of this open position?" Another important category is mostly subjective. "Does this candidate have the best personality and demeanor to provide positive 'chemistry' to the team on which he or she will work?" or to answer the biggest question, "does this candidate thinks and acts like the way we want him to do?". In most of the hiring decisions, the line Managers and the H.R tends to think if they can get the 'white elephant' out of the candidate that best suits their purpose.
Most of the hiring decisions are hardly based on a complete availability of information on the candidates and there is no much information available to carry out a full proof investigation on the candidature. Although it is argued that the real need of a 360 degree investigation is actually needed for an entry level or junior position and most of the senior hiring are through referrals and market knowledge but still their has been a dire need to re calculate the actual risk of hiring an wrong candidate at the senior management level than a junior management level. Hiring a wrong CEO can get the organization into doldrums of never ending problems or annihilate the corporation.
It is the most critical decision of a human resource professional, department head or a line manager to understand the sensitivity of a hiring decision. It is not expected that every time one makes the right hiring decision and every hire turns out to be a superstar in the organization, yet the damage can be controlled better if precautions have been proactively taken in every organization.
1. Too much of dependency on interview techniques to evaluate a candidate.
2. Managers sometimes use too many criteria for selection
3. The "I need someone right now" or the Emergency syndrome.
4. The "I hired this person because I got a great referral from her sister, father, or close friend who works for our organization" or the Neighbor syndrome.
5. The "I hired this person because they said they liked to do the work I hate to do" or the Action Leader syndrome.
6. The "I must hire this candidate because he/she is just like me" or the 'Halo Effect'.
7. Evaluating "Personality" instead of the required Job Skills.
8. Lend an ear to the candidate. Hear him loud and test his emotional intelligence.
9. Failure to have a sales mentality and obvious enthusiasm about your organization when speaking with a candidate.
10. And finally, hiring a candidate who is a good "job" fit, but not a team or organization match.
Recruiting and hiring the best candidates for your organization is a challenging responsibility. One or more of these hiring errors are often made by even the most experienced HR professionals unknowingly. Avoiding these mistakes is not really difficult and can make a measurable positive improvement in your organization operations. The personal "star rating" of HR professionals, who avoid these errors, may also rise noticeably.
Hiring is both an art and science and its root is embedded in the field of behavioral and social sciences. Hiring is an on going process and is considered to be a pivotal and strategic part of the H.R function in an organization. Although the list of common hiring mistakes is exhaustive and several studies have been conducted in this regard. The risks will always exist, but being aware of them should greatly improve your managerial scorecard and the ability to recruit the right talent. With the discovery of hiring mistakes comes the opportunity to make positive change. Even if you are content with most of the people you have hired so far, remember that continuous improvement is key to success. (An article by Mayuk S Dasgupta)
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
To errors in hiring is human - and is considered to be very expensive. Many "standard" hiring procedures are actually common mistakes, so to choose more competent candidate, you need to be prepared to revise your hiring methods. Learn the consequences of the hiring errors managers often make, and then eliminate them from your hiring practices to help you choose only the cream of the crop. Most, if not all managers would agree that there are always risks when hiring new employees. These risks exist whether the new hire is a fresh-out-of-school Field sales rep. or a new chief executive officer.
Some concerns are rather low-level risk issues. "Does this candidate always dress like that?" Other questions are more qualitative. "Does this candidate's education and experience truly 'fit' the requirements of this open position?" Another important category is mostly subjective. "Does this candidate have the best personality and demeanor to provide positive 'chemistry' to the team on which he or she will work?" or to answer the biggest question, "does this candidate thinks and acts like the way we want him to do?". In most of the hiring decisions, the line Managers and the H.R tends to think if they can get the 'white elephant' out of the candidate that best suits their purpose.
Most of the hiring decisions are hardly based on a complete availability of information on the candidates and there is no much information available to carry out a full proof investigation on the candidature. Although it is argued that the real need of a 360 degree investigation is actually needed for an entry level or junior position and most of the senior hiring are through referrals and market knowledge but still their has been a dire need to re calculate the actual risk of hiring an wrong candidate at the senior management level than a junior management level. Hiring a wrong CEO can get the organization into doldrums of never ending problems or annihilate the corporation.
It is the most critical decision of a human resource professional, department head or a line manager to understand the sensitivity of a hiring decision. It is not expected that every time one makes the right hiring decision and every hire turns out to be a superstar in the organization, yet the damage can be controlled better if precautions have been proactively taken in every organization.
1. Too much of dependency on interview techniques to evaluate a candidate.
2. Managers sometimes use too many criteria for selection
3. The "I need someone right now" or the Emergency syndrome.
4. The "I hired this person because I got a great referral from her sister, father, or close friend who works for our organization" or the Neighbor syndrome.
5. The "I hired this person because they said they liked to do the work I hate to do" or the Action Leader syndrome.
6. The "I must hire this candidate because he/she is just like me" or the 'Halo Effect'.
7. Evaluating "Personality" instead of the required Job Skills.
8. Lend an ear to the candidate. Hear him loud and test his emotional intelligence.
9. Failure to have a sales mentality and obvious enthusiasm about your organization when speaking with a candidate.
10. And finally, hiring a candidate who is a good "job" fit, but not a team or organization match.
Recruiting and hiring the best candidates for your organization is a challenging responsibility. One or more of these hiring errors are often made by even the most experienced HR professionals unknowingly. Avoiding these mistakes is not really difficult and can make a measurable positive improvement in your organization operations. The personal "star rating" of HR professionals, who avoid these errors, may also rise noticeably.
Hiring is both an art and science and its root is embedded in the field of behavioral and social sciences. Hiring is an on going process and is considered to be a pivotal and strategic part of the H.R function in an organization. Although the list of common hiring mistakes is exhaustive and several studies have been conducted in this regard. The risks will always exist, but being aware of them should greatly improve your managerial scorecard and the ability to recruit the right talent. With the discovery of hiring mistakes comes the opportunity to make positive change. Even if you are content with most of the people you have hired so far, remember that continuous improvement is key to success. (An article by Mayuk S Dasgupta)
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
April 14, 2009
Maintaining A Good Organizational Culture
The word used to describe all the employees in terms of their background, strengths, weaknesses, education, psychology, attitudes, beliefs, values, and experiences in life is organizational culture.
Other management experts assert that this term has a different meaning from corporate culture, which refers to the characteristics in total, that make an enterprise unique.
It represents the internal ethical standards and also the kind of leadership role such a company has.
Seniors can implement it in form of standards of behavior aligned with the overall organizational goals and impose them on the subordinates.
Maintaining a good organization culture or environment for your employees is very important as it is to the external publics.
Employees contribute a lot to this almost as chief executive managers do through their role in leadership and their actions.
Many companies include this in their recruitment strategy to only make sure that their potential candidates expected to fill the vacant positions can culturally fit in their organizations.
It is not easy to ascertain if a particular candidate can match the organizational culture but in a way or two, recruiters know when they have found the right person for the job.
Whether a company culture is strong or weak starts from within and more specifically from what the employees and other internal groups gossip about it.
The employees are well motivated to operate as per the set standard when they feel that a strong and positive organizational culture exists.
When it is weak, they may respond aggressively to instigate action from the top management and at the same time tarnish the organizational image to the external public.
At times the internal public may not assertively push for alternative actions even when there is an apparent need to alter management thinking.
This could be because the organization climate is in such a way that parties should not be involved in any actions or talks that would bring conflicts or when there is a key compelling person whose thinking can never be challenged.
When the internal publics lack confidence with the organizational culture, even the external ones will in one way or another behave similarly.
When bad news are shared with the outsiders, and spread far and wide, the overall performance of such a company is negatively affected, if the society, being the key source of resources is not satisfied.
The human resources wishing to be part of it now and in the future may change their minds for it then would not guarantee working with nice people, a kind atmosphere, reasonable reviews and so on.
Carrying out an evaluation of the current organization culture is something that managers should do.
The results of the assessment may be positive and encouraging or simply disappointing.
All they need to acknowledge is that they could never start creating a strong culture without first seeking to understand that they have a problem to solve.
If every new employee who becomes a part of a given organization were to be allowed to interact, act or think as they please, the end results would be a division not a union.
This is why seniors come up with company sets of standards of behavior to guide the subordinates, but the problems come in when they do it on their own.
Involving the subordinates in such decisions to bring about the radical or minor adjustments in the current organizational culture is the way forward.
Article by Esteri Maina
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Other management experts assert that this term has a different meaning from corporate culture, which refers to the characteristics in total, that make an enterprise unique.
It represents the internal ethical standards and also the kind of leadership role such a company has.
Seniors can implement it in form of standards of behavior aligned with the overall organizational goals and impose them on the subordinates.
Maintaining a good organization culture or environment for your employees is very important as it is to the external publics.
Employees contribute a lot to this almost as chief executive managers do through their role in leadership and their actions.
Many companies include this in their recruitment strategy to only make sure that their potential candidates expected to fill the vacant positions can culturally fit in their organizations.
It is not easy to ascertain if a particular candidate can match the organizational culture but in a way or two, recruiters know when they have found the right person for the job.
Whether a company culture is strong or weak starts from within and more specifically from what the employees and other internal groups gossip about it.
The employees are well motivated to operate as per the set standard when they feel that a strong and positive organizational culture exists.
When it is weak, they may respond aggressively to instigate action from the top management and at the same time tarnish the organizational image to the external public.
At times the internal public may not assertively push for alternative actions even when there is an apparent need to alter management thinking.
This could be because the organization climate is in such a way that parties should not be involved in any actions or talks that would bring conflicts or when there is a key compelling person whose thinking can never be challenged.
When the internal publics lack confidence with the organizational culture, even the external ones will in one way or another behave similarly.
When bad news are shared with the outsiders, and spread far and wide, the overall performance of such a company is negatively affected, if the society, being the key source of resources is not satisfied.
The human resources wishing to be part of it now and in the future may change their minds for it then would not guarantee working with nice people, a kind atmosphere, reasonable reviews and so on.
Carrying out an evaluation of the current organization culture is something that managers should do.
The results of the assessment may be positive and encouraging or simply disappointing.
All they need to acknowledge is that they could never start creating a strong culture without first seeking to understand that they have a problem to solve.
If every new employee who becomes a part of a given organization were to be allowed to interact, act or think as they please, the end results would be a division not a union.
This is why seniors come up with company sets of standards of behavior to guide the subordinates, but the problems come in when they do it on their own.
Involving the subordinates in such decisions to bring about the radical or minor adjustments in the current organizational culture is the way forward.
Article by Esteri Maina
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April 3, 2009
Your Workplace and Anti-Harassment Training
A major area for litigation that continues to grow on both the federal and state fronts is that of Harassment and Discrimination. Under federal law, Title VII prohibits workplace harassment and discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, sex stereotyping. In California, the state legislature has adopted Title VII and expanded on the protections afforded under anti-harassment/discrimination laws to include protections based on religious creed, color, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status, and perceived sexual orientation.
Federal law requires employers in the U.S. respond immediately to claims of sexual harassment and provide assurances that work environments are free from harassment. The EEOC has established minimum standards and guidelines which states should adopt in order to adhere to anti-harassment laws. The EEOC Enforcement Guidance provides that employers should ensure that supervisors and managers receive periodic training so they fully understand their responsibilities under anti-harassment laws and harassment/discrimination complaint procedures.
Many states, prompted by the federal government, have passed training mandates across a broad spectrum of topics for employers. A prime example is California’s AB 1825 otherwise known as California’s Sexual Harassment Prevention Training law. California employers are subject to the following requirements if they have 50 or more employees.
Two Hours of Training Every Two Years. Must be provided to each supervisory employee, every two years.
New Hires and Promotions. New supervisory employees must be trained within six months of their assumption of a supervisory position, and then every two years.
High Quality Training Required. The training mandated must be of a high quality, conducted via "classroom or other effective interactive training" and must include the following topics: Information and practical guidance regarding federal and state statutory laws about sexual harassment. Information about the correction of sexual harassment and the remedies available to victims of sexual harassment. Practical examples aimed at instructing supervisors in the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.
Failure to Comply Opens the Door to Harassment Lawsuits. A claim that an employer failed to provide AB 1825-mandated sexual harassment training does not automatically result in the liability of an employer for harassment. Plaintiffs will argue, however, that the failure to meet the training mandate is evidence of an employer's failure to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.
Workplace professionals argue that the training required under AB 1825 must extend beyond sexual harassment and to other forms of prohibited harassment, discrimination and retaliation. Thus the well-rounded sexual harassment training will include, at the minimum, discussions of "how harassment of an employee can cover more than one basis.”
Federal law requires employers in the U.S. respond immediately to claims of sexual harassment and provide assurances that work environments are free from harassment. The EEOC has established minimum standards and guidelines which states should adopt in order to adhere to anti-harassment laws. The EEOC Enforcement Guidance provides that employers should ensure that supervisors and managers receive periodic training so they fully understand their responsibilities under anti-harassment laws and harassment/discrimination complaint procedures.
Many states, prompted by the federal government, have passed training mandates across a broad spectrum of topics for employers. A prime example is California’s AB 1825 otherwise known as California’s Sexual Harassment Prevention Training law. California employers are subject to the following requirements if they have 50 or more employees.
Two Hours of Training Every Two Years. Must be provided to each supervisory employee, every two years.
New Hires and Promotions. New supervisory employees must be trained within six months of their assumption of a supervisory position, and then every two years.
High Quality Training Required. The training mandated must be of a high quality, conducted via "classroom or other effective interactive training" and must include the following topics: Information and practical guidance regarding federal and state statutory laws about sexual harassment. Information about the correction of sexual harassment and the remedies available to victims of sexual harassment. Practical examples aimed at instructing supervisors in the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.
Failure to Comply Opens the Door to Harassment Lawsuits. A claim that an employer failed to provide AB 1825-mandated sexual harassment training does not automatically result in the liability of an employer for harassment. Plaintiffs will argue, however, that the failure to meet the training mandate is evidence of an employer's failure to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.
Workplace professionals argue that the training required under AB 1825 must extend beyond sexual harassment and to other forms of prohibited harassment, discrimination and retaliation. Thus the well-rounded sexual harassment training will include, at the minimum, discussions of "how harassment of an employee can cover more than one basis.”
an article by Michele O'Donnell
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If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
March 3, 2009
Downsizing as a Staff Management Technique
Downsizing is a method used by the personnel managers to reduce the labor force to a manageable number and thus cutting the overall costs of the organization.
It is not something that should be done hastily because the manager proposing it did it successfully in a different firm.
Becoming unmindful of the fact that such a strategy will be involving people squarely risking to be put on the exit line is unwise.
Human resources who should be valued company assets would not sit back and do nothing if their stay at the organization is being violated without a proper cause.
The personnel officer suggesting the downsizing strategy must start by presenting it to the managing director and other senior managers to get a go ahead if he sounds convincing and fair.
Resistance to change however, may surprisingly start at this meeting if some of those in big positions feel they would be shown the door as well, if the strategy implementation pushed through.
If the threat is felt from the above, you can be assure that this personnel manager would now be treated like a threat to the organization normal operations.
Sooner than later, these managers will influence even the small ranked worker to refuse to give in to the proposed downsizing strategy following strikes planned via involvement in grapevines.
And since one of the steps of deciding which worker should be declared redundant is carrying out thorough job analysis and specifications, no one would be willing to cooperate if they feel downsizing proposal is unethical.
More organizational politics on this kind of personnel officer are likely to bring his career in to an abrupt end while he thought it would have been fair for other employees to be victims.
Employees’ grievances are heard in industrial courts where their rights are protected from being violated unjustly and such efforts to retrench them may be ended immediately.
A downsizing strategy works best where the company in question is in financial trouble, because personnel managers can sell their cost cutting ideas to then desperate directors.
Also ahead of implementing such a strategy, it would be very important to consider your understanding of the organizational culture, structure, and weaknesses.
One must be capable of demonstrating how lay off of some workers can bring substantial savings on wages without risking productivity, quality and profitability.
As mentioned earlier, keeping the welfare of your staff in mind when drafting the new structure after downsizing is very imperative because a lot in their lives is to be impacted negatively by such a sudden move.
And how do you do this? Allowing them to speak up their minds after listening to your proposal without interrupting them is the way forward.
Becoming authoritative would only make things worse and before you realize it, you have gained a good share of enemies across the organization.
Use of proper communication channel that is suitable for each individual worker is the right way of conveying the new changes.
While this is happening, a lot of disagreements will arise from those whose retrenchment efforts are likely to hit badly, and it is then up to the proposing agent to make clarifications.
Workers would obviously reject downsizing strategy because they would fear loosing their only source of livelihood, but at times organizational managers lack other ways of mitigating the costs!
Source: Article Base by Esteri Maina
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
It is not something that should be done hastily because the manager proposing it did it successfully in a different firm.
Becoming unmindful of the fact that such a strategy will be involving people squarely risking to be put on the exit line is unwise.
Human resources who should be valued company assets would not sit back and do nothing if their stay at the organization is being violated without a proper cause.
The personnel officer suggesting the downsizing strategy must start by presenting it to the managing director and other senior managers to get a go ahead if he sounds convincing and fair.
Resistance to change however, may surprisingly start at this meeting if some of those in big positions feel they would be shown the door as well, if the strategy implementation pushed through.
If the threat is felt from the above, you can be assure that this personnel manager would now be treated like a threat to the organization normal operations.
Sooner than later, these managers will influence even the small ranked worker to refuse to give in to the proposed downsizing strategy following strikes planned via involvement in grapevines.
And since one of the steps of deciding which worker should be declared redundant is carrying out thorough job analysis and specifications, no one would be willing to cooperate if they feel downsizing proposal is unethical.
More organizational politics on this kind of personnel officer are likely to bring his career in to an abrupt end while he thought it would have been fair for other employees to be victims.
Employees’ grievances are heard in industrial courts where their rights are protected from being violated unjustly and such efforts to retrench them may be ended immediately.
A downsizing strategy works best where the company in question is in financial trouble, because personnel managers can sell their cost cutting ideas to then desperate directors.
Also ahead of implementing such a strategy, it would be very important to consider your understanding of the organizational culture, structure, and weaknesses.
One must be capable of demonstrating how lay off of some workers can bring substantial savings on wages without risking productivity, quality and profitability.
As mentioned earlier, keeping the welfare of your staff in mind when drafting the new structure after downsizing is very imperative because a lot in their lives is to be impacted negatively by such a sudden move.
And how do you do this? Allowing them to speak up their minds after listening to your proposal without interrupting them is the way forward.
Becoming authoritative would only make things worse and before you realize it, you have gained a good share of enemies across the organization.
Use of proper communication channel that is suitable for each individual worker is the right way of conveying the new changes.
While this is happening, a lot of disagreements will arise from those whose retrenchment efforts are likely to hit badly, and it is then up to the proposing agent to make clarifications.
Workers would obviously reject downsizing strategy because they would fear loosing their only source of livelihood, but at times organizational managers lack other ways of mitigating the costs!
Source: Article Base by Esteri Maina
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
February 11, 2009
Improve Productivity in an Uncertain Economy
CURRENT ECONOMIC FACTORS ARE INCREASING STRESS.
You may have noticed that the United States economy is somewhat unsure of itself these days. Consumer prices are rising, stock markets are fluctuating, and the rate of unemployment has increased. As illustrated in a recent study by Wayne Hochwarter of Florida State University's College of Business, these economic stressors are directly impacting the workplace environment. "People concerned with the effects of gas prices were significantly less attentive on the job, less excited about going to work, less passionate and conscientious and more tense," Hochwarter says in a statement.
STRESS DECREASES PRODUCTIVITY AND HURTS THE BOTTOM LINE.
The American Institute of Stress estimates that U.S. businesses lose up to $300 billion per year (or $7,500 per employee) due to stress related issues including compensation claims, reduced productivity, absenteeism, medical expenses, and employee turnover. The Bureau of National Affairs suggests that forty percent of job turnover is due to stress.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Here are a few suggestions on ways to reduce workplace stress.
Make it clear to your employees that you have a plan and they are part of it. Having a comprehensive strategic plan in place that is accessible to all employees does wonders for relieving anxiety in the workplace. Employees are much more productive when they know what they are working toward and are not anxious about the future of their job or their company.
Celebrate your successes! Too often, particularly in times of high stress, companies forget to celebrate their successes or affirm the work of employees. A little celebration and affirmation can go a long way toward future productivity.
Let your employees know that you are sensitive to the pressures that they are facing and their need to relieve stress. Many companies might be tempted to cut "stress-relief" activities during periods of economic uncertainty. It is important to recognize that now is the time when these exercises are needed most.
Focus on Communication. According to a survey by the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, three of the top four workplace stressors relate to poor communication. Reduce stress by making an effort to improve channels for regular communication, implementing informal performance reviews, and offering positive feedback and constructive criticism.***
An article by Phil Kiracofe, The Director and Chief Innovation Officer of Gooseworks Consulting. Gooseworks has facilitated team development with organizations throughout the United States and abroad.
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
You may have noticed that the United States economy is somewhat unsure of itself these days. Consumer prices are rising, stock markets are fluctuating, and the rate of unemployment has increased. As illustrated in a recent study by Wayne Hochwarter of Florida State University's College of Business, these economic stressors are directly impacting the workplace environment. "People concerned with the effects of gas prices were significantly less attentive on the job, less excited about going to work, less passionate and conscientious and more tense," Hochwarter says in a statement.
STRESS DECREASES PRODUCTIVITY AND HURTS THE BOTTOM LINE.
The American Institute of Stress estimates that U.S. businesses lose up to $300 billion per year (or $7,500 per employee) due to stress related issues including compensation claims, reduced productivity, absenteeism, medical expenses, and employee turnover. The Bureau of National Affairs suggests that forty percent of job turnover is due to stress.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Here are a few suggestions on ways to reduce workplace stress.
Make it clear to your employees that you have a plan and they are part of it. Having a comprehensive strategic plan in place that is accessible to all employees does wonders for relieving anxiety in the workplace. Employees are much more productive when they know what they are working toward and are not anxious about the future of their job or their company.
Celebrate your successes! Too often, particularly in times of high stress, companies forget to celebrate their successes or affirm the work of employees. A little celebration and affirmation can go a long way toward future productivity.
Let your employees know that you are sensitive to the pressures that they are facing and their need to relieve stress. Many companies might be tempted to cut "stress-relief" activities during periods of economic uncertainty. It is important to recognize that now is the time when these exercises are needed most.
Focus on Communication. According to a survey by the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, three of the top four workplace stressors relate to poor communication. Reduce stress by making an effort to improve channels for regular communication, implementing informal performance reviews, and offering positive feedback and constructive criticism.***
An article by Phil Kiracofe, The Director and Chief Innovation Officer of Gooseworks Consulting. Gooseworks has facilitated team development with organizations throughout the United States and abroad.
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
January 25, 2009
Managing Hr in Recession
The recession is about the creative Human Resources Management. The HRM Function is asked to bring new ideas, to change the HRM Processes and to develop or change the procedures. And this effort has to be cheap or it has to cut the costs of the organization. The HRM Innovation is easy in times of the business growth, but the recession is not good for big innovative HRM Initiatives.
The HR Management has to focus on unpopular innovations during the recession as the role of HR during the recession is to save money to the organization. The senior management expects all the support functions to bring innovative ideas and solutions which will lead to stronger organization, when the next growth era comes.
The point has to be focused by HR management during recession are as follows:
-To optimize the manpower strength.
-To take strategic initiatives to increase the productivity and efficiency of the entire organization.
-To work on compensation benefits.
-Redesign training and development programs.
On the other hand the HR Management has to find some innovative solutions during the recession like,
-To identify the real key employees and to intact them in the organization
-To identify the real top potentials and to strengthen their development program
The HR Management has to have priorities in mind and the strategic impact of the HRM Innovations in the recession time. The role of the HR Management is not to minimize the costs for the time being, but to make the organization stronger and ready for the future growth.
How to intact your employee during recession?
Here is how to keep your employees with you and away from your competitors during tough economic times.
-Differentiate Between Your Good and Average Employees
-Redirect Your Employees to Other Departments (Job Rotation)
-Listen To Your Employees
-Keep Them Motivated and Busy (Communicate-Communicate and Communicate)
-Show them the long term vision
The above steps will enable the employer to hold its team together during a recession, and will even make bond between all of you stronger. Employees should be motivated enough to stick to the employer during tough times and put in the extra effort required for the organization growth.***
Source: hr-horizons
The HR Management has to focus on unpopular innovations during the recession as the role of HR during the recession is to save money to the organization. The senior management expects all the support functions to bring innovative ideas and solutions which will lead to stronger organization, when the next growth era comes.
The point has to be focused by HR management during recession are as follows:
-To optimize the manpower strength.
-To take strategic initiatives to increase the productivity and efficiency of the entire organization.
-To work on compensation benefits.
-Redesign training and development programs.
On the other hand the HR Management has to find some innovative solutions during the recession like,
-To identify the real key employees and to intact them in the organization
-To identify the real top potentials and to strengthen their development program
The HR Management has to have priorities in mind and the strategic impact of the HRM Innovations in the recession time. The role of the HR Management is not to minimize the costs for the time being, but to make the organization stronger and ready for the future growth.
How to intact your employee during recession?
Here is how to keep your employees with you and away from your competitors during tough economic times.
-Differentiate Between Your Good and Average Employees
-Redirect Your Employees to Other Departments (Job Rotation)
-Listen To Your Employees
-Keep Them Motivated and Busy (Communicate-Communicate and Communicate)
-Show them the long term vision
The above steps will enable the employer to hold its team together during a recession, and will even make bond between all of you stronger. Employees should be motivated enough to stick to the employer during tough times and put in the extra effort required for the organization growth.***
Source: hr-horizons
December 30, 2008
Top 10 New Year's Resolutions for Business Success
The end of the year is a good time to reflect on your business's progress over the past year and plan how you want your business to develop. Do you want increased success or the chance to enjoy the success you've achieved more? These top 10 New Year's resolutions are designed to help you strike a better work-life balance, so you can achieve a truly satisfying success in the New Year.
1) Learn how to delegate and do more of it.
There are so many things to do when you're running a small business, it's easy to delude ourselves that we need to do all of them. Then we wonder why we're so tired and frazzled and have no time to do anything else! Determine Your Personal Return on Investment, and decide to let someone else do some of the tasks for a change. Delegation is the key to a healthy work-life balance.
2) Promote your business regularly and consistently.
Too often the task of promoting a small business slips to the bottom of the to-do list in the press of urgent tasks. If you want to attract new customers, you have to make promotion a priority. Make a New Year's resolution to hire a marketing expert, or take the time to create a marketing plan on your own and follow through. Try some of these Low-Cost Ways to Promote Your Business to get started.
3) Make business planning a weekly event.
Planning is vital if you want a healthy, growing business. Business planning lets you take stock of what worked and what didn't work, and helps you set new directions or adjust old goals. So why do it just once a year or once a quarter? Set aside time each week to review, adjust, and look forward - or even better, make business planning a part of each day. Not only will this help you avoid costly mistakes and stay on track, but you'll feel more focused and relaxed.
4) Learn something new.
What you choose to learn may be directly related to your business (as are the four free ecourses I offer on this website) or completely unrelated. Learning something new will add to your skills and add a new dimension of interest to your life - another important part of achieving a healthy work-life balance. Depending on how you choose to learn, you may meet new and interesting people, who may become customers, colleagues, or friends. How will you find the time to learn something new? By delegating, remember?
5) Join a new business organization or networking group.
There's nothing like talking to other business people for sparking new ideas, refining old ones, and making contacts. Whether it's a group specifically designed for networking or an organization dedicated to a particular type of business, in person or over the 'Net, making the effort to be a part of a group will revitalize you and your business.
6) Give something back to your community.
There are all kinds of worthy organizations that make a difference in your community. Make a New Year's resolution to find a cause that matters to you, and give what you can. Make this the year that you serve on a committee, be a mentor, volunteer, or make regular donations to the groups in your community that try to make the place you live a better place. And those that give get. As I say in Top 10 Ways to Get Known, nothing will seed and grow goodwill for you and your business better.
7) Put time for you on your calendar.
In Schedule Time for You, I point out how important it is to take the time to recharge and refresh yourself; a healthy work-life balance demands time out. All work and no play is a recipe for mental and physical disaster. So if you have trouble freeing up time to do the things you enjoy, write time regularly into your schedule to "meet with yourself" and stick to that commitment. If you won't invest in yourself, who will?
8) Set realistic goals.
Goal setting is a valuable habit - if the goals lead to success rather than distress. Make a New Year's resolution that the goals you set will be goals that are achievable, rather than unrealistic pipe dreams that are so far out of reach they only lead to frustration. If you have trouble setting realistic goals, see Goal Setting Is the First Step to Achievement for a formula to help.
9) Don't make do; get a new one.
Is there a piece of equipment in your office that's interfering with your success or something that you lack that's making your working life harder? Whether it's an old fax machine that's a pain to use, or the need for a new employee to lighten your work load, make a New Year's resolution to stop putting off getting what you need. The irritation of making do just isn't worth it. You'll find information on both office equipment and business software in the Running Your Office section of this site.
10) Drop what's not working for you and move on.
All products aren't going to be super sellers, all sales methods aren't going to work for everyone, and all suppliers or contractors aren't going to be ideally suited to your business. If a technique or a product or a business relationship isn't working for you, stop using it. Don't invest a lot of energy into trying to make the unworkable workable. Move on. Something better will turn up.
Achieving a healthy work-life balance is like maintaining a good relationship; you have to keep working on it. But if you apply these New Year's resolutions throughout the year, your success is guaranteed!
Happy New Year for Everyone...
An article by Susan Ward at About.com
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
1) Learn how to delegate and do more of it.
There are so many things to do when you're running a small business, it's easy to delude ourselves that we need to do all of them. Then we wonder why we're so tired and frazzled and have no time to do anything else! Determine Your Personal Return on Investment, and decide to let someone else do some of the tasks for a change. Delegation is the key to a healthy work-life balance.
2) Promote your business regularly and consistently.
Too often the task of promoting a small business slips to the bottom of the to-do list in the press of urgent tasks. If you want to attract new customers, you have to make promotion a priority. Make a New Year's resolution to hire a marketing expert, or take the time to create a marketing plan on your own and follow through. Try some of these Low-Cost Ways to Promote Your Business to get started.
3) Make business planning a weekly event.
Planning is vital if you want a healthy, growing business. Business planning lets you take stock of what worked and what didn't work, and helps you set new directions or adjust old goals. So why do it just once a year or once a quarter? Set aside time each week to review, adjust, and look forward - or even better, make business planning a part of each day. Not only will this help you avoid costly mistakes and stay on track, but you'll feel more focused and relaxed.
4) Learn something new.
What you choose to learn may be directly related to your business (as are the four free ecourses I offer on this website) or completely unrelated. Learning something new will add to your skills and add a new dimension of interest to your life - another important part of achieving a healthy work-life balance. Depending on how you choose to learn, you may meet new and interesting people, who may become customers, colleagues, or friends. How will you find the time to learn something new? By delegating, remember?
5) Join a new business organization or networking group.
There's nothing like talking to other business people for sparking new ideas, refining old ones, and making contacts. Whether it's a group specifically designed for networking or an organization dedicated to a particular type of business, in person or over the 'Net, making the effort to be a part of a group will revitalize you and your business.
6) Give something back to your community.
There are all kinds of worthy organizations that make a difference in your community. Make a New Year's resolution to find a cause that matters to you, and give what you can. Make this the year that you serve on a committee, be a mentor, volunteer, or make regular donations to the groups in your community that try to make the place you live a better place. And those that give get. As I say in Top 10 Ways to Get Known, nothing will seed and grow goodwill for you and your business better.
7) Put time for you on your calendar.
In Schedule Time for You, I point out how important it is to take the time to recharge and refresh yourself; a healthy work-life balance demands time out. All work and no play is a recipe for mental and physical disaster. So if you have trouble freeing up time to do the things you enjoy, write time regularly into your schedule to "meet with yourself" and stick to that commitment. If you won't invest in yourself, who will?
8) Set realistic goals.
Goal setting is a valuable habit - if the goals lead to success rather than distress. Make a New Year's resolution that the goals you set will be goals that are achievable, rather than unrealistic pipe dreams that are so far out of reach they only lead to frustration. If you have trouble setting realistic goals, see Goal Setting Is the First Step to Achievement for a formula to help.
9) Don't make do; get a new one.
Is there a piece of equipment in your office that's interfering with your success or something that you lack that's making your working life harder? Whether it's an old fax machine that's a pain to use, or the need for a new employee to lighten your work load, make a New Year's resolution to stop putting off getting what you need. The irritation of making do just isn't worth it. You'll find information on both office equipment and business software in the Running Your Office section of this site.
10) Drop what's not working for you and move on.
All products aren't going to be super sellers, all sales methods aren't going to work for everyone, and all suppliers or contractors aren't going to be ideally suited to your business. If a technique or a product or a business relationship isn't working for you, stop using it. Don't invest a lot of energy into trying to make the unworkable workable. Move on. Something better will turn up.
Achieving a healthy work-life balance is like maintaining a good relationship; you have to keep working on it. But if you apply these New Year's resolutions throughout the year, your success is guaranteed!
Happy New Year for Everyone...
An article by Susan Ward at About.com
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
December 24, 2008
Investing in HR Software VS Maintaining a Manual System
If your company is small, you haven’t really needed to worry about maintaining a manual HR system. However, if you are starting to grow and the projections for your organization are to grow exponentially in the next three years. This would be a good time to invest in an HR software program before you are too overwhelmed with paperwork and messy files.
There are many benefits for investing in an HR software program. These include:
1• Reduced time spent in tracking down and filing paperwork. This includes being able to quickly find time-off accrual balances, benefit information, or performance evaluations for current employees and to answer job verification calls regarding former employees.
2• An organized system for keeping your data with an automatic backup system to ensure your data is not lost. The backup system of your employee personnel files should be kept as part of your disaster planning efforts.
3• Managers can be more effective by contributing and updating information directly to their department’s employees’ personnel files, which reduces the amount of time spent keeping the information up-to-date and current. Managers should be able to go into the HR system to add entries for vacation time used and performance evaluations.
4• The system can be set up for reminders of I-9 forms due dates, benefit eligibility, certification expiration dates, next performance evaluation dates, and more.
When you start looking at HR software, it is best to look long-term. Determine how the program can benefit your organization not only now, but in the future when your staff is larger and you have less time to devote to a manual system.
The time spent tracking down paperwork and filing it will increase as the number of employees increase. Additionally, your managers will have less time to devote to managing employees if your recordkeeping system is still manual and cumbersome. You must ask yourself “Do I want to spend a couple of weeks evaluating and implementing HR software now? Or, years wishing I had?”
HR software can be easy and affordable. Download a free trial version of Staff Files HR software here and try it...
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
There are many benefits for investing in an HR software program. These include:
1• Reduced time spent in tracking down and filing paperwork. This includes being able to quickly find time-off accrual balances, benefit information, or performance evaluations for current employees and to answer job verification calls regarding former employees.
2• An organized system for keeping your data with an automatic backup system to ensure your data is not lost. The backup system of your employee personnel files should be kept as part of your disaster planning efforts.
3• Managers can be more effective by contributing and updating information directly to their department’s employees’ personnel files, which reduces the amount of time spent keeping the information up-to-date and current. Managers should be able to go into the HR system to add entries for vacation time used and performance evaluations.
4• The system can be set up for reminders of I-9 forms due dates, benefit eligibility, certification expiration dates, next performance evaluation dates, and more.
When you start looking at HR software, it is best to look long-term. Determine how the program can benefit your organization not only now, but in the future when your staff is larger and you have less time to devote to a manual system.
The time spent tracking down paperwork and filing it will increase as the number of employees increase. Additionally, your managers will have less time to devote to managing employees if your recordkeeping system is still manual and cumbersome. You must ask yourself “Do I want to spend a couple of weeks evaluating and implementing HR software now? Or, years wishing I had?”
HR software can be easy and affordable. Download a free trial version of Staff Files HR software here and try it...
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December 20, 2008
Some Great Tips to Retaining Talent in Your Firm
Its great to hire an employee who is talented, professional, intelligent and willing to go the extra mile to get the job done. However, retaining such an employee in a world where talented people can be literally snatched from your firm by the bigger fish or by competitors is a true challenge.
Here are some tips to help you retain your talent pool:
Competitive Salary Package
You may not be able to match the deep pockets of a larger company but you should still make an earnest effort to keep your staff salaries reasonably competitive. Generally speaking salary is not always the only reason why a person will switch a job. However, this is only true when the salary is more or less reasonably competitive. Although conditions may vary across geographic regions and industries you can make rough estimates.
Appreciating by Differentiating
Wonderful people need to be treated wonderfully. Simple and plain. Make sure that your best employee gets the best salary package in your firm even if that person is younger/less experienced. While there may be resistance from a lot of quarters questioning your judgment, remember that its business. Businesses get most benefit from their best staff and everyone in the staff should be amply clear about what will get them the best bucks at your place. A letter of appreciation as the best employee for the year will surely help as will a bonus based on performance.
Job assignments
Try to give the best and most challenging job assignments to your best staff member. This will help to fulfill their desire for more growth by helping them polish their old skills and learn new ones. Moreover, it will help them to see that they have a future at your place and that your firm is not stangant.
Perks
Try to see if you can afford some small perks for your staff. Ofcourse, this may not be possible given the size of your firm and your financial standing. Younger companies are generally struggling in their first couple of years to get out of the red and start earning profits. However, if you can afford to do it then don't hesitate to hand over some perks based on the competency of the staff.
It great if one can do all of the above but remember that its easy to lose focus of the whole situation. Focusing on the best of your talent is just one piece of the puzzle and it should not make you forget about the remaining of the rest of the staff.***
Source: Amazines
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Here are some tips to help you retain your talent pool:
Competitive Salary Package
You may not be able to match the deep pockets of a larger company but you should still make an earnest effort to keep your staff salaries reasonably competitive. Generally speaking salary is not always the only reason why a person will switch a job. However, this is only true when the salary is more or less reasonably competitive. Although conditions may vary across geographic regions and industries you can make rough estimates.
Appreciating by Differentiating
Wonderful people need to be treated wonderfully. Simple and plain. Make sure that your best employee gets the best salary package in your firm even if that person is younger/less experienced. While there may be resistance from a lot of quarters questioning your judgment, remember that its business. Businesses get most benefit from their best staff and everyone in the staff should be amply clear about what will get them the best bucks at your place. A letter of appreciation as the best employee for the year will surely help as will a bonus based on performance.
Job assignments
Try to give the best and most challenging job assignments to your best staff member. This will help to fulfill their desire for more growth by helping them polish their old skills and learn new ones. Moreover, it will help them to see that they have a future at your place and that your firm is not stangant.
Perks
Try to see if you can afford some small perks for your staff. Ofcourse, this may not be possible given the size of your firm and your financial standing. Younger companies are generally struggling in their first couple of years to get out of the red and start earning profits. However, if you can afford to do it then don't hesitate to hand over some perks based on the competency of the staff.
It great if one can do all of the above but remember that its easy to lose focus of the whole situation. Focusing on the best of your talent is just one piece of the puzzle and it should not make you forget about the remaining of the rest of the staff.***
Source: Amazines
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December 12, 2008
Developing a Strategic HR Plan
What is a strategic HR plan?
A Strategic HR Plan enables organisations to align resources to corporate strategy. It provides information on how the HR function will support the goals and strategies of the organisation and ensure that HR planning and practices are consistent across the organisation. It outlines how the gaps between future and present capability will be addressed.
Why is a strategic HR plan important?
In all public sector organisations, managers have a responsibility to fulfil expectations in the areas of corporate governance, transparency of policies, accountability and economic efficiency. To achieve these responsibilities you need to be sure that you have the right people, with the right skills, in the right place, at the right time to carry out the strategy. A comprehensive strategic HR plan will ensure that you have:the capacity to deliver on strategy; a succession planning process that is strategically linked; identified and minimised capability risks; HR practices are consistent across the organisation; skill development and training policies and practices are linked to strategy; are able to monitor progress towards goals.
How does the strategic HR plan link to the strategic business plan?
The strategic HR plan supports and is aligned to the corporate mission, vision, values and strategies. It is an essential planning document. It is important that the strategic HR plan is developed only after a clear direction is established and understood. It is important that you avoid the situation where the strategic HR plan drives strategy.
What process do we use?
Decide where your organisation is now in the lifecycle of an enterprise: the start-up stage, the growth stage, the mature stage or the decline stage (Lewin 1998). Then formulate a clear picture of your future and look for ways of getting there. The HR Management Portfolio includes:
The model you use should therefore begin with the future:
Identify future HR needs
Using the strategic plan as a guiding document, identify the future HR needs of the organisation.
You need to ask questions like:What is the nature of our work?, What type of culture will support productivity?, What skills do we need to deliver results?, Where are those skills and how are we tapping into them?, How large is our organisation?, What systems and processes do we need?, How are we making sure peoples’ skills match our needs?, What risks are associated with this future?
Consider present HR capability
You need to ask questions like: With the future in mind, what is our current capability?, How are we doing against benchmarks?, What are our strengths and weaknesses?, Are there legislative requirements we need to consider?, What are we doing well now, that we need to do more of in the future?, Where do the risks lie?, What HR issues may prevent us from getting to the future we have agreed on?, What current systems will support or hinder our progress?
Identify gaps between present capability and future needs
Compare the future needs with the current capability and identify any significant gaps that appear. These can be in a number of areas including policies and procedures, capability, resource allocation.
The questions to ask are: Where are significant gaps between present and future?, and How can they be classified?
Formulate gap strategies
The next stage is about identifying strategies that will address the gaps you have identified.
These strategies will affect: job/work design; selection/staffing; performance management; compensation/rewards; training/development; employee relations; safety and health; work force diversity.
Not all gaps will be of the same strategic importance, so you will need to set some priorities for dealing with them. For example you may find an urgent need to update your HR information system so it provides you with information that is essential for tracking progress. While this may not appear strategic, you need this to be able to identify progress.
The questions to ask are: What are the top priorities?; Where can we get some rapid progress?; How do these strategies fit with budgets?; What is the degree of change needed?
The last step is to develop the level of detail that will give you measurable goals and milestones.
What information do we need before we start?
You will need plenty of data to do this job thoroughly. Take the time to gather as much relevant information as possible. There are a variety of sources including: The strategic business plan; An analysis of future work trends; The existing HR plan; Environmental data –information about the current HR situation in the wider public sector and future trends in the sector; An audit of existing HR policies and practices – what are your strengths and weaknesses in this area; Current information on competencies across the organisation; Policies and processes related to training and development; Present risk factors; Any customer or stakeholder data on the HR performance of the organisation.
Who should be involved?
You need to strike a balance between too much input and too little. Think about the individuals inside and outside your organisation who have a strategic focus and are well informed. It is useful to get outside facilitation, either from within the organisation or from a consultant. This will allow the HR team to contribute to the process.
How do we monitor the plan?
Once the plan has been developed to a degree of detail that measures end goals and milestones, it is relatively easy to monitor progress. However you should review the plan on an annual basis at the very least to check the progress and equally importantly to check the assumptions on which the plan was based. In the MMP environment there may be changes that you have not anticipated.
Getting buy-in to the plan is important. The senior team and those involved in the HR function throughout the organisation, which increasingly is all managers, need to understand and support the plan. Their input is important during the implementation and monitoring phase.
HR strategic planning is as essential as financial planning in ensuring that the organisation achieves its goals. The HR strategic plan informs and supports policies which align and grow the skills of the people. In this sense is needs to be treated as a living document.***
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
A Strategic HR Plan enables organisations to align resources to corporate strategy. It provides information on how the HR function will support the goals and strategies of the organisation and ensure that HR planning and practices are consistent across the organisation. It outlines how the gaps between future and present capability will be addressed.
Why is a strategic HR plan important?
In all public sector organisations, managers have a responsibility to fulfil expectations in the areas of corporate governance, transparency of policies, accountability and economic efficiency. To achieve these responsibilities you need to be sure that you have the right people, with the right skills, in the right place, at the right time to carry out the strategy. A comprehensive strategic HR plan will ensure that you have:the capacity to deliver on strategy; a succession planning process that is strategically linked; identified and minimised capability risks; HR practices are consistent across the organisation; skill development and training policies and practices are linked to strategy; are able to monitor progress towards goals.
How does the strategic HR plan link to the strategic business plan?
The strategic HR plan supports and is aligned to the corporate mission, vision, values and strategies. It is an essential planning document. It is important that the strategic HR plan is developed only after a clear direction is established and understood. It is important that you avoid the situation where the strategic HR plan drives strategy.
What process do we use?
Decide where your organisation is now in the lifecycle of an enterprise: the start-up stage, the growth stage, the mature stage or the decline stage (Lewin 1998). Then formulate a clear picture of your future and look for ways of getting there. The HR Management Portfolio includes:
The model you use should therefore begin with the future:
Identify future HR needs
Using the strategic plan as a guiding document, identify the future HR needs of the organisation.
You need to ask questions like:What is the nature of our work?, What type of culture will support productivity?, What skills do we need to deliver results?, Where are those skills and how are we tapping into them?, How large is our organisation?, What systems and processes do we need?, How are we making sure peoples’ skills match our needs?, What risks are associated with this future?
Consider present HR capability
You need to ask questions like: With the future in mind, what is our current capability?, How are we doing against benchmarks?, What are our strengths and weaknesses?, Are there legislative requirements we need to consider?, What are we doing well now, that we need to do more of in the future?, Where do the risks lie?, What HR issues may prevent us from getting to the future we have agreed on?, What current systems will support or hinder our progress?
Identify gaps between present capability and future needs
Compare the future needs with the current capability and identify any significant gaps that appear. These can be in a number of areas including policies and procedures, capability, resource allocation.
The questions to ask are: Where are significant gaps between present and future?, and How can they be classified?
Formulate gap strategies
The next stage is about identifying strategies that will address the gaps you have identified.
These strategies will affect: job/work design; selection/staffing; performance management; compensation/rewards; training/development; employee relations; safety and health; work force diversity.
Not all gaps will be of the same strategic importance, so you will need to set some priorities for dealing with them. For example you may find an urgent need to update your HR information system so it provides you with information that is essential for tracking progress. While this may not appear strategic, you need this to be able to identify progress.
The questions to ask are: What are the top priorities?; Where can we get some rapid progress?; How do these strategies fit with budgets?; What is the degree of change needed?
The last step is to develop the level of detail that will give you measurable goals and milestones.
What information do we need before we start?
You will need plenty of data to do this job thoroughly. Take the time to gather as much relevant information as possible. There are a variety of sources including: The strategic business plan; An analysis of future work trends; The existing HR plan; Environmental data –information about the current HR situation in the wider public sector and future trends in the sector; An audit of existing HR policies and practices – what are your strengths and weaknesses in this area; Current information on competencies across the organisation; Policies and processes related to training and development; Present risk factors; Any customer or stakeholder data on the HR performance of the organisation.
Who should be involved?
You need to strike a balance between too much input and too little. Think about the individuals inside and outside your organisation who have a strategic focus and are well informed. It is useful to get outside facilitation, either from within the organisation or from a consultant. This will allow the HR team to contribute to the process.
How do we monitor the plan?
Once the plan has been developed to a degree of detail that measures end goals and milestones, it is relatively easy to monitor progress. However you should review the plan on an annual basis at the very least to check the progress and equally importantly to check the assumptions on which the plan was based. In the MMP environment there may be changes that you have not anticipated.
Getting buy-in to the plan is important. The senior team and those involved in the HR function throughout the organisation, which increasingly is all managers, need to understand and support the plan. Their input is important during the implementation and monitoring phase.
HR strategic planning is as essential as financial planning in ensuring that the organisation achieves its goals. The HR strategic plan informs and supports policies which align and grow the skills of the people. In this sense is needs to be treated as a living document.***
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
December 1, 2008
Leverage Upper Management Perspective To Survive Tough Times
By John Reiling
In times of crisis, such as the current worldwide recession , the role that project or program managers perform is critical. The dramatic changes in the economic situation has led to quite a few people losing jobs as companies cut costs or restructure their organization. Many projects and programs have been canceled due to severe crisis. How can project and program managers cope with this crisis?
Coping With Crisis
This dilemma might shake up the stability of many organizations. However, before any attempt to try and save the company must be done, first you need to identify what within the organization will be most effected by the crisis.. Since this problem revolves at the core around the issues of credit crunch, project and program managers must carefully assess what in their projects and programs are most affected by credit issues.
A common mistake that company leaders make is going back to the old methods since it has been tried and tested. This is most especially true during this transitionary stage that would spell the fate of the company for the future. However, it is during this stage for the organization that project managers must assert their leadership by establishing steps backed by wise strategies to move the company forward.
Embodying the Upper Management Perspective
Clearly stating what the company goals are will enable us to implement proper management to employees. It is the task of project managers to help keep the company intact during recession. Here are top priorities for project or program managers during times of economic crisis.
Cutting Costs
This does not simply entail taking removing manpower or canceling projects. Determining how to cut costs is difficult. Therefore, careful assessment of the overall organizational scheme and the project itself will enable a detrmination to be made about what would be actually beneficial to the company or not. It is reasonable to cut costs to retain the company's stability, and usually there are more cuts that can be made than initially thought, as people usually look at things from the paradigm of what is, rather than what is absolutely necessary.
Open Communication
Communication is a delicate yet integral component for an organization to be effective, especially in a crisis. Therefore, a project or program manager needs to openly and transparently communicate potential plans or problems with the team. If possible, team members must be consulted for ideas on anything that concerns the company. More importantly, they need to know and adopt a strong commitment to the organization despite troubled times, and from the project or program manager must intern make commitments, where possible, to them.
Proper Compensation Plan
This is a critical aspect that every organization needs to study closely during times of recession. Following a serious economic meltdown, companies need to formulate a compensation plan that will encourage its staff to maximize their performance, but now under diffferent circumstances. With dramatic changes in the economic situation of the company, this is also the time wherein you need your personnel to aspire for better productivity. With changed conditions, bojectives change, and compensation plans need to be motivating toward clear and achievable goals within the changed environment.
Assuming An Opportunistic View
During recession, most project and managers are so consumed with fixing troubles that they fail to see opportunities when they arise. Since this is a critical time for the company, it is important to also keep eyes wide open for possibilities that could greatly benefit the company in the long run. A few aspects of the business might be suffering, but that the silver lining is that there may be some organization-enhancing opportunities lurking.
Embracing A New Outlook
Looking at current projects with a discerning eye instead of dwelling on past decisions will enable the company to move forward. One needs to assess where the projects stand to achieve a better perspective on what must be done to get a step closer to the goal of survival. Envisioning objectives - both survival and perhaps enhancement - enables the ability to garner the proper means and methods to get there. Moreover, this will create a new disposition and possibilities. After all, recession is just a phase, and once the credit crunch issues have been straightened out, managing the company will fall into place, and a much more exciting set of challenges will emerge.
Act On Plans
Project or program managers need to understand that during recession, one needs to be more sensitive to the rapid changes in the business environment. Proper retrospect and sensitivity to these changes is the key to adapting quickly. Leveraging the upper management perspective by thinking outside the box of the project or program is a tough but bey step. It will outline the proper steps that must be taken for your company to thrive during tough times.**
Coping With Crisis
This dilemma might shake up the stability of many organizations. However, before any attempt to try and save the company must be done, first you need to identify what within the organization will be most effected by the crisis.. Since this problem revolves at the core around the issues of credit crunch, project and program managers must carefully assess what in their projects and programs are most affected by credit issues.
A common mistake that company leaders make is going back to the old methods since it has been tried and tested. This is most especially true during this transitionary stage that would spell the fate of the company for the future. However, it is during this stage for the organization that project managers must assert their leadership by establishing steps backed by wise strategies to move the company forward.
Embodying the Upper Management Perspective
Clearly stating what the company goals are will enable us to implement proper management to employees. It is the task of project managers to help keep the company intact during recession. Here are top priorities for project or program managers during times of economic crisis.
Cutting Costs
This does not simply entail taking removing manpower or canceling projects. Determining how to cut costs is difficult. Therefore, careful assessment of the overall organizational scheme and the project itself will enable a detrmination to be made about what would be actually beneficial to the company or not. It is reasonable to cut costs to retain the company's stability, and usually there are more cuts that can be made than initially thought, as people usually look at things from the paradigm of what is, rather than what is absolutely necessary.
Open Communication
Communication is a delicate yet integral component for an organization to be effective, especially in a crisis. Therefore, a project or program manager needs to openly and transparently communicate potential plans or problems with the team. If possible, team members must be consulted for ideas on anything that concerns the company. More importantly, they need to know and adopt a strong commitment to the organization despite troubled times, and from the project or program manager must intern make commitments, where possible, to them.
Proper Compensation Plan
This is a critical aspect that every organization needs to study closely during times of recession. Following a serious economic meltdown, companies need to formulate a compensation plan that will encourage its staff to maximize their performance, but now under diffferent circumstances. With dramatic changes in the economic situation of the company, this is also the time wherein you need your personnel to aspire for better productivity. With changed conditions, bojectives change, and compensation plans need to be motivating toward clear and achievable goals within the changed environment.
Assuming An Opportunistic View
During recession, most project and managers are so consumed with fixing troubles that they fail to see opportunities when they arise. Since this is a critical time for the company, it is important to also keep eyes wide open for possibilities that could greatly benefit the company in the long run. A few aspects of the business might be suffering, but that the silver lining is that there may be some organization-enhancing opportunities lurking.
Embracing A New Outlook
Looking at current projects with a discerning eye instead of dwelling on past decisions will enable the company to move forward. One needs to assess where the projects stand to achieve a better perspective on what must be done to get a step closer to the goal of survival. Envisioning objectives - both survival and perhaps enhancement - enables the ability to garner the proper means and methods to get there. Moreover, this will create a new disposition and possibilities. After all, recession is just a phase, and once the credit crunch issues have been straightened out, managing the company will fall into place, and a much more exciting set of challenges will emerge.
Act On Plans
Project or program managers need to understand that during recession, one needs to be more sensitive to the rapid changes in the business environment. Proper retrospect and sensitivity to these changes is the key to adapting quickly. Leveraging the upper management perspective by thinking outside the box of the project or program is a tough but bey step. It will outline the proper steps that must be taken for your company to thrive during tough times.**
About the author:
John Reiling, PMP, PE, MBA is an experienced Project Manager and certified Project Management Professional. John's web site, Project Management Training Online provides online project management training for PMP exam prep and PDUs.
November 16, 2008
Employee Time Management | Techniques and Tricks
This article is to discuss how to implement and adopt a good employee time management techniques and tricks so as to increase the business owner productivity and sales turnover. Read on.
If you like the articles from this blog subscribe to RSS Feed or via email
Being a business owner, you want your employees to do the best they can with their on-the-job performance. Setting up a plan of action or a set of goals with time management at work can be a real benefit to the work environment.
Work performance, when good, will bring in more profits. Your team will get more done in the process of your incorporation time management at work. All employees should work at managing their time more wisely. Setting the scene to do so will improve the quality of your business.
This should help you to share the problems you face in your business operations. This will help you to open up some of your own time. The problem is, you are sitting there looking over information about your profits and you become concerned.
How to see more value for your employees?
You want to see more value for the money that you are paying your employee(s). If you've ever had such a thought, then it is time to start worker time management programs.
You can't assume that this is something they already know. It's a goal setting strategy that you have to incorporate in their work schedules.
How to help your workers?
One helpful way for your employees to learn about employee time management by going through a training course.
Set aside one night for a mandatory meeting and either you or a person who knows about time management can teach them how to effectively use their time. Through the course of the discussion, the employee can bring up things about the business they feel is a time waster.
You can then correct this problem for them, allowing them to free up some of their time to be more productive.
Once the problems are fixed that interfere with good time management, it is time to set up a schedule. You or all the employees can talk about how much time they realistically need for a project.
This will help you to do your scheduling better. This will take more of the load off them, and will also show you if you need more than one employee!
This will be based on the amount of projects you have, and the amount of time it takes to complete a project you give. One thing you have to remember is you can't change the amount of time in a day.
How to implement your worker time management techniques and tricks?
You need to be organized when you are dealing with time management. Setting up projects at the same time every day will help gear your employee up for good program. Once your business starts using the program, things will run more smoothly.
You will also see more profits coming into the business with the good program. The most important factor in all of this is being realistic with you expectations and with the goals you set for your employees.
So long as everyone is honest about the timing for a project, the program will work for you. It will show you how well the performance in the business is flowing.
Good employee time management is essential, as long as you implement it gradually and allow your employees to experience the benefits instead of thrusting it on them.
As a business owner, you may now know how to implement a good employee time management techniques and tricks, however, all talking and no actions does not really bring your business to greater heights.
Take action now is the most right thing to do if you want you goals realized.
Without an effective and proper time management system, there will not be much goal-oriented lifestyle to hope for.
Work performance, when good, will bring in more profits. Your team will get more done in the process of your incorporation time management at work. All employees should work at managing their time more wisely. Setting the scene to do so will improve the quality of your business.
This should help you to share the problems you face in your business operations. This will help you to open up some of your own time. The problem is, you are sitting there looking over information about your profits and you become concerned.
How to see more value for your employees?
You want to see more value for the money that you are paying your employee(s). If you've ever had such a thought, then it is time to start worker time management programs.
You can't assume that this is something they already know. It's a goal setting strategy that you have to incorporate in their work schedules.
How to help your workers?
One helpful way for your employees to learn about employee time management by going through a training course.
Set aside one night for a mandatory meeting and either you or a person who knows about time management can teach them how to effectively use their time. Through the course of the discussion, the employee can bring up things about the business they feel is a time waster.
You can then correct this problem for them, allowing them to free up some of their time to be more productive.
Once the problems are fixed that interfere with good time management, it is time to set up a schedule. You or all the employees can talk about how much time they realistically need for a project.
This will help you to do your scheduling better. This will take more of the load off them, and will also show you if you need more than one employee!
This will be based on the amount of projects you have, and the amount of time it takes to complete a project you give. One thing you have to remember is you can't change the amount of time in a day.
How to implement your worker time management techniques and tricks?
You need to be organized when you are dealing with time management. Setting up projects at the same time every day will help gear your employee up for good program. Once your business starts using the program, things will run more smoothly.
You will also see more profits coming into the business with the good program. The most important factor in all of this is being realistic with you expectations and with the goals you set for your employees.
So long as everyone is honest about the timing for a project, the program will work for you. It will show you how well the performance in the business is flowing.
Good employee time management is essential, as long as you implement it gradually and allow your employees to experience the benefits instead of thrusting it on them.
As a business owner, you may now know how to implement a good employee time management techniques and tricks, however, all talking and no actions does not really bring your business to greater heights.
Take action now is the most right thing to do if you want you goals realized.
Without an effective and proper time management system, there will not be much goal-oriented lifestyle to hope for.
November 6, 2008
Got All the Right People in Their Right Seats on Your Bus?
By Andrea Feinberg
In his book "Good to Great" author Jim Collins uses a bus and its riders as an analogy for finding employees who add value to their employer with a magic blend of skills, experience and temperament.
That last piece, temperament, is tough. Ever meet a prospective employee who included their core beliefs, personal attitudes and behavioral style on their resume or in their interview remarks? Are you thinking those things won't matter if they've got exactly the skills and experience you're looking for?
A phrase I've heard with respect to recruitment-gone-wrong is that we 'hire for hard skills and fire for soft skills'. It means that the person read really well on paper, gave a great interview and then just 'didn't fit in'. Another common personnel flaw is giving an employee a reward by promoting her/him beyond their level of ability - often by placing them in a role supervising people instead of product or process - and letting them sink or swim, without life preserver.
The cost for these mistakes can be huge; think of the cost and lost time spent finding the wrong person for the job, the lost productivity with the not-ready-for-prime-time new manager, the missed opportunities with the not-quite-right person on board, the reduced morale resulting from the poor supervision, the disappointment of not meeting expectations and not being guided to meaningful rewards - for the poorly placed employee and for the frustrated employer.
There is a better way. Deceptively simple and hugely on target, validated assessments provide insight into values and behaviors and give employers huge opportunities to expand the effectiveness of this most expensive asset - their people. Validated assessments provide employees with self knowledge that will guide them to easier sources of success. And it's all achieved without any sense of judgment - just opportunity.
A means to save time and money, an opportunity to identify underused skills, an assist when training new supervisors or managers and critical when recruiting new employees or putting a team in place, validated assessments are indispensable tools to get it done with the productivity and opportunities you want.
In a world of shrinking job applicants and, at least currently, a poor economic climate, having focused, talented and motivated employees is a huge asset. Using assessments will maximize the likelihood that happens and minimize the risk of making poor hiring and assignment decisions.
Is any of that meaningful for you?
About the author: Andrea Feinberg, is a business executive coach. She helps small business owners make more money by day and sleep better at night by maximizing the untapped potential they have in their business right now. For more information and a sample Assessment Report, please visit CochingInsight.Com Source: Ezine Article Image Credit : Amazon.Com |
October 20, 2008
McCain vs Obama on HR Issues
John McCain
John McCain is calling for National Commission on Workplace Flexibility and Choice. This Commission would bring together a bi-partisan set of leaders representing workers, small and large employers, labor, and academics. The Commission would make recommendations to the President on how modernizing our nation’s labor laws and training programs can help workers better balance the demands of their job with family life and to enable workers to more easily transition between jobs.
The Commission would examine the following issues that John McCain believes are important to workplace flexibility and choice:
- Modernizing the nation’s labor laws so that they allow for more flexible scheduling arrangements
- Ensuring that the nation’s labor laws don’t get in the way of working at home
- Promoting telework so that workers can spend less time commuting
- Making health more portable so that workers don’t lose their benefits when they switch jobs
- Ensuring that workers can choose retirement plans that best suit their needs
- Providing workers with more choice in job training assistance so that they can build the skills they need for new and better jobs
Barack Obama
Obama will strengthen the ability of workers to organize unions. He will fight for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Obama will ensure that his labor appointees support workers' rights and will work to ban the permanent replacement of striking workers. Obama will also increase the minimum wage and index it to inflation to ensure it rises every year.
- Ensure Freedom to Unionize: Obama believes that workers should have the freedom to choose whether to join a union without harassment or intimidation from their employers. Obama cosponsored and is strong advocate for the Employee Free Choice Act, a bipartisan effort to assure that workers can exercise their right to organize. He will continue to fight for EFCA's passage and sign it into law.
- Fight Attacks on Workers' Right to Organize: Obama has fought the Bush National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) efforts to strip workers of their right to organize. He is a cosponsor of legislation to overturn the NLRB's "
- Protect Striking Workers: Obama supports the right of workers to bargain collectively and strike if necessary. He will work to ban the permanent replacement of striking workers, so workers can stand up for themselves without worrying about losing their livelihoods.
- Raise the Minimum Wage: Barack Obama will raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation and increase the Earned Income Tax Credit to make sure that full-time workers earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs.
- Create New Job Training Programs for Clean Technologies: The Obama plan will increase funding for federal workforce training programs and direct these programs to incorporate green technologies training, such as advanced manufacturing and weatherization training, into their efforts to help Americans find and retain stable, high-paying jobs. Obama will also create an energy-focused youth jobs program to invest in disconnected and disadvantaged youth.
- Improve Transition Assistance: To help all workers adapt to a rapidly changing economy, Obama would update the existing system of Trade Adjustment Assistance by extending it to service industries, creating flexible education accounts to help workers retrain, and providing retraining assistance for workers in sectors of the economy vulnerable to dislocation before they lose their jobs.
- End Tax Breaks for Companies that Send Jobs Overseas: Barack Obama believes that companies should not get billions of dollars in tax deductions for moving their operations overseas. Obama will also fight to ensure that public contracts are awarded to companies that are committed to American workers.
- Reward Companies that Support American Workers: Barack Obama introduced the Patriot Employer Act of 2007 with Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to reward companies that create good jobs with good benefits for American workers. The legislation would provide a tax credit to companies that maintain or increase the number of full-time workers in
- Expand the Family and Medical Leave Act: The FMLA covers only certain employees of employers with 50 or more employees. Obama will expand it to cover businesses with 25 or more employees. He will expand the FMLA to cover more purposes as well, including allowing workers to take leave for elder care needs; allowing parents up to 24 hours of leave each year to participate in their children's academic activities; and expanding FMLA to cover leave for employees to address domestic violence.
- Encourage States to Adopt Paid Leave: As president, Obama will initiate a strategy to encourage all 50 states to adopt paid-leave systems. Obama will provide a $1.5 billion fund to assist states with start-up costs and to help states offset the costs for employees and employers.
- Expand
- Expand the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit: The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit provides too little relief to families that struggle to afford child care expenses. Obama will reform the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit by making it refundable and allowing low-income families to receive up to a 50 percent credit for their child care expenses.
- Protect Against Caregiver Discrimination: Workers with family obligations often are discriminated against in the workplace. Obama will enforce the recently-enacted Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines on caregiver discrimination.
- Expand Flexible Work Arrangements: Obama will create a program to inform businesses about the benefits of flexible work schedules; help businesses create flexible work opportunities; and increase federal incentives for telecommuting. Obama will also make the federal government a model employer in terms of adopting flexible work schedules and permitting employees to request flexible arrangements.
October 17, 2008
Managing Human Capital for Long-Term Success
The past couple of years have seen a downturn in the economy coupled with uncertainties arising from downsizing and sudden acquisitions and mergers. Corporate India has been enjoying the benefits of a buyers market with good talent not moving as frequently as before, and the focus on retention of star performers has been diluted.
Interestingly, recent Hay Group's global research shows that one in three new searches now leave within two years of joining - an increase of 25% from five years ago.
Given this information, and the fact that a potential upturn in the economy is anticipated, companies wishing to cash in on the next cycle of opportunity, should shift their focus from rightsizing to retention.
In today’s evolving world, with competition getting stiffer and survival becoming a daily challenge, more and more companies agree that their employees are the only source of lasting differentiation in the marketplace. Several surveys and research have proven without a doubt that a competent professional can have a direct impact on the company’s bottom line. This makes the practice of human capital management more important to accomplishing business results than ever before.
If you view a member of your management team as crucial to your success - so will your competition, who will then have even more incentive to try to lure that executive away. These star players are the cornerstones of an organization and companies are increasingly realizing the need to hold on to these valuable employees who would otherwise be easy targets for competitors. A study by a leading multinational HR consulting firm indicated that the loss of a star performer could cost an organization up to 18 months of his/her salary.
Today the one-shot bonus over the holidays isn’t enough to motivate productivity, particularly with the Generation X and Y workforces. The MTV generation of employees is used to receiving feedback from a computer game every 60 seconds. There has been a paradigm shift in what employees want from a career.
In a competitive talent market, companies that help stressed employees balance work and life are the ones that retain key talent. Giving employees a sense of control over their own time can achieve this. Some companies have introduced ambitious work/life program, ranging from concierge services and fitness centers to child care subsidies and discounted ticket sales.
While top manager’s want:
- Full Appreciation for Work Done
- Feeling "In" on Things
- Sympathetic Help on Personal Problems
- Tactful Disciplining
By and large the old adage still holds true…. Pay people fairly, but treat them great!
While there are several techniques, and whether these include stimulating work, the stretching of abilities, making people feel as an important part of a grand venture, the rapport with co-workers or the recognition from superiors, it is clear that companies with a long term vision must develop strong retention techniques.
In fact, it is the quality of the work itself, and of the relationships with others at work that makes the difference.
Interestingly, recent Hay Group's global research shows that one in three new searches now leave within two years of joining - an increase of 25% from five years ago.
Given this information, and the fact that a potential upturn in the economy is anticipated, companies wishing to cash in on the next cycle of opportunity, should shift their focus from rightsizing to retention.
In today’s evolving world, with competition getting stiffer and survival becoming a daily challenge, more and more companies agree that their employees are the only source of lasting differentiation in the marketplace. Several surveys and research have proven without a doubt that a competent professional can have a direct impact on the company’s bottom line. This makes the practice of human capital management more important to accomplishing business results than ever before.
If you view a member of your management team as crucial to your success - so will your competition, who will then have even more incentive to try to lure that executive away. These star players are the cornerstones of an organization and companies are increasingly realizing the need to hold on to these valuable employees who would otherwise be easy targets for competitors. A study by a leading multinational HR consulting firm indicated that the loss of a star performer could cost an organization up to 18 months of his/her salary.
Today the one-shot bonus over the holidays isn’t enough to motivate productivity, particularly with the Generation X and Y workforces. The MTV generation of employees is used to receiving feedback from a computer game every 60 seconds. There has been a paradigm shift in what employees want from a career.
In a competitive talent market, companies that help stressed employees balance work and life are the ones that retain key talent. Giving employees a sense of control over their own time can achieve this. Some companies have introduced ambitious work/life program, ranging from concierge services and fitness centers to child care subsidies and discounted ticket sales.
While top manager’s want:
- Full Appreciation for Work Done
- Feeling "In" on Things
- Sympathetic Help on Personal Problems
- Tactful Disciplining
By and large the old adage still holds true…. Pay people fairly, but treat them great!
While there are several techniques, and whether these include stimulating work, the stretching of abilities, making people feel as an important part of a grand venture, the rapport with co-workers or the recognition from superiors, it is clear that companies with a long term vision must develop strong retention techniques.
In fact, it is the quality of the work itself, and of the relationships with others at work that makes the difference.
Source: Free Articles
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