HRM Business Practices and Notes

On Recruitment: SEO is NOT the Golden Ticket - SEO Demystified

2009-11-07T06:27:00.000-08:00

Although SEO seems to be the new buzz in recruiting web 2.0 strategies, it has actually been used for years as a tactic to increase sales for online businesses.

SEO and how it fits into the recruiting industry is greatly misunderstood.

SEO Is just a tool

At the end of the day, SEO is not the end all be all. It is one tool that can be very effective to have in your tool box. No doubt, if done correctly, search engine optimization can work wonders for getting your jobs seen by people using search engines but it goes beyond just a platform or technique that helps to get your jobs visible in Google. In fact, it’s really about optimizing your entire employment brand on the Internet.

SEO may not be for everyone

There's more than just keywords and a few meta tags that go into a successful SEO strategy, if you’re not willing to look at SEO as a long term investment, it might not be the best fit for you. Maybe something more instant like SEM (PPC) might be more what you’re after.

Go where your candidates are – If the jobs you have available are not what people are searching for within the search engines then maybe you don’t need to do a whole comprehensive strategy. Maybe you just run a basic SEO strategy that strengthens your employment brand.

Note: Keep in mind that 70% of search engine queries are unique, just because a keyword research tool like the Google Adwords tool says that a phrase was not searched does not necessarily mean that it won’t be in the future.

SEO Misconceptions

Can a service provider guarantee a first page ranking? No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google - Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a "special relationship" with Google, or advertise a "priority submit" to Google. See Google webmaster tools.

Using the .jobs domain extension will ensure search engine visibility. The .jobs domain in itself will not automatically help with your search engine visibility. Those who believe otherwise don’t fully understand the way a search engine treats newly-registered domains. Search engine trust is a very important factor in the visibility of your career site. A newly established domain -- .jobs or otherwise -- has not had time to build search engine trust.

Search engine trust includes a variety of factors including but not limited to: when was the domain registered, is there quality content on the domain, is content updated frequently, are there quality links pointing to the domain, etc. In reality, the .jobs domain has more of an employment brand benefit than SEO.

Search engines cannot access my content if using an ATS - It is true that most Applicant tracking systems put up technical barriers that prevent the search engines from being able to access their job content. But there is a work around: If you can get an RSS/XML feed of your jobs and upload the feed to search engines as well as place the feed on a page that search engines can access, your job content will be indexed.

This is not an SEO solution but it will allow content that was once hidden to be found. At the end of the day candidates use a variety of sources to look for jobs. Find out where your candidates are and advertise/be visible in those places, simple as that.
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This is a guest post by Nicole Bodem - Chief SEO Geek for Arbita and the blogger behind HR Search Marketing.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Finding Great Job Opportunities in Recession – Take Two

2009-10-12T21:19:00.000-07:00

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. ~Theodore Roosevelt

How many of us who can identify with what Roosevelt said? It pays to remember that he was the sitting President during the great depression, so that you can put that on the right perspective.

Inaction and Excuses: Barriers to Job Search Success

Unfavorable circumstances can easily derail us from our goals; we never try for fear of failure. It is easier for us somehow to blame the global financial pandemonium or other life’s tragedy, or make an excuse out of them to justify our inactivity.

I have seen many stifled by these kinds of fears and excuses. “No one will hire me, I am too old.” “I don’t have the right skills, the right education, the right experience or the right connections…” I can fill this entire post with a 10,000-word enumeration of these excuses for what? Nothing! Or perhaps just sow cynicism to those who read. I do not want that.

Excuses and fear of failures work like gangrene that eat out your motivation slowly until you realize later that you have none left.

Reality Check : Smaller Job Market

Finding job during a recession may be difficult because of the scarcity of jobs, and the increasing number of unemployed. In fact, the stats released by the Labor Bureau two weeks ago have caused the stock market to dip. While I agree with most economists that the economy is showing signs of bottoming-out, nevertheless the growing number of unemployed will continue to rise, as companies are not likely to hire in the coming months.

I know.

When the Asian economic flu hits us towards the end of the 90’s, many organizations, including mine, started streamlining. Employees who were retained were asked to multi-task. In fact, there was a time that I had to oversee 3 departments. When the economy rebounded, most companies who survived (or even did well during the downturn) were satisfied with their lean and mean workforce, thus they never bothered to hire additional people or rehire former (displaced) employees. As Weddle observed:

When things start to get better, there will be fewer jobs—not more or even the same number—as there were in the recession. Jobs aren’t being left open until things get better. They’re being destroyed. - A Job Market Filled With “Irrational Expectations”

Alright, 'nuf said.

I have laid down some facts or scenarios from an HR perspective. And yeah, you can include them in your list of excuses. Nevertheless, the fact remains, you are still jobless. Unless you get out of your comfort zone and inactivity, and free yourself from the grips of unending excuses, you will never get a job.

Focus and Determination: Essential to Job Search Success

The key is focus, and a dash of determination on your job search. Do not take a rejection from a potential employer as something personal, especially when you know you are most qualified for the job. It simply means that there is another organization out there who is more than willing to take you in. This is what I call 'finding the right fit.' It works both ways. Take heart. For more often, finding job is a numbers game. “The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find new cheese.” Spencer Johnson, wittingly puts it in his bestselling book, “Who moved my cheese?”

Note: I have posted a similar entry, although more on an action-oriented different perspective: Finding Great Job Opportunities in Recession; while here I want to encourage you - I hope I did! Good hunting!

Building a Competitive Organization through HRM Initiatives: A Macro Perspective

2009-08-06T21:02:00.000-07:00

An organization's ability to learn, and translate (that) learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage. ~Jack Welch

Jack Welch and the Basic Concept of Competitiveness

Jack Welch, former Chairman and CEO of General Electric, a.k.a. G.E., is probably one of the world’s most influential CEO in modern business management. When he speaks, other CEO's listen. Because he makes sense, and he has proven his management theories when he led G.E. to its unprecedented growth and profit. In fact, when he “left GE, the company had gone from a market value of $14 billion to one of more than $410 billion at the end of 2004, making it the most valuable and largest company in the world. (Wikipedia)”

Why take the pain to mention Welch here? Because in my mind, he taught us about the value of competitiveness in business. He cautioned businesses:

“If you don't have a competitive advantage, don't compete.”

True!

Role of HRM and Competitiveness Defined

In a very competitive market today, unchanging in spite of the economic downturn, a business that have not learned to adapt to changes and has no competitive advantage will be easily overrun by its competitions.

However, it is also true that keeping the business and its people or human resource (HR) competitive is not easy. Albeit, it is one of the most important roles of HR professionals.

Competitiveness, as meant in the sports circle, is the new ball game of doing business. Being competitive does not only mean being better or outclassing your competitors. Being competitive means being able to compete head on with any changes in the market. It is having a human resource that are willing to learn new ways of doing business and being able to use them, as Welch advised.

HRM (Human Resource Management) departments and professionals in businesses have to take on the mandate of building a competitive HR in their respective organizations. Business survival is not only dependent on how good your product and services are, how excellent is your customer service, and how efficient your business processes are but on how competitive your employees who carry out these performances. New technology, business strategies, complicated processes, and management systems are inutile without a competent human resource behind them.

Building a Competitive HR: HRM Creating Value within the Organization

HRM professionals or departments can create real value within their respective organizations when they focus on developing the competencies and positive values of their employees. These are but fundamentals in building a competitive human resource –there is more.

Competitive human performance, not machine and systems performance as some would suggest, is the core of business performance. When organizations are able to harness effectively the talent, energy, and motivation of their employees, they will have an ideal competitive business edge. The competencies of these people, when sharpened and harnessed to their full potential, will greatly enhance the overall value and competitiveness of the organization. Thus, there lies the real value contribution of the HRM professional –building the framework and environment for continuous competency development.

The Evolving Function of HRM in Businesses

2009-07-05T11:18:00.000-07:00

An excellent study made on HRM by Towers Perrin,concluded that:

“...human resources is being transformed from a specialized, stand-alone function to a broad corporate competency in which human resources and line managers build partnerships to gain competitive advantage and achieve overall business goals.” (Priorities for Competitive Advantage)

I must confess that I used to have a myopic view about the true definition of Human Resource Management (HRM) function. I thought then that training and development was just incidental in HRM roles and functions, where the real KRA’s (Key Result Areas) are recruitment, personnel records, salary and benefits administration, and labor relations. What I saw was a department labeled, at best, as a paper mill and, worse, as employees’ counseling clinic.

In fact, when there is no scheduled training or seminars to facilitate, one of my duties is to attend to various employees’ concerns and problems, including personal issues. I enjoyed the job though, but I was craving for more. More challenges. Strategic HRM roles that I think would make my department add value to the business in general.

That was then.

Now, I must say, I have a better grasp of what human resource management is. HRM business practice has evolved considerably over the years. As Perrin concluded, the HRM is no longer viewed as an independent department that caters only to the needs of the employees but as business strategic partner. With this, more and more HRM functions are now being shared, if not delegated entirely, with line managers and supervisors. This is was a welcome and advantageous development, not only for us HR practitioners but for the organization as a whole. With these shared responsibilities, the HRM have now become an integral and indispensable part of organizational change, business planning, and development of company’s competitiveness.

With this evolving HRM role and function, there are at least two important advantages that the organization will benefit there from, to wit:

Less administrative burden for the HRM department or professional.

Because some of the important HRM administrative roles, now become a function of line supervision and management. What used to be employees’ problems and issues being hurled to HRM, are now being handled effectively on the shop floor by the concerned unit heads. Grievances and employees’ conflicts are now being mediated and resolved immediately by these people. This should have been the case from the very beginning, in the first place. Who else can better understand and resolve these issues other than the people who have direct supervisions? The most important role of HRM now, in this case, is training these line supervisors and managers to be better at motivating employees for performance and effective dispenser of HRM interventions in their areas of responsibility.

More time for the HRM to focus on Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM).

This means, they can focus more on developing programs that will increase the organization’s competitiveness. The market is becoming more competitive each day, as technology advances at pace that we cannot almost cope. More so, way of doing business is always improving, if not changing. SHRM means devoting more time on addressing these competitive challenges and issues. This role is not easy, as it seems. This involves developing HRM plans and programs that integrate business policies, goals, and objectives to ensure that company is prepared and equipped to face the fiercest of its competitors while increasing its bottom line. It is a huge task. However, none in the organization is better fit to do this than the HRM.

New markets will emerge and new businesses will open. The HRM function will continue to evolve to adapt to these trends, and they will assert greater influence as to where businesses should be in the future.

Is your hiring process helping or harming the organization?

2009-06-16T01:56:00.000-07:00

Many a times when there is an issue with an employee, people blame it on the employee and do not realize that their hiring process could be the root cause.

It has been demonstrated by research, that even the best interview techniques; only provide a 50-60% (or lower) chance of hiring the right person for the job, or a person who will perform all required tasks according to the standards required.

Not hiring the right/best person can have a number of drawbacks, such as:

Poor employee performance
A disgruntled employee
Unsettling influence on other staff
Higher turnover
Wasteful expenditure (e.g. training an employee who will leave soon)
And finally, lower performance and profit for the organization.

The importance for companies to hire the right people for the right jobs and then retain them cannot be overstressed. This leads to happier and more productive employees and a high performance organization. In current times, it is even more important to have a proper process in place, to make sure you are hiring people who are right for job and your company.

Companies can enhance their recruitment by incorporating additional elements, such as structured and behavior based interviews, proper job and culture profiling, psychometrics, assessments centers and work sample exercises. The additional cost of implementing some of these methods will typically be small compared to the benefits from making better hiring decisions and having a company filled with the type of people you want.

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This is another guest post from Amit Puri, Managing Consultant at SandboxAdvisors.com. He has over 10 years of business, career services and HR related experience, with companies such as Bain & Co, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup. Sandbox Advisors is based in Singapore and provides career management and HR consulting services in Asia.

This article is courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

GIVE Potential Investors What they WANT

2009-05-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

If you are thinking of starting your own business and want to get funding from venture capitalists or angel investors, there are some important things to think about, to increase your chances of success.

Venture capitalists engage in pattern recognition. They listen to many business plans and pitches and see many successes and failures. Over time they develop an ability to recognise patterns that occur in successful ventures. What you need to do, is understand what patterns they typically look for and develop/position your business idea as a new instance of such patterns. Here is what you need to keep in mind and think about:

Quality of management: The management team is important because investors want to be assured that when things go wrong, the company will be able to cope properly. They will look for signs of integrity, adaptive capacity, passion/motivation, number/depth of contacts and relevant experience

Value proposition: Is your solution/service/product a vitamin or a pain pill i.e. is it a nice-to-have or does it solve a pressing need for your target customers? Look not only at the product offering but also at the buying experience and the usage life cycle. How can you add benefits and/or eliminate costly benefits with little value?

Target market attractiveness: The market segment that you are targetting should provide a large enough customer base and attractive margins

Opportunities for growth: Is there enough opportunity to reap the benefits of economies of scale and scope. In the end you need to provide a return of 3-4 times the investors initial outlay

Competitive advantage and barriers to entry: How long can you hold off competition and is there anything about your business that they will not be able to replicate

These are some of the key issues to consider when starting a new venture and seeking funding. Each of the points covered has many aspects that need to be dealt with and there is too much to cover through articles. However, I hope this provides you with some good food for thought and sets you off in the right direction.

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This is a guest post by Amit Puri. He is the Managing Consultant at Sandbox Advisors. He has over 10 years of business and HR related experience, with companies such as Bain & Co, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup. Sandbox Advisors is based in Singapore and provides career management and HR consulting services in Asia.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Link Building | Essential to Successful Website Building

2009-05-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

Among the popular misconceptions among novice or young online entrepreneurs is that once you have created a website for your products and services, coupled with on-page SEO (Search Engine Optimization), you are on your way to a successful online business. But this were not so.

An excellent product or service, a well-designed website and a SEO optimized webcopy are but necessary requisites. These are only the components of your website’s first level foundation. There is more.

Search engines, especially Google, are very dynamic, so much, so that their algorithms are sometimes too complicated to predict or analyze. They’re always changing. This is primarily to protect the integrity to their SERPs or Search Result Pages. Many black SEO practitioners out there are relentlessly looking for ways to go behind the current established algorithm. Thus, from time to time you will notice diluted SERPs in your queries.

There is a consensus among SEO practitioners, both legit and black hat, that link popularity still plays a huge part for ranking high in search engines’ results. However, not just links or reciprocal links in some cases, but links coming from relevant sites. Moreover, appropriate anchor texts are also being given a high importance by search engine spiders.

The question now is, would link building services can still provide you these quality and relevant backlinks you need for your site to rank higher in SERP? Yes. Definitely. I think there is no contention on that.

However though, for novice and young entrepreneurs, these could be costly. Hence, when I am asked what is the best way to get these relevant incoming links, I would always proffer the conventional way doing it, by commenting on other blogs and writing quality contents that are link-worthy.

Does Corporate Culture Contribute to Performance?

2009-05-12T04:35:00.000-07:00

Synopsis

This article explores connections between corporate cultures and corporate performance in various industries. First, it provides a brief background on the notion of "culture"; second, it sets out a brief typology of corporate culture. Third, it examines various corporate cultural types in relation to industry performance; and finally, some conclusions are drawn on the importance to corporate survival of organizational and cultural adaptation to competitive environments.

Introduction and Context

An expert on cross-cultural management, Geert Hofstede (1984, p.21) defines culture as "the collective programming of the mind, which distinguishes one human group from another ... Culture in this sense includes systems of values, and values are among the building blocks of culture." A few years later, his notion of culture broadened into "mental programming ... patterns of thinking and feeling, and potential acting" (Hofstede, 1991, p.4). Sociologists (Namenworth & Weber, 1987, p.8) see culture as a "system of ideas that constitute a design for living." For our purposes here, culture is viewed as a system of values, norms, and ideas, shared by a group of people, that when taken together provide a design for thinking, living and potential acting.

There are, however, many types of cultures, including national, country or regional (Hofstede, 1984, 1991; Schneider & Barsoux, 1997; Terpstra & David, 1991); global electronic (Targowski, 1990); ethnic; gender; generational; business, professional; occupational; and organizational, or corporate (Bloor & Dawson, 1994). While this paper draws from the international management literature, which has long acknowledged the importance of national cultural characteristics as determinants of management behavior (Farmer & Richmond, 1965; Schneider, 1988), it serves only to position the notion of corporate culture within a broader context. Read full article here by TheFreeLibrary.com

How do you explain getting fired to your next potential employer?

2009-04-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

If you were not fired due to misconduct or other wrong-doing, the first thing to keep in mind is that many employers will not mention that you have been fired in your termination letter. The separation is viewed and projected as a ‘mutual agreement to part ways.’ Employers realise that they are putting you through tough times and don’t want to make it any harder than it is. They also want to protect their reputation in the market and do not want former employees spreading a bad word, if it can be avoided.

Do make sure you speak with your former employer, to ensure that everyone concerned is clear about what reason for separation will be on record. In such cases, you should not have a problem explaining why you left the company to potential employers – you just decided to part ways.

In the event that you cannot avoid your former employer mentioning that you were fired, here are some suggestions to keep in mind:

Be honest. While you can easily avoid the drama and details, it is important to be honest about why you left your employer. A simple – “They were cutting costs and had to let go of employees” will do.

Avoid mentioning that your were fired in your application
It is not important or relevant to mention it as this stage. Save it for the interviews.

Obtain references from managers, co-workers and others you interacted/worked with
Even if you mention that you were fired due to cost cutting, the first thing that your potential employer will thing is – “Was he/she part of the retrenchment due to low performance?” To overcome this, it is useful to get recommendation letters from people you worked with at your former employer(s).

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This is a guest post by Amit Puri is the Managing Consultant at Sandbox Advisors. He has over 10 years of business and HR related experience, with companies such as Bain & Co, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup. Sandbox Advisors is based in Singapore and provides career management and HR consulting services in Asia.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

The Importance of Access to Online Information for Small Business Owners

2009-04-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

When I was completing my college, we have no access to computers then. Therefore, we rely on the traditional method of research, which is exploring the library and browsing through the index cards. How I wish then I could just ask a question and somebody gives me a good answer to start with. No! Instead, I have to formulate my own questions and find the answers in the stack of books, periodicals, and journals.

Today, information is available at the click of the mouse. Question and answers on any subject and topic is easily accessible over the net -free! In fact, there is a huge deposit of information on the internet, and still growing, on how to start and manage a small business. Thus, if you consider venturing into one, you have already all the information you need. Just go online and find answers.

Many of us, both would be entrepreneurs and novice, need all the training and information we can get to succeed. But, how many of us have really taken advantage of these available free information online?

A dictionary or encyclopedia of business trends and management will not suffice. On the net, you can find many like-minded individuals and entrepreneurs in your niche that you can always refer to. This is far better than spending time on other business books.

Money Management Basics for Small Business

2009-04-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

"Money is a good servant but a bad master." ~Quoted by Bacon

One of the most important aspects of managing your own business is managing its money. Your success and profitability hinges considerably on how you invest and spend money into your business. You should use money in the most productive and profitable way like a good servant.

Here are a few money management basics that any entrepreneur must know and have:

Bookeeping Know-How

Regardless if you have stumbled on a niche that you think you have no competitors, if you have the best product or service to offer, if you have plenty of money in the bank to use as a buffer for your business, if you a large following of loyal customers, if you don’t know how your cash flows, you will eventually close shop. Successful entrepreneurs are first and foremost good money managers. You need not to be an accountant to know the basics of accounting. You just need to know the fundamentals of cash flow, inventory management, AR (Account Receivables), assets and liabilities, and how your payment gateway and credit card facility work.

Moreover, you need to know how to read your balance sheet and income statement and be able to tell where your money is moving. Watch your cash flow carefully, especially your positive cash flow that there should be more money coming-in than coming out. If your company is releasing more money than what it is generating (negative cash flow) you are managing it towards bankruptcy. Do not just rely on what your accountant is telling you, if you have one, monitor and analyze your cash flow.

Invest on Assets

What are assets and liabilities? In simplest terms, assets are those things that generate money for your business, while liabilities are those things that suck-out money from your business. So do you really need brand new and expensive furnishings for your office or do you really need a huge store or office space? If these things will not help you generate more money, then they are among your liabilities. People or systems, on a broader sense, if they are not helping your bottom line can also be classified as liabilities.

Capitalize on assets. If you are familiar with the Pareto Principle, which states in the business context, 80% of your income comes from 20% of what you are doing. This 20% is your asset, focus on and nurture it.

Strengthen your Collection System

More often, B2B or business-to-business transactions are not done on COD’s (cash on delivery. Thus, in this case, you must have a concrete payment policy that you need to make known to your client and make them agree. Monitor your AR carefully and ensure that payments are collected on time.

Separate your Personal Finances

If you are buying an insurance, by all means do not use your business fund. Similarly, all other personal money matters and transactions should be removed from your business’ books. This way, you can clearly see how your business is performing.

There are other money management practices that you need to learn, however in the beginning it is sufficient that what I have enumerated above should at least give you a firm grasp on your business finances. Lastly, you might want to consult a finance expert from time to time to give a you a better perspective.

Reading Books and the Practice of Business Management

2009-04-18T07:36:00.000-07:00

Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking. ~Albert Einstein

My first job after college was an assistant college instructor while pursuing a graduate degree, for which I stayed through only for two semesters. After that, I was hired a by a large appliance retail company to join their roster of in-house trainers and employee seminar facilitators.

It was fun!

I never really felt working there at all because 80%of my working time reading books, studying, preparing instructional materials, facilitating other training seminars, and brainstorming with my training team. The other 20% was the time by which I am conducting the training myself.

I have read countless management books from popular business gurus, so much so that I can quote verbatim some of the important principles they taught.

There was a problem though –I was training 'would-be' store supervisors the practice of business management directly out of the shelf. I had many management training, but I never truly smelled the trenches of business or people management, except in the context of training others. At times, I felt that I was detached from what I am sharing with my trainees.

Reading books or a book itself, according to Edward P. Morgan,

…is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy.

In effect, reading allows you to comprehend more any subject matter. And now, with the growing popularity of audio books, the task have been made easier for us. Thus, whether you are driving or doing something else, you can soak your brains with any good management book in audio.

However, one needs to go beyond reading and reflection in order to get the full benefits therefrom. Again, in the context of managing business and people, you need to immerse yourself on the experience itself. Otherwise, in my experience then, you will not lend credibility in what you teach.

How To Be A Customer-Focused Organization

2009-03-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

Would you say that your customers are satisfied with the products and services provided by your organization? Do you think that having satisfied customers indicates that your organization is one that provides exceptional customer service? If so, think about what the word satisfaction really means. When your customers are satisfied, it simply means that you have met their service and performance expectations. It’s like earning a “C” on your report card. Your performance is average – not worse than expected, but not better either.

If you want to be recognized as an outstanding provider of customer service, you have to consistently exceed the expectations of your customers. This is how your organization can build customer loyalty, which is much more important than customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers aren’t angry or upset with you, but they still may choose to do business with your competitors. Loyal customers, on the other hand, are those who choose to keep coming back to you, and choose not to purchase from your competitors. Customer loyalty is based on the relationship between your organization and its customers.

Organizations that are recognized as exceptional providers of customer service are the ones that have incorporated customer-focused behaviors into their daily operations. You can do this at your organization.

Customer-focused behavior requires:

1. Make the Customer #1

Positive initial contact
Establish rapport
Don’t keep customers waiting
Don’t rush customers
Thank customers
Encourage customer to return
Make customers feel special

2. Appropriate Attitude

Respect the customer
Keep communication positive
Professionalism

3. Determine Customer Needs

Ask questions until you understand the customer’s request
Use positively phrased, direct questions
Use active listening to convey respect and verify understanding
Ask how you can better serve the customer’s needs

4. Build Relationships

Be fair
Keep your word
Provide peace of mind
Seek service opportunities
Know your products and services
Admit errors and lack of knowledge

5. Effective Problem Resolution

Empathize with the customer
Apologize
Take Ownership
Respond to problems in a timely manner
Formulate/negotiate a win-win solution
Don’t take problems/complaints personally
Recognize problems as a learning opportunity

Remember that perception is reality with customer service. If your customers don’t see your organization as one that engages in customer-focused behavior, then you are not providing exceptional customer service. Remember that every time anyone who represents your organization comes in contact with a customer or prospective customer, your reputation is on the line. Treating your customers as valued individuals is often more important than price. You can cultivate loyal customers by focusing on the qualitative factors of service that mean a lot to your customers.
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This is a guest post by Mary Gormandy White, M.A., SPHR of Mobile Technical Institue. Mary is currently the Training Coordinator for Mobile Technical Institute & MTI Business Solutions, where she specializes in human resources, management, and marketing training. Her article is courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

A Job Market Filled With “Irrational Expectations”

2009-03-22T00:51:00.000-07:00

Being in transition is tough so advice is often offered with a spoonful of sugar. While well intentioned, however, I think that approach sends the wrong signal to those most in need of candor.

So, being as frank (and respectful) as I can, here’s the unvarnished truth. This job market is filled with “irrational expectations.” You cannot find a job today using job search strategies and techniques that were devised for yesterday’s workplace. To put it more bluntly, you won’t find work—any work—in such a tough environment with a wimpy career.

And sadly, that’s what a lot of people are bringing to their job search. They haven’t kept their skills up-to-date. Their ability to make a contribution commensurate with their experience has atrophied. Even their network of contacts has all but withered away.

Historically, all of that didn’t matter much. You could be laid off and, with little or no change in your credentials, hit the job search trail and in relatively short order, find another, similar (or even better) position. Basically, we had a come-as-you-are job market.

Well, that experience is now gone and it’s gone forever. Why is that? Remember the jobless recovery of the 2001 recession? Well, this recession built on that development to create the “less jobs” recovery. When things start to get better, there will be fewer jobs—not more or even the same number—as there were in the recession. Jobs aren’t being left open until things get better. They’re being destroyed.

What does that mean for people in transition?

Now, you have to enter the job market in a very different way. If you want to find employment in the new world of work, you have to fix your career first. Or, at a minimum, you must be fixing it while you’re searching for a job. But, the point is that Step 1 in a job search today—not step 2 or 3 or 4—is to upgrade your capabilities and your credentials. Whether you have 20 years in the workplace or 20 minutes. From now on, you have to have a strong career if you want to conduct a strong job search.

I know you don’t want to hear this. I understand that you will probably want to shoot the messenger. But, I’m trying to be as straight as I can with you. You can no longer achieve success by looking for a job the old fashioned way. That’s simply an “irrational expectation” in this recession, in the recovery that will follow it and beyond. The world of work has changed. Permanently. And so must you.

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This is a guest post by Peter Weddle of Weddles's Job Search, Recruiting, and Employment Resources. You can also follow him on Twitter. Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish | Steve Jobs Commencement Address to Stanford University 2005 Graduates

2009-03-03T07:28:00.001-08:00

Other than Bill Gates, Steve Jobs (incidentally, they were partners when they were still carving a name for themselves in the Silicon Valley) is one of the CEOs and successful entrepreneurs I admired the most. When he was diagnosed with a rare pancreatic cancer, instead of retiring at the comfort of his amass wealth, he decided to stay at the helm of Apple and Pixar.

But like any other human beings, and in spite of the latest medical technology, he had to slow down and take that needed rest. And mind you, when he announced early this year about his leave of absence due to health reasons, Apple’s stock dipped by 6%. Last week, for the first time since 1997, Steve Jobs was not present on Apple’s shareholders' meeting. One of the pressing agenda is whether he will still be Apple’s captain.

I’m sorry if I digressed there a bit.

Steve Jobs on Resiliency in Joblessness and Loving What You Do

Many are still losing their jobs. Many businesses are losing their steam, and some have already close shop. I wonder how Steve Jobs would think and react if he was among those? Unfortunately, he was on the same predicament many years back:

“I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

Steve Jobs on Living a Purposeful Life

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Steve Jobs’ Challenge to Stanford’s 2005 Graduates: Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish!

Read the full text of Steve Jobs' speech here.

Money Lessons from a Chinese Entrepreneur Friend

2009-02-15T19:13:00.000-08:00

Entrepreneurs should never give up due to failure. Not just entrepreneurs, but people of whatever profession -all of us -should learn from our setbacks. We should never surrender to despair. ~Lucio Tan, a Chinese-Filipino Tycoon and one among Forbes.com List of World Billionaires for 2008

In my first attempt as an entrepreneur, I was a miserable failure. I ended up owing a lot of money from my suppliers and my business credibility was ruined. I never thought that I would be able to get out of that rut. Some of my colleagues said that the business was started on a bad timing (during the Asian economic flu). I belittled their comment because on the first year, I was doubling my net income every other month. It was not the timing nor the economic climate -I failed to manage my business’ finances correctly. In fact, my Chinese entrepreneur friend already forewarned me about this.

Money Lessons in Small Business

Unlike me, my friend was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He’s a COO. Nah, not the corporate COO (Chief Operating Officer). He was the ‘COO’ (Child Of the Owner ^_^ ) . I used to work for his dad,while he was the EVP (Executive Vice President) then. I left them when I decided to put my own small business. When I told him about my plans, he shared to me the following basic money management principles in entrepreneurship that I should religiously adhere to:

1. Never spend the money that you have not earned (or collected) yet;

2. Never hire people to replace the job you are doing so well unless your business has outgrown you;

3. lastly, pay yourself first.

Business Success and Failure

My business success on the first year was phenomenal. I exceeded my target revenue. But at the same time, I somehow ignored the wisdom of those three money management advices. I started using the money that I have not collected yet, with optimism (actually, more like a 'presumption') that sales turnover will continue to double every other month. I hired people who are not delivering my expectations. They were not doing the jobs I delegated them, especially the sales and marketing. Lastly, I never paid myself. I rolled out all the income I generated and only kept what I really needed. As you can see, those were the perfect ingredients for ‘business failure recipe.’

I learned my lessons the hard (other) way.

What is our take?

When business is failing, or when our finances are drained, we tend to blame everything on the bad economy, without looking inwardly on a personal or corporate level. I believe, and as some economists do, that the collapse of some of the ~~great~~ financial institutions of Wall Street and big U.S. auto manufacturers were not due to the economic downturn but of mismanagement. Similarly, those of us who are greatly affected are partly to be blamed. We enjoyed so much pursuing the American dream during the good times and so were caught unprepared when the economy went sour. Good times never last.

Now, more and more employees (those that are still employed) are seeking their own bailout through loans. I cannot blame them. It is easier, faster, and convenient. By comparison, saving and paying yourself first is painful and takes a lot of discipline. I know that a quick loan is badly needed –these are really crunch times. Nonetheless, whether you are an entrepreneur or an employee, it is always to your advantage if you live within your means, spend less and save more. I know, as history shows, good times will return soon. This economy will bounce back; and those who are resilient today, will enjoy it more .

Protect your Investment with Small Business Security Systems

2009-02-15T08:01:00.000-08:00

Small Business Defined

Defining what constitutes a small business has always been an issue. In this blog, I have more often referred to small businesses whenever I am addressing a relevant issue to distinguish them from larger corporations.

An organization that employed less than 100, a company that has more than $500k in annual sales revenue, a retail store or pharmacy, managed by the business owner itself, smaller relative to its target market –are but among the many attempted definitions being offered. In fact, even the U.S. SBA (Small Business Administration) has to set variables and other parameters to classify a business ‘small’ in nature.

Why wrestle with the definition anyway? Why now?

Because, it must be settled that there is no single authoritative definition for a small business. Ironic though, at least for now, we settle for an ambiguous definition, that is, a business that is independently owned and managed by its owner/s, with a fewer employees (or sometimes none) and relatively low volume of sales. Let that suffice for now, and at least when I discuss issues here that are relevant to small business.

Protecting your Small Business Investment

Here, let me be clear that I am referring to your factory, office (home or otherwise), warehouse (supply and product inventory, and equipment. These are, basically, the tools of your trade -and where you tied-up more of your money. It is but fitting then to safeguard these investments.

Basic small business management does not only involve managing your operations, people, finances, sales and marketing, but protecting your properties as well. Small business security is essential to your continued viability. More often, we tend to overlook this. Whether you are a retail store owner or a freelancer like me (with one staff employee), regardless of the size and nature of your business, you need to ensure that your offices and other properties are secured from common burglary and fire.

You might want to get an online analysis and recommendation through ADT Security Systems advisor to determine your requirements and the appropriate security system to install. This is one of the investments you must make. Do not put it off. By the way, ADT offers security solutions targeted specifically for small businesses. They can monitor and protect your business 24-7.

Our take on this: While I am aware that these are crunch times for small business owners, however, the cost of installing reliable security and fire alarm systems is too small to make compared to the possible losses you may incurred due burglaries and fire. Besides, as they say, “better safe than sorry!”

Using Balanced Scorecard in HR Management

2009-02-11T18:49:00.000-08:00

Business Reactions from the Recession

Each time I read my morning paper or turn on the evening news, the headlines contain stories on how the economic pandemic has been wreaking financial havoc on the lives of businesses and employees alike. And lately, the popular phrases that I often hear from CEOs and business owners that I do business with are cost-cutting measures, retrenchment, downsizing or streamlining, imminent bankruptcy, deferment of suppliers’ payment, and avoid foreclosure. These are but natural reactions. A financial crisis with a magnitude like this, any business owner would worry. When a business is threatened by circumstances beyond its control, the most practical thing to do is preserve its viability or profitability at all costs.

However, if we take these knee-jerk reactions, are we not simply allowing this crisis to hasten the demise of our businesses, and let our employees take the brunt of it all? It is lamentable to think that each time the business suffer losses, employees find themselves jobless. This could be prevented.

Employees' compensation and benefits does not account for the majority of the operational expenses (as most finance managers would present in corporate meetings). Competent and loyal employees are assets that needed to be protected and nurtured because they help the bottom line.

Have you even considered looking at your recession scorecard? There is a better remedy to this crisis without necessarily laying-off employees. Use better and accurate performance management systems that will monitor and manage your business KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) by using Balanced Scorecard or BSC. This way, you can better formulate corporate strategies that will shelter you from the effects of the economic downturn.

Balanced Scorecard: A Performance Management Alternative

The Balanced Scorecard gives CEOs, business owners, and managers an indication of the performance of a business organization based on the degree to which various stakeholder needs are satisfied; it presents the organization from the perspective of internal and external customers, employees, and shareholders.

Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton, among the proponents of these strategic concepts, give a better definition:

"Balanced scorecard provides managers with the instrumentation they need to navigate to future competitive success. Today, organizations are competing in complex environments so that an accurate understanding of their goals and the methods for attaining those goals is vital. Balance scorecard translates an organization's mission and strategy into a comprehensive set of performance measures that provides the framework for a strategic measurement and management system. It retains an emphasis on achieving financial objective but also includes the performance drivers of these financial objectives. The scorecard measures organizational performance across four balanced perspectives: financial, customers, internal business processes, and learning and growth. It enables companies to track financial results while simultaneously monitoring progress in building the capabilities and acquiring the intangible assets they need for future growth." (The Balanced Score Card: Translating Strategy into Action, pp. 1-3)

Why is Balanced Scorecard Important for Businesses, especially during a financial crisis?

The Balanced Scorecard is important because it brings together most of the features that a company needs to focus on to be competitive. These include being customer-focused, improving quality, emphasizing teamwork, reducing new product and service development times, and managing for the long term.

The Balanced Scorecard differs from the traditional measures of company performance by emphasizing that the critical indicators chosen are based on the organization's business strategy and competitive demands. Organizations need to customize their balanced scorecards based on different market situations, products, competitive environments, including the current state of the global economy. In this respect, recession KPI should have been formulated and established with the aid of downturn metrics provided by AKS-Labs (Developer of Balanced Scorecard Designer).

Balanced Scorecard is also an excellent crisis management tool for organizations who have EMS (Environmental Management Systems) and OSHAS (Occupational Health and Safety Administration Standards) certifications. BSC is an excellent tool for monitoring and auditing compliance to those standards.

Balanced Scorecard in HR Management

Effective roll out and implementation of Balanced Scorecard can only be made if the organization is able to cascade its mechanics, importance, and objectives to the employees. Therefore, doing, this will give them a concrete framework that helps them see the goals and strategies of the organizations, how these goals and strategies are measured, and how they influenced the critical KPIs. The HRM department should be in the forefront in this respect, and in providing the necessary training or orientation.

Moreover, the Balanced Scorecard should be used to link HRM activities with the organization’s strategy and evaluate the extent to which its functions add value to business strategies and goals. Measure of HRM practices primarily relate to productivity, people, and process. Productivity measures involve determining output per employee (such as revenue per employee). Measuring people includes assessing employees' behavior, attitudes, skills, and/or knowledge. While process measures focus on assessing employees' satisfaction with how the organization compensate, reward, and develop them so that they continue to add value to organizational competitiveness as a whole.

Conclusion: Benefits of Balanced Scorecard in HRM

Using BSC or Balanced Scorecard in performance management is actually a holistic approach; because it does not leave any key functional area in the organization unturned. Also, because it focuses on the most essential things needed to produce the maximum results. It actually follows closely the Pareto Principle, where 80% of productive organizational performance comes from focusing on the 20% most important KPIs.

BSC links organizational units into a more cohesive entity towards a common goal while they continue to strive to meet their own personal and departmental goals. More so, with BSC, individual performance is tied-up with departmental performance. Each member’s goals and performance is integrated with that of the unit or department. This is where the principle of the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. In short, BSC impels employees to synergize.

Lastly, the best part of implementing BSC is you get the results of what you measure; because Balanced Scorecard enables the organization to link its performance measures with its business strategies and goals.

Current State of the U.S. Economy, Career on Brokering Mortgages, and a Positive Perspective

2009-01-30T16:07:00.000-08:00

U.S. Negative GDP 4Q 2008

The U.S. posted a negative 3.8% GDP on the last quarter of 2008 according to the latest data from the Department of Commerce. Although this figure is still an initial estimate, it is in fact very alarming. We were all expecting that the holiday season will somehow trigger spending but it was not so.

Washington Post was correct to observe that this scenario simply “…shows how a global credit crunch, a weak U.S. real estate market, and a decline in consumer spending have combined to undercut economic growth.” Then you still have the price of petrol products increasing little by little. While it is admirable that the new President is determined to cut the U.S. dependence on foreign-sourced oil, the average American is still very dependent on using his own car rather than finding and using alternative mode of transportation.

Default Mortgages

On another note, many are still defaulting their mortgages. This is rather hard for mortgage brokers who rely on this specific sector of the finance industry. Still, not to mention, many are still losing their jobs. Nonetheless, would one consider a career as a mortgage broker or mortgage banker, running net mortgage branches while the economy is still spiraling down? Why not. What you need is a reliable partner, like www.brightgreenmortgage.com, who will treat you as one, help you run your business, and achieve your full potential in this area. It is worth the try, especially if you have an indomitable entrepreneurial spirit, “ proven performance, problem solving & relationship building skills, along with a solid reputation, and uncompromising ethics. “

Positive Perspective in Crisis

In my simple mind, any crisis (particularly, this recession) are but opportunities wrapped in rough edges that needed to be chipped away. Sometimes, it is a matter of perspective. Numbers (like a negative GDP, or a very low sales turnover on your business) can sometimes deter us. However, for some, the same numbers can actually propel them to stretch and achieve more.

How about you; what is your take on these things?

Web Hosting Tutorials for Small Business Owners

2009-01-30T15:50:00.000-08:00

"Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught." ~Winston Churchill

That made Churchill a great man. However, in the same token, an entrepreneur who is always willing to learn new things is destined to succeed.

Moving on.

I think, two of the most daunting and intimidating tasks when a small business owner attempts to join the bandwagon of online entrepreneurs are setting-up their websites and managing it. These involve designing the site per se, writing relevant and SEO-friendly content, and hosting it.

However, with the high cost of hiring (not to mention, high salary demand) IT personnel to monitor, update, and manage a website, I have seen more and more of these newbie online entrepreneurs taking the opportunity to learn the rudiments of website management and web hosting administration. Well, I must admit, that it is not easy for some, like me.

One of my weblogs is self-hosted for more than a year now. Honestly, to date I am still fumbling through the cPanel. I fear making errors (some irreversible) that may lead to creating chaos in my database and/or accidentally deleting those important data. It is intimidating, mind you. I am still learning.

Fortunately, WebHostingRating offers web hosting tutorials for non-techie small business owners, or those who are new to online business management. In your own pacing, you can learn the basics of webhosting and website management from their database of useful tutorial articles. Other than learning the fundamentals of web hosting, you will be introduced also to such important topics in ecommerce, scripting or coding, FTPs, email management, CMS (Content Management Systems), website security, multiple domain hosting, online advertising, blogging, and more.

Whilst more and more businesses are trying to corner a fraction of the internet market and it is becoming easier to put-up a site, you need not wary –learn the basics. And the good news is, these information are free and readily available to you.

What does it take to succeed as an Entrepreneur?

2009-01-26T16:37:00.000-08:00

I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite. ~G. K. Chesterton

Chesterton was an accomplished writer and journalist, and what he said might just be true for him but not for a young entrepreneur like me. I seek and listen to advices from others, especially those who are experts and successful in their fields, and try to do what they say.

Success in entrepreneurship, or in any field of endeavor, entails the willingness to learn, to fail, and learn from that failure.

It also requires unwavering commitment to succeed. Because owning and managing your business is never easy. In this, I’d like to adhere more to what Mahatma Gandhi, India’s famous non-violent political and spiritual leader, has to say:

Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle and a victory.

So true!

This now brings me to my main treatise here: what does it take to succeed as an entrepreneur?

Success in Entrepreneurship knows no short cuts

Seasoned and successful entrepreneurs will readily tell you that there are no short cuts to entrepreneurial success. In fact, the entrepreneur’s road is arduous, long, and less traveled by. While every entrepreneur’s dream is overnight success, that is not so. In fact, there is really none! On the one hand, there are many risks involve, greater odds to face, and slimmer chances of success. On the other, when you have surmounted all of those, the rewards are far richer. But then again, there no short cuts or even luck in entrepreneurship.

Success in Entrepreneurship knows no secrets

Everything an ambitious entrepreneur needs to know is already made available. Many books and case studies were already published on how you will do it right. Just search for the keywords business or entrepreneur success, the search engine will give more than 40 million results! The ‘secrets’ to success are there available for the picking. But the most common problem, I noticed, is either we ignore them or simply prefer to take the “quick-to-riches” schemes as preached by those who do not regard hardwork and patience as qualities indispensable to those who want to succeed in business.

Have you ever wanted to quit your day-time job and start your own business? Or, were you retrenched or laid-off and so you are considering entrepreneurship as your new career? Or you probably have started a small business already and are struggling to keep it afloat? Gleaning from the vast resources available out there, here are four (4) basic qualities (common to all) you need to have to succeed as an entrepreneur:

Successful Entrepreneurs are Committed to Succeed

If you have not set your mind to succeed, then I can bet my whole2008 income that you will fail even before you started. Successful entrepreneurs are not only committed to their business ideas and enterprises but these are people who are determined to succeed regardless of the odds. The entrepreneurial path is not easy as some will claim. Your commitment to succeed will be your impetus during trying times, for without which, you will fall-out on the first high wind that hits you.

Successful Entrepreneurs Value Hard Work

Hard work is the willingness to take the pains of doing everything necessary to make your business work. If you are into young entrepreneurship venture, you must first rely on yourself before you rely on others for help. Their supports will be needed later when your business has overgrown you. There are so many things to do in a day and not many of you to do it.

The most trying period for an entrepreneur is when he is starting out. It is during the first few months when you have to do everything yourself because cash may not be enough to hire additional help. More often, you engaged the services of your family members (for free!) to help you out in your day-to-day business operations. But most of the time, you will be doing most of the work. The big difference between being an employee and a business owner (now an employer) is your regard for time and output. Now, you are no longer bound by an 8 hour work period with 2 hours break within, 5 days a week. You work longer hours, and sometimes 7 days a week. More so, now you do not deliver just to please your boss (because you are now the boss of your own) but to grow your business and satisfy your customers. This only means, hard work, hard work, and more hard work.

Successful Entrepreneurs are Willing to Learn and Adapt to Change

The way of doing business continues to evolve. As an entrepreneur, you need to catch up. You do not need to learn only about your business, but your market and your competitors as well. You need to learn new technologies that will help you gain competitive edge. You need to try new way of doings things. You need to recognize mistakes and wrong decisions, embrace failures, and learn from them. Never remain stagnant by continuing education. Read trade publications and good books.

Successful Entrepreneurs Know What is 'Smart Work'

Having the zest for learning new things will produce the ability to work smartly. Smart work is putting forth time, money, and energy on the 20% most important things of your business. Identify them. More often, when we are confronted with so many things to do in so a little time, we end up attending to the 80% less important aspects of our business, and neglecting the most important ones that generate the %80 of our profits. Simply put, smart work is the ability to manage business priorities. I suggest that you relearn the basics of Pareto Principle of Economics again, for that is the foundation of smart work, or should I say –smart entrepreneurship.

Again, let me reiterate, these are no secrets. These are obvious principles or tips that you need to take on. So what does it take to succeed as an entrepreneur? You need to be hardworking, willing to learn, know how to prioritize, and must be committed to succeed!

Cost Effective Leads Generation for Small Businesses

2009-01-23T09:00:00.000-08:00

Many continue to join the ranks of unemployed. However, it is admirable that many refused to succumb to the economic crisis that beset us all. Some of these people chose a path that is less likely will be taken by many –small business. But small business success comes with a high price of hardwork, patience, and the ability to market.

It is so easy to assume that when your business is already in place, when you have already produced the products you are going to sell, when you have refined the mechanics on how you are going to serve your customers’ needs and requirements, when you carefully packaged the value that comes with the price of your product or service, all will go smoothly as planned.

I wish, it were that easy. But it’s not!

Those are all but necessary preparations for an effective marketing of your business. Whether you will be selling tangible or intangible products like loans and mortgages, consultancy services, and the like, you need to generate leads that can be converted into buying customers, and eventually loyal patrons. This is the difficult part.

I supposed that you have carefully studied your target or niche market and you are ready to sell to them. Here is the bad news: they will not come to you. You have to go to them! You have to let them know that your small business exists and that you have something that they want and need which they will not be able to get elsewhere. I am not referring to an expensive (and more often ineffective) advertising campaign here. I am referring to the conventional yet effective means: direct mail and telemarketing. These two practical methods are still the best and most cost-effective way of generating sales leads.

Leads generation is the lifeblood of an effective marketing campaign. And more often, I must admit, this is something that is overlooked by enthusiastic small business neophytes. However, this can easily be remedied through a third party, like DCMG, who will generate the leads for you. This is called outsourcing. They can virtually generate all the type of leads you need such as business leads, pre-need and insurance leads, loan modification leads, project consultancy leads, among others. You definitely need the lists that they can provide, so that you can start converting them into satisfied, and eventually, loyal customers.

Nothing is easy in small business management. But if you are determined to succeed, you will have greater chances if you are diligent in filling your pipelines with quality sales leads that you can convert, any way you want it done.

Two Cost Effective Ways of Training and Developing Employees

2009-01-20T10:31:00.000-08:00

I have mentioned on my previous post that more often training and development programs are shunned and treated as additional operational overhead, if not a real financial burden to the company. I cannot blame them. Because in the first place, training programs are expensive. However, this should not deter HRM managers and small business owners to think of creative and effective ways of developing employees. In fact, employees can also develop skills and increase their competencies by simply interacting with highly skilled and experienced employees. This can easily be initiated through mentoring and coaching. To date, these are still the two most cost effective ways of training and developing employees.

What is Mentoring?

A good and concise definition is as follows:

“Simply stated, mentoring is a process in which a more experienced person supports and aids a less experienced person in his/her professional or personal development. Mentoring has been traced back to its roots in Greek literature, beginning with The Odyssey, when Odysseus’ friend and advisor, Mentor, served as the king’s son’s teacher and guardian while the king was away. Just as Mentor served as a teacher, advisor, and role model in Homer’s masterpiece, mentors today serve in much the same way.”

In the corporate or business setting, a mentor is an experienced (more often, expert in a specific area of business operations), senior employee who helps develop a less experienced employee (the protégé). Usually, mentoring initiatives develop informally as a result of interest or values shared by the mentor and protégé. Research suggests that employees with certain personality characteristics (like emotional stability, the ability to adapt their behavior based on the situation, and high needs for power and achievement) are more likely to seek a mentor and get guidance therefrom. However, it is better if mentoring initiatives are developed as planned developmental programs for employees with lesser experience and expertise.

Developing Successful Mentoring Programs

When mentoring programs are formally initiated by the organization, one major advantage is that they ensure that employees can participate in wider latitude. In addition, in this way, the employees (both mentor and protégé) involve in the process know what is expected of them. Therefore, they know if certain goals or criteria are met over a certain period.

In relation to that, it is recommended that mentors should be chosen based on interpersonal and technical skills. They also need to be trained. As I have always mentioned to my trainees, a good musician does not necessarily mean a good music ‘maestro’ or teacher. However, a good ‘maestro’ is a definitely a good musician. In the same way, it takes different sets of skills to become a good mentor. Hence, mentors should at least be trained on the basic knowledge and skills required for an effective mentoring.

By the way, it should be noted here that the key to successful mentoring programs is when the employees involve spend more time interacting through any effective medium available. In this way, the protégé’s progress is easily monitored.

What is Coaching?

“Coaching” can be defined as “a developmental strategy that enables people to meet their goals for improved performance, growth or career enhancement.”

Again, in the business context, a coach is a peer, a supervisor or manager who works with an employee to motivate him, help him develop skills, and provide reinforcement and feedback. Unlike mentoring, coaching is more of advisory in nature and focuses on the behavioral aspects of the employee rather than on the technical side. For example, a supervisor who is hurting his relationships with his subordinates by his strong and rigid personality. His manager stepped in to advise her on the ineffectiveness of his attitudes and approach towards his subordinates. Through coaching over a few weeks, this supervisor learned how relate well to his subordinates.

Also, unlike mentoring, coaching is performance oriented. Meaning, the coach assigned takes an active role of telling the employee concerned of areas needing improvement. The role provides resources available (such formal training courses or a mentor) that may otherwise not easily recognized as necessary by the employee.

Developing Successful Coaching Programs

The success of coaching programs hinges on how well the supervisors or managers involve understand and have direct influence to the employees they are managing. They need to establish good rapport and inspire confidence, otherwise they will be perceived like “drill sergeants” who demand obedience. Coaching is delicate because you will be confronting behavioral and performance issues. As such, to successfully effect change, you need to be trustworthy as a coach.

Benefits of Mentoring and Coaching Approaches to Employees’ Training and Development

Both the coach/mentors and employees involve benefits from the process. When formalized, it means the relationships built will allow for the development of desired skills and competencies for both parties. As they say, “iron sharpens iron.”

Camaraderie that is built on trust and respects is developed and strengthened. Lateral and vertical interpersonal skills are also honed thereby creating harmonious work relationships.

For the organization as whole, this means higher employees morale, improved productivity, better performance, and most of all, increased profitability.

Reduce Operational Cost through Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)

2009-01-19T13:05:00.000-08:00

To some employees, especially in unionized organizations, business process outsourcing or BPO is ant-job security or tenure. On a few occasions, some of my clients are reluctant to try this because of the wrong perceptions engrained in the minds of their workforce. While it is true that BPO can help the company streamline its personnel, but it will never endanger their job security.

Competitiveness is the new business game. A business will never succeed unless it can deliver quality and JIT (Just in Time) products or services. That is why in recent years, more and more companies have started considering BPO providers (like AMS, a third party fulfillment company) to help them achieve visibility into their global business operations, stay competitive, increase their productivity, and boost their performance while reducing their operational costs.

In a sluggish economy like such as this, cost-effectiveness is the driving force, if not the main reason, for outsourcing important business processes. I think, this is the way to go if at least you need to survive this recession. But due diligence or care must be religiously applied. In most cases, it is recommended that you conduct an audit of your important business processes and procedures. Among these that can easily be considered for review and outsourcing are your after sale service, off-site installations, order fulfillment, warehousing, utility maintenance, product fulfillment, packaging, IT, and accounting.

Actually, in brief, the key to effective BPO, is being able to pinpoint which process need to be outsourced without displacing key personnel and where you can focus more on your core business processes and thereby enhance your competitiveness. More importantly, if your organization is able to formulate a successful business outsourcing strategy, it will be able to outdo its competitors. This is because BPOs provide more efficient services (due to their specialization), access to resources that may be beyond your organization’s capability, and most of all increase your business’ profitability.

A Brief on Active Directory Management Application

2009-01-16T08:08:00.000-08:00

I am not much of an IT guy although I spent a couple of years overseeing an IT Department for a Japanese manufacturing company on an interim capacity while we are still looking for a qualified IT Manager. It was both exciting and a pleasant learning experience. My having a dual role as HR Manager and Head of PPC (Production Planning and Control) was one of the major reasons why the job was delegated to me by our shachou (company president).

One of the priority tasks that befell me was to look for an application or solution that would simplify Active Directory (AD) management via exchange tools. A colleague introduced me to Ensim Unify Enterprise Edition, assuring me that it was the right solution we were looking for. Ensim is the leading provider of infrastructure management software enabling; access control, identity management, change audit & reporting, and automated provisioning for enterprises and service providers; hence, I was confident that it would deliver.

It did! In fact, installation of the solution over our servers and our LAN was smooth and easy and so the roll out process was executed earlier than scheduled. More so, we find it even very easy to create new AD users because of its built-in user template functions and distribution list management features. Security wise, it is robust and very reliable. Overall, because of the scalability and extensibility it provided , it greatly helped our company improve its market advantage and added more service value to our customers. If you are looking for an exchange management systems that truly deliver, you might want to consider one of Ensim’s applications for your business.