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Archive for category Human Resource Management

Successful Communication – 4 Key Categories

Jul 19

Posted by Jenny Stilwell in Human Resource Management, People!, Personal Development | 3 Comments

There are four key categories to remember when thinking about whether you are maximising your communication with your target market. Within these categories there are many variations on how a message can be conveyed, or a channel for dialogue opened. However, if you keep in mind the 4 groups, you will always maximise your opportunities for communicating your message.

1. Develop the Information/Message

If you have information you would like to convey to your customers and clients, in how many fundamental ways could this be presented?

  • Newsletters
  • PowerPoint presentations
  • Emails
  • Web site
  • Music or message on hold
  • Company profile documents
  • Products & services lists
  • Product specifications
  • Company stationery
  • Brochures
  • Direct mail pieces
  • Copies of press coverage/press releases
  • Articles
  • Invitations
  • Speeches

Presentation of your message is critical. Please keep some of these considerations in mind:

  • Always think in terms of your customers’ perspectives. What is interesting and useful to them? Be genuine. If you say you’re going to do something, then do it. If you’re not genuine it will be apparent.
  • Focus on consistency of presentation, of message, of image, of how you are being perceived by your customer.
  • Know who your customers are. Don’t use humour which would only appeal to a small group of people, don’t risk using any message which may offend, and always be mindful of different religious and cultural perspectives when appealing to a broader segment of the local or international market.

2. Open the Communication Channel: Events and Networking

This category of communication is ‘up close and personal’ between you and the customer or potential client. The message may be specific, or non-specific relationship building communication. Some options within this category are:

  • Client lunches
  • Launch events
  • Entertainment events
  • Industry events (exhibitions, conferences etc.)
  • Association or Institute gatherings
  • Organised sporting competitions between companies

Again, remember that your clients and customers are typically not all men, or all women, they are not all the same age, they do not all have the same interests, they may not all have families, and their idea of a great time may not be the same as yours.

The point is, learn about your customers as much as you can, so they join in these events willingly and enthusiastically, so everybody gains something from it. Finally, events and networking are about communication, but what will be remembered is what is different, amusing, and interesting. Add value and your message will be remembered.

3. Involvement from your Clients and Customers

Events and networking functions involve your customers at some emotional level and build the relationship you have with them. However, communication that elicits involvement and follow-through communication from your customers is different, in that there is some notion of commitment to do business with you.

Specific tools to communicate with involvement from customers and clients are:

  • Surveys and questionnaires
  • New product/service test programs
  • Writing up testimonials from your customers
  • Case studies on your customers’ businesses and their relationships with you and your business
  • Ask customers for feedback on new developments, such as your web site for example.

Inherent in this type of activity is ongoing involvement and relationships. This is the primary objective of successful communication.

4. Follow Through Communication

One-off communication is not enough. One-off communication does not build relationships. A message can be conveyed by communicating it only once, but will it be remembered? How many times have you seen yet another ad on television and not known who the advertiser was because it didn’t register? The message needs to be clear, repeated, and followed up. Ideally it should also be humorous, of interest or value, and have some differentiating factor.

Don’t stop communicating:

  • thank your clients
  • send notes of congratulations when appropriate
  • send information in which they may be interested
  • send them leads
  • follow up on your survey
  • follow up on the new product or service launch
  • send them a copy of your first newsletter, brochure, etc.
  • proactively call them once in a while to touch base and ask how they are, and how business is

The cycle must continue in order to be successful. “The little differences make all the difference”.

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The eco friendly recruiter

Jul 2

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, People! | 1 Comment

When your business is madly intent on hiring staff, they probably do like many others do and follow a standard formula…

Advertise  - get responses – sort – send a note back saying “we have received” – Then a “thanks but no thanks” note to the short listed ones… – interview etc… Oh what a hassle.

Some of you will be Thinking cut out the note sending part…  “I just ignore the people it’s my business and why should I care”. Sorry to feel you might think this way, however a short letter can at least let the good folks know you do care and respect their time and effort for applying, after all their efforts in your business could make you extra $$.

However if things are done a little differently you could make things a little easier and in the process possibly speed things up.

Recently I saw something, which turned the standard formula slightly on its head. First the company asked for short email responses to a bunch of simple criteria (less paper up front, and it shows they have SOME degree of computer literacy.) Then they replied to the email with the following email letter.

The response letter simply read…. “Thanks for your application, if you are required for an interview we will call you.”

Nothing more to say, no need for a second letter out, no need to say “The standard of applications was high etc.” none of that.

The other thing they did, was not ask for a resume or long responses to a heap of selection criteria… They asked for just short responses in the first instance. If the person then “made the grade” they got a phone call for a brief phone interview.

The good thing about this from my perspective was the way they would have probably caught a heap of people off guard, those who are used to the selection criteria bit… They would have had to think outside the square.

Interesting, they saved paper, they saved time, tested some IT skills and therefore saved money…

Are there other ways we can all recruit staff which will save us time and money and probably show a little creativity to boot? Yes.

Workplace Bullying Policy

Jun 14

Posted by Steve Gray in Health and Safety Dept, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management | 1 Comment

Don’t turn off and stop reading because you are a small business, Don’t stop reading because you believe you have all the bases covered on this one, and just because your people in the HR department say there is no need for such a thing due to no cases of it at this point be wary of that.

Imagine you employ a bright eyed graduate or fresh faced school leaver brimming with interest and potential, then after a few weeks you see them with less of a smile, less of a pep in their step. For most people watching this person they might say, yep the realities of being in a job have kicked in, he he!

That can be the case, but what if they have found their supervisor or a co-worker has given then some grief, a few terse words, a few statements which have impacted on their esteem. This might seem like petty stuff but the impact of this sort of situation can get out of hand very quickly, the worker may feel powerless, in a bind, awkward, berated, useless and so on.

Your business has a duty of care,  you have a duty of care and this needs to be stated up front that everyone in the organisation also has a duty of care. Therefore that being the case guidelines need to be in place to clearly out line what actions are taken in situations like this and to spell out some basics as to what might constitute bullying, harassment and other situations which might impact a persons esteem.

Okay so now a bunch of  you are saying “Hey the hell do I have to care about a persons esteem? Heck I pay them to do a job, they should do it and put up with the situation, they should harden up, the world is a tough place…”

My view on that is how can you not care about a person you employ… If you are not into caring, avoid being in business. If you don’t care, your customers won’t either and then your staff will soon disappear. Yes it’s that basic, and you need to ensure you have the situation covered or you could be caught out VERY QUICKLY.

So do the right thing and have one ready to implement now, I suggest at the very least you do a search on google and see what comes up, grab one that suits and use it. for a rock solid start try the public service in your country and see what they have you can edit to make it your own. one I looked at recently had a 44 page doc you could download easily enough and it had various examples as well. http://www.apsc.gov.au/ethics/respect.pdf

To finish, imagine this, you are interviewing people for a job, on telling them about the organisation you are able to show them a copy of your bullying policy. It shows you care, it shows you will not tolerate people who don’t care, it shows you want to have happy people enjoying being part of the team, together everyone feels safe and in a organisation which values people, enough said…

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Happiness – workplace style…

May 19

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People! | No Comments

Just for a moment think about your life, do you do things better when you are happy or grumpy/sad? Now think about business, do  you prefer to deal with people who are grumpy/sad or happy?

It’s a no brainer really, however there are many people looking to change jobs, move on, move up, move out! Why generally because they are unhappy. As an employer it’s part of your unwritten “duty of care” to provide an environment where staff are happy.

A small family business might seem like a great thing and how you treat family can be quite different from general staff. You might be happy to work at an old desk loaded with irrelevant papers and bits and pieces, but an employee probably will be put off by that.

I guess the moral of this is think about it. Take time to evaluate, if a new employee is due to start next week, make it a major priority to make their starting off in your business fantastic.

Here’s a few reasons why:

  • Change can be difficult for people, new surrounds new names, new everything! It can take a while to get used to.
  • Moving jobs means altering routines, wake up times, transport changes, family routines alter.
  • A new job with different systems can take quite a while to adapt to.
  • A new role may mean there are changes to who is leading who, this can cause challenges.
So imagine starting them off in the ideal situation…
  • Start them with half a day’s work, late in a week, so there is little monday rush and weekend panic.
  • Be their “work buddy” show them where everything is and how things are done.
  • Check in with them regularly to see what stands out as issue, then aim to resolve them fast.
  • Make sure all the “paperwork” is sorted for their superannuation and so on, early…
  • Advise all other staff to wear their name tags more often in that start up phase so the new person does not stress about things like names.
We could make a really long list here (please do!) and I hope you get the idea. Happiness even in a recession is vital to ensure your staff perform to their best ability, perhaps not in the short term but later on when they are up to speed.
Make time to be there for the new recruit and ensure as many things as possible go right for them so they feel at ease.

Are you Yammering?

Apr 22

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, IT Dept, People!, Planning, The Operations Dept | 2 Comments

https://www.yammer.com/

This is like Twitter, but just for your organistation. If you have a bunch of people with intra company email addresses, they can connect and chat, just like twitter does on a global scale. It works on the premise of “what are you doing now?” as the main question. Then as people use it they find others working on things similar to them, or they may have an answer or a resource for someone else where working on something.

Productivity tools just got a kick in the backside folks!

Recruiting in tough times

Jan 16

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, People! | No Comments

The economy is in turmoil, your staff are jittery, the sales forecasts are still okay and you actually need more staff, we live in interesting times! But to recruit takes up precious time and resources, the position you have in mind is just not quite up to using the recruitment company so you want try a more creative approach, after all the standard methods still have some quirks, issues and challenges. The number one thing is the time they take up.

You get some ideas together and decide to go for it, but what might be a way to cut back on the sheer volume of applications the role might attract from job seekers?

Consider a different approach, here are some thoughts.

  • The role and the job – You probably have a fairly good idea of the responsibilities the new employee will undertake, logical task skills are one thing, however knowing the type of personality which will fit with the role, the team and the company is another. Visualise the right type of person, how they act, hold themselves and perform, now go and find that person.
  • The advert – Normally adverts cost a bunch, but if you keep it short sharp and to the point you can keep costs down.
  • The web edge - It’s not new to have a recruitment section on your website, (usually an email address to send applications to) but as a filtering device it might be a fresh approach. Use the advert to send people to the web page, there you can set up a page relatively cost effectively and alter it to suit. Ask the big questions you want answered after telling them the basics about the job and remuneration. Also outline the process in steps so they have an idea of what’s happening.
  • Keep your resume – They are usually a few pages, a lot of scanning and or printing has to take place etc… what a hassle, I would rather scan a single page than 4+. Therefore ask the applicant to create a one page response to a few questions citing examples of how they did things in set situations.
  • Call them – From the process above you now have a bunch of one page responses from candidates. Now you can formulate a quick phone interview process,  you ring and tell them you want some short responses to assist you in going further… it might go something like this… “Give me a snapshot of your resume, e.g. a few places you have worked and achievements,  you have 1 minute” time them and see what happens, if they are engrossing in a positive way you can decide to let them chat on or stop them. You could even make it 30 seconds. Add a few questions to delve deeper on some key issues (team work and communication might be a start.) Now make sure you can short list from this bunch and let the really no goers know via email.
  • Short list – The good ones are left, you could pick a few and re call them and ask more questions, you could invite them to a group session (five people in a room for 1/2 an hr is cheaper time wise than five 1/2 hour sessions at separate interviews.) Or you could ask them to create another 1 page response, or even send in their resume… You could also just interview them, either way go with your heart on who stands out from the crowd first and then go for the logical fit later.

This type of process can be useful for many roles, it makes it easier to sort the main players out and gives you the chance to get through the candidates fast. Happy hunting!

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Their vision v’s your vision…

Aug 22

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room | No Comments

How about this, an organisation has the following core values as part of it’s vision.

  • Responsibility and Leadership
  • Achievement and Excellence
  • Citizenship and Community
  • Initiative and Commitment

Sounds great, things to aspire to… one problem they don’t do it, well not all of it, here are some points…

  • Staff are failing to take responsibility, citing they do not have the resources to do their jobs fully.
  • Leadership is lacking, no one sure as to who they should follow or what they should do… whose roles is who’s and where do the ‘borders’ stop.
  • Excellence… again resources or the lack of them are cited as an issue… Systemic issues are cited… not enough time… not enough support…
  • Initiative and commitment… A stakeholder took initiative and they basically shunned it, the same stakeholder is working with another stakeholder to build commitment… guess what shunned again.

Not much left except for the third point and they probably have issues with that too…

The vision statement goes on to make a lot of claims about excellence in the provision of service etc… It’s all interesting but they are failing at it. My view, they are failing to hold up the core values and use them as a solid foundation to work from, instead it has become a blame game.

Here’s the irony if you like, this organisation is a school.

A bit deeper look will show that it’s not a simple organisation as there are various stakeholders, parents and students, teachers and admin/managerial staff, so the connections between each, if tenuous, can create a nightmare approach to communication, who said what, when, why, how and so on.

I would love to share the details but the story still has depth despite names and specific issues, but basically a parent supporting their child to achieve, have a commitment, and be accountable has come across some barriers in being able to make this happen.

The big point here is that a symbol has been created (the vision statement with core values) but not followed or fully utilised. I suggest the school (or any organisation for that matter) could alter this disasterous set of situations simply by making sure at every step that the foundation is used to build on, not to branch out from with tenuous connections.

Learning opportunity, if you have a foundation to work from, your role as a business operator, principal, teacher, owner operator, director or whatever. Do your best to work with that foundation, in this case the foundation extols excellence as a hallmark and so it should, but to have a range of stakeholders pointing at each other blaming and shaming, then the end result is far from excellent. By the way, you can “rest assured” the parent is sticking to their guns and will be holding the school accountable to their foundation or core values and hopefully the end results will be worth the rigour and affront.

Motivated or driven?

Jul 7

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Personal Development | 1 Comment

In business you deal with people and as such they are an important aspect to the business (in fact read that as VITAL to your business!) so vital that without them things don’t get purchased, sold, manufactured etc… So in the scheme of things you need them, and as such the big question is do you DRIVE them or MOTIVATE them

Firstly the difference as I see it.

DRIVE – Push, bully, manipulate, rush, yell at, demean…

MOTIVATE – Influence, encourage, coach, mentor, support, work with them, respect them…

This goes for internal and external customers, (the staff and the paying customers) if you want the paying customers to stay and buy more of what you have, treat them right, and if you want to keep staff turnover to a minimum, the same TREAT THEM RIGHT!

Simply put figure out what you do, and what other people in your organisation do and see if it is MOTIVATING, because if it’s driving them, it will be driving them away.

Go on, take a REAL look at what’s happening, and if changes need to happen, make them and make them NOW!

A little enthusiasm can go a long way….

May 30

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, The Customer Service Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

Here’s a short video from Tom Peters, if ever you wondered what comes first passion or skills, here’s Tom’s answer…

Thanks to Tom and the team at Skill Soft.

Leaders seek out top talent

May 15

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management | No Comments

Leaders are an interesting lot, often found wandering, “dazed”, plodding, planning, scheming and making sure everything is in it’s right place for the team to do what the team does best. So in the plodding and wandering the astute leader searches and hunts down exceptional people to be part of the team. They also work hard at developing the talent they already have.

Leaders find great ways to recruit or “poach” people to cause them to “come over” to their team.

The reason great leaders go for top talent is really simple, they want the best in their field to be part of what the leader has, and make it the best it can be. Over time the leader might have a few top people and then lose them to another leader, but then all they do is soul search, tweak a few skills and attitudes (their own) and move on to find even better people.

Training people to be better at what they do means being a good evaluator, negotiator, assessor, mentor, coach, trainer… the top leader then influences their teams skill uptake to ensure they are at the top of their game.

Remember Great leaders love people and therefore it’s simple that they would seek out the best, finding and keeping them becomes another thing entirely.

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How to Select the Right Person to Join Your Team

May 8

Posted by Jenny Stilwell in Growth, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Planning | 2 Comments

The reason people select the wrong person is because they don’t ask the right questions in the interview, they don’t probe to uncover real competencies and capabilities, they don’t explore the person’s true personality and attitude, and they get swayed by enjoyable ‘chats’ that should in fact be probing interviews.

We all like to work with people we like, but we also need to make sure those people we employ are going to deliver and produce results for us. The process of selecting the right person is both subjective and objective, but it does need to be a process.

Focus on doing these 7 things:

  1. Know what you want done – write the Position Description first.
  2. List the attributes of the sort of person you want (not physical attributes..!)
  3. Understand your culture – be honest – and know what sort of person would or wouldn’t fit that.
  4. Then, after you’ve done that, meet and interview.
  5. Don’t be swayed by anything other than your original set of criteria, because that is what you want.
  6. After the interview, give the person a rating against your set of criteria, and use that objective method of assessment to recruit the right person into your team.
  7. You could also go to this website http://www.bossgroup.com.au/products/28 and download the 12-Step People Management Blueprint and simply follow the 12 steps! It really is that easy! (But hurry! The price will increase significantly after May 30th, 2008, so if you purchase before then you’ll make a big saving !)

So how do you “grade” your training?

May 5

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, People!, Planning | 1 Comment

Recently over a very serious business lunch, the matter of grading came up in regards to karate, I suggested in one of those “A-ha” moments, that the same principle could be applied to staff training.

You see the person I was lunching with is a karate ‘nut’ and mentioned his new staff member was like a while belt and he, is like a green belt (a much higher grade), she knows little about his business, he knows lots.

So the idea came that he could use that to build a foundation for the staff training and make a series of clear distinctions at each level of training as the staff member’s competency grew with what they learnt and practiced the basic skills to build proficiency.

In simple terms the idea would be to use a system that followed the colours of Karate ranking. now to save confusion (as there are lots of Karate ranking systems and styles) lets go for white as the beginner and as we  move through the spectrum the aim is to get to black, highly competent and very proficient at the business.

so.

white

yellow

green

blue

purple

red

brown

black

That gives you 8 levels, if  you want more you can add a coloured strip to each “belt” or “colour” so a white belt with a red or yellow tip would mean the basics have been taught, the person operates within the basic constraints and is ready to be “graded” or tested on the skills taught at this level.

A plain coloured belt means the person is in the process of learning the tasks and skills at that level and are competent in the level below.

So all that remains is to figure out what the tasks are at each  level and set in place the training and then assessing of each task at each level!

How to Attract the People You Need

Apr 29

Posted by Jenny Stilwell in Growth, Human Resource Management, Leadership, Planning, Starting out in business, The Operations Dept | No Comments

Just because you select an ideal recruit for your business, doesn’t mean they will automatically want to work for you. Why not?

Many businesses overlook the fact that they have to sell their offer and make it an attractive option for prospective new employees.

If you operate in a competitive environment where good recruits are scarce, or when you are trying to attract very high calibre people, it is essential that you make your business, and the position, sound as appealing as possible.

Here are some factors to consider:
1. Consider what drives people to join new companies. They typically want:
a. a new challenge
b. more money
c. opportunities for promotion
d. to work in a larger company
e. to work in a smaller company environment
f. to work closer to home
g. to work in an environment where they can improve their skills and learn
h. to work in a company full of friendly people
i. to work for a market leader
j. a manager who will spend time with them to teach and mentor

Does your business offer any of these enticements?

2. If it doesn’t, you may have issues with how the business is structured, or how it is performing, and may need to make some internal assessments and adjustments before you are able to attract the kind of people you need and want.

3. If you do meet some of these criteria, then the next question is, how do you sell your business and the position to the candidate? At every point possible!

a. The advertisement
i. Outline what’s positive and different about your company
ii. Make it sound interesting
iii. Provide several ways to respond to the advertisement (email, phone call, fax) – it appears more professional
b. Your website
i. Presentation – professional or amateurish?
ii. Overview of your business – should provide reasonable detail
iii. Clients – some reference to clients is a positive indicator
c. The interview
i. Reception and greeting – friendly, and again, professional
ii. Positive interaction – encourage questions at the end
iii. Be animated when interviewing and talking about your business
iv. You and the company must reflect the culture (professional/casual, committed, creative, service focus etc.)
d. Follow up
i. Needs to be a fast turnaround if you want the person
ii. Well organised – timeliness, information in the offer

If you do all of these things it is more than likely that you will be able to employ a candidate who matches your requirements, and the culture of your company. Good luck!

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Give your team the edge

Apr 22

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, Leadership, People! | No Comments

If you want to run a business that has a team with real power in what they do I have one piece of advice, in fact I will give you a really easy way to take that advice and put it into action… ready?

Coach them… too simple eh? but it works, you be the coach and say to yourself “If I am going to be a coach and asisst my team to be all they can be then I need to know about being the best coach I can be…” so lets grab that notion for a moment and run with it.

So to put the notion into action, grab a writing implement… now jot down as many attributes you would like a fantastic coach to have… write fast, write now, and go for a really long list. If someone comes past your door grab their attention (not by throwing a writing implement at them you need that…) and ask them for three really top attributes they would want to see in a coach.

Do you have a good list with over 15 attributes on it? Okay so now tick the attributes  you already have and run a line through any of the points that are to do with yelling at people, and otherwise negatively driving them to perform.

Over the next few days keep the exercise happening in your mind and search for more things to add to the list,  your list.

Now work on it, take all the positive qualities and do your best to tweak them and put them into practice.

Want to go further? Start  your own coaching journal with all the attributes listed in the front of the journal and jot down notes on how  you went and what you did to introduce these points into your own personal style of doing things. before long you will be finding great ways to work with people and get even greater results!

Happy coaching :)

Carnival of Australia – February 27, 2008

Feb 27

Posted by Bren Ryan in Chill out!, Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Starting out in business, The Board Room, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Operations Dept, The Sales Dept, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

carnival of australia

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Welcome to the February 27, 2008 edition of Carnival of Australia.

 Thanks to all the contributors, some great stuff there, enjoy your reading! 

Elias presents The day we said “sorry”! posted at Ramblings of an Australian teacher, saying, “I hope I can still squeeze in the current carnival.” – Yes and No Elias! I think you wanted to be in last fornight’s carnival, but you are welcome in ours :-)

John Crenshaw presents The Biggest Scam Your Bank Gets Away With Everyday posted at Truthful Lending dot Com, saying, “This little known scam accounts for a huge portion of fees paid to banks every year and is going on right under your nose. The worst part is, it’s completely legal.”

Micellaneous Mum presents Project book – introducing my Illustrator! posted at Miscellaneous Adventures of an Aussie Mum, saying, “The next installment in the series on how I’m going to publish my book this year.”

Business

D Robinson presents Diana Williams and Fernwood Women’s Health Clubs | Australian Women Online posted at Australian Women Online, saying, “This interview with Diana Williams is just one in a series of articles on successful women in business featured on Australian Women Online.”

Kathie Thomas presents Being Ready To Receive posted at soho-life.com, saying, “Helping clients to receive information.”

Leela Cosgrove presents How to Write a Professional Bio posted at Leela Cosgrove.

Leela Cosgrove presents The Seven Step Book Leveraging Program posted at Leela Cosgrove.

Michael Crooks presents Promotional Marketing Articles posted at Crooks Advertising Alliance, saying, “This article explains how salespeople can prevent children from sabotoging a sale.”

Martin Russell presents 5 Keys To Word of Mouth Marketing posted at Word of Mouth Marketing.

Dr. Gavin R. Putland presents Can you stop paying the mortgage and keep the house? posted at /etc/cron.whenever/, saying, “In America, thanks to reselling and repackaging of mortgage loans, the answer is often “Yes” because nobody can prove to whom you owe the money.”

Culture

bryce presents Tropfest Tumblings posted at a strangled duck, saying, “Tropfest was a great night with some great movies.”

Suzie Cheel presents There is a Fork In The Road: Which Path Will I Take? posted at The Abundance Highway, saying, “One morning walking on the beach I was fascinated how a tree branch thrown up by the tide was so beautifully positioned on the beach. For me, it was a fabulous image for a fork in the road. I knew then that one day I would find a saying or the words that would be just perfect to go with the picture.”

Michelle Sweeney presents My How Times Have Changes posted at Tonic Gifts.

Current Affairs

Dr. Gavin R. Putland presents Rationalizing stamp duty posted at Putland Uncensored.

Environment

Carole Fogarty presents Your Wealth Location for 2008: posted at THE HEALTHY LIVING LOUNGE, saying, “Locate your prosperity and wealth energy for 2008 and then elementally enhance and energetically uplift to bring new opportunities into your life. This is a potent energy that given the right conditions will surprise you.”

jen presents Semantically driven: blogging about blogging, parenting and living in Australia. » True blue posted at Semantically driven, saying, “This is a bit about what I do to save and reuse water.”

Family

Carole Fogarty presents The ultimate guide for a calmer driving experience: posted at THE HEALTHY LIVING LOUNGE, saying, “Ten practical and simple ways to ensure your car is not a metal container full of adult and children stress. Turn the calm dial up in your car now.”

Megan Bayliss presents Alleged sex predator masquerades as parent blogger posted at Imaginif…, saying, “What’s the time Mr Wolf? Time to take care because I have seen the avatar of an alleged child sexual abuser on many of your sites. Posing as a family blogger and all round decent human being is an easy thing to do…particularly when you want something. Be aware of who you are letting in the front door of your virtual home. Child protection is serious business. An investment in it nets returns beyond any current financial investment.”

PlanningQueen presents Ten things we should never say to kids. posted at Planning with Kids, saying, “A reminder to me as a parent about how I can impact my child through what I say to them.”

Food

Lightening presents Zucchini Lovefest posted at Lightening Online, saying, “Need some help using up those zucchini’s. Here’s a recipe or two for you to try.”

Gillian Polack presents Food History at the Royal Canberra Show – #1 posted at Gillian Polack, saying, “There’s a second article on bush foods, too. http://www.foodpast.com/food-history-at-the-royal-canberra-show-1-2/”

History

Romeo Vitelli presents Constance Kent posted at Providentia, saying, “Either a tragic victim or a brutal murderer (and maybe even Jack the Ripper). You make the call.”

Music

Duncan Macleod presents The Presets produce My People posted at Duncan’s Music Videos, saying, “Music video for My People, by Sydney electro pop duo The Presets, directed by Kris Moyes, younger brother of Kim Moyes. “I’m here with all of my people, locked up with all of my people. So let me hear you scream if you’re with me”"

Travel

Raymond presents Airline Credit Cards That Offer Free Miles posted at Money Blue Book.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of australia using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Improve Customer Service: Turn Employees Into Customers.

Feb 24

Posted by Michael Crooks in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Operations Dept, The Sales Dept | 4 Comments

I was sitting in the eye doctor’s chair. Only moments earlier I had been traumatized by that stupid glaucoma test where they shoot a puff of air in your eye. Well, they try anyway, because with me it’s more like testing the resistance of the surface of my eyelid. On the upside, apparently, my reflexes are still faster than a puff of air.

Anyway, the doctor examining my eyes, knowing I run an advertising agency, asked, “Michael, what can I do to improve customer service?”

I asked, “When your employees need to have their eyes examined or their glasses adjusted, you sort of fit them in somewhere during the day don’t you,”

“Well, sure,” she replied. “We just fit them in where we can. Just makes it easier. It’s an employee benefit.”

“Well,” I began, “If you really want to improve customer service, make your employees make an appointment like everyone else. Make them figure out how to get time off work to come in because you don’t have “after hours” appointments. Make them sit in your uncomfortable chairs that only serve to emphasize the fact that their appointment was supposed to have been 15 minutes ago. Let them listen to music they hate that is playing too loud. Make them look at magazines that are 9 months old. And let them sit in the waiting room and see how your receptionist, who has the personality of a tree stump, makes everyone who approaches her feel as though they are a huge interruption. At that point your employees may begin to develop some effective ideas on how to improve your customer service.”

She just stood there staring at me. I soon found out, in addition to the fact that the receptionist was her niece, that in her silence, she was merely calculating how much my critique of her business was going to cost me.

The money part doesn’t bother me nearly as much as the fact that she says I now need to come in weekly for a glaucoma test. The worst part? On my way out, I overheard her telling one of the tech’s, “We need to train the receptionist to run the “air gun” for Mr. Crooks’ weekly visits.”

Two lessons. First, being brutally forthright with clients, customers and prospects isn’t always the best way to go. A little “sugar-coating” goes a long way. Second, if you’re a business owner, don’t ask questions to which you don’t really want an honest answer.

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Lets say sorry and move on…

Feb 13

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management | No Comments

In an historic address to the nation today Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said “Sorry” to the stolen generation. He said sorry for the pain, sorry for the ongoing indignation, sorry for previous governments not apologising, for taking indigenous children from their families many years ago.

In essence he is saying we are sorry for the human rights abuse that took place in less enlightened times.

In analogy, is this any different from a business which, may treat its people poorly, that may provide only scant regard for safety, that may let its policies of profit grabbing rather than capacity building be the norm, that may let or indeed support bullying and harassment.

In these enlightened times, lets say sorry for these indiscretions, and actively seek out ways to make our workplaces, places where people can be engaged without hostility, or fear, for our safety, security, esteem and lifelong education.

Let’s find more ways to truly engage with the people we do business with, and those we employ. Together we can ensure the future of contemporary business is one where the “vanguard avant-garde”, is a beacon of hope and inspiration. In doing so we can only hope these champions of business embrace the ideals of sharing to allow others the opportunity to follow in their mighty footsteps.

Lets say sorry for past indiscretions, lets forgive those that perpetrated those acts, lets then take steps to embrace the future by taking positive action to fully engage all levels of business to ensure we can stay clear of the problems and utilise the precedent which has been set to full advantage.

How to train to Win/Win

Jan 11

Posted by Steve Gray in Franchisees, Franchising, Growth, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, Negotiation, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room, The Customer Service Dept | No Comments

From an original article on various business success pointers, here are the individual “how to” possible options for you to explore.

Training to win/win
You and your staff should be trained to make the whole show win, then the customers can win too. A great position to get to and stay in.  For some the idea of training staff means showing them the bare basics of their job, but go a bit deeper and encourage thinking around the idea of Win/Win, when they get the idea the concept will probably become infectious.

  • Find out more about win/win and how you might create some examples you can discuss with your team.
  • Look for examples of win/win already at play in your business.
  • Use the concept to develop a team get together every so often to ask about and pass on ideas in business development.

Getting all this together is a great way to cause the team to work effectively together and can build the business to a strong position where people feel valued. This will then pass on to the customers and cause them to feel valued as well, in the end that’s what we all want.

Retain and engage staff, or else…

Dec 23

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management | No Comments

In the race to maintain and or grow their business many business operators find another hurdle that pops up far to easily, and that’s staff turnover. Some call it churn, but whatever you call it it costs the business $$.

Some businesses try to keep their wages above the award rates in the hope it will keep people in the business and not move on. Some use other tactics to retain the employees and even engage them further than the usual 9 – 5 arrangement.

In reality a lot has been written on this subject over many years and the fact that it is still a major issue is testament to the fact that not a lot has been done, or not a lot of understanding about the issue has filtered it’s way through.

Whatever the situation and the outcome, the effective engagement and retention of staff requires innovative approaches to ensure they are mentally stimulated enough to want to hang around and give positive input rather than just being driven by the $$.

Over time people can fade in their energy and interest levels, and this can have wide ranging effects on productivity, leadership, communication and probably a whole raft of other things in the business. So to ensure ongoing engagement, a variety of techniques should be employed, not just one.

Giving cash is one thing, but it’s often a short term fix, giving training is a good option, but should not be the only option as not all people want to be taken away from their work to attend leadership training for example. The astute business needs to find ways to adapt to the person and become more flexible in the delivery of retention devices.

Issues around working hours, family friendly work practices, and now health schemes are becoming more obvious as options for the team. Again innovative approaches need to be used to implement and develop these practices so the staff member can not grow or feel complacent, but rather feel more valued as the various options get rolled out.

Imagine a workplace where a range of options were put to staff, where they could elect some of the options to retain them, then there are more options they do not get to choose but are put in place as well (formal and informal training for example.) The upshot of all this is that an employee feels valued, to the point where they don’t want to go elsewhere, they want to simply contribute at 110%.

In an age where quality workers are lured by better players in the market any employer needs to consider the best ways to get and keep the best players, otherwise their business could find itself on the scrap heap faster than it might care to know about.

The miserly boss, or Scrooge revisited…

Dec 15

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, People!, Risk Management | No Comments

Many of you will have seen forums where the nasty boss is mentioned and various people have jumped in with numerous stories of how they have had to put up with a lousy boss. The stories are amusing enough, the problem is they are all too common.

In this day and age the idea that a miserly boss exists seems a huge anomaly to me and thankfully I have not had too many over my career.

Examples will cover low wages, poor conditions, poor recognition of work done, seemingly not knowing that a Christmas party boosts morale and not only celebrates Christmas.

The challenge is that this issue can quickly become a hassle and if the business does not come to terms with it, in a buoyant market place the staff turnover will be one form of evidence things are not running effectively. Follow it up with the chance that pilfering and fraud can happen too, and the outcomes can be very costly!

Ok Mr (or Mrs) Miser, it’s time to wise up. There is an old saying that you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. Therefore to be in a position where staff turnover and the other hassles are minimised you need to take positive action now.

  • I appreciate that you may have been bought up to have frugal ways and you are tight with money. Hand the function of staff happiness to another person and set a generous budget.
  • Assign others with the task of finding out what is making your staff happy, or not (try a paper survey), then look at what research has been done on this issue (lots!) and take action to rectify it now!
  • Appreciate there are times when these things can snowball out of control, your aim is to stop it snowballing, when yo do a direct measure of it will be people smiling followed by lower absenteeism, these are probably the key indicators you have done things right, so don’t stop, keep going.
  • Your profits are one thing but the idea of chasing $$ profits only is really just a part of the equation, happy staff are happy staff.

Enough of the ideas, you can get more by some simple Googling on staff incentive options and create a workplace that staff willingly come to work, make it productive, put in ideas and in all make the profits go wild BUT it requires $$ to be spent (often not much) to make a happy bunch of people.

Creating a business where you are the employer of choice may not be easy, but the results will be well worth it.

The business of red-hot core values

Dec 9

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | No Comments

In business it’s too easy to fall into the trap of just doing business, then it can become a grind, the details become a blur and the idea of lifestyle enhancement as a value you wanted to chase can become minimal, in fact you may as well have just kept a job.

So where is the depth, the meaning that gives hope, strength, clarity, stamina, creativity, innovation and a whole raft of positive/emotive sensations?

These positive values are the core mechanisms that enable us to keep going even in tough times, to enable us to fall down and get up again, the resilience to bounce back, with a vengeance.

So here’s a loose definition of these “valuable business intangibles” as I see it, in this context. “Showing refinement, distinction and concern for the higher things in life.” This is where it comes down to the red-hot core values and some bigger questions to ponder in the business, and by individuals.

The points that follow are concerned with both team and individuals and how they connect or not. It’s about looking for and working with these distinctions to be able to create a business, which embodies these with a degree of ease and efficacy without having to consciously working towards them. So a degree of unconscious competence can kick in.

In reading the list, feel free to say, “If I had a business that had all these things I would be delighted, but it’s not going to happen today, nor tomorrow for that matter…” I appreciate this viewpoint and suggest the following… “You have these things in your business already, it’s a matter of ‘to what degree’ you have them”.

Your aim as the business-person would be to look at what you do in the improvements to your business that will add to the value of any of these. An example might be if you were wanting your team to service the customers more effectively, In chatting to them about the issue/s you might find yourself suggesting they be more tolerant, cooperate more with the customers and staff, show higher levels of respect and so on.

As you have just seen it may not be difficult to work with these as a group of items, but in isolation it might be. Note also some o the items are team based while others are more individual in their appeal and approach.

  • Honesty
  • Sensitivity to Others
  • Responsibility
  • Emotional Balance
  • Tolerance
  • A Deep Compassion for Humanity
  • Cooperation
  • Accurate Self Image
  • Respect
  • Development of self and others (for intrinsic and extrinsic value)
  • A Deep Sense of Mystery
  • Connectedness
  • Vision Mission – Personal and professional
  • Inner Peace
  • Freedom
  • Simplicity/Elegance
  • Strength – integrity
  • Holistic approaches to the development of – People – Environments – Culture/s

Taking a look at the list may be daunting, but I hope to show you ways to utilise each of these to enhance your business to be all it can be.

Finally, don’t think for a moment that this list is complete, feel free to add words you and your team might find that can be utilised to enhance the business further.

Using Gossip As An Effective Management Tool

Dec 2

Posted by Michael Crooks in Excellence!, Growth, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Starting out in business, The Operations Dept | No Comments

Got a note from my 4th grade son’s school the other day. Seems he and a small group were standing in line and were overheard making comments about “getting wasted” in reference to drinking alcohol. They were immediately hauled down to the principal’s office and verbally reprimanded about “inappropriate topics of discussion.” What’s sad, is that the children learned they must be very, very careful about expressing their thoughts for fear an adult will hear it and over-react and “get them in trouble”.

One of the few ways we can know what’s on a kid’s mind is by hearing what they say. Once we know what’s on their mind, an opportunity presents itself to have a thoughtful discussion on the subject mater.

“Hey, kids. You know that alcohol has devastating effects on the developing minds of smart young people like you. “Getting wasted” can get you into a lot of trouble. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them for you.”

What does this have to do with business? Plenty.

While the common adgage is, “Loose lips sink ships”, I believe loose lips can also help repair ships.

How many managers and bosses are walking around clueless to what’s on in the minds of employees because the employees are scared to be frank, open and honest? How many business boats are sinking because managers and bosses have created an ATMOSFEAR instead of an atmosphere within their organization.

With the exception of slander, racist remarks and vulgarity, when employees feel they are free to express their opinions, feelings and yes, even doubts … bosses and managers can “catch wind” of potential problems, insights can surface and opportunities for thoughtful discussion are created.

For instance. A manager overhears or “catches wind” that an employee is complaining about the manager. Instead of jumping down the employee’s throat and dishing out reprimands — what if the manager asked the employee for a brief meeting?

“Thanks for meeting with me, Jim. I think you’re a great employee and you have a lot of potential. But I sense there’s something I may be doing that’s keeping you from really achieving your best. What can I do … or stop doing to help you?”

Are your employees working on the good ship Stifled Expression? Or do you have an atmosphere that allows you to take full advantage of what is referred to as the grapevine, viral communication or the arena of the overhead?

Ancillary, random communication among employees can yield golden opportunities to effectively and productively solve problems and keep your business afloat and profitable.

Bad Acting Is Bad For Your Business

Nov 27

Posted by Michael Crooks in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, People!, Personal Development, Starting out in business, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | 2 Comments

I called my stockbroker a couple weeks a go. I had a question. I wasn’t sure who to ask for because it’s been about a year or so since I actually talked to anyone there. Anyway, I finally get “my guy” on the phone. What a phoney!

This guy doesn’t know me from a fence post but acts like he just saw me yesterday. He ACTS like he cares about me, but his act is so bad no matter what he’s saying it sounds like this:

“Haaaaayyyyyyy, how ya do’in? Boy It’s nice to hear from you! I haven’t a clue who you are — but as long as you called — I’ve gotsome really great ideas for you to consider that will suit you perfectly, what-ever-your-name is. We should sit down and talk. I’ll pop some information in the mail to you. You look it over and give me a call. Cause, hey! I don’t remember your name, so there’s no way I know your phone number … as evidenced by the fact that you never, EVER hear from me.”

I got the info in the mail and I’m like, “Whatever!” I didn’t call him. Course, he didn’t call me. Until three days ago … I called him.

“My guy” wasn’t in. Someone took my name and number and said “my guy” would call me back. He hasn’t.

I’m moving my account.

Sure, maybe he wants my account and the fees that go with it, but it’s obvious he doesn’t care about my account or me. And no, sending me a birthday card every year doesn’t make up for treating me like I don’t matter the other 364 days a year.

Here’s My Points:

If the only communication I get from you is a birthday card, then the card simply calls attention to the fact that I never hear from you.

If you make me feel like the small account I am … I will never become a bigger account … at least not your account.

If you really don’t want my business … fine. But if you really do want my business … then genuinely treat me like I matter.

Who are you supporting?

Nov 25

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Planning | No Comments

In the crazy mixed up world of business we can often forget why we are in business… of course it’s to make a profit but what kind? is it just money or are there other profits to be had?

Other profits might include

• People learning more and benefitting society by utilising their new found skills and abilities.
• Suppliers to your business having to grow their business because your business provides them with the need to create more product due to increased sales on your behalf.
• Local community growth due to your business providing increased capacity for the local community to spend and earn.
• More community support due to your business providing executives on loan to not for profit groups.

I am sure there are many more ways you are supporting the community and those near and dear to you, often I find businesses that realise their impact is so vast they start to smile a lot wider, and get a warm feeling in their heart. It’s not just the cash, its the wider community benefits as well.

You may not plan for it or you might want to plan for it… Either way when it happens it makes the whole idea of business take on a fresh new meaning.

Uphill, down hill is there any in between?

Oct 19

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Human Resource Management, Personal Development, Risk Management, Starting out in business | 1 Comment

The road we travel in business is a rough one at times, then it gets smooth and before we know it it turns to a dusty track with giant potholes.

I’m talking about the everyday challenges we face, be it in getting enough customers, having enough profit, ensuring staff are happy and the $$ are still rolling in…

For many in business it’s like a roller coaster and few things seem to placate this, just experience over time that tells you “here it comes again!”

Apart from experience the business operator needs to have a way of dealing with these situations to ensure they can come out on top, mentally, physically and emotionally (at least!) so to be prepared for these challenges consider a survival kit to help you on your way.

1. Get educated – If its marketing that’s a challenge? Find out how to do it better, If it’s leadership.. FIND out how to be a better leader. Get educated, take short courses, read books and implement it to make it work. I appreciate your time is precious but making time to get this one right will pay big dividends in the long run.

2. Get connected – Find a group of business people you can bounce ideas off, a business forum that provides an active place where ideas get ‘flipped about’ can be useful to help you see others are in a similar boat and there are ways out of it.

3. Hang Loose – Take some time out from your usual routine, go to a park, take a river walk… I care not for the details but give yourself a break… on your own is good, and leave the mobile phone in the car! Rain hail or shine this short break can do wonders to boost your emotional immune system and creativity.

4. Make it inspiring - The workplace is where you spend a lot of time, take a look around and say how inspiring is this place…. Now make alist of what to do and do it bit by bit if you have to, but make it happen to inspire you and your staff.

There you go a few points to help you on the road to business success. It may still have some potholes and challenging uphill sections but the goal at the end just got a fraction easier.

See something, do something…

Oct 11

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management, The Customer Service Dept | No Comments

Earlier in 2007 I did a post on Trademarks not what you think… It gave some starting points and some background to an idea that is really all about values and beliefs but does so in a more street smart way.

I thought it was time to pull out a few more and explore how they can be developed and a bit about why they can be developed (e.g. the end product of doing all this.)

Trademarks, the notion is that it sets you apart from anybody else that might have a similar business name (in the traditional use of the word), but beyond that it says “This Co does things in certain ways, ways that set it apart.” so the same with our trademarks.

It can be used to provide guidelines and information on bigger picture things in the business Marketing – Operational issues – Management. Then of course it can go to smaller issues within each area right down to the last ‘nut and bolt’

One key to using “Trademarks” is to utilise an overall device to assist with the development of each area within the framework lets call it a mantra.

“See something,
Do something”

If one person in the organisation saw something that was not “right” within the organisation they can invoke this mantra and take it from a saying to a thing to be acted on. If anyone says we can’t do that ‘because…’ then the person putting forward the idea need not feel put down, they were just doing what was asked of them, their aim might be to look deeper to find a way that can alter the first point they raised.

An example a customer service indiscretion is witnesses, you would (under ideal circumstances) report it as a matter of urgency or act on it immediately in some other way (take action) as it would effect a key area of the business (Customers!). If a mistake was spotted in an advert, “see something, do something” should then kick in immediately before it’s too late. (Again a key area of business and one that needs to be right.)

Using this simple mantra can give the business a developmental edge in all areas… so what to do, how to go about putting it into practice… make a sign “See something, do something” and put it up, everywhere! email people in your organisation about it (keep it brief) and support it at all levels, (from the customer down…)

Next, make a list of all the key areas in the business (to raise awareness) and give a few examples of how this system could be used in each, then start developing the business from that stand point. If profit is down, start with that, you will soon see what things are preventing your profit from developing and so you will be able to action those things more strategically.

Imagine, you know have a way of creating an improvement culture in your organisation simply and effectively. So go ahead, you have seen this now do something.

A fresh approach

Oct 2

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, People!, Planning | No Comments

If you are hiring employees, the usual take on things is to try and match the person you want via assessing their skills an abilities as well as attitude and qualifications.

So you place an advert and put in the role and some Co details, then wait for the cover letters and resumes to arrive. In the final phase you wade through the applications (or pay an organisation to do it,) then get the likely few to attend an interview. It all takes time and time is money…

Consider a fresh approach, one that can turn the process around and give you a few ‘good’ applicants. Place an advert with minimal info, let them know the role and a few basics (really basic basics…) and invite them to send in a one page “response”, a question like… “tell us why this role would be of value to you?” can soon sort things out. From these responses you should be able to gauge if they have the determination for the role, the motivation to bother taking your “fresh approach”.

If nothing else it will save you a HEAP of time in assessing candidates the old way. If you get a lot of responses consider a group session where you outline the role further and hold 60 second interviews… That should sort things further for you! First impressions can (or should) be very telling.

The “easy in” franchise start up.

Sep 24

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchising, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Negotiation, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Customer Service Dept | 1 Comment

For the Franchisor: How do you make the start up phase easy for the Franchisee?

For the Frachisee: How does the Franchisor make the start up phase easy for you.

This is the sort of question both parties should be asking themselves and for the Franchisor reviewing it often to make sure they have the best systems in the business.

Lets take a look at perhaps a usual scenario… the Franchisee joins the business, signs up and does the training, they start the business and pay the usual franchisee fees in the first month or so… it’s baptism by “deep end” immersion!

Lets step back a bit further and take a look at what really happens. For some this business opportunity is a start up, no business experience, and while there is probably great support systems in place after the training, some may not know how to use them, or perhaps might feel as though they would be embarrassed to use them. Although the Franchisee is keen to start there will probably be a range of issues they have to contend with, a new start, a change of work habits, new systems, training to learn… and the list could go on… and ON!

It might be suggested that the Franchisor’s role (in part) is to make this transition phase as simple and easy as possible so they can build the esteem of the Franchisee (vital really). So here are a few suggestions that could make a solid point of difference to the way your franchise business starts its new recruits (remember to use these as selling points!)

Fees - Consider not having the first two or three months of fees, and or making the fees a low start option (e.g. they pay an increasing percentage in the start up phase) To redeem the loss you include it in the start up fee for buying the franchise.

Income – During the training period and the first few weeks of set up, there is probably a loss of income, if you do not have an income guarantee, include a short term one to take the pressure off. Let the franchisees focus clearly on the training and getting things right.

Support – coaching – mentoring – training – Training is usually a given, the coaching, mentoring and other forms of support may be voluntary, or the onus put on the Franchisee. The aim being to ensure the Franchisee is a “happy camper” your role is to make these aspects more robust and easy to implement. If the new recruit is thrown in the deep end, how can you provide ‘services’ to ease the pain and ‘stop them from drowning”? Lets face it there are too many Franchise horror stories and the time stop this is at the start. If you have support staff in contact with franchisees how well do they coach, mentor and support?

Advertising – A vital part of the business mix, advertising can make or break a start up business. How many ways can you build extra value into the start ups advertising to ensure added value and possibly more customers? Show them the Press Releases you have sent out to their local media, then scour their local papers for articles that have been printed and show them, look for opportunities in the local media and utilise those to ensure the start up phase is happening with a lot of interest. Perhaps consider teaser adverts to build intrigue. Of course all the extras are in the price of the franchise.

List – Frequently asked questions for new franchisees (perhaps in an intra-net) and provide a whole range of support materials for them, from simple short video examples to PDF type documents or power point presentations they can get answers with very quickly. give the peace of mind in knowing the answers are there 24/7 so they do not have to wait for an “Area Manager” to call them back with an answer on Monday and it’s Friday night!

Family – A little touched on area of business… but the family support is vital to how the new franchisee feels. What material can you provide to raise their awareness of this new change to their lives? How it might effect things, the rewards it might bring later on… and so on. Most of all though provide something, even a brochure or leaflet is better than nothing and encourage them to get involved. For smaller franchises it might be as simple as inviting them to help out with the bookkeeping (if they have those skills) or delivering pamphlets in the territory. Any way they can help out can be very useful to the family stability in the early phases.

Thats the list for now, but keep searching for ways to help the new recruit. For Franchisees, look for franchises that offer as many of these support devices as possible and ask existing franchisees about how well these worked in reality.

For more franchise info…

Open the floodgates!

Sep 20

Posted by Steve Gray in Franchising, Human Resource Management, Leadership, Negotiation, People!, Risk Management, Starting out in business | No Comments

Who is blaming whom? In the failed business stakes there are those with the crushed ego from the fall who want to blame anyone but themselves. They will claim the system failed them, customers failed them, area supervisors and suppliers failed them… then of course the franchisor failed them!

In all the blame game generally gets people nowhere and often it happens too late.

No one wants a business to fail, so what happens? really it’s a simple cycle, born out of the old adage resistance, resentment and retaliation… lets take a stab at a possible scenario.

A franchisee gets started and is niggled they can get a support person to call them back from the main Co. (its been a busy time for the Co recruiting and starting a bunch of new franchisees). the franchisee gets miffed and start to build a sense of resistance, and becomes standoffish despite the supervisor apologising profusely.

In some people this resistance clears up and in others it festers in the background.

If this and other things continue the franchisee starts to resent the situation and the hollow they now find themselves in… (Often though these things start from a small issue though.) The retaliation when things have multiplied out of control becomes a range of finger pointing and blame and before long a hostile situation looms and any issue seems to push things further into a downward spiral. The flood gates have opened and Voom the rush of water knocks over everything in its path.

Seriously it does not take much to see this happen, in a franchise, personally run business or in general life!

Here’s the aim for the franchisor, stop it happening before it multiplies.

Herea re some simple points to make things happen more effectively…

- Open the Company communication floodgates – Make the franchisee see that everything is being done to assist them, pester your team to find out who they contacted in the past few weeks, and if they haven’t why not.

- Open the family communication floodgates – successful businesses have family support, its important that you know if a franchisee has this support if not find ways to boost it and get the family interested, supportive and involved.

- Make it a great start up – Before the business gets started make sure the franchisee has the right mindset and attitude to run the business and is willing to learn ways to build their skills in all areas.

- Train them and train your people, to be exceptional communicators – To do this, find ways to get them together to really get to know each other (and don’t wait for the next conference to make this happen.) for people to REALLY communicate effectively they might need to work more like a family.

- Make BIG! promises - And KEEP them. If you say you will jump, make sure you tell them how high it will be. Hollow promises cause a lot of problems. To make sure they happen set up simple and effective systems so your team can ensure they are done.

If you make these a major priority for your franchise business you will form a positive foundation to really set up a caring company that shows it is interested whole heartedly in its members. That’s my view on ways to make the 3 R’s that can damage any relationship (in this case business relationships) and make it less of an issue. Hopefully this is enough to calm the madding crowds!

More franchising articles

The exceptional organisation.

Sep 17

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management, The Operations Dept | No Comments

The exceptional organisation according to Tom Peters associate Ed Michaels, is one that provides and nurtures rigourously the following…
“Remarkable challenges, rapid professional growth, respect, satisfaction, fun, stunning opportunity, exceptional reward, amazing peer group, full membership in ‘Club Adventure’, maximized future employability…”

All this leads to attracting more of the right people both internally and externally. In a world where skilled and motivated people are in hot demand then this list is just a starting point. Now take the list and make your organisation “fit the bill” or miss out, the race for influencing great people to partner with your organisation is fast running out of options!

The info was sourced from www.tompeters.com and makes for great reading.

Suggestion, make a list of the items above and get your team and or yourself to create a list of ways to make it happen, I would do it as a table or matrix and see what’s already in place and what can be added. Go on go for a WOW organisation!

The attitude or the money?

Sep 12

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Human Resource Management, Leadership, Negotiation, People!, Personal Development, Starting out in business, The Customer Service Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

In business there are many things to consider, but one of the most overlooked is the fact that you have to deal with people, staff, customers, suppliers, partners and support teams (accountants coaches and the like). The factor that makes or breaks the relationship that’s built is your attitude. But what is it, and specifically how does it fit to a business context.

Here are a few points to consider that go some way to making up your overall “business attitude.”

- Service orientation

- Persistence

- Practical and direct business skills (or lack of them)

- Planning and organisational skills – to set achieveable goals

- The ability to achieve

- Creativity and innovation

- Desire to succeed

- Honesty, intergity and sincerity

- Communication and leadership skills

- Motivation and drivers

All of these have a bearing on your attitude and if you take one or a few of them away or skew them poorly the money vanishes, or at best fades. In business profit is king, therefore you should be finding ways to enhance your “attitude” so you can attract more of the “right stuff” into your business and personal life.

Your aim is to have a Positive Mental Attitude and avoid a Permanent Bad Attitude!

Your magic business…

Aug 30

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Finance, Growth, Health and Safety Dept, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, IT Dept, Leadership, Negotiation, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Operations Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

Today you are doing what SPECIFICALLY…

- to make your business more profitable?

- to cause the staff to LOVE you?

- to cause the customers to LOVE you and your team?

- to cause your suppliers to jump through hoops to give you great deals (and LOVE you)?

- to ensure your workplace is the best place to work, form both a safety and aesthetic perspective?

- to cut down on red tape?

- to create more elegant systems?

- to ensure your business is growing well?

The list can be as long as you like, with out this kind of input your business can stagnate and fade, in short it can shrivel up and die… So do something today to make it thrive.

Caring leads to loving… yes loving!

Aug 28

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Health and Safety Dept, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management, The Customer Service Dept, The Sales Dept | 2 Comments

Caring for your staff can lead to respect, the word caring means showing positive and real interest towards each other. I am suggesting we take a caring approach to build the love we have so we can avoid, bullying in the workplace, foster greater connection with our customers and staff.

This article mixes well with “Your staff and service made easy” and should probably be seen as the next step on from it.

Of course there are various levels of love and I am sure you will appreciate and respect peoples personal boundaries and expectations in this regard, the aim is not to get into “hot water” but rather prevent hostilities!

In the beginning love needs to come from people who appreciate love and indeed have love for themselves (I’m not talking about egocentric over the top love here…) so on the list of “lovers” it would probably look like this.

1. They love themselves – then they know what its like and can lo ve others.

2. They love others, their close personal team – family then friends and workmates.

3. They love the customers - without them you are not in buisness so give them some love too!

4. Love being in business – no point in doing something you hate…

5. Love your offerings - are you selling great products and services or???

6. Love you business environment – take a look around, is it a gret place to work? really? get witht he progra and sort out some of the details so you can make thing humm!

7. Love the work teams - you may not be able to have much input into how they work together but if you love the team principles you can have a more productive and fun work place.

8. Love their communications – go on foster some great communications, break down some barriers and watch the teams flourish.

9. Develop a love for leadership skills – and instil these in everyone, make them all leaders (of their own projects.)

Okay so how would you do all of this?

1. Get great at coaching – mentoring – supporting and leading. Find out what you can do to be good at these and you will become a powerful support device to cause your business to fourish.

2. Create systems and methods to create closeness – then watch how the individuals and teams work to make the most of the situation.

Your aim in doing all of this is to create a work culture that supports, cares, holds people in high regard… in short it builds the love.

Your staff and great service – EASY!

Aug 27

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Planning, The Customer Service Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

Your staff and great service – EASY!

When it comes to service, practically all organisations I come across say they aim to have great service and if they don’t have it they will work on it. Problem is not many know how to make their service great, let alone good. Lets check out a bunch of points and shed some light on this always, topical issue.

Firstly there are a few things we need to get our head around, each business has people at the front line, they then have an environment (virtual and actual) and these coupled with human interaction create a culture. I put these in simple terms I call PEC’s (People – Environment – Culture). When these are coupled with Marketing, Operations and Management you have the nucleus or foundation structure of business.

Most people in business recognise this but are at a loss (often due to being too involved in the business to see it clearly) to be able to do anything about it. One feature of businesses that can improvise, overcome and adapt to situations are able to innovate and find creative ways to instigate the changes required to make things happen.

Lets put together some points to assist in the development of a customer excellence strategy.

  1. Why should they? – Chat to the staff about why good service is of value to them, the WIIFM or ‘what’s in it for me?’ try working the job security angle, or how it will make them feel giving great service.
  2. Train them – Ask them ‘Coach them – Model it’ By raising these issues and finding ways to create better service and setting the example yourself, you will be leading by example and acting as their service coach.
  3. Variety - Develop with the staff a range of ways they can respond to customers so they have to think more about the interaction  move from ‘Can I help you?’ through a range of other responses to make the relationship develop further than just a buyer and seller one. Give them the chance to build some depth with the customer.
  4. Do it in doses - Break up long customer service face-to-face and phone contact so that staff, don’t burn out.
  5. Put them in the customers shoes – Change the role around and let them critique the service exchange you could do it as a role play in a training session or simply send them to a few stores to buy things and report back on what’s working and what’s not.
  6. Develop great communication skills – “Ask lots of questions” use please and thank yous and explore building rapport which helps to build stronger relationships.
  7. Talk about caring - You cannot pay people to care (long term) but you (as the leader) can learn to push their buttons so they can learn more. Caring for each other builds trust and that equals easier sales processes.  if you can figure out the staffs buttons, they will be able to learn customers buttons as well. Here’s a clue its all about their motivation

There is more, lots more but for now that should give you and your team a great start to building a great service skill set and a culture of service excellence.

Sustain your good image with Pausitiveness

Aug 23

Posted by Tony Alessandra in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Personal Development | No Comments

For a sustained good image, master emotional self-control. “Those who command themselves,” goes an old saying, “command others.” That is true, and it means being disciplined enough to put your personal feelings on hold even when tempted to blow your stack.

If you otherwise make a great first impression, yet allow yourself to be pushed over the edge to rant and rave and to say and do things that you later regret, that is the “you” that will be remembered. Your hard-won image of positiveness or enthusiasm can be shattered in an instant. It will take much damage control to undo even one such outburst.

One executive, whom I’ll call Harry, seeks to project himself as fair, sensitive, highly knowledgeable, a good listener, and, above all, tranquil under fire. However, his volcanic temper is never far from exploding. Moreover, when it does erupt in an outpouring of vitriol, no one is safe. After his emotional eruptions, no one looks him squarely in the eye for quite some time as he tries to resume his role as good ol’ Harry, the wise, imperturbable leader.

What Harry needs is what I call pausitiveness: the ability to pause and refrain from giving immediate feedback. Many an argument can be avoided if one side refuses to be defensive. That is because feedback, while generally a good idea, can be like throwing gasoline on a fire if you misunderstand the intent of the other person’s message.

Another example: I once was at the home of some friends and was chatting with the wife when her husband, who was running a little late, burst into the room in an apparent huff. Pointing at his shirt collar, he demanded loudly, harshly, “Where did you get this shirt cleaned?” Many spouses, fearing a rebuke, might have counterattacked. However, this woman, in a calm voice without disturbing body language, just named the dry cleaner and said evenly, “Why do you ask?” The husband said it was the first time any cleaner had done his shirt properly and he would like all his shirts done there from now on.

Therefore, clearly, there are times when it is best just to pause, bite your tongue, and restrain your body language and gestures in the face of an implied threat or criticism until the smoke has cleared. Maybe, as it sometimes turns out, there is no crisis at all, or perhaps you wrongly inferred that the other person was being critical. In any event, by remaining calm, you may defuse the situation and, at the very worst, you will not aggravate it.

Remember: People will always believe that what you say in your worst moments is closer to your true beliefs than what you more carefully tailor for their consumption in calmer times.

Bullying no thanks…

Jul 23

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Health and Safety Dept, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Risk Management, The Board Room | No Comments

Of increasing annoyance is the challenge employers face in dealing with Bullying in the workplace. No longer is it just a blue collar “stir up the new apprentice with some pranks issue” but it’s a bigger issue involving all business types. It seems there are as many bullies as there are workplaces.

Finding out you have a bully is one thing, but dealing with them is entirely another… Often you find out you have one or three bullies far too late and their manipulative ways mean they may have already infected a range of people in your organisation. Poor productivity, lots of sick days taken, higher staff turnover may be just a few of the indicators a bully is in your midsts.

To combat this employers, managers and supervisors need to be vigilant that 1. they are not the bullies and that 2. they have a process of some kind in place for dealing with them. Finally 3. they have a way of discovering if they have any.

Attached is a document that can give you some insights into bullies and the ways they do things, use that as a starting point to pinpoint the behaviours bullies have and then work towards ways to over come these parasites feeding on your business.
Workplace Bully Information

Ford jobs issue creating concern…

Jul 19

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, People!, Personal Development, Risk Management | No Comments

The Ford Geelong issue will cause a few problems for a while yet. Local business identity Lawrie Miller who is part of the local Chamber of Commerce has suggested it will not cause a big ripple, that the people out on their ear may be absorbed in part, into “IT and Bio Tech industries…” (Geelong Advertiser 19/July/07)

Some might, but my gut instinct says its a bigger issue than that… Imagine being part of an organisation for 15 – 20 years making castings to be given the advice go into IT or Bio Tech… Yes it can happen and in some cases re skilling will take place, BUT if you have cast steel and aluminium for a long while, a ‘softer job’ in IT may not suit, you might want a more physical position similar to your past emloyment.

The issues around this won’t lay down in a hurry but what will happen in the messy business that is developing, will be interesting to watch, redploy or not there will certainly be some casualties. In what is histrocially a working class area there are those that are set in their ways and want things to remain the same as they have always been. Hopefully there are enough with the ‘improvise, adapt and overcome’ attitude, which will propel them forward into new roles.

Lets hope that people can see through politcal smokescreens (the company and the government) and see a clear way forward, so the security these people are used to can continue.

They say its true… 600 jobs gone…

Jul 18

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | No Comments

The news today is saying they will drop 600 jobs at Ford in Geelong in the casting plant, as they can get the engines cheaper o/s. That might be true but what about the carnage… not just the jobs, the investment.

The Victorian Government has put in over 60million dollars investing in the car maker to keep it here, keep it viable and so forth, but now has that money gone down the drain? Probably.. Will the Detroit big guns be swayed by a delegation from down under… nah probably too late… Will we as tax payers see the millions back in our coffers… “Sorry boys we spent it already.

Someone has made some cash out of the whole thing.

One thing is for sure even ten mil could have provided for those 600 by providing jobs in other areas in the region. A think tank on how to use 10 mill to make a highly sustainable range of businesses so that jobs and enterprise could be secured would have been useful.

But instead the people in power have had their arms twisted to give away a lot more and get little back. Lets see if anything good comes of the situation as the Detroit big guns throw their hands in the air and say “Hey there’s nothing we can do!”

Welcome to the clever country peoples!

Time For A Business “Forms Review”?

Jul 18

Posted by Michael Crooks in Growth, Human Resource Management, IT Dept, Planning, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Operations Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

When was the last time you updated your business forms? This issue came to light recently as I sat in a doctor’s office filling out forms. While I wasn’t there because of a pain in my rear, I was quickly developing one.

For starters, there was barely enough room to write my first name, let alone my middle and last name. Where I was to put ‘city” there was only enough room to put the first four letters of Butte. And I was only able to squeeze in 3 of the 5 zip code digits. To make a long story short, no one manufactures a pen with a fine enough point to allow me to squeeze in the information the form asks for.

Then I get to the medical questions. Half the stuff they ask, “if I’ve ever had’ — I just now developed as a result of trying to fill out the form, including eye pain, double vision, a headache and anxiety.

Then I read the following: “Have you ever had any of the following problems?”. Really?
Do they really mean

    ever?

1) Frequent Urination. Well, yeah. I mean, you simply can’t pound a six pack and not have frequent urination. 2) Testicular Pain or Swelling. Again, yeah … there were a few times in gym class during dodge ball I thought I was going to swallow my eyeballs. And, I don’t know any father who hasn’t fallen victim to an over-zealous 2 year old with a “cute little plastic baseball bat”. I’m rolling on the floor, writhing in pain, can’t catch my breath and my wife’s telling me to “man up”, get over it and take care of some heavy-lifting in the garage.

But seriously, when WAS the last time you updated your business forms? It may be time for a “forms review”.

Is there really enough room for anyone, including the elderly and those with arthritis, to easily fit their information in the space provided? Pretend your name is Samantha Allison Jamison-O’Hara or Johnathon Abernathy Wellington. Can you really fit a long street name and an apartment # in the address line?

Room to write is one issue. Another is relevant information. If you’ve been using the same forms for a number of years, they may be outdated. Many forms created years ago weren’t designed to capture “Late Trend” information such as e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers or allow for blended family name or female hyphenated name issues. A “forms review” is the perfect time to address these issues.
Seek input from your patients, customers or clients — those who must fill out the forms. Are the questions really clear? Is the sequence of the information asked for logical? And while some comments and suggestions will be totally irrelevant, by and large, you’ll end up with some quality input. It’s also a great PR move.

Your patients or customers will feel like they have some ownership in the form and it will create goodwill. You can even add a line at the bottom such as, “This form was designed with the thoughtful input of our patients to be as user-friendly as possible.”

In addition to having your office staff sit down and actually fill out your office forms, ask them if they’d improve anything. It’s possible they’ve been hearing complaints for months or years and simply smiled and nodded knowingly to the complainers.

Once the forms are redesigned, make full-size copies and have people actually fill them out and evaluate them. Have the staff do the same thing over a couple day period. Often, errors are overlooked in the rush to get it done. Take the time to do it right, because if past performance is any indication of the future, you’ll be using these new forms for years.

Ford to dump workers…

Jul 14

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | No Comments

Ford may dump workers at its Geelong (Aust) plant in a chance to rebound from a slump in sales of its larger engines produced at the plant. This has people from all sectors of Government and industry bodies jumping to try and stem the flow on effect this may have IF it happens. My view, lets see what happens first and not jump in too hastily.

Okay companies have dumped workers before (Geelong Cement threw out 150 workers, closed up and walked away) and despite claims of many ill effects, generally little happens due to a range of paramaters that kick in. Some take early retirement, some redploy readily (some happily), some will move out of the area to seek a new start,  some may even start a business, so they can be their own boss… and so on.

In the case of Geelong Cement many of these kicked in and the leftovers took a little while to find their place but generally the kicking and screaming was VERY minimal.

I guess there will be some that struggle if the company closes part of its facility but things are far diferent now that a few years back when Australia was in the throes of recession and much higher unemployment.

My point… Times change, people move on, (some struggle, some find it easy, some may even say its the best thing for them to be pushed into something new.)

In business things change, and life charges on. Goverments can throw a lifeline if they wish, but perhaps they should use caution and watch proceedings develop first rather than be part of the “sky is falling” mob.

Business changes are bought about through various changes in what the market wants… Typewriter sales went out the window with computers coming in… Things change and we have to addapt to that.

Sure jobs are important, but in a climate of low unemployment, skills shortages in a range of industries, perhaps Ford’s “dumping of staff” will assist other businesses to flourish and not cause nearly as much devastation as the protagonists would have us think.

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