Archive for category People!

Staff Development More than Just Incentives

Dec 21

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

Many organisations do their best to encourage staff to be all they can be and develop them to be all they can be, well they hope that’s the case, yet despite all their best efforts things can go astray. Staff may develop skills, but their ability to stay motivated or develop a better attitude towards the job may fade fast. Lets take a look and try to figure out some of the issues which might cause these important things to fade…

Poor procedures and policies – We create a system of policies and procedures which might be too complex when they don’t have to be, or not enough of them, suddenly “holes” appear and things “fall through”. An employee may well find this frustrating and all the incentives and development can come undone fast.
Knowledge development – Great to provide incentives to staff, but without giving them the right knowledge to be able to tackle tasks effectively you might be setting them up to fail, or at worst struggle. People often look for the path of least resistance and end up finding that path elsewhere. if you train people make sure it fits for their tasks and needs.
Incentives – What if you created the wrong incentives… What if your people don’t like the goals set at some deep level… What if your planning looks great for you, but not for the organisation and the staff know it… What if the incentives put in place are too short term to hold the employees interest… All useful questions, now you need to figure out what to alter to make things work.
Lousy tools – Here’s the task now go and do it, “But where are the right tools to do it?” your team just might give up before things have started, a bad sign. Do anything to make sure they get the right tools and training to make the task happen effectively.

Often staff are disinterested because WE set them up to fail, although we had the best intensions at the time. WE need to ensure things are in alignment, the goals, the processes and procedures, the policies, the skills development the incentives and tools so the staff can be all they can be with ease.

Lets reward the right behaviours with the right set of devices so the team wants to remain with the organisation in a way which keeps the ball rolling for all concerned, after all happy staff are often far more productive staff.

Trade leaks, the last place to end up?

Dec 17

Posted by Steve Gray in People!, Risk Management | 2 Comments

This site is proving popular in the media at the moment and probably the last place to end up, however if what I am hearing is correct the site is not moderated, nor are the claims verified at this point, so if your business has upset someone, then watch out!

If it is so easy to post to the site, then a savvy marketer could use it to advantage, especially if the media are causing people to check it out. (As seen on Sunrise Ch 7 Australia).

It works on a similar premise to wikileaks, with some insider information being leaked so we can have an inside out view of the world of business… worth a look, especially if your business is dodgy and is likely to have “secrets” revealed which you don’t want shared to the wider public.

A look at some of the comments to the posts as of today and you will clearly see the moderation is non existent…

Nice try guys, it seems it needs some work, but if they did this as a marketing ploy to get things rollilng, well they certainly got attention!

What’s next, the fourth instalment

Dec 6

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

In this final part of the new recruit guidelines I wanted to focus on the probation period guidelines. it’s a very important part of the whole process but one which is often dismally left out of the process. Here is what I said in the initial article in this series.

Probation period guidelines – Start and in three months we will assess how you have gone. Assess what and how? Is anyone in your organisation clearly responsible for figuring out what and how to assess, are they qualified to do so to some regulatory standard?

Many organisations have a three month probation period while others have six months and others none at all. If you want to build in cooling off period where either party can part ways, it is wise to ensure you and they fully understand the process and the criteria they will be assessed on.

These days there are plenty of people with workplace assessment qualifications who should be able to map out the criteria for measurement and the ways to assess the recruit against those criteria.

Depending on the role will depend on the specifics of operational effectiveness they will have to attain, the skills they will have to demonstrate and the level of cultural fit they will attain.

At a minimum level the OHS standards will be addressed and I would like to think a solid appreciation of the values and beliefs of the organisation as well as practical job skills and abilities would be very wise.

The aim being to ensure the person being assessed has clear criteria to work to, as well as a full appreciation of how they will be assessed and the evidence or types of evidence which will be sued to do all this.

May I suggest a clearly set out set of criteria in a bunch of areas, OHS, job skills, Cultural fit, Communication skills, Technical skills (IT etc). and then build the assessable parts within each section. Perhaps they will have to show an understanding of the terminology or intention of the parts of each section as well as demonstrate with clear evidence they have achieved that level of skill.

Whatever the end product make sure it is clear to all parties and people assessing the person have the ability to do it based on great evidence and clear guidelines for all.

Now you have a new recruit with correct training, who has met the criteria for assessment, feels welcome in the organisation and is settling in to the role with ease and a degree of comfort. You on the other hand have the peace of mind in knowing you did all you could to make the process as easy as possible to ensure the new recruit is a brilliant fit and are assured of their ongoing success… Let’s hope so!

Tags: business, business mechanics, business success, business women, communication, creativity, employee recruitment, hr leadership, innovation, lateral thinking, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, training, workplace safety

What’s next, the third instalment

Dec 5

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

Last time we looked at the training area in the new recruits process, now lets check out the expectations put on them, and how to deal with that, in the initial article I said…

High Expectations – The HR dept say this person is a great fit for the organisation on SO MANY levels, yet no one in the dept they are going into knows anything about them except some here-say rumor… Truth is the person is a bit average in the start up phase and people in the dept are “non plussed” with the new recruit, some people just need time to shine and figure out where everything is and how things happen. How were the skills the person had in a previous position “Mapped” across to this new role. What if they had used a much older piece of software in the past and the version or type you have is VERY different to what they are used to…

Your new recruit starts and the place is a buzz with excitement, people want to meet them, people want to avoid them, people need to help them or not. It’s all about people and the fit to the organisation, yet on so many levels there are issues with how things come together and the expectations some in the team may have about the new recruit.

In the initial phase the new person might struggle to get up to speed, despite reassurances from many in the organisation, yet the person may well be highly trained and have a resume bristling with qualifications. In the initial phase then it should be vital to ensure they have the support they need without prejudice or hassle, this way they can grow into the role at their pace. For some that will be fast and for others painfully slow perhaps, you role is to make sure it happens in the best way possible.

Others in your team will need to know about the new person and why they were chosen so they can make fair assessments and not base a person on day one performance and here-say from others in the team, rumours are rarely objective.

You will have talked to the team about how they have certain skills and how these can be traced across or mapped, to suit their new role. You will assure them this person meets a range of positive criteria and proved at interview they should be well and truly capable of fitting in, and doing an effective job in the new role.

You will also outline any training or other support they need to allow them to make the best of the probation period and explore the role and the organisation fully.

Now every one knows about the new recruit a welcome party will ensure they are able to fit in and be supported in positive and solid ways by all the team.

In our next part in this series lets look at the guidelines for their probation period and ensuring they are clearly assessed to meet the criteria.

Tags: Burning Business Bridges, business, business mechanics, business success, communication, creativity, employee recruitment, hr leadership, innovation, lateral thinking, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, training, workplace safety

What’s next, the second instalment

Dec 4

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

This is the second part of the four part series on dealing with new recruits, this time we focus on training. Here’s what I said in the initial article.

Lousy training – Tough, though I know your training people are possibly doing what they can, given tough challenges or are just not that suited to training new employees, they might have a stronger focus on I.T. or a some Leadership program, they can be spread thin. After all did anyone tell the Training area to prepare something for the new recruit?

When it comes to training some are of the opinion “If you picked a new recruit, pick one already trained…” nice thought but there are things your organisation will do differently to others so they might need to know how your team look after OHS issues, and about the versions of software you use. as well as looking at the values and beliefs in the organisation.

I can only hope your organisation has a great training program in place for all sorts of things and not a lousy one as I hinted at in the opening section. So that being the case your training team will have this area all handled for you when you let them know the new recruit is about to start.

The training team won’t tell you “Oh the OHS (or other) training doesn’t run for another 3 weeks.” They will have a positive stop gap measure like an online training option, or at the very least a handout on OHS expectations and guidelines to give the recruit early in the process (before they start perhaps.)
The training team will have put together something for the new recruit on the values and beliefs of the organisation, knowing full well the value of a great cultural fit and how this can happen using foundation organisational philosophies.
The training team will have mapped out a schedule of what training is happening and what the recruit needs to do to ensure their training needs are met and especially in the area of the induction program and it’s time frame. They will be well and truly focussed on the recruits success in the organisation and not just for the recruitment phase either.

The new recruit, even by this early stage, will be suitably impressed with how things are going, they feel included and are valued in the organisation and are trained to succeed.

In the next phase your Leadership and communication skills come to the fore as you make sure all the team know about the recruit and a bit about how they will fit in. Join me then as weexplore the expectations of the new recruit.

Tags: business, business mechanics, business success, business women, creativity, employee recruitment, hr leadership, innovation, lateral thinking, Leadership, People!, Planning, recruitment, Risk Management, training, women in business, workplace safety

What next, the first instalment

Dec 3

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

Following on from my previous article outlining four areas to work on when employing a new recruit. Today lets focus on the Induction Program.

Previously I said…

Induction program – How do people learn about the nitty gritty’s in your organisation, the policies, procedures, OHS, who’s who and what about the culture of the organisation? Has anyone looked at the existing “program.” for a while? Is it relevant, suitable, useful…

So the recruit has been offered a position, you set the start date, it’s 3 – 4 weeks away due to their other commitments, all is well. You set the wheels in motion to get things sorted, a spot in an office, supervisor is informed, HR are organising their part and so on… but when was the last time it was looked at and how effective is all that? and why does it have to take so long to seemingly get them started?

Here are some thoughts on what might be a more ideal way to go.

Send them info on the organisation the minute they say yes – Things like an operations manual, who they will be working with and the structure of that area – an outline of how the probation period will be assessed – an outline of the OHS guidelines for the organisation – a company video – a signup form for HR legal requirements like superannuation etc.
Their workspace – Is it suitable, is it sorted, do they have all they need to do the job, does it meet OHS standards.
Their supervisor – Who is it and what do they need to know about the new recruit, will they need some training or coaching on how to work with a new team member?
The HR teams role – What do HR do to make the recruit fit in? Do they control all of these points? Do they look after all the details or… Find out sooner rather than later.
Team mates – They will probably know within an instant of a new person being recruited, such is the power of the grapevine. But what do they really know about the person, how will they respond, how do they act, what part do they play in welcoming the new person. the list could go on.
Buddy system – Some like a buddy system approach others don’t, but if the new recruit has a buddy make sure the buddy knows the expectations and is allocated time to assist the recruit with all that’s necessary.

There, now you have wrestled a few things into place you induction program is starting to take shape. Here’s hoping the new person loves the approach the organisation is taking and wants to stay and be a vital part of your team.

Next time lets go a step further in the process so the recruits journey is a smooth one.

Tags: business, business success, creativity, employee recruitment, HR, hr leadership, innovation, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, steve gray, training, workplace safety

Congratulations on the job, what next…

Dec 2

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, People!, Planning, Risk Management | 4 Comments

You have selected an employee for a new position in your organisation. Congratulations! All good yeah.. now sit back and watch as it all turns to mud…

Sorry I think in that last line I was being a little bit cynical… Clearly things won’t turn to mud in all organisations, but in quite a few I think it will and here’s why.

- Poor induction program.

- Lousy training.

- High expectations.

- Tricky probation period guidelines.

Yet these things can clearly be overcome. Firstly however you have to objectively measure the four things which could fail.

Induction program – How do people learn about the nitty gritty’s in your organisation, the policies, procedures, OHS, who’s who and what about the culture of the organisation? Has anyone looked at the existing “program.” for a while? Is it relevant, suitable, useful…
Lousy training – Tough, though I know your training people are possibly doing what they can, given tough challenges or are just not that suited to training new employees, they might have a stronger focus on I.T. or a some Leadership program, they can be spread thin. After all did anyone tell the Training area to prepare something for the new recruit?
High Expectations – The HR dept say this person is a great fit for the organisation on SO MANY levels, yet no one in the dept they are going into knows anything about them except some here-say rumor… Truth is the person is a bit average in the start up phase and people in the dept are “non plussed” with the new recruit, some people just need time to shine and figure out where everything is and how things happen. How were the skills the person had in a previous position “Mapped” across to this new role. What if they had used a much older piece of software in the past and the version or type you have is VERY different to what they are used to…
Probation period guidelines – Start and in three months we will assess how you have gone. Assess what and how? Is anyone in your organisation clearly responsible for figuring out what and how to assess, are they qualified to do so to some regulatory standard?

All of these aspects can be challenging to negotiate, and like many people in businesses, they realise they need the new staff member too late and before long everyone is too busy to address any of the above.

Time to take stock and get ready for the new recruit. Now I have created a bunch of points to ponder, in the next few articles lets take each one and develop it further.

Tags: business, business grump, business mechanics, business success, creativity, employee recruitment, hr leadership, innovation, lateral thinking, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, training, workplace safety

Who’s in… Who’s out? Your business politics.

Sep 10

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

In your business you will have politics (if you don’t like politics get out of business…) it’s all about who jostles for what position, who has power, who wants what and does what.

Politics is great, as long as it has positive aims and ideas (Check out your mission vision and values, it should reflect these.) Where it goes wrong is when people get a little off centre and the positive aims and ideals get shoved off the agenda (not officially, nor formally) but the various thoughts, discussions and notions taking place have “Hidden agendas” happening.

In the end the negativity connected with this level of “philosophical thought process” ends up down the drain. People get hurt, egos get fractured, casualties can be seen from the front to the back door in a “trail of blood” (more in theory than in reality).

I figure the aim of a leader, manager supervisory type is to curtail the pain before it begins. Let’s take a look at some of the issues you might explore:

Is there an “Inner Sanctum”? - This is a group on the “inside” outsiders can not penetrate, even though your values and ideals purport to provide a “fair go” for all. The upshot might be great ideas are not getting past the barrier created by this, your loss… Take a look and see if there is any, then plot to break it down.
How transparent is the organisation? – From providing financials showing the state of play in the org, through to clear systems aiming to support your team (rather than your team feeling unsure about a system and how it works). Making things more transparent shows you are willing to chat about things and let the team know they are a part of the “organism” you have created.
What communication does not take place? – Things not discussed are things missed which perhaps should have been chatted about. Ask what are the things the staff chat about… Now take a look at what’s not being said. e.g. if they talk a lot about their favourite team sport but not about the how well the manager is doing, then in the background they could be stabbing them in the back.
How are they chatting? - These days email, SMS and the like means the backchat can be happening but you don’t know about it. I know “no news is good news”, and “You never hear good things about yourself” while these are interesting clichés, they are not always true and do you want to live your life by clichés?. Oh and avoid trying to cut out texting at work and private emails, they will do it anyway after hours or at lunch on their smart-phones. The aim, to allow them to do it with the aim of it being constructive.
How are they anyway? – The people on the “outer” that is, one or two casual chats will be met with a degree of scepticism “what do they want?” rather than an open conversation where they tell all. Your aim is to have all of your team “Onside” so it’s up to you to build an open and trusting relationship so they can feel comfortable sharing with you in a way which means you will not “rat” on them or use it against them. Keep your chats light and breezy, show you care and remember details (names, places and the like as reference points) and chat about them not so much about you! (that’s a gem!)

In time you can build an organisation which can stand on it’s own feet, knowing the right people are supporting everyone to be their best. Not a team of “Cronies” who aim to create more “Jobs for the boys” and exclude information and ideas. It will take work, it will take a critical eye, it will take you out of your comfort zone, hopefully the end product will be great for all concerned.

Tags: business, business mechanics, business women, have fun in business, hr leadership, People!, politics, small business marketing

Elegant service communication

Sep 10

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, The Customer Service Dept | No Comments

I love it when I meet people who chat about things of instant interest to me. Recently I got chatting with a person about service, particularly the first few delicate moments when you connect with people in that all important exchange where you aim to connect and attain an idea of what they want from your business.

The chat started with the difference between “May I and Can I…” May I assist you, or Can I assist you, what happened next was a BFO, (Blinding Flash of the Obvious).

You see it was so simple when he explained it. “Imagine you are at the top of a cliff and your task is to push someone off, would you say “Can I push you off or may I push you off…” ” Can I”, relates to skill and “May I” relates to permission to do a thing.” I was engaged in the conversation now, what a great hook! Yes he clearly knew his English and the lesson was simple but so good. Actually on thinking about it none of the above would get you far in the pushing stakes but it makes a point also about service being more about offering, rather than demanding. Chances are you would not ask a person if they wanted to be pushed!

I asked him for a view on my old favourite, “help and Assist” he agreed, Help is needed when you are in dire straits, assistance is softer and more readily taken up unconsciously. So many people will say “Just looking thanks” when you offer help, but more people take up an offer of assistance “May I assist you…”

It could go further you could say “May I assist you to find what you are after today?” That way you are being specific about what you are offering. Without the specifics it is so open you might get in a bit of a bind, like this… ‘May I assist you?” asks the store attendant… “Oh yes, you can give me a million dollars, that would be great assistance…” replies the customer.

Take the time out to consider the small things like this which may impact on people you deal with so the service you offer is as elegant and correct as possible. We also chatted briefly about G’day as a greeting, I will leave that one for another article.

Well time got the better of our conversation too quickly and circumstances meant we had to part ways, all I can hope is that I said goodbye in an elegant manner!

On providing great service, “I don’t know if you can but you may…”

Tags: business, business success, creativity, have fun in business, innovation, lateral thinking, sales skills, The Customer Service Dept

How To Make Employees More Productive

Aug 27

Posted by Michael Crooks in Human Resource Management, Leadership, Planning, The Board Room, The Sales Dept | 2 Comments

Most companies are extremely aware of their external markets such as clients, customers, distributor networks and even vendors. But many fail to realize that employees make up an internal market. There are plenty of organizations that bend over backwards to get feedback and input from customers and clients. Far fewer work as hard to get feedback and input from employees. I sincerely believe that any organization that doesn’t view its employees as an internal market is shortsighted. And if you think the majority of your employees are happy campers – I’ve got news for you.

In a report released January 5, 2010 by The Conference Board based on a survey of 5000 U.S. households, only 45 percent of those surveyed said they are satisfied with their jobs. 55 percent are not satisfied with their jobs! According to Lynn Franco, director of the Consumer Research Center of The Conference Board, “The downward trend in job satisfaction could spell trouble for the overall engagement of U.S. employees and ultimately employee productivity.”

What the report doesn’t tell us is WHY 55 percent of employees are dissatisfied. And while specific reasons for dissatisfaction vary by company, job and employee, I believe it can pretty much be summed up as a disconnect between those in the ivory tower and those in the trenches.

One of the best books I ever read on management and problem-solving is an 80 page book called, “I Know It When I See It” by John Guaspari. In the book, the Boss demoralized his employees by telling them that the key to increasing the quality of their product is to, “Try Harder! Do Better!” It had the same effect as unfunded government mandates – no one was given the information, tools or ability to accomplish the edict. What followed was employee frustration, job dissatisfaction and further loss of market share.

If your company is large enough, consider an undercover operation to include the top echelon. In disguise either shop your company or get a job with your company. See first-hand what affect your policies and directives are having on those who must deliver your product or service. In smaller companies, I encourage bosses and managers to get out of the back room. Run the cash register. Load some trucks. Ride and work the route. Stock some shelves.

The easiest dollar made is from a happy, repeat customer. But that’s a lot harder to achieve when employees’ are hampered by decisions based solely on numbers made by people sitting behind desks who are out of touch with reality.

Tags: employee happiness, employee satisfaction, Michael Crooks

Training to Win…

Aug 6

Posted by Steve Gray in People!, Personal Development | 1 Comment

Yes I figure business is like a game, there are winners and losers, so train to win, heck who wants to lose right? But before you jump in with “Oh but I don’t have time to train people and I don’t know how to… Don’t think you have to do it, or do it all, there are plenty of external organisations who can do it for you.

BUT you need to do some things, like setting up the system you want to follow to ensure you get the best results for the investment you make.

Here are a few points to consider:

Create levels – from apprentice to master, there are levels, you should do the same and create a a range of options, a progression if you like.
Points to cover – At each level there will be things you need to cover, so jot them down in point form so you can develop the details later.
Measure – Competency and then proficiency, just one on it’s own may not be enough, especially if it’s an essential skill.
Record – How you measure things is one thing, but how you record the details is another, so create a system to effectively track each persons progress at each level.
Acknowledge – How will you let people know they have attained a set level? a certificate? or… make sure it’s worth it!

All these will be useful starting points to developing a training outline for your business, so go and take action to make it happen.

Tags: business, business success, HR, hr leadership, lateral thinking, Leadership, People!, training

Top Tips for Probation Periods at Work

Aug 6

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, People! | 5 Comments

Many organisations offer a probation period for new staff and it seems 3 months is often the norm, so what might some of the challenges be, and how would you overcome them? I hope to answer these questions for you, BEFORE you get into a potential minefield with an employee or potential new recruit.

Know…

What you want them to do… It’s one thing to get a new person and say “probation period”, and watch them “try to do their best”, but what do you expect them to know and be able to do in that time? Make a great list of the tasks, values and beliefs they should know as starting points of creating a solid plan of action for training the employee. Ask other in your organisation to have input so it can be a great outline using collective intelligence, not just your ideas.
When you want them to do it by...Then make a loose plan of action showing start and end dates for the probation period. When they start let them know the dates and diarise these for your reference.
What level or standard you require… It’s okay to say the person has learnt something and they are competent, but for a long term employee you probably want more than just the ability to do a task, but you probably want them to be able to do it to a set level consistently, therefore you are now looking for proficiency rather than just the basic ability to do something. Sure measure the fact they have been shown “how to do a task” and they can do it, but go the step further and have them record how often they have done something. At the end of the probation period you should be able to see key areas done x number of times and then you can ask about standards of performance.
They have a reliable Buddy... This is a person they can relate to and a go to for information, in fact it might be a few people they can call on for info. Train the buddy in how to listen, ask questions, and assess performance against set criteria. Make sure they don’t judge the person because they ask too many “dumb questions”.
You have a clear disputes process... It’s one thing to have a plan of action, dates for things to happen by, but what if there is a dispute? please have a clear process to handle this with, otherwise you may find a minor step into a minefield has instantly become a hop skip and a jump into one!
There should be no time extensions… Okay if they have to be away (due to a death in the family or some such event…) the end date might alter, but the time frame should remain solid, three months is three months. If you believe they are not able to come up to the set standard set for the tasks set, then a clear line needs to be drawn about the minimum level they need to attain in that time frame. It can get frustrating for the employee to hear “We are extending the probation period.” at the end of the time it’s the end, wither in or out, if it’s not clear it’s the employers fault, not the employee.
To get results YOU have to take action… You have to set the dates, create the checklist, do the research, train the person… Not them, so set great guidelines and then you can expect great results to follow.

I hope all these points are of value and give you great starting points to work from. Let us know int he comments how you go!

Tags: business, business success, HR, hr leadership, Leadership, People!, Risk Management, training

The Harassment Issue

Aug 4

Posted by Steve Gray in People!, Risk Management | 1 Comment

In light of recent events with the David Jones case in Australia where a worker is claiming a multi million dollar compensation payout, it’s clear employers need to be aware and take positive action to ensure ANY harassment DOES NOT takes place in the workplace.

At the time of writing the case has not been settled, however employers need to be aware an employee can chase a multi million dollar payout figure and although it may not have to pay, the employer will probably have a wide range of stress at the thought of it happening.

Make things easy for your organisation and at least have an outline of what harassment is and look for ways to proactively create an environment where harassment is minimised with the aim of eradicating it.

Active employers will certainly be able to set up a basic awareness of the issues and ways to tackle it which may include training. Do the right thing and show total respect for all the team in your care, by taking action now.

Great profits…

Jul 31

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Leadership, Planning | No Comments

‘

“Great profits come from great products and services…”

Seems like a simple enough statement, but what makes a great company??

Simple…

Great people.

Therefore great people make great companies, so it stands to reason if great companies recognise this they will do their utmost to make sure they make greater people out of the ones they already have.

It also stands to reason a great company will be passionate about people because of this knowledge and provide a “loving environment.”

“What’s a loving environment…?” Lets brainstorm for a minute. (Go ahead I’ll wait…) Enough of the waiting here’s a list to contemplate.

Elegant systems people love to use.
Great training which works with the team to provide relevant skills and information for each level they are at.
Great support, especially if you want your people to succeed to the max.
Elegant communication, your people talk, and not just about the weekend sport or other activities, they talk work and they do so with great interest.
The chance to put in, to give, to be an active part of the organisation. Why because they like to achieve, they want to achieve they CRAVE achievement. Why? because it gives them a greater sense of purpose.
Great service. Your people go all out to be exceptional, and new recruits get to model the exceptional behaviour of your best people, if they don’t do it or get it they are out and you search for better people.
Great examples. Your best people are champions and the rest of the team aspire to be like them, yeah? Of course, if not…. keep training them.

To do all this takes time and expertise, you have to make sure you get the expertise and share it. You know what, I don’t care if you have to do courses after hours, work on your systems on weekends, tweak policies or procedures at 2am, do it.

Do it because you have to make sure your business is the best and will stand the test of time and tough business environments (like a recession and or depression.)

Do it because to live in utopia we need utopian thinking and we need it to start somewhere. If you are not thinking utopia, what are you thinking? Mediocre? or something less than great… why?

Okay it requires effort, but if you already have a team put up this list (add to it if you want) and have them provide ways to get the list into action. Then act on the information as soon as possible.

Now look for the gaps, gaps in the attitudes, gaps in the systems, gaps in the budgets, profits, processes, service provision… Then fill the gaps fast, before long your company will be exceptional and not just great.

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”.

Tags: business, communication

Your business, your image, so who’s in charge of it?

Jul 15

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Leadership, People! | 3 Comments

Many smaller businesses get to the point of understanding that to be a business owner and not just a business operator you need a team of people to run the business and you are now reaping the rewards from doing just that.

While you have been busy doing it and aiming to do it well, is there anything you may have forgotten? For instance the image of the business?

It could be the display space in the window, or the signage which has slowly faded, or the vehicles your delivery people charge about in. No matter what it is, it represents your business image which in turn reflects what people (customers!) think of the business.

Who’s in charge of the image is an important and often overlooked area. Simply put most organisations say it’s the job of the Marketing Dept, while others will shove the responsibility to a junior to “set up the window display”.

Think about the situation and consider having a person (perhaps with a back up person) to ensure each week the “professional image” of the business is run through a checklist. It can be simple to begin with and build from there to become a fully blown in depth process, but please make sure it is a top priority as customers can be quick to judge and long to forget.

Here are some key areas to consider:

How well is the cleaning done in all areas, the slightest thing can put people off.
Are delivery drivers forbidden from smoking in a vehicle at ALL times?
Do vehicles with the business name on them present really well, or do they need to be cleaned and checked more often?
Display areas for stock, how good are they, and what are you comparing them too?
Signage, fading or in need of a clean?
Your uniforms… up to standard or?

Start a checklist up and ensure the person in charge of the overall image of the business uses it regularly to effectively assess the business image.

Tags: business, business success, HR, innovation, Leadership, mums in business, People!, Planning, small business marketing

What are your people doing, working… or?

Jul 12

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Leadership, People!, Planning | No Comments

Everyone seems busy right… But things are not moving very well, the people are all busy? Should I put another staff member on…

These and a whole bunch of other questions could be bothering you if your business is a bit bigger than a few employees.

You think back to the early days of doing everything yourself, you worked 12 hour days and then some, finally getting some breathing space when you took on some staff. You trained them and you could see great progress but now things seem different. What’s happening?

Perhaps your people have found a comfortable place for themselves and are keeping themselves busy (it makes the day go faster…) and not overly concerned about the effectiveness of things.

You have a meeting with your key people “Blah, Blah Blah!!!” you go on about how the key guys should lead the team, how they should get up noses, rattle the cage so to speak, and for a short while you see some “scared rabbits” run about and things pick up and then fade, now they are all back to busy but not overly effective.

Your method of getting people to do things seemed great at the time, but knowing it failed after a few weeks was disappointing, you feel like you have to watch the team the WHOLE time, and that’s not what you want to do.

The answer…

Take a look, wander about, listen, observe start making mental notes. What’s working, what’s not… and what are they doing to look so busy yet be so ineffective!

Ask yourself…

Are they doing “administrivia” and dragging it out to fill time.
Are they calling suppliers to get useless info for customers who probably won’t buy anyway, or only want a small quantity of a low priced item.
Chatting about ‘garbage’, or doing silly rubbish, which is personal, rather than getting to the tasks, which really need to happen.
Are your management team, managing too much and not leading enough? Are they not in a position to connect with staff due to too much paper work, or other garbage which is really just a waste of time.

Any of these can take the wind out of the sails of your business, but before you call one of those “rant and rave” meetings to put the wind up people (which will just buy you more enemies anyway). Consider a different approach.

(And yes here’s the answer/s…)

Check out if the team has great technology to support them and make the tasks easy to achieve.
Make sure your systems are easy to learn, follow and implement.
Use multitasking to keep them mentally stimulated and able to do various new tasks from time to time.
Chat to them about what works from their point of view, become a “one on one focus group leader” with each person and get REAL information, not the sort that filters up through the ranks and becomes watered down as a result.
Ask what keeps them coming to work, and not just money and holidays.
Coach your management team to do the same, train them to build rapport, not build ramshackle bridges to nowhere.

In all honesty if you set up a great business to begin with, you will probably find it can remain that way, but it may need some of your original passion for the business to shine through, so the results you want to achieve can be very tangible, you just need to have the right things happening in the right way… Now go out there and make YOUR business highly effective and get the people doing more of the right things in the right way. Then and ONLY THEN will you really profit from the business you started out with so passionately.

Tags: business, business women, HR, hr leadership, Leadership, mums in business, People!

Is your business happy?

Jul 9

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Innovation and Creativity, People! | No Comments

Yes it’s a serious question, is your business happy, when you get there at the start of the day are you happy about being there? Are the staff happy too…

If not what’s missing?

- Great projects to work on.

- Great clients.

- Great workspace…

One way or another things may not be quite what you want to make the business a happy place to be. Insert a happiness officer and invite them to find out how things could be happier in the workplace.

Perhaps start with the list above and see if things evolve from there.

Take Action!

Get the happiness officer and perhaps a few others to figure out some ways to break the “sad” cycle.. and get happy.

Try a google search of ideas for a happy workplace, make a list of a few you can implement now (at low cost).
Ask how to make meetings fun, then have one just for the hell of it and see if you can get people to laugh (for all the RIGHT reasons…)
Have a fun morning tea (no need to get elaborate just yet just have fun).

Guidelines

Having fun at someones expense is only short term and useless, one’s pain is NOT another’s gain.
Keep it cheap and “cheerful”, quick and easy… Organisation should take the shortest time possible to keep it hassle free.
Try moving the job about so the whole team can be the happiness person.
Jokes sent via email is not really a bonding option, it’s more localised but funny quotes might be a different option, sparking debate perhaps.
Give out laughter awards, simple and easy a great way to keep the team engaged in the whole idea and boost morale!
Push for creative and innovative options, you might just find some great ways to lighten the mood at work and keep things pumped and effective.

That’s it for now, let us know what sorts of things you come up with in our comments…

Tags: business, business grump, business success, business women, have fun in business, Leadership, Planning, women in business

Featured forum member

Jul 2

Posted by Bren Ryan in Excellence!, People!, Starting out in business, The Board Room | No Comments

1. How did you get started in business?

I think I got started in business from birth. My Mum and Dad had corner stores and I was taught business skills at an early age. (I can remember balancing the till while in primary school… It was one of the ways we learnt to count).

After school I worked in One Hour Photoshops, working my way to Manager by the time I was 19. In 1995 I was offered a “job” at a lab as manager.. Turned out they wanted someone to buy it, so I did. This led to the expansion to 2 suburban Kodak Express stores. In 2001 someone offered me an offer too good to refuse so I took it ? (I took a year off and then took up a position as the EA to the Managing Director of the No 3 Photographic Supplier in Aus.)

Meanwhile my hubby, Mick, had been working in various companies doing Security Screens, Window installation, Blinds, Awnings etc. In 1998, I convinced him he should go out on his own. This business – Abacus Screens and Security – while successful, it suffered from my lack of time to manage the business side of things. (Advertising not planned, very much RE-active rather than PRO-active).

In 2000, he was offered a job at one of his suppliers so he took it. Lesson 1: ONE business at a time ?

Fast forward to 2005 and we moved from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast. Mick secured a position at a local screen company. (I am still travelling to Bris 3 days a week). Mick learnt very quickly, the coast was grossly under serviced in the security screen business, so we resurrected Abacus Screens in October 2006

Understanding the problems from “Abacus Mach I” we put a number of things in place up front.

We made sure we had enough money to start. Printing, advertising, good ute, etc etc etc. Also enough “buffer cash” for 3 months wages, just to take the pressure off.
We joined a couple of networking clubs, so we had people to talk to and bounce ideas off.
Mick spent a fair bit of time scoping out who he knew (Lots of his old colleagues have moved to the coast and are now in management and decision making positions with building, window or aluminium companies)

Nearly 2 years down the track and all in going along VERY well.

2. What inspired you to become part of the FBT forum?

Gosh it is soooo long ago now ? From memory I was googling something to do with business and came across FBT. I am a forum junkie and join anything !!! Most though get deleted from my Favourites after 3 months or so when I get bored. So I guess the fact I have been a fairly active member for the past 24 months or so is testimony that the forum is vibrant and above all RELEVANT!!

3. What have been your three biggest business challenges (so far) and how have you overcome them?

Finding staff- As with many communities, we have a skills shortage on the coast. (Hmmm Well maybe not We have a “committed worker shortage”. Talk to many business owners (especially “tradie types” in any coastal community) and , if the surf is pumping, the sickie rate is high ?)
We have overcome this by asking prospective employees LOTS of questions (I asked the forum to give me some questions to ask – Thanks Guys!!) and following up references. My number one telling question with references is “Would you be happy to have “Fred” work for you again?”
Marketing – With my background in retail I have great skills in creating a rapport to keep customers coming back and back. Abacus presents a different scenario wherein, generally, we only see our customers once or twice Overcoming this is an ongoing process. I ask a LOT of questions of similar, non-competing businesses. Eg our local winner of “Young Woman in Business” is in the steel shed business, so I rang her up, took her out for coffee and picked her brain.
Managing Growth – Mick is getting a reputation among builders for being good ? So being able to say NO is difficult. We have learnt to say No gently, “No you can’t have it in 5 days but is 7 ok?” If he delivers in 5 Great!! But at least he doesn’t have to. Having a buffer allows us to outsource the manufacturing if need be.

4. What five tips would you give to a person starting in business?

Know your craft. (It astounds me how many people have NO idea about any part of the business they are in – Often seen in franchise owners)

Learn the basics of book keeping. It is VITALLY important to know the basics of profit and loss and the difference between Gross profit and Nett profit. I see too many people who think they can buy something for $10, sell it for $20 and think they have made $10!!

Work ON the business. Of course you will read that everywhere, but what does it mean? It is the time to do bookwork, time to think of marketing strategies, time to work on staffing, time for networking. You need to MAKE time. If you feel you have no time because you are actually doing the job- get some staff and let them do the job!! If you have staff for 1 day, use that day to work ON your business.

Make sure you (and your family)are healthy. As an employee, it is ok to have a day off to be sick or look after the kids when they are sick. It is much more difficult to do this as a small business. Keep fit and eat well.

Balance family life Keep a diary. USE it. I have been known to schedule family time. But it IS important to block time out in your diary for yourself. Remember that in the overall scheme of life, your kids and family is worth FAR more than any business. Little Billy’s birthday party is infinitely more important than any business meeting. If you already had a meeting with Client A and Client B wanted to meet at the same time, you would reschedule… Family is ALWAYS Client A!!.

5. Is there anything you would like to say about being in business, and or being an active part of learning more from Internet type forums?
Internet forums can be a good source of information and networking. FBT has a great cross section of industries and people who are ready to help. There is no such thing as a silly question!

6. The best part about being in business is…
The journey ?
I like to think of any of our businesses like a baby. They took a year or so of sleepless nights and teething troubles, then they walk all by themselves and eventually don’t need you anymore ? Along the way you need to guide and point them in the right direction, they won’t just grow on their own. Discipline is important and , if you get it right, you raise a healthy self sufficient entity, with a life of its own.

Mick Moynihan & Sue Josephson

Abacus Screens
25/6 Beerburrum Street
DICKY BEACH Qld 4551
Ph 5491 5489
Fax 5439 4125
www.abacusscreens.com.au

Tags: business, business success, business women, Effective Networking, have fun in business, Leadership, mums in business, People!, Planning, small business marketing, women in business

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.

Feedback and Communication

Jun 27

Posted by Steve Gray in People! | No Comments

Dear Manager, you have a job to do, and most of the time you execute the details of the job well, you crunch numbers, place orders, induct staff, roster staff, look after OHS issues, keep staff on track, organise stock-takes, and who knows, probably a WHOLE lot more. You are clearly a busy person, so here are a few questions which hopefully might lead to making your job easier and less stressful…

Do you:

Provide feedback to staff you chat to, (after a few weeks of them being with the organisation), which is fair and unbiased, clear and concise? Is it based on fact and does it drag up old information which should be excluded from the new feedback discussion? (e.g. their performance in their first few days which was probably rocky at best…)
Set times with the new staff member to catch up and explore how they are going and provide relevant feedback?
Gather relevant facts on situations you may walk into and probably prejudged (even though what you may have said at the time seemed to be the right thing.) Or did you not think to ask, but acted first… Oh and how will it feel if you have to apologise later…
Have a guidelines to follow, which are fair and reasonable for a new staff member to learn and is that clearly communicated to them when they start?
Outline how you will measure a new staff members performance against your performance guidelines?
Keep a list of what training opportunities are available and are sure about how they are communicated to the new staff member, not having to rely on your memory? “Oops, sorry we missed you in that training session, we do this session every so often and will include you next time.”
Get feedback from people on your team to ensure your communication style works with them and not against them or you in the long term?

Yours faithfully

Interested observer…

If you, as a Manager, answered a few of these with some doubt or trepidation you should stop what you are doing and rectify the situation immediately. If not the pain of inaction might just cause you more grief in the future.

Ask, how do I:

Induct new staff? – Do you know what you expect them to learn and what they should know?
Track their progress? – Is it a simple paper based checklist, indicating things they are shown, if they are competent, then proficient? and in what sort of time frame is all this expected…
Provide feedback – Try following a, Praise – Improve – Praise model, where you praise them for a few things, list a few things for possible improvement and finish on a few positive praise points. Then outline ways YOU will mentor and coach them to overcome any challenges. This PIP model can make them feel more at ease knowing you follow a positive model with them.
Edit what you do to ensure challenges like this are caught well in advance, so you and the team you work with are happy, effective and enthusiastic members of the workplace.

I’m sure you will want less stress and minimal hassle in the organisation and adding some of these to your repertoire of management tools will go a long way to building a culture where respect and fairness are the hallmarks, not fear and derision..

Bitter, grumpy annoyed… get over it!

Jun 24

Posted by Steve Gray in Chill out!, Excellence!, People!, Personal Development, The Customer Service Dept | 2 Comments

I have been on about good customer service for years now, and while I recognise it can take a lot to make it happen, it’s a thing, which needs to happen.

In my more recent travels I have noticed bitter, grumpy and annoyed people operating businesses. It’s one thing to have grumpy staff, but quite another to see the operator of the business in this “state”. Seriously if you want to be in business and be a grouch stay out of site of the customers…

I guess it’s in part due to the Global Financial Crisis or at least compounded by it, to the point where people are wondering about where the next customer and cash is going to come from. Okay so you may not be able to do much about that, (especially if you have spent all your marketing budget already!) So you have to sit and wait… BUT if that can’t change, what about you?

To alter being a “grump” you may have to take a stance and force yourself to be happy. try a few of these.

Write a sign for yourself “Be Happy!” and put it where it can be seen by you and not the customer, make a bunch of them, put them up and act on them.
Make a list of things that make you happy and each day “do” something on that list somehow… and DON”T give me the line of “Oh I don’t have time…”
Get or make a CD of a bunch of funny things, jokes etc by comedians you really like and laugh at even though you have heard them a zillion times, play it on the way to the office, and LAUGH heartily!
Look up, yes it’s that simple, look up and try to not feel good, hard to do eh? Note how glum people tend to look down a lot, makes sense right…
Tell your staff to tell you to smarten up… Go on I dare you to.
Make a list of the things getting you down, now write a bunch of ways to fix them, then act on it… go on do that now! Keep adding to the solutions list.
Take a five minute stroll, go out of the office or store, walk briskly and get the blood pumping.
De stress, mediate or do whatever thing helps you to de stress (without hurting others or things…)
Get an unreasonable friend, one who can hold you to your promises, and chat to them about ways to work around your challenges, share a few jokes etc.
Kick a footy, It won’t de stress everyone, but It might work for you, heck even going to a sports shop and buying one might break your routine enough, no cash? Borrow one off a kid in your street… hey imagine going door to do and asking “Does your kid have a footy I can borrow for an hour?” Heck that kid has probably been looking for a kick to kick friend for ages.
Go to an Art Gallery or five for a few minutes, I used to do this when driving around in a van all over the city, I would drop in to see contemporary art, (no cost!) and I knew where heaps of them where so I could get to one fast for a break in routine. Oh and turn your mobile off for the few minutes you are there. Seeing other people’s “views” on and about the “human condition” can be useful.
Put a picture of yourself up on the fridge at home and yell at yourself… Did you like that? Now think about the last time you yelled at someone, did that feel good? Perhaps for you, how about them? Get the point, it’s not good.

So make yourself a “grump free zone” and get out amongst the customers with a happy disposition and see if that impacts well on sales or even just staff morale.

Tags: business grump, Chill out!, great service, grumpy, have fun in business, laugh, sevice!

Good connections

Jun 15

Posted by Steve Gray in Innovation and Creativity, People!, Planning, The Marketing Dept | 1 Comment

One of our guru lads over here is Ross Hill, on his Blog is a great piece of intriguing information I think all businesspeople and educators can learn a lot from.

He starts off talking about games and what makes them addictive… Then he goes on to show the comparison to social media (“aint” that the buzz at the moment) then I figure if you know what makes social media addictive, you could create a business that is addictive for your customers.

Imagine that people addicted to what you have, and they keep coming back to buy more… Yep the old loyal customer routine. Only now (thanks to Ross and others…) we can start to build an understanding of how that happens, so lets do it for business. Oh I mentioned educators as well, in a stale classroom, sit down, shut up, take down these notes… a fresh perspective on what engages people has got to be useful!

I’m going to cut to the chase here… The five central elements of Game Mechanics are:

Collecting things.
Earning Points.
Getting/giving feedback.
Exchanges/Gifting.
User Customization.

In looking at the game mechanics and the social media link up to it there are plenty of things that make these points work, If you ever played pinball, getting the high score was way cool, in the latter day digital gamers world collecting things to give you more power, gifts, tokens etc was way cool too. then in a connected world being able to give feedback via facebook, twitter etc became a big buzz. then they allowed “games” of giving flowers, plants (virtual etc…)

Let’s go across to:

Business…

Collecting things – Tokens in adverts.
Earning points – Buy five things get the sixth one free or at a discount (loyalty card ticked off.)
Getting/giving feedback – Hello – how are you – query form.
Exchanges/gifting – For every $10 you spend we give $1 to charity…
Customisation – if you have an online store they can personalise in some way then that’s useful.

Education…

Collect and bring things for show and tell.
Get points for good behaviour.
Discussing progress – giving feedback on what they liked in class.
Exchanges of information in group sessions
Customising by selecting which type of final assessment device they want to choose.

These are a few examples of possibilities, I’m sure there are plenty more, the thing is making sure you can provide enough to ensure your service is the one they are addicted to.

If you are still not sure about any of this check out Mc Donald’s and think about their happy meals for kids… you get a toy to collect, while the parent is there they probably buy something too, so even just having a single part of the formula in place can be highly valuable. Now put on your thinking caps and come up with a few ways you can use this information to your advantage.

I’m almost excited about the prospect of saying AND… lets add in our target market personality types, motivators and Drivers it would really assist us to be able truly effectively hit them between the eye’s with solid targeted information they want to act on… but perhaps I better leave that for another day… Oh and remember if you need assistance to figure out ways to do this sort of thing chat to your friendly branding expert, they are sure to help.

Tags: business mechanics, business success, creativity, game mechanics, innovation, lateral thinking, loyalty programs, Planning, strategy, The Customer Service Dept

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…

Tags: bullying, HR, Leadership, Planning, Risk Management, workplace safety

Basics are basics…

Jun 1

Posted by Steve Gray in Finance, Growth, Leadership, Risk Management, Starting out in business | No Comments

It’s June 2009 the global financial crisis is still happening. Watched a documentary on Chinese businesses going under, huge factories closed down, lots of out of region migrant workers now displaced. Sure this was one province (Guangdong) and particularly one city Dong Guan, so probably not a big cross section to measure by. The show was on SBS Australia’s Dateline (May 31) and showed a range of businesses closed and gutted out.

Here’s a quote from the show “In Guangdong province alone, 60,000 factories have now closed down and millions of migrant workers are searching for work.”

My first thought was what were they making? well it’s interesting the businesses included a printing plant, toy factories, and jewelry manufacturing… My second thought was do they make for the local market or export, export… third question, is the product a need or a want, mainly want.

So it comes down to the basics if the majority of what is produced is not for needs when a downturn comes the wants are dropped first. When an external order from overseas is pulled then the whole thing can collapse quickly. as the local economy is hanging on wants, the failure of one is felt across all.

Learn from this huge scale disaster and make sure you have a balance of income from needs based sources as well as wants based sources. If you have shares in a grocery company Co for example it seems logical that they supply the needs of people, then take your own business think about how you can supply to the needs based customers. Think carefully about this as a form of insurance to ensure you can balance your wants and needs to ensure sustainability.

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!

Free Training YAY! ??

Apr 19

Posted by Steve Gray in People!, Personal Development, Planning, Starting out in business, The Board Room | No Comments

Local paper, classified training section, courses on offer with local accredited training org’s there are free courses in pre apprenticeship training, and various others to assist to up skill people… seems good, fairly non eventful stuff. It looks like the government and trying to boost things along with the freebies (have done for some time now…

However I looked down to see a small business start up course to explore new biz ideas, read through, looked okay but you have to pay… hmm at first I ranted and raved to the wife about “THIS SHOULD BE FREE!! dammit!” then got the raised eyebrow and a chat about “yeah, yeah… bla blahhhh… get over it..” and I stopped, then thought…

Hmm they should pay but then at the successful completion of the course get their money back… a money back redemption, perhaps a discount or a carry over to another course to take the idea further, or better still a chance to thrash the idea out that bit deeper with a mentor.

A nine week program, Perhaps I should go along and play devils advocate… thoughts?

Companies shirk responsibilities

Apr 18

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, People!, Planning, Risk Management | 1 Comment

Ok so this is my view… but how dare a company employ people and not cover their entitlements when the whole thing goes belly up…

Here’s an example from our local newspaper, on Melba Industries.

The company does not have the funds to cover their staff entitlements now they are being liquidated. As business go along they find the money (put it away earlier) to cover tax requirements, and allegedly the same with Superannuation payments etc… so why not put away an amount to cover entitlements.

Or at worst I guess it could come out of a DRF (Debt Reserve Fund) of some kind. How about some form of insurance they have to pay into, or a compulsory savings plan for employee entitlements, that way the real profits could show through and the issue could not be so big.

Hey folks don’t hold your breath waiting for the government to do something about it, do the right thing from the start, take the whole duty of care situation more seriously and cover those entitlements.

Falling? Then get up…

Feb 23

Posted by Steve Gray in People!, Personal Development | No Comments

I’m always finding myself saying “Fall down 5 times then get up six times…” But I can’t say it as well as this guy!

In times of challenge you need to be in the right frame of mind to come out on top, check the video and let me know what you think…

Crunch time is nigh…

Feb 18

Posted by Steve Gray in People!, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | No Comments

On the news this morning more jobs lost 600 here 400 there and that’s just in Australia… so where to from here?

Well people will pull their heads in then even more slowly let them out, I guess the smart money is on businesses, which provide a need for customers, then there’s those which put a spin on their want type of business so it sounds like people need it. (check out any of the infomercials selling “stuff” on the TV…)

The challenge as I see it, is being able to overcome the time factor in the ongoing “recession” just how long will it take to get beyond the tipping point and back to reality? The last recession we had was in the late 80′s and once revealed I guess it was 9 – 12 months before things bounced back.

During that recession, I was delivering Pizzas and attending my second chunk of Uni. So I was more or less out of the loop so to speak. One thing, which stood out, was, although there were plenty of people doing it tough, there were still people with cash to spare (Most nights of the week our little Pizza store had upwards of five drivers zipping about the burbs delivering $15+ hot and tasty pizzas… ok more luke warm and barely tasty…).

So now we are starting to see the jobs fall, and people panic a little what really happens in the background?

Well, bigger businesses have less exports, then they put off workers in big chunks, that causes the local community those people come from to hiccup… Once previous solid communities reel under the instant burden of a whole bunch of homes coming onto the market, the good people from those homes scramble to find work, relearn, redeploy, retire, relocate or rest… The real estate and share prices take a beating and things stabilise as they find their value.

In the scramble the majority of folks and businesses will be running about screaming “the sky is falling!”, while at the top of the heap, (read top 3 – 10%) a bit of shuffling takes place in their seats, buttons are pushed, memos are sent, meetings are held and a dip in their finances is about all that shows as they adjust the position of their sails, nudge the tiller and head for clearer open water. It seems these businesses have different GPS devices to the rest…

The lesson from the top of the heap is to cover your butt and make sure that during the up times you let your profits run, so in the lean times you work the profit margin hard so it shows it’s true worth in the lean times. The lesson from the bottom of the heap is “PANIC!, push and shove, the fastest and fittest will survive…”

Tough times show the real side of people and businesses I guess, lets just hope there are more of the top of the heap types about, so we can learn from and heed their advice.

We are dumb… USE IT!

Feb 4

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Innovation and Creativity, People!, Starting out in business, The Board Room, The Marketing Dept | 1 Comment

Ok.. some of you are… (not you specifically…)

I wanted to raise your interest in a thought I had this morning watching the news, someone did something dumb and I thought “Derrh! what an idiot”, then I started to mentally add up the dumb stuff…

Stop violence against women, great idea, but why not just Stop Violence…
War, probably the dumbest concept of all time…
Teachers stand and deliver to classes with an attention span of two seconds, heck cut the crap give the kids engaging material which causes them to want to be interested.
Cigarettes, no nutritional value, no other value, not even cool anymore… BUT people buy them. I don’t get it, never have, never will, dumb…
Barriers on high bridges to stop suiciders jumping, no biggy put them in NOW! Or give them a trampoline to make it a fun exit… (apologies if that offends).
Transport ticketing systems that cost millions and don’t work, hmm other countries have systems that work, copy them…
Solar panels for power on roofs, umm, hey guys someone start a publicly listed energy Co that wants to put them on the roofs of businesses, let alone houses, the economy of scale makes it useful surely. Could be a way of stimulating the share market again…
Cars that burglars can break into easily still. just set a std guideline that says the car Co’s have to fix the problem now… how long has this been an issue… grr DUMB.
Paperless offices, great idea, simple answer, stop selling printers… then watch people sort out the issue fast.
Empty shops, as long as shops are owned by private enterprise there will be issues. Too many too expensive and in poor order. Too many are running at a loss so they don’t have to pay too much tax, yep that’s why there are so many crap ones about.
Too many grumpy old guys, over fifty, out of work, become grumpy and a burden somehow. No one likes a grumpy person, and too many guys over fifty (oops that’s me too!) have to contend with being redundant and replaced (young kids are cheaper, faster and tech savvy…. grr!) run down… I call it “Death of a Salesman syndrome” (after the play and book of the same name.) The wisdom these guys can have collectively should be used (somehow) and not shelved.
Councils… (I guess that speaks for itself in some ways.) many people whinge about them…
Defence forces (perhaps that should be offence forces) what if they were peace keeping forces that if a hostile situation broke out they could be quickly retrained to shoot etc… a humanitarin force not in combat camoflague.
Water, it’s every where, but not a drop to drink (too salty) but hey we have to import the technology and use up precious power to run a desalination plant… (when we get it) and will it be enough? and hey why not put the water in to the top of the river system so the whole state can benefit… dumb, and why not investigate a solar powered one? Anyone go a prototype of a portable model?
Too much alcohol is causing major punch ups and violence… so stop serving it in ways where people can consume too much.
No power, we are running out of power on hot days to run airconditioners, they still sell heaps of them though… any solar power cells in your area? What about a wind turbine? Heck there are enough power poles, can we have mini turbines to mount atop these?
We have water usage issues, yet they still sell inefficient washing machines, dishwashers etc. DUMB, just sell us the best, hey do that for power too.
Every year thousands of new businesses start up and lose HEAPS of money when they go belly up in a few months… DUMB! Lets come up with ways to set up these start ups so they have the BEST chance of thriving. lets create “thinkubators” to make it easy for them to learn about business, research, get started and supported in the all too important start up phase. heck a stimulus package for businesses like this could have BRILLIANT flow on effects… I guess this means the government ins DUMB for not thinking of it.
$2 shops, heck I can buy all sorts of garbage for next to nothing, do we need it? nope, do we want it? not really does it help the economy? hmm ask people in local manufacturing if it helps them… does it help the businesses in high st anywhere look good? nup… dumb…
Op shops that open in main streets next to or near fashion shops… ooh nothing drags down retail areas more than an op shop. OKAY! they have their place BUT can we have some control please… and why so many…(It’s a sign of the times I guess…) DUMB (perhaps it’s the council for not providing guidelines here.)
Hand done signs on windows of stores, sure Uncle Harry is a dab hand with a brush, but your specials painted by him on the window look like garbage… you saved how much? and made how much? Nup not bright… in fact DUMB.
Bullying… As the economy slips further down the gurgler, Bullies everywhere are able to inflict more pain and hassle on their victims… “they can’t go elsewhere, so they have to put up with me…” (sinister chuckle ensues). Its an OHS ISSUE plan for it, do something and kick their butts.
I need a license for a car but not to be a parent, that makes sense… NOT, DUMB… how many dysfunctional families can the world take! Teacher’s everywhere will be able to tell you the hassles they cause. Simple tip folks, a parent’s key role is to build the child’s self esteem… Does it happen enough… nope.
Welfare organisations, why so many? Surely five admin departments is better than 25… The cost saving surely is worth it. DUMB! “Oh lets help more people… oops no money left… oh what a pity…”

Go on add to the list (in the comments section please.)

BUT figure out ways to make money out of any of these ideas and you might well be sitting on a goldmine…

A thought to finish on… Frank Zappa (musician) in one of his songs loosely said “If we are created in gods image, therefore if we are DUMB then GOD IS DUMB, and maybe even a little ugly on the side…”

Change Happens, Handle it…

Jan 23

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management | No Comments

With lots of things happening in the world it makes sense to get a perspective on things, some change you are experiencing may be good, some the opposite. Here are a few things which you may find of value in changing times.

Be positive and have a sense of optimism – So things are changing… You can say “Oh woe is me…” or you can say “Whoa! Things are changing WOO HOO!” the choice is yours, an optimistic approach generally works out for the better, it puts your “spirit” somehow into the right frame to handle and accept things.
Change can be good – Ignore it and it can be bad too… – You need to decide fast what’s happening and what fits to your core values and beliefs, if it fits well then go for it, if it doesn’t consider taking another path.
You have a range of skills to handle change already – You’re an adult right? You have fallen over and picked yourself up from an early age, some of us may seem to fall over more often, so some of us may have more skills to deal with the situation. Reflect and remember all those things you have overcome, were you stronger at the end of it? Chances are yes… Tally up the skills you have, now put them into action.
Not letting excuses and negative emotions stop you – Feel the fear and do it anyway can be useful at times, and this may be one of them. Ask yourself what are my excuses and negative emotions around this issue and what would I prefer them to be? Go on write them down so you can tackle them HEAD ON.
The more you resist change, the more things may not happen how you want – I am not saying this is always the case but often it seems this way, and have you ever met someone that said “I should have done this earlier?” uh huh… and where would you prefer to be, starting out early or late? And ask this was anything I resisted in a change way in the past ever really that bad?
What stories are you telling yourself? – Your self-talk is the one thing, which might just be holding you back, check out No: 4 again… is it your self-talk trying to “protect you?” from what? The unknown? Is it really unknown? Or is your self-talk wanting to “set you free” and explore everything this new change may bring…
Deeper meaning, is it part of that? – Some of you will have a faith, which may suggest you are part of a bigger plan, some of you may have figured it out for yourself… Some of you look at the chaos and challenges and say meaning is impossible, check out No:1 again and ask “Which do I want to be part of, a bigger plan or not, Chances are your “gods” (or demons…) will make sure it happens for you the way you want.
Get a support team – Ask who can help me, who will understand? Then take a leap of faith to get them on board, they might be an email contact, a person to call on the phone, a buddy you can catch up with live. Whoever and however, carefully consider getting a team, a rock solid positive team of people who can hold you to the standard you want to be held to.
Create a plan and take action – If you have not started jotting down things from the above list already I would be surprised. I care not for what sort of plan it is, but write it down! Perhaps keep a plan journal, consider reading your key plan points daily, or a wall plan, gather photo’s and collage a new you lifestyle plan on a wall chart… Keep it simple, real and vibrant. It’s your life, live it the right way, the way that makes the most sense to you. Oh and yes, take action, all the best thoughts in the world are worthless without action.

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!

Tags: employee recruitment, hr leadership, recruitment

Asset protection

Nov 7

Posted by Steve Gray in Finance, People!, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | No Comments

In turbulent times there are the basics that need to be looked after like revenue needs to be more than expenses, but then again that should always happen, but in doing the basics an asset protection policy is always good too, who would like to loose a good performing asset right? but I am seeing too much of organisations not looking out for their assets, in particular the employees. So check this article out, It has a few clues.

Even in our own site we have lots of articles on employee engagement to give you more clues.

In closing I think that the basics are often underrated, so ask yourself what are the basics of a successful business and how can we maintain and then build on the basics, provide protection (security) and communicate that your organisation is here for the long haul, in an environment of fear, the security or sense of it will be well worth it in the long run.

Change, innovation and pure survival…

Oct 29

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | 1 Comment

In the tumultuous financial crisis and the uncertainty it causes, there is one thing for certain, Change is happening. Sure it’s not a change that organisations implemented, and for many it’s a change they did not have a contingency plan for but it’s happening and if your organisation needs to do something about it, then your training in innovation will put you in good stead… What’s that you have no training in innovation… ooh.

Well lets get one thing straight the ability to handle change is important, the attitude, the planning, the stance the leadership skills, they are all important in an age where Improvise, adapt, overcome becomes the hallmark of a survivor.

If you need to be able to think about new strategies and brainstorm with others, then petty office politics and ineffective interpersonal communication needs to be put aside. In a crisis it can be “every man for himself” or “Lets get the team together and nut out the best way forward NOW…”

Either way it probably comes down to you the leader to find a way forward, to make the right moves (or at least have a go) sure you might make mistakes, sure the road might be tough, sure there can be unexpected thing pop up, but if you don’t face reality then you might be wondering what’s happening next.

Wonder no longer, and be the one that sets the team up to thrive, if they fall short of that they survive, so the high goal needs to be there to ensure things go on. It’s up to the senior people in the organisation to provide the leadership, to use innovative and creative techniques.

In sot if you are not providing the right environment, skills, attitudes and mindset to make it through then folks the end is nigh, but if you are putting you best feet forwad, then if the grim hand of failure comes your way you will have known you put in a top effort to weather the storm. I guess the decision to act and make a stand is up to you, or not…

On the edge…

Oct 27

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchisees, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, Planning, Risk Management | No Comments

When tough times strike my heart goes out to those businesses on the edge, and of course instead of talking about daily things that can trip up a marginal business, we are now talking about bigger fundamental global meltdown type trip ups.

So when the going gets tough how many of the businesses on the edge have a debt reserve fund, or a plan b, or an innovative structure, system, marketing plan etc to get them out of the jam? probably too few. Then on the business front, if they are a “want” type of business do they have their fingers in the pie of a “needs based” business to be able to handle the changing spend patterns of consumers… probably not.

Here’s 8 quick points to give you the edge in tough times.

Have a plan A, then have a plan B, just in case!
Have some reserves, stuff happens so be ready for downturns.
Needs based V’s Want based, if you sell gifts for example, you might want to look at developing a needs based business to complement it, this way you cover your butt when customers walk away from the niceties. Consider diversifying into an online business of some kind that is easy to manage from your want based business, get busy while it’s quiet.
Keep marketing, but make sure it’s making you money, don’t throw money out and get NOTHING back, measure it carefully, get smart about how it works.
Keep the team informed, fear can run deep and fast, let them know what you are doing or plan to do to weather the storm. Batten down the hatches but make sure they know where the exits are…
Lead, now more than ever the team needs you, teach them GREAT customer service, if people get picky you need to have the BEST people upfront, with the BEST service, now more than ever. Get out on the floor and look for gaps, are they smiling, are they happy, do they know the products and or services inside and out? No? train them…
Be nimble, change is a given so learn to love it, zig when the others lag or zag. This way you can be there when the others have fallen by the wayside.
Improve your systems, now is a great time to tighten up on how things tick over, ask hard questions like “Are we doing things the best way?” “How can I jump start and or utilise my peoples collective intelligence to give us a lasting edge?”

You get the idea, make a difference, a poisitive difference so your business can take on the challenges tough times provide and see it through successfully. So jump up to the whiteboard and make a start NOW!

Think Globally, Act Locally

Sep 21

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | 1 Comment

I have just been to see WALL•E the animated film, it was fantastic, the graphics, the story, the whole concept was exceptional. So the environmental message? Yep there was one, and as such I figure on a local basis we can be doing things to prevent a “Wall – E – World” from happening… (hey that’s not new is it…)

I know our “Local Authorities” have a long term plan, is it all about growth or does it take into account looking after things, being the guardians of the planet at a local level. If “all hell broke loose” Could our region survive? Would we have enough of the “right resources” to keep going?

Chances are the long term plan is laced with “Innovation” and “Leadership”, “growth” and the such like, yet down on the ground realistic local action that I can tangibly say “Yep they’re doing something…” is not visible.

Lets take it to our businesses, do we have the ability to diversify in a way that gives us a support base if things go bad? A Debt Reserve Fund of some kind? A range of other “business interests” that allow us to fully serve the wider community? Mostly… No.

I figure that if I went to the local “Planning guide for the next 50 years” created by local authorities and searched in there for business “goals” or “ideals” to assist my business I might go away a bit befuddled by the academic language, the jargon and the rhetoric, however I probably should be silent until I see the “beast” and let it prove me wrong, (or right…)

I urge all business people to act responsibly and find ways they can make positive impacts at all levels of “stake holder interaction” (there’s my chunk of jargon for the day… ) so our future can stand the test of time.

The sprung leader…

Sep 12

Posted by Steve Gray in Chill out!, Excellence!, Growth, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, The Customer Service Dept | No Comments

Following on from the spring cleaning theme… is your leader leading the charge? did they “twig” to the change of season? did they come in the door with a renewed spring in their step? Well if the answer is no, maybe you should take the lead and remind them.

Get them focused – ask them to be flexible – give them support and watch them flourish (if not just run the show yourself and do your bit to make the Biz better.)

You see, often it’s the small stuff which happens that makes a difference, and people notice. In a retail setting, pull things off shelves and give the place a great wipe down. In the office, get in a tad earlier and clear out the “crusty” bits from around your area, in the lunch room, in the client areas… make a difference, do it for you and of course you are doing it for “them” the customers.

Reframing, renewing, refreshing it’s all good, so make the most of it.

Wisdom comes in many forms…

Aug 28

Posted by Steve Gray in Chill out!, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, Negotiation, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room | No Comments

Fast thinking and wisdom can work wonders, I saw this today and thought it’s well worth reproducing here, enjoy!

A wealthy old lady decides to go on a photo safari in Africa, taking her faithful aged poodle named Cuddles, along for the company.

One day the poodle starts chasing butterflies and before long, Cuddles discovers that he’s lost. Wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.

The old poodle thinks, ‘Oh, oh! I’m in deep doo-doo now!’ Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap the old poodle exclaims loudly, ‘Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?’

Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. ‘Whew!’ says the leopard, ‘That was close! That old poodle nearly had me!’

Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So off he goes, but the old poodle sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up. The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.

The young leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, ‘Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what’s going to happen to that conniving canine!

Now, the old poodle sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, ‘What am I going to do now?’, but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn’t seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old poodle says ‘Where’s that damn monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!

The moral of this story….

Don’t mess with the old .. age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill! Knowledge and wisdom only come with age and experience.

I am in no way insinuating that any of you are old, perhaps some are just youthfully challenged!

Over time I have come to respect the wisdom of the more “mature” around us, and as I get older I hope I can benefit more from my own wisdom and have the good sense to draw more on the wisdom of others.

In business it can seem like we know it all, (or we think we do) but the reality can be different. I guess the point being to know the difference and profit from it.

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