Qualifying For Success

A significant amount of companies feel that, since all of their employees have decent health and safety education, they are suitably equipped to manage a crisis. The truth is though, employees must have more than simply the basics in health and safety and risk assessment. Equipping staff, hiring good supervision and facillitating regular drills are crucial to the safety of employees.

Each team must have a great supervisor to observe the shop floor, but this individual must also fulfill a greater purpose in the business. Whomever you employ as the supervisor needs to understand that health and safety training is crucial and have the ability to get other staff feeling enthusiastic about it. In addition to insuring compliance with health and safety legislation, the person supervising furthermore must ensure that employees perform all their tasks efficiently. This is a tricky job. Up-to-date business knowledge is a requirement for a supervisory position as well as a high standard of knowledge of safety legislation, risk assessment, and emergency assistance techniques. Simply having health and safety training is not sufficient for your staff. They must practise risk assessment and the recognition of hazardous areas. Staff need to know the best method of eliminating problems and how to react if something goes wrong. Not until these procedures become routine are employees properly protected.

Safety equipment is just as necessary to the safety of your workers as training. When they discover they are lacking the gear they require, or even find out that they’re not working properly when they really need them, all the education available can’t help them.

Make sure you take a gander at our comprehensive resource for act safety instructions!

Servicing your equipment on a regular basis is a necessity. If anything will not come up to the pertinent criteria, get it repaired or call out a service professional as soon as possible.

Your workforce need to receive good health and safety education, but in addition they also need to have the correct apparatus, frequent practises, and an educated supervisor who gets the workforce to feel enthusiastic about working safely. When you follow this advice you will see that health and safety legislation will soon become ingrained in your business culture not an inconvenience everyone has to make an effort to remember constantly.

You have graduated from high school or college and now you are eager for your first true post. You have posted out resumes and have been called in for your elementary interview. How can you do well at the job interview so you wind up being presented the situation? It is always worth considering going for a consultant interview course

Clothe professionally. No midriff shirts, low-cut blouses or flip-flops for the reason that youre going to work and not the coast. While it is unnecessary to acquire a suit, it is particularly important to look professional. If you are trying to get a job in a traditional office such as an accounting firm, dont deck out as if you were going away to a gig. If you are applying for a retail position, you have a little more freedom. Rather than list what clothes is and isn’t usual, I would tell you to dress as if you were going to meet one of the most valuable individuals in your life- for the reason that you are!

There are countless other means in which you could get yourself better equipped for your upcoming job interview. You could make certain that you know how to get to the locale so that you will not be late. You could research the corporation so that you can ask pertinent questions and try to appear keen and knowledgeable. You could ask the current workers what they think of the place. That way, you will not only be able to better appraise whether the post is suitable for you, but also learn some valuable insights that could help you secure the post.

First impressions count up, and you want to let the interviewer know you yearn for the vacancy, are willing to work hard and will do your best. You might not necessarily be the most qualified candidate, but still land the post as you were the most outstanding one. Best of luck with your job interview!

So you have decided to become a business owner now you have a couple options. You can take on a franchise or set up your own business from scratch. Both have benefits and downfalls.

The world is rife with franchise opportunities.Your local town center is probable full of franchises.A key benefit in buying into a franchise is that you essentially get a readymade business. When you buy into a franchise, many aspects of the business including marketing are taken care of off. There are many different franchises available. Some will give you the business name, equipment and everything you need for start up, others only give you the basics and you still have to buy or lease a location, purchase equipment and the inventory you will need.

The two main downsides of buying a franchise however are that they are typically inflexible in terms to making it your own, and of course the initial outlay. Visit the Key Mergers website for more information or if you would like to f you would like to buy a business or even to sell one.

Starting your own business from scratch however means that you can grow the business organically over time, you can limit your initial outlay and you can be as creative with the direction of your business as you like. However, your model may not be tried and tested and you will likely have to develop your own support network from the ground up along with your business.

So, as you have probably gathered by now, the decision whether to buy a franchise or go it alone are dependent on what your want to get out of the enterprise. There is a trade-off between creativity, fleximility, risk and reward.

Regular, one-on-one assessments with your staff provide an efficient two-way forum with which to set and review realistic achievement targets, provide feedback on performance, and listen to and consider any problems employees may have. For example, a sales executive may feel that he or she is under performing, when in fact sales targets have been set too high. During the appraisal, these targets could be reviewed and set at more realistic levels. And after the goals have been met and the targets achieved, it is just but fair to recognize your employees effort in doing their best.

1. Why Employee Recognition?

This is where employee recognition takes center stage. Through employee recognition, you give your staff the reason to go on, push a little harder, and achieve their dreams as well. You can do this by giving them better opportunities to prove themselves worthy of the job you gave them. Giving people new or better jobs shows that you recognize their achievements and encourages them to achieve further success. Rewarding exceptional performance also inspires colleagues to improve their contribution in the workplace. All of these boil down to the point that employee recognition is, indeed, a vital element in the company’s success.

2. Planned Employee Recognition

As its name implies, planned recognition is more of a pre-coordinated plan. Because of its frequency, the event may not necessarily be formal. Under this category, the most common employee recognition awards are customer service, attendance, outstanding achievements, employee of the month, productivity, and safety.

3. Immediate Employee Recognition

This method of employee recognition renders acknowledgement at any point in time for exhibition of the principles and ideals being upheld by the company and their role in achieving the targets and goals of the establishment. The company or management may award an employee recognition particularly upon a commendable effort, solidarity, accomplishment of an exclusive project, acquisition of a new company procedure, or simply expressing indebtedness to the employee for making such effort.

4. Formal Employee Recognition

This type of employee recognition is done annually. Because of its formality, the event showcases a very glamorous and prestigious ceremony. This type of employee recognition renders acknowledgement on the total and outstanding performance of an employee. The award itself is so special that every employee aims to achieve it. These are sometimes known as presidents awards, the top 10 percent club, etc. In this type of employee recognition, the most common awards are centered on the employee or the department’s outstanding and remarkable performance. This refers to an exceptional work that an employee was able to accomplish in spite of its level of difficulty. The company should, however, bear in mind that employee recognition does not simply mean that it is the right thing to do since your employee has done such merit.

5. The Reasoning

The main purpose of employee recognition is to build bridges among people, to establish communication, and to acknowledge the value of each employee in establishing the success of the whole organization. Moreover, employee recognition is utmost appreciated if the event is timely and is done at a more public gathering. In this way, the impression is more intense. Consequently, the employee recognition should delve more on the effort of the employee to accomplish tasks and not on the result itself. Research has shown that by giving equal weight to the employee’s intellectual, emotional, and psychological needs through employee recognition, the commitment of the staff is increased and therefore productivity increased.

Employees must also remember that

- Employee recognition should not be expected

- It does not translate to an instant promotion

- It may not result in any additional monetary compensation

- Is best percieved as a gift

- The main purpose of employee recognition is to positively motivate the group

For more great employee recognition related articles and resources check out http://www.profitable-employee.com

Corporate events can be a fun way to boost employee morale and sharpen certain skills that will help everyone communicate more effectively in the office. After all, for most people a good job is more than just good pay - creating a positive environment in which to work will help your company retain quality employees and ensure everyone’s happy with the corporate atmosphere. When ties are strengthened between fellow employees, everyone does a better job and productivity increases substantially.

More on corporate events and team building

There are a wide range of activities you can organize when staging corporate events. Some of them are explained in more detail below:

Treasure Hunts: A popular corporate event, treasure hunts are a whole lot of fun, but this type of activity also has a practical application. The task of working with fellow employees to navigate around a certain area, follow clues and accomplish objectives helps develop and hone a whole host of skills, from team planning, delegation, time and team management, to communication, teamwork, and problem solving skills.

Team Building Activities: Corporate events that are designed to bolster team spirit are a great idea to consider for your company. These activities usually involve simple problem-solving tasks that employees can master together away from the pressures of the office. In this type of relaxed environment they will learn how to more effectively join forces to solve problems as a team.

For instance, one such team building activity, called the grenade launcher, requires that the teams construct a launcher and successfully fire a missile across a gorge. An activity that is a lot of fun, it also helps teams work together in a friendly but competitive environment.

Another activity, called the spider’s web, requires that the team sneak past a giant spider hidden in a tree without alerting it. This particular event requires that the team do a lot of planning and establishes a level of trust between each person.

The minefield allows each person to learn more effective communication techniques. Each team has to come up with their own musical language in order to safely make it through a minefield.

Regardless of the skills you want to reinforce in your employees, choose a corporate event that will be a lot of fun for everyone involved and you won’t be disappointed with the results.

Visit chillisauce at http://www.chillisauce.co.uk/corporate-events/ to learn more - chillisauce is a fully bonded tour operator that organizes great corporate events. You won’t be disappointed with the service provided through our corporate event planning.

From time to time there seems to be a flurry of studies and surveys on effective
communication in the workplace. As a communication specialist, I’m always eager to
read these studies, but am often disappointed with what I see. That’s because they
all seem to be about communication strategy.

• We must put in place strategies to get our message out to our various publics.

• We must have a communication strategy so that our image and reputation will be
disseminated in the way we want it.

It all sounds so one-sided, and even worse, so one-dimensional.

According to my Oxford Dictionary, “strategy” is a military term defined as
“generalship, the art of war; management of an army or armies in a campaign; art of
so moving or disposing troops or ships as to impose upon the enemy the place and
time and conditions for fighting preferred by oneself.”

That’s all very well as far as it goes, but there are two problems. First, if your
soldiers don’t have the necessary skills to move the army along, they will never
reach the strategic position in the first place. Second, if they don’t have the
appropriate fighting skills, they won’t know what to do once they are in position.

In order to make use of a strategy, you need the other half of the equation: tactics.
The same dictionary defines “tactics” as “the art of disposing military or naval forces
in actual contact with the enemy”. In other words, once your strategy is in place, you
must use tactics that will convert your plan into results.

In today’s complex, many-faceted workplace, too many laudable communication
strategies fail, or at least achieve limited success, because of lack of attention to
tactics. By tactics, I mean the way we use applied communication every day to get
the work done. As I often tell my audiences, this is not about a systemit’s about
the skills of those using the system. If the soldiers are not trained in the skills they
need to get to the place of engagement as well as to fight the battle, then where is
the value of a strategy?

In workplace terms, if employees at all levels don’t have the skills to transfer
information through presentations, through person-to-person discussion at
meetings, through articulate discussion with the media, through the written word in
all its forms, to interact with colleagues, customers and other stakeholdersthen
even the most ambitious strategy is doomed to failure from the start.

Effective workplace communication takes two components: the will and the skill
and one is of no use without the other. Your sales force may be very willing to sell
your products, but if they haven’t been given the necessary skills they’ll starve.
Newly promoted, enthusiastic young managers may well have the will to excel in
their new responsibilities, but without the necessary training how will they have the
skill to run effective meetings, motivate their people or lead winning teams?

Soldiers must be trained to carry out military tactics; employees must be trained to
communicate effectively in all workplace interactions.

This is why applied communication is “The Hidden Profit Center”. Find those places
in your organization where communication is breaking down, and take a close look
at what that costs in monetary terms. Identify the missing skills and supply the
training necessary to provide them. After a predetermined length of time, quantify
the savings in time, opportunity and people: that’s your Hidden Profit Center, and
you’ll be amazed at how enormous it can be.

© 2005 Helen Wilkie All Rights Reserved

You may reprint this article for your online or print publication so long as you
include the complete article and the following paragraph:

Helen Wilkie is a professional speaker, consultant and author who helps companies
save their money and people save their sanity through better communication. For
information about “The Hidden Profit Center”, visit
http://www.mhwcom.com/pages/thehiddenprofitbook.html
While you are on the site, subscribe to Helen’s e-zine, “Communi-keys”, to receive
free monthly communication tips and techniques. Communicate and Prosper!

A top complaint from audience members is that many presenters put too much emphasis on PowerPoint and technology while neglecting the message and interaction with participants. One way to deliver more effective presentations that improve your connection to your audience is to add a remote control to your presentation tools.

Why would one more piece of technology actually switch your focus from PowerPoint to your audience? Have you been distracted (or bored) as a presenter stopped the flow of their talk to pace back to the laptop to change to another slide or as they waited for a partner to move to the next slide? This is one of the 6 reasons why you need a remote for your PowerPoint presentations:

• Break Down the AV Wall. Without a remote, you are limited to the area by your laptop which builds a wall between you and your audience;

• Get Control. You never want someone else to control the computer while you have to keep saying, “next please” or flash hand signals. This approach breaks the flow of the speech, annoys your audience, and risks that your helper moves to the wrong slide;

• Fewer Distractions. Use a remote to stop distracting others who watch you walking back to your computer to move to the next slide. Plus, a remote helps you maintain eye contact with the audience instead of looking at your laptop;

• Smoother Animations. The impact and flow of most animations is lost when you run animations manually from your laptop;

• More Professional. Presenting without a remote takes away from the professionalism of a presenter and directs the focus to the technology (or to the lack of tech-savvy if anything goes wrong);

• Cool Factor. Okay, maybe not a key justification, but a remote is a nifty and useful addition to your technology tools.

With a presentation remote control, you can more effectively and smoothly deliver an electronic presentation and communicate your message. That said, even though I am a huge fan of remotes, you always want to know multiple ways to navigate with the keyboard while delivering a PowerPoint presentation. Keyboard commands may sometimes be faster or at least give you a backup plan.

© 2004 by Dawn Bjork Buzbee

Dawn Bjork Buzbee is The Software Pro and a certified Microsoft Office Expert and Microsoft Office Specialist Master Instructor. Dawn shares smart and easy ways to effectively use software and technology through her work as a speaker, trainer, and consultant. Visit http://www.SoftwarePro.com for great Microsoft Office software tips and tricks or to contact Dawn.

Master The Five Key Facets of High Performance Leadership

Many people in leadership positions struggle with understanding what makes a great leader. While billions of dollars are spent annually on leadership development, quality leadership is still in short supply.

Organizations have responded to the demand for high performance leadership with myriads of education and training programs and resources, which seem to be plentiful,…Amazon.com has over 9,000 references on leadership…yet most organized attempts at developing high performance leaders fail to achieve their aims.

So what does work?

In working with leaders we have isolated five key characteristics that successful leaders demonstrate. These work extremely well in all settings, be it governmental, non-profit or for-profit commercial. These five key facets of high performance leadership are universal.

They are easy to remember using the acronym FACET. Here they are…

Focus - Authenticity - Courage - Empathy - Timing

Focus

Effective leaders stay focused on the outcomes they wish to create, and don’t get too married to the methods used to achieve them. They provide this ‘outcomes focus’ for their organization by emphasizing the mission, vision, values and strategic goals of their organization and at the same time building the capacity of their organizations to achieve them. This capacity building emphasizes the need to be flexible, creative and innovative and avoid becoming fossilized through the adoption of bureaucratic structures, policies and processes.

Authenticity

Leaders who are authentic attract followers, even leaders who are viewed as being highly driven and difficult to work for. Simply put, they are viewed as always being themselves…and therefore followers know what to expect from them and can rely on them, come thick or thin. Authenticity provides the leader with the currency to obtain ‘buy-in’ from key stakeholders, because it builds and maintains trust. Authenticity is the bedrock upon which the other facets are built.

Courage

The challenges facing leaders today are immense, and require great courage to overcome. Leaders are constantly being challenged by others, be it their own team, customers, the public or other stakeholders. Standing firm in the face of criticism, yet having the courage to admit when they are wrong, are hallmarks of courageous leaders. For example, shifting an organization from being introspective to becoming customer focused requires courage when people pay lip service to the new direction…it means calling people on their bluff.

Empathy

Effective leaders know how to listen empathetically…thus legitimizing others’ input. By doing so, they promote consensus building, and build strong teams. They coach others to do the same, and so create a culture of inclusiveness. They tend to be great listeners who capitalize on the ideas of others, and provide recognition for these ideas, yet they don’t get bogged down in overly complicated dialogue. While they create learning organizations that place a high value on dialogue and continuous feedback, they know when to take action, when to ‘fish or cut bait’, which brings us on to the final facet…

Timing

The one facet that can make or break a leader is in knowing when to make critical decisions and when not to. All of the other facets must be viewed as subservient to getting the timing of critical decisions right. There is a need to be focused, authentic, courageous and empathetic, but get the timing wrong on critical decisions and everything else stands to be nullified. Great leaders move with appropriate speed. They don’t believe that everything must be done immediately…they know how to prioritize, and how to get their team to prioritize. As well, they engage in timely follow-through to ensure actions that are committed to happen in a well coordinated and timely way. They use time as an ally.

Is that all it takes to be a great leader?

These facets of high performance leadership are not exhaustive. Just as one would look at the facets of a diamond, upon closer observation other facets become observable. Any person can aspire to being a great leader by commencing with these facets. If you are in a leadership role, regardless of your position in your organization, start by asking yourself the following key questions:

Key Questions

How focused am I? How much of my time do I spend communicating and inspiring people about our mission, vision, values and strategic goals? How much focus do I create in my organization? How married am I/my organization to methods that have outlived their usefulness?

Am I viewed as authentic? Do people see and hear the real me? Do I wear a mask at work, and remove it when I leave each evening?

How courageous am I when my values, vision and goals are challenged? Do I stand firm and only change my position when I know that I am wrong? Do I have my team identify what they need to STOP doing, what they need to START doing and what they need to CONTINUE doing to achieve our focus?

How empathetic am I? Too much/too little? Do I create enough opportunities for open and candid dialogue? Do I ever find myself and my team getting bogged down in consensus building, or achieving false consensus? Is there a feeling of inclusiveness amongst the members of my team and throughout our organization, and with other stakeholders, including customers?

Do I make and execute decisions in a timely fashion? Do I know when to ‘fish or cut bait?’ - do I demand well coordinated and timely execution of strategy from others? Do I use time as an ally?

What you can do to create a high performance leadership culture…

Asking these questions in a candid way will open up many possibilities for you, your organization or your clients…if you have the courage as a leader to do it.

Building and sustaining a high performance leadership culture takes time, patience and a clear focus on the vital few characteristics that leaders can develop naturally and authentically. Listening to what people expect from you as a leader, and then responding empathically, in a timely fashion, will move you dramatically towards mastering these five key facets of high performance leadership.

Above all, you need to TAKE ACTION.

About The Author

Brian Ward is a Principal in Affinity Consulting. He works with senior and middle management and their teams to improve performance. His website is at http://www.affinitymc.com where you can sign up for his free monthly ezine Strategy in Action

brianward@affinitymc.com

For Call Center managers, it is not a pipe dream to improve employee moral while increasing productivity. It may even come easy to some to find fresh, new ways to reduce performance problems. Sound like an advertisement for something unattainable? Perhaps try to engage, involve, and connect employees to their work by the power of ASK.

Of course Call Center managers encounter unique problems and situations each day for which they are required and expected to resolve regardless of other demands. To find solutions, managers must analyze statistics, review current processes, and identify needs within the team. However, the most important element of research sometimes lies with the Call Center’s most valuable resources - the employees. So, you ask. Not surprisingly, this approach seldom comes to mind first when managers are faced with team difficulties. However, this seemingly simple concept could lead you to answers and have many other indirect, positive ramifications.

The traditional managerial role within the Call Center may point to the reason behind this lack of asking employees for their feedback. Typically, it is the manager’s responsibility to answer questions. Employees ask the manager how to handle a customer, where to locate information, and the interpretation of policy. For the manager who is used to providing the answers, asking questions of others is a seldom-used skill.

The simple task of asking questions and engaging employees can make the world of difference in your work environment. Employees appreciate and become excited when presented with the opportunity to contribute in a new way. They often put their best foot forward and come up with amazing resolutions and excellent ideas. This involvement provides the opportunity for recognition and accolades and often leads to higher employee commitment when they see their suggestions carried out.

“Employees do not perform nearly as well when they are consistently denied any input in their jobs and are expected to follow unquestionably the decisions of their leaders.”
Dennis Kinlaw

Kinlaw’s book, Coaching for Commitment: Managerial Strategies for Obtaining Superior Performance, he discusses the four elements that support building commitment in employees: These elements include clarity about goals and values, competence to succeed, influence over work, and appreciation for contributions. Involving employees and asking their opinions on the business can raise commitment by validating each of these areas. Let’s explore each with more detail.

CLARITY (about goals and values)

• Communicating goals that employees are expected to meet

• Then ASK for ways to meet these new goals

• This ensures a connection to the big picture

COMPETENCE TO SUCCEED

• Train employees on their varied tasks

• Then offering specific opportunities for them to provide feedback on the training

• This encourages involvement in ongoing improvements

INFLUENCE (over their work)

• Engaging employees in regular conversation regarding their daily tasks

• Share their input with the team where it can help lead to success

• This illustrates their influence over the work environment

APPRICIATION (for their contributions)

• Inviting dialog and inquiry - if done properly - will create a safe environment for feedback

• This will also make employees feel appreciated for their contributions

The key to obtaining honest answers from employees is creating a safe environment for feedback. Make it clear that people will be heard if they are offering constructive solutions. Approach employees in an appreciative manner and thank them for their input. Their responses not only help manager stay in tune with their team’s needs and daily situations, but also can provide answers that the manager did not even think of.

There are opportunities every day to involve employees in workplace decisions. Some issues are best concurred with collaborative efforts. Pursuing input and feedback will increase commitment to the task at hand and result in more satisfied, engaged employees. When you are presented with difficulties and questions, remember you have valuable resources just waiting to be ASKED.

About the Author

Jenny Kerwin is a contributing writer for Interactive Quality Solutions. She experience in training and leadership development positions. If you are interested in reading more of Jenny’s articles visit: http://www.callcentercafe.com and http://www.righttolead.com For details on involving your employees visit: http://www.prideteams.righttolead.com/

The best leaders I have met over the years have had several traits in common. Those aspiring to become leaders in business, government or other organizations would be well served to review these and take them to heart.

As quaint as it sounds, there is no substitute for hard work. The most successful leaders I have encountered worked hard at the beginning, middle and ends of their careers. They got in early. They left late. They took on additional responsibilities. They welcomed special assignments and task forces. They did not look for the easy jobs or to pass off the challenging tasks to others. Hard work is the foundation for success in leadership.

There are lots of generalists in all professions. The difference is when the generalists have built up their general knowledge of their profession as a result of being experts in whatever area they were working in at the time. Great leaders learn everything they need to know to do their current job and more. As they move on to the next job they do the same thing. They do not stay put for the most part. They build a portfolio of being expert in many areas within their profession. While it may be possible to “get by” through just knowing enough, the true leaders who are successful learn all they can in each job.

There are many egomaniacs in the world of business, government and other professions. While they may get most of the headlines and other media coverage, they are not the great leaders of our time (or any time). The greatest and most successful leaders are selfless. They approach problems for the best solutions. They do not care who gets the credit. In most cases, they direct the credit and the attention away from themselves and to others. This process serves to make teams and organizations more effective and more successful in turn.

Leaders young and not-so-young need mentors. A mentor is not just someone who can pull the leaders along by way of their coattails. It is someone who listens, provides advice, points out the “landmines” along the way and can tell the bad along with the good. Every great leader has had a mentor. Many have several mentors throughout their professional lives. The mentor a leader has at the beginning of their career may not be the mentor they have at mid-careers or as a successful senior executive or professional. The key is to find someone who one respects and who is willing to take the time to build a mentor relationship.

Everyone makes mistakes and has disappointments. Successful leaders in business, government and the professions accept their shortcomings, learn from their mistakes and move on. Those who dwell on mistakes or are so cautious as to rarely have missteps are unlikely to become great leaders.

The topic of personal balance has been overdone by the media and in professional literature. Most successful people are, at face value, hyper focused on their career goals or their profession. But once this is pealed back, most of them are people with varieties of interests. They take time to exercise and participate in sports. And their families and friends are quite important to them, even if the time they have to spend with them is limited. Those who can “have it all” are rare, but the most successful leaders to find ways to balance their professional lives with their personal interests, their health and fitness plus the role of family and friends.

The model of the successful leader is a dilemma today. Do we look to political leaders? Do we look to CEOs? The industrial titans of the past? The great leaders from military history? By reading biographies of the great people past and present, future and current leaders can gain insights into how they can become better and more successful leaders. Readers see time and again the roles played by hard work, expertise, humility, mentors, resilience from failures and balance.