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Teamwork Knows No Position or Title: Teamwork Involves Everyone

Teamwork begins at the top, most of us will set back and nod our head as people and training organizations tell us that teamwork is important, but we don’t realize that applies to us. We think yeah it would be great if the technology department would be a team or if our Human Resource department would step it up together. We don’t realize though that the team effort of a business starts at the top. It is the executives, managers, supervisors and leaders that set up the environment of team work.

If a leader isn’t willing to enforce teamwork then they are wasting their breathe when they try to implement teamwork among departments if they themselves are not willing to adhere to the same team values. For instance a team is willing to accept ideas from any of its team members, no matter what position they hold. As a leader in the organization are you willing to do that? Not just listen and not but evaluate and give feedback and perhaps even implement the idea? If not then you are undermining the very principle you want implemented.

How is your team rewarded for performing as a team? Often organizations teach teamwork, expect it and say that is the core of the company but then the only people who get rewarded are individuals who had the most public role in the project. Instead of rewarding people, reward teams for doing the job. Maybe give them a budget to through their own team party. Or give each team member tickets to an upcoming sporting event or play. Or even bring in a caterer for lunch to reward the group as a team. This fosters working together rather then competing.

Finally remember things that are done well and recall them often. Say things like remember when the sales department collectively sold out our entire water bottle product line. Recalling these experiences will inspire other teams in your organization to earn your recognition but they want to earn it as a team because that is who you as a leader praise.

Teamwork can push your business to new heights if it fostered in an atmosphere that emphasizes its importance. Learn the tactics that will truly inspire your organization to work together rather to work against each other.

Teamwork can increase your productivity, improve your work environment and foster creativity. Why not invest the time it takes to form this valuable resource? There are ways to start creating it today, but you may also consider hiring a corporate trainer to come in and motivate your team.

Bart Icles has seen organization that have benefited from teamwork and organizations that we’re in desperate need of a solid team. He would recommend to anyone to contact CMOE and learn about their Teamwork and Strategic Management training.

Customer Loyalty achieved by Active Strategic Management

Businesses know that it is a important to create a culture where the customer feels they are receiving value and being valued. It is ultimately the customer that is supporting your business and their words and their feelings are what are going to keep your business successful. Leading your organization in a way that encourages customer orientation takes some strategic management.

First, make sure everyone understands the priorities. If there is confusion on what the real priority is there will be confusion on what should be happening. If customer value is truly important to your organization then communicate that to your teams of people. In meeting communicate this important topic, make sure your team leaders convey it every chance they get and remind all areas that this priority is first and foremost. Also reward individuals and teams that excel or make an extra effort for this priority.

As a leader in the organization you need to not only preach this priority every chance you get but live it always. Your organization and/or team is watching your actions, make an effort to make this priority visibly important. If customer service and value is important make sure the way you talk about your customers is respectful. You can’t sit and degrade or complain about them in your planning meeting and then expect your staff to go out and treat them with the highest respect they can.

Feedback is vitally important in an organization. Give your staff immediate and factual feedback. They need and want to hear how they are performing. This feedback is another time to convey the importance of customer service. If they are doing a good job let them know, and you will find they try even harder. Don’t just let they fact that you are ‘allowing’ them to keep their job be the only way you let them know they are doing well. People love hearing they are performing well and it inspires them to continue to perform well. Of course if they are struggling let them know and challenge them to do better.

When you strategically manage your staff so they see, hear and know that customer service is priority in your company you will see your business sore in that area. Making your priorities known in strategic and effective ways will inspire your staff to be the team you want and need the to be. Start today to make the focus of your business known to everyone in your company.

Bart Icles recommends getting professionals come into your business and train them in the major topics such as Strategic Management and Teamwork. Topics like this will have immediate and long term effects on your business.

Job Analysis and Hiring the Right Person

Let’s say you’re a small business owner and you need to hire someone to support your growing business. You might not be able to afford to hire a full time Human Resources Manager, but you feel you need a little more expertise to help you find the right person for the job.

Job analysis may just be the solution you need.

Job analysis is simply defined as the collection and organization of critical information about a job. When doing a job analysis, you take into account the job’s tasks and activities, any management or supervision requirements, the products and services that result from the job, equipment and materials necessary to complete the job, and the job’s working conditions.

After completing the following 5 important job analysis steps, you’ll be much more knowledgeable about what qualifications the right person to fill the job should have. If you do it reasonably well, finding the right person for the job will be considerably easier…

…because you’ll know exactly who you’re looking for! Here are the steps to job analysis:

1. Ask yourself: What do you want your new employee to accomplish on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis? The answer to this question will inform the next step of your job analysis.

2. Identify the tasks and responsibilities that will need to be a part of the new job to make sure it accomplishes your desired result.

Here are some questions to consider that will help you get this information.

What will your new employee do on a day to day basis? What equipment will he use? Will there be different tasks to do on different days? Will your new employee be supervising any people or processes?

3. Once you think you know all the tasks your new employee will need to perform on a regular basis, you’re ready to start thinking about the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) necessary to successfully complete the tasks and responsibilities of the position.

What knowledge will your new employee have to have?

Knowledge is factual information that your employee has acquired through education and experience, which she’ll need to use during the course of a normal work day.

For example, perhaps the right person would have a strong knowledge of accounting principles. Or they might need a specific knowledge of your target market.

What skills will your new employee have to have?

Skills are techniques your employee will have learned and honed through repetition and experience for completing specific tasks.

For example, do they need to have the skill to run or fix your machinery? Maybe she needs to have excellent managerial skills to be able to run your new branch office, or closing skills for a high-level sales position.

And finally, what abilities should your employee have?

Abilities are the natural gifts that we’re all born with.

For example, some positions require a high level of interpersonal intuition, others a high level of mechanical ability, some may require an employee to remain cool under pressure, etc.

4. Get together a group of subject matter experts. People who already hold similar jobs, supervisors and managers are typically included in your group of job experts. In certain circumstances, important customers can be included as well.

Call a meeting of your experts and discuss everything important to the position. Talk about the tasks, responsibilities and KSAs that you’ve already come up with, and ask for their thoughts and ideas about the list.

Then, use your group to prioritize the requirements of the job. You want to make sure you hire someone who meets your top requirements.

5. Discuss with your team if there will be any differences between the job to be filled now, and the same job in the future. If you’re going to be implementing new procedures, new software, new products, etc., you need to take those KSAs into account, too.

Prioritize your list once more, and presto! Your job analysis is done, and you now have all the information you need for a solid job description!

If you want to be very thorough, you can ask yourself (and maybe a select few of your experts) these questions about your new job description: Is it realistic? Can any one person do all the tasks and have all the skills you’ve listed?

Don’t strike anything from your list if you think the job description might be unreasonable, just write notes on any reservations you have and adjust your results accordingly if your job opening isn’t immediately filled, or if your new employee seems overwhelmed.

Now you’re ready to start the hiring process, which is where your job analysis really makes things work better for you.

You can use it to help you write a targeted job listing in your local paper or industry periodical. This will help you weed out prospective employees who you don’t want to interview, and will attract those you do want to interview.

Once you’ve got a good pool of resumes, use the job analysis to narrow your pool to a manageable list of people who you want to interview. Most businesses don’t have time to interview more than a half dozen people for a job, so shoot for that number of top candidates, or less if you can.

Keep your job analysis handy during your interview. If you use it to ask each qualified applicant how they meet your needs, you’ll be more likely to be comparing “apples to apples” when you make your hiring decision.

Once the hiring decision is made, share the job description you’ve made with your new employee, and then keep it on file for performance reviews. This can help your employee to know exactly what you expect of them, and will help you to know if they’re on the right track.

Good luck!

Mac Bartine has an M.S. in Human Resources Management, and writes about business, entertainment and the environment for his website, KnoxvilleBusiness.com.

Diversity in Leadership

Professor Bhiku Pareskh, from the Centre for the Study of Democracy at the University of Westminster once said:

Diversity is a fact of modern life. It is an unavoidable fact of life because not all differences can be rationally and conclusively resolve. It is also an important source of moral, economic and social energy. It brings together different ways of looking at life and therefore enables us to learn from others and deepen our insights into human life.

Coming from a country where there is a population of 1.5 million, from Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Shango and all the mixes in between with as many permutations of ethnicity possible, I must admit, diversity was a hard concept for me to grasp! I had to ask- what is diversity? This reminds me of filling out the boxes at the end of an enrolment form as I always wonder why there is not a box for those who have to figure out whether they are BC, BA, AB, who simply identify themselves as H for human!

So when did this term become so popular? The simple answer for me sometime when economics began to make it viable. Cynical? Well, perhaps a little. After all there have been government mandates on Equal Opportunities, quotas and the like. And why has the business sector embraced diversity? One could delve into recent research showing that 80% of 140 UK organisations view the development of diversity as a key contributor to their overall business success. Direct benefits include better recruitment, improved understanding of markets and communities, increased retention, enhanced reputation to cite a few.
Organisations in the voluntary and public sectors may be more focussed on fairness and justice as motivating factors for embracing diversity, consistent with their beliefs and values.
Whichever way organisations and companies broach the subject, simply having policies in place is not sufficient to ensure successful implementation. It is indeed, the depth of integration into any strategy that produces success.

So how does Leadership fit into the diversity agenda?

Leadership is quite simply critical in taking forward the diversity agenda. Leaders need to know how to manage and create culture, along with setting strategy for the future that incorporates a diverse workforce for the benefits of individuals and the organisations key objectives. To have positive performance outcomes of diversity in Leadership, one needs leaders who:
Are skilled in communicating with and coordinating among members of diverse teams
Are good at dealing with group process issues ie. Problem solving and communicating without prejudice
Can build on teams creativity and innovation, even if it does not look like anything to which we are traditionally accustomed.

To gain value from diversity in leadership requires a sustained, systematic approach and long-term commitment. Success is further facilitated by a perspective that considers diversity to be an opportunity for everyone: an opportunity to learn from each other how better to accomplish great achievements.

Marcia Granger MCC Leadership Coach helps those in new leadership positions create the perfect work/life balance. Find out how having the right Leadership tips and tools can change your life at http://www.1stleadershipcourse.com

Business At Home Jobs- Dealing With Employees

Many businesses that begin in the garage or a room in the home quickly expand and suddenly they have taken over the entire basement, hired employees and are dealing with expansion issues. This short article discusses several issues associated with hiring employees, contractors and casual workers.

You may have been working with your small business out of your home for some time, business has been good and now you are ready to expand. Suddenly you are dealing with employment issues such as hiring, benefits, and deductions at source, government filings. Many small business owners throw up their hands and decide it is just not worth it to deal with all of the personal and personnel issues that are involved with dealing with employees. There is also liability insurance that is required to cover your employees while they are on your premises.

Small business owners have other choices when it comes to having work completed for them and they do not all involve someone coming into your home to complete the work you need to have completed. Many small business owners will subcontract work out to other small businesses. Subcontracting is an excellent approach as long as you take the time to define the product you want delivered, the quality of the product, the price of the product and the delivery date. Get these four items right, hire an excellent subcontractor who delivers quality work, on time and provides support for follow-up and you generally will have a very successful relationship.

In addition to the above benefits of using subcontractors, there are other valuable advantages. Subcontractors can be hired only when you need them, there is no need for dealing with pension plans, un-employment, health coverage and other assorted deductions. You pay for what you get and they deal with any of these issues separately. In addition there is no need for liability coverage, since these people are not on your payroll and they generally do not work at your home.

Online business entrepreneurs are particularly suited for work on a subcontracting basis. These subcontractors can be virtually anywhere in the world and are able to send you your material by email or in the case of large files using FTP transfer methods. Many people have started online home businesses and deal with sub contractors all over the continent. Keep excellent records and always ensure that there are clear guidelines associated with your subcontracted work to avoid any misunderstanding between you and your subcontractor.

Elias Georgi is an experienced and successful sponsor, mentor and coach for many thriving, tested and proven home businesses. Elias offers proven Internet opportunities and strategies. Visit his Website: work at home business opportunities, he also runs the article directory.

The Importance Of Employee Development

Employee development is crucial for the growth and prosperity of any business as employees are one of the determining factors for the success of the company. The more capable and qualified the employees the better the performance of the company. When they are well trained, they can easily handle situations and please customers ensuring customer retention. They can also resolve any glitches easily without much ado.

Employee development programs are essential to improve morale and to motivate the employees to perform well. Employees like to learn new skills and meet challenges and they are more motivated when they feel there is great potential for personal growth. When the company shows interest in employee development, the employee naturally has a greater interest in the company’s development too.

Training Program For Employees
Training programs are essential and companies provide either initial training to help the employee learn about how to perform their duties or ongoing training where employees meet regularly to discuss how to improve work performance.

Some companies sponsor employees to learn the latest training so they can perform their jobs well. Care should be taken to see to it that the training is relevant and that it has a positive impact on the employee’s performance. It should benefit the company. Companies should carefully analyze and determine if their employees need training. If so, select appropriate courses and monitor the training to be certain it has caused a positive change in the company’s performance. Good training programs will greatly diminish the need for hiring specialists to perform certain tasks, improve work efficiency, and help employees know the latest techniques to adopt for the betterment of the company.

Employee development training must be regularly scrutinized, goals must be set, and achieved within a certain period of time. Assigning employees correctly to perform their duties is essential. Initiating rewards such as raises, promotions, and tuition reimbursement will motivate employees and make them eager to participate in the employee development programs.

Companies must analyze carefully if they need to enroll their employees in specific development programs. If so, what courses are best suited for their company? What target results do they want from their employees on account of the training? They can answer these questions using a needs analysis and finding out which areas need extra training for employees. Usually managers need training to help perform better and manage more efficiently. Make sure the employees are up to date with the latest technology available to ensure they perform better. Convey to the employees all about the program, the outcomes you expect, and how important it is they do their jobs better by using the opportunity the company has provided them. Hence, employee development programs are essential for any business to thrive and succeed.

Additional Help
There are companies that offer services and products to run a new business easily.

David Gass is President of Business Credit Services, Inc. His company publishes a free weekly e-newsletter on Small Business Consulting at their web site http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com.

So You’ve Had An Accident At Work. Now what?

Have you ever been involved in an accident at work? Hopefully the answer is no, but please realize that accidents at work do happen and more often than you may think. Most of the time it’s a matter of a specific hazard but there are a number of procedures that can prevent an accident at work from occurring in the first place.

Your Personal Safety Around The Workplace

Your employers have to make sure that adequate safety measures are in place in and around the whole of your workplace. Accidents are usually an unfortunate event, or usually a series of events, but depending on the type of work that is being carried out, practical and substantial safety measures must be implemented to prevent an accident at work. This keeps the accident risk to a minimum although there is never a 100% certainty that nothing will happen.

Providing Proper Equipment For The Job

Depending on the type of work that you are doing, your employers have to make sure that you are equipped with everything that you need, both physically and in terms of information, to keep you safe. There are several factors that need to be fully addressed like the tasks you have to carry out, the materials involved and the risk factor of your operations. If there is an increased in risk in one or more of your operations you need to be informed in due time of this fact. This risk increase could be the result of a job parameter changing.

Correct Training For Everyone

Suitable training for any job is essential not only for you but also for your colleagues at your workplace. Employers need to make sure that you aren’t being put at risk by other workers. If they are not trained correctly, or for example come drunk to work and something happens to you then the employers are directly responsible and it’s considered a liability.

Employers are directly responsible for the conditions in which you work. There has to be proper ventilation, lighting, safety gear and so on. If one or more of these factors are disregarded and an accident at work happens you are entitled to lodge an accident at work claim.

It is a fact that the majority of people who are entitled to compensation never make a claim. Generally this is because of fear. Fear of the employer, fear of co-workers, fear or losing the job and so on. Most will simply claim sick pay and never report the accident at work. We have a duty to make sure that others do not suffer the same way and that proper safety procedures are implemented. This is not being a troublemaker. If your injury has been caused by negligence then make a claim.

This is important: Do not ignore the accident. If it has happened to you then it will happen to someone else as well. Apart from financial compensation, your action in making a claim and highlighting the problem helps others and could even save lives. People don’t go looking for an accident at work so there is no need to feel guilty.

So, basically you have 2 options:

1. Request An Accident At Work Claim Form.
If you think that what happened is because of neglect or ignorance then go ahead and make a claim.

Do not be threatened either by management or other workers. The fact of the matter is that you suffered an injury which should not have happened. It’s easy for others to stand back and criticize. The employers have a duty of care toward all their employees and visitors.

2. Claim Your Sick Pay And Do Nothing Else.
Think carefully before you decide to do nothing about it. An accident at work is a hazardous thing and you have to know your options in case something goes wrong.

You should always make notes of any relevant facts as soon as you are able even if you are not going to make a claim. You may change your mind and without facts it will be difficult to make a claim for your accident at work at a later date.

The Peoples Choice.info is committed to bringing you well researched articles to help you learn and also give you information which will assist in making reasoned decisions. More information on having an Accident At Work can be found at:
http://www.the-peoples-choice.info/accident-at-work/accident-at-work.html

Diversity Means They Will Be Different

Balance, just as any idea or thing or person, has energy and is energy. As you become more and more attuned to energy, you recognize ideas and things and people more easily, without needing visual clues for proof. You might say that you can see more accurately with your eyes closed.

At a very early age, most people are taught to go after the things that they really want. The willingness to fight is often a primary indication that something is worthwhile. To fight, compete, and achieve are lifted up as important values. Schools, teachers, and parents usually reward those who are “better than” and shame or correct those who are “lesser than.” Managers and Employers usually promote those who provide answers, are aggressive, take risks, and solve problems.

What about you? If you have had such a cultural conditioning, it can come as a real shock to hear that what you need to do is “allow” or “be in the flow” or “let go” or “relax.” These can seem like really soft or surreal ideas if you have been successful by doing things, by charging forward, by taking risks.

In my view, it is not such a paradox. Perhaps that is because I do not advocate replacing outward action with inward reflection; I advocate a balance. I more often speak about relaxation, meditation, and being in the flow because I am most often talking with very intelligent, upbeat, tenacious persons who are very successful in their careers. If I spoke mostly to those who are depressed or lazy, I would be suggesting more active and even aggressive strategies. It is joyous balance that I advocate, a condition that is most often achieved by incorporating a pleasant opposite of what is usually experienced.

Generally, here is how I see the human condition: You come into this world eager and lively, tapped into a deep and profound awareness of your magnificence, knowing who you truly are. Then, you are taught to forget who you are by older people who have forgotten who they are. Then, you act in ways that reflect the established culture, creating false images of who you truly are. Then, you must let go of all those manifestations and forms that you have created and remember again who you truly are.

Being, allowing, letting go, being in the flow, and opening are qualities that help you to remember and provide balance for doing whatever you do. Doers already know how to do; doers need to learn how to be, in order to recognize and integrate their wholeness. If every breath is only an out-breath, there is no in-breath to provide more air to sustain the next breaths.

Balance can be elusive if you try to grab it, to take charge of it. So, too, joy can be elusive if you try to grab it, to take charge of it. Therefore, you must be in a receptive mode. Being in a receptive mode makes you more open to vision and to the power of creating from Spirit. As you allow a higher vibration of energy flow through you, you more easily let go of strongly-held human belief in limitation. This higher vibration of energy is the same as that of the new-born who exude eagerness and trust in life.

At any given moment you might feel as though you are “giving up” the familiarity of doing in order to be, or “giving up” being in order to do. The idea is to find balance over time so that you feel empowered in your actions and empowered in your moments of reflection and silence.

Do you live in the consciousness of joyous balance?

Copyright

How to Implement Change in the Workplace Without Sending Your Staff to a Psychiatrist

It seem that the only time people are open to change is when what they have always done no longer works for them. In other words when our needs are no longer being met by previous behaviors, thought patterns or procedures.
Your task as a CEO or manager is to show your staff that this applies to your business as well. When certain procedures and practices no longer meet the needs of your business or organization change is needed.

To facilitate this change you must show respect for both the needs of the business and employees. When your business needs for increased efficiency, profitability and productivity take priority over the needs of your staff you are bound to increase stress and create resistance to any proposed change. There must be a balance between the two.

Here are thirteen suggestions to help you bring about change without sending your entire staff to a Psychiatrist.

1. Keep your staff informed especially when the change you want to effect is going to impact them personally. Explain the why and the how of your decision to change.

2. Stress how the proposed change will benefit your employees. When people begin to perceive a forthcoming change as a definite benefit to them and when they feel a sense of ownership in the process they more eagerly participate in, welcome and adapt to any changes made. Ownership and participation are essential. People are motivated by self interest

3. When your staff perceives a specific change as something done to them without consultation and input they build resistance instead of co-operation.

4. Get your people involved in the planning and the implementation of any change.

5. If you do ask for input from your staff make sure you use some of their suggestions. If you ask for input and ignore any suggestions given you will stop the flow of participation dead in its tracks.

6. Provide adequate training and practice in any new procedures. This is required to develop a new comfort level and replace the old. It usually takes about four weeks to develop a new habit so provide adequate training with this in mind. Avoid giving a 4 hour seminar on a new procedure or technology and expecting everyone attending to be proficient after one or two sessions. Invite them to tell you when they feel comfortable and confident with the new change.

7. Have a mentoring program set up until a new comfort and confidence level is achieved. Training the trainers and having them available and easily accessible is vital. Have your mentors offer tutorials on request.

8. Never assume that you as a CEO or managers have all the wisdom and insight on any issue. Remember that wisdom is cumulative and resides within the collective. When my wisdom and insights are added to those of others we become wisdom and insight rich. This is when great things begin to happen.

9. Never rush into change. Look upon it as a process involving information, discussion and patience. When you give it time you get the results you want plus a strong commitment from your people.

10. Avoid the bandwagon. A lot of workplace change is initiated by a manager or supervisor getting excited about some new program or technology after attending a conference. They return thinking they have found the motherload. Always research any new idea. Test drive it with a few willing volunteers and then make a decision as to whether you want to commit to full implementation based on their response to the test drive.

During a speech on workplace stress to a group of office workers recently I asked what the most stressful part of their job was. The vast majority said supervisors and managers who discover new software to make their jobs easier and just when they are getting used that new technology the same supervisors discover something else to make their jobs easier. It seems to be never ending. They also claimed that in-service on the new software took them away from their jobs and caused them to fall father and farther behind.

11. People are resistant to change and must be shown that any new way of doing things is going to make their lives less stressful and more enjoyable. Never forget that people are motivated by the search for pleasure and the avoidance of pain.

12. Affirm, appreciate and praise your employees frequently especially during the period of change implementation. Appreciation and praise are powerful human motivators.

13. Foster a climate of humor in the workplace. People working in a climate of humor and employment enjoyment are more flexible and open to change.

The only change people are comfortable with this the change that jingles in their pocket.

Mike Moore is an international speaker and writer on human potential and humor. You are invited to check out his books, tapes, special reports and manuals at http://motivationalplus.com/cgi/a/t.cgi?mpstore

Is every Manager a Leader?

Top management sometimes plans extensively for strategic changes in an organization, but places very little emphasis on how to handle the transition from the old way to the new. When this happens, the new goal, system, organization or project is simply presented as a direction or decision to a work team. When the team has not been consulted, this comes as a shock. The change is announced and implementation is left to the group. When this happens to you, as the manager involved, you are put on the spot. You need to produce results but you can only do this when your team is fully behind the changes. Top management too often considers implementation of the change a footnote to their plan. Your work team may consider the same change as a crisis of the first magnitude.

Most of the difficulties manifest themselves in this transition period. This is where people get stuck. They become confused, anxious, angry, and often unproductive. Your job as manager is to move your team through change in the smoothest possible way, regardless of how well or poorly the change was introduced.

Gaining control by giving it up
A major lesson in leadership is that you can not move through change and keep previous levels of tight control over your staff. The lesson is to gain control over change by giving it up.

In effective organizations, people share basic goals and communicate clearly, directly and regularly about what they are doing. Each person goes about his or her work with greater flexibility than is common in less effective organizations. If you manage an effective organization you will benefit during change by exercising a new type of leadership. You will be less of a controller and more of a coordinator. Only you and your staff together can make things happen. You must learn how to delegate intelligently some of your control to your team.

As a manager, you have special responsibilities to maintain strong upward lines of communication. If you keep the information you receive from above to yourself, or feel you are the only one who knows how to handle change, this will not be helpful in implementing changes. Your staff will not learn, will not have the information they need to make changes and will not feel they share in the change unless you involve them by giving up some of your control.

Power and influence
Most of the major organizational changes you will experience in your career will not be initiated by you. You may be able to anticipate change or see it coming (for example, the need for new technology); however, most of the time change will be handed to you as a fait accompli. When this happens, a typical reaction, regardless of level, is an attitude of helplessness. What can I do? or Has anyone taken us into account? can lead to inactivity and frustration and workers will spend their time bemoaning the change, dreaming of the old days, or criticizing the judgment of top management.
Your task as change agent is to direct energy away from the feeling of powerlessness, and security from the past, and towards seeing the opportunities of the future. You can do this by calling attention to the ways in which your team can make a difference.

Marcia Granger MCC Leadership Coach helps those in new leadership positions create the perfect work/life balance. Find out how having the right Leadership tips and tools can change your life at http://www.1stleadershipcourse.com

Is There A Place For Humor In The Workplace

Lighten up! Okay, that may be hard advice for anyone who hears that phrase on the job, but humor in the workplace is more than possible and without getting served a pink slip either. A good laugh now and then will do wonders for you, as smiling and laughing lowers your stress levels (a godsend in the sales industry), wins you a friendly reputation, and helps your usually tense coworkers and bosses unwind (and thus not take their frustrations out on you). Humor on the job does plenty for your career, but there are some things to know before becoming the office comedian.

Keep in mind that there are some jobs where humor isn’t a good idea. There’s always exceptions to every bit of advice you’ll hear, so have the good judgment to know when your workplace shouldn’t involve humor.

One of the biggest rules with fun in the workplace is to avoid controversy when you’re joking around on the job. It’s stifling, but no one can deny that the current atmosphere of most businesses just isn’t friendly towards controversial or racy humor. Stay away from joking about politics, race and religion, for starters.

Sex is another dangerous topic, though it may be easier to make jokes about sex without offending others, so long as you’re aware of the exact definition of sexual harassment in your workplace and stay well within the lines of decency.

Never poke fun at other people within your organization, as you’re trying to win friends among the people you work with, not alienate them. If you can’t help yourself, be extremely careful with exceptions to the rules and be cautiously creative if you must have some fun with the topics you should avoid.

Poking fun at the very job you do or the industry you work in is a great way to earn some smiles from your coworkers and supervisors. While these types of workplace jokes may not be so funny at home or amongst friends, as they really don’t understand the pressures or quirks of your employment, the people who are around you in your job will certainly appreciate humor about their frustrations and will be able to laugh over situations instead of grumbling.

One consideration for workplace comedy is choosing the right time and place to joke around. Naturally, the best time for some humor is when you’re not working, but still around the people you work with, such as a coffee break, lunch, or during the commute. You can also try to be funny on the job, but when you’re working, it’s a good idea to use humor much more sparingly than you normally do. A tactful wisecrack now and then won’t hurt your career, but if you don’t show some professionalism and good taste, you’re asking for trouble.

Start off adding humor to your workplace slowly, by trying out a few small jokes that you know are safe. All you really want to do is laugh a little and have the people around you smile as well. You’ll feel more relaxed and the tension in the air will drop. You may even give your career a jump start, as people will want to be around you more often.

John Edmond owns and writes regularly for Careerbuilder Jobs where you can find more information and advice on all aspects of employment and succeeding in your career.

Employers are Hiring Good Candidates, not Good Employees

Robert Cameron examines the question “Do you want to select top candidates or top employees?” The answer would seem obvious but a surprising number of manager’s perform very poorly in this critical task.

Peter Drucker, one of America’s leading management gurus has examined this and says, “Executives spend more time on managing people and people decisions than on anything else, and they should. No other decisions are so long-lasting in their consequences or so difficult to unmake and yet, by and large, executives make poor promotion and staffing decisions. By all accounts, their batting average is no better than .333. At most one-third of such decisions turn out right; one-third are minimally effective and one-third are outright failures. In no other area of management would we put up with such miserable performance.”

Hiring expert, Cameron, reports “I see the pattern of poor hiring far more than what would seem logical. In fact I am frequently flabbergasted by the poor hiring practices I have observed.” He found some interesting facts that can cause this behavior. Research suggests the answer may be a missed point of focus. We are trying to find and hire top candidates rather than top employees. They are not the same.

In conversations with recruiters and employers across Canada, Tom Brennan compiled this list of the characteristics of top candidates and top employees:

Top candidates characteristics

Stop the Revolving Door of Employee Turnover

The challenge and cost of employee turnover is one of the most discussed, most frustrating and most misunderstood problems businesses face. CEO’s have identified employee retention as one of their key challenges in 2005. Yet organizations continue to struggle with this costly issue. The science of psychological assessments has recently advanced, allowing the development of much more predictive assessment tools.

If you do not know what your employee turnover cost is, many experts agree that you can come surprisingly close to the cost of a single turnover incident by simply multiplying the annual salary for the position times 2.5 - that will cover productivity loss, recruiting and hiring cost, training cost, liability, unemployment and the other 101 hidden costs that we usually try not to think of when we lose an employee.

Employee turnover often begins with a poor hiring decision. When we hire someone who is a poor job fit, we have already begun an almost inevitable course that will end with failure - and another turnover casualty. Part of the problem of poor hiring lies with our poor tools: One comprehensive study of the hiring process indicated that, if an interview is your only tool, you have only a 14% chance of making a good hire. Add good reference checking (and we all know how difficult that can be), you can raise your success ratio to 26%. If your goal is to beat one out of four odds, you need better tools!

Fortunately, the science of employee assessments has produced increasingly useful tools to add to the art of hiring. While no assessment, or even a combination of assessments, guarantees success, the same study showed that use of personality, abilities, interests, and job matching measures can raise your success rate to 75% or better. Equally important, valid pre employment screening assessment tools in all of those areas can be applied for well below 1% of the projected cost of a bad hire.

Why don’t more of us use employee assessments to improve our hiring (and lower turnover)? Part of the answer lies in lack of education on the topic - not many of us have even attended a single seminar on use of scientific assessment tools. Part lies in reluctance to spend any money on new processes. Part of it, frankly, is the already overwhelming load we place on the people who are doing the hiring - they are so busy bailing the boat, they can’t take time out to turn on the bilge pumps! To change the course of turnover, you must recognize that the costs are killing you, that you can change course, and that the rewards are well worth the trouble.

Profiles International, Inc. is the world’s leading publisher of employment-related assessments. Its products serve the needs of business, industry, education, and government, by providing a means of getting the information employers can use to make better hiring decisions.

The assessments are available from Robert A. Cameron & Associates. They work with employers to help them increase the effectiveness of their HR departments and improve productivity and profitability. They can be reached at 954-385-8701 or visit their website at http://www.racameron.com

Poor Performing Employees Severely Impact Productivity

In business there are two very necessary and very different forces which must be balanced so that business will perform perfectly - people and processes. But far too often they are not in balance.

CEO’s are ranking people issues as one of their major concerns in 2005 as they struggle with productivity, profits, and labor shortages. Robert A. Cameron & Associates takes a new approach to quantifying and solving this growing business issue.

This is a critical issue as people have a very real financial impact. Even if you have every process of your business working perfectly, people problems can still be the difference between profit and loss.

That’s exactly what a summary of eighty-five years of research has shown very clearly. Frank Schmidt and John Hunter - two of the foremost experts in personnel productivity and psychology - reviewed dozens of studies on the impact people have upon the success of organizations. One of their most interesting findings is related to productivity.

What their research showed them was that for every job they reviewed, about 16% of the people in any job fall into the “superior” category, 16% in the “poor performer” category, and that the vast majority of people were “average performers”. However, the most significant finding is the difference in employee productivity. It ranges from a 38% boost from a “poor” to “superior” performer in an unskilled position to a 98% boost from “poor” to “superior” in management positions.

Robert Cameron examined how the differences in the productivity in each category affect a company financially. Using a company size of about 75 people, his conservative estimate of the cost of having average versus superior performers is around $800,000 per year. What is the easiest strategy to improve the bottom line?

First, do whatever it takes to move “poor-performers” out of that category and into the “average” category. Your second objective would logically be to start moving your “average performers” into the “superior” category. And then your focus should be ensuring that you do all that you can to maintain the situation where all of your workers are in the “superior” category.

This approach provides you with a firm framework for effectively managing one of your largest investments - your human capital - in a manner that ensures that return on your investment are maximized through focus on clear measurable objectives.

To avoid unnecessary people costs, you must be sure that every time you make a people decision - whether you are hiring someone new, moving someone from one job to another, promoting someone, or investing in training or development - you are doing so with a view to achieving superior performance in the target position.

But how do you do this and why do some people perform at a superior level and some don’t? That factor is “Job Match.”. It has to do with matching people with work that fits who they are; their unique combination of abilities, temperament, motivation, and other intangible human qualities.

To achieve a good job match you should use employee assessments to improve your selection process. The cost of using assessments is offset many times over by the gain in employee productivity. Hiring more people like your best people gives you more superior performers, and greater productivity and profits.

For more information contact Robert A. Cameron. He works with employers to help them increase the effectiveness of their employee selection, hiring and development, and improve their profitability. They can be reached at 954-385-8701 or visit their website at www.racameron.com

Business Employment Recruiting Techniques

One of the most frustrating parts of running a business for many business owners and manager is finding the right employees. A vacancy opening usually leads to plenty of applicants, but finding the candidate that not only possesses the right combination of skills, experience and education as well as has important qualities as teamwork, initiative and loyalty can be a difficult task to manage.

When faced with the prospect of recruiting new employees, there are a variety of ways that you can go about it. One of the most common ways to approach the matter is to post classified listings and help-wanted signs; however, you should be aware that this method has its disadvantages. One of the biggest disadvantages of this method is that it will generally net a wider range of applicants than you might have in mind. This means that you’re going to need to spend quite a bit of time going through resumes and applications, weeding out those applicants who do not meet your minimum skill and experience requirements.

Employment services are a good middle of the road method to use if you are working on a limited recruiting budget, but feel the need to cut down on the amount of screening time involved in the recruitment process. These services range from free options that are typically offered through state employment offices to private for-fee services. A few of the services you can take advantage of through these options include having the agency receive and screen the applications for you to having them actually conduct preliminary interviews.
If you would like to better ensure that you receive a pool of candidates who are more likely to meet your minimum requirements, it may be time to consider a recruiting service. Although you will generally pay more for these types of services, many managers and business owners feel it is well worth it; especially when hiring for management and executive positions. Recruitment firms can handle everything from conducting initial screening to background checks as well as aptitude tests.

Statistics indicate that hiring and terminating an employee can actually cost thousands of dollars above and beyond the employee’s actual salary due to costs associated with lost training, hiring a replacement, etc. One of the ways that you can limit the possibility of loss is to consider using a temporary employment service to hire employees, at least for the first 90 days. The temporary service will handle everything for you from actually hiring the employee to handling their salary so that you can concentrate on other matters. At the end of the agreed upon time period you can make a determination as to whether you want to transition the employee over onto your own payroll.

SaHMspot.com,
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How a CNO Can Increase Profits, Decrease Expenses & Manage Risks With A Mentoring Program

A mentoring initiative is a business strategy that enables organizations to turn people into assets. Since every core business process and strategic initiative requires a Human Capital Management business strategy to execute it, improvements made in HCM systems and processes can notably impact an organization’s bottom line. A mentoring program is a standard of excellence that health care organizations must attain to consistently provide the highest quality of care. The mentors’, mentees’ (those who are mentored), and organization’s goals work in tandem towards the ultimate goal of improving patient care.

In healthcare organizations, financial, physical and human resources are limited nevertheless showcasing the value of mentoring is essential with cost-effective practical automation and scaleable templates to capture, process and report quantifiable evidence of quality, effectiveness, impact, results and value. Quantifying mentoring’s impact on human capital investments and business results directly showcases the value that it delivers to all stakeholders and offers immediate and quantifiable savings in time, energy and money.

What is Mentoring? Mentoring, both a noun and a verb, is a helping relationship usually between a more experienced mentor and a less experienced mentee (or prot

Hiring Employees: Checking References To Insure Quality People

When you must take on employees for your business, you will have to go through the hiring process. After preliminary interviews, you should be able to narrow the field to three or four top candidates. And that is the time to do a little detective work to insure you have the right (and honest) employees coming in.

It’s estimated that up to one-third of job applicants lie about their experience and educational achievements on their resumes or job applications. No matter how sterling the person seems in the interview process, a few phone calls upfront to check out their claims could save you a lot of hassle - and even legal battles - later on. Today, courts are increasingly holding employers liable for crimes employees commit on the job, such as drunk driving, when it is determined that the employer could have been expected to know about prior convictions for similar offenses.

Unfortunately, getting that information has become harder and harder to do. Fearful of reprisals from former employees, many firms have adopted policies that forbid releasing detailed information. Generally, the investigating party is referred to a personnel department, which supplies dates of employment, title and salary - nothing more.

There are ways to dig deeper, however. Try to avoid the human resources department if at all possible. Instead, try calling the person’s former supervisor directly. While the supervisor may be required to send you to personnel, sometimes you’ll get lucky and get the person on a day he or she feels like talking. Sometimes, too, a supervisor can tip you off without saying anything that will get him or her in trouble. Consider the supervisor who, when contacted by one potential employer, said, “I only give good references.” When the employer asked, “What can you tell me about X?” the supervisor repeated, “I only give good references.” Without saying anything, he said it all.

Depending on the position, you may also want to do education checks. You can call any college or university’s admissions department to verify degrees and dates of attendance. Some universities will require a written request or a signed waiver from the applicant before releasing any kind of information to you.

If the person is going to be driving a company vehicle, you may want to do a motor vehicle check with the motor vehicle department. In fact, you may want to do this even if he or she will not be driving for you. Vehicle checks can uncover patterns of negligence or drug and alcohol problems that he or she might have.

If your company deals with property management, such as maintenance or cleaning, you may want to consider a criminal background check as well. Unfortunately, national criminal records and even state records are not coordinated. The only way to obtain criminal records is to go to individual courthouses in each county. Although you can’t run all over the state to check into a person’s record, it’s generally sufficient to investigate records in three counties birthplace, current residence and residence preceding the current residence.

For certain positions, such as those that will give an employee access to your company’s cash (a cashier or accounting clerk, for instance), a credit check may be a good idea as well. You can find credit reporting bureaus in any Yellow Pages. They will be able to provide you with a limited credit and payment history. While you should not rely on this as the sole reason not to hire someone (credit reports are notorious for containing errors), a credit report can contribute to a total picture of irresponsible behavior. And if the person will have access to large sums of money at your company, hiring someone who is in serious debt is probably not a very good idea. Be aware, however, that if a credit check plays any role in your decision not to hire someone, you must inform them that they were turned down in part because of their credit report.

Jeff Casmer is an internet marketing consultant with career sales over $25,000,000. His “Top Ranked” Earn Money at Home Directory gives you all the information you need to start and prosper with your own Internet Home Based Business.

Business Skills are Essential in Offshore Software Outsourcing

The outsourcing business has spread far and wide in India and other countries such as Germany, Australia, Japan and China. Still there is an unfulfilled demand that exists in many parts of the world. Some research studies have established the need for a combination of technical and business skills for a company to succeed in the outsourcing industry, especially if they have to tap the available market potential.

It has been shown beyond doubt that these two skill sets are essential for the success of IT businesses. In a survey carried out in 2006 as many as 83% of the experts surveyed agreed that market growth is a key driver for IT success. And market growth is possible only when a combination of technical abilities and business skills is utilized equally well by the outsourcing companies.

Bible and scriptures of many religious say “A man without a vision shall perish”. This is well and truly applicable to the software outsourcing companies. The leadership and the management of such companies has to have a clearly defined vision and purpose. Only when the leaders and the team are clear with the vision that they can dream of success. Success in the middle of severe competition is possible only through concerted effort that includes learning the languages of the country from which the outsourcing work is originating. It will be difficult for a company to establish its image with the client if they do not understand the cultural nuances of the company that has placed the order on them.

Offshore Software Outsourcing sectors is growing
.NET and J2EE are the two platforms that are in great demand now a days. According to the eighth annual report of the silicon.com magazine. The need for Finding the right skill set to fit with the offshore software outsourcing sectors is growing by the day. The good news is that 82 % of the consultants, when asked about the general availability of good candidates, have confirmed that they are able to get good people through different postings.

Business skills are not to be emphasized at the cost of the basic technical skills. The moot question is how will a person who is not technically competent deliver the results in such a highly technical field? Hence one must remember that business skills are limited to basic operational skill, soft-skills and intuitive skills. Obviously a technically incompetent person cannot be hired by an IT company even if he is skilled in the business aspects.

One primary requirement of offshore software outsourcing companies is the “knowledge” factor. A team that is skilled and technically competent is able to adapt and learn other aspects of the business fairly quickly. The best results are achieved when there is a proper balance between the technical skills and business skills. Which such a background any company in the outsourcing industry can succeed within a span of a year.

MJ Batta writes job outsourcing related topics and hosts a job outsourcing research site at Outsourcing America and a special outsourcing report at How Companies Outsource

Should Smoke Breaks Be Regulated?

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Payroll Software - Take Control of Your Employees

With payroll software one cannot not stop and think…’how did large organizations cope without them?’ When you think of what’s involved in paying your employee, one finds it hard to believe how this can be achieved without a full blown payroll software.

There are various applications on the market today, but how do you decide which one is right for the business you conduct? Let’s start by having a look at the main items a good payroll software application must possess.

1. create and manage detailed company details
2. create and manage detailed employee details
3. can be run during a specific date range (normally weekly, fortnightly and monthly)
4. processing of individual departments or all departments
5. accountability of all emoluments and tax paid for each employee and department
6. standard tax reports as required by the local authorities
7. flexibility in allowing bonuses, overtime and special end-of-period additions and deductions

Needless to say, a good payroll program holds many features which reduce paper work needed to control your employees’ remuneration. Having said that, some required paperwork like pay vouchers, checks, company reports and tax reports are a must for any payroll software.

But what is the main feature a payroll application must excel in? Without any doubt this has to be security. Payroll software databases hold one the most sensitive information a software application can hold. By many, the salary they get is considered as the most well kept secret in their lives. That information is probably held in a computer somewhere forming part of a payroll package. As such, confidentiality of that information must be stressed heavily and checked thoroughly when one is enquiring on payroll software.

But most payroll software applications are not stand alone modules. Many come integrated with other modules like the purchases ledger, general ledger and/or job costing module. If you have a production business, having your payroll software integrated with your job costing module is, to say the least, a must. This will ensure your costing is truly reflecting all the costs your business is incurring, and the payment of your employees, including taxes, is definitely one of them.

As like all tailor made software, a payroll software application would normally require user training before one can reap the benefits from it. Payroll software is quite a complex piece of software and the fact that people are employed in human resources departments just to be responsible for the payroll aspect of the company is proof of this. This is true, although, the payroll software used should also be straight forward for clerks who work in a payroll environment. It should be intuitive and present all tasks in a simple and clear format, with help available on the spot.

Since many payroll software exist today, it is very hard to determine which one is right for your business. The decision needs to rely on the structure of your business, number of employees, different work times and shifts, plus other factors. Based on this, a standard payroll software might do, or maybe not. What’s important is that before committing to one, and probably also, before being trained on one, all the features (and non-features) of the package you choose have been made clear and proved to function correctly and as desired.

Sandro Azzopardi is a professional author who writes articles on his web site and local newspapers. http://www.theinfopit.com/technology/software/payrollsoftware.php

The Best Way To Screen Potential Employees

Screening potential employees is crucial in developing a highly successful team. Without the right people you’re headed down the wrong path. It’s hard to compete. Having a team that is well trained, enthusiastic, and drug free is the greatest asset a company can have. Below is a list of things you should require in order to properly screen potential employees.

Applications are a good way of establishing your professional credibility as well as they’re prior work history. Some companies even analyze the way the application is filled out including neatness and completeness. Applications are a good start. Once several candidates have filled out applications it give you a chance to call the people with the best applications.

Background checks are essential to not hiring the wrong people. This includes a criminal background check and some even run credit checks on potential employees. Credit checks are mostly done by financial institutions when the potential employee will be handling other people’s money.

References should be from professional sources, not necessarily family members or close friends. These may be the people who know them best, but can you trust them to be unbiased?

Drugs and the workplace don’t mix. Drugs impair a person’s ability to think and can hurt the company. It puts the safety of the person on drugs and everyone else at risk. Drug screening is important in the modern day workplace. It is an inexpensive way of streamlining your business.

Resumes give an overall perspective not just of work and education history, but also insight into the personality of the individual.

Interviews are often the most important part of the hiring process. Are they alert? Are they showing motivation? Do they take care of themselves? One technique that is not used very often is to work with the potential employee for an hour or so for minimum wage. Go through some of the tasks to see if the job is a good fit. This is one way of getting feedback in regards to if it’s a job they’re going to enjoy. The hiring and training process can cost a lot of money. Often people don’t know what they’ll be doing all day every day.

It is expensive to hire a new recruit and train them so make sure that the screening is done properly. Small business owners know exactly how and what the services are that you want provided by your associates. Using some of these suggestions may help you through that process.

David Gass is President of Business Credit Services, Inc. His company publishes a free weekly e-newsletter on Small Business Consulting at their web site http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com.

Equality and Diversity

With the introduction of the new Employment and Race directives from the European Union in 2001 it is now important that companies examine their attitudes and policies on gender, race, disability, sexuality, age and religion. Given this context, we believe that an understanding of the legislation and its effect on company policies is important for all employees.

However, here at Impact Factory we tend to do things differently. So when we think about equality and diversity issues we don’t offer a standard ‘off the peg’ equal opportunities training. If that is what you need we are probably the wrong company for you.

Diversity workshops

Certainly in our diversity workshops we cover legislation and each company’s own internal policies, but our focus is on examining people’s perspectives on difference, diversity, change and the attitudes and feelings that are sometimes difficult for people around equal opportunities programmes.

Our experience is that with this type of work people can attend a fairly mechanistic one-day event covering the legislation and company policy and leave with the feeling that the work was “bolt-on” and irrelevant to them. The organisation feels it has done what is required but little really changes back in the workplace.

If people feel unable to engage with the realities of working within a diverse, multi-cultural organisation the training isn’t doing its job properly.

Bigotry happens, whether it’s around race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, religion or nationality.

Whether people want to admit or not, we are all prejudiced. We all make assumptions about others that reinforce our stereotypes; indeed we look for evidence to support our biases. We’re all guilty of the occasional toss-away line that cuts deep; and we all have intolerant behaviours that are so ingrained we don’t even notice we’re doing them.

Not only that, each of us is the focus of someone else’s prejudices and bigotry, is someone else’s stereotype, is the trigger for someone else’s intolerance.

Can you eliminate prejudice? No you can’t.

Can you get people aware of how their prejudices affect others and help them do something about it? Absolutely.

Acknowledging the real dilemmas

For us it is important to acknowledge that people will face real dilemmas around equal opportunities issues. They need to feel equipped to cope with the human side of problems that arise and to feel able to engage with and challenge their own prejudices and stereotypes around difference. They also need to understand just how that prejudice translates into active discrimination.

What happens to people when they are excluded, harassed, bullied, passed over, ignored, isolated - not because of what they do but because of who they are?

People feel demeaned and disempowered. Their motivation falters and their stress levels increase. Most unfortunate of all, their self-esteem and confidence about who they are diminishes.

What happens to companies when any of that happens to their people?

Productivity goes down while stress-related illnesses go up. Formal complaints and tribunals become commonplace, which is an awful waste of people’s emotional energies and time. And they can cost companies a lot of money to boot.

You’ll never stamp out discrimination entirely, but you can make a very effective dent in its power.

The most successful diversity trainings help people to develop reflective thinking, empathy, understanding, raised awareness, sensitivity, an understanding of consequences and a desire to be fair. Skills that will assist them in extending equality of opportunity. Skills that will also help them when they themselves are the victims of discrimination.

Impact Factory’s starting point during the design stage of an equal opportunities programme is always to ask, what has prompted your organization to think about this type of work now? Is it simply the concern about meeting legislative requirements, or do you believe there are real attitudes and practices within the company that need to change?

Additionally we look at a company’s own values on difference and diversity. Again, if they are there simply to meet requirements, then any number of programmes won’t shift things. However, if it’s a company that values its values then the possibility for change is enormous.

This is the real difference between commitment and lip service.

Culture Clashes

When people operate from their prejudices, they create culture clashes. Cross-cultural issues exist everywhere; they exist in every aspect of our lives.

Here’s our take on it: a culture clash of some sort occurs as soon as two people get together, since no two people, even family members, have the same internal world or the same view of the external world. In the broadest sense, you ‘cross’ cultures with every person you come into contact with, whether they are the ’same’ as you nor not.

In a workplace that celebrates differences, people accommodate, sublimate or ignore these different ‘cultures’ because of common ground, shared goals and like interests. When people concentrate on similarities, the differences are less noticeable, or at any rate, less important. Once we get a certain amount of common ground, we can ‘get along’.

Difficulties usually arise when the differences appear to be all there is, or you experience or imagine the differences as stumbling blocks. Indeed, differences appear like rocks at low tide! Obvious ones are language, ethnic or racial background, religious beliefs, gender, age, education.

In the workplace all these may be the cause of culture clashes, and then you add differences in working practises and communication styles between departments, with clients, with other companies and between senior management and other people in the workforce.

When cultures clash, no matter what the cause, things inevitably evolve into a ‘them’ and ‘us’ environment; and then people go around collecting ‘evidence’ to prove that they are right and the other guys are wrong.

There are many avenues to take that will help cultures ‘get along’ better: identifying and concentrating on improved communication, fostering mutual respect, engendering co-operation and shared visions. Then, all kinds of diverse cultures can work side by side to everyone’s benefit.

Feelings and Behaviours

So you can have laws, directives, company policies and company values and you will still have major problems around diversity unless people’s feelings and behaviours are the focus of any equal ops work you do.

We can tell you right now, it can be a mighty uncomfortable process - asking people to dig down deep and talk about their own prejudices on the one hand, and their experiences of being discriminated against on the other.

This is some of what we do:

We start with some of the simpler, or shall we say, subtler forms of exclusion that most everyone will have experienced at some time in their lives: being outside an ‘in’ group, for instance. Indeed a lot of us have had the humiliating experience of standing with a food tray in a cafeteria trying to figure out where to sit and picking up the vibes from some group that say, “Don’t even think about sitting here.”

Then we ask what it feels like being part of an ‘in’ group and what power (often unconscious, but no less potent) that gives people.

Next is a look at the more overt forms of discrimination such as sexual harassment, racist jokes, job rejections, promotion limitations and so on. We find out whether people have colluded and gone along with giving someone else (or even worse, themselves) a hard time. Or whether they stuck their necks out and had them chopped off?

All of that is our departure point. Only then can we help people develop realistic skills to deal more effectively with diverse workplace relationships. We make it personal and relevant.

What we do know is that if you can get this right, the richness of difference definitely makes work a better place to be.

Jo Ellen and Robin run Impact Factory who provide Equality and Diversity Training, Public Speaking Presentation Skills, Communications Training, Leadership Development and Executive Coaching for Individuals.

The Green Card Rush Has Started

The U.S. Government has issued 65,000 green cards this year for the purpose of allowing people of foreign birth to live and work in the United States. But what is a green card? How does it work and what is the application process?

A green card is usually issued to people who are normally permanently resident in the United States and who wish to become a US citizen. After five years that person is usually eligible to apply for citizenship and naturalization.

In practice there are two broad ways of getting a green card. These are through employment in the United States and through their immediate family.

The correct term for the former type of green card is the H1B Work Visa. This is issued by the U.S. Government and allows foreign professionals from all over the world the opportunity to live and work in the United States.

As one Fortune 500 company recently told our H1B Research Group, “International job seekers who do not take action now, will miss this narrowing opportunity to work in the US. It is crucial to find an H1B Job within the next few months, to even stand a chance of being counted towards the quota.”

These are common feelings and sentiments from many of the H1B sponsor companies.

Many of the top US sponsor companies who were shut out in the cold, due to this year’s H1B Cap being reached very early, are doing everything in their power to ensure they get their fair share of new H1B visa employees as fast as possible.

People wishing to work in the USA will:

1. Need to find a job within a company who will ’sponsor’ and H1B visa for the employee.

2. Ensure the new employer (known as the sponsor company) then files the H1B application on behalf of the employee.

3. Wait until the visa application is approved by the US Immigration Bureau.

Two special categories involving work are Labor and National Interest. In the case of Labor, an applicant may obtain a green card who shows the ability and willingness to perform a specific job in a specifically assigned region, according to a specific set of skills.

Employer sponsorship may be waived in the case of an applicant who can demonstrate that he or she has professional skills to be of national interest to the United States.

In extraordinary cases, if individuals can demonstrate skills or knowledge that are so specialized that they put them at the top of their field, those individuals can usually be granted a green card without the usual official procedures on the grounds of justified exemption.

A similar arrangement would exist for academics and researchers who are recognised internationally as being at the top of their field.

In the case of applications for a green card because of family connections, it must be through an immediate family relationship. A person may apply for a green card if a child, parent or sibling is already an American Citizen. If the parent of a child (who is a minor) is already an American citizen then the child is automatically eligible for a green card.

Also within the broad category of family relationships falls marriage to an existing American citizen. The American citizen must also reside in the United States and there must be sufficient proof to show that the marriage is legitimate.

However, in the case of the former example, through a sponsor employer, the limit this year is 65,000 applicants. Those who believe they are eligible should seek advice right away.

Gordon Goodfellow is an Internet researcher and technologist who lives and works in London, UK. Graham has several sites on the subject of US citizenship
www.inteltab.com/green-card.htm

Open Door Policy? Open Mind Policy?

I was giving a presentation on ” the Value of Recognition” to the office workers of a large Canadian City. The City Commissioner ended his welcome to those present with these words, ” I have an open door policy so I want to encourage you to come and talk to me when you have a concern.” When he left I heard a couple of people in the front row say with a hint of sarcasm,
” Yeah sure. He has an open door policy as long as what you have to say is flattering and doesn’t rock the boat.”

We all have known leaders like this and we all have had similar reactions to them. It is quite apparent that many managers and supervisors don’t listen well and are easily threatened when a challenge or criticism is made by someone over whom they have authority.

I recall having a supervisor ask me to schedule an appointment to see him. He wanted to tap my brain. I should have been suspicious right from the start because in over 20 years he had never once asked my opinion on anything. In spite of this I prepared thoroughly and was eager to finally have the chance to share my wisdom and experience. Maybe he was turning over a new leaf.

When the interview began the supervisor fell asleep within minutes. Is that all the time it took to “Tap my mind?” Since I pride myself on being a rather dynamic and energetic speaker I was really taken aback by this. What a blow!! It was a relief to find out later that he suffered from sleeping sickness and had a difficult time staying awake at the best of times. I dismissed myself from the meeting saying that perhaps I could return when he was feeling better. ( I won’t tell you what I really wanted to say.)

Along with proclaiming to have an open door policy I think we would all benefit from people in leadership positions declaring that they had an open mind policy as well. Managers with an open mind listen attentively to the thoughts, ideas and opinions of others without becoming upset or threatened when a contrary or critical position or opinion is presented.

No one person, no matter what their position or level of expertise, has a monopoly on wisdom, insight or correct thinking. Wisdom resides in the collective and not in any one individual. The following story illustrates what I mean by this.

It seems that a rather prestigious country club was having a problem with disappearing bottles of shampoo in the mens’ shower room. No matter what the management did the bottles kept disappearing. Signs were posted and meetings were held encouraging the members to leave the shampoo bottles where they found them. Nothing worked.

One day the manager of the club was inspecting the shower room while a custodian was mopping the floor. When the manager saw that another shampoo bottle had disappeared he expressed his anger and frustration to the custodian, ” We’ve tried everything.

Nothing works. What more can we do?” The custodian stopped mopping, looked up at the manager and said, ” Why don’t you take the top off each new bottle of shampoo and throw it away? Nobody will take a shampoo bottle without a top.” When the manager asked him why he hadn’t offered this great solution before, the caretaker replied, ” Nobody ever asks my opinion. Nobody gets my opinion.”

This is the sad reality in far too many businesses and organizations. If you want a happy, healthy and more productive workplace access the wisdom and experience of the group. Cultivate a genuine “Open Door Policy” and combine it with a genuine ” Open Mind Policy” and watch great things start to happen in your workplace. By the way it works effectively in your family as well..

” Boat rockers should be considered cherished resources not pains in the neck.” M. Moore

Mike Moore is an international speaker on the role of humor in human relations. Mike’s articles and cartoons have appeared in publications throughout the world. For more on what Mike can do for your organization visit
http://motivationalplus.com/cgi/a/t.cgi?motplusarticles

Why it Pays to put More Humor in Your Workplace

1. Humor reduces stress levels and stress is the number one problem confronting employees today.

2. Laughter boosts morale while stress erodes staff morale. It is in the best interest of any business to invest in the happiness of its employees. Laughter is an effective barometer of just how happy your people are.

3. Keeping things in perspective tends to boost morale and humor helps us keep things in perspective.

4. Humor helps facilitate change. Change is inevitable and people who laugh well and often tend to be more flexible and adaptable.

5. Communication improves when humor is used appropriately. The timely use of humor can get a point across effectively and assists in the process of problem solving.

6. Laughter and humor relieve boredom and increase creative energy.

7. Humor builds confidence. When we laugh at ourselves we are less rigid and more spontaneous. We tend to bounce back more quickly when negative things happen. Humor also makes us less fearful of making mistakes and more confident about overcoming setbacks.

8. Laughter and humor promote positive relationships. When you hear a funny story your first impulse is to tell someone and share the laughter. When laughter is shared a natural bonding takes place.

9. Humor promotes happiness and joy. It’s good to be alive.

10. Quality relationships are measured by the amount of laughter present. When relationships are good, people laugh a lot. The same applies to businesses. When employees enjoy one another and laugh easily and often, we see performance improve and profits increase.

11. The humor I speak of here must never be based on laughing at someone, racism, sexism, put downs, sarcasm or ridicule. These forms of humor are destructive attempts at making one look good by making another look and feel badly. There is enough good humor to last a lifetime. Just look for it.

THEY WHO LAUGH…………LAST

Mike Moore is an international speaker on Humor in the Workplace/ Humor and Stress Management/ Humor and Staff Potential

Get a copy of his free cartoon ebook on humor and staff morale here http://motivationalplus.com/cgi/a/t.cgi?begin

Employee Motivation - The VERY Easy Way!

We all like to be acknowledged, but for thousands, even millions of employees, such recognision never happens.

From one day to the next, there are no positive messages for their contribution - yet as their boss, you can do this - and it will pay untold benefit for your business, organisation and, of course, you and your people.

Encouraged by the recognition, Sarah Lewsiton went home from work that day, full of self-belief and wonder that she had made the leap at last.

In her last job, she had always felt that she was unsuitable, in fact below par, for the place. On her very first day at this new job, it was different. On the very first day, her supervisor had recognised her in a way that no-one had done before.

At 17, she had gone into the workplace ready to conquer the world. A positive girl, she had never understood that her hard work, unstoppable enthusiasm and keen willingness might not be enough.

At the last place, where she had worked for nearly two years, they had, subtly, yet consistently, knocked that out of her, through criticising, embarrassing and slighting her.

So much so, that she had changed to be cynical, sceptical and sarcastic. In the end they had to part, badly, and it had taken a few weeks for Sarah to build the courage to go for another job.

Yet on the very first day in the new place, someone had made her day, just by saying two little words - ‘Well done’.

In life, especially in our busy workplaces, there sometimes seems to be no time to say, ‘Well done’.

Yet we all know how it feels when we are on the receiving end, just as Sarah did. It costs nothing, except a few moments and a bit of focus - but it makes the world of difference.

For Sarah Lewsiton, tomorrow would be another good day, because the culture was naturally supportive, encouraging and enlightened. And her place of work would come to benefit over the years she would stay.

She would contribute more, become a great team player, work well when delegated to and have simple, yet constructive ideas about how to take the business forward.

Two little words, ‘Well Done’ - that’s all it takes.

Making Time for Team Building Relationships

Whatever else you are doing - STOP! - whenever you engage with someone in conversation. Ignore pagers. Put off interruptions. At the very least make sure that you ‘honour’ the space that you have when you are in any sort of one-to-one with someone else.

If you have ever been in conversation with someone who was being continually interrupted, how did you feel? I guess you felt pretty devalued by their lack of focus on you, what you were saying and the issues you were discussing. In the busy lives we lead it is so difficult not to get disturbed. Here are some incidences of what you might look out for and beneath, some ideas on how you can do it differently:-

- Letting the phone take priority
- Having poor boundaries such that others disturb you whatever you would wish for
- Letting your boss do this to you
- Having an ‘always open door’ policy
- Not apologising and getting back to people if it is that urgent you must be disturbed
- Failing to keep appointments for one-to-ones
- Being distracted (checking e-mails when on the phone is typical)
- Talking too much
- Raising your own issues rather than listening fully to others

There are more!

What you can do to resolve this:-

1. Set standards where interruptees know they must not interrupt you in such circumstances

2. Fully focus on the other person

3. Find times to talk when you are less likely to be disturbed

4. Don’t start a conversation when under time pressure and scoot off before completion (conversely, learn tactics to ‘escape’ when cornered by especially verbose individuals - just do it nicely!)

5. Close your door and mean it when you want focused one-to-one meetings

6. Have calls held when you are ‘people’ busy

7. Clear your desk and switch off computer screens

8. If senior management appear unexpectedly, give them feedback to avoid recurrence. Maintain commitments to your people.

9. Follow through on commitments you make

10. Show how you value people by acknowledging the contribution they make

11. Be consistent

The time invested in making people feel valued will make for great team spirit amongst your people and show yourself as a fine leader worthy of excellent followers!

The rewards will be immeasurable over time.

How Showing a Little Appreciation Motivates Employees

There are a whole load of resources you can find on ‘motivation’. Books, tapes, internet etc. Yet it need not be so complicated…

Recently, I had the opportunity to show appreciation to someone. I was really surprised to hear back from her the following, “Are you being sarcastic?” It turned out that she had never been appreciated. No one had ever said a simple “Thank you” to her.

That’s it this week, notice good work and say thank you.

When?

When can you apply this? Well, it’s easy to apply it to everything you see good in people and their performance. But, if it’s been something you haven’t made a habit of in the past, you need to be a bit smarter than that, to avoid your people wondering what’s going on - even worse, they might end up being rather suspicious of what’s going on.

So in this case, try and pick out special efforts of each of your people at least once a week to start with. Be fair and consistent with everyone. When that embeds, try it twice a week. Be real though, saying thank-you and giving greater appreciation when it doesn’t really mean anything, will end up with a response like I heard above.

Where?

Where can you use this simple encouragement? It’s easy. Find the moment when you experience something good from your team members and share your appreciation in the moment if you can. It is so powerful to say it as it happens. And again, even if you forget at the time, don’t give up on it, being able to say, “I meant to tell you earlier, but I missed the opportunity, thank you for the way you…”, still works.

In fact this can be even more powerful - that you meant to say something, forgot, yet still found the time not to miss the opportunity show how much you really care. Strong relationship building stuff!

Back to the point - where? Anywhere that you notice.

Keep praise informal and frequent so that your people come to appreciate it when it’s due (them appreciating you eh?). So not just in an office, but out in the workplace - in the moment.

Why?

Why bother? Well now, let’s see. When was the last time someone thanked you for a great piece of work? When was the last time someone thanked you for your help today?

If you haven’t been on the receiving end, then I’m sorry. But when you have been, it’s a great warm feeling when you are recognised for the efforts you’ve made. Going home at the end of the day feeling that your contribution is valuable and valued is a very strong motivator.

Your people will feel much more inclined to come back the next day, to a job they do well and feel appreciated for.

So if you have had that experience - share it with your people and if you haven’t, try it out on others and see the benefit it creates.

Being appreciated is one of the strongest motivators I know for people - give it a go - and there’s no time like the present!

The Power of Employee Recognition

What does it take to truly motivate an employee? What breaks an employee’s resistance to showing up on time and lets them work with joy? What makes employees brag about the company that pays them?

How do successful corporations succeed in keeping loyal employees? Not by fear or intimidation. Once pressure is applied ‘to perform or produce,’ either more or better, the average employee becomes less effective.

Many employees are completely self-motivated and never need any outside impetus. They are content with fulfilling their own inward goals. Others need some inspiring, positive feedback in order to apply their most creative and heartfelt energies to a job. They need an incentive to feel they belong, to have a sense of identity with the corporation they work for. The desire for recognition resides in all of us and having this need acknowledged is an important part of one’s work life.

Although an employee is an individual and works as an individual, there is always a need to be aware that the employee is also a part of the whole group, the total corporation, and that each individual is important. When the corporation treats the employees as someone important, the employees will also feel the corporation is important and will feel proud to be a part of its success and growth.

The secret of employee performance comes from the awareness by management or peers that a person is doing a great job and then outwardly recognizing that performance. One proven technique is giving corporate awards that recognize the unique contribution that an employee provides. To be powerful, this award needs to be of a lasting nature and something that others will be able to see and recognize. A sincere compliment is always welcome, but material objects such as rings make the difference in employee loyalty. The inspiration received from a corporate gift can transform an entire department. Motivation to do an even better job enlivens the atmosphere.

Employees aren’t usually going to blatantly ask for recognition. Actually, when singled out for a special award they will appear shy and mutter something about not really deserving it. However, inside they are glowing and are probably having a hard time holding back tears of appreciation — making acceptance speeches isn’t part of one’s everyday activity in ordinary corporate life. When an employee receives a reward in the form of a pay raise, the reaction is usually one of relief. “Whew! I actually got it!” When one receives a Safety Award Ring or a Company Ring with a special inscription on it, awkwardness can be expected. The implication, silently stated, is, “You are unique and special! We truly appreciate you.” Acceptance of this appreciation is often best expressed with eyes meeting in trust and a nod of the head.

The power represented by an award of this type goes beyond the dollar value in a corporation. Without loyal, fantastic employees a corporation doesn’t exist. Those who are the life blood of the corporation truly deserve all the awards and recognition that are bestowed upon them.

Dave Cohen founded Onera Company Rings in 1990 to create employee service recognition incentive awards jewelry that can be worn with pride. Dave has been in the jewelry business 25 years.

Decision Making Processes - Doing the Best You Can

Ever been frustrated by someone who made a decision that seemed to be the wrong decision?

Of course you have - we all have.

Have you ever made a decision that was deemed to be the ‘wrong’ decision?

You got it - we’ve all done this.

Did you make that wrong decision intentionally; wilfully; on purpose?

Of course not.

In fact, if you’re anything like me, maybe you wrangled over which way to go.

Exactly which was the best decision.

Perhaps not for you, but perhaps for the circumstances that you found yourself in (maybe the wrong reason, but hey, who’s for a peaceful life - there is a whole other thing here about going with your heart etc., but that’s for another piece).

You made a considered decision, for the best reasons and, frankly you did your best, didn’t you?

And maybe you still were deemed to get it ‘wrong’. Maybe you got yourself chewed off too.

I wonder how you felt when after all your deliberations and doing your best - you still got it wrong.

Pretty frustrated eh?

Let’s swing it around 180o.

If one of the people you manage makes, in your eyes anyhow, a ‘wrong’ decision, how will you handle that?

This is important, because it is fundamental in how you build relationships with every one of your people.

The way you respond to their ‘best effort’, a decision they have made to the best of their ability, in that moment, their very best effort, is crucial to what you get from that person.

If it is a pattern, it is vital to the whole relationship with everyone in your team (and if it happens with one, it is probably a pattern!).

Thinking about how you handle ‘incorrect’ decisions in your people is worth time and consideration - careful consideration.

Getting it right hugely accelerates the trust they place in you.

Performance results from motivated and on-side people, people who trust you - even when their best efforts didn’t quite go to plan - of course, your plan.