CTOKOS Blog

Effective human resource management is crucial for business success. With a little effort you may succeed in learning these skills. Having a intuitive affinity for communicating with people and forging relationships can be a plus, all the same you can do numerous things to facilitate the process. Relationship Development: Begin by using a person’s name. Speak to people; look individuals in the eye during a conversation. Show respect, in addition be attentive to what the other individual has to say, even if you do not agree or have a different point of view. Listening to what employees say is one of the best talent management skills you can learn. Show interest in what they can offer the team. Keep your word: Keeping your promises is key. If a promise is not kept, it will damage trust, and without trust people won’t give you their best. Everytime you give a commitment or make a promise about something, you are squandering your time and effort unless you keep your promises. The truth is, if you can’t be depended on, they won’t be there when you really need them.

Be open to feedback: It’s a two way street. People management skills mean keeping an open mind to all feedback. Being approachable and open establishes that you respect other’s opinions, your views will be respected in the same way. Frank discourse also encourages creative troubleshooting, new methods of achieving goals, and develops the company dynamic. By allowing the team to express their thoughts, the success of the company will become important to every team member.

Promote all sorts of communication: Communication is fundamental to managing people effectively. Be accessible, apply listening skills, keep an open mind, and permit team members an equal voice. Employees should be inspired to speak to one another as well as with you. The growth of a business depends to a great extent on the open exchange of opinions, and in listening to each other, it is simple to discover issues before they might present a problem, and corrections can be implemented before things get out of hand.

A little work will be essential, even so the rewards are worth it. Through establishing the bonds of a good team and taking heed of what your team has to offer, you can have a successful business.

Although filing your tax return can be an arduous assignment for most Americans in the spring, there are many practicable tools on the web that should make the task less tiring.

A few years ago U.S. tax authorities and some of the larger accounting outfits in the United States agreed to gradually put forward a state-of-the-art plan for return preparation available to taxpayers.

The great number of additional tax code alterations that are new this year make it almost necessary to utilize one or more of available sites.

Outfits like Turbo Tax and several others launched state-of-the-art web-based tools that aim to assist to John Q. Public.

All tax payers may start on his or her taxes free of charge while assorted program features can be paid for for an extra fee. All tax payers filing a easy tax return is able to e-file for no money at all.

Finishing your return using one of these tools will insure that all information is mistake-free.

Every filer’s local taxes can also be filed utilizing any of these programs, however local returns come with an extra fee.

If you want more information about cashflow questions don’t miss these places: life insurance. or health insurance.

A modern job hunting campaign is by nature quite intricate. While the web has offered a variety of new channels, it also creates increased competition for choice jobs and potential challenges for job hunters.

Job hunting needs to be thought of as a personalized, very aimed marketing operation where you are the product. Your resume is an advertisement. Your extended network of colleagues is your source for information and opportunities.

So where does the net fit in? At AA-Careers, we recently posted a job on a popular job board and got 600 plus applications in a week. For a single job. That’s increased competition for job openings.

Had a strong candidate called us ahead of our posting that ad, they could have secured the position prior to getting all that competition. How? By finding an employee at our company who became aware of the job prior to posting. Everyone knew about of the job for at least 9 days before it was posted. Who in your network might know of a job that’s coming available soon?

Be careful to check your application materials thoroughly before submitting them. When we did an analysis of the 650 resumes, we found a large number of errors. 63% of the applicants were easily eliminated with a fast triage process. How? The same way any HR professional would. By rejecting resumes where the objective didn’t match our job posting. By passing over prospects whose cover letters gave us causes not to engage them, like "I know I’m overqualified but I really need a job". By eliminating prospects whose documents that didn’t open properly. And by rejecting job hunters who didn’t bother to spell check their cover letter and/or resume.

So the great news is that job sites give you a feel of what companies are hiring, and for what kinds of jobs. But once those jobs are posted, the competition is intense. You can still compete, if you have a well honed resume, designed to appeal directly and clearly to the recruiter. And if you have practiced interviewing – so you don’t stumble at a critical point.

Another downside to be aware of is how quickly and easily you can be investigated on the net. As we Googled several candidates, we ran into some Facebook comments that were in questionable taste. Nothing illegal, but enough to tilt our thoughts about who to employ.

AA-Careers provides a broad set of services for Bay Area job seekers, providing our clients a personal career consultant, a managed job hunting campaign, modern tools like a personal website, video, highly targeted resume, and much more. Let us know if we can help you.

Be careful out there, and good hunting!

Numerous companies feel that, by supplying staff with basic training in health & safety, they are sufficiently prepared to cope with an incident. The truth is that, irrespective your industry, staff must have more than education in safety regulations and risk assessment. Equipping your workers, providing good supervision and coordinating regular drills are essential to the safety at work. Each team must have a professional supervisor to observe the shop floor, but this individual must also fulfill another role in the business. Your choice of supervisor must be a skilled communicator and consider training fundamental.

On top of insuring compliance with health & safety legislation, the job of a supervisor also includes checking up on staff efficiency. This is a hard task. The supervisor must have in depth understanding of both the industry and the product in addition to an in-depth comprehension of current legislation involving safety, risk appraisal and first aid.

It just is not adequate to offer your employees health & safety training. They need to practise risk assessment and the identification of hazardous areas. Staff have to understand the best method of eradicating safety hazards and how to cope if the worst happens. Workers are only totally prepared when their training and procedures have become second nature. Education is useless without safety equipment. Without the right gear or alternatively should workers find out that equipment is not working properly when they are needed, then all the education there is to offer won’t help them. It’s a good idea to schedule frequent checks to make sure you possess all the gear you require and to check that it is working properly. If you find something is not in perfect working order, ensure that it is sorted out as speedily as possible and put it back in the proper location.

Proper health & safety training is important for the health of your personnel, but in addition they also must have the proper gear, the opportunity to practise, and an educated supervisor who gets the workforce to be enthusiastic about working safely. Then complying with health & safety legislation will before long be a normal component of life in the workplace and no longer something challenging for the workforce to think about constantly.

Succeeding in the modern business world depends heavily on the efficient management of staff. You can learn and improve these techniques. It may be a plus to have a natural affinity for managing with people, but you can do numerous things to make the process simple. Developing relationships: Addressing co-workers by name is a great beginning. Speak to people; get eye contact during a conversation. Do be respectful, in addition listen to everything the other person has to say, even if you do not agree or have another point of view. The development of listening skills is among the most effective things you can do to improve your people management skills. Welcome any input from team members. Exhibit integrity: Keeping your word is very important. When you don’t keep your promises, the delicate bond of trust is violated, and nobody will offer you their best efforts without trust. When you make a commitment or give your word on something, do be sure you can keep your promises or don’t bother giving your word at all. The truth is, when you can’t be counted upon, your staff will not be committed when it’s really important. Encourage feedback: It’s a two way street. Keeping an open mind with regard to other people’s views is very important in effective people management. Being approachable and open shows that your co-worker’s views count, your ideas will be respected in return. Supporting discussion also promotes creative problem solving, ways of achieving goals, and strengthens the team. By allowing the team a voice, the success of the company becomes important to every employee.

Communicating is the key: People management techniques boil down to one concept - communication. Be approachable, employ listening skills, remember to welcome feedback , and give all of your staff a chance to express themselves. Encourage team members not only to speak with you, but also with each other. The sharing of thoughts is imperative in the creative process, and by speaking with each other, it becomes much easier to find issues before they become problems, allowing corrective measures to be taken to prevent further problems.

This will require time, even so the rewards far outweigh the effort necessary. Through promoting a good team dynamic and demonstrating good listening techniques, a flourishing business will be yours.

A prosperous business depends on the efficient management of employees. You can succeed in improving in these skills. Having a spontaneous skill for communicating with people is a plus, however there are numerous skills you can learn to help the process.

Build relationships: Remembering people by name is a great start. Engage in conversation; look individuals in the eye as you’re talking. Show respect, also pay attention to the other person’s opinion, even if you don’t agree or have another point of view. Listening to everything employees say is one of the most critical people management skills in your arsenal. Encourage any contributions from team members.

Live up to your word: Keeping your word is very important. If you can’t deliver on what you promise, the delicate bond of trust is destroyed, and without trust people will not offer their best. When you make a commitment or make a promise about something, you are wasting your time and effort unless you follow through. To be frank, if you can’t be counted on, they will not be available when it’s really important. Welcome feedback: Feedback must be a two-way process. People management skills mean being open to all feedback. If you can show approachability and openness, you prove that other people’s opinions matter to you, your views will be respected in the same way. Honest discourse also promotes innovative ways of doing business, ways of fulfilling the goals of the company, and improves the company dynamic. By giving the staff some input, each member invests in the results of the project. Promote all sorts of communication: Dealing with individuals comes down to the same thing - good communication. Be approachable, listen intently to other people’s views, remember to welcome employees to share ideas, and encourage each of your team to express themselves. Inspire staff not just to speak to you, but also with each other. The exchange of thoughts is crucial in the creative process, and when the employees communicate effectively, you can recognize problems early, permitting corrective action to be implemented to prevent any further problems.

Developing these skills can require time, yet the payoff is worth it. By building the bonds of a good team and developing effective listening skills, a thriving business can be yours.

Interviews are usually preceded by the evaluation of supplied resumes, selecting a small number of candidates for interviews are considered to be one of the most useful tools for evaluating potential employees, they also demand significant resources from the employer and have been demonstrated to be notoriously unreliable in identifying the optimal person for the job. Multiple rounds of job interviews may be used where there are many candidates or the job is particularly tough or worthy; earlier rounds may involve fewer staff from the employers and will typically be much shorter and less in-depth. A common initial interview form is the phone interview, a job interview conducted over the telephone.

This is especially common when the candidates do not live near the employer and has the advantage of keeping costs low for both sides. Once all candidates have had job interviews, the employer typically selects the most desirable candidate and begins the negotiation of a job offer. It is very important to be well prepared for an interview. According to the University of Delaware’s career center, a common reason employers gave for not hiring an applicant, is the inability of the applicant to fully explain the contents of his or her CV.

Therefore it is important to be able to talk over in detail every item listed on one’s curriculum vitae, and if executable to give examples when appropriate. It is also prudent to research the company before the interview. To avoid being nervous, practice answering difficult questions.A reputable source of interview questions can be found by searching the Internet.

The prospect will usually be given a chance to ask any questions at the end of the interview. Questions are strongly encouraged, not only do they allow the interviewee to acquire more information but they also demonstrate the candidate’s strong interest in the position and company. A nominee should follow up the interview with a thank you letter expressing their appreciation for the opportunity of meeting with the company representative. The thank you letter ensures that the nominee will stay fresh in the interviewer’s mind.

This type of interview is based on the notion that a job candidate’s previous behaviors are the best indicators of future performance. In behavioural interviews, the interviewer asks nominee to recall unique instances where they were faced with a set of circumstances, and how they reacted.

There are plenty of great resources on medical interviews out there. You should make sure you select your tutor wisely.

Unlike an RFQ (request for quotation) that is usually for a tangible product, where a detailed group of specifications are defined, an RFP (request for proposal) is usually for a service or engineered project where the solution could be delivered in numerous methods. The purpose of the RFP is for the responding company to delineate the methods that they will use to fulfill the need and at what price.

The proposal can be a response to a detailed RFP with due dates and normal bidding criteria or it can be unsolicited and informal. In general, the purpose of the response is to get the right to present your solution, in person to the potential buyer. Very seldom are awards for work given directly as a result, of an RFP.

Once the goal of writing the proposal is determined, to be selected for the short list of companies who will be allowed to present their solution, the writers can determine what they need to say.

In order to get to the short list, you must instill a sense of confidence in the potential buyer that you are capable of completing the project or supplying the service.

1. This includes, having the staff and/or manpower necessary, their qualifications and the financial strength of the company.

2. A history of satisfactory completion of similar projects in size and complexity or of providing similar services to companies of similar size and/or characteristics.

3. An indication that you understand the needs of the prospective client and your solution to those needs. This is the area where most companies fail. They fail because they write a book and try to cover every plausible need the buyer may have. By highlighting every possible need scenario, you are indicating to the buyer that you truly do not understand the buyer’s hot spots or problems. The bidder needs to identify at most three key needs, and concentrate on providing detailed solutions to those. A summary of the overall services of the company can delineate other areas where the bidder has solutions, however this area must be very brief and to the point.

A number of years ago proposals were ranked by their weight and flashy appearance. This is no longer the case. We are in an era where companies are operating lean. They do not have the time or the inclination to read wordy, not to the point, flashy proposals. In some cases, flashy proposals are taken as an indication that the bidder is not cost conscious and in this day and age, that image is not generally acceptable. Unless you are in the advertising industry, you are not selling the format of the proposal you are selling the information that is within the proposal. To have the potential buyer say that you had the best looking proposal has no meaning if he contracts the project to another company.

If you are responding to a formal RFP, the answers should be short, informative and to the point. The individuals reading your proposal will appreciate that they do not have to sift through paragraphs of motherhood statements in order to find the answer to their questions. In most cases, they won’t bother.

Remember that the way you write is an indication of how you respond and work with clients in general. If you don’t get to the point in an RFP the client will assume that you don’t get to the point in anything you do.

Robert Berman is a business consultant specializing in business development, strategic planning, acquisitions & mergers and international sales & marketing. He has been a columnist for the National Post Newspaper under the byline of “The Business Doctor” and he has authored “The Business Buyer’s Manual”. He is available as a keynote speaker in many areas of business. He may be reached at Robert.Berman@sbhc.ca or visit http://www.sbhc.ca

As a recent employee to your job, you are becoming familiar with the work environment and your work associates. You have met the boss on two occasions; your interview and one time when he or she demanded that you finish a client’s report. Your boss’s unapproachable nature makes you feel uneasy if not a bit fearful.

As the boss, you don’t have a clue that your workers are intimidated by you. You are basically just concerned that they do their jobs well and produce profit for the company. Your impression of your co-workers is that if they don’t confront you about a problem, then everything is right on target.

Work associates are people that have come together for one common purpose; work. These working relationships are more surfaced than relationships with relatives or close friends; and the levels of authority and status found in business can inhibit communications and relationships. When the boss doesn’t make time to communicate with workers, employees can misinterpret actions or lack of actions as negative feedback. They can become afraid to communicate with their boss. However, with the right management coaching beneficial communication lines can be established between the manager and his or her co-workers. The following problems discuss potential management issues in the workplace and offer coaching recommendations in more detail.

1. Workers think the best way to build strong relationships with their managers is by keeping quiet and looking the other way, even when there is a problem.

   Management coaching suggestion 1

   Although it may be the easy way out to avoid confrontation, you may never get to the bottom of a disagreement if you don’t address your arguments. Continuing to look the other way will only cause you to build resentment towards the manager. You don’t have to go to the extreme and boldly confront the manager. Just make sure that you have presented the issue to your manager so that he or she is aware of the problem. After you and the manager understand the issue from the other’s perspective, you can come to a fair resolution. Conversely, you will have better respect for each other because you shared a concern.

2. Some managers find opportunities to coach but they put it low on priority.

   Management coaching suggestion 2

   A manager who gives feedback a backseat will never have the chance to communicate with employees. By nature, we procrastinate because of the complexity of or fear to deal with a sticky issue. Instead, we will fill up our time with other tasks to help justify our delays. A manager may feel uncomfortable to confront, or inadequate to advise employees, but the ability to use management coaching with co-workers will produce a healthy, open communication network in the workplace.

3. Managers are blind to their own faults while seeing imperfections of others.

   Management coaching suggestion 3

   Managers are expected to be experts in the work place. They have the authority to rectify a situation if change or improvement is needed. Yet, because they are so focused on the issues, managers may favor their judgment due to a broader knowledge or longer experience than the workers under them. This nature of self-bias is not limited to managers but to all people in general. People are naturally inclined to prefer their own judgment over those of others. They are quick to point out faults in others but fail to see the same faults in themselves. Constructive criticism is a popular, professional approach to correct employees. Yet, mutual feedback given in an objective and honest manner that doesn’t attack, improves character and respect between both parties.

Stephanie Tuia is an internet marketer for CMOE

If you would like to learn more about CMOE’s 27 years of management coaching research and experience, please contact a Regional Manager at (888)262-2499.

Corporate gifting is a big headache for most business owners; how much to spend, who to spend the money on, where to get the gifts, what to get and how to gauge the effect of that giving in terms of benefits for the company are all important questions. When a company decides to give gifts it needs to be planned out as part of doing business, not just a last minute impulse. The cost of gifting should be built in to the cost of your product and used when evaluating your break even point.

With a plan for gifting as part of the cost of the product you will never come up short in November or offend someone by getting a gift for one employee but not another. Gifting in terms of employees can be figured as a part of income, like a benefit. You can even state that to your employees if it traslates into giving bonuses or extra days off with pay. But not if you plan to give birhtday presents. The bottom line is; gifting needs to be planned, budgeted, and scheduled. When handled this way gift giving stress evaporates.

1. Why are you going to give gifts?

a.) to ensure customer loyalty

b.) to build relationships

c.) to create an image

d.) to reward important customers

e.) as a marketing strategy

f.) to reduce employee turnover

g.) to reward employee performance

h.) to say thank you

i.) insure good service by vendors

j.) congratulations

k.) to create goodwill

Establish what each of these areas might mean in terms of frequency. How often would you reward employees, how often would you give a gift to a vendor? What benefit are you specifically looking for? Giving a gift to a vendor because he is always on time will probably result in a continuation of that behaviour. If your employee has brought you customers and referrals what are those referrals worth, can you afford NOT to reward the employee for that kind of enthusiasm?

Do not confuse discounts with gifting. They are not the same thing! Unless you have a product that you know the recipient really wants, don’t give your products as gifts. It is seen as advertising not as a gift!

Never use promotional products, with your company name and web adress on it as gifts! These are viewed on an even lower scale! People see them as leftovers from a trade show…that is NOT a good thing!

3 solid rules for gifts!

1. Do not give perishables without a including a non perishable item! Apples and popcorn will be gone and forgotten in a matter of days! A beautiful picture frame will be on someones desk for years to come, Reminding them of your thoughtfulness!

2. Think before you give… who are you giving to and what is their lifestyle. A bookstore gift card may wind up being sold at a discount on the internet or regifted if the person never reads.

3. Always think quality rather than quantity. A single $25 classic pen is much better than a cheap $25 stationary set with a cheap diary, poor quality paper, pencil, eraser, and poorly printed folder and a pen if the pen never works and the paper is so cheap the person would be embarassed to use it.

Gift baskets are great, but once again remember that food is gone in a week…you want to gift gifts that keep on giving for months or even years. There are a few places such as Lasting Impressions 2 that provide custom gift baskets that include non perishable products selected especially for the recipent. For instance if you have a client that loves golf, has 3 kids, drinks Starbuck’s coffee, and wears glasses a custom basket might include golf balls, a gift certificate for a family portrait from a local photo studio, a starbucks commuter cup, and a trendy glasses case. That kind of gift will be remembered for years to come. Instead of $150.00 of chocolates and coffee you have given a very special gift that says you are an important client.

Customize your gift giving but maintain a standard cost for gifting.
For instance, maybe employee birthdays should be limited to $10-$20 dollars and client gifts 5% of their annual value in sales. Only you can decide the dollar limits…every business is different. If you own a 99 cent store you will not be giving your stock boys trips to the Bahamas. By the same token, if you are a sucessful doctor in Beverly Hills a $5.00 birthday gift for your nurse might seem inappropriate and downright rude!

If all of this seems a little overwhelming remember that once the plan is laid out and you have a vendor for your gifts, year after year you can use the same plan or fine tune it depending on how your business is doing. But one thing is for cetain people will see you in a positive light and the marketing power of good gift giving will traslate into low turn over, and client loyalty and referrals.

Meredith Gossland is owner of Lasting Impressions 2 a small business marketing service provider. She can be reached at info@lastingimpressions2.com or at http://www.lastingimpressions2.com