No Spec Work - Rewarding Creativity Properly

It’s a fact that trimming down the time it takes for an employee to complete a task cuts down on labor costs and saves employers money. One of the most labor intensive employee tasks faced by human resources on a regular basis is Employment Verification. With inaccurate information and unaccommodating references, phone tag and unanswered emails, employment verification is the bane of most human resource staff. In a standard forty hour work week, a human resources agent will typically spend up to eight hours on employment verification alone. This is roughly twenty percent of their time. This can add up and quickly snowball into a loss of productivity for human resources and a loss of money for the company.

Recently, a company called VeraTrack revealed a revolutionary and proprietary system that uses technology, and an automated system, to drastically reduce the time drain that Employment Verification presents. All a company has to do is log in, enter the pertinent information regarding both the company and the employee, enter the selective information to be verified, and then wait for a response. The system subsequently sends notification to the previous company requesting that they log on (using a secure verification code) and complete the necessary information. Once this step is complete, the hiring company is notified, and the verification is finished.

Utilizing this new procedure can not only simplify the act of hiring new employees, it can also free up human resources time and allow them to conduct other valuable services by having a future employee fully verified and in place as soon as possible. This process will be available to use online.This eliminates personal contact thus streamlining the whole process. Pricing for employment verifications is calculated for according to how many times a corporation might conduct unique employment verifications during any particular month. Many employers are taking advantage of this outsourcing thus saving cost in not only salaries, but the costly benefits provided for any extra personnel previously needed to perform these duties.

Talent management skills are crucial in achieving the best in your business success. With a little effort you can succeed in developing these techniques. It can be a plus to have a innate affinity for dealing with people, but you can do many things to make the process easier. Relationship Development: Start by using a person’s name. Engage in conversation; look co-workers in the eye during a conversation. Develop a respectful attitude, and listen to the other person’s point of view, regardless of whether you are in agreement with them. Acquiring the ability to listen is one of the best things you can do to better your people management skills. Be sure to exhibit an interest in what people can offer the business organization. Keep your word: Keeping your word is very important. If you can’t keep your word, the fragile bond of trust is wrecked, and if they can’t trust you your staff certainly won’t perform at their best. When you say something or make a promise, do be sure that you can deliver or it would be more sensible not to give your word at all. You’ll find, if your people can’t depend on you, you can be sure they will act in a similar manner.

Encourage feedback: Feedback should be a mutual process. Maintaining an open mind with regard to other people’s views is very important in managing individuals. Being accessible and receptive demonstrates that you appreciate other’s feedback, and they should appreciate yours. Frank discourse in addition boosts fresh ways of thinking, new methods of achieving the goals of the company, and strengthens the team dynamic. When your team members can express their ideas, every employee invests in the outcome. Encourage all sorts of communication: Communication is fundamental to managing people skilfully. Maintaining an open door policy, listen attentively to other people, keep an open mind, and allow all your staff to express themselves. The team must be inspired to communicate with each other not only with you. The growth of any business depends heavily on the interchange of ideas, and through listening to each other, it is simple to spot any issues before they present a problem, allowing corrective measures to be implemented to prevent further problems.

Developing these techniques can take some work, yet the payoff is worth it. By establishing the bonds of a good team and taking heed of your team’s opinions, you can accomplish a successful business.

It’s felt in numerous businesses that, when every employee has adequate health and safety instruction, they are suitably equipped for an emergency. The truth is though, employees must have far more than simply a basic education in health and safety regulatory affairs. You need to supply your employees with a capable supervisor, not to mention provide the right safety gear and give them the chance to practice. Every team must have a capable supervisor to oversee the work area, however this person also needs to play a still greater function. A supervisor needs to agree that health and safety instruction is important and be able to encourage others to share their enthusiasm. As well as checking conformity with health and safety legislation, the supervisor also needs to check that employees perform every task to the highest standard. This is a hard job. Up-to-date product knowledge is an essential in a supervisory role in addition to a very high level of familiarity with up-to-date legislation involving safety, risk appraisal and first aid.

Supplying basic training in health and safety isn’t sufficient for your workers. To positively find a hazardous area they require experience. Employees have to know the best way of dealing with safety risks and also how to manage if something goes wrong. Not until these procedures have developed into routine are staff properly trained.

The right safety gear is every bit as essential to the safety of your employees as the instruction itself. When employees find they don’t have apparatus they need, or even determine that supplies are not functioning properly in a crisis, even the very best training can not help them. Regularly scheduled maintenance of your apparatus is essential. If anything does not meet the relevant criteria, ensure it is fixed or call out a maintenance professional as swiftly as possible. Your workforce must get proper health & safety instruction, however they also require quality gear, the chance to practise, and a knowledgeable supervisor who can get everyone excited about working safely. And then observing the various safety regulations become ingrained in your business culture not something troublesome that staff have to try to remember.

People management techniques are critical for business success. People management may be developed and studied. It can be an advantage to have a innate affinity for people, but you can do some things that will simplify the process.

Relationship Development: Addressing co-workers by name is a beginning. Encourage conversation; look individuals in the eye during a conversation. Be respectful, and pay attention to what the other person has to say, even if you don’t agree or have another opinion. Paying attention to what staff say is one of the most critical people management skills in your arsenal. Be sure to welcome any contributions from team members.

Live up to promises: Keeping your promises is crucial. If you can’t keep your word, the fragile bond of trust is damaged, and no-one will offer you their best efforts without trusting you. Each time you make a commitment or give your word on something, you are wasting your time unless you follow through. To be frank, when your people can’t count on your promises, you can be sure they will behave in the same way.

Be open to feedback: Feedback must be a interactive process. Talent management skills mean keeping an open mind to all feedback. If you can establish that you are accessible and receptive, you show that you appreciate other people’s opinions, and they should value yours. Frank discourse also boosts novel ways of thinking, ways of accomplishing the mission of the team, and strengthens the team. By allowing the staff to express their ideas, every team member invests in the results of the project. Promote communication: Your people management skills come down to the same thing - good communication. Keeping an open door policy, utilize good listening techniques, be open-minded, and permit team members an equal voice. The team must be encouraged to talk to each other not just with you. The exchange of ideas is important in the creative process, and by speaking with each other, you can identify problems swiftly, and corrective measures may be put in place before matters get out of hand.

Some work will be essential, yet the payoff is worthwhile. Through establishing the bonds of a good team and demonstrating effective listening techniques, you can accomplish the best in business success.

It is important for companies to develop a good training program to keep their staff motivated. Training may cover a wide range of reasons from new-hire training about your operation, to introducing a new concept to a workgroup to bringing in a new computer system.

Whatever the reason for conducting a training session, it is a must that a comprehensive, ongoing and consistent training program be developed in order to keep your staff motivated about learning new concepts and keeping your department profitable.

A formal new-hire training program, with an overview of the job expectations and performance skills needed to perform the job functions, is an essential part of a complete training program.

A new-hire training program provides essential knowledge and understanding of the position and how the position fits within the organizational structure. The new associate will better understand their impact on the organization if he or she has good background knowledge of how one workgroup interrelates with ancillary departments.

A good and reliable new-hire training program starts with the creation of a sound and comprehensive training manual. A manager or supervisor must keep the associate in mind while writing the training manual.

It is also important that it is interesting so the associate will actually read it. It is highly advisable to use graphics and to deviate from normal “corporate” language. In computer training, it is essential to incorporate a visual image of a computer screen to illustrate a function.

A good training manual must act as a building block of practical and technical skills needed to prepare the new individual for his or her position.

A manager or supervisor must ensure the department manuals are kept current in order for the department to understand current policies and procedures. It must also include any system enhancements and/or change in policy or procedure.

On the Job Training or OJT is another form of a new-hire training program wherein a potential associate trains directly next to an existing associate. OJTs allow the new associate to see first hand the different facets of the position.

Through an OJT, the new-hire will have the opportunity to develop a working relationship with an existing associate. Concepts learned in the initial training are reinforced through OJTs.

Continuing education is another aspect of a comprehensive training program. In fact, a good training program should make it an ongoing responsibility of the associate in a department. Continuing education will keep all staff members current about policies, procedures and the technology used in the department.

Studies have shown that associates will only retain approximately 40 percent of the information learned in the initial training session.

That’s why a continuing education program for a department is just as important as the new-hire training. A continuous effort, either formal or informal, must be placed on reminding the staff about various procedures and concepts.

Common practice on informing associates about the need for continuing education often includes a member of management sending a memo to each associate.

Another, more informal way is to send a one-page information sheet to staff. The information sheet, called a training alert, should be informative and presented in a non-threatening manner. If the policy or procedure changes, therefore, the informal approach would better prepare the department to receive this presentation.

With a new-hire and continuous education as part of your company’s training program, you could be sure that your associates will grow well in your company.

James Monahan is the owner and Senior Editor of
TrainingWebs.com and writes expert
articles about training.

Developing a Strategic business plan is a crucial element in determining your ongoing business success. You can maximise business growth and minimise risk through effective strategic and contingency business planning. Plans do not have to be set in concrete. On the contrary, flexible business planning and goal setting is an essential part of business development and ongoing success.

Sharing our plans with business associates and staff is extremely powerful. We need to demonstrate that we are operating our businesses, however large or small, with accountability and fair prudence. Effective business planning should not just be for funding purposes or satisfying our bank manager. It should be the bedrock of successful business management. A workable and communicated plan becomes a statement of intent. It is a shared vision that the whole business, the staff and associates, are able to support.

What to include in your business plan:

Strategically, it needs to project the goals and aspirations of the owners. These need to be converted to progressive action steps that ultimately lead to the fulfilment of your objectives.

Ambitious plans create financial independence for business owners, inspire confidence in associates, empower staff and create lasting customer value. Your plan will provide the guidance you need to steer the appropriate course. Your plan can take full account of risk factors such as competitive forces and changing market conditions. Your plan needs to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound. You are able to create a blueprint for achievement that you can action immediately, to make your business goals come true.

Start with an open mind to the true potential of your business. Every business has the inherent capability of producing outstanding profitability and astonishing results for customers. Think big. Imagine what you would strive to achieve if you knew you couldn’t fail. Develop the mindset that nothing is totally impossible. Sometimes there are only unrealistic timescales.

Match and track your activities to your objectives on a daily basis. Work with passion and a laser-like focus with persistency and consistency. Success thinkers and achievers are great visionaries. We can all be visionary by working in our areas of true passion.

These are some of the key elements of a strategic plan:

• Setting SMART goals and objectives

• Determining key financial & statistical information

• Planning an exit route

• Profiling your customer base

• Marketing your proposition effectively

• Examining key business functions

• Developing your organisational structure

• Defining your review process

If you require assistance with the development of your strategic plan, I will happily provide my guides free of charge. Please confirm whether you require personal goal setting, business planning or both to brian@brianjamesgroup.com.

Just one final thought. Don’t be fooled into thinking that there is no need to plan for your business success or any other endeavour in life. Just ask any champion.

Brian James Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. www.brianjamesgroup.com

Brian James has been working in the corporate marketplace for 25 years as a marketing and business development professional. He is a published author and creator of the breakthrough TripleM marketing methodology. He is an associate member of the Institute of Business Advisers, a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a Vice President and Fellow of the Institution of British Engineers. He specialises in Strategic Marketing.

Brian has worked with blue-chip and medium sized companies across sectors as diverse as manufacturing, retail, telecoms, financial services and pharmaceutical. Some of the larger organisations he has worked with include the Prudential Group and British Telecom.

He currently operates as Chairman of the Brian James Group a business advisory Group for owner managed businesses - Offering specialist advice in all areas of business management and academy membership programmes that provide ongoing regular coaching and mentoring support in person, over the phone and through distance learning.
Contact:brian@brianjamesgroup.com

http://www.brianjamesgroup.com

The concept of employee motivation is not at all a new idea. It has been around as long as there have been employees and employers. While the concept itself is not new, new research and awareness have made new aspects of employee motivation not only a possibility, but a reality in the world today.

It was not at all uncommon in the past for an employer to offer some system of rewards and privileges as a means of employee motivation. Recent thinking however has given way to the fact that this process may actually alienate other workers who, for whatever reason, may not be as capable in a particular field or endeavor. Ultimately, the belief was that this was actually contrary to effective employee motivation and in reality, decreased employee productivity. Since the main idea behind employee motivation is to increase worker productivity, this was seen as very limited in scope and detrimental in the long run regarding employer-employee relations.

Recent beliefs and ideas have introduced new concepts to the field of employee motivation. One of the most common “new” areas of growth in the area of employee motivation is through the use of work teams.

This concept of employee motivation had its major start in the aerospace industry. It allowed a group of dedicated employees to focus together as a team on any given project. This idea of employee motivation worked especially well since it allowed for creative input from a number of employees without restricting the thought of any single person or alienating any one employee in particular. When the projects went well, the employees were celebrated as a group or as a team, offering employee motivation to the whole group instead of to any one individual.

This concept of employee motivation has since evolved and become common in many fields of study. There are a number of seminars offered which are specifically designed and promoted as a means to offer not only employee motivation, but to create an atmosphere of team work that is surprisingly beneficial to worker productivity. By allowing the people to work together as teams, and as is often the case in these seminars, making any one employee’s success dependent on the ability of the team as a whole, the workers are unified and become more closely knit and function much better together. This has had profound and far reaching effects in the area of employee motivation.

Free Self Improvement examines all aspects of self improvement: hypnosis, meditation, motivation, personal development, stress reduction.

Has your sales team just completed its third record-setting month in a row? Did your advertising team pull off a spectacular campaign under a tight deadline? Have you just closed the books on your most successful year ever? One of the best ways to motivate your employees to continue working hard is to reward work well done with fun.

It’s a simple enough concept, and one that is central to the concept of team building. People work harder when their hard work is noticed and appreciated. While a little extra swag in the pay cheque is always appreciated, there are other ways to show appreciation and recognition that can help cement the team spirit you’ve been working so hard to foster. One of the best of these is to offer special corporate event weekends for your hardworking team.

Corporate events have come a long way since the old fashioned company picnic. These days, companies are taking advantage of travel and networking to offer corporate events that are fun, productive and memorable. Many companies these days make their annual meetings and other corporate events do double and triple duty - a business meeting, a recognition and appreciation reward, and a strategic corporate team building event all rolled into one.

Want to reward your most prized team members? Why not treat them to full weekend of activities to go along with the annual meeting? A professional corporate event planner can put together a multi-activity day with program of activities that will please everyone on your staff - including corporate headquarters. When you work with a professional planner, it’s easy to combine high profile fun activities like wind surfing or quad biking with team building activities designed to promote and foster the team relationships.

Whether you’re looking for a way to reward your hardest workers, impress your clients or cement relationships between key team members, a bespoke design corporate event weekend can be just the thing you need. From a day on the golf course to a night on the town, professional corporate event planners can help you design the perfect event for your company.

Brett Danielson works for http://www.chillisauce.co.uk, a leading UK tour operator that specialises in planning unique corporate events for companies throughout the UK and Europe.

Hate to negotiate? Think you have to be a trickster to land that contract? Think again. Here’s why honesty is always the best policy, even when you’re swinging those big biz deals.

1. Your future clients deserve a taste of what’s to come.

If compromise and cooperation are the name of your game, make that clear from the get-go… even in the pre-contract negotiation phase. Be open about your expectations; present yourself accurately and realistically. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Your frankness will be rewarded.

2. You reap what you sow.

If you inflate your capabilities, you can bet it will come back to bite you in the hiney when you can’t make good on your promises. Instead, be courteous to your future colleague and offer up-front honesty so that they can utilize every means to move the project forward.

2. Slippery people fall through the cracks.

“Slippery” negotiators not only say one thing when they mean another, but they’re notorious for saying two different things at two different times. A savvy businessperson will be able to spot inconsistencies in your claims… especially now that email correspondence means an easy conversation trail. Deceptive speech and weak character won’t be lost on a prospective client. Be forthright and above all, be consistent.

3. Contracts are born from a need for mutually beneficial relationships.

Never accept a work offer without first determining its relevance for you. Contracts, after all, stem from mutual need. If the person with whom you’re negotiating can’t offer something beneficial, such as career growth or great pay, why would you accept their conditions? Likewise, if you’re not the person for the job, they deserve to know and will appreciate your clarity in the matter.

4. It’s worth it to end the stalemate.

A stalemate can work in two ways. In one scenario, you’ve negotiated a price and your potential client has countered, arms are crossed and neither of you are budging. In the other case, maybe you can’t even GET to the money conversation because you’re each waiting for the other to make a move. Either way, someone has to step up to the plate and state the case from both angles, then take a bold step forward or else make a permanent retreat.

5. You never know when opportunity will come knocking again.

Even if you don’t end up contracting with said prospect, it behooves both parties to keep relations open and friendly. If you close the door on someone simply because they’ve decided not to work with you, you’re letting your ego get the best of you and that’s limiting. Keep the faith and be ready for future doors to open… perhaps with this person, or maybe an associate of theirs.

In short: honesty is the best policy, and compromise is always the ultimate goal. Go for a win-win situation every time.

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

Dina Giolitto is a copywriting consultant and ghostwriter with 10 years of experience writing corporate print materials and web content. Trust her with your next e-book, article series or web project, and make a lasting impression on your audience of information-hungry prospects. Visit http://www.wordfeeder.com for more information.

Mediation is an alternative to litigation when disputes arise.
Mediation is also known as arbitration. Mediation does not offer
any guaranteed or specific results. Mediation is only a means of
coming to a decision about a running dispute, keeping the
interests of all parties or people in dispute. Some advantages
of using mediation as a way of resolving disputes are:

Mediation is comparatively much less expensive compared to
litigation or any other ways of fighting.

Settlements are rapidly reached compared to courts where dates
are given out by the years. Appeals in a court would take a few
years to come to hearing. Comparatively mediation becomes a
better alternative and saves time by coming to rapid decisions
without wasting the precious time of parties involved.

Courts are generally looked upon as a third party. Most people
feel that decisions handed out by courts or third parties are
not to their satisfaction, whereas mediation is a all
participatory process, so the parties feel that they have come
to decision mutually and are satisfied.

Since the parties are satisfied, compliance to the decisions is
more. Mediation becomes more popular due to this fact.

Mediated settlements are capable of handling legal and
extra-legal issues. Mediated agreements are known to cover many
procedural and psychological matters that need not be
susceptible to legality. Custom made settlements are possible
depending upon circumstances.

People generally are of the feeling that they can handle their
own issues than through representatives like lawyers. Due to
this personal touch in reaching the solution compliance becomes
a personal commitment and hence results in personal empowerment
and better solution.

Since mediation through professional mediators take place in an
amicable manner, the decisions reached do not tend to damage
future relationship between the parties. Even if the termination
of a relationship is on the cards, it happens in a more amicable
way leaving room for future endeavors.

Since decisions are arrived at agreement o all parties, they are
more workable and realistic as per the circumstances. The
decisions are more tailor made and accounts for more compliance.

Mediated decisions are used over and over again by the parties
since they are happier, costs them less and more importantly
they participate personally and mediation works.