Sunny 2008 for jobs

135,000 jobs to be created in 2008, wages to go up by 5.1%: economists

Economists at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) are forecasting that 135,000 jobs will be created next year. That is less than the estimated 200,000 for this year but it will still be the fourth straight year that jobs growth has come in above 100,000. Overall, economists at NTU are optimistic about the economic outlook for 2008. They expect job creation to remain strong with some 135,000 new positions. This will see the unemployment rate dropping to 2%, down from 2.3% currently. Wage increases are forecast to go up a lower 5.1%, compared to 8.1% this year. Economists said the flexibility of Singapore's foreign worker policy will keep a lid on wage pressures.


This huge employment increase that we've seen in the last 2 or 3 years will have spillover effect over the coming years. The second factor is productivity increases. We expect to see fairly good productivity improvements over the coming quarters." "And they are already beginning to show. There has been an improvement in productivity levels. These two factors will mean that while there are a lot more job openings. These jobs openings can basically be filled ultimately." Meanwhile, higher inflation is also expected to persist into the first half of 2008. "Inflation will go up for another half year or so mainly because of the one-time effect of the GST rate increase.



It (Inflation) will sort of taper off in the second half of next year, but we don't really see it coming down very much simply because when you have robust growth this year and next, cost pressures build up. Wages have been going up and eventually it'll translate into a higher rate, so we still predict that inflation next year is going to be above 2 percent," said NTU's Assistant Professor Choy Keen Meng. The overall economy is forecast to grow by 7.5% next year, with faster growth expected in manufacturing, transport and storage and information and communication sectors. NTU economists are expecting the growth in construction and financial services sectors to be slightly slower next year, but they said the figures will still be healthy at 14% for construction and 11% for financial services. -

Listen Without Prejudice

Although the world has moved a big step forward, there are still a lot of discrimination in women rights, salaries and jobs. A lot of the less developed and conservative countries are still oppressing females and feminism, limiting their freedom in what they wear, speech, education and work.

Discrimination is part of our human nature and is caused by many different reasons.

First, we like to make comparison among different people; we like to compare our merits with other demerits, this is a sign of ego and conceit.

Second, we are discriminating ourselves for having less than other people have; this is a sign of inferiority.

Third, we are discriminating against someone who has poor attitude, rudeness and poor manner; this is a sign of righteousness.

Fourth, some people think light skin color is better than dark skin color, men are better than women are, and these are signs of pride and prejudice.

Fifth, race is discriminating against other races, religion is discriminating against other religions, and these are signs of selfishness, self-center, hate and evil. Every religion was built from love, peace and forgiving. Each bible came from the hands of the holy men, or the great apostles, written with wisdom, and enlightenment of the universe, creator and mankind.

Every rule and teaching is to amend our demerits and refine our personality, there shouldn't be any pride, prejudice, brutality and conceit. What are causing all the disputes are our heart, stubbornness, conceit and the way we interpreted different bibles? Our selfishness tells us we are the best and the only true religion, and the rest are all evil. Our criticism is triggering rebellion and anger, our preaching becomes betraying, and our wishes for getting more support and acknowledgement earns more hate and revenge. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, revenge, wars, killing and riot are only delighting the devil and upsetting our Lord(s). When can we give up our anger and feuds, and start accepting each other and holding hands together?Almost every bible has said, "I am the only God", "I am the one and only one", "Do not bow down to any idol or worship it", etc. I totally agreed with these, but my angle and point of view are slightly different.

The reasons why Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius and Lao-Zi established their religions were to teach us their enlightenment, the rules of the universe, philosophy, self-improvement and self-introspection. But we don't follow them as teachers, we only follow their magical power, to protect us and fulfil our wishes.We always pray for good health, wealth, fortune, peace on earth and trouble-free. We want our life cozy and comfortable, without any difficulty, accident, pain and dispute to train our spirit and lift our personality.

Religions become a place for protection and a place to meet new friends. We only follow those easy rules, to go to church or confess to the priests again and again about the same sins every week. We never really follow their paths, correcting our demerits, forgiving others, and love your enemies. If we are following them as teachers, then following either or all of them really make no difference. We can learn the thinking "Not ashamed to ask", and "Everyone can teach" from Confucius, love and forgive from Jesus Christ, ecological balance and cycle of the whole universe from Buddha, the spirit of sacrifice from Mohammed, and the yin, yang and eight diagrams from Taoism.

Isn't today's science based on and proving these theories?The true meaning of "Do not bow down to any idol or worship it", indicating that we should switch from wishing to learning, from asking to paying, from seeking protection to taking challenge, from laziness to enthusiasm, from demerits to merits.

This is not a religious homepage, and I am not trying to sell the belief of any religion. If you are in one of the major religions, congratulation, you are on the right track already, and you don't need to go anywhere else, all you need to do is to amend your selfish, superstitious and biased point of views and attitude toward your religion, Gods or other religions. Period....

The Goldilocks Theory of Employee Management

How can you get your employee relationships "just right"? Tips from the human expert will show you the way.


It's one of the classic "Goldilocks" problems in running any business.
If you push your employees too hard to get results, they resent you. They talk about you behind your back and complain bitterly about working in a "sweatshop environment" where their lives are sacrificed to make you rich. The first chance they get, they bolt to another company, probably one of your competitors. Read any installment of the cartoon strip "Dilbert," and you'll see exactly what I mean.

Yet if you're too nice to them and bend over backwards trying to make your workplace as happy, nurturing and fun-filled as you possibly can, what happens then? Your employees start thinking you're a "soft touch" and start taking advantage of your good nature. They ask for more and more, even though what you're giving them as compensation is quite generous by industry standards. They start showing up late for work—or not at all—and play to your sympathies when you try to pull them up short or criticize them. They start second-guessing your management decisions, and insist that you justify everything you want or need them to do
How can you get your employee relationships "just right"?

How can you build a positive, healthy working environment for your employees without giving away the store?
Here are some of human expert's tips on successfully handling employee relations:

You're not "the Boss." "employees should be thinking of the company and its well-being, and not dealing with me as an individual at all," today's workers have been taught to question authority at all levels and will resent you presenting yourself as an authority figure. "You can't just tell people to do something because 'I'm the boss', because that won't cut it anymore,"
The key is to make sure your employees don't see you as someone who is generous or stingy, but rather someone who is smart and able enough to build a successful company and who will make sure that if the company is prosperous, the workers who make a difference will become prosperous as well.
You're not their friend, either. When you are close to certain individuals, and that was sometimes a problem , like when you had to fire them." The importance of setting up policies once a company has grown beyond the startup phase, and letting employees know that their success will depend on their adherence to the policies—and not their personal relationship with you.
Make the company the "third person in the room." "Employees should be thinking of the company's well being, not mine," explaining that makes a point of telling employees that such-and-such a goal will benefit the company as a whole, and therefore benefit everyone. "You put the company in the room along with you and the employee, and you tell the employee that if that artificial third person is happy, you'll be happy as well,"
Establish group incentives, rather than individual incentives. Human expert feels strongly that bonuses and other incentives should be based on the company's performance, not the individual employees' performance. As an example, productivity bonus: "You set output goals for the tufting or the dying operation, and make sure people know if the whole plant produces more product per employee-hour and meets the quota, then everyone benefits; if the quota is surpassed, everyone in that plant gets a bonus for the week." One of the side benefits of this approach is that all employees are guaranteed to be tough on slackers, whiners and other drags on productivity, knowing that substandard performance will affect them personally.
Be humane. "It gets really hot in the summertime," so you will put fans and water coolers all over the place in every one of our plants, as well as 'blow fans' with evaporated water that feel like air conditioning." You should do things like that, , without your employees having to ask.

Make your employees "see the logic." you shouldn't have to explain yourself constantly to your employees, it's important to make employees see the logic in what you're doing. "If people can see why what you're doing makes sense, if they can see the logic of what you're doing and that it does make business sense and does create value,"
"they won't view it as an arbitrary 'order from the boss' that has to be challenged."
Or, as Benjamin Franklin said back in 1776 as British forces approached the fledging colonial capital of Philadelphia, "Gentlemen, if we do not hang together in this time of crisis, be assured that we will all hang separately."

Recruiting and Retaining Talent

Brainpower is the fuel of the New Economy -- a commodity always in demand and never readily available. While some community leaders say that brain drain -- a flux of college graduates fleeing the area -- still cripples Singapore today, others contend that the city has rebounded with a jump-start strategy for bringing in brainpower. Regardless, both sides agree that Sinagpore's ability to recruit and retain local talent will determine its future authority and relevance.

What do you do when the best talents in your team are leaving your company?

With more and more organizations laying off staff, slashing budgets, and reorganizing departments in an attempt to cut costs and increase cash flow, many company leaders struggle as they attempt to do more with less. But in their quest for increasing productivity and maximizing talent, organizations can end up losing key employees. So rather than do more with less, leaders today need to do more with more – more interaction with employees, more communication, more partnering, and more coaching. Only then can they create the work environment necessary for increased productivity and employee loyalty.

Effective leadership is always the key element in motivating and retaining staff. The studies prove it. Whenever employees are asked to identify why they left a company, “lack of leadership” is often cited among the top five reasons. In order for employees to want to contribute, they must feel that they know where the company is going and that it’s strategically strong. Strong leaders instill these beliefs.In order to help your managers and executive level employees lead effectively so they can motivate and retain key talent, coach them to employ the practices listed below. Doing so will enable you to create a work environment that gets employees excited about the company and eager to produce results.
1. Set clear expectations.Just like the company, each employee needs a clear focus, especially during uncertain times. When employees see the economy turn sour or cutbacks occur, they naturally fear any change that could affect their own future. To keep those fears from surfacing, continually communicate with your employees and state your expectations of them. Tell them what you want, what they did right, what you expect of them, and how you will measure their progress.
Share the organizational vision and goals so employees understand the big picture. Realize that your team members want to know where the organization is going and how that direction affects their personal objectives. As events and circumstances change, communicate that to them as well. The more you reveal to your employees, the more leadership they’ll feel that they have.
2. Show respect.When resources get tight, respect within an organization can decline, causing some leaders to show a lack of concern for the time and needs of their employees. As you ask employees to produce more, stay attuned to their need for life balance, as many people are sensitive to keeping work life, home life, and community life in balance. They may stay up all night to finish a project, but over the long term they won’t sacrifice family and friends for the sake of their jobs. To respect employees’ time, consider flexible work schedules. This could include longer workdays and shorter workweeks. Be creative about building in the flexibility.
Another great way to show respect is to get creative with your benefit plan. Employees may have more sophisticated needs in this area than you thought possible. For example, some companies now offer shopping services, adoption reimbursement, and even pet care and pet insurance for employees. When people feel respected, they’ll be more loyal over the long term.
3. Make the workday meaningful.Employees today want more than just a job. They want to contribute to the big picture and help the company sustain itself through the tough times. Therefore, leaders need to provide challenging and meaningful work assignments that stimulate their employees. When employees feel bored, their motivation declines and they lose focus on how their work fits into the big picture. Delegate meaningful work whenever possible so employees can learn something new and feel challenged.
Additionally, provide regular development and learning opportunities. These could include formal training (when money permits) and mentoring opportunities from within the organization. Employees want to be marketable, so when you give them opportunities to increase their skills and showcase their talents, they’ll have a strong desire to stay with the company.
4. Give appropriate praise and recognition.Recognize and celebrate even the small accomplishments, as praise and recognition inspire people to increase productivity. Employees appreciate spontaneous and positive recognition along the way instead of delayed recognition during a performance review. However, as you give praise and recognition, consider the receiver. Although praise is a great motivator, some people prefer to receive praise privately, while others like it publicly. Also, give varied and frequent rewards employees can enjoy. Again, consider the receiver; some may appreciate theater or sporting event tickets, while others may like an afternoon off from work.
One simple way to give praise and recognition is with a simple “thank you.” It can be done in a moment in the hallway, by phone, or during a drop-in visit. “Thank you” is a powerful phrase that can make a person feel appreciated and valued. Whatever you choose to do, remember that rewards and recognition are great motivators, so use them freely.
5. Continually coach.To keep morale high, coach and facilitate every day. The “I tell/you do” method of management simply does not work for motivating and retaining people. Instead, become a coach to your people and encourage them to try things their own way. Allow for mistakes to happen, as mistakes are often our greatest learning opportunities. When people know that mistakes are understood as a part of the experience, they’ll be more creative and take more risks. When you need to correct employees, do so constructively by offering information on ways they can improve, attain, and surpass desired results. Most people are grateful for constructive feedback. It shows that you’re paying attention to their progress.
In addition to coaching from management, suggest that team members coach each other. The encouragement, teaching, and support increase dramatically when all team members provide it. As a side benefit, internal coaching costs the company very little, yet it produces significant results.
Keep What You’ve GotWhile the above guidelines won’t guarantee that valuable employees will stay with you through good times and bad, they do increase your chances for leading, motivating, and retaining key people when your company needs them the most. By partnering with your employees and creating a work environment that’s enjoyable, meaningful, and focused, your company can accomplish great results, even during uncertain times.

The Best Ways to Reward Employees

Every company needs a strategic reward system for employees that addresses these four areas: compensation, benefits, recognition and appreciation. The problem with reward systems in many businesses today is twofold: They're missing one or more of these elements (usually recognition and/or appreciation), and the elements that are addressed aren't properly aligned with the company's other corporate strategies.
A winning system should recognize and reward two types of employee activity-performance and behavior. Performance is the easiest to address because of the direct link between the initial goals you set for your employees and the final outcomes that result. For example, you could implement an incentive plan or recognize your top salespeople for attaining periodic goals.

Rewarding specific behaviors that made a difference to your company is more challenging than rewarding performance, but you can overcome that obstacle by asking, "What am I compensating my employees for?" and "What are the behaviors I want to reward?" For example, are you compensating employees for coming in as early as possible and staying late, or for coming up with new ideas on how to complete their work more efficiently and effectively? In other words, are you compensating someone for innovation or for the amount of time they're sitting at a desk? There's obviously a big difference between the two.
The first step, of course, is to identify the behaviors that are important to your company. Those activities might include enhancing customer relationships, fine-tuning critical processes or helping employees expand their managerial skills.
When business owners think of reward systems, they typically put compensation at the top of the list. There's nothing wrong with that, since few people are willing or able to work for free. But the right strategy should also include an incentive compensation plan that's directly linked to the goals of your company for that period. You might want to include some type of longer-term rewards for key individuals in your organization. Historically, this has often included some form of equity ownership.
Benefits are another type of reward in a strategic reward system, and your employees are definitely going to notice the types of benefits you provide. Companies that don't match or exceed the benefit levels of their competitors will have difficulty attracting and retaining top workers. This is one reason an increasing number of businesses are turning to professional employer organizations like Administaff to gain access to a broader array of company benefits.
However, you can't diminish the importance of recognition and appreciation as integral components of a winning strategic reward system. These two elements rarely receive the attention they deserve from business owners, which is amazing because they're the low-cost/high-return ingredients. Employees like to know whether they're doing good, bad or average, so it's important that you tell them.
Recognition means acknowledging someone before their peers for specific accomplishments achieved, actions taken or attitudes exemplified through their behavior. Appreciation, meanwhile, centers on expressing gratitude to someone for his or her actions. Showing appreciation to your employees by acknowledging excellent performance and the kind of behavior you want to encourage is best done through simple expressions and statements. For example, you might send a personal note or stop by the employee's desk to convey your appreciation. Another approach is to combine recognition and appreciation in the form of a public statement of thanks in front of the employee's co-workers or team, citing specific examples of what they've done that has positively impacted the organization.
Now that you know what it should include, it's time to review your strategic reward system. Does it address compensation, benefits, recognition and appreciation? Is it aligned with your remaining business strategies? Is it driving the right behaviors for your company, as well as your performance goals? If it needs fixing, don't wait. It can mean the difference between your business' success and failure.

Ending the Bitter Feud Between Sales and Marketing

Appalachia had the Hatfields and McCoys. Texas had the Regulators and the Moderators. Tennis had Connors and McEnroe. And business, too, has its own infamous bitter battle. "In too many companies, Sales and Marketing feud like Capulets and Monatgues," so begins a recent Harvard Business Review article by Phil Kotler, Neil Rackham, and Suj Krishnaswamy. The impact of the raging conflict between sales and marketing on business performance is well-documented. Harvard Business School's Professor Benson Shapiro, a leading authority on sales management, contends the biggest problem in business today is that, "sales and marketing are in separate fiefdoms. They don't even talk to one another." A recent CSOInsights study compared two groups of firms, those who excelled at lead generation optimization (LGO) and those who were average or poor. The study found that LGO leaders—companies characterized by the close integration of sales and marketing teams—had higher win rates, a higher percentage of the sales force hitting quotas, and quicker learning cycles for new members of the sales team. Unfortunately, only about 9 percent of firms fall into this LGO group. Kotler, Rackham, and Krishnaswamy list higher market entry costs, longer sales cycles, and higher cost of sales as consequences of the strained relationship. We've found the friction between the two departments harms an organization in two ways: it wastes resources and hobbles profitability. Resources are wasted when the marketing department produces research, collateral materials, and sales training that the salespeople cannot (or will not) use. Profit suffers when the sales people are not talking to those prospective customers who are likely to be the most receptive to the organization's products or services and who are likely to be the most profitable—information that comes (or at least should come) from the marketing department. Ultimately the effectiveness of the sales force and marketing programs are seriously compromised. The root causes of the discord have also been thoroughly investigated down to the subconscious level. As a MarketingProfs.com article said of sales and marketing, "there seems to be an unbridgeable gulf between these teams—they have separate goals, separate cultures, and different fears and motivations." Businessweek reported in a three-part series on the topic: "Marketers routinely dismiss sales people as greedy and egotistical. And sales people, well, they're a little bit more blunt. They think marketers are fluffy and dumb." At its heart, the sales department/marketing department conflict seems to be one of culture and of misunderstanding. Sales people—to make a sweeping generalization—tend to be independent, entrepreneurial, self-confident. Marketing people —to make more sweeping generalizations—tend to have more formal education and therefore tend to think they are more knowledgeable about the big picture. It's not too much of a stretch to see why sales folks see marketers as "ivory towered" employees, to quote Businessweek again, or see why marketing folks see sales as insubordinate mavericks.

The sales versus marketing conflict is not exactly a dirty little secret business keeps well hidden behind closed doors—the laundry's been out and aired for a while now. So why in heaven's name do company's let the war rage on and on when it’s seriously impacting profitability? As Businessweek speculated, "Some problems are so universal and so persistent that entire industries learn to accept them as the natural order of things, when, in fact, solutions are readily available. The breakdown between sales and marketing is one such problem." According to a survey from the magazine, CEOs don't put much stock in mandating collaboration between the two opposing camps. So who's going to broker the peace? Here's our plug for marketers to take the first step towards detente. It's not exactly a secret that there are really only a handful of companies in the world that truly recognize and understand the role and value of marketing to the business. For the majority, marketing is something that's tolerated and not necessarily appreciated. We're saying this as marketers ourselves and have experienced corporate ambivalence towards our profession first hand. And it's given us a complex, too. Copernicus Marketing Consulting and Brandweek recently completed a survey of 256 senior marketing executives who were queried about the role of marketing and sales in their organizations. We were surprised to discover how much importance our respondents—again, senior marketers—placed on the sales function. Forty-nine percent said they worked for a sales-oriented company in contrast to 31 percent who worked for a marketing-oriented company. Some 51 percent said that CEOs come from the ranks of sales departments, whereas only 22 percent said they come from marketing. Our conclusion: marketers need a shrink—they have poor self-image, low self-esteem, and see themselves as second-class managers.But instead of bemoaning (and grudgingly accepting) their lowly lot, we say, "be a factor!" If sales is indeed king, then become his most loyal (i.e., helpful) subject. The strong survive, but the meek shall inherit the earth. Push the cause forward by taking four important steps to make friends with the VP of sales and the sales force:1. Change your mindset. Marketing should view sales as an internal client and recognize that the salespeople are the ones on the street or on the phone or on the Internet. Sales does have a point that they are in the trenches, out in the marketplace, talking to customers and prospects day in and day out. They are the ones touching customers with conversations and letters and presentations and the like, and they are clearly a key source of information that could make the marketing function stronger. 2. Identify targets for salespeople. Now you may be thinking, "wait, we already do this." We've certainly heard this from clients. We've heard some say, for example, sales people are specialists in discount stores, some are specialists in chain drugstores, and some are specialists in independent stores. But this is the equivalent of saying you have segmented the market in terms of SIC codes or demographics—large, medium, small, for example. In other words, you have segmented the market in terms of variables that help you manage your business but don’t necessarily help you improve your business.When we say "identify targets" we mean segmenting the market into groups that are distinctly different in terms of their potential profitability for a firm, as well as other characteristics the sales force tells you will help them quickly and easily identify to which group a customer or prospect belongs. Ideally, marketing should be able to tell sales, you should go after buyers in segments A and B because they represent the greatest share of potential profitability. You can ignore segment E and place less emphasis on segments C and D. 3. Find key targets for the sales force using available databases. Take it one step further and show sales where the folks in segments A and B live and work, along with what they watch, listen to, and read. Pharmaceutical companies, for example, can employ segmentation to identify the most profitable targets for sales calls. First the segmentation is done and the most profitable, responsive doctors are identified. Then a statistical model is built to predict who in a large universe of all physicians in that specialty are likely to fall into this segment. Finally, the names, addresses, and potential profitability of all these physicians are printed out and distributed to the sales force by geography.An insurance company identified its most profitable targets and then profiled them demographically. A statistical algorithm was then developed to tie these insights to block level census data. Consequently, a list was generated for each agency and all their markets throughout the U.S. of likely prospects for their insurance services. The agents loved it.4. Provide sales with a different script for different targets Give them a customized selling message designed to build loyalty among current customers and move prospects towards your brand. To generalize once more, virtually all sales representatives believe they could sell more if the company just cut its price or at least let the sales rep negotiate—a nicer word than bargain. Yes, a price segment does exist in every category. These are customers who do not—within reason—care about delivery times, after-sale service, or company reputation; they just want the best price. But this isn't EVERYBODY. Depending on the industry, price-sensitive customers may represent as much as 40 percent or as little as 20 percent of the total market. This means that 60 to 80 percent are not fixated on price and willing to pay more—not less—for a product or service that solves a major problem or addresses an unmet need. Enter marketing. With each of the segments, identify needs, problems, pains, and new product/service interests among segments and give sales different scripts to help market the brand, product, or service, and make the most profitable sale. Remember that sales is driven by "making quota" and usually they make their money on commission. So very often this means in practice a sale is a sale. The business case marketing needs to make to get the sales force to use the outputs from the steps above is that they won’t waste time overselling a Cadillac to customer A when customer A, as marketing has determined, is looking for a Kia. They won't spend time trying to sell a station wagon to customer B when customer B wants a sports car. Marketing is not telling them to sell less to fewer customers, but to sell smarter to more. Making sales more effective and efficient by giving them the information and tools to do it puts more money in their pockets, makes them happy, and will go along way to making them think, "Why did I think these marketing guys were fluffy and dumb?" Making friends does make a difference. Marketers at Lafarge, for instance, one of the largest diversified suppliers of construction materials in North America, were charged by top management with the mission of branding cement. They segmented the firm’s B2B base of customers to enable its sales force to quickly identify which package of products and services to offer to increase the likelihood and profitability of a sale. Marketers helped to package what the firm called, "currencies"—essentially product and service attributes and benefits—to ensure the sales script hit all the right notes based on the segment. Working together, sales and marketing devised a computerized tool a sales rep could use after consulting with a customer to devise a tailored offer quickly. Jim Braselton, SVP of sales and marketing, and Bruce Blair, VP of product performance, at Lafarge says, "selling efficiency improved markedly as salespeople began to spend more time with customers on the right topics and less time on non-relevant currencies." Customer response has been widely positive, not to mention it helped improve the efficiency of marketing programs. When the company rolled out a pilot program to test the new marketing-enhance sales approach, pricing improved by 5 percent, operating margins increased 20 percent, and customer costs decreased by 10 percent. The new program is projected to contribute an incremental increase of 3-4 percent in gross margin over 2005 results. The sales and the marketing departments' ultimate goals align closely—both, after all, want to find and retain customers—it's only the means to the end that differ. Taking the first step to ending the bitter—and dare we say, needless—feud between the sales and marketing will go along way to improving business performance. And let's be plain, the more evidence marketing has that it helps moves the organization forward, the more respect, credibility, status—all those things sales seems to have that we don't—the department earns.

6 Ways to Convey Quality

Let's say that what differentiates your product or service from your competitor's is quality. It may seem like advertising "quality" would be a breeze, right? Unfortunately, it's not. Customers hear the word "quality" all the time--often from companies selling low-quality products.
In this sense, quality is like trust. If a salesperson resorts to "You can trust me," it's often an indicator to beware. Likewise, if a company is too direct in how it advertises "quality," customers may ignore the claim or be suspicious of it. How can you prove your product or service is the real deal? Here are some often-overlooked ways to convey quality.
Choose your words carefully. Describing something as "high quality" actually limits your message. Instead, choose terms like "premium" or "unparalleled." The more expensive your product relative to competing products, the more sophisticated the terms you should choose. Also, think carefully before you include "quality" in your name or tagline. Upscale products benefit from a more subtle approach. It's preferable to imply quality when naming your company.
Show and tell. Back up your claims of quality by detailing product features that prove those claims. Whenever possible, show these features. If your products are more expensive than competing products, what allows you to charge a higher price? It could be anything from the strength of your raw materials to the extent of your quality control process. People are wary of unsubstantiated claims, so be specific.
Never skimp on photography. Most people can innately tell the difference between a snapshot and a professional shot. They can also differentiate between a high-resolution and a low-resolution file. Jagged, low-resolution photos suggest a tiny budget. A tiny budget implies low quality. Even if you can't afford a professional photographer, you can choose from a variety of inexpensive, royalty-free shots online. Furthermore, always follow your printer's file instructions to ensure your printed piece showcases crisp, full-detail photos.
Commit to your niche. If you're the "quality" choice, you can't also be the "inexpensive" choice. It's one or the other in the mind of the consumer, because the two concepts are viewed as opposite ends on the marketing spectrum. Advertise "value" or "affordability," but avoid "low cost," "inexpensive," "cheap" and other words that connote low quality.
Hone your message and "look." A quality company is confident and consistent in all of its marketing. It never shows panic by scattering divergent messages throughout. The best way to avoid this schizophrenia is to write--and stick with--a strategic marketing plan and advertising campaign. This follows for every company, but is absolutely vital for those in the "quality" sector.
Little things mean a lot. Quality is in the details--all of them. Dress up your work wardrobe. Add a favicon to your website. Print your business cards on premium paper stock. Look the part in all that you say and do. If potential customers detect inconsistency, they'll assume your claim to quality is empty, no matter what you say. You may need to spend more to make more.
Above all, know your audience. Customers need to justify the extra dollars they spend on a high-end product to feel comfortable with their buying decision. Make this easy for them and you'll gain their business--and reap the benefits of their brand loyalty for years to come.

Why Most Ads Fail

Most ads aren't written to persuade; they're written not to offend.


Most ads are written merely not to offend. This goes back to chapter one, "Nine Secret Words," in my first book, The Wizard of Ads. What are those nine words? "The risk of insult is the price of clarity." Rare is the ad that makes its point clearly.
Are your ads not bringing in the customers? The customers who cost you money are the ones you never see, the ones who didn't come in because your ads never got their attention. Here are the four biggest mistakes advertisers make that prevent their ads from being both clear and engaging.
Mistake No. 1: Demanding "polished and professional" adsIf you insist that your ads "sound right," you force them to be predictable. Predictable ads do not surprise Broca's area of the brain, which understands language. They don't open the door to conscious awareness. They fail to gain the attention of your prospective customer.

Mistake No. 2: Informing without persuadingDon't create ads that present information without:
Substantiating their claimsExample: "Lowest prices guaranteed!" Or what, you'll apologize?
Explaining the benefit to the customerExample: "We use the Synchro-static method!" Which means what?Example: "It's truck month at Ramsey Ford!" So, should I come to the party and bring my truck?
Mistake No. 3: Entertaining without persuadingDon't draft ads that deliver entertainment without:
Delivering a clear messageExample: "Yo quiero Taco Bell." Is this saying, "Dogs like our food, you will, too"?
Causing the customer to imagine themselves taking action.Example: "Yo quiero Taco Bell." Am I supposed to buy a taco for my Chihuahua?
The best ads cause customers to imagine themselves taking action. These ads deliver:
Involvement--Watch a dancing silhouette ad for the iPod and mirror neurons in your brain will cause part of you to dance, as well. This is good advertising.
Clarity--The white earphone cords leading into the ears of the dancing silhouette make it clear that the white iPod is a personal music machine.
Problem #4: Decorating without persuadingGraphic artists will often create a visual style and call it "branding." This is fine if your product is fashion, a fragrance, an attitude or a lifestyle, but God help you if you sell a service or a product that's meant to perform.
"Do you like the ad?" asks the graphic artist. "Yes, it's perfect," replies the client. "The colors create the right mood and the images feel exactly right. I think it represents us well." Sorry, but I disagree.
The important thing is getting your customers' attention and compelling them to take action. Worried about offending someone? Of the customers who hate your ads, 98.9 percent of them will still come to your store and buy from you when they need what you sell. These customers don't cost you money; they just complain to the cashier as they're handing over their cash.

Recognizing Toxic Employees

Do you know the signs? And just what should you do if you identify one in your company?


You know the word "toxic" often refers to nasty, chemical products or by-products--those compounds you know to be poisonous, dangerous, contaminated and even lethal. But did you know the word could also apply to employees, perhaps even someone in your own business?
Just what is a toxic employee and how do you recognize one? Are they really harmful to your business? And if they are, what exactly can you do about them?
Identifying the DiseaseLike a virus, toxic employees can subtly--or overtly--spread their counterproductive attitudes or actions that can negatively impact the workplace. Their harmful, contrarious and antagonistic attitudes and actions can easily spread to other employees who then begin to agree with and identify with the toxic individual.

The result? Vulnerable employees without a strong immune system or the ability to rationally understand what's happening can become victims of this virus; these victims often can't discern or differentiate antagonism from positive criticism, can't separate forming negative coalitions from simply agreeing with colleagues. Because neither employees nor organizations are immune from employees with toxic, negative attitudes and behaviors, as the boss, you have to be aware of the signs, symptoms and impact of employee toxicity.
So just what are the symptoms? They are many:
A decrease in or lack of productivity
A decrease in or poor morale
An increased frequency in arguments between the employee and others
A sense that the employee is increasingly frustrated because "things just aren't going right"
A negative, antagonistic attitude
An increase in negative comments and personal attacks
An unwillingness to work overtime or stay late without reason
An unwillingness to "go the extra mile" while encouraging others to refuse as well
Other symptoms include infighting, backbiting, passive/aggressive behavior (aggressive actions done in a passive or weak manner), arguments or criticisms for the sake of being different or antagonistic, and an unwillingness to help out others in a culture that values providing input and assistance to colleagues.
This is not to suggest that opposing views or differences of opinions, attitudes and behaviors must be squelched. But when these behaviors are negatively affecting other employees and productivity, you've got to jump in and address the problem.
Curing the ProblemSo what exactly should you do?
The answer is, "It depends." If you're a laissez-faire, hands-off leader, then you could do nothing and just hope the situation will go away or burn itself out. And every once in awhile, it will. But understand that in the majority of cases, this action (which is really an inaction on your part) will not correct the situation. On the contrary, it will only serve to allow the problem to grow and continue to negatively impact and infect your business's other employees, productivity, growth, profitability and success.
On the other hand, if you're an action-oriented entrepreneur whose would prefer to isolate and end these negative attitudes and actions, then you have several "antiviral" techniques you can use.
First, you need to "identify the virus." In other words, you need gather your data to ensure that you have an accurate and complete picture of the situation. You don't want to take any action based simply on hearsay or assumptions.
So your first step is to talk to any managers or supervisors who work directly with the toxic employee. Look at error rates, attendance or tardiness records, late arrivals or early departures. Determine whether the employee's work, such as reports or projects, is being completed on time and with top quality. If projects are late, delayed or laden with errors, try to determine why or if a pattern exists. Investigate the complaints of negativity or antagonism. Do these occur with just one individual or with several or many individuals? In other words, is this an isolated personal issue between two people or one that's happening across the board?
Next, speak with your staffers who work most closely with the employee in regards to problem employee's attitude toward work, colleagues, the unit and the company in general. Determine who else may be infected with a negative attitude, behavior or performance record.
When you have sufficient information to validate the complaints or anecdotes you've heard about the toxic employee, invite that employee into your office or a neutral office to discuss the situation. The goal here is to have a positive interaction with the employee, not an argument or negative confrontation. What you're attempting to do is determine the accuracy of your information as compared to the toxic employee's version.
Begin by stating your concerns in a general manner: that you've heard there are some potential problems, that the atmosphere is not as positive or productive as possible, that some employees are dissatisfied or upset. In other words, don't jump all over the employee with your information. Doing so will simply create a negative atmosphere and immediately put the employee on the defensive. In such cases, the outcome of the interaction is usually negative, stalemated and nonproductive. Instead, allow the employee to share their views of the situation, their relationships with their colleagues, their behavior at meetings, and any other areas in question.
Then state the results of your information collection. Identify key areas of inconsistency between your information and the toxic employee's views. Attempt to reconcile the views or at least get an understanding as to why differences in perceptions of the situation exist (the old "he said/she said" argument). Attempt to demonstrate how you and others see the employee as negative or toxic, even if the employee's views differ from yours.
At this juncture, one of two things usually is evident: Either the employee's views are inconsistent with your information, or the information from both sides is compatible. In the first case, the employee might refuse to believe your information. Then the employee can either decide to change their behavior and attitude anyway just to be more aligned with the behavior and attitude you want. Or the employee can simply refuse to change. In the second scenario, you'll then have to decide whether to begin an official warning system procedure or the termination process.
Keep in mind that when meeting with your toxic employee, your goal is to change their behavior and attitude. If you've invested time and money in developing an employee, especially a long-term employee, jumping quickly into the termination process may not be the best solution or return on your investment.
However, if it appears the employee just will not or cannot make changes that will lower the levels of toxicity everyone else is encountering, then beginning the termination process may unfortunately be exactly what is required.

Is It Time to Outsource Your HR?

Need HR help for your small business? Consider hiring a PEO


When the time comes to start hiring staff, a lot of entrepreneurs fail to give much thought to all the responsibilities that come with being an employer. The average small-business owner isn’t equipped with either the knowledge or the time to comply with the mountain of regulations required by the government. Fortunately, HR outsourcing--hiring a PEO to oversee your HR tasks--is a solution that not only provides help with compliance issues but can also provide assistance that’s tailored to your company’s specific needs.
A PEO, or Professional Employer Organization, can offer HR solutions tailored to small and midsized businesses in all industries. For an annual fee, usually 2 to 7 percent of the dollar value of your annual payroll, a PEO will take care of everything from recruiting and hiring to managing your health benefits. Since many smaller businesses can’t afford to hire an HR professional, PEOs can be a cost-conscious option. For instance, if a company has a $1 million payroll, a PEO can provide the equivalent of a full HR department for roughly $20,000 to $70,000 a year, considerably less than a fully staffed HR department or even one qualified executive.
Generally, a PEO will legally hire a company's current employees, thereby making the PEO the "employer of record" for taxation and insurance purposes. Having the employees of multiple businesses “on staff” allows PEOs to enjoy lower benefits’ costs because more employees mean better rates. The employees are then leased back to the original employer (now a PEO client) under a shared-employment contractual relationship, which sets out the powers, responsibilities and liabilities of the parties. This practice is also known as “employee leasing” or “staff leasing.”

The PEO then assumes responsibility for all payroll obligations, workers’ compensation coverage and tax filings. Additionally, health, welfare and retirement benefits can be contracted as well as all associated administrative work. Because they take over most of the headaches of being an employer, PEOs are ideal for small businesses. In fact, most PEOs target companies that have 150 employees or less.
Many times, a PEO arrangement is the only way a small business can offer benefits like health insurance, dental and vision care, life insurance, retirement saving plans like 401(k)s, Section 125 cafeteria plans (flexible spending accounts for healthcare and childcare), job counseling, adoption assistance and educational benefits. Most small businesses just couldn’t afford or manage these benefits on their own.
Finding the Right PEO for Your CompanyIdeally, a PEO will relieve its client companies of the time-consuming and money-draining burdens associated with HR. Because PEOs offer many different types of services, choosing the right PEO is essential. If you’re thinking about hiring a PEO for your business, consider the following factors to find the best possible PEO arrangement to meet your needs:
Conduct a basic needs analysis. Lay out exactly what type of HR and risk management concerns your company has.
Review the services of all the PEO firms you’re considering. Find out which firms can meet all your needs and will do so in a manner that meets--if not exceeds--your expectations.
Perform extensive background research to find out if the PEOs’ sales pitches are really what they deliver.
Check out the companies' staff. Does it have the depth and expertise to deliver on its promises?
Find out how the firms deliver their services. In person? By phone? Via the web? A mix of all three?
Determine what kind of consulting the PEOs provide on strategic HR issues like recruiting, HR procedures and processes.
Ask for a few references, and then check them. If a particular PEO can’t relieve your HR burden, one of the other ones certainly can.
Find out if the PEOs charge any upfront fees and how those fees are determined. What about pre-payments? Do you have to put up a deposit?
Ask for some demonstration that payroll taxes and insurance premiums are being paid properly, and that any past clients’ legal issues have been correctly and efficiently handled.
Once you’ve selected the PEO you’ll be hiring, lay the foundation for a lasting relationship with your PEO by meeting the people you’ll be working with face to face. An open line of friendly communication ensures you won’t be lost in the in-box.
The bottom line is, PEOs can help small and midsized employers enjoy the same HR benefits as large companies without the considerable overhead. A PEO costs less than hiring an internal HR employee and will maintain critical employment records and payroll reports, as well as provide the forms needed to make sure you’re in compliance with all required employee regulations. Being an entrepreneur is difficult enough without all the accompanying HR hassles, so find a PEO for your company today.

Top 10 Office Pranks Exposed

Are you and your co-workers meticulously planning your ideal April Fools' prank? You're not alone. Despite the fact that the lighthearted holiday falls on a Sunday this year, a Monster.com survey says one in three workers plans to play an April Fools' joke on a fellow employee. If you're looking for some inspiration, we've compiled our 10 favorite office hi-jinks. But before pulling your prank, be sure to review the guidelines from business etiquette expert Pamela J. Holland for what's workplace appropriate.

Prank #1: Foiled Again … and Again and Again.Prankster: Michael Casto, former VP of design and now chief creative officer at Mindsalt Design & PR in Louisville, KentuckyScene of the Crime: An ad agency in LouisvilleThe Mission: Creative guru Casto decided to "foil" a co-worker while he was out of town on business. Despite inclement weather, including a tornado warning, nothing was going to stop Casto from wrapping every single item in the co-worker's office in aluminum foil. The mission, which required two industrial-size rolls of foil, took three people an hour and a half to pull off.
Prank #2: What's Wrong With My Mouse?Prankster: Jerry Ostergaard, former PR director, now employed by Devry Inc. in Oakbrook Terrace, IllinoisScene of the Crime: Allegiance Telecom, Inc., based in DallasThe Mission: Ostergaard's joke is pretty simple to set up, but it managed to stump his IT technician. Ostergaard placed a small Post-It note with the words "April Fools!" written on it underneath his co-worker's mouse. When the technician attempted to use it, the track ball was ineffective. After about 10 minutes, he finally figured it out.

Prank #3: Always Cover Your TracksPrankster: Becky Boyd, former computer sales representative, now employed with MediaFirst PR, AtlantaScene of the Crime: Hewlett-Packard Company, based in AtlantaThe Mission: While working at Hewlett-Packard, Boyd's manager, Mark, always had a jar of M&Ms on his desk that he'd dive into every day. One of Boyd's co-workers, Bill, was known for being rather anti-social and grouchy, so one April Fools' Day, they decided to play a joke on him. As soon as Bill got up from his desk, Boyd and her cohorts stole the jar of M&Ms from Mark's desk and left a trail of chocolate on the floor leading to Bill's desk and hid the nearly empty jar in Bill's credenza.
Mark returned to his office and immediately noticed his M&Ms were missing. He followed the long trail through the rows of desks to where Bill was sitting. When he opened Bill's credenza and found the jar, Bill was shocked, but his fellow employees got quite a laugh.
Prank #4: A Prank with PotentialPranksters: Emily Brand, account executive, with the help of her co-workersScene of the Crime: The Cannon Group, based in New YorkThe Mission: This covert plan hasn't happened yet--but it's set to go for this Monday, April 2. Brand and her co-workers are planning to pull a prank on their boss. Everyone plans on calling in with some type of excuse, leaving an empty office. The best part of the trick: A new hire is scheduled to start that day. But they won't be leaving the two alone for long. The co-workers plan on meeting at a local bakery to pick up breakfast for their boss before showing up at the office at the same time to say, "April Fools!"
Prank #5: A Joke That Ends with "I Quit!"Pranksters: The employees of Dave Syferd & Partners, as told by Katie Robertson, PR account coordinator for Dave Syferd & PartnersScene of the Crime: Dave Syferd & Partners, based in SeattleThe Mission: When Vandy Kindred, partner and creative director for advertising and public relations firm Dave Syferd & Partners went on vacation, he had no idea what he'd be coming back to. The day before he planned on returning, employees banded together to move the contents of his office into a small cubicle. Instead of leaving his former office empty, they set it up for the president of a company who leased cubicle space from them. When Kindred stepped into his former office the next day, he was instantly baffled by the new arrangement. After asking co-workers what was going on, they escorted him to his small cubicle, and he angrily fled the office.
Instead of allowing the company to demote him, Kindred decided to drive to Canada and become a park ranger. When his fellow employees hadn't heard from him for a few hours, they called him since he was expected to record audio for a client. Kindred was already sitting in line to cross into Canada, but decided to return to work in Seattle after an employee explained the joke.

Prank #6: Training with a TwistPranksters: The training class at PrintingForLess.comScene of the Crime: PrintingForLess.com, based in Livingston, MontanaThe Mission: While William Malek was in technical service representative training, he had to leave the office for two weeks to fly back to Stanford and wrap up some teaching engagements. While he was away, the rest of the training class at PrintingForLess.com got together and ran all of his equipment, including his mouse, computer screen, keyboard and phone through their shrink wrapping machine in the bindery.
Prank #7: Pranking the PrankstersPranksters: The employees at WRBV-TV, as told by Brian Eckert, former program director and production manager at the station. He's now the director of Media and Public Relations at the University of Richmond.Scene of the Crime: WRBV-TV, Channel 65 in Vineland, New JerseyThe Mission: Eckert was out of the office the afternoon before April Fools' Day about 20 years ago. He and his co-workers had been involved in an escalating series of practical jokes. In his absence, his fellow employees got the key to his office and turned everything upside down, including the furniture, papers and office equipment. Unbeknownst to them, Eckert arrived unusually early the next day. He was stunned at what they'd done but decided to one-up their stunt. So he turned everything right-side up and left the office to get coffee before everyone arrived. When he got back, he unlocked his office and walked in like normal, pretending not to know what happened as they peeked into his office with confused looks on their faces. Unless they're reading this now, Eckert says they still don't know what went wrong with their April Fools' Day stunt.
Prank #8: Caught in the ActPrankster: Hans Engebretson, senior account executiveScene of the Crime: OLSON, based in MinneapolisThe Mission: Advertising agency OLSON was in the middle of a dispute with the city concerning a 10-foot-tall brick statue atop their office building. Officials had asked the statue be removed, however OLSON argued the "Brick Man" was both their icon and a piece of art. Hoping to get CEO John Olson fired up about the dispute, Engebretson left Olson a stern message from his own cell phone, disguising his voice and warning him that the agency was being fined $400 for each day that passed since their violation notice, which at that point totaled $12,000. Olson panicked and called the agency's COO. After hearing her advice, he called the number back, but Engebretson was on another call with a client so couldn't answer. The call went to voicemail, and Olson discovered the prank. Though he sprinted toward Engebretson's desk red-faced and head shaking, they all got a good laugh out of it. OLSON won the battle, and the "Brick Man" remains on the rooftop to this day.

Prank #9: Is That Your Final Answer?Pranksters: Kimberly Hassler, former copy writer, along with co-worker Jeff White. Hassler is now a writer with Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Networks in Allentown, Pennsylvania.Scene of the Crime: Lieberman-Appalucci, based in Allentown, PennsylvaniaThe Mission: The senior copy writer at Lieberman-Appalucci, John, wanted to be on Who Wants to be a Millionaire in the worst way. He told White he had qualified for the show the night before when he called an 800-number and was anticipating a call that day. He warned the receptionist to page him if anyone called and no matter what, not to put any calls into his voice mail. White lured John away from his desk, while Hassler, a regular prankster, placed a fake call to him saying she was a producer with the show and would like him to call back. When John returned to his office, he saw he had a message and was annoyed with the receptionist.
He frantically punched the number into his phone (which was the real number to ABC Studios in New York) and told the person who answered what he was calling about and was put on hold. Meanwhile, Hassler walked into his office and asked if she could have a month off from work to travel. When he said no, she asked, "Is that your final answer?" When he said yes, she asked again, and he realized what she was doing.
Prank #10: The Intern and the Press ReleasePranksters: Jeff Hardison, former account executive, along with co-worker Nate James. Hardison is now employed with McClenahan Bruer Communications, based in Portland, Oregon.Scene of the Crime: A Portland, Oregon-based advertising and PR firmThe Mission: Around April 1, 2000, different teams within Hardison's former company were hiring so many new employees that the current ones were growing upset by all the new faces they didn't have a role in approving. So Hardison and co-worker, James, worked with their IT administrator to create a fake e-mail address for a "new intern" named something like Jessica Benet Ramsfeld. They sent out an e-mail to the entire company from her address, laden with misspellings and teenage slang. The scenario: Since "Jessica's" supervisors were out of the office for her first day, she ended up having to send out a news release about a new ice cream flavor for their gourmet food client. The ice cream flavor was going to be called "Spirit Cow" in honor of the Dalai Lama's visit. They attached a horribly written news release about the ice cream, with "Jessica" explaining that the release had already crossed the wire. People flipped--especially new employees who felt threatened.
Pull the Perfect Prank--Without Losing Your JobIt may start out as fun and games, but there's always the occasional prank that goes a bit too far, resulting in a firing or even a lawsuit. Pamela J. Holland, COO of BRODY Professional Development in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, says there's a balance to having some fun with your fellow employees and crossing moral and ethical boundaries. “People need to be very careful about office pranks. While I am a firm believer in the benefits of humor and laughter in the workplace, people should really think about what they're doing before they do it," advises Holland.
Here are some guidelines she recommends when pulling your prank:
Make sure it doesn't embarrass someone or cause disruption in the workplace.
Think through all possible consequences of the joke.
Don't use April Fools' Day as an opportunity to "get back" at someone you don't like.
What's OK to do at home with family or friends may not be appropriate for the workplace.
If your boss is the subject of your prank, be extremely careful. You need to know this person extremely well, understand their sense of humor and never do anything that would diminish your boss's authority.

The Best Ways to Reward Employees

Every company needs a strategic reward system for employees that addresses these four areas: compensation, benefits, recognition and appreciation. The problem with reward systems in many businesses today is twofold: They're missing one or more of these elements (usually recognition and/or appreciation), and the elements that are addressed aren't properly aligned with the company's other corporate strategies.
A winning system should recognize and reward two types of employee activity-performance and behavior. Performance is the easiest to address because of the direct link between the initial goals you set for your employees and the final outcomes that result. For example, you could implement an incentive plan or recognize your top salespeople for attaining periodic goals.

Rewarding specific behaviors that made a difference to your company is more challenging than rewarding performance, but you can overcome that obstacle by asking, "What am I compensating my employees for?" and "What are the behaviors I want to reward?" For example, are you compensating employees for coming in as early as possible and staying late, or for coming up with new ideas on how to complete their work more efficiently and effectively? In other words, are you compensating someone for innovation or for the amount of time they're sitting at a desk? There's obviously a big difference between the two.
The first step, of course, is to identify the behaviors that are important to your company. Those activities might include enhancing customer relationships, fine-tuning critical processes or helping employees expand their managerial skills.
When business owners think of reward systems, they typically put compensation at the top of the list. There's nothing wrong with that, since few people are willing or able to work for free. But the right strategy should also include an incentive compensation plan that's directly linked to the goals of your company for that period. You might want to include some type of longer-term rewards for key individuals in your organization. Historically, this has often included some form of equity ownership.
Benefits are another type of reward in a strategic reward system, and your employees are definitely going to notice the types of benefits you provide. Companies that don't match or exceed the benefit levels of their competitors will have difficulty attracting and retaining top workers. This is one reason an increasing number of businesses are turning to professional employer organizations like Administaff to gain access to a broader array of company benefits.
However, you can't diminish the importance of recognition and appreciation as integral components of a winning strategic reward system. These two elements rarely receive the attention they deserve from business owners, which is amazing because they're the low-cost/high-return ingredients. Employees like to know whether they're doing good, bad or average, so it's important that you tell them.
Recognition means acknowledging someone before their peers for specific accomplishments achieved, actions taken or attitudes exemplified through their behavior. Appreciation, meanwhile, centers on expressing gratitude to someone for his or her actions. Showing appreciation to your employees by acknowledging excellent performance and the kind of behavior you want to encourage is best done through simple expressions and statements. For example, you might send a personal note or stop by the employee's desk to convey your appreciation. Another approach is to combine recognition and appreciation in the form of a public statement of thanks in front of the employee's co-workers or team, citing specific examples of what they've done that has positively impacted the organization.
Now that you know what it should include, it's time to review your strategic reward system. Does it address compensation, benefits, recognition and appreciation? Is it aligned with your remaining business strategies? Is it driving the right behaviors for your company, as well as your performance goals? If it needs fixing, don't wait. It can mean the difference between your business' success and failure.

Hiring a Manager

The people who run your business while you're out are some of the most important staff members you'll hire. Use these tips to help you find and interview managerial candidates.

If you're the owner of an absentee business, you'll likely be at your business very few hours each week. And if you have a retail or food business, the hours you're open may far outstrip the hours it's possible for you to be on location. Or, you may just be too busy with top-level priorities to be able to closely manage your lower-level employees.
In any of those cases--and likely a dozen more--it's time for you to hire a manager. This will take time and effort, and your main consideration will be finding a manager you can trust.
You're looking for a combination of characteristics in the manager you select: an experienced, mature person who is also very dynamic, forceful and able to do the job for you. Ideally, you'd like to hire dedicated and honest management as well. This is why you need to apply strong tests of character and ability to your search for the right person. In order to do this, the first thing you have to do is determine what it is that your business requires and what is really important. Write down what it takes to do the day-to-day management. Also, look ahead a few years and see if the requirements for your manager are going to change. If you can anticipate that, add those requirements to the description of the person you're looking for now.

Put your management requirements in list form and make several copies. You can use the written list of characteristics for each of the candidates you interview. Next to the list of characteristics, rank how the person appears to you on scale of 1 to 10 and add a few words of explanation to help you compare your candidates later.
Based on your list of manager characteristics, prepare a classified job ad that stresses the positive side of your business. You might think if you mention a few negatives you'll screen out people who'd be bothered by those things. But in this earliest phase, use the ad to attract, not screen people out. You can screen and qualify candidates for the job in an initial interview or telephone-screening interview.
Where should you place your ad? Don't confine advertising for something so important to the classified section of your major local newspaper or general job websites--though these mediums should employed as well. Industry-specific trade journals and websites may also have a classified section. You can also even try headhunters.
Typically, advertising can be run inexpensively in trade journals and their websites. Further, because you're advertising in a trade journal, you're more likely to appeal to a qualified, "prescreened" group. You might find someone who's already in your business and isn't actively looking for a job, but is just casually flipping through the trade journal and comes across your ad. You might not have found this industry vet if you'd depended merely on general-market classified ads.
Interviewing Managerial CandidatesAll too often, novice interviews don't have a good technique for probing the "inner being" of the managerial candidate in the employment interview. If you're going to select a manager whose decisions and day-to-day performance seriously affect your company, it's best for you to get into that person's head and see what makes them tick, then intelligently select or reject him or her for the job.
Assuming you've written an enthusiastic ad, you'll be getting calls from a number of qualified manager prospects. Some will send you resume, which is one form of prescreening. Many absentee owners believe it's better to have only a phone number contact in their ad because they don't like to deal with resumes' initially. They prefer to screen candidates over the phone and save themselves a lot of in-person interview time.
To screen callers, draw up one-page form for each caller. Put a space at the top for the person's name and contact information, leave a couple of inches for a section titled "work history," another two-inch space for education, and if you have a key skill requirement, such as sales or technical experience, leave a couple on inches for that section. Have the person who's screening your calls fill in this information, including salary history, so you can screen out people who don't meet the minimum requirements for the job.
A more popular screening choice nowadays is no phone calls at all. Instead, have people e-mail or fax their resume to your office. You can have your screener sort through the resumes to find those individuals most suited to the position, and call candidates to ask additional questions if necessary. This screening process is very popular with those who advertise online for positions.
Pick the top 10 people out of the candidate list, and set up an interview with each of them. Resumes shouldn't be used as the sole indicator of a good employee, but a way to check the person's references. If you screen based on resumes, what you may be doing is selecting good resume writers, not necessarily the best-qualified people. If you do it the other way around and ask for a resume last, you may get a good manager who just isn't a good resume' writer.
Each applicant should be required to complete a detailed application form and give references. If you're serious about the candidate after you've conducted the interview, check those references carefully to determine just what type of person you're dealing with.

When interviewing, have the application in front of you and be certain sufficient time is allotted so neither you nor the interviewee is rushed, and no important information is missed. Put the interviewee at ease. Most people looking for a job are, to some extent, nervous during an employment interview, and there are ways of limiting their discomfort. When the interviewee first enters the office, say something like "Make yourself comfortable" or "May I get you a cup of coffee?" Be pleasant and courteous, but avoid too much small talk; it wastes time and can create an atmosphere that works against serious discussion. It can also help break the ice if you do the talking first. Explain what the job is, and describe the company--its business, history and where it's going. Being enthusiastic about your own business is important if you expect your employees to have enthusiasm for it as well.
During the interview, direct the discussion into various channels to find out a much as possible about the person. (But avoid questions about race, children, religion and other potential discrimination landmines.) If not already known, discuss past wages or salaries and expected compensation. Keep salaries in line with the competition--or better, if this can be justified.
If at any point you receive an answer that indicates this is definitely not the person you want to hire, terminate the interview as quickly as possible. You don't have to make a scene, and indeed, it would be bad for you to do so. But you need to have to nerve to say, "Thank you. That's all I have for today. We'll let you know when we make a decision." In this regard, if you do say you'll get back to someone, make sure you do. You can write a two-line letter, and make it as brief as: "This is to inform you that the position of manager for XYZ company has been filled. Thank you for your time and interest in the position."

If you are interested, go ahead and tell that person so. Ask them to think about the job and, if they're interested, to give you a call. Afterwards, study their resume, and if there are any questions or inconsistencies in the resume or references, or if something seems wholly out of line, clarify those issues when they call back about the job.
Never forget that hiring a manager is a much more serious matter than hiring a clerk or a receptionist. This is why on an initial interview you should ask penetrating, specific questions. You should ask questions you need answers to in your own business to see whether what you've learned about your field is consistent with the knowledge the candidate claims to have. Think of some situations that may arise over the next five to six months and ask the candidate very specific questions about how they would take care of that problem. You'll gain a lot of insight about your own business, and rate the candidates at the same time.

Excerpted from The Small Business Encyclopedia

How to Prevent--and Rescue--Burnt-Out Employees

Highly motivated employees are true assets to any organization. They're productive, energetic, eager to take on additional responsibilities, and pleasant to be with and work with. Furthermore, they spread their enthusiasm and work ethic to others.
But every organization, no matter what the industry or what the size, also inevitably has non-performing, unmotivated, burning out--or burnt-out--employees as well. Therefore, to increase success, every business owner needs to deal with this obstacle by identifying unmotivated employees and "turning them around." But turning them around isn't as easy at it may seem, especially because as the employer you can't really "make" anyone be motivated! Remember the old adage, "You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make him drink"? That, in a nutshell, is true with people as well. You can't motivate them if they don't want to be motivated. But you're the boss, so what can you do? First, you need to identify the signs of a person on the verge of burnout. Then you must create the atmosphere that encourages these non-performing employees to refresh and motivate themselves.
Identifying the Signs of BurnoutWhat are the signs of a lack of motivation or burnout? One of the key red flag symptoms is a decrease in performance or productivity. This is especially obvious when comparing an individual's past performance with current performance. Absent any serious reasons to explain away the change, de-motivation is usually the culprit. This leads us to the next red flag: an increase in the number of days missed. If you're in the midst of the flu season and a number of other employees call in sick, then ignore this absence. However, if someone who's rarely sick starts to miss work, then the likelihood is that de-motivation is the germ.

Here are more signals you need to be looking for and must begin to address:
Attitude changes. The employee is usually up-beat, but now appears quiet, somber, sullen, disagreeable or even moody. Or the reverse--the employee becomes far more outgoing, energized or talkative than normal, typical or acceptable.
Comments from co-workers that "something is wrong."
Stress reactions. The job isn't being completed as well as in the past; the employee is jittery, short-tempered or difficult to get along with.
Tardiness. The employee is arriving late in the morning and leaving early or at the exact end of the workday or shift.
Change in lunch and coffee breaks. The employee takes more time than usual or doesn't take them at all.
Decrease in positive interaction with other employees. He "just doesn't get along" as well with others anymore.
Increase in errors.
Decrease in productivity. There's an oncrease in time spent on projects without a subsequent increase in quality or productivity.
Okay, you've now seen eight symptoms of burning out or unmotivated behavior and attitudes. Observation is the first step. So what else can you do to move the employee along and assist him or her in the process of self-motivation? The first thing you should do is gather information from previous performance reviews and from other managers or supervisors. Determine if this situation is a trend or just a blip in performance. In either case, you need to intervene as follows:
1. Meet with the individual. Begin by asking the employee his or her perception of their performance or productivity. Then based on your data and observations, share your specific views of the change in productivity and attitude.
2. Identify previous motivators (the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior). Determine which factors are no longer present and/or determine which ones no longer work as motivators.
3. Identify new motivators.Frederick Herzberg, who's writings of workplace psychology in the 1950s and 60s is still heavily relied upon today, offers the following most commonly used and effective motivators:
First, identify areas where the individual can experience a sense of achievement, such as accomplishing a task, finishing a report, meeting with colleagues or creating new ideas.
Next, be certain to recognize and reward the individual for a job well done or work in progress. This form of positive feedback usually encourages increased performance and therefore the individual receives even greater recognition or comment from you, the boss.
Provide opportunities for personal or professional growth on the job. This can be accomplished through attendance at seminars or workshops or by observing other employees in other jobs. In addition, by creating a concrete career pathway (a plan for future career growth), you can motivate this person to strive toward the next job or position in your organization.
Ensure that you're providing appropriate amounts of guidance and supervision so the employee knows exactly what's expected. Also, ensure the communication between the two of you is frequent enough, appropriate and adequate to ensure the employee knows exactly what the road to success looks like. You might discover that the current job is too challenging or perhaps not challenging enough to maintain the person's interest and productivity.
Try rotating or exchanging the job responsibilities between several employees. This form of cross-training injects fresh, new energy and challenges into the daily job performance.
And finally, try expanding the breadth and depth of responsibilities. This too can energize the individual who is not feeling challenged.
Basically, all of these proven techniques serve to assist you and the employee in evaluating how well they fit into a current role. This is an easy and extremely effective way to increase employee motivation, job satisfaction and productivity. After all, isn't this what you want from your employees?

Improving Employee Morale

Morale is defined as the end result of many factors present in the workplace environment. Some of these factors are the work setting itself, worker satisfaction and action, salary, supervisory input, working conditions, status, and more.
Some of the signs of decreased morale are: tardiness, absenteeism, apathy, moping, backstabbing, decreased quality, decreased productivity, increased errors, accidents or injuries. It's important to note that contrary to popular belief, morale is not a cause, but rather the effect or result of many factors going awry.

Getting to the Root of the ProblemThe key to unraveling the mystery of a morale slump is to determine the cause or source of the decreased morale. Some of the usual suspects are:
a negative event, such as a firing,
a promotion of an employee when others are overlooked, or
arguments between staff and/or management.
Other reasons may be:
lack of the company's financial health;
too much or too heavy of a workload;
unappreciated or underappreciated work;
working conditions;
supervision that's too rigid, demanding, direct or involved in the work process; or
supervision that's not supportive or strong enough, and doesn't provide needed guidance or input.
Steps to Improving MoraleEntrepreneurs may have some ideas why morale is poor, and may call in external consultants to help solve the problem. However, the easiest and fastest way to determine at least some of the sources of the issue is to simply ask the employee. Ask what the cause of poor morale is and what the employee believes can be done to turn it around. Obtaining information directly from the person who's experiencing the poor morale can often be an important key to solving this mystery. Additionally, these people will receive a sense of pride and worth that their boss asked them for their input.
Other ways to reach your demotivated employees are:
Show concern. If the employee believes the boss doesn't care about the task at hand or doesn't care about the employee, then the employee probably won't care about the task, the employer or the company. And voila!--you have decreased morale.
So how can the boss demonstrate concern? Start by using the person's name. Large or small, every business should have names on desks, work stations or cubicles to show that a real person with worth works there, not just a machine. Next, ask their opinion whenever an opportunity arises rather than always telling them what to do or the way to do it. This allows employees to add their own creative thoughts to the work process, which then can lead to more of a feeling of ownership
Finally, ask how they are. Without wanting to know deeply personal data, the boss can easily show an interest in the individual worker.
Provide appropriate feedback. The employee needs to know two crucial variables in this morale equation: what's expected of them and how well they're doing. Without this crucial information, the employee will inevitably overwork or underwork, think of their work as above average or below average, and may stray from achieving the supervisor's goal. In any case, the consequences may be dire and not what the supervisor would want.
Create goals--especially mutually acceptable goals. As they say, if you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up someplace else! An employee without a clear understanding of the goals or without a sense of how thier work fits into the overall goal of the unit, department or section, can easily waste time on tasks that aren't consistent with the boss's objectives. The result is squandered time and resources, plus a reprimanded employee who doesn't understand why the boss disapproves of their efforts.
Once the supervisor can sit with the employee and explain in clear, action-oriented terms what the task at hand is about, the employee will feel better and perform more effectively. If given a chance to moderate, modify or discuss the goals and reach a mutually acceptable conclusion, the employee's performance will usually skyrocket. Morale will definitely improve as a result.
Offer recognition of the employee's efforts. It takes but a few seconds to say, "Nice job," "Well done," "Marked improvement," "You're on the right road," or any number of other phrases that communicate to the employee that you care about the job and about them, and that you recognize an improvement in productivity. Also, employees can be given performance awards or have their name mentioned at staff meetings, posted on a bulletin boards or in employee interoffice e-mail to say that someone did a noteworthy job. All of these simple modes of pointing out individual, team or group behavior serve as very strong methods of improving productivity, self-worth and morale.
Another strategy for identifying the cause of poor morale and turning it around is to determine if the work load is sufficient or too pressured, challenging or boring, professionally satisfying or not. As long as the current job isn't overly taxing, provide more challenging tasks--either in breadth or depth to spark an interest in employees. When completed, the employee will discover a sense of accomplishment, feel increased self-worth, and be more productive. And as a result, productivity and morale will increase.
The next step, and one that often follows more challenging tasks, is to promote people for their achievements. When employees see that their boss recognizes and rewards accomplishments, they'll be more satisfied, and their self-esteem and prestige will increase along with the amount in their paycheck. This method of attacking poor morale can be extremely productive for all parties involved.

Asian IT Competencies

Databases: rise of the giantsIT shops across Asia fell in behind the bigger brands from 2004 to 2006. These three years saw usage of some brands go up by 25 per cent or more. For example, in Malaysia, the number of organisations reporting usage of Microsoft's SQL Server grew by 28 per cent between 2004 and 2006. Similar dramatic increases were seen in Singapore and Hong Kong for SQL Server usage. Significant though smaller growth was reported for Oracle adoption. As SQL Server is seen as the cheaper option for mid-range applications, the difference between the two brands could point to an increase in application modernisation among end-users. Typically, application modernisation would call for the separation of the database from the processing portion, followed by the re-location of the database onto a shared platform. Also, IT managers could scale small departmental applications into divisional ones. And application integration could be driving the need to separate databases from front ends. This is in line with the Asian business profile, which is dominated by small to medium-sized organisations. The decreasing number of people reporting the use of Microsoft Access supports the trend towards application modernisation and consolidation. Access is typically used in smaller work groups and comes free with higher-end versions of the MS office suite. Are Asia's small teams not using databases any more? Not likely. What might be happening is that as help desks become more outsourced, fewer IT staff are on-site to help create and maintain Access operations. Small-team needs are being slipstreamed into larger organisation platforms or else abandoned. The adoption of the open-source MYSQL database management software has also seen dramatic increases, in some cases, over 100 per cent between 2004 and 2006. However, adoption is starting from a very low base. Still, CIOs should take note that the base of professionals with skills in MySQL should grow as well.

ERP: smaller brands vanishingEnterprise resource planning (ERP) systems go to the heart of an organisation's business processes. And if there was any proof needed that Asia's organisations are evolving into more western models, one only has to look at ERP usage. On the whole, more organisations are reporting the use of ERP. Of these, more are reporting the use of big-name brands, such as Oracle and SAP. Internal factors, such as the desire to emulate the processes of global companies, might be responsible for this. External factors such as aggressive supplier pricing and new SME products might also be the cause. The largest increases in the usage of SAP and Oracle products are seen in the emerging economies of the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand. As these countries rise from the rubble of the 1997 financial crisis, IT budgets have apparently been rising in unison. Thailand, for example, has seen the largest spurt in the usage of SAP and Oracle come from the manufacturing sector. As the industry is the second-largest component of GDP in the kingdom after agriculture, this supports the argument that a robust economy is driving the purchase of top-tier products. Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy by GDP, also saw growth in SAP and Oracle usage in the manufacturing sector, driven by modest increases in economic performance in 2004 and 2005. On the flip side, the use of ERP boutique brands shrank rapidly during the same period. Likely reasons include IT simplification projects driven by fatter budgets, and the inability of lesser-known brands to scale with organisational growth. Interestingly, the largest drop in the use of boutique products occurred in Malaysia and Hong Kong. In Malaysia, almost twice as many organisations reported the use of small brands as those reporting SAP use in 2004. By the following year, SAP had overtaken boutique brands by a small margin. Next year could see 2004's ratio, but in reverse. Another ERP trend that jumps out: In-house customisation is growing in tandem with SAP and Oracle use. In fact, the numbers of those performing customisation in each country can be derived from the sum of SAP and Oracle users. For CIOs, this indicates that labour shortage will get worse before it gets better.

Server OS: virtualisation, where art thou? Here, it's a picture of gradual but inevitable change. Novell Netware usage fell across all countries over the period. The numbers reporting use of the IBM-proprietary operating systems also declined in all countries. The picture for Unix (non-Solaris, non-AIX) is more mixed. The more developed economies in the region are moving off the Unix OS, in line with the rest of the developed world. Indonesia, however is an anomaly (Figure 8). Slightly more organisations in the archipelago reported using Unix in 2006. The key sectors in this regard are manufacturing and wholesale and retail. The picture is similar in Thailand. Roughly the same number of people reported using Unix from 2004 to 2006 (Figure 9). So unlike CIOs in other countries, who are replacing end-of-life Unix servers with Linux ones, IT heads in Thailand and Indonesia are hanging on to their Unix boxes. One reason could be IT heads in these countries don't have the capital expenditure budgets that others do; hence the need to retain older gear, paying out of operating expenses. In addition, salaries in Singapore and Hong Kong form the bulk of IT cost, so axing as many Unix sysadmins as you can is a no-brainer. But in Thailand and Indonesia, the cost pie chart is reversed. You would keep your Unix systems running, but also buy the cheapest servers you can: X86-based Linux boxes. So Linux use in both countries is also growing healthily, and at roughly the same rate as others in Asia. In our survey, both Linux and Windows adoption grew strongly from 2004-2006. It would appear that both these platforms are winning share as hardware based on Unix and other platforms come to end-of-life (with exceptions noted above). Given the smooth gradients in both server hardware and operating system usage trends, no disruptive technology has made an appearance. Operating system virtualisation, therefore, seems to be still in its infancy in this region.

Server OS Summary

Unix-trained staff costs may fall in many parts of Asia as more IT shops shed the OS. Conversely, Linux sysadmins may enjoy pay raises.

Those in the manufacturing sector in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia who use Linux may see higher staff turnover as higher adoption rates could mean more competition for talent.

Operating system virtualisation lacks a sizeable installed base in Asia.


Free and open source (FOSS): time for review If there is a single technology that all IT shops, regardless of industry and company size, should be looking at this year, it would be free and open source (FOSS). With a long history among academics and individual developers, FOSS has only been taken seriously by IT directors in recent years. In the period of 2004-2006, it has got even closer to the heart of Asia's enterprises. Developing markets, like China and the Philippines, are known for their advocacy of FOSS. Our data shows enterprises in the Philippines were walking the talk with their choices of operating systems. In the past two years, the average Linux adoption rate among Philippine companies was 8.52 per cent, the highest in the region. Apart from the government's support, the relatively high Linux adoption rate is also backed by the supply of low-cost IT skill sets for development and support. But that does not mean the developed markets, which have higher staffing costs, are overlooking FOSS development. Despite being less vocal on FOSS, Hong Kong has the most number of respondents using Linux. Enterprises from Hong Kong indicated an 8.19 per cent Linux adoption rate. Yet, Singapore remains the slowest in Linux adoption at a rate of only 4.62 per cent. In addition to operating systems, the acceptance of FOSS has also been extended to database management software (DBMS) over the past two years. The adoption of the FOSS MySQL DBMS among Asian enterprises in 2006 has shown tremendous increase. There are two versions of MySQL: a free (as in no-fee) version distributed under the GNU General Public Licence and a paid-for proprietary version. The survey did not ask which version was used, but it would be safe to assume that the fall in the use of MS Access (cheap when bundled with MS Office) can be linked to the rise of the free version of MySQL. The Philippines was a clear winner in the adoption of MySQL in 2006. Yet, Malaysia and Indonesia have demonstrated the strongest growth over the past two years. The two markets indicated zero MySQL implementation in 2004, but have climbed to become the second and third highest adoption markets in 2006. Universities, who tend to be adventurous users in technologies, are the major MySQL users. But interestingly, some enterprises from the more conservative industries, including banking and utilities, are also early adopters of the FOSS DBMS. To name a few, Bumiputra Commerce Bank in Malaysia and the Metropolitan Bank & Trust in the Philippines are users of MySQL. Among the utilities industry, power companies CLP in Hong Kong and Tenega Nasional in Malaysia have also stated they implemented MySQL for database management in 2005. Bureau of Internal Revenue from the Philippines and the BPS Statistics in Indonesia are a few of the pioneers in the public sector that use MySQL. Known for its large volume of online transactions, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department in Hong Kong, which handles the online booking of sports venue, is also a user of MySQL. The growth demonstrates Asia IT shops are in-sync with the global trend on FOSS adoption, particularly in the last few months of 2006. In October, Oracle announced full support on its applications running on Red Hat Linux. Earlier in the year, Sun also released the source code of the Solaris operating system under an open-source licence scheme. Among all the vendors' move in FOSS, Microsoft's perhaps was the most interesting one. The company closed a deal with Novell to offer sales and support for Suse Linux in November and one month later, it launched the long-waited Windows Vista for business. With vendors' recognition of FOSS, 2007 is expected to be a year when many IT directors will review their FOSS strategy.

Conclusion

According to FBM’s IT leaders Agenda Survey 2006, CIOs from 212 organizations in the region stated their top three challenges were: reducing costs/ lack of resources, aligning IT to business and developing business cases for IT.

These are the challenges related to demonstrating IT value in business terms. By taking up more strategic roles, the CIO’s focus has moved from building technical teams to business matrices.