A Period of Reengineering Your Company
We have all been touched in some way by the economic downturn in our region, professionally and personally. Many have felt the cold hand of fate grabbing at our dreams and plans for our future/ business and personal goals. Companies that stayed open dealt with the uncertain business landscape in a variety of ways. Some CEO’s laid off long term employees to avoid the negative spiraling bottom line results. Other CEO’s modified positions, changed responsibilities and tried to right size the operation the best they knew how. And, there were those CEO’s who closed their doors completely; the burden was just too large to manage. Those days were very dark, doubtful and relentless. I am sure many leaders sat at their desks alone and wondered, “Did I make the right decision? Could I have done something different? Would the business outcome be different? What if…., Where do I turn? Who can I talk to?”
Today, hope for our business future is taking shape again. We are seeing a resurgence of focused energy and innovation from our leaders. It finally feels like a spring day—the sun is out and the birds are singing. People are smiling again. However, the economic downturn has left a deep scar that may never fully become invisible. I like to call this period of new growth a Period of Reengineering.
CEO’s have a fresh start, a new look at their organization and workforce. They can once again begin to build a thriving and prosperous business and create a positive and engaging employee culture. Vistage International can become that voice, that resource for executives and business owners who supports and guides them through extremely uncertain business decisions. The time is now to reach out, seek guidance and support from a confidential, peer advisory group of CEO’s.
Vistage International brings together successful CEO’s, executives and business owners into private advisory groups. Each group is purpose-built to help members help each other improve the performance and outcomes of their business and personal lives. Vistage International works with each CEO to be a better leader who can make better decisions and get better results. In fact, they have helped over 75,000 members since 1957 when they began. And the support does not look at one dimension of a CEO’s life; the business. Discussions also center on a person’s health and personal life—it is strongly believed that the “whole person” adds to the strategic direction of a company. If issues are present in any of the three categories listed above, they are freely discussed inside the confidence of a member meeting.
Although peer advisory groups are a great help towards success, leadership and management trainings and assessments should not be ignored. These tools allow those in management to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses, ultimately allowing them to build upon their skills.
For more information regarding Vistage International and e-VentExe, please call Amelya Stevenson, M.A., SPHR-CA Vistage Chair and owner of e-VentExe, a full service Human Resource Consulting Firm at 916.458.5820.
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About e-VentExe
Founded in 2000 by Amelya and Craig Stevenson, e-VentExe provides businesses with strategic and compliance human resources tips and techniques, organizational effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) and overall strategic and healthy cultural influences in the workplace. We also make HR administration easy for small businesses with our eBasicHR and Compliance package. At e-VentExe, we keep the “Human” in Human Resources. Let us show our dedication to you! For more information, please visit us at www.e-ventexe.com,“LIKE” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter!
Tidbit of the Week
Do all employees have the capability of being Creative at work?
Bruce Nussbaum thinks so. There are 5 categories describing Creative Intelligence. Under the “Playing” category, Nussbaum describes the art of play that employs having fun and being creative in a team environment. Most Creative Intelligent people find working within a team allows them to think outside of themselves. And the discovery of how new information forms is how Creative Intelligence takes shape.
70% of Workers Are Paid to Waste Time—Every Day
70% of Workers Are Paid to Waste Time—Every Day
Interesting article that gives you suggestions on how to boost productivity.
“The best prepa…
“The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today.” – Elbert Hubbard
Motivational Monday
Although it’s gloomy in the Sacramento area, stay motivated nonetheless!
Are You Paying for Bad Hires?
This is an interesting article and gives you statistics on the cost of a BAD HIRE!
Spring Clean Your Leadership Skills
Spring has sprung! Spring is a time for renewal and rebirth of life and energy—plants and flowers begin to sprout and bloom, the annual “spring cleaning” spree ensues to remove unnecessary materials collected during the winter hibernation months, cleansing of the mind and body are encouraged. As such, spring is an essential time for leaders in organizations to review, rethink, and rejuvenate their overall culture by reevaluating their own skills.
Those holding leadership positions should ask themselves, “What can I do to make my organization better?” This “spring cleaning” may include tactics, ideas, strengths and weaknesses.
- Tactics: As a leader, making strategies and planning (whether long-term or short-term) are typical functions. Tactics on how to perform these strategies must be considered—what’s working now? What worked in the past? What have I done that seems to be working? Sure, every situation is different and plans need to be adjusted, but you, as a leader, must decide and eliminate strategies that may not be working (e.g. plans that are outdated and cannot reach the same caliber as current trends). In cases when sudden incidences rise without any warning, leaders must be quick and think on their feet without breaking a sweat.
- Ideas: Has your organization hit a plateau where innovation is nonexistent? Think outside of the box! Be inspired by creativity and if your ideas fail, at least you were brave enough to throw out suggestions that may seem out of the norm to others. After all, every accomplishment starts with the decision to try. With leaders making innovative and creative decisions, they can set a precedent for their employees to do the same; ignite the spark for creative thinking and see the results in action!
- Strengths and weaknesses: To be the best leader you can be, strengths and weaknesses must be acknowledged and carried out. Self reflect on what you need to work on and try tackling them a little bit everyday. If you want a more in-depth tool for seeking out your weaknesses (and strengths), consider conducting, or ask HR to conduct, a 360-degree feedback to see what your peers think of you and your effectiveness as a leader.
Keep a fresh open mind and see what you can accomplish for your organization. Now that spring has sprung, how are you planning to “renew” your leadership skills?
*e-VentExe is a full service human resource consulting firm specializing in leadership training and development. If you’re interested in conducting a 360-degree feedback, we can assist you in the process. Follow us on Facebook and/or LinkedIn to learn more about our company and see what interests us!
Social Media: A Business’ Friend or Foe?
Our guest blogger this month is Angie Brown MBA, owner of Angeion Consulting. To learn more about social media and Angeion Consulting, please visit their Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/AngeionConsulting
Social media—we hear it everywhere and know we should be using it, but with business-to-business (B2B) companies many times they ask, “Why?”
Social media includes several online social sharing websites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus, Pinterest, FourSquare, and many more. Each medium was developed as a way for people to develop relationships and maintain friendships from afar; this is key to remember as a business when using social media.
Social media can help your business:
- Create a lead pipeline
- Project a brand
- Decrease turnover
- Increase attendance at events
- Sell a product
- Increase company morale
While these are a lot of options, your business should choose one or two goals that they want to reach. The following steps will help your business build their online social media journey correctly:
Develop your online personality
Just as a person has a personality, your business needs to develop an online personality as well. Many times the responsibility of posting on social media gets juggled between two people. When a business develops a personality, it allows your employee to take on that image and post as the same personality each time—your business’ personality, not the employee’s personal personality. Remember, this personality should align with your company’s the mission statement, morals, branding, and target audience. (See understanding your fan base below.)
Understand your fan base
If a business has the personality of a 45-year old man with strong environmental ties and a passion for outdoor recreation, then your fan base should reflect this personality as well to help build rapport. The reason for this is two-fold. If you post as this personality, you will attract a fan base that enjoys the same interests. Do this while simultaneously targeting your online ads to increase this target market and you will build your perfect fan base of leads. Developing a fan base that goes hand-in-hand with a business’ online personality will increase engagement and help increase the trust of potential customers; step one in developing online lead generation.
Consistency is KEY
Each social media platform has a “post shelf life” or the amount of time a post is visible to a person before another post supersedes it. While this varies according to the amount of interaction a certain post gets, a business should pay close attention to how quickly a post disappears from their customer’s view. Posting daily is appropriate for Facebook, while multiple times a day is key for Twitter. However a business decides to do it, they should remain consistent each week.
Toot THEIR horn
Don’t be afraid to brag on social media, but do it correctly. If your business recognized an employee internally, take a picture and post it! If someone in the company ate at a restaurant during your local middle school’s fundraiser, take a picture and talk about it! The idea here is to put the OTHER nonprofit, employee, fundraiser, etc. in the spotlight while making sure people know your business is supporting it. This type of support will connect your fan base to your company while at the same time recognizing your employees and bragging about them to the world. Even a small amount of recognition done correctly can go a long way with social media.
These steps give you some brief insight in the world of social media and how important social media can be to your company. Use it to develop relationships internally by encouraging your employees to take part in the conversations (#companyparty, #walkforacause –ask us about hashtags on our Facebook page–) and show them you care by talking about them online. At the same time you are developing relationships internally, you are causing your fan base to take notice, “Hmmmm, they like their employees and treat them well,” says your next online lead. While also building rapport externally in the form of understanding what your fan base likes and giving them a reason to stop and take notice of your company.
For more tips on social media, visit us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/AngeionConsulting.
A little about the author:
Angie Brown attended UC Davis where she graduated with her degree in Communications. She accepted a position as a Research Analyst at Time Warner Cable in Hawaii after graduation. Angie spread her wings with multi-million dollar companies such as McDonalds, Disney, Jack in the Box, and Outback Steakhouse as she developed cutting edge research and technologies just now being introduced on the mainland.
Over the course of her four years at Time Warner, she went back to school and received her MBA in Global Logistics while organizing seminars, developing marketing packages, and starting up Angeion Consulting in 2009. She moved back to the mainland and continued to build her company here. She is now developing an innovative employment model for her employees. Angie enjoys spending time with her two children and husband.
An In-Depth Guide to the First Stage of the Employee Lifecycle
“Pre-screen applicants to identify issues before they happen! Shrinkage costs business millions annually; loss prevention systems are critical.”
http://info.profilesinternational.com/profiles-employee-assessment-blog/bid/205297/pre-hire-preparation-what-everyone-ought-to-know?source=Blog_Email_%5BPre-hire+Preparation%5D
Find this article interesting? If so, you won’t want to miss e-VentExe’s free webinar on PRE-HIRING SOLUTIONS next month!
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