Archive for the 'Human Resources' Category

Small Business Advocate Poll: Are generation gaps in the workplace creating communication barriers?

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on April 25, 2012
in Communication and Management Fundamentals
. 0 Comments

The Question:
There has never been a time when so many age groups are in the workplace. Are you seeing any communication challenges between the generations?

31% - Very much - it’s like we’re from different planets

57% - Somewhat - it’s noticeable but we’re handling it

11% - Not at all - what problem?

My Commentary:
“What we have hee-yah, is a fail-ya to communicate.” This was the lament of Captain, the road crew boss in the movie “Cool Hand Luke,” played by the great character actor, Strother Martin. Apparently, there is a lot of this going around in the workplace today.

As you can see, 89% of our respondents reported some level of communication issues between the generations in the workplace, with almost one-third expressing extreme frustration. There are a number of reasons for this, especially in two areas: the increasing influence of technology in our lives and we’re living in a time where people are staying in the workplace longer than in the past 100 years.

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

Take this week’s poll HERE!

Small Business Advocate Poll: What is your experience in finding qualified applicants for job openings?

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on April 13, 2012
in Business planning, Hiring, Human Resources and Management Fundamentals
. 0 Comments

The Question:
What is your experience in finding qualified applicants for your job openings?

38% - We have job openings but it’s difficult finding qualified applicants

32% - We are able to find qualified employees when we have an opening.

29% - We are not hiring and don’t expect to this year.

My Comments:
Over the past several decades, the challenge most often identified by small business owners as their greatest has varied between inflation, taxes and the cost of health care insurance. But for the past few years, another concern has risen to the top of the list: finding qualified employee candidates.

Consequently, in last week’s poll we asked, “What is your experience in finding qualified applicants for your job openings?

The greatest number, almost four of ten, said, “We have job openings but it’s difficult finding qualified applicants.” one-third of our respondents reported, “We are able to find qualified employees when we have an opening,” while a little less than one-third said, “We are not hiring and don’t expect to this year.”

The American economy - and society - has serious problems when only 40% of small businesses are growing employment, but even those can’t find qualified applicants among 22 million unemployed.

#####

On The Small Business Advocate Show, I’ve talked with Bob Prosen, President/CEO of the Prosen Center for Business Advancement and author of Kiss Theory Good Bye about improving your hiring practices to find employees for 21st century jobs. Take a few minutes to click on one of the links below to listen or download our conversations.

Improving your 21st century hiring practices

Hire new employees who have done their homework

Hire salespeople who understand customer relationships

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

Take this week’s poll HERE!

Future Employee Planning

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on May 24, 2011
in Hiring and Human Resources
. 0 Comments

The Question: What is the likelihood that you will hire at least one person this year?

50% - We will definitely be hiring this year.

22% - If the economy improves we will have to hire.

28% - We will not be adding any employees this year.

Jim’s comment:
America needs new jobs. We wanted to check on the hiring attitude of our small business audience, so we asked this question: “What is the likelihood that you will hire at least one person this year?” The news was encouraging.

Fully half of our respondents said, “We will definitely be hiring this year.” America needs more CEOs drinking this Kool-Aid.

A little over one in five of our sample said, “If the economy improves we will have to hire.” Perhaps the employment leadership of the first group will encourage these folks in the middle to find hiring confidence.

The last group, representing a little more than a quarter of our sample, said, “We will not be adding any employees this year.”

Considering where unemployment is, plus all the other headwinds pushing back on economic recovery, I am encouraged by the response this week. You go, small business owners. America - and the world - really needs you right now.

To participate in this weeks poll on mobile phones, click here.

Consider teleworking

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on December 5, 2010
in Home-based business and Human Resources
. 0 Comments

What do you do when a key employee tells you that, due to circumstances beyond their control, he or she is now required to stay at home at least part of the work week? If you don’t want to lose a valuable team member, the 21st century answer to this management challenge is teleworking.

Teleworking - where an employee works full or part-time off-site, perhaps from home - is becoming much more prevalent in the marketplace. In truth, the need to be able to work off-site isn’t new, but only in the past few years have the technological tools been available to make teleworking a viable management option. Here are some thoughts on how to establish and execute a teleworking relationship:

The first step is to determine, with the prospective teleworking employee, how much work can realistically be done off-site. Then determine how the off-site and on-site schedule would be coordinated.  Anticipate the need to make adjustments, so schedule a periodic review with your teleworker, to discuss progress and modifications.

Next step - the tools. Get your teleworker a notebook computer (which will allow work to be taken back and forth) and pay for a broadband Internet connection at their home.

Finally, talk with your other employees about why this step is being taken so they can support the new plan. If handled properly, I predict you’ll get major points for being such a cool, 21st century manager.

If you have trouble imagining having an employee who’s not under your roof, here’s how to get over it: think about how many hours a week your key employees are in your building without you actually seeing them. I’ll bet that number will surprise you.

Recently on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, I talked with TJ DiCaprio, Microsoft’s Senior Director of U.S. Small and Mid-Sized Business Marketing, about the results of a recent study on technology and teleworking. I also recently interviewed long-time Brain Trust Member, Jeff Zbar, on teleworking as part of a business interruption strategy. Take a few minutes to listen to each of these discussions, and, as always, leave your comments or experiences.

Why you should have an employee teleworking strategy with TJ DiCaprio

Making your business ready for an interruption with Jeff Zbar

Introducing your small business to Motivation 3.0

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on April 24, 2010
in Communication, Human Resources, Leadership and Motivation
. 0 Comments

We’re only 10% into the 21st century, so there is a pretty good chance that a lot of what you know was learned in the last century.  Having said that, here’s the bad news: Most of what you learned about the marketplace in the last millennium is now obsolete.  And that includes how to motivate and manage people, especially the young folk.

Having come of age in the marketplace in the last third of the 20th century, it seems to me that managing and motivating people wasn’t much different in that era than it was for my mentors. Indeed, senior managers in those days were pretty much doing in the 1970s, 80s and 90s what they had learned and practiced for decades. But somehow, seemingly coincidental with the advent of the new millennia, best practices for leveraging human power effectively and successfully in business began to change as two new generations came online.

One of the most noticeable changes was how different these new generations were from earlier ones with regard to motivation.  Clearly, the motivational books are having to be rewritten for the 21st century, and not surprisingly, one of my long-time Brain Trust members, Dan Pink has done just that.

Recently, on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, I talked with Dan about why the old “carrot and stick” approach is not as effective in the 21st century and what managers should know about what he calls ”Motivation 3.0.” Dan is the author of several provocative, bestselling books about the changing world of work, including his latest, Drive, in which he reveals his ground-breaking ideas on modern motivation best practices.

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to listen to what Dan has to say in this recent visit with me. And be sure to leave your own thoughts. Listen Live! Download, Too!

What is a blog anyway and why should small business care?

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on February 17, 2010
in Cashflow - Credit - Collections, Communication, Innovation - Creativity, Online strategy and Online technologies
. 1 Comment

A blog is the contraction for web log; it’s a 21st century way to easily and inexpensively publish your ideas online. With a blog you can connect with others who read what you wrote, have a point of view or question and begin a “thread” of comments about that topic.

By this point on the social media time continuum, many people think that defining a blog is such an elementary task that it’s tantamount to describing a computer. Those same social media elites should know that here in the real world, where Main Street small businesses live, most people actually have many un-Tweeted thoughts.  But none of the foregoing diminishes the fact that small business owners should be connecting more online with their customers, present and future, and one of the best ways to do that is through a blog.

Small business owners typically don’t appreciate how much they are world-class experts on their industry and product applications, including what not to do. They also too often don’t realize how much their customers want and need to hear that kind of information.  And what about that “I can’t write” excuse? Well, it pains me to say that their customers would rather hear from a get-to-the-point person they know than from some smart-alecy wordsmith like me.  Then there is that “I don’t have time” excuse. Once your platform is set up, blogging doesn’t take much time, it costs virtually nothing and the ROI can be enormous.

Recently, on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, I talked with a long-time member of my Brain Trust, Karen Cortell Reisman. In the two segments below we talk about blogs, how they work and what the value is for a small business. Karen is President of Speak For Yourself®and a world-class expert on customer communication. Take a few minutes to listen to our discussion and, as always, leave your comments.

What is a blog, anyway?: Listen Live! Download, Too!

What would a small business blog looks like: Listen Live! Download, Too!