BCA

The recent economic recession has led to an increase in the work force that  is available to potential employers. An unfortunate consequence of this increase  in available employees is that, given the degree of competition for each  available position, many potential employees might be tempted to be less than  forthcoming on their employment applications. One potential remedy for the  potential consequences of such circumstances is to conduct “pre-hire” or  screening employment investigations. Among the many advantages to conducting  such investigations are to:

Confirm Credentials of the Prospective Employee

It is a widely appreciated fact that many employees have, at one time or  another, indulged in some form of “resume enhancement” in which they will  overstate their academic and/or professional records. While many cases of this  practice are later found to be essentially harmless, there could later be  serious repercussions if employees are found to have lied about matters such as  teaching credentials or certification in technical fields.

Detection of Unreported Criminal History

For employment in many positions, particularly those involving a high degree  of public contact or access to substantial amounts of cash, many corporate  insurance carriers will refuse to insure anyone with more than a single  misdemeanor conviction. Since most applicants are aware of such restrictions,  many job applicants will not mention such a history, particularly if a  conviction occurred in a location that is not geographically near where  employment is sought.

Most corporate investigators will either maintain offices in several cities  or else will have working relationships with other investigators, making more  comprehensive criminal background checks more practical than if done by a  corporate human resource department with little practical experience in such  matters.

Confirm Provided Job History or Detect Unreported Work History

Another consequence of recent economic conditions has been an increase in the  number of job applicants per open position. While this could be interpreted as  an opportunity to hire only the most-qualified job seekers, it must be realized  that the weak job market gives these same job seekers an incentive to be less  than honest regarding what they will include in their resumes and job  applications. This may be the case when such job history includes instances  where job performance was less than expected by a previous employer. In such  potential instances, a well-conducted pre-employment investigation will help to  exclude purposely deceitful applicants.

Detection of Potential Corporate Security Risks

Certain aspects of an applicant’s employment or social history, such as  frequent job changes among menial jobs or a poor credit history, are known to be  associated with a higher probability that an employee may either be compromised  and coerced into some activity or may even “go rogue” and engage in illegal  activity of their own free will. An employee investigation can help uncover such  risk factors before any damage can be done.

To recap, a comprehensive employee investigation can go a long way to saving  an employer from later job-related unpleasantness.

To learn more about why Employment Investigations are important for employers, visit Threat Management and  Protection.

Reducing staff turnover is an ongoing headache for many businesses. Factors  that contribute to this include long hours, workplace cultures that aren’t  supportive of work/life balance initiatives, as well as poor leadership. Experts  estimate it costs upwards of twice an employee’s salary to find and train a  replacement. And churn can damage morale among remaining employees.

But many employers are now finding that by creating and supporting a flexible  work culture where part-time work is easily accessible if desired, creates  loyalty, increases performance and reduces staff turnover. This can take time to  implement, and will often be a gradual process of ‘unwiring’ our 8am-6pm workday  mentality, but a commitment to leading by example, and ensuring buy-in from all  employees, will help smooth the way.

Tips to making it work include:

1. Be realistic – staff moving from  full-time to part-time need to adjust and manage their own expectations of what  they can achieve.

2. Prioritisation – for the employee, the  key to finding the balance is to make sure they are doing the important rather  than the urgent.

3. Strategic approach – as an employer you  should ensure that you have a big picture view of how it will work. Being  flexible and family friendly won’t be successful unless there are real  strategies in place on how this will work.

4. Support – part-time staff need the full  support of their leader, their teammates and family for it to successfully work  for everyone. Additionally they need support in the form of computer access,  laptops, iPads and mobile phones to be available. Trust is also an important  support factor – nothing motivates a good employee more than trust and  support.

5. Review – re-visit and discuss  compensation, benefits packages, and flexible work schedules at least annually.  Outline challenging, clear career paths. Employees want to know where they could  be headed and how they can get there, and reassurance that their flexible status  will not hinder this.

6. Recognition – it is easy to overlook how  important recognition and praise from managers can be, especially if an employee  is not in the office full time. Awards, recognition and praise might just be the  single most cost-effective way to maintain a happy, productive work force.

A very real benefit many employers find with flexible arrangements is  increased productivity – part-time employees may work fewer hours in the office,  but they are capable of being just as productive as full-timers, they don’t have  time to waste and are often extremely good at juggling a range of tasks. Not to  mention the cost benefits to your business from reducing staff  turnover!

Annette Dixon is a Human Resources professional qualified at Deakin  University, with over 12 years human resources management experience. She is  also the Director and Founder of the HR company End2End Business Solutions.

To learn more about how End2End Business Solutions can benefit your business,  visit http://www.end2endbusinesssolutions.com.au

Having worked in recruitment advertising for nearly 20 years I have been in  the vanguard of most recruitment innovations as they have come along and I have  some shocking news to report. One of them, online recruitment, is not working  and the situation is getting worse.

Fifteen years ago if you were an employer and you wanted to recruit a new  member of staff your choices were limited, mainly to which newspaper you  advertised in – the local paper for junior and blue collar staff and the  national broadsheets for senior execs or field based staff. There were also a  range of well-read technical, trade and professional titles that targeted  specific professions.

At the time these publications enjoyed a virtual monopoly  (either geographical or functional), so it was an expensive exercise, discounts  or special deals were the things of dreams and fantasy. But at least you knew if  you placed your ad in the newspaper on Thursday by the following week you had  over a hundred applications, including letters (most hand-written) and CVs. The  majority were from local people interested in the role.

 The Monster Board was an alternative to the press

The late 1990′s saw the emergence of the first job board (The Monster Board)  and things began to change, initially for the better. For the first time there  was an alternative to the press, it was cheaper than printed publications,  sometimes a lot cheaper, and included features such as CV databases. Even local  recruitment was accommodated by job boards such as Fish4 in the UK, so those  early advertisers had choice as well. Since then the growth of job boards has  mirrored the rapid development of the Internet itself.

So what changed? One of the main characteristics of the Internet, why it has  grown so rapidly and why we have taken it to our hearts, is the relatively low  cost to set up a new website. The same could not be said of magazines and  newspapers, hence the virtual monopoly of many publishers.

Too much choice

So the first reason online recruitment is failing is choice. There is too  much choice, seemingly every week a new recruitment website comes along  promising to be bigger and better than the others, offering better deals and  even lower prices. This is confusing for the advertiser and the candidates  alike. Which websites do you go to, and how many – 5, 10, 50?

Lack of a level playing field

But surely Google can help? That brings me on to the second problem, the lack  of a level playing field. If everything else was equal and Google worked as  intended candidates would only need to enter their ideal jobs and suitable  vacancies would appear. But we know Google doesn’t work like that, search  results are distorted and twisted by advertising and SEO.

Non-Jobs litter the Internet

The third issue is non-jobs, that litter the Internet. A problem that has  always existed to some extent, because costs are so low many job boards are  riddled with jobs that don’t exist, their function is purely to harvest CVs from  unsuspecting candidates. This significantly devalues the genuine jobs and the  website and is difficult to police when it is the recruitment agencies working  for ‘confidential’ clients.

With the fall in performance of the job boards, comes an apparent fall in the  quality of candidate applications. No doubt fuelled by a frustration with  non-jobs and poor etiquette by recruiters when it comes to acknowledging  applications, etc., many candidates resort to a shorthand form of application  with the briefest of emails accompanying a very generic CV. Which does no-one  any favours.

I know from working with my clients that, despite the double dip recession  and record unemployment, it is more difficult than ever to recruit staff because  of problems with online solutions.

The Future

What does the next few years hold for us? Social Media is proffered by many  as the future of recruitment, why advertise or use job boards when you can start  a dialogue direct with candidates through Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. The  short answer is time – how many HR departments have the time to build links and  communities, to contribute content and manage profiles. If the Finance Director  gets fired you need to find a replacement as quickly as possible. The only  people with the time to ‘work’ Social Media, and the ones pushing it hardest,  are the recruitment agencies.

Newspaper and trade publications undoubtedly still have a role to play in  recruitment, particularly the ones with a strong online presence, but they’ll  never be the force they once were and there is no going back, we have to press  on into the brave, not so new, digital world regardless. But when this recession  ends I strongly believe the recovery will be seriously hampered by the  limitations of today’s online recruitment solutions.

The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of  one hour. Japanese proverb.

According to a study conducted by the Rockefeller Corporation of Pittsburgh,  68% of customers stop doing business with a company because of an attitude of  indifference by an owner, manager or some employee. Now do you really think that  an owner or manager would not care about their customers? You can almost take  for granted that they “get it.” So who is left? And the statistic does not say  “some employees.” It’s just one. To the customer, just one employee IS the company. And that one employee could cost your business  big.

Just before Christmas, a security video of a FedEx driver nonchalantly  dropping a computer monitor over a fence went viral on YouTube with over 2  million views in 48 hours. Today it has over 8.5 million views. Earlier this  year, a picture of a Papa John’s receipt with its racial slur was retweeted  25,000 times in two hours. Both incidents generated huge press coverage for the  wrong reasons for their brands and prompted apologies from the C-level of both  companies.

An employee  may not see anything wrong with his or her action 

Leadership development speaker Mark Sanborn posted in his blog recently about  being told that to catch an earlier flight but with a downgrade from first class  to coach, it still would cost him an additional $75. It didn’t matter that he  was a United 1K Elite traveler flying over 2 million miles with United.

People Skills Coach Kate Nasser posted in her Smart SensAbilities blog about  her confrontation with Karen, the manager at the Hilton Garden Inn in Eagan.  When Ms. Nasser went down to catch the cab that would take her to her  appointment, the cab driver asked for her room number. Of course, she didn’t  want to give it to a complete stranger. So she asked the cab driver to come back  into the hotel so that they could confirm her cab reservation. Ms. Nasser  explains to Karen at the front desk that she did not want to give out her room  number and could Karen confirm to the cab driver that she was the client for the  reserved cab. Here’s the rest of that conversation:

Karen to the cab driver: “Her room number is 210.”

Ms. Nasser: “Excuse me, you just gave my room number to this man.”

Karen: “The cab company requires it.”

Ms. Nasser, “You just gave this man my room number.”

Karen: “Nothing has ever happened.”

Ms. Nasser: “You just gave out my room number. How are you going to fix  this?”

Karen: “Are you going to argue with me or are you going to get in the  cab?”

Nick Meiers posted on his Essential Hospitality blog about this conversation  he overheard in a restaurant:

Guest: “How is the rib-eye?”

Server: “I’m not sure, I’ve never eaten here. You know how it is, you  don’t want to be at work when you’re not working!”

I am convinced that in each of these incidents, these employees didn’t see  anything wrong to act indifferently to the customer as they did. And here is the  “killer” part. In each of these cases, their manager or owner had no clue that  these employees did what they did. Of course, the owner or manager would have  handled the situations differently. But they weren’t there. At that moment, the  reputation of the brand was in the hands of the one employee who was. And in  each case, with the amplification by social media, the brand lost big time.

So what can you do to make sure you don’t have even one of these  business-killing employees?

• Define customer service expectations during the onboarding process. Include  customer service standards in each job description. Create and review your customer service manifesto with each new  hire.
• Use these poor customer service examples and those you read or hear about to  remind your team of how the actions of just one employee can damage the business  and brand. Discuss proper responses in handling similar situations that could  arise in your business.
• Take immediate disciplinary action when an employee displays rude behavior  to a customer.
• Share customer feedback, good and bad, regularly with your team. Involve  your employees in defining alternative responses in handling the situations that  generated negative customer comments.
• Motivate your team continuously with daily huddles to keep focused on  delivering exceptional customer service.
• Constantly ask your employees if there are any incidents or questions that  need to be resolved today so they can be better equipped to handle them in the  future.
• Empower your employees to bend the rules to take care of your  customers.
• Reward, recognize and celebrate the random acts of kindnesses that  individual employees offer your customers.
• Serve as a role model to your employees when interacting with your customers  directly.

When you do this you will keep every one of your employees involved, engaged  and committed in only offering the kind of “killer” service for which you DO  want to be recognized.

About the Author: Bill Quiseng, Chief Experience Officer at  billquiseng.com, is an award winning writer, blogger and professional speaker in  the areas of customer service, associate engagement and leadership.

Bill has over 30 years in luxury resort and hotel management. Bill’s  achievements include receiving the Marriott International Spirit to Serve Award,  Renaissance Hotels General Manager of the Year, Marriott International  Leadership Excellence and Sales Excellence Awards, Petoskey Chamber of Commerce  Mission Award and the American Hotel Motel Association’s Pearson Award for  Excellence in Lodging Journalism.

He continues to give customer service presentations for Chambers of Commerce,  hospitals, private companies, financial institutions, high schools, community  colleges and universities, and trade associations.

He can be reached at [email protected]

When figuring pay many small business owners think they can forgo messy  payroll taxes calling everyone an independent contractor. Not the case, the IRS  has criteria in determining whether someone is an employee or an independent  contractor. They are headed for big trouble with the IRS if they do not full  understand and comply. There are several key factors they use for determining  the status of workers.

Behavior Control They are an employee if subject to company  direction about when, where and how the work is to be done. What tools or  equipment is used, where to purchase supplies and what work must be done. Also,  in what order to follow in executing that work then they are an employee not an  independent contractor. Are you providing training or evaluation, then they most  certainly are an employee and need to be pay rolled as such.

Financial This area deals with a businesses right to control  economic aspect of the worker. An independent usually has an investment in the  equipment they use, though some employees do spend a significant amount of money  on tools. Jobs such as construction and are considered employees. Most  independents will incur non reimbursed expenses and having the possibility of  incurring loss is usually an indication that they are an independent.  Independent contractor is free to seek out more business opportunities in  relevant markets while an employee maintains position with the company.  Independent contractor is usually paid flat rate per job while an employee gets  hourly or salary wage.

Relationship Even though there is a contract between worker and  company stating they are an independent contractor, the IRS is not required to  follow it. They looks more at how the parties involved work with one another.  Even in the absence of employee benefits like insurance, pension, vacation pay  does not constitute independent. If the worker is expected to continue work  indefinitely rather than a specific project or period of time then usually this  is considered intent for an employer-employee relationship.

If after reviewing above criteria and still unsure if your workers are an  employee or independent contractor IRS has Form SS-8 to fill out for determining  worker status. I hope this was helpful and now you have a clear idea of the  differences between employee and independent contractor. Make sure you are in  compliance to prevent any trouble or litigation with the IRS. When in doubt employee is the safest  choice.

Brigitte August is the Director at The Art of Data they are dedicated to  offering affordable services to small businesses while promoting ethical  business practices. Are you a small business that can’t afford to keep full time  staff for your marketing and clerical needs we can help. We offer market  research, business writing and internet marketing to mention a few services.  Visit us at http://theartofdata.netii.net

One of the major differences between businesses that are stagnant and  struggling and those that are vibrant and growing is a strong sales model.

Most businesses do not have unique, proprietary products or services. Website  design, accounting, building products, recruiting, stationery are not  significantly different from one business to another and having a compelling  message and strong sales program is essential.

Building a sales system:

1) Develop a compelling sales message that separates you  from the competition in terms that are important to your target audience. Work  on your sales presentation skills and adjust after each presentation. Remember  ‘the customer writes the pitch’ meaning that your sales pitch should evolve and  grow with each presentation based on your prospect’s reaction.

2) Assemble some professional sales collateral – high  quality business cards at a minimum.

3) Get your name out there. A professional looking website,  Facebook, e-mail newsletter, twitter and a blog are the basics. To this can be  added YouTube videos, strong presence on LinkedIn and focused business  networking. Be consistent!

4) Develop a sales funnel. Every sale takes time to close,  for a variety of reasons, and so it is extremely important to have as many  quality leads as possible. Create a list of businesses that you would like to do  business with and begin to contact them directly.

5) Use a sales management system. I like online programs  like Salesforce or Capsule which are free at the one or two user level and can  be accessed via the web – even on your smart phone. These programs allow you to  see the proposed value of leads so that you can determine how much activity will  result in how many sales. Keeping this pipeline full is essential.

6) Know what you’re doing next week. All of your marketing,  social media and networking activity must result in face-to-face selling time.  The problem is that most people don’t like to do this and will use all kinds of  ‘urgent’ activity to avoid selling. If your sales calls are not booked by Friday  for the following week they won’t happen. Allow this to go on for more than a  few weeks then you will have some very difficult times down the road!

7) Never stop selling! Selling is the lifeblood of every  business and it must happen constantly. If you experience regular dry spells in  your business then you are not keeping your sales pipeline full! Make selling a  priority and keep the business coming in! If you get too much business you can  always raise your prices!

Most important is to realise that selling is a system and should be  organized, supported and managed! Its success does not depend on the  salesperson and if you are blaming your salespeople for the poor results you are  looking at the wrong place – try the mirror! A good salesperson will thrive with  a good sales system but the best salesperson can fail without the right  tools!

Read my blog

http://thesalesexperts.wordpress.com/

I love to negotiate. Give me an objective, sit me down across the table from  somebody who has what I want and let me at them. However, as gung-ho as I am,  there are times that I run out of new things to say. I’ve said it all. What  should I do next?

Say It Again Sam

When you enter into a sales negotiation, you (should) have a very clear set  of objectives that you want to accomplish. Every negotiation is different and so  it can take a number of different paths.

You’ll generally have a chance to state your case. It’s what happens after  that which can make life interesting. Specifically, if the other side doesn’t  really respond – if they are not angrily attempting to counter your every  demand, you may find yourself in an awkward situation.

The other side has not agreed to your requests, but they haven’t not agreed  to them either. What’s a negotiator to do?

It turns out that the answer is rather simple – just start repeating  yourself. That’s right: say what you’ve already said once again. If when you’re  done, things are still getting quiet, then start it all over again and tell ‘em  what you’ve already told them.

Why Repeating Yourself Is So Effective

All of this might strike you as a bit wacky. I mean, if you’ve told the other  side what you want and why you want it, what need could there possibly be for  you to start to repeat yourself?

This might surprise you a bit, but there is a very good chance that the other  side of the table may not have heard what you said the first time that you said  it. There are all types of studies out there that show that people will do a  better job of picking up on what you are saying if you repeat it (over and over  again).

Professional speakers discovered this a long time ago and during their  speeches they’ll touch on the same points multiple times. As negotiators, we  need to have the courage to do the same

We need to realize that if the opportunity presents itself, then we need to  seize it. Repeating ourselves may be the one thing that it takes to reach a deal  in our next negotiation.

What All Of This Means For You

Even the best of us can run out of things to say during a sales negotiation  before we’ve reached a deal with the other side. We’ve said what we had to say  and now we’re running on empty.

Never fear – a good sales negotiator knows that the sounds of silence need  never drift across the negotiating table from your side. Instead, back things up  and identify your key points again. Once you have them in hand, repeat what you  said the first time – over and over again.

This odd but strangely powerful technique will allow you to fill the space in  the negotiation and can work miracles – hearing your points again may cause the  other side of the table to adopt them as your own. Realizing that not every word  that tumbles out of your mouth has to be a novel thought is something that can  empower every sales negotiator.

Dr. Jim Anderson http://www.blueelephantconsulting.com/

Your Source For Real World Negotiating Skills™

Dr. Jim Anderson has spent over 20 successful years negotiating sales of all  sizes. Dr. Anderson offers you his insights on how to develop your negotiating  skills so that you can approach sales negotiations with more confidence that  you’ll be able close more deals and close them faster!

Becoming a sales superstar requires a “village” of mentors, sales managers,  assistants and other supporting players.

Sales pros possess an abundance of dedication, knowledge, skill and stamina,  traits that are typically developed and refined over a period of time.

But superstars must raise the bar. To be a superstar, such as Joe Girard or  Joseph Crane, you must follow these lessons that sales greats have learned.

Strengthen Your Commitment. It is not easy to become and  remain a superstar. You have to work longer hours, especially in your first few  years. You must set and meet demanding goals, thrive during difficult market  conditions and always remain confident in your abilities.

Get Help Now. You cannot get to the top by yourself. The  pivotal point for master salesman Joe Girard was when he got his first  assistant, allowing him to concentrate on sales and significantly expand his  annual volume. Salespeople often complain that they can’t afford to have an  assistant; actually they can’t afford not to.

Invest in Yourself-Salespeople should view themselves as a  business or a mini-corporation. Do whatever it takes to grow the business. For  example, salespeople shouldn’t necessarily expect their companies to provide  laptops, marketing materials and other “necessities.” Invest as much as 20  percent of your annual income to reach your desired production level.

Think and reach “outside the box.” Top producers constantly  seek unique ways to run their business. Find your own niche. Research the  demographics of your area. Look at trends. Take a more creative approach to your  usual routine. Evaluate what you have done in the past and what the competition  is doing; then make sure you continually test a few new strategies.

Raise the Bar-Continue to set higher production goals and be  relentless in your pursuit of them. Do not sell yourself short with easily  achievable goals. Too many salespeople get complacent after reaching a certain  production and are not willing to extend themselves to meet or exceed their  goals in future years. I have succeeded consistently by setting aggressive and realistic sales goals.

Become Even Smarter. Continue your education to become known  as the wisest expert in the market. Possess a thorough understanding of the  industry’s regulations, market demographics and economic trends. Become a  voracious reader of sales and management books, in addition to a variety of  business magazines. Understand the competition’s products and programs better  than anyone else. Be able to answer every possible objection customers can  raise.

Brand Yourself. You want customers and prospects to  recognize you as the one salesperson in your market they should contact. Have an  identity as the salesperson who provides value to customers. My own branding  evolved as customers and prospects began to recognize me as the nation’s top  ranked loan originator.

Concentrate on Profitable Strategies. It is crucial to  concentrate on programs and niches that are the most profitable. Do your  research to determine which potential markets haven’t been overexposed; i.e.,  markets that the competition haven’t yet developed.

Adapt to Technology. Top producers have a better grasp of  the latest technology developments, including Internet marketing and social  media techniques. But while embracing technological advancements do not ignore  the human element. When it comes to the major life purchases most people prefer  to have an expert with whom they can develop a personal relationship.

Build a Never-ending Referral Pipeline. Referrals should be  a superstar’s main focus. Build satisfied customers who will tell family  members, work associates, friends and others to do business with you. To ensure  that referrals multiply, you must stay in contact with customers on a regular  basis. If you don’t pay attention to your customers, someone else will.

Find a Mentor. Novice salespeople should seek a mentor who  can share proven strategies and help avoid the inevitable obstacles. The mentor  could be an experienced salesman at your company who is willing to allow you to  “shadow” them or a salesman/manager somewhere else.

Motivate Yourself-Self motivation is one of the major  factors in maintaining superstardom. Salespeople must create their own formula  to stay motivated. For many, earning an income to support their family’s diverse  needs is sufficient motivation. My personal drive is fueled by a passion for  sales and a long-standing desire to achieve.

Maintain a Strong Work Ethic. Newer  salespeople are typically willing to work extra hours to reach their goals,  reasoning that they can slow down once they reach the upper level. But the most  successful have learned that it is more difficult to substantially reduce their  workday if they want to retain their market share. Taking long vacations and  leaving early to play golf is not necessarily the formula for superstar  status.

Aspiring superstars should learn these lessons from top salespeople to become  a mega-producer.

Daniel Milstein, is CEO of Gold Star Mortgage Financial Group an INC 500  company and is author of The ABC of Sales. Milstein has been recognized as the  #1 mortgage originator in the nation, has been among the top 40 finance  professionals in America for 10 years, and has been named the top employer in  Michigan for two years by the Detroit Free Press. Milstein has achieved more  than $3 billion in personal career mortgage sales, is a licensed mortgage lender  in 20 states, and has 15 years in the banking industry as an executive,  originator, underwriter, productions and operations manager with the highest  track record in the industry.