In today's global marketplace, it's important to understand the differences between cultures, as well as how those differences affect the way you do business. One of the ways to understand culture is to look at it in the four dimensions established by Hofstede:

1. Individualism vs. Collectivism
2. Small or Large Scale Power Distance
3. Uncertainty Avoidance
4. Masculinity vs. Femininity

The first dimension is Individualism vs. Collectivism. The issue in this dimension is the relation between an individual’s interests and the interests of the group. In individualist societies, the individual exercises loose ties between others, is concerned with his own self-interests, and possibly the interests of his immediate family. Individualist societies normally have a large degree of freedom and liberty, which encourages people to pursue personal goals and ambitions. In collectivistic societies, individuals are not so much concerned with their own interests as they are the interests of their group, which can include immediate and extended families. Every country theoretically fits somewhere along the Individualist-Collectivist continuum.

The second dimension measures Small or Large Scale Power Distance. The fundamental idea is how each society deals with inequality. All societies suffer from inequality, but some are more unequal than others. Some of the variables which contribute to inequality are physical size, intellectual giftedness, wealth, and heredity. In organizations, scholars like Hofstede contend that the degree of Power Distance is associated with centralization and autocratic leadership.

Uncertainty Avoidance is the third dimension. In short, this dimension deals with how each society copes with the uncertainty of an unknown future. Some societies accept more readily this uncertainty without much fear. These "Weak Uncertainty Avoidance" societies take life as it comes, do not work as hard, are willing to take risks, and are very tolerant of almost any behavior and opinion. On the other hand, other societies experience anxiety because of an uncertain future. Also known as "Strong Uncertainty Avoidance" societies, these cultures are marked by emotional stress and aggressiveness.

Finally, the fourth dimension is Masculinity vs. Femininity. The issue is role divisions between men and women in society. In every society, men and women perform certain roles; men normally take more dominant roles, while women are concerned with more caring and supportive roles. One can use these types of roles to describe similarities between cultures. "Masculine" cultures value a high degree of achievement, money, and work first. More "feminine" societies value quality of life, relationships, and helping others before power and money.

From these four dimensions, we can understand why it is wrong to assume or assign one management theory to work for all cultures and societies. Much of the writing on management over the past couple of decades, especially about leadership, models of organization, and motivation, have been written from an American point of view. Economically, this points to the importance of the US economy during this period, but culturally it does not consider the impact on other societies.

While more works needs to be done to understand the entire scope of the role culture plays in management, understanding that there are differences, and using these dimensions to explore them, is the first step.

Carmelo Di Salvo was born and raised in Buffalo, New York and received his B.A in economics from the State University of New York in Buffalo. He graduated from Regent University in 1995 with his M.B.A. In the years following, he spent time working for businesses like Liberty Tax Service and RBC Centura, as well as several years in the hospitality industry. He returned to Regent in 2003 to pursue a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership. His current focus is on teaching and consulting in the areas of strategic leadership, foresight analysis and creativity in the workplace.

Check out more on this topic at http://www.northstarconsultingllc.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carmelo_Di_Salvo

The single greatest obstacle preventing organizations from becoming great–achieving superior results, exceeding customer expectations, attracting and retaining talent, developing leaders, and creating work environments where people at all levels can learn and grow and prosper is painfully simple: Management Malpractice—abuses of power, knowledge and relationships that bog down systems, frustrate people, thwart teamwork, divert focus, and compromise results. What exactly is management malpractice? Any organizational practice or activity that makes it difficult for people to perform their jobs, develop themselves, coordinate with others, find fulfillment, create value and get results for themselves and their organizations. It occurs when management principles or corporate values are preached but not practiced and always involves an abuse of power, knowledge or relationships. Management malpractices at all levels in an organization must be constantly exposed and routinely eliminated if the enterprise expects to achieve and sustain greatness.

Great management principles that are considered by most people to be timelessly and universally true — principles such as sharing ideas at every level, fostering a healthy dissatisfaction with the status quo, treating employees as your most valuable asset, valuing the contributions of each individual, creating an environment where people feel free to raise concerns, establishing a foundation of respect and trust, enabling people to tap into their full potential, listening to all viewpoints, constantly challenging assumptions and biases, and accepting responsibility for your actions — provide a vital shield and protection for individuals in organizations. When such universally accepted principles and truths are ignored, forgotten or preached but not practiced, individuals lose their protection and become subject to managers and leaders who can easily manipulate, abuse and injure them. Just as a nation without the rule of law cannot protect its citizens from physical harm, an organization without the rule of great management principles cannot protect its employees from emotional and psychological damage. Management malpractice occurs whenever managers and leaders fail to apply principles that have been tried and tested, proven and accepted as timelessly and universally true.

Oftentimes a vicious cycle is at work in organizations: leaders consciously or unconsciously malpractice management, employees react with disappointment and disgust, leaders attempt to correct their malpractice, employees perceive leaders’ corrective efforts as disingenuous and manipulative, leaders react with disappointment and disgust but they try again, employees cautiously give leaders another chance, leaders improve but not as fully and quickly as employees would like, employees become angry and call leaders hypocrites, leaders become angry and call employees whiners, and so on until both leaders and employees accept management malpractice as the norm. It is an inescapable reality of modern organizational life.

This vicious cycle continues until the organizational culture becomes mired in cynicism and distrust. The solution? Break the cycle by seeing it and exposing it – both the leader’s under-reaction to malpractice and the employee’s over-reaction to imperfection. Only when management malpractice is replaced with a widespread adherence to great management principles (timeless and universal) will the labels of hypocrite and whiner disappear. Only then can the vicious cycle be prevented from returning.

Craig Hickman is the author or coauthor of a dozen books on business and management, among them such bestsellers as Creating Excellence; The Strategy Game; Mind of a Manager, Soul of a Leader; and The Oz Principle. After receiving his M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School, he worked in the areas of strategic planning, organizational design, and mergers and acquisitions for Dart Industries and Ernst & Young. In 1985, he founded Management Perspectives Group, a consulting and training firm that helped companies implement the business strategy, corporate culture, and organizational change principles set forth in Creating Excellence and Mind of a Manager, Soul of a Leader. His clients have included: Proctor & Gamble, American Express, Unilever, AT&T, PepsiCo, Honeywell, Amoco, Nokia, and the U.S. government. He has lectured throughout the world for the U.S. State Department as part of its American Participant Program and is currently CEO of Headwaters Technology Innovation Group, a subsidiary of Headwaters Incorporated (NYSE: HW).

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Craig_Hickman

In today's global marketplace, it's important to understand the differences between cultures, as well as how those differences affect the way you do business. One of the ways to understand culture is to look at it in the four dimensions established by Hofstede:

1. Individualism vs. Collectivism
2. Small or Large Scale Power Distance
3. Uncertainty Avoidance
4. Masculinity vs. Femininity

The first dimension is Individualism vs. Collectivism. The issue in this dimension is the relation between an individual’s interests and the interests of the group. In individualist societies, the individual exercises loose ties between others, is concerned with his own self-interests, and possibly the interests of his immediate family. Individualist societies normally have a large degree of freedom and liberty, which encourages people to pursue personal goals and ambitions. In collectivistic societies, individuals are not so much concerned with their own interests as they are the interests of their group, which can include immediate and extended families. Every country theoretically fits somewhere along the Individualist-Collectivist continuum.

The second dimension measures Small or Large Scale Power Distance. The fundamental idea is how each society deals with inequality. All societies suffer from inequality, but some are more unequal than others. Some of the variables which contribute to inequality are physical size, intellectual giftedness, wealth, and heredity. In organizations, scholars like Hofstede contend that the degree of Power Distance is associated with centralization and autocratic leadership.

Uncertainty Avoidance is the third dimension. In short, this dimension deals with how each society copes with the uncertainty of an unknown future. Some societies accept more readily this uncertainty without much fear. These "Weak Uncertainty Avoidance" societies take life as it comes, do not work as hard, are willing to take risks, and are very tolerant of almost any behavior and opinion. On the other hand, other societies experience anxiety because of an uncertain future. Also known as "Strong Uncertainty Avoidance" societies, these cultures are marked by emotional stress and aggressiveness.

Finally, the fourth dimension is Masculinity vs. Femininity. The issue is role divisions between men and women in society. In every society, men and women perform certain roles; men normally take more dominant roles, while women are concerned with more caring and supportive roles. One can use these types of roles to describe similarities between cultures. "Masculine" cultures value a high degree of achievement, money, and work first. More "feminine" societies value quality of life, relationships, and helping others before power and money.

From these four dimensions, we can understand why it is wrong to assume or assign one management theory to work for all cultures and societies. Much of the writing on management over the past couple of decades, especially about leadership, models of organization, and motivation, have been written from an American point of view. Economically, this points to the importance of the US economy during this period, but culturally it does not consider the impact on other societies.

While more works needs to be done to understand the entire scope of the role culture plays in management, understanding that there are differences, and using these dimensions to explore them, is the first step.

Carmelo Di Salvo was born and raised in Buffalo, New York and received his B.A in economics from the State University of New York in Buffalo. He graduated from Regent University in 1995 with his M.B.A. In the years following, he spent time working for businesses like Liberty Tax Service and RBC Centura, as well as several years in the hospitality industry. He returned to Regent in 2003 to pursue a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership. His current focus is on teaching and consulting in the areas of strategic leadership, foresight analysis and creativity in the workplace.

Check out more on this topic at http://www.northstarconsultingllc.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carmelo_Di_Salvo

I have written a couple articles so far about the downfall of GM and Ford, although I have mostly focused on GM. GM announced today that they are going to offer some 113,000 hourly employees a severance package in the six figure range to leave and waive their rights to their healthcare benefits.

If I were in the position of some of these workers I would have a difficult decision to make. You have to weigh the fact that you would possibly get $140,000 to walk away from GM and the healthcare benefits you have worked years to secure against the fact that GM may go out of business by the time you retire and you would have turned down the package and still not get the healthcare benefits.

I know, you think I am crazy because I say GM may go out of business, right? Most people do think I am crazy when I say that. I bet a lot of people never thought Enron would crumble either and on paper they were a strong company. GM is a failing company on paper. The article above states that GM announced last week a loss of $10.6 billion. They have been losing billions and billions for years. They are well over $300 billion in debt and they continue to struggle with labor issues, declining market share, and more. I would like to know how anyone thinks they can stay in business.

As I have said in previous articles, GM is known for their cars but they are actually just as involved in mortgages and other financial tools through GMAC. GMAC has done well for the past few years because of the recent housing boom but they will pay the price within a couple years, adding to their already worsening financial situation. A former co-worker of mine was an attorney and he did closings on the side to make extra money. He did them for GMAC. He said many of the loans he did closings for were usually for people in bad shape financially. A lot of them were ARM mortgages or interest only mortgages.

What is going to happen is once the rates climb higher these people will end up not being able to make their mortgage payments because the payments will have increased too much do to the adjustable rates. GM is going to end up losing a lot of money on this side of their business as well.

Oldsmobile went out of business a couple years ago and there has been some speculation that another one of the GM brands will be going out of business as well. I have read some “experts” articles that feel Pontiac will be the next to go do to slipping sales. Chevy is obviously the staple of the company, Cadillac does pretty well from what I have read, Saturn is one of the more successful brands as well. Hummer is a niche market and they continue to develop that to market to more types of customers. Saab is a “foreign” car and most people probably do not even realize they are owned by GM so they will most likely make the cut. This leaves Pontiac. The sales on their highly marketed GTO were weak and with good reason. I don’t think you can bring back a legendary name like the GTO and make it nothing more than a glorified Cavalier/Grand Am. I have always stuck by my belief that bad management has brought GM to the position it is in and the GTO is the perfect example. They didn’t build a car that lived up to the name and yet they were trying to pre-sell the cars for $35,000 or more.

GM should really be studied in MBA programs in management classes. It should be made the example of what can happen when you have an industry leading company for decades fall apart because of some bad decisions. It has got to send, or at least should send a message that regardless of how big a company gets you still need to stay on top of your game or you could risk going out of business as well.

Maybe GM will fix things and end up not going out of business. Maybe things aren’t as bad as they appear to be. If you are reading this and you are a manager be sure to take a close look at what you are doing and make sure it is the right thing to do. If you are just an interested reader keep watching the headlines over the coming months and look for more bad news from GM, I think it is coming.

Scott Bianchi operates http://www.best-internet-bargains.com. He writes on a variety of topics. If you would like to be added to his distribution list for his new articles when they are published just send an email to [email protected].

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These days, the struggle to survive is becoming increasingly intense for businesses of all sizes. Special strategies need to be adopted in order to improve the functioning of a company in order to allow it to keep up with the intensity of today’s marketplace. For this reason, many businesses have chosen to seek the advice of experts who can better the overall functioning of their organizations to ensure that they are reaching their highest potentials.

Among the strategies being recently and successfully implemented is the DMAIC Model, which stands for Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control. Experts, including Six Sigma Black Belts, swear by this model for overall business success though quality control, problem management, and common sense. It works as follows:

• Define – this refers to defining the goals of any given improvement effort. Top level improvement goals may include strategic efforts such as increasing the ROI or market share. Closer to the operations level, an organization’s goal may involve bettering the output of a given department. On the projects level, the goals may involve decreasing defects and increasing production. Data mining methods are applied here for identifying prospective opportunities for enhancement.

• Measure – this refers to measuring the current process. Reliable and valid metrics need to be established so that the different steps towards achieving the goal can be defined. This starts with the definition of the current baseline. Exploratory and descriptive data analysis are applied here for assisting with the understanding of the data.

• Analyze – this refers to the analysis of the system in order to recognize the disparity between the current system performance and the goal. Statistical tools are applied here for guiding the analysis.

• Improve – this refers to the improvements made to the system. Creativity must be employed in order to discover fresh ways of doing things cheaper, faster, and better. Project management and other management and planning tools are used here in order to facilitate the implementation of the new methodology. Statistical methods are also used in order to validate improvements that have been made.

• Control – this refers to controlling the new system. The enhanced system must be institutionalized through the modification of compensation and incentive programs, policies, MRP, procedures, operating instructions, budgets, and other systems of management. You can choose to use such systems as ISO 9000 in order to ensure accuracy of the documentation.

Though the DMAIC model does involve a reworking of the mindset of a business, strategies such as Six Sigma have seen tremendous, dynamic results upon its application.

Craig Setter is a certified Master Black Belt for Aveta Solutions – Six Sigma Online. Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for 6 sigma black belt, green belt, yellow belt, lean and DFSS courses. They have an extensive customer list including such companies as Pfizer, Microsoft, UPS, Bank of America, and State/Federal Governments. For additional information in regards to Six Sigma or to see how Aveta Solutions Six Sigma Online can help you, please visit us at http://www.sixsigmaonline.org

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Craig_Setter

You may have noticed the increase of discussion and publication about a topic called 6 Sigma. However, what isn’t as obvious is what 6 Sigma actually is. First created by Motorola, 6 Sigma is an intensive, highly focused, and greatly effective quality control strategy. Its primary goal is to maintain the performance of an organization virtually error-free.

When measuring the performance of a company, its Sigma level is given. Traditionally operated businesses will usually be found running at a 3 or 4 Sigma performance level, even though their rate of problems per opportunity usually falls between 6,200 and 67,000 per one million.

On the other hand, an organization running at 6 Sigma will instead see an average of only 3.4 problems per million opportunities. This tremendous difference can make the difference between success and failure in a market where the expectations of customers rise as quickly as the complexity of today’s products and processes.

Surprisingly enough, however, 6 Sigma – though considered an entirely new and innovative strategy – does not involve any new technologies, theories, or techniques. Instead, its foundation is methods that have existed for a long time and have proven their efficacy time and time again. In fact, 6 Sigma disregards a large amount of the density of traditional Total Quality Management (TQM) in favor of a much more direct, common sense-based, and practical mindset.

Unfortunately, though, after lifetimes of learning, training, and thinking in traditional ways, the more reality-based 6 Sigma does not come naturally to many people. To compensate for this issue, specially trained, proven individuals, known as 6 Sigma Black Belts, have become available to assist organizations using their proficiency in the application of the 6 Sigma strategy.

Of course, all this is not to say that everything about 6 Sigma is obvious and simple. In fact, some of the techniques utilized by the Black Belts are quite advanced, and require state-of-the-art computer technologies.

Fortunately, these tools can be applied to quite an easy performance improvement model, frequently referred to by 6 Sigma Black Belts as the Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control Model, so that any business can apply 6 Sigma to its own processes.

Now that you know what 6 Sigma is, it’s time to find out how you can improve the function of your own business and maximize your potential through practical and realistic quality control. The strategy has worked wonders for Motorola, and is currently growing its successes with organizations around the globe.

Craig Setter is a certified Master Black Belt for Aveta Solutions – Six Sigma Online. Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for 6 sigma black belt, green belt, yellow belt, lean and DFSS courses. They have an extensive customer list including such companies as Pfizer, Microsoft, UPS, Bank of America, and State/Federal Governments. For additional information in regards to Six Sigma or to see how Aveta Solutions Six Sigma Online can help you, please visit us at http://www.sixsigmaonline.org

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Craig_Setter

anguage is no problem when color-coded floor markings make the job as simple as matching colors. Mistakes are all too easy to make and even easier when language problems compound them. Now that we know how to get colored epoxy floor coatings down to stay, why not take advantage of them? Color coding pallet positions to correspond to color-coded conveyer belts is one way. Items coming off the yellow conveyer go to pallets on the yellow markings. Blue conveyer items go to blue conveyer pallet locations. Or, red spaces can be assigned for fire equipment and hose outlets, blue markings for water lines, and white markings for electrical panels and outlets. For traffic lanes, why not a yellow path rather than small taped lines? Following the yellow brick road worked for Dorothy and it can work for the rest of us.

During application of a second or third layer of floor coating, use blue tape to mark out the floor pattern. Next choose from dozens of colors to help keep things on track and improve moral. A personally customized floor is easily created by combining a choice of colors, colored chips, and even glitter options.

Other looks available include granite, tile, and slate. Logos, stripes, and "yellow brick roads" are sometimes added to the floors of printing facilities, manufacturing plants, restaurants, "collector cars" garages, basements, and even food processing plants. The finish can be gloss, flat, or satin. Additionally, the floors may be skid-resistant, like emery paper, yet still easy to sweep or squeegee.

Epoxy flooring goes on at the job site and requires no seams. With no breaks in the surface, the floor coating becomes a continuous membrane that seals what is above from what is below. Mold, mildew, and other contaminants cannot penetrate the epoxy membrane and wash off easily.

One leading floor coating manufacturer, Durall Industrial Flooring of Minneapolis, Minnesota, also makes over 20 specialty epoxy colors. Their special preparations of cleaners produce an application system that assures optimum flooring adhesion and wear results. Durall experts help customize their flooring kits at no cost to the customer, always including complete procedures for installing and maintaining a quality epoxy or urethane floor coating. To address those unexpected questions and problems, Durall also provides a complimentary 24/7 help line during the project.

For photos of a recent installation creating a color-coded floor, see: http://www.concrete-floor-coatings.com/photos/colorcoded/

For more information, contact Harvey Chichester at [email protected]

Phone: 1-800-466-8910 or 952-888-1488 (24/7)

###

Harvey Chichester is a principal of Durall Industrial Flooring, a company with more than 40 years experience in developing special flow-coatings for industrial and residential floors. Automotive and shopping centers, breweries, food processing plants, manufacturing plants, airplane hangars, car washes, kennels, warehouses, printing plants, residential basements, pool decks, and condominiums are among some of the facilities that he has installed floors in.

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This title is some how misleading, but on the other hand figuratively explain just the main point. The question is about integration. When you buy a mutual fund you are free from integration problems – those are handled by your fund provider.

If you prefer to select (the best) stocks your self, you will have to do the integration on your own. Figuratively speaking, because the real one minute assessment is about business management; how to integrate different solutions...and, what is your preferred approach?

Integration problems arise when you are to solve different problems within the organization with different solutions.

For example in the Sales area. There are areas like:

    * e-Mail management – e-mail responding systems
    * Campaign management – sending e-mail campaigns. And or common mailings
    * Customer management
    * Service management
    * etc...

For all these areas your organization may choose a best-of-breed kind of solution or a one-size-fits-all. In the first case the solution (system) will provide the best features for a specific area. The best e-mail responder, the best campaign management tool, etc. At the other end your organization may prefer a one-size-fits-all approach; a broad functional coverage of the system and its features, but for any specific area not the best choice.

In the first case your organization ought to manage the integrations problems by itself. In the last case the provider of the system will handle many (but never all) of the integration issues.

This resembles financial management. It is fun to invest in individual stock, building up a portfolio of what you think are the best stocks on the market. But are you sure whether this self catered portfolio will outperform the market? Rather you might consider buying a mutual fund; it solves you many headaches. On the other hand, its less fun.

There is one difference; where in the financial situation you could choose to do both; dedicate a part of you portfolio to self selecting stocks and the other half with a mutual fund. This serves as a benchmark in the same time; which part performs better?

In business there is no such a choice; it is either left -- best of breed, or right (maybe wrong) –- one-size-fits-all. There are not many other options.

Check for yourself what option you would consider first. This influences much of the contribution to this integration discussion in your organization.

© 2006 Hans Bool

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days. You can apply for a free demo account

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Many British businesses have been slow to appreciate the full extent of changes that have occurred over the years to Employment Law and continue to adopt out of date disciplinary and redundancy procedures. Lucky for them then that the only people who seem less aware of the changes are the employees themselves; few employees would believe the extent that they are now protected, but that is not likely to last.

With the maximum compensatory award in unfair dismissal cases now over £50,000 and with tribunals willing to make awards without any regard to a company's financial position, small to medium sized businesses are most at risk.

Part-time and agency workers now have comparable rights as those enjoyed by full time employees and discrimination now carries a much wider definition, with even more to come.

With the introduction of "no win, no fee" legal representation an employee now has little to loose and much to gain by bringing a claim against a former employer. Tribunals do not operate in the same way as a court of law, the company is not 'not guilty' until proven 'guilty' but rather considered guilty until they can prove otherwise. In the absence of real evidence a tribunal will take anecdotal evidence and decide subjectively for themselves as to who, on balance, they believe.

Redundancy guidelines

The redundancy guidelines published by governing bodies and often the advice that is received from employment law specialists is not always as helpful as some businesses might like. Take for example where redundancy guidelines talk of a 'consultation' process, what constitutes consultation is often open to interpretation and what an organisation might itself regard as 'consultation' a tribunal might take as 'a premeditated foregone conclusion'.

This article views the redundancy process from an organisations point of view where senior managers are likely to be under considerable pressure, frustrated and keen to act.

Where fools rush in

Few people, if any, relish the need for redundancies but often there is a desire from management to get a difficult task over with as quickly as possible so that the organisation can move on. Managers need to be educated in the fact that although following the proper guidelines will take longer than just handing out redundancy notices letters the process can bring benefits to the employer if done properly.

In a redundancy situation companies are able to act with complete autonomy, there is no legislative body looking over their shoulders, monitoring the methods used and in the absence of a trade union, employees are unlikely to be au fait with details of employment law. However, if claims of unfair dismissal are subsequently received the procedures and methods a company adopted will be laid bare and heavily scrutinized and the consequences of inadequate procedures penalised.

A tribunal is not a pleasant place for any company official, with the benefit of hindsight a tribunal will asks difficult questions; what was a real crisis six months earlier may be difficult to convey to people who have no knowledge of the business or in some cases the industry.

Being seen to be fair

Being a good employer who operates in good faith and with genuine intentions is not enough, such employers are more and more finding themselves having to pay substantial compensation to former employees, some of whom may be undeserving but nevertheless know how to play the system.

UK companies are no longer seen as merely providing employment but as being socially responsible and when a company takes on new employees they are assuming more responsibility for that person than many realise.

Today companies have to be very aware of what their responsibilities are and how they must act. For small companies where the owners may be more entrepreneurial, the business more hand to mouth, there is no provision to allow them to operate in any other way than that expected of larger and more established organisations.

Some managers can often make the mistake of thinking that redundancy procedures do not apply to junior staff and will still issue redundancies on the fly, such action will only expose them to a possible claim for unfair dismissal that they will have every chance of loosing.

A step-by-step guide

To support senior managers a questionnaire has been devised that will guide senior management through the steps required when making redundancies.

By completing the questionnaire a manager will obtain a redundancy procedure checklist and if each step is completed a company can be confident that they will be able to vigorously defend any future unfair redundancy claims they receive.

A Manager's Guide to Managing Redundancy in the UK

Martin Day is a director of Survey Galaxy Ltd a website that allows anyone with basic computer skills the ability to create and design online surveys and then publish them on the Internet. Fast, easy and cost effective for more information please visit http://www.surveygalaxy.com

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Losing good employees is not only an expense in terms of time, effort and the associated cost of finding a suitable replacement but also in the untold cost of loosing valuable knowledge and experience that is unique to the organization; Loosing good employees is a problem where prevention is most definitely the best cure.

It is inevitable that employees will leave from time to time but a good employer will want to know why an employee has decided to leave to ensure that personnel are leaving for the right, and not the wrong, reasons.

Concerns of employees can be identified early by the regular use of well designed employee satisfaction surveys, allowing for problems to be resolved and helping to minimize needless loss of staff. However, some problems, especially those that involve personalities, are not always brought to the surface until it is too late.

There are two very common reasons for employee dissatisfaction that can often result in personnel deciding to change jobs, a lack of career development and/or poor management. Both of these problems can be difficult to identify even for organizations that adopt regular 360 degree assessments (i.e. where as part of the overall appraisal system, employees evaluate their managers).

While employed employees can be reluctant to criticize their managers for fear of the consequences, they can however be more candid when completing an exit survey.

Although adopting exit surveys many not prevent individuals from leaving it will help bring to the surface problems that could, if left unchecked, result in poor staff moral for the remaining staff and worse case scenario, a flood of resignations.

Lack of Career Development

Not all employers can offer, and nor do all employees desire, a clear and long term career path. There are just as many people that find comfort and security in doing one job well as there are there are people that need to feel that they are continual being challenged, learning new skills and moving onwards and upwards with respect to the corporate ladder. For organizations to succeed and excel they need the high flyers as well as the steady Eddies of the world.

Where losses due to a lack of career development are occasional they may also be inevitable, but where they are frequent, then changes to the organizational structure might need to be considered to allow for greater career development of the employees.

Poor Management

Many managers achieved their position through promotion, but it does not always follow that a good worker will automatically make a good manager and often people are assigned management position without any formal management training.

Poor managers can be quick to discredit the views of disgruntled staff, 'I was thinking of getting rid of them anyway' and 'they were a waste of space' are typical responses to being asked if there is a problem causing people to leave an organization.

It is proper and natural for senior management to support their line managers by giving them the benefit of any doubt, after all a good managers can always be slighted by poor employees. But by conducting exit surveys, if a man-management problem were to be identified early there is a good chance that it can be addressed and resolved with the appropriate formal training and guidance.

Records

It is not uncommon for people to leave an employer and at a later date put in a claim for constructive dismissal. With 'No win no fee' legal representation this has become a real problem for even good employers. Exit surveys will at best, provide a valuable record of the employee's reasons for leaving, and at worse, provide early warning that a possible claim might be expected.

Unless it is on record a tribunal will not necessarily accept an employer's word that when an employee left they did so without indicating any grievance.

When to conduct an exit survey

Exit surveys can be conducted as part of the termination procedures or they can, with the employee's agreement, be delayed for a few months.

The advantage with delaying an exit survey for a few months is that after a period of reflection a former employee can be less emotional and more objective and if they have taken up another position they may be in a position to compare their previous role with their new role.

The advantages with conducting an exit survey as part of the termination procedure is that although emotions may be running high it is probably more reflective of the employee's state of mind and therefore closer to the reasons they have decided to leave (justified or otherwise). If left until later any comparison between their old and new roles may be the result of them putting on a brave face, and if reasons are given that require action, the delay may well hinder the problem from being resolved.

Summary

Organizations will generally benefit in a number of different ways by including exit surveys as part of their employee termination procedures. They will at the very least provide good records that could prove very valuable later, at best they will provide management with information that can help improve an organization spiritually and with the bottom line.

For a sample Exit survey:

Sample Exit Survey

Martin Day is a director of Survey Galaxy Ltd a website that allows anyone with basic computer skills the ability to create and design online surveys and then publish them on the Internet. Fast, easy and cost effective for more information please visit http://www.surveygalaxy.com

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Although there are distinct advantages to conducting regular employee satisfaction surveys online - there can also be risks.

Listed here are some of the main advantages, considerations and the possible risks to conducting employee satisfaction surveys nline.

Advantages

Identify Problems - Surveys are can be very effective in identify problems areas before they become serious, especially those that are hidden from senior management.

Working Environment - From something small like a broken chair to the more serious problem of sick building syndrome that can result in personnel experiencing headaches; eye, nose, and throat irritation; a dry cough; dry or itchy skin; dizziness and nausea; and difficulty in concentrating. Surveys allow environmental problems to be identified in a measured and controlled manner.

Remuneration & Benefits - Measure and monitor how satisfied personnel are with their remuneration and benefits.

Mood and Moral - Provides a simple but effective method to measure and monitor the mood and moral of an organization.

Benchmark - In the same way that an organization will consider their financial position by comparison with previous years, so the regular use of online surveys will allow an organization to monitor and measure their progress and development in non-financial terms.

Processes & Procedures - As businesses evolve some of the traditional processes and procedures can become antiquated, personnel are often the first to know and the last to be asked. Businesses evolve and the business processes need to be regularly re-aligned.

Training - Lack of proper training is a common cause of dissatisfaction among employees and can lead to more serious problems such as stress.

Communication - For an organization to run efficiently good internal and external communications are essential, surveys can provide a method to help organizations to monitor and measure how well an organization communicates.

Goals and Objectives - Surveys can measure and monitor the extent that the personnel are aligned with the senior management's business goals and objectives.

Cost Effective - Using an online survey service such as www.surveygalaxy.com surveys are quick and easy to create, simple to deploy and will provide real-time results.

Compliance - To properly comply with an ever increasing array of regulations the modern organization needs to be able to disseminate information throughout the organization and ensure, through records, that the information has been received, and importantly, understood. Online surveys provide organization with a cost effective method to meet many of their obligations.

Keeping the Initiative - It is always better for management to ask than be told. By conducting regular employee surveys management are able to keep the initiative in trying to identify problems that may otherwise manifest into demands.

Considerations

Management Backing - A survey that is both sanctioned and has the support of senior management will go some way in ensuring that any action required, based on the survey findings, will be implemented.

Ask the right questions - Consider careful the questions being asked. If employees feel that the survey is just trying to tick the right boxes the survey could backfire.

A survey that is to be conducted annually should try and ask questions that will provide senior management with an overall health check of the organization.

Avoid questions that will only apply to specific departments or personnel. If some areas of the organization require detailed investigation consider running separate one-off surveys that can be targeted at specific personnel.

Incentive - Most employees will feel that by being able to give their opinions that they are already stakeholders in the exercise and will be happy to participate in the survey as they will expect to benefit from the process.

However, some incentive may help improve the overall response rate or could be used to encourage early participation.

Smaller incentives could be handed out to all employees or all participating employees could be entered into a lottery to receive a more substantial prize.

Anonymous - The decision to allow respondents to remain anonymous or not needs careful consideration. A survey that is conducted anonymously may allow employees to be more candid, however, anonymity may encourage some individuals to make wild accusations that can not be substantiated and cause considerable concern. When in doubt it is often better to keep everything 'on the record' rather than 'off'.

Where survey respondents are known there is the opportunity to chase for surveys that have not been completed and also to follow up on some issues directly with those employees who have raised them as problems.

Comments - Keep free text comments to a minimum because they are difficult and time consuming to measure and analyze.

Consider limiting free text comments to one at the end of the survey or, in the case of surveys that are not being conducted anonymously, allow for a post-survey follow-up to obtain more information where additional and more specific detail is required.

Risks

Management - Some managers can regard any form of employee consultation as a sign of weakness and may have a tendency to dismiss out of hand any negative comment.

Warts and All - A survey is likely to reveal warts and all. Senior management should be prepared for discovering that the top down view can differ from the bottom up view and that ignorance, of any identified problems, can no longer be used as an excuse.

Non-Action - Many employees will invest time and effort in participating in a survey and their hopes and expectations will be raised. Any post-survey non-action is likely to promote cynicism and jeopardize any future initiatives to obtain employee feedback.

Management should formally respond to the issues raised in surveys even if the demands of employees are not to be met. If senior management agree to address and resolve some issues then action needs to have started before any further survey is scheduled.

Can Cause Problems - Where surveys reveal, or bring problems, to the surface there could be a tendency for senior management to blame the messenger.

Summary

The benefits of conducting regular online employee surveys can be considerable, but for surveys to be effective important upfront considerations need to be made. Although the process of conducting a survey can be therapeutic in itself it is the post-survey analysis, response and action that will ultimately determine how useful and effective the process has been.

For a sample employee satisfaction survey ==>Sample Employee Satisfaction Survey

Martin Day is a director of Survey Galaxy Ltd a website that allows anyone with basic computer skills the ability to create and design online surveys and then publish them on the Internet. Fast, easy and cost effective for more information please visit http://www.surveygalaxy.com

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It is a sad statistic, but most companies lose track of between 40 and 80 percent of their leads at some point in the sales cycle. This fact shows that many companies face a wide variety of challenges in lead tracking. Finding a lead is viewed by some as the more difficult task, but in reality, most companies have more difficulty keeping and acting upon the lead.

To begin with, lead capture is essential to lead tracking. There are specific business rules that should be followed when capturing a lead, and if those rules are not defined well in the beginning, it will be harder to hold onto the lead. If a business starts a relationship of with a consumer on a bad note, then that business is less likely to keep that consumer interested for a long period of time.

Some companies simply lose track of their leads. Finding and implementing the right software can often be a challenge for a company interested in tracking and managing their leads. New systems are coming out that attempt to provide the company with end-to-end visibility. However, it is the responsibility of the company to stay with the most current (and efficient) lead tracking technology. After spending so much time and effort finding a lead, it is very foolish to allow that lead to be dropped because of bad software.

The best programs have a very organized system of dealing with leads. Different types of leads are treated differently, as they should be. Spending the same amount of resources and devoting the same amount of time to different leads is very inefficient. Companies that have success attribute leads to a specific marketing investment; they also give different attention to hot, warm, and cool leads. High-priority leads go immediately to sales, and lower priority leads go to marketing for future attention. Companies that succeed have great systems for notifying management when a lead is not being attended to and gather more results for an accurate evaluation of market activities.

It is easy to identity the challenges associated with lead tracking, but it is difficult for most companies to respond to those challenges. The best way to respond is to have a clearly defined, ethical business plan for dealing with leads. Additionally, having experienced employees who can deal with leads well is very helpful. However, better lead tracking can happen if highly skilled employees have access to the right tools. Thus top-tier lead management solutions offered by companies such as Leads360 can help companies become much more productive in this area.

James Hasson recommends Leads360 for lead tracking software.

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To keep key stakeholders onside and supportive of a project then all communication with them needs to be in a language and format designed to continue to engage them.

To do this you will need to identify the “consequences” of the project to them

In sales, you are taught to identify the Features, Functions and Benefits of a product to a customer, then to go sell them the Benefits. For Project Managers, this process needs to go one step further.

Beyond the Benefits, what are the “Consequences” of completing the project? That is, what will be the impact to the stakeholder and on the stakeholder, of having the project completed? Once you have identified the consequences of the project to them, then all your communication to them will be in the language of consequences.

For example; Imagine for moment a world of cups with no handles – the handle has not yet been invented. Suppose for a moment that your new project is to put a handle on a cup – the first handle ever! The Feature of this newly designed cup is the curved attachment on the side i.e. the handle. Its Function is as a holding mechanism. The benefit of the handle is that it allows you to easily hold the cup without spilling the contents – a wonderful benefit indeed. The Consequences of this benefit are the real key to selling it. The Consequences of the handle are that; Clients can now drink hot liquids in a cup without getting burnt from spills, Clients can drink hot liquids from a cup without spilling and ruining their clothes, Restaurants can serve drinks without the drinks getting spilt on white table clothes thereby reducing the cleaning bill, and so on – all from a simple handle.

Coming back to your particular project, there are a few simple creative steps to identify the consequences;

The easiest way is to create a four column table;

Head up column one, “Project Features”, and in this column list all of the features of the project that are relevant, (and frankly completely irrelevant) e.g. For a building project – list the building height, number of stories, car parking spaces, likely market, tenants, landscaping etc

Head up column two with the title “Functions”; and for each feature already identified, list all the associated functions that is; what does the feature actually do?

Give column three the title "Benefits" and list of that benefits of the each feature and function, e.g. Views, return on investment, increase in community interactivity etc

For column four which is the most important of all. Head up this column with the title "Consequences”. Identify what are the consequences to the stakeholder of each of the features, functions and benefits as we did previously with the cup handle. Note that the consequences should always be written from the stakeholders’ or clients perspective – not yours.

If you are unsure about the consequences of your particular project, then it may actually be useful to talk to the stakeholders and ask them! Most people are open with opinions and this is a good first step in building a successful relationship with them.

Once you have your list of consequences, all your letters, emails, documents and general communications to the stakeholders can refer to the consequences, and how useful your project will be in solving their problems. This regular and gentle reminder of why you are undertaking the project in the first place will surely win you friends and will certainly influence people to your side.

Liz Cassidy, founder of Third Sigma International is an author, Speaker, Trainer and Executive Coach and is passionate about facilitating results in the businesses, professional and personal lives of her clients. For more information http://www.thirdsigma.com.au

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A command center, sometimes referred to as a war room, can be a competitive differentiator for a business, non-profit or other organization. The key elements for any command center are: centralized location, key personnel, time frames (project, crisis or on-going), mission definition, primary activities and finally, resources as related to organizational commitment. Each on of these points will be outlined below to better portray whether an organization does in fact need a command center

Location. There are two schools of thought in this area. One is that the command center should be near the hub of action such as the corporate, non-profit or other organizational headquarters. The other is that the command center should be at a remote location and not co-located with the headquarters to keep it safe and to avoid too much executive interference in its workings. If the command center is to serve as an executive “dog and pony” or show facility, then it should be at headquarters. It is then convenience for both executives and for other visiting dignitaries. If the goal is a critical information hub, then the command center can be anywhere. Ideally, not in or even near the headquarters facility.

Personnel. The kinds of people who are best for a command center are not necessarily the movers and shakers on their way up in any organization. There are three categories of people who are valuable in the command center environment. The first is the candid veteran leaders or manager. This individual must be fully committed to the center and willing to tell it like it is regardless of the consequences. The second is the expert. There need to be functional experts – the top in their areas – in each of the primary functional areas that the command center supports for the corporation or organization. The third category is the technical guru. Given the importance of communications, systems and tools to the command center, only the best technical gurus can meet the needs of the facility, even if that means they wait in the wings for problems to occur.

Time frames. Some command centers are designed to monitor day-to-day activity on-going. Other command centers are initiated for a specific project, initiative or program. While the underpinnings of both are the same, the project specific command centers tend to be more effective due to their limited scope and duration. In that project specific command centers are temporary, they tend to exhibit a higher energy level and greater innovation. Once command centers become “permanent”, the energy levels and the amount of innovation decline due to the long term institutional effects.

Mission definition. In other words why does the command center exist? What is its primary role in the business, organization or non-profit? This is different from what it does and how it does it. Some examples are: “to intercept all information on competitors”, “to track all bids and sales”, “to track and monitor the launch of the XYZ (new) product” or “track and monitor all media coverage on (you name it…). Additional missions can relate to tracking, monitoring and controlling activities related to: natural disasters (for business and civil use), peak volume periods (hotel chain activity for a tourist season), events such as a convention or an annual meeting or conference or finally, for large sporting or media events.

Primary activities. The command center should not be a catch-all. The primary activities are very clear. These should include: collection and collation of market information, collection and collation of competitive information, collection and collation of customer information, collection and collation of sales information (bids open, bids closed), new product launch data collections and other real time information such as contractors or logistics performance. Other types of information that may be tracked and collated by a command center include: special project statistics, media events updates, event data by time and location against project plan (think of a convention) and monitoring real time visual data for an event of function (such as traffic and buildings for a visiting dignitary or other public official). The key point is that the command center is for collecting, collating and disseminating information to critical decision makers in a timely fashion for the duration of the project, program or event.

Resources. There is a tendency for organizations to count the pennies and waste the dollars. This could be no more than in the case of the command center. The appropriate amount of money needs to be spent on the location, people and technology to make the command center effective. This does not mean it is a palace. Having the right people and technology are much more important than a fancy location with new furniture. Additionally, the resources go beyond dollars and cents. The time and attention of leadership are critical to insuring that the command center has the ability to deliver on the mission for which it was commissioned.

War room. Command center. Control center. Mission control. These are all terms that have been used to monitor, track and report on events, projects, programs, events and occurrences. While the names differ, the overall purpose and structure are the same. By adopting and following the points outlined above, any organization – public or private – can make their command center an effective asset for a specific mission for a limited period of time.

George F. Franks, III is the founder and CEO of Franks Consulting Group, a Bethesda, Maryland based management consulting and leadership coaching practice. George is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants (USA) and the International Coach Federation. George can be contacted at [email protected] Franks Consulting Group is on the web at: http://franksconsultinggroup.com George's weblog is: http://consultingandcoaching.blogspot.com

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