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Talent management is extremely important for business success. These skills can be developed and studied. Having a natural skill for getting along with people and forging relationships can be an advantage, but you can do numerous things that will make this process easy. Build relationships: Remembering staff by name can be a beginning. Talk to staff; look people in the eye as you’re speaking. Be respectful, also listen to the other person’s point of view, regardless of whether you agree with them. Paying attention to everything employees say is one of the best talent management skills in your arsenal. Be sure to show interest in what they can contribute to the business. Live up to promises: Don’t make promises you can’t fulfill. When you don’t deliver on what you promise, the delicate bond of trust is wrecked, and people will not give you their best without trust. Each time you make a commitment or give your word on something, you are wasting your time and effort if you don’t act with integrity. The truth is, when your people can’t depend on your word, you can be sure they will behave in the same fashion.

Feedback is important: Feedback must be a two-way process. Talent management skills mean being open to all feedback. Being approachable and receptive shows that you respect other people’s feedback, and they should listen to yours. Frank discussion also furthers original ideas, ways of achieving the goals of the company, and strengthens the bonds of an excellent team. When team members have a voice, the project and its results will become important to each team member.

Encourage all sorts of communication: Managing staff boils down to the same concept - good communication. Be accessible, apply good listening skills, encourage feedback , and permit all your staff to express themselves. The team must be encouraged to communicate with each other not just with you. The growth of a business depends a great deal on the interchange of ideas, and in communicating with each other, you can identify any problems early, permitting corrective measures to be implemented to prevent any further problems. A little effort will be needed, all the same the rewards are worth it. Through establishing the bonds of a good team and demonstrating effective listening techniques, a thriving business can be yours.

The pendulum around “what’s hot” in job search swings regularly.

In the not to distant past we had the swing of the dot-bombs, companies were being started almost every bit of each day. Then came the swing of the pendulum, companies folded, jobs vanished, and now ten years later many of those buildings remain bare.

Then we entered the “oughts” and the hot industries were bio-tech and health-care. The Bay Area saw a growth of schools training people in the medical field; even the EDD started training people for the medical field. Unfortunately, after a while, the number of professionals looking for healthcare jobsfar topped the needs of the industry and today many of these individuals are now seeking a new hot field.

The new buzzword for jobs in 2009-10…and maybe beyond…is “GREEN JOBS”. The government has injected big amounts of capital for companies in a variety of connected fields - like energy storage, energy grid, solar, small wind. These sums are allowing these companies to expand and also helping new companies to get a start. According to CNN Money (11/18/2009), the government stimulus money has made 110,185 jobs in California. In discussions with Paul Davis, V.P. of Client Services here at the AA-Careers job hunting center, this year 25% of new clients are seeking career changes, and over 20% of them are taking “Green” jobs. The job openings cover the entire spectrum from finance to system developers to professional services and sales and marketing.

According to an article done by a major career website, hiring in the 2009 period in “Green” jobs increased across the US by 13 %, and that will increase again in 2010. Clean Edge.(October 2009) states “President Obama and Chinese President Jintao have both made clean-tech development and deployment a cornerstone of their leadership, targeting the creation of millions of new clean-tech jobs”. “Many believe we are just at the beginning of the clean-tech job creation era.” It could be the deepest growth area since the coming of the computer and the Net.

The top 5 industry sectors for clean-tech career activity, according to CleanEdge are:
1. CPV solar
2. Bio fuels & Biomaterials
3. Conservation
4. Smart Grid, and
5. Small Wind.

Making career changes has never been easy. Many people using the old “Tombstone Style” resume have very limited success and tend to give up, using excuses such as “they are only hiring people with prior experience”. Paul Davis and his staff at AA-Careers have been extremely successful for years using specific, targeted resumes which contain more information regarding the job seeker’s ability to make the company money or save them money, based upon past accomplishments. Think about your own accomplishments and how could they apply to the new rapidly growing “green” jobs.

Stay tuned for more hiring trends with AA-Careers’ new job hunting blog!

Many companies feel that, by supplying staff with training in occupational health & safety, they have everything they might need to prevent a catastrophe. In reality however, employees should have more than instruction in safety regulations and risk assessment. You need to provide your staff with appropriate supervision, not to mention equip them properly and give them the chance to practice.

A supervisor has a greater function to carry out than just general management. Whomever you select as the supervisor needs to understand the importance of health & safety education and be able to get other staff excited.

On top of checking compliance with health & safety legislation, the supervisor must furthermore ensure that employees perform every task well. Naturally it’s difficult to achieve all this at once. It means that the supervisor is advised to possess an excellent knowledge of the business and production as well as an advanced comprehension of the latest legislation with regard to safety, risk assessment and CPR. Simply having health & safety training isn’t sufficient for your employees. To effectively spot a hazard they require to put their knowledge into practise. They need to understand how to eradicate problems not to mention how to manage when anything unforeseen happens. Only when these processes have become a routine are staff properly prepared.

Instruction is ineffective without safety gear. Without the correct equipment or if employees find that equipment is broken when they actually need them, then all the education your staff have already completed is essentially useless. Regularly scheduled maintenance of your equipment is essential. If piece of equipment doesn’t come up to the relevant criteria, have it mended or serviced as soon as you can. Appropriate health & safety training is important for the health of your staff, but they need the right supplies, frequent practise excercises, and a knowledgeable supervisor who can get the workforce charged up about being healthy at work. When you implement these steps you should find that the various safety regulations before long be established in your business culture not something everyone has to try to remember constantly.

A successful business depends on the effective management of individuals. People management can be developed and studied. It can be an advantage to have a innate affinity for getting along with people, but there are some skills you can learn to help the process.

Forging relationships: Begin by memorizing a person’s name. Encourage conversation; look co-workers in the eye when you are talking. Show respect, and be sure to pay attention to the other person’s point of view, irrespective of whether you agree with them. Paying attention to what employees have to say is one of the most important people management skills in your arsenal. Be sure to show an interest in what they can offer the team. Keep your word: Keeping your word is fundamental. When a promise is not kept, it can ruin trust, and people won’t give you their best if they don’t trust you. When you make a statement or make a promise, you are squandering your time and effort unless you act with integrity. The truth is, if your people can’t depend on you, your team won’t be committed when it’s really important.

Welcome feedback: Feedback should be a two-way process. Talent management skills mean being open to all feedback. If you can establish that you are approachable and receptive, you show that other people’s thoughts count, your ideas will be valued in return. Promoting open discussion in addition opens doors to innovative ways of thinking, new ways of achieving goals, and strengthens the team dynamic. By allowing the employees some input, every team member takes an interest in the results of the project.

Encourage communication: People management techniques come down to the same thing - good communication. Be approachable, employ good listening techniques, remember to welcome feedback , and permit all your staff to express their opinions. Inspire staff not just to communicate to you, but with each other. The creative process relies to a great extent on the open exchange of opinions, when the team members communicate openly, you can recognize any problems swiftly, allowing corrective action to be put in place to prevent further problems. Acquiring these techniques may take some work, but the payoffs far outweigh the effort. Through building the bonds of a good team and demonstrating effective listening techniques, you can easily accomplish the best in business success.

Numerous companies think that, when every last employee has decent health & safety instruction, they are adequately prepared for an incident. Realistically though, employees must have more than a basic education in safety regulations and risk assessment. You must provide your employees with appropriate supervision, not to mention equip them properly and give them the opportunity to practice. Those in a supervisory capacity has an even bigger function to carry out than simply general management. A supervisor needs to see that health & safety training is fundamental and be able to get other people excited about it.

In addition to checking conformity with health & safety regulations, a supervisor’s role includes supervising employee performance levels as well. Of course it isn’t easy to do all this at once. An effective supervisor is expected to have an excellent knowledge of the industry and production in addition to a very high level of familiarity with safety regulations, risk assessment, and emergency assistance techniques. Just providing basic training in health & safety isn’t adequate for your workers. To successfully discover a risk they require practise. They must know the best method of eliminating hazards and how best to act when disaster strikes. Not until these procedures have become habitual are employees completely protected. Education is by all accounts not enough if you don’t buy safety equipment. Without the appropriate apparatus or should they find that items are broken when they actually need them, even the very best training can’t help them. You need to schedule regular checks to ascertain if you have all the necessary gear and that it is functioning correctly. If you find something is not in perfect working order, be certain to get it rectified as quickly as you can and return it to the proper location. Appropriate health & safety instruction is essential for the safety of your workers, but in addition they must have good quality supplies, the chance to practise, and an educated supervisor who can get the workforce charged up about working safely. When you take this advice you should see that all the safety regulations be established in your business culture and no longer something that staff have to try to remember.

Electronic Document Management has been widely accepted as the practice of creating and storing documents. What lacks common acceptance is the need to retrieve, archive and sort documents as per requirements. With real estate costs climbing feverishly, and businesses process becoming more and more complex and demanding, the need to implement an integrated electronic document management

system is growing by the day. Realizing this opportunity, several global software vendors have come up with their document management products to facilitate this process and more and more organizations are implementing this system in today’s world.

It I important to understand what exactly electronic document management refers to and why is it so important to organizations, small or big. Electronic Document Management System refers to a system whereby documents are created, modified, stored, distributed, secured and retrieved with the help of software tools.

An organization must ponder several times and answer several questions before it goes about implementing a document management system. Some of the questions that must be asked can be:-

(1) Are your documents uniformly marked and stored for “finger-pointed” retrieval.

(2) Can you easily gather related documents that are physically distributed at different places.

(3) Can your personnel easily locate documents created or modified by others within the organization, regardless of the format and method of creation of the documents.

(4) How long does it take to locate the desired bunch of documents.

(5) Can you find a specific type of similar documents over a date range quickly and effectively.

(6) Can you track back the person responsible for handling any particular document.

Answering the above questions can easily help you take a decision. Also, to arrive at a conclusion, one must keep in mind the following characteristics of a suitable document management system.

(a) Should convert your office into a paper-less office by electronically keeping track of all documents.

(b) Should seamlessly integrate with your existing manual document management methods.

(c) Should help your business grow faster by ensuring fast and accurate availability of information.

(d) Should help you analyze the efficiency of co-workers by keeping track of documentation work allotted to them.

india based technology expert specialising in web marketing and 3d modeling

As a franchisor it is imperative that you seek, find and recruit the best franchisees to maintain a strong franchise system. Your current Franchisees are your very best sales people, sometimes without even knowing it. As a franchisee starts making more money, it will show. Soon they will be moving out of their apartment or home into a nicer area. They will be driving a nicer car. They will be frequenting nicer eating establishments. A female franchisee’s husband will tell the guys at work in a bragging way how great his wife is doing and that he plans on quitting his job to help her. A male franchisee’s wife will brag to her friends that she is planning a vacation of that they bought a new indoor four-person Jacuzzi. Her friends will entice their husbands and boyfriends to look into the franchise, franchise companies should encourage this scenario and spend more time and money on referrals than straight sales. Sure mass marketing works, but throwing spaghetti at the refrigerator until something sticks is not very becoming of a star rated franchise system. Many times people at the franchisee’s old job will start talking, “Hey, did you hear about Skip?, He’s really doing well with that new franchise thing he doing.” “Yah! Have you seen his new Corvette.”

Relatives are also great prospects. They may be lacking work ethic however. Many times you will find that they are very interested in making lots of money, but not in doing lots of work. The best way to sell this is to put them in a very busy store or outlet on a busy Friday. (Work em’.) Make them run, sweat, get them up early. Usually they will have second thoughts. This does three things: Gives Them Total Respect For Their Relative Who Is A Franchisee; Keeps The Franchisee Happy For Giving His Relative A Shot At It; Weeds Out Unwanted Derelicts With Poor Work Ethics.

Another fall back to relatives of franchisees is that they are calling only because their spouse wants them to make more money. Usually it wasn’t their idea. They are not committed to the concept. They will never be committed to the company or the customer. They need to be committed to the: Company, Concept, Customer, Quality; not the money alone. Before they can be committed to any of these, it must be their idea. So after you run em’ you don’t call them back. You wait a few weeks. You let it bounce around in their head. Then they will be forming ideas, taking a look at their life and making conclusions. That’s when they will call you back. At that point your dedication factor will take hold. They will be committed to their choice, their idea and your franchise systems
’s concept, company, quality and customers.

Even when they are committed, they must possess good credit. You may have to give them three more weeks to find a way to secure a loan or find the money. If they are truly committed about their future, they will find a way. Referrals from family and friends always make up the best franchisee teams; ask any franchising veteran. Its no secret, yet so many companies are still tossing the spaghetti? Think about it.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

February 2nd, at approximately 7:30 a.m. local time on Gobbler’s Knob in a small town in western Pennsylvania, 20,000 people and a national radio and television audience anxiously await the prognostication of America’s favorite furry forecaster. In a tradition dating back 119 years, Punxsutawney Phil emerges from hibernation…and if he sees his shadow, it’s back into the burrow for six more weeks of cold weather.

The celebration of Groundhog Day in America and Canada has its roots in the ancient Roman Feast of Lights and the early Christian tradition of Candlemas Day. However, it took a giant leap in popularity - as did Punxsutawney Phil and the entire town - with the 1993 release of the popular Bill Murray-Andie McDowell movie.

In the film, Murray plays a cynical weatherman - appropriately named Phil - sent to cover Groundhog Day for the fourth straight year. Having made no effort to hide his frustration during the newscast, he goes to bed the night of February 2nd only to awake at 6:00 a.m. the next morning and discover it is Groundhog Day again…and again…and again.

Are you struggling to achieve your goals and grow your small business? Albert Einstein said, insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” To truly make a leap, you have to commit to doing some things differently.

Success Handler Action: With your team, look at your small business from the “10,000-foot level,” identifying areas where issues continually arise. Think about the reasons you keep encountering the same obstacles. Here are some questions to help you get started:

~ What are the things you do best?

~ Where are your biggest and most frequent frustrations?

~ Why are there differences between these results?

~ When was the last time you successfully changed something, and how did you do it?

~ Who are your team members most adept at taking action on new initiatives?

The next step is to determine which areas you want to focus on changing first. Prioritize your challenges by order of highest potential impact on your small business. Then consider possible options for fixing each one. Ask those you trust for their recommendations, and talk to other business owners about how they handle these same issues. The more input you receive, the more likely you’ll reach the right conclusions.

Success Handler Action: The best way to improve those situations that are keeping you on a circular treadmill of frustration is to begin addressing your challenges one at a time, taking a proactive approach to change things. Here are five steps for implementing solutions in your small business:

1. Select the option you think is most appropriate for overcoming a specific challenge.

2. Communicate the upcoming change to everyone affected by it.

3. Train key team members, then document in writing the new processes/procedures.

4. Measure the effectiveness of your solution, tweaking wherever necessary.

5. Recognize and celebrate with your team all positive improvements.

Harold Ramis, the director of “Groundhog Day,” envisioned Murray’s character awakening over and over again for 10 years before finally freeing himself by learning to treat people differently. While that amount of time may have allowed Phil to learn a poem in French, create an ice sculpture and expertly play the piano, it nearly drove him crazy in the process.

Before overloading on your fill of doing the same things and getting the same results - over and over - start changing your approach in a few essential areas. You may just find that tomorrow arrives bright, sunny and with the beginning of six weeks of incredible progress for your small business.

Copyright © 2005 by Success Handler, LLC. All rights reserved.

The Coach, David Handler, is the founder of Success Handler, (http://www.successhandler.com), and specializes in helping small business leaders, franchisees and franchisors find clarity and take action. He understands the challenges of running a business, because he’s been there - as a small business owner, franchisee, franchisor, corporate leader and trainer. Much like sports coaches, his coaching will show you how to compete on a level playing field in your industry.

“A foolish cabin owner eventually lost his cabin to the rot that set in through the leaky roof. When it was raining, he couldn’t fix the roof. When the sun was shining, he was too busy outside doing other things and the roof didn’t need fixing then anyway.”

As Yogi Berra would say, “it was déja vu all over again.” Five years earlier I had conducted a few introductory service/quality improvement workshops for the senior management group and head office support people of a large distribution company. Performance and feedback surveys were conducted and reviewed during these and follow up workshops. The company clearly had problems with sagging morale and customer service, rising costs from inefficient processes and quality problems, and low innovation levels.

I recommended they begin a multi-year service/quality improvement process. I showed them how they could significantly boost the performance capability of the organization. The senior management team wouldn’t buy it. They felt the time and money needed to plan, coordinate, train, and support such an extensive improvement process was far too high. Instead they threw a few “home-baked” service, quality, and motivation training programs at everyone.

Then they hired expensive consultants to design and install millions of dollars worth of new computer systems. This was based on an extensive strategic plan that took months of senior management time, market studies, financial analysis, and more expensive consultants.

Now, here I was five years later, watching the CEO deliver a presentation to his company’s managers and head office support people. He outlined the company’s stalled results for the past few years and talked about the changes needed. He said everyone needed to work together better. They had to get costs down. He said they all needed to work harder and smarter. Service and quality levels had to rise. Managers needed to take more responsibilities and empower people.

But there were no plans for doing all this. He was merely exhorting them to improve. He was clearly operating on the assumption that if they knew better they’d do better. He urged them to help change the culture to “full participation, full communication, and full disclosure.” He argued for “not thinking in traditional ways” and “finding innovative ways to get the job done.”

He suggested they “look for ways to add value through totally accurate shipments, timely delivery, quick turnarounds, a positive attitude, eliminating unnecessary paperwork and tasks, cooperative teamwork, an open door policy, improving efficiency, sharing ideas, reducing shrinkage, and initiating change.”

He went on to outline “a suggestion program” (which was a form to fill out and send to him) and stressed the company’s open door policy. He then suggested that managers should be “kind enough to have meetings with your staff” and have them fill out a suggestion form and send these to him. “I will take a hard look at it and if there are any worthwhile suggestions there, I will act on them very quickly.”

That was it. There was no skill development, no systems alignment, no systematic approach to process reengineering or improvement, no measurement and feedback systems, no education and communication, and no changes to the company’s reward and recognition systems and practices. In short, there was no improvement plan. There was nothing but good intentions and exhortations to improve. He was trying to get different results while continuing to do the same things!

Unfortunately, this company’s senior management team has lots of company. Many managers confuse making changes within their organization with making changes to their organization. Both are needed. But they have to be balanced. Changing an organization or team’s composition or reporting structure, introducing new technology, pulling people and money from one area, or pumping money and people into another area isn’t enough on its own. Unless organization and team skills, systems, processes, or habits are changed, the other changes won’t make any lasting improvement to performance.

Jim Clemmer is a bestselling author and internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, workshop/retreat leader, and management team developer on leadership, change, customer focus, culture, teams, and personal growth. During the last 25 years he has delivered over two thousand customized keynote presentations, workshops, and retreats. Jim’s five international bestselling books include The VIP Strategy, Firing on All Cylinders, Pathways to Performance, Growing the Distance, and The Leader’s Digest. His web site is http://www.clemmer.net/articles.

For a brief time, I tried to sell life insurance. And, the operative word was ‘tried’ I can assure you. Although I thought I did a good job on the presentations and scripts provided by trainers, I did not make a single sale.

On the other hand, the veteran who trained me didn’t spend much time with presentations or scripts. He simply told stories about clients who spared their loved ones great pain by getting proper coverage. Just as importantly, he talked about the troubles suffered by people who did not have coverage. And, he sold a lot.

Which takes us to the subject of purpose-driven story telling. I’ve bumped up against the idea of it as a strategic communication skill several times recently, so maybe it’s time to discuss it here.

For starters, let’s distinguish between stories by talkers who believe the world wants to know what they think about everything under the sun, and stories told with the express purpose of advancing an objective. Let’s call the latter ’strategic stories’ (and you know what we call the other kind).

You can use strategic stories to help your cause or project by figuring out, in advance, what you’ll say and why you’ll say it. In other words, before you make your speech or presentation, identify the stories you’ll use, and know why you’ll use them.

Leaders frequently use stories to add emotion to their communication. Adding emotion allows listeners to buy in with their hearts, as well as accept with their minds. One specific type of emotional charging evokes shared values or memories. For example, “I know you’ll keep providing great customer service because you all did such a great job when the product recall was announced. Do you remember how the calls started coming in right after the first announcement?”

Stories can also be used to add context or background information, “I know you’d like to launch the new product line, but when I was at the industry conference a couple of weeks ago, I heard banks want to get into our business, which means….” Very often, information by itself has little meaning or impact without context. Stories buttress our arguments by explaining the rationale we used, and not just the conclusions we reached.

You can use stories as a type of proof. My life insurance experience is a pointed example. The most effective stories, of course, talk about the good and bad things that happen to survivors after an unexpected death.

Sometimes, a story can be used for self-deprecation. By making fun of myself, I can further illustrate the point I’m trying to make. For example “Did I ever tell you about the time I spilled coffee on a client while he was sitting at our boardroom table? As it turned out, it broke the ice between us and we ended up talking serious business. Now, I’m not suggesting you spill coffee on clients, too, but I would suggest that you look for ways to connect with them on a personal level.”

Where can we find stories? The best ones come from our own experience, from things that happened to us and things we’ve done. But, don’t overlook magazines, television, and other mass media. For example, you might warn against doing something by explaining what happened to characters in TV sitcoms when they did something similar. Remember, most sitcoms are morality plays in modern garb.

Which reminds me of the time when….

In summary, strategically-used stories can help us communicate more effectively by adding emotion or context, providing proof, or giving us a chance to poke fun at ourselves.

Robert F. Abbott writes and publishes Abbott’s Communication Letter. Learn how you can use communication to help achieve your goals, by reading articles or subscribing to this ad-supported newsletter. An excellent resource for leaders and managers, at:
http://www.communication-newsletter.com