People don’t like change. As a result, they resist it. When management implements new systems – whether they are for tracking time or sales activity, or for managing projects or other systems – the biggest challenge often is getting people to embrace the change and accept the new system. While most systems are designed to provide management with information and…
As a small-business owner, you probably are bombarded with hundreds of direct-mail pieces and e-mails that promote upcoming training seminars and conferences. You might glance at the titles and think, “So-and-so could use some training in that,” but the thought goes no further. But, training your employees is an important issue that deserves your time…
Hiring new staff members requires time, money and effort – but many small-business owners are low on all three. So, they fill their positions as quickly and inexpensively as they can. And, as a result, they have to fill the same positions over and over again. What a waste of time, money and effort! I know from experience that…
While many business owners consider well-defined job descriptions crucial to their business, how many have actually taken the time to create a job description for themselves? Not many. But, a business owner needs a job description just as much as the rest of the team. In fact, a business owner may need a job description…
I often hear business leaders tell me that they don’t get enough done in a day. They have a to-do list a mile long, but they spend their whole day answering employees’ questions and solving employees’ problems. But, if we let day-to-day issues like these fill our day, it’s impossible to make progress on the leadership tasks that only…
Small-business owners often are self-conscious about being small. We are often very conscious of the ways that we compete at a disadvantage to bigger businesses. They have the big budgets, the high-powered executives, attorneys and banks at their beck and call, they have all the advantages… Well, maybe not ALL the advantages. There are some great things about being small….
Your employees are job hunting. As the “jobless recovery” starts to create more opportunities, people who have stuck with you through the tough economy are going out and looking for greener pastures. The May 24th Newsweek reports that, “In the first quarter of 2004, 4.2 million people posted their resumes on Monster, the online job…