BCA

By Tinker Barnett

In 2005, nearly 60% of human resource professionals in large companies  reported conflict between younger and older workers. This has  not changed much today. Some business owners and managers in my community are so  frustrated with young workers that they have decided not to hire them ever  again.

I am always sorry to hear this because not hiring young people is not a  solution. Rather, it is a lose-lose situation for companies that want to remain  successful in the long-term and for Generation Y (Gen Y) who are increasingly  unemployed and lack work experience.

There is a better way.

If you are a business owner or manager age 45 to 70, it is possible that Gen  Y will not begin to think and act the way you do at work, not soon enough  anyway. Openness and willingness to look at new ways of getting-work-done is a  faster, longer-lasting way out of frustration at work.

At first, it may feel like you are giving-in to your least-experienced  workers and as though you’ve relinquished power and control. It is important to  know that frustration with employees is less about Generation Y and more about  the “waves of change” they ride. Change causes all of us to feel a lack of  confidence until we accept it and take responsibility to work with it.

Gen Yers to set the norm in the future

Recent research projects that Gen Yers will set the new norm for the  workplace in 2014 when they become 50% of the workforce. They will be put into  key leadership positions faster and have less time to get ready than Boomers  did. If this is true, it is good to start listening now to how Generation Y  employees intend to make the workplace better. Maybe you will want to get a head  start on them.

Here are 4 Clues for how Generation Y will change the workplace once they are  in charge:

Clue #1. Meetings will be productive and most will last only 30 minutes.  Everyone will come prepared and know exactly what the team is doing. Gen Y hates  to waste time and this is causing some of the greatest conflict among  generations.

Clue #2. Gen Y will promote people who are clear about who are competent,  trustworthy, and relate to employees in ways that inspire them to be their best,  not because they are senior and have “put in more time”.

Clue #3. Gen Y will find mentors to get their careers jump-started, throwing  out the “sink-or-swim” style of management. They will be terrific mentors  themselves, bringing “mentoring-up” to the workplace and teaching values of  collaboration, innovation, and social connection to the next generation of  workers.

Clue #4. Gen Y will re-invent retirement as many retreats – not one, spread  out over time. The economy is too uncertain and they will live too long to  regularly sacrifice family and fun in hopes of an extended period for doing what  they really want to do (like their parents expected). For Gen Y, living is for  today, not to be put-off.

And, if you can take time to get to know Gen Y employees, they will want to  learn from you and you will have less frustration at work.

Workplace frustration can be minimized

Bottom line, workplace frustration can be minimized when people of different  generations are understood and validated for characteristics they are pretty  much stuck with.

Want to know more? I invite you to claim your free instant access to my white  paper, “Workplace Frustration: How to Reduce It and Manage Generation Y For An  Increase in Company Profits”. For a limited time you’ll find it at my slide-up  when you visit http://GenerationalDivideCoaching.com.

From Tinker Barnett, Bridges LLC

“Connecting Generations in the Workplace”

Keep Your Business Alive

The business world is a highly competitive and rapidly changing domain. The  way to survive is to reshape according to the needs of circumstances. In  leadership, you have to accept the fact of change.

Resisting change leads  nowhere but a dead end. You and your organization are going to be stalled, if  not completely shut down.

Gaining and keeping customers keep a business alive. Your customers want  excellent service and more. If you cannot provide these to customers, your  competitors will. That´s why your organization needs to reshape itself quickly  to change so it can offer what customers need.

Top leadership in the  organization realizes the significance of preserving their resources. They  cannot just throw away money at every problem. Executive leaders also know the  importance of having highly committed and flexible workers. As a leader, you  need to be able to implement action that allows the organization to quickly and  smoothly adapt to change.

4 Different Changes Of An Organization

Throughout its growth, an organization normally goes through 4 different  changes:

• Formative period. The organization is just getting started. The  founding vision or purpose of the organization has no formal definitions yet.  This is a stage of a lot of experimentation and innovation. Changes of  creativity and discovery enable the organization to beat obstacles and achieve  breakthroughs.
• Rapid growth period. The organization implements direction and  organization so that it can sustain its growth and solidify gains. The purpose  of the organization and on the mainstream business is being clarified and  defined.
• Mature period. The organization develops a strong growth curve that  levels off to the general velocity of the economy. Change and modifications are  needed so that the organization can maintain established markets and achieve  maximum gains.
• Declining period. This is a rough ride for the organization. It  often means reorganization and downsizing. Tough objectives are developed,  although there is compassionate implementation. To survive, the organization  needs to get out of the old and cross the threshold towards something new. There  is starting again of the four periods, beginning a new process that determines  success.

Depending on the pace, some organizations may go through with the 4-period  change process rapidly, while others undergo these growth stages for decades. If  there is no follow- through with the needed changes in any of the 4 growth  periods, an organization would falter and eventually die.

“Continual Improvement

In Japanese, there is the concept of “kaizen” which means “continual  improvement”. The quest to do better is never-ending. Changing is doing better.  Standing still makes the competition get ahead. Congregate your resources and  solidify your strength so you can revitalize, move on, catch up with the pace  and get to the top.

By the way, do you want to learn more about leadership in your company? If  so, download your FREE eBook here: Guide to Elegant Courage Leadership

Jodi and Mike specialize in executive coaching with individuals and teams. http://lighthouse-leadership.com

No Time For Nonsense In The Workplace

Your workplace is an area with lots of objectives to meet, tasks to  accomplish, undertakings to resolve, and deadlines to beat. Along the way, you  face lots of hindrances. You undergo a lot of distractions, problems, and  challenges. With all these in your head, you could not afford to think about the  little issues in your workplace. But, you will be forced to face a bothersome  concern about tireless whiners when you overhear their nonsense whatnots.

The sickening cry of a whiner is something you do not want to hear in the  middle of your intense operation. But you, as a leader, may not be able to  control this expressive act of your employee when he is in such an annoying  mood. You are absolutely aware that if this whining persists in a couple of  minutes, everybody will be distracted. You will be furious. Your work will be  disrupted. Things will be in chaos.

How To Deal With A Workplace Whiner

• There are several ways to deal with whiners. First is that you don’t feed  the dog. Never fall in the trap of that individual. If you express sympathy to a  whiner’s sentiments, he or she will just realize that whining is a good trick to  attract your attention and lure you. You become easily influenced and fooled.  The whiner will redirect you, and control you instead. Whining is not a  therapeutic coping mechanism. You must not tolerate this in your area as much as  possible.
• Second, impose clearly that if someone unconsciously whines, let them know  that it may only be allowed at a tolerable level. Let the whiner know that it  should last only for several seconds, with no annoying repetitions nor  infuriating mumbling, nagging, etc. Call their attention right away. Correct the  wrongful act, so that you will show your employees that you are not happy with  the whining.
• Lastly, as a leader, it is best that beforehand, oblige everybody to not  engage at all in whining. Your workplace is not a whine zone. Let everyone  understand that you are serious and strict about it. You have lots of things to  do. Tireless complaints will not help any of you to finish your goals.

For a whiner, it becomes helpful for them to do their tasks if he mumble,  nag, or whine while working. These acts become their way to resist but still  persist. It is their way to express themselves. But for everybody else, a  whining co-worker is a nuisance. It does not bring any good to the success of  the organization, but rather a headache.

By the way, do you want to learn more about leadership in your company? If  so, download your FREE ebook here: Guide to Elegant Courage Leadership

Jodi and Mike specialize in executive coaching with individuals and teams. http://lighthouse-leadership.com

By the way, do you want to learn more about leadership in your company? If so, download your FREE ebook here: Guide to Elegant Courage Leadership

Jodi and Mike specialize in executive coaching with individuals and teams. http://lighthouse-leadership.com

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By Mike Krutza, Co-Author, Jodi Wiff

Cultivating Leaders In The Organization

Oftentimes it takes one person to get things going, to move to a certain  direction and to finally get to the destination. That person is a leader.  Startup businesses to multinational corporations want leaders, and these  institutions aim for one thing- to cultivate leaders to power their companies.  There is a hierarchy among leaders themselves and having one strong leader is  does not suffice.

In every department, there ought to be leaders synergistically  working to boost the resources of the organization. One of the best resources to  be able to discover and hone leaders in an organization is through leadership  training.

What makes good leaders? People who have the potential to be leaders, and as  preferred by companies ought to feel a sense of ownership and responsibility  towards the company. These are motivated and strong- willed individuals who  believe that what they do matters, and that they can do big things for the  company.

Among the ranks of your employees, there are those who have the  potential, and they are bound to be leaders. Bring out the leaders in these  promising individuals and utilize their potential for the benefit of the company  and everybody through leadership training.

What can leadership training do? Training people to be leaders will enhance  these leadership qualities.

Training To Boost Leadership Qualities

Leadership training boosts initiative. Initiative is taking the  extra mile and going beyond limitations. Is there an employee who takes time to  do extra work or doing what isn’t his or her job? Take notice of such person.  This characteristic exhibits drive and motivation, and this is among the  potentials of a leader. Reward these kinds of efforts and make means to improve  this motivation.

Leadership training boosts responsibility. There’s no passing the  buck for a leader. A leader knows how to take responsibility. Pay attention to  employees who sees to it that projects are accomplished on time and deliver  quality work. If an employee has been assigned to lead a project, does he or she  take charge to complete the task as expected? This is a sign of leadership  responsibility.

Leadership training boosts creativity. Creativity brings new ideas,  new inventions and astounding novelties. Creativity is the ability to think out  of the box and transcend the mundane. It is the passion to excel and exceed  expectations. It is going beyond the ordinary. Are there creative people in your  staff? These are employees whose work and ideas stand out. Creativity is a vital  quality in leadership.

Leadership training boosts people handling skills. Good  communication and interpersonal skills are musts in leadership. A leader knows  how to work well with fellow leaders and team members. Effective communication  skills of a leader will be able to resolve workplace issues and conflicts but  always taking into consideration others’ feelings. Most of all, a leader knows  feels real concern for the company.

Training leaders is bringing out the best to those who have been  called.

By the way, do you want to learn more about leadership in your company? If  so, download your FREE ebook here: Guide to Elegant Courage Leadership

Jodi and Mike specialize in executive coaching with individuals and teams. http://lighthouse-leadership.com

By Steve Clements

The entire world is mourning the death of Steve Jobs. It is as though we knew  him personally. Yes, his products are beloved internationally. But it was his  ability as an innovator and a speaker that will keep his name alive forever.

As an innovator, Jobs did things his way-a revolutionary who rejected  accepted life routes to create, develop and market not only Apple but Pixar,  keeping his name alive forever.

Using visuals as opening a curtain of surprise

As a speaker, he was a maverick. To announce a new product, he completely  rejected the now-tiresome corporate concept of reading every word from  PowerPoint. Instead, he used his visuals as though he were opening a curtain of  surprise, stimulating delight and awe. Take a look at his announcement of any of  the new Apple products he was excited to introduce.

Personality Counts

Jobs brought his unique personality to his presentations. He combined a  child’s pride in what he had to introduce, a professional speaker’s drama about  the story he was unveiling, and a salesman’s ability to create a desire to  buy-ASAP!

His was not a standard corporate announcement. It was a relationship  he created with all of us. We wanted to share in his wondrous world. Isn’t that  what communications is all about?

How can you bring your own unique personality to your presentations? Consider  advocating to minimize the use of PowerPoint. Instead, discover what works best  for a particular presentation.

You Count!

- Is it simply graphics that support what you’re saying?

- Or, and this may be blasphemy, perhaps all that is needed is you!

If there is power in what you’re saying, whether it is informative,  persuasive or motivational, you should have the strength of delivery and  charisma to have both eyes focused on you. If your reaction is “Oh, I can’t do  that. I’m scared and would rather read the PowerPoint from the corner,” you’re  doing yourself and your company a disservice.

Work on it! Find that unique “you”  that can hold an audience in its grip with every line.

It will certainly be difficult to replace Jobs as a leader. It will be even  more difficult to replace him as the face, voice and personality of Apple.

Needed: A spokesman who stimulates our imagination

Apple, like every company, like your company, now has to search for a  spokesperson who stimulates our imagination and desire to buy. It won’t be easy  but the right spokesperson obviously makes the difference. Improve your  communications skills and you could become the “Jobs” in your job.

Steve Clements translates 40 plus years as executive trainer, Hollywood TV  producer/writer and academia (Professor Emeritus from Augusta State University  in TV/Cinema) into customized oral communications and media training programs  for Executive Speak/Write, Inc. (http://www.executivespeakwrite.com). This producer of over  3,000 national TV broadcasts now trains business professionals on how to be a  better “you” when speaking to audiences.

If you were to ask a person what a CRM is few years ago, chances are that  they won’t know what you are talking about. Nowadays, almost everyone in the  product and service industry knows about a CRM. In this article, I will discuss  the next step to customer service, the mobile CRM. Before going into the details  of mobile CRM for small businesses, let me you give a brief overview of what a  CRM software is.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is an electronic based data  management tool that provides a business with a streamlined system of data  gathering, storage, security and access. For example, the small business CRM  software is used to store customer related information such as name, address,  contact information and product or service availed of.

This information can be  accessed by any individual with proper security clearance either through a local  computer or online. Then the company can either assess a given customer or input  some more information such as last time called, concern, and date of resolution.

At any given time, different types of reports can also be made at the click of a  button such as number of complaints type of complaints, resolution time frame  and even disbursement dates.

Always remember, a small business CRM can be  tweaked to provide alerts at appropriate dates to make sure that a  representative does not forget important dates such as deadlines.

Mobile Small Business CRM: The Next Step

A small business CRM allowed business owners to easily access information  when they are in the office or if they have access to a computer. A mobile CRM  allows the same business owner to access substantially the same information via  mobile phones or tablet PC. This means that the ability to answer customer  queries, access data and record data is always with you 24 hours a day, seven  days a week.

A small business CRM in mobile form is not as simple as accessing the same  information viewable through your personal computer. This is not practical given  the difference in the size of the LED screen of a normal PC, even a laptop with  that of a mobile phone or a tablet.

Mobile CRM access means that a small  business CRM must undergo a few tweaks to make information concise and better  arranged to allow a slower processor to view and select data with ease.

Advantages of a Mobile Small Business CRM

Imagine yourself on a business trip with only your cellular phone or tablet  on hand. Your employee or co-worker calls you and says he has your customer on  the line and he wants to talk only to you. The customer is always right, so you  access your mobile internet browser, enter your security code and you are now  able to view the client’s portal.

You then take the call and smoothly process  the transaction. Detractors would argue that your co-worker or employee can do  the same job; however, actual business owners know that repeat customers are  made through personal rapport and loyalty.

Customers will also tell you that  they prefer to talk to one representative so that he or she does not have to  keep explaining the same thing over and over again.

And just before I drop my pen, if you need Expert Advice on How to Start a Business from scratch; please feel free to  visit my blog.

Make life easier and  simplify your business today by visiting http://www.maximizer.com.au/ for more information.

Are you scratching your head yet wondering what I am talking about? You’d  really think top salespeople would make the best sales managers, would you not?  I can hear you all now, “Come on Rich I want my best guys running the whole  squad.” They understand the sales personality; they understand the sales job  requirements; and if they come to the position of sales manager by promotion  they understand the company they work for.

So why don’t they make great sales  managers?

 A salesperson has to be on the hunt constantly

Well this is certainly not an absolute. Some sales people have made great  sales managers, but by and large the best sales managers are not the best sales  people and vice-versa. The reason for this can be found in the shark. Sharks  have to swim to live.

They must keep moving constantly just to be alive.

A great  sales person is the same in many ways: they must prospect and develop business  and be on the hunt constantly; and their competitive spirit and drive to  constantly win must fuel them every minute on the job.

A sales manager has to think like a chess player

A great sales manager on the other hand must have a steady hand on the  tiller. They have to think like a chess player, always many moves ahead. They  don’t get to experience the hunt, let alone the thrill of the kill (if you  will….too much right?).

In other words they have to possess a much more even  keeled personality, less like a shark and more like a tiger, effective at steady  leadership and able to handle any situation from a customer turn-over, to a team  member’s personal troubles.

Yes they understand the sales personality, but typically only their own. And  usually top sales people have trouble with empathy, a necessary trait in any  good sales manager. Yes they understand the job requirements but every  salesperson is different and they may not understand what motivates someone  other than themselves, or how to get the best from someone struggling to get to  the middle of the pack.

Finally that point about understanding the company,  aside form understanding the market in which they compete, it’s much more  important for a quality sales manager to understand the dynamics of his or her  team. What makes them tick? What keeps those sharks swimming?

Look at the personality and character make-up first

To sum up, if you’re hiring a sales manager look at personality and character  make-up first and sales results second…you’ll thank yourself later.

Richard Garvey is the owner of Sales Results Fast, a Minneapolis, MN based  sales training and consulting firm. He has been featured in articles of the  Minneapolis/St Paul Business Journal and works with companies from a hundred  thousand dollars to a hundred million dollars in annual revenue. Sales Results  Fast offer engaging and interactive classroom training, sales team consulting  and building, and individual coaching.

Set more appointments, close more sales and make more money. You can start  today with our classroom training. Read what our raving fans have to say about  us at http://www.salesresultsfast.com/raves or for information on  classes and event schedules please visit us at:
http://www.SalesResultsFast.com

There’s no longer any question that digital has a seat at the advertising table, although the dollars spent there don’t yet compare to the money spent on traditional media like television.

According to Q3 2011 research from media buying solutions provider STRATA, clients are becoming just as focused on digital media as they are on spot TV. US ad agencies reported 34% of clients were thinking most about online advertising in Q3, compared with 24% the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the number of clients whose primary focus was on spot TV dropped from 41% to an almost-even 35%.

The online marketing tactics in use by the agencies surveyed did not change much, with online display, search and social media coming out on top, their usage rates stable from quarter to quarter. On social media, similarly, priorities remained the same, with Facebook, YouTube and Twitter the clear leaders, though LinkedIn, in fourth position, gained ground.

The number of agencies purchasing mobile advertising for their clients also stayed relatively stable, at 23%, but the types of ads they were creating began to change. In Q3, display advertising took an even larger lead over SMS. More than half of agencies said they are now creating more mobile display ads for their clients than other mobile formats, compared to just 16% of agencies that are still mostly creating SMS ads.

The mobile devices being targeted by those ads were changing, too. Agencies cut their interest in BlackBerry by half between Q2 and Q3, according to STRATA. Still, Android-targeted efforts lagged behind iOS-focused ones.

eMarketer forecasts display will take 33% of mobile ad dollars in 2012, pushing it ahead of SMS and even with mobile search spending. It also estimates that the iPhone will lose its spot as the No. 1 smartphone in America by the end of this year, when Android’s share will far surpass it.

For complete data charts and story, go to e-Marketer.com