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Fear and Loathing in the Virtual Office (w/ Andrew Ziegler)

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Business
Fear and Loathing in the Virtual Office (w/ Andrew Ziegler)

Join me Thursday, March 16/23 at 1pm EST on the VoiceAmerica Business Channel!

Virtual or remote working is here to stay, whether anyone likes it or not. In many cases management and employees are seeing the situation from differing perspective, and not really talking about it with each other in a constructive meaningful manner. I talk with recognized risk management and business continuity expert, Andrew Ziegler, as we talk about the fear, the loathing, and confusion over working in – and with – the virtual office.

Andrew touches on:

1. A LinkedIn poll he started that provided some surprising results,

2. Why leadership pushes to have people back in the office,

3. Why employees being hesitant and reluctant to head back to the office,

4. The misconceptions about productivity are wrong,

5. Addressing fear (real and perceived),

6, Empathy, and collaboration…and more.

Don’t miss this timely discussion with Andrew, as he provides some timely insights into the challenges of dealing with a virtual office – the new ‘normal’. Enjoy!

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Building Emotional Resilience for Crisis Situations w/ Dr. Liz Royle

Posted by Alex Fullick on
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Business
Building Emotional Resilience for Crisis Situations w/ Dr. Liz Royle

Join Me Thursday, April 20/23 at 1pm on the VoiceAmerica Business Channel!

Many organizations face challenges when it comes to applying creating emotional resilience for crisis situations. I speak with a founding member of the UK Psychological Trauma Society, internationally published author, Dr. Liz Royle.

Dr. Royle talks to us about:

1. People before ‘the plan’,

2. People and trauma,

3. Fears,

4. The 3 R’s (Resistance, Resilience, Recovery),

5. Crisis Team membership,

6. ‘The Ripple Effect’,

7. Areas of Risk…and lots more.

Dr Royle provides allot of insight into how we can create emotional resilience by creating and utilizing some innovative human recovery processes during crisis situations. Some may believe having a disaster response plan is enough, but there’s a human aspect that doesn’t seem to get enough attention. Dr. Royle sheds light on what’s missing and how we can address it. Enjoy!

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Crisis Leadership and Crisis Management w/ Oliver Schmidt

Posted by rstapholz on
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Business
Crisis Leadership and Crisis Management w/ Oliver Schmidt

Join me Oct 20/22 at 1pm EST!

Due to the COVID10 global pandemic, Crisis Management and Crisis Leadership have have changed, but become more important than ever. I speak with recognized Crisis Leadership expert Oliver S. Schmidt, as we talk about:

1. Defining a crisis, and the difference to a disaster,

2. The 3 phases of Crisis Management,

3. Partnerships that help ‘Contain & Control’ a crisis,

4. Ongoing Lessons Learned and Evaluation,

5. How did COVID changed Crisis Mgmt. and Leadership,

6. The functional areas that need to work together during a crisis,

7. Performing Impact Assessments,

8. Employees and COVID Impacts,

9. The Key Message Triangle and Communications,

10. Decision-Making.

It’s clear that Oliver is very passionate about Crisis Leadership and Management, and it comes across during our discussion. Don’t miss his great insights.

Enjoy!

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Are You Classifying Your Employees Correctly?

Posted by rstapholz on
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Business
Are You Classifying Your Employees Correctly?

With the talk about increasing the federal minimum wage, some businesses may consider trying the reclassify their employees. Is this a good idea to save some money? The Internal Revenue Service has tests that determined whether an individual is an employee or an independent contractor.  Marcelino Dodge, EA  discusses these tests and what the potential consequences could be for businesses that fail to properly classify and pay their employees in this special episode of The Tax Answers Advisor. The costs to your business of not properly classifying your employees can be very devastating if the IRS or a state department of labor does an audit.

Click here to listen to this important show.

A Closer Look At Time Tracking for Employees

Posted by rstapholz on
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Business
A Closer Look At Time Tracking for Employees

Do you need to track your employees to ensure greater productivity? Here are some tips to do so with TrackTime24.

Ensure your employees are aware of time tracking

You should talk to your employees about time tracking and let them understand how important it is. You should explain how it works and how you expect them to work. Every time you get a new employee, you should talk to them about time tracking and explain the tool to them. For example, if your employees have to use the mobile app and check-in every day then make sure you let them know.

You should also inform them about the expected length of their breaks and what is allowed on the job. You should also show them how to fix any entries if they made mistakes. By teaching your employees these things it will lower mistakes, improve information as well as ensure time theft doesn’t occur.

Automation

Next, as opposed to manual time tracking via paper-based timesheets, it is better to do so automatically. By having an automatic system it will be a lot simpler for all your employees to record their work and time worked. This will make it a lot better for HR or your administrator. With automatic timesheets, you will always have complete accuracy and no rounding would be necessary.

There are many platforms that you can use such as Hourly that provides time tracking for employees once they have started your work. You’ll be able to create automated lunch and break times and these times will always be in your reports. You can even create particular rules that will make sure your employees are productive and they actually work the amount of time you’re paying them for.

Better time tracking for managers

Tracking time can be difficult for some of your staff as well as your supervisors and managers. Managers will have to regularly collect the reports and timecards from all of your staff as well as check them to determine issues and accuracy levels. This is especially important since they will have to ensure that the worked hours are accurate since these are billable hours. Even though this may appear to be a simple task, it can take up numerous hours on a weekly and monthly basis. It will take even more time if the employees don’t correctly track their time or report accurately.

When you use a time tracking software such as Hourly, this will make time tracking a lot simpler for both employees and managers. Managers don’t need to manually do reports since the software can produce the reports automatically. With the help of this software, they’ll be able to easily find missing details and fix any issues.

Collect accurate data on hours worked

Unfortunately, it is quite easy to oversimplify time tracking and make the data useless. One example of this is if employees only clock in when they start their shift and clock out when they leave. This is very basic information.

According to federal law, you will have to not only track work hours but also lunch and break times. You also need to track over time. This will ensure that your staff is paid for their overtime work and the company as a whole can make better use of its time and reduce spending unnecessarily on overtime. It is also possible to track particular job sites, projects, etc.

Hourly can help you to better record all of these details. It can then be used to create reports based on the data which will enable you to make much better choices.

Use the features

The great thing about Hourly and other time tracking software is that it has lots of features and you don’t need to be a tech in order to make use of them. The software has lots of useful features that are simple to understand and can help your company to be more efficient and make the best use of your employees. With Hourly you’ll be able to do the following:

Always be aware of real-time work. When you log into the Hourly application, you’ll be able to immediately see who is currently working and any employees that aren’t on the job or at particular worksites.

Geofence. This software will let you know if any of your employees aren’t physically located at the sites they are supposed to be at throughout the workday. This will save you money

Create alerts. You can even create specific alerts that let you know when any of your employees move to another location or if they start working overtime.

Manage time tracking, worker’s compensation, and payroll

These are all highly related and you can now combine them into one particular solution. This will lower the amount of time you work on these things as well as increase your company’s compliance with documentation and labor laws. Currently, only Hourly offers a fully incorporated solution that allows you to handle time tracking, payroll, and compensation within one software application.

You can use this software to run payroll, make paydays a lot easier as well as handle these tasks for both employees and freelancers. When you integrate these things it will ensure that your company, as well as all your staff, are fully covered if any issue or accident occurs. You can rest easy knowing that your company and employee data are secured. With time tracking you’ll be able to easily streamline one of the core functions of your Human Resource department.

Use the data you collect

After you’ve implemented time tracking and it’s properly configured you can start to actually use the data you’ve gathered. So for example, if you use hourly, you’d be able to more easily determine how much work and labor would be needed for new jobs or projects. You’d also be able to figure out how much time new projects would take to be completed. It would be easy to figure out areas where you have more resources than necessary so you can cut down and save the company money.

When you use a time tracking solution it won’t just automate time tracking but give you extremely valuable insights that will make your company more effective and more successful. As you get more data over time, you’ll be able to have better analysis and therefore, be able to make better decisions. This includes accurately answering questions related to the labor required per project, costs, time, etc. which will give your company a competitive advantage.

Why Does My Business Need An Accountant?

Posted by presspass on
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Business
Why Does My Business Need An Accountant?

We often with speak with small business owners who rely upon DIY accounting programs. They say the program works good for them and makes operating their business a breeze. What we often find though is that even with the use of such programs, many business owners do not know the true profitability of their business. Or, if they have more that one office, they do not know which office is truly making money and which office is possibly losing money. Sometimes loan payments, income, and expenses are not being properly entered or categorized. Having an accountant will help your company to grow, move forward, and save on taxes.

Here are reasons why businesses need an accountant at all stages of growth:

1. Your business is in the startup phase:

There are many considerations when you are just starting your business:

  • Business Structure
  • Business Plan
  • Bank Accounts
  • Government Regulations
  • Location
  • Financing

You might think it’s too early to hire an accountant, but the way you set up your operations can have a serious impact on your future success. With my free Business Discovery Session,  I can help you to validate your business idea and help you to take the right steps the first time. Thus, being able to avoid spending more time and more money to correct mistakes later.

2. Your business has employees

In the first few years of operation, you may not feel you have enough work for an accountant. The truth, though, is that an accountant will have the specialized knowledge to make your money work for you even though you don’t have a huge workforce. The accountant can:

  • Help ensure employees and independent contractors are classified correctly
  • Oversee payroll and payment processes
  • Create appropriate timelines for sending W2s and 1099 forms

3. Allows you and your employees more time in money making activities

Time is a limited asset. The more time you can spend in marketing your business and consulting with clients and customers will produce more income than the monthly fees charged by an accountant. Having an accountant saves money on taxes and benefits paid to an employee in a non-money making activity. This employee can be reassigned to an activity that will make you money.

4. Your lender requests a financial statement

The Small Business Administration reports that small businesses borrowed over $6 billion last year. At some point your business will probably need additional funding, whether it’s for expansion, new equipment, purchasing property, or even establishing an emergency fund. Before you approach a lender, having an accountant prepare a financial statement can increase your chances of getting approved.

5. Your budget is falling short

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about half of all businesses will fail within five years of opening. Although there are many factors related to failure, not meeting budget goals can decrease the chances of your business survival. Having an accountant on hand to analyze your budget, assist in making changes and catch errors will help you make sure your budget is on target for success.

Questions to ask yourself before hiring an accountant:

  • Does your business planning match you financial forecast?
  • Have you read the tax code?
  • Do you have enough time to take care of all the accounting duties yourself?
  • Are you sure your employees are classified correctly?
  • Do you know what auditors look for when conducting an audit?
  • Do you know what needs to be in a financial statement?
  • Is your budget working for you?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, you can benefit from hiring an accountant.  A free Mutual Exploration meeting will help you to determine if our Business Bundle is a good fit to help you grow your business and reach your goals.

Why Is Something So Simple So Hard to Do

Posted by Editor on
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Business
Why Is Something So Simple So Hard to Do

employee recognition

Why is something so simple, as complimenting people for what they do well or encourage them as they work to improve their performance, so hard to do for many managers?

I’ve heard a variety of reasons why many don’t do it on a regular basis. It comes down to lack of time, lack of necessity or lack of know how. For example:
• “Why should I recognize people for doing their jobs?”
• “If I recognize them, they will let up and performance will drop.”
• “I don’t need recognition. I am self-driven. My people should be the same.”
• “Recognizing individuals will only create more problems with those who don’t get it.”

Why it’s Important!

If you want people to give their very best, you better be recognizing their efforts and contributions regularly. A paycheck is what helps people get to sleep at night, not what gets them going in the morning. Yes, money motivates to an extent. However, sincere and appreciative recognition leads to extraordinary performance from ordinary people.

What You Should Know About Recognition

1. Recognition and reward are not the same thing.

Rewards are best used when high achievement standards are met or exceeded. For many managers, monetary reward is the only recognition strategy they know. In those circumstances, reward is very black and white – exceed your numbers and get recognized (usually with more money); come in at 99% and be labeled a marginal or poor performer. Recognition is different. It’s not an all or nothing thing. It’s given for appreciation, for improvement even for having a smile when taking with customers.

2. Recognition serves many purposes not just for achievement.

With a hearty “Great job!”, or short note or public applause or even little trinkets, you let people know you appreciate their effort when they are making progress or going that extra mile. So look for opportunities to help people soar and let them know when they do.

3. Don’t delegate recognition and encouragement, it’s your job!

You must get involved one on one whenever possible. Dropping a note of praise in an e-mail is one thing. Personally handing it to the other person, with a proud look in the eye, an affirming handshake or a genuine pat on the back is something entirely different.

Smart Moves Tip:
Write down the names of at least two people whom you know deserves some praise or encouragement from you for something they have recently done or are about to do. Now go out and recognize them. Let them know how important they are. Then find two more people. In other words, set daily or weekly goals for recognition. Get it in your planner like you do everything else that is important.

Marcia Zidle – The Smart Moves Coach – guides companies to move from Now to Next to Success. She’s host of The Business Edge which delivers practical advice to help business leaders take the growing pains out of growth. Are you facing overwhelming demands on your time? Are costly mistakes eating into your profits? Are you facing increased expectations from customers and clients and the need to strike a better balance in your life? Now’s the time to stop spending your energy managing problems and start doing your real work: growing your business to the next level and beyond. Learn to create a growth agenda to get your business on the right track and keep it there. Rev up your growth engine with exceptional talent. Develop the right kind of leadership to move it forward fast. Start by tuning in to The Business Edge, airing live every Wednesday at 11 AM Pacific Time

Focus on Women Entreprenours

Posted by Editor on
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Variety
Focus on Women Entreprenours

culvers_logo

A ‘Culvers’ restaurant story of success!

This weeks episode brings together a very special ensemble, illustrating giving back to the community with the ‘Culvers Restaurant’ Franchisee in Grand Haven, Angela Taylor. As community leader and business owner Angela epitomizes our ‘Superior-Seniors’ in her hiring practices.

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Larry Cooper, a 76 year old young employee of Angelas, a perfect example of our never give up generation and not waiting for the end to occur will be our cleanup hitter on this episode.

Broadcast Saturday December 13th, on WGHN 1370 AM, Grand Haven, mornings 9-10, airing throughout the western shore cities of Lake Michigan, inspiration and education begin here.

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Angela will share the backstory of the ‘never say die’ attitude of building a premier business in Grand Haven from scratch. Her relationship with Larry Cooper and how his staying connected to life through her outreach and hiring practices of never ‘marginalizing’ older adults is testament to the Boomers Rock mantra of helping others achieve.

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Get Rid of It’s Not My Job

Posted by Editor on
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Business
Get Rid of It’s Not My Job

motivation xx

The attitude of “I’ll put in my time and that’s it” happens every single day in companies big and small. Is it happening in yours? Did you know that 50% of workers today would rather be someplace else? And another 20% take out their frustration every day and may be doing more harm than good. What about your people?

I have found that employees get this way when they are bored with their job; or feel like a faceless cog in a big wheel or don’t understand how “what they do” specifically contributes to the goals of their department or business unit. How can you, as a manager or business owner, keep your employees motivated to do their best work?

Three Strategies to Prevent “It’s Not My Job”

1. Communicate the importance of what they do.
Every supervisor should be able to state a meaningful purpose for his department and the work that is being done. Here is a short but powerful statement that was developed by a manager for her five-person benefits group.

“Benefits are about people. It’s not whether you have the forms filled in or whether the checks are written. It’s whether the people are cared for when they’re sick, helped when they’re in trouble.”

It is a statement with the focus on the end result—serving people—rather than on the means or process—completing forms. How well do you communicate the importance of what is being done in your department? How well do you build pride especially with your front line workers?

2. Recognize the importance of recognition.
The motto of many supervisors is: Why would I need to thank someone for doing something he’s paid to do? Workers repeatedly tell, with great feeling, how much they appreciate a compliment. They also report how distressed they are when their supervisor is quick to criticize mistakes but not acknowledge good work.

A pat on the back, simply saying “good going,” a dinner for two, a note about them to senior executives, some schedule flexibility, a paid day off, or even a flower on a desk with a thank-you note are a few of the hundreds of ways supervisors can show their appreciation. Money may get people in the door but it doesn’t keep them motivated to go the extra mile. Here are simple, inexpensive ways to recognize employees.

3. Tap into the importance of involvement.
There may be no single motivational tactic more powerful than asking for people’s input. An accounting manager presented a list of customer complaints at a staff meeting. She then broke the group into teams to find ways to eliminate these service glitches.

Getting everyone involved in problem-solving accomplished three goals. It brings the customers to the center of the department’s day-to-day operations; it lead to greater ‘buy-in” when changes had to be made in a process, policy or procedures; and finally it said to everyone that they and their ideas are valued. As one very proud production line worker, in an automotive plant, said to me:

“They only looked at what we could do from our neck down…now it’s for what we can do from our neck up.”

Smart Moves Tip:

It is true that most people must work to survive and money is certainly a motivator — but up to a point. For your employees to commit to and achieve great things, they need to experience purpose, recognition and involvement. As a manager you can provide that. It costs you nothing. And you will gain engaged employees who are working together to increase productivity and profitability.

Marcia Zidle:

The Business Edge with Marcia Zidle, your Smart Moves Coach, delivers practical advice to help business leaders take the growing pains out of growth. Are you facing overwhelming demands on your time? Are costly mistakes eating into your profits? Are you facing increased expectations from customers and clients and the need to strike a better balance in your life? Now’s the time to stop spending your energy managing problems and start doing your real work: growing your business to the next level and beyond. Learn to create a growth agenda to get your business on the right track and keep it there. Rev up your growth engine with exceptional talent. Develop the right kind of leadership to move it forward fast. Start by tuning in to The Business Edge, airing live every Wednesday at 11 AM Pacific Time.

Are You a Talent Magnet?

Posted by Editor on
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Business
Are You a Talent Magnet?

Marcia Zidle Smart Moves Coach

Talent is the make-or-break issue for business success. Few leaders would challenge that statement. However, how many live and lead by it? If you are serious about improving your capacity to attract and retain top talent, here’s what you need to do to fire up your company’s growth engine to be a talent magnet.

1. Hang out with them.
Get to know the most talented individuals early on, when you don’t need them. Who are they really as people, versus what they do for a living? What interests them, excites them, drives them? The very best time to get to know people is to informally socialize with them at industry, professional or community events. Keep these individuals apprised of your company’s purpose, current work and potential exciting opportunities. If you don’t establish a relationship first, chances are you will end up not getting them when you need them.

2. Entice them.
Create and manage the right expectations from the start. Ask yourself the question: “Why would top talent want to work for us?” Paying top dollar is never a good enough reason for the best talent to join and stay with you. To break out of the pack, look within your organization. How are you different? It could be little things like free Friday lunch to big things like sabbaticals after so many years.

3. Excite them.
Look at their hearts — and not just their smarts. The average resume is long on accomplishments and qualifications, and short on purpose and passion. Which is fine if you’re merely in search of technical skills. Yet, in situations where you expect people to step up to uncertainty — to do unprecedented things and deliver breakthrough results — you need to focus on candidates’ motivation, values and purpose. What can you tap into?

4. Invest in them.
We’re frequently amazed by how a company transitions new talent into a new milieu. “Sink or swim” is a risky strategy for both the person and the organization. New talent wants to succeed so help them. Provide coaching, learning and development opportunities. Top talent can intuit when you’re only interested in what they can do for you and soon they’ll be looking for greener pastures.

Smart Moves Tip:
How well do you stack up against these four factors? Realize attracting, engaging and retaining top talent is the most critical factor to your business success today and the future. Do you need to fire up your talent growth engine? Do you want to be a talent magnet? Listen to my guest David Allen, CEO of Snelling, on The Business Edge giving insights into Developing an Employment Brand for Your Business.

Marcia Zidle:
The Business Edge with Marcia Zidle, your Smart Moves Coach, delivers practical advice to help business leaders take the growing pains out of growth. Are you facing overwhelming demands on your time? Are costly mistakes eating into your profits? Are you facing increased expectations from customers and clients and the need to strike a better balance in your life? Now’s the time to stop spending your energy managing problems and start doing your real work: growing your business to the next level and beyond. Learn to create a growth agenda to get your business on the right track and keep it there. Rev up your growth engine with exceptional talent. Develop the right kind of leadership to move it forward fast. Start by tuning in to The Business Edge, airing live every Wednesday at 11 AM Pacific Time.

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