• Knowledge and Information Knowledge and Information

If you are going to be successful in business or investing you have to acquire as much knowledge as you can. That doesn’t mean you have to spend six hours everyday watching the stock market or going to university to get a business degree, it simply means you should have a good general knowledge of the basics which will give you more intelligent options to choose from. As you learn to earn you will also learn to avoid making poor decisions that cost you money.

• Patience and Time Patience and Time

With time anyone can get rich and the earlier you start putting money aside the better. Most financial advisors rave about the magic of compounding interest because it is so effective. Compound Interest is where your earnings from investments are reinvested. So when you are first getting started your reinvested earnings will be quite small, but over time they begin to create a snowball effect. The secret is to get started and be patient!

• Persistence and Discipline Persistence and Discipline

Despite what many “get rich quick” peddlers would like you to believe, it’s generally not easy to get rich and it will not happen overnight, unless you’re extremely lucky and win the lottery. Getting rich is about taking many small disciplined steps over a long period of time.

• Goals and Flexibility Goals and Flexibility

Having a set of financial goals will give you strength and give you a clear target to head towards when things get tough. Get clear about where you are now and where you want to be in 12 months, 5 years, 10, and even 20 years. Keep reviewing your goals regularly and be prepared to be flexible and change things if circumstances change. A good financial advisor that has been recommended by a friend can help with some of the financial details of this step. other save buying you can use payday loan

It’s important to get the basic money making steps right in the beginning. Once you have a solid foundation built for creating wealth and are putting away a percentage of your income each week, set about learning a little more about finance and investing everyday. Keep up to date with the business news and learn about different investment products and services. But most importantly, keep moving a little bit closer towards your goal each week and do not ever give up!

Some human resource departments have maintained an old command and control mentality, where they see their jobs as making sure managers and employees are doing what they are supposed to. Is everyone on time? Why not? What about sick leave? Are all the rules being followed? It’s not that these departments are misguided, because some rules, (e.g.. hiring practices, safety, harassment, etc.) ARE important and need to be handled centrally by a company. Or, certain programs and procedures may best be handled by a central department because of the need to coordinate some actions across the entire company. Problems arise, however, when the HR departments forgets that it’s purpose is to serve the needs of the company, the managers and the employees, to help THEM get the work done.

After all, is your company’s human resources department a PROFIT CENTER? Of course not. The HR department doesn’t produce anything or sell anything but it can help the rest of the company make things or sell things by smoothing the path on some matters.

What sets apart good HR departments from bad is that the bad ones lose their service orientation, and forget that if they don’t help others get their jobs done; they won’t get cooperation from those they should be helping. The good ones recognize that while they are obligated to do some regulation of some processes, that they can play important leadership roles in the organization. And that does NOT mean dictating but balancing off the needs of the organization with the needs of the managers and employees.

What would this look like? Let’s take an example: performance appraisal. Poor HR departments go about performance appraisal this way. They devise a set of rules and forms on their own, then go forth (if they have executive support) and TELL managers and employees what they SHALL do. They tend not to consult, or if they consult just forget to listen to the people who have to use these sometimes monstrous procedures. What happens is that since HR tends to be somewhat distant from the users of the system, the process misses. Managers and employees see the process as another hoop to jump through, and stall, or avoid doing what they are supposed to. What happens is that HR then has to move into the police or enforcer role, to try to coerce managers to do what they are supposed to. That gets everyone frustrated and drives wedges between HR and the rest of the company.

The good HR department goes about it differently. While they recognize that performance appraisal needs to be, in some respects, a central organization process, they also recognize that if the process isn’t responsive to at least some needs of managers and employees, it will never succeed. So rather than dictating the procedures, forms and minutiae, the smart HR folks create (in consultation with both managers and employees), a skeleton outline of the process. This skeleton outlines the basic components, but leave the details to the managers. So rather than telling managers they much use the twelve page form provided, they simply say that managers must document the performance discussions, and forward them to HR at least annually. See the difference? The shift here is from dictating details to providing a framework and helping people work within that general framework. It’s a SUPPORTING function, and not a lead actor.

Everyone benefits (including the HR staff) by backing off and recognizing that one can both support and lead at the same time without dictating. The bottom line is that the more HR dictates and plays enforcer, the fewer managers and staffs feel they need to take responsibility for the functions HR is dictating. The more dictation the more resistance from the rest of the company.

So, HR folks. Look to providing frameworks, rather than details. Look to serve rather than to command.

Get To know  them
So many times we see a company provide what the customer is looking for and then send them on their way. In a bicycle shop, for example, a customer walks in and is obviously searching for something related to a bicycle. He or she mentions that a desire to purchase a new bicycle is what has brought them into the store that day. The shop owner has plenty of bicycles for sale, lets the customer find one they like, receives payment, and lets the transaction end there.

One thing to remember is that, often, the businessman or woman knows more about the product or service they are providing than even the most informed customer. Suppose that the customer in the bicycle shop picked out a street racing, ten-speed bicycle and the shop owner, neglecting to develop a personal relationship with the customer, let the customer’s choice be the beginning of the transaction and the payment for said bicycle be the end of it.

Now, suppose that the same customer with a new street racing ten-speed bicycle was planning on taking that bicycle on a mountain trip through rugged and desolate trails. Obviously, the street racing ten-speed is not the best of choices for doing so. If the shop owner had taken the time to talk to the customer and asked questions such as, “So, planning on doing some riding? Where at?” the shop owner would have been able to suggest a better product for the customer and, hence, developed an appreciative bond between the business and the customer, causing the customer to, more-than-likely, make a return visit.

Make It Special
Sometimes, excellent customer service calls for the unusual. Make an effort to go the extra mile and provide what is known as “customer-led services”. Some customers might work until 5:00 p.m., which is just when your store closes. Offering to let the customer shop after the store closes is catering to a customer’s special needs and goes a LONG way in the relationship department. This sort of action also goes hand-in-hand with developing a personal relationship with the customer, as mentioned earlier. This example of customer service is something that can be used anywhere, from a small storefront business to a large corporation. The point is, pay attention to special needs of your customers, whether a customer is a casual shopper or a corporate client, and you will be rewarded with continued business from that customer again and again.

Customer Service Starts at Home
It is important to remember that good customer service starts with employees that are happy to serve the customer. Take care of your employees and they will take care of you. Make sure their needs are met and do what you can to create a workplace free from negativity and full of motivation and recognition for creativity. Happy employees love their job and it shows when they provide a service or product to your customers.

Time’s Up!
If an idea, plan, or strategy is not working, bring it to an end. So often, managers are faced with the realization that perhaps the system which was put in place to increase customer service is not going to produce positive results after all. Still, they are reluctant to drop the curtain due to pride or hoping that with just a little more time the plan could still be effective. Forget it. If it’s not working, move on to something else. Shut it down and start something else. There is no use in wasting customers’ time and business in the hope that whatever method is being used will eventually work out. Out with the old, in with the new is good advice.

Above all, remember that customer service is the single most important thing to consider in your business, second only to taking care of your employees. Be willing to be flexible and get involved in the process of customer service in any way possible, no matter how high on the food chain you are. Not only will this serve as a good example to your employees but it will increase the level of service that your customers receive.

David Dell, research director for capabilities management and HR at The Conference Board, has observed, “Both HR and IT have many new issues to address and many decisions to make and implement. But the speed of change in both areas makes the challenge more difficult as it increases the promise.”

Why do people resist change? Leslie Smith, a clinical psychologist and former Web designer in McLean, Virginia, outlines these reasons:

• Fear of making mistakes or looking foolish.
• A lack of understanding or confidence about the new system and its benefits.
• Anxiety about doing more. Employees often feel overworked already, and resist learning something new when it’s layered on top of their existing duties.
• Change fatigue. Once people learn something new, they’d like to stick with that new knowledge and take a rest.

Jeanie Daniel Duck, author of The Change Monster: The Human Forces That Fuel or Foil Corporate Transformation & Change, writes, “The knee-jerk answer (to failed change efforts) is the people ‘resist change,’ as if ‘resistance to change’ were some kind of sorry genetic code that, if it could be reengineered, would magically produce people instantly eager to do things differently whenever anyone asked. The ‘resistance to change’ answer… is appealing because it takes the blame off the leaders and puts it on those ‘no-good followers.’”

Leaders must take charge of change. There are many things that you can do to ensure a more successful initiative, including:
Communicate. Explain what benefits you expect from the new system and how people’s roles might change. Also make sure that change is championed from the top of the organization and communicate that support.

Collaborate. Involve prospective users in change decisions and choices. Duck says it’s not the change that’s the problem, but the way it comes down. “People are changing all the time, but those are changes of their own choosing,” Duck says. “People resist being told they have to change.”

Demonstrate. As Duck observes, people are powerfully motivated by self-interest. Technological change is likely to be more successful if people are shown what’s in it for them. “When they’re motivated, it’s amazing what people can do,” she says.

Evaluate. Look at the whole corporate culture, not just IT, to determine how many other changes people are being asked to deal with at the same time, such as a merger or reorganization. Perhaps it’s time to give them a breather.

Commiserate. Let people know it’s okay to complain, Duck advises. It provides a useful outlet. Although IT may feel like the corporate whipping boy, “that’s the nature of the beast. IT departments have a checkered past,” she says. “They must accept that and be more careful.” Further, allowing complaint and disagreement might enable you to measure resistance before you spend millions of dollars on that new initiative.

Don’t denigrate. Mary Lynn Pulley, Ph.D., is a faculty member at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina. She maintains that the learning curve is upside down: “It’s more of a valley than a hill,” she says. “Whenever you learn anything, your performance actually declines before it improves.”

She refers to that performance dip as the Valley of Chaos, and urges learners to remember that chaos and creation go hand in hand. “Things have to fall apart or disintegrate in some way so that they can come back together in a new way.” Managers must make it clear that mistakes are okay and avoid any kind of punishment for error in a learning environment.

Eradicate. “You must allow for the notion of un-learning as people abandon old ways,” Pulley says. Know that people have to rid their minds and routines of that which no longer works, but be aware that getting rid of the old and familiar can engender fear and confusion.