How To Decide If A Career In Healthcare Is Right For You

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article

A career in healthcare offers various opportunities – including becoming a doctor, nurse, chiropractor, physiotherapist, and dentist, to name a few. If you are reading this article, you may already be thinking about pursuing a career in healthcare but are not yet completely sure. The same way you would choose any career path, you need to think about the choices you are making, and thus weigh the pros and cons. Although, in this case, you need to consider what entering the healthcare industry means, including the money aspect, job security and even time required. The three most notable factors to keep in mind are education, your strengths and the lifestyle choice itself.

Education

What type of education do you need for a career in the healthcare industry? As with all industries, the different career options require different degrees. While some nurses may only require a college degree, becoming a doctor requires medical school and is a longer process. Yet another option in today’s day and age is advancing or completing a degree online. This is beneficial in order to gain work experience and school knowledge at the same time. The online MHA program is one example of this, allowing you to obtain a Master of Healthcare Administration online while continuing to work in your current field. When thinking about education, one of the most important considerations is that of time spent. How long will it take to obtain the degree? It is for this reason than an online degree is often beneficial. Read more

What to Look for in a Coworking Space

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Coworking spaces are becoming much more popular. There’s at least one coworking office in most large towns and cities, and some companies offer their members the use of their offices all over the world. There are fantastic. They give homeworkers a chance to work in a positive and energetic environment that’s full of creative spark. They are a great way to make connections that could be useful to your business, friends that can help you combat the loneliness of working from home and experts that can help you with areas of your business that you might not be as confident with. Research shows that people generally get more done in a coworking space than they would at home or in an office alone, and many people find that these kinds of shared working environments bring out the best in them, make them happier, more creative and more productive. If you find the right space, it’s certainly worth the membership fee. Here’s a look at what you need to look for when seeking out a coworking space that’s right for you.

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Access

Think about when you like to work. We don’t all enjoy 9-5 hours, some of us work best early in the morning whereas others like to burn the candle late into the night. Working at home means that you can do this. So, this is an essential consideration of your coworking space. Will you be able to use it when you are at your most productive?

Location

The location of your space is one of the most important considerations. Some memberships, like Level Office Coworking Space, allow you to use any of their sites all over the country. You can often even access a coworking space while you are traveling, even if you leave the country. This is fantastic. It means that freelancers are able to work wherever they are and work to pay for their travels as they go.

But, it’s fair to say that the majority of us spend most our time at home. One of the key benefits of working from home is not having the stress or cost of a commute, so you certainly don’t want to add one to your life. If the coworking space that you are looking at is too far away from home, you won’t use it. Look for somewhere that you can get to easily and you are much more likely to spend time there.

Facilities

A vital draw of a coworking space is the community it offers you. An area with excellent facilities often creates a more passionate and engaged community. If there are just a few desks and a printer, people will just work. They won’t chat, they won’t make connections, and they won’t feel creative. Look for somewhere that offers more. Ideally, it should provide things like a coffee machine and a relaxation space which encourage users to connect with each other and relax. Plenty of color on the walls and a chilled out atmosphere is also a must if you want a work area that inspires your creativity.

How to Create Outstanding Customer Service in Your Company

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management ArticleEvery company in the world needs customer service; whether it is the job of the owner or a dedicated team, it is the lifeblood of the business. However, not every company gets this essential part of their organization right, and that can spell disaster. Larger corporations might be able to deal with a bad customer service reputation for a while, but it might spell the end for a small business. Here are some tips for creating an outstanding customer service team that will build your company’s reputation.

Start with Good Training

Not everyone is a natural at customer service; some have to work on their skills more than others. That is why you need to have a comprehensive training program that can give your staff the background they need to succeed. Not only do they need to be good with people and have a calm nature, but they also need to know everything about how the company works. Your customers will come to them with all manner of problems, and they want to speak to someone that knows what they are talking about. It is also important that your customer service team has access to help as much as possible. For example, if they are not trained or have access to all the systems, then they might not be able to help the customer.

Treat Your Team as You Want Customers to be Treated

There can be a lot of pressure on managers to get results, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be respectful and polite. If you and your managers are not treating your employees with respect, then this will filter down to the customers. Good service is more than a facade, it needs to be the work ethic of the company if it’s to be successful. Part of this includes asking your teams what they think about how the company is running and if they can see any improvements that could be made. Making them part of the process gives them a feeling of value and increases morale.

Good Communication

Communication between your customer service team and the customer is hugely important. If your teams are taking too long to reply to an email, or they say they will ring back when they don’t, then this can be a big barrier to keeping customers happy. You need to encourage your teams to monitor the emails coming into the company closely. As soon as a customer contacts the business, it needs to be acknowledged and given to someone to deal with. There also needs to be guidelines in place that tells the employees how long they have to reply to the customer and what they can do to help them. Utilizing other types of communications can also help, such as social media. By having your customer service team on social media, you are giving customers a fast and efficient way to contact you. You can also use services like business SMS to keep in touch with your customers for ongoing issues.

Listen to Your Customers

There is nothing more frustrating to a customer than not being understood. Some customer service teams are so intent on reciting their company policy that they don’t understand the customer’s complaint or concern. Rectifying this can be simple, all you need to do is to encourage listening to the customer and trying to take on board what they are asking. It is also important not to interrupt them while they are explaining the problem, even if you know what it might be. Of course, there are exceptions to this; for example, the rude or abusive customers. However, even these can be dealt with in a way that is polite but firm. You should also try to avoid passing them onto other team members if possible. If they need another department, then try to connect them first instead of putting them back in the queue.

Try to Offer Solutions

Your customers won’t be happy if their question or request is met with ‘don’t know.’ That reply in itself offers no resolution for the customer and makes the company look unprofessional. Whatever the question might be, it is important to try and find a solution that will be agreeable to the customer. Even if that means that you need to get back to them the next day, at least you are doing something to resolve the matter. Sometimes a suitable solution cannot be found, but the customer will appreciate the effort you used to help.

Go the Extra Mile

Your customers are looking for a great experience from your business. They want to be able to buy their products quickly and easily with a little hassle as possible. However, sometimes there is an opportunity to go that extra mile for your customers and cement their loyalty. It might be something simple like helping an elderly person with their shopping or telling them about a special deal they might not be aware of when they check out. When customers see that you and your staff are willing to do that, they will feel appreciated and valued. That is a powerful feeling that you want all your customers to feel about your company.

Learn from Your Mistakes

No matter how good your customer service is, mistakes will happen. It is part of life, and it shouldn’t be overly punished as you want to maintain morale. However, it is important that you and your teams learn from the mistake and put procedures in place to prevent it from happening again. Have regular meetings with your staff so that these issues can be raised, and solutions can be found. It might mean additional training or a change in the way a system is used.

There will always be those customers that you won’t be able to please, no matter what you do. However, by having the best procedures and staff in place, you can minimize the number of times that happens.

Insuring Your Bottom Line: Why Contractors Insurance is Necessary to Your Business

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StrategyDriven Risk Management ArticleContracting occupations, like electrician, insulation worker, mason, plumber, roofer, carpenter, and painter, all have unique features, including risks. Clients and employees can get hurt and a contractor could be held liable and be left with costly medical bills. Where general liability insurance prove invaluable in addressing some of the common risks contractors may confront, contractor insurance can offer contracting business owners protections where expensive setbacks that deal with operations/product, errors, contract dispute could greatly affect their business. Let’s look at why contractors insurance is paramount to your business and complete liability protection.

General Liability Protection

This is the basis of all contractor insurance policies and covers two main types of protection:

  • Bodily injury: Provides for medical care for a contractor or someone injured by a contractor’s employee on the job, and also includes coverage for legal defense if a contractor is sued for damages.
  • Property damage: Provides coverage for damage caused to a property by a contractor or an employee, even damage to a third-party property.

Completed Operations/Product Coverage

Completed projects can have issues or cause damage and contractors insurance provides coverage for any products a contractor sell or distribute, and helps with the expenses for claims related to completed services, for example, poorly installed wall shelving that results in injury to the property owner.

Commercial Auto Coverage that Fits Your Business

If your contracting business requires the use of commercial vehicles for a part of its operation, then adding commercial auto coverage to your contractor insurance is a great way to protect your business against unforeseen accidents that may be related to road conditions, weather, or collision with other motorists. Coverage may include collision damage costs, medical expenses, and damage from a specific natural disaster.

Errors and Omissions Coverage

Taking a job with the intention to do impeccable work doesn’t always lead to that result. It is possible for errors to occur, like an electrical job error that result in a fire. With a contractor’s insurance that covers errors and omissions, you can protect you and your business from claims of negligent acts, errors or omissions during a project that causes a monetary loss for the client. This coverage may extend to business owner, employees, and subcontractors of the business.

Contract Liability Coverage

This coverage comes in handy in a contract dispute and is essential, especially if you regularly hire independent contractors who possess limited or no insurance coverage.

Workers’ Compensation Protection Coverage

Having workers’ compensation protection should be a smart addition to a contractor’s insurance. Employees are key players in your contracting business and worker’s compensation protection is beneficial if an employee gets injured on the job by helping to cover medical treatment, and may even provide a portion of lost wages if time off from work is required because of the injury.

Contractors insurance is necessary to protect your business, assets, and employees. General liability protection may not be enough to provide the peace of mind that you will need to continue daily operations when costly claims hit your business. Contractors should think about the types of protections that are beneficial to their business and acquire a policy accordingly.

An Employee Ascending Is A Leader In Waiting

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The working world is not two-tiered. It’s not workers and seniors, it’s a multi-layered and complex professional world. It’s akin to a soup, you need the overall flavor to come through, and the base to provide body but, there are lots of other different components that bring out the best in the dish. Here’s where people get flustered. Sometimes there are unofficial roles that have almost the same power as the intended purpose they serve. However, since they’re not official, this means that there are many people that hold greater power than the average employee, but aren’t quite middle management or senior higher-ups. It’s called employee ascension. Slowly, you’re being recognized as someone who potentially has leadership qualities, but since there aren’t roles open in the middle management and no positions open for middle management to be promoted to a senior role, then you are in effect in limbo. Don’t worry though, you need to keep up your progress and maintaining your upwardly climb.

How do you know

Are you getting more and more tasks to do, despite no official word with you about them? This could stir up the feelings of resentment because it can seem as if you’re being bullied or perhaps being taken advantage of. However, if you can see that the other employees are getting the same amount of work as you used to, then perhaps it’s far from bullying. Notice that you are being asked to check over someone else’s work? Some work can seem like it’s in the middle of being classed as something the management should do and something that employees may also do. These are clear signs that you are being trusted to do work that requires a little finer touch and an increased skill level from the other employees. Continue doing this work for a few weeks, and then have a chat with your superior. Inform them that you have no issue doing the work but that it seems odd to be giving you a higher class of work. Most likely they will inform you that you’re being tested, which is basically a confirmation that a promotion is waiting in the wings for you.

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In your stride

Promotions can sometimes be a rocky road. Companies may want you to take on more work but they don’t have the salary expectations of a middle management or top worker to give away. Instead, you should take it in your stride and relish the opportunity to play a larger part in the company. If you work in the construction industry and your employer is looking for someone to take on a large role, you can apply for an excavator license test. The course teaches you how to use the latest machines and abide by the latest safety rules as well as effective techniques to speed up the work. You should be jumping at the chance to play a larger role while and based off of your performance, be ready to accept a promotion.

Ascending through the career ladder to get a better job is at first daunting. The first thing, however, is to get noticed and want to get noticed at that. This means taking on the added responsibilities when they’re given to you. Remember that it’s a test and should you pass you are in line for a leading role.