6 Tips For Improving Workplace Safety

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StrategyDriven Human Performance Management Article |Workplace Safety|6 Tips For Improving Workplace SafetyYour employees help you reach your goals and grow your business. Without them, you may struggle to get ahead and deliver on your promise to your customers.

One of your jobs and responsibilities as a business owner is to keep your employees and the environment safe for working in. Your employees will be happier, healthier, and there will be fewer incidents and accidents to deal with when you make an effort in this area. Learn what you can do to improve workplace safety and create a better and more rewarding environment to be.

1. Install Cameras

Improve workplace safety by installing cameras throughout your building both inside and out. Constant Video Surveillance will help you monitor who’s coming in and going out of your office space around the clock. You’ll not only be keeping your belongings and equipment safe but also the people who work for you. If there is ever an incident or a crime committed then you’ll have the footage to see the details and evidence you need to prove who did it or was involved. It can save you a lot of headaches and even money down the road so it’s a wise step in the right direction.

2. Have Policies & Protocols

Improve workplace safety by creating a culture that focuses on it. Have policies and procedures in place to reduce confusion and ensure everyone knows how important it is to your company. Having protocols in place will make sure everyone’s on the same page and understands the workplace and environment expectations. Your employees can review the material and ask you any questions to clear up possible misunderstandings right from the start. It’s wise to make sure your employees know about these from the first day they start working at your business.

3. Train Your Employees

One way to prevent accidents and mishaps is to train your employees. Improve workplace safety by making sure everyone knows how to perform their job duties and use any necessary equipment. Train your staff and also have manuals they can use to review steps and what to do in the case of an emergency. You want them to feel confident and comfortable working their jobs and that they know their way around the building and equipment. The better trained your employees are, the greater the chance that you’ll be able to maintain a safe and healthy workplace.

4. Keep it Clean & Clutter-Free

It’s also about keeping your workplace clean and removing any clutter. You can avoid slips and falls this way and create more room for maneuvering and getting around. It may help to hire a cleaning crew so that you are consistent and keep it tidy throughout the year. You’ll be removing germs this way and ensuring all your belongings are put away and stored in a proper place. It’s wise to conduct regular inspections of the workplace so you can check for any potential hazards or dangers that need to be addressed. The less clutter and mess the better not only for improving safety but also for reducing stress.

5. Encourage Breaks

You want to avoid your employees being tired and worn out in the workplace. There’s more likely a chance they may make mistakes or have accidents if they’re overworked and exhausted. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to encourage your employees to take breaks frequently and throughout the day. You may even want to set up a break room and game room where they can go to relax and decompress from work. Removing themselves from their desks and computers for some time will not only keep them safer but more productive too. They’ll be safer and healthier and in a better position to perform their duties when they’re energized and at ease.

6. Communicate about the Topic Regularly

Another tip for improving workplace safety is to keep an open dialogue with your workers. Communicate about the topic regularly by asking questions and for feedback. Have regular meetings on workplace safety and use it as a time to respond to inquiries and make sure everyone knows your expectations and how to stay safe. It’s an excellent way to keep safety top of mind and let your staff know what you’re doing to ensure a positive experience at your workplace. Make it easy and painless for employees to come to you with workplace safety and health concerns or ideas for improvement. It may help to appoint someone as head of the workplace safety committee so there’s a leader and point person if there are issues or questions.

Improve Your Customer Experience With These Stellar Tactics

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Experience|Improve Your Customer Experience With These Stellar TacticsThere is no doubt about it the most important people to your business are the ones that put their hands in their pockets to pay for your product. That means above anything else you will need to make sure your customers love your business. Luckily, this isn’t as hard as it may sound. Indeed, there are plenty of things you can do to make your business more customer-friendly. Keep reading to find out what they are.

Be contactable

Your customers will want to contact you, whether it’s to ask a question, make a suggestion or get a problem resolved. However, their experience can be severely impacted if they struggle to get in touch with a real person. Yes, I know that everyone seems to love chatbots and FAQ pages online, as they are cost-effective, but the truth of the matter is that what your customers want is a real person they can talk to.

With that in mind, make it easy for your customers and prospects to be able to speak to a real person by advertising your business number on every page of your website, as well as each social media account you run. Indeed, having someone available to talk to customers on each channel and platform you have can work wonders in terms of providing them with a positive experience.

Lastly, don’t forget to offer an email option for customer contact as well. For this channel, in particular, be sure to manage customer expectations by giving an estimate of how long they can expect to wait for a reply. Also, ensure that you operative do all they can to resolve the customer’s issue or query in as few communication as possible, as this will show your customer that you value them and their time as is much more customer-friendly than dragging things out and making an issue of it.

StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Experience|Improve Your Customer Experience With These Stellar TacticsMake returns a breeze

In this age of internet shopping, you can expect customers to order items online, and once they have seen them in real life decide to send them back. Indeed, the option for customers to be able to do this is a very important aspect of landing a sale in the first place and must not be underestimated.

Of course, few people enjoy spending their free time getting tangled up in sticky tape and printing out return labels. Eleven less enjoy the idea of having to pay for the cost of returning a product. Indeed, such things can sour the experience for the customer and leave a taste in their mouth so bad that they will think twice before shopping with you again.

To that end, you need to do everything in your power to make customer returns a breeze. Fortunately, there are several strategies you can use here. The first is to make sure that your reverse logistics systems are robust and effective. With reverse logistics being the customer return system and opposed to the customer delivery system you use.

After all, if your returns take too long or items get lost on the way it will reflect badly on your business and begin to erode the relationship you have with your customer. Also, from the customer’s point of view, knowing that they can send back items that don’t meet expectations works in a similar way to a guarantee and helps them feel much more comfortable trying new things, and making that all-important purchase.

Additionally, there are a few other tactics you can use to improve the customer experience when it comes to returns. One of these to make sure you offer free returns as no one likes to have to pay out to get a refund. Additionally, offering a range of options for carriers and pick up can make the return process so much easier for the customer, especially when you include the choice to have the item picked up directly from their home. Finally, wherever possible, don’t make customers print out their own returns labels, this just adds another annoying task to their plates, lengthening the process, and causes lots of issues for people that don’t have printers ( or ink) at home. Instead include a pre-printed pre-paid refund label and your customers will thank and love you for it.

Provide special offers and discounts

Most people love the thrill of saving money and getting a good deal, and this is most definitely something you can offer your customers to improve their experience. Indeed, there are a whole range of special offers and discounts, and the real trick is matching the right ones to the point your customer is in the process of buying.

For example, for first-time customers, a percentage discount may provide them with the added confidence they need to take the plunge and try a new product. However, for customers that have already shopped with you, offering them 2 for 1s or multi-buy discounts can help them feel appreciated and encourage them to shop with you again,

Additionally for customers that have already had a successful experience with you, offering a cash bonus that can be put towards your products to refer to their friends and family can be very successful. It can also help to make them feel appreciated and valued as well, which will help your business maintain that long-term positive customer relationship.

Encourage customer feedback

Customer feedback can seem like a scary thing from the perspective of a business. However, if you rant inviting ratings and reviews you are missing out on a really important way of communicating and responding to your customer base.

Negative feedback, in particular, is hugely important, the reasons being that it will inform your business precisely where they are going wrong, and allows you to change this not just for that one individual customer, but improve the experience and make it as possessive as possible for every customer! To that end, if you want to make your customer experience as perfect as possible, you must make leaving feedback as easy as you can.

How to Build Your First Balance Sheet as a Startup?

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Balance Sheet|How to Build Your First Balance Sheet as a Startup?If there is one area of your startup that requires maximum attention to detail, it is the financial aspect. No successful business attained the height it has reached by neglecting the details of its financial activity.

Having a detailed financial system in place helps to increase transparency and accountability within the business environment. It also helps to know whether there is a loss or profit and the reasons for such. Most importantly, a detailed report of your startup’s financial activity over a definite period will come in handy when reaching out to investors.

One of three documents that your startup has to draw up every year is its balance sheet. Here, we shall be examining a balance sheet, what it includes, and how to build your first as a startup. Let’s start with what a balance sheet is and what it should include.

A balance sheet is an accounting document where both the credit and debit sides are balanced.

What Should Be On A Startup Balance Sheet

A balance sheet is a comprehensive financial document that examines all the assets, liabilities, and shareholder’s equity that belongs to a startup and how they were used within a financial period.

It provides an analysis of credits and debits and what every penny was used to achieve. If carefully drafted, it is expected that both ends of the balance sheet, which are the debit and credit sides, should be balanced after every calculation has been made.

From the above, you can see that there are three main components of a startup’s balance sheet, and they include:

Assets

Assets here can be current or non-current assets, and they include everything that the startup owns within a given period. Assets can be tangible, which refers to those assets that can be seen and touched like properties.

A startup can also have intangible assets that you cannot feel or touch, like goodwill. Every business should identify its assets and why these assets were obtained.

Liabilities

While assets are those things a company owns, liabilities are those things a company owes. Liabilities can also be current or non-current liabilities. Startups need to know what they have as assets and what their liabilities include.

Shareholder’s equity

Shareholder’s equity refers to what is left when a company has paid off its liabilities. It is the remainder of assets after liabilities have been settled.

A well-drafted balance sheet should have these three concepts captured accurately in it.

When A Balance Sheet Is Not Balanced

The whole essence of a balance sheet is that the debit and credit sides should be balanced at the end of every calculation. However, there are instances where after all the entries, the balance sheet won’t be balanced.

You may notice an imbalance after every entry has been inputted, and you are wondering what is the cause.

Some of the factors that can be responsible for a balance sheet not being balanced include:

  • Incorrect or incomplete data
  • Wrongly entered details
  • Mistakes in exchange rates
  • Mistakes in inventory
  • Wrong calculations

After imputing the details, review the sheet again.

Building Your First Balance Sheet as a Startup

As a business owner, you don’t have to wait until you own a big business before building your balance sheet. Immediately after your startup launches, you should start putting steps in place to draw up a balance sheet.

Your first balance sheet may not be as perfect as subsequent ones. It is possible that, in the end, the balance sheet may not be balanced. Instead of getting worried, you can review it to check if any of the factors listed above are responsible for why it isn’t balanced.

To build a perfect first balance sheet as a startup, here are some vital steps to follow:

Set a report date and range

A balance sheet is not an indefinite document. Like every other accounting document, it is expected to cover a specific range. So, your first step to building a balance sheet for your startup is to set a report date and range.

Conventionally, a balance sheet is to be drawn up every year. However, some businesses have chosen to make theirs after every quarter or the first half of the year. Regardless of which of these options you are going for, setting a report date and range is necessary.

A good example of this is to have a balance sheet from 1st January 2021 to 30th June 2021.

Identify your assets and liabilities

After you have set a report date and range, the next step is to identify your assets and liabilities. It is impossible to build a balance sheet when you don’t have a comprehensive idea of what you own and owe.

Determine your shareholder’s equity

As earlier pointed out, your shareholder’s equity is what is left after you just have subtracted what you owe from what you own. If you can successfully identify your assets and liabilities, determining your shareholder’s equity will become easy.
Worthy of note is assets and liabilities identified, and shareholder’s equity determined must be within the range fixed when starting this process.

Carefully enter the details

All the steps that have been discussed above are geared towards ensuring you have the correct statistics. With all these statistics at your disposal, the next step is to enter the details into the sheet. In doing this, you have to ensure they are correctly entered.

Pay attention to all the data to be sure they are complete and reflect the current state of the startup. Avoid mistakes in exchange rates and inventories.

Conclusion

The process of building your first balance sheet as a startup is not as complicated as you might have thought it to be. Provided you understand a balance sheet, the purpose it serves and can follow through on the steps provided above, you can create one in no time.

However, where it appears that after several trials, you’re not getting the right results, you can seek the guidance of a financial expert to guide you through the process. You can also surf the internet for more information from professionals on building a balance sheet.

References
CFI: What is a Financial System?
HBS: HOW TO PREPARE A BALANCE SHEET: 5 STEPS FOR BEGINNERS
Wallstreet Mojo: Difference Between Current and Non-Current Assets
Dummies: Current and Noncurrent Liabilities on the Balance Sheet
Chron: How to Review an Unbalanced Balance Sheet

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The Product Experience Kept Clothing Sales Going

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Product Experience|The Product Experience Kept Clothing Sales GoingClothing is one of the industries that has done very well during the pandemic. Despite people not necessarily going to work, partying and traveling, clothing sales have not fallen. Latest figures suggest a 10.6% boost. Despite the recent challenges businesses however, have not seen a plunge in consumer demand. This throws up a lot of questions about ‘the product experience’. This is all about the experience of looking at the product online, delivering it, opening it and putting it on for the first time. It is in this journey that a loyal customer is forged. Let’s see how your product experience should be devised.

Online inspection

When a customer looks at a clothing item online, they do a number of things.

They zoom in! Always take high-quality photos of your clothing. Customers want to zoom in, inspect the material, pattern, designs, color scheme, fit, length, quality etc.
They want to know the size. Always tell the customer what size the item in the photo is, and what dimensions the model wearing them has. For example, ‘this jumper is L size, our model is 6ft 1’.
They will want to know the design or style. In other words, always tell this what type of clothing it is, i.e. ‘this jumper is crew neck, with elastic cuffs’.

Packaging and delivery

When the product is shipped, it must retain its shape. A lot can happen on its journey, such as being thrown around, dropped, kicked, or shaken around. So the item can hold it’s shape if it is packed correctly.

So place some support tissue paper between each fold. If you are selling a jumper, place supporting paper between the back and the arms and between the arms as they are folded onto themselves too. Place extra support around the sides of the box. Any empty space should be filled with any kind of relevant support you can buy, such as bubble wrap. The delivery should be smooth and timely, so the item is not rushed and therefore, most likely squashed around on the way to the front door of the customer.

The product experience

When the customer first opens the package, they should be greeted with your packaging. This lets them know that the item has been cared for, it will be brand new and it will start it’s new life with them i.e. it hasn’t been worn before (crumpled, creases, etc). A unique thank you note or company slogan on a folded tag is a must. This folded hang tag printing service is great, everything is customized to your order and it’s affordable. These tags should be read-worthy for customers. Maybe place a logo on the front, finish it in matte or gloss, and write something interesting inside. This makes the product experience so much more unique and yet it’s not going to tax you budget-wise.

The product experience should never be underestimated. It’s what has kept the clothing industry so resilient and let’s face it, we all enjoy opening our package of new jeans, tops and jackets.

Growth Mindset Should Be a Part of Your Business Strategy

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StrategyDriven Strategic Planning Article | Growth Mindset Should Be a Part of Your Business StrategyAn organization that embraces a growth mindset positions itself to thrive. A growth mindset encompasses a set of behaviors and attitudes that reflect a business owner’s belief that their company’s business model is not set in stone. Such an entrepreneur is open to infusing new talents, innovations and creativity into the business to strengthen it and guarantee its longevity.

Aside from adjusting your business model as part of your growth strategy, you should also hire flexible employees with the capacity to learn and grow with the business. Your staff needs to share in your ambition to develop a future-oriented business. They should be ready to take on new roles, advance their skills and evolve with the company’s growth.

You will also rely heavily on integrated learning tools that facilitate employees’ professional development and streamline business operation. An Integrated Learning Systems (ILS) mindset growth arms the learning and development (L&D) department with accessible solutions for the evolving business operations.

Striving to become truly good at what you do guarantees that more customers will want your services. A growth mindset enables your business to stand out because it ensures you put in the work to achieve the company’s full potential. Continue reading to learn how incorporating a growth mindset in your business strategy helps you add value to the company.

Embrace Integrated Learning Systems

So how do you ensure you have talented employees by your side as you prepare your business for exponential growth? Integrated learning systems (ILS) is the solution you should embrace to provide your workforce with the necessary training to withstand the roller coaster ride of change as the business evolves.

How can you train your growth mindset and ensure your employees are more knowledgeable and competent in their jobs? Technology-based employee training offers a stack of solutions that address all parts of their learning needs. ILS mindset growth enables your business to shift towards digital learning and earn the massive benefits of training your team to execute development projects better.

ILS provides your company with a vast library of content suitable for end-to-end corporate training solutions. The system’s continuous micro-learning allows your staff to master new skills in the flow of work. Such a modern integrated learning solution that embraces all types caters to different types of employee development needs.

You also gain access to various forms of skills assessment to deliver skills-driven learning. This way, your employees can be more productive and better positioned to satisfy your customers.

Build a Culture of Taking Risks

To embrace a growth mindset is to accept that failure is an inevitable part of growth. But this should not hold you back from stepping out of your comfort zone. Oftentimes, when entrepreneurs recognize their weaknesses, they end up holding on to their failures as well. But working on one’s weaknesses does not mean you carry your failures as a burden.

When you focus on your failures, you’re distracted from the potential success your business can achieve in the future. Instead, claim and learn from past failures, then focus on growing from the mistakes. Building a culture of taking risks enables you to feed creativity and innovation into the business to fuel it forward, notwithstanding the risks involved.

Ensure you lead by example by practicing controlled risk-taking to allow the business to expand beyond your established market segment. Additionally, allow your employees to take on leadership roles that require them to learn how to think on their feet. If you don’t empower your employees to take some risk, they cost the company money by playing it safe.

Forward-thinking employees will learn from their mistakes and utilize their freedom and independence to tap into new markets. While it will take some time and effort, the risk is worth the reward.

Understand Your Purpose

For your business to stand out based on its specialty, you need to be purpose-driven, doing what you love for the people that love what you do. Purpose helps you define your company’s reason for being beyond profit. Ensure the purpose you establish for your business encompasses the company’s ultimate role in the broader economic, environmental and social context for years to come.

While on the surface, the products and services you offer keep your business running, a clear purpose that defines the impact your company can make guarantees its longevity. Define and articulate your purpose in a way that enlightens your employees and propels positive change. An elaborate purpose will:

  • Inform your long-term business strategies
  • Establish a competitive advantage in a saturated market
  • Inspire innovation
  • Boost brand visibility and brand credibility

Your employees will be motivated to go the extra mile to put your business on the map when you establish a relevant and aspirational purpose for your organization. Your purpose will be like the north star that guides day to day business operations towards a specific goal.

Conclusion

To become a forward-thinking company, you need to incorporate a growth mindset in your business strategy. It’s essential that you think and act differently in order to position your business on the map. Use these solution-driven approaches to unleash your business’ full potential.