What Is Upward Mobility & Why Is It Crucial For Your Business?

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Upward Mobility|What Is Upward Mobility & Why Is It Crucial For Your Business?Upward mobility is a term that gets thrown around the business world quite a lot. This is something you might have seen somewhere before, and it’s highly likely you heard it when you were applying for jobs in the past. This is because it’s a term that relates to employment. Specifically, upward mobility is when a business provides employees with ways to rise up the ranks and improve themselves. It’s where you take an employee and make them a better version of themselves in one way or another.

How can your business do this, and why is upward mobility so important? We’ll start with the second question, culminating in a few ideas and tactics you can use to implement this approach in your business.

The importance of upward mobility

With upward mobility, you give your employees a chance to better themselves. They aren’t just stuck in a job that’s going nowhere, they can actively improve and open new doors for themselves. As you’ll see in the later section, the improvements and opportunities aren’t just related to their job. It can help them improve other aspects of themselves and their lives as well.

All of this comes together to mean that you have a group of very happy employees. You have people that are keen to work for you and stay working for you for a long time. They are getting a lot out of being your employee, so why would they leave? This reduces your turnover rate dramatically, saving your business a lot of time and money. Productivity can also increase as you have the same team working together for years on end – also boosting efficiency.

In essence, you don’t have to deal with teams being broken up as one or two people leave every few months. This would result in long hiring campaigns that drain your resources, and lost time as you wait for the new people to integrate. Upward mobility keeps your employees at your business for longer, and it makes them happier to work for you.

How can you implement upward mobility?

There are literally so many different ways you can implement this, which is why there’s no excuse to not do it. So many businesses from around the world present examples of upward mobility done right. One company called Grupo Caliente offers upward mobility by providing scholarships to different educational institutions. This lets employees train and gain new qualifications that can open up bigger career moves. Amazon is another company that offers upward mobility, giving all employees access to a training program to help them become leaders when they are hired.

There are plenty of other examples of companies that provide ways for employees to excel upwards. Essentially, you are looking for any type of training or development program or idea that gives your employees something extra. Perhaps they learn new skills, gain qualifications, or improve their education.

All in all, focusing on upward mobility can be crucial for your business. Keep your employees happy and focused, and the rest of your company will thrive.

The Essentials Every Student Nurse Needs

StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Student Nurse|The Essentials Every Student Nurse NeedsStudent nurses are those that are partaking in an educational course. Unlike qualified nurses, they are on clinical rotations and their work is supervised by a nursing instructor. It can take a few years to be qualified and during that time, student nurses will likely work on different sites to test and enhance their skills and knowledge. To achieve the most from your education and time as a student nurse, here are some essentials you need.

On-site clothing

The role of a student nurse requires on-site work as well as educational sessions. Therefore, you must have the right clothing to ensure your and your patient’s health and safety. A few items you’ll need are scrubs, shoes, and PPE. Shopping for clothes and equipment is simple online. You can find scrub jackets at UniformAdvantage.com as well as other equipment.

After you qualify, you will require clothes anyway. Thus, getting them ahead of time will benefit you and help you transition into the role of a student nurse smoothly.

Compression stockings

As a nurse, student or not, you will be on your feet for most of the day. When you are standing for too long, you are vulnerable to varicose veins in your older age.

To prevent this, compression stockings will increase and maintain your blood flow, which will also prevent pain and swelling of the feet and ankles.

Stethoscopes

Stethoscopes are an essential tool that every student nurse needs. They are to be worn at all times so that you can check a patient’s heartbeat while on the job. You never know when a patient might require one. Or, you might be randomly chosen to perform a health check to test your skills.

If you are always well prepared, then you will be never caught out and looked down on by the staff. When you have the right tools, it shows you are ready and organized for any nursing situation.

Blood pressure cuffs

As a student nurse, you may often be asked to check a patient’s blood pressure. Most hospital environments have them attached to the monitors. However, it is ideal to have your own.

Moreover, as a student nurse, it is common for you to move around to different nursing situations, such as people’s homes. Thus, having a blood pressure cuff on you will be necessary to take the reading as the person you are caring for will likely not have one.

Penlights

Penlights are essential for checking a patient’s neuro status. When you shine a penlight into a patient’s eye, you can their neuro response through eye movements.

Penlights are cheap and very easy to carry around in your scrub jacket pocket. Always have one on hand because you never know what situation you might step into.

Dressing scissors

A common task for student nurses to achieve is to dress wounds. These are great tests to assess a student’s skills, so they will likely be asked by the nursing tutor or doctor on the ward with you.

So that you are always prepared and ready, having dressing scissors will ensure that you can efficiently dress the wound and cut the dressing.

You may also require scissors for various other miscellaneous uses, so they are always handy to have.

Watch

You will often be in a nursing environment for a long time. Nurses can work around 12 hours at a time, so you will want to check up on the time.

Student nurses are often given a schedule so that they can move around a hospital to work on different wards. If so, you will need to keep an eye on the time so that you aren’t late.

Sometimes you will be required to have your hands and wrists free of jewelry for the safety of patients. Thus, a pocket watch is a handy tool to keep an eye on the time.

Study guides

Whether you are on the wards or not, a study guide will be a good item to carry around to fill your spare time with. Or, if you become unstuck in a situation and lack the skills, you can rely on your guide to give you the help you need without pestering other staff. However, never be afraid to ask questions as that is how you learn.

A study guide is an essential piece of equipment as a student nurse as it is something to refer back to as well as enhance your knowledge on the move.

Tote bags

A tote bag can come in really handy when you are a student nurse. You will be able to carry around all of your essentials and be able to grab them easily.

A soft tote bag will be safe for patients and blend in well with your uniform.

In your tote bag, you can carry your study guide, stethoscope, scissors, and any other essential pieces of equipment you need.

Drug guide

All student nurses will be learning about the different drugs and medications and what they do. You might not know every single one. Thus, having a drug guide will help you assess what a patient needs and get it right.

You can find pocket drug guides, which will be easy to carry around in your tote bag or your scrubs pocket.

Badge holder

Student nurses will require a badge just like a qualified nurse. It signifies that you are eligible to help patients and work on the ward.

You must carry your badge on you at all times for the sake of the practice and its patients. To keep your badge safe, a badge holder is handy.

Note pads and pens

As a student nurse, you will be constantly learning when you are on the wards. You may often be asked to sit and watch a procedure or doctor care for a patient. When you are observing, it is a great time to take notes.

Note-taking will enhance your learning and help you remember some tips and tricks of the industry. Having a notepad and pen at hand all of the time will ensure that you can write down and remember everything that you learn.

A diary

Speaking of stationery, having a diary will be key so that you can organize your time. You will likely move from place to place and be in and out of education throughout your qualification. Thus, writing down your schedule will ensure that you are on time and never miss a session.

If you were to miss a session, it could delay your progress and stop you from learning every trick that you need.

Hand cream

When you are a nurse, you will constantly be washing your hands to free them from bacteria. This is for the health and safety of yourself and your patients. Thus, your hands might become dry and feel irritated while working.

To prevent this, carry around a travel-size hand cream so that you can keep your hands moisturized all of the time.

Anti-bacterial gel and wipes

To keep areas clean and bacteria-free, using anti-bacterial gels and wipes will help. Although most practices will have these lying around, it can be useful to bring your own so that you know where they are located.

A benefit of having anti-bacterial is for the sake of your patients too. Wiping down equipment in front of them will help them to feel at ease.

Flesh toned underwear

Many practices require white scrubs, which can sometimes be see-through. You won’t want anyone seeing your underwear. Thus, wearing flesh-toned underwear will make your underwear invisible.

Having dedicated underwear for work can act as a part of the uniform.

Voice recorder

Although you can write down notes, you might not have time to if you are doing a task. Therefore, having a voice recorder will help you record and listen back to the information that you heard.

A voice recorder will also be a great way for you to hear back a conversation and learn from how you dealt with it.

Clipboard

When you are working in a hospital environment, you will likely need to take notes to hand back to the staff. To do so, a clipboard can make the process easier.

Instead of having to find somewhere to lean on, you can use your clipboard and attach it to your uniform or place it back in your tote bag for easy access.

Podcasts

Although you will learning from your place of education and on the wards, you can attain extra knowledge from the outside.

Nursing podcasts are a great way to learn about real-life scenarios and educate yourself further. Hosts are typically nurses or those that work in the industry, which will give you an insight into how other practices work.

Meal and drink prep

When you are working as a student nurse, you might go to and from your education campus to the practice. Or, you might work incredibly long shifts. Either way, you will need to stay energized and hydrated. Thus, meal and drink prepping will ensure that you can eat and drink on the go.

Meal containers are useful for taking meals. Then, a flask is great for any drink of choice. You might require some tea or coffee to keep you alert during long shifts.

5 Online Business Strategies You Need in 2021

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Online Business Strategy|5 Online Business Strategies You Need in 2021The world of business is constantly changing. Online business, even more. The best companies embrace rapid advancements in technology as a part of their corporate infrastructure. However, as a newcomer or competitor to an online business, you cannot afford to ignore specific tools available to you.

For example, and perhaps surprisingly, only 30% of small to medium enterprises utilize search engine optimization. Among other digital and data-driven strategies for business, SEO is a vital aspect that you should incorporate into your broader corporate model. Based on available data, SEO alone will give you an immediate advantage over 70% of the competition.

Automation and AI Tools

The past ten years have been an exciting time for artificial intelligence. Specific AI tools have become essential in modern business and are almost a requirement for your company. Of many of these, you may not be aware. For example, affordable email marketing through automation software like MailChimp has unrivaled power for delivering messages to select groups of people. These AI apps are now used daily by many companies.

Other AI tools are subversive yet used every day. Grammarly, for example, might look like a standard spell-checking tool, but it is a sophisticated AI that analyzes every aspect of the wording or grammar of a document, to fit predefined goals. These goals include structure, style, and tone. Other AI tools work behind the scenes. For example, Amazon’s buying suggestions system is a highly complex AI and machine learning tool that adapts to changing user input.

Branding and Awareness

As a company, it is vital that you seek some branding. Minimally, this includes a company name and logo. More comprehensively, you can develop corporate colors, taglines, slogans, typefaces, and print media such as business cards and letterheads. Any aspect of branding should be consistent and precise across your company as it aims to identify your company immediately. It also aims to separate your company from others.

To help separate your brand from others, you should copyright and trademark all brand material where applicable. Finally, unless you are a qualified designer, you should hire a digital marketing or professional branding company to develop your corporate identity. These agencies are incredibly skilled and can design and produce consistent and recognizable branding aspects that set you apart from everyone else.

Social Media

It might have been an option in the past, but you can ignore social media no more. Modern platforms are essential tools for digital marketing and business. As of 2021, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram account for 50% of company revenue. Additionally, analyses have found that social media marketing campaigns influence 75% of B2B and 84% of C-level executives.

Implementing a social media campaign is straightforward in principle, but a strong understanding of how the systems work is necessary. Each platform offers unique targeted advertising opportunities leveraged by direct ads, earned media, and influencer marketing. For example, Facebook allows you to specify key demographic information for each of your ads, directing ads to those most likely to click on them.

Pay-Per-Click

The cornerstone of online advertising, Pay-Per-Click advertising is vital for generating sales. If only for the cost-effective methods implemented, you should consider PPC as you only pay for your ad upon a click. While a click indicates that a user is at least interested in your products or services, the trick is in leveraging techniques to convert these clicks into sales. However, a PPC campaign drives traffic directly to your site.

Website traffic is a crucial aim for any online business strategy. A reasonable PPC conversion rate is between 10% and 30%, which means that 70% to 90% of users may leave your site without buying something. But that’s OK because they will potentially return later on. The point is that they see your site, browse it and bookmark it – adding to your direct traffic statistics. Direct traffic is site visitors who visit without using a search engine, i.e., via a bookmark or URL.

SEO and Associated Tools

In addition to direct and paid traffic, you should direct a portion of your efforts to developing organic traffic. Organic traffic comes from visitors who visit your site by clicking a link in a search engine. Organic traffic comes from leveraging search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to associate your website with keywords and phrases. SEO is one of the best methods of increasing business since organic traffic is essentially free with billions of potential clients.

SEO isn’t quick, though, and requires time for research, a long implementation period, and a good understanding of the subject. Search engines like Google can take a long time to begin to associate your business with a specific search term. You can achieve Google ranking through consistent, relevant, and quality information on your site. Items such as blogs, videos, and images contain keywords. However, SEO extends to coding, local information, and backlinking from relevant sources.

The Final Word

Taking your company online is a crucial aspect of 21 century business. From simple automation to complex algorithms, AI can help. Marketing agencies will also help you establish an online identity through branding and marketing campaigns. These campaigns include social media platforms as well as paid and organic advertising via SEO.

How to Retain Happy Clients

StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Client Retention|How to Retain Happy ClientsFinding clients is a priority for every business, no matter the products or services it offers. No one ever thinks they’re successful enough not to want increased sales or more clients. However, as companies work hard to get new clients, they need to retain the existing ones.

It takes five times more effort to attract a new customer than it takes to keep an existing one. This shows that keeping happy and satisfied customers should also be one of your priorities.
Here are ways to retain customers.

Offer Quality Products

It all starts by offering high-quality products that meet customers’ expectations. When designing or looking for products to resell, also think about the target market’s needs. When you fulfil their needs, not just for the short term, they come back for more.

You’ll always be their preferred choice every time they need products or services. As you’ll learn from Vince Offer ShamWow Guy, quality should be the number one concern before launching a product or advertising it. Test the product to make sure it meets high-quality standards. Also, keep on improving its features to satisfy customers’ growing expectations.

Be Honest

Most people create a lot of hype for a product when marketing to attract new customers. They don’t realise that apart from getting the clients, they have to make sure they retain them for a long time. It’d be best to make it easier for a client to choose your business all the time.

When you’re dishonest when marketing your products, people will buy them initially but will not return for more. They’re be disappointed because their expectations were cut short and they feel duped. Only market the features and benefits the product has and be genuine.

If a product doesn’t have certain features a customer is looking for, let them know. They might not buy from you at the moment but will have you at the back of their mind as an honest and dependable entrepreneur.

When you’re dishonest in one of your marketing campaigns, it affects the entire brand and company. People will not trust all your products or services just because of one mistake.

Offer Great Customer Care Services

Customers stay where they feel appreciated or valued. If they realise that all you care about is closing a sale, they will quickly move on to a business offering better customer care services. Keep the relationship alive after a sale by requesting feedback, sending periodical emails, and once in a while asking the clients how they are faring on.

If a client has any problem with your product, make sure that you sort it out as fast as possible and always reply to messages or emails. When operating an online business, as much as you need to automate processes, give the company a human touch.

Engaging your customers by replying to the messages on time and having back and forth chats on social media accounts can significantly improve your relationship, helping retain happy clients.

Also, solicit customers’ ideas and suggestions. Make them an essential part of the product design. For example, invite them to company functions such as charity functions, product launches, picnics, and social outings. When they feel they’re an essential part of your company, they’ll always choose you over your competitors.

3 Steps To Take Building Your Business From The Ground Up

StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Build your business|3 Steps To Take Building Your Business From The Ground UpAre you getting ready to open the doors of a new business? If so, then you do need to make sure that you take the right steps here. It’s important to make sure that you are thinking about what crucial steps you should be taking from day one. The right steps will guarantee that your business is secure and ready to compete with some of the bigger players who are already on the market and doing a fantastic job of working the narrative. Here are some of the options we recommend that you do think about.

Get The Best Tech And Equipment

First, you do need to make sure that you are getting the right tech and equipment for your company. Do be aware that the equipment that you use can become part of your brand and shift the perception that clients have of your company. You need to make sure that the perception is positive and the measure is clear. If you are interested in rising to the top then you also need to make sure that you’re not overpaying. This can set you back financially from the beginning. You should use resources like https://fleetupmarketplace.com to ensure that you are not overpaying for the vital equipment you need.

Insurance

It doesn’t matter what industry you are joining or what sector you are going to be a part of. Regardless of how large or small your business plans are, you always need to make sure that you do invest in the right insurance plans. The key coverage here will ensure that your business is protected from any possible disaster that you could encounter. Specialist insurance options are also worth considering too. For instance, if you are running a business with a lot of technology at the heart of it, then it does make sense to think about cybersecurity insurance. This is all about planning for the key worst-case scenario.

Get The Right Team

Finally, a business is only ever going to be as strong as the team working behind the scenes. Don’t forget, your business team is going to decide and determine your level of productivity and help you build the right reputation for your brand. You need to make sure that you are getting innovators and key thinkers. If you are interested in this idea, we recommend that you do look at using a recruitment agency to help you along the way.

We hope this helps you understand some of the key steps that you need to take when you are building up your business from scratch. If you explore these options, then you will be able to guarantee that you do have the right level of security in place. You can mitigate levels of risk and guarantee that your business is not going to be exposed to threats on the market. You can also take measures to ensure that your business is more competitive in a heated market, potentially rising above some of your top business rivals who are already on the field.