Posts

Top Benefits to Offer Your Employees for Improved Productivity

/in /by

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article
Regardless of how much you may want your employees to work at their best all the time, this simply isn’t possible. Your employees are people, and they have good days, and bad days, and their productivity workflow will reflect this. Sometimes, however, an employee’s decreasing productivity and effectiveness is more substantial, and that is when you need to step in and help. Stress, and constant stress, can severely impact someone’s health. It can put them in pain, it can lower their immune system, and it could even put them on the edge of a breakdown. Offering your employees benefits can help them manage this stress, meaning that not only will they be happier working for you, they will also be better able to work for you. Here are the top benefits you should offer your employees:

1. A Break Room

Having a proper break room will allow your employees somewhere to get away from their desk and to refuel. Offer complimentary tea, coffee, and even snacks like protein bars, and consider adding massage chairs to help keep them refreshed and revitalized whenever they need it. Similarly, you should also aim to have a few kitchen appliances as well, like a fridge, microwave, and even a toaster oven. Encourage your employees to be healthier, and to bring their own food. To do this, you could have a reward program for the employee who brings their own lunch in the most often at the end of the month.

2. A Spa Visit

Stress and sitting at a desk all day causes physical pain. It can cause seriously painful and distracting back problems that lower productivity immensely, which is why a great benefit to offer is an annual or bi-annual massage. Contact heavenandearthmassage.co.uk and set up a program for your employees. They will not only be thrilled with this benefit, but it will help them manage pain and de-stress.

3. Rewards for Milestones

Pitting your employees against each other doesn’t do a lot of good. Instead, it means that those who would achieve the results in the first-place work harder to beat each other, and those that aren’t likely to win will try less. Instead, offer rewards for milestones. That way everyone is motivated to do better. These rewards don’t have to be big. They can be a few extra days of vacation, or they can be tickets to some event in town. Reward your employees so that they work for positive reinforcement, not because they are stressing about not making the deadline in time.

4. In-Office Gym

Depending on the size of your company, you can either offer discounted memberships to gyms, or even install a gym inside your office space itself. Encourage your employees to exercise, so that they have improved immune systems, lower blood pressure, increased mood, and overall a bigger boost in energy.

These benefits won’t cost the world, but they can give a lot back. You don’t want your employees to burn out working for you, you want them to be on top of their game, and these benefits can help them do that.

Importance of Branding for Your Business

/in /by

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales ArticleBranding are the logos and design choices that you make for your business. In many ways, they act as the “face” of your company, and this is the “face” that your customers and associates alike will interact with. Poor branding insinuates that your company is poor, while good branding, and, even better, a great brand marketing scheme, can make a company famous. Branding is key, and it starts with a good logo design, and continues from there. Investing in branding isn’t just a waste of money, it can create long-term, positive associations that bring in more business and increased reputation.

1. Creates Brand Association

When you have reached the point where a simple icon can make someone think of your product and the great associations they have with it, then you’ve done your job. When you create a brand, you create an image that people learn to associate with your product or your service. This, in turn, leads to credibility and even increased sales, since consumers trust in your product and your service.

This is incredibly important if you’re about to launch a new product and want the launch to excel. If you have inconsistent or poor branding, you will have to start marketing your new product from ground zero. If, on the other hand, your brand show authority and is considered reliable, then you can easily sell this new product as an extension. If people trust you and trust your brand, they’ll be more likely to buy a new product you put out.

2. It Can Increase Value

Some branding is designer, which means that not only can you benefit from good associations, but you also benefit from having your name and your logo increase the price of your product. Think of it as a signature on a piece of artwork; it’s there to assure your loyal customers that they are buying your brand, and not some cheap knockoff.

3. It Shows Professionalism

When you have logos and branding, it shows professionalism. This means having custom business forms created so that your branding and your image is repeated for every transaction. It means having customized creations that look professional and thought out. It also instills a sense of pride within your company, showing that you care about the small details, and that your company is a unified business regardless of sector.

4. It Shows Your Values

Great branding is, effectively, a 24/7 marketing tool. Regardless of time of day, it should show your values and highlight your ideals. Is your company fun and exciting? Is it working hard on being environmentally sustainable? Use your branding to showcase these principles through the use of color and through the logo design you choose. Typography alone can tell a story, and proper branding requires you to take that story and share its narrative in everything that you do.

Branding is critical when it comes to creating and fostering relationships. It is how people learn to recognize your company, and it is how they become more likely to buy from you again. Work on coupling your great branding with excellent customer service and a good product, and you’ll create a great association that keeps them coming back.

Photo by Julian O’hayon on Unsplash

How To Get More Out Of Your Employees

/in /by

StrategyDriven Talent Management ArticleYou hired your employees because you saw special qualities in them. While you still appreciate their hard work, there are times you wish you could get more out of them. You understand their full potential, otherwise you wouldn’t bother with trying to make improvements on your team.

As the leader, you have an important job, and that’s to ignite the fire underneath your staff that’s going to allow them to show you better results. The key is to not give up on them and to put processes in place that help your team and company succeed. See how to get more out of your employees.

Offer Professional Development Opportunities

One way to change the behavior of your staff is to challenge them to go above and beyond. Do this by offering professional development opportunities that they can take advantage of. Observe which employees grab the bull by the horns and which sit back and choose not to participate. This will tell you a lot about who has ambition and drive and who is disengaged. In addition to attending courses outside of work, sit down individually and go over goals and performance reviews with your staff.

Reward Them

You can’t go wrong with incentivizing your employees with enticing rewards. Drum up excitement around your offerings and make them earn it. Go to www.ticketsales.com and purchase tickets to a popular concert in the area and make it known to your staff that you’ll be watching how they do on the next project. Make a competition out of it and tell them that the winner will receive tickets to a show. You’ll likely see a surge in effort and a lot of good work being produced. You’ll be able to easily observe where each person stands and gauge if there are changes that need to be made.

Encourage Them

You can’t simply wish to have your employees try harder and do a better job. It’s important to speak up and make your expectations be known. Encourage them to step up and make an impression on you and the other bosses. Acknowledge to the group when particular individuals standout and do an excellent job. Start showing your passion for the company and your team, and they’ll likely reciprocate by working harder.

Delegate Appropriately

Another way to get more out of your employees is to have a strategy in place for succeeding. Don’t wing it or randomly assign tasks to different employees. Play to individual strengths and know who’s better at what, so you can delegate the work accordingly. When your staff feels empowered and like they’re using their talents, they’ll begin to shine and have a desire to meet their goals. It’s your job to know who’s good at what and make sure each work assignment reaches the right person.

Conclusion

You shouldn’t have to beg your staff to work hard, but there are times when they’ll need a little boost. Use these techniques to keep everyone on track. This is how to get more out of your employees.

Photo by Climate KIC on Unsplash

3 Alternative Marketing Strategies

/in /by

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article

Your business might have the best product or service in the market, but if you aren’t retaining customers, or no one knows your name, then your sales won’t increase (and may even drop). Companies need to undertake a marketing strategy so that consumers are aware that the firm exists, and more importantly, so that the dollars keep rolling in.

Marketing exists in various forms. While consumers may be more familiar with TV and print strategies, this doesn’t mean that you have to use the same strategy for your company. There is a range of marketing methods that you can use to help your business make its mark, especially in this digital age when mobile marketing and social media are at a full swing. Read on to find out if the following ideas could help you and your company.

Merchandising

Merchandising is one of the oldest, and most effective types of marketing. From mugs to custom lapel pins, t-shirts or sunglasses, your options are endless. Merchandising is a great alternative if you attend a lot of trade shows, or community events. By giving your consumers a take home gift, they will instantly remember your company, while associating it with a positive experience or memory. Even if the item that they take is only used within the home, any visitors may comment or engage with the item if they see that it has your company name or logo. If you are looking to boost awareness, get creative and are restricted by a small budget, then merchandising is the ideal tool for you. For best results, have merchandise that sits on an office desk or can be worn with pride.

Go Digital

The way we do business is changing. In fact, consumers are increasingly influenced by information that they obtain or interact with online. From Facebook to Instagram, and even LinkedIn and Twitter, don’t underestimate the power of using social media as part of your marketing strategy. The beauty of digital marketing is that you can start small too. From only a few posts a day, or scheduled tweets, you can begin to increase coverage and interest in your product or service. So if you thought that social media was only for millennials then think again. If you aren’t using digital marketing to help your business, then you risk getting left behind and becoming invisible.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  There are plenty of tools and templates for social media marketing available to support your digital marketing efforts.

Go Traditional

Make sure that more traditional marketing methods also remain in your marketing strategy. It’s a good idea to produce brochures and sales materials if you are out and about, and want to provide potential customers with a point of reference, or catalogue for them to refer to. Depending on what your company offers, you may also want to consider TV and radio alternatives too. These methods are essential if you want to make the most of potential sales during key sales periods, including Christmas, Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Using TV or radio doesn’t mean that you have to produce a cheesy or dated commercial either. In fact, airtime is crucial if you want to obtain those all-important sales.

From traditional marketing methods, to merchandising and social media, you will need to review your marketing plan if you want to increase your business potential. Make sure to set aside some of your budget to aid your marketing plan, and feel free to get creative.

What to Look for in Job Applicants

/in /by

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article
One of the most important of all the responsibilities that managers and business owners must take on is the hiring and firing of employees. There are often a number of applicants for any given position and it isn’t always immediately obvious which candidate should be the preferred choice. Needless to say, you always want to recruit the best person possible for the job. Sometimes, however the right person for the job may not be the most obvious choice.

In this guide we take a look at some of the most often overlooked facets of job applicants and how you can use these to gain a measure of how suitable an interviewee is for a role in your company.

Communication

Communication is a crucial skill in any work environment and there are very few people who can perform their job without having to interact and communicate with other people, both within and outside the organization that they work for. According to one study, conducted by the consultancy firm Millennial Branding, revealed that as many as 98% of all employers view effective communication skills as being ‘essential’ for the job.

Meeting an interviewee face to face is the perfect opportunity to find out about who they are and how well they can communicate. Be sure to keep an eye on how they respond in terms of both their verbal communication and their body language.

References

We all ask for references when we take applications for a newly opened position. In fact, most of us will automatically include our own references when we apply for another job, even if we aren’t prompted to. Despite both employers and employees understanding the importance of references, they too often go overlooked when considering candidates’ applications.

Some people have the, quite incorrect, view that checking references is something to be done when the interviewer doesn’t trust that the candidate is being truthful. In reality, checking references should be thought of more as an opportunity to ask a previous employer any questions that you might have about the candidate, but for whatever reason, didn’t want to ask them directly.

Consider the Whole Character

It is all too easy within the context of a job interview for the interviewer to reduce the candidate to the lines on their resume, a set of grades and statistics. This starts things off very impersonally, and also means that you are running the risk of overlooking characteristics and qualities which, while not relevant to their job, might still be desirable.

You should therefore consider anything that the interviewee reveals. For example, if the interviewee studied under a college soccer scholarship, then you can assume that they are already reasonably well versed in how to operate as part of a team. Soccer may have nothing to do with the job they are applying for, but it still reveals something about their character which is worth knowing.

Interviewing for a job opening isn’t easy, for the employer or the applicant. For too many managers and business owners, interviews are little more than a formality. However, they should instead be embraced as opportunities to get to know a potential colleague.