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Practical, Professional Programs That Strengthen Business Practices

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |professional programs |Practical, Professional Programs That Strengthen Business PracticesProfessional programs are much more than some window dressing.

Their benefits are many and varied, ranging from money savings and worker engagement. But, they can’t be implemented by edicts. Words and promises don’t account for much either.

Instead, management needs to set priorities, take action, and get workers behind programs. It’s a strategic effort that requires ample resources.

Worker safety, accountability, and satisfaction are the three key ingredients of business success. Here is how to mix and blend them together.

Cultural Foundations for Professionals Programs

Before fleshing out programs, lay the foundations with empowering company culture.

First off, senior manageress should embody the core value and mission of the company. They would also do well to embrace responsibility and lead by example, not by cracking the whip.

The next step revolves around engaging the workforce.

To pull it off, open your channels of communication, and gather suggestions and feedback. The whole process has to be completely transparent.

Once it’s completed, set clear, measurable, and realistic goals. You can use the S.M.A.R.T. formula to do it right. The next sections will give you an idea of what concrete objectives to pursue.

Workplace Safety and Health

Worker health and safety have to be absolute management priorities.

Namely, effective safety programs add true value to the organization. They reduce injury frequency and severity, as well as worker compensation premiums.

So, carry out workplace audits and come up with preventive measures and controls. Put proper training procedures in place and hold biweekly/monthly safety meetings.

Educate everyone on Occupational Safety and Health requirements. Check out OSHA guidelines (including those for COVID-19), which are golden industry standards.

Provide corresponding materials, such as this HazCom training guide to classifying and labeling chemicals. Make sure worker participation is ubiquitous.

A Matter of Accountability

Next off, it’s of utmost importance to foster organizational accountability.

The ultimate trick is to do it without pointing fingers and alienating anyone. Moreover, you want to instruct and demonstrate instead of merely telling people to be more accountable.

Here, bear in mind accountability pertains to the aforementioned goals, values, and priorities. Your main job is to communicate them and put together a working system. Keep the messages positive and informative.

This is a way to become a desirable employer, a company people want to be part of.

Bolstering Employee Motivation and Satisfaction

To apply finishing touches, develop programs aimed at further boosting motivation and satisfaction.

Always give recognition and credit where they are due. Reward top performers offering more than kind words. Both monetary (gift cards, for instance) and non-monetary incentives can be quite effective here.

Apart from individuals, you can recognize the contributions of whole teams and departments.

These programs will pay dividends in terms of improving workplace productivity. At the same time, you have a chance to supercharge your employee retention rates.

That’s a clear win-win right there.

Turn It Up a Notch

Purpose-built professional programs empower workers and reinforce your bottom line.

But, integrating them with your practices isn’t easy. You first have to get everyone on board, from workers to top executives. Start by uniting them around shared goals and vision.

Furthermore, make the workplace safer and minimize the risk of injuries and hazards. Become a true role model for organizational accountability. Acknowledge and appreciate good work.

Following these steps, you’ll steer worker behavior in the right direction and outpace the competition.
Get in touch with us if you need strategic advice and counseling. It’s time to take your business game to the next level.

3 Important Tactics to Boost Morale of Healthcare Workers

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |boost morale |3 Important Tactics to Boost Morale of Healthcare WorkersThere are over 6,100 hospitals in the United States. The people who work at these hospitals are responsible for providing top-notch medical care to sick individuals regardless of what time of day it is. As time goes by, healthcare workers can get overwhelmed and overworked.

If you are the manager of a healthcare facility, one of your main concerns should be to boost morale. Learning how to boost morale at work is more complicated than you probably realize.

Are you looking for ways to keep your healthcare workers happy and motivated? If so, check out these great tips below.

1. Recognizing the Signs of Employee Burnout

Perhaps the biggest problem you will face as the manager of a healthcare facility is employee burnout. Healthcare employees work long and irregular hours, which puts them at a higher risk of getting burnt out. It is your job as a healthcare facility manager to recognize the signs of employee burnout and taking steps to prevent it.

If you see that an employee is down and always tired, take some time to speak with them. Making sure their mental health is not being affected by their stressful work environment is imperative.

Ignoring the signs of possible employee burn out can result in lots of problems. The last thing you want is for a valued employee to quit due to being overworked. This is why taking steps to prevent employee burn out is so essential.

2. Team Building Activities Are Important

The key to creating a great work environment is placing a priority on team building. If everyone works together in your healthcare facility, you can avoid issues with high employee turnover rates and out of control stress levels. Scheduling routine team building is crucial when trying to keep morale levels high.

Taking your team to volunteer in the community is a wonderful way to put things into perspective. Helping out people in need is a great way to show your team how valuable they are to the community.

You also need to schedule routine meetings to let employees vent any problems or frustrations they may be dealing with. Once you hear the problems your workers are dealing with, you need to show them you are passionate about finding solutions. Doing this will allow you to create valuable and lasting relationships with your healthcare workers.

3. Show Your Employees You See Their Hard Work

Healthcare employees work extremely hard to provide care to sick patients. As the manager of a healthcare facility, you need to work on showing your team you see their hard work. Establishing an employee recognition program can do wonders for morale levels.
Giving hard-working employees awards, cash prizes or a free lunch is imperative when trying to keep them happy. The money and time invested in these employee rewards will pay off considering the increased morale they will produce.

Working Hard to Boost Morale

As you can see, there are a number of ways to boost morale. Keeping healthcare workers loyal and productive is possible with the right approach.

Are you looking for more employee management tips? If so, check out more of the blogs on our website.

The Ins & Outs of Launching A Virtual Business

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Virtual Business|The Ins & Outs of Launching A Virtual BusinessThe chances are that in the last few months, thanks to the pandemic, you’ve probably heard a whole lot about virtual businesses. You may have heard how these kinds of non-physical businesses have helped the people behind them to survive the first wave of the pandemic, and offer a fantastic business opportunity. You may even be thinking about starting a remote business of your own, and taking a leap of faith into an industry that you’ve been wanting to join for a while.

You might be excited at the prospect of launching a virtual business, but that doesn’t mean that you can simply dive straight in and launch one instantly. You need to be smart about this – the fact is that launching a business means taking the time to really think the idea and concepts through. The fact is that before you dive in and start setting up a business, you need to take the time to understand what’s involved in running a business virtually and what it takes to see success.

What is a virtual business in its entirety? Simply put, it’s a business that is run without a dedicated physical office space – usually, the business is run from home or from a co-working space. Remote businesses are always a popular option as they offer far lower overheads than physical businesses and thus, are a great way for small businesses to begin trading.

That being said, it’s important to understand that just because the cost of launching a virtual business is lower, that doesn’t mean that it’s as simple as you might think. The fact is that there’s a lot that you need to consider when it comes to starting any business, however a virtual one comes with a lot of ins and outs that you need to think about.

Wondering what these are? Have a read of the tips and advice below, and implement them in how you approach your virtual business.

Organise your budget

There’s a common misconception that when it comes to launching a virtual venture that you don’t need a budget. However, this isn’t true – in order to launch a business, you need to have a carefully throughout budget in place. Even if you’re thinking of running the business entirely from home – instead of from a co-working space – you will need a budget to work with. The fact is that there are certain costs that every business needs to cover.

For instance, you will need a high spec computer or laptop or both. You will need to pay for a website domain and the design – which we will discuss in more detail below. You will need to think about insurance costs. You will need to cover the cost of communication tools that you – and your team members, if you have any – will need to use. The cost of launching a virtual business will be lower than launching a physical one but it still comes with costs and requires a budget, and it’s important to remember that.

Get your website designed

If you’re someone who is confident on their computer, then you may feel like you want to try and design your own website to cut costs and reduce overheads. However, what it’s important to bear in mind here is that for a virtual business, the website is, in essence, the business – it’s the first place the potential customers will go and it will act as your business’s virtual HQ. So you need to really consider whether you’re in the right position to create your own website or whether you should outsource the task.

Should you decide to hire an expert to create your website for you, make sure that you take the time beforehand to consider what you want your website to be like. Spend some time looking at competitor sites and list the pros and cons that each one offers, and consider what you could do to enhance your website and its design further.

Ensure that you have adequate support IT place

One mistake that you don’t want to make when it comes to launching your virtual business, it’s failing to have adequate IT support in place from the get-go. You might know a little about IT but the fact is that when you’re running a business you need to make sure that you have professional help on hand as and when you need it.

The thing is, you cannot afford for your website or software to go down for long periods of time, because downtime like this can be seriously detrimental to your business’s success. That’s why investing in IT support through a well-known and experienced company is so important, ensuring that whatever happens, you have all of the help and support that you need and can get any issues fixed in a fast and efficient way.

Focus on marketing

It’s also vital that you take marketing seriously regarding your business. A lot of new business owners make the mistake of thinking that marketing isn’t required for their business’s success, however the fact is that this couldn’t be further from the truth. If no one knows about your business, how can it be a success?

If you want to give your new venture the very best chance of achieving success, it’s vital that you make marketing a priority from the get-go. Set aside a monthly marketing budget, outsource the task to an expert, and put an overarching marketing strategy in place that’s designed to drive traffic to your website and help to convert leads. Make sure that you source a marketer that knows what they’re doing and has the ability to create huge growth for your business’s audience.

The fact is that launching a virtual business is easier than launching a physical one in many ways, as there’s a lot less that you need to do. However, that being said, making a success out of a virtual business can be far harder than making a success out of a traditional business.

Five Things to Consider When Choosing New Suppliers

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StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article |Supplier Choices|Five Things to Consider When Choosing New SuppliersOne of the most important decisions that you can make in your business is who will supply the parts or materials that you need for your products. Your supplier choices have a direct impact on the success of your business and without a good relationship with yours, you’re going to have fewer sales and this results in a poor service. In fact, the worst case scenario here is that you could end up with a failed business – all because you didn’t choose wisely when linking with new suppliers.

If you are searching for butterfly valves and need a supplier, you need to take some things into account. These options can be said for pretty much any product or piece you are looking for. The right supplier is going to make a huge difference to the way that you work, so here are five things that you should be considering right now.

  1. Cost. The very first thing that you would need to factor in is the cost of a supplier. You don’t want to choose someone JUST based on cost, but you do need to stick to your budget and find the best supplier that fits. Once you have a figure in mind, you can choose the products that will fit the costs you are willing to pay.
  2. Quality. Another priority here is to know the quality of the product you are looking at. The better the quality, the more you will be willing to liaise with that supplier. Know that your expectations are going to be met and that the quality goes beyond the product itself, but the supplier, too.
  3. Reliability. You need to know that the supplier you are paying is reliable and can give you what you need. You need references, and you need to know that they are going to live up to expectations. The suppliers that you choose will reflect on your business, and if you’re not choosing the right one, it’s going to make you look bad. Don’t forget this in your quest for the right people!
  4. Culture. Not only do you need a supplier who will meet your expectations, but you need to be the kind of customer who holds their end of the deal. You will likely have a supplier ask you as many questions as you’re going to ask them – so make sure that you are prepared.
  5. Location. You need to be close by to suppliers if you want to make sure that you are all on the same page. Sure, you can choose to have a supplier that sends you products from abroad, but this isn’t easy. You want to be able to meet them face to face and know them as people as well as a supplier who sends you the materials that you need. Finding the supplier you need in the right location is a must!

Sourcing your supplier may take time, but it’s 100% worth it going forward in your business. Ask your questions and be prepared for a fruitful relationship!

Reasons to Hire a Financial Coach for Your Startup Business

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article | Reasons to Hire a Financial Coach for Your Startup Business

In today’s market and economy, starting a new business can be an exciting but risky thing to do, especially since many starting businesses are sprouting almost everywhere. Fortunately, there are financial coaches who can help you establish your business, not just in terms of finances, but also in fixing issues related to personal development and business growth.

Financial coaches also know your business’ field and its best interest, which are required for you to develop and grow your business. Hiring a financial coach can give you advantages over your competitors and will give you a great headstart in dominating the market.

What Is a Financial Coach?

To emphasize what a financial coach is and what they bring on the table, a financial coach is someone capable of helping you handle and learn necessary money management skills. Of course, that is only skimming the top as financial coaches have a lot of tricks up their sleeves that are important in growing a business.

Their specialty in money-making and managing skills is a great help if you are having difficulties managing your money or business in general. Whether you are making a mess out of financing in your startup business or are struggling with debt, a financial coach can help you alleviate your immediate or recurring problems. They can help you make decisions that will make your business go in the right direction.

Simply put, a financial coach’s primary goal is to empower your critical thinking and money management skills in both a personal or business setting. Here are some great benefits you will get when hiring a financial coach.

Learning How to Set Goals

Ask yourself: what do you want to achieve with your business the next year or more? If you don’t have a clear answer to that question, you will have a hard time formulating a plan and taking the right steps. For many small and startup business owners, it can be hard to develop realistic, practical, and measurable goals, especially in terms of financing. That is why it is beneficial to hire a financial coach business expert.

Financial coaches, especially those who have knowledge in business, can collaborate with you to set realistic goals that can be attained in practice. They stand by the acronym SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. With these values in mind, formulating financial goals that can be attained through practical means will be easy.

Sustainable Support

Financial coaches do not only support you through your journey, but they also see you through the end of your goals.

There are two common scenarios once a new company experiences little significant success: they either stabilize without much growth or implode because of the demand and workload. Financial coaches make sure that your business can handle its finances while growing smoothly and steadily.

Financing Insight

Of course, financial coaches will not be called such if they don’t help you with your finances. As a business owner, you are responsible for a lot of things, including finances. That said, it will be a struggle for you to balance these things. With a financial coach, you will worry less about your finances.

One of the things financial coaches are good at is creating a significant financial picture. In simpler terms, this is a visualization of your business money flow, gains, losses, and potential currently and in the future. This will teach you to monitor your gains, allocate your profits to the right place, and monitor the flow of cash while they advise you on what things you should do and prioritize.

Understanding in Market Trends

Since financial advisors are experts when it comes to financial matters, expect that they have excellent and a deep understanding of market trends. Having a financial advisor on your side means that he/she will help you to get the right information as to how to run your business according to what’s in demand or the current trend in the market.

Also, given a financial advisor’s knowledge and skills, he/she can comprehensively answer all of your financial questions. This will help you understand how to conquer the market by taking advantage of the current trends.

Takeaway

Whether you are looking for financial help or only looking to learn new insights and money management skills, or even looking for support and guidance, a financial coach can help you with that, along with critical thinking, prioritization, and decision making. Not only that, but the lessons you’ll learn with your financial coach can be helpful to your company in the future. As a business owner, your focus should be on improving your business and yourself as a whole.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Lauren CordellLauren Cordell is a writer with a passion for business and finance. She likes to write just about anything related to growing business and making money. When not busy working, Lauren spends her time reading her favorite novels.