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Taking Advantage of Online Training and Development Advancements

We live in an age of technological advancement, where many young employees have never known life without a computer. From books to music to college courses, more content is being made available electronically to anyone with an Internet connection.  Successful Training and Development departments are taking advantage of this by augmenting instructor-led classes and presentations with online courses.

There are many pros to offering online courses:

  • With no travel or booking expenses for off-site training and no need to provide food or drinks, overhead can be cut, especially when considering that presentations can be recorded and reused.
  • Scheduling can be a nightmare, but online training allows for capturing a wider audience by removing the need to have everyone together in a single location.
  • People today have shorter attention spans than those of prior generations. Online training at its best accommodated this by being kept short, meaningful and targeted.
  • Thanks to advancements in eLearning creation software, online courses can easily be made available to users at any time. No longer is the presenter or instructor’s availability a restrictive factor: Presentations can be recorded and accessed at any time.
  • Online classes can lead to greater efficiency and better time management. Recorded presentations can often be made searchable, saving employees from having to replay the entire course if they missed a piece of information.

While traditional training has many practical applications and will never be replaced, the emergence of technology allowing for online courses is a benefit to corporations both large and small.

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The Key to Small Business Success: Creating Something That People Want

Many people dream of becoming their own boss; indeed, the idea of being in charge and calling the shots is very appealing. However, only a small percentage of those with an idea and a desire to start their own small business do so – and the unfortunate reality is that an even smaller percentage actually succeeds. The fact is, slightly more than half of small businesses fail within their first 5 years. And if you are a first time entrepreneur, the odds are further stacked against you.

The reasons that a small business might not survive are many and commonly include a lack of sufficient capital, poor management or no idea how to effectively market. But one of the biggest mistakes that an aspiring small business owner can make is made at the formative stage: Deciding to start a business that nobody else cares about.

The idea of starting a new business is undeniably exciting, but just because the person with the idea thinks it’s brilliant and will change the face of industry, there’s no guarantee that anyone else will be interested in whatever’s being offered. This is why it is critical that a diligent amount of market research be conducted. Is there actual demand? Can it be proven that customers will be willing and able to pay for the product or service being offered? Are similar companies thriving?

Unless these questions can be answered in the affirmative, it might not be the right time to start a small business.

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How to Manage Difficult Employees from a Distance

In a global marketplace, managing employees from a distance is becoming increasingly common. In many cases, the benefits of hiring employees in far off regions and countries outweigh the challenges. Still, when you’re responsible for managing a difficult employee from a distance, you will need strategies to make your job easier.

Difficulties Encountered

Some of the difficulties you will encounter when managing employees from a distance involve communication challenges. When you have a difficult employee on your hands, the distance can magnify the communication issues. If an employee is angry and does not know how to communicate well, you are left to figure out how to resolve the situation. In other cases, you may be dealing with an employee who is completely unresponsive. Maybe he tells you he will do something and he does not deliver. If this employee worked in your office, you would have monitored his activities daily. When he works in another state or country, it is a different story.

Strategies for Managing Telecommuting Employees

The first thing you want to do is establish a regular pattern of communication with the telecommuting employee. He has entered an agreement with you to do the work on time. Establishing a weekly conference call or daily check-in phone calls or emails are good ways to keep the lines of communication open. Even the most responsible people will sometimes engage in procrastination or shrug off responsibilities if they are not held accountable. Your job as a manager will be to set up systems to keep the employee feeling accountable.

If you set up these systems and the employee misses weekly calls or does not reply to emails in a timely manner, you have a decision to make. You will want to confront the employee directly. Set clear expectations. Give the employee only a few opportunities to meet expectations. Beyond that, it does not make good business sense to hang on to unreliable employees.

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3 Tips for Becoming a Better Employment Interviewer

If you are new to interviewing job applicants, here are three tips for creating an interview environment that is conducive to finding the best candidate for the job.

Outline the Necessary Qualities for the Job

The first thing you want to do is be clear about the types of qualities needed for the job. You may already have a sense of this from a clearly written job description. If so, review the job description and make a list of the competencies the job requires. This list will include specific skills as well as personality traits and characteristics. The job for which you are hiring may require someone who is both familiar with the company’s product and has a vibrant personality to sell that product to as many people as possible. Outlining the qualities will help you to keep them in mind during the interview.

Ask Open Ended Questions

Next, make a list of the question you will need to ask to assess whether the candidate possesses the qualities that you have outlined. Try to avoid questions that can be answered by a simple yes or no. You want to generate a discussion and get a good feel for how the candidate expresses himself. Questions should be respectful and not violate the candidate’s privacy.

Create a Comfortable Interviewing Environment

Some beginning interviewers are self-conscious and, as a result, they create a tense interview environment. The more relaxed you are as an interviewer, the easier it will be for your job candidate to relax and be himself. Be sure to smile, shake the candidate’s hand, and offer him a comfortable seat. A little bit of chit chat at the beginning of the interview about the weather and whether or not the candidate had an easy time finding the job location, or similar subjects, will put him at ease. Beyond that, just relax and rely on your preparation to carry you through the interview.

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Promoting Professionalism in a Small Business Environment

Small business environments can be fun work places. When everyone knows one another, the workplace can take on the feel of a small family, with each member concerned about each other’s well-being. This dynamic can sometimes also lend itself to a blurring of the personal and professional lines. Here are a few ways to promote more professionalism in a small business environment.

When a Small Business Feels More Like a Family

The reason that some small businesses have a family feel to them is that some of them were, indeed, started by family members. These types of businesses can sometimes be lacking in professionalism. The problem can be complicated when extended relatives are hired and not everyone gets along with one another. Even in situations where the small business was started by a few friends who collaborated on a creative idea, professionalism can sometimes go out the window. While in some cases this is not an issue, there are situations where a lack of professionalism can result in the demise of employee relationships and productivity, impacting the bottom line of the business.

Ways to Encourage More Professionalism

Some small businesses have an unprofessional atmosphere in that everyone knows each other’s business. Employee salaries, for example, which are often confidential for good reason in larger corporations are often common knowledge in a small business. Managers in small businesses can make an effort to protect this information by not broadcasting this information to members of their teams. Varied compensation can be a source of jealousy and discontent between workers and keeping the information confidential can minimize this problem.

Another common challenge in a small business is that individuals tend to socialize a great deal on the job instead of working. Managers and business owners must establish clear expectations and regular breaks for employees to socialize when they’re not on the clock. Putting rules in writing and holding weekly meetings to enforce them can also make a difference.

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Avoid Making Your Head Spin at Tax Time

When it comes to filing taxes, there is enough confusion to make anyone’s head spin because tax information and deductions and credits one year might not be the same the next. It is important for small business owners to stay on top of the numerous tax changes that are made throughout the year.

There are numerous changes to tax laws made throughout the year. The government and IRS are always adding new rules and regulations on what can and cannot be claimed and what papers must be filed to prove deductions or credits. Small business owners could face an audit or have to pay thousands in back taxes because they did not follow the proper procedures. Or, small business owners might lose out on new deductions introduced during the tax year.

Luckily, there are things that small business owners can do to make sure that they are on top of the latest tax changes. Small business owners could head to a well informed tax blog that is available on the Internet. These blogs carry all the latest news and information on the latest tax changes, so that the business owner will be able to stay up to date on what is going on when it comes time to file for taxes.

Another way small business owners can learn about the newest tax information is through the IRS website. Among the information the IRS offers each year is a summary of changes in the tax law in the past year, along with instructions and answers to a number of tax questions.

While actually filing your taxes for your small business might be confusing, finding the right information and news on tax laws isn’t. Remember it is essential to research new tax laws, especially if you are in the taxing or accounting business, in order to save you from the dreaded audit!

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Things to Consider When Making International Hiring Decisions

The world is getting smaller with each passing day. You can now collaborate with and hire people on the other side of the globe. This is an exciting possibility for business owners. It can result in financial savings as well as collaboration with people from various cultures and innovative ways of doing things. When you’re in the position of hiring people outside of your country, you’ll want to think through a few issues.

Saving Money and Handling Financial Contracts

One of the larger advantages of hiring people in another country is the amount of money that your business can potentially save. You might find that you can cut business expenses by half or more through hiring employees from other countries. If you need a programmer, for example, you might very well find a skilled coder who lives on another continent. His costs of living may be lower and he can afford to do the work you need for a fraction of the cost in your own country. You will just want to clarify the method and amount of compensation in writing so that there are no misunderstandings. Some services also act as intermediaries when hiring freelancers from other countries. Taking advantage of these services can often save you hassles because they handle the legal and monetary aspects of the contract.

Managing Communication Issues

The most challenging aspect of hiring an employee in another country is the potential miscommunication that can result from not speaking the same language. In some work environments, this is not as much of an issue. Translators can be brought in to discuss the most important information. In other situations, however, miscommunication can present a large cost to your bottom line. You will want to be sure that there are no significant language barriers before hiring.

With some careful investigation and thoughtful decision-making, hiring international workers can give your business an edge.

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Are Your International Customers Happy?

Web localization is a growing trend in the online world. As companies continue to go global, they’re discovering they canattract more loyal customers by providing information in their users’ native languages. To go even further, smart business owners are including cultural differences in their content.

Asking Goes a Long Way

Before taking this approach, spend some time measuring customer satisfaction levels on your current site. As part of the online survey, ask your customers which country they reside in and their native language. This can give you valuable information to decide where to concentrate your efforts first. Once you’ve localized, you can even use online survey software to ask your international customers a set of questions in their native language.

Localization Increases Engagement

By speaking your customers’ language, they’ll feel like your business cares about them and their community. Instead of being a nameless, faceless corporate entity located in some far away land, you’ll be just as friendly as a neighborhood store just down the street. In fact, this is the way that many global companies have dominated the world market in recent years.

Translation Services are Available

There’s no need to hire a staff of customer service people who are fluent in each language to successfully deploy a localization strategy. With a wealth of translation services that employ linguists from around the world, you’ll have no problem receiving and sending translated communications. As a bonus, most of these workers live in your target countries. This means that they are immersed in the culture and will instantly know what’s acceptable and what’s not. If you’re not careful, you could easily insult a valued customer with a simple mistake in wording.

To satisfy both your domestic and international customers, present a website that represents their interests and use online surveys to measure both your success and your need for change.

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3 Strategies for Effective Employee Management

Managing people on the job can be a difficult task. A work environment comprised of many different types of personalities can create an innovative workplace. At the same time, different personalities can sometimes clash and this can present problems between employees, as well as between an employee and his boss. Effective management requires putting a few practices in place on a regular basis.

Communicating Clearly with Employees

One of the most important strategies for effectively managing employees is communicating clearly. Employees need to know exactly what is expected of them. Expectations can be outlined in writing. They can also be explained one-on-one by the manager. Weekly team meetings are also good opportunities for expressing job requirements without putting any one employee on the spot. Work environments with clear and consistent communication patterns tend to have fewer instances of conflict and discord.

Addressing Conflict Immediately in the Workplace

Another important strategy is to address conflicts as soon as they arise. Allowing a disgruntled employee to sit with his complaints for an extended period of time can create a negative atmosphere for everyone around. He might speak to others about his problems and create a ripple of negativity among employees. An effective manager takes the time to listen to grievances and addresses them before things get out of hand. Sometimes all that an unhappy employee needs is to be listened to and to have his value in the workplace acknowledged.

Rewarding Outstanding Job Performance

Employees need to feel appreciated. A good manager notices when employees do outstanding work. Rewarding praiseworthy work performance with a bonus, extra work privileges, or just a simple thank-you often goes a long way in helping workers to continue performing their best work. Drawing out the potential of workers can be greatly enhanced by instituting regular rewards for outstanding work performance.

Through clear communication, conflict resolution and acknowledgement of employee excellence, managers can create harmonious and productive work environments.

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How to Deliver Effective Training for New Hires

Training a new employee can be a challenge for both the employer and the new hire. Employers must deliver job-related information in easily digestible ways. New hires, by virtue of being in a new environment, often experience discomfort and anxiety that can sometimes interfere with learning. A carefully designed training program can make a large difference in a new employee’s orientation and progress on the job.

How to Prepare for the First Day on the Job

An employer who has hired a new employee needs to get organized. This preparation must take place before the first day on the job not when the employee walks in the door. Running around gathering documents and finding someone to train the new hire after he or she has already arrived sets a bad precedent and interferes with a new hire’s success on the job. Being organized means thinking through everything that an employee will need for mastering the job expectations and tasks. It’s important to assign a trainer to the new hire to greet him as soon as he steps in the door. The trainer should design and pull together materials that will outline job tasks, steps and responsibilities.

Being Sensitive to a New Employee’s Learning Style

Delivering an effective training session to a new employee requires understanding how he or she processes information. Not everyone learns at the same speed or in the same way. One person might quickly grasp new information by simply hearing it. Another person might need to take copious notes. Still, other people need to get involved in actually doing a task repeatedly before mastering it. An effective job trainer can assess these various learning styles by observing and by asking questions to make sure that information is being retained.

With a little bit of planning and preparation, training a new hire can be a pleasant and productive experience for all involved.

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