Working with toxic partners

Not getting along with someone at work is old news. But having a hostile relationship with your partner or business associate can seriously affect your productivity, confidence and innovation in the office.

Having to work with coworkers who behave badly in the workplace can be difficult, but here are three tips to help survive working with them:

Try to emphathise: Approach your partner using empathy to try and find out why they may be behaving nastily. Perhaps their behaviour is due to circumstances out of their control. Determine any trigger situations or behaviours to make sure you are not contributing to their behaviour.

Record their behaviour: Keep a log of your coworkers misdemeanours, and don’t forget to be specific and include dates and times. Monitoring the environment can result a suitable moment to have this person moved. Until then, keep your head down and stay busy.

Work hard: If your job is one that you definitely want to stay in, then work hard and seize any opportunity to showcase your talents. Your persistence to improve may be rewarded with a promotion away from the partner. Be ready to switch if the opportunity strikes.

Motivating the unmotivated

Whether you want your employees to work more efficiently or need them to engage more on team projects, motivating apathetic workers can be a difficult task.

Assuming that the unmotivated employees are reasonably valuable and do have the skills needed to perform the job they’re in, below are two simple ideas that can help motivate the unmotivated:

• Make it achievable

The harder the job, the greater the motivation required to complete it. Simplified jobs require less motivation and are harder for people to avoid doing. An example of implementing this ideal in the workplace could be asking an employee to break a large and complicated project into smaller, simplified daily jobs.

• Change the environment

Making small changes to the workplace environment can shape a person’s behaviour without them even thinking about it. Some examples of simple environmental changes to increase motivation include keeping phones/phone chargers in a separate room or encouraging staff to stand up and stretch every hour.

Finding your ideal customer

Attracting more customers to a business is typically the focus of many marketing strategies. However, attracting the right kind of customer for the business should be the real focus.

An ideal customer sees the value in employing your services, actively seeks out your advice, and is willing to pay you for what you’re worth. Surprisingly, it can be quite easy to find these customers. Knowing who to look for is the key.

Businesses should begin by creating a customer persona. This persona should include the customer’s age, family status, income, wants and challenges. Businesses should consider what would specifically appeal to this person and how they can achieve it.

Businesses should then create a list based on what they expect from their ideal customers. Some aspects to consider could include whether the customer would:
– Pay on time
– Pay the price asked for
– Take fast action on assignments
– Provide feedback and;
– Tell others about the business’s products and services

Once a business has identified and understood their ideal customer, the process of targeting these customers is much easier. Narrowing the search for ideal customers can help build a better business faster with the right customers.

Keeping employees who are offered opportunities elsewhere

The best employees carry value that simply cannot be replaced by another. In today’s highly competitive market, employers should amend their plan for keeping talented employees who are offered new roles outside the business.

• Understand their motivation

Try to find out why the employee wants to leave your business by asking questions about their life and priorities. Their decision may be based on practical or personal reasons. Not knowing exactly what the issue is will make it much harder for an employer to counter the opportunity.

• Offer what they want

If an employee wants more money (and you’re willing to pay) offer them more money. If they would like more responsibilities, give them more responsibilities. Employers who are willing to exceed the employee’s offer from elsewhere should do so.

• Don’t become emotionally invested

Putting too much energy into keeping the employee can result in irritation or resentment later on. If you make your best offer, stick to it.

• Create performance incentives

The majority of employees who accept counter offers leave the business within six months. Make sure you create a performance incentive that will last, such as giving them a bonus after 12 months when they meet certain criteria.

When an employee decides to leave, employers should remain calm and wish them well. Remember that hiring a new employee as their replacement is an opportunity to bring fresh and innovative new ideas to the table.

Finding the right balance

Finding the right balance between work and home life can sometimes be a tricky tightrope to walk across. Unfortunately for a number of workers, this balance isn’t level in their lives. Below are three simple changes workers may want to consider when seeking to regain the right balance in their life.

Prioritise your time
Set aside some time to determine your top five priorities and plan your schedule according to that. Make sure you learn how to manage your time in the most effective way possible so you don’t have to miss work deadlines, family outings or social gatherings.

Remove bad habits
Bad lifestyle habits can have serious repercussions on your goal of achieving the right life balance. Lack of sleep, a diet lacking in nutrition, bad exercise habits or engaging in time-wasting activities are all factors that contribute to an unbalanced lifestyle.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help
If you feel like you’re truly struggling, remember it’s never too late to ask for advice or support. Speak to your employer about the problem at work, or communicate with your partner about any family issues you are facing. If you don’t address the issue, it won’t go away.

Overcoming difficult workplace conversations

Contrary to what many of us would like to believe, difficult conversations in the workplace are inevitable. And while it’s tempting to put them off for as long as possible, the key to resolving any disagreements in the workplace is to address the issue early.

Here are some of our top tips to help you prepare for a difficult conversation:

– Pick the right time: Avoid having the conversation in the heat of the moment. Plan to talk with the other party when you both are calm and have enough time to discuss the issue.

– Know the problem: You need to be clear about what the issue is if you wish to reach an agreement or reconciliation.

– Look for solutions: Try to work with the other party to reach a solution that suits you both. If this isn’t possible, be prepared to give a little, and see if the other party will do the same.

Should you let your employees work from home?

Having employees work partially, or fully, from home is becoming an increasingly common practice. There are advantages to both parties. Employers save on overheads, and employees reduce travel time and enjoy increased flexibility.

However, concerns do arise when it comes to making sure that employees are indeed putting in the hours that you’re paying them for. If this is a concern for you, rather than rejecting the idea of working from home outright, you should think about a system for preventing underperformance.

You should instigate a performance monitoring system that includes developing specific performance goals for each team member, with specific deadlines for completion. You should also have regular online meetings via skype or email to check in on one another.

If you’re considering increasing the number of hours that your employees work from home, there are also a few legal queries. For example, how workplace compensation will be decided if the employee injures themselves at home.

Make the most out of your LinkedIn profile

Make the most out of your LinkedIn profile

LinkedIn is usually the most important social media platform for B2B marketing and can also be a valuable way to recruit and network. It is also a great educational resource, and you can learn a lot from interacting with other business owners.

Like all social media sites, LinkedIn is a pretty crowded platform, so putting in a little extra effort to stand out can go a long way. Here are some tips for making the most out of LinkedIn:

-Get your photo right: You profile picture should be current, high-definition, and representative of your business persona. You should not use a photograph of you in a social situation if it does not accurately reflect what you do in the business world.

-Make sure your recommendations accurately depict your achievements: Do not be shy about asking people for recommendations, that is what LinkedIn is there for. Similarly, going out of your way to give people deserved recommendations will help you to boost your network.

-Be vocal: Write posts or start groups to talk about the things you are interested in. An active and presence is the best way for you to increase your exposure, and it is likely that you will learn something in the process.

How to write a job ad

With such a large number of varied job ads online and in print, if you want to attract the best people you have to make your ad stand out. It is also very important to properly convey your workplace culture in the ad, so that you do not have to waste time interviewing inappropriate candidates.

Great job ads are appealing but also honest. If you oversell the job, your new employee will quickly become disappointed. If you undersell, you may reduce the scope or quality of applicants applying.

You should make sure that you write your ad in a way that clearly reflects the personality of your business and also conveys a message to your applicants about the type of person will suit the role. Getting a person who is a good personality fit to your company is equally as important as getting someone with the right skillset. If your ad is reflective of your company, applicants will be in a better position to judge whether or not they should apply.

You should always include a detailed list of duties that the role entails and the types of skills and qualifications that you are looking for. A little attention to detail here can save you a lot of time when it comes to sorting resumes.

Hiring Graduates

Hiring recent university graduates is a great way to bring fresh ideas and energy to your business. Other advantages include the potential to shape their work habits to suit your company and the possibility that they will have some exciting technical skills to offer. Graduates also have far lower salary expectations, meaning that they can be an affordable source of talent.

Here are some tips for recruiting top tier graduates:

1. Show them what the role involves
Throughout the recruitment process, you should be aiming to show potential recruits why working for you is in their best interests. Being able to give them a crystal clear understanding of what the role will entail will go a long way in boosting your credentials.

2. Hold group interviews early on
Group interviews are a time efficient way to assess the interpersonal skills that are so crucial to a successful professional life. You will quickly be able to get a feel for their natural aptitude, communication abilities and capacity to work as a team.

3. Clearly demonstrate the potential for career progression
The number one thing that graduates are looking for in their first job is an opportunity for career progression. You should explain what the different options for them within the company would be, and also aim to demonstrate why experience with you will look great on their future CV.