REPOST: 15 Great No-Cost Ways to Supercharge Your Employees

This article from Inc.com shares some tips for business leaders on how they can motivate their employees to achieve more.

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Many bosses think that the best and perhaps the only way to get their employees motivated to do a better job is to pay them more, in the form of higher salaries, bonuses, or other cash rewards. This is a mistake. In reality, there are a lot of things you can do to supercharge employee performance that won't cost you a single dime.

Consider the example of Factory 360, an experiential marketing firm based in New York City. Company founder Michael Fernandez decided to convert an unused office into a yoga studio for employees. Together they practice their yoga moves in the repurposed space. Not only has team morale improved but Fernandez reports that the amenity has helped employees build stronger bonds with one another--and with him.

Try the following no-cost ways for supercharging your employees' morale and performance. You (and your customers) may be surprised at what a difference they make.

1. Don't just tell your employees what to do, explain why they should do it. (And while you're at it, make sure the reasons are good ones!)

2. Provide employees with prompt and candid feedback on their performance. (If improvements are needed, help them understand what they need to do to do better.)

3. Catch your employees doing something right. (And praise them when you do.)

4. Ask your employees what you can do to improve your business. (And implement their suggestions whenever it makes sense to do so.)

5. Really listen to what your employees have to say. (Show your sincere interest by focusing your full attention on your people when they are talking to you.)

6. Ask your employees, "What's one thing I can do better for you this month?" (And then tell them one thing they can do better for you that month.)

7. Assign small projects to your employees that require them to learn new tasks and grow in their jobs. (Serving on a task force to deal with a pressing business problem or presenting a proposal to top management are just two possible options.)

8. Rotate team leadership positions among all members of the team. (Provide all employees with leadership training so they are prepared to lead.)

9. Don't punish employees when they try something and fail. (Instead, help them learn lessons that will help them succeed the next time.)

10. Open your books to employees. (When employees know how what they do at work contributes to the bottom line, they will do more of it.)

11. Communicate a long-range vision for your company. (Make sure it's inspiring and clearly stated.)

12. Share customer letters and email messages of complaint and praise with all employees. (And do it promptly and regularly.)

13.  Expect perfection. (But accept excellence.)

14. Always treat your employees with dignity and respect. (Just as you yourself want and expect to be treated.)

15. Allow your people to be great. (You have the power to let your employees be great, or to shut them down.)







The Bertrand Management Group offers series of organizational and employee trainings to help businesses enhance the performance of their workforce. Follow this Twitter page for more resources on better business practices.

Motivated employees are best for business

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It is no secret that employers need to keep their team motivated to keep the business intact, but how should they do it?

Having a pleasant atmosphere inside the workplace is an asset that not many have. Employees spend most of their day in their work areas, and it is the employer’s job to keep his or her people as comfortable as possible. This involves proper analysis of logistics and making sure that all employees get enough access to facilities that will let them feel at ease while doing their work.

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Next is letting employees visualize the end process of what they are doing. Just like employers and business owners, employees also have something that drives them to work hard. They came to the company with their goals in their hands. Thus, employers have to make sure that they are able to connect the current tasks to the goals that they have set not only for the business but also for the employees.

Last is paying close attention to what makes employees do better at work. This may be from as simple as providing free coffee in the cafeteria to giving them monetary bonuses periodically. Giving positive reinforcements and providing trainings that can be useful to them in the future are also great motivators that employers can use.

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Employers must keep in mind that the key to a good business are the employees, which is why it is important for them to be the best employer they can be to keep their team intact.

Bertrand Management Group is a consulting firm based in Ontario, Calif., that specializes in providing trainings for skills development and operational improvement. Get to know more about the company by visiting this Facebook page.

REPOST: Resistance: A Stranglehold on Business

Why do people resist change, especially in the workplace? This TIME article shares some insights regarding this matter. 

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The ability to adapt and change is essential to business success. But not everyone embraces change so easily. These tips can help you identify and eliminate resistance in the workplace.

Anyone familiar with the Star Trek universe knows that resistance is futile. Unfortunately, real-life resistance to change is alive and well and often firmly entrenched in many small businesses. Common signs include ideas that never reach fruition and initiatives that go nowhere.

There’s a huge difference between taking a conservative approach and failing to adapt to changes in the market, in customer needs or in technology. Resistance on that level can have serious consequences and leave you wide open to competitors who are willing and able to adapt and capture your market share.

In an article at Small Business Computing, Rick Maurer, an organizational consultant and author of “Beyond the Wall of Resistance,” notes that workforce resistance causes approximately 70 percent of organizational change to fail. You can fight back using these steps to identify resistance and break down the barriers to effective change.

Step 1: Identify resistance

Blatant criticism is an obvious sign of resistance. However, the other side of that coin is the easy yes, and while more subtle, it’s no less dangerous. Employees or managers who agree quickly may not have thought things through thoroughly, whether out of a desire to be seen as cooperative or to avoid giving offense. Either way, they might not really understand what they’ve agreed to, and that quick yes can quickly turn into a protracted, passive-aggressive no.

Take the time to explain your thinking, and make that sure everyone understands the full scope of the changes and why they’re necessary.

Step 2: Identify the reasons

Employees resist change for three basic reasons. In order of severity: they don’t get it, they don’t like it, or they don’t like you. Look for someone on your team who’s harboring at least one of these perspectives anytime you have a project, processes or other business initiative that’s stalled.

Step 3: Fix it

If they don’t get it, you need to find a new way to deliver your message. Repeating yourself won’t help; they heard you the first time. Instead, try a different approach or provide additional education or training.

If they don’t like it, chances are someone finds something about the new process frightening or uncomfortable. Look at the situation from their perspective. This can help you present the information in a way that addresses their fears or concerns.

If they don’t like you, simply be direct and ask them. You may have to press further if all you get is a polite, but evasive response. Maurer believes these situations are usually a matter of trust. If you outrank the person or people involved, use an anonymous survey with a comment area to discover reasons behind the lack of trust.

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This Bertrand Management Group blog site provides tips and relevant articles on business and management.

REPOST: Lead Your Employees Somewhere Positive and Other Must-Read Business Tips

This Entrepreneur.com article consolidates some useful tips for business owners.

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Business owners know more acutely than most people that change is inevitable. It is a fact of life. But not all change is positive, and it becomes difficult to lead employees when they think you are taking them in a bad direction, says Mark Sanborn, president of Sanborn & Associates Inc., a Lonetree, Colo.-based leadership development firm.

But that doesn't mean your employees don't have guts and grit. "They can even handle the challenges and sacrifices of a new undertaking if they believe there is a payoff on arrival," says Sanborn. He tells the anecdote of a client whose vision statement for his company was full of financial goals but was silent when it came to quality of life for employees.

"I wasn't surprised that nobody could remember what the vision was, nor care about achieving it," Sanborn says. "Their vision statement became effective when it was rewritten to express the future for all stakeholders, including employees." 

Treat customers with respect.
Selling doesn't come naturally to everyone. Some people feel uncomfortable putting themselves out there for the sake of their idea, product or service. One way to help yourself relax is to make a connection with your prospective client, says Cristi Young, founder of No.2 Creative, a New York City-based branding firm. Treat him or her like a person. "You'd be surprised how many people forget to say hello, ask how their weekend was, or remember a personal detail they shared with you last time you met. Connect and care first." 

To retain employees, give them a meaningful career path.
Chances are you can't compete with Google and Facebook when it comes to employee salaries, but a high salary is not the only carrot you can provide to retain top employees. One way to keep them around is to provide them with opportunities for real growth in their career, says Carolyn Betts, founder of San Francisco-based Betts Recruiting. She recommends having a frank discussion with employees on their yearly employment anniversaries about how they see themselves growing within your company. "Share your thoughts with where you see them headed and what opportunities exist for them to continue to be challenged," she says. 

Base your marketing strategy on customer behavior.
As a business owner, you may welcome the rise of mobile traffic even while assuming you can shoehorn your old marketing strategies onto the new platforms. Not so, says Jayson DeMers, founder of AudienceBloom, a Seattle-based SEO agency: "If you're not delivering your marketing messages in a way that's tailored specifically to the experience of a smartphone or tablet user, chances are you're turning customers away." Find out how your customers are using their mobile devices, and what their expectations are. "Data from your existing website analytics program can give you mobile insights, as can targeted surveys, [which can] form the foundation of your mobile content strategy," DeMers says. 

Choose investment bankers, not investment banks.
When choosing an investment banker to sell your business, the experience and know-how of the individual(s) doing your deal is more important than the firm to which their name is attached, says Jay Turo, chief executive of Growthink, a Los Angeles-based consulting firm. "Information technology and social media have leveled the playing field between big and small investment banking firms," he says. Your personal chemistry with the banker also matters. Ask yourself how, when and where you prefer to communicate, and then evaluate bankers on how well they match up.

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Bertrand Management Group helps business owners achieve their business goals through careful planning and execution. For more tips and updates, visit this blog site.

REPOST: 10 Ways to Motivate Anyone

This article from Inc.com shares the importance of understanding how certain types of employees think and how business leaders can use this information to better motivate them.

Image source: motivateplay.com

I am often asked about how I keep employees inspired and productive. It's an essential question since companies today must accomplish more, with fewer people. The most successful start-ups must be lean, nimble, and fierce.

In a nutshell, you should hire bright, energetic, innovative employees. Then offer them the right incentives--the ones that will impact their personal brain and personality types--to keep them mentally and emotionally invested in doing their best.

It's impossible to talk about motivation without mentioning Drive, a book by best-selling author Daniel Pink. (His TED lecture was turned into a fabulous video.) Pink notes that people perform best when they are given autonomy, opportunity for mastery, and the belief that their task is meaningful. He says money is not the best motivator, and that employees want to be "players, not pawns."

Pink believes Google's "20% time," in which employees may spend one day a week on whatever they want is a shining example of how allowing intrinsically-based motivations (a sense of accomplishment or purpose) can flourish. Personal endeavors from "20% time" resulted in Gmail, Google News, Orkut, and AdSense. Long before Google--back in 1948--3M instituted the "15% solution" or "dream time," which yielded both Scotch Tape and Post-It Notes.

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There's no question that intrinsic motivation is essential. However, I do not agree with Pink that all extrinsic motivation (raises, bonuses, commissions, awards, titles, flex time, and other perks) is harmful. A skillful entrepreneur keeps employees motivated with a combination of both.

That said, there is no cookie-cutter approach to motivating your people. What inspires one person may leave the next cold. When you understand an employee's thinking and behavioral preferences, you'll be able to maximize his or her enthusiasm. This will help you get your workforce aligned and moving in the same direction, and you'll see incredible returns.

1.   Analytical types want to know that a project is valuable, and that their work makes a difference to its success. They need a leader who excels in a particular area, and whose expertise they believe benefits the group. They prefer compensation that is commensurate with their contribution. If they have done a tremendous amount of work on their own, don't expect them to be happy if you reward the whole team.

2.   People who are "structural" by nature want to know their work aids the company's progress. They prefer a leader who is organized, competent, and good with details. They like to be rewarded in writing, in a timely manner, in a way specific to the task. An encouraging email is appropriate to communicate with them.

3.   Social people want to feel personally valued, and that what they are doing has an impact on a project. They go the extra mile for a leader who expresses faith in their abilities. They prefer to be rewarded in person with a gesture that is from the heart. If your own preference is for written communication, send a handwritten note to a particularly social employee.

4.   Innovative employees must buy into a cause. To them, the big picture matters more than the individual who is leading the charge. They prefer to be rewarded with something unconventional and imaginative, and would find a whimsical token of your esteem very meaningful.

5.   Quiet staffers don't need a lot of fanfare, but they appreciate private, one-on-one encouragement.

6.   Expressive people feel more motivated when assignments are openly discussed and an open door is available. They like public recognition, with pomp, and ceremony.

7.   Peacekeepers hope everyone will move in the same direction. They'll never demand a reward or recognition, so it's up to you to offer it.

8.   Hard-drivers are independent thinkers. If they agree with you, they'll be highly motivated. They will let you know what they'd like as an extrinsic reward, and they tend to want whatever it is right away.

9.   Those who are focused team members must have confidence in the leader and in the project, or their motivation may falter. They want know up front what kind of reward they can expect. Make sure you follow through on whatever is promised.

10.   Flexible people go along with the team, as long as a project does not contradict their morals or beliefs. They're also happy with any kind of recognition.

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Watch for the weakest link among your employees. If you have a slacker who consistently does less than everyone else but seems to get away with it, this can dampen the motivation of everyone else.



Bertrand Management Group is a management consulting company that seeks to provide effective solutions to help businesses grow. Find on this Facebook page more resources on management strategies.

REPOST: Be your own boss: How to set up a franchise

This Economic Times article gives tips on how to be a successful entrepreneur through franchising.

Frustrated with your job? Feel like strangling your colleagues? Want to push your boss from the top of a cliff? Cry buckets of tears when you get your pay cheque? Want to start your own business?

If you have answered in affirmative to any of these questions, here's fast and safe way to be an instant and successful entrepreneur. No, we aren't spinning the spiel of a swindler. As thousands of Indians have discovered, there is a less risky way to start a business than setting up your own venture: franchise. The franchise industry has opened a wide window for many would-be entrepreneurs, who have the zeal and the zest, but not enough business expertise. Buying a franchise lets you be your own boss in any field that you are passionate about without the added worries that is a given with your own venture—ideation, brand building, infrastructure, legal problems.

The best part? You get help to start a business anywhere, at any age and with any budget. Bangalore-based Lourdu Mary retired as a primary school teacher five years ago. "However, I got bored within a few years, but finding another job at my age was impossible. When I came to know that I could open my own pre-school with just Rs 3.5 lakh, I jumped at the opportunity," says the 65-year-old. The company, My Apple School, provides the curriculum, support and training to her staff.

The supporting appeal of the franchise industry has been the reason for the surge in its popularity in the past decade. Currently worth Rs 82,500 crore, it is estimated to grow to about Rs 2.91 lakh crore by 2017, according to the Indian Franchise Report 2012. The main reason is that both domestic and international companies want to expand their footprints, but don't consider it a viable proposition to do it on their own due to operational and financial pressures.

They prefer to look for partners who can invest to run a branch of their business. From international brands like Domino's and Dunkin' Donuts, to domestic ones like NIIT and Naturals, a lot of companies are opting for the franchising model. It's estimated that the franchise industry is growing at a rapid pace of 40% a year. One of the biggest gainers of this warp-speed growth is Ravi Jaipuria, chairman of the privately held RJ Corp. He is India's newest billionaire, with a fortune estimated at Rs 8,250 crore, and has built his fortune as a franchisee for brands like Pepsi, Pizza Hut, KFC and Costa Coffee. So, do you want to get on this super-fast bandwagon to business bonanza?

Where should you start?

The first thing you need to decide is whether you are fit to be a franchisee. Don't be blinded by dreams of instant riches or assume that because you have a ready-made business plan, you can relax in a hammock and soak the sun. Running a franchise will require as much hard work and effort as running your own venture. Says Gaurav Marya, president of Franchise India: "A franchisee needs to understand that while he has bought a brand name, and with it the potential clientele, the onus is on him to grow the business. It's not an 'invest and forget' option."

The business also comes with stringent conditions about how the workplace will look, the products that will be used, the programme menu that will be implemented, the royalty that will have to be paid, and so on. Individual innovation is rarely possible and thinking out of the box could be frowned upon. So, carefully study the pros and cons before you sign a franchise deal.

Once you've made up your mind to buy a franchise, you'll have to decide what exactly to do. With almost 3,700 companies in about 15 diverse sectors, from food and footwear to furniture and furnishing, the choices can befuddle you. Go through the story, 'Which franchise is best for you?' to figure out where you should dip your toes. On deciding where you want to start from, you can narrow down your choices. Marya advises that if you're a newbie, it may be better to start a business in the field of your professional expertise. "When you understand the intricacies of an industry, you are well-equipped to handle the daily business and any crises that may crop up," he says. Also, you will be in tune with the realities of the sector, which could help you identify the right company to partner.

Angad Singh followed this tenet when he moved back to India after working for a couple of years at a hotel in Melbourne, Australia. His father, Ravinder Singh, had taken VRS from a bank, but wanted to continue working. The father-son duo invested their savings to buy a franchise of New York Pizza and Fried Chicken in Chandigarh. "Both my father and I are passionate about food, but neither of us had the expertise to set up and run a business. Taking a franchise was the logical answer," says the 26-year-old.

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Bertrand Management Group assists businesses in their operations, manpower, and management strategies. Know more information about the industry by visiting this Facebook page.

Why America's businesses need faster broadband networks

Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, argues for the improvement of America’s broadband infrastructure on Forbes.com. At the heart of his argument is that America needs this upgrade sooner, rather than later, in order to keep its competitiveness rating high.

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Indeed, if the spread and increase of popularity of modern mobile devices serve as indicators of what public demand will be like in the future, then it points to the need for constant connectivity. And to attend to this demand, there is the need for speeds that go beyond megabits.

Genachowski points out that the upgrade of the information infrastructure goes well beyond consumer convenience, which is already an important element that businesses must always strive to attain. It is necessary to further push for economic growth and job creation in the industries.

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There are some broadband providers who believe otherwise. Currently available broadband speeds have kept up with what mobile devices can handle, and there has been little demand for faster alternatives.

However, if innovation remains among the nation’s greatest concerns, then the information infrastructure necessary to support new findings, even if it seems too advanced for its time, must already be put in place. America’s businesses need all the advantages they can get in order to encourage the country’s innovators to create cutting-edge technologies, and to attract more of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs.

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