5 Things Employees Really Want What do your employees really want? Jumping to conclusions is never safe. To be a better manager, remember these basic truths about everyone who works for you: “I want to feel important.” No one wants to feel like a number, interchangeable, or easy to forget. Get to know your employees as people; find out what makes each one unique and show them you’re paying attention to their individuality. “I need encouragement.” Even the best employees continue to flourish with positive feedback. Let them know what they’re doing right and how they can keep performing at
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Increasing Client Retention by Listening
Listening Can Increase Client Retention When someone is talking, are you really hearing them? Listening is an art-form, it takes time and effort to learn how to do it, and if you don’t listen at home, or listen in the office, you are not going to listen to your clients. There is an old saying that goes “take the cotton out of your ears and put it in your mouth”. Most intelligent people love to talk, it shows how intelligent they are, notice I said “most”. Then there are those that would rather take on the role as a mouse
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Win Support and Success
How To Win Support and Be Successful You can’t please everybody, as the saying goes, but you’ll do better on the job—and in your life—by being likable. When team members and friends enjoy your conversation and companionship, they’ll be more eager to help you achieve your professional and personal goals. Here are some pointers on how to win support and be successful. in your -professional role. You can boost your overall “likability” by focusing on these areas: Listen to people. No one likes to be ignored. Pay attention when friends and team members are talking to show that you’re not
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Start the Day Inspired
Be Inspired Many people start the day not so much inspired as angry, frustrated, grumpy and irritated at having to get out of bed in the morning. Happily, there are some changes you can make to your morning routine to try to change those morning blues into something more positive. For instance, one method of preventing yourself from starting to stress out the moment you open your eyes is to avoid looking at phone messages or emails for at least 15 minutes after you wake. Whatever it is, it can wait. Another good piece of advice is to
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Get Your Point Across Quickly in Emails
Efficient Emailing Email is virtually inescapable, especially in the professional world. In many organizations, it’s essential. Ideally, you should keep yours as concise as possible. Here are some tips for getting your message across efficiently and effectively: Start with a salutation. When beginning a message chain, especially in the morning, a little “hello” or “TGIF” goes a long way. Choose one topic and stick to it. For example, the central topic here is Paul’s vacation; the offshoots are the delegated responsibilities: Hi, all. Reminder that I will be on vacation next week. In my absence: Vera will
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Explore Your Options before Firing an Employee
Firing an Employee – Explore Your Options When an employee grows difficult for you and others to work with, you might be tempted to terminate the person as quickly as possible. You’re better off salvaging the situation if you can, though. Hiring and training a replacement always takes time and effort you can invest in more worthwhile tasks. Explore these options before firing an employee: Check your attitude. Have you accidentally slipped into an adversarial, “me versus you” role? Remember, as a leader, you must bring people together. If you’re insisting that you’re right and the problem employee is
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Systems: The Key to Having a Successful and Profitable Business
Breaking It Down Most accountants and bookkeepers don’t have a systemized way of running their business. They wing it and do things off the cuff. They are constantly in reactive mode (putting out fires) instead of being proactive (growing their business). Being reactive is very costly due to repeated mistakes, lost sales and clients, and minimal profits. Systems are the key to getting more done. They are the solution to getting the results you want. It takes intensive work and focus to build effective systems in your business, but investments of time now can prevent massive and costly mistakes later.
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