The Thriving Small Business

5 Advantages of Professional Networking

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A simple life reality is that people need people. We need our family, we need our friends, and we need others in our industry. Which makes professional networking so important.

Professionals use networking as a means to form relationships with others, in like or related fields, that help to expand ones’ effectiveness in an organization or industry. Read the Full Article →

13 Examples Of Empowered Employees

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Empowerment is a buzz term that we hear a lot about in leadership. A culture that embraces employee empowerment, understands the role workers have by taking care of the needs of the customers they serve.

Empowerment is defined as “the giving or delegation of power or authority; authorization; the giving of an ability; enablement or permission.”

Empowerment is based on the belief that employees have the ability – and want to take on more responsibility. 

Empowerment is a way to give employees greater authority and responsibility to take care of the needs of the customer and to provide employees with the means for making influential decisions. Read the Full Article →

7 Ways to Demonstrate Ethics and Integrity in Your Business

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The success of an organization is built off of the trust of customers, employees and the general public.

According to a Gallup poll, “68% of adults worldwide believed corruption was widespread among businesses in their country…… and 60% of adults in the U.S. responded this way in 2017…..”

The best way to gain that trust is to demonstrate ethics and integrity in business practices. Read the Full Article →

Employee Turnover – 6 Tips To Retain Employees

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Unemployment is at historic levels. At 3.8 percent unemployment, finding and retaining workers is a topic of discussion for every business owner.

According to a Work Institute Report, one in four workers, will leave their jobs this year to go work for another company and that 77 percent of that turnover could have been avoided. Read the Full Article →

6 Things You Might See In Project Based Learning

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One of the great joys of managing people is watching them develop and grow professionally.

For employees whose job performance is managed, opportunities for development and professional growth is a natural outcome.

Developing employees needs to be specific and intentional.

Employees need to be given the opportunity to learn, grow and make mistakes. Read the Full Article →

13 Tips For Improving Job Satisfaction

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According to a Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Report by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 88% of US employees reported overall satisfaction with their current job in 2015.

This number is the highest level of satisfaction in 10 years. The purpose of the survey was to identify those factors that contribute to employee satisfaction in the workplace. Read the Full Article →

3 Tips To Make Managing Employees Easier

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Anyone who is responsible for managing others will attest to the fact that it can be one of the most challenging aspects of a supervisor’s job.

However when done strategically, and with an end in mind, it can be a positive, and even rewarding, experience for both parties. Understanding some simple performance management tactics can help! Read the Full Article →

Wage Garnishments: A Sensitive Legal Requirement

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Early in my career I worked in the payroll office of a large hospital. I was young and naive when I was first exposed to wage garnishments.

I was exposed to wage garnishments at this early age and was required to submit paperwork to have money withheld from an employee’s paycheck when the organization got notice of a garnishment demand. Read the Full Article →

Sample Employee Performance Goals

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We all get that in order to make money, we need to create a quality product or service that someone will pay for. Employee performance goals help organizations do just that.

Providing a well structured performance management process is the most effective way to accomplish organizational goals.

This management of performance should be based on goals set at the organizational level and driven down throughout the organization.

Read the Full Article →

Ask These 5 Questions To Improve Employee Performance

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There is a secret that can help improve employee performance. Sometimes you simply need to ask some questions.

When I was young I measured the work day by biding my time until lunch, enjoying my lunch and then biding my time until I could clock out and go home.

Mornings drug on but afternoons were even worse.  Read the Full Article →

Advantages and Disadvantages of Performance Appraisals

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Employees, as well as managers, often question why organizations do employee performance appraisals.

Anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of a performance appraisal could argue why they perceive it to be ineffective and a complete waste of time.

Employees often feel unjustly assessed, and managers often go through a forced annual process to comply with job expectations. Read the Full Article →