The Thriving Small Business

How Well Does Your Organization Recovery From a Bad Service Experience?

by

We are all human and human beings make mistakes.

This is just part of the imperfect nature of living life here on earth.

Because of this, it is important for organizations to take precautionary steps to minimize human error in the workplace.

This concept is what led the quality movement and product manufacturers to embrace quality management as a business practice. Read the Full Article →

8 Traits To Look for in a Mentor

by

We’ve all heard the term ‘mentor’ but we need to acknowledge the importance of mentoring for professional development.

Mentoring has been around for a long time, specifically in academic environments where teaching is a part of the business model.

So what is a mentor?

According to dictionary.com a mentor is “a wise and trusted counselor or teacher – an influential senior sponsor or supporter.”

A mentor is someone who understands the work environment and offers advice to employees coming up the ladder. Read the Full Article →

 7 Tips to Make The Employee Survey Process Successful

by

Every business owner understands that customers pay the bills.

And, to keep those customers coming back they need to provide a great service experience.

However, many organizations don’t pay as much attention to those people who care for their customers – the employees.

Employees are often on the front-line and interact with customers either in person, on the phone or delivering the product or service. Read the Full Article →

Administrative Assistant Performance Goals Examples

by

Administrative assistants are of the most valuable of all employees because they are the doers, the ones who get things done and can be instrumental in helping the organization achieve its objectives.

This of course is if they have a good understanding of what is expected of them and written employee goals to help them prioritize daily work tasks. Read the Full Article →

12 Time Management Tips – Do You Manage your Time Well?

by

Time is a resource that is constantly being lost.  It is one of those things that once lost, you never get back and most people regret wasting at some point in their life.

Good time management helps people accomplish goals, fulfill dreams, desires and ultimately their destiny.

We may never know how things may have been different if people had been more responsible with the time they had. Read the Full Article →

4 Tip for Improving Productivity and Decreasing Employee Errors

by

I am a firm believer that employees come to work and want to do a good job.

However, it is the organization’s responsibility to ensure the work environment is one that inspires creative thinking and allows employees to do their job without any barriers or distractions to slow them down.

Apple is getting ready to open its new Spaceship Campus or Apple Park. Read the Full Article →

What Are Critical Success Factors?

by

Whether you are managing a restaurant, boutique or insurance agency, it is important to know that you are focusing on those things that help the organization achieve its mission.

Anyone who manages internal processes understands how challenging it can be to balance daily responsibilities with monitoring how well the organization is performing. Read the Full Article →

7 Tips for Your Benchmarking Efforts

by

Learning from others is how we all improve.

Organizations use benchmarking to compare themselves to others and learn.

Benchmarking is the process of going outside an organization to look at how high performers are doing things in other industries.  The concept is to identify and learn from best practices.

Organizations use benchmarking as part of their Quality Management System in an effort to gain insight into ways to improve what they do. Read the Full Article →

4 Things United Airlines Could Have Done Better To Avoid Its PR Nightmare

by

Unless you have been living in a cave the last few weeks, you probably saw the shocking video of a passenger being dragged off of a United Airlines Flight on April 10, 2017.

What was the most amazing thing to me was that this event happened because the airline needed to make seats available for employees. Read the Full Article →

7 Advantages of Offering Paid Time Off

by

Many organizations provide paid time off benefits for their employees.

Getting a paid for not working is a great benefit.

Just ask anyone who works in the trades, like a carpenter, cement finisher, brick layer, etc. who only get paid when they work!

Paid time off benefits can be packaged in any number of ways. Read the Full Article →

24 Tips For Office Etiquette Training

by

I admit that I have been in the work force for a long time, however it is disheartening to see the deterioration of basic etiquette and professionalism in the workplace.

Some say it is just “this generation”. I am not convinced – because I see it in all demographics.

I believe it is a symptom of a culture that is modeled from the top down. Read the Full Article →

Cash Handling Policy Example

by

Any organization that works with cash should have clearly defined cash handling policies and procedures to help protect that money.

The fact is, cash is simply too tempting for many people – particularly people with a financial need.

And, it is management’s responsibility to ensure an organization safeguards its cash assets. Read the Full Article →