STAYING POWER

STAYING POWER

CATS Recruit, 27 February 2013

Effective human resource management is critical in helping public relations agencies to retain their talent 

A HIGH staff attrition rate is a common problem in the public relations (PR) world. If communication consultancies want to tackle this trend head on, their human resource (HR) departments must take centre stage and play a critical role in recruiting and retaining top talent.

Their familiarity with the intricacies of the business, implementing employment engagement strategies and the ability to customise approaches to suit the agency culture and employees are imperative to both retaining and attracting staff.

This goes together with the importance of using effective line managers to ensure every employee knows that there is someone at the agency who cares about their career and well-being.

Essentially, regular catch-up meetings and a well-structured mentor scheme can be invaluable in offering employees a platform to ask the types of questions they couldn’t otherwise ask in a more formal forum, such as a staff meeting.

The need to be valued
What can compel staff to stay is the irreplaceable feeling that they are highly valued members of a team. Praise and recognition need to be duly rendered. This will in turn promote both the individual’s and agency’s success, while crafting a comfortable working environment.

Without this, high-achieving staff will burn out and opt to leave for a different agency environment. In fact, recognition doesn’t have to come purely in the form of remuneration. It can be as simple as sending an e-mail message at the end of a project to say “job well done”.

Better still, putting in place a clearly crafted career development plan, making known future opportunities and training staff from the ground up can enhance retention by preparing them for a strong future in the agency.

With a clear picture of career goals and objectives, employees can aspire to climb the corporate ladder and envisage a future for themselves at the agency.

A chance to travel
Increasingly, such opportunities are expected to come with the chance to travel and experience different working lives and cultures.

Thus, agencies that can offer varied and diversified roles, including foreign travel. In addition, agencies that can offer secondments or transfers to different offices around the region or the world are much more likely not only to retain employees with a desire to travel, but also gain an even more experienced and cultured employee at the end of his trip abroad.

Sharing success
On both the local and global level, staff also ought to feel that they are contributing to one another’s success. Here, collaboration is key. Agencies can expedite this process by integrating social media tools such as Yammer, an internal collaboration tool, to stay connected with their teams all over the world by sharing thoughts, content and ideas.

Attracting talent
The ability of HR personnel to staff the teams effectively by playing off one another’s weaknesses and strengths can ensure a high quality of work for both clients and staff on the account.

Social media is also increasingly vital, especially from an attraction point of view. Companies can use social media as a key platform to showcase their agency culture and leverage extensive social networks to source and attract the best talent. Platforms such as LinkedIn can reach out to people with relevant experience in the region.

One of the best ways PR agencies can choose to remain relevant in a constantly changing communications landscape is by managing its HR function effectively, in a way that is best fitted to the agency.

Through implementing a variety of tools such as training and engaging staff, ensuring employee satisfaction and creating a desirable working environment, high attrition rates can be alleviated over time.

DON’T PULL THE PLUG

DON’T PULL THE PLUG

CATS Recruit, 28 February 2013

Don’t pull the plug 
Recognise the importance of administrative support personnel as connectors

MALCOLM Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point, notes that there are three types of people involved in the phenomenon of word of mouth, and one of them is “connectors”.

While Gladwell is looking at character traits to clarify personality types, it seems to me that the same can be said for different positions as a function of a job. Certain careers seem to bring out the connector in all of us, and one of those careers is that of administrative support. While the various roles of administrative support personnel (admins) are constantly changing over time, one role never seems to change much: being a connector.

Admins are constantly learning about building relationships and making connections with people — co-workers, clients and managers. But a fact that often goes unnoticed is that admins actually are the connectors in companies.

Who do you connect with?
If this is your role, let’s start by looking at the different departments or people you regularly deal with on a daily basis as a function of your job. Perhaps they include clients or customers, other admins, company management, your boss, travel agents, information technology (IT) staff, accountants and others in the finance department and human resource representatives. The list goes on and on.

Now, what do these different people have in common? The fact that they all connect to each other through you.

You might take the information provided by human resources and sort it for your boss so that she can hire a new employee. You have just connected your boss to human resources as well as some external hopefuls.

Maybe you need the input of a travel agent to provide the finance department with dollar figures so they can arrange the expense account for payroll to cut a cheque for your boss’s trip to a convention.

Here you have connected four people or groups: the travel agent, your boss, the finance accountant and the payroll admin.

Why do you connect?
You might say that you connect with all these different people and departments because it is almost like a side effect of your daily duties. After all, how can you arrange that trip without talking to the finance department and the travel agent? The reason you are a connector, though, lies much deeper in the modern business model.

The business model of corporations — which has filtered down and pervades many small and medium businesses too — is that of separation of functions. People tend to work in groups, or pods, that are constructed based on function: finance, payroll, design, engineering, quality, technical writing, information technology, benefits and so on.

These pods are useful for many reasons, including:
• They make distribution of information easier;
• They provide support from co-workers who are familiar with the field; and
• They even create a sense of teamwork based on that familiarity.
The current business model, however, requires that all of those pods have a connector of some sort.
That’s where administrative support comes into the picture. Admins are the connectors that tie all these pods together.

They create the hubs around which all the other staff are able to work with one another. They unite the disparate groups and, as a result, create a company-wide team spirit.

How do you connect?
The ways you connect with groups and individuals are probably as varied as the number of groups you deal with. You probably have a lot of face-to-face time with your own boss, while other department heads might be reached mostly by phone. Contact with individuals in other departments probably includes a lot of e-mail or text messages, while folks outside the company are likely accessed via a blend of phone and e-mail.

This is why it is so important for admins to be great communicators. To make the company work like a well-oiled machine, admins must be able to communicate well, which in turn will build relationships that will allow them to not only make, but also to maintain, those connections.

Don’t get unplugged
Keep this idea in mind when you are dealing with others, both within your organisation and outside it. If something caused all the admins in your company to be unplugged at the same time, the pods might still function, but the company as a whole would definitely not work as well.

You are the connectors that create the hubs around which the modern business model functions.

Article by Shirley Taylor, a professional speaker, trainer and author. She is hosting a conference for administrators and secretaries in Singapore in April. Find out more from liz@sttstraining.com or www.sttstraining.com/ASSAP/

DON’T PLAY THE BLAME GAME

DON’T PLAY THE BLAME GAME

CATS Recruit, 5 March 2013

Create a workplace culture where learning — rather than avoiding mistakes — is the norm 

“To err is human; to blame it on the other guy is even more human.” — Bob Goddard

WE ARE all tempted to point the finger of blame at someone else when things go wrong. Does this “not my fault” attitude lead to solutions or does it ultimately tear your workplace apart?

When mistakes happen, through no fault of your own, it is easy to point out loudly and in great detail just whose mistake it is and how it is not at all your fault. However, this does not correct the error; it only adds to the tension and will probably create bad feelings between you and your co-workers. It is much more productive to sit down and talk about why the mistake was made, what the impact was, how to fix the problem and how to ensure it doesn't happen again.

“To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer.” — Paul Ehrlich

One of the more popular responses to a mistake is to blame the computer. Yes, we have all experienced this, when our computer eats the files we needed for the big presentation coming up or when it mysteriously misplaces that important folder with all the absolutely essential information in it.

Everyone will sympathise with you when this happens — it’s probably happened to them too. Yet that sympathy does nothing to fix the problem. Isn’t it better to ensure you have backed up — multiple times, if necessary — anything and everything you may need to do your job? It is never easy to acknowledge that you are wrong, to admit culpability (for example, you did not back up those important files).

You may think it makes you look remarkably stupid. But in the long run, being able to say “Yes, I made a mistake” and then following up with a solution will be more productive and instil more confidence than if you try to shift the blame or, even worse, ignore the problem.

Do not shrug and say: “Hey, I'm only human — mea culpa (my fault)!” and then walk away. You may just get a cup of cold coffee dumped on your head.

“The man who can smile when things go wrong has thought of someone else he can blame it on.” — Robert Bloch

So how do you get through these challenging situations in which someone (you?) didn’t do the job properly? Well, you can start by creating an atmosphere of confidence and trust — and this has to come from the top. Allowing that people make mistakes and focusing on how to learn from them to ensure they don’t happen again is the first step.

This does not mean it’s okay to continually mess up. What it means is that everyone in the workplace knows mistakes are a part of the learning process. If you encourage employees and co-workers to admit their slip-ups, rather than pointing their fingers at someone — anyone — else, they are more likely to learn and be part of the team when it comes to fixing things.

It is all right to discuss how someone else’s mistake played a role, but laying the entire blame on that person really does not alleviate the situation. If you must place blame, do so constructively. Keep the focus on learning. Create a workplace culture where learning — rather than avoiding mistakes — is the reality. People who feel free to fail feel free to innovate.

Also, ensure there is no tolerance for blame in the workplace. This means not succumbing to the blame game yourself. As tempting as it is to jump up and down, pointing a finger of blame at someone else, calling, “He did it! He did it!”, restrain yourself. Remember, that is not the example you want to set if you want to encourage accountability and trust in others.

Article by Faith Wood, the founder of Inspiring Minds Consulting. As a trainer, coach and human behaviour specialist, she focuses on developing interpersonal communication tools you can have faith in. Visit http://www.imind.ca to learn more. Article source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Faith_Wood

GET THE WORD OUT

GET THE WORD OUT

CATS Classified, 5 March 2013
Written by Belinda Wan

After you have set up your business, and secured your contacts and customers, you should nurture your venture by marketing it well. 

We often hear the term “marketing” being bandied about, but what does it mean? Marketing can be loosely defined as “the action or business of selling and promoting products or services”. This seemingly simple explanation is by no means definitive, and belies the fact that there are at least 200 forms of marketing around.

Contrary to popular belief, marketing is not advertising – the latter is merely a part of the former. Marketing is about creating a desire for your product or service – in short, about employing specific strategies to make a product fly off the shelves. It boils down to understanding and satisfying your customer needs and wants. The ultimate in marketing success is when selling becomes unnecessary – that is, when the product sells by itself.

The concept of marketing is complex, but you need to get a good grasp of what it’s all about before you can think about how to market your business effectively to your consumers. Just think of marketing as a bridge linking consumers and producers/suppliers.

Next, you should define who you are marketing your business to. To identify your target market (or your “best” customers), ask yourself: Which group of people will most likely look at your venture as one that will answer their needs and wants? Which groups of people will find what you are offering useful or beneficial? This is what is referred to as market segmentation.

Remember the four “Ps” of marketing – product, price, promotion and place. All these components involve strategies and tactics that if employed correctly will help you reach your target customers.

To keep yourself on track, write a marketing plan, which should span a year. Refer to it on a quarterly, if not monthly, basis. Marketing is the sum of many parts, so ensure that you are using your resources effectively for the best results. Your marketing plan needs to be consistent with your business plan – as the latter sets the scene within which your marketing plan must thrive.

Lastly, know your marketing jargon. Most people mistakenly think marketing is the same thing as branding. In a nutshell, marketing “pushes” people towards your business, while branding acts as the pull factor.

Branding is a way of establishing what an organisation, product or service stands for by conveying its characteristics and traits to target consumers. It is a strategic exercise while marketing is a tactical one. However, both cannot stand alone – branding must be established before, as well as in tandem with, marketing.

A MATTER OF TRUST

A MATTER OF TRUST

CATS Recruit, 6 March 2013

Companies can increase profits and reduce competition with more transparency 

ENTREPRENEUR.COM predicts that one of the biggest trends this year is companies using transparency to build consumer trust. Yet many businesses fail to understand the importance of building and maintaining trust, and the positive impact this will have on their profits, staff retention and customer loyalty.

In his video Social Media Revolution 2013, Mr Erik Qualman notes that 90 per cent of consumers trust peer recommendations, whereas just 14 per cent trust advertisements.

Yet the vast majority of businesses still channel the bulk of any budgets in marketing or promotion into paid-for advertising. Few, if any, spend time or money on developing and executing a “Referrals and Recommendations” budget.

Mr Qualman is not alone in pointing out how important trust is in influencing buyer behaviour and purchasing decisions. Findings from a survey by Concerto Marketing Group found that when people trust a brand:
• 82 per cent will use its products and services frequently;
• 78 per cent will look to it first for what they want;
• 78 per cent will give its other products and services a chance; and
• 50 per cent will pay more for its products and services.

So why don’t more businesses focus on building high-value or high-trust relationships with their clients and customers? The benefits are huge. High trust reduces doubt, resistance and price concerns. It also increases the opportunity to re-sell, cross-sell and on-sell — not only to existing clients or customers, but to others who are recommended to you by your happy clients.

Fortunately, building and maintaining trust is relatively “E”asy. Focus on:
Emotion — As a product or service provider, logic will make you a contender, but emotion is what will seal the deal. People do business with, and buy from, people and companies they like, and trust. Engage with your customers in a way that’s emotionally positive for them and you’re more likely to win their trust and patronage.

Experience — With many consumers, almost 75 per cent of a purchase decision is based on the experience they think they will have. When all other variables are weighed up and judged as close in impact or value, the perception of a positive, enjoyable, hassle-free experience will tip the balance in your favour. Make it easy for customers to have an outstanding experience and watch your profitability soar.

Esteem — As customers and human beings, we all want to feel both valued and valuable. Treating people graciously and respectfully, before, during and after an interaction helps build trust and encourages customers to not only use you again themselves, but also recommend you to others.

Ethics — Buying from providers that behave in a way that’s transparent, fair and ethical is increasingly important for many consumers. Perfection is not necessarily expected, but transparency and honesty are. When things go wrong, acting with integrity in putting things right will help demonstrate your client-focus and commitment to making amends genuinely.

Here are other practical steps you can take to enhance the level of trust existing and potential customers have in you:
• Avoid being too different; be distinctive instead. Being different can be risky; being distinctive is valuable;
• Avoid making wild claims and promises you may not be able to deliver on. Ensure all claims are viable and realistic;
• Encourage people to try your service for minimal or no cost;
• Use suitable words and phrases — whether in written or verbal communication — that will reassure your customers and reduce perceived risk; • Identify, and tap into, any “grapevines” that may impact you and keep up-to-date with trends and concerns among your customer base. Clarify with your customers what fears and doubts they have;
• Demonstrate you are aware of the pressures customers face and pre-empt common questions to build confidence; and
• Avoid fear-based selling; focus instead on why purchasing from you will enhance your customers’ sense of value and security.

Instead of focusing solely on meeting sales targets, focus too on meeting “trust targets”. If you do, the sales will follow. The truth is, the currency of trust has never been more valuable. Strive to capitalise on the trust people have in you.

Article by Hannah Samuel, international speaker with Training Edge International and an award-winning speaker, columnist and author. She is the founder of online reputation service directory TRUSTcite. For more information, e-mail Hannah@trainingedgeasia.com or visit www.trainingedgeasia.com

RECIPE TO ENGAGE CUSTOMERS

RECIPE TO ENGAGE CUSTOMERS

CATS Recruit, 7 March 2013

Here are nine tips on content marketing you can learn from chefs 

I MAY be a lousy cook, but I am a huge fan of good cooking shows. Why? Because I can get many useful marketing lessons from world-class chefs.

In particular, chefs provide great tips on content marketing — a term that involves the creation and sharing of content to attract and engage with both current and potential customers.

Effective content marketing should provide valuable information that has a positive influence on the customer, without involving any direct sales pitch. Here are nine tips that chefs teach us about effective content marketing:

1 There is no secret recipe
Chefs share their recipes, write books, host TV shows and release tablet computer apps. Being open does not take away any business from them. Rather, it increases their reputation and helps to establish them as thought leaders. This eventually grows their business. If you want to engage better with present and prospective clients, share everything you know in the area that customers would find useful or entertaining. This could include interesting trends or funny examples of how someone benefited from a product or service. If your business depends on “hoarding” trade secrets, you do not have a sustainable business.

2 Create an audience, not just a client base
Most businesses tend to think of growing their client base. However, chefs create audiences — a group of targeted people who are always listening and tuning into their recommendations.

3 Presentation matters
No matter how good the food tastes, few people would choose a poorly presented dish. In business, presentation matters on every front, including the company website, PowerPoint presentations and even a simple name card. If you do not have the required design skills to provide the right image for the company, hire a professional designer.

4 Repeat yourself
Good chefs repeat their ingredients and methods at least once, to ensure that their audience remembers what to do. This is useful when making presentations or pitches. Your business or service solution might be the centre of your own universe, but not others’. A quick repetition by highlighting key points is a good habit.

5 Simplicity rules
Most chefs do not suggest a complex method that only experts can do or recommend a hard-to-find ingredient. Likewise, in business, simplicity is a key success factor. Edit out jargon from your sales pitches and business processes and focus on what matters to your audience.

6 Assimilate and make it your own
At the end of their cooking shows or recipes, chefs often tell the viewers or readers what they can do to substitute certain ingredients. After providing a basic template for cooking a dish, it is up to you to make it your own, by experimenting with different ingredients or changing proportions to suit your unique tastes. In business as well, you should not simply copy what others have done before you. Let your own experience guide you. Wrap your head around what you learn, assimilate it and synthesise it with your own domain expertise. This way, you not only enrich yourself — you also add to the knowledge base.

7 Try ‘new’ things
Many chefs run shows and write cookbooks over more than 10 or 15 years, and yet they manage to keep things fresh and interesting by inventing new dishes and methods. For businesses, remaining relevant is a constant challenge, requiring you to keep re-inventing and re-imagining. For example, if you produced an e-book that did not take off well, look hard at the content. Is it what the audience wants? Can you redesign some of it into an interesting infographic?

8 Don’t miss the wood for the trees
Chefs first envision how the dish will turn out. And while they are meticulous about the intermediate steps, they do not fret over the intricacies. Some things can be adjusted later and some “oops” moments could turn out to be that special touch that gourmands will love. When creating content, do not put all your efforts in the perfect headline, paragraphing, fonts, design, images and the like. Instead, be clear about the message you want your reader or viewer to have and begin from there.

9 Don’t waste your audience’s time
Good chefs are articulate and precise. When trying to communicate with your audience, be concise. This should occur across the various platforms, such as e-mail, websites, presentations and blog posts. People do not have an eternity to listen to your stories. Tell them how you are going to make their life better and rest your case.

Article by Asuthosh Nair, chief operating officer of GetIT Comms, a company that develops and implements marketing programmes, campaigns and projects for B2B organisations. For more information, visit www.b2bento.com

TAKE CHARGE WITH THE 5CS

TAKE CHARGE WITH THE 5CS

CATS Recruit, 9 March 2013

With flatter structures and fewer managers, organisations expect employees to act like leaders 

AS INDUSTRIES become more knowledge-based and workforces more qualified, there is less necessity to appoint formal leaders to supervise the work of others.

In today’s organisations, many employees carrying job titles of “manager” or even “director” are, in fact, individual contributors with no formal people-management responsibilities.

Ironically, even as we require fewer formal leaders, we need more leadership. Individuals are expected to develop expertise in their own areas of work and rely less on direction from their bosses. Everyone has to think, feel and act like a leader and exhibit self-leadership.

There are five elements to self-leadership and they are characterised by the five Cs of credibility, collaboration, change, corporate thinking and commitment:

1 Credibility
Establishing credibility is about developing the trust that others have in you. This comes from competency, commitment and character. First of all, people need to know that you can (competency) and will (commitment) honour agreements. But that is not enough.

When American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr commented that “we have guided missiles and misguided men” in reference to the actions of the US military during the Vietnam War, he was alluding to the importance of character. To become trustworthy, your actions must be guided by moral and ethical values. You have to demonstrate that you will always choose to do the right thing, even in situations where it may be personally difficult for you.

2 Collaboration
Inevitably, during the course of your work, you will need the support of people whom you may not have any direct authority over. While it is possible to pressure others into supporting you through coercion or threats, the help that you receive in such a manner is less likely to come with real commitment.

True collaboration is built on the foundation of solid relationships based on reciprocity, or give and take. Learn about the challenges that your colleagues are facing. Think about how you can add value to them.

Proactively take action to help people to achieve their goals. By building goodwill with people, they are more likely to reciprocate and offer their support when you need it.

3 Change
Jim Collins’ best-selling book Good To Great, published in 2001, featured 11 “great” companies. Since its publication, half of the companies featured have underperformed and one has even gone bankrupt.

This demonstrates a fundamental truism in life — that no matter how good you are now, you are doomed to fail if you cannot effectively adapt to change. Driving change means always seeking better ways of doing things. It is about constantly challenging how work is done and asking questions such as:
• Is this task still necessary?
• How can we do our work more effectively?
• What else do we need to do to bring ourselves to the next level?

Remember, what your organisation wants is not for you to mechanically do the same thing over and over again, no matter how good you are at doing it. What every organisation wants is for its people to come up with faster, better and cheaper ways of doing things.

4 Corporate thinking
During a recent Formula One race, the Ferrari team deliberately committed a technical breach so that one of its drivers, Felipe Massa, would incur a penalty. This was done to enable its other driver Fernando Alonso (who was still in contention to become the F1 champion) to win more championship points in the race. It was a completely legal manoeuvre and Massa “took one for the team” that day.

This dramatic incident demonstrates what corporate thinking is all about — helping the organisation advance its objectives, even if it means making some personal sacrifice.

Far too often, organisations are plagued by a silo mentality, where everyone focuses entirely on maximising his own achievements, even to the overall detriment of the organisation.

Taking the corporate view means putting your organisation’s goals above all else and aligning your own work objectives to them.

5 Commitment
It is not uncommon to hear of executives suffering from burn-out after being in a role for some time. Burn-out leads to a loss of motivation, which results in poor performance.

What is worse is that burnt-out employees may behave in a way that causes demotivation in others as well. Make it a point to review your career and professional goals regularly and appraise if you are on track to achieving them. Commitment is sustained when you are in a role that is aligned with your interests and talents.

Be honest in assessing your own strengths. Determine what you really enjoy doing and what you are really good at. Then influence your boss to help you grow your job into one that gives you more opportunity to play to your strengths.

Exercise self-leadership
As Mr Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, puts it, today’s businesses have to operate at the “speed of thought”. Organisations cannot afford to have their employees wait for instructions every time an opportunity or issue arises. The exceptional organisation is one where its people exercise self-leadership and are able to respond independently to challenges.

Article by Lim Poh Guan, founding partner of the John Maxwell Team and managing consultant of the Leadership Performance Group, a consulting firm specialising in leadership development. For more information, visit www.leaders.com.sg

EVERYTHING COUNTS

EVERYTHING COUNTS

CATS Classified, 12 March 2013
Written by Belinda Wan

Now that you know what marketing is about, how can you harness its power effectively? You can stretch your marketing budget and increase awareness of your business through the following ways: 
Promote your signature. Just created Facebook and Twitter accounts? Update your e-mail signature with this information, and append it to every e-mail you send.

Give away stuff. Business cards are easily discarded, but namecard holders, tissue packs or tokens used in “gift-with-purchase” promotional schemes that bear the name and contact information of your business are not. In fact, such items increase the chances of customers remembering your company name, and may be passed on to others.

Employ mnemonics. Be it a catchy jingle, great tagline or even an impossible-to-forget phone number, do what it takes to make your business memorable. If people remember your organisation, they might just check it out someday.

Keep in sight. Aim for top-of-mind recall from your site visitors, customers and clients. Send them e-newsletters, put them on your hard-copy mailing list, or e-mail them when you are holding a sale. It will take time for these marketing tactics to work, but they will eventually pay off.

Be in the news. Got a good news angle that’ll help promote your brand-new product? Get your press releases out to the media. Positive editorial can be more impactful than a hard-sell advertisement.

Get others to hawk your business. If you happen to sell neon-coloured backpacks, you could suss out bloggers and Twitter users who love trying the latest bags and send each of them a sample! If suitably impressed, these “super users” will help spread the word and build awareness of your products. This is an effective way of reaching your target audience.

Share your knowledge. The more you show that you are an authority in your field, the more people are likely to trust your business and what it stands for. So work pro bono if you have to – write for online forums and user sites, or be a guest columnist in blogs, magazines or newspapers – and offer your expertise.

Spend wisely. If writing is not your forte, hire an experienced freelance copywriter to write your e-mails, e-newsletters and press releases. It’s better to pay more than nullify your public relations efforts or even damage the image of your company with poorly written articles.

Observe what works. Measure the results of each component of your marketing campaign. If an advertising approach is working for you – stick with it. If it is not, keep trying new tactics.

Network. Meet like-minded entrepreneurs – attend tradeshows, seminars and business forums, and partake in meaningful discourses.

Do good. Lend your name to worthy events, and sponsor good causes, such as charity shows and garage sales, and sporting activities held in aid of the disabled. It’s a win-win situation – you get to help others, meet more people and spread the word about your setup.

SEE IT THEIR WAY

SEE IT THEIR WAY

CATS Recruit, 11 March 2013

Understanding cultural differences will help managers motivate employees from diverse backgrounds 

IN TODAY’S diverse workplace, cultural difference training and people management performance are essential skills that every manager should have. Multicultural work environments can either contribute to miscommunications and misunderstandings, or when properly understood, can be a competitive advantage to an organisation.

It is important not only to be knowledgeable of your employees’ differences, but also to understand how to motivate and manage a group. Employee performance is greatly dependent on motivation. Therefore, to maintain a healthy, productive and profitable work environment, employees need to feel inspired and encouraged.

An individual’s cultural background will impact how he behaves. At times, cultural differences will arise through subtle manifestations that are easy to miss and can often lead to misunderstandings and a decline in performance.

It is important to learn about the cultural background and customs of each individual. However, in the process of learning about these differences, one should be aware of generalisations and treat each employee with respect.

Rather than placing blame, managers should analyse situations with cultural awareness in mind, as certain circumstances can be interpreted differently. Once the issue is resolved, it is important to implement a process to prevent the mistake happening again and make sure that all involved are content with the outcome.

Female role
One common cultural barrier involves the female role in the workplace. In many cultures, women are considered subordinate or secondary to men. For example, women from some countries may not speak or make eye contact with their male counterparts. Those who are not aware of this cultural habit may find the lack of eye contact rude or disrespectful, when it really is just a cultural difference.

Another common cultural barrier is personal space. For example, studies have shown that most Americans prefer to stand about 1.5m from others. However, those from countries such as Germany and Japan are more comfortable standing even further apart. Arabs and Latinos, however, tend to stand closer. Understanding these differences will result in fewer miscommunications. When properly understood, cultural difference training can strengthen the group’s overall skills and competencies.

In addition to cultural difference training, it is also important to understand people management performance. A motivated workforce results in an efficient, productive and profitable organisation.

Motivation does not necessarily have to come from monetary compensation. A well-compensated employee is not always a happy employee. In order to motivate employees, managers must learn to recognise and acknowledge employees’ accomplishments.

Take the time to coach your employees. Coaching allows your employees to grow and also communicates to them that you care. Discussing your employees’ career path is also essential because it allows employees to know what can lie ahead. Build team spirit by scheduling offsite events to reinforce a positive work environment.

In today’s ever-growing multicultural workforce, managers need to understand their employees’ cultures. By doing so, they can better develop motivational tactics to maintain high productivity and employee satisfaction.

Article by David Shoemaker, vice-president of Learning Solutions and Innovation at eCornell. For more information on cultural difference training, people management performance or eCornell, visit http://www.eCornell.com. Article source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Shoemaker

WOMEN AT THE TOP

WOMEN AT THE TOP

CATS Recruit, 12 March 2013

Financial qualifications can help to springboard women to corporate board positions 

MARCH 8 marked International Women’s Day, which celebrates women’s achievements in societies around the world. As the pool of educated women grows, society is becoming increasingly aware of their impact on the global economy.

Women who take up new board directorships today appear to have substantial qualifications — specifically, MBAs (Master of Business Administration degrees) — and managerial experience.

They often have more multiple sector experience and international experience than their male peers. It is no wonder that gender diversity features more often at the top of corporate agendas.

Today, there are increasing opportunities for women to advance their careers. Apart from MBA qualifications, a finance education also offers a clear career path for women, especially in professional services firms.

A recent report by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) titled Women In Finance: A Springboard To Corporate Board Positions?, suggests that companies may be more positively disposed to appointing women to board positions if they have a financial background or qualification. Finance was cited as the “language” of the boardroom, and having the ability to communicate financial information established and built credibility. This view was expressed by executive search consultants and existing chairmen of boards interviewed for the report.

It cites that while a certain level of financial acumen is necessary for all board directors, for women, having a finance qualification or functional background helps to break down some persistent stereotypes about their competence. It gives them credibility, legitimacy and a common language that allows them to join the conversation of the boards.

Too few in Singapore
Historical trends in board memberships of companies, however, still show a distinct gender bias, and the Singapore Board Gender Diversity Report 2012 highlighted that the proportion of women on boards in Singapore continues to be extremely low at 7.3 per cent — lagging behind Asia-Pacific places such as Australia, China and Hong Kong.

While recent developments like the inclusion of gender diversity in the Code of Corporate Governance in 2012 are a welcome change, it is time to move beyond quotas. Companies need to embed into their culture the promotion of women’s career progress across different layers within the organisation.

This requires a pragmatic and gradual approach — enlisting more women directors will help spur diversity across many levels. In leadership positions, these women will serve as role models for future aspiring female directors.

In Singapore, more than half of ACCA members are females. Many have notable positions as chief financial officers in leading global companies across a diverse range of industries including finance and audit, pharmaceuticals and health care. This is in addition to non-traditionally “female-friendly” sectors such as oil and gas, mining, aerospace, and building and construction. Women are particularly well represented in finance functions in Singapore and one reason is that the education system and environment offers various opportunities to gain portable, attractive qualifications in accounting and finance.

Clear career paths offered by professional service firms also make this career choice an attractive one for women. It is worthwhile to note that women in finance functions feel they are more likely to get a job after a career break than their non-accounting and finance counterparts.

The ACCA report concluded that a range of capabilities and competencies are needed by all individuals aiming for a board-level position. These include knowledge, motivation and access to networks.

Women who choose non-finance functions should recognise the need to be able to prove significant financial literacy, for example, by taking on profit-and-loss roles, if they aspire to board directorships.

The importance of networks cannot be stressed enough. Women who lack access to key organisational contacts, and those excluded from important networks because of their gender, have reduced chances of assuming a position on the board of a company.

Social ties give an indication of a woman’s capabilities that serve to reassure nomination committee members, and being known by key players in the appointments process can help to confirm her suitability for a board role.

Article by Leong Soo Yee, head, ACCA Singapore. ACCA is the largest and fastest growing global accounting body in the world.

WHEN COMPLAINTS GO VIRAL…

WHEN COMPLAINTS GO VIRAL…

CATS Recruit, 15 March 2013

Planning is key to effectively managing a social media crisis 

A SOCIAL media crisis may often seem like an apocalyptic situation. While organisations and companies will never be able to fully prevent a crisis from emerging, they will have the power to systematically handle a social media crisis and drastically reduce its negative impact.
There are three key phases in any social media crisis. They occur in the following sequence:
— Pre-crisis. Before any signs of a crisis exist, everything seems peaceful, like a busy Smurf village going about its own business.
— Crisis. During a crisis, pandemonium ensues with both panic and stress levels at an all-time high.
— Post-crisis. This period marks the return to sanity. The situation is still tense, but all seems to be under control.

Phase 1: Pre-crisis
Most efforts invested should happen during the pre-crisis phase. This is when a comprehensive plan can be put in place along with any processes, tools or infrastructure needed. Crisis is a time of urgent action, not planning.
Some activities that need to be considered are:
— The appointment of a social media crisis management team;
— The development of detailed escalation and reaction plans; and
— The deployment of listening tools and any supporting infrastructure.

Phase 2: Crisis
There is a tendency to be extremely reactive during a crisis. Instead, the best approach is to take some time (no matter how limited) to assess the overall crisis situation from various standpoints. This helps determine the best approach to managing it. Here are some steps to take:

• Understand the root cause of the crisis. How did it come about? Is it the result of an unforeseen service failure, or could it be a sign of a bigger issue at stake? Social media rarely instigates a crisis, but rather amplify pre-existing problems. Understanding the real cause of a crisis is one step in the right direction toward managing it more efficiently and overcoming it.

• Assess the severity and urgency of the situation. Once the crisis has been correctly identified and classified, an appropriate reaction and response plan can be selected for effective use.
Understand that not all crises are equal. Here are some useful classifications and recommended response timings:
— Attacks. Premeditated attacks with malicious intent (within one hour)
— Outages. Service failures that result in life and health risks (within six hours)
— Complaints. Service and product failures that cause inconvenience (within one day)
— Queries. Prospects who want information about the brand (within three days)
— Comments. Opinions and sentiments of consumers and the public (within one week)

• Empathise with consumers, and appreciate their situation and motivations. It is curious to know that consumers approach social media platforms with customer service issues often as a last resort — not the first.
When they finally do, it is usually the result of frustration with traditional customer service channels, and they want to make their voices heard by galvanising public support to coerce the organisation into action.

• Respond by channelling all crisis-related communications to a single crisis communications destination. Responses should be on the same platforms that the crisis occurred.
For example, a crisis occurring on YouTube should not be responded to in a press release distributed only to the printed press. All responses must be conducted in a humble, transparent and professional manner.

Phase 3: Post-crisis
All too often, marketers and brand owners tend to let their guard down when the situation calms down.
The resources spent managing a crisis need to be replenished and the supporting infrastructure readied for the next social media crisis. It is complacent to think that a next crisis will not happen anytime soon. A crisis always happens when you least expect it.
Lastly, everyone involved should work out plans to prevent a similar occurrence in future. It is by investing in such vigilance that any social media crisis plan becomes more robust.
The key to managing a social media crisis is to plan for it, prepare for the worst, but wish for the best. Any brand that is able to prepare for the challenges of a social media crisis should also be able to benefit from the opportunities such a platform offers. 

ADD VALUE

ADD VALUE

CATS Classified, 19 March 2013
Written by Belinda Wan

In today’s ever-evolving marketplace, businesses are constantly fighting for the attention of potential consumers. This explains why almost every square inch of public space, such as the back of airplane seats, airport trolleys, bus-stop lightboxes, MRT trains, billboards and taxis, is being monetised to draw eyeballs to specific information aimed at promoting a product, service or company.

Elements of a good advertisement
Basically a great advertisement should have an effective headline, a strong visual, succinct copy and a call-to-action (it should give the reader an incentive to contact you or head down to your store). The USP (Unique Selling Point) of the product or service should also be conveyed, using commanding, to-the-point and easily understood copy. Forget about long copy (unless the advertising strategy calls for it) – you only have a few seconds to capture the attention and interest of today’s time-starved readers.

Advertising mediums
An effective advertisement is one that helps you reach the right audience, markets your business and spurs readers to take action. To ensure a successful advertising campaign, you will need to be very clear about the message you wish to convey to your target audience, draw up a creative advertising plan, and think of effective ways to execute it without maxing out your budget. Your options include:

Print and online advertisements
If you are thinking of using print advertising, consider carefully which newspapers or magazines you should use, as the reader demographics for each publication are different. Reel readers in with an attention-grabbing headline, and then allow the visual and copy to convey your message. If you are going online, make your pop-up, roll-on and banner advertisements work hard for you, and ensure the call-to-action alert is visible.

Television and radio commercials
Although the latter is usually cheaper, both require substantial resources to produce. You only have 30 seconds to put your message across, so ensure that it is quickly and effectively communicated. For radio, invest in a good voiceover artist, and keep the script clear, short, sharp and relatable. Whether you are using television or radio as an advertising medium, it is vital to pick the relevant channels and programmes if you wish to reach your target audience effectively. Aim to stand out and ensure that the focus is on the product!

Outdoor and ambient advertising
If you are using outdoor advertising, you have about five seconds to make an impression on the people who are waiting for a bus or driving past. Hence, an eye-catching visual is of paramount importance. It should be able to pique the viewer’s interest enough for him or her to read the copy, which should ideally comprise only a few words.

Ambient advertising is about placing advertisements in seemingly strange places or on unusual items. The key to successful ambient advertising is to select the best media format available, and combine it with an attention-grabbing message to arouse curiosity and get the viewer to take a closer look.

LISTEN CAREFULLY

LISTEN CAREFULLY

CATS Recruit, 22 March 2013

Boost your business with customer feedback 

THE customer is the lifeline for any business and it is critical for all businesses to find a way to listen to their customers. Are they satisfied with the product or service? What can be done to serve them better? Gaining customer feedback will help answer such questions.

All customer feedback should be treasured — both positive and negative. Positive feedback is typically given by satisfied customers, who are strong advocates of your product or service. With a little encouragement, these customers can become brand ambassadors, who will encourage friends and family to try your products and services.

However, negative feedback — more commonly known as customer complaints — is also highly valuable. It identifies a problem with your business, and gives you the opportunity to perform service recovery, where you try to win the unhappy customer over.

Most customers are willing to give businesses a second chance if you are able to resolve their complaint and show genuine concern. Find a way to convert this feedback into new sales. For example, with proper service recovery, you can transform an upset customer into one who is willing to try again.

Businesses can give satisfied customers promotions to encourage repeat purchases or referrals. Customer feedback can also be used to monitor employee performance. Reward staff who receive positive feedback to further motivate them, and intensively train employees who receive negative feedback.

Traditional ways to collect feedback
Now you understand the importance of feedback, let us explore how to gather it. The most direct way is to talk to the customer. This usually elicits sincere responses and engages the customer better. A good example of this is when the manager of a restaurant chats to diners and asks them if they are happy with the food.

However, this is resource-intensive and may not be possible during peak hours. Furthermore in Asia, some customers may dislike direct confrontation and tend not to be so truthful.

Avoid these problems with written feedback forms, which are easier to implement and allow customers to voice their comments, without pressure. The disadvantage of paper forms is that someone needs to manually integrate all feedback into one centralised system. It can also be logistically difficult to gather feedback, in addition to being environmentally unfriendly.

To ease any operational hassles, business with larger budgets can seek assistance from a marketing research company. This includes mystery shopper programmes where trained professionals visit different retail outlets to gauge service levels. External consultants provide unbiased results, which give a comprehensive snapshot of the business’s performance. The downside is that their analysis reflects the performance at one point in time.

So if business performance varies significantly over the year, you will need assistance multiple times, which can be expensive.

Leveraging on technology
The technology era has introduced more effective ways to gather feedback. E-mail or website feedback forms have all the benefits of written forms, without too many of the troubles. However, experience shows that less than 1 per cent of customers will provide feedback this way.

Social media channels are another great way to increase customer engagement and, if you have savvy staff, this can be done at a relatively low cost. But social media is a double-edged sword. All complaints are shared on public domains, and customer complaints are more likely to go viral than compliments. There are also a range of technological innovations, including Google forms, where data is exported onto spreadsheets for analysis, and Survey Monkey or Polldaddy, where surveys are collected via computers and mobile devices.

While these tools are useful in generating forms or surveys, they may not necessarily be effective in gathering customer feedback. A new tool like “triibe”, for example, allows customers to provide feedback via their computers or mobile devices.

A simple customisable form allows the customer to provide rankings in areas such as product and service quality, service and overall experience. Qualitative feedback is also encouraged, and any negative feedback is highlighted to the manager for service recovery.

An effective feedback tool can tabulate all data for easy analysis, enable business performance monitoring and generate leads. A clever strategy is to reward customers for giving feedback through discounts on current or future purchases.

Whichever method you choose, remember that “good businesses listen to feedback. Great ones act on it”.

Article by Chua Chun Kiat, co-founder of triibe, a technology solution supported by NUS Enterprise that effectively collects and analyses customer feedback. For more information, visit www.trii.be

CREATE A BRAND BLUEPRINT

CREATE A BRAND BLUEPRINT

CATS Recruit, 30 March 2013

Visualising the big picture is crucial in getting your business off the ground 

I AM a huge fan of working with entrepreneurs. I’m one myself. I often wonder what goes through people’s minds when they make the decision to venture out on their own.

Is being a business owner something that they always envisioned for themselves or were they forced into the role as a result of not being able to secure a position within a company?

If you are thinking of becoming an entrepreneur, you need to understand that starting a business is more than just selling a product or a service. It’s about seeing the big picture and developing a brand around the product or service. You need to develop a brand blueprint.

Just as an architect needs a blueprint and has to lay the foundation to build a house, an entrepreneur needs a similar process and foundation. This article covers three key elements that should be part of your brand blueprint:

1 DEVELOP YOUR BRAND’S UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION (USP)
The marketing statement that describes your brand’s uniqueness or point of difference, in terms of the major benefit that your customer will derive, is called a unique selling proposition or USP.

This concept is used by thousands of marketers to develop benefit messages used in advertising, branding and promotional materials.
In essence, the USP promises your customers, clients or prospects that they will receive this unique benefit by only using your product or service.
That is why the USP is also referred to as a brand promise.
In a nutshell, the USP is a “pick-up” line that entices your customers to favour your brand over your competition.
Your USP defines who you are, and what you do in relation to the benefits your clients receive when using your products or services. Creating your own USP enables you to define for the consumer your brand image and positioning, relative to the competition.

2 CREATE A BRAND PERSONALITY
Just as every person has a personality, so does your product or service.
Part of creating a brand also involves creating your brand personality attributes. Brand attributes are human characteristics that can be associated with the brand.
The brand personality is what the consumer identifies with.
The closer you can align your brand personality to that of your target audience, the easier it is going to be to sell to them.
Virgin Atlantic Airlines conveys an energetic, aggressive, passionate personality that is similar to its founder, Richard Branson. Apple is recognised by its brand personality attributes — innovative, stylish, hip and casual.
Consider what human attributes can be associated with your brand so that consumers can easily align themselves with your goods and services.

3 DETERMINE YOUR BRAND POSITIONING
In crowded markets, it is very important to position your product appropriately. Differentiating yourself is an important element in establishing your positioning. If you are starting a new product or service, you need not reinvent the wheel. The key is to find out how you can improve upon the existing wheel.
The best way to determine the positioning for your brand is to look at what the competition is offering in the marketplace. What is the quality of their product or service? Where do they stand in the market in terms of price? What is their level of customer service? What are their hours of operation?
Once you have identified what the competition is doing, look for that hole in the market which currently isn’t being served by the competition.
In the late 1990s in Singapore, I operated a ladies’ boutique in a shopping mall that was in between two major hotels. The stores in the mall did not open for business until 11am. Each day I observed a number of tourists walking around the mall aimlessly in the early morning hours looking for some place to go or something to purchase.
To accommodate these potential shoppers, I changed my hours of operation from 11am to 9pm and stayed open from 10am to 8pm. I had identified a hole in the market and then simply made it convenient for my customers to shop by shifting my hours of operation by one hour. The upshot? I did a lot of business between 10am and 11am.
Take a look at your competitors. What can you learn from them that will allow you to position yourself differently in ways that benefit the consumer? Tweak one or two things and do them better than your competition to establish your positioning in the marketplace.
Creating a simple brand blueprint for your new product or service will put you well ahead of the person who starts a business and then simply opens the door for business.

Article by Pamela Wigglesworth, an international corporate trainer, speaker and managing director of Experiential Hands-on Learning. She works with companies to enhance their branding and marketing communication. For information, call 6241-9834, e-mail courses@experiential.sg or visit www.experiential.sg

FACE THE MUSIC

FACE THE MUSIC

CATS Classified, 2 April 2013
Written by Belinda Wan

Running your own business can be rewarding; but unfortunately, complaints and negative feedback from customers are part of the deal. Here’s how you can handle such problems properly:

Acknowledge the mistake. No matter how the complaint was made (e.g. via social media sites or the forum pages of the newspapers), never make the mistake of ignoring it. Be sure to acknowledge it swiftly, and respond politely and professionally to the comments received. If you need time to resolve it, request that the complainant give you some time to sort things out.

Follow up. Once you have committed verbally or in writing that you will get back to the customer, you must do so! If the customer is merely disgruntled with an issue, your failure to follow up will only further infuriate him. Show him that you value his opinion and feedback, and make him feel that his feedback is important to you.

Bite your tongue. This may be tough, but you must keep your cool at all times. No matter how furiously a customer is yelling at you over the telephone, or uncontrollably launching into a tirade against you, wait for his anger to subside before you make a reply. If you interrupt him, he may get the impression that you are not willing to listen to him, or not showing him respect. Quell your anger and keep yourself as calm as possible. Getting angry will only worsen matters.

Display initiative. I once found pieces of plastic in my dessert at a popular coffeehouse, not once, but twice on the same occasion. Upon being alerted, the visibly horrified and apologetic staff waived the item off my bill, but only at my request. Had she offered a complete discount or a free item of her own accord, I would have at least been impressed by her sincerity.

Act professionally. Remember that you are representing your business organisation, and that any inappropriate behaviour from you will reflect badly upon the company. Likewise, always choose your words carefully in your correspondence with others; and always thank the customer for taking the trouble to provide feedback, no matter how negative it may be.

Train your staff. You should not be only person who’s able to handle such situations. Prime your staff to handle such customers intelligently and calmly, and to have some stock answers ready.

Be sincere. Customers can tell if you truly mean what you say, or are just trying to placate them.

GO WITH THE FLOW

GO WITH THE FLOW

CATS Recruit, 3 April 2013

Borrow from ancient tradition to achieve success now 

EXPERTS have been telling us for years that if we want to succeed as negotiators, we should be less concerned about our position and the “win” right now, and take a partnering approach with our clients, investing in the longer term and understanding the bigger picture.

This starts when we “place a higher priority on discovering what a win looks like for the other person”, according to business psychologist and author Harvey Robbins. William Ury and Roger Fisher, in the book Getting To Yes, remind us we must make sure we don’t get completely “stuck” within what we want out of the negotiation. That is, we should avoid being so fixed on our goal, seeing merely our own position, clinging to our narrow perspective that we can’t begin to understand theirs.

In theory, this sounds effective. In reality, however, when the stakes are high, tension is increasing and exasperation consumes us, it is easy to forget. So what can we do? What if we take a slightly unusual approach in our negotiations by keeping in mind the two Chinese astrological elements of metal and water? Or more specifically: Less metal, more water.

Across the world when human beings think about metal, we typically see it as immovable and unyielding. We think the opposite of water — for most of us it is fluid and adaptable.

Chinese astrologers have identified that humans who behave with forcefulness, over-confidence and stubbornness are like the “metal” element. During dialogues, these people tend to hold their ground irrefutably, unafraid of the consequences of their fixed behaviour, even if it means ultimately cutting ties with the other person.

In the negotiating room, while this could result in a short-term win, it will almost certainly mean the loss of the relationship in the long term.

Yet astrologers have also identified that people communicating and behaving with flexibility, compassion and open-mindedness are demonstrating typical “water” characteristics.

In a negotiation, this means they are likely to discuss challenges and disagreements more creatively, with less judgment, until a satisfying solution can be found, even if it is an unexpected one.

Can we, as negotiators, remember not to get stuck like metal, and be more fluid like water, instead?

Water works
But does water actually get where it wants to go? If we negotiate with flexibility, compassion and open-mindedness, will we be able to achieve our goals? Absolutely. Like water, we may have to unexpectedly meander, go round challenges, over obstacles, shift perspectives and change direction to get where we want to go in the end.

By investing a little more time, taking a few more risks, keeping focused on the end-goal and not the immediate barrier (such as the client’s pushback to our suggestion), water always achieves its objective: It gets downhill and arrives at the ocean. The investments of longer time and more flexibility pay off.

In our negotiations, it’s easy to take a “metal” approach. We think we have to play hard ball; to dig in and hang on to what we want at all costs; not to budge, concede or give an inch; to show them who’s the boss.

This often results in either short-term, transactional relationships or in stalemates where no solution at all is reached. How does such a “metal” approach play out in a negotiation?
• We don’t listen to the other person;
• We focus on our views almost exclusively;
• We “tell” much more than we ask;
• Tension and stress in the room increase;
• Emotions escalate, impacting negatively on our communication and behaviour with closed body language, raised voices and negative language; and
• We either “push” our preferences forcefully onto the other person, or we shut down, given them the silent treatment and withdraw.

A “water” approach in a negotiation would include these characteristics:
• We listen actively to the other person;
• We focus on understanding his views;
• We “ask” much more than “tell”;
• The conversation flows rhythmically, with minimal (or nil) tension;
• Our emotions remain in check while we communicate with an open body, a moderate-volume voice and inclusive-style vocabulary; and
• The dialogue is actually a dialogue (not a monologue or excessive silence).

Once we are listening, questioning, flexible, open and approachable, like a stream finding its way downhill over rocks and around boulders, we too can find our way forward towards our negotiation goal.

Article by Nicole Stinton, a coach and public speaker, e-mail jasmine@sttstraining.com.

PEOPLE DEVELOPERS

SUPPOSE you are the owner of a small business with only a few employees. One of your toughest challenges is to find good people to work for you. Equally important is the challenge of developing and keeping good people.

Now imagine you are the CEO of a large, well-established company with many thousands of employees working around the world. What are your toughest human resource challenges? They are essentially the same, but because of the size and scope of your organisation, they are much greater and more complex.

Big companies, particularly publicly traded, global companies, use corporate education as a way to meet these human resource challenges.

Simply put, corporate education consists of “company-funded education programmes that advance the professional and personal development of employees”. 

Corporate education and long-term success
The ultimate goal of corporate education is to help a company to achieve and sustain its success. Sometimes, the term “corporate training” is used interchangeably with “corporate education”.

Although these two activities may sometimes overlap, the general understanding in business is that they differ in content and objectives.

Corporate training programmes develop specific skills and knowledge (for example, learning a new version of a software programming language or becoming proficient in “six sigma” methods of operation).

Corporate education programmes tend to be broader in scope (for example, learning all about a company’s new strategy and what you and your team can do to help implement this strategy).

“Executive education” is another term sometimes used interchangeably with “corporate education”. But there is somewhat of an overlap in the contents and objectives between the two terms.

For example, in Singapore, the Center for Executive Education provides key skills for effective management. But executive education can also encompass degree-granting programmes from universities, such as the Executive Master of Business Administration.

There are different ways to implement corporate education programmes. Companies can support an employee’s study in a university-based Executive MBA programme. They can also send them on short (one-week) non-degree courses on selected topics such as leadership, strategic marketing, and finance run by universities or private, non-academic organisations.

A common practice is for companies to use a combination of outside consultants and their own staff in their corporate education programmes. Corporate education tends to focus on three key areas: 

Leadership and teamwork
This is a primary focus of corporate education. Examples of the types of activities used to develop leadership and teamwork are case studies, role-playing and presentations by a company’s senior leaders.

Sometimes, activities are outside the boundaries of the workplace such as working with a Formula One race team to help improve teamwork. At the more senior level, leadership development and teamwork could also involve presentations by outstanding leaders in fields outside business (for example, successful managers of major sports teams or retired military senior officers). 

Business acumen
This includes understanding the strategic and financial challenges of the company and how individuals and their teams contribute to the company’s success. Case studies and business simulation exercises are often used to supplement interactive lectures given by a subject-matter expert. This is the area I work in. Let me use this topic to illustrate another example of the difference between corporate training and corporate education.

When I cover the topic of finance, it is not with the intent of training programme participants to be chartered accountants. My main objective is to educate non-financial managers and staff about the basic financial concepts and tools of analysis to help them to understand the financial challenges of their company and how they and their colleagues can help the company to achieve their financial goals. 

Professional and personal development
A wide variety of topics fall into this category such as creative thinking, effective listening, working with others in teams, understanding one’s personal work style, communication and presentation skills and the management of one’s career path.

For any company in Singapore that is interested in starting its own corporate education programme, a helpful guide on what to consider can be found at www.marketinggenerics.com/images/uploads/How_to_buy_Executive_Education.pdf.

Over the past three decades, I have observed first-hand many of the new or evolving challenges that large corporations face because of changing competition, technology, customer demands and government policies.

Based on my experiences, I know that companies continue to count on corporate education programmes as a way to ensure that their people are consistently up to the task of meeting these new challenges. 

Article by Professor Philip K.Y. Young, an international speaker, author and faculty with the Centre for Executive Education who has many years of experience as an MBA professor and a corporate education consultant and instructor. For more information, visit www.ipma.com.sg/training-coaching.php. Contact him at cee.singapore@ipma.com.sg and www.ipma.com.sg

WEATHER THE STORMS

Life doesn’t always go your way. In the world of business, unexpected events that may directly or indirectly affect your setup can crop up. Besides learning how to roll with the punches, you will also need to think about how to sustain your company through tough times. Here are some things you can do when you hit a roadblock: 

Hang on. Is your business something you do “on the side” just for the fun of it, or is it the be-all and end-all for you? Only you would know the amount of effort, sweat, pain, blood, tears and, of course, money that you have invested in your business. If the thought of winding down your business fills you with heartache, by all means persist, despite an economic crisis, loss of reputation, or whatever other challenges you may face. Never say die, remember? 

Diversify. Picture this scenario: You are an owner of a chicken rice eatery in Shanghai, where the latest strain of the deadly bird flu has just struck. Do you simply resign yourself to your fate? Well, don’t – think of a solution instead. Must you only sell poultry? Are there other business opportunities you can explore while the problem is being resolved? 

Cash in on the crisis. What do you do when the consumers’ confidence in your product is shaken? An example is the recent horsemeat fiasco in which the food outlets of an international furniture chain was involved in. After investigations made on its outlets in Singapore were made, and their famous and highly popular meatballs were proven to be horsemeat-free, the chain scored a marketing coup by offering their meatballs at a rock-bottom price for just a day. As a result, they sold loads of meatballs, regained their consumers’ confidence, pulled even more people into their stores, and made the headlines. Now, isn’t that clever? 

Get help. If a crisis is rapidly worsening and shows no sign of abating, think of concrete measures you could take. For instance, should you borrow some money, downsize your operations, or persuade your staff to take a temporary pay cut? What’s important is to adopt a never-say-die attitude. 

Employ gimmicks. At the height of the SARS health scare in 2003, room occupancy rates in Singapore were at their lowest due to the outbreak. As drastic measures had to be taken to bring in sales, numerous hotels offered room rates at unbelievable prices to entice Singaporeans to opt for staycations instead of travelling overseas. This tactic applies whether you are operating an airline (ticket prices to Japan plummeted after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster), a restaurant (affected by the mad cow disease, bird flu) or a small shop (struggling with sky-high rentals). 

Start over. If, despite your best efforts, you are unable to tide over the rough patches, clean your slate and start again. Steve Jobs was still able to reach his creative potential after he got fired from Apple (the company which he created) when he was thirty years old. He did not let that deter him, and started a company called Pixar; and the rest, as they say, is history.

Classified advertising

Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals which may be sold or distributed free of charge. Advertisements in a newspaper are typically short, as they are charged for by the line, and one newspaper column wide.

Publications printing news or other information often have sections of classified advertisements; there are also publications which contain only advertisements. The advertisements are grouped into categories or classes such as "for sale—telephones", "wanted—kitchen appliances", and "services—plumbing", hence the term "classified".

Classified advertisements are much cheaper than larger display advertisements used by businesses, and are mostly placed by private individuals with single items they wish to sell or buy.

Contents   [hide]  1 Overview 2 Developments 3 Statistics 4 See also 5 References

[edit]Overview

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (March 2013)

[edit]Developments

In recent years the term "classified advertising" or "classified ads" has expanded from merely the sense of print advertisements in periodicals to include similar types of advertising on computer services, radio, and even television, particularly cable television but occasionally broadcast television as well, with the latter occurring typically very early in the morning hours.^{[citation needed]}

Like most forms of printed media, the classified ad has found its way to the Internet.

Internet classified ads do not typically use per-line pricing models, so tend to be longer. They are also searchable, unlike printed material, tend to be local, and may foster a greater sense of urgency as a result of their daily structure and wider scope for audiences. Because of their self-policing nature and low cost structures, some companies offer free classifieds internationally. Other companies focus mainly on their local hometown region, while others blanket urban areas by using postal codes. Craigslist.org was one of the first online classified sites, and has grown to become the largest classified source, bringing in over 14 million unique visitors a month according to comScore Media Metrix.^{[citation needed]} A growing number of sites and companies have begun to provide specialized classified marketplaces online, catering to niche market products and services, such include boats, pianos, pets, and adult services, amongst others. In many cases, these specialized services provide better and more targeted search capabilities than general search engines or general classified services can provide.

A number of online services called aggregators crawl and aggregate classifieds from sources such as blogs and RSS feeds, as opposed to relying on manually submitted listings.

Additionally, other companies provide online advertising services and tools to assist members in designing online ads using professional ad templates and then automatically distributing the finished ads to the various online ad directories as part of their service. In this sense these companies act as both an application service provider and a content delivery platform. Social classifieds is a growing niche.^{[citation needed]}

[edit]Statistics

In 2003 the market for classified ads in the United States was $15.9 billion (newspapers), $14.1 billion (online) according to market researcher Classified Intelligence. The worldwide market for classified ads in 2003 was estimated at over $100 billion. Perhaps due to the lack of a standard for reporting, market statistics vary concerning the total market for internet classified ads. The Kelsey Research Group listed online classified ads as being worth $13.3 billion,^{[citation needed]} while Jupiter Research provided a conservative appraisal of $2.6 billion as of 2005^{[citation needed]} and the Interactive Advertising Bureau listed the net worth of online classified revenue at $2.1 billion as of April 2006.^{[citation needed]}

Newspaper's revenue from classifieds advertisements is decreasing continually as internet classifieds grow. Classified advertising at some of the larger newspaper chains dropped by 14% to 20% in 2007, while traffic to classified sites grew by 23%.^[1]

As the online classified advertising sector develops, there is an increasing emphasis toward specialization. Vertical markets for classifieds are developing quickly along with the general marketplace for classifieds websites. Like search engines, classified websites are often specialised, with sites providing advertising platforms for niche markets of buyers of sellers.

[edit]See also

• Newspaper display advertising
• Personal advertisement
• Tradio
• Junk Mail Publishing
• Craigslist