by Help Desk | Feb 29, 2020 | Articles
Succession planning is a strategic framework used to identify and develop new leaders who can replace existing executives/other key employees when they transit to another role, are fired, leave the company, retire or die.
Succession planning is vitally important for ensuring the continued success of any business. A strong succession plan is to identify and put together an agenda to train and mentor the right people that will take up leadership positions. It is important that organizations of all sizes focus on succession planning to ensure their future leaders are well sourced for and are readily available.
Whether you have a small, family owned business, or a multinational corporation, these tips listed below will help you kick start your succession plan.
- Be proactive: start planning for a successor ahead of time.
- Keep an open mind: even when you have found a successor, still look out for people with the best skills irrespective of their current positions.
- Make the vision known: share your succession plan with your managers, board of directors and human resources.
- Provide training to those with peak performance: identify and train your top performers.
- Tests run your succession plan: create an opportunity for your potential successor to step in and assume some responsibilities (e.g. during your vacation).
“The number one role of any leader is to identify and prepare their successor” – Bill Bliss. Succession planning is as critical as creating a business strategy. Your goal is to ensure that your business will continue to run successfully without you. That’s why it is important to spend time grooming your successor to be sure that he or she has thorough training and quality leadership experience.
Source: Robert Half “What is succession planning? Your steps to success.” April 18, 2018.
by Help Desk | Feb 4, 2020 | Articles
Companies in their first stage of operations are referred to as start-ups. All start-ups need a vision and mission statement for direction, they need to carry out quality research work about the business then draw out a comprehensive business plan and set up strategic plans to enable them attend their organizational goals.
To improve on your start-up business, the following tips could be helpful:-
- Focus on making your customers satisfied.
- Find an easily accessible location for your business.
- Have a user friendly website.
- Research about your competitors and find out how and what they do differently.
- If leaving your customers satisfied is your priority, always strive to find out what your customers really want.
- Surround yourself with the right people.
- Find and use effective means to promote your products/services.
- Create and invest on creating good contents.
- Have a mental picture of what your organization should be like in years to come.
- Keep learning; acquire more knowledge to improve on your business.
- Get feedbacks from your customers and make adjustments where necessary.
- Be focused and dedicated to your work
- Never give up!
Source: Rob Young“25 tips to make sure your start-up doesn’t fail.” January 19, 2018.
by Help Desk | Dec 30, 2019 | Articles
New Year resolution is a decision or promise to do something good that will improve one’s lifestyle. Now that 2020 is here, what do you intend to achieve in the New Year? It’s obvious from past experiences that we often come up with New Year resolutions but barely stick to them after few months or even weeks into the New Year. If you are concerned about how to make your New Year resolution more successful in 2020, here are some techniques to help you attain your new year set goals: –
- Plan effectively: plan on how to reach your goals weekly or monthly and evaluate your progress often.
- Be realistic: set goals that are attainable.
- Keep it simple: We often make the mistake of setting so many goals. It is best to focus on at most two important goals yearly.
- Choose your goal carefully: Decide on the goal that will have the greatest positive impact on you. E.g. dieting, learning a new skill etc.
- Keep working on your goals: When faced with setbacks, keep that inspiration alive by continuously working on your goals.
- Be in control: Remember you can do anything you set your mind to do.
- Never give up: Do not be discouraged when you find it difficult to meet up with your goals.
Remember it’s not just about setting New Year goals but setting attainable goals and focusing on reaching the set goals by the year’s end. Good luck as you get started!
Source: Jane Collingwood “10 sure ways to keep your new year’s resolution.” updated, October 8, 2018.
by Help Desk | Dec 2, 2019 | Articles
Want to become a successful entrepreneur? Here are some habits that can help you fulfil your dream.
- To become a successful entrepreneur, you have to be an early riser. Successful people wake up early (between 4am-5am daily), to do things that set their day off to a positive start.
- Successful people utilize every hour of the day. They are always in work mode, even during weekends and holidays.
- Successful entrepreneurs understand that to be successful, one needs to maintain a healthy body and mind. A daily workout is a priority for them even if it’s just for few minutes.
- They keep record of goals they wish to attend daily and irrespective of obstacles they never loss focus of those goals.
- Successful people are good managers of their money. They avoid frivolous ways of spending money but rather invest their money where it will yield profit.
- Most successful entrepreneurs are highly emotionally intelligent. They are aware of their emotions thus can remain calm and positive, to think of remedies when face with obstacles in their businesses.
- They do not procrastinate. They make sure they attend to the day’s task, irrespective of how they feel.
- They know when an opportunity comes up and act fast. Successful entrepreneurs strike while the iron is hot!
- Successful people follow a strict routine. They are disciplined and focused.
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.’’- Walt Disney –
Do have a great day!
Source: Moorhouse Groups“10 daily habits of successful entrepreneurs” January 19, 2018.
by Help Desk | Nov 1, 2019 | Articles
“Whatever your definition of success is, you have to keep in mind that you can only be successful if you have the right attitude and way of thinking” – Jason Williams –
Attitude is a psychological state of the mind. It ultimately determines how a person behaves. Attitude and behaviour are directly related because a good attitude results in positive behaviour while bad attitude in most cases, portrays bad behaviour. Can your attitude really affect your productivity at work? Well, yes it does!
Negative attitude towards work doesn’t just put your colleagues in a bad mood; it could as well affect how an office functions for a day. Bad attitudes has been linked to poor customer service engagement, reduced quality of work, unwillingness to work as a team, nonchalant attitude towards work and having depressive feelings.
On the other hand, positivity can be contagious. When a workplace has people with positive attitudes, there is this feeling that anything can be accomplished and a host of other positive outcomes materialize such as: – increased productivity, improved customer service, willingness to share ideas and ability to collaborate and work as a team.
No doubt we all have bad and good days. However it is important we maintain positive attitudes as it could seriously affect the operations of our business/organization.
Source: Lisa McQuerrey “How do negative and positive attitudes affect the workplace?” Updated February 04, 2019.
by Help Desk | Oct 2, 2019 | Articles
Excessive cell phone use at work can interfere with productivity. We all love the convenience of a cell phone, however fixing continuously on a cell phone can distract you from doing your job and may annoy your boss/co-workers. If your organization has no rules forbidding cell phone use at work, here are some useful rules to follow:-
- Limit your use of cell phones for personal issues at work. Occasionally check your phone to ensure you don’t miss critical calls/messages.
- Should you chat with your friend or family members, please save those casual conversations for break time. Attend to only important calls/messages while at work.
- Silence your cell phone or set your phone on vibrate mode, that way your co-workers won’t be distracted by your incoming calls.
- Although making personal calls during break is fine, find a private place to do so especially if you are discussing personal issues.
- As an essential rule of cell phone etiquette, calls shouldn’t be made in the rest room. Whether at work or elsewhere, do not make calls in the restroom! it is rude to both the recipient of your call and anyone using the rest room as well.
- Don’t use your cell phone at meetings unless it is for something related to the meeting. Posting your status on social media, chatting and playing game is a clear signal to your boss that you are nonchalant towards the meeting.
- Keep your voice down while answering calls. Talking at the top of your voice can be very annoying to those around you.
Source: Dawn Rosenberg McKay ‘’Rules for using cell phones at work.”
Succession planning is a strategic framework used to identify and develop new leaders who can replace existing executives/other key employees when they transit to another role, are fired, leave the company, retire or die.
