Whether it’s embracing differing cultural backgrounds or bringing in workers from abroad, modern businesses are becoming more diverse than ever in terms of talent.
However, bear in mind that today’s companies aren’t adopting a sort of “melting pot” mentality “just because.” In fact, there’s a strong argument to be made that embracing more diverse backgrounds is a net positive for modern businesses.
Think about it. Beyond data that supports that more diverse companies reap higher profits, casting a wider net in terms of backgrounds and culture means dipping into a deeper pool of talent. In other words, hiring the absolute best people possible to meet your business’ needs.
Also consider the need to expand into new markets and connect with other cultures from a business standpoint. The more diverse your team, the easier it is to tap into those markets.
And if nothing else, diversity can ultimately lead to a more connected, open-minded workplace. Fresh ideas and perspective can be powerful motivators, if nothing else.
That said, it takes a thoughtful leader with strong attention to detail to ensure a positive, diverse work environment that products results. Below we’ve broken down a list of strategies and traits necessary to make sure that your team thrives while also supporting workplace diversity.
Conduct Individual Check-In’s
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of creating a stronger team is taking the time to understand your workers on an individual level. This is especially true of workers who are coming from abroad.
According to Gallup’s most recent State of the American Workplace, many employees feel like their concerns, strengths and needs completely go over the heads of higher-ups. On the flip side, having stake in your workers’ personal lives alongside their professional ones ultimately makes you more approachable in the long-run.
In other words, take the time to have one-on-ones to understand the motivations of your employees. Perhaps they could only climb the career ladder in a new country. Maybe they regularly send remittance payments to family back home and therefore have a huge stake in their jobs. Either way, regularly one-on-ones create that ever-so-important bond in the office.
Collect Frequent Anonymous Feedback
Consider that not all workers will be so forthcoming in one-on-one meetings, particularly those who might be nervous about concerns over discrimination or bullying.
To address such concerns, collecting anonymous feedback is a must-do for any office. Providing multiple avenues for feedback gives you a more comprehensive view of your teams’ strengths and weaknesses, while also holding workers accountable.
Whether through anonymous email surveys, engagement surveys (think: a employee net promoter score) or a digital suggestion box, you’d be surprised at what you can by asking the right questions. Feedback received from workers serves as valuable insight as you strive to continuously improve your company’s working environment.
Encourage Group Collaboration
Allowing employees to frequently work in groups, whether through an open office setting or on their own terms, is a smart move. This does double duty of helping people from different backgrounds assimilate while also driving home a “team” mentality. Rather than allow departments to become siloed, collaboration can be the catalyst your company needs for fresh ideas.
Be Aware of Bias
The epidemic of unconscious bias in the workplace is a serious issue that is overlooked simply by nature. In short, people don’t realize that they might have biases against someone’s background until it becomes an outright problem. This not only opens companies up to legal trouble, but could ultimately lead to improper treatment of workers which is unacceptable.
Acknowledging bias is a must-do, and anyone found to display bias should be held accountable. A company culture of empathy and open-mindedness is a good starting point, yet also think about biases that occur during hiring such as disregarding someone for their background or perceived lack of experience.
Rethink Your Onboarding Process
A huge factor in making any team member feel welcome and comfortable is how you onboard them. There is no “right” way to onboard employees, but there are ways to ease people into your company without overwhelming them, all the while celebrating their diversity. For example:
- Introduce your new hires to current team members in “waves,” ideally allowing them to mentor or be shadowed by someone who they can form a working relationship with
- Convey your company culture of acceptance from the word “go”
- Make their success a priority, with frequent check-in’s as per usual in addition to giving them multiple points of contact for questions and concerns
While the concept of diversity in the workplace is nothing new, many companies struggle when it comes to adapting to new backgrounds, cultures and experiences. By emphasizing these tactics and traits, you can manage your team with more peace of mind while also embracing diversity.
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Industries That Provide Stable Careers
/0 Comments/in Professional Development /by StrategyDriven+It’s important to find a job that feels like the right fit. Any job is going to be challenging and exhausting, at times, but that doesn’t mean you should go for a role that you hate. The key is to focus on your preferences as well as your academic ability or experience. But you probably want to pursue a career path in an industry that can provide a stable long-term job. If you’re trying to find a career that both suits your personality and promises the possibility of financial stability (for as many years as possible) then here are some of the best industries to consider.
Real estate
The property market provides a very stable landscape for anybody looking to build a long-term career. If you have a passion for socializing with new people on a daily basis then you could translate this skill into a sales environment. Essentially, that’s the core requirement of a real estate representative; you have to know how to sell properties to potential buyers. But this is definitely one of the best sales environments in which to be based because you’re dealing with an asset that’s always going to have a market. The better you are at selling, the better your commission will be. It’s a career that can earn you a substantial income. If you’re interested then you should look into potential routes for pursuing a career in this industry. Usually, you need a license if you want to practice real estate.
Construction
The construction industry is another one that can provide very stable job opportunities. Governments, businesses, and even individual homeowners always need experienced professionals to help them construct things. There are so many different routes to take in this industry, but many of the job positions can provide a long-term career that spans years or decades (depending on your aspirations). If you’d be looking for a senior role in a well-paying career then you might want to consider becoming a civil engineer. You could study to get a civil engineering degree online. Getting qualified at such a high level would open many different doors for you in the construction industry. It all depends on the type of job role you want to secure.
Marketing
What’s the one thing that businesses will always need? Marketing. It’s a very smart industry in which to pursue a career if you’re looking for stability. If you’re a creative person who wants a job role that’ll allow them to tackle different challenges with every new project then there are plenty of paths you could pursue. You could design artistic adverts, write captivating marketing copy, or simply communicate ideas with an equally-passionate team. Marketing is a great career path to pursue if you’re creative, sociable, or you simply want to be part of a constantly-changing industry. With technology and social media driving the new landscape of advertising, you won’t have to worry about becoming bored of this career route; the industry is always adapting to a changing landscape.
Top Ways to Promote Your Business
/0 Comments/in Entrepreneurship, Marketing & Sales /by StrategyDriven+Flawless website design
When you are thinking of promoting your business, you must always bear in mind that it is not just customers you should be impressing. Investors, clients, prospective employees, and competitors should also be at the forefront of your strategy. Ideally, you should start by visually impressing people. Often, the first thing they will see is your website; moreover, its design. Focus your efforts on building a sleek website that can tell everyone what your business is about from a first glance. You can do this with color, font, and your logo, and it’s best to employ a trusted professional to help achieve your vision.
Regular blog posts
Content marketing is one of the oldest methods of promoting a business. The reason it has stuck around is that it works. If you put out regular content related to business practices and your company’s relation to the wider world, you will be able to put a more human face to your brand. Where content used to mean just the written word, it has now moved on to include high-quality images, sound and video, which you can use to connect with readers more. These are also an excellent way to bolster an ethical message, which is an important business feature in today’s world.
Social media
Having great content is always a plus, but it means nothing if you don’t promote it on social media, as SEO only does half the work. As a tool which is becoming increasingly hard to ignore, you should make sure your business has a presence on every social media platform appropriate to your business, even the smaller ones. Once there, you can engage with your target market, and run advertising campaigns that are guaranteed to help your business make a name for itself. When it comes to selling a product or service, it becomes even more useful.
Marketing influencers
Businesses have always made use of marketing influencers, where they partner with people who can promote their brand or products on different platforms. Where it used to mean having contacts within the press, it now also alludes to those who have a big online following. From bloggers to social media influencers, there are many people you can contact that can promote your product for either a small cut of the business profits or simply a free product. Sometimes, this helps you reach a much larger audience, but it will also ensure your conversion rate is much higher.
Good customer service
It seems that social media is shaping the way businesses promote themselves, and customer service is no exception. Although it’s wise to have customer service providers active on telephones and via email, there are some other ways you can connect with customers. Social media allows businesses to engage with customers in a more efficient, friendly way. There is no better publicity for a business than your customers going on to tell their family and friends about the great care they have received. Make sure you capitalize on this the most by making use of instant messaging services like WhatsApp.
Build a community
Building an online community has never been easier with innovations like social media, but you should also build one in your local area. If your business has humble roots, you should make sure you never pull yourself away from these. Holding charity days and promotional events are just a few ways you can maintain your community at home. Even better is if you document these days on your blog, as this will encourage your online community to grow even more after connecting emotionally with your brand.
An effective pitch
You will be aware of the business ideal of always having an elevator pitch saved in your head. Before you can start giving your pitch out to investors, it’s wise to make sure it’s polished, snappy, and effective. Sitting down and working this pitch out may seem tedious, but you never know when you need to pitch your business. It often happens in times you don’t expect, hence the nickname of being an elevator pitch. If you have a pitch that works, you can successfully promote your business to investors and business partners alike.
Networking
This pitch should also be reserved for special networking events, where you can promote your business to a wide range of prospective investors. It is also great to have if you want to do a one-off partnership with another business. At such events, you should remain cool and collected, but it is also essential to take promotional products with you. Having the right ones made by expert companies such as Dynamic Gift will ensure that anybody you meet is reminded of your business long after you have met them. They are also great to give out to your target consumer market at promotional events.
Free samples or trials
Consumers love free products in all their forms; giving out promotional ones like pens and bags is a great start. What they also love is having free samples of products and free trials of services. These are a great talking point and will create a handy ripple effect among your target market’s friends and family. If they like what they are using, they will more likely talk about it online and come back for more. If they don’t, you can collect feedback and make the appropriate changes to market your product the next time around.
How To Improve Customer Satisfaction
/0 Comments/in Customer Relationship Management /by StrategyDriven+Your company will begin to thrive once you can ultimately improve your overall customer satisfaction scores. When clients are happy, then the entire business will experience less mayhem, and your employees start to like their jobs better. However, you first need to accept that you can always be advancing in this area and then put measures in place that are going to help you pick up your performance.
Ask for Feedback
Improve customer satisfaction by proactively asking for and seeking out feedback from your clients. Send out surveys, pick up the phone or meet one on one and confront them about what it is they do and don’t like about how your business operates. Dive deeper into the specifics so you know exactly what it is you can change that will truly make a difference and draw in more customers. It’s common for companies to make assumptions about what it is clients are looking for and then head in the wrong direction. It’s a wise idea to have the data to back up your claims and only commit to certain modifications if you know your customers are onboard.
Be Available & Responsive
In this day and age, it’s important always to be available to your customers and ready to help. Not only do you want to be available to answer questions and inquiries during your regular business hours, but it’s also a wise idea to provide support across multiple channels. What will help you out the most is to make sure you’re staffed appropriately by using an online employee shift planning software. You can read more here about how you can get this going in your workplace, so you’re always properly staffed and no customer is left wanting.
Train Your Employees
Your company culture should include making customer satisfaction a top priority if you’re going to succeed in this area. It’s worth you taking the time to train your employees and make sure everyone understands how to interact with clients properly. Pay special attention to your customer service department and confirm that your staff knows best practices and how to handle all sorts of difficult requests and inquiries. Create policies and procedures that both your employees and customers are to follow to make your jobs easier.
Listen on Social Media
One place where you can actually learn a lot about your customers and get a better idea of how they feel about you is on social media. Assign staff members who are in charge of this responsibility and can spend a good amount of time listening and jumping into conversations where appropriate. Use this as a way to collect a lot of valuable data and then have these individuals report back to everyone in the company about what they’re discovering. There may be aspects you’re unaware of that are hurting your business and causing customers to feel dissatisfied. If you need more clarification about a specific topic or complaint, then reach out to that individual privately and collect more information on the matter.
Build Relationships
Communicate to your team that you want them to work on building relationships with customers and not simply thinking of each person as a number or transaction. Get to know your clients on an individual level and show that you care about them as people. Encourage staff members to create an open dialogue with customers and find out more about why they do or don’t enjoy doing business with you. Be able to recognize and reward your most loyal customers and be sure to treat everyone with respect no matter how much money they’re spending with you. It doesn’t look good for your business when you don’t remember people by name who are consistently making a lot of purchases from you and are loyal advocates of your brand.
Exceed Expectations
You can improve customer satisfaction by not only delivering on your promise but also going above and beyond on a regular basis. Work to not only meet expectations but to exceed them time and time again. Instead of aiming for mediocre, shoot for the stars and show your customers that you truly want to see them satisfied after having made a purchase with your company. Not only take care of any problems that come your way but offer up a freebie or discount code they can use the next time they shop with you. Throw in an element of surprise once in a while and watch how quickly their faces light up and they’re willing to share their positive experiences with others.
Track Your Progress
You’re not going to know how well of a job you’re doing or how satisfied your customers are unless you track your progress. Set goals, keep score and monitor how you’re performing as a team throughout the year. Hold meetings that revolve around this topic specifically and get input from your employees about how you could be doing a better job. The only way to improve is to set goals and define metrics and then be diligent about observing how you’re performing and making changes where necessary. You should eventually notice an upward trend. Otherwise, you may have to adjust your approach and regroup about how you want to proceed.
Conclusion
Customers aren’t automatically going to be impressed with your business just because you have a solid product or service in place. They’ll want to be wowed and impressed in their interactions with you and see that you’re putting forth an extra effort each time they reach out or spend money. The good news is that you can use these tips to help you improve your customer satisfaction scores and make sure your business is offering your clients an unforgettable experience. It’s important you never stop learning and growing in this area if you want to guarantee a bright and steady future.
5 Strategies, Tactics and Traits to Support Diversity in the Modern Workplace
/0 Comments/in Diversity & Inclusion /by StrategyDriven+Whether it’s embracing differing cultural backgrounds or bringing in workers from abroad, modern businesses are becoming more diverse than ever in terms of talent.
However, bear in mind that today’s companies aren’t adopting a sort of “melting pot” mentality “just because.” In fact, there’s a strong argument to be made that embracing more diverse backgrounds is a net positive for modern businesses.
Think about it. Beyond data that supports that more diverse companies reap higher profits, casting a wider net in terms of backgrounds and culture means dipping into a deeper pool of talent. In other words, hiring the absolute best people possible to meet your business’ needs.
Also consider the need to expand into new markets and connect with other cultures from a business standpoint. The more diverse your team, the easier it is to tap into those markets.
And if nothing else, diversity can ultimately lead to a more connected, open-minded workplace. Fresh ideas and perspective can be powerful motivators, if nothing else.
That said, it takes a thoughtful leader with strong attention to detail to ensure a positive, diverse work environment that products results. Below we’ve broken down a list of strategies and traits necessary to make sure that your team thrives while also supporting workplace diversity.
Conduct Individual Check-In’s
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of creating a stronger team is taking the time to understand your workers on an individual level. This is especially true of workers who are coming from abroad.
According to Gallup’s most recent State of the American Workplace, many employees feel like their concerns, strengths and needs completely go over the heads of higher-ups. On the flip side, having stake in your workers’ personal lives alongside their professional ones ultimately makes you more approachable in the long-run.
In other words, take the time to have one-on-ones to understand the motivations of your employees. Perhaps they could only climb the career ladder in a new country. Maybe they regularly send remittance payments to family back home and therefore have a huge stake in their jobs. Either way, regularly one-on-ones create that ever-so-important bond in the office.
Collect Frequent Anonymous Feedback
Consider that not all workers will be so forthcoming in one-on-one meetings, particularly those who might be nervous about concerns over discrimination or bullying.
To address such concerns, collecting anonymous feedback is a must-do for any office. Providing multiple avenues for feedback gives you a more comprehensive view of your teams’ strengths and weaknesses, while also holding workers accountable.
Whether through anonymous email surveys, engagement surveys (think: a employee net promoter score) or a digital suggestion box, you’d be surprised at what you can by asking the right questions. Feedback received from workers serves as valuable insight as you strive to continuously improve your company’s working environment.
Encourage Group Collaboration
Allowing employees to frequently work in groups, whether through an open office setting or on their own terms, is a smart move. This does double duty of helping people from different backgrounds assimilate while also driving home a “team” mentality. Rather than allow departments to become siloed, collaboration can be the catalyst your company needs for fresh ideas.
Be Aware of Bias
The epidemic of unconscious bias in the workplace is a serious issue that is overlooked simply by nature. In short, people don’t realize that they might have biases against someone’s background until it becomes an outright problem. This not only opens companies up to legal trouble, but could ultimately lead to improper treatment of workers which is unacceptable.
Acknowledging bias is a must-do, and anyone found to display bias should be held accountable. A company culture of empathy and open-mindedness is a good starting point, yet also think about biases that occur during hiring such as disregarding someone for their background or perceived lack of experience.
Rethink Your Onboarding Process
A huge factor in making any team member feel welcome and comfortable is how you onboard them. There is no “right” way to onboard employees, but there are ways to ease people into your company without overwhelming them, all the while celebrating their diversity. For example:
While the concept of diversity in the workplace is nothing new, many companies struggle when it comes to adapting to new backgrounds, cultures and experiences. By emphasizing these tactics and traits, you can manage your team with more peace of mind while also embracing diversity.
Making the most of your brick and mortar premises
/0 Comments/in Entrepreneurship /by StrategyDriven+Making sure of curb appeal
The frontage of your business premises is perhaps the most important thing to consider when establishing the persona of your business. So-called ‘curb appeal’ is a realtor term that applies to the outside of a home that’s up for sale. Just as homeowners hoping to sell a property need it to look appealing from first glance, so too does your business. That’s why you should make use of banners and flags on the exterior of the business property. These are not just eye-catching, they also act as advertisement too. This can have long-lasting positive effects on your business, with the branding that you choose on personalized banners outside your premises being seen on a regular basis by potential customers.
Customized interior
No matter what your business sector is, having the right lobby or reception to greet customers is essential. It doesn’t matter if it’s a retail outlet, a restaurant, or an office space, you want customers to be inspired by your interiors. There are a number of ways that you can personalize your initial interiors, and they needn’t mean costly refurbishments or total redecoration. Instead, invest in indoor banner displays from suppliers like New York Banner Stands, with your logo and slogans printed across them. These are very useful because not only can they be moved as and when needed (especially useful if you plan on using them for external events like trade shows), but they can also be moved around the property as necessary. If you have a reception system in place, it is also worth looking at backdrops as well, so that your branding is as prevalent as possible.
Be more easily seen
Billboard advertising is expensive, but there is a much better solution. If your premises takes up a number of floors, then you have the fantastic opportunity to attract passing trade by using window decals. These come in both solid and transparent designs, meaning that you don’t have to compromise on either customized designs or lighting. These are highly visible forms of advertising, and can help to make your real-world awareness much more impactful.
With so much attention paid to online advertising, promotion, and marketing, it can be very easy to forget that your real-world presence offers a variety of options for a better business model. Make the best use of your premises, and you have an untapped resource that may provide many more benefits than you expect.