Articles

What ‘I want a raise’ really means for your small business

Much has been made about Glassdoor’s Employment Confidence Survey for the fourth quarter of 2013, in which approximately 32 percent of surveyed employees reported seeking a pay raise among their top work-related resolutions for 2014.

While business leaders are certainly paying attention to these numbers, the survey’s findings are the natural result of a recovering economy. Employees are starting to feel more hopeful and confident about their companies’ prospects and the job market as a whole.

The Most Important Contributor To Your Bottom Line In 2014

“Culture” may have been the biggest buzzword of 2013. Culture is something leaders like to talk about all the time, but relatively few companies are actively investing in it. A company’s culture isn’t just a mission statement to slap on the website or something that can be sustained by the occasional company outing or employee award. Culture is tangible. It can be measured. It’s a process that needs to be defined, documented, and institutionalized. Done well, it’s a recipe for success.

Creating and Keeping a Positive Company Culture

When first starting out, most entrepreneurs are so obsessed with perfecting their product or service, they don’t have much time to think about company culture. Big mistake. Many founders don’t realize the importance of a shared vision or values until much further down the line — sometimes when it is too late.

As an entrepreneur, it is important to instill values and ideals earlier in the game, so as your business grows, these ingrained standards stay with the company.

Company Culture is about Respect

Fran talks business with Paul Spiegelman, Chief Culture Officer of Stericycle, on the Fran Tarkenton Show.

How to Identify (and Fix) Your Company’s Vibe Read more at http://under30ceo.com/identify-fix-companys-vibe/#KiBH3IJUzoiTfVdF.99

Consider walking into a real-life version of “The Office.” The inappropriate and morally questionable behavior of the staff would make you reconsider your decision to work with — or for — the company.

On the other hand, a stale, corporate environment where workers seem to endlessly stare at their monitors is even less appealing. This numb atmosphere that makes you want to run in the opposite direction is a direct reflection of the business’s practices, culture, and approach to people and service.

Picture your company the moment someone walks in the door. What does the energy feel like?

Your company has a vibe that’s either harming or helping your business. It’s time to find out whether you need to readjust your culture.

How to ‘Marry Up’: Hiring and Retaining Talent that’s Out of Your League (Part 1)

“Boy, he really married up.”

It’s a refrain we’ve all heard, or uttered, sometimes in jest – as a jabbing compliment to a lucky young man – or sometimes in befuddlement –spoken in wonder at an unlikely partnership.

In either case, the message is clear: you’re looking at someone who swung for the fences.

Secrets of Effective Office Humor

Margot Carmichael Lester loves making good-natured jokes at work. As owner of The Word Factory, a Carrboro, N.C., content-creation company, she looks for employees with a sense of humor. “I only want to work with people who can take a joke.”

Sometimes, though, her jokes fall flat. Last month, at a meeting with insurance-industry clients, she poked fun—gently—at how people often view their insurers: “I mean, who really expects to hear, ‘I’m calling from your insurance company and I’m here to help?’ ”

Profit and Virtue

Dylan Fox and Zach Herman made their first-ever trip to Texas on April 18. When they checked in at their hotel near Texas Christian University that night, they were wearing shorts and t-shirts and carrying minimal luggage — easily identifiable as the college students that they are. But the two George Washington University friends weren’t arriving for spring break frivolity or grad school interviews.

Mayer Mistake? Is Yahoo Work-From-Home Ban a Morale Killer?

She may have only taken a few days of maternity leave herself, but some are wondering if Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer has gone too far by banning employees from working from home.

There are concerns that it could hurt morale and even impact Yahoo’s ability to attract fresh talent in an industry ripe with entrepreneurialism and start-ups.

Who Is the 'Queen of Fun and Laughter' in Your Office?

Once-lawyer-turned accidental entrepreneur Paul Spiegelman visited FBN Live Small Business Center to discuss “entitled employees.” What is an entitled employee?

“When people are taking what you do for them, and thinking it is not quite enough,” Spiegelman told FBN’s Lauren Simonetti.
Spiegelman, author of the upcoming book “Patients Come Second: Leading Change By Changing The Way You Lead,” said if you don’t address the toxic work-ethic, even if it is just coming from one member of your team, it can spread and hurt the entire operation.

Emails, texts may not be as important as you think

WASHINGTON – The steady chimes, rings and tones around the office can create quite a carol.

No, these sounds are not the echoes of a holiday tune. They are the year-round reminder of non-stop emails and messages popping up on the screen.

“We are bombarded with those multiple different ways that people try to reach us,” says Paul Spiegelman, chief executive officer of BerylHealth, a technology-focused company working with health care providers and patients.

Friending the boss on social media: Like it or not?

The moment you’ve dreaded has arrived: Your boss has sent you a friend request on Facebook.

What should you do?

The conventional wisdom says friending the boss isn’t a good idea, but that perspective may be changing. In a recent Time magazine online article, Dan Schawbel, described as a “Gen Y career expert,” said he thinks friending the boss on Facebook could actually help your career.

Choose Your Side: The Two T's In Leadership Styles

It’s easy to see when something right in front of you is on its way out: The “s” button on your keyboard gets stuck, your phone keeps redialing voicemail even though you have no messages, or the button on your favorite blazer is hanging by a thread.

But when it’s something more personal, like your leadership style, it can take a little more time to notice that something that was once tried and true may need a little revamp.

10 Ideas That Hospital and Health System CEOs Need to Ditch

Today’s hospital and health system leaders can learn a lot from George Bernard Shaw, the famed Irish writer and social critic. He is renowned for the following passage: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

Want To Keep Your Best People? Do This

I just read an interesting post at Inc.com from Paul Spiegelman, 10 Leadership Practices to Stop Today. Spiegelman notes that we’re in the middle of a dramatic change in how businesses are are led and managed: moving from old school command-and-control, to what he calls “trust and track.” I agree – and I support his contention that the 10 practices Speigelman cites are outmoded and counterproductive. And his proposed alternative practices are spot-on.

Employees Before Patients: Heresy? Or Management Gold?

I couldn’t think of a better headline than borrowing from the provocative title of a new book, Patients Come Second by Paul Spiegelman, CEO of the Beryl Companies and Texas Health Presbyterian President Britt Berrett. The reason: We all know that in a new era of supposed accountability for hospitals and healthcare systems, the patient is supposed to be the first priority.

Business Values Lead to Profits? Let's Prove It

There’s a lot of talk over the last few years about the importance of purpose and values in business. Tying people to a company purpose higher than just the day-to-day job, and having a set of values to they live by every day. Is it the right thing to do? I doubt anyone would really disagree with that notion. But is it good for business or just a plaque on the wall? That’s a more difficult question.

How to Get People to Do What They Say

Most of the time when I write for Inc., I feel I have useful tools I can impart to help other small businesses. When it comes to accountability, I could use some help myself.

At BerylHealth, I’ve built a great culture rooted in employee engagement and loyalty. I’d describe it as a family atmosphere where people love to get up every morning and come to work.

Kindness Works in Business. Just Ask Colin Powell

For years now, in my writing and speaking, I have been making the point that a company culture of kindness and respect is not only the right thing to do, it’s good for business. I was very proud recently when one of my frontline call center workers, Linda Bean, cut out an article on this topic from a local paper and highlighted important sections she wanted me to read.

10 Ways to Give Employees Something to Smile About

The greatest compliment I get from candidates who apply for jobs at The Beryl Cos. comes in the form of a question: Why is everyone smiling?

The answer is simple: They’re happy. They’re having a good time. They want to be here.

Yes, this is a workplace. But we have a lot of fun here. We have Crazy Hat Day and Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day. We have awards and cookouts and family events and birthday parties. We do it all in an effort to make this a place where employees smile while they do their work.