Articles Tagged with: employees
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May 2, 2017
Five Interview Questions for Customer-Facing Employees

by Mary Cantando, Founder of The Woman’s Advantage, Guest Contributor

To build a customer-centric business, you need employees who can resolve customers’ problems while representing your company in the way you expect.

Here are five questions to help you determine if a potential employee has the right temperament to do the job.

Five Interview Questions for Customer-Facing Employees 

  1. What is your approach to customer service? 
  2. Tell me about a time you encountered a really upset customer and how you handled the situation.
  3. Tell me about a time that you made something simple for a customer.
  4. When talking with a customer, have you ever considered how a product could be improved, a process could be simplified, or communication could have been streamlined? What did you do about it? 
  5. If a customer asks to speak to a manager and there is no one present, how would you handle this?
April 25, 2017
Five Reasons to Listen to Your Employees

by Mary Cantando, Founder of The Woman’s Advantage, Guest Contributor

Listen to your employees. There really is a reason that you have two ears and one mouth. Here are five reasons why it makes a difference.

Five Reasons to Listen to Your Employees

  1. Listening tells you what employees need, so you can be prepared to provide them with whatever it takes to make them happier and more productive.
  2. Listening keeps you from making mistakes with employees.
  3. Listening enables you to negotiate more successfully with employees.
  4. Listening minimizes employee frustration because it sends a message that you care what they think.
  5. Most importantly, listening wins their respect and raises their self-esteem.
April 18, 2017
Five Ways to Boost Employee Morale

by Mary Cantando, Founder of The Woman’s Advantage, Guest Contributor

Employee morale is a crucial element in building a successful business, and if you think that money is the best way to enhance morale, think again! Oh, sure, money is important, but if employees don’t enjoy their jobs or the way management treats them, they won’t be around for long.

Here are five morale-building strategies to consider.

Five Ways to Boost Employee Morale

1. Reward and recognize promptly.

If you’re going to recognize an employee, do so quickly after his/her achievement. Studies show that the longer you wait (for example, quarterly or annual recognition events) the less it motivates an employee.

2. Share customer praise.

If you receive a call, email, or letter praising one of your employees, share it directly with the employee, as well as the rest of the staff. You might even create a “Wall of Honor” where you frame and hang such items.

3. Invite employees to your home for a recognition event.

There is something special about being recognized in front of significant others and co-workers. And doing it in your home makes it more personal.

4. Reward employees who support your company growth.

Provide a cash bonus, gift certificate, or paid time off for employees who help you recruit employees or land new customers. Get them in the mindset of supporting your growth.

5. Schedule regular meetings to let all employees know what’s happening.

Give everyone the sense that they are important to your organization.

August 18, 2016
Five Ways to Chase Away Good Employees

by Mary Cantando, Founder of The Woman’s Advantage, Guest Contributor

If you can’t keep your best employees happy, you’re not going to keep them. Although your best employees are the ones you can least afford to lose, they are the ones who have the most options and—if they’re unhappy—are the ones who are most likely looking RIGHT NOW.

Here are five ways to push them out the door.

Five Ways to Chase Away Good Employees

1. Treat everyone equally. 

This may seem fair when you’re dealing with eight-year-olds, but your business should operate differently. Take care of your top performers like no one else.

2. Ignore significant accomplishments. 

When you recognize and reward accomplishment, you’re training people to achieve…and making them want to stay.

3. Overlook poor performance. 

This ties in with #2, above.

When you accept poor performance, you’re training people to continue behaving that way.

4. Don’t show that you care about your people. 

You’re not a robot. Show your people that you care about them.

5. Don’t let employees follow their passion. 

Studies show that when you allow employees to pursue their passion, they can be up to five times more productive.

 

November 24, 2015
Five Ways to Boost Employee Morale

by Mary Cantando, Founder of The Woman’s Advantage, Guest Contributor

Employee morale is a crucial element in building a successful business, and if you think that money is the best way to enhance morale, think again! Oh, sure, money is important, but if employees don’t enjoy their jobs or the way management treats them, they won’t be around for long.

Here are five morale-building strategies to consider.

Five Ways to Boost Employee Morale

1. Reward and recognize promptly.

If you’re going to recognize an employee, do so quickly after his/her achievement. Studies show that the longer you wait (for example, quarterly or annual recognition events) the less it motivates an employee.

2. Share customer praise. 

If you receive a call, email, or letter praising one of your employees, share it directly with the employee, as well as the rest of the staff. You might even create a “Wall of Honor” where you frame and hang such items.

3. Invite employees to your home for a recognition event.

There is something special about being recognized in front of significant others and co-workers. And doing it in your home makes it more personal.

4. Reward employees who support your company growth.

Provide a cash bonus, gift certificate, or paid time off for employees who help you recruit employees or land new customers. Get them in the mindset of supporting your growth.

5. Schedule regular meetings to let all employees know what’s happening.

Give everyone the sense that they are important to your organization.

 

July 21, 2015
Five Low-Cost Ways to Grow Your Employees

by Mary Cantando, Founder of The Woman’s Advantage, Guest Contributor

It is tough for you, as a small business, to compete with the huge budgets that major corporations allocate for employee training. But think of your small size as a positive rather than a negative and come up with creative, low-cost ways to grow your employees. Here are a few ideas to consider.

Five Low-Cost Ways to Grow Your Employees

1. Provide a monthly or quarterly business book to each employee.

Then, bring them together at the end of the month or quarter to discuss implementing what they learned into their individual jobs and into the business as a whole.

2. Set up “Efficiency Sessions.”

At these meetings, require each employee to come in with at least one idea to improve efficiency or effectiveness. Be prepared to act on these suggestions. Alternatively, you can ask employees to email one idea a month. The idea is to keep them actively thinking of ways to improve the business.

3. Provide high-level training.

Rather than just training them to complete their jobs, offer them training that will make them more-rounded individuals, such as “success skills.”

4. Involve employees in decisions that affect them.

Underscore the fact that they are an important part of your business.

5.  Offer rewards for ideas.

Encourage them to always be thinking of ways to bring in business or save you money.  You might give the employee a percentage of the profit or savings.

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