How can you become an excellent achiever in your workplace?

If you want to be hailed as an excellent achiever in your workplace, you must always do more than what the company expects from you. This means your contribution to the growth of the organization should be much more valuable than the value of the remuneration you get. Apart from this, you must have excellent work ethics also. 

For example, an employee may be a genius and he may be highly confident also. Though it is great to be confident, it may turn out to be a bad habit if it turns into arrogance. Due to the over-blown view about himself, the employee may stop listening to his seniors, colleagues and even customers. He may not get the benefit of external perspectives because he has stopped listening. He may also forget the fact that customers expect that they should be listened to and that if ignored, they may switch to other providers. Simply put, his thinking pattern and actions may not align with those of his organization. 

Many people think that by listening to others, their decisions may be influenced. On the contrary, listening nurtures original thinking and creativity. 

To digress a little, not only individual employees but even organizations may develop arrogance due to which they may suffer from what is known as "competition myopia." This means they may closely be monitoring only the big players in their field and may be ignoring small players. In other words, they lose sight of the fact that small players can be "niche invaders." Ignoring the competition posed by these small players may be detrimental to the growth of these organizations. 

In short, work ethics consists not only of performing efficiently and being honest but listening to others including co-workers, seniors and customers, and working as a member of a cohesive team.

Managements of companies may use parameters like honesty, integrity, positive attitude, willingness to work, timeliness, punctuality, enthusiasm, etc. for measuring work ethics. They may also take into account the contribution of the employees in increasing the productivity of the company, the degree of importance the employees attach towards customer service, their ability to maintain good relationship with other staff, team participation, their willingness to learn and the respect they show to personal values and the values of the company. Employees should aim to continuously improve on all these parameters.

Here is some good news for you. It is now possible to become an excellentachiever in your workplace for which you must develop what is called the "excellence" habit. The following tips may help you develop this habit.

1.  The foremost step for developing the "excellence" habit is you should have a very strong desire for achieving success in your career. But how to develop such a strong desire? Experts suggest that you should constantly be thinking about your desire so it becomes strong. You should imagine as if you have already succeeded in developing a strong desire. Whenever negative thoughts occur in your mind, you must push them away and bring into focus the thought of your desire. Consistent practice alone will help you in making your desire strong.

2. Even while making efforts for developing a strong desire, be willing to tackle the workplace challenges you face head-on. Remember that your aim is to become a win-win individual and that is not possible if you shy away from challenges. 

3. For becoming an excellent achiever at your workplace, you must get into the action habit. Even if you are a genius, it may be of no use if you do not take the required action. In fact, a genius who does not get into the action habit is committing a sin. You should therefore work on a continuous basis for developing the "excellence" habit so you can become an excellent achiever very quickly. 

4. Once you turn your desire into a strong one, you must be ready to take the self-initiative. For example, when a task is entrusted to you, you should be clear about the task and also the output your management wants. Keep seeking clarifications till you understand these aspects perfectly.

5. Evaluate your work on a consistent basis. Never forget the fact that there is always scope for improvement. Only by constantly evaluating how you perform, you will shed your casualness towards your work and improve yourself. 

6. Strive to cultivate the emotional maturity that may help you foster good and healthy relationships with everyone in the organization including seniors, peers and other colleagues. Learn to take criticism in your stride. If you receive constructive criticism, use it for improving yourself. 

7. Another major ingredient that may help you become an excellent achiever is servitude. Don't consider your work as a burden. Consider it as an opportunity to serve others. This will help you make meaningful progress in your career. This attitude will help you perform better. By performing better, you will feel that you are secure in your job. 

Never forget the fact that the management has thousands of eyes and ears. They will soon know that you have capabilities to handle responsibilities. This will improve your chances of getting quicker promotions. In other words, by becoming an excellent achiever in yourworkplace, you can fast-track your growth in your career.

Job Hoppers Need Not Earn the Displeasure of Their Employers

That bosses and managers find the frequent job hopping attitude of their employees alarming is an under-statement. More particularly, managers of BPO and IT companies experience the issue of job-hopping of employees more often than those who are in other types of industries. Especially, conservative minded managers or bosses are not able to digest this phenomenon. "Rolling stones gather no moss" may be the quote these managers like the most.  

'Opportunity highways' that exist now were not available earlier. But now, for those employees with a reasonably good academic record and also an MBA in their arsenal, job hopping is the best strategy for moving up in their career. People no longer want to work in the same company till the end of their career. In fact, others start suspecting the capabilities of those who stay in the same company for many years. Another point is that the concept of company loyalty that was considered sacrosanct in the earlier times has lost its sheen now. 

But is it right to be a frequent job hopper? If you keep changing jobs once every two years, your prospective employer may be in a quandary as to whether to take your job application seriously or not. If you are in your 20's and if you change jobs, employers may not take it seriously. But if you are in your mid-30s and if you are a frequent job-hopper, they may view it through a different prism. 

Are you averse to sticking to the same company for many years?

There are people who firmly believe that sticking to the same company for many years may lead to missed opportunities and retarded careergrowth. If you belong to this category, there is some good news for you. You need not stick to the same company for ever and at the same time, can prove that you are not only committed to your desire of growing in your career but will remain dedicated to your current employer as well till you stick with the company. Let us see how.

1. If you want to prove that you are dedicated to your current organization, ensure to learn new things and implement them appropriately and effectively. This means you should make all possible efforts for boosting the value of the company. For example, you can acquire complementary skills and undertake cross-functional tasks. You can give innovative suggestions for improving the marketing strategies, increasing the sales and so on.

2. By accomplishing difficult feats, you can prove that you are an invaluable employee. So, even when you quit the company for joining another organization, your employer may understand that you do so not due to boredom but with an aim to have accelerated career growth. Your employer may willingly give a written testimonial also to the effect that you have made meaningful contribution for the growth of the company.

3. Never hesitate to take risks during the course of carrying out your official tasks. Remember that you cannot always take perfect steps. This means you may sometimes stumble but you must be ready to learn so you will not repeat the same mistakes. By taking risks during the course of doing your work, you are proving to the management that you are always ready to test theories. At the same time, you must take responsibility for the impact of the mis-steps you may take. In fact, managers will view this as a positive trait. 

A plethora of employment opportunities are available now. Therefore, job hopping has become the order of the day. But before you quit a company to join another, you must make sure that you have made all possible efforts to come out with a clean record. Your Resume should also speak volumes about your accomplishments in the company. If you stick to these points, you can not only be a job-hopper who succeeds in building a good career but can earn the goodwill of every employer for whom you work as well. 

How Humor Can Help You Lead Better

That laughter brings with it a number of benefits is an undeniable fact. Laughter can bestow business benefits also. That is the reason management experts emphatically say that there should be laughter in every workplace. Even the so-called serious institutions like the London Business School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Wharton have done researches about the business benefits of laughter. The findings of their researches reveal that every time employees laugh, guffaw or chuckle, they get rid of the stress, boredom and the anxiety they face at their workplace. Not only that, their creativity and their willingness to collaborate with each other go up by several notches. Since the analytical precision of these employees improves also, we can see increased productivity at the workplace.

In a video featured on the website of his institution, Eric Tsytsylin, who did his MBA at Stanford, says that adults and especially, those who are working, are experiencing the onslaught of what is known as a "laughter drought." Research findings reveal that on an average, babies laugh 400 times daily but those above the age of 35 laugh only 15 times daily. Even the Gallup data gathered for the US show that working adults laugh much less on weekdays than they do on weekends. In short, work has become a sober and serious endeavor.

From this, it is quite clear that if organizations, managers and leaders ensure that their employees laugh more, they can get more out of them. But the main objection may be that how an individual enjoys humor is subjective. A situation that appears humorous to one person may be irritating to another person. But books such as "TheHumor Code: A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny" and "Inside Jokes: Using Humor to Reverse-Engineer the Mind" contest this notion. 

According to these books, there is a specific formula that can make all the people laugh. According to the authors of the book "The Humor Code," "humor rests on benign violation." This theory can be elaborated like this: Something can provoke people to laugh not only if it is "wrong, unsettling or threatening" but if it is "okay, acceptable or safe" as well. At the same time, the authors of this book acknowledge the facts that "it is easier to fail with humor than succeed" and that it is on contexts that the success of a joke depends. But if those who crack the jokes know their audience, they can use the formula of "benign violation" effectively. 

The book "Inside Jokes" seems to adopt an academic approach and since the analysis authors have done on different types of humor may be boring, let us not delve further into it.

Though, as the manager of your office, you may ensure that your speeches or presentations contain sufficient quantity of humor, you may hate to purposely go from one team member to another telling your jokes. But what type of humor can help you lead better? 

Experts say that self-deprecating jokes, light teasing, poking fun at outsiders, of course, privately, etc. may work. At the same time, these experts hasten to warn that you should use these ways with utmost care because you must not forget that passing discriminatory comments against others is an offense for which you can be punished.

Another research by Gang Zhang, who is doing his doctoral study at the London Business School reveals that though the motivation levels of employees may go up, thanks to the humor of their managers, they may not have as much respect for these managers as they have for others. Especially, those managers who deprecate themselves may not command much respect. 

Here are a few tips that may help you use humor to lead your staff better:

Be authentic and honest while telling your jokes.

You need not even crack jokes. Your staff will enjoy and appreciate you even if they think that you are clever. 

Sometimes, chuckling at yourself may also be sufficient to make your staff laugh. 

When everyone in your workplace is worried about something, try poking fun at the situation itself. If you make everyone laugh despite the situation, you can justifiably assume that you have succeeded in easing the stress. 

To be sure if a workman is really amused, look if there is crinkling around his eyes. If you are able to see it, you can certainly conclude that you have truly made him come out with what is called the "Duchenne" laughter. It was Duchenne, a French physician who first identified this laughter, that is the result of real amusement.

In short, every working adult should remember the words of Edward Hall, the famous anthropologist - "If you can learn the humor of a people and really control it, you know that you are also in control of nearly everything else."

Is Your Company Grappling with the Idea of Introducing Performance Based Pay?

When scientists seem to be on a constant quest to mechanize and automate every step of the human life, there are many organizations that try to put in place remuneration programs based on the performance of employees. But unfortunately, several companies have failed in their efforts. At the same time, we cannot be oblivious of the fact that an invisible factor seems to be working for some companies that have succeeded in implementing such a program. So, the question is why some companies could succeed in implementing this program and why other companies have not met with success.

Researches done by experts have revealed that the success of a performance basedpay system depends upon a number of factors, the prominent among them is the commitment of employees to the organization. Secondly, what the organization expects from the employees and what the employees expect from the management may also play key a role in implementing this program successfully. Though a number of other factors may also influence the success of a performance based pay program, let us now look at some of these factors.

1. Employee Commitment

Surprisingly, researches reveal that performance based pay programs work well in organizations wherein the commitment of the employees towards their companies is low. On the other hand, in companies where the commitment level of the employees is high, the program does not seem to work. It has been observed that in companies with employees with low commitment levels, workers view a performance based pay structure as an excellent opportunity for getting additional income by performing better than how they normally perform.

On the other hand, the scenario is different in organizations where the commitment level of the employees is high. Employees of these companies generally work very hard and they ensure to meet deadlines also. So, performance based pay or incentive programs may be unnecessary expenses in these companies. In fact, employees of these companies may even view the introduction of such programs as an insult to their commitment.

2. Temporary programs may be successful

If organizations put in place a performance based incentive program purely on a temporary basis, they may achieve success. Researchers have found that employees are capable of adjusting to long-term, ongoing programs. Once they get the taste of the increased pay due to a performance based incentive program, they may feel that injustice is being meted out to them when the management withdraws the program. This may negatively impact their morale as well as their performance. Even Michael Beer and Mark Cannon, renowned business researchers, opine “A workforce that always expects additional pay for additional progress can become a liability.”

On the contrary, if employees are offered a performance based incentive occasionally, they may view it only as a bonus and not as a guaranteed payment.

There is another danger also in performance based pay programs. For example, if there are two equally efficient employees, one of them may hoard vital information and get a performance based incentive. Since the other employee does not have the vital information, he may not get the incentive. This may lead to a situation in which the management may be rewarding knowledge hoarding whereas any company may generally wish to encourage knowledge sharing among the employees.

3. What the employees expect from the organizations and what the management expects from the employees

There should be complete synergy between what the management expects from its employees and what employees are willing to offer. But such a synergy pivots on proper communication between the employees and the management. In other words, proper communication alone can help in achieving success in implementing a performance based pay program. Employees should have clear knowledge of the details like why the program is being implemented, how long it will stay, the ease or difficulty with which they can get the incentives and whether external factors may impact the evaluation process of the program. If employees do not have complete knowledge of these details, there may be all-round chaos in the organization and the program is bound to fail. Most importantly, the program the management introduces should be fair not only to the organization but to the employees as well. 

4. Costs of implementing the program vis a vis its benefits

Companies should neither over-estimate nor under-estimate the benefits they can derive by putting in place a performance based pay program. They must not forget that they will incur considerable expenses in implementing the program. This means the benefits they get should outweigh the costs of implementing it.

Conclusion

Implementation of a performance based pay program may not be as easy as companies think. It is better if organizations analyze all the factors thoroughly before deciding to put a program in place. 

Removing Communication Barriers at the Workplace

A number of managers attribute "communication gap" as one of the main reasons for their wrong decisions. In fact, wrongly interpreted or misunderstood messages and information can wreck a havoc in workplace relationships also. Though unintentional factors may contribute to such wrong interpretations or misunderstandings, the individuals involved may have to undertake time-consuming damage control exercises once the damage is done. 

But what can be the barriers that may hamper effective communication? The main barrier for effective communications is not using the right gestures, tone, symbols and words. Of course, the communicator should also take into account the capabilities of the receiver in comprehending the information or the message. Let us now look at some of the ways to remove communication barriers.

Use simple language

Use simple words for communicating your message because not everyone will understand complex language. Point-wise presentation of the message will help in communicating clearly. Long letters, verbose messages and cluttered presentations may make the information incomprehensible. Similarly, avoid adding points that are irrelevant as well. 

The language you use should go well with the audience to whom you are sending out your message. In other words, the language you use should suit their levels of comprehension. 

Avoid information overload

Many people have a notion that they can convey a message with clarity only if they provide lots of information. This is wrong because the receiver will not even look at the message if there is information overload in it. Not only that, experts have found that the level of understanding will come down if the reader has to devote more time for reading a letter. Similarly, if the reader is expected to come out with more number of responses or actions, it will create a confusion over the priorities of responses or actions also.

Take into account the priorities of the receivers

Every manager or executive attaches a lot of value to his time. Likewise, he will have his own priorities as well. This means he will give preference to his tasks and priorities rather on the information or messages he receives from others. Even if the messages are marked as top priority or urgent, the receiving manager may not read them thoroughly because his priorities are different and he thinks that his time is highly valuable. 

Consider the emotions of the receivers

Experts categorically opine that emotions can cause huge craters in communications. For example, threatening words may cause emotions like fear, resentment, anxiety or anger in the receivers. These emotions may force them to behave unpredictably. There are chances of relationships going soar. Use of such words may result in legal issues also. 

Therefore, you should keep your emotions in check while communicating with others in your workplace. Even if you are not pleased with the work or performance of others, you must use subtle ways to communicate your mind.

Don't have pre-conceived notions

When you send a message and expect responses from the receivers, it is better not to have pre-conceived notions. Similarly, when you expect a message or request from others, don't pre-determine your response without knowing fully well about the content of the message or request. This will make the senders "communication shy." Once people around you become "communication shy," you cannot get their opinions or suggestions. This may hamper the decision-making process in your organization.

To summarize, if you understand these communication barriers and remove them as quickly as possible, you can create a conducive ambiance in your workplace.

How to Make Your Workplace Dialogues Pleasant

The purpose of workplace dialogues is not only for communicating but for gathering the required information and sharing ideas, feelings and thoughts as well. But you cannot always have smooth dialogues because you may be dealing with different types of people with different traits. Some people may differ from you and quite often, conversations may turn hostile. But remember that such conversations may cause stress which in turn may affect your health and also your productivity. Also remember that having smooth and pleasant dialogues at the workplace is possible, regardless of whatever may be the situation. Let us have a look.

Handling negotiations

Behavioral science says that it is easy to influence those who have a liking for you. You should therefore try to make people including your opponents like you. The best strategy for this is to find out the interests that are common to you and them. Never forget the old adage "birds of the same feather flock together." Common interests will create a bond between you and them. The goodwill created will improve the trustworthiness and this may help in negotiating successfully.

Another way is to discover relevant points using which you can heap praises on those with whom you are negotiating. This tactic can tilt the negotiations in your favor.

Handling conflict signs

When you conduct meetings, there are chances of conflicts and disagreements erupting. But if you allow them to become major issues, the very purpose of conducting the meetings will get defeated. So, regardless of whether the difference of opinion is with your boss, your peer or subordinate, you must make it a point to use your words carefully. Remember how a copywriter chooses his words for communicating his message. Never try to show that you know everything. Also be careful not to undermine the self-esteem of other participants. Present your points as valuable information without using the tone of arguing. When you present your data with clarity as a copywriting expert does, others may be able to view things with new perspectives that they may have overlooked. This may lead to agreements.

How to do your online marketing

Online marketing may involve a lot of interactions with clients. Never think that clients are asking silly questions. You are in the field and hence, you may be aware of the features of your products or services. On the other hand, your clients may be literate lay people and so, may not know fully well about the products or services you are offering. Therefore, chances of silly questins emanating from your clients are there. You must answer the queries clearly and with patience.

How to share a not-so-encouraging situation or trend

If you think that a particular situation or trend is not encouraging, don't rush to your boss and break the news. Instead, do an in-depth analysis and test the veracity of your discovery. Your way of communicating and the timing of sharing the information are important. You must break the news only when your boss is in a relaxed mood. Not only that, you must have some viable ideas for surmounting the situation. Your boss will not only be receptive to the news but will appreciate you for your ideas. 

Similarly, if you are at the receiving end of some bad news, you must be patient while hearing the information. Workplace dialogues become unpleasant only because people become impatient while listening to others. Due to impatience while listening, you may miss out on some vital information. This may terribly affect your decision making process. On the other hand, if you are patient and listen carefully, you may get all the necessary information that will go a long way in helping you make the right decisions.

Interactions with clients

Like employees, clients may also be of various types. Some clients may show their anger even for trivial things. So, you should develop your skills for dealing with clients. Apart from remaining composed, you must ensure to adopt inoffensive ways to deal with them. When clients raise an issue, request them to give you an opportunity to correct the situation. Tell them in a polite tone that your aim is to satisfy them fully and that you will never leave any step untried for achieving this aim. In short, the clients should be so impressed that they realize that only if they cool down, the issue can be resolved. Simply put, the focus of your approach should be to win their trust back and simultaneously, make them understand that.

To summarize, there are chances of conflicts erupting at the workplace but you must not allow yourself to be consumed by negative emotions. If you allow it, you may not be able to communicate properly and this will ultimately worsen the situation and cause you more stress. If you feel that your emotions may overpower you, resort to the age-old practice of taking a deep breath. Lungs full of oxygen may help you calm down so you can think in the right perspective.

Give a Boost to Your Marketing Efforts by Adopting the Right Strategies for Customer Retention

A number of business owners commit the mistake of focusing more on expanding their client base rather than on retaining their clients. In other words, for them, adding new clients alone is synonymous with marketing. They should realize that retaining their existing customers is as important as acquiring new clients.

A study by Bain & Company reveals that on an average, the expenses incurred for attracting new customers are seven times higher than what is spent on keeping them. Not only that, if you are able to retain only 5% of your existing customers on an annual basis, your profits will increase by 125%. In short, retention efforts do yield results even in the long term and you will be able to build your business more efficiently.

This means you must create smart retention strategies for retaining your existing customers and also for converting your new clients into loyal and long-term customers. In short, right strategies will help you earn more by spending less. 

The following suggestions may help you put in place an effective customer retention program.

1. Have an efficient CRM system

By having an efficient CRM system, you can track the effectiveness of your communications with your customers. Though an automated CRM system that consists of customized messages pertaining to issues, product information, etc. may be preferable, things should be manually monitored also because you may have to address the specific issues many of your customers may have. In other words, an efficient CRM will help in customer retention.

2. Move up retention in your priority list

You should accord more priority to retention than to acquisition. This means you should increase your budget for communicating effectively and purposefully with your existing customers. Hesitating to hire competent copywriters for crafting high-quality emails, messages, ads, press releases and other forms of communications may prove to be an expensive mistake. Copywriting professionals alone will understand the needs of your customers and craft contents suitably. Your marketing team should also be educated suitably for focusing on the existing clients with an aim to retain them as loyal customers.

3. Have a system for measuring customer value

You should have a system for measuring the lifetime value of your customers. This means instead of focusing on individual sales, use your database for measuring the total sales you get from every customer. Details such as frequency of their purchases, the monetary value of the purchases they make, etc. will help in determining their lifetime value. But at the same time, do not commit the mistake of ignoring the value of small customers. Remember that the present-day world is highly connected. Dissatisfied customers can spread about it through word-of-mouth as well as word-of-mouse.

The purpose of knowing the lifetime value of customers is to determine how much you must invest in your retention efforts for those with high lifetime value.

4. Customer service is very important

Customer retention is possible only if you focus on customer service. You and every employee working for you should have powers to make on-the-spot decisions for ensuring customer satisfaction. Employees should not delay handling the problems of customers. Remember that by delaying action on the issues faced by customers, you will be sending them away to your competitors.

5. Communicate frequently with your customers

Keep in constant touch with your customers. Send them messages about upcoming sales, offers, etc. You can also send “thank you” notes along with coupons for ensuring you get repeat business from them. Again engaging the services of a competent copywriter is very important for communicating effectively. But do not commit the mistake of irritating them by sending unsolicited emails.

6. Make the best use of social media

If you think that social media is just for pushing your messages or sending your likes, you are wrong. You can engage your customers and communicate with them effectively through social media. By sharing, commenting and thanking people, you can use these platforms effectively. It is not necessary that you must be on all the platforms. Be choosy but make the best use of them.

7. Every issue is an opportunity

Every issue you may face may have a kernel of opportunity in it. So, delve deep into every issue and find out the ways to improve yourself, your business and your products and services.

If you keep your focus on customer retention, you will get several ideas. You can implement the most suitable ones and derive the best benefits of your online marketing efforts.