Atricle Dump - Business

What Have You Asked Your Employees Lately?
What Have You Asked Your Employees Lately?Do you remember when you were in school and you had a question but were afraid to ask?I remember on more than one occasion (it’s only taken me 20 years to admit it) sitting there with no clue about what was going on and thinking I was the only one. I didn’t want to say anything, because I didn’t want to appear to be dumb.The teachers always said:“If you have a question, ask it. Don’t be embarrassed, there are probably at least 3 other students with the same question.”Thinking back to my school days, I thought - does this apply in business too? If Client A asks me a question, then what are the chances Client B has the same question (and probably Client C and D too)?What Questions Are You Afraid to Ask?Do you wake up at 3 am afraid to face the day ahead, in case yet another employee resigns?The following is a question I hear from dozens of my clients:My employees are being cherry picked by the competition. What do I do?Before I c

ed number of supervisors and managers

"S minus 1" excludes the top company executive from being considered a supervised employee. Therefore, for those companies that are directed by more than one top executive, the “S minus 1" should be replaced with "S minus the number of top executives." For example, if your company does not have an executive director, but is directed by three full-time, salaried commissioners, the formula "[N+(S-3)]/S" will be used.

As an example, lets assume that a business has one (1) CEO, four (4) managers of four different departments and employees 25 non-supervisory employees.

The formula would equate to [25 + 5 –1]/ 5 or a management to employee ratio of 1 manager for 5.8 employees.

Why is the ratio important?

This is just a guideline to establish a model. The ultimate goal of this model is to maximize efficiency in employee supervision while allowing managers/supervisors to effectively manage. It should be expanded to allow CEO’s to collect and interpret related collected metrics about the health of his/her company.

Obviously if you have too few managers/supervisors

Employees Or Independent Contractors For Business
A small business faces one or the other dilemma because of its limited resources and capital. At particular stages of growth, you may require an extra hand but find that your cost factor is restricting. You might think of hiring a contractor instead. Whether to hire a new employee or an independent contractor is an important business decision. Both options have their own separate pros and cons.Hiring an Independent Contractor1. AdvantagesReduced Overhead: This means reduced costs in expenses, payroll, benefits and other overheads. It also reduces stress on covering cost revenue for a new venture.No Health Benefits: It reduces the high costs of employee health benefits that are a huge financial burden on small businesses.Work on Demand: It offers flexibility to the changing work demands of your company. You can do without it during periods of slow growth period.No Training Needed: The contract work force is fully trained and highly specialized.2. DisadvantagesLack of Control: The contra

There isn’t a steadfast rule in determining a proper Management to Staff ratio. However, there are some guidelines that can assist in establishing a ratio that allows Upper Management to efficiently assess and evaluate a department, department managers to efficiently assess and evaluate employees. And a company to create benchmarks to gauge and define a model ratio that works best with their business model.

First you should define the roles and responsibilities of Management, Supervisors and non-supervisory employees. Here are some suggestions:

Define a Manager:

A Manager has the responsibility for strategic operations, planning and formulates company policy or directs the work of a department. Exercises supervisory authority that is not merely routine or clerical in nature and requires the consistent use of independent judgment.

Additional Related-Duties may include:

Administers one or more policies or programs of a company, Manages, administers, and controls a local branch office of a company, Has substantial responsibility in human resources management, company-to-public or company-to-employee relations, public information, or the preparation and administration of budgets.

Examples of working titles that are often managerial include: Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operations Officer, Chief Administrative Officer, Division Director (of a major function, i.e., Information Systems and/or PBX).

Define a Supervisor:

A Supervisor is an employee who has responsibility for daily operations and the authority to do, or effectively recommend, most of the following actions:

Hire,
Discipline (demote, suspend, terminate),
Reward (grant merit increases, promotions, bonuses),
Assign/reassign duties,
Approve leave requests,
Resolve/settle employee relations’ problems,
Formally evaluate employee performance.

Examples of working titles that are often supervisory include: Crew Leader, Department Supervisor, Operations Supervisor, Shift Manager, and Clerical Pool Supervisor

Define a Non-Supervisor employee:

A Non-Supervisor employee has the responsibility of performing daily activities as directed by Management and/or a Supervisor.

From time to time, traditional supervisory duties will relegated to employees. Here are some qualifiers that should assist in determining if a non-supervisory employee should be considered a supervisory employee.

Supervisory Qualifiers:

Is the employee making disciplinary or reward decisions? If yes, then the employee is acting in a supervisory role.

Is the employee the source person for difficult questions and problems from less experienced coworkers? If yes, then the employee is acting in a supervisory role.

Is the employee coordinating the team's leave schedule or work schedule? If yes, then the employee is acting in a supervisory role.

Is the employee presenting project updates to the manager? If yes, then the employee is acting in a supervisory role.

Is the employee responsible only for providing performance data toward the evaluation of team members? If yes, then the employee is acting in a non-supervisory role.

Is the employee responsible for formally evaluating staff assigned to a project but does not grant leave requests, make hiring or general staffing decisions, or discipline or reward employees? If yes, then the employee is acting in a non-supervisory role.

Determining Management to Employee Ratio:

Obviously having too many Managers as compared to employees can bog down the departments’ policy process, create confusion in the chain of command, diminish a manager’s related duties and can lead to the dreaded micro-managed environment.

Having too few Managers as compared to employees can result in duties being prioritized, not in order of importance, but in order to fulfill extended commitments. This action results in projects being placed on the back burner; delegation of traditional manager duties to less qualified subordinates and skewed performance reports.

Thus, it’s important to establish a Management-to-staff ratio that strives to create a balanced and healthy work environment for Managers, Supervisors and Employees.

This is a suggested formula to determine management-to-staff ratios. This formula may need to be tweaked depending on your specific department expectations.

Management-to-staff Ratio = [N+(S-1)]/S

where:

N=Number of non-supervisory employees
S=Combined number of supervisors and managers

As an example, lets assume that a business has one (1) CEO, four (4) managers of four different departments and employees 25 non-supervisory employees.

The formula would equate to [25 + 5 –1]/ 5 or a management to employee ratio of 1 manager for 5.8 employees.

Why is the ratio important?

Obviously if you have too few managers/supervisors

The Connection between the New Insecurity in Middle Management and Complaints of School Performance
There are impediments to the maximization of organizational effectiveness strewn throughout your company. We often focus on lower personnel, blaming the schools for lower standards and youth in general for a lack of seriousness. As business owners or those charged with overall management of the organization, these are easy targets. You generally have little contact with these individuals, most of your knowledge of them comes from your management team. And of course, your management team is a pretty good one, they recognize how wonderful you are and always have your interest and the interest of the company foremost in their minds. Additionally, you’re well aware of their Herculean efforts and the wonderful ideas they generate to improve the bottom line.But what if these are exactly the people causing the stagnation in growth and overall negative environment you’ve seen develop? New eyes should generate a wealth of new ideas. When that doesn’t occur, especially in those with backgrounds that indicate otherwise, you may have to ini

ee relations, public information, or the preparation and administration of budgets.

Define a Supervisor:

A Supervisor is an employee who has responsibility for daily operations and the authority to do, or effectively recommend, most of the following actions:

Examples of working titles that are often supervisory include: Crew Leader, Department Supervisor, Operations Supervisor, Shift Manager, and Clerical Pool Supervisor

Define a Non-Supervisor employee:

A Non-Supervisor employee has the responsibility of performing daily activities as directed by Management and/or a Supervisor.

Supervisory Qualifiers:

Is the employee making disciplinary or reward decisions? If yes, then the employee is acting in a supervisory role.

Is the employee the source person for difficult questions and problems from less experienced coworkers? If yes, then the employee is acting in a supervisory role.

Is the employee coordinating the team's leave schedule or work schedule? If yes, then the employee is acting in a supervisory role.

Is the employee presenting project updates to the manager? If yes, then the employee is acting in a supervisory role.

Is the employee responsible only for providing performance data toward the evaluation of team members? If yes, then the employee is acting in a non-supervisory role.

Determining Management to Employee Ratio:

Thus, it’s important to establish a Management-to-staff ratio that strives to create a balanced and healthy work environment for Managers, Supervisors and Employees.

This is a suggested formula to determine management-to-staff ratios. This formula may need to be tweaked depending on your specific department expectations.

Management-to-staff Ratio = [N+(S-1)]/S

where:

N=Number of non-supervisory employees
S=Combined number of supervisors and managers

As an example, lets assume that a business has one (1) CEO, four (4) managers of four different departments and employees 25 non-supervisory employees.

The formula would equate to [25 + 5 –1]/ 5 or a management to employee ratio of 1 manager for 5.8 employees.

Why is the ratio important?

Obviously if you have too few managers/supervisors

Do You Make These 10 Mistakes With Cost Benefit Analysis?
Now let's dive right in and list them out shall we?Mistake #1: Not thinking widely enough to explore all feasible options.First, a note about benefits - if you can provide a solution that provides more benefits than the current process, then not only do you benefit (hopefully in practical and emotional ways) but also the company profits, so do the shareholders and so does the economy. If more of these positive benefit decisions were being made daily by more and more people then we would all be better off!It is human nature to want to think about the problem quickly, get to an answer (instead of a list of good answers) as soon as possible and move on.This is the MAIN mistake that needs to be addressed before launching into the rest of the mistakes.For Example: If a decision is to be made regarding the company's business systems, close study would need to be given to ensure all feasible software providers were involved. Not only would you need to look at software providers but also hardware sources and bureau

aditional supervisory duties will relegated to employees. Here are some qualifiers that should assist in determining if a non-supervisory employee should be considered a supervisory employee.

Supervisory Qualifiers:

Is the employee making disciplinary or reward decisions? If yes, then the employee is acting in a supervisory role.

Is the employee the source person for difficult questions and problems from less experienced coworkers? If yes, then the employee is acting in a supervisory role.

Is the employee coordinating the team's leave schedule or work schedule? If yes, then the employee is acting in a supervisory role.

Is the employee presenting project updates to the manager? If yes, then the employee is acting in a supervisory role.

Is the employee responsible only for providing performance data toward the evaluation of team members? If yes, then the employee is acting in a non-supervisory role.

Determining Management to Employee Ratio:

Thus, it’s important to establish a Management-to-staff ratio that strives to create a balanced and healthy work environment for Managers, Supervisors and Employees.

This is a suggested formula to determine management-to-staff ratios. This formula may need to be tweaked depending on your specific department expectations.

Management-to-staff Ratio = [N+(S-1)]/S

where:

N=Number of non-supervisory employees
S=Combined number of supervisors and managers

As an example, lets assume that a business has one (1) CEO, four (4) managers of four different departments and employees 25 non-supervisory employees.

The formula would equate to [25 + 5 –1]/ 5 or a management to employee ratio of 1 manager for 5.8 employees.

Why is the ratio important?

Obviously if you have too few managers/supervisors

What Kind of a Job is Best for a Creative Genius?
Everyone should be in a job that they like and that they are good at and the better that society places people in jobs that they are good at, the more we will all enjoy the productivity of our civilization. This is one of the basic tenets of Plato's Republic.What type of degree would a creative genius wish to get? A creative genius will create in just about any endeavor that they are thrust into as long as they feel at home and enjoy it or if it challenges their mind. But why does a creative genius need a degree to get a job?After all, they could be self-employed too, as 10% of the population is and 75% of the population works in a small business and most of those folks do not have any advanced degrees. Not all creative geniuses choose to pursue an academic career, although many do.So if we are looking for the best place to find creative geniuses in society we have to look beyond academia and people in corporate America. Where should we look?Well, I suppose some end up at the top of the food chain and thus social

If yes, then the employee is acting in a non-supervisory role.

Determining Management to Employee Ratio:

Thus, it’s important to establish a Management-to-staff ratio that strives to create a balanced and healthy work environment for Managers, Supervisors and Employees.

This is a suggested formula to determine management-to-staff ratios. This formula may need to be tweaked depending on your specific department expectations.

Management-to-staff Ratio = [N+(S-1)]/S

where:

N=Number of non-supervisory employees
S=Combined number of supervisors and managers

As an example, lets assume that a business has one (1) CEO, four (4) managers of four different departments and employees 25 non-supervisory employees.

The formula would equate to [25 + 5 –1]/ 5 or a management to employee ratio of 1 manager for 5.8 employees.

Why is the ratio important?

Obviously if you have too few managers/supervisors

What Is Customer Relationship Management?
Customer relationship management, or CRM, refers to reliable systems, processes, and procedures that allow companies to better manage customer relationships. It is a corporate level strategy that focuses on creating and maintaining effective communication with its customers. Ideally, a sound CRM strategy should develop an end-to-end process that encompasses sales, customer service, and marketing.A successful customer relationship plan can manage all business-related operations and interactions with customers simultaneously. It often includes special software programs, called CRM programs, which aid companies in tracking and organizing their customer base.Customer relationship management is just that: learning ways to manage the happiness of your customers by giving them what they want, increasing the effectiveness and profitability of your product or service by adapting them to customer preferences, and creating communication channels between sales reps, sales managers, and the customers they serve.What are some ideas fo

ed number of supervisors and managers

As an example, lets assume that a business has one (1) CEO, four (4) managers of four different departments and employees 25 non-supervisory employees.

The formula would equate to [25 + 5 –1]/ 5 or a management to employee ratio of 1 manager for 5.8 employees.

Why is the ratio important?

Obviously if you have too few managers/supervisors in the chain of command, then those managers/supervisors will not be able to efficiently and effectively manage the employees or keep pace with written evaluations, schedules and other employee related programs. On the other hand, employees may carry too much responsibility and control too much of the department. These are measurable ‘health’ factors of your organization.

A wise person once stated “to know where you are, you need to know where you’ve been.” Creating a model and varying it to reach the most efficient and effective management-to-staff ratio for your organization will provide you with valuable metrics and a framework needed to reach that goal. It also allows upper management to judge how new programs effect the health of the company.

In addition to the suggested model, you should track other measurable items and combine them with this general model to create an overview of the health of your organization.

In this scenario a company has defined a starting management-to-staff ratio of 1 to 5.8. By using the 1 to 5.8 ratio as a benchmark, the company collects additional information about its management staff and its non-supervisory employees.

The company assigns a percentage value to managerial written evaluations that are properly submitted and completed on time.

The company assesses the management to employee relationships. It assigns values to the Managers perceived health in his/her department and the employees perceived health in the same department.

The company collects information on management and employee over-turn and assigns a value to the causes given for the exit of its employees.

The company assigns value to employee reward programs. Is the employee just an over-achiever, a great team member or does management empower them?

The company tracks the implementation of new programs and the program’s effect on health of the organization.

Using the collected metrics and values the company will start with an initial evaluation of its health and be able to tackle the most problematic areas, then those less problematic areas. The company can then use the historical and current measurements to move toward a goal of efficient and effective management.

This is a short article on the power of models and how they can assist a company in self-assessment and evaluation. There are a number of books and specialist in this area.

* - The formula, [N+(S-1)]/S, is mentioned on several US Government sites as the accepted formula for determining the Management to employee ratio.
* - Portions of this article are from government sites related to employee management.

Article by Charles Carter www.cs2communications.com

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