Business and Money Tips

Lesser mistakes, resulting in lower rework cost Higher customer satisfaction, resulting in higher sales Lower absenteesm, as trained staff fall sick less and are more punctual Better teamwork, with higher productivity for all Faster response to challenges at work Stronger branding in the market Improvements in cash flow, as training reduces cost and increases output Higher staff satisfaction, resulting in higher output Lower conflicts at work, as staff know their work better and result in lesser conflicts Better recognition in the market, as no one can forget a properly trained staff More repeat business, as customers are happier More referred business, which are of higher qualty and value Higher average transaction value, as trained staff will add more value at work, justifying the higher selling price Better succession planning, as trained staff can take on more duties and responsibilities Reduction in head count, as the trained staff can handle more work than before ...

Many people think it is impossible for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to train their staff.  There are 5 key concerns: ·         “We don’t even have enough people to work, how to send them for training?”  ·         “My staff are very elderly with low education, how can they understand the training?”  ·         “Even if they can understand the training, how are they going to apply the training without our managers and bosses guiding them at the training?” ·         “If we send my staff to the Training Centres, who is going to cover their work? With so tight labour, we cannot afford to release them for two to three hours, how can they ever attend a two or three days training?” ·         “Even if the above concerns are addressed, the training will not be relevant and immediately usefu...

A true leader not just manages but also  creates changes .  He  makes people better than themselves .  Of course the first person to change is the leader himself.  He must change himself from a follower into a leader.  All his behaviour, thinking and speech must be a leader and not a follower. For example, he cannot conclude without basis and never call people names or laugh at people. The 5 differences between a leader and manager are summarized as follows (for leadership course, come for THE ART OF LEADERSHIP, details below: Leaders look for the good in others , whereas managers look to improve others. Leaders know that the fastest way to get results is to leverage on people's strengths and not ask them to improve now Leaders cling on to values , but not cling on to power, authority and control. Managers are very occupied with control and discipline, whereas leaders lead people with values Leaders influence people, not control or manage people. ...

When you pursue happiness for the sake of it, you will realize that your happiness does not last. Ask those who just bought the latest Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and you'll know what I am talking about. Even if your happiness last, you'll find that pursuing happiness by itself has no meaning. We should pursue meaning instead. Many people think that meeaning is very vague and difficult to achieve. If you read Vkttor Frankl's classic book "Man's Search for Meaning" you will learn that meaning is what keeps a person's alive and full of life. There are 9 ways that you too can find meaning in your life: Short term meaning . Instead of looking for lofty goals, look at what you can do in the next 7 days or even as short as next 7 hours or next 7 minutes Forge meaning in the moment . In our rush we miss out the meaning in every moment and if you can just stop or slow down, you will find meaning in every moment of your waking life Daily does of meaning - every d...

You'll be shocked to hear this: many leaders are leading us, but to the wrong way!  From my observations many leaders do not lead by example but instead lead by bad example. Some bad examples include: Tell people "Just do what I say" and do differently from what they say. A good example is punctuality Appoint people to do jobs and do not follow-up on their status. When things go wrong, they blame people Use abdication instead of delegation.  They delegate the task and the responsibility as well! Play politics and focus on internal fighting instead of external fighting Never reward and punish adequately and fairly. Like dare not hire and promote people more capable than himself Focus on the process to the detriment of the outcome, like too overwhelmed with KPIs and not results 'Monstering' instead of motivating people Make people angry instead of making people hungry Control people instead of leading people Never read email attachments and ask innoc...

You know when you the salesperson is frustrated with sales, you can easily turn that frustrations into money as follows: Frustration No. 1: Prospect Don’t Bother to Take a Look at My Proposal No point keep on calling and emailing him.  It’s better to just drop by a the office and ask him if there is just one thing that you could do to make him happy. If he gives you no answer, just tell him how about you dropping your price to match any competitors’ quotes. Watch what is his response Frustration No. 2: Why is my Sales Target Always Remains a Target and Not A Reality? This is because you don’t see targets set by the company as your own targets.  No one loves another person's wife, unless he sees that woman as his own family. Frustration No. 3: Why My Prospects Only Focused on Price and Nothing Else?  Because they don't see value in what your company and you do. To many customers vendors are just people out there to close the sale and not providing useful val...

To me if you don't get the most important things right, you will be spending all your life in frustration. Frustration No. 1: Why is There No Teamwork? The usual team building training only works for a short while. When work is busy, people will put team work aside and focus on individual work. For team work to be sustainable, there must be incentives pegged to teamwork.  For example, why should the Production department have good team work with the Sales Department if only the sales department gets all the commission and bonus?   Frustration No. 2: Why My Salespeople Don't Hit Sales Targets? Because they don't see targets set by the company as their own targets. No one loves another person's child, unless he sees that person's child as his own.   Frustration No. 3: Why Are My People Not Interested in Training? Because they don't see themselves becoming more valuable after the training.  To many employees training is just another boss initiative to...

(Note: This article appeared on The Straits Times on 5 May 2015 page 18, you can also read this at here ) Are you a good boss?  Given a chance, would your employees want to work for you?  Most importantly, are you able to make people better than themselves, or make people better for just yourself?   Make no mistake: the best bosses could also be bad bosses at times.  The key to being a good boss is  how to Be the best, and learn from the Worst .  Taken from our all-time best-seller new course  How to Be a Great Boss  and books from Robert I Sutton, there are 5 things that you have to do: Don't Crush the Bird .  Managing people is like holding a bird in your hand.  If you hold it too tightly, you'll kill it. But if you let loose, you'll lose it.  Indeed managers that are too aggressive will damage relationships and managers that are too passive and not assertive enough will get people climb over their heads.  Like s...