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Redefining
Employee Roles Can |
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Our mission is to provide information and strategies
to business owners and managers for improvement
in the effectiveness of its business management
so that key objectives can be realized.
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Ted Hofmann
- Principal/Senior Consultant
John Morre - Principal/Senior Consultant
Linda Panichelli - Principal/Senior Tax
Consultant
Jim Chamberlain - Senior Consultant
CFO Plus, LLC
1450 Grant Avenue, Suite 102
Novato, CA 94945-3142 |
Home Office |
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415-898-7879 |
Toll
Free |
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866-CFO-PLUS
or 866-236-7587 |
Fax |
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415-456-9382 |
Email |
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thofmann@cfoplus.net
jmorre@cfoplus.net
lpanichelli@cfoplus.net
jchamberlain@cfoplus.net
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Website |
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www.cfoplus.net
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Increase
Performance |
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How
well do your employees understand what's expected
of them, and how well do you or they manage those
expectations to increase performance and meet
company goals?
Effectively managing staff and communicating each
employee's role are perhaps two of the most difficult
tasks you will face as an entrepreneur or executive.
Performance expectations based on performance
may appear bipolar depending on whether the employee
knew what was expected of them. Many good-hearted
managers are well-intentioned professionals who
advanced into management based on their own job
performance. As a result, unless they receive
proper training or coaching, these managers lack
many of the skills required to skillfully manage
employees and positively impact performance and
productivity. To add fuel to the fire, many companies
lack the tools necessary to adequately address
an employee's work performance because job descriptions
are either dated or may not exist at all.
Lack
of both job expectations and the knowledge it
takes to communicate the expectations can take
its toll on properly managing employees because
employers constantly must redefine employee roles.
In a perfect world, the astute employee would
know what's expected, and would turn those expectations
into increased performance, and, ultimately, an
increase to your company's bottom line.
So
how can you redefine employee roles to increase
performance? Perhaps it's best to follow Stephen
Covey's advice and begin with the end in mind.
However welcome or dreaded, a well-delivered performance
review is a good indicator of not only expectations,
but how well the employee is progressing within
his or her role. The evaluation also is a good
time to set next year's goals and expectations.
Here
are five ways to establish expectations and align
employee roles with performance.
1.
Maintain an Updated Job Description With Written
Expectations. It is difficult for you to create
an evaluation without a benchmark. It is even
tougher for an employee to self evaluate on an
ongoing basis if s/he has only a vague idea of
what results s/he should achieve. A job description
and a statement of written expectations provide
the criteria to perform the employee evaluation
while leaving the employee with a clear set of
job expectations.
2. Meet One-to-One With the Employee. Periodic
(monthly or quarterly) meetings can help you and
your employee monitor progress and performance.
For example, a short, scheduled meeting provides
the time to review past objectives and professional
development. You become more aware of the employee's
strengths, accomplishments and areas to develop,
while the information focuses the employee's performance
on key behaviors.
3. Provide a Monthly Progress Report. Continuous
reports help you gather information on employees'
performance and allow them to track their progress.
At the end of each month, ask employees to submit
a short report stating their accomplishments,
major tasks in progress, any training received
and areas identified for improvement. Your job
is to review this report, discuss it during the
one-to-one session, and keep the reports as a
reference tool for annual and semi-annual performance
evaluations.
4. Conduct a Self-Evaluation. Most employees
welcome the opportunity to provide constructive
input. Ask each employee to draft a self-evaluation.
These personal insights will help you immensely
with setting performance goals and aligning your
expectations with employee competencies.
5. Other Forms of Feedback. Without being
too intrusive or sly, solicit feedback from customers
and co-workers about each employee's performance.
Concentrate on behaviors, not subjective ideas
about a person's motivations. For example: Johnny
attends to customers in a slow manner vs. Johnny
is lazy and isn't concerned with attending to
customers. A word of caution: Be sure the information
you receive is accurate and sources stay protected.
What
can a job description do to help define roles?
A good job description will:
establish, communicate, and document management
expectations and employee understanding
and acceptance;
form
a basis for establishing employee goals and for
conducting employee performance evaluations;
communicate
and document changes in employee responsibilities
during the course of a performance year;
identify
training needs;
help
determine employee job classifications;
inform job candidates about prospective positions;
and
assess
employee workload so managers can make strategic
staffing decisions.
Most
employees want to hit the target; often, they just
don't know what the target is. Taking these points
into account can help ensure performance meets expectations,
but more than that, it helps produce skilled, knowledgeable
employees who will work even harder to produce your
desired results. If you are interested in learning
more about how incremental improvements in performance
can significantly impact your company's bottom line,
gives us a call today. |
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Are
You Speaking Your Customers' Language?
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Our mission is to provide information and strategies
to business owners and managers for improvement
in the effectiveness of its business management
so that key objectives can be realized.
|
|
Ted Hofmann
- Principal/Senior Consultant
John Morre - Principal/Senior Consultant
Linda Panichelli - Principal/Senior Tax
Consultant
Jim Chamberlain - Senior Consultant
CFO Plus, LLC
1450 Grant Avenue, Suite 102
Novato, CA 94945-3142 |
Home Office |
: |
415-898-7879 |
Toll
Free |
: |
866-CFO-PLUS
or 866-236-7587 |
Fax |
: |
415-456-9382 |
Email |
: |
thofmann@cfoplus.net
jmorre@cfoplus.net
lpanichelli@cfoplus.net
jchamberlain@cfoplus.net
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Website |
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www.cfoplus.net
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No
one would argue that competing for time and attention
in today's business marketplace is a difficult
proposition. However - as if this alone wasn't
difficult enough - the company that truly understands
the buying habits of current and prospective customers
is the one that will most likely succeed in the
long-term continuum.
Why?
Knowing the reasons why customers purchase from
your company is important for positioning your
product or service for future sales. Moreover,
the way in which this purchasing knowledge infiltrates
other aspects of your business is key to customer
recruitment, retention and business continuity.
Let's
say, for example, that you retained a seemingly
satisfied customer who comes to you for advice
or perhaps a product, yet you have never bothered
to take the time to figure out why s/he comes
to you year after year instead of taking his or
her business elsewhere. Did you ever think about
asking? Perhaps you thought about it, but were
afraid to stir calm waters.
This
customer is intelligent, and knows he or she could
look elsewhere for similar services, but as it
turns out, s/he implicitly trusts your judgment
and advice, and truly believes you have rendered
good service time after time. What the customer
may not know is that you also offer other services
or products that could benefit him/her. While
you think you may have effectively communicated
your company's entire product or service offering
to your customer, and these offerings appear all
over your collateral materials and Web site, the
customer, still, may never have received the message.
If
you knew "trust" was the main reason
the customer stayed, you could have cross-sold
other products or services, and, in the process,
tremendously improved your bottom line. Companies
that understand the buying habits of customers
can naturally - and easily - transition this knowledge
into a more compelling selling proposition.
The
bottom line is that you when you are speaking
your customers' language, you will be on the same
communication wavelength, and will be able to
easily hear clues that reveal your customers'
buying postures.
Look
at this from another perspective: Why do you prefer
to do business with one bank over another? Is
it service, lower fees, location or something
else? If bank executives knew why you chose their
institution, they could provide more services
or products that aligned with these reasons. In
addition, bank employees who understand these
preferences could be more knowledgeable or helpful
in ways that are meaningful to their customers.
A
good example of a company that is on its customers'
frequency is Amazon.com. If you've ever ordered
from the retail giant, you would know that each
time you log in, the merchant offers you many
choices for similar products you've bought in
the past. If you are into fitness books, the newest
fitness book is likely to be offered to you. Statistics
show this is an effective way to "sell"
or market to customers.
We've
all heard Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
is a way to increase sales and manage customers,
but is CRM really an effective tool for speaking
the language, or is it just today's trend of the
moment? Dataquest, a unit of market researcher
Gartner, reports that CRM services market totaled
$22 billion in 2001, up 10.6 percent from the
year before. Dataquest also expects that number
to grow to $25.3 billion this year and reach $47
billion by 2006.
All
the money spent on CRM doesn't translate into
future sales if your employees don't understand
why a customer makes the decision to buy. How
do you effectively accomplish this, and to what
lengths do you go to do it?
One
Midwest design and research firm used a process
called "video ethnography," in which
the firm videotaped customers while they were
in the process of buying so they would get a clearer
picture - literally - of the process. We certainly
can't shine the spotlight on customers 24/7, but
you might try the following techniques:
Don't assume that buying is universal and predictable.
Try to gather as much information about the buying
or purchasing process as you can. Start from the
time your customer decides to ask for a service
or makes the decision to buy, and follow the sales
process through to calling or contacting your
company and making the purchase.
Think beyond what you offer or are
currently offering. Even though you might be selling
a product, your customer may actually be buying
for other reasons that have nothing to do with
your product. Perhaps your straightforward business
communication tips the scale in your favor. Or,
maybe the customer buys from you because your
guarantee is the best. If you think in terms of
the purchase "decision," it is easier
to translate buying habits into future sales.
Use multiple methods to gather information
about your customers' buying habits. Ask your
employees to stay on the lookout for patterns
in buying and record client or customer comments.
Combine this information with customer surveys
or other response mechanisms. You're sure to spot
trends within this combined feedback. Strategically
leverage this knowledge and you are on your way
to dramatically impacting your bottom line.
Try to understand how people are using
the product or service you sell. Understanding
why customers buy and what the customer's desired
end result is can uncover opportunities or even
new product or service markets. If you sell aloe
vera plants as a medicinal product and your sales
increase by 10 percent in just one month, you
may find that something is behind this activity.
On further inspection, you may learn that a popular
glamour magazine touted aloe vera as the next
wrinkle defense. All of a sudden, you have a new
market that wants to buy your plants.
Training
an employee's ear to carefully tune into the buying
habits of your customers significantly increases
your odds that the language you are speaking is
music to your customers' ears. The bottom line is
that customers find and loyally buy from those companies
that make customer concerns and desires priority
one. Remember, you aren't alone. Give us a call.
We'll help you develop a plan of action that can
increase future sales, customer retention and buyers'
loyalty. |
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Investing
in Employee Growth Makes
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Our mission is to provide information and strategies
to business owners and managers for improvement
in the effectiveness of its business management
so that key objectives can be realized.
|
|
Ted Hofmann
- Principal/Senior Consultant
John Morre - Principal/Senior Consultant
Linda Panichelli - Principal/Senior Tax
Consultant
Jim Chamberlain - Senior Consultant
CFO Plus, LLC
1450 Grant Avenue, Suite 102
Novato, CA 94945-3142 |
Home Office |
: |
415-898-7879 |
Toll
Free |
: |
866-CFO-PLUS
or 866-236-7587 |
Fax |
: |
415-456-9382 |
Email |
: |
thofmann@cfoplus.net
jmorre@cfoplus.net
lpanichelli@cfoplus.net
jchamberlain@cfoplus.net
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Website |
: |
www.cfoplus.net
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Bottom
Line Sense |
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For
many owners, traversing the peaks and valleys
of a fluctuating economy is just part of the entrepreneurial
adventure. And when the market takes a downturn,
a natural survival reaction is to cut overhead.
It's a logical place to start. But where and when
do these cuts adversely affect your business?
Employee
training often is seen as double overhead because
employee salaries reside in the expense side of
the business, while things such as equipment appear
on the balance sheet as assets. Because the company
invests in training and educational courses, with
the added costs of travel and lost productivity;
employee training is often one of the first things
to go when money becomes tight.
What
some employers don't consider is that while cutting
these training and development programs may immediately
help lower overhead, the affect of putting employees
on a company backseat can have long-term ramifications
that result in financial negatives.
To
compete in business today, companies need to understand
that most potential employees are no longer simply
seeking a job; they're seeking career advancement.
However, this advancement does not necessarily
mean promotions; it can be as simple as knowledge
and skills. New-generation employees know career
development requires a commitment to growth. They
seek companies that understand that a paycheck
is only part of the career equation. In fact,
training, education and degree-completion programs
are some of the most desired employee benefits
available today.
So
what does the company have to gain from investing
in employee growth? When a company satisfies employees'
desire to obtain more training, the result often
can be a company team that is more capable and
willing to accept responsibility and control over
the part they play in the company's success. Well-trained
employees often need less supervision, leaving
management with additional time to focus on other
critical areas of the business. In addition, a
well-trained employee generally has a higher level
of productivity, and is more inclined to remain
loyal to the employer that has taken a vested
interest in them.
Savvy
employees see training as a way to create value
for the company. They know it's the difference
between their company merely surviving and thriving.
In a world that grows ever more competitive, many
employees fear their company may fall behind competitors
and lose market share.
In
2000, the American Management Association conducted
a survey of 352 human resources executives. The
AMA's findings confirmed that among issues of
top importance to employees were certain enhancement
issues. These issues also had a direct correlation
to increased retention.
"Investing
in an employee's future is more important than
immediate compensation," said Eric Rolfe
Greenberg, AMA's director of management studies.
"Programs that improve work skills and future
career development are seen as particularly effective."
The
AMA survey identified the following skill enhancement
techniques (the percentage of companies employing
them as a retention strategy is noted as well):
External conferences and seminars, 78.1 percent
Tuition reimbursement, 67.3 percent
Managerial training, 66.8 percent
Company support for degree, 62.2 percent
Interpersonal skills training, 56.8 percent
Technical training, 54.5 percent
Employability training, 35.2 percent
In
a study of more than 3,100 U.S. workplaces, the
National Center on the Educational Quality of
the Workforce found that, on average, a 10 percent
increase in work force education led to an 8.6
percent gain in total productivity. While a 10
percent increase in the value of equipment increased
productivity just 3.4 percent.
Investing
in employee growth is a philosophy first and a
program second. No matter how strong the training
or mentoring program, it only will be successful
if principal business decision-makers are fully
committed to it. Employee development cannot be
an item that easily hits the chopping block when
times are tough.
If
you are unsure about where to begin building an
employee development program that nurtures your
employees and creates long-term relationships,
consider an anonymous survey. For best results,
be sure to provide employees time to think about
the questions and provide meaningful responses.
Obtaining information straight from employees
is a great way to increase their sense of importance,
and helps you avoid wasting time by offering programs
that are not valued by your team.
Investing
in employee growth can go a long way to creating
loyalty, saving your company money and providing
a platform to reward top performers for exceptional
work. A well-rounded program will put company goals
in line with employee development, and can deliver
a measurable return on investment. We're here to
assist you as you navigate new territory. Call us
to learn more about how skilled employees are one
of your company's most important advocates. |
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Business
Performance Advantage
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Our mission is to provide information and strategies
to business owners and managers for improvement
in the effectiveness of its business management
so that key objectives can be realized.
|
|
Ted Hofmann
- Principal/Senior Consultant
John Morre - Principal/Senior Consultant
Linda Panichelli - Principal/Senior Tax
Consultant
Jim Chamberlain - Senior Consultant
CFO Plus, LLC
1450 Grant Avenue, Suite 102
Novato, CA 94945-3142 |
Home Office |
: |
415-898-7879 |
Toll
Free |
: |
866-CFO-PLUS
or 866-236-7587 |
Fax |
: |
415-456-9382 |
Email |
: |
thofmann@cfoplus.net
jmorre@cfoplus.net
lpanichelli@cfoplus.net
jchamberlain@cfoplus.net
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Website |
: |
www.cfoplus.net
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Success
Story |
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Managing
Key Performance Indicators Increases Profits and
Customer Service for Manufacturer
The Challenge
A
local manufacturing company needed new equipment;
however, with dipping profits and projections
which didn't seem attainable, bankers denied the
company's request for a loan. Company owners turned
to a Business Advantage Performance Management
specialist to identify why profits were declining
and what they could do about changing the company's
situation.
The
Results
In
less than a year, the firm increased profits by
more than $300,000, secured funding for new equipment
and significantly improved customer service.
The
Performance Management Solution
After
thorough analyses of key performance indicators
(KPI) such as realization per machine hour and
realization per labor hour for each customer,
the Performance Management specialist discovered
a critical issue: The company's largest customer
represented 40 percent of the business yet produced
only a 14 percent margin. The remaining customers
returned an average overall margin of 27 percent.
Further investigation revealed that the largest
customer adversely affected the service level
for all other company customers. Company owners
were shocked to find that the largest customer
presented time demands that made it impossible
to deliver on time to other customers.
With
this information, the solution was clear. The
company would have to transition the large customer
to another manufacturer. After six months, the
company completely phased out the large customer's
business. Strategically, the company went to its
second-largest customer and discussed prior delivery
and service issues. With a penalty clause for
missing a delivery date in place, the customer
agreed to give the company another shot. It worked.
The customer, which was about to fire the manufacturing
company, tripled the amount of business it did
with the manufacturer.
Over
the next six months, the company, working closely
with the Business Performance Management specialist,
implemented new processes that directly affected
KPIs such as realization per machine hour, realization
per labor hour, and on-time delivery. Incentives
were put in place for on-time delivery and zero
defects.
The
results speak for themselves. Bankers, impressed
by the phenomenal, rapid results the manufacturer
experienced, funded the equipment purchase. The
manufacturer now enjoys 100 percent quality and
100 percent on-time delivery. Profits increased
300 percent (putting the company back where it
was five or six years earlier). And, because customer
service is strong, customer loyalty is at an all
time high. The owners are ecstatic about the remarkable
shift they experienced in just one year.
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Business
Performance Advantage Extra
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![](images/2002-MayJun/grey_tedhofman.jpg)
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Our mission is to provide information and strategies
to business owners and managers for improvement
in the effectiveness of its business management
so that key objectives can be realized.
|
|
Ted Hofmann
- Principal/Senior Consultant
John Morre - Principal/Senior Consultant
Linda Panichelli - Principal/Senior Tax
Consultant
Jim Chamberlain - Senior Consultant
CFO Plus, LLC
1450 Grant Avenue, Suite 102
Novato, CA 94945-3142 |
Home Office |
: |
415-898-7879 |
Toll
Free |
: |
866-CFO-PLUS
or 866-236-7587 |
Fax |
: |
415-456-9382 |
Email |
: |
thofmann@cfoplus.net
jmorre@cfoplus.net
lpanichelli@cfoplus.net
jchamberlain@cfoplus.net
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Website |
: |
www.cfoplus.net
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The
Business Performance Advantage is dedicated to
ensuring your company operates at maximum performance.
Sometimes, though, we include information about
issues that could affect you personally.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
(OCC) has issued an alert (http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/alert/2002-3.doc)
to banks, asking them to warn customers about
a new fraud scheme that uses fictitious IRS forms
and bank correspondence.
The scam involves a letter (http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/alert/2002-3a.pdf)
outlining procedures to be followed to protect
the recipient from unnecessary withholding taxes
on his/her bank accounts and other financial dealings.
The letter instructs the recipient to fill in
the enclosed IRS Form W-9095 (http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/alert/2002-3b.pdf)
and return it within seven days. According to
the letter, anyone who doesn't file the form is
subject to 31 percent withholding on interest
paid to them. A fax number is provided for the
recipient's convenience.
The IRS form is phony and is just another attempt
at identity theft. Anyone who has filled in the
form should immediately contact the fraud department
of each of the three major credit bureaus and
report that their identity has been stolen. Telephone
numbers and addresses are provided in the alert,
as well as additional advice to follow in case
your account has been fraudulently accessed or
opened. The OCC's advice includes filing a report
with the local police department and contacting
the IRS's hotline (1-800-829-0433).
Additional information about identity theft is
available from the Web sites of the OCC (http://www.occ.treas.gov/idtheft.pdf)
and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/victim.htm).
Unleashing
the Power of Google
In
our last issue, we listed Google in our feature,
"Web Sites for Busy Business Owners."
This issue, we provide you with tips and tricks
to get the most out of your search engine experience.
Change
the preferences of the search engine. If you
prefer to see 100 "hits" on a page at
a time, go into Google preferences to ensure you
don't have to change the number of pages viewed
at a time from the "normal" default
of 10 to 100 (www.Google.com/preferences?hl=en).You
also can request that when you click on a "result"
page, the browser opens up a new window. This
can be VERY handy when searching the entire Internet
and getting stuck on a Web site that won't let
you get back to the Google results page.
Install
a toolbar. Want to always have Google at your
fingertips? Install the Google toolbar at toolbar.Google.com
and your functionality will be greatly enhanced.
After you use Google to search, you can use the
toolbar buttons to further search the page you
are viewing. It also brings to the front of the
browser a handy little tool normally buried on
the Internet Explorer toolbar. If you find a site
with exactly the information you need, but want
to know if there are others out there just like
this site, click on "Page Info;" you
now have the option to view similar pages.
Use
the Advanced Search features. This feature
is very handy when you think a topic should be
on a specific site, but the regular "blanket"
search of all the documents on the Web just isn't
coming up with the right information (www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en).
Place the key words you are searching for in boxes
that will instruct the search engine to only find
those words - in that particular order - on a
site. You can further restrict the search by stating
the domain name of the site for Google to search.
For example, this comes in handy when trying to
find specific troubleshooting information on the
Microsoft site. Place your keywords in the "exact
phrase" box, and then place "Microsoft.com"
in the "only return results from the site
or domain" box. This makes Google only look
inside Microsoft.com. Of course, you can get a
bit of "advanced searching" even without
visiting this page if you merely place quotation
marks around the phrase you are searching, forcing
Google to look for that specific phrase.
Use
Google's restricted searching tools. Want
to search only U.S. Government sites? Try www.google.com/unclesam.Only
Linux topics? Try www.google.com/linux. Need information
for Macintosh? Visit www.google.com/mac. College
information? Try www.google.com/options/universities.html.
If
at first you don't succeed, try another variation.
Google does not allow for wildcards (or *) in
its searching, so if you are unsure whether you
will get the information you need with the term
Airline or Airlines, try it with both versions.
If
at first you don't succeed, try it again with
fewer words. If you don't receive the "hits"
you need, use fewer words to widen the search.
You always can search inside the results once
you get in the right area.
Try
going to the root page of a Web site. If at
first your "hit" is a page that is a
sub page under a site and it doesn't quite meet
your needs, try going back to the site's root
page and start clicking. Many times, you will
find yourself with a page that is many layers
deep under its main site. The information is useful,
but not quite what you needed. Before you go back
to the Search engine and try again, go up to the
browser window and "strip" off the additional
address to that sub page and go back to the main
root page of the site.
Excerpted
with permission from AICPA's InfoTech Update
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