September 10, 2013

Choosing The Best Negotiation Tactics

3 Tactics to make your supply negotiations more strategic.

As we all know, negotiations happen everyday in our professional and personal lives.  Whether we are negotiating a large multi-million dollar contract with a vendor, buying a new car, or simply negotiating with your 9-year old on which vegetables they will eat for dinner, the fact is that negotiation is a routine part of all of our lives.  But for those of us in a supply chain management career, choosing the best negotiation tactics in order to yield the best result can be difficult to spot...Continue reading

By Julie BrignacPosted in Purchasing & Supply Chain on September 10, 2013

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September 8, 2013

The Single Most Important Management Tool to Grow Your Business

Is your organization ready to succeed?

What is the most important management tool?  Good question, I’m glad you asked.  First let’s define Why it’s important to you and every other Manager or Leader interested in growing, fixing, or changing their bottom line results.  No matter what you are trying to achieve in your business, the best strategy in the world is completely ineffective without the ability to implement it effectively.   Business leaders get stuck defining the best strategy for their...Continue reading

By Lisa WoodsPosted in Leadership & Teambuilding on September 8, 2013

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September 5, 2013

Value, Value Added and Value Creation

Empowered buyers appreciate sellers who deliver value-Be that seller.

It used to be enough for a seller to deliver on the value that mattered most to the buyer. If a buyer expressed a preference for “made in the USA” and the seller had products manufactured in America, the value was recognized and the solution was sufficient. As competitive pressures increased, marketers began adding value to incentivize buyers. In addition to meeting preferences like “made in America,” companies began offering added value, everything from the old S&H Green...Continue reading

By Deb CalvertPosted in Sales & Business Development on September 5, 2013

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September 4, 2013

Get ‘Em Onboard: Engage Employees by Being Real

Creating a Communication Strategy that Engages Employees

Much is being bandied about on how to best engage employees. We have employers who want engaged employees and employees who want to be engaged. From the employer side, research shows us engaged employees lead to better results. Kenexa reports that engaged companies have five times higher shareholder returns over five years. From the employee side, one of the many insights in a Towers Perrin 2009 report is that employees want to give more.     Okay, then. We have both sides wanting the same...Continue reading

By Sherri PetroPosted in Communication Skills on September 4, 2013

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September 2, 2013

What Matters More: the Right Results or the Right Way?

Use This Decision Model As A Way To Think About Your Job

As a front-line supervisor, your job was to deliver results. You were measured by and rewarded for performance. No matter what job function you were managing, your priority was to get the job done on time, under budget and in accordance with the quality standards set.    As you ascend the career ladder, you have increasingly greater degrees of responsibility for results. Once upon a time, your accountability as a crew foreman was to make sure the 6-8 members of your crew performed. That’s...Continue reading

By Deb CalvertPosted in Management on September 2, 2013

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August 29, 2013

Interview Intelligence-Part II: A More Effective Process

A Hiring System Proven To Work Well For Small & Mid-Sized Companies

Once you make a commitment to improving your interview intelligence, you need to ensure that your entire interview process sets up your company for maximum success. If you measure your progress with both the interviews and the process, you can simultaneously improve to create a well-oiled hiring system.    Let’s talk about what doesn’t work very well, followed by a system that has been proven to work well for both small and mid-sized companies.    Round Robin Interviews...Continue reading

By Joseph SkurskyPosted in Human Resources on August 29, 2013

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August 29, 2013

Improving Interview Intelligence-Part I

Develop Your Interviewing Skills to Create Better Outcomes

Interview Intelligence is a combination of IQ and EQ (Emotional Intelligence). Both are needed in order to consistently hire the right candidates with competency, talent and fit. Good detectives have interview intelligence – the ability to find the truth. To hire top talent, you must become a more intelligent interviewer and talent detective.   It’s never been more critical to get it right when hiring than this moment in time. The current economy, thinner margins, and increased...Continue reading

By Joseph SkurskyPosted in Human Resources on August 29, 2013

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August 27, 2013

Create A Platform For Success In Your First Job

7 Keys to Building a Good Relationship With Your First Manager

You mastered the job search strategy, the resumes, the interviews. Now you have a well-negotiated job offer and are ready to set the world on fire!    When it’s time to do that, I want you to pay attention to a big part of your job success that is often NOT a big part of your orientation process. Most onboarding processes revolve around the technical side of joining an organization: Benefits enrollment, rules and regulations, getting on the network, all that.    What is often...Continue reading

By Lea McLeodPosted in College Student/Recent Grad Job Search on August 27, 2013

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August 25, 2013

The Power of Radical Ownership

3 Steps To Overcoming Powerlessness & Overwhelm At Work

Some days I feel powerless.    It starts with a trigger.    My manager uses “that tone.” My kids “overlook” their home chores. My direct report hasn’t completed the task that I thought was a given. A payment to one of my vendors is late because of an “error in paperwork” that no one called to my attention.    It could be anything. But the feeling is like hearing fingernails drawn down a chalkboard. It’s a low-level kind of...Continue reading

By Claire LaughlinPosted in Professional Development on August 25, 2013

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August 22, 2013

Leading Through Crisis: Are You Coping Or Leading With Courage?

5 “Pause Practices” To Help Ensure Decisions & Values Align

Leading or Managing during times of crisis requires the ability to make tough decisions.  The question is how do you know you are making the best decisions for you and your business? It’s a falsity to think that making quick decisions under pressure is the sign of a great leader.  On the contrary, decisions we make while in crisis mode are often triggered by fear instead of sound strategy.  Stepping back and pausing under pressure a great way to ensure your decisions are sound. ...Continue reading

By Christina HaxtonPosted in Leadership & Teambuilding on August 22, 2013

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