Guidelines for Self-Improvement

It is important for a manager to make an objective self-evaluation on a regular basis in order to determine effectiveness on the job.

Aside from the acquired technical competence, underwent necessary training, have garnered considerable exposure and experience, as the preliminary requirements for promotion, a manager is usually observed and evaluated by people on his/her effectiveness in executing the daily workload of the job assignments.

The following pointers can help improve or develop a manager’s personal effectiveness in dealing with people and in achieving personal and corporate objectives:

  • Manage to keep a smile most of the time despite the day-to-day problems and annoyances being encountered on the job.
  • Exhibit self-confidence when making decision when confronted with problems.
  • Be ready and show genuine interest in helping and giving guidance to subordinates when needed..
  • Set periodic personal goals related to corporate objectives. Monitor performance daily and make necessary adjustment to ensure that goals are achieved on time.
  • Analyze personal strength and weaknesses and take the necessary steps to intensify strength and develop weaknesses.
  • Always give a neat and clean impression. Be careful in selecting appropriate wardrobe
  • Have an attempt to imitate one or more of admired people with great influence that can be of help in personal and career development.
  • Request fellow managers for feedback or comments regarding managerial strengths and weaknesses and be ready to work on improving weaknesses.
  • Exercise regularly, maintain and take good care of health.
  • Make more friends than enemies.

Pennsylvania Company Continues Growth, Opens New Facility

gI_0_logo.gifBolstered by cutting edge innovation and with decades of experience, the Alternate Heating Systems LLC has experienced such an increase in sales volume of its Wood Gun Wood Gun and Coal Gun Coal Gun boiler lines that their former facilities could no longer keep pace with demand.

“Last year was a groundbreaking year,” said Patrick Conley, the company’s Director of Dealer Sales. “Production couldn’t keep up with sales. We were forced to turn away potential dealers due to our backlog. Industry-wide demand was up last year, and our superior products pushed us right to the front of the struggle to match demand with production.” On his hopes for 2009 Conley says, “All I know is that production says they can build what we can sell. So, we are in the midst of expanding our dealer network as well as looking for tradesmen to move our products. Of course, products this great really sell themselves”. This confidence is reinforced by the solid growth of customer interest the company is experiencing.

To handle product demand, Alternate Heating Systems has invested in several major expansions. Their first move was to add an additional 13,000 square feet of fabrication space to their Harrisonville facility. Mark Deike, Production Manager of the Harrisonville Location, spoke of improvements at the facility he supervises. “The biggest thing is that there has been a strong push for making a team effort to drive the production flow. With the new facility and addition of several overheads, we have eliminated the need to share equipment giving each welder greater independence and the ability to get more done.”

Almost while the paint was still drying on the fabrication expansion, leadership at Alternate Heating Systems decided to bring relief to their Assembly, Electrical, Refractory, Shipping, and Warehousing employees. “Things were really cramped,” says Darren Bricker, who manages those departments. Thus, the decision was made to move approximately half of the company’s workload 20 miles east to St. Thomas, PA. There, Bricker was delighted to find a 55,000 thousand square foot facility for his employees to utilize. “It’s great, more organized, room to breathe,” said Bricker. “We can inventory things in a much more organized way, and now we have room for lots of stock.”

Although, he is thankful for the new found increase in space, Bricker was quick to add that more relief was needed, but not of the facility kind. “We have done some hiring and will be looking to add some more workers; assembly workers, shipping, and material handlers”. Alternate Heating Systems intends to use the St. Thomas facility as both a production and warehousing site. After expanding by over 68,000 square feet in less than a year, many would be satisfied, but not the folks at Alternate Heating Systems.

“We are far from done growing. Last year was record-setting, but records are made to be broken and this one will be broken fast”, said Conley. “The market is great, we have the best products out there, and we are building a great team to drive our growth.”

10 Tips to Keep Your Staff Happy

Today, the value of human labor has become the most critical part of being a productive company. Businesses up today are standing on thick foundations mainly because their manpower resources are clinging on to dear life and of course want to make sure that they do their job to the T.

On the other hand, how do you keep them happy? Is compensation or money enough? Today, job security goes way beyond the usual pay. Benefits and of course assurance that they are not going to be cut off linger in their minds. But is that all?

Well for companies, here are some tips you may want to consider. Value your manpower since they can make or break business operations and play the difference between success and bankruptcy.

  1. Enable employees to balance work and personal life. Allow flexible starting and finishing times.
  2. Consider telecommuting when personal issues arise. As long as their work is getting done, trust them, don’t micromanage.
  3. Allow for casual attire when clients are not on site, particularly in the summer when it can be uncomfortable to wear formal business attire.
  4. Make the workplace a pleasant place to work with music, water bubblers, coffee/tea facilities, and complimentary snacks from time to time.
  5. Involve staff, whenever possible, in decisions that affect their jobs and the overall direction of the business or department. Keep them in the loop.
  6. Reward hard work, even small goals: there’s no point in waiting until the year-end bonus, it won’t keep anyone going for an entire year. People need short term rewards.
  7. Offer to help your staff when they feel overwhelmed. If you cannot help, just acknowledging their workload can go a long way.
  8. When you give constructive criticism, ask for it in return.
  9. Schedule weekly meetings that are held consistently in person. Allow for open dialogue and privacy to allow the employee to speak openly.
  10. Have offsite meals at least once a month for team building and to show appreciation.

Source

Blog Marketing: The New Corporate Marketing Tool

How to be a WriterBlog marketing has obviously been used to the max these past years as the new age of marketing and it is not hard to depict why it has come into being. People seeking outside impromptu information surrounding various current events, issues and topics today in practically any area of interest has been something that has made corporations and individuals take notice of the benefits and fruits that online blogging can bring to their companies.

Blog marketing depends on the blog quality content being used today. It is not about plain emphasis and repetition of keywords that are associated with the main topic that is up for discussion. The overall content and sensible content is still the interest that most readers will look into, using opinions from the content in blogs as the main agenda in reading them overall.

Bloggers are the new demanded telecommute jobs which was initially targeted for home based mothers or fathers. But taking it up close, if a person would really want to do something worthwhile, blogging for a cause towards something that most people do really specialize in is something that has grown into full time careers making it entirely convenient for bloggers and content writers that have considered such a venture profitable both in monetary and career gains.

To date, blog jobs are rampant over the web and people have made good living out of it. It all boils down to finding the right one and making them worth the while of most people who enjoy the additional workload. For strategic management goals to be achieved, it won’t take long before blogging, problogging, and blog marketing expertise will be the new offset of people who want to explore other opportunities for the sake of enhancing growing careers.