There is a common perception that organizations utilizing performance appraisals are doing so to identify employees no longer wanted or required within the organization.  As a result, the performance appraisal process is often a time that is very stressful for employees.  However, it is important for employees to know that performance appraisals and the performance management of an organization is not a disciplinary process.  Effective performance management has to be seen as a process that should be embraced, not feared.

Performance management is a critical component contributing to the success of an organization.  It is a process that sets out to establish a clear and common understanding of an organization’s goals and how these goals will be achieved.  The performance appraisal is a tool used by human resource (HR) departments allowing them to manage its employees.  It is a mechanism that increases the likelihood of achieving success.

The performance appraisal should not be threatening or adversarial.  It should not be seen by employees as a mechanism for discipline.  To have an effective performance management process, it is important this be clearly communicated to all employees prior to the actual appraisal.  Employees should view the performance appraisal process as an opportunity to discuss and acknowledge their contributions to an organization and how these contributions have contributed to successes realized.  It is an opportunity for individual employees to align their goals closer to that of the organization and should be seen as an enabler of both career advancement of the employee and success of the organization. Full Story »

The dynamics of effective team building present many unique challenges that arise largely from the individual personalities that individual team members bring to the group.  To address this, team leaders must not only facilitate and guide a team’s activities towards the final goal, but strive to improve the level of cooperation amongst team members while accommodating the individuality of the members themselves.

This often becomes a challenge for the team leader.  Ensuring the delicate balance between individuality and team loyalty is of utmost importance for the success of the team.  It is essential for this balance to occur to maximize the level of teamwork and cooperation throughout the team.

Effective team building will occur when the members of team cooperate, not compete.  It is the responsibility of the team leader to ensure that team members not only take ownership of the tasks at hand, but willingly cooperate with the other team members when working toward success.  Competition lowers performance and often brings out the worst in people.  This will in turn will hinder, not promote the fulfillment of the goals. Full Story »

Employing the power of teams and team building by organizations has the potential to empower employees to achieve an organization’s goals.  Many team building events utilized within organizations wrongly borrows from competitive nature of teams from the sporting world.  Teams are often placed in competitive environments and encouraged to compete with coworkers as a mechanism to motivate and enhance performance.

This concept while it appears to be straightforward has one major flaw.  Teams and team building is not about competition it is about cooperation.  Team building is meant to facilitate an organization’s success and enable team members to achieve desired goals.  Competition encourages the concept of “win at all costs”.

Competition plays on the basic primal instinct that exists in us all.  Everyone wants to be a winner and be perceived as being successful in life.  Introducing competition into a team building exercise will not only encourage the “win at all costs” attitude in some team members, it will destroy the underlying principle of team building.  Team building is seen as facilitating the cooperation amongst team members to facilitate achieving goals and completing the assigned task. Full Story »

Talk about your loaded questions.  The responses you get could be all over the place.

So what am I talking about you ask.  Well is it quite simply called branding.  The American Marketing Association tells us that branding is a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers.

To me branding is not so much about getting the marketplace to choose me over my competitors.  It is about being presented in such a way as the marketplace I am targeting sees my service or product as the only viable solution to their problem.  There is no choice involved. Full Story »

By now you must have seen the hype. Big companies spending millions on advertising e-commerce solutions for small business. But try finding even a comprehensible explanation of e-commerce, let alone a complete small business solution and you begin to realize that there is an abundance of resources pressuring us to get on the e-commerce bandwagon, but the resources to allow us to achieve that goal are lacking. The following is a very basic overview of how e-commerce works.

Technically there are different forms of e-commerce, but for simplicity we will look at e-commerce as buying and selling of goods online. 

The first concept to understand is that operating a commerce site requires the same elements of operating a store in the real world.

• A way for customers to gather information about your products
• A way for customers to select and submit their order
• A way to transfer the payment from customer to seller.

Full Story »

It is a very common saying that first impressions need to be the very best impressions.  This is especially so when it comes to career interviews.

Most managers involved in hiring will tell you that they can tell from the first handshake and a little small talk whether they have an interest in hiring the candidate.  It takes hiring managers only about 10 minutes to form either a positive or negative opinion of that job seeker. 

This should tell you something about the approach you need to take for a job interview. 

It really means that the moment you arrive the interview is on.  You need to project confidence and enthusiasm right away.  You should pay particular attention to preparing for the first few questions to be asked. 

Be ready with your responses when they come to these topics.  Full Story »

Why Extend the Product Life Cycle?

The primary reason for extending the product life cycle is simply profit.  Extending out the life of a product gives the business every opportunity to exploit the markets opportunities.  It allows businesses to gain additional time to generate more profit by establishing a longer presence with the product.

When each stage of the product life cycle is extended it allows more exposure to every target market in that phase of the life cycle giving the product time to gain even more consumers.

Strategies to Extend the Product Life Cycle.

Full Story »

There are many stages to the product life cycle and they involve different aspects of business planning.  Based on where your product is in its life cycle there are going to be different sales and cost expectations along with different business strategies for maximizing the products profit.  The products profits and expenses will rise and fall as it progresses through its life cycle. 

When you accept that a product has a life cycle you also accept four additional truths about products.  That is they have limited life spans, sales fluctuate with the stages, profits will also rise and fall during the stages of life and lastly products require different marketing strategies based on the stage of their life cycle. Full Story »

Congratulations! Your application has made it through the pile and you’ve been shortlisted for an interview. Now the hard work begins. A job interview can be a nerve-wracking experience but if you spend time in preparation you’re sure to perform at your best. Here’s a quick guide to making the most of your opportunities at interview.

Ask questions: Toward the end of the interview you’ll be asked if you have any questions. Ensure you have some prepared before the interview and use the time to cover any important points you may have missed during the main questions.

Body Language: The way you hold your body says a lot about you and how you feel about yourself. Be aware of how you are presenting yourself through your body language and make sure you’re giving the interviewer the right message.

Clarify: In the pressure situation of a job interview it’s possible to misunderstand the intent of an interviewer’s question. If you think you haven’t understood a question, ask the interviewer for clarification before you begin to answer.

Dress Appropriately: Plan what you want to wear before the interview, keeping in mind the company and the type job you are working for. For example, a business suit is customary for a position in banking, but not necessarily for a job in childcare.

Examples: During the interview illustrate your answers by giving specific examples of how you have used skills and knowledge in previous work or study situations.

Follow Up: After the interview it is good manners to send your interviewer a short note thanking them for the opportunity. At the same time ask if it’s possible to get feedback on your performance at interview. This can be a valuable learning tool whether or not you are successful in winning the position.

Greeting: Greet your interviewer or interviewers with a firm handshake and a friendly smile. Use eye contact and most importantly, remember their names and call them by name during the interview.

Honesty: Answer all interview questions honestly and to the best of your ability. Don’t claim to possess a skill that you don’t have.

Interviewer: During your preparation for interview put yourself in the interviewer’s place. Anticipate the type of questions they may ask. Ask yourself, what could a candidate for this position do that would really impress me? Then follow through on that idea.

Jot Down: If it’s permissible for you to take notes during the interview, jot down key words and phrases used during the interview questions. This will help you to answer the questions plus give you material to on which to base your own questions to the interviewer.

Knowledge: Display your knowledge of the industry and company who are offering you the interview. If you have researched carefully you should have a broad knowledge of both the company and industry. Let the interviewers know that you do.

Listen Carefully: Listen to the questions being put to you during the interview. When you’re nervous it’s easy to let your mind wander. Maintaining eye contact with your interviewer helps you to stay alert.

Modulate Your Voice: Make your tone of voice sound interested and interesting. Interviewers are often dealing with dozens of applicants each day, so maintain their interest in you by using your voice effectively.

Nerves: Everyone is nervous when they are being interviewed. The secret is to stay calm and keep your anxiety in check. Breathe deeply and stay focused on the task at hand.

Organised: Know what you are going to wear, what you will need to take and how you will get to your interview the day before it’s due. If you have everything organised the evening before you are less likely to rush and forget something on the big day.

Preparation: Research the company and the industry. Think about the type of questions you are likely to be asked and have some questions of your own prepared. Use your written application to help you. Source information about the company from brochures, website and industry magazines. Make it your business to find out everything you can about the company and their competition.

Quality not Quantity: The quality of an answer isn’t judged by its length but by its content. Don’t talk yourself out of a job with rambling answers. The interviewer will not be impressed with your time wasting behaviour.

Rehearse: If possible, roleplay the interview with a family member or a friend. This is not to memorise your answers - you don’t know exactly what the questions will be - but to increase your confidence and help to clarify what you want to say and how you want to say it. Or try the ‘Virtual Interviewer’ on the Seek website. It’s an excellent way to rehearse your skills.

Smile: It breaks the ice and it will help you and your interviewer relax. Think about your answers: Take a few moments after a question has been posed to gather your thoughts. If you’ve taken notes, refer to them before answering the question.

Unique: If you have a quality that you believe uniquely qualifies you for the job vacancy, be sure to let your prospective employer know. If the opportunity doesn’t arise during the interview, mention it at the end when you’re summing up.

Value: Demonstrate how you can add value to the company. Be specific about this. You are competing against other candidates who are as qualified or more qualified than you.

Work Experience: Remember to tell the interviewer about all your relevant work experience both paid and unpaid. Include your involvement in community and sporting activities.

X Factor: It’s that certain something that some people have and some don’t. If you have it, great. Use it to your advantage. If you feel you’re one of the many without the ‘X Factor’ market yourself as if you do.

Yawn: Yawning is sometimes a nervous habit. Be aware and alert. If you notice your interviewer stifling a yawn, take note and keep your answers relevant and concise.

Zing: Add a bit of zing to your presentation. Be enthusiastic and let your personality shine through. You are an individual with plenty to offer so let the interviewer know it.

It could very easily be the most famous term in marketing and one of the first concepts learned by marketers.  It is also known at the Four P’s each representing one tactical component of price, place, product and promotion within a comprehensive marketing plan.

After all what is marketing if it is not putting the right product in the right place, at the right price with the right promotion?

You need a product that people want, offerer for sale in a place they frequent, at a time when they want to purchase, at a price they feel matches the value they will receive from it.

It is simple right?  Well at least the idea is.  It takes an enormous amount of work to actually identify what it is that the people want.  After you do that you still need to figure out where it is that they do their shopping.  In addition you need to produce the product at a cost they find value with.  And then make it all come together on time.

Get just one element of the mixture wrong and it could mean disaster.  If the price is too high it will not sell and if too low it will not be profitable.  No one wants text books after the start of the school year.  By working through the marketing mix you can avoid these mistakes.

The marketing mix as first expressed in 1960 by EJ McCarthy is your recipe to the success of your product.

Product / Service

The product is simply what is produced and offered for sale.  It could also be a service.  An example might be an automobile or laptop computer.  There are a few things that you need to take into consideration when developing your product.

• How will you differentiate your product/service from your competitors?
• What will your product/service be called?
• How will the product/service be branded?
• What need or use does the consumer need the product or service to satisfy?
• Does it have the features needed to meet consumer’s expectations?
  • Have you included expensive features that are not needed or wanted?
  • Have you included all the features that are needed to meet expectations?
• Does the cost of the product meet the expectations of consumer value?

Place

This represents that location where your customers will be able to purchase the product or use the service.  Another term associated with it sometimes is distribution channel.  It can be a physical location, but could easily be an online store.  When considering place you should keep the following in mind.

• Where will your customers seek out your product or service?
  • Is it online, in a store, via a catalogue or in a supermarket?
• Will you have channels to distribute your product?
• How do your competitors distribute products and can you differentiate yourself from them?
• Will you need a sales team?

Price

Made up of several factors price is really what a customer perceives the value of the product to be.  Factors that make up price include the cost of materials and production, competition, branding and your share of the market.  When setting price your business should consider the following.

• Where are you priced in comparison to your competitors?
• Will you offer discounts to any segment of your market such as tradesman?
• How sensitive to price are your customers? Will it be more profitable to lower prices to gain extra market share?
• How much demand is there for your product or service?
• Most importantly - how much do your customers value your product or service.

Promotion

The promotion piece represents how the marketer communicates within the marketplace in promoting the product or service.  There are four basic areas, those of point of sale, word of mouth, advertising and public relations.  Using all four areas of promotion will create a certain amount of crossover.  Here are some highlights for creating a campaign.

• Determine where and when to take your message to your customers.
• How will your each your target market? With television, radio, newspaper, billboards, direct mail marketing, press releases or internet marketing. There are endless possibilities.
• The timing of your promotion is important. Is your product seasonal such as trees or are there any environmental issues that affect your products sales?
• Where and how are your competitors promoting themselves? Will this affect how effective your promotions are?

The marketing mix model of the 4Ps just outlined is only one of several such lists which have been developed over the years.  No matter the model used, they are intended to provoke thought and probing into the core elements which lead to a successful product launch or re-launch.

Another version of the marketing mix is based on 7Ps developed by Boom and Bitner.  They use the original 4 and add people, processes (the customer experience such as Disney World) and physical layouts (examples include facilities or uniforms).

Implementing the Marketing Mix

After reading through the principals of the marketing mix, you are probably wondering where to start.  It can be used on either an existing offer or when bringing on a new product or service.  Start with the outline below.

• Decide on the product or service you need to examine.
• Keeping your product or service in mind answer the questions that relate to the 4Ps which we already covered.
• In addition to the 4Ps ask yourself questions that start with “why” or “what if”. Examples would be what if I offered my product in different sizes? Why is it offered in seven colors? You want questions that really challenge your strategy and force you to analyze every aspect of your product. Your answers to these questions should be well researched and factual.
• Test your theories and offers on the target market to measure the response.
  • Do the products features meet the customer’s needs?
  • Is the product available where the target audience shops?
  • Does the price represent a good value to the consumers?
  • Do your promotional methods get through to your target audience?
• Based on your answers repeat the marketing mix process until you have a program in place which based on facts is likely to be successful.
• External factors change with time so you need to regularly review your marketing mix to remain competitive in the marketplace.

Consistently using the marketing mix to develop new products and evaluate existing offers will help you to effectively manage your line.