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Posted: 11 Oct 2012 03:00 AM PDT

It is not always true that well-compensated employees are the happiest ones. Believing in the theory that money equals happiness can cost you precious time, resources and employees. It is a good way to attract better employees and motivate employees to stay in the company but it is not an effective solution to solve each problem.

Recognize and Reward Achievements

Appreciate the work your employees do. It can be as simple as praising your staff on the spot or applauding them during the middle of the shift, meeting or social gathering. Remember to do it promptly so that the satisfaction for doing a job well is still fresh on the employees' minds. Get creative when it comes to determining how to reward your staff. Ask your employees for ideas if you have a hard time making up a reward. Other ideas to try include giving them the occasional afternoon off. Giving a few extra hours off during a Friday afternoon will allow them to enjoy the upcoming weekend better and feel more refreshed the week after. Remember to do this at random. If the employees get used to receiving such rewards then it could become meaningless.

Training

Training can come in many forms including one-on-one coaching, workshops and seminars. You can have the training done within the office grounds or in a different type of environment. Among the two, holding the training off-site can be more expensive but it brings them into a fresh, new environment and offers a stimulating break from the rigors of office work. However, because of the cost, it may be more practical to organize trainings on-site and offer additional off-site training as a prize or perk for a selected number of employees. The aim is to teach employees new skills or reinforce old ones. As such, the training must be headed by people who are knowledgeable in that particular skill. This can be an employee who has expertise in that skill or hiring someone from outside the company to teach that particular skill to your employees.

Lay Out a Definite Career Path

Employees often want to stay in a company that can offer some form of career growth. Most do not want to stay stuck in the same position for the rest of their natural life. A higher position may not necessarily equate to bigger wages but getting promoted and having a variety of career options targets a person's pride and self-esteem. These two factors encourage people to work harder as it makes them think that there is something to look forward to in the company. If there are new openings available within the company, implement a policy of hiring from within. It gives the impression that you are prioritizing your staff and appreciating the work that they do for the company.

Schedule Social Events and Gatherings

Organizing events for the staff can help them get to know other employees in the company. It also helps strengthen existing bonds within groups or teams. You can consider holding theme parties before major holidays such as Christmas or Independence Day. Other ideas to try out include holding sports fests or treating your employees to a free movie.

Assign Leadership Roles

Allowing employees to assume leadership roles for a brief period of time can help show what the strength of each employee is. Giving them the spotlight will also show you which employees can be promoted to higher positions. You can assign specific employees to lead certain meeting sessions. Make sure to acknowledge their efforts once the sessions are over.

Promote Team Spirit

Make your employees feel that they are part of a team. Employees that have a close affinity with their peers will be more encouraged to work as a team to reach company goals. Hopefully, in time, this will also make your employees feel more attached to the company. You can hold competitions and team building activities to reinforce this idea among your employees.

Inspire Others

Get to know your employees beyond their roles in the office. Know what inspires them or drives them to achieve objects. Make them understand what challenges you and how it motivates you in life. Knowing each other more will make it easier to understand how to deal each other more effectively.

What do you do to motivate employees?

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The post How To Motivate Employees Effectively appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

The Future Of E-Commerce - Where Intention Meets Social

Posted: 10 Oct 2012 05:31 AM PDT

I read an article just today where it was confirmed that Facebook are currently testing a new feature that – in my opinion - may become as popular and ubiquitous as the 'Like' button. This feature is the 'Want' button, and is a way for users to announce their desire or interest in a particular product or service within the walls of the social network. The 'Want' button should function in the same way as the Like button.

If you 'want' a product, you hit the button in much the same way as you hit 'Like' to publicly announce your approval or admiration for a particular status update.

Intention Economy

For me, this is not just another Facebook feature, but rather represents the fertile shoots of a new phenomenon which I believe is imminent – an 'Intention Economy' powered by the depth, reach and consumer-enabling capabilities of Social. This new online economy will be the 'next big thing' in e-commerce models, and will focus around harnessing and showcasing the purchase intentions of consumers worldwide.

It will involve the matching of consumer purchase intent with the readiness of sellers to meet it via e-commerce platforms with a strong social focus. On a practical level, consumers will announce what they intend to purchase via various platforms, and sellers will move to accommodate them.

A new brand of social commerce

'Deal of the day' websites such as Groupon and LivingSocial have already made inroads into social commerce. The only issue is that they have merely scratched the surface of what is possible, if even that. Indeed, their model is actually the complete reverse of the 'intention' model. Instead of allowing consumers to announce their intentions in a targeted, structured and customised way, these models are more attuned to a broadcast media, 'scattergun' approach. While Groupon may have been the fastest growing company in history, theirs is a much less effective and far more hit and miss model – and all the evidence points to consumers having become jaded with the irrelevant daily deals email 'blast', likening it almost to spam. You may even be reading this and nodding your head in agreement.

What are the benefits of this new Intention Economy?

There are a number of key upsides associated with this new economy for consumers in particular:

Collective buying power

This is the number one consumer advantage. Why purchase something alone, when you can purchase with others to get what you want at a lower price? Group together with others who have stated their intention to purchase the product or service you want. Watch this collective purchasing power entice vendors to make offers with modest reductions, as opposed to the unsustainable discounts outfits like Groupon demand.

Time-saving efficiencies and an improved overall shopping experience

In the new world of the Intention Economy, you do not need to invest huge amounts of time in scanning different websites and performing comparison checks to ensure you are getting the best deal. Simply announce your intention to purchase along with a specified group, name your budget, and sit back and watch as the purchasing power of the group compels sellers to make you an offer that fits your criteria. Job done.

Social proof

If you can see at a glance that others with the same interests as you are looking for the same product or service, this gives you the reassurance that you are making a solid purchasing decision. It also gives you that general reassurance of being part of something bigger – we are social animals after all.

How will we recognise the arrival of the Intention Economy?

Aside from Facebook's imminent foray into the Intention Economy, there is already some limited evidence of the new paradigm in action. Campaigns such as Dell Swarm have allowed consumers to join together and exert their collective buying power by purchasing big-ticket items in groups. This is a win-win for both buyer and seller. Consumers save, whilst businesses get to make sales in bulk, gain new customers, advocates and repeat custom. They can achieve all this while enhancing their brand image and drawing attention to their product or service offering via the social networks, forums, and community websites where buyers are apt to spread details on the opportunity to purchase together.

The benefits do not stop there. Businesses may also have the opportunity to gain access to a rich source of data on the purchasing intentions of their consumers via the platforms which enable this new brand of social commerce. The most obvious one, as mentioned, is Facebook – but there will inevitably be new platforms and applications outside of the enclosed network which will allow businesses access to this invaluable source of market intelligence.

The real movement towards this new economy, however, may only arrive with the emergence of the future start-ups and entrepreneurs who wish to grasp with both hands the opportunities the Intention Economy provides. It is only a matter of time before we start to awaken to the value of a truly socially-enhanced way of executing our purchasing decisions in transforming the future of e-commerce.

What are your thoughts on this prospective new Intention Economy? Do you see clear benefits for both business and consumer?

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The post The Future Of E-Commerce - Where Intention Meets Social appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

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joi, 11 octombrie 2012