Archive for the ‘Human Resources’ Category

Well, Robert and I have done over 20 shows since our last BusinessCast Podcast round-up. These shows are always popular because they give all entrepreneurs — i.e. new subscribers and loyal listeners alike — a quick and easy way of hearing what business-critical issues we’ve covered over the last handful of months. So, in BusinessCast Podcast #89 – Greatest Hits Vol. 3 we highlight some of the most essential topics and key learnings from BusinessCast episodes as far back as episode #67.

Specifically, in Greatest Hits Vol. 3 we highlights shows AND key BusinessCast blogposts where we provided practical tools and advice to help entrepreneurs address key issues such as:

• Building Profile for Your Business
• Developing Sales Incentives That Increase Revenues
• Tackling Crisis Communication
• Establishing a Strong Foundation in Mobile Marketing
• Speaking Confidently in Public
• Securing Financing
• Emerging Stronger When Good Employees Leave
• Finding the Right Business Partner
• Increasing Cash Flow
• Dealing Effectively with Cross-Generational Values
• Overcoming Sales Objections

In so doing, we also recount some of our most memorable guests, including:

• Catherine Swift (Canadian Federation of Independent Business)
• Michael Younder, Senior Product Marketer (Research in Motion)
• Paul Chato, President of YourWebDepartment and member of the Canadian comedy troupe the Frantics
• Bruce Hunter, Fortune 500 heavyweight and insightful author

And, we do it all in under 20 minutes!

As always you can listen to each of the shows we touch upon in Greatest Hits Vol. 3 by clicking on the BusinessCast Podcast Archives.

Finally, a quick thank you to all BusinessCast Podcast fans who voted for us in the 2008 national blog and podcast competition. The BusinessCast Podcast Canada’s was voted as Canada’s 2nd most favourite podcast!

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Entrepreneurs know: To be succesful – i.e. functional and adaptive - leaders need to employ and inspire the insights and skills of people of various ages. At the same time, entrepreneurs know that while mixing people of different generations sparks creativity it also gives rise to some very real challenges.

We pick up this topic in our second interview with business coach Robin Kennedy in BusinessCast Podcast #80 – Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation.

Of course, business owners can lead and manage the mix of generations by better understanding how generations view their at-work and out-of-work lives. And three key resources that can help you successfully build upon your understanding include the following:

1. A Boomer’s Guide to Communication with Gen X and Gen Y. This Business Week article summarizes how these two generations approach items including: technology, compensation, collaboration, workplace gossip, attire, socializing and corporate loyalty.

2. If your business requires the energies of those who are currently graduating, review the recent Globe and Mail article, The Class of 2012: Mr. Google’s Children.

3. Finally, regardless of how broad the age range of people working at your company is, you can get a solid foundation on managing different generations by reviewing the American Management Association’s highly readable, “Generations at Work“. This has become a seminal piece that clearly and concisely explains the core values, assumptions and expectations of each of the current/evolving generations. To get you inspired, read Robert and my book review. Then, visit the authors’ site which provide some additional resources.

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Just a few weeks ago, Robert and I posed a question to our BusinessCast blog readers and BusinessCast Podcast listeners. We asked: “How often do you update your employee orientation program?”

We were surprised to find that despite the time involved in finding good employees, the cost of losing good employees and the importance that employees contribute to every entrepreneur’s success, the answer was “less than once a year” – over 95% of the time!

So, in our BusinessCast Podcast, Get New Employees Up and Running we answered a host of practical questions, including:

Well, if you’re still wondering how much effort you should put into ‘on-boarding‘ you new employees, the researchers Booz Allen Hamilton have some sobering findings – that should intrigue, inspire and incite you to action, now.

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It’s a difficult reality that all entrepreneurs have to face as they grow their business – sooner or later, one of your good employees will leave.

The challenge is, what do you do when it happens?

In BusinessCast episode #76 – When a Good Employee Leaves, Robert and I tackle this difficult Human Resources issue.

We provide practical insights and tools that will help you to effectively:

• Be better prepared for those times when employees do leave
• Address short-term and long-term to-do’s; and
• Identify how you can turn the potentially ’bad news’ into exciting new opportunities.

Make sure you also, check out this useful resource: an Employee Ending Checklist - that will help you keep organized during the transition.

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Robert and I are offering our BusinessCast podcast listeners (and blog readers) leading-edge business resources — for FREE!

Currently the BusinessCast Podcast ‘Great Book Give-Away‘ includes the following titles — mostly from the folks at McGraw Hill:

• The Four Pillars of Profit-Driven Marketing (2009) – Leslie Moeller and Edward Landry
• Turn Small Talk Into Big Deals (2009) – Don Gabor
  
• How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships (2008) – Leil Lowndes (OUT OF STOCK)
• Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs (2009) – Karen Berman and Joe Knight(OUT OF STOCK)
  
• Sales Coaching: Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach (2009) – Linda Richardson
• The Inspiring Leader (2009) – John Zenger, Joseph Folkman and Scott Edinger
  
• Blogging for Fame and Fortune (2009) – Jason Rich (OUT OF STOCK)
• Business Lessons from the Edge (2009) – Jim McCormick and Maryann Karinch
  
• Smart Networking (2009) – Liz Lynch
• The Customer Rules: The 14 Indispensable, Irrefutable and Indisputable Qualities of the Greatest Service Companies in the World (2009) – C. Britt Beemer and Robert L. Shook
• Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies (2009) – Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff (OUT OF STOCK)
  
• The Extraordinary Leader (2009) – Joseph Zenger & Joseph Folkman
  
• Get Content Get Customers (2009) – Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barrett
• Am I the Only Sane One Working Here (2009) – Albert Bernstein
  
• The Organizational Champion (2009) – Mike Thompson
• The Purpose Linked Organization (2009) – Alaina Love and Marc Cugnon
• Every Family’s Business (2009) – Thomas William Deans
• Performance Intelligence at Work (2009) – Julie Bell
• Databases: A Beginner’s Guide (2009) – Andy Oppel
• Digital Strategies for Powerful Corporate Communications (2009) – Paul Argenti
• Winning Sales Letters (2009) – Ralph Allora
• PowerPoint Presentations That Sell (2009) – Adam Cooper
• Mastering Communication at Work (2009)
• Fearless Leadership (2009) – Loretta Malandro
• Click: 10 Truths for Building Extraordinary Relationships (2009) – George Fraser
• Financial Statements Demystified (2009) – Bonita Kramer and Christine Johnson
• Upstarts: How Gen Y Entrepreneurs Are Rocking the World of Business (2009) – Donna Fenn
  
• Succession and the Family Business (2009) – John Geddes
  
• Loops: The Seven Keys to Small Business Success (2009) – Mike Chaet and Stephen Lundin
  

Some of these books or so new they aren’t even available in stores yet! So, why not get a jump on your competitors by sending an email to Robert (Robert@BusinessCast.ca) to get a FREE copy of one of these business tools.

*Note: These titles are among the BusinessCast Business Book Essentials List.

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