How to Make Sure You Are Hiring the Right Employees for Your Business

The success and growth of your business depend on employing the right employees; thus, business owners should have a clear hiring procedure in place before hiring new employees.

You will increase your chances of employing the greatest performers and averting expensive and painful blunders by investing time and effort in discovering the right personnel.

Many business owners possess sound judgment regarding whether or not a candidate is suitable for the position. However, you shouldn’t depend solely on intuition. The selection of a candidate should be based on reliable, factual considerations.

Here are steps to make sure you are hiring the right employees for your business.

1.   Assess the Culture of Your Business

You must be aware of the needs of your business to hire the best candidates. What is the mission of your business? What are the values of your business? What kind of people fit in? What sort of mindset are you seeking?

With all these important questions going through your mind, critically search for potential candidates and see how they measure up to the required standard according to the needs of your business.

2.   Create Detailed Descriptions of Jobs

It will be challenging to find the ideal employee if you don’t have a good understanding of what tasks staff are expected to perform. For each position within the business, create detailed descriptions of jobs that accurately reflect the duties, amount of expertise, and experience needed. Make sure you explain the job criteria to job seekers in detail during the recruitment process.

3.   Prepare Well-Structured and Organized Interviews

Make an assessment scorecard that could be used to rank and contrast how well job seekers performed according to several criteria.

When the time for an interview comes, it is a good idea to speak with qualified candidates more than once and involve other parties, such as the manager and an HR representative to whom the new hire would report.

Corporate Business Solutions recommend employing behavior-based interviewing approaches. These entail asking candidates to explain how they overcame particular problems in previous roles. You can also offer them a set of possible scenarios featuring a challenging circumstance and inquire as to how they would respond. The past performance of potential employees is one of the best indicators of future performance.

4.   Test Potential Employees

Candidates should be required to complete a task that calls for the abilities and skills for which they are being employed as another crucial step in the recruitment and selection process. Why not ask the prospective employee to drive a vehicle or truck if required, or do a sales pitch if required, if it is part of the job description?

5.   Look Beyond the Resume or CV of the Jobseeker

The position may not be best suited for the applicants with the highest qualifications on paper. Inquire about the applicants’ goals, priorities, and aspirations. If earning a substantial salary for a multinational organization is their desire, they can find it difficult to work for a small business.

6.   Request for References

Reference checks continue to be one of the finest ways to learn more about candidates, even though few companies publish testimonials about former workers. It is usually a good idea to check references, so do it now. Additionally, think about conducting some independent research by contacting others who know the job seeker or have previously worked with them.

7.   Bring the Employees On Board

Once the best candidates have been hired, you need their complete support. According to research, a strong orientation program can raise new hire retention rates by as much as 42%. A more experienced employee who can coach and mentor the new hire throughout their early days on the job might be a good option in addition to patient training.

Conclusion

Finally, remember the importance of two principles – consistency and job-relatedness. Make sure you record each stage of the procedure and have strong, unbiased, evidence-based justifications for your hiring or firing decisions.

Causes of Low Employee Retention

Studies have shown that employers prefer to employ someone who is already in employment over someone unemployed. But this means that another employer is about to lose a member of their staff.

This means that all businesses need to work hard at retaining their best employees. Losing any worker can be disruptive, and the business is then faced with the costs of recruitment and the loss of institutional and customer knowledge.

High employee turnover impacts a business’s profitability and can also affect customer satisfaction, plus it is costly to recruit new staff. Every leaver should be asked to take part in an exit interview so the business can understand the reasons for leaving and find ways to fix addressable problems.

Excessive employee turnover is preventable. Here are the main reasons employees leave.

An employee has no purpose – they work just because it is a job to do. But businesses that have a strong mission have more motivated employees who live the business brand.

Low Pay – it’s been found that workers who change jobs earn on average an extra 5.2%. If your pay rates and benefits are near the top of the scale it makes it more difficult for competitors to lure away your employees. Ensure you apply annual pay increases. Pay rates are the easiest way for employees to gauge how much you value them and their efforts. So, unsurprisingly, underpaying what an employee feels they are worth is the number one reason they move on.

Being overworked – when employees feel they are performing tasks without appropriate resources to be successful, they feel a lack of control and consistently face more daily stress than they can manage. A combination of emotional and physical exhaustion with a sense of hopelessness and self-blame, manifests in behavioral and physical issues, commonly referred to as burnout. Ensure all employees have enough resources to do their job and that their workload can be achieved in the hours they are paid to work.

Bad managers – while some bad managers take credit for the work of others or play favorites, more commonly it is because they are just bad at managing others. Good managers know the ability of their staff and uncover their skills and motivations, capitalizing on them for the good of the business. Bad managers don’t do this and fail to get the best out of their staff or demotivate staff by criticizing perceived underperformance.

Little feedback or recognition – employees who receive positive feedback rarely seek employment elsewhere. The only thing worse than bad feedback is no feedback at all. When employees lack guidance bout their performance or how to develop their skills, they feel they have no direction and no future with the business.

No opportunity for growth and development – if there are few opportunities for promotion, the next best thing is providing career development opportunities to get better at what the employee does or to learn new skills and move into different departments. Without this, the employee can be left to feel as if they will be doing the same daily tasks forever, and that doesn’t encourage them to stay where they are long term

Toxic Work Culture – it has been reported that as many as 25% of US workers dread going to work! Many of the reasons are caused by a combination of the previous issues mentioned but can also include poor relationships with workmates with issues like bullying and harassment raising their heads. When employees feel included, respected, and empowered to do their job without being micromanaged turnover is usually low.

Viewing the Corporate Business Solutions Reviews you will find businesses with good staff retention rates.

Improving Employee Relations

As a business owner, employee relations are one of the most important aspects of your company. Without good employee relations, it can be difficult to keep your business running like a well-oiled machine.

One of the best ways to enhance employee relations in your business is by preventing burnout. Stress is inevitable in any job but minimizing it in your company will help improve your employee relations and even save you some money.

The American Institute of Stress has found that job stress costs U.S. companies over $300 billion annually due to absenteeism, accidents, workers’ compensation, reduced productivity, employee turnover, and direct medical, legal, and insurance costs.

It is safe to say that reducing stress and preventing burnout is one of the best ways to improve employee relations and keep your business thriving. Thankfully, there are a variety of ways that you can reduce job-related stress for your employees.

How to Prevent Burnout

  • Implement Work/Life Balance 

One of the best ways to prevent burnout is by promoting and implementing a work-life balance for your employees. This can be done by closing around the holidays or accommodating individual schedules. Allowing employees time out of work for family, self-care, and other personal tasks that they need to do will help them show up fully when they are in the office and decrease distractions.

  • Encourage Using Vacation Time 

Numerous studies have found that a significant percentage of employees do not use their vacation time. This may be due to a fear of being able to get the time off without risking their job or putting more work onto their colleagues while they are gone. Encouraging the use of vacation time is a wonderful way to emphasize the importance of taking time off to avoid burnout. Make sure you have systems in place for coverage while an employee is gone so that they can easily get time off when needed.

  • Promote Wellness in the Workplace 

Promoting overall wellness is a fantastic way to prevent burnout and should be done inside and outside of the workplace itself. Offering calm spaces to take a break, free healthy snacks, and even workout classes within the office on certain days can help encourage overall wellness. In doing so, you may be eliminating a few extra tasks for the day such as going to the gym or grabbing a bite to eat. These simple steps can help employees avoid burnout and easily take care of themselves as an individual.

  • Introduce Remote Working Options 

Remote working is becoming increasingly popular. While some may prefer working in the office, others may find that working at home is more accessible. Working at home saves commuting time and transportation money. Even if you cannot go fully remote, offering work to complete at home can help employees feel more balanced and less overwhelmed.

  • Focus on Opportunities for Employee Growth

One reason that employees may feel burnt out in a company is if there is no room for growth. Being transparent with a company’s future growth and the employment opportunities that will come is an effective way to avoid turnover. Employees who feel they can have a career with a certain company that offers more money and opportunity as time goes on are more likely to stick around longer.

Corporate Business Solutions Reviews can help you map out your company’s future as well as your employees.

Dos and Don’ts for Small Business Owners

Small business owners throughout the world are different. However, there are some dos and don’ts of business ownership to beware of. There are certain traits, qualities, and mindsets that will take you further.

These things will also help you create success for not only yourself but everyone around you. Leading a business properly matters for customers, staff, and you as a business owner. Though, nowadays this mentality is quite rare. That statement is especially true in larger corporations.

With all that in mind, Corporate Business Solutions has put together some dos and don’ts for small business owners.

Do: Show respect to your customers and staff

In your chosen industry, you must be respected. However, that respect must be earned. The best small business owners will always treat people with respect.

Whether rich or poor, all people should be treated the same, without any judgment. Make sure your customers and staff are treated with respect, courtesy, and honesty.

Do: Communicate

To get the best out of your small business, you want to show that you have great character, maturity, and integrity. Most of all, you want to ensure that you communicate effectively with everything you encounter. Successful business owners don’t just speak about themselves.

Instead, they will share expertise, check in on customers and employees, and ensure that every conversation adds value. Make sure you use good manners and speak with consideration and thoughtfulness.

Don’t: Waste people’s time

As a leader, you mustn’t waste people’s time. Every time you show up late to a meeting or appointment, you are essentially saying that your time is more important. How you treat people says everything about you as a leader.

If you don’t allow staff to show up late for meetings, why should you be allowed to? It all goes back to respecting your staff and treating people equally.

Don’t: Think too highly of yourself

Self-confidence is important. However, thinking too highly of yourself could cause a lot of issues. Make sure that the words “do you know who I am?” never come out of your mouth. This could put you in hot water with your employees and those around you. While many business owners don’t usually mention that they’re the owner, some will pull out the “I’m too important” card all too often. People will like you far more if you stop acting as you know better than they do.

This will, in turn, make your work life far easier. The last thing your small business needs is someone acting like they’re above everyone else, even if you technically are. Treating people with kindness will take you far further than you think.

Owning a small business is no easy feat. However, with the right tools and the knowledge of dos and don’ts, you’re on the right path to success. Implement these dos and don’ts to ensure that you keep winning with a positive reputation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Use Color Psychology When Marketing Your Small Business

Have you noticed the way different colors can make you feel? When you’re standing in a lush green field surrounded by blue skies, you feel complete serenity. Perhaps you have even noticed that the color red can make you feel slightly alarmed.

No matter the color that popped into your mind when you read the first sentence of this post, it is likely that you have fallen victim to color psychology. As crazy as it may sound, colors have a huge effect on the human psyche.

It is all part of color psychology. Check out this little guide from CBS-CBS.com to learn more about color psychology.

What is Color psychology? 

Color psychology is the way different colors determine or affect human behavior. You can readily use color psychology in advertising and marketing to evoke and change emotional reactions to what you are advertising. While that sounds simple enough, there is plenty to know about color psychology.

How do colors influence people? 

Color meaning and color psychology can easily and powerfully change the way people behave and make decisions. Within only a few minutes, people can make subconscious judgments about a person, product, or environment. With the right colors, you can impact people’s initial impression of you and your business.

As a business promoting your brand, you should know all about tints, hues, colors, and shades to evoke emotion and promote action. Through specific color choices in logos, signage, packaging, and advertising, brands can easily influence consumers to buy on impulse or choose their product over another.

For example, when you think about your favorite brands, think about how they make you feel. Do their logos stand out because of their bright colors or do you prefer black and white? That is color psychology in its finest form.

How colors can make people feel…

Here are some colors and how they may make people feel:

  • Red- Red often creates a sense of urgency. That is what makes it perfect for clearance sales or breaking news. It is also frequently used by fast-food chains as it often makes people hungry. People may often associate red with passion, movement, power, and excitement.
  • Green- Green is most often associated with health, wellness, and general wellbeing. It is clean, clear, and brings a sense of nature into your brand. The color green can also create a feeling of harmony and encourage decisions.
  • Purple- Usually, the color purple is associated with wisdom, royalty, and respect. It greatly stimulates creativity.
  • Blue- Funnily enough, men prefer the color blue in advertising and marketing over any other. It is associated with reliability, peace, tranquility, and water. The color blue also promotes trust in a brand.
  • Yellow and orange- Both colors are cheerful and promote optimism. However, used incorrectly they can make people cautious.

Color psychology is a powerful stimulator when it comes to how people view your brand. How you incorporate color into your brand will essentially say everything about your business. While there are no “best” marketing colors, there are colors that impact people better than others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 Tips to Keep Your Business Afloat During Challenging Times

It’s been well over a year now that we’ve maneuvered through a global pandemic. Through this pandemic, many businesses have learned the hard way how to adapt on the fly. Unfortunately, many other companies could not make ends meet through rolling shutdowns and, ultimately, closed their doors for good.

Now, as the world rolls out the Covid-19 vaccines in hopes of gaining control over the rapid virus, many business owners look back at 2020 as a way to help prepare for other challenges they may face down the road.

Although we hope not to implement backup plans, it’s a good idea to have a plan for challenging times ahead that many businesses are likely to face. To help, your Corporate Business Solutions consultants have three tips to keep your business afloat during challenging times.

Avoid Reacting to the Situation

It’s common for people to react to a situation. When someone reacts to a challenge in front of them, they often do so with emotion, leading to an irrational reaction rather than a thoughtful process. Reacting head-on may work in some situations, but not all.

When faced with challenging times, it’s best to slow down and look at the big picture before doing anything. The issue with immediately reacting to what’s in front of you is that a quick decision now could have even more damaging effects later on. Instead, take the time to think things through, develop a thoughtful plan and then react with a calm mind.

A good example would be you have an employee that keeps messing up with inventory. Frustration may take over, and your initial reaction could be to let the employee go. However, if you take a moment to dig into what’s going on, you could find that the training process wasn’t thorough enough and the mistakes the employee is making aren’t actually their fault.

Have an Emergency Fund

When faced with difficulties, many businesses find themselves nervous about not having enough profits to pay the bills. Having a cash reserve meant for emergencies is a crucial backup plan to have. That way, if you end up having to close your doors for a bit, you’ll be able to make ends meet with your emergency funds.

Revamp Your Marketing Strategy

As the world goes in and out of challenging times, your marketing strategy needs to reflect that. If you continue to push the same marketing strategy regardless of the situation around you, your return may not be what it was a few months ago.

Have a couple of different marketing strategies to implement based on what is going on worldwide (or in your industry). For the recent year with the pandemic, businesses could benefit by changing their marketing strategy to showcase the value in what you offer, even if the budget is tight.

The point being, it’s about reflecting and being sensitive to what is going on around you and adapting your marketing strategy to reflect that.

No matter how prepared a business may be to face difficult times, our plans do not always work. However, by preparing for the “what ifs,” you could save your business and stay afloat.

Stressed Every Day? 6 Stress Management Tips for Business Owners

Stress is part of our everyday lives. There’s good stress that can help prevent you from doing something you should. Then, there’s the bad stress that can cause harm to both your physical and mental health.

Uncontrolled stress can lead to mental illnesses like depression and anxiety. On the physical side, too much stress can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, and eating disorders. Too much stress can cause many health issues that make your everyday life difficult to go through, especially if you’re a business owner.

Keep your stress under control so you can work to the best of your abilities. Reviews for Corporate Business Solutions has six stress management tips for business owners.

Learn Your Symptoms of Being Overly Stressed

Everyone has their own symptoms that tell you when there’s too much stress in your life. However, there are several common symptoms of stress that it’s important you’re aware of.

Stress manifests itself in various ways, including headaches, acne, frequent sickness, chronic fatigue, digestive issues, and decrease sex drive. Pay attention to these types of symptoms if they’re frequently happening. It could be your body telling you to slow down and relax.

Take Breaks Throughout the Day

Breaks are essential but often overlooked. Many long and stressful days could be eased up a bit by knowing when it’s time to take a break. That is also why it’s important to know the symptoms of stress to take those breaks when symptoms appear.

Taking a break can look different per person. Some may prefer to go for a walk around the block and breath in some fresh air, while others might need to exit their email and get lost in a quick game. Whatever your break looks like, just make sure to take them when you start feeling stressed.

Stay Active

Physical activity is an effective aid against stress and even prevents it from flaring up. Staying active has a positive effect on the brain. It reduces the stress hormones while stimulating endorphins (those “feel good” hormones). When you feel good and strong, you’re more likely to have a better handle on stress when it does appear.

Learn to Delegate

Is your stress coming from being overwhelmed with work? If that’s the case, it’s time to learn how to delegate or start hiring a trusted team. If you’re constantly drowning in tasks and never feel like you can get caught up, it’ll be challenging to get your stress under control.

Take a Vacation

Many entrepreneurs are stressed because they have too much work. So, taking a vacation may seem counterintuitive. However, sometimes when you take a step away from the job and focus on relaxing, it can help clear your head so you can come back and tackle your day with a more positive perspective.

Get a Good Night’s Rest

Sleep is essential for everyone. Although it may seem tempting to stay up late to catch up on work for the next day, running off too little sleep can actually do the opposite. Not having enough sleep will lead to chronic exhaustion, which can cause mind fogginess and slow you down. So, get a good night’s rest as much as you can.

Stress management seems simple. However, it does take some practice to develop the habits that will help keep your stress under control.

Could Flexible Working Cause A Lack Of Community In The Workplace?

Flexible working is becoming more commonplace. There has been a greater demand for a transformed work culture in this day and age due to the belief that a smarter and more modern approach will foster better business productivity while supporting a healthy work/life balance for employees.

It seems clear that the flexible work scenario isn’t going anywhere any time soon, and it comes in many forms. From flexible daily hours to home working and compressed working weeks, this style of employment is especially appealing to today’s workforce. So much so, that it has been suggested that in just a few years, the dominant form of employment will be flexible working.

The Benefits Of Flexible Working

It’s easy to see why flexible working is such a popular choice. There are well-established benefits associated with allowing workers to work more flexibly, and positive correlations with a higher level of commitment to the organization as well as better job satisfaction. When family commitments can be accommodated, the stress of commuting can be reduced and workload aligned to the energy cycles of the individual, employees are empowered and feel they have greater control over their working environment and schedule.

For the employer too, the evidence suggests flexible working can reduce staff turnover while also helping in the recruitment of top talent. It also helps to keep a successful team intact while enhancing the company’s image overall.

Yet, there are some disadvantages too that are often overlooked.

The Downside Of A Flexible Work Schedule

Flexible working can lead to the “always-on culture” which can be detrimental to an organization and its employees. Checking emails and responding to them out of office hours, and being available for work at any hour of the day or night may be a way to enhance effectiveness and efficiency, but it can also cause high levels of stress among workers that can impact negatively on psychological and physical health.

Nurturing A Positive Work Community And Environment

When a team can work together closely within the time and space they can generate the best creative energy. Being physically together permits intimacy, clarity, and spontaneity that, in turn, nourishes conviction, confidence, and understanding.

The answer to this is to have more flexibility about flexibility. Flexible working’s outcome should be a set of agreed targets that both employee and employer are on board with, that cover a mix of personal and professional priorities.

So, how do you go about implementing this practice within your organization? If you read Corporate Business Solutions reviews you’ll see that getting the right business consulting help can make an enormous difference to your company’s success.

Our team is well-positioned to give you the essential advice that you need to take your business forward into the future with modern and flexible working practices that reap all of the benefits of this way of operating but that avoid the potential pitfalls of a loss of community and an uncreative, incohesive working environment.

6 Tips for Keeping Your Work Computer Secured

At work, you have tons of important data on your computer, just like you have personal information on your computer at home. If that device or its data got into the wrong hands, it could be detrimental to the business.

Keeping your computer and everything stored on it secured is essential to the safety and privacy of everyone involved in your company. From employee’s information for payroll to client contact and banking data, you’re responsible for all of that information and to keep it safe.

Here at CBS-CBS.com, we know how essential security is for any business. So, we came up with six points to help keep your work computer secured.

Physically Lock Your Computer

Chances are, you have a laptop for your work. They’re great in the sense that they’re portable and you can take them anywhere. However, if you can move your laptop to wherever you want, so can somebody else.

You can get cable locks that will secure your computer to wherever it’s sitting. That way, if you’re not around, you don’t have to worry about someone sneaking in and stealing the device. These cable locks can also be useful for monitors as well.

Always Log Out

If you have to step away from your computer, always log out of what you’re doing. Even if it is only for a few minutes, put your computer to sleep so that if anyone tries to access it, they have to enter in your password.

Logging out will hide any personal information you may have open on your computer. It’s one of the best ways to add additional security from anyone walking by.

Have Strong Passwords

If you don’t have passwords, you should add some right now. Passwords are a way to lock out unwanted users from your device. However, passwords are only useful if you’re the only person that knows them, and you make them strong.

Make a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters for your passwords. Try to use different combinations for all the passwords you need, and get in the habit of regularly updating them.

Keep Your Computer Updated

If you’re more concerned about an online breach, then one step to take is to keep your computer updated. Each update your device has will likely have useful upgrades for protecting it against online threats. Falling behind on those updates could leave your computer vulnerable to an attack.

Install Additional Security Software

Depending on how strong your computer’s internal security is, you may want to consider installing additional protection. Use software that regularly scans your computer, warns you of suspicious online activity, and blocks you from accessing threatening websites and emails.

Use a VPN

If you’re ever on a public network and doing remote work, it’s a good idea to install a VPN (Virtual Private Network). This software creates a tunnel for your data to travel through once you connect to a network. It makes your information virtually impossible to look at or attack while connected. That way, you can work from any network safely and securely, without putting your main office network at risk.

Take security seriously for your work computer. You wouldn’t want to have all of that stored information taken by someone who is not authorized.

7 Tips to Help You Stay Focused at Work

Do you struggle to stay focused at work? You’re not the only one. It can be difficult to stay focused while working, especially if you have a lot on your plate. The mind can easily wander to other thoughts you’ve had throughout the day. Next thing you know, 10 minutes have passed and there’s still much work to be done.

How do you stay focused at work so that you can achieve everything you planned for the day? Here at Corporate Business Solutions, we want offices to be as efficient as they can be. That is why we came up with a list of seven tips to help you stay focused throughout your workday.

Set Daily Goals

Having a physical to-do list or a sheet with goals for you to achieve will help keep you focused and determined. It’s easy to say that today is a new day and that you’ll be super efficient. However, without something to help keep you in check, you’ll soon start to notice your mind wandering again.

Put Away Distractions

We’re all guilty of it – leaving our phone on our desks or Facebook running in the background and then checking it from time to time. The thing is that when you are still connected to the outside world, those distractions will always be in the back of your mind. By getting rid of them, there’s no temptation to check in our social media accounts.

Work in Blocks

Trying to work for hours on end isn’t the answer to being focused and efficient. Your mind needs time to relax and reset. Otherwise, the tension continues to rise and it will become harder and harder to focus. Instead, work in blocks of roughly 60 to 90 minutes and then take a quick break to listen to music, take a walk, or close your eyes and take deep breathes.

Find a Reason in Everything You Do

If you cannot find a purpose or reason for doing something, it will be hard to stay motivated and focused at your task. When beginning a new task, ask yourself why you are doing this. That answer will help give you the push to stay focused to finish your job.

Get Comfortable

One distraction that is difficult to fight is discomfort. When you’re uncomfortable at work, whether it be due to the atmosphere or the chair you’re sitting at, your mind will keep wandering to that discomfort. Keep yourself comfortable at work to help release any tension and stay focused at the task at hand.

Drink More Water

We already know that water keeps us healthy. Did you also know that water can help you focus more? By drinking a glass of water throughout the day, it helps to refresh and revitalize you so that you can get back to work. So, keep a bottle of cold water at your desk as your reminder.

Stay Organized

If your desk is always disorganized, the clutter won’t help promote an atmosphere to focus well in. When there are so many things in your eyesight, it makes it difficult to keep your attention on one thing. By decluttering and staying organized, there will be fewer distractions for your mind to fight.