The HRMan

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4

6 Practical Tips on How to Attract and Retain Competent Employees
2007-12-03 06:10:00
Hiring people used to be an easy task. Some managers and business owners that I have worked with thought that it is easier these days to recruit employees because of the rising unemployment rate. They further assert that we have a lot of surplus talents waiting to be tapped. Incidentally, that is partly true. However, while there is indeed a huge potential number of candidate employees, small businesses are still confronted with a shortage of qualified and competent employees.But that doesn?t mean that you should just give up on hiring new employee because of the seemingly small odd of getting qualified and competent employees versus fortune 500 companies. IMO, all things being equal, there are many people who would prefer to work for a small business. Here are 6 practical tips to help you attract and retain competent employees for your business:1. Salary matching. Do not attempt to hire an employee based on your budget. You need to define the scope of the job and compare you...
More About: Employees , Tips

Employee?s Perk: R and R in Vegas
2007-12-03 02:19:00
Today, I am adding a new category to spice up this blog a bit -Life beyond business, where topics will include relevant issues connected with business, and or other mundane things. Nevertheless, the main thrust of the blog will remain on business and management related issues. Here?s the first entry:I had the chance once, almost 6 years ago, to accompany my former boss on a week-long R & R in Vegas . It was one of the perks I enjoyed while working with him. It was a new experience for me, and it was supposed to be fun. Honestly, I never really enjoyed it there. You tell me I am different. Yeah, I am. The glamor of Vegas, and the like does not appeal me. I am more of a home boy. My outdoor activities are confined more on my regular scuba diving routines.At home, when I am not writing my lectures or blogging, I spend some time playing online casino ?Vegas style but in the confine of my room. It was fun too. Though I must admit, it cannot be compared to the thrill of an ...
More About: Employee

How to Avoid Business Bankruptcy Even Before You Start
2007-11-30 11:28:00
The best way to ruin your business at the out set is through bad credit loans. In fact, running into a bad loan at the beginning is tantamount to closing the doors of your business enterprise even before you started. How do you avoid this undesirable scenario? Let me proffer 3 practical tips:Compare credit loans before you jump into the first offer. Take the time to study each proposal. Then, compare, compare and compare.Getting a personal loan that will improve your credit rating is always the best choice. Especially, f you have a poor credit rating or a bad credit history.Get help from a reliable and credible financial adviser. Running a business and managing your finances are two different activities, although the latter is part of the former activity. The counsels of the experts in this area are invaluable. Seek, and use them to your advantage. Besides, with a financial aid at your side, you can better manage your business to profitability.Get the latest buzz from YUPPI...
More About: Business , Start , Bankruptcy , Avoid , Sine

Holiday Selling Differentiation: Convenience Shopping
2007-11-27 00:11:00
I can smell Christmas in the air. People everywhere are busy writing down their Christmas gifts list and rushing to the department stores and malls to shop. However, don’t you know that many shoppers today prefer to shop at home, online? True.If you are selling novelty items or gift items, how do you capture this market? How do you differentiate yourself from your competitors? Your holiday selling differentiation would be is offering shopping convenience through a reliable shopping cart software deployed in your website. Ashop offers ecommerce software with award-winning features that guarantee you reliability and convenience for your online shoppers, and to you as well. Their shopping cart is hooked up with the major bank and payment facilities known in the net hence transaction are easily consummated and managed. What more? Ashop commerce is search-engine-friendly therefore that would mean an additional boost for your online store. Try it today, and see for yourself.Get...
More About: Shopping , Selling , Holiday , Convenience , Diff

Blogging: An Interactive Training Tool Part 1
2007-11-26 23:40:00
Have you considered blogging as an online training platform for your employees? It does wonders and is effective. Let me share you why, and how on my second post.In Blog with an Audience in Mind, I discussed about the importance of having an audience in mind when you blog –be it yourself, a second or third party. I shared there that one of the reasons I went public on my blogs was to encourage and train my employees through this medium. Let me expound that a little bit here.Why is Blogging a good interactive training tool? What are its benefits?1. It allows employees to share their thoughts and ideas where public meetings prevented them;2. It is cost effective. No additional cost for hand-outs, training materials, manhours in training, and training facility;3. It gives an opportunity for employees to learn from each other though the comments or reactions;4. It is not time-consuming. Trainers and employees can train and learn at their own pacing;5. It can accommodate an unl...
More About: Training , Interactive , Tool , Part

Paid Blogging: An Online Home Business Alternative
2007-11-25 01:22:00
Blogging has grown increasingly popular as an excellent online home business for the last 3 years. The number of probloggers, since the day that term was coined, has ballooned exponentially. Why this phenomena? Let me proffer a few thoughts:A Blog is relatively easy to set-up for online business. What used to be an online diary can now be converted easily into an income-generating platform by simply adding Text or banner ads in your main page. Your basic computer and internet skills will do you wonder in this effort.A Blog can accommodate paid post advertisements. A blogger can simply incorporate the features, benefits, or sometimes just a mention of the advertiser in his post and submitting the same in a good Ad Network like Smorty for approval, then he get paid.A Blog needs no investment. Get paid to blog is now the best alternative for online business because you do not have to shell out any money to start. Your home pc and your internet connection will suffice to launch y...
More About: Business , Online Business , Home Business , Alternative , Blogging

Online Business Basics
2007-11-25 00:46:00
How do you set-up an online business is a recurring question I received whenever I discuss the issue on my small business fundamentals lectures. Let me give you a brief in bullet points, to wit:Identify your Niche Market. (I discussed that here.) While a perceived general market is relatively good, a niche market has better conversion rates online.Product to sell. Find a product or service to offer to your target niche market.Build a Content-Rich Website. Let your website design and content revolve around the products or services you are selling and the niche market you are focusing.Ecommerce software. Employ an ecommerce software to manage your online transaction. Make your shopping cart visible in your WebPages so that when your customers decided to purchase they can conveniently click on the shop cart icon and their purchase/s processed instantaneously. In this regard, consider Ashop.com.Get the latest buzz from YUPPIES' HAVEN CAFE
More About: Business , Online Business , Online , Basics , Sine

Imporatnce of Business Planning: A Practical Perspective
2007-11-17 05:39:00
"When I started out in business, I spent a great deal of time researching every detail that might be pertinent to the deal I was interested in making. I still do the same today. People often comment on how quickly I operate, but the reason I can move quickly is that I?ve done the background work first, which no one usually sees." -Donald TrumpBusiness Planning , which includes studying everything about your product or service, your competitors, and your niche market is indispensable when you are starting or managing a business. For without which, you are already doomed to failure even before you tried. Why is it important to business plan? 3 practical reasons immediately come to mind:1. A business plan is business' road map. It provides clear direction where you are headed.2. A business plan documents your goals and strategies and how you execute them.3. A business plan serves as a barometer to your business' health. It warns you you if your paring low. It gives you an indica...
More About: Perspective , Sine

How to Classify your Niche Market
2007-11-08 08:04:00
How much are you willing to pay someone who can tell you off hand ?and accurately so ?how big your niche market is, and its earning potential for your business? Surely, you wouldn?t mind parting with your hard-earned money for information that is difficult to obtain. But having a clear idea of your market, how big it is, its needs, and preferences, and how you can serve them, are stakes that can fasten your enterprise firmly in the business arena.You can actually classify your niche market without outsourcing or paying for it. Look at your target niche market and classify them into the following categories:Demographics. Look at your niche market profile age, gender, profession, income, social class, etc. Pick indicators that suit your needs.Behavior. Classify your niche market by how they perceive the benefits of your products, how they use it, how often they purchase, etc. Look at complaints and suggestions if any. This can easily be done by asking a few questions on your cus...
More About: Market , Niche

7 Reasons Why Employees Must Be Well Selected
2007-11-05 07:06:00
Employee selection is an important activity of HRM. For the small business owner or especially those who are starting-up, getting the right employees to join your venture is imperative. Your employees may break or make your business. The very word selection implies the choice of the one best ?qualified individual from among a number of available qualified candidates. Hence, there should be a relatively large number of job applicants from which the final candidates are chosen. There are several reasons why employees must be well selected. Here are the 7 most important reasons:1. Your business goals and objectives are better achieved by the employees you properly selected for a particular job.2. An incompetent employee is a liability to your business, an additional expense, or a burden. Proper care should be made in getting the right person with the right competence for the job.3. Personnel requirements vary from job to job. Meaning, the right employee for the right job. There...
More About: Employees , Reasons , Well

Change Management Basic Framework: Part 2
2007-11-03 13:10:00
In the previous post, we discussed about the basis for which change needs to occur and managed, and the role of the manager as an agent of change. Here we shall delve on the two basic dimensions of change management: content and process.The first dimension of change management is the content. It is actually the subject of change. This can have a wide range of possibilities ?from organization-wide and strategic changes, to operational changes, localized changes ?a major shift in the business, in products, in territories or markets, in approach to markets, a change in leadership, a change in ownership, a merger or acquisition, a change in the distribution system, a new technology that revolutionizes the way of doing business within the industry, a new processing system that will be introduced, a new set of skills that employees need to acquire.Clearly with these examples, the content of the change may differ. In addition, the context or environment in which the change will take pl...
More About: Management , Change , Basic , Part , Change Management

Marketing Basics: Targeted Consumers
2007-10-29 23:08:00
If you're attacking your market from multiple positions and your competition isn't, you have all the advantage and it will show up in your increased success and income. -Jay Abraham When marketing your business, you have to remember that you are embedding a message in each unit you sell; a message that you hope will aid your market in distinguishing you from the others, because consumers don't just buy a product, but perceived benefits as well. Jeans, fro example, are clothing articles made of denim, but Calvin Klein attaches sex appeal to every pair, and Lee sells individuality. Coke sells happiness in a bottle , while Pepsi sells youth.When engaging on a marketing campaign, online or off-line, consider the following marketing basics:Product. Pay attention to your product features and benefits; capitalize on them. today's consumers are value driven. Consider finding what your niche market values most and present your product towards that end. Remember, consumers buy ...
More About: Marketing , Basics , Consumers

Change Management Basic Framework: Part 1
2007-10-24 21:06:00
Posted by Ronnie FerezOne of my most difficult responsibilities as a Management Systems Consultant is initiating change in an organization where I am treated more as a guest rather than an active member of the company. Change to be effective, as they say, must emanate from within. This responsibility is equally shared by the business owner or CEO, The HR Manager and the Department Managers. But to be specific, the role of managing change lies heavily on the shoulder of the HRM professional. In that case, in most of the companies where I worked with today as an outsourced HRM Consultant, the burden is not only a heavy burden but a challenge as well.What frustrates me more often is the very high expectations of making miraculous organizational changes. The challenge is there, and had to accept it. Otherwise, I won't be paid. (",) I digress. Now, to better understand and appreciate the meaning of this role, it is better that we delve on the basic framework of change management ...
More About: Basic , Part , Change Management

Links for 2007-10-21 [Digg]
2007-10-22 07:00:00
The Secrets of Developing Creative Thinking Skills : Part 2 "Few people think more than two or three times a year. I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week."-George Bernard Shaw A Reflective Sunday: On culture, politics and religion This issue is as old as the church but still is an ongoing debate. Politics, civil actions, environmental concerns, and other issues have always divided us. Much more, religiosity somehow always managed to pull a cape of hypocrisy in the guise of dignified righteousness.
More About: Links , Digg

Links for 2007-10-18 [Digg]
2007-10-19 07:00:00
Promote Trusted Products in your Business A lot of start-up business over the internet suffered major drawbacks, if not losses because of simple business-common-sense mistakes –wrong product endorsement. The net is plagued with products and services, pitching their sales to get into your pockets only to be deceived in the process. You don’t get what you expect from the items purchase.
More About: Links , Digg

Links for 2007-10-17 [Digg]
2007-10-18 07:00:00
Path to Self Redemption Part 2: Courage When failures, mistakes, defeats and losses hit us sprawling on the ground, sometimes, it is better that we don’t hit back but instead, we roll with the punches. It pays to wait for the bell to ring in our favor so that we can go back in our corner, regain our lost strength and use our hindsight to see where we need to adjust and change...
More About: Links , Digg

Promote Trusted Products in your Business
2007-10-17 00:13:00
A lot of start-up business over the internet suffered major drawbacks, if not losses because of simple business-common-sense mistakes ?wrong product endorsement. The net is plagued with products and services, pitching their sales to get into your pockets only to be deceived in the process. You don?t get what you expect from the items purchase. The pitch is high ?guaranteed to save you money or make you lose 10 pounds in 10 days, etc. The only thing you save is the wrapper and you lose your valued dollars. So, how do you prevent this? How do you ensure that the products and services you are offering in the market are pay-for-value purchases?To ensure that the products you promote in your website or business are reliable and guaranteed to deliver their claims, check their reviews and rankings at TustSource.Org. This website review and rank products like provillus and services like cash advance and payday loan facilities based on the following key measures:1. Sales Data and Rank...
More About: Business , Products , Promote , Romo , Sine

Managing Unions Part 2: Effective Communication System
2007-10-15 01:11:00
One Labor Union President was heard to comment: The employees who are most difficult to organize into Labor Unions are those who are best informed. The reason is obvious. Allowing news about the company to simply spread through the grapevine is dangerous. The grapevine breeds on bitterness and dissatisfaction from both real and imagined causes. If an employer, a manger, or a business owner makes no effort to keep employees informed through an efficient and effective communication system, scandals, gossips, rumor mongering, and malcontents can reap easy success in maligning and badmouthing the management ?as a manager, yours in particular.Effective channels of communication adopted by companies -aside from using the bulletins, newsletters, emails, paging systems, memos ? are regular weekly or monthly dialogues with the employees. Labor unrest and dissatisfactions is readily put-out when employers and managers maintain an informal dialogue with their employees in order to address...
More About: Communication , System , Part

Reliable Banking Solution for Start-up Business
2007-10-14 18:09:00
Setting up online business nowadays seem to be very easy. There are even turn-key e-commerce suite that are easy to install and maintain. And lately, buying and selling of websites and blogs is becoming more popular. Almost everything now can be bought or sold over the internet ?this is no longer a futuristic forecast but a realization that is inescapable.How do businesses conduct their buying and selling on line? Well easy, and it?s common knowledge already, through credit card transaction facilities. The same is true with off-line retail services and stores. In order to serve their customers promptly and conveniently, and pay suppliers as well, the credit card facility is always the most reliable medium. In a growing cashless society like ours, this method allows your customers and/or suppliers to pay with Visa, Master Card, American Express, or Discover.In order to use this payment facility, you have to work and partner with a reliable banking solution that offers lower ...
More About: Business , Reviews , Start-Up , Banking , Start

Links for 2007-10-12 [Digg]
2007-10-13 07:00:00
Random Two Miscellaneous small thoughts on various topics. sting of foolish decisions scattered phrases and a broken poem on making foolish decisions.
More About: Links , Digg

"Word of mouth" Ad through Blogging
2007-10-11 15:24:00
According to a recent global Nielsen Internet Survey: "Despite an ever-expanding array of advertising platforms and sources, consumers around the world still place their highest levels of trust in other consumers?"What does this implies? To me it brings a realization that though advertising medium continue to evolve, a majority of consumers still rely on the conventional wisdom of using products and services endorsed by other consumers, because this way, the testimony of the user is far more credible than direct ads or any other ad medium. Nielsen?s Press Released entitled Word -of-Mouth the Most Powerful Selling Tool: Nielsen Global Survey worded it accurately: "?the recommendation of someone else remains the most trusted sources of information when consumers decide which products and services to buy."Vis a vis, reviews and recommendations by bloggers over the internet offer the same bearing. In a similar accord, Bloggerwave provides that vehicle of opportunity for bloggers l...
More About: Reviews , Blogging

Links for 2007-10-09 [Digg]
2007-10-10 07:00:00
Path to Self-Redemption Part 1: Acceptance Here is a brief on what to do when you feel like that you are a failure or that everybody conspired against you to bring you down.
More About: Links , Digg

3 Inexpensive Ways to Care for your Employees
2007-10-09 08:56:00
Written by Ronnie FerezHuman Resource is no longer viewed as an additional expense on the company?s budget but as an investment, hence the term ?Human Capital? was born. However, the relentless rise in essential consumer goods? prices and the pestering of higher inflation rates affect both you as a businessman, first and foremost, and then your employees , although, employees tend to believe that they were the most affected party here. I believe otherwise. They are in a symbiotic relationship here, which is they co-exist and hence are equally affected. This is longer a chicken-egg argument anymore.Now, as an employer, you have the responsibility to think of better and inexpensive ways to help your employees cope, after all ?they are your most important assets. Increasing their salaries is not always the best solution; for this is merely temporary, a classic case of giving them the ?fish to fry?, instead ?teaching them how to fish.? The best alternative is a long term solution ...
More About: Employees , Care

A Business that has NO PLAN, plans to FAIL: Part 1
2007-10-05 13:45:00
Written by Ronnie FerezIf you have only 5 minutes to solve a business problem, or an HRM related issue problem, you need at least the equivalent time to plan on how to solve the issue. Better yet, twice the amount of time solving it. There are only very few business owners who never plan -they are the exceptions rather than the rules, and they are indeed exceptional in their crafts. Gifted with business intuitions and guts, they succeed. However, if you don't belong to those exceptional business tycoons, common sense dictates that in any business endeavors, it is imperative to plan.Business Plan ning is essential. It encompasses all the goals, strategies and actions that you project, to ensure your business?s success. Sounds high-sounding, isn?t it? In simpler terms, think of business planning as being broken into two concepts: profit-making side and contingency side.Profit-making is your main agenda for the business, otherwise, you might want to consider building a charity or...
More About: Plans , Part , Sine

Change Management Tips
2007-10-03 14:37:00
These change management tips should help you implement changes ranging from implementing ISO9001 to lean manufacturing to total organization transformation. Deal with people involved in the change process with patience, gentle humor, grace, persistence, pragmatism, respect, understanding, and support. Take a long and broad view of change, and think about the impact of changes over one, three, and five years. Continue all of the behaviors and processes discussed in the articles below until change has the ?opportunity to become anchored in the culture.? I am reminded of Dr. W. Edwards Deming?s emphasis on ?constancy of purpose.? Set up changes so that people in you organization experience some early wins. Recognize that effective change is usually a realignment of the ?world view,? rather than a program or flavor of the month. People involved in change will need to recognize that change is risky; change can be scary; change can often entail the real desire and need t...
More About: Management , Tips , Change , Change Management , Chang

The Emerging Role of HRM in Organizations
2007-10-01 12:12:00
The Human Resource Management (HRM) profession and practices have undergone substantial change and redefinition over the years. It is interesting to note that many articles on HRM issues have been critical of the traditional HRM Function. Well, the observations were quite true, as many HRM practitioners have not yet adapted to the more strategic functions of HRM in an organization. They failed to ride in the new emerging role of HRM.Unfortunately, in many organizations HRM services are not providing value but instead are simply going into the motion of attending trivial administrative tasks. Unfazed, HRM Departments can be replaced with new technology or outsourced to a vendor who can provide higher-quality services at a lower cost, which is by the way the emerging trend right now in doing business. Although this seem to be a pessimistic view on this trend, it simply demonstrate that HRM departments need to ensure that their functions are creating value for the company.I agre...
More About: Role , Organizations , Organ

The Learning Organization
2007-09-27 09:54:00
Just what constitutes a ?learning organization is a matter of some debate. We explore some of the themes that have emerged in the literature and the contributions of key thinkers like Donald Schon and Peter Senge. Is it anything more than rhetoric? Can it be realized?Many consultants and organizations have recognized the commercial significance of organizational learning ? and the notion of the ?learning organization? has been a central orienting point in this. Writers have sought to identify templates, or ideal forms, ?which real organizations could attempt to emulate? (Easterby-Smith and Araujo 1999: 2). In this sense the learning organization is an ideal, ?towards which organizations have to evolve in order to be able to respond to the various pressures [they face] (Finger and Brand 1999: 136). It is characterized by a recognition that ?individual and collective learning are key? (op. cit.).Two important things result from this. First, while there has been a lot of talk about lea...
More About: Organization , Learning , Earning , Organ

DOES CORPORATE CULTURE CONTRIBUTE TO PERFORMANCE?
2007-09-22 06:41:00
AbstractThis article explores connections between corporate cultures and corporate performance in various industries. First, it provides a brief background on the notion of "culture"; second, it sets out a brief typology of corporate culture. Third, it examines various corporate cultural types in relation to industry performance; and finally, some conclusions are drawn on the importance to corporate survival of organizational and cultural adaptation to competitive environments.Introduction and ContextAn expert on cross-cultural management, Geert Hofstede (1984, p.21) defines culture as "the collective programming of the mind, which distinguishes one human group from another ... Culture in this sense includes systems of values, and values are among the building blocks of culture." A few years later, his notion of culture broadened into "mental programming ... patterns of thinking and feeling, and potential acting" (Hofstede, 1991, p.4). Sociologists (Namenworth & Weber, 1987, p.8...
More About: Performance , Corporate , Contribute , Corporate Culture

Groups Challenge Arizona Immigration Law
2007-09-10 13:18:00
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the National Immigration Law Center have filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to block an Arizona law that imposes sanctions on employers that intentionally or knowingly employ an unauthorized alien. Under an Arizona law that becomes effective January 1, 2008, employers are prohibited from intentionally or knowingly employing an unauthorized alien. The law requires that every employer use the Basic Plot Program (now called E-Verify) to verify the employment eligibility of new-hires. Employers that are determined to have violated the state ban are subject to a variety of sanctions. The lawsuit alleges that the law, called the Legal Arizona Workers Act, conflicts with federal immigration law and the U.S. Constitution. The groups call the Basic Pilot Program flawed and argue that congress intended the program to be voluntary. "Under federal law, participation in the Basic Pilot Progr...
More About: Challenge , Groups , Izon

Managing Polarities in Change Management
2007-08-11 14:35:00
"The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order." --Alfred North Whitehead, Mathematician, Logician and PhilosopherIncreasingly, an organization?s ability to respond and adapt quickly while providing increased stability in the midst of change is a great leverage point for achieving sustainable competitive advantage. But this is not about predicting or riding trends; change needs to be a lot more than that. Organizations can get caught in pendulum swings from one trend to another. Sometimes Human Resources professionals are responsible for flavor-of-the-month initiatives; other times they may be trapped by flawed strategies advanced by senior executives. Common examples of these traps include the following.Cultural shifts: such as from directive to participative management styles, or from hierarchical to team based management and decision-makingStructural shifts: such as from more centralized to more decentralized operations (and back again!), ...
More About: Management , Change , Change Management , Chang , Chan