Step by Step Guide to Employee Satisfaction Surveys

By Martin Day
  
Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy   

The benefit of running an annual employee survey has for a long time been widely accepted but many organizations have been put off by the amount of effort that is required.

Many organizations who have bit the bullet and conducted their own internal employee satisfaction surveys have often relied on word-processors to allow them to design and compile a survey, then gone through the effort of printing and distributing the survey and spent time chasing and collecting the completed surveys and then even more time transferring the survey response information into a meaningful management report.

Fortunately with the introduction of the Internet and hosted survey websites like www.surveygalaxy.com what was once a time consuming, resource hungry, long winded and cumbersome process is now slick, quick and easy.

This document provides a step by step guide to help implement a survey that will bring considerable benefits to any organization.

Step 1 - Identifying The Need

The reasons an organization would need a survey are as wide and they are long. Listed here are a few of the common reason why employee satisfaction surveys are conducted.

Event Driven

If your organization is about to embark, or is going through, a change management program employee surveys can assist in managing the change, measuring the effectiveness of the change, help to deliver a 'message' and gather valuable feedback throughout the change cycle.

For organizations that are experiencing rapid growth employee surveys can monitor internal communications and management structures to ensure that employees are aware of their reporting and management responsibilities.

Where an organization is suffering from poor moral brought on by either internal or external influences an employee survey can be used to identify the specific concerns of employees so those concerns can be properly addressed.

Where there is an increase in turnover of staff employee surveys can help an organization identify the underlying cause of employee unrest and through their findings help find solutions.

Periodically

As part of a periodic assessment, surveys will help an organization review their personnel and monitor on an individual level job satisfaction, training and career development.

Employee surveys also offer senior management the opportunity to look at the soft underbelly of their organization to confirm that their 'top down' view of the organization matches the reality and 'bottom up' perspective.

With the help of employee surveys an organization can establish good employer/employee communication that will in turn bring both direct and indirect benefits.

Step 2 - Management Buy-In

Management buy-in is always desirable for any initiative and many will argue that it is essential to ensure a successful employee survey, however, in some instances the findings of an employee survey can lead to kick-starting a management that has grown complacent and detached from their employees.

Some organization may be fortunate in that the senior management recognize and drive the need for employee surveys, while in others the management may need to first be convinced of the direct and indirect benefits an employee survey will bring.

The level of management commitment to an employee survey will have some bearing on the nature of the survey and to some extent will help determine what questions are to be asked and the manner they are asked.

A management that is supportive of the initiative may require feedback on specific areas of the business or they may give the go ahead because they feel confident that the results will only confirm that the level of employee satisfaction throughout the organization is high.

In nearly all cases it is good practice to at least try and get management to buy-in to the employee survey from the very start as they have a lot to gain and are in a position to effect any change that is later identified as being required.

Step 3 - Designing The Survey

Designing a good survey will take some time and effort but by following the basics of survey design and concentrating on the 'need to know' questions and removing the 'nice to know' a survey will rapidly take shape.

Determining the exact questions that should be asked will be entirely dependent on the individual organization, its structure and the previously identified primary need and objectives of the employee survey.

When considering what questions to ask consideration should be given to how the results are to be analyzed. For example there may be a desire to ask for individual comments but these types of answer formats can be very time consuming and cumbersome to analyze and should therefore be avoided or used sparingly.

With online surveys it is generally better to do a few smaller surveys than one very long survey as the longer the survey the higher the drop out rate will be.

Step 4 - Proof Reading And Testing

Grammar, Spelling And Clarity

Before publishing the survey make a careful check for spelling and typing mistakes and incorrect grammar. If available it is always better to have someone who has not been involved in designing the survey to proof read the survey with clean eyes, if no one is available try to take a break before checking through the survey again.

Say What You Mean And Mean What You Say

When checking the survey you need to consider the survey from the viewpoint of the respondent, you may know what you mean by each question but will the questions be clear to the employee?

Allow The Employee To Answer Truthfully

For closed questions where the employee will be required to choose from a number of available responses have you allowed the employee to answer accurately? Make use of responses like 'Don't know', 'No comment' or 'Not Applicable' where you have made the question mandatory but the employee may not be able to answer.

Consider allowing the employee to include an 'Other' answer but also appreciate that 'Other' answers will add to the complexity when analyzing the survey results.

Don't Require A Response To Questions That May Not Have One

Check that for any questions that you have made mandatory you do require an answer, for example open questions such as asking for additional comments should not be mandatory unless you definitely require the respondent to write a comment.

Check You Will Be Able To Analyze The Data

Check through the survey again but this time looking at how the results of the survey will be analyzed. Consider how you are likely to want to analyze the survey data, have you asked the right questions to be able to perform detailed analysis? For example if you wanted to view the detailed response data from the perspective of the different genders, or maybe departments, check you have asked the employee to indicate their own gender and/or department.

Don't Ask Anymore Questions Than You Need To

Consider all the questions in the survey and look for questions that are not 'need to know'.

Test The Link And Try Completing The Survey

Publish the survey and then send the survey's link to a number of people who will be willing to test the survey. By completing the survey yourself you will get a feel for how the respondent will view the survey. From your own and others feedback stop and make adjustments to the survey as required.

Repeat this process until you are happy with the survey.

Check The Data

Take time to view the online summary results of the test data and confirm that the data is being collected in a manner that can be properly analyzed and that will give meaningful results.

Step 5 - Promoting And Deploying The Survey

Where all or the majority of employees have access to the internet or company intranet deploying the online survey is as easy that ABC, either via email or by establishing a link to the survey from your own website or Intranet.

Where there are some or many employees that do not have direct access to the internet there are a number of alternatives that can be used from issuing the survey in printed form, providing a shared terminal or giving them an incentive to complete the survey at home.

Anonymous Responses?

There is a choice to allow all surveys to be completed anonymously. Allowing a survey to be anonymous may encourage employees to speak their minds enabling the survey to provide 'a warts and all' report, in turn giving management an opportunity to address underlying problems before they become serious.

However, allowing anonymous comments also allows employees to be more cavalier and flippant with their responses. Some organizations would therefore only want to consider comments where employees are prepared to stand by their convictions and that will also provide an opportunity to follow up the specific concerns of individual employees.

The decision to allow anonymous responses or not will, among other factors, be down to the individual organization, the specific nature of the survey, the surrounding circumstances, the management style and the existing employer/employee relationship.

Step 6 - Monitoring The Survey

While the survey is in progress you will be able to view the summary results online and also monitor in real-time the number of surveys that have been both started and completed.

If after a few days the number of completed surveys falls short of the expected target it is advisable to send periodic reminders to employees asking them to complete the survey.

Step 7 - Analyzing The Results

There are no hard and fast rules for analyzing the data. Much depends on the individual survey, the questions asked and the number of responses.

Most surveys will benefit from many of the results being displayed in graphical as well as tabular form.

When first analyzing survey data often a number of 'headline' results will immediately stand out that will provide you with a general overview and, providing the right questions have been asked, give you an instant assessment of the mood throughout the organization as a whole.

Where the results give areas of concern a more detailed analysis may be advisable. For example if employees were asked if they felt the organization provided equal opportunities to both genders and 25% gave a negative response it would be useful to know the gender split of the organization and also to look at what the gender split was of the 25% that answered negatively. Was the negative view shared by employees of both genders, evenly spread throughout the organization, or of a particular gender from a particular department?

There is a method of reporting that presents the result data in tabular and/or graphical form allowing those who are interested in the results to view the raw data.

Often used as a compliment to the first, another method is to interpret the results and provide an analysis of the data and offer a view as to what the meaning is behind the results, what circumstances may have contributed to the results being as they are and, where the results indicate a negative, what initiatives could be taken. Such analysis if done by a single individual is likely to be very personal, if done by a committee it is still likely to be objective and therefore open to interpretation.

Step 8 - Further Action

Probably the most important step is the last. An employee survey will either confirm that the perfect organization exists or it will highlight areas that are less than perfect by identifying individual and common concerns.

It may be that further more detailed surveys are required that target specific areas. For example the survey may reveal that employees working in a particular department are collectively unhappy, but the reasons for their dissatisfaction may not be clear. A smaller, specifically targeted follow-up survey may help reveal the root causes.

When employee surveys are periodically run an organization that has taken steps to address issues will see their efforts reflected in subsequent survey responses. Almost all organizations have some problems and it helps an organization's moral to see that a channel is available that will allow problems to be highlighted, addressed and resolved.

Summary

These guidelines are intended to help an organization conduct successful employee satisfaction surveys, they are however, only a guide.

Each organization is different in style and structure and the organizations 'personality' will go someway to influencing the tone and nature of the survey and organizations will have many different circumstances and primary reasons for conducting a survey.

By utilizing existing technology and conducting surveys online you are now able to monitor the heart beat of an organization, quickly, easily and, by using websites like Survey Galaxy, at minimal cost.

Tips for Successful Direct Mail Marketing

By Ron Morton

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy  

Considering Direct Mail Marketing? Good idea.

Direct Mail has been around forever and is still considered the most personal style of advertisement because no other medium can give you the ability to touch and feel it like mail does. There are many things to think about before you jump into a bulk mailing campaign; who your customers are, how you're going to reach them, and how many potential customers can use your product are just a few.

Do lots of research on direct mail, it never hurts to know more than you should. Keeping mail pieces that you have received is good too because it lets you get ideas from businesses that are in the bulk mail game already, and knowing what your competitors are doing can be an advantage.

Determining your mail route strategy is a very important factor. What neighborhoods will produce the most potential customers? Income, location, and household count should be three big decision makers when figuring out your mail distribution. Creating a database from current customers is a good strategy too, and sending direct mail to these current customers with coupons and upcoming sale items keeps these customers coming back for more. But know that there are potential customers out there awaiting your mail piece, you just have to know how to find them.

Creating your mail piece can become the tricky part. You need to have something that will catch the customer's eye, whether it is a great photo on the front or "SALE" in big letters, that always gets me to look. But the designing of your mail piece is part of a whole other department.

30 Employee Engagement Communication Tips

By Sarah Perry

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy   

High levels of employee engagement in an organization are linked to superior business performance, including increased profitability, productivity, employee retention, customer metrics and safety levels. Hence effective employee engagement communication is a key part of any internal communications strategy.
Tip # 1 - 60% of people communicate visually. Use interactive visual screensavers to portray company values and vision. A picture paints a thousand words. Use screensavers to show a positive view of the company. Broadcast it round your organization to capture people's imagination in an appealing, visual way.
Tip # 2 - Visual cues are important. So your CEO can't be at the meeting? No problem. Use Video to let staff see the commitment and intent in your CEO's eyes and hear the passion and empathy in his or her voice. Where possible, customize video for different groups of employees at different times and you can measure cut through.
Employee engagement communication tip # 3 - The power of small groups. Smaller face to face executive communication, such as brown bag lunches and skip level meetings, offer a more personalized and engaging format for leadership communication. Multiple time slots and venues can also help maximize the chances that employees can attend executive briefing sessions.
Tip # 4 - Customize engagement communications for different target audiences. Work with managers to make engagement communications as relevant as possible to different groups of staff.
Tip # 5 - Expand awarenesss. Make sure employees understand how the unit they work in contributes to the overall success of the organization. Expand their awareness beyond their own performance and extend it out into their team.
Tip # 6 - Highlight best practice. Include articles in your staff magazine that show how employees are modelling organizational values or supporting wider company initiatives.
Tip # 7- Reinforce understanding and develop local context. Use the pop-up Staff Quiz to ask scenario questions to reinforce understanding and local context. For example, "When I see a colleague working in an unsafe way, I would: A, B, C, or D or all of the above?" or "In XXX situation, how would you apply our company values?" Offer prizes to encourage staff to take part. Include humorous or trick questions and answers that make the quiz fun and build employee engagement.
Tip # 8 - Provide employee helpdesks. Set interactive online helpdesks to let staff ask questions about any aspect of the business and their role within it.
Tip # 9 - Get respected managers and staff to blog about various aspects of the business. These people can, answer questions and provide context to staff regarding any aspect of the business.
Tip # 10 - Encourage and help senior managers share ideas with their staff.
Tip # 11- Show that you're genuinely concerned about employees' opinions and use social media as a communications tool to build engagement.
Tip # 12 - Let staff tell their own stories to build engagement. Encourage them to tell their own stories in the staff magazine about what they are doing to support company strategies or embody organizational values.
Tip # 13 -Show how feedback is being used. Articles in staff magazines, updates on scrolling news feeds and even interactive corporate screensavers can be a great way to demonstrate to staff how their feedback is being used.
Tip # 14 - Involving employees builds engagement. Use Staff Quizzes to involve people. For example, by asking them to name new ways of working (e.g. new systems, projects) or suggest improvements. Offer prizes for the best ideas and recognize them using targeted corporate screensavers and articles in the staff magazine.
Tip # 15 - Promote employee development programs. Interactive corporate screensavers and articles in staff e-magazines can be effective ways to raise the profile and perceived value of employee development programs.
Tip # 16 - Promote employer brand. Internal brand messages can be lost if they are buried in email or on the intranet. Bring brand messages to life with interactive, visually engaging Communications channels such as messages on screensavers. Involve staff in creating brand values using staff surveys and discussion forums. Find out what staff know and think using fun staff quizzes.
Tip # 17 - Actively promote organizational effectiveness, reputation and ethics. Use all the internal communications channels at your disposal to raise employee awareness. Employees want to feel good about their leaders, where they work, the products they sell and the reputation of their company. Hence these types of engagement communications can valuable.
Tip # 18 - Communicate value. Screensaver images can be a very effective way to promote 'free goodies' available to staff. Anything from staff parties, discounted gym memberships to health checks, fun runs and fresh fruit can be promoted easily and effectively on corporate screensavers. Raising awareness of additional staff benefits can help employees feel more valued and engaged.
Employee engagement communication tip # 19 - Department highlights. Often people don't see where they fit into the bigger picture or why a specific department is working so hard on a particular initiative. Use screensaver messages and short articles in the staff newsletter to provide project updates and progress reports.
Tip # 20 Tell managers first. This gives them time to plan how they will react when their team hears important news and time for managers to prepare answers to the questions that may be unique to their team.
Tip # 21 Get managers to share ideas with one another. Social Media tools allow managers meet online to discuss strategies, share ideas and plan. This is especially useful when managers work in different locations.
Tip # 22- Measure how well managers are communicating. Help Managers see the importance of effective communication in order to increase engagement.
Tip # 23 - Not Communicating or Communicating late can damage employee engagement. Hearing about an important update from media, colleagues or family and friends can have a negative impact on employee engagement. Ensure employees hear these messages from the business as soon as possible. Desktop Alerts can achieve fast, effective message cut through. Reporting options let you check which recipients have opened the message. Message acknowledgement options allow you to ensure communications compliance.
Tip # 24 - Deliver localized content. Setting managers or their PAs up as internal communication assistants is a good way to make sure staff get information that is directly relevant to them as soon as it is available.
Tip # 25 - Measure understanding and impact on behaviors. Measure employee understanding and the impact of engagement communications on behaviors.
Tip # 26 - Celebrate both financial and non financial achievements.
Tip # 27 - Highlight success visibly. Interactive corporate screensavers are great engagement communication tools. Use visual communications to highlight and celebrate successes.
Tip # 28 - Document local success. Encourage employees to submit articles to the staff magazine that talk about what they have achieved (e.g. simpler ways of working, important milestones met).
Tip # 29 - Catch dissatisfaction early. Two way internal communications channels such as Staff Surveys and Social Media channels make it easy to regularly gather feedback from staff and to catch dissatisfaction early - to understand what's really going on.
Employee engagement communication tip # 30 - Promote opportunities for staff. Include a section in the employee newsletter promoting internal vacancies. Promote training opportunities and staff support schemes on interactive screensavers or as articles in the staff magazine.

Importance of Continuous Job Opportunities

By Macon Maic

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy

Jobs form the part of your life. It is impossible to lead a normal life without proper job. Jobs act as the major source of income thereby making the livelihood easy without many troubles. Jobs indeed keep the individual occupied without boredom. It is natural that you will completely feel bored if you sit simply without engaging yourself in any activities for about five days continuously. If this is the case, just imagine the situation you are unemployed. It will almost take your life both mentally and physically. A proper complete human life cycle comprises of job and it occupies a greater share in the livelihood and in the society. There are different types of jobs to which human beings get engaged themselves and these jobs varies depending on the qualification and other skills possessed by the individual apart from the availability of type of job in the place.

All the jobs are created by man and are also done by man in order to gain most out of it. Also there are many opportunities available around you that will definitely help you to fetch maximum and you would not have ever imagined about this kind of jobs in your life time. You might have come across many types of job opportunities while reading through various news papers and magazines. Apart from that, internet has emerged to be one of the latest developers of job wherein internet jobs are hitting the headlines. These job opportunity ads are published in the newspapers or magazines by giving the location as the headline like London jobs, Southampton jobs and so on. This clearly indicates that the job location is the particular place tagged along with the job in the opportunities heading.

You cannot avoid any opportunities as they are the main income source generators at your home front. You will always wish to look after your family and your dear ones in the most comforting and pleasing way. This wish can be converted to reality only with the help of a good job in hand. Sometimes people are also looking for additional opportunities in order to take them in the form of part time basis as they are finding it difficult to meet up the expenses due to increasing price rate. So it is advised to take care of all job opportunities with important care even if you are not in need of a new opportunity now.

Corrections Officer Workout Routine - How To Pass The Test

By EL Forestal

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy

Are you ready for the corrections officer physical fitness test?

If your answer is no, or you are in okay shape but need a little bit more work then keep reading. I've included some really simple workout tips in this article that will improve your strength, conditioning, and overall fat to muscle content.

The truth is some recruits have sailed through the correctional officer fitness test, while others have struggled mightily. I know if you are reading this article, you are dead serious about improving your overall fitness level. That's why I've written this article to help those candidates who are serious about getting a passing score on their corrections officer PFT.

You see, the corrections officer fitness test standards are different from agency to agency, but all of them are looking for recruits who are in shape. Seriously you don't want to show up to the test site out of shape or grossly overweight. Trust me if that happens, you might as well kiss your opportunity goodbye.

Here's how to get in shape fast:

The number one thing that you want to do when training for the law enforcement fitness test is to follow a workout routine that incorporates both strength training and cardiovascular improvement. If you do one without the other, you won't pass the test. The best workout program that incorporates both strength development and cardiovascular improvement is interval training.

If you don't know much about high intensity interval training, I suggest that you study up on this powerful workout program. If you include interval training to your regular training routine, you'll get into shape faster than you ever thought possible.

Importance of Continuous Job Opportunities

By Macon Maic

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy 

Jobs form the part of your life. It is impossible to lead a normal life without proper job. Jobs act as the major source of income thereby making the livelihood easy without many troubles. Jobs indeed keep the individual occupied without boredom. It is natural that you will completely feel bored if you sit simply without engaging yourself in any activities for about five days continuously. If this is the case, just imagine the situation you are unemployed. It will almost take your life both mentally and physically. A proper complete human life cycle comprises of job and it occupies a greater share in the livelihood and in the society. There are different types of jobs to which human beings get engaged themselves and these jobs varies depending on the qualification and other skills possessed by the individual apart from the availability of type of job in the place.
All the jobs are created by man and are also done by man in order to gain most out of it. Also there are many opportunities available around you that will definitely help you to fetch maximum and you would not have ever imagined about this kind of jobs in your life time. You might have come across many types of job opportunities while reading through various news papers and magazines. Apart from that, internet has emerged to be one of the latest developers of job wherein internet jobs are hitting the headlines. These job opportunity ads are published in the newspapers or magazines by giving the location as the headline like London jobs, Southampton jobs and so on. This clearly indicates that the job location is the particular place tagged along with the job in the opportunities heading.
You cannot avoid any opportunities as they are the main income source generators at your home front. You will always wish to look after your family and your dear ones in the most comforting and pleasing way. This wish can be converted to reality only with the help of a good job in hand. Sometimes people are also looking for additional opportunities in order to take them in the form of part time basis as they are finding it difficult to meet up the expenses due to increasing price rate. So it is advised to take care of all job opportunities with important care even if you are not in need of a new opportunity now.

Quirky Ways to Get Your Resume Read

By Bruno Deshayes

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy  

Unless you want a quirky job you probably don't want to go quirky about your job application. Do you want to be paid with real money or monopoly currency?
The first pitfall to avoid is putting a photograph of yourself. Leave that to your facebook page if they want to check it out. Unless you are applying for a role as an actor or performing arts where a whole press-book is required a photo of yourself can be detrimental. People will hire you for your skills and your brains - not for your good looks. Remember more and more women sit on recruitment panels and your sex appeal might not cut it with them...
Next pitfall are unsubstantiated claims. Trust, honesty and loyalty are in short supply in our confused world. What you say about yourself need to be corroborated by circumstantial evidence. Don't say you are the fastest, the tallest, the quickest, etc... simply state the challenge you faced, the action you took and the result it produced. That's all an employer is interested in and they just want to know if you can do it again for them - simple, huh?
Next pitfall - going wild with fonts and colours. Your application might be passed around to various people on the recruitment committee, emailed to an iPhone, a Blackberry or an android smartphone. How mangled you will look through a not-so-perfect email program on those devices? If you want your layout and composition to remain unaffected then stick to the PDF format. Recruitment agencies hate it because their databases can't scan it for keywords.
Next pitfall - confusing your resume for an essay or a monologue. Unless you apply for a role as a writer and are asked to submit samples of your prose, you should not bore your audience with your introverted view of the world since you became unemployed. Employers are not interested in your moods, your political or religious views - all they want to know is if you can be productive from day one without any need for training or induction.
Next pitfall - ignoring your industry lingo. The best way to be rejected is to show a lack of grasp for your industry values. New lobby groups are forcing employers to comply with more and more regulations and standards. What is best practice in your field? Do you use due diligence? What about occupational health and safety? What about anti-discrimination laws?

Public Relations Job Description

By Silas Reed

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy  

The public relations job description covers a wide range of activities right from maintaining good relations with the press to even the company peers and rivals. The PR job description expects a PR professional to build up interest and awareness and serve as a spokesperson between the company and various groups, for instance the public. He controls the amount of information that the public receive about the company, product or a person related to the company. He can communicate very effectively on the print, through the phone or in person.

A campaign will be successful if the client company is presented in the best light. Conventionally, it is achieved through press releases to reporters and placement of stories in the broadcast, print and virtual media. A press release is in the format of a news story and sends a message. It is usually sent through email.

Advertising and Public Relations

A lot of people confuse the public relations job description with advertising. PR is different from advertising. In case of an advertisement, an ad time or space is purchased while in case of PR, that space or time is got for free. That is the strategy employed in public relations jobs which is not found in advertisement.

Job Titles

The lowest position from which public relations job opportunities start is from the level of account coordinator. Through hard work, it is possible to become the account director in a period of five years. In seven years, you can also become the PR manager. In the corporate setting, the duties of PR jobs fall under a variety of titles. There is the title of a community relations director, media specialist, external and internal communication specialists and PR Officer.

Skills Required

So what does a public relations job description really entail? For starters, you must not be shy. Your verbal and written communication skills should be excellent. Good PR personnel are well versed in news and current affairs and popular culture. They are also adept at time management, public speaking, cold calling, budgeting, event planning and research.

Salary

The salary varies depending on degree, skills, experience, city and company size. However last seen according to PayScale.com in an April 2009 survey, a US based account coordinator gets a median salary of $31, 987 while a PR manager earns around $65,959.

Public Relations Writing Tools

A lot of written materials are used for PR jobs. These mostly include press kits (fact sheet, company history and personnel biographies), press releases, newsletters, speeches, website content, feature articles, event listings, proposals, website content and pitch letters which are persuasive in tone and sent to TV producers and journalists. These pitch letters are generally sent with the intention of convincing them to run stories on the PR Officer's client.

Degree

A degree helps but it is not mandatory. There are a lot of colleges that offer degrees in public relations. A minimum graduate level of education is mandatory. However the best way to start in the industry is to do an internship. It gives on the job experience and prepares you for building a career in this field.

Public relations job opportunities are increasing and have been stipulated to increase after the current financial year.

Selling Your Company To An International Entrepreneur

By Terry J Filkins

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy  

If you'd like to become successful with an international business and then consider selling your organization on the international stage, then there are several things you must think about.

Managing an enterprise and offering it to suitable clients is a very complicated activity. Putting up for sale your company on the global stage is a lot more complicated compared to selling in your own state or country. Selecting the most appropriate small business agent, lawyer or attorney together with an accountant together which all have a history of successful overseas business sales is also important. Look for a team that has a good deal of knowledge because during the extended sales process, you will come across many difficulties en route.

Develop a certain in-depth marketing document where you can include your background and characteristics of the business, several year financial overview, business missions, small business supervision also staff, very competitive examination, business enterprise and also industry targets, and business technique and projections. This could be employed to distribute your company, so it is important that it is created effectively to show a proficient look to potential business enterprise potential customers.

At all times check any probable purchasers by using your adviser wherever they come from. This is to make certain that only the genuine company buyers that are eligible and may afford to acquire your small business can get to talk to you. This could further decrease the probabilities that opponents will find out that you're selling your enterprise. Discretion is important in enterprise selling.

It is important that when advertising your enterprise for a foreign entrepreneur, interaction needs to be carried out in writing. Due to the fact writing is able to cut miscommunication and will give time to investigate and clarify issues. In the event you take care of issues on the phone or in person, promoting your enterprise could become extremely frustrating.

Another thing you should contemplate is the fact you must not discuss with out your dealer. You may not know how to take care of a foreign client even if you might be a professional at promoting a small business inside your place. Despite all the troubles and conditions that may be experienced, you must be able to get a wonderful value for your enterprise with a good company agent.

Furthermore, you shouldn't settle without having your broker. Though you may be an expert at marketing a company in your country, you may not understand how to manage a foreign customer. With a capable company dealer, you should be able to have a fantastic cost for your small business despite all the hassles and conditions can be displayed. A properly produced advertising strategy will make the sales method incredibly easier.

Random Halloween Links

1. Bedbug Registry -- Traveling soon? Check out this free, public database of user-submitted bed bug reports from across the United States and Canada. HT: Mike Carlson

2. Families avoid flying from U.K. to Egypt and Caribbean as air taxes increase. If you tax something.....

3. Hells Angels sue over the use of their logo.

4. The bottom is falling out of global ocean surface temperatures, are we headed for global cooling?  

5. Mount Everest gets 3G.

6. Entrepreneurs as pirates.

DLF Westend Heights

By Lizaa Ray
 

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy  

DLF Westend Heights are the luxury complex buildings which are situated in DLF City at Phase-V. The Westend heights in Gurgaon have four apartments and within each apartments there consists of four wide rooms. The rooms have broad L shaped drawing room and dining area. There is also a study room provided with each apartment. The complex is equipped with a well furnished club, a gym and a wide area for swimming pool. It further includes various other facilities like power back up of about10 KVA, sprinkler systems, sewage treatment plants, advanced fire detection, and rainwater harvesting facilities. The designed of the DLF properties are according to the seismic Zone-V specifications.

DLF Westend Heights Gurgaon has the following criteria for work:

1. The Entrance Hall is fully air conditioned.
2. Each apartment is well furnished with the imported marble and wooden flooring.
3. The complex have the power back up of about 100% upto 10 KVA from were about four AC's could be run even in the absence of electricity.
4. The complex has well maintained club for organizing parties, gym, and swimming pool and with some other facilities.
5. The CCTV cameras have been allotted in the basement.
6. The water supply is available for 24 hours and the pipes are made of copper which are non resistant to corrosion and is long lasting.
7. The complex supports environment friendly features like sewage treatment plant and Rain water harvesting system.

If you are looking for some luxurious apartment in Bangalore city then one of the best complexes available is DLF Westend heights Bangalore. The DLF Westend heights are among the luxurious complex buildings situated in Bangalore. It provides you a flat in new town BTM extension with three bedrooms which are available at an affordable price. Once you decide to reside in these apartments that your wish for dream home is seemed to get fulfilled. The life in this complex is convenient and you would find a suitable place at this complex.

DLF Projects are considered to be the best nationally and internationally. These projects have won many awards in Retail section of the Indian Market. It has received honors for providing entertainment, shopping and many activities with ease. The DLF Universals has taken contract about the Malls in New Delhi and Shopping Malls. Some of the approaching projects are DLF Hyderabad, DLF Chennai, DLF Andheri in Mumbai and DLF Ludhiana. DLF westend heights Bangalore are known for its full furnished facility known for its elegance, luxurious facility provided to its clients are some of the services offered by DLF. The whole work of building the property was undertaken by the DLF Home Developers. The DLF property is well enough to provide you with all the facilities which you look for your home.

High Vacancy Rates Leading to Excess Office Space

By Andre Nixon

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy 

There is currently an excess of office space in Las Vegas leading to a high rate of vacancy. The rates are in the range of 17 to 19% which is very high. The financial meltdown in U.S had affected the real estate domain pretty badly, leading to shrinkage in demand of office space in Las Vegas. In the year 2008, the work space required touched a low figure of 637,800 square feet. People need to wait till the end of 2010 for the vacancy rates to get lower and approach the normal rate of 10%. New office products are already being visible online in the current year which is a healthy change from the past year. With so much work space lying vacant, the construction work of many executive office suites has naturally been kept on hold.

The vacancy rates have already started to decrease and new employment opportunities are being created gradually. With the currently pending constructions works again being started, one can expect many of the ongoing projects to be completed within the next 9 to 12 months. The market is thereby expected to stabilize along with recovery in all the major industrial and financial domains. With the prevailing uncertainty, offices owned by banks are involved in most of the sales being done now. Banks are also trying to seize this opportunity by concentrating on sale of office space in Las Vegas. They are enhancing their portfolios with competition from the private players being less. The private bodies / individuals are waiting for the situation to be better.

It is worth mentioning that in 2008 the commercial real-estate markets were facing a major credit crunch. But in the current financial year, the previously hesitant financial institutions are offering real-estate loans to those possessing adequate quantity of equity and having a good credit / business history. Currently the credit card companies are following a safety-first approach and keeping their money intact. The earlier they start relaxing this approach the faster can the business recovery in office rental and office space be achieved. The average rental charge of office space in Las Vegas is about $2.5 per square foot. Many projects have already been completed, like the 65,000 square-feet Hughes Airport Center, the 144,300 square-feet Eastgate Plaza II (Houston), etc.

Commercial offices are right now apprehensive of buying any office properties and are rather willing to get office space on lease. With every passing day, one can notice an improvement in the housing market situation. Executive office suites are mainly being provided in Henderson, Summerlin, Central Vegas, and near the airport. The highest vacancy rate was noticed in the northern part of Las Vegas with figures touching an abysmal 31.6%. Although any category and size of business can get office space in Las Vegas, commercial / business real estate is not much in demand in downtown Las Vegas. Shared office space, temporary work space, furnished units, serviced units are all provided in Las Vegas by the real estate agents / brokers. Monthly and short-term lease options are being preferred by businesses rather than long-term leases.

The Power of Freedom Overcomes All Obstacles

Don Boudreaux explains how the immense strengths behind freedom and the human spirit provide the power to triumph over all obstacles - both those obstacles that result from natural disasters like earthquakes, and man-made obstacles like taxes and regulation.  Call it a "Ganesha-like" power of freedom to overcome all obstacles: 

"Freedom is a beautiful flower with more robustness than crabgrass. Freedom is not delicate or easily uprooted, and is not a frail institution that collapses and dies the moment it is attacked by some element foreign to its nature. If it were, we all would long ago have been well and truly enslaved.

The human spirit seizes opportunities to flourish even with less-than-maximum scope; it naturally resists being confined to the arbitrary will of others. We do not all fall in line behind the commissar or Congress’s commands simply because we’re ordered to do so. (How many Americans really care if the busboy at a restaurant is an “illegal” alien?) And even when we abide by the letter of legislation, we are wonderfully crafty at violating its spirit if that legislation is felt to be inappropriate.

So, too, with the free market. It is perhaps the most remarkably vigorous of all human institutions. Heavily taxed and loaded with arbitrary regulations, the market keeps on keeping on. Entrepreneurs creatively find ways around government intrusions or they discover techniques for reducing the intrusions’ ill effects.

Everyone who understands the logic of markets knows that, say, the unexpected destruction of a factory by an earthquake will barely slow the market’s relentless push to improve living standards. We understand that markets are remarkably resilient at dealing with natural obstacles such as mountains that separate suppliers from customers, or weather disasters that destroy existing inventories and supply lines.

Although we’d be even wealthier if these obstacles and weather disasters never materialized, their existence does not condemn us to everlasting poverty. Entrepreneurs—given sufficient freedom—are guided by prices and profits to overcome these obstacles. Likewise, entrepreneurs—given sufficient freedom—are guided by prices and profits to overcome government-erected obstacles.

To point out that freedom can be hobbled and hamstrung by a predatory State and nevertheless continue to shower blessings on ordinary men and women is to praise freedom—to applaud it loudly and lovingly."

Restaurant Performance Index Rises Above 100 For 1st Time in 5 Mos., Current Index Highest in 3 Yrs.

"Driven by improving same-store sales and customer traffic levels as well as growing optimism among restaurant operators, the outlook for the restaurant industry improved in September. The National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) – a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry – stood at 100.3 in September, up a solid 0.8 percent from its August level (see chart above). In addition, the RPI rose above 100 for the first time in five months, which signifies expansion in the index of key industry indicators.

The RPI’s solid gain in September was the result of broad-based improvements among both the current situation and forward-looking indicators. Restaurant operators reported positive same-store sales and customer traffic levels for the first time in six months, which propelled the RPI’s Current Situation Index to its highest level in nearly three years."

MP: On a year-over-year basis, the RPI increased by 2.87% in September, the highest annual increase in at least four years (see bottom chart above). 

Happy Halloween

HT: Coyote Blog

How To Carve a Pumpkin

without getting your hands messy......

HT: Andy Roth

Higher Education Bubble Update; New York Daily News Calls It a "Government-Sanctioned Racket"

The College Board released new data this week on "Trends in College Pricing" for 2010, and reported that four-year public universities raised tuition this year by 8%, almost twice the 4.5% average increase for tuition at America's private universities.  That differential follows a well-established pattern over the last decade of higher tuition increases at America's public universities than at private schools (see the chart above).  Public university tuition has increased faster than private tuition in each of the last four years, and in eight out of the last nine years, by an average of 3% per year.  As the chart above shows, the trajectory of college tuition in the U.S. is on a path that makes the recent housing bubble seem like a minor historical footnote by comparison. 

In assessing the College Board data, a NY Times article "As College Fees Climb, Aid Does Too" finds some "good news," but only by reversing cause and effect:

"The good news in the 2010 “Trends in College Pricing” and “Trends in Student Aid” reports is that fast-rising tuition costs have been accompanied by a huge increase in financial aid, which helped keep down the actual amount students and families pay."

The New York Daily News does a much better job of reporting the true causal relationship in an editorial that could be titled "As College Financial Aid Climbs, Tuition Follows:"

"College financial aid comes largely from the federal government. Meaning, out of your pocket. And ours. And out of the pockets of families scraping to raise that extra 8% for tuition. A government-sanctioned racket is what it is. States cut back on assistance to schools, so the schools raise tuition. Then the feds jump in, dish out billions in taxpayer dollars in student aid, and tuition goes up again. And again (see chart above).

Meanwhile, those fortunate folks who inhabit the groves of academe feel absolutely no need to hold the line on expenses. They ought to be ashamed, most of all for sending so many graduates out into the world with diplomas and loan statements showing a near-lifetime's worth of debt."

And this ongoing "higher education bubble" is especially troubling at a time when economist Richard Vedder reported recently that millions of students with college degrees not only graduate with debt, but "are doing jobs that the BLS says require less than the skill levels associated with a bachelor’s degree."  Some of those jobs include bartenders, janitors, and food preparation workers, all the more reason to call it a "government-sanctioned racket." 

Thanks to Gregory Tetrault. 

Hispanics: Longer Life Expectancy, Less Insurance

John Goodman points out on The Health Care Blog that Hispanics live longer than non-Hispanic whites on average, and the table above based on CDC data shows that life expectancy is greater for Hispanics than for whites both at birth (by 2.5 years), but also at other selected ages (20, 40, 60 and 80 years).  At the same time, Census data for 2009 shows that only about two out of every three Hispanics is covered by health insurance, compared to 88% of whites being covered, so that Hispanics are almost three times as likely as whites to be uninsured (32.4% vs. 12%).  

John concludes that these findings "make mincemeat out of the oft-repeated idea that the uninsured get less health care and die earlier than everyone else."

Global Economic Recovery Watch

1. The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for Australia increased 0.2% and the Conference Board Coincident Economic Index increased 0.3% in August.

2. The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for Mexico increased 0.8% and the Conference Board Coincident Economic Index increased 0.5% in August.

Is a Republican Congress Good for Stocks?

Most experts believe the Republicans will at least gain control of the House of Representatives on this coming election day. Some believe the GOP might even take control of the Senate. We wanted to test your opinion to see what our readers think the repercussions might be for stocks. Is a Republican victory good for stocks?

The movement of the Dow since late August seems to say it is. The stock market has always favored Republicans, or so it seems anyway. After all, they are tax friendly and pro-business, but after all that has occurred under Republican rule, is the President right in pleading with Americans not to put the bad drivers back behind the wheel? If the economy fell into such mess under Republican rule and the treasury budget deficit grew into a monstrous state, then perhaps old rules no longer apply? I believe the market will reward Republican victory, if it has not already, and will penalize a Democratic Party win. But we want to know what you think.

Is a Republican Congressional Victory Good for the Stock Market Anymore?

DEBATE TOPIC ARCHIVE

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Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

Average GDP Growth of 2.81% Over Last 5 Quarters Compares Favorably to the Last Two Expansions

We're now in the fifth quarter of economic expansion since the recession officially ended in June 2009.  How does this economic expansion compare to the last two?  Most reports describe the recovery as "sub-par," "weak," "fragile," and "anemic," etc.  

And yet real GDP growth over the last five quarters of expansion (1.6%, 5%, 3.7%, 1.7% and 2% for an average of 2.81%) compares very favorably with the five-quarter periods following the 2001 recession (3.5%, 2.1%, 2%, 0.1% and 1.6%, for an average of 1.87%) and the 1990-1991 recession (2.7%, 1.7%, 1.6%, 4.5% and 4.3% for an average of 2.96%).  Based on average real GDP growth (subject to revisions of third quarter GDP) for the five quarters following recession, this expansion is stronger than the 2002 expansion by almost a full percentage point (2.81% vs. 1.87%), and just slightly below the 1991-1992 period (2.96%). 

Strongest Consumer Spending Growth Since 2006

The BEA reported today that real GDP grew at 2.0% in the third quarter, boosted by a 2.6% rise in inflation-adjusted consumer spending, the highest quarterly increase since the 4.1% growth in the fourth quarter of 2006, 15 quarters ago.  This healthy growth in consumer spending from July through September is consistent with:  a) the many states that have been reporting increases in tax revenues in the third quarter from sales, individual income and corporate income taxes, and b) the stronger-than-expected retail sales report for September (7.2% annual growth).   

Is Teamwork in Sales Important?

By Rennie Gould

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy  

Although sales is often thought of as a solitary profession, the development of teamwork is important for a number of reasons:

To provide for social interaction

To share knowledge & experience

To work on large customer opportunities

To utilise the full range of skills of each team member

To develop sales and customer strategy

To create opportunities for motivation and personal development

But throwing people together does not develop a team. Team development normally proceeds through specific stages that needs to be facilitated by sales management. 

First Team Development Stage - Forming

In the initial stages of team development, sales management needs to establish clear ground rules and responsibilities that give the team its sense of purpose.

These management actions will help to remove the inevitable confusion and anxiety that normally exists as team members first get to know each other.

Second Team Development Stage - Storming

In this second stage of team development, sales managers need to calm any disagreements and smooth out the jockeying for status and position that can occur.

Management therefore needs to spend time addressing any concerns or issues and to stress the advantages of teamwork in increasing overall sales performance and in providing opportunities for individual development. 

Third Development Stage - Norming

In this third stage of its development, the team has begun to settle down and to establish its way of working. Sales managers can now begin to exploit the increasing cohesiveness of the team and explain how it should move towards the achievement of specific objectives.

Fourth Team Development Stage - Performing

When a team has reached this stage in its development, it can handle even greater levels of pressure and performance and should be stretched for higher levels of achievement. 

Sales management at this stage of the team's development should push for even more opportunity and information sharing and should create even more important sales projects for the team to work on. 

Fifth Team Development Stage - Decaying

It is common for teams to lose their effectiveness over time. This is because individuals come and go and due to changes in the sales and customer environment.

Such changes provide management with the opportunity to reinvigorate the team with new members or to set it new tasks and objectives in order to renew team effectiveness. 

Conclusion

Good teamwork within sales can bring together all the talents within the group to maximise sales performance and to provide the motivational opportunities of personal development and social interaction.