Top 10 Business Tips
From Peter Perivolaris, General Manager, Hardings Consulting
www.hardingsconsulting.com.au

1. If you decide that there is a role that needs fulfilling, write down your thoughts. This is the basis for the job description. Every job should have one. But it shouldn’t say what people do in the job. It should state the results and outcomes that you expect. They were the reasons for creating the role in the first place.
2. If you hire the right people, you shouldn’t have to tell them what to do, you only need to tell them the results you expect. They can work out the “how to” details themselves, without you looking over their shoulders all of the time.
3. Give employees fair notice to complete a task. Don’t tell them everything is urgent, if it’s not, because they will resent the pressure you are creating, and after a while they won’t believe you. If they’re having trouble, you can review the deadline.
4. People have their own reasons for doing things, including working for you. If you pay them reasonably and treat them fairly, they will happily do their job until it no longer suits them. Don’t fall for all this motivation and teamwork stuff. Just make sure you aren’t the one de-motivating them.
5. Staff work the hours that suit their lifestyle choices, including working late to impress the boss. And activity expands and contracts to fill the time available. Insist that work gets done within set hours each day. The key for staff is to be organised and to manage their time well, that way you know who is being really productive.
6. Up to a point, you are paying for hours on the job, but there are fewer and fewer assembly lines today. What you want is results. As long as you are getting value for money, you can afford to be flexible about what hours people put in.
7. With today’s technology, you can do ten times more business with one-tenth of the cost and resources as you would have twenty years ago. So can your competitors.
8. The rate of technological change in the world is getting faster. This goes for business too. Keep your eyes on what developments are coming onto the market, even when they do not appear to be relevant to your industry.
9. Years ago we heard of the paperless office, only to see our paper usage go up with the expansion of computer reports. However, it can now be a reality if you want it, with emails, laptops, websites, scanning of documents and lots of cheap disk storage capacity. How much are you paying in office space just to store files?
10. How mobile is your office? For small businesses, all of the resources exist to run your office from your home or motor vehicle. You can employ contractors who do the same. This keeps your costs down and makes your business agile and flexible.

In this issue

Recruitment Strategies for Attracting Staff

Top 10 Business Tips

Story of a Footy Legend - Sam Kekovich