By Debbie Gregory.

Today’s employees have much more sway when it comes to their work environments, benefits, and job perks than ever before.

If you are looking to find, hire, and retain top talent in any field, there are some expectations from the candidates that you need to meet:

• Flexible schedules
• Flexible and adaptable workplace design
• Connected to nature
• On-site health and wellness

Flexible Schedules:

This is one of the number one issues and benefits that employees today demand.  Flexible schedules also ranks amongst the top two reasons why employees will stay with an employer.

Flexible scheduling can be accomplished in numerous ways and you may consider offering:  

• Flexible hours
• More paid time off
• Days that can be worked from home

Flexible and Adaptable Workplace Design:

The days of endless rows of cubicles are in the past. Today’s employees do not want to sit in a small area with fluorescent lighting surrounded by their fellow workers in their cubicles.   You need to think outside of cubicles when planning your workspace areas.

You might consider offering your employees a variety of individual and group workspaces including:

• Lounge areas with laptop tables
• Sit-to-stand workstations that are becoming very popular with lounge areas
• Conference rooms available for general use at any time
• Informal meeting rooms with comfortable chairs
• Casual work areas with high-top tables and barstools

Many progressive employers also include pool tables, ping pong and games in the workspaces.

Connected to Nature:

Employees are tired of being kept in workspaces that have artificial lighting, heating and cooling in a cubicle type setting They want to enjoy the hours they are required to be indoors at work. Many employers are shifting to more natural light sources with better outdoor views, more plants and outdoor space.  They are finding that the time spent outdoors dramatically increases employee happiness and productivity. Keeping in mind the importance of nature and natural elements in the workplace really increases employee morale.

On-site Health and Wellness:

More employees expect their employers to care about and help foster their well-being, including their mental health and well-being.   This is a win/win for both. Happy and healthy people are more energized and engaged with their work.  This increases productivity and can even reduce the overall cost of healthcare.

Some examples of ways your company can do to help promote better health:

• Offer mental and financial wellness education, through literature, seminars, and webinars
• Offer on-site flu shots, biometric screenings, and massages
• Many large companies have their own medical team with one or more Physician Assistants and/or Nurse Practitioners making it simple and convenient for their employees.
• Offer healthy food and beverage options if you have a stocked break room or cafeteria.
• Try to add a regular catered lunch that includes healthy foods, vegetarian options, and salad bars
• Try adding some fitness challenges that are focused on promoting holistic health
• Build a wellness room with exercise and stretching equipment including offering classes such as Yoga and Pilates.

Utilizing forward thinking and a bit of creativity when planning your workspaces, employee benefits work schedule, and more will go a long way towards attracting and capturing the eyes of top-performing employees that are excited to work for you.  They will be more productive and will stay with the company putting forth their very best work.  Healthy and happy employees are a recipe for success and avoid the financial of other costs of employee turnover.

By Debbie Gregory.

Some success is carefully and meticulously planned for over the long haul.  Other successes can come unexpectedly in the form of surprises. Either way, success in any part of your life, requires that you work hard both to achieve it and to keep it going.

Ways to Foster More Success in your Life

Be Open Minded and Optimistic:

This can be very challenging especially during times when you are going through a rough time.  We all often tend to feel a somewhat negative or defeated when things aren’t going our way. However, if you work at being both open minded and optimistic it will assist you to see opportunities and attract these opportunities that you might have otherwise overlooked.   There is nothing closer to attaining success than a positive attitude and being open to new things.

Ask for A lot but Expect Nothing:

In order to get what you want; you need to be bold enough to pursue opportunities.  You also must have the ability to be able to ask for more opportunities from those who can offer them to you.  At the end of the day, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.   At the same time, do not have huge expectations and expect anything to come from it. Just because you have asked doesn’t necessarily mean that you will receive.

Add Greater Value:

You cannot sit around all day wishing for opportunities to drop into your lap and expect that they will.   This is not reality. You must consistently demonstrate your value to others in order to be rewarded with better opportunities. Give more, do more, say more.  This means staying connected and networking most of the time.  Sitting on autopilot and hoping for something to plop into your lap does not work.

Become an Expert:

Not every path to success is clear or easy to figure out the route. If you excel at something, invest the time and energy to become the best at it and an expert and/or authority. Share your expertise with others. You never know what opportunities can come from it.

Generally speaking success = opportunity + preparation. Success can also be achieved through personal growth which in turn invites unexpected success into your life. Put in the work to create more opportunities for success in your life and you will never regret it.

By Debbie Gregory.

There are many people that consider starting their own business yet quit before they get anything off the ground. They get hung up by their fears or other hurtles and simply give up.

Five Biggest Business Challenges & How To Overcome Them:

Self-Doubt:

Most potential entrepreneurs stop before they even begin due to self-doubt and the fear of failure. Don’t let these concerns stop you from making your dream a reality. If you need assistance getting started, it is always a good idea to reach out to support groups or mentors to help you overcome these mental blocks and give you the encouragement you need to keep going.

Knowledge:

Most people begin a business because of an idea and not because they are fantastic business people. There are so many resources available today to help literally anyone start and run their own business. You can easily take online courses to learn what you need to get going, watch tutorials, consult with a mentor in the industry, join support groups, hire people who have the knowledge you lack, or use software to take care of certain tasks.

Legal:

Legal considerations and fears are a big hurdles for some people and can easily scare away potential entrepreneurs. You do need to be aware of any potential legal problems and prepare for them but it doesn’t have to be so daunting. There are plenty of online resources that can help guide you, sites such as the U.S. Small Business Administration or Legal Zoom.

Funding:

Financial fears are the number one issue that stop people from starting a business.  It is also the major reason for a business closing its doors. Funding fears are everything from the fear of not making enough money to draining your savings and trying to stay afloat. Most people are comfortable with a steady paycheck from a larger corporation and do not want to take a chance on the fluctuating income of their own small business.

Ways to generate money:

• Start the business on the side of your normal 8-5 job
• Work part-time as a rideshare driver
• Offer consulting services
• Start by selling online before transitioning to a brick and mortar storefront
• Rent a room in your home
• Rent your entire home out through services like Airbnb.

Website:

Marketing your business takes planning, proper administration, and a bit of know-how. The main marketing tool your business will need is its own website. You can opt to hire a pro to put your site together or you can utilize the multitude of do-it-yourself options. Most eCommerce platforms have very nice drag-and-drop templates that you can use. A lot of the website hosting companies do as well. Take the time to do a bit of research before you choose how and who to build your site and select the option that works best for you.

Too many people allow these challenges to hold them back from starting and running their own business. There is always a way to overcome or do a workaround any problem you may face. Don’t let anything stop you from achieving your dreams.

By Debbie Gregory.

Emotional Intelligence, or EQ, is essential for small business owners.  It is important because it opens the lines of communication.  It also prevents misunderstandings, confusion as well as frustration that occur between management teams and their employees and team members.  Additionally, it also helps to foster and grow positive customer relations.

What is emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is quite complex. Emotional intelligence is defined as the capacity to be aware of and sensitive to controlling and expressing one’s emotions. It also means that a person can empathetically handle interpersonal relationships.

Do you have high emotional intelligence?

Below are some of the characteristics of people who have high emotional intelligence:

Self-Awareness:

Emotional intelligence begins with self-awareness. You must understand how emotions affect you and your behavior. Managing your emotions effectively allows you to make better decisions as well as identify and understand other people’s emotions.

Negative Thought Control:

We all have negative, self-defeating, or tempting thoughts that may make you lean towards doing something you know is wrong. People with high emotional intelligence don’t dwell on these negative thoughts; instead they work hard to replace them with positive ones.

Emotional Response Control:

Those with high emotional intelligence learn from their past emotional mistakes and work hard to correct those negative behaviors. We have all said or done something we regret as a knee jerk reaction while angry because we did not pause before acting on our emotions. It is important not to act intentionally nor to make permanent decisions based on temporary emotions.

Criticism and Balance:

No one likes being criticized.  However, those with high emotional intelligence understand how to control their responses. They also tend to learn from what people say about them and do better. If one person has negative thoughts about them, odds are good there are others who share the same opinions. It is positive to take this information to heart and use it for growth and improvement. People with high emotional intelligence recognize that they have both strengths and weaknesses and they strive for balance and humility.

Acknowledging Others:

People with high emotional intelligence tend to show other people respect by acknowledging their presence. These acknowledgments are things as simple as a smile, a head nod, or saying hello as they pass other people during the day.

Questions to ask yourself to gauge your own emotional intelligence:

• Have I taken the time to really get to know myself?
• Do I act or speak differently when I’m in a great mood versus a lousy mood?
• Do I practice self-care?
• What are my emotional triggers?
• Do I focus on what I can control?
• Do I try to control my thoughts?
• Do I think before I speak?
• Do I know how to handle negative emotions?
• Do I learn and grow from negative feedback?
• Am I open to other perspectives?
• Am I too easily swayed by others?
• Do I acknowledge others?
• Do I praise others?
• Do I listen for the message, and not just the words?
• Do I show empathy?
• Do I keep my commitments?
• Do I have a balanced view of myself?
• Am I authentic?
• Do I give helpful feedback?
• Do I willingly and authentically apologize?
• Do I forgive and forget easily?

Asking yourself these questions should help you get a good idea of where your strengths and weaknesses lie. This in turn can help you determine where to work on yourself as well as identify where you already excel.

All of us possess some emotional intelligence and it is always a good idea to continue to improve upon you. Take the time to master yourself and make your emotions work for, not against, you.

By Debbie Gregory.

Everyone has a different idea what the word innovation truly means when it comes to business.  To some it is inventing something that never existed before.  To others, it is an evolution or upgrade to existing products or services.  Innovation is the process of translating an idea or invention into a good or service that creates value or for which customers will pay.

In business, innovation often results when ideas are applied by the company in order to further satisfy the needs and expectations of the customers.  There are some innovation myths that actually hurt progress more than they help.

The Top 5 Innovation Myths that can Hurt Your Business:  

If You Build It, They Will Come:

Regardless of what the innovation, it simply will not sell itself. Sitting around waiting for customers to flock to you, without doing anything else, will kill even the best business ideas. Customers have no clue how amazing your product or service is unless they are told how amazing it is. This means that a business owner must invest in building the company’s brand, its marketing, and its following.

Shooting For The Moon:

In general, reaching too far too fast can create a whole plethora of problems. Though there are some projects out there that really went for the moon, such as like Apple’s iPhone or Google’s search engine,most projects that are too ambitious will ultimately fail. It is best to take a more conservative approach and focus on ambitious that are ultimately achievable projects.

Allowing Customers to Drive Your Innovation:

Listening closely to your customers and implementing improvements based on their feedback can dramatically help your business grow.  With this said, do not rely on customers to create new innovations. Customers generally don’t bother to try imagining a different future or new improved products.   They simply want a good quality product at a good price.

Relying on Your Team for Innovations:

Regardless of your industry, your vision MUST come from the top. It doesn’t matter how smart or capable your designers, developers, and engineers are, they need to be led by those in charge. The company’s leaders, the C-level people in the organization, need to empower their team with visions of what is to come. Your team is there to support your dream, not the other way around.

Innovation Requires Expensive Tech:

Simple solutions are often the best ways to solve complex problems. You should be able to summarize what you would like to solve in a sentence or two.  Then you need to consider the easiest and most cost-effective method to achieve it. If the solution involves fancy tech, great. Just remember that your innovation needs to be accessible in order to be profitable. Keeping it simple makes a great deal of sense.

Innovation isn’t easy but if you believe these myths it will be a whole lot harder!