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As a business owner, you know what it’s like to lie awake at 2 a.m. Maybe it has happened when you are excited and full of new ideas for your business. More often, it’s because you are worried about issues you will face the next day. Sometimes, it’s because you just woke up with the solution to a problem. I’ve experienced all those emotions about my businesses over the years. Awake at 2 o’clock? is where I share them with you, and hopefully help with answers that will let you sleep.
John F. Dini, CExP, CEPA
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Small business owners are the Hunters of the 21st century. We are 3% of the US population, and yet we create over half of all American jobs. As Hunters, we may not be inclined to manage by the numbers or stick to systems. Are you a Hunter or a Farmer?
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How prepared are you to exit your company?
The Assessment breaks down the four major categories of exit readiness; Finance, Planning, Operations and Revenue/Profit.
Tag Archives: employees
Turning a Competitive Advantage into an Entitlement
The Affordable Care Act is here to stay. Although Republicans have voted to repeal Obamacare dozens of times, the “debate” over its implementation has taken on a sense of theatre. The Federal behemoth continues to chug along. Cancelled policies, the … Continue reading
One Response to Turning a Competitive Advantage into an Entitlement
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After the Goal
Why do employees have to “rest” after accomplishing a goal? When most human accomplishment required manual labor, taking time to recuperate after a final push, whether it was harvesting a crop or completing a building, was a natural way to physically recharge before starting another project. Today, most … Continue reading
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What is Mentoring?
In a recent meeting of one of our groups in The Alternative Board®, the business owners discussed mentoring. One member, a partner in a large professional firm, has been tasked with mentoring a partner in training. He asked what the … Continue reading
4 Responses to What is Mentoring?
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I would argue that coaching and teaching are part of mentoring when there is a strategic goal of developing an employee. We have a small software company. Since not long after PEI was founded in 1996, we have had a Service Item set up in QuickBooks called “Mentoring”. It is used in many contexts.
When an employee is assigned a project that requires new skills and I assist, my time is marked as Mentoring / Non-billable and their time is booked to the client project (billable or not). When I have to coach or teach a new skill that is booked to Mentoring. If I review internal work that an employee did (company website or whatever) and then discuss different techniques or strategy than they applied, that is Mentoring. However, the review process or asking them to fix something goes to Administration or Marketing or whatever normal business process is involved.
It may be correct that if an employee is simply shown who to complete a specific task so that they can perform that duty, you might call that “merely” teaching. When efforts are part of a long-term strategic goal to develop an employee into something more than a cog in the machine, then the deliberate work to accomplish the goal is legitimately mentoring.
David Basri
Point Enterprises, Inc.
http://www.pointent.com-
David, the idea to capture a mentoring role as a ‘job cost’ data point is an interesting one. We capture management consulting with our clients, which falls under mentoring with the teaching and coaching dynamic as discussed. With my own company staff I have not captured that in any way. Thanks for the eye opener!
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I have experienced all the three levels of “learning” with a person: I am mentored in a public speaking club. I have a direct and personal relationship with my mentor. She was my choice from the start. I felt that we clicked and I feel comfortable with her. She teaches me things in a focused and condensed way: all about public speaking and how to convey my message to an audience. My lessons are small assignments in the form of a speech formed in such a way for me to learn important elements of a successful speech but one at a time.
However, I think a trainer is teaching you something much more specific rather than a mentor which connects elements from different lessons and goes a second level. The sessions can be more relaxed and a bit generalized though having one special assignment due to the varied topic of the speech and the many objectives that need to be met.
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Off-topic: I have just noticed the name of the blog is awake at two o’clock. It is 2.15 AM.
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When is a Bonus Not a Bonus?
We refer to many different types of payments to employees as bonuses. They range from very modest amounts paid for specific activities to substantial components of a worker’s total compensation package. Merriam-Webster defines “bonus” as “money or an equivalent given … Continue reading
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A Tiered Minimum Wage for Small Business
Recent strikes by employees of McDonalds and Wal-Mart demanding a higher minimum wage have gained headlines on all the news feeds. The strikers claim that they can’t live on the Federally mandated $7.25 an hour. The California legislature recently voted … Continue reading
2 Responses to A Tiered Minimum Wage for Small Business
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Thoughtful. Need more of that!
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I vote “yes” on this plan!
A agree that it will cease to differentiate in the small-medium size business market.
Recently I have been dealing w the issue if health care w my clients even though it isn’t a focus of my services, they are truly in the dark as to what is the best method to employ going forward.
I fully believe the new standard will be for owners to push the employees to the exchanges. Pressure to provide insurance (in the past) had been from two points directions; 1- the desire to benefit the employee and 2- competition for the better employee. What we see larger size companies taking advantage if lower hours eliminating the required costs for a all vs the providing for the ones owners deem worthy.
New world will be where small to medium size employers will cease providing insurance as a benefit because as you have said it no longer sets them apart and there is no residual value.