2016

Every business wants to grow. They want to become worth more (vertical growth) and they want to become bigger (horizontal growth). While this can be achieved through lengthy, hard work, there are also a number of shortcuts that can be taken. Organic growth, unfortunately, can be difficult and very slow. This is why so many businesses try to grow through mergers and acquisitions. This is a way to instantly expand the business, either horizontally or vertically or both.

Big corporations are notorious for always being on the lookout for an opportunity to acquire a different business or merge with it. In fact, in some of the largest companies, there are entire departments that focus on nothing but this. Generally speaking, they do so because:

• They want to diversify their offerings of products or services.

• They want to expand their reach in the market, effectively killing the competition.

• They want to strengthen their existing research facilities.

• They want to lower production costs.

Merger and Acquisition Strategies

There is a lot of software out there to help businesses with their merger and acquisition processes. This enables them, as well, to learn more about company mergers and the strategies that others have used in the past. Additionally, these software packages, which are usually online programs, tend to have lists available that show which companies are currently available for acquisition, or that are looking for merger. This is a really valuable tool for those who are looking to expand, as it enables them to gather enough intelligence before deciding what an appropriate next move would be.

Once one company identifies another company with which they want to perform a merger or acquisition, they have to think about next steps. First of all, they must decide whether they want to acquire the other company, which means that they totally take it over, or whether they want to merge, in which case both companies give and take a little bit. There are pros and cons to both options.

The pros of acquisitions include:

• The first company gets to keep all its staff members, as they do not have to reshuffle their organization to take in the old one.
• They will take over a piece of the market and, thereby, a piece of the competition, strengthening their own position.

The pros of mergers include:

• It is a friendly agreement, in which different types of talent join forces.
• It also allows for further market expansion, strengthening individual positions.

The cons of acquisitions include:

• They tend to be very risky. Only businesses that are at risk of failing tend to be available for acquisition.
• It is quite a hostile move, which can be hard on an ethical basis.

The cons of mergers include:

• A complete company reshuffle will have to be completed. This inevitably means that people in both original companies will lose their job.
• It can be difficult for two companies to properly merge and become one.

It is vital that you learn more about mergers and acquisitions before you decide to engage in one.

If you want your business to be successful in the globalized economy of today, you must be ready to innovate. Innovation is what will help you create a roadmap towards not just success, but the survival of your business. If you don’t use proper innovation management strategies in every element of your company or organization, you simply won’t be able to compete anymore.

What Is Innovation?

Many people believe that innovation is about coming up with a new product, but this is actually not true. Rather, it is about taking small steps that affect each part of the business, so that the company as a whole can develop and grow. Innovation never ends either, therefore. It is a continuous process that will only work if everybody is involved. It needs to be part of the culture of your organization, and not just your strategic manager. Anyone, from the janitor to the CEO, should be able to take part in innovation and should feel that their contributions are welcomed and respected.

What Is Innovation Management?

Somebody has to be responsible for the management of innovation. They need to make sure that people are able to put forward their ideas. There are multiple ways to achieve this, including:

• Open door policies

• Suggestion boxes

• Regular meetings

• The company’s intranet system

• Employee surveys and questionnaires

• Away days

• Corporate events

What matters is that everybody feels that they can put their ideas forward, and that they will be listened to. This does not mean that every idea also has to be implemented. Rather, it is about creating a culture in which everybody knows that they are equally valued, and that if an idea is not implemented, it is because the company as a whole agrees that it will not improve the current business model.

Innovation management is also about testing and implementation, but you won’t be able to get to that stage until you have changed the company culture.

Why Isn’t Everybody Innovating?

It is interesting to see that the vast majority of businesses know that innovation is hugely important, yet very few actually implement it as part of their business model. There are several reasons for this:

• Companies worry that they will be transformed in some sort of Google environment, with slides, relaxation rooms and free food for all.

• Companies still have a hierarchical culture, which means they simply cannot accept that the opinion at the lower end of the scale is as valuable as that of a senior manager.

• Companies don’t know how to get started on the process of innovation.

There are a number of consultants and specialists out there who will help you to transform your business into one that not just welcomes innovation, but embraces it. If you do want to make sure you remain competitive in this world, but you struggle to go about it alone, then these consultants are there to assist you. What isn’t an option, however, is to do nothing.

Imagine a situation in which negative reviews and comments are appearing online about you that are vindictive, invalid, unfair, or even simply untrue. That is a situation that many businesses face. It doesn’t mean, however, that you have to panic or throw in the towel believing that your business is now ruined. What you do have to do, however, is learn how you can mitigate the damage as much as possible.

Of course, doing nothing certainly isn’t an option either. Rather, you need to get help from a reputation management expert who will find out just how bad the damage is, and what the best course of action will be.

Three Management Approaches

• Approach the person who left the comment and ask them whether they would be willing to remove it. You can also contact the site owner and ask them to remove the comment, particularly if it is vulgar, threatening, inappropriate or offensive, or if it is very obvious that it is a malicious, vindictive comment. There are some people, known as ‘trolls’, who go out of their way simply to leave negative comments and if a site owner gets enough reports about a single person, their comments may be removed and they may be banned.

• Address the person directly. If you spot the comment very quickly, as you should if you monitor your reputation, then you have the chance to address the issue as well. However, you have to make sure that the response is appropriate, which can be very difficult to achieve. Make sure that, whatever you do, you don’t offer a standard, generic response. This will only inflame the writer more, who is expecting a personal reply. And make sure that there is no emotion in the post, except an apology from your side and a promise to try and resolve the problem.

• Ignore the situation. This is the least recommended option of all, but sometimes it does work. This is particularly true if you already have a very good reputation and your customers will know that the remark is inflammatory. Sometimes, if you address a problem, other people will start to get involved, and it can snowball out of control. Ignoring is a dangerous tactic, however, because your customers may also think that you don’t take them serious. Usually, a good approach is to respond once, asking the person to contact you directly through a private message, and to then not engage any further. Again, however, you should only do this under the guidance of an expert who is likely to know what the response is going to be.

Every situation you face is unique and will require a unique approach. Different strategies exist and each situation will need a different strategy. This is why it is so important to have a reputation management consultant on board who can help you. Don’t look for them once a problem arises, because you need to address is straight away.

Whenever there is a construction site, one issue that people have to face is how to manage restroom facilities. Luckily, there are now purpose made job site trailers available just for that purpose. These range from simple Portakabins to luxurious bathrooms with marble tops and more.

One of the other things site managers have to think about is that the facilities often have to move. This also means that they have to be disconnected and reconnected, all of which means that portability is very important. Luckily, those who rent out these types of facilities are also very much capable of reconfiguring the trailers and moving them to new locations.

Equipment Solutions for Common Job Site Problems

1. No existing toilet and no water or sewer. This means that the job site trailer has to be equipped with a wastewater holding tank, a water tank and a fresh-water flushing toilet. Usually, additional components are added to the trailer for the sink, although others can be fitted with a self-contained sink instead. In order for these trailers to work, they do have to be connected to the electricity network.
2. Existing restroom available, but no water or sewer. If someone already has a trailer with a restroom, but it isn’t hooked to water or sewer, a waste tank that holds 250 gallons should be fitted underneath the restroom. Additionally, a fresh water tank should be added, preferably one with an electric pump. Including these two elements will ensure that both the toilet and the sink can be supplied with water as well.
3. Limited space available and no water or sewer. In this case, a portable, small toilet should be added, which are perfect for areas that are low on space. There is no need for an external waste tank or water tank, as everything has already been built in. Similarly, a portable hand sanitizer dispenser or portable sink can be added. These are not suitable for heavy usage, however.
4. Existing toilet with water connection in place, but no sewer. In this case, a 250 gallon waste water tank can be added to the trailer. These are installed above the ground, usually underneath the trailer itself. This means that the ground is not disturbed and it also means that they are very easy and quick to install, while at the same time being hidden from sight.

If you don’t know what kind of system or technology you require, make sure you speak to a rental companies. Those who hire out jobsite trailers will also be more than happy to discuss your needs with you, and help you to identify which type is most suited for you.

If you work on a construction site, either because a new building is being constructed or an existing one is being renovated, there are plenty of opportunities out there to make sure that you can still use the restroom in comfort – and even in style!

In every business organization, no matter what it does, there are always some bad apples waiting in the wings to pounce at the first opportunity to do what they have been waiting to do for quite some time, i.e. to dupe you in one way or another. Employee monitoring technology has been created exclusively for dealing with such employees, dishonest and rotten to the core. This revolutionary technology has conceived iOS spy apps and various other tools for different platforms to keep tabs on crooked employees. Let’s find out this technology plays its part in tackling crooked employees and the threats they pose.

The Digital Line of Defense

Whether you’re running a small business with 50 employees, or a multinational empire consisting of thousands of employees, you don’t have any real chance of success while your employees are trying to pull wool over your eyes. Therefore, investing in digital tools is definitely the way to go. Not only can they bring ease and simplicity to employee monitoring, but these nifty employee management tools can also help you keep track of employees’ digital activities and whereabouts. Let’s take a look at how they go about achieving that.

• Helps you identify employees who abuse company-owned devices;
• Enables you to keep an eye on the emails being sent and received by employees to make sure confidential data is not being leaked;
• Allows you to view their internet browsing history to make sure that they are not visiting shady sites, like digital black markets for instance;
• Keeps you updated on who employees talk to and what they talk about by logging calls and SMS;
• Protects company from litigation by keeping record of everything employees do online;
• Keeps employees from wasting time online, thus improving their performance.

The Satellite Solution

Employee management tools come equipped with a GPS tracker that utilize GPS technology to keep track of target devices. Installing the said tools on company hardware i.e. iPhones or any other web-connected mobile devices, can help employers in keeping an eye on their employees discreetly. Employers may also use the location tracking feature to make sure employees are where they should be and not slacking off or wasting time on leisure.

Seeing Beyond the Obvious

Digital monitoring tools give you access to pretty much everything that has got anything to do with mobile devices and the internet. Whether it is about tracking the location of your mobile workforce or keeping an eye on crooked employees to keep them from indulging in illegal and unethical activities, you need to be on your guard for making sure that your business is not their next victim. Crooked employees are a handful as it is. Even with the use of monitoring tools, it is quite hard to keep them from giving into their rotten tendencies. Therefore, you need to not only have access to their online activities, but also need to be able to connect the dots and put two and two together to stay one step ahead of them. This can be done by evaluating the reports generated by employee monitoring tools.

The Bottom Line

Crooked is what crooked does. Therefore, no matter how hard you try, if you have a crooked employee working for you, your business will always face a huge risk of suffering at their hands. This is why it is very important to stay vigilant and invest in technology that makes it possible for you to keep a close eye on them, lest they’re secretly making your business bleed and getting away with it.

In today’s world, businesses are spending increasingly more time on human resources. With compliance being more essential than ever before, many business owners and management staff are finding themselves needing to dedicate more time to HR and paperwork, leaving them with less time to concentrate on business development and marketing. If you run a business, it’s a good idea to give some consideration to the different methods which you can use to both simplify and automate your human resources department, givingyou more free time togrow and develop your company.

Outsourcing

Depending on the size of your business, it may be a wise idea to outsource your HR department to a talent management company or third-party human resources company. As a general rule, if your business has less than one hundred employees, it is highly unlikely that you will have the resources and manpower needed to run a successful human resources department in-house. Outsourcing your human resources department and payroll system can make things simpler for you and relieve the pressure of compliance.

Automated and Self Service Systems

If you decide to go ahead and run an in-house human resources department, setting up an employee self service system can help things to run smoothly and reduce the workload of your human resources staff. These self service systems work by allowing employees to access their own records and make changes accordingly to details such as addresses, telephone numbers, next of kin and financial information. Allowing employees access to their details through a web based system means that they can make changes as and when they need providing that they have internet access. This leaves your human resources department with less menial tasks to do, allowing them to focus more time and energy on the larger projects.

Retain Top Talent

Hiring and firing staff is one of the main things that the human resources department is tasked with. The higher turnover of staff, the more work your HR department will need to do. Retaining as many employees as possible, especially those who are the top performers, will simplify your human resources department. Boosting your employee morale is one of the most important things that you can do which will have a direct effect on the level of staff turnover in your company. There are many things you can do in order to increase levels of employee satisfaction. This includes providing training and development opportunities, incentives and bonuses to keep employees motivated and productive.

Simplify Communication

The average employee spends over one-third of their typical work day reading and responding to emails. For human resources departments, the time spent on email could be even longer. Encouraging your human resources employees to make use of instant messaging and other alternative forms of communication to email could help to cut their time spent on essential communication and leave them with more time to complete other tasks.

With the right strategies, you can reduce the amount of time your company spends on HR, leaving more time for development and growth.