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Browse published articles attributed to Cecile Peterkin, with full-archive search.
There are many things you can actually do to improve your own performance at work. Basically, your success at work is determined mainly by your attitude and how you choose to spend your time. Below you will find simple ways to become a better performer at work. Set Priorities and Manage Them Well
In business, making sure that you are taking steps to ensure your company’s continued success is important. One of the best steps that you can take when you want to know that your staff members have what it takes to keep things running smoothly is to implement a corporate mentoring program. Rather than a more traditional training program, you’ll find that a corporate mentoring program: * Ensures that new employees ,whether they are new to the business or simply new to a specific department , know to whom they can turn whenever they have a question.
If there is one thing that you will not often see in a resume, that will be the travel history of an applicant. Now you may be wondering why being a frequent traveler is an advantage you can actually have over other job applicants. Read on to know why. Why Are Travelers Excellent Candidates for a Job? 1. Their personal growth doesn’t have any limitations or an end.
“That’s too difficult, I can’t do that!”, “There’s no point in trying because I will fail anyway.” If you find yourself saying these things quite often, then you are someone whose personal mission is to destroy your own confidence in yourself. This isn’t unusual, though, because there are many of us who are just too cruel to themselves.
For most businesses, especially the startups, acquiring customers is one big concern. But while entrepreneurs must know how to gain new customers, they shouldn’t forget the importance of retaining the loyalty of their existing customers. This is definitely a bigger challenge, basically because it can be very costly on the side of business owners. Our goal here is to teach you some very inexpensive customer retention strategies. How to Improve Customer Loyalty
Diversity in the workplace is extremely valuable - provided of course that all of the members of your team are making a strong contribution and are willing and able to learn from what others have to offer. After all, workplace diversity brings together those with different levels of education and experience; workplace diversity allows those who are fresh out of school to work alongside those who have had industry experience for a number of years and enables women in the workplace to contribute to the company by offering a different prospective along with the work that they put in.
Whether you are a fan of baseball, football, soccer or basketball, one of the things that you’ll notice is that only the teams that work well together are able to come out on top. As you strive to achieve all the goals you have set for your business, one of the things that you’re going to want to take a closer look at is company team building.
Success comes easy for people who place value on making good first impressions. As you meet different people who may eventually be helpful in your career or job search, it is a must that you put your best foot forward so they may have a positive lasting impression on the kind of person you are. In this post, you’re going to learn what any career or personal coach would say about making a good first impression. When in business and networking situations, keep these things in mind: 1. Mind what you’re wearing.
You’ve been hired with a new company. Your trainer is moving up, moving on, or moving out of the business. If you are lucky, the person being replaced will be around for at least a couple of weeks to train in the various duties of the position. Sometimes, the person has already left or has only a couple of days to show you the ropes. In order to make the transition as smooth as possible, without losing workplace productivity, many companies have discovered a vital tool.
One big mistake that entrepreneurs often make is staying in startup mode for a very long time. When this happens to you, it would seem as if you were always standing on the break. Thus, you must make a move to transition from being a startup business into an established one. Ideally, you want to be in the startup phase only for the first two years of business operations.
There are so many opportunities around us to become a better person, but none of these opportunities can guarantee immediate success. It is never right to think that doing one thing could make you an instant success. The reality is, there are things that you did and didn’t do that out you in the position you are in right now. Should you regret? Maybe yes and maybe no. You can never be sure about the future, of course, so there is really no point in blaming your decisions in the past. Is There a Secret Formula for Success?
Having a start-up business is definitely not what any entrepreneur would dream of, especially considering that these small businesses are the ones most easily affected by even the simplest form of economic stability. Despite the fact that enterprises, regardless of their size, are truly the backbone of any economy, they become so helpless during a disaster in the economy. Nevertheless, this should not discourage you from putting up a business of your own, simply because there are way too many benefits of being an entrepreneur than its disadvantages.
Having a business partner can have a direct impact on how a business operates. For entrepreneurs, the decision of whether to have a business partner or not is also a huge one. On the positive side, having a good partner in running your business can add value to your enterprise. But then again, this comes with risks as well, like ending up with an incompetent partner. Nevertheless, finding a business partner is generally part of growing and expanding a business, which makes it a risk worth taking.
Having a job or career that requires you to do something you are passionate about will certainly encourage you to work harder. However, this alone doesn’t offer any guarantee that you will be successful, especially if your plan is to turn your passion into a business. At the end of the day, it is imperative that your courage meet with good business opportunities. When this happens, you may witness how passion integrates with business sense. While it won’t be that simple to succeed in a business founded on your heart’s desires, it is definitely not impossible to achieve.
Your boss is the one to manage all the things that you do on a daily basis. He or she has complete control over many aspects of your work, such as the amount of work assignments you have, the possibility of you being promoted, your salary raise, and so on. But apart from these things, your boss can also affect how satisfied you will be with your job.
Do you think you are being effective at work? While it is common for most of us to believe that we are perfectly effective, this isn’t always the case. In fact, we all have certain strengths and weaknesses that have a direct impact on how we perform at work. If you could tweak some of your skills, you will find that you can be even more effective.
When it comes to self-improvement, it is too easy to find advice online or get tips from people you know. The question is always if you could put them into practice. For my part, I should say that it’s always a challenge to follow the advice I give other people on how they can improve their lives. But of course, I make an effort and really try hard to do so every single day. Here’s a list of my favorite self-improvement tips that you can freely use to make positive changes in your life: Always try to have a good start.
Generally speaking, people are always excited about trying out something new. This is why newly opened bars and restaurants, for instance, tend to be a huge hit on their first few weeks of operation. Of course, people are curious about what they have to offer. Unless you are able to meet your customers’ expectations, you are likely to lose them instantly. The truth is that getting customers’ attention isn’t the most difficult aspect of marketing a business. What you will find more challenging is how you may keep them knocking on your door.
As an entrepreneur, you must be willing to spend your time and money on improving your business, but do you really know which of your investments are actually worth your resources? By first opening your mind to what can boost your revenue will help you come up with the smartest decisions for your enterprise. Below are the most recommended business investments entrepreneurs should make:
After the Holidays Winter vacation time can be so relaxing, at times, maybe even lazy - sleeping in, spending time with the family and eating way too much. But now that the holidays are over and the kids are getting back to school, it’s time to rev up your work zone before the spring. So, how can you transition back to work, no matter the time of year, after you’ve been off and enjoying the freedom of no schedule? Set the Stage
Here are some tips for a job interview that will help you come out of the process on top. When you walk into a job interview, the product you are selling is YOU. In order to successfully sell yourself, you must market your personal brand. That is, you must build a reputation that qualifies you, and only you, to successfully fulfill the job requirements. The job interview is your time to shine – your time to sell yourself and your abilities. In order to do that, you must have faith in your personal brand.
Get honest and focused about what you really want. This will bring clarity to where it is best to put your time, energy, and resources. You must also face the fact that the biggest obstacle on your way to achieving success is you. Brian Tracy said,"The potential of the average person is like a ...
Thousands of new businesses emerge year after year, but what’s surprising to know is that there are as many businesses that go out of operation. This goes to show that running even a small business isn’t as easy and simple as many think. There are many factors that can determine whether an enterprise is going to fail or succeed. One of the most important tasks every entrepreneur must do is get to know the their customer base. In fact, many failing business owners realize late that they didn’t have that much understanding of their customers’ needs.
There are a lot of things that can shake up a business; one of the most prevalent of these is a lack of succession planning. Simply put, in order to run smoothly, there needs to be consistent business leadership and it is, on many levels succession planning that helps to maintain consistency and ...
Envy and jealousy at work are among the most difficult things to deal with in the workplace. But no matter how hard it is to overcome them, you have to manage these feelings effectively to prevent them from ruining your own performance at work, and your relationships with the people you work with. There are many things or situations that can make you feel jealous in your workplace, including: - The ideas of another employee are used instead of yours - A colleague of yours always gets the credit - Another employee gets the promotion you think you deserve morer
Have you ever looked around your business and thought that there was something missing? Have you ever walked into the employee cafeteria to see clusters of your staff - the same small clusters that form in individual departments? If you have, or if you’ve simply noticed that the more that there are generational divides among your staff, you need to know that mentoring in the workplace could be the tool that brings everyone together.
Maybe you’ve recently graduated, are in mid-career shift or are recreating your life after economic downtu - whatever your story, if you’re looking to launch your career to greater heights, there’s no better time than summer. While your peers may be thinking of taking the summer off from the job search, you’d be best served to take this time to lay the groundwork for your future. Unemployment Lines Await
Even if your job is not to sell, there will come a time when you will have to persuade someone. Persuasion happens not only between salespeople and their potential customers. As a manager, for instance, you may need to persuade your subordinates to perform at a higher level. And if you think you have a brilliant project in mind, you should learn how to persuade your boss to take on it. Needless to say, the ability to persuade somebody is a desirable one, and something that you can actually learn and develop.
No job search is easy. It takes quite a lot of time, patience, effort and commitment in order for you to succeed in finding a job that will make you more satisfied than your current job. If you have just started your search for a new job, you may be tempted to grab just any opportunity that comes your way. By not taking into consideration the career you want as well as the methods to use to achieve your goals, you may find yourself taking the wrong career path.
The new realities of securing employment in today's changing world require a new belief. Designing and planning your career, and taking a proactive, self-directed approach is the success formula. The resume is a critical part to your career design. October issue of Recipes for Success we ...
Sales is undoubtedly the lifeblood of any business provided that the sales department is staffed and managed properly. Otherwise, this can turn into a liability for the company. The challenge that many small startup businesses have to deal with is the fact that their sales department is understaffed. More often, the owner of the company and a couple of other individuals make up the sales department. As a result, the business is highly dependent on only a few people. Hiring additional personnel isn’t the easy solution to this.
Managing your career, just like managing your life, requires preparation and ensuring that your time is directed meaningfully. Don't wait and see; make things happen. Just like athletes who prepare for the "big game” or a marathon, designing your career requires goals, planning, work, and above ...
For any small business, one of the toughest things to do is to expand overseas and find reliable global suppliers. A smart entrepreneur makes safe choices and smart decisions, especially when it comes to finding a supplier for your business. This is easier said than done, though, but by following these steps below, you can rest assured that you can choose a supplier that will give you the best service. Through this guide also, you will find help in ensuring that your business will move on to the path towards success. #1 Study your options well before closing a deal.
The use of office cubicles has been on the rise in recent years, mainly because of the desire of companies to save on space. But limited space is not the only reason why cubicles are popular in almost all workplace today. According to several studies, cubicles give workers more opportunities to mingle and therefore have good relationships with one another. If you are required to work in a cubicle with another worker, there are things you could get worried about. Even an experienced personal coach would agree that these are the types of coworkers you would want to avoid:
When asked about the people you admire the most, it is very likely that you adore at least one of those people because they are just so confident about themselves in everything they do. Perhaps you envy them because you find it so hard to build confidence in yourself. Well, do you believe that there really isn’t such a thing as confidence? You cannot acquire confidence per se, but you can certainly develop a confident way of thinking, which then results in confident behavior. What makes a person confident?
The more that businesses start looking into mentoring and the advantages that it offers, the more that they are going to want to focus on the characteristics of a mentor. In order to develop a mentoring program, it’s important that you are bringing the right people on board to get the program started.
Happiness… this is what you want, what I want, and what everyone else wants. Interestingly, while we all want to attain happiness in our lives, so many of us are clueless as to how they could be happy in their lives. Perhaps this is because it is too easy to take for granted what we have right now, and we, instead, keep looking for the things we think could give us fulfillment. If being fulfilled for you is a difficult thing to do, consider making some changes in your life. What you will read below are some tips that have helped many people become happier and more likeable.
Given that the economy is nowhere near as strong as it could be, more and more companies are looking at layoffs as an option that will help them to stay in business. No matter how great you are at your job, there is a risk of the company eliminating your position – and if that happens, it's ...
Today, no one disputes the fact that the job market is very tight. Gone are the days when jobs were plentiful and opportunities practically dropped into a person’s lap. Now, it is the ambitious individual, with a tenacious proactive approach, that lands the coveted position. In fact, finding a job through cold calling is a classic example of making opportunities happen. Cold Calling Career Tips
Change management is a well-defined approach that aims to ensure that whatever changes are implemented in an organization will be thoroughly planned and smoothly applied. Most importantly, this approach should guarantee that the benefits of the change will be lasting and will be achieved.r
Even the job that you have long wanted can turn into a nightmare if you find yourself having more tasks and responsibilities than you expected. And when you start missing deadlines and getting assigned additional projects, things can get so much worse. These could even result in you having a negative score in the employee performance evaluation or even getting fired from your job. It is the common instinct of employees to keep their struggles to themselves because they don’t want to look or sound like a big failure if they speak about their difficulty keeping up with all their work.
What if you were given the chance to hold a higher position in your company but you have to choose between two of them? This is indeed a rare scenario and you should feel really fortunate if it happens to you. Having multiple good options is a great boost to your confidence, but of course, you will still feel the pressure of having to make a decision as to which of those choices you should grab and which one you ought to let go.
Branding is a process started by large corporations like Nike as part of a marketing strategy in the 1980's. It is a concept which had them selling their customers an image and an idea. Soon, along with the pair of running shoes you were buying, you were also buying into the concept, and "just ...
Branding is a process started by large corporations like Nike as part of a marketing strategy in the 1980’s. It is a concept which had them selling their customers an image and an idea. Soon, along with the pair of running shoes you were buying, you were also buying into the concept, and "just ...
Given the situations that exist within the economy, more and more people are conce ed that they will be facing a job loss. Despite the fact that being out of work can be a terrifying prospect - after all, so much relies on having a paycheck and even just the consistency of a schedule and ...
When you are looking for a job, being called in for a job interview is very exciting. Out of all the applications submitted, there is something about yours that stood out above the rest. You have made the final cut. Then, you realize that the interview will determine whether you are employed or back to sending out more resumes. What can you do to ensure job interview success? What do you say? How do you answer that inevitable question: "Tell me about yourself"? Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
I recently volunteered to review a client’s resume. She was applying for a job at a large Financial Institution. She had her artistic husband design a very creative resume, which showcased his graphic design skills. The resume looked great, if she was applying for an artistic position. You want your resume to be memorable and stand out from the others in the pack, but the design should match the position you are applying for and the company environment.
This September I spent two days doing Resume Assessment at The National Job Fair and Training Expo in Toronto. 400 Job Seekers received free resume assessments from nine Resume Writers. There was a 2-3 hour wait for this service that was available from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Since a resume is critical ...
Before entering the workforce, it is common for young people to study calculus and other higher academic subjects. While there is no doubt that training in such fields is valuable, it is also very important that young workers learn the idea of optimism. It can definitely be very beneficial for an individual to know what it is that actually motivates people to give their best in whatever they do. When you start to figure it out, it will be easier for you to apply it in your own life by finding your ultimate motivation.
Job Interview success depends on more than what you say. What you do can also determine whether you become a new employee or remain in the unemployment line. Pay close attention to your body language, for a successful job interview. Attention to Details During the interview, the person(s) conducting the meeting will be looking, as well as listening. Sometimes, what is not said speaks louder than the actual spoken words. Therefore, it is extremely important to pay attention to the following details: Clothingr The Handshaker Feet Positioning Seatingr Arm Positionr