Resource Management:

A business that does not have an organized system of checks and balances can suffer. Without oversight of employee activities, one-time errors can grow to become bad habits that taint the company's reputation or bring on far-reaching consequences. One need look no further than the financial crisis of 2008, when unscrupulous activities of several major banks contributed to a global economic collapse. While I'm not insinuating that failing to...

Leader of Yahoo Marissa Mayer announced to the public that the company will no longer allow workers to telecommute, or operate out of a remote or home office. Mayer argued productivity levels declined when workers were given this flexibility, but many other experts argue that depending on the employees and their positions, they may actually perform better when provided with alternate workplace options. Try to avoid setting absolute rules when starting a...

Many entrepreneurs may be young professionals with limited business experience, or seasoned veterans with a staff of fresh workers. Because startups and burgeoning businesses have limited resources and lack a strong industry reputation, it is common for them to be staffed with recent graduates or professionals with limited expertise and hands-on experience. While it may seem as if youthfulness in an uncertain economic climate may be a noticeable hindrance to...

Social media and interactive marketing strategies are dominating many industries, as entrepreneurs and business leaders look to engage shoppers through various channels. The proliferation of social media platforms, online shopping and mobile devices has created a digitally driven consumer base for most companies. Rather than relying on traditional marketing outlets to engage clients, businesses are experimenting with video and social media campaigns that play into...

Companies that aim to make client relationship management one of their differentiating characteristics may develop grand plans of responding to customer complaints via social media and tracking big data for insights into client needs and demands. However, before these organizations adopt complex service delivery models, they must learn the basic elements of high-quality client relationship management . Regardless of whether you as the business builder will...

Social media marketing is a main source of new leads and client feedback for many entrepreneurs . The low cost, digital solutions enable brands to engage directly with target audiences to share information, products, and insights. Clients can opt to respond via social media for more in-depth details, make a purchase or launch a discussion that can develop into a trusting relationship over time. Whether the company is a financial advisory firm or a small...

Even if, as the owner of your business, you do not have a close relationship with all of your employees, you should work to engender trust among the entire team. Small efforts to show that you have their best interests at heart can inspire greater loyalty and lead to a better working dynamic. Regardless of your best intentions to have a strong rapport with every one of your employees, the reality of building a business will get in the way. As the founder...

Many entrepreneurs want to become business builders as their companies grow from small, one-person operations to organizations with multiple locations and employees. However, that vision is often as far as they get - they have no idea how to advance their firms to the next level. It's tempting to believe that all you need for success is a great marketing message and a team of ambitious sales people. However, those are merely two components of a complex...

Every business builder quickly learns that staff must wear many hats to keep burgeoning companies afloat in the early phases of growth and development. While a large business has access to resources and manpower to fully equip each department with optimal employee levels, small companies must manage their operations with limited tools and workers to achieve significant growth and innovation. Entrepreneurs, as well as other members of the small business team, must...

Small business leaders and entrepreneurs are always on the hunt for ways to reduce spending while driving up productivity. This includes finding a balance for optimal use of manpower and resources. Burgeoning enterprises have limited funding, tight budgets and a complicated road to success that can be riddled with unforeseen problems and obstacles. Entrepreneurs must plan ahead for such expenses along the way, leaving financial wiggle room to accommodate for these...

Entrepreneurs who run their own business and a team of employees are constantly developing themselves and others. In order to achieve a maximum level of productivity, increase performance across the company and continue to grow in a professional capacity, businesses and the people who run them need to boost their competency. But how does one do that? As Norm wrote in The Entrepreneurial Journey , there is a competency development curve containing five...

Entrepreneurs may feel too busy to deliver soft rejections to weak ideas, but the way in which you dismiss an employee suggestion can profoundly impact the culture of innovation in your organization. When team members come to you with ideas for new products or a theory on how your company can improve processes, display respect and carefully consider the merits of the suggestion before rejecting, exploring or adopting the idea. Regardless of your decision, be...

As a business builder , you will find that you gradually have to relinquish direct control over some aspects of your organization. This is especially true regarding human resource management. When you have established a hierarchy in your business, you will not be able to directly communicate with every member of your team. Therefore, you need to tell your supervisors and managers to encourage their direct reports to share thoughts, suggestions, and innovations....

When you think about the structure of your business, how do you arrange the various positions that your employees hold? Have you allowed them to dictate their place in the business in the past, essentially having them "create their own roles"? As you try to create new responsibilities or add more jobs to your organization, resist the common approach of retrofitting the organization. Rather than attempting to tactically fill positions based on your...

For far too many financial advisors, it may feel as if they spend more time wrapped up in small details such as answering email and managing an office to focus on the real work of building their businesses and establishing client capital. Tying yourself up with unimportant but easy tasks is often a tactic - unconscious or deliberate - to procrastinate on tackling more difficult or challenging responsibilities. As we enter a new year, it is important to consider...

A firm is only as strong as its people. Although that adage may seem trite, it is true - your business will only be successful if you have created a resource management strategy that places talented people in well-defined roles within your organizational hierarchy. In many companies, hiring and employee management are jobs requiring at least one full-time employee, if not an entire department. How can you build an effective system if you do not have those resources?...

I have been building up to a discussion on stratum work capabilities. The intent is to illustrate how professionals work at different levels of effectiveness based upon their capacity to exercise judgment. Based upon this model, you will be able to discern how effective you and others are in applying judgment in a role. The level we start with is called “Stratum-I”, but capacity starts at a much lower level. The “I” in...

In my previous post, I described the usefulness of understanding  the level of complexity of work in a role, and the level of judgment capacity an employee, a supplier or a client has. In this piece, I describe a framework for understanding complexity in both of those areas.   Level of Complexity (Stratum) of Work   The TIME SPAN of a role is the intended length of the longest task in the role. If the...

Just as the old model of financial services has switched from a top-down order of command to a more collaborative, symbiotic relationship, so too has the interaction between CEOs, business owners and their employees. Communications technology has been a main driver of this trend, as email, social media and the near-ubiquitous mobile devices make everyone available at any time. Indeed, a study from IBM confirms this observation. It surveyed 1,700 CEOs from...

Typically, when we talk about strategic partners, we refer to those external professionals or firms that offer the subject expertise a business does not hold internally. However, it is also possible to have strategic partners inside your organization - those who have high-level skill sets and are central to running a successful company. It is a matter of perspective and resource management. For instance, in order to build your business, you will need to launch...