Development Goals for Management Development never stops. No matter the position you work within your company—from an entry-level employee to CEO—it’s important to focus on personal and professional development so that you can constantly continue to improve yourself in the field you work in. This is particularly true for managers, as they have the responsibility to look over their entire department while being in charge of their own tasks as well. By making a list of development goals that is clear, measurable, realistic, on a timeline, and rewarded in the end, you’re sure to boost your productivity and turn into a strong leader.
Communication Communicating with your employees is critical to running a successful business. Having poor communication skills will slow not only your own productivity, but also your team’s productivity. Due to this, working on your communication skills is a must. One way to do so is by investing in a course that will teach you how to communicate clearly and concisely with your employees, both in verbal and written conversations.
Coaching Your employees will come to you with both positive and negative news and have success stories or challenges they will want to discuss with you. As a manager, it’s your duty to coach your employees through both of these situations in a way that will build upon their strengths and improve their weaknesses, as well as setting up a work environment that’s conducive to employee success. Without coaching skills, your employees will be set up for failure more than success.
Motivation Just as you’re a coach to your employees, you’re also their number one motivator. When you have unmotivated employees, productivity will take a nosedive and affect both your business and employee morale drastically. Working on your motivational skills will not only improve the work ethic of your employees, but the effectiveness of their work as well.
Productivity Employee productivity is one of the key factors in the success of any business. Improving your own job productivity will be beneficial to the entire company, so do things such as setting productivity goals to lead by example for your employees. They’re sure to follow.
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Important Advice for New Managers Taking on the role and responsibilities of a manager can be overwhelming. It’s one thing to work by listening to what others tell you to do, and another thing to be the one telling others what to do while doing your own job. To help get through your first days as a new manager, take this advice into consideration. 1. Make sure to set clear goals for yourself. Obvious as this may sound, it’s easy to get pulled into the rush of responsibility and lose track of what needs to be done or where you want to personally be six months from now. Take a step back from everything, take a deep breath, and focus on where you’d like to be, say, a year or two from now. Then break that goal (or goals) into monthly increments and determine what you’ll need to do to get to that goal in your designated timeframe. From there, write your plan down, practice self-discipline, and keep yourself accountable for your plan. 2. In addition to yourself, make sure to set clear standards for your team. Everyone needs to know what’s expected of them and how to go about achieving those expectations, but your team won’t know what these standards are unless you tell them. Setting all of this up from the beginning will help you avoid frustration down the line. 3. Assume something will go wrong and prepare for it. Rather than waiting for problems to happen, look for the trouble beforehand and prevent it from starting in the first place. 4. Simply put, be direct with your team instead of sugarcoating whatever you need to say. Doing so increases the chances of your team member missing the point you’re trying to make entirely, which will backfire in the long run. 5. As a manager, you will have to fire people. It’s one of the many responsibilities that come with the role, and though it’ll be one of the hardest things you have to do, it’s a necessary evil. Having a high-performance team will inevitably lead to the termination to those who do not keep up with your set standards, and keeping people on your team who aren’t at the level you need them to be, your entire team will be held back. 6. No matter what, your team members are people. That means that no matter the situation, remain compassionate and treat everyone with the respect, kindness, and dignity you expect to receive from them. Even if you’re letting someone go, everyone deserves to be on the receiving end of basic human decency.
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Top Reasons to Major in International Business Figuring out what you’ll be majoring in while attending college is a difficult decision. After all, you’ll be attending the institution of your choice for years and spending thousands of dollars to obtain this degree. While business is a good degree to go into, focusing on global business will give you a competitive edge over those with general business degrees while pursuing the job market. Why is that, you may ask? Here are a few reasons why an international business degree is the major for you.
Edge in the Job Market The economy has grown, fully and truly, into a global one as technology evolves and the world, consequently, gets smaller. Businesses are handling more international deals and transactions than ever before, and because of that, employers are actively searching for people who have the skills to oversee these international transactions. A bachelor’s or master’s degree in international business or global management will boost your employability considerably as a result.
Travel the World for Free Traveling is implied with the word ‘international’, so of course, the opportunity to travel around the world will come up frequently. The best part about this is that this travel will be on the dime of the company you work for rather than whatever you can save up. While working on your business career, take a break to explore new cultures, meet new people, and taste new foods that you’d otherwise miss out on.
More Career Options Available Having a specialized degree opens offers up more opportunities you can take advantage of, and having an international business degree will allow you to do exactly that. Many job opportunities are available to those with this degree with private, non-profit, and public sectors. Some careers open to international business graduates include cultural advisers, community developers, and attornies. You can read more about the careers available to graduates here.
Looking at the Big Picture International business is on a global scale, the largest possible scale you could work on. Studying international business will help you understand different cultures, the international market, and the geography of different countries across the sea. By understanding this, you’ll be
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able to see the big picture when it comes to business problems and solutions. Even if you don’t end up working for a major corporation, you’ll be able to use this knowledge to help employers make decisions regarding their business.
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Two Reasons Why Giving to Charity is Good for Business Donating to charities is, obviously, a good thing. It’s a way for business owners, both big and small, to help out their community by donating money, products, volunteer hours, or other charitable efforts to the different organizations near them. Not only is being charitable a good thing to do, but it’s also a great marketing strategy, especially in the social media era. Donating to charities or other non-profit organizations will label you a “good” company, and as a result, people will want to support your business. There are many benefits for businesses that are supporting charities in publicity, finances, and community impact. Here are some of those benefits.
Tax Deductions The most immediate benefit to your business by supporting a charity or non-profit organization is the tax deduction you’ll receive as a result. Donations that will get you a tax deduction include event sponsorships, inventory or service donations, and, of course, monetary donations. Generally, you can get up to a 50% tax deduction of your Adjusted Gross Income for your charitable contributions, so long as you follow the rules to avoid tax problems. To benefit from this, make sure you work with a non-profit organization that is approved by the IRS, and that the organization issues you a tax form that you can file in your tax return.
Employee Benefits Up-and-coming talent can afford to be picky with where they apply for work because they know their skill set and experiences will afford them that privilege. Companies have upped their employee benefits as a result to draw people in, but a 2007 study showed that 62% of 18-26-year-olds preferred to work for a company that provided volunteer opportunities to their employees. To influence young talent to your company, offering volunteer opportunities and a sense of idealism in your mission statement will likely draw these people in to apply. Additionally, being charitable and letting your employees participate in those types of events will make the workday more fun and boost employee morale. And, of course, it’ll give everyone the satisfaction of having given back to their community.
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