Requisite HR Newsletter December 2016
NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS
New Year’s Resolutions are all about creating goals that result in best versions of ourselves. But have you ever considered creating New Year’s Resolutions for your business? When you consider that your current and future career success can be directly tied to the business in which you are currently operating, why not take the time to focus on creating a business that is the best version of itself? Yes, most companies set business goals and targets every year, but more often that is about ensuring the financial success of the business. In today’s world, success is measured by more than the mighty dollar. You and the Company are not the best version possible if only financial goals are being achieved. So let’s step back for a moment. Now close your eyes and think back as to why you started your business or why you joined the business, think about other businesses you have worked in, the pros and the cons and then ask yourself this question “If my Company was the best version of itself, what would it look like?” Visualise an image that is compelling and meaningful, something that makes you drool. This is the starting point to creating your vision for the Company moving forward to becoming the best version of itself.
CREATING VISION: WHAT KIND OF DRIVER ARE YOU?
ARTICLE BY NICOLE BROERSE, RESIDENT MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS EXPERT It is said that running a business without clearly defined
do they fall off the wagon when it doesn’t go their way?
business goals is like having a GPS without actually plugging
Having agreed and shared core values makes for a smoother
in your end destination. Sure for the familiar, every day
journey. When everyone in your team understands not just
run-of-the-mill routes, you don’t need a GPS. You know these
the ‘what’, but also the ‘why’ and most importantly the ‘how’
routes like the back of your hand. However, to take your
of your business, you will be firing on all cylinders!
business into uncharted territory, to go where you have never
So if all of this has you simultaneously nodding your head and
been before and branch out in new lucrative directions, how
feeling overwhelmed, your ride has just arrived! Jump in with
will you know if you are there yet without setting a clear
me and I will make this journey enjoyable, easy and above all
intention? And how do you ensure you don’t get distracted and pulled down all sorts of side streets or dead ends? Not having business goals practically guarantees uncertainty, diversion and not accomplishing your desired result. Continuing with the car analogy, equally important as the final destination, are the signposts along the way. The little symbols that help you breathe a sigh of relief when you know that you are heading in the right direction. The markers that help you know you are well on your way. These are your action plans and milestones, without which you might still get
effective, via a short series of fruitful workshops. Each workshop is tailored to your unique business needs and your specific team. A pre-workshop meeting helps me to get under the skin of your business so that I can operate as one of you. In the workshops, a dash of theory is blended into a series of user-friendly exercises that form the building blocks of your bespoke plan. At the end of the process you will have goals, actions plans and/or values that are ready to go and simple to implement and track. I can help to bring them to life
from A to B but with a detour via the other letters too. Action
creatively for you so they are not just a static document,
plans keep you on track and accountable.
tucked away in a drawer and for many clients, I continue to
Now let’s talk about the passengers you are taking along for
act as an accountability partner to ensure they stay on track.
the ride. Are they all on board and committed to the same outcome or are they backseat drivers who whinge and moan their way to the end point? Do they pitch in with a whatever-it-takes mentality when the road is bumpy or
CONTACT NICOLE VIA 1300 164 737 TO ARRANGE A PRE‐WORKSHOP MEETING THAT WILL SUIT THE NEEDS OF YOUR BUSINESS.
When developing your New Year's Resolution for your Business, defining and creating your preferred culture is essential, if it is going to be the best that it can be. Culture represents the personality of the organisation, it has a significant influence on the success of the organisation and employee satisfaction . Leaders have an important role in the development and maintenance of the corporate culture and are essential in facilitating a happy workplace environment. At a recent workshop to look at Culture Mapping, hosted by Dave Gray, several definitions were put forward for what culture means in the organisational sense, ranging from “the vibe” to “why we go to work”. A more scientific one, that offers us some insights into how to manage culture, is from Schein (1985), culture encompasses “values and beliefs that provide norms of expected behaviours that employees might follow”. While these may be true, there is so much more that underpins your workplace culture, that you have to think of it like an iceberg. The majority of what drives the behaviours within your organisation is unseen and largely inaccessible, far below the surface of what anyone in your company consciously thinks about. Culture has been found by many studies to affect organisational effectiveness, organisations with a positive culture are more effective than they would be otherwise and vice versa. What is interesting is that culture doesn’t "directly" link to effectiveness. It links through these intermediate elements – norms, values, behaviour, levers. And its effectiveness can be lost as it passes along this chain. According to Zheng's model (2010), there are four dimensions of workplace culture that are conducive to organisational effectiveness: ADAPTABILITY- the ability of the organisation to alter its structures, behaviours and systems to adapt to changes in its environment. CONSISTENCY– the extent to which its beliefs and values are demonstrated consistently. INVOLVEMENT– the level of participation by organisation members in decision-making. MISSION– a shared definition of the purpose of the organisation.
Ben Wendell
Is It Time To Start the New Year with a Refreshed Brand? did Last Year! When did you establish your business brand? If you are like most business owners, it would have been created during the infancy of your business. Whilst it is good to have a solid brand when starting a business, there are some drawbacks down the track. As a business grows, so too does the clarity around what the business is really about. When you start out, often you are not completely sure of your service offerings, your business has not yet developed core values, the long-term plan is uncertain and you don’t really have a clear idea of who specifically your clients are. Businesses will often find themselves 2, 5 or 10 years down the track feeling like their brand just doesn’t convey their business the way it should. It may feel unprofessional, outdated or just misaligned. To bring the business brand up to date, a business can look at refreshing their brand. Refreshing your brand is great fun! It can be a great opportunity to polish your marketing materials and create consistency in how you are perceived in the marketplace. Most well known companies refresh their brands every 5-10 years or so, to stay modern and relevant. Even Google rebranded last year. There are however, some key things you need to consider before jumping in with a re-brand: 1. Cost & Timing: It is important to consider the cost involved when rebranding. In an ideal world there will be a set date where you shift from one look to the new one. You can make an event of it and get your customers involved in the process too. Often business cards, letterheads, invoice books etc. may need to be replaced, so consider where your stock levels are and try to time it so you don’t have to throw much away. Also look at timing for website redesigns and new signage. 2. Your Logo: Every business should have their business presented in a consistent format that becomes recognizable over time. Refreshing your logo is something you may wish to look at. Be conscious that existing customers may already be familiar with an existing logo, so be gentle with changes, try to keep some similar colours and styles. You want the logo to look like an improved and upgraded version of your business, not a completely different one. 3. Design Style: When doing a refresh it is a good idea to take the time to become clear on how you want your marketing and communications to look. By doing this you can create a consistent experience when people interact with your business. Colours, design styles, fonts, sizing, images etc all need to be carefully taken into account when refreshing your brand.
4. Business Voice & Message: Too often branding stops at the visual. Branding is more than just the logo and design, it is what you say and how you say it. You need to become clear about the voice of your business, when you communicate with customers in marketing it should be in a similar tone and style and the message should be congruent with the core values of the brand. 5. Online Marketing: When you rebrand, you will need to carry the styles, voice, logo etc to all your social media platforms, website and any online advertising you do. It is a great opportunity to present the brand to the world and create some buzz about it amongst your customers. Ben Wendel from Paperclip Designs has been helping Australian small businesses with their design, web and marketing needs for over a decade. Paperclip Designs takes an integrated approach to marketing. The unique approach ensures that all your online and offline marketing work in conjunction with your sales process and overall business goals. Unlike marketing consultants, who only provide creative ideas and strategies, Paperclip Designs provides the ideas and then actually takes charge and implements the strategies into your business for you. Most business owners are simply too busy to do it themselves and don't have the skills to do it effectively, so Paperclip Designs gives them the perfect solution at a fraction of the cost of hiring a marketing agency or employing a marketing manager.
Top Tips for achieving New Year's Resolutions Once you have gone through the process of developing your vision of the best Company, and creating and setting goals you don’t want that effort wasted. These steps ensure that your business' new year’s resolutions are successful. .1. K.I.S.S (aka Keep it Simple St***d) - We only have so
4. Create Habits – Creating positive habits can be very
much time in a day so when we have competing priorities,
beneficial in helping us achieve our goals. Habits are
something is going to lose out. So keep it simple by
automatic actions or behaviours that require no thought,
focusing on a couple instead of all to start with, this will
thus freeing up our minds to concentrate on other activities.
increase you chances of success. 2. Get Bang for your Buck - Review and prioritize all the goals, and start with those goals that will get you the biggest benefit for the least amount of effort. Then move on to those that are harder or produce less benefit, but are
5. Make yourself accountable – When we tell others or write
still important to achieving your vision or goals.
it down, we are more likely to stick to it. The more
3. Make it Tangible – Often resolutions are an abstract goal
reminders, the better. A good place for reminders are those
i.e. Quit Smoking. However, when we break down a goal
places you visit often – the bathroom mirror, the car
into small, achievable tasks or behaviours, we increase the
dashboard, your computer monitor.
chance of success i.e. Stop smoking my morning cigarette
6. Reward yourself – Celebrate your achievements. When
after breakfast. The success of achieving those first tasks
we provide ourselves with positive feedback for achieving a
will give you momentum for the next tasks.
goal via a reward, it can motivate us to tackle the next one.
Monthly Competiton
NOW CLOSE D
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of our 2016 Newsletter Competition:
1st Gemma B 2nd Grace J 3rd Greeshma G Thank you to all those that entered and supported our newsletter.
Wishing everyone a Safe and Happy Christmas and a successful New Year What a year we have had ! We have continued to work with a wide range of amazing companies with outstanding teams, we have welcomed to the Requisite HR family new clients, team members and business partners, whilstO continuing to educate our clients and the wider community on better people
RE T C TER of our clients. We have also created the plan for the 2017 Newsletters and hope EN better meet the needs HE practices, provide LICK pro-bono support to those in need and develop our tools, services and products to
that you are looking forward to reading them as much as we are looking forward to developing them. Thank you to everyone for their support during 2016 and we look forward to working with everyone together in 2017 to achieve greater heights than before.
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