The Implications of the Employee Free Choice Act
I don’t know if you are very familiar with the Employee Free Choice Act, but this is supposed to be the most radical change in the American labor system since the mid 1930’s. By some it is believed to be the change that will lead to the 21st century, while others think it will bring the employment system to a downfall.
The Employee Free Choice Act implies the right of workers to organize in unions so their interest would be represented better. Bargaining terms are now pushed forward and FMCS mediators are brought in if there is no quick solution to the problems. Employers that go around trying to discharge or discriminate employees are in for greater financial repercussions than before.
Are these solutions that will improve the life of workers or are they something that serve other interests? You should be able to form an opinion of your own about this change, but there are some aspects you should take under consideration.
From the Donor’s Perspective: Why Some Fundraisers Succeed While Others Fail
In order to get their valuable perspectives on fundraising, I interviewed more than 30 donors of the highest caliber who have given millions and millions of dollars to various charities, ministries, and organizations. I asked them why some fundraisers succeed while others fail.
These are the qualities and characteristics the donors felt made successful fundraisers:
* Sincere relationship — Above all, successful fundraisers are sincere.
* Personal integrity — Successful fundraisers are upfront, genuine, and always operate with integrity.
* Knowledge of their charity — Successful fundraisers are well informed.
* Clearly defined goals — Successful fundraisers clearly state the mission, needs, and opportunity a donor has to help accomplish the mission.
* Regular communication — Successful fundraisers keep donors in the loop.
* Assurance of cost effectiveness — Successful fundraisers show donors that their money is doing what was promised.
* Credibility — Successful fundraisers use donors’ funds for the intended purpose only.
* Matching gifts — Successful fundraisers think about lead gifts or matching gifts so donors’ gifts are multiplied.
From the Donor’s Perspective: What Every Fundraiser Should Know
Among other things, donors need to believe in the cause they choose to support. They need to have answers, feedback, and understanding along the way. They want to play an important part in their cause, and they want assurance that their gifts are being used effectively and efficiently. And, of course, they need to be treated with kindness and respect — to be thanked and appreciated.
The most successful fundraisers are the ones who help donors fulfill their vision for what they feel God has directed them to do with their money. Donors are stewards, and your job as a fundraiser is to help them fulfill their stewardship role. To do this successfully it is invaluable to learn from donors themselves what they believe every fundraiser should know:
About relationships
* Think of your donors as a trust from God.
* Help your donors realize God’s plan for their lives (not just for their money!).
* Help donors to find fulfillment in their giving.
* Cultivate relationships before seeking funds.
* Make only one request per year for funds.
* Learn the passion of the prospective donor.
Six Quick Working Capital Wins
At the Working Capital Management Forum 2008 in London, SSON convened a roundtable debate on the impact of the credit crunch, and ways organizations can limit that impact. This extract from the end of the debate includes one suggestion from each of the participants for quick wins – simple steps companies can take to protect themselves from the worst effects of the economic downturn.
Gavin Jones, Ahold Finance Group: Build a good, strong cash-flow forecasting culture and approach, so that you can identify early the periods when you need cash and have that dialogue with either your customer, your own supplier base, or your bankers, to get you through that period of cash-negativity.
Brian Shanahan, REL: Fix basic processes sustainably, so that even though you might be in trouble now and you might have to weather the storm for the next few months, you make sure that you’re in a state of financial health to take advantage when the market comes back up again – because it will, strongly.
Building Partnerships: Identifies Partnership Needs
Analyzes the organization and own area to identify key relationships that should be initiated or improved to further the attainment of own area’s goals.
Competition today means getting to the finish line first with better products and services. What is good enough today most likely won’t be good enough tomorrow. Even if you’re meeting your objectives, don’t get complacent.
You could probably find small ways to improve your team’s operating procedures, but chances are your work area isn’t responsible for the total process. Whether you are producing a product, rendering a service, completing a project, or implementing an improvement idea, people outside your work area are going to be involved in what’s going on. Partnerships force you to consider how your work area and organization fit into the larger business process. They broaden your outlook and help you see how to make a major leap forward.
An organization is like a link in a value chain that connects the seller of raw materials or ideas to the end-user of finished products and services. An organization receives products or services from suppliers, adds its unique value, and then provides enhanced products or services to its customers. The customers add their unique value and supply even more enhanced products and services to customers one step closer to the end-user.
Roundtable: Getting Your Strategy Right From the Start
Jamie Liddell, SSON’s online editor, sat down with a few practitioners at the recent Planning & Implementing Successful New Shared Services event in London to identify winning strategies from the get-go. Site selection, according to the consensus, is not key; rather, getting the process right from the start.
Participating were:
Peter Pan
Senior Executive
MSC Malaysia
Walter Jess
Shared Services Strategic Planning Manager
Caterpillar
Michael Radford
Process Improvement Manager
Serco
Jenny Coombs
Shared Services Director
Barnet Council
Gary Critchley
Head of Finance Shared Services
Marks & Spencer
Hindrik Jan (René) Zigterman
Business Development Shared Services
SAP Belgium
SSON: To start, tell us how you decided what to include in your shared services operations when you set up.
Jenny Coombs: We looked at the corporate services we were already delivering, the standard things: information services, finance, human resources, procurement, facilities management… all these things had been delivered disparately in the past. We also looked at the nature of these services and added specific services around collecting council tax and delivering housing benefits because they are transaction-based processes. The challenge was to discover how the processes would fit together.
Walter Jess: I think it is really about identifying what is not core to the business; what protects your brand name and your sales points in the market — quality, design, etc; Also: look at what does not support day-to-day decision making; so general accounting issues such as calculating, recording, etc. … as opposed to the activities that business unit managers use on a daily basis to decide on their business. It is also important to gain sufficient volume to manage the costs of the initial stage.
Q&a: Mike Colicchio, Celanese Hungary
SSON: In this current economic downturn it’s very important to keep robust lines of communication open throughout the business. Can you tell us a little about the steps you’ve taken at Celanese to enforce this?
Mike Colicchio: Of course. We’re carefully monitoring our overdues and looking for any signs of softness in our very structured collection process. I stay in close contact with our sales directors in the EU and we strategically determine proper collection protocol in these challenging times. Being a relatively new SSO our recent hires have received exceptional training and job-shadowing; however, being rookies they’re not as well-versed on the qualities of different types of customers. They also need to understand the histories of our customers, and even when the customer is also a vendor. This is sometimes a point of interest. I bring the sales directors to Budapest for a “learn the customer” day. To serve our customers we must understand their customers. This gives the sales organization leaders and the credit and collection staff an opportunity to set expectations and parameters, but most importantly it opens up even more the communication channels, which is tantamount to success today.
Seminar Expert: Lack of Information Available to Help Beginners Organize the Perfect Seminar
Whilst I have been researching and writing my ebook, Seminar Blueprint, I have been absolutely amazed at how little information there is out there on the subject of actually organizing seminars.
You can find plenty of information on public speaking at seminars, creating presentations for seminars, there are hundreds of consultants and companies to organize your seminar but I did not find one really in depth bit of information on actually organising your seminar. I think the largest I found was a 4 page write up, which although it had most of the main headings there was probably on average 2 paragraphs to each.
Then I got to thinking, whilst I was looking at a great website about creating presentations, this is all very well but what good is a great presentation if the person doesn’t know how to organize a seminar or workshop in the first place, what good is a great presentation if there is no-one there to see it or when you get there the venue is awful.
So, You Want to Be a Change Leader
You may have been selected by your executive to initiate and see through some change program in your organization. Or you may have decided that the time has come to make your mark by dusting off the cobwebs in your workplace. However your change role came about, you have a challenging task ahead of you.
Consider this sobering thought. In spite of the importance of successfully implementing workplace change for maintaining your business’s competitiveness, most change initiatives fail to deliver the expected organizational benefits. This failure occurs for a number of reasons:
? absence of a change champion or one who is too junior in the organization
? poor executive sponsorship or senior management support
? poor project management skills
? hope rested on a one-dimensional solution
? political infighting and turf wars
? poorly defined organizational objectives
? change team diverted to other projects
Keys to Home Business Success
When evaluating successful home businesses, there are certain things they all have in common - things that you could say were essential to their success. In fact, without these things a home business is sure to fail. It does not matter what type of home business you have or how successful you want to be, you need to know these keys to home business success in order for your home business to thrive.