One of the keys to your business success is getting your team to buy into the goals you have for the company’s future. When you get them on board with what you have envisioned, everyone will be working towards the same outcomes, which makes success much more likely. How do you get them to embrace that big picture? How to Get Team Buy-In on the Big Picture How can you get your team to embrace the destination you have for your company? Be authentic. If you sound like a bad used car salesman when “selling” your vision, no one is going to buy in to what you are saying. Be open and offer your team the full picture. Your team needs to know what your

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What is your business culture? It is the way your company operates and communicates both internally and externally. A healthy, forward-facing culture will grow your business. An unhealthy or fragmented culture will bring it down. How do you build the right culture in your company? Building Your Culture As a small business mentor, I recommend three things to build a forward-facing culture that everyone in the company embraces: Align the culture with your core values. Your company reflects what is important to you. You want to go to work in a place that allows you to be authentic in everything you do. This creates a place where others can contribute freely. It also makes it easy to move the company forward. Make open communication a priority.

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Vetting references is an essential part of the hiring process, according to business experts. It will give you a more complete picture of who this person is and how they might perform within your team. But, what is the best way to vet those references? Tips for Vetting the References Here are four tips that will help you get the best information from the references: Get and vet the references before scheduling an interview. After you narrow down your resume pile to a few good candidates, request their personal references. The job candidates should not have any problems providing these promptly. After you contact a candidate’s references, you will know whether you want to take the next step and set up an interview. Look for

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A few decades ago, the best place to attract potential employees was in the ad section of the newspaper. With the advent of the Internet, that gradually switched to online job boards. Today, if you want to attract the best employees, you need to go further and find them where they are. Where to Find the Best Employees Small business experts offer updated recommendations on where to find potential employees: LinkedIn is the professional networking social media spot. You can network with people in your industry. Job seekers often post their resumes and profiles there to attract potential employers. It lets you see who is actively participating in industry discussions and who is contributing new material, both of which is a good sign for any

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How many resumes did you receive last time you put up a job posting? In the past few years, many employers have been getting hundreds of job applicants for a single open position. Knowing some fun facts about resumes can make slogging through all of those resumes a bit easier. Five Fun Facts About Curriculum Vitae (aka Resumes) Here are five facts you might or might know about resumes: Only 35 percent of job applicants are actually qualified for the job for which they are applying. That means six or seven of the resumes you read are from people who could not do the job you have open. Talk about a waste of time. The average time spent reviewing a resume the first time is

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What do you need in a new hire? If you are like most businesses, your company needs the highest quality talent possible, hired quickly and efficiently. Now is the time to supercharge your hiring process to get those positions filled with the perfect candidates. Supercharging Your Hiring Business experts have several recommendations on how to take your hiring process to the next level: Get your employees involved. If your team loves working for your company, give them an incentive to spread the word. You can set up an incentive program that gives them a reward if their referral is hired and stays for X number of months. Set up an applicant tracking system that is available to potential candidates. If you have an open position,

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You finally hired someone for that open position on your team. It took a while and you are looking forward to being back at full staff again. However, how do you know if that person is going to work out? Signs Your New Hire Is Not Going to Work Out Small business experts say to pay attention to these red flags: Attendance problems. Accidents and family deaths can happen at any time. If a new hire has one of those situations, that is usually not an issue. However, if the new hire is calling in sick for vague reasons or just not showing up, you have a problem. Lack of enthusiasm. When someone comes into a new job, you should expect enthusiasm for starting new

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A job interview is the time when you get to meet a prospective member of your team for the first time. You reviewed his or her resume and may have talked on the phone. But, the face-to-face part is where you really get to know this person. Interviewing the Right Way Knowing how to interview the right way will help you determine if this person is the right one. Know who you need before you start the first interview. You need to make sure that you have a solid hold on the job skills, qualifications, and experience you want. You must also be looking for a good fit for your company culture. Have a clear, concise job description that includes KPI’s written ahead of time. Do

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You have an open position in your team. You put out a job posting and a flood of resumes have arrived. What would a small business expert recommend for wading through the piles of resumes on your desk (or in your email)? Rules for Reviewing Resumes Here are seven rules you can use while reviewing resumes. They will assist you in sorting out who you should interview and who is not worth your time. Know what you are looking for and stick to those parameters. You can use your job posting as your checklist, if necessary. If you are looking for 5 years of experience, for example, don’t accept any less. Take a first pass through all resumes. This initial pass involves quickly reviewing each

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You have a marketing strategy. It may be one you developed years ago. It may be one you developed just a couple of months ago. However, something seems to be wrong. You are not getting the number of leads you expected and sales are flat or falling. It may be time for a marketing strategy change. Signs You Need a Change If you talk to business experts, they would tell you that there are a couple of signs that your marketing strategy needs to change. Nothing seems to match. Do you have a consistent marketing message and branding scheme? If you are using several disparate marketing messages and a mix of old and new branding, you are confusing potential customers. Prospects need to trust the

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