How to Spot and Manage Employee Personalities
We all say that we want to be leaders but many times we forget that to be a successful manager, you must learn to adapt your leadership style to suit different types of employee personalities. Employees have a range of behaviours ranging from normal to extreme. When confronted with these different personalities, managers sometimes aren’t quite sure how to manage this. In this article, we look at seven types of employee personalities and how best to manage them. The Employee Personalities The Slackers They can be found lingering in the break room, openly surfing the net, or parked in someone’s cubicle for a lengthy chat (which proves that slacking off can be contagious). They may find legitimate reasons to leave the office, then take time to run lengthy errands. This personality may be as a result of an under-developed work ethic and lack of good role models or they don’t just like their jobs so have trouble bringing any energy to it. The Space Cadets These employee personalities frequently seem to be lost, thinking of something else except the subject matter. They make seemingly off-the-wall comments in meetings and may start discussions in the middle of a thought. They may come up with ideas that, at least on the surface, seem rather impractical. They are usually abstract thinkers who are more focused on the future than the present. The Power Takers These employees tend to get into power struggles with their bosses. They often act like they’re managing you, instead of the other way around. These employee personalities would naturally take over a meeting or quickly step into the lead role on a project, brag about their accomplishments, so titles, perks, and public recognition are important to them. A strong fear of failure often lies behind this bravado. The Loners They are quite easy to spot. Look out for those who prefer to spend the day working on the computer and talking to no one in a little corner they carved out for themselves. They never want to attend conferences, meetings or workshops, because they look for any excuse to duck out. They don’t dislike people – they just don’t find social interaction to be a very enjoyable activity. The Drama Queens (or Kings) The dramatic ones thrive on excitement and attention, so spotting them is easy. A calm, peaceful workday is just not very rewarding, so they try to spice things up with dramatic pronouncements, juicy gossip, ominous rumors, personal traumas, or emotional breakdowns. When talking with others, they are expressive and animated. More subdued coworkers find the dramatic employees exhausting and try to avoid them. They thrive on emotional stimulation, regardless of whether the emotions are positive or negative. The Challengers Challengers are programmed to be oppositional. When presented with a proposal, suggestion, directive, or idea, they automatically point out flaws, obstacles, and potential problems. In fact, they enjoy challenging management, because they feel it establishes their independence. They resent authority and never show respect just because the person has a title. Their focus is on winning arguments, not resolving the problem. Challengers have a high need for control. The Clingers The major quality of people with this personality is dependence. They like clear instructions, ongoing communication, and frequent positive reinforcement. Uncomfortable making independent decisions, because they are afraid of doing the wrong thing. Clingers are reluctant to express disagreement because they fear making others angry and losing their support. As a result, they sometimes withhold their opinions or harbor resentments that they never express. The Clinger’s main need is to feel safe. Management Techniques Management may differ for each personality but here’s a brief summary of tips that may aid in effectively managing employees that fall in these categories listed above: Clearly define expectations in terms of results that must be accomplished. Help the employee break down large projects into smaller implementation steps. Set regular times for feedback and follow-up to ensure that work is on track. Explain why more mundane or tedious tasks are important. Provide regular feedback to encourage more concise verbal and written communications. Stress the importance of each team member to the overall organizational success. Take time to understand individual ideas, as sometimes they often have benefits that are not immediately apparent. Provide opportunities to be creative. It is important to note that in any organization or sector, asides from identifying the multiple personalities within you must first define the culture and type of leadership as a step to effectively manage for success. To be categorized as a Great leader, you must actively listen, build rapport, ask questions and give constructive feedback. Communication and flexibility are key.
9 Tips On How To Manage Startup Employee Turnover
There’s a common saying in the business world: “A business is only as good as its people.” This is why a high employee turnover rate, especially for good employees, can be detrimental to a business. So what happens when one of your key employees wants to quit? This is not a piece of news any business owner wants to hear but it’s an inevitable part of doing business. I’ve learned that exits are always challenging for teams, their leaders, and for the company as a whole– and costly. Employee turnover can quickly run up costs ranging into the hundreds of thousands– or more. Talk about a big financial hit. According to a study published by the Society for Human Resource Management, when an employee leaves, it costs an average of 6-9 months of your former employee’s salary to identify and onboard their replacement. Here’s how you can handle exit/team member’s resigning in the start-up environment: Study the employee turnover pattern To understand how to stop a wave of departures from happening, you first need to understand why these waves happen in the first place. Are they leaving as a result of wages, minimal growth opportunities or culture? In startups, most times whatever is bugging one person is usually bugging the others; they just haven’t told anyone yet (or you missed the signs). Over time, issues build on one another enough to lead people to consider leaving. Create a habit of regular pulse check Make a continuous habit of checking in with team members. Conduct anonymous surveys using tools that allow for this and regular coffee check-ins to discuss a variety of topics about how you are doing as a leader, things going on in the company, and so on. You will be shocked at what people have to say. When you address the issues, you find that you are fixing something that everyone will appreciate. Change your Mindset Assume everyone is leaving and interviewing. Don’t set the standard that the only way to get attention is if you fear they’re interviewing. Realise as well that even those that stick around may only be doing it out of necessity. Employees could also be staying due to any of the following reasons: Visa or immigration restrictions Big life event approaching–wedding, baby, buying a house, etc The promotion they are hoping for before leaving so they can get a better title and salary elsewhere. Accept change When multiple team members are leaving, it’s a sign that change is needed. Accept that this change must start with you and embrace that mindset. If your employees are leaving, it’s a huge signal fire that there are problems to be dealt with. Be open to their feedback and the issues they bring up (especially if they’re about things you do) It may be difficult to hear, and the solutions may be difficult to implement, but realise that the situation is dire. Follow-through & take action The best way to build trust with employees that might leave or as a whole is to swing into action on the feedback they give you. You may not be able to fix all the problems, but even small, incremental progress can improve morale and decrease employee turnover. Make a counteroffer when necessary If the employee is extremely valuable to your business, you may consider making a counter-offer depending on the situation (it could be that they have opted for a career change that you cannot accommodate). When making a counteroffer, you must consider your budget, do the right market research and compare this with the cost of hiring fresh talent. The good news is that counter-offers are not only about money as they might be leaving for different reasons. So you can get creative and think of ways to solve that person’s problem in a way that helps them to stay with you. Fix your processes An example of a process could be your onboarding methods. Research shows that new employees are 58% more likely to stay longer at their employer if they had an effective onboarding experience. Make them feel welcomed and accepted as a new team member. Give them everything they need to get off to a fast start. Set clear objectives and expectations Clear objectives and key results (OKRs) on a company-wide level will enable aligned clarity and prioritization throughout the organization. Share long-term product roadmaps, to enable greater visibility (and excitement) about growth trajectory and development plans. This encourages team members to feel like a part of the business development and success story. Reform your Human Capital Initiatives This involves taking a closer look at the people you are working with. Proactively weeding out low performers and people whose skills/goals were misaligned with the company’s needs/goals plays an important role in reducing future turnover rates. In summary, If you’re working on a huge employee turnover problem, you’re probably under a lot of stress and have a lot on your plate. The best thing you can do to help yourself and reduce your employee turnover rate is to be attentive to issues within, intentional, and diligent in your communication methods. In reality, all startups are built on change, and change is good. To create something where nothing existed before, growing companies need to experiment, to give new ideas a chance to fuel exponential growth. What this means is that the focus of the business might change often. As much as hiring new talent at a startup can bring a new level of skill and expertise, if you aren’t making the most of the talent you have at each stage, it can leave a negative impact on your business.
Growing in one job role, to Glow in the other
I HAAAAAATED my old job. Waking up in the morning felt like pulling teeth. I was in an industry I didn’t love, and life started to feel purposeless every day. It all started when I was jobless. I had been unemployed for about 4 months and I couldn’t stand it, I wanted to pull my hair out. Finally, a friend mentioned that they were looking for an office assistant at a financial services company. Having come from a very creative space, I was nervous. But honestly, I was happy to not be a loser who contributes nothing to society. In my mind, I figured I would just take it in my stride and see how it goes. I mean, it’s not like I was going to be there forever. I kept telling myself it was temporary. 3 years later, I had been promoted twice and had essentially taken on more of a leadership role in my team. I watched people come and go and wondered when it was going to be my turn. The culture was horrible and rigid. We all tried to make changes but hey, what are you in one of the biggest companies in the continent? Two things that job taught me was to KEEP GOING and if you don’t know something… LEARN. In all honesty, I was a bit ashamed to be a glorified filing clerk and, in my mind, I was like ‘you know what? You’re smart enough to do all this finance stuff these people are doing’ and I was right. I killed it at my job, but it drained me bit by bit. Knowing that writing is my sole passion and I couldn’t do it fulltime really hurt and it demotivated me. Freelancing was just not enough, but hey, the bills must be paid right? Fast forward to the present, and I am in the job of my dreams. I felt like I could finally call myself a writer. The first couple of months were very daunting because the environment was completely different; vibrant, colorful and everyone wears whatever they want! I felt like I didn’t know anything all over again, but I remembered what I kept in my mind at my old job. KEEP GOING AND LEARN. Ask questions no matter how stupid they sound Do some reading on your industry Listen to what the others are saying. It truly goes a long way because now, I’m right at home. I feel like everyone trusts me to make the right decisions and deliver on top class work, which is amazing. My old job helped me grow, and now I’m glowing in my new job. How are you growing and glowing this month? We want to share your story! Click here to share.
Meet the women taking their place as CEO’s in Kenya
A lot has been said about women entrepreneurs in Kenya. Women have distinguished themselves and we have trailblazers like Tabitha Karanja of Keroche Industries, Flora Mutahi of Melvin’s Tea, Gina Din Kariuki of Gina Din Communications, Judith Owingar of AkiraChix, Lorna Rutto of Eco posts, Ruth Mwanzia of Koola Waters, Shikha Vincent of Shikazuri and Michelle Ntalami of Marini Naturals to name a few. Entrepreneurship is mainly about business skills, determination, resilience, networking, and social impact. Women are working their way into this area and are slowly but surely making headway. A lot of focus and support has been given to women entrepreneurs through grants, training, access to finance and favorable government policies like Access to Government Procurement (AGPO) to name a few. More women are encouraged to participate in this sector. Women in the corporate world have an uphill task to get their place and break all the glass ceilings. Sheryl Sandberg – COO of Facebook, in her book LEAN IN, gives insights into what the life of a woman in corporate America is and how to maneuver it. According to Fortune.com, there were 27 women at the helm of Fortune 500 companies as at January 2018. How about corporate Kenya? I admire women in the corporate world because apart from the normal barriers they encounter and overcome, boys club mentality, patriarchy, high technical skills, experience, glass ceiling mentality (Gender stereotyping), sexual harassment, inflexible working conditions and integrity. The corporate world is harsh and cutthroat. The impact is mostly measured in terms of PROFITS and PROFITS. Only recently have corporates embraced a wider scale to measure the impact of CEO’s to include social impact, teamwork, employee innovation and customer retention to name a few. This shift gives women a chance to shine as their natural skills of collaboration and teamwork are an asset. Entrepreneurship is forgiving on the requirements of higher education and experience. A person with a basic education can quickly become a business mogul. However, in the corporate world, experience and education have a lot of weight. The current trend to consider leadership, softer skills and strategic leadership has made it more accessible for women. Due to gender roles and social pressure, many women in the past were not in a position to access higher education and therefore did not get promotions to enable them to rise up. Currently, women are taking up chances to improve their education hence giving them more edge to compete in the corporate world. Experience is a matter of time; men had an advantage of this. In the last 20 years, women have proved that given a fair chance they too climb the corporate ladder right up to the top. Why do we need women in CEO positions? People in the corporate world manage a large amount of money and direct how it is used. Gender diversity has also been proven over the years to increase profits and performance of corporations. Therefore, further inclusion of women has been proved to attract talent in the boardrooms where innovative solutions are created. Invariably more women-friendly products and policies emerge from companies that are managed by women. After all, women are 50% of the consumers of products and services. The simple fundamental reason why women should be in the corporate world is that it’s fair and inclusive to do so. In Kenya, we have many distinguished ladies at the helm of corporates and organizations. This has increased recently, but to date, only 2 women lead corporations listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange i.e. Maria Msiska of BOC (until 2016) and Nasim Devji of DTB Bank. We can do better. Here are examples of Women CEO’s in Kenya: Jennifer Riria is a pioneer of women in CEO position and has been holding this and similar positions in the microfinance and banking industry for 20 years. She is the CEO of Kenya Women Holdings that has a subsidiary Kenya Women microfinance Bank which is a leading bank for women entrepreneurs. She is a Ph.D. holder and has a Degree and Master degree as well. Stella Njunge: CEO of Sanlam Life, part of Sanlam Kenya Group. She has over 15 years’ experience in the insurance industry, a CPA(K), CPS(K), and holds a degree and masters. Stella also has over 16 years’ experience in Insurance. Catherine Karimi: CEO of APA Life part of Apollo Group a leading insurer in Kenya. She has 18 years’ experience in Insurance industry, a degree, postgraduate certificate in Actuarial Studies, and is a member of Chartered Insurers (UK). Rita Kavashe: is the CEO of General Motors East Africa, Kenya with 35 years’ experience working at GM. She has a degree and postgraduate certificates and rose through the ranks. Phyllis Wakiaga: is the CEO of Kenya Association of Manufacturers. She has a law degree, Higher Diploma in Law and Human Resource Management, Master Degrees in International Trade and Investment Law and Business Administration. There are many more female CEO’s in Kenya. The common items in their profiles are EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE. This is a true testament that education is an equalizer. Given equal opportunity and based on merit, women can excel and are excelling in the corporate world. Girls need to be encouraged to plan their career path early to help them reach the top CEO positions to bridge the current gap. I look forward to more women taking up the CEO roles and reducing the barriers to getting there. Got an article you’d like to share with us? Share your story with us here.
Key steps to Maximizing Your next Cash Bonus
Everyone can relate to that feeling of excitement when receiving a bonus and all of a sudden, you feel that your financial problems have come to an end. However, after a month or two, not many can account for how the money was spent, it seems to disappear with every other money that comes into the bank account (i.e. regular earnings). It’s that time of the year again when most companies will soon start announcing their financial results and employees can expect to receive communication on bonuses. Most bonus payments these days are performance related so if you receive one, it comes with a feeling of success and fulfillment that your hard work is finally being recognized. Regardless of how much you are expecting to receive, it is important to carefully plan how you’ll spend it so that you can receive the most value out of it. Proper planning will ensure that you are able to account for every penny that comes in and motivate you to work even harder towards the next bonus. So how can you really maximize your bonus? First and foremost, you need to reward yourself for all the hard work. You have worked hard all year, dedicated your time and talent towards your company, and fully earned the bonus so you deserve to celebrate and treat yourself. Splurge on that expensive item that you’ve always wanted to buy or indulge in your guilty pleasure without feeling guilty for once. However, keep this to 10% – 15% of your bonus earning and try not to go over the threshold in order to fully maximize the amount. If you are a parent or working mother, you might feel the need to also spoil your family. Why not? They have supported you all year and been patient with you on those days when you’ve had to work late nights or work away from home so they also deserve to be rewarded. Spend about 5% to 10% on the family and kids and buy everyone lovely gifts to appreciate them for their support towards your achievement. Consider allocating the remaining 80% of your bonus in the following order: 1. Pay off any debts that you owe The cost of servicing debts is going to be higher than any income you are likely to receive on savings or investments. Except if your debts are non-interest bearing with no repayment commitments, it is more effective to pay off your all your debts before you think of saving or investing your bonus earnings. [bctt tweet=”Treat your bonus differently from your regular earnings” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] 2. Put money into long-term savings or investments Any money left after you have cleared your debts should go into your long-term savings or investments. On average you should be putting 10% to 20% of your normal earnings into long-term (or retirement) savings or investments options on a monthly basis, so if you can, try to spend at least 10% to 20% of your bonus earnings in the same manner. The money can go towards your pensions, ISAs, other long-term investments products or even your personal business venture. This money is important for securing your future in the days when you don’t have the energy to work as hard as you are working now. Just as the saying goes to ‘make hay while the sun is shining’. If you have not already started saving and investing towards your future, then maybe you can start with your bonus this year. It’s never too late to start and $1 invested today can go a long way in the future with compound interest. 3. Top up your short-term savings or emergency fund If you still have money left after saving for the future, then you can use it to top up your short-term savings. This is the money you put aside for the short term emergency spend that you don’t plan for (i.e. unforeseen events) or the rainy day. Naturally, you should already be putting aside at least 10% of your regular earnings towards this account to cater for the unexpected spending commitment. The recommended practice is to have about three months of income in your emergency account as a minimum. Anything left can go into your miscellaneous account towards your next holiday or luxury spend savings (to fulfill your ‘wants’). To conclude, the bonus is a special earning that you’ve worked for and it’s important to treat it differently from your regular earnings. A fully maximized bonus is more memorable and being able to account for every amount makes it feel even more rewarding. A financial planner can assist you with savings and investments options that suit your goals, life commitments and risk profile (capital at risk). Good luck with the announcements. Hope you smile to the bank by getting a bonus payment that rewards all your hard work over the last year. Got a story you’d like to share with us? Share their story with us here.
5 transferable skills you need to go from homemaker to employee
What happens when the homemaker decides to return to formal employment? She is usually greeted with disdain for having ‘wasted’ her time at home and missed out on the latest developments in the industry. Though she is likely to be a bit out of touch with the nitty gritty of being an employee, a homemaker will, during the course of her homemaking, acquire some fine skills that make her an even more valuable employee than someone who has not experienced life outside the workplace. [bctt tweet=” A successful homemaker makes a successful employee” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Here are some of the transferable skills a homemaker already has: Time-keeping With so much to achieve on a daily basis, successful homemakers always keep their eye on the clock. If your meetings tend to stretch forever, and you cannot seem to stay on schedule for your targets, someone with homemaking experience can turn that around for you. Through experience, homemakers understand the effect of allowing tasks to take up too long to complete, of failing to have something done in time, and of the benefits of scheduling right off the bat. Planning Homemakers are, of necessity planners. From household chore to family events, these women have a skill that some employees still need to be taught. A homemaker understands the difference between a daily, weekly and monthly plan. Meal planning is one way they practice this. She needs to plan for daily meals, which will be the foundation of her weekly or even monthly shopping trips. At the same time, she masters making adjustments, improvising, scheduling and reviewing. [bctt tweet=”If your team needs someone who seamlessly integrates tasks together, you may need a homemaker” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Multi-tasking Homemaking tasks are varied, numerous and as diverse as the lives involved. The basics of homemaking encompass cooking, cleaning, childcare, gardening, tutoring, house maintenance and so on. In a single day, she will have to deal with some or even all of these tasks. With only 24 hours in a day, multi-tasking is something learned out of necessity. The trick with multi-tasking is that while it is necessary, it needs to be done in a logical manner to be effective. While you can listen to your child’s reading while cooking, for example, it becomes illogical to attempt it while you are vacuuming. If your team needs someone who seamlessly integrates tasks together, you may need to give the homemaker a chance. Creativity Creativity is one of those skills that is difficult to define and teach to a person. It is best learned in context. And what better context than in the home, where routine can soon lead to boredom in so many ways. From the layout of furniture to meals and family activities, there comes a time where a new approach is demanded of you. When work and business solutions start to get mundane, the homemaker will seldom be out of depth. Negotiation Who engages the part-time help to complete a task in the shortest time possible for the lowest cost? Who meets the meter man at the gate and diverts any attempt to disconnect services? Who sets the terms for play dates, physical boundaries, and social events? The very same tasks in the context of a formal work environment can be assigned to the woman who already has lots of experience form home. In some cases, it’s the homemaker herself who needs to be reminded of all the wealth of experience that she brings to the workforce. There is no reason to feel inferior or incompetent. A successful homemaker makes a successful employee.
5 ways to Enjoy Your Wack Contract Job
[bctt tweet=”Quit thinking the reason you’re not doing well right now is that you don’t get so much pay” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] The most common jobs in Nigeria right now are ones gotten from a third-party company that is signed to provide employees for various employers. While I worked at one, I found that the reason employer companies choose the option of contract staffs is to reduce its expenses and improve profitability. A full-time employee may get a 50% raise from your salary, including HMO(Health) benefits. This is even more annoying for contract staffs because they do more of the work but have fewer benefits, up until the length of days to go on leave. However, there’s always a way to have the life you want regardless of the situation presented to you. [bctt tweet=”The vision you have for yourself should drive your passion for what you do now” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Know who you are This is nothing about your desires or visions – at least not for the purpose of this article. What makes you tick? Deep down your heart, what’s the core of your strength? The real test to enjoying your job, and your life, is to know who you are. Although the search of identity may be an ongoing process, there’s a core of you that reveals your truth in whatever situation you find yourself. Everything you believe yourself to be should not be dependent on anything else but you. Once you can identify who you are, it would facilitate the emergence of what you’d like to experience. [bctt tweet=”The true value of your job is not dependent on your position, but your personality.” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Change your cognitive experience The natural cognitive of man is attracted to negative situations that appeal to his senses. So for example, you get to find out the extra benefits due to full-time staffs in your company and it freaks you out (it should), it is only normal that you begin to take it out on your daily routine, colleagues and even your line managers. Two years after my experience as a contract staff in a financial institution, I was appraised and suggested to be converted into a full-time staff. I was excited when my line manager hinted me on this new development and was waiting for the big announcement. To my greatest disappointment, when my appraisal form got to the office in charge, my group head was summoned and asked, “Who would you like to be retrenched in order to approve Adesewa’s conversion?” Confused, she responded, “nobody”. “Well, because the company cannot afford the cost for another full-time employee,” they disclosed. It was a great consolation to have known that the reason for the default was a lack of the company’s capacity, not mine. If this happened to you, I know you would freak out, and probably drop your resignation notice to go somewhere you’ll be ‘celebrated, not tolerated’. Just calm down! LOL! The quality of the delivery of your duties should be influenced by positivity. Contract jobs hardly come with motivations. Thus, you must always find a way around it. While you have a plan to quit, be deliberately positive about your daily dealings. The more positivity you exude, the greater the attraction for more. If it doesn’t happen for you in this job, it would somewhere else. Create value for your personality One of the many reasons people want to be in the full-staff cadre is so that the company can place value on them. The true value of your job is not dependent on your position, but your personality. Quit thinking the reason you’re not doing well right now is that you don’t get so much pay. Your pay may not equal your plan, but it does not necessarily influence the core of you, except you want it to. So, during a knowledge sharing session at your company or a proposal pitch, you have the platform to ‘show yourself’. Yes! Flaunt the stuff you’re made of! This is not PRIDE; it is PURPOSE-ON-DELIVERY. Always look for opportunities to reveal who you are asides from being the “front desk officer” or “cashier”. Profer solutions to problems. That’s what employers want to see. Even though it may likely not buy your conversion as a staff, it would increase your value as a person. You are first a person before being someone’s staff. Work at it! Work experience is in phases, enjoy this one A young entrepreneur who also works as an employee reached out to me one day. She shared all her frustrations as to how she was not getting fulfilments with her job. She mentioned how she knew this was not what she signed up for her life and all. The truth is, at every point in life, we get bored. This is not just a contract thing, stop blaming it on the job. Because guess what, even if you were full time, you would still get bored. All days are not the same, and all work experiences are in phases. You have to learn the art of enjoying the phases by creating systems that work for you. At the financial job experience I told you about, every week became annoying because there had to be something new to do – things that were way out of the initial job description(JD). Whichever way I felt did not matter to the company, the job had to be done anyway. And the only way to be happy with your job is to be happy with you, knowing that this is only a phase. You would get involved in better things and greater opportunities, so if you want to make your life count, you have to do it right. Always work with the end in view You know, many times, we are motivated in the present by having a vision of what’s to come. Doing your job with the end in mind is one sure way to enjoy what you’re doing currently. So, pending the time you
You vs Them: Staying relevant in the dawn of rising business competition
[bctt tweet=”Never, ever, lose sight of your business game because of the competition” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Competition is everywhere. These days, everything is basically a competition in business, from online DIY blogs and vlogs giving clients all the information for the same services you render to the new enemy in the block rendering the exact same services or product your offer. On the bright side however, competition can be healthy for your business and customers too (they literally pray for it). Every customer loves to have a wide range of options and the universe is big enough to accommodate you and a million others to do business. So rather than putting all your energy in prayers for your competitor(sss) to fold up pretty soon, it’ll be much better for you to start pouring all that energy into keeping your business relevant and on top the lighthouse, and here’s how: First things first, avoiding irrelevance is the first major step to take in staying relevant So at every point, always halt and ask yourself (with or without the competition) if your business is still relevant. You should also ask if your relevance is slowly fading out. This helps you understand and reinvent your business better to fit the changing times. Keep your eyes on the game: Never let your competitors get you all jerky and stuff. Stay focused on your business, consolidate on your strengths, and work on strengthening your weaknesses. Think about: What you can be doing to ace up your product and service How to top up your customer service (veryyy key) How to improve on your quality and business value How to expand and reach more markets and more people Build integrity for your business and keep it that way. Say what you have and offer what you can give, this will keep your customers coming back to you even after checking out a new competition. Never, ever, lose sight of your game because of the competition. Do a Lil’ Checking Out: Eyes on your game all right, but a lil’ spying never hurt anybody. Take a moment to check out your competitors, do some quick research, find out all you can about them especially their greatest strength and weakness. Leverage on their weakness and see what you can do about their strength. However, don’t panic and copycat the enemy in desperation. Don’t go slashing your prices when you clearly don’t need to, because your competitor has done so. Do Not Be The Last To Trend: Time waits for no one and so does technology. Whether it’s a start-up or full grown business, don’t stay sleeping on your achievements and get left behind. Be innovative, research on the latest technology, (and the ones to come) and constantly build your brand to fit in before you walk into a Kodak moment. This also involves understanding that diverse locations have diverse customer needs. Know your customers and know what is in trend for them, like if they more concerned about service or quality, or price. Spice Up Your Marketing Strategy: Constantly make an effort to spice up your marketing strategy. It could be with a re-branded logo or a new tag line, loyalty discounts and promotions on your services and products, collaborating with other products or services related to yours, anything to customizing your bottle with individual consumers’ names (we know who did this one). #MotherlandMogul key word: Keep it spiced up, don’t hang on stale strategy (even if it was once a major hit). Take Care Of Your In-House: Treat your employees great and make them understand the goal, cause employees can make or mar your business, sista. You don’t want your employees telling your clients (through words or actions) why patronizing your competitor might be a better idea. We know the competition can be fierce sista, but so are you. So, put on some stilettos, and get to work; today is for good business *raises glass*