Lack of training… acknowledgment… tediousness? These are the top whinge factors according to a recent study by training organisation Upskilled. Apparently these areas are giving employees plenty to complain about. Even worse, a good employee can easily turn into an infectious disgruntled character because of these, might leave and then go on to tell the world how bad you are.

The unhappiest employees, according to this survey are those from the travel, tourism, media, marketing and IT industries. Lack of proper training, no acknowledgment for good work and feeling bored are giving these employees reasons to gripe.

Of course long hours and work overload were amongst other grievances employees had.  And interestingly the study mentioned one in three doctors hated whiny co-workers, hospitality employees felt they didn’t have enough breaks and tradies grumbled about the lack of acknowledgment.  Those less inclined to moan about their jobs, or say… they’re happy employees, were farmers, law professionals and people involved in event management.

Employers should take note of what this survey revealed about the top reasons employees whinge and also what makes them chirpy. What it shows is that minor changes can create a major impact that changes the vibe of the workplace.

The study also showed that workers positively viewed the ability to work from home and also that massages appealed more than gyms or bars. Almost half of all survey participants commented they would like to see some sort of reward system introduced at work.

The final comment comes from Upskilled’s Director Michael Sexty: “Employers may not control every single aspect of the working environment, but they can make sure they are offering adequate training and providing acknowledgement for achievements within the workplace, in order to keep staff happy and motivated”. Read more here>>

We would like to hear your thoughts and what’s working for your employees?

2012 is just around the corner and now is the time to start planning, finalising budgets and engaging with key suppliers and stakeholders to implement all activities. Here are three things – although they may seem disjointed; I believe should be a priority in your considerations for your marketing mix.

1) During the last three years organisations have been cautious in the way they manage their budgets and skinny cows seem to be the norm. In reality the GFC took its toll, however we didn’t go into recession. Yes, we live in a multi-speed economy, so we need to deal with it. Plan and make sure you have a dual gear strategy. On one hand foster team spirit and improve employee morale – employees are also wearied by this economic turmoil. And on the other hand engender loyalty by demonstrating the value of your products and services. Customers want to ensure they are getting their monies worth.

2) Customers are marketing savvy and the digital era has allowed and encouraged this. Everyone is capable of driving their 15 minutes of fame via twitter, facebook, youtube, etc. Marketers have also adjusted to this new age of deeper customer engagement by tapping into social media. The key point here is to understand that consumers no longer separate marketing from the product – marketing is both the process and result, it is a product in itself. Customers don’t separate marketing from their in-store or online experience; it is the experience. In this new way of engagement, marketing is the company and the company is its people. Make sure your strategies encompass this relationship.

3) The guiding principle of all sales activities is to maximize time for selling and relationship building. Sounds obvious… but this is not always executed in the best way. Ensure your processes support your sales team so that they can focus on the job of selling and relationship building. 75% of a sales persons time is spent on pushing through stalled deals, scurrying for data to answer queries and cobbling together one-off proposals for even the simplest request. When planning your marketing mix don’t forget to look at the sales process so that they can focus on the task at hand – selling!

There are many more things to consider, but these three key points I believe are current, applicable and often overlooked.
I picked these three because: 1) your employee’s morale matters, this is the health check of your business and fundamental to its success; 2) today’s current marketing horizon is relevant and must be taken into consideration (as we are in a fast changing marketplace) and 3) focusing on and streamlining your sales peoples processes will drive your profits.

All the best and I wish you a good planning session.

What? Mocial? Yes, some marketers are using this newly coined term lately. The world is nowadays Mobile and Social. We learn, conduct business, manage finances, message, interact, share, etc. from our mobile phones, iPads or other tablets and do so via applications integrated into Google, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin … hi5, Bebo, Google+, Myspace, Skype, Tumbler, Foursquare, Blogger, Youtube, Flickr, Meetup, LastFM, Instagram, Friendster, Yammer … whew, you name! Btw, Wikipedia lists more than 200 major active social networking websites.

There’s a change into greener pastures for people to interact and transact. Their mobiles. Ruder Finn’s mobile Index Survey show that 91% of web users use their mobile web to socialise, 46% for mobile banking and 44% of youth shop over their mobile. According to Nielsen, social networks/blogs now account for one in every four and a half minutes online (22% online).

You get the point and this is no longer new knowledge… We are Mocial and so marketing incentives should embrace it. Commonly incentives have participants who work on the move, sales reps for example; however, people [whether office, site or mobile workers] look at their incentive programs after hours or during their breaks. 40% of our reward online redemptions happen during weekends or between 5pm to 10pm. The other 60% funnily enough happen around 1pm, lunch or after lunch. Which tells me that people are looking at their incentive programs and working towards their rewards or claiming them when they are doing their lifestyle things, not necessarily during work.

They look at these incentives when they are mobile, when they normally would web-socialise, message with friends, have spare time, etc., which reinforce my thoughts that incentive programs must consider the importance of utilizing mobile/social media components and facilities within programs to allow their participants to communicate, redeem, reward and engage.

When we see these numbers and I look at how often I use my own mobile devises, to do all of the above, I can only think that it all stacks up to develop better tools that could translate into mobile and social-network accessible programs. At the beginning of the year we did our first app. It gave access to participants of an incentive program into sales reports and achievements. As well, it had information on the reward and the program criteria. It was welcomed extremely positively, participants are happily using it and we are getting more enquiries on incentive apps. We didn’t develop a ‘redeem your reward section’ but I see it as the beginning of a new way to manage programs. A new way on how HR and Marketing departments conduct their business to assist in keeping people engaged.

Next month we are presenting a new app project again and hope to see more employee communication, loyalty and incentives MOCIAL solutions rolling out in the not too distant future.

Over the weekend I read a few articles about Bluescope Steel move regarding their plan to cut 1000 jobs. What grabbed my attention was the number of companies seizing the opportunity to source talent and offering different plans for the Illawarra workers.

According to the Illawarra Mercury, Bluescope plans to open a job centre to help workers find work elsewhere and more than 20 companies such as Rio Tinto, Joy Mining, Becker, Rheem and BHP Billiton have registered with hundreds of job vacancies.

Great outlet to assist these companies with the national skills shortage they face, so the bids to attract employees have commenced. Companies have to look at their offers if they want to attract this group of highly skilled employees who have also been classed among the safest workers in the country.

In my view, considerations to ensure these skilled workers choose the right company to work for should take into account not only commissions, bonuses and compensation but also non-cash incentives to attract and retain the new talent they are about to hire.

On the one hand, compensation packages allow employees to live – buy a house, pay the bills, maintain life, manage chores, go on a holiday, etc. That’s what a salary does and these employees will look at these facts with a transactional and functional approach. They will do some calculations when they evaluate a compensation system and compare the money to the work and their needs. No emotions involved, it’s cold, hard, transactional and impersonal. They will value your offer and match it to how much is worth to them.

Employees will face decisions and weigh up opportunities. They may have to move interstate, be away from their families for a period, reassess and look into their mortgages, retirement and other issues that need their attention. In this turmoil, neither companies nor employees should see this as a life rope being thrown to rescue their unemployment situation. Employees are skilled, savvy and confident. They know the mining industry will be after their talent and their decision to choose a company to work for won’t be done in a faint hearted manner.

The bigger question for the Employers is how to attract and keep skilled workers?

Whilst employees will work out the maths and see how the salary offers stack up against new employment opportunities, there are other factors and benefits that they will also be weighing up and mining companies must consider these when putting together their strategies. For an employee there is much more than just a salary when choosing an organisation to work for. They will also look at the emotional, non-transactional connections they can have with a new employer. They will look at factors beyond money – motives that address more than their basic salary needs but rather consider their individual and family goals and personal life matters. Mining companies need to find ways to drive their attractiveness with non-cash incentives, rewards, recognition and community programs that create an emotional, social relationship with potential employees and their families.

It’s hard to do the maths in your head to measure what a reward and recognition program is worth in monetary terms. Measuring how valuable perks are is difficult. For example, how much is it worth to have access to negotiated discounts on a wide range of products simply by being an employee of a company? What’s the worth of attending a company’s employee recognition ‘event’ every year? What is the true worth of an all-expenses-paid weekend-away for you and your partner, for simply changing a behaviour that improved safety? How would company A, that doesn’t offer a recognition program, stack up against company B that offers a program that rewards it’s employees for their loyalty, engagement and achievements? How about rewards for completing training? – The cost of any recognition program is cheaper when you compare it to the true cost that lack of skills, poor retention or low employee loyalty/engagement create for these companies.

Companies across the board mining or not should not confuse compensation with connection as these programs add value, create a sense of community and deeply connect with employees’ behaviour and emotions.

It would be narrow minded to think a salary package alone will entice skilled employees to choose a company. The truth is there are many different motives that will influence the Illawarra workers when they choose their next employer and the fact is they will be looking at the total package not just the salary.

Todays businesses are facing a real skills shortage and it seems business owners are throwing more money at them to keep them at work. Many business owners think employees decide to leave because they’ve been offered more money next door. However, the reason for leaving for most employees is that the working conditions are not right for them.

Managers have to be very clear as to what keeps an employee engaged at work and many think that employees are after more money in order to continue performing. Whilst money is their lifeline, hence a key driver of engagement, employees leave work for many other reasons.

Leadership, purpose, reward, opportunity, relationships, job fulfilment and work-life balance are above money. Managers should not assume that money motivates their employees. Everyone’s motivated by different drivers and when talking to your staff you will realise money is at the bottom end of why they work or why they want to leave your company.

Employee satisfaction is an important strategic initiative that ensures staff is motivated and engaged. And in this mix it is crucial to keep perspective of how each element operates.

Two key elements that I often find keep employees focused and engaged are leadership and reward. Leadership has proven to be a key factor in successful organisations. It fosters an environment of purpose, accomplishment and satisfaction through the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. In this case you can read: achieving your business objectives.

On the other hand, rewards. They are satisfying, gratifying and offer value to the individual’s sense of accomplishment. So I would say that a good combination of leadership and rewards give businesses an edge where both parties win, managers maximise engagement and employees continue thriving at their workplace.

With budgets being cut, and squeezed from every possible angle for all business types, there is a lot of advise on the web as to clever and sensible ways to approach  new consumer promotions and incentive programs.

For really simple, clearly defined advise on consumer promotions and incentives, Kochie’s Business Builders website has some great advise. Such as:

The key elements are as follows:

•  Set specific objectives
•  Develop a clear plan, covering how you will meet your objectives
•  Ensure the incentive is appealing to your target market
•  Ensure the incentive provides synergy with your brand
•  Implementation
•  Review

Click here to view the full article >>

The following five fundamental reasons explain why incentive programs, unlike other sales and marketing strategies, withstand economic downturns:

1. Low fixed costs, variable costs driven by performance, high potential return
2. Ability to effectively target audiences (no pay and spray)
3. Relative ease of measurement
4. Flexibility
5. Potential for both short-term and long-term results

To read the article in full, please visit here

The long and short of it is that a well implemented incentive program can effectively measure you real ROI and is beneficial in increasing your business’s bottom line.

I read in the BRW magazine yesterday that 53% is the number of Australians who won’t cut discretionary spending during 2009. In such a downturn this is not bad news. A survey by MasterCard in the APEC region shows that an average of 10 to 20 per cent of Australians spend their income on discretionary items and are more reluctant than most nations in the region to give them up. Big household and vehicle purchases are being delayed, but fashion, dining and entertainment remain untouched so far. Interestingly (according to James Thomson from Smart Company), Myer has delivered a champion profit result for the six months to 31^st Dec 08. Net profit in this period rose 5.3% despite a 3.7% fall in sales.

So this tells me that although we are experiencing tough times, lots of businesses are and will be in good standing through the downturn. It’s all about making the most of it and focusing on the positives. I’m not saying that it’s a retail bonanza but as a mater of fact, 40% of people will put their stimulus bonus towards their mortgage or credit card debt, or pop it into the bank (according to the Australian National Retailers Association). Which means 60% of people haven’t been spooked into saving their money or getting ahead with their credits and will be looking at adding their $900-$950 dollars into their discretionary spend. Read some newspapers and you will find that Big W, Coles, Target and Kmart have been reporting sales increases. Big W had a one-third higher last Thursday compared to the same day in 2008.

Businesses, small, medium and large are already advertising stimulus package deals. For example, Mercedes-Benz is advertising to tradesmen stimulus package deals on vans, and the beautician near work has a $10 manicure stimulus package. There’s no difference, they both are seizing the opportunity and I am certain they will drive traffic into their store.

These are challenging times and the market is tough no question, but it is also an ideal time to increase market share and for companies to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

In today’s environment it is increasingly difficult to achieve cut through that incites an action or elicits a response that is directly trackable to the $’s spent on achieving it. While above the line advertising works in getting customers into stores, there is no way of tracking or measuring any ROI.

Now more than ever sales teams or distribution networks need to be more than order takers and for some this will be a significant change of behaviour.

The aim of any sales promotion, incentive or communication program is to incite a response.

So, whilst many out there are claiming no money in the budget to run incentives they are in fact a solution that can convert foot traffic and accurately measure your real ROI for every transaction made.

Currently most companies are looking for places to cut spending and an obvious place to do so is to start with employee perks and rewards. I can understand the principle of it, but in reality you are also cutting the morale, enthusiasm, confidence, loyalty, initiative and therefore productivity from your employees.

Your employees are your most important assets and keeping them enthused is crucial, especially during these challenging times. Yes! You may think, challenging times means you no longer have the budget to reward your employees, but there are creative and cost effective ways to do this.Surprise and delight your top performers with a small gift with a personal touch, such as a movie ticket or a massage session.

When you can’t give money, give time. Someone who has been under stress would very much like a day off that doesn’t come out of his leave. Make a little incentive memorable. Open a bottle of wine at work and give a thank you speech. Thank those employees who have demonstrated their commitment and thank everyone for the good work.