 Today’s social media climate should help remind employers that they must be cognizant of the impact claims of sexual or other harassment can have on their business and reputation. To protect themselves and their businesses, employers should review their handbook and the harassment policies and procedures that they are currently enforcing. Employers should also implement a process for monitoring legislative changes, as it is likely that new laws and standards around harassment will be implemented soon.
When reviewing harassment policies, there are several items that an employer should consider. The most important is to remember that the types of harassment that can lead to liability extend beyond conduct that is sexual in nature. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), there are two types of sexual harassment claims: “quid pro quo” and “hostile work environment.” The EEOC provides guidance on defining harassment and establishing liability that can be helpful for employers. Although the EEOC can provide great information and guidance, employers should be cautious of using the legal terminology and definitions that these documents contain. If your policy language isn’t easily understandable or doesn’t provide context, it may be deemed inadequate. When developing anti-harassment policy language, it is important to clearly state what prohibited behaviors look like. For harassment to be illegal, it must be “severe and pervasive.” In developing anti-harassment policies, the goal should be to stop and correct these behaviors before they rise to that level. For employees to understand what is expected of them, I recommend that employers include language such as “the following behaviors are unacceptable and therefore prohibited, even if not unlawful.” This helps to clarify that even if a certain behavior isn’t actually illegal, it is still prohibited by your organization. Employers should also include language that explains that prohibited harassment goes beyond just sexual. Harassment can occur in many forms and circumstances.
Employers should ensure that their policy language also indicates that these expectations apply to both employees and non-employees and are also in effect when the employee is not working but engaged in activities with other staff members, such as company events, whether those events are on company property or not. It is also important for employers to make it clear that the company’s anti-harassment policies apply not only to the spoken or written word but also to e-mail, text messages, and social media posts. There have been many instances in recent news of cases of harassment involving text messages and social media. Consider adding verbiage that states that the harassment policy applies to social media posts and online commenting. Of course, having a thorough anti-harassment policy is just half the equation. Having effective complaint and investigation processes are also essential to protect your business. For more information on anti-harassment policies and how to enforce them, it would be wise for employers to consult with an employment attorney. To add anti-harassment policies to your handbook, or if you don’t have an employee handbook, contact Maria Novak 610-405-0633.
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The world has been talking about millennials for years. While nonprofits should continue to account for millennials, since they are the largest part of the current workforce, it’s now time to start examining Gen Z. Its members were born between 1996 and 2012 and make up an estimated 30% of the population in the United States.
A Global Trends in Giving Report noted that Gen Z members are interested in giving to many different causes. The top causes they are interested in supporting are youth, animals, and human services. Gen Z members are also quite passionate and willing to help as volunteers. Although most of Gen Z hasn’t entered the workforce yet, they are very motivated to do “good” and give back. How to communicate with Gen Z:
Personalize your Messages Donors expect a personalized approach. Companies like Netflix and Amazon use sophisticated technologies to make recommendations when we are on their sites. It seems that, as a society, we are also beginning to expect this same level of sophistication in our interactions with the rest of the world. It’s no longer enough to use one generic marketing strategy to try to appeal to a diverse base of donors. Know your audience: You’ve put in the hard work building your business from the ground up. And it’s finally starting to pay off. The only problem: now you have more work than you can handle. Growth is always a good problem to have. But it does come with its own share of challenges. If you’ve made it to this point, you have two options. The first is to let new business opportunities pass you by, ensuring you don’t take on more than you can handle. The second option is to lighten your load by hiring someone to help.
Should I hire an employee or independent contractor? If you need help building your business, there are two ways to hire an extra set of hands - adding an employee or signing an independent contractor. While there are pros and cons to both, it’s important to understand the difference. Employee: An employee is hired to work for your company on a full- or part-time basis. This means you, as the employer, have control over how, when and where they do their job. However, this control comes with added responsibility. When you hire an employee, you’ll need to withhold payroll taxes and report their income, in addition to abiding by other federal, state, and local employment laws. Then, there are additional benefit considerations – like offering vacation, sick time, and health insurance. These are just some of the basic responsibilities that are tied to having employees. Independent contractor: A contractor is a self-employed worker who is hired for specific services. According to the IRS, that means the payer only has the right to direct the result of the work - not how, when, or where it’s accomplished. Contractors can also perform work for multiple clients at the same time. When hiring a contractor, you still need to report their income using the appropriate tax form. But they are responsible for their own taxes and benefits. Contractors can be a great option if you need additional work that doesn’t have to be done at your location in the time you require. They can bring their specific skillset to the table, without the long-term commitment of hiring an employee. When is the right time to hire an employee? Every business is unique. So, there’s no right answer to when the best time is to hire an employee. Instead, you’ll need to find the right balance for your situation. Too early: The biggest challenge to hiring your first employee is typically a financial one. Hire someone too soon and you’ll run the risk of encountering cash-flow problems. Or if you don’t have enough work to support a team member, you could be paying someone who doesn’t have enough to keep them busy. Too late: However, if you start hiring too late, you may miss out on opportunities to grow your business. Or you could get in over your head and risk disappointing your current customer base. Either scenario is less than ideal. That’s why it’s important to plan ahead. Decide in advance when it’s a good time to bring on an employee – like when you hit a certain sales goal, or at a time when an employee can perform work that will significantly increase your revenue. Remember, it never hurts to interview employee options and also speak with a contractor before deciding which one works best. You can also speak with a contractor and use that option in the short term before hiring someone. What changes do I need to make to my business before hiring an employee? One big obstacle to hiring your first employee can be the logistics. The truth is, that hiring an employee means you’ll have a lot more rules to follow. If you have specific questions about your business, talk to an experienced lawyer for legal advice. I always suggest using your CPA not only to answer all the financial questions but as a sounding board as they usually have worked in these situations with other clients. Generally speaking, before you make your first job offer, you need to:
How do I find the right candidate for the job? While a podcast is a great way to bring new readers to your blog, it’s not the only reason you should start one. In addition to new followers, you connect with your audience on a more personal level.
Hearing someone speak is undoubtedly more personal than reading words on a screen. With this kind of connection, you can gain your listener’s trust and get their attention in lesser time than it takes to read a blog post. It may seem obvious, but when you’re talking to a mic, it’s easy to get self-conscious and not sound like yourself. Smile, laugh, be yourself and enjoy the process of getting your message out there. Soon you’ll have a group of followers who can’t wait for your next episode. A well-planned podcast will make your podcasting routine easier. Just like a blog, a podcast needs a content calendar, so you have a clear idea of what you need to accomplish for each episode. Follow an outline The dangers of recording a podcast without an outline are that you’ll go off-topic and find yourself rambling on about something else entirely. Storytelling is ok if the story is part of the original plan but can sound like rambling if it is not part of your original outline. Just like a blog post, a podcast should have an introduction, body, and conclusion. You don’t have to write a script that you read word-for-word; that would just sound like an advertisement or a bad commercial. Just make yourself a bullet point list of what you’ll talk about and in what order. While talking about something else for a few minutes can add personality to your podcast, you need to know when to bring your show back to delivering the subject matter at hand. Getting personal Speaking of personality, one of the benefits of a podcast is connecting with your audience on a deeper, more personal level. Podcasts are great for telling personal stories that relate to the episode’s topic. If you’re giving advice about how to do a certain task, talk about how you learned to do the task effectively or whether you had challenges along the way. Vulnerability makes you more human. Episodes List potential episode titles and schedule to publish them in a logical order. For instance, an episode with the title “How to Choose a Web Host” should come first before “How to Set Up Your Blog.” You can also have a theme or single general topic and break it down into sub-topics within a given time frame. For instance, you can assign April as “SEO month,” so all your episodes will be about SEO for April. When you have a clear content plan for your podcast, you don’t have to worry about coming up with a topic for your next episode. All you need to focus on is creating and recording the content. Invest in a quality microphone Don’t just buy a cheap microphone; you’ll end up having to heavily edit the recording to compensate for poor audio quality. If you have the budget, or you can wait a little longer to have enough money to buy a quality microphone, I suggest you do so. Having the best possible recording equipment will save you a lot of trouble when it’s time to edit your audio and will make you sound more like yourself when speaking. Get a professionally made podcast cover image & intro Unless you’re a graphic designer, I suggest having your podcast cover image made by a professional. You can ask around for the best designers in your area, or just contact me and I can design one for you at minimal cost. Make sure you choose a designer whose graphic style matches with your personal brand. Have a clear idea of how you want your image to look and take your time giving clear instructions. Better yet, if you speak with a good marketer, they will even help you design the image before creating it. Take note that your podcast cover image will appear as a thumbnail image on most podcast streaming services, so go for a design that still stands out even when it’s small. Choosing a podcasting web host Think of the worst supervisor you’ve had. Chances are someone comes immediately to mind. Is it your current supervisor? Why do you consider this person “the worst?”
Now, think of a situation where you had the best boss ever. It is harder to identify the best boss, isn’t it? Did you want to do a better job for the best boss vs the worst boss? Of course! The impact of a bad boss Unfortunately, it’s far more likely that the majority of our work life has been spent reporting to bad bosses. Bad owners/managers/bosses continue to dominate the landscape of corporate America and global business today. Despite the research and training available on effective leadership, there are too many bosses that employees consider “bad.” Gallup says 82 percent of managers fail. They are an epidemic killing off employee productivity, loyalty, creativity, and company profit. The worst bosses contribute to poor morale and bad attitudes, which lead to poor productivity, indifferent customer service, lower sales, and reduced quality of work and service. They have employee turnover problems and often have to coerce, bribe, or threaten employees to do things. In big companies, poor bosses stand on every step of the corporate ladder. In smaller organizations, the owners or key executives are often the culprits. In addition: 80 percent of employees say they get no respect at work. Less than 55 percent of Americans are satisfied with their jobs compared to 61.1 percent in the year 2000. I know what you are thinking, what about those awful bosses who get excellent results? Yes, it does seem that some managers do well in spite of the pitiful leadership practices. In fact, if you talk to enough people, you’ll find poor bosses and good bosses can both achieve organizational objectives. The difference is in the “how” and what happens long-term. Results are unsustainable because poor bosses sap employees’ commitment to their jobs. It's a sad picture, but it can change and is changing. The past two years since the pandemic have revealed what we want to see: the leaders who are really focused on the well-being of their employees vs the ones only focused on the bottom line. Start by looking at your team. The number one reason employees say they quit is because of unhappiness with their boss or their boss’ boss. Employees with bad bosses are four times more likely to leave than employees who believe they have good bosses. Bad Bosses (Toxic or negative workplace and lack of support): Commands and controls employees. Takes the credit for wins. Communicates ambiguity. Blames others for problems. Tells employees what to do with little or no input. Offers little training or coaching. Takes advantage of others. Overall, lacks empathy and humility. Good Bosses (Excellent working relationships and positive atmosphere): Listens and asks for employee input. Talks “We” and teamwork. |Engages through positive influence. Shares credit for wins. |Communicates with passion and clarity. Owns the problems. Provides ongoing training and development. Models the way or leads by example. Respects others as partners. Leads with integrity. Pulling it all together: We never really work for a bad boss. We go through the motions but really don’t give any quality to our jobs. But with a good boss, we show up and give our best work. Why? Because our boss communicates, appreciates, and supports us. If you are a manager at any level, how do you start to become a better boss? If you want your team to be better, you must become a better leader. So, keep learning: read leadership books, attend seminars and webinars, and get a personal coach. Ask for feedback and be willing to change. Do this consistently and apply new strategies immediately. As a result, you will accelerate your career success and that of your team.  The success of your business is highly dependent on the success of the product or service you’re offering.
And even more important is being able to clearly articulate your product vision to others. When it comes to your product or service, clarity is essential. It’s necessary to define your products or services in clear descriptions that are easy for you to communicate to others. After developing product or service descriptions, you must identify to whom you want to sell. Determining your ideal customers can provide a more focused approach to your launch. With products and customers defined, you’re ready to start building your online store. This should be super exciting for you, and it’s totally normal if you’re a little nervous or scared. Try to give yourself some slack and don’t be afraid to fail, just try the steps below, learn, and improve. Step 1: Define critical business components There are two fundamental business components you need to consider before you start building your online store. Outline your sales tactics: As an online business, customer acquisition is dependent on driving people to your site. You’ll want to focus on implementing digital marketing best practices. Conduct break-even analysis: Since building a profitable business is the goal, you’ll want to monitor your financial information such as inventory and break-even numbers. This will help you forecast profitability. Step 2: Adopt business software and platforms You should do plenty of planning before starting your online business. But at some point, you’re going to have to actually launch it. After getting your fundamentals squared away, the next biggest hurdle is adopting and integrating your e-commerce platform and other business software. There are software options for all types of businesses, and they can solve nearly every problem you could ever face. Your challenge here is to select systems that are affordable and provide capabilities for now as well as down the road. Ensure ease of use: These software systems are the vehicle through which you drive your online business. There is a myriad of features you can demand, but at the end of the day, you need to be able to easily use these systems to complete your work. Plan for future integrations: Inventory and CRM are critical capabilities, but there are other systems you may need to add once your business takes off. You can save a ton of hassle down the road by initially selecting a system that will handle your future plans. As with many business duties, you may want to think about bringing in someone to analyze your marketing and help with some of these software decisions. Step 3: Build your online store With systems in place, you’re ready to design and publish your business’ site. Your branding really gets to shine during this step as the aesthetics of your digital storefront are what welcomes visitors to your business. Your branding doesn’t have to be extravagant, but it should be intentional. And unless you know how to code, you’ll want to ensure your e-commerce platform includes or supports site templates easy for you to navigate. As with any business need, this is something you can definitely outsource if you feel uncomfortable designing your own. Designing your online storefront should be fun. It’s your first chance to highlight your branding, and it means you’re close to a full business launch. If you have been working with someone who designed your brand, you may want to bring them in on this process too. Simplify the purchase process: However you decide to lay out your site, the most important component is how easy it is for your shoppers to make a purchase. You want to do everything you can to eliminate steps between product selection and online sales. Let your products/services shine: Don’t be tempted by stock images or long corporate manifestos that describe your brand. Let your products speak for themselves across your website. At the end of the day, that’s why it exists and that’s why shoppers visit. Consider your entire site: While products should shine, it’s also important to consider if you’ll have any kind of content strategy. If so, where will that be on the site? Be sure to think through what pages you’d like your site to feature. And always be sure that you are writing your content to be SEO-friendly and not repetitive. Step 4: Launch sales and marketing strategies You’ve worked through the business fundamentals. You’ve chosen your platforms and built your online store. Now it’s time to launch your online business. This means kicking off your sales and marketing strategies to introduce your business and drive shoppers to your site. Since you have taken the time to understand your customers, you already know the most effective channels for reaching them. Add to that your product expertise, and you’re all the way to a sales and marketing strategy for your new online business. Don’t make your sales and marketing strategy complicated at the onset. Trust in your targeted customer base, work up a few messaging variations to test, and set it all loose. As you’re starting out with your marketing plan, don’t be afraid to double down on what’s working. Find the messaging, channels, etc. that are driving visitors to your online store and spend resources there. You’re better off concentrating on what resonates initially and then looking to expand your base down the road. Step 5: Optimize and refine constantly Your online business is launched, and your work has truly just begun. Get ready because everything is about to accelerate. It is totally normal to feel like you’re just working to keep your head above water at this point. You just have to keep moving forward. The great thing about launching your business is that you get streams of performance data coming in. You can set up and monitor metrics to spot positive and negative trends on your marketing, site, products, margins, etc. The possibilities are endless, but what’s important is that you’re constantly looking for ways to improve. Managers should always have an exit strategy. Because if you receive a promotion or new position, you’ll need to have a plan in place for your departure including a suggestion for someone to fill your role. And that means you need to be preparing your employees for leadership now.
But being a manager isn’t all about you and your goals either. It’s important to instill leadership skills in your employees for the good of their careers, too. When they’re equipped with management skills, they’ll be able to make informed decisions, guide their peers, and be better qualified for opportunities that come their way. And it will make your job as a manager more fulfilling. As a business owner, you’re looking at it a little differently. You are not necessarily preparing them to take over for you (but that may be the case someday); what you’re really doing is preparing them to help you succeed in whatever business you own. This will make you more efficient and a better boss. 1. Teach Them to Network This is so important. I have been networking for a long time (too long!) and this essential skill has helped me to grow many businesses including my own. Even if you dread the events, even if you find them terribly awkward, force yourself to attend. You will learn how to make connections with strangers, confidently initiate conversations, and ask for something you need or want. And these are key skills for leaders at any level. That is why, as a manager, you must teach your employees how to effectively network as soon as possible. When they progress into leadership roles, they’ll already have valuable contacts, plus the people skills needed to succeed. If you struggle with this as a manager, or you need a company-wide networking lesson, click here. 2. Give Them the Right Experience As you give out projects and assignments, give some thought to the unique duties you have as a manager. These are the skills that your employees may not know but should if they want to move up within the organization. Then, find ways for your employees to start gaining experience in these areas. 3. Allow Them to Struggle a Little When an employee needs help with a task, he or she typically comes to you, so you can either take over or provide the information that they need to accomplish the task. But when you’re coaching your employees to become leaders, I’ve found that it’s more beneficial to push them to figure out how to get what they need on their own. This doesn’t mean you leave them alone; it just means that little by little you allow your employees to take on more responsibility in figuring it out by asking them questions that will make them think and hopefully solve it by themselves. 4. Be a Mentor As you’re helping your employees gain leadership skills, you’ll likely take on a mentor-mentee relationship with them. And this natural progression is a very beneficial tool to continue honing their leadership skills. Seek out opportunities to meet with your employees one-on-one to talk about their goals, ideas they want to implement, or any struggles they’re facing. Your advice will provide valuable insight and encouragement. 5. Create an Ownership Mentality Most importantly, you can coach people in leadership day after day, but they won’t actually use those skills unless they feel like a trusted, valued part of the company. Think about it: If you teach your employees how to make smart, informed decisions, but still require that they run every idea by you before they’re allowed to make a move, how empowered will they feel? Creating an ownership mentality starts with trusting your employees and giving them the authority to make certain decisions. This can also mean listening to and implementing some of their ideas. As you create these five skills as part of your normal routine, and you make your employees feel like integral parts of the company, you will see who naturally rises to the occasion and emerges as leaders. Does your business have a blog on your website? Are you sending out informational and educational news?
Regularly posting blogs and sharing news and education can benefit your business in numerous ways. If you help people solve a problem related to your industry, or teach them something they did not know, your name is front of mind when they need to hire someone. This isn’t automatic, but the effect is real. For purposes of this article all content writing including social media posts will be addressed as “blogging” unless I am referring to one specific type of writing. There’s a growing misconception that blogging isn’t important, or that it’s not as important as it once was. Somewhere in the last few years, blogs began feeling a bit old school. But that’s not the right way to look at it. The real question isn’t whether they’re new or old, it’s whether publishing blogs gets results. And the truth is that writing blogs and posts remain highly effective marketing tools. Blogging regularly is not only a low-cost marketing strategy, it allows you to position yourself as an industry expert. It builds trust with your audience and immediately establishes your expertise. Your blog posts should be tied to your other marketing efforts and should build your industry connections. When done right, a business blog can market your company, attract new customers, and position you as an industry leader. Unfortunately, many businesses start blogging without a clear idea of what to write about or how to use it to market their company. As a result, business blogging often takes up time and energy without producing any benefit. The main thing to keep in mind is that your site content, marketing materials, social media, news, articles, and blogs must all be consistent yet for each media, must be written differently. It sounds overwhelming but can be accomplished. Improving Your Writing 1. Define your audience You would never run a magazine ad or a TV commercial without knowing the intended audience. Similarly, you should never create a blog or post without knowing for whom you are writing. These are your target customers - - the people most likely to be searching for and interested in learning about your business. If you don’t yet have a defined audience, create a reader profile based on what you know about your ideal customers. Include the following information:
Gathering this information will help you choose topics to write about and create a blog that your customers will care about. And, if you really have multiple audiences, make sure you write different things to address all of them separately. 2. Create an editorial calendar Customers, blog readers, and search engines all like predictability. If you start writing, but then don’t post for several weeks, readers are less likely to come back and see what else you’ve written. A website that publishes infrequently won’t rank as high in search engines, making it less likely that customers will find you through online search. It’s hard to publish regularly if you are struggling to think of things to write about or forgetting that your blog exists. To prevent this, create an editorial calendar that lays out a plan for what you will write and when it will be published. The frequency of your posts doesn’t matter as much as the quality and consistency. One well-written, relevant blog post every two weeks will market your business better than daily poor-quality posts or a blog that hasn’t been updated in months. 3. Brainstorm keywords for each post. If you want customers to find your website when they search online, your blog posts must include related phrases that customers might type into a search engine. Before you write each post, brainstorm long-tail keywords and include them in your writing. For example, if your company provides accounting services to small and mid-size businesses, your customers may search for “small business accounting tips.” Aim for one main keyword and two or three secondary keywords that are relevant to the topic you are writing about. 4. Optimize your posts for search engines To optimize your blog posts for SEO, add signals that tell search engines what your post is about. When search engines read these signals, they can direct relevant traffic to your website. Incorporate keywords as naturally as possible. Do not add keywords randomly or in sentences where they don’t fit organically; this is known as “keyword stuffing” and signals to search engines that your site isn’t trustworthy. The written post isn’t the only place where you should use keywords. They should also appear in the following places:
When you optimize all these places, you send multiple signals to search engines and make it easier for them to direct customers to your blog. |
Boost Your BusinessMaria NovakI have over 35 years' experience in Marketing Small Businesses. Categories
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