Grow Your Business April 2008

Dear Business Leaders,

Welcome to the April edition of the Xenex Group Newsletter. 

You have been sent this as a client or associate of Xenex Group. We have provided an interesting mix of articles on management, leadership and business process, for senior executives and business owners to better manage their people and resources.  We have also provided some important contact information for our new office, as well as a small change in our primary web address. We hope you find these articles sufficiently stimulating for you to make a commitment to positive change within your business.

Best regards, 

Daniel O'Connor.
Consultant Principal.

R&D Grants Finish on April 30th!

In the last frantic rush to the finishing post, we sometimes overlook critical things like deadlines. Please take this as a reminder that if your firm has conducted eligible R&D activities in Australia between July 2006 and June 2007, we need to have prepared and submitted your application for an R&D grant before April 30th. If you would like clarification on eligible activities, please call Daniel O'Connor on 9335 7724.

Please also take a moment to update your address book or Outlook to reflect our change of address and contact numbers. Our website has also been relocated to www.xenex.com.au, for added convenience. Our contact details are now:

Xenex Group (Xenex Consulting, Xenex Migration Support & Xenex Grantfactory)
1^st Floor Q&A House
38 Adelaide Street
Fremantle, Perth.
Western Australia, 6160 
Ph: 08 9335 7724
Fx: 08 9430 9189
www.xenex.com.au
www.xenex.net.au
www.xenexgroup.com.au
www.grantfactory.com.au

 Please feel free to browse the new sections in our Website (which includes recent back-issues of these newsletters) and for further information on any of the services you may see on our website, please contact Daniel O’Connor on 08 9335 7724.

Please take a moment to update your address book or Outlook to reflect our change of address and contact numbers. Our website has also been relocated to www.xenex.com.au, for added convenience. Our contact details are now:

Xenex Group (Xenex Consulting, Xenex Migration Support & Xenex Grantfactory)
1^st Floor Q&A House
38 Adelaide Street
Fremantle, Perth.
Western Australia, 6160 
Ph: 08 9335 7724
Fx: 08 9430 9189
www.xenex.com.au
www.xenex.net.au
www.xenexgroup.com.au
www.grantfactory.com.au

 Please feel free to browse the new sections in our Website (which includes recent back-issues of these newsletters) and for further information on any of the services you may see on our website, please contact Daniel O’Connor on 08 9335 7724.

Looked around your office lately? Familiarity can blind us to the obvious so you probably didn’t notice anything in particular. Try looking at it from an employee’s point of view. How do you think it makes them feel? It’s no surprise that surveys report a direct link between the quality of the working environment and the effectiveness of the people who work in it. So is yours the sort of environment that would likely motivate and inspire your employees to work productively?

Take a walk around keeping these three fundamental principles of productive workplace design in mind and check how your premises rate.

Principle 1: the workspace should promote health and well-being

Daylight is invariably cited by employees as a crucial factor for a good working environment. It is widely accepted that one way of improving the health and morale of workers is by providing good internal lighting and access to natural daylight. Good lighting has even been linked to reductions in absenteeism. Don’t block off windows with equipment or make them inaccessible by building office spaces around them all. Use ceiling mounted lights with a luminosity level that achieves adequate illumination without glare or reflection to reduce eyestrain. Accent lights can be used to help create moods and highlight and define different areas of the office. Cleverly combining natural light and illumination can recreate that ‘feel good’ factor of a sunny day and spur employee productivity.

There’s nothing like physical pain to distract people from their work. Poor ergonomics is the root cause of most back pain, migraines, sore fingers, wrists and stiff necks. Ergonomic seating and adjustable work surfaces mean workers are more comfortable for longer periods and require fewer breaks. Properly set up computer workstations minimise discomfort and the likelihood of developing repetitive stress injuries.

Principle 2: the workplace should be a pleasant place to work in

Office decoration provides the backdrop to work activity. It can inspire or depress us. Drab colours are dispiriting. Office walls can be painted in schemes that make the environment cheerful and fresh. You can develop a colour scheme that reflects your brand and does a little promoting or you might select a scheme that reflects the spirit of your business. If you work in a traditionally conservative industry such as financial or legal services, you're better off choosing a neutral colour. If your business employs more creative types such as designers or artists, then prefer more energising colours. Colour also has the ability to make a space appear larger or smaller and the occupant feel more or less claustrophobic.

Bare walls and an unrelieved vista of office equipment can make a workplace feel sterile and unlived-in. Photos, prints, or paintings on the walls and a few plants warm up your workspace and make it feel more comfortable and human. Maintain the same style of furniture throughout the office. Mismatched tables and chairs give the impression of having been thrown together and look rather cheap.

Physically, temperature can make or break our ability to concentrate and get on with a task. Decent temperature control and ventilation systems that keep employees comfortable also keep them productive. 

Principle 3: workplace layout should support work activity

Office design can be used to enhance moods, speed up task completion and encourage interaction between employees. Employees become frustrated and annoyed when their office isn’t designed to support them in carrying out their job efficiently.

Efficient layout of workspaces allows for better and more efficient workflow. If someone has to get up from their seat to reach for a file or access information, more time and effort are expended. Multiply these tasks dozens if not hundreds of times a day and the time wasted not only distresses the employee, it really cuts into productive work time.

Tools and equipment should be close by to those who use them and employee’s workplaces located close to others in the same work group. To arrive at the most suitable arrangement you need to have analysed just how groups relate to and interact with one another and how work flows from one group to another.

While the Cube has become the symbol of modern office layout it has drawbacks for certain kinds of work where the task demands visual privacy and freedom from the distractions of nearby noise and conversation. If the office is open, there should be places for sensitive conversations. Match workspace arrangement to the needs of the person using it.  For example, an architect may require a private office for client meetings, software engineers work best in an open group environment where they can share ideas and issues whereas salespeople might be happy with just a hot-desk on those occasions when they come into the office.

An employee's workplace is responsible for 24 per cent of their job satisfaction level. Poor workplace design is directly linked to increases in stress level and lower performance among employees. Creating a professional, functional and comfortable space will keep your people happy and productive.

The difference between working with engaged people and a group of alienated, uninterested ones isn’t just the difference in productivity you can expect from each – it gets right down to making the difference between feeling you want to go in to work or stay away to avoid becoming depressed by the unenthusiastic atmosphere.

Managers can’t force employees to be motivated but they can contribute to creating an environment that encourages and promotes them to feel self-motivated. Motivation is getting people to do what you want them to do because THEY WANT to do it. The right sort of environment can be summed up in 4 words: security, involvement, responsibility and appreciation.

Making employees feel secure

If you think you can motivate people by instilling fear in them then think again. Over the short term, fear can keep people at a task, if not exactly ‘motivate’ them to do it. But all the while they are being fearful they are plotting how to get back at you. And that doesn’t make for a productive workplace.

The boss who openly threatens to fire employees when they make a mistake or blames individuals when things go wrong is creating a fear culture.  On a less obvious level, tolerating things like sexist behaviour or racist slurs in the workplace equally creates a sense of fear in the target.

The workplace should be a level playing field where every team member is treated fairly and respectfully so as to build a constructive atmosphere free of fear. You can go a long way towards creating that sort of environment by clarifying your expectations about how people are to behave (including yourself) in a written company code of conduct or through clearly defined policies about ‘how we do things around here’. Clearly defined expectations also form the basis for consistent decision making in other areas of importance to your employees such as fair performance appraisal for deciding promotions.

Getting them involved

People are more motivated when they feel ‘in the loop’ of what is going on. The key here is good communication. Employees can’t work to achieve the business’ goals if they don’t know what those goals are. You need to communicate your vision and goals for the business to them so they don’t feel like they are working in a vacuum. Better still, provide opportunities for them to actively contribute to the business through regular team meetings and promote the contribution of suggestions that could help improve the business. Suggestion schemes encourage engagement and can result in valuable ideas for everything from improving operations and developing new products to providing better customer service.

Empowering your people

If you find yourself micromanaging your employees by constantly telling them what to do you can be certain that you are having a detrimental effect on their motivation. Being given responsibility for something is an important motivator for humans. Your intentions may be good but your ‘help’ is likely to be perceived as lack of trust.

Managers interested in keeping their employees motivated should set the ground rules and expectations and then allow them to get on with their job. Shift your focus from making sure that specific tasks are completed correctly to establishing standards and expectations. Where the standards aren’t being met, the way to fix the situation isn’t to constantly look over their shoulder and direct them, it’s to help them improve their performance through a coaching or training programme. Most employees actually want to learn new skills, gain new experience, build their personal attributes and take on new challenges, all of which improve motivation.

Showing appreciation for effort

Public and private praise can work wonders in keeping people motivated. Achievement in any area considered important by the company, such as an outstanding sales record, contributing a valuable suggestion or providing great customer service, should earn some form of appreciation. And don’t overlook opportunities to build morale by celebrating the business’ wins, like getting that new contract. These only happen because of the combined effort of your many individual employees.

While some employees will be innately more passionate about their jobs and careers than others, organisational structures and management styles that deliberately foster engagement with their work play a key role in raising the motivational barometer.

Currently there’s a lot of buzz in business circles about the value of using social networking services (SNS) as a channel to drive sales, promote brand and network for business opportunities. Much of it comes from marketers who are excited about the target marketing possibilities of these sites — they gather so much data about individuals that marketers are able to profile very specific demographics. At the same time, IT security companies post regular warnings about the potential for damage that social networking can pose to business computer systems.

The huge uptake of SNS membership and the increasing spend by some major consumer product companies on these sites provides a sense of ‘normalcy’ about them that could prove dangerous to the unwary user. Mainstream acceptance hasn’t been matched by efforts to improve security.  It’s not unknown for fraudsters to gather, piecemeal from a number of company employee profiles, sufficient information to access company intranets or launch malware attacks against company computers.

Increasingly the question is being posed — should employees be allowed to access SNS over their organisation’s computers? Many major corporations who need to maintain absolute security over client data, their records and their reputation, such as financial institutions, have answered with a firm ‘No’ and simply locked them out of company computers.

But with social networking being viewed by many employees as just another form of communication essentially no different from email or instant messaging, employers may be put under pressure to provide access or face an employee backlash. If you intend to allow employees to use social networking from work computers you would be well advised to proceed with caution. Here’s how to minimise the risks.

Develop an acceptable use policy: According to experts, the first step is to develop policies and train employees. If you don't have policies in place for SNS use (along with blogs, wikis, and their like), then you're leaving yourself at risk.

Define the times when social networking is acceptable: Social networking is addictive and unrestricted access inevitably results in employees spending more and more time online checking out what their friends are up to. Assign only out-of-work periods (lunch break, before or after their work hours) as times in which employees can social network.

Mandate the use of privacy settings: SNS sites are notoriously short on privacy. In their profiles users can enter a host of information including their name, address, phone number, email and their workplace. A privacy level can be assigned to each field of information restricting who can access it, though few users appear aware of this. Mandate that any business related information is assigned the highest privacy setting the site provides.

Set guidelines for chatting about work related matters: It's very natural for people to talk about work, and that talk often gets into messages posted to social networking sites. The business’ reputation could be put at risk by inappropriate comments by employees. Criticism by disgruntled employees or jokes that could be misunderstood by people outside the organisation can do irreparable damage. Spell out the principles for business related chat such as the need to maintain client confidentiality, the contexts in which your organisation’s name can be used and the inappropriateness of making disparaging remarks about fellow workers.

Point out the IT threats: Malicious code is being embedded in Web 2.0 links. Employees casually clicking on links could lead them to malware that will infect work computers. Train employees in the company’s IT security policies to make them aware of what's allowed and what they're prohibited from doing.

Make improper use a disciplinary matter: Make it clear there will be consequences for posting unacceptable comments or business information on social networking sites and detail the disciplinary action that will be imposed.

For those who haven’t experienced a disaster first hand it’s difficult to imagine, even from the graphic images fed to us by the media, the realities of the situation. What pictures cannot convey is the frustration of an owner watching their business suffer through the several days or weeks during which power is unavailable, transport facilities are out of operation, communications are down and access to the premises is prohibited. It’s exactly those restrictions that can spell the death of a business caught up in a disaster and unprepared to deal with the consequences.

Are you prepared? Ask yourself these questions, they cover some of the most critical aspects of keeping the business afloat after a disaster.

1. Have you audited your premises to assess how well they would stand up to the type(s) of disaster most likely to occur in your region?
2. Do your premises have emergency backup power and lighting sources?
3. Could you quickly obtain temporary equipment and replacement stock to keep your business going?
4. Do you have access to a secondary site from which to operate your business if your primary location was damaged?
5. Do you have an alternative source of supply if it is your supplier who suffers a disaster?
6. Are your vital records (accounts, customer data, inventory records etc) backed up with a current version stored in a safe place?
7. Do you have current and multiple contact information (e.g., home and cell phone numbers, personal email addresses) to communicate with your employees if a disaster prevented them from coming in to work?
8. Have you consulted with an insurance professional to determine if your insurance coverage is adequate to help you get back in business following a disaster?

With disasters, both natural and man made, now very much in the spotlight, numerous government agencies and business organisations have developed information brochures and programmes advising SMEs on how to mitigate the effects of a disaster and speed recovery.

In developing a disaster plan and dealing with the aftermath your accountant should be one of your most valued partners. The weeks and months following a disaster can be confusing and difficult with numerous financial issues and personal concerns to address. People who have been through a traumatic experience often have difficulty making sound decisions. Your accountant can help you develop a financial recovery plan for regaining your financial footing following a disaster by reconstructing lost records, documenting income lost as a result of the disaster, preparing and defending insurance claims, acting fast to apply for loans and grants and applying for tax relief concessions.

Many businesses that are forced to close after a disaster never reopen at all. SME owners who educate themselves in disaster management and have a planned process for returning to normal operation maximise their chances for recovery.

If you don't do it excellently, don't do it at all. Because if it's not excellent, it won't be profitable or fun, and if you're not in business for fun or profit, what the hell are you doing there?

Robert Townsend

Be sure to read each article with the mindset "How could this apply to our business." Thinking of it that way will guarantee that you get value. Better yet, take notes as you read and commit to having the ideas implemented by the time the next edition arrives. Also, make copies for each team member. To really make sure something positive happens, work with your Xenex business development specialist to talk your team through the ideas and how to set a schedule for getting them implemented. We're here to help you get started.

While every effort has been made to provide valuable, useful information in this publication, Xenex Group and any related suppliers or associated companies accept no responsibility or any form of liability from reliance upon or use of its contents. Any suggestions should be considered carefully within your own particular circumstances, as they are intended as general information only.