Is Your Organization Prepared For The Next Disaster?

Is Your Organization Prepared For The Next Disaster?

Bad news is seemingly dominating the nightly news headlines. Disasters appear to be everywhere we turn. When a disaster such as a data breach occurs, it’s incredibly stressful and chaotic. Things need to be decided and done quickly or all of the organization’s data could be permanently lost. Note: It’s not IF a disaster will occur, but WHEN a disaster will occur. Does your organization have a written business continuity planning (BCP) plan defining how to handle the disruption?

Creating a documented, comprehensive, and tested business continuity plan and IT disaster recovery plan before the next disaster occurs is crucial. Otherwise, employees are forced to muscle through the best they can, and there is a good chance that critical tasks will inadvertently not get done or be much harder than normal.

If your organization doesn’t have a written BCP plan, here is a framework you can use to create a basic BCP plan, and then continue to enhance it.

How To Create A Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

Natural disasters

1. Identify the key risks – incident (i.e. cyberattack, pandemic, active shooter), outage (such as a power failure), and natural disasters (i.e. tornado, wildfire, earthquake). Do a risk assessment to determine the probability of occurrence (high, medium, low) and impact (enterprise-wide, regional, department-specific, etc.)

2. Take the risk assessment and do a business impact analysis (BIA) to determine how the organization would be impacted. Create a BIA questionnaire for each department to identify things such as potential lost income, outsourcing expenses, regulatory penalties, etc. Additional information can be found here.

3. Use the BIA information to create the business continuity planning (BCP) plan. There is specific software you can purchase, but if you’re just starting out, I’ve created BCP plans using Microsoft Word. Additional information can be found here.

  1. Create a separate “chapter” for each department, and have IT create a disaster recovery plan.
  2. Identify technology systems/applications and classify them based on quickly they need to be up and running (mission-critical, essential, non-essential).
  3. Identify employees who are critical and non-essential as well as have skills that can be used in other departments and speak different languages.
  4. Identify if there are any critical vendors or VIP customers that need to be notified.
  5. Other resources (e.g. hard copy plan, desktops/laptops, other equipment, forms, supplies, etc.) that will be needed especially if you’re resuming operations at an alternate location.
  6. Don’t forget to create a communication plan.
    • Who can declare a disaster? Talk with the press?
    • Make sure employees know what to do.
    • Have a special phone number employees can call to hear instructions (to report or not); have call info on a business card and distribute to employees; and/or purchase a system (such as Everbridge) to make outgoing calls/texts (will need up-to-date contact info).

4. The BCP plan should be reviewed at least annually. Departments should update their section of the BCP plan whenever the business changes (a new process or service), there is a new regulation, etc.

5. Test the plan at least annually and minimally via a tabletop exercise. This gives departments the opportunity to gather lessons learned and update their plan for things they didn’t account for or forgot to update. For example, you didn’t update the team directory and as result had incorrect phone numbers or didn’t realize that one of your critical employees had resigned and wasn’t replaced.

Additional Resources

BCP plan, business continuity plan

Another resource is the Association of Contingency Planners. There is a BCP intro and industry resources.

Once you create a basic BCP plan, then you can continually enhance it. So, when the next disaster occurs, your organization is better prepared and effective. Employees will benefit from all of that planning and know what to do.

For more information on having a comprehensive business continuity planning (BCP) plan, follow me on LinkedIn!

4 Qualities All Great Managers Have

4 Qualities All Great Managers Have

Owners of successful business enterprises will be the first ones to tell you that you need to invest in your people. When you are running a business, you need to rely on the efficiency of each person involved in the organization, whether that person is a front liner or is working in the back office.

Being an owner of a huge corporation entails a lot of responsibilities and that includes hiring and retaining the best people to run your company. You need to look for the best managers who can effectively handle a team of employees.

If you are in the engineering industry, you probably know by now that completing a certain building project will involve hundreds of people divided into different teams. Having the best managers to handle each team is the best way to ensure the success of your project.

Here are some qualities all great managers have:

1. Managers Should Have Strong Interpersonal Skills

The best engineering managers have a way of dealing with people and making sure that each person in the team feels valued. Look for a manager who knows how to handle the different needs and concerns of their team members. It is the responsibility of the manager to keep their people motivated to come to work every day and to be highly productive.

Apart from that, a great manager should ensure that the relationship among their team members is harmonious. Should there be any conflict among the members, they have to be able to iron them out effectively without sacrificing the productivity of the entire team.

2. Managers Should Be Effective In Doing Goal-Setting Activities With Their Team

Happy team members

Each member of the team should feel like they are a valued member of the company. This is why great managers should be able to effectively carry out goal-setting activities with their team. They can conduct strategic planning activities and team-building activities to ensure that each member’s goals are streamlined with the entire company’s goals.

Apart from goal setting in terms of the company’s needs, great managers should also be able to sit down and talk with each team member. Their personal life goals are equally important to the goals that they have for their career. Do they aim to get married in the next few years? Do they aim to migrate with their entire family in the near future? These are things that managers should be aware of. This way, they can prepare ahead of time for sudden changes in the organization and they can ensure proper turnover of responsibilities from one employee to another.

3. Managers Should Be Able To Properly Assess The Skills Of Each Team Member

Manager talks to her colleague at work

Employees have different core competencies, skills, and talents that they can contribute to the company. A great manager will be able to pinpoint these skills so that they can help the employee further harness their potential.

Managers should be aware of any workshops and seminars that they could send their employees to. Allowing them to have trainings will further enhance their skills and help them to contribute more to the company as a whole. Understanding the skills and goals of each team member will be highly beneficial to the company because each member will feel more valued and more motivated to work even harder.

4. Managers Should Be Able To Live By Example

Manager talks to an employee at work

The best managers always make sure that they are the perfect role models for their team members. They live by the company’s rules and code of conduct. They ensure that they are the perfect shining example of what a model employee is because this is the only way that they can make the rest of the team follow.

A great leader should start by being a good follower. Excellent managers are those who follow the company’s standards and bend the rules only if it is for the greater good.

Want to grow your career and become a better manager?

We’d love it if you joined our FREE community. It’s a private, online platform where workers, just like you, are coming together to learn and grow into powerful Workplace Renegades. More importantly, we have tons of resources inside our community that can help you become a better manager.

Join our FREE community today to finally become an empowered business-of-one!

This article was originally published at an earlier date.

Is Your Marketing Function Analytically Oriented For Impact?

Is Your Marketing Function Analytically Oriented For Impact?

I am delighted to announce that right after much hard work plus complex analyses, my other authors and I possess successfully proven through the quantitative research study (Journal of Applied Marketing Analytics) a new measure that will quantifies your organization’s advertising analytics orientation (MAO).

It recognizes the factors that assist your organization become a lot more analytically focused on enhancing marketing performance. Practitioners may use the survey in order to understand issues and for you to optimize how people, procedures, and technology are used. This study will aid you improve decision-making within your organization.

I congratulate my many other authors Mark Weber, a new marketing research leader economic services, and Ed Lucio, the lead data man of science from ASB Bank inside New Zealand.

Why is this particular important, anyone asks?

When posting research, it is important to match your study to a journal along with the right audience in addition to research agenda, which will be what we’ve done right here. We chose to publish throughout a more practitioner-focused diary that balances theory and even practice so the study might be more beneficial with regard to marketers.

[If you are a data analytics, AI, information security, data privacy, or digital expert, I highly recommend you check out Henry Stewart Publications’ journals. They offer the best blend of real-world research applications and emerging research topics I have yet found.]

For all those familiar with quantitative study, you may be fascinated in the following:

When studying any new construct or even phenomenon, it is not really enough to only distribute an exploratory study; you have to quantitatively prove through record analyses and modeling that this findings are valid. Including a measurement model along with a structural model, and many other statistical tests. The outcomes are then further authenticated by peers. See the particular links below to typically the qualitative and quantitative peer-reviewed journal articles.

  • Qualitative Study on Marketing Analytics (Published by Journal of promoting Stats: 2018)
  • Quantitative Study on Advertising Analytics (Published by Diary of Applied Marketing Statistics in Volume 8 to be able to be released shortly)

Let me personally know your ideas and exactly how MAO can be utilized to assess your marketing and advertising analytics organization.

Quick Tip: Use ‘Dear Hiring Team’ On Your Cover Letter

Quick Tip: Use ‘Dear Hiring Team’ On Your Cover Letter

You’ve always been told that you shouldn’t write, “To Whom It May Concern,” on your cover letter. But what should you do when you don’t have the name of the hiring manager?

First, Track Down The Name

Obviously, it’s ideal to use the hiring manager’s name in your cover letter. So, the first thing you should do is try to track down the hiring manager’s name online (i.e. the company website, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.).

You can also call up the company directly to ask for the name. Simply call up the company and say, “Hi, my name is ____ and I’m applying for a position at your company. Would it be possible for me to get the name of the hiring manager so I can address him or her in my cover letter?”

If All Fails, Use ‘Dear Hiring Team’

Man looks at his cover letter while on his laptop

If the hiring manager’s name is nowhere to be found and the company is unwilling to give you his or her name, you should use “Dear Hiring Team” in your cover letter salutation. By addressing your cover letter to the hiring team, you increase your chances of getting it in front of the right pair of eyes.

Why Can’t You Use Someone Else’s Name?

Woman reads her cover letter on her laptop

But what if you know the name of someone else (not involved with hiring) who works at the company? Can you just address it to them instead?

Absolutely not!

“That person may not be the person that’s hiring, and they could easily throw [your cover letter] in the trash,” says J.T. O’Donnell, founder and CEO of Work It Daily. “You don’t know if they’re going to forward it to the right person or not. You DO NOT want to risk that.”

Need more help?

Is every element of your career plan working together to help you get the results you want? Are you confident that the career plan you’ve developed will get you out of your career rut for good? If you’re not getting the results you want out of your career, we can help.

We’d love it if you joined our FREE community. It’s a private, online platform where workers, just like you, are coming together to learn and grow into powerful Workplace Renegades. More importantly, we have tons of resources inside our community that can help you write a cover letter—the right way.

It’s time to find work that makes you feel happy, satisfied, and fulfilled. Join our FREE community today to finally become an empowered business-of-one!

This article was originally published at an earlier date.

Pulling The Tiger’s Teeth: How To Deal With Angry Customers

Pulling The Tiger’s Teeth: How To Deal With Angry Customers

Millions of people work in customer service. Customer service roles vary from contact center agents handling enquiries about a 10-dollar bus service to account directors managing billion-dollar clients.

Sooner or later, they all have to deal with angry customers.

I am one of these customer service professionals. Here are a few tricks I’ve learned over the years.

Mindset

Woman at a coffee shop helps an angry customer

Customers can get angry, abusive, or even violent.

Even the angriest customer is unlikely to be angry at you, specifically, if you have the right mindset.

Firstly, check your own emotions and how they affect your behavior.

If a customer starts acting aggressively, check your own pulse rate and heart rate. Is the blood rushing to your head? This is when you have to be still. Responding to anger with anger makes a bad situation worse.

This doesn’t mean you have no right to be angry. If someone behaves aggressively, millions of years of evolution have built the “fight or flight” program into our brains. In this situation, reacting aggressively or running away will not help.

Instead, try and put yourself in the customer’s shoes. The customer wants to go home at the end of the day. He finds out his bus has been cancelled. The next one is in three hours. Or your corporate client’s IT director has spent half a million dollars on a new computer. It doesn’t work. If it can’t be fixed, his job is on the line. How would you feel?

The Customer Is Always “Emotionally Right”

Angry customer calls a customer service representative

As Mr. Brian Shore, CEO of ZOOM International says: “The customer may not always be right, but the customer is always emotionally right.”

Emotion is the key. Emotion drives angry customers’ behavior. Logic will not prevail until the emotion has been handled.

Many try to ignore emotional behavior. It’s better to openly acknowledge and validate the customer’s emotion. Try this response: “I can see you’re feeling very frustrated/angry about this. If I were in your position, I’d feel the same way too.”

Show the customer that you have recognized and respect his feelings, and understand the urgency of the situation.

If the customer is still expressing anger, stay silent and let him continue. If you are in a public area, lead him politely somewhere out of public view so that he can “vent” there.

The customer is less likely to feel angry with you specifically. Once he sees you are “on his side,” he may be ready to have a rational conversation.

The worst thing is to tell an angry customer to “calm down.” This implies that the customer has no right to feel angry at all. Customers don’t usually react positively to that. It’s better to tell the customer that you can see that he is angry, and you want to help him. Then, ask him politely if you can ask these questions to fully understand the situation.

Take Control Of The Conversation

Customer service representative talks to a customer

Asking questions allows you to take more control of the situation. Once the customer is answering your questions, use the customer’s name and the “question/answer/comment” rapport-building techniques. (See “further reading” below.)

If you have a lot of questions, let him know to manage his expectations. (“This may take some time—may I ask you some questions?”) If the questions relate to technical details, such as website addresses, credentials, part numbers, etc., you might want to give him a list of questions and some time to find the answers.

Positive Language

Young woman talks to an angry customer

Angry customers do not respond well to being told something can’t be done. Negative language, offering no solutions, and implying that the customer is to blame does not help the situation, even if it is true.

If what they say they want is not possible, ask more questions to find out what they really want. (Your flight to Manchester is cancelled. When do you need to get there?) There might be an alternative that more or less gives them what they want.

Sometimes “no” really does mean “no.” In that case, try to soften the blow, but make sure he understands it really is not possible. Try saying this: “I appreciate that this situation is very frustrating for you. I’m afraid we can’t help you right now. I’m sorry.”

A couple of very important points.

Never use the word “but” after “I’m sorry” or “I appreciate you are feeling frustrated.” The word “but” sends the message “Disregard all the nice things I said before.”

When you use the word “sorry” or apologize, do not say specifically what you are apologizing for. That may be taken as an admission of liability and used in court. Likewise, if you cannot give a clear and company-authorized reason why something is not possible, it’s better not to explain.

Clear Outcomes & Managing Expectations

Customer service representative helps a customer

It’s very important to give the customer a clear outcome. If you can solve his problem, the outcome is clear. If not, the outcome is also clear.

If you need more information, or something else has to happen, then make it very clear to the customer what will happen next, who needs to take the next action, and tell him when this is going to happen.

You need to let the customer know what happens next as clearly and accurately as possible. If the news is bad, telling the customer everything will be fine won’t help him, your employer, or you.

To manage your expectations, everything I have written above won’t work every time! There are some problems that cannot be solved, and there are some customers that cannot be helped.

How was it for you?

I love hearing about other people’s experiences! Let me know your “hacks” for dealing with angry customers!

Further reading…

You can read more about rapport building here: Don’t Be A Wallflower! A Beginner’s Guide To Building Rapport

You can read more about positive language here: Positive Language For No-Nonsense Managers

Why This Type Of Job Search Never Works

Why This Type Of Job Search Never Works

I hear stories all the time about job seekers applying for almost every job they come across in their job search. My advice? Stop. Here’s why…

That type of job search doesn’t work.

The “Spray & Pray” Job Search Method Isn’t Effective

@j.t.odonnell why this type of job search never works… @j.t.odonnell @workitdaily #learnontiktok #careertiktok #edutok #jobsearch #jobtips #jobapplication #careerhacks #careeradvice ♬ original sound – J.T. O’Donnell

In order to actually find a job that’s a good match for you, you need to stop applying online to random, out-of-state jobs that you’re not exactly qualified for. If you do this in your job search, you’re basically not looking for work at all.

And I know that’s hard to hear.

We think we have all this experience—that employers will look at us and think, “Oh, this person would be a great fit for the job.” That’s not how it works.

First, if you’re not in state, they’re thinking, “When will I interview you?” Second, if you don’t have the exact experience, they’re thinking, “I don’t have time to train you. I’m already far behind.”

Employers want to hire the exact match for the job. That’s why you’re not getting any responses.

Now, all hope isn’t lost. You just have to learn something called a proactive job search, which is a more strategic job search than the “apply for every job” type of job search (I call it the “spray & pray” method). Think of yourself as a job shopper instead, which is actually a lot more fun and effective.

If you want to learn how to conduct a proactive job search, check out my FREE community. It’s a safe place where professionals like you are learning how to become empowered in their careers so they can finally find career happiness and satisfaction. More importantly, I have tons of resources inside this community that can help you find a job—fast!

Whatever you do, please stop the insanity of blindly applying for jobs. It’s not doing you any favors. All it’s doing is frustrating you. And you don’t deserve that.

Sign up for my FREE community and become a Workplace Renegade today! My team and I are looking forward to working with you soon.

27+ Final Interview Questions You Need To Be Ready For

27+ Final Interview Questions You Need To Be Ready For

There are a number of final round interview questions that come up regularly, and they tend to vary quite a bit. But don’t worry, preparing for them doesn’t have to be hard! This guide goes over the most common final interview questions you’ll hear and covers the best ways to answer them.  1. What keeps […]

The post 27+ Final Interview Questions You Need To Be Ready For appeared first on Career Sherpa.

6 Punctuation Tips For A Sexier Resume

6 Punctuation Tips For A Sexier Resume

You want a resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile that presents you in the best possible light. With all of the emphasis on loading your documents with keywords, accomplishments, and metrics that make the case for you being the perfect fit for the position you’re after, have you overlooked proper punctuation?

Some might wonder what the big deal is about punctuation. Surely if you start your sentences with a capital letter and end them with a period, that’s all you need to worry about, right?

Unfortunately not.

The text in resumes is often so packed with information that seemingly inconsequential punctuation missteps can distort your meaning, or worse: cause the hiring manager to pause in confusion.

That pause is bad news for you: it may make the recruiter see you as a less-than-attractive candidate, questioning your ability to communicate or pay attention to details, both highly valued skills in today’s workplace. Just as a modern spouse becomes more alluring to a partner by doing the dishes and laundry, using proper punctuation makes you downright sexy to a hiring manager.

Both efforts make lives easier for the people who are important to you, so go the extra mile by following these important rules (and do the dishes):

1. Capitalization

In addition to appearing at the beginning of sentences and in section headings, capital letters also signify important words. But using too many “important words” in your documents slows the reader down or seems pretentious.

For example, I sometimes see text like this in resumes: “Expertise in Human Resources, Training, and Recruiting”

Try: “Expertise in human resources, training, recruiting” instead.

Other than proper names like your own name or the names of products, you will rarely need to capitalize words that don’t appear at the beginning of a line or sentence. You’ll also want to capitalize your own job title above each position listed on your resume.

However, if you reference someone else’s job title in your career documents, the general rule is that it is only capitalized when the person’s name follows (Vice President Joe Smith)—not when merely referring to the position (as in “reporting to the vice president”).

Of course, every rule tends to have its exceptions, and there are a few for capitalization. However, these are good to start with.

2. Hyphens

Man holds a resume with good punctuation

Use hyphens for compound adjectives that precede a noun, such as “client-focused approach” or “full-time employees.” And if you have two adjectives that modify the same base word, use a hyphen after the first, as in “mid- and senior-level management.”

Do not use a hyphen in a compound adjective if the first word ends in -ly, as in “highly qualified candidate.”

3. Semicolons

Women reads a resume with good punctuation

Semicolons can either separate two independent clauses when the second clause is not directly related to the first, or they can be useful when you want to list items that already include a comma.

For example, “Proficient in software including Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint; CorelDRAW; and Adobe Photoshop.”

4. Colons

Hiring managers discuss a job candidate with a well-written resume

Colons are used to join two independent clauses when the second clause is directly related to the first.

The most common usage in resumes is for lists, as in “Proficient in the following software: MS Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.”

5. Commas

Job seeker smiles as two hiring managers read her well-written resume

There’s fierce debate between those who advocate using serial, or Oxford, commas (putting a comma before the final “and” in a series) and those who don’t.

The best practice for resumes is to use serial commas, as they can really make your career documents easier to understand.

This is especially true when you list series of items where two things may be grouped together (think: sales and marketing). But even sentence construction like “Facilitate mock interviews, identify position and tailor interview questions” may cause the reader to stumble.

At first read, it may sound like the candidate is responsible for identifying a position and identifying someone who tailors clothes! So, my advice is to avoid ambiguity by always using serial commas in career documents, especially in resumes.

6. Spaces After A Period

Recruiter holds a resume with good punctuation

The current convention is to use one space after a period, not two. The same goes for colons.

I know, I know.

If you grew up learning to type on an IBM Selectric, back in the Stone Age like I did, this is a hard habit to break. But, if you keep using two spaces, you’ll look as antiquated as the typewriter.

Trust me, knowing these six punctuation tips will make you a real turn-on to an employer.

Now that you’ve reviewed some of the resume punctuation rules that you’ll want to be aware of, I’ll share the most important rule of all: however you choose to use punctuation throughout your career documents, do it consistently!

Even more jarring than not following proper punctuation rules is following them only some of the time.

Need more help writing your resume?

We’d love it if you joined our FREE community. It’s a private, online platform where workers, just like you, are coming together to learn and grow into powerful Workplace Renegades. More importantly, we have tons of resources inside our community that can help you write your resume—the right way.

It’s time to find work that makes you feel happy, satisfied, and fulfilled. Join our FREE community today to finally become an empowered business-of-one!

This article was originally published at an earlier date.

Should You Upload Your Resume To LinkedIn Or Other Social Media

Should You Upload Your Resume To LinkedIn Or Other Social Media

LinkedIn has made it very easy to upload your resume as a PDF to make it part of your LinkedIn profile. While it’s tempting to do this rather than build a full profile from scratch, you should avoid it.

Your resume and LinkedIn profile should be treated as two separate resources for your job search. Sure they are very similar, and you should use your resume as a guide for your LinkedIn profile, but a slight separation of the two is important!

Here’s why…

There Are Major Privacy Concerns

Your LinkedIn profile is fully (or at least semi-) public. Your contact information (address, phone number, email, etc.) are not necessarily public on your LinkedIn profile, but will become public if you upload your resume.

Even if you remove this private information from your resume before you upload it, by uploading your resume, you have made the resume itself public. You no longer have control. That means that anyone is free to view, copy, download, use, pirate, and distribute your resume—all without your knowledge or consent.

Whatever information you’re given by LinkedIn about views of your profile and downloads of your resume is after the fact—after your resume has been downloaded and is in the possession of someone else.

It Makes Your Job Search Public

Man waits for his job interview

Posting your resume on LinkedIn changes your job search from a private one to a public one. It practically screams, “I’m looking for a job!” While it helps your job search for the trusted people of your professional network to be quietly notified that you’re looking for new opportunities, it does not help to announce it to the world.

Why? Because recruiters, employers, potential clients, and quality networkers are looking for top candidates. Top candidates are, by definition, people who are in demand. A top candidate, therefore, rarely “needs” a job, although he or she is open to opportunities. By publicly screaming, “I’m looking for a job!” you are simultaneously announcing that you are not a top candidate.

Your LinkedIn profile needs to showcase your value and appeal, not your (real or perceived) desperation.

It’s Not The Best Way To Display Your Professional Skills

A businessman makes edits to his resume

Resumes work best when they are tailored to specific job openings or employers. Posting your resume online means you have given up the chance to best present your resume to any legitimate recruiters or employers who view it. And the substance of the resume should be worked into your LinkedIn profile anyway.

Remember: if your LinkedIn profile is compelling, then a legitimate recruiter or employer surfing through LinkedIn will contact you. And then you can decide whether to provide your (targeted) resume.

So, in conclusion, posting your resume online gives you additional risk, but no reward.

Struggling to write your resume or optimize your LinkedIn profile?

We’d love it if you joined our FREE community. It’s a private, online platform where workers, just like you, are coming together to learn and grow into powerful Workplace Renegades. More importantly, we have tons of resources inside our community that can help you write your resume and optimize your LinkedIn profile—the right way.

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This article was originally published at an earlier date.

It’s Time To Claim Your Employer Story For FREE!

It’s Time To Claim Your Employer Story For FREE!

We get that.

Sites just like Glassdoor and Indeed include hijacked your company’s plot online.

Just enter “working at_____” or “working for ____” while inserting your company’s name and there’s a lot more than a good opportunity that Glassdoor/Indeed (who, BY THE WAY, are owned by this same company) rank increased in the search engine results compared to your own company’s career page.

Well, here’s some very good news…

Young woman (Gen Z) is found in a job

Job searchers today (especially millennials plus Gen Z) are today “job shoppers. ” Elevated on social media, these people skip the review websites, and even your very own website, to be able to consume tales about what it’s similar to to work for your own personal company from credible, thirdparty sites—like Work It Every day.

Work That Daily? Hey, that’s all of us!

Work The device Daily

Work The idea Daily is really a trusted, highly regarded advisor to millions involving job shoppers. Since 08, we’ve been an recommend for the worker, providing timely advice and sources designed to help all of them get ahead within their professions. And now, with more than 1. 5M visitors in order to our site monthly, in addition to an incredible number of followers on internet sites like TikTok and LinkedIn, we want to expose them to YOUR ORGANIZATION}.

CLAIM YOUR OWN COMPANY’S STORY & GET BACK THE NARRATIVE!

Group within happy professionals

Let us explain to you the power of getting your employer story upon our site. Fill away the shape below and we all will be in contact having a draft of your personal story. You’ll be capable to adjust it and even we’ll only make the idea public when you point out so.

And then, watch the wonder happen!

Here’s what you can assume from the free employer account on Work It Everyday:

  1. Google ranking inside 48 hours of publishing.
  2. Distribution about our social networking channels regarding added exposure.
  3. Multiple bits of content a person can use to advertise your story.
  4. Chance to leverage your active recruiting technologies to improve the ROI on your individual existing investments. (i. electronic. link to your OBTAIN THE, etc. )

Check out often the Incredible Companies that currently have already claimed their boss story!

Prepared to get started?

Total this Google form together with we’ll be in feel with next steps:

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Got queries?

Information us at support@workitdaily. possuindo and somebody will be in effect within 2 business times.

Why You Need A Data Strategy Before Data Governance (Part 2)

Why You Need A Data Strategy Before Data Governance (Part 2)

Part Two: The Steps Toward Achieving Data Governance

  1. Data Strategy
  2. Stand up the Data Governance Committee (Choose the Sponsors Early on)
  3. Data Management Framework (What, How, Who)
  4. Business Case for Data Governance
  5. Stand up Data Management/Governance Teams

I have seen organizations stand up tactical teams before a data strategy was defined, with the identified pain points and opportunities. The results were mixed at best. Data strategy should drive all subsequent steps.

Standing Up The Data Governance Committee

Data governance

To get organizational buy-in to treat data as a strategic organizational asset and value driver, a committee should be formed to guide the data governance tactical program(s), including the day-to-day management of data. It is vital to obtain C-level top management support to ensure that the program achieves the proper funding and enterprise support levels.

The C-level executives sitting on this data governance committee should include functional and user base leaders: the chief data officer (or the chief data analytics officer), chief risk officer, chief financial officer, and depending on the size of the firm, the chief operating officer, and the CEO. Leaders from heavy data user groups, such as marketing, digital, and operations, should also be part of this group. While this group will tackle enterprise issues, sub-committees can be formed to address specific business line needs. Committee participants should be engaged, data literate, contribute best practices, and challenge the team to uplift and mature capabilities.

Designing The Data Management Framework

Data management on laptop

Once the committee is set, we can progress governance by setting up a data management framework. This playbook defines the people, processes, and technologies related to governing data.

So far, so good—most organizations get to this point…but ignore the overall business case. A business case spells out the success metrics and ROI of investing in and governing data.

Ok, now to set up the framework and the function:

  1. Data management is a living, breathing framework, not a one-off project focusing only on one aspect, such as regulatory compliance. I’ve seen organizations get so focused on one part of data management that they lose the forest for the trees and never get to the vision laid out in their data strategy. This often keeps data management and data governance in the organization’s basement only to meet specific near-term needs. If we don’t think about data holistically and the broader use cases, leadership will eventually ask about unfunded data that can be monetized. This conundrum boomerangs on the CDO, who is then faulted for not taking a broader view of data when they were only funded for a limited scope.
  2. Formulating the data management framework: The first step after completing the data strategy, which requires business input, is to lay out a policy document that spells out how and who will govern data. You can then lay out the elements of the data management framework. Right now, many firms have an enterprise data management framework, but it may have been drawn up quickly with only one or two data domains, such as risk or finance.

The Elements Of An Exemplary Data Management Framework (In No Particular Order)

Woman on laptop looking at data

  1. Restate the data strategy to codify it into the DNA of the organization.
  2. The guiding principles, policies, and standards for managing data in your organization. Every organization will have a different slant depending on the business model.
  3. Identify to whom and to what the framework applies.
  4. Ensure compliance with risk governance and set the policy for compliance and controls.
  5. Monitoring data (including its quality) throughout its lifecycle.
  6. Ensures consistent data definitions, standards, and policies.
  7. Secured and classified data by its risk level and the type of information—typically aligned to an information security policy.
  8. Data governance must align with privacy policies and regulations.
  9. Specifies the roles needed to govern data within a data management organization and businesspeople’s function through stewardship and ownership.
  10. Identify the need for data controls and enforcement policies.
  11. Provides for a data governance literacy program: includes standard definitions.
  12. Creates master data: the relationships between data elements and entities in the firm.
  13. Creates a metadata repository: data about data, the definition of a data element, and where it comes from.
  14. Creates reference data: detailed data about each data element. Values and attributes.
  15. Creates a data catalog: all data is documented in terms of what sources it comes from.

Once again, it is time for a sanity check: Are all of these elements tied back to an enterprise data strategy? What are your thoughts about data governance and management? What has been your experience? Let me know!

Next Post: Standing Up For Data Management And Data Governance Teams

5 Brand Pillars That Are The Foundation Of Your Brand

5 Brand Pillars That Are The Foundation Of Your Brand

Brand pillars are the foundation of your brand and contribute to your overall brand DNA. There are five pillars: purpose, positioning, perception, personality, and promotion. Brand pillars help you define your unique characteristics and experiences, driving every consumer touchpoint to differentiate you from your competitors.

Let’s review the five brand pillars and how to implement them within your organization.

Purpose

Brand purpose is “why” you exist. It’s the reason for being beyond making a profit. A great brand purpose will always put the consumers first and manifest itself in everything it does.

Knowing the deeper “why” your company or brand exists provides the foundation on which to build everything else.

Simon Sinek, author of the book Start with Why, introduced the idea of defining brand purpose to a global audience in his 2009 TED talk.

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”—Simon Sinek, How Great Leaders Inspire Action.

Here are some key questions to ask yourself to get at the “why” when developing your brand purpose:

  • Why does our company exist?
  • What drives our brand?
  • What is unique about our business? What is our secret sauce that no one else has?
  • What problem are we trying to solve?
  • Why would our ideal customer choose our product/service?
  • What are we exceptional at?
  • What inspires us day in, day out?
  • What do we want our legacy to be?
  • What are we most proud of as an organization?
  • Where do we want to be a year from now? Five years? Ten years?

Brand purpose is critical in today’s market as it shows your customers, employees, and competitors that you’re bigger than just turning a profit.

Positioning

Brand positioning is the process of positioning your brand in the mind of your customers based on your brand purpose and values that gives you a competitive advantage.

What do you think of when you hear “search engine”? Did Google come to mind? This product is positioned to dominate its category. What about a company that provides “overnight shipping”? FedEx owns the transportation category even though other companies provide overnight shipping.

A well-developed and implemented brand position provides a sustainable competitive advantage, communicates value to customers, is a vehicle to help manage brand consistency, and impacts the bottom line.

Here are five steps to consider when creating your brand positioning.

  • Evaluate Current Standing: Evaluate your current brand positioning. Is it working? Does it reach your target audience? Is it helping to achieve your business goals? If not, you may need to look at repositioning your brand.
  • Research Your Competitors: You can’t stand out from the crowd if you don’t know what the crowd is doing. Conduct a competitive analysis to evaluate your competitor’s brand position by looking at their social media feeds, company websites, marketing & advertising materials, and customer service. Look at who they’re targeting, what their messaging is, their unique selling proposition, and their positioning strategies. For more information on how to gather competitive research, check out my article.
  • Identify Your Target Audience: Understanding your target audience is critical as this information will define every strategy you execute. Your goal is to define your target audience into a simple statement: Our target market is (gender) aged (age range), who live in (place or type of place) and like to (activity). For more information on how to develop your target audience, check out my article.
  • Identify Your Differentiators: Just like everyone is unique and different, so is your brand. It’s your job to find those characteristics and differentiators that will make your brand stand out from the competitive crowd. List all the things that your competitors do well. List all of the things you do well. List what your customers want. Now start comparing your most unique angles against your audience’s needs. Are there any needs that haven’t been filled? Is there anything that you provide that your competitors can’t easily copy or reproduce? Check out my article on how to develop your unique differentiators
  • Craft Brand Positioning Statement: Here is a template to follow when crafting your brand positioning statement.

Personality

A brand personality can be defined as the set of human characteristics associated with your brand. It’s communicated through tone of voice, visuals, and even policies. They’re expressed as adjectives that convey how you want people to perceive your brand. For example, is your brand cheerful, funny, friendly, youthful, innovative, spirited, dependable, responsible, credible, sophisticated, rebellious, cunning, powerful, honest, and so on? Here is a list of 200+ adjectives to get you started.

Let’s look at an example: Coca-Cola is considered real and authentic while Pepsi tends to be young, spirited, and exciting, and Dr. Pepper is seen as nonconforming, unique, and fun. Source.

A brand can also be described by demographics (age, gender, social class, and race), lifestyle (activities, interests, and opinions), or human personality traits (extroversion, agreeableness, and dependability). Source.

There are three approaches on how to find your brand personality.

  • Jennifer Aaker’s Dimensions of Brand Personality framework contains 15 traits organized into five factors (Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, Sophistication, and Ruggedness).
  • Carl Jung’s Brand Archetypes Framework believes that archetypes are models of people, behaviors, or personalities, thus making them more recognizable and relatable to target audiences. Jung identified 12 archetypes. The idea is that any brand can relate to one of the 12 archetypes that help define the brand.
  • There is the Combo Brand Archetypes & Brand Personality Framework. This model combines the Brand Archetypes and the Dimensions of Brand Personality frameworks mentioned above.

Perception

The first three brand pillars, purpose, positioning, and personality, are driven by the brand through targeting, messaging, and execution. The fourth brand pillar, perception, is owned by your customers. It’s how they view and experience your brand. Jeff Bezos famously said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

When you’re starting your business, list out the traits and characteristics that you want your customers to associate your brand with. If you have an established brand and want information on how your brand is perceived, gather customer, employee, and/or vendor feedback:

  • Online reviews/ratings
  • Testimonials
  • Social media listening
  • Live chats
  • Emails
  • Customer service calls
  • Research (polls, surveys, focus groups)

You can also gain further insights into your brand perceptions by asking customers, employees, and/or vendors questions through various research tools (i.e. polls, surveys, focus groups, etc.):

  • How do you perceive our brand? How would you describe it?
  • What do you perceive our value to be?
  • What terms or adjectives would you use to describe our brand?
  • What do you consider to be our brand strength?
  • What problems or challenges does our brand solve?
  • What do you think of our competitor’s products (list them)? Have you used them?

Your goal is to evaluate customers’ perceptions to see if you need to make changes to your brand strategy. It’s important to create a positive perception of your brand that aligns with your mission, vision, and purpose.

Promotion

Brand promotion is a way to inform, persuade, convince, and influence consumers by driving their decision-making process towards purchasing your brand.

A strong brand promotion strategy places your brand in the right place, at the right time, and in the right context for your customers and prospects.

The goal of brand promotion is to increase brand awareness in order to drive revenue and convert consumers to loyal customers, building long-term, lasting relationships.

To start identifying how to promote your brand, consider asking the following questions:

  • What is your current brand awareness?
  • How are you currently promoting your brand?
  • Where do your customers expect to find you or your competitors?
  • How are customers interacting with you online and offline?
  • When do your customers need you?
  • What kind of experience do you want your customers to have with your brand?
  • How do you handle bad experiences?
  • Who are your greatest brand ambassadors?

Final Thoughts

Brand pillars are the foundation of your brand. They help you define your brand for your internal and external customers, ensuring you capture your audience and convert them to brand loyalists. Start building your brand leadership today. You’ve got this!