I found a page talking about the employee blog policy of Opera software. I think it’s really brilliant. Companies tend to lock down internet access for their employees as if we were 10 and needed our parents to watch over us all the time.
I thought it was quite a refreshing change to see a policy which encourages employees to have blogs and give them guidelines that they may follow.
Take a look at the policy here.
I am JMR and this is My Little Corner on JMRPub.com
I very rarely talk about work on my blog. There is a reason for that, its because my job is boring. I am a database administrator and I am sure nobody wants to here about my meetings or bulk update requests. I used to love my job but it very quickly became a functional thing. My job simply serves to keep me Just Over Broke, I get my paycheque every month and that’s that, the next pay cycle starts.
I have just spent a good few hours talking to a friend about internet marketing. I have had an interest in marketing for a long while and internet marketing is a beast on its own. One of my projects at the moment is an eBook on how to open an American bank account as a foreign citizen. I have opened one and have a bit of US dollars sitting in my account in the US. It is a big step for a South African because it opens a lot of doors on the internet. South African credit cards are denied by many online merchants simply because of some law here, but with an American debit card I can go shopping at any store pretty much. The eBook is coming along nicely, and the reason I wanted to mention it in today’s post is because I want to do a pre-release of sorts. If you would be interested in purchasing this eBook (and you are not committed to your decision here) just drop a comment to this post and I will notify you when it is done, and I will even let you get a significant discount for showing your interest early. Due to the discount I have in mind, I can only allow 100 people to get the discount so comment quickly and you won’t miss out.
The eBook will show you how to setup the account, and link it to paypal as well as a few other cool things. This is a great start to get your internet business running.
I am JMR and this is My Little Corner on JMRPub.com
I have been so busy today at work, but still felt like I didn’t acheive any significant landmarks. Oh well maybe tomorrow I will be less busy but acheive more.
I watched Blade Runner this evening. It’s the kind of movie that hold your attention enough to keep you watching, but not enough for you to think that the movie is fairly slow and kinda boring. It’s about this guy that hunts these robots for no particular reason than it’s his job. (Except he is retired or quit or something like that but they call him in) A funny quote though from the movie is when Harrison Ford’s character asks the chief of police why they don’t send another blade runner in to do the job, and the chief replies “I did, he can breath fine as long as they don’t switch off the machines” 
I have decided to once a week give a “what is in my favourites” link. I don’t use favourites in my browser but I do have a few weeks of them. Then maybe I will change it to “whats on my mind”.
So today’s favourite is left over from my renovation last year, we found parquet flooring under the carpets so we had to remove the carpet. I found this site pretty interesting and if anyone is planning on removing your carpets I recommend you take a glance at this site, it might give you some help.
Well it’s that time again
l8r, JMR
We had a meeting today at work and a few interesting things were discussed. One of the things mentioned (and I will try to get the quote right), was “the business pays us a salary to do our work as best as possible, therefore project incentives or team building incentives are not a requirement“. Quite a few people have differing viewpoints on that specific issue; however let’s try to do a logical analysis why businesses should be moving away from a product focused viewpoint towards a people focused viewpoint.
I firmly believe that people are the future of any company, and they make the company profitable or not. Sure the CEO works hard for his huge paycheck at the end of the month, but without his most junior staff member being productive, the CEO would be out of a job tomorrow. As an aside to this but still maybe making some sort of point, I used to work for a company which was going from strength to strength. Our profits were higher and higher each year and we were making huge plans to expand overseas through a number of partnerships and buyouts (which were already in negotiation). But then all of a sudden our CEO announced that we had been purchased by a bigger company.
We received this news with shock as there was no need for this to happen. Our small (600 employee) company with its tiny (45 employee) IT department was swallowed up into a large (3000 employee) company with a bloated (600 employee, yes that’s almost a third) IT department. Our highly skilled staff which were used to solving problems in minutes as apposed to hours, moved into a company who took days to solve similar problems. Our staff felt like the CEO had stabbed us all in the back as he announced in only months that he was leaving (with millions in payments and incentives for the deal).
These efficient staff now with air conditioned backs started getting bored, (I myself had no work during the day but was working on average 100 hours in overtime at night a month, still having to be at work again the next day), and started resigning to go to better opportunities but really hoping to find something we had just a year prior.
My point here is that the CEO had no people focus, all he cared about was the good of his pocket and not the good of the staff who had kept his pocket well filled.
But how does one increase the productivity of the people so that they can make these highly profitable companies?
Here are five things That Every Great Manager Should Know, and they are not about the profit margin, gains, losses, tax deductions, or assets - but instead are the human factors of management. Most people remain with an employer because of the quality and satisfaction derived from a rewarding and balanced workplace, therefore you cannot put a price or value on the factors that drive an employee’s performance. Great managers recognize and respect this “x factor” of the business world and work to improve it with these simple tips.
1. Motivation - Every employee is unique; therefore the motivation to perform better will be different for each person. Identify the motivator for each employee and provide opportunities that encourage their interest and performance. 2. Setting Goals - Make sure you have a vision for how you want your business to operate now and in the future. Communicate your vision to your employees so that they are directing their energies toward a common goal. They will feel like they are a part of the business and this will enhance performance. Also personal goals for each employee are important here. An example is training, and I am not talking about direct job related training here but general training as well. For example, our company is really driven for people to answer each others phones. I work in the IT department and am an introvert by nature, so I agree that if a client ‘accidentally’ comes through to IT instead of customer services; we need to take responsibility for that call and follow it through all the way until it is solved. However when I pick up the phone and a client says to me “finally I have gotten through to someone who I hope can help me” in an angry tone, my introvert nature kicks in, I start babbling something about him having come through to the IT department and don’t know what to say. Maybe my boss should send me on a confidence building public speaking course or something like that. It has no relation to my job per say, but would make my working environment more comfortable and give me the confidence to go the extra mile for our clients.
3. Praise - Take advantage of big and small opportunities to praise your employees for work well done. Your recognition of their performance means a lot and it is important that you acknowledge their efforts.
4. Feedback - Be lavish with praise but selfish with criticisms -but do offer kind words of constructive feedback that makes your employees feel respected and valued. Something that I find really helpful (if used correctly) is performance appraisals. They are a great way to asses the performance of an employee not in a negative sense but to see whether an employee has managed to reach his or her goals.
5. Management - Be available as a resource to your employees. They should feel comfortable to approach you with questions and concerns and not feel as if they are imposing on your time. They should be able to depend upon you for guidance and as a model of what excellent performance is all about. This is very important and as far as I can see my boss has an open door policy which goes beyond the fact that his door is open and he is available to talk to. But he is open with his discussions with you, and does not talk to you in a way that makes you feel subordinate to him. You feel sort of more like an equal.
A Last Word…
These five simple steps will help an employee grow and I feel that an employee who grows at a company will have more respect for that company and will try his utmost to complete his/her tasks with the pride and efficiency which most companies try to beat out of their staff using autocratic methods.
I am JMR and this is My Little Corner on JMRPub.com
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