There is a tendency to assume that employers veer towards people with less experience in the market place. Why is that? Do they consider the mature applicant to be less flexible, less driven and less technologically aware? It would be naive to think that age isn't taken into account, when employers are looking at a prospective applicant. However the number of people working beyond the age of 65, is, apparently, rising by a third, according to the 'office of National Statistics and so the competition for challenging senior roles will increase; this is especially true of the 'Interim Management' market place. A great many 'purchasing' activities are 'project' driven - therefore it would follow that the older one is, the greater the experience on a diverse range of projects. Functional projects such as – business process re-engineering, information technology, financing of new product launches, franchising and licensing agreements, critical commercial negotiations, export development and sales improvement etc., In an increasingly competitive business environment, mature 'Interim Managers' would be required for their length of experience for short-term needs arising from acquisitions or sudden take-overs; relocation and expansion or consolidation of facilities in the office or manufacturing environment; privatisation issues; start-up or close-down of a company, subsidiary or division; productivity, efficiency or profitability improvement needs. The list is endless. Many organisations managing 'change' find the best way to ensure success and of course avoid costly mistakes is to appoint a senior interim manager who has the necessary skills at hand to quickly establish what needs to be done; that well-trodden path of maturity and experience is required to ensure that these needs are translated and understood properly and very importantly to ensure it all happens on time. Often project times are in fact cut dramatically leading to considerable competitive advantages and substantial budget and cost savings. In today's climate as companies have down-sized-thus causing the loss of a senior executive, for whatever reason, this can often cause a very negative impact on many organisations. Therefore experienced interim managers 'come into their own' during times of crisis, filling gaps caused by sudden departures of key executives, for reasons of sickness, resignation or death; for dismissals, both planned and unplanned; protracted recruitment difficulties, caused by scarcity or unusual market factors; maternity leave cover etc., It is vital, therefore, given these scenarios, that speed is of the essence. Having gained this enormous wealth and breadth of experience, the more mature applicant is sensibly overqualified and has the ability to be able to step in at a moment's notice and has the 'know how' to make a virtually immediate impact on the defined tasks, to fill the vacuum of leadership, to be a self-starter and to literally 'hit the ground running!' The experienced and more mature 'Interim Managers' are often the preferred choice when it is necessary to fill a critical vacancy, pending recruitment. Often senior executives can take around six months or more to recruit and of course the client really cannot afford to wait that long. The primary objective is to ensure that business momentum is maintained with the 'day-to-day' running of an organisation. The senior 'Interim Executive' must, therefore, be immediately available and suitably very experienced and certainly over-qualified to be effective immediately on day one. The client may wish the interim not to make hasty changes until the full-time recruit arrives, so that the individual is able to stamp their own mark on the company. However, engaging an experienced interim enables the client to obtain an outsider's impartial view of the business and to achieve some rapid deliverables. They have no agenda and are able to take unpopular decisions if necessary. The older interim would probably have far more confidence to be able to do this, as it only with maturity and experience of people and situations over a lengthy period of time, that would enable them to make some very tricky decisions. The more junior members of an organisation are more likely to listen and respect their judgement as they are able to stand outside the internal politics. Some very confident negotiating skills, would be an absolute necessity! It is therefore no surprise when analysis of the age of all executives shows that 85% are between 40 & 60 years. It is generally considered that below the age of 40 it is less likely that an individual will have the necessary experience to meet the demanding standards of an 'Interim Executive' especially in terms of either his or her ability to transfer skills and experience quickly to a new client environment. It is therefore incumbent on the 'mature' applicant to challenge any perceived prejudices, by ensuring that they have presented themselves as 'the very best person for the assignment.'

Picture yourself entering a corporate meeting, team meeting, or business meeting. There you are sitting in the room, while someone in the “expert” or “boss” chair speaks to you or at you. There you are, not aligned with that person’s mission or vision. There you are, feeling apart from the process. There you are, lacking energy and the desire for being there. There you are, hearing what is going wrong and what you or your team or department needs to change or improve. How are you feeling? Are you feeling a great connection to the meeting? Are you feeling enthusiastic about being in attendance at the meeting? Are you fully present at the meeting? Are you deeply tuned in and listening with your heart and your head? Are you inspired to co-create, participate, and contribute? Or, are you ready to fall asleep, or count the minutes of what you feel is wasted time? My experience in my two plus decades of being in business and in coaching business clients around the world is that the system of meetings, clearly, must change. Most meetings don’t include participant involvement and actually serve to tune people out rather than tune them in, and as a result, the intention of the meeting falls short of its purpose. In other words, they really can be a waste of precious company time. The process of Meeting Alignment, that we’ve been teaching companies around the world, has allowed them to use a systematic process that engages people in meetings and creates a desire for them to contribute and fully participate in these business meetings. The Meeting Alignment Process and the results it creates include: A desire to co-create: The purpose of a meeting isn’t to get across “your” agenda; it shifts to sharing your thoughts and hearing fully the thoughts and ideas of others to co-create the meeting purpose and actions. Deep tuning in: Most meetings involve people talking and listening to themselves. The Meeting Alignment Process teaches people to fully listen with their hearts and to listen beyond the words to what is not said, to emotions, and to fully hear others. The Meeting Alignment Process teaches techniques of being non-judgmental, so that people can fully hear and support each other and let new ideas IN vs. rule out and defend against why things won’t work. It produces a safe environment in which people feel encouraged to participate. Non-attachment: Many people think meetings are about a specific outcome occurring – the meeting holder’s outcome… that’s a surefire way to alienate people and result in them NOT wanting to support you. The Meeting Alignment Process allows for each person to give up “their” outcome and allows the meeting and solutions to unfold for the good of the entire group. What’s wrong: Most meetings focus on problems, fixing problems, or informing people of change. The meeting needs to come from a place of asking what IS working and involve what IS the right type questions. These questions form the basis of creating a positive energy flow and opening up creativity. It’s the basic principle of encouraging a sense of positivity rather than negativity. Framework of questions: Questions in this process focus on what is working, why it works, what would be the perfect ideal vision, and what isn’t quite right yet, and then, coming up with resources and inspired actions to create the outcome of the meeting. Feel good! When people attend a meeting where EVERY idea is praised and contributions rewarded and people thanked and really appreciated for their contributions, this raises self-esteem, confidence, and morale. People want to participate in meetings that make them feel good, not only about the company they work for, but about themselves and their role in it. This process is effective in all companies and will work with all size groups. It requires a shift in the employer and leaders’ thinking, from managing and bossing and telling to coaching and co-creating and sharing. The effect is profound. People treated with value and respect, rise up to challenges. They are more excited to solve problems, participate in the mission and vision of the company, and create more productivity. They feel that the company’s success is their success. It motivates them to greater achievement. Companies following a systematic process of creating a Meeting Alignment Process, take morale out of the toilet bowl fast. Their employees are happier, their retention rates rise, and the corporate culture shifts to one of enthusiasm. A beneficial win-win situation is created and everybody gets to bask in success.

No doubt you've collected memorable quotes from your job or business. Here are some of the amazing things people have said to me since I started my business in 1992. And, yes, all of the quotes are true. "Paying these royalties is a real hassle." > Comment: You can't judge a book publisher by the cover. "I know that you're a much better speaker, and that your content is better, your materials are better, and even your fee is lower, but I decided to use a seminar company from out of state because my boss will approve it without asking any questions." > Comment: That explains why sometimes you find yourself in a really terrible seminar. "I save all the invoices in a drawer and every four months or so I go through the stack and approve them." > Comment: I bet she would go ballistic if her paycheck were ten minutes late. "Okay, in your case we'll make an exception and pay you on time." > Comment: Here's another person who fails to understand how business works. "Instead of hiring a speaker we decided to spend our money on an ice sculpture." > Comment: I suppose it's more important to watch ice melt than learn something. "I want you to send me a proposal with complete descriptions of all of your workshops, a resume, your client list for the past five years, a dozen testimonial letters, and a fee schedule. I've got 21 proposals so far and I want to collect 25." > Comment: If I were this man's boss, I'd fire him for being a public nuisance. (And I did not submit a proposal.) "If she had wanted to act on your proposal, she would have returned your calls. Duh!" > Comment: Every vendor is also a customer, and in this case I responded to their rudeness by transferring my phone service to another company. Cost to them: over $1,200 per year. "What do you charge to speak for 54 minutes?" > Comment: The same that I charge for 55 minutes. And 53 minutes. "Now that we have your workbook, we'll use one of our staff to conduct the workshop." > Comment: Let me know when you start so I can call my attorney. "You asked too many questions. You're not supposed to figure out that this is illegal." > Comment: We never ask too many questions. (And I only work with ethical companies.)

Every day you miss calls from customers who need your products or services. But now you can get rid of all these problems, your call will be answered by a live answering service with your company name. Representatives at answering services will provide you services like answering phone service, answering message service or even enter data into your web form. But finding an answering service company is not easy, after all you are going to trust one of your assets i. e. your customer or prospects or clients or patient – to a third party about whom you know a very little. Hence, it is very important to choose a perfect answering service suitable for your business. We recommend you to take a glance of this article before taking a decision regarding answering services. If you are serious about growing your business and providing superior customer service, you need a solution that provides 24/7 answering services with live operators that handle every call correctly and professionally. Some big companies are available for you to assist you in the regard. These service providers not only serve you with answering phone services, they also assist you with other services like answering message service, pager, voice mail, PDA, live operator and even via web portal to fit your schedules and needs. People at answering services are consultant. They recommend right products and services to help you accomplish your goals. These answering services are working from the 1980’s and developing cost effective, customized answering services to meet your specific objectives. There services include: •In-depth, 24/7/365 customer service support •Dispatch of service, emergency, or technical support personnel •After hours, weekend, holiday, overflow coverage. •Dedicated receptionist during normal business hours. •Live operator answering service. •Medical service bureau. •Message delivery service. •Toll-free telephone answering service. Whether you are a corporation, an independent professional, in the medical field or related to any other profession that demands round-the-clock answering service and telephone support, companies can deliver the coverage you need and the professional care of your clients, patients and customers. Leading answering service firms are continually search for pioneering technologies and services to help you better serve and improve your business. While dealing with leading answering service companies you will be sure about: •Answering services appoint courteous, professional and knowledgeable agents for your service. •Dialer systems used at answering services are of good quality so that you can hear crystal clear voice quality. •Customized answering service with your personalized greeting. •Round the clock nationwide answering telephone service will give new horizons to your business. •Multilingual answering message service is also available at answering services 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. If you are a physician or businessman related with medical field, Medical Answering Services are for you, which is a full-service professional answering service. Medical answering services are medical call center that provides answering phone service, e-mail and fax messaging and other telecommunications services to doctors and other healthcare providers. Medical answering services also help in reminding your appointment, insurance verifications, data management, event registration and custom scripting.

Mention “team building” in almost any office or company and you will likely get long faces, groans, and maybe even some good old-fashioned heckling. People avoid voluntary team building seminars and classes like voting. You practically have to bribe them and close down the bars and liquor stores in order to get them to attend—much like voting! But, team building is an important tool that will help any organization remain competitive in this fiercely global marketplace. One of the main forces driving the increasing need for team building exercises is the changing nature of the workforce itself. At an ever increasing rate, company resources are being allocated with scarce margin for errorpanies simply are not hiring or they are doing so only after the need is so acute that it can no longer be ignored. Even then, it can take weeks, even months, before the Human Resources department can add additional personnel and get them through the process. The need for team building has become so severe because resources are so very scarce. Businesses had the luxury in years past to completely dedicate personnel to projects which arose throughout the year. In these razor thin times, the only option to contend with projects such as accounting changes, new product line launch, software upgrades and training—any issue that is out of the norm but significantly demands time and resources—is to create teams out of existing resources. Team building is now a critical factor in Corporate America. Specialists from an assortment of departments from within the company are asked to dedicate a portion of their time to complete various projects throughout the year. The people chosen to form these teams depends upon the nature of the project itself. Different projects will demand different skills and personnel. People must constantly immerse themselves in these teams and bring their particular skill set and experience to the table and help solve the “big picture” issue. Team building training is a crucial aspect in having the quality personnel in place when special projects arise throughout the year. It is impossible to just throw together various people with different skills and expect them to cooperate and come up with a solution to a problem. People have always required addition training to acquire additional skills. Team building training gives employees the tools they need to better work together in high stress, demanding projects and complete them in the time frames allotted. Team building training needs to be continuous and updated and practiced regularly in order to keep people effective during projects. A training specialist or human resources professional should conduct all team building training as they have the skills and experience necessary to improve group productivity.

An appraisal is an official document given by an appraiser that estimates the replacement value and quality of an item. An appraiser makes a report after examination and detailed analysis of the property. Types of Appraisals Drive by Appraisals: This is an abbreviated appraisal that requires less data and inspection by the appraiser. The data is generally collected verbally or from records. Professional Appraisals: Appraisals for personal property like estate tax, donation, sale of insurance, damage claims and equitable distribution. Sustainability Appraisals: They are essential for national legislation that includes environmental, social and economic concerns. Job Performance Appraisals: These appraisals are needed for performance rankings. They help in decision making regarding promotion, confirmation, transfer and salary fixing. These appraisals also give feedback regarding behavior of subordinates. This information helps in training, recognizing the skill of workers, their deficiencies and growth. These also play an important role in counseling subordinates. It also gives an insight into the behavior of employees. The purposes of performance appraisals are: · Creating and maintaining a satisfactory performance. · Contributing to employee growth and development through training and management programs. · Proper understanding of subordinates. · Guidance to employees regarding jobs · Facilitate fair compensation based on performance and interview techniques. · Providing information regarding retrenchment. Evaluating the work of individuals is a regular feature of companies. The appraisals made can be formally structured or an informal process. Both qualitative and quantitative aspects of job performance are evaluated during appraisals. Performance appraisal here means evaluating the amount of work and effort the individual has put in and is not evaluating the result. Performance appraisals give an insight into the employee’s weakness and strengths. Job evaluation is the amount of profit the organization is deriving by assigning the job and determines the range of pay while performance appraisal is evaluating how well the job is being done by the employee. The content to be appraised has to be decided by a company before the program is approved. This is done on the basis of a job analysis. Appraisals help the employer to understand and improve his employee.