Unfortunately, this psychological phenomenon can lead to a lot of sunk costs, or costs that cannot be recovered in your business. For example, let’s say your company invested $5,000 in accounting software. The software has so many bugs that the company ends up spending another $10,000 in IT costs and training. Then, a manager finds better accounting software for $2,000. Loss aversion causes the company to stick with the faulty software because they have already sunk so much money into it. Though it would be worth $2,000 to get better software, they don’t want to add to the time and money already invested. As a result, your company throws more money at the problem rather than spending it on a new solution.

Simply being aware of loss aversion can prevent sunk costs. Be sure that your team is looking at the big picture when it comes to spending money. There are many books on the subject, but I recommend Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior.

Be a Leader
Take the lead in spearheading projects, generating ideas and problem-solving. Your employees look to you as a leader in the field, so be the leader that they expect and need. Defend your team when necessary and let them know that you are on their side.

Listen
Listen to the employees on your team. They are much closer to the clients and deal with procedures a lot more often than you do. They may have insight into the likes and dislikes of the clients as well as ideas on making processes more efficient. Even if they present an idea that will not work, thank them for their efforts and don’t discourage them from speaking up in the future. Everyone likes to know that they have been heard.

Be Fair
Nothing will disintegrate a team faster than playing favorites. Treat your team members equally. Of course, dole out praises and criticisms when it’s appropriate, but avoid giving certain employees special treatment such as extra time off. This could cause resentment among team members and a loss of respect for you.

Distrust among employers and employees causes stress and will distract your team from their goals. Maintaining trust will not only make your workforce happier, they will perform their job better and help your business grow. Your employees will speak positive about the company putting it in a favorable light for PR and recruiting.

Before you pick up the phone, think about the person you’re calling. If they rarely pick up their phone and you usually have to leave a message, send an email or a text message. They may respond a lot quicker. Is the person you are contacting on the road a lot? Don’t text or call him/her. In many states, talking and texting while driving is against the law and it’s all too tempting to take that call or reply to that text. Leaving duplicate messages at various “doors” of communication can be frustrating, so pick one “door” to which to leave your message.

It’s also important to let your communication preferences known. Prefer to talk on the phone? Is it easier for you tot get to your email? Let your colleagues and business partners know. This can prevent people from leaving duplicate messages at your various “doors” and ultimately lead to better time management.

Even though early-risers tend to have a more take-charge attitude, night people have qualities that are also needed in business. Night people tend to be more creative and will bring energy to those late-day meetings that morning people dread. They are also likely to be more social and rally other staff members for after-hours meetings outside the office. This can foster camaraderie and teamwork. If your company tends to hold a lot of meetings and brainstorming sessions, it’s best to vary the meeting times to get the best ideas out of your morning people and your night people. Some companies are also offering flex scheduling, so people have more options as to when they arrive and leave the workplace. Morning people can arrive at 8 and stay until 5, while night people can come in at 9 or 10 and stay until 6 or 7. This ensures that you will get your employees when they are at their best performance level.

You can read the entire article here.

On Wednesday, July 7, 2010, Governor Beverly Perdue met with 160 of the top officers in the North Carolina Highway Patrol. Here was her message:

“If you betray your oath, you will be dismissed,” Perdue said. “I don’t believe that since some of these men and women were sworn in 22 years ago that anybody has ever dared get in their face and say that ethics code is a litmus test for your job.” (News & Observer, July 8, 2010)

Perdue’s meeting and comments might make good politics, but it is extremely poor management. Perdue was addressing the troopers and the press after a series of trooper misconduct that has occurred over the last several years.

In managing people, it is my strong and firm belief that you NEVER handle inappropriate behavior by blasting the entire staff. Perdue even admitted yesterday, “I continue to believe that 99.9% of the men and women of the North Carolina Highway Patrol are doing tremendous work.”

Well Governor, if you believe what you say then act accordingly in doing your job as a manager.

Good managers do not treat good and innocent employees as part of a problem.

Good managers deal with problem employees directly, individually, timely, and appropriately.

Good managers do not call group meeting to address the problem – blasting the good employees with the bad.

It is amazing how often I am asked how to handle employee problems. Sometimes the manager wants to write everyone an email or memo telling the entire staff not to do something inappropriate. Sometimes the manager wants to hold a group meeting. My advice is always the same, deal with the problem directly and NEVER involve good employees when dealing with a something that is none of their business.

This advice is true for any supervisor, manager, or Governor. It is Management 101 and a lesson the Governor of North Carolina needs to learn – if she intends to effectively manage people.

One last point, Management 102 says that the Commander of the Highway Patrol should be dealing with these issues. If the Commander is not doing his job, he should be replaced.

A major point that Cloutier makes is that fear is the “best” motivator. Sure, a lot of people fear losing their job, but to quote the movie Office Space, “it will only make someone work hard enough not to get fired”. In my opinion, fear only works as a motivator if you do not care about the quality of the people working under you. Companies that employ this tactic have a high turnover rate and often cannot hang on to quality employees even in this harsh economy. Smart and self-respecting individuals will not stand for working for a company that sees him or her as a mere cog in the machine. You will not get quality work out of fearful employee. Fearful, unhappy employees are also likely to air their complaints to friends, family, potential customers and even potentially talented employees. This could cast your brand in a poor light and it could be difficult to overcome.

There is a great counter-point post in response to Cloutier’s article on the Lead Change Group’s website. You can read it here.

One of the biggest issues people face with customer service is that it’s not easy to reach someone. Sometimes it seems like companies go out of their way to avoid facing a customer. If you call, you usually have to go through an automated system and then wait for 20 minutes to talk to an actual person. If you email, you usually get an automated response. This isn’t always a bad thing, because sometimes they provide answers to frequent problems in these emails. If you are lucky, you can find your answer and be done with it, but if that’s not the case, there is more waiting, with no way of knowing if your problem will be solved.

People like to talk to another person to solve their problems. Even the most tech-savvy of us like to know that another person hears and cares about our problem. I think this is why many companies like Dell are using social media to resolve customer issues. It makes the customer feel like they have been helped by a friend, not a faceless corporation. Also, if a problem is solved publicly and a previously unhappy person is now happy, it creates general good will towards the company. You can’t buy that kind of PR.

This blog post offers great advice on providing good customer service. The piece of advice that stood out to me was about occasionally surprising your customers. Wheat Thins recently surprised a loyal customer who tweeted about their product with an unusually large amount of crackers. You can see the hilarious video here.

Have a Plan
Always have a plan before diving in, including a plan for failure. However, don’t overdo it. There is such thing as over-planning to a point that your risky venture never comes to fruition or you miss a window of opportunity to cash in on an idea.

Talk to the Team
Involve a few people from the departments affected by your risky plan and get their input. They may think of an obstacle that you overlooked. However, don’t overdo this either. Only involve those that have insight into what the possible risks could be with your plan.

Goals
Always attach a goal to your plan, even if it’s just a small one. Having something to work towards will provide you and your team with extra motivation to make the plan work.

For more on risk-taking, I recommend this blog post, Ten Risks Every Entrepreneur Should Take.

The public perception that corporations are getting some kind of payoff by teaming up with a non-profit is not accurate. Everyone wants our world to be a better place, even people who run corporations. Not only does it make the people working for the corporation feel good, it makes good business sense from a Public Relations perspective. The public also needs to give the people working for the non-profit more credit for their integrity. They care about their goals for their organization and would not put it at risk by accepting money with strings attached.

The blog post from Public Affairs offers some good advice for partnerships:

•Both parties should be clear on what they hope to achieve through the success of the project, and discuss in advance where potential issues or disagreements may arise.

•To maintain independence, it should be understood that a direct partnership will not limit either organization’s policy stance on issues outside the specific agreement.

•Funding responsibilities must be clear and transparent to ensure accountability between partners.

•Project outcomes should be measured (and therefore measurable) as well as communicated.

•Have a mutually agreed upon communications plan specific to the project for proactive and reactive media relations, including a crisis plan as appropriate.

You can download the entire Public Affairs Tip Sheet on Partnerships here.

Title
The job title will probably be the first thing that the candidate sees when applying for a job. It should accurately describe the position level within the company. Words that would be useful in a job title are “Manager” , “Assistant”, ‘Representative” or “Executive”.

Duties
The job duties should accurately reflect the title, so don’t say that a position is management to attract more candidates if it’s not actually a management position. To accurately reflect the duties of the position, you may want to consult with someone already in the position to find out exactly what they do on a daily basis as well as what kind of tools or software they use . If this is a brand new position, consult with department managers and find out what they actually want from this new hire.

Requirements
This section should include the education and experience level required and preferred for the position. You want to be flexible in this section as you don’t want to alienate potentially great candidates from applying. For instance, you might want to say “2-5 years of experience” rather than just 4 years. Any kind of specialized training or software experience should also be included in this section. Be sure to indicate the level of experience if you need a candidate with specific software knowledge. For example, if a position requires some use of Photoshop, but not very high level, you can say “Must be familiar with Photoshop”.

Compensation
To incentivize candidates to apply, you should include as much information as you can about the compensation. Salary information and benefits are just 2 examples what could be included here. You may want to brag about the relaxed work environment or flexible schedule here. Be honest though. Don’t make promises you can’t keep!

Instruction for Applying
If you only want applicants to apply electronically, give them the email address, along with what they need to submit (resume, cover letter, etc.). It is also helpful to tell them what kind of file to send, such as a Word or PDF file. To avoid being flooded with phone calls, faxes and mail, state in the ad that only resumes submitted in the requested fashion will be considered.