JUDGE YOURSELF! YOU ARE YOUR BEST JUDGE!!! - Thought Provoking

Once upon a time there was a painter who had just completed his course. He took 3 days and painted beautiful scenery. He wanted people's opinion about his caliber and painting skills.

He put his creation at a busy street-crossing. And just down below aboard which read -"I have painted this piece. Since I'm new to this profession I might have committed some mistakes in my strokes etc. Please put a cross wherever you see a mistake."

While he came back in the evening to collect his painting he was completely shattered to see that whole canvass was filled with Xs (crosses) and some people had even written their comments on the painting.

Disheartened and broken completely he ran to his master's place and burst into tears.
This young artist was breathing heavily and master heard him saying"I'm useless and if this is what I have learnt to paint I'm not worth becoming a painter. People have rejected me completely. I feel like dying"

Master smiled and suggested "My Son, I will prove that you are a great artist and have learnt flawless painting. Do as I say without questioning it. It WILL work."

Young artist reluctantly agreed and two days later early morning he presented a replica of his earlier painting to his master. Master took that gracefully and smiled.

"Come with me." master said.

They reached the same street-square early morning and displayed the same painting exactly at the same place. Now master took out another board which read -"Gentlemen, I have painted this piece. Since I'm new to this profession I might have committed some mistakes in my strokes etc. I have put a box with colors and brushes just below. Please do a favor. If you see a mistake, kindly pick up the brush and correct it."

Master and disciple walked back home.

They both visited the place same evening. Young painter was surprised to see that actually there was not a single correction done so far. Next day again they visited and found painting remained untouched. They say the painting was kept there for a month for no correction came in!

Moral of the story: It is easier to criticize, but DIFFICULT TO IMPROVE!

So don't get carried away or judge yourself by someone else's criticism and feel depressed...

JUDGE YOURSELF! YOU ARE YOUR BEST JUDGE!!!

Reasons why People leave Organizations

1. Supervisor relations:
The quality of the supervision an employee receives is critical to employee retention. People leave managers and supervisors more often than they leave companies or jobs. It is not enough that the supervisor is well-liked or a nice person, starting with clear expectations of the employee, the supervisor has a critical role to play in retention. Anything the supervisor does to make an employee feel unvalued will contribute to turnover. Frequent employee complaints center on these areas.

--Lack of clarity about expectations,
--Lack of clarity about earning potential,
--Lack of feedback about performance,
--Failure to hold scheduled meetings, and
--Failure to provide a framework within which the employee perceives he can succeed.

2. Pay & benefits
Over half made changes based on exit interview information, and these included reviewing salary structures, forming employee retention committees, establishing alternative work schedules, and introducing bonus plans.
The survey also asked the HR professionals to rank the effectiveness of several retention tools. Traditional benefits apparently work the best. The respondents ranked health care benefits as the most effective retention tool, followed by competitive salaries, competitive salary increases, and competitive vacation and holiday benefits. Interestingly, some of the newer and trendier benefits did not fare as well. Based on the survey findings, the best action for employers trying to boost their retention rates is to analyze salary and benefits packages to determine if they measure up to the competition. Policies and Benefits Can Reduce Turnover

3. Corporate communications
The ability of the employee to speak his or her mind freely within the organization is another key factor in employee retention. Does your organization solicit ideas and provide an environment in which people are comfortable providing feedback? If so, employees offer ideas, feel free to criticize and commit to continuous improvement. If not, they bite their tongues or find themselves constantly "in trouble" - until they leave

4. Performance Management System
There may be very few performance appraisal exercises that are devoid of criticism of bias any subjectivity however, most of the efforts to dispel the bias and subjectivity are restricted to changing appraisal formats & systems that include switching over to techniques like 360 Degree Appraisal & Team Assessment using MBO criteria or modern approach Balanced Scorecard.

5. Organization Policies and Strategies
No matter the circumstances, never, never, ever threaten an employee's job or income. Even if you know layoffs loom if you fail to meet production or sales goals, it is a mistake to foreshadow this information with employees. It makes them nervous; no matter how you phrase the information; no matter how you explain the information, even if you're absolutely correct, your best staff members will update their resumes. I'm not advocating keeping solid information away from people, however, think before you say anything that makes people feel they need to search for another job

6. Likelihood to stay
Your staff members must feel rewarded, recognized and appreciated. Frequently saying thank you goes a long way. Monetary rewards, bonuses and gifts make the thank you even more appreciated. Understandable raises, tied to accomplishments and achievement, help retain staff. Commissions and bonuses that are easily calculated on a daily basis, and easily understood, raise motivation and help retain staff. You can bet that work is about the money and almost every individual wants more.

7. Opportunity
Talent and skill utilization is another environmental factor your key employees seek in your workplace. A motivated employee wants to contribute to work areas outside of his specific job description. How many people could contribute far more than they currently do? You just need to know their skills, talent and experience, and take the time to tap into it. As an example, in a small company, a manager pursued a new marketing plan and logo with the help of external consultants. An internal sales rep, with seven years of ad agency and logo development experience, repeatedly offered to help. His offer was ignored and he cited this as one reason why he quit his job. In fact, the recognition that the company didn't want to take advantage of his knowledge and capabilities helped precipitate his job search

8. Recognition
A common place complaint or lament we hear during an exit interview is that the employee never felt senior managers knew he existed. By senior managers I refer to the president of a small company or a department or division head in a larger company. Take time to meet with new employees to learn about their talents, abilities and skills. Meet with each employee periodically. You'll have more useful information and keep your fingers on the pulse of your organization. It's a critical tool to help employees feel welcomed, acknowledged and loyal. .

9. Learning Organization
Your best employees, those employees you want to retain, seek frequent opportunities to learn and grow in their careers, knowledge and skill. Without the opportunity to try new opportunities, sit on challenging committees, attend seminars and read and discuss books, they feel they will stagnate. A career-oriented, valued employee must experience growth opportunities within your organization. The easiest to solve, and the ones most affecting employee retention, are tools, time and training. The employee must have the tools, time and training necessary to do their job well – or they will move to an employer who provides them.

How can startup company take on established players?

While the first customer could help break the ice, innovation, networking, competitive pricing, and its mainly good service quality that can help you beat competition.

First and foremost factor is to understand the need of the customers beforehand.

Its believed that it was only through innovative use of technology it would be able to help  customers and make a mark for themselves in the competitive business.

It is a challenge for any entrepreneur to take on big and established players in the market but a multi-pronged strategy can help swim against the tide. Here are 8 key pointers that can help you tackle the competition:

1.Know your competition: It pays richly to research the competition. Sometimes you are taken unawares of what hits you when you enter the market unprepared. Make a list of big players that rule the market, their products and services that are doing well, and also those that are not so good. Tracking companies on a regular basis through the media can give you an insight into their strategies and plans for the future. Competition can also come from other startups vying for a piece of the pie and wooing customers in their own way.

“Competition comes from two ends for us – the big established players and the two-bit startups. We are always at the risk of getting sandwiched,” says Experts and suggests approach any new business with great zeal. Go back with real solutions for real problems – not contrived. We have to constantly struggle to outthink the competition (small or big) on any given day. Now, that’s a challenge that we're up to.

2. Getting your first customer: A good rapport with your previous employer or the people you have been in touch with in the past can get you your first customer. If you are starting in a totally new domain, you may have to work hard in the beginning to make sales pitches to bag your first order.

Offering niche products and services: This has to be any startup’s best bet. It is also its biggest challenge. Offering those products and services that either already exist or those in which the big players are in good position will not work. As an entrepreneur, you have to keep thinking of how you can get noticed by what you offer. Take, for instance, the market research segment.

3. Competitive pricing: It may sound clichéd, but as a startup you may have to put a competitive price tag to be able to take on the big players who can offer rebates at the drop of the hat. “Startups must price themselves competitively, not necessarily lower than competition/existing players.”

“An ‘entry pricing’ with an upward revision clause may work in certain cases.”. But it may get difficult to raise prices quickly, so it becomes important to think through the starting price tag. Its believed that a company does not want to lose a customer because of price constraints. Therefore, offering a variety of pricing and deployment models to make pricing a non-issue during the evaluation process is better.

4. Service Quality: No matter how good your product or service, if it annoys the customer, you have lost the game. Thus, as a startup, you can set new benchmarks for quality. It can make the big players jittery and also take note of you. This could be a great differentiating factor when it comes to competing against them. Here you can look into the shortcomings of the big companies and in turn fill in with your service.

Service quality and service satisfaction is always the function of expectations. So you create expectations and accordingly you make somebody satisfied.

“If I know I can do something in two days, I commit five days to keep a buffer with me and then deliver in three or four days. You should set the expectations right at the beginning, keeping in mind your capabilities to deliver in the given time frame.

5. Advertising and PR: When bootstrapping is the order of the day, it may be unthinkable to take on the big names on the advertising turf. But that does not mean that startups cannot reach out to new customers swiftly. Word of the mouth is the best strategy. One satisfied customer can rope in many more. Outsourcing work to smaller agencies that are themselves startups could also help. They will understand the need for publicity from a startup’s point of view. Similarly, networking can also do wonders. This can be done either through participation in conferences and events, meeting people through channels such as The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), or even social networking on the web. LinkedIn, Orkut, and Facebook have made it easier to spread the word.

6. Employee motivation: Startups can harp on the productivity of their employees by creating values such as hard work, punctuality, and customer service. While they may not be able to offer hefty pay packets, an inspiring work environment can make them get the most out of their employees. In big organizations most employees become a cog in a big wheel, while in the case of startups they can experiment with and come up with fresh ideas. Values such as integrity, hard work, and motivation should percolate from the level of the entrepreneur. This ought to go a long way in improving the productivity of employees.

7. Constant innovation: It is through constant innovation that a startup can retain customers and add more to its kitty. As an entrepreneur, it becomes part and parcel of your role to think out of the box and work upon improving your products and services. Applying for patents is another way of ensuring that your ideas do not get stolen. An innovative streak can also help attract good investors who are on the lookout for such startups. It is only through innovation that companies like Microsoft, Apple, and Google have reached the top of the technology ladder. “Innovative products and services are great things to have in the portfolio. But given the time and effort any new product/service takes to sell, it is better to bring them onto the forefront once the basic cash flows needs are taken care of.”

8. Grab a pie in big projects: It helps to keep an eye on the work that large corporations get done from outside agencies, and grab a part of that business. You may be surprised at how big the money is. It can also lead to big-ticket deals and a steady flow of projects. Take the case of advertising. Large organizations that are consumer-focused have huge advertising needs and thus hefty advertisement budgets. Instead of giving the whole of it to a big advertising agency, they prefer to opt for a number of smaller agencies. It makes good sense to grab such business.