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• The rewards of being a great Personal Assistant
• Beyond the expertise education gives you, what else do you need?
• Managing the team
• Assertiveness and confidence ensures a better job
• How to be an entrepreneur
• Call Centre Excellence
• Understanding the National Credit Act
• Facebook is not your friend
• become money wise
• managing HIV and AIDS in the workplace
• can you sell ice to eskimos?
• service at its best
• managing your time
• masterminding the perfect business function or event
• stand out of the crowd
• good newsletters
• business etiquette
• emotional intelligence
• trouble free travel planning for PA’s
• never lie on your cv
• year-end office party - don't risk your career
• watch your language in emails
• living a life of value
• how to fire someone
• knowing what those challenging interview questions really mean
• before you give up on your present job
• managing change
• beating inflation & avoiding debt
• negotiating a pay increase
• understanding body language
• making your pitch in 15 seconds or less
• making a speech
• managing your finances
• keeping the customer satisfied
• what to wear
• improving your chances of promotion
• business etiquette
• colours and image
• employers want you to...
• experience counts
• do you have what it takes to land a top job?
• covering letter for cv
• internet job applications
• curriculum vitae template
• curriculum vitae
• why your cv got thrown in the bin

The rewards of being a great Personal Assistant

High powered personal assistants know the rich and famous as we will never know them. Top personal assistants are often university educated, may speak a smattering of languages and can expect to travel the globe with high flyer bosses.

In the USA, an executive personal assistant earns around $120 000 (R900 000) a year. In South Africa, a high powered PA can earn up to R100 000 a month and have hair, clothing and travel allowances. Average salaries for executive secretaries in the Johannesburg area are around R21 000 to R25 000, Kelly recruitment says.

Wayne Ford, a BizTech presenter says, “The modern PA is really an assistant manager with a career path into management.”

They know the boss better than his or her mother does and are the power behind the great. Their days are seldom the same. They are more discreet than a priest’s confessional and have the nerves of a test pilot.
* If you want to be a high powered PA what qualifications do you need?

A BA or BCom, computer literacy in all basic computer programs including Microsoft Word, Excel, Microsoft Office, and excellent communication and listening skills, organizational ability, knowledge of business, personal and social etiquette, polished, professional appearance and disposition, available for travel.

A recent ad in a South African publication calling for a PA for two management consultants promised a salary of R500K plus for someone who could do “complex travel coordination both domestic and international, email management, coordinating conference and teleconferences, document production and generating reports, producing PowerPoint presentations and general administrative support.”

Beyond the expertise education gives you, what else do you need?

The executive PA needs initiative, knowledge and familiarity with information systems. "The key function of the top PA has become data interpretation. Tasks like surfing the Net, spotting industry trends, tracking international developments and identifying key nuggets of information for her boss are a priority," says Gayleen Baxter, chief operating officer, Kelly. “She is expected to pick up trends on the horizon, and as a filter - keeping out the insignificant, time-wasting stuff that won't add value to current negotiations or projects. Initiative, intelligence and the courage to make a judgment call are key."

A great PA anticipates her boss’s needs and can behave appropriately with very important people. Take Eureka Smith, PA to Tokyo Sexwale, she meets and greets everyone from Microsoft chairman, Bill Gates to former US president, Bill Clinton.

Excellent communication skills are essential, often you filter information, either top down or down up. You must have a very good sense of humour and excellent human relations ability.

A top PA is good with organisation, assertiveness and project management. They add value. Being a PA is for many men and women a way to get an insider’s view, from the top, of how an organisation or industry works. They then use that knowledge to move into management themselves.
* He or she will deal with bosses who are angels, and bosses that are monsters.

One famous newspaper editor was known for throwing his typewriter or computer at whoever angered him, his exploits would always be precipated by a roar, a thud and some hapless journalist sprinting from his door. He was kinder to his PAs.
* Sometimes you will have to handle difficult situations.

One PA says: “In a previous job I was asked by one of my bosses to ask leading questions of a colleague – they believed that she was involved in fraud. She was later caught and put into prison. It was a really difficult thing to do at the time.”
* There is often inspiration.

For example, being trusted to put together international conferences.
* What are the top attributes of a high performance PA?

• Stay in step with your manager, and if possible stay a step ahead. It may mean having a look at schedules; at the moment my boss is busy with conducting back to back interviews, so I have to make sure that life for her and her co-interviewers runs smoothly.
• Plan ahead; manage your time and theirs. Remember their need to travel to and from appointments, schedule time that allows for that.
• Be pro active. If they are not around step in and try and do what they would have done. Understand how they do business and how they feel about certain decisions.

Managing the team

Failures in team management are usually seen in a lack of accountability and too a situation where differences are enhanced rather than managed and excellence is not emphasised.

Team is the most over-hyped term in management and business, it’s also a word rarely effectively applied - to the detriment of strong businesses, Liza van Wyk, CEO of major national training company, BizTech says.

Sometimes managers or team leaders apply an often bullying, coercive approach to management that sees productivity drop and tempers flare. And there can be a number of obstacles to resolution including:
Using power/money/coercion/connections/status as the basis for resolution
Becoming a victim of perceived power
Operating in a predominant ego state
Using the ‘difficult person’ label
Distorted communication and poor listening
Failing to acknowledge emotions
Superficial conflict discussions

Van Wyk counsels: “Mis-using power in such a way causes sides to be pitted against one another, inevitably leading to a win-lose scenario.” Many political conflicts across the world typify this but what then happens is that “the most powerful side will get what it wants, encouraging an abuse of power. This in turn may result in ‘less powerful’ side to use negative forms of power to get their interests met.” And so we have protests, sabotage, strikes, arguments and workplace conflict.

“It’s remarkable how much human behaviour is predictable and how little we learn unless we have been sensitised to observe our conduct and that of our team and to take the right measures to remedy problems,” Van Wyk says.

Classic ways to generate rebelliousness in teenagers, partners, work associates and customers is to use verbal red flags, for example, “you’ll never change” (judging); “you are so stubborn” (personalising); “don’t you think you should” (manipulating); “that’s so typical of you” (labelling); “I’ll tell you what your problem is” (diagnosing) and “you always; you never” (generalising) – if you want to ensure your words are ignored, preface them with one of those verbal red flags.

“In a good team and a healthy corporate or working environment, people feel free to engage in discussion, they welcome each other’s views. There is a general camaraderie at work and a buzz, an energy among people who enjoy working with each other. It takes constant work, but it is a far easier management solution than eternal conflict, high staff turnover and low productivity,” Van Wyk notes.

Assertiveness and confidence ensures a better job

A primary reason bosses give for not employing many work-seekers is a lack of assertiveness and confidence.

Tshidi Mokgabudi, a director of KPMG noted: “It is not enough to just have a degree; people have to have life skills to get jobs. There were many that, despite having a degree, were not work-ready and lacked the soft skills of interpersonal communication, comprehension, listening ability, assertiveness or self esteem. Almost uniformly the graduates spoke of sacrifices often made by single mothers to send them to university.”

CEO of Tsogo Sun, Jabu Mabuza recalls that a human resources director told him “that HR people are spoilt for choice when they seek to appoint someone. He said that having a degree doesn’t mean you can do the job; all that it says is that a person can complete an assignment. He said that there is more to work than donning a gown and saying I graduated.”

A lack of assertiveness should be seen as an imperative for growth. Liza van Wyk, CEO of BizTech has always battled shyness. “It’s something I’ve taken deliberate measures to deal with,” van Wyk says, “but it is a major problem for many people young and old, and if they don’t learn how to manage it, it can delay progress.”

Van Wyk points out that some of the most successful people in the world are shy – “Richard Branson, Bill Gates, and many of the world’s most famous comedians and actors. Johnny Depp once said that, ‘As a teenager I was so insecure. I was the type of guy that never fitted in because he never dared to choose. I was convinced I had absolutely no talent. And that thought took away all my ambition too.’ He did what we all have to do if we want to succeed; he swallowed his fears, projected self confidence and became better than the best at his chosen career.”

She said that the type of people who came onto BizTech’s Mastering Confidence, Influence & Assertiveness Skills course were often staff whose bosses wanted them to move onto greater things because of their talents, but a lack of assertiveness and confidence was holding them back. “Some people become confused about assertiveness, they think it is about being loud and dogmatic. In fact, assertiveness is about taking responsibility and respectfully asserting your rights. The dictionary meaning of assertiveness refers to affirmation and a positive statement.

“For example, it is aggressive to say, ‘you always interrupt me’ – an assertive statement, isn’t blaming, the individual takes ownership and will say something like, ‘I would like to say what I need to without interruption.’ As another example, an aggressive boss will say, ‘this is sloppy work’, whereas an assertive individual will respectively make the firmer point, ‘the punctuation in your document does not work.’ He or she makes a statement the individual being addressed can learn from and go away not feeling humiliated or angry.

“We help people to set goals, give them problem solving skills and do group work in confidence building and assertiveness training. The results are often dramatic.

“The mind is an incredibly powerful mechanism and we teach people how to use affirmations, role acting, visualisation and to reprogram their thinking so that they can project greater confidence even if their tummy is filled with butterflies. There are also obvious image considerations they have to use too, better dressing, walking tall, speaking clearly make them feel good and also ensure they are taken more seriously,” van Wyk said.

Poor knowledge of English in spoken skills and comprehension is another major obstacle, including among native English speakers. Van Wyk advises companies to take deliberate measures to ensure staff receive regular training to improve written and comprehension competency in English.

Nelson Mandela had wise advice for the new graduate: “There are certain precautions you should take to prepare yourself for a fruitful career. You must brush up your knowledge through systematic reading of literature and newspapers.”

How to be an entrepreneur

(Tips from UK entrepreneur and former Channel 4 chairman, Luke Johnson, Tatler, December 2009)

• Work with partners – you can bounce ideas off each other and reinforce each other’s strengths.
• Find businesses that don’t require capital – There are a lot of business that don’t require capital, particularly with the web, try to find one especially if it is your first business.
• Don’t be afraid of failure – Failure has happened to everybody.
• The only tragedy is giving up – Don’t do that. There have been plenty of hiccups for every entrepreneur; they are part of the package. You need to get used to it. Pick yourself up and move.
• Keep going.
• If you’re someone who doesn’t feel like you have the capability or ideas to invent something, try franchising.
• Get help with the numbers. This is very important.

Call Centre Excellence

In 2005, the McKinsey group said if managed correctly the call centre industry in South Africa could create 100 000 jobs by 2009, however, growth in the industry, while significant, has failed to meet expectations.
Liza van Wyk, CEO of BizTech a top Johannesburg-based training company that has a successful in-house call centre training programme said, “South Africa has failed to meet its potential as a call centre destination especially from other countries despite a population that speaks relatively good English and has good education levels.

“With the Soccer World Cup fast approaching we are seeing a dramatic escalation in the recruitment and training of call centre agents in a wide variety of fields whether tourism, medical, sports-related and transport fields to name just a few as we gear up to help almost half a million new visitors to South Africa,” Van Wyk said.

“Being a call centre agent is an art. The ability to analyse a caller, predict situations that may arise that the agent may need to educate the caller on – without patronising them - and always seeking solutions that will benefit the company and leave the client impressed with the service can be tough. There is very high burnout in the industry.

“South Africans can sometimes be dismissive or rude to clients which damages business relations. Call centre agents are exceptionally important but also the skills they learn on the job make them experts in whatever industry they are in whether medical, paralegal, IT or financial services. This is a professional career and the skills and knowledge acquired in the role can be the first step into a team leader or management position.

“It is essential that South Africa starts exploiting the potential of this service to boost job creation. It requires very good, persistent training. Firstly, in recruitment the company has to ensure that the employee has good interpersonal skills that can be enhanced with additional training and coaching. There is no point hiring a person who does not like dealing with people or can’t handle their emotions,” Van Wyk noted.

The call centre is often the frontline of the organisation. “First impressions count,” cautions van Wyk, “and call centre training has to ensure a good understanding of this complex environment from operating procedures to contact centre technology and even the psychology of callers.

“The call centre agent needs to understand the bigger picture. They can make or break the service offered on one day by not adhering to schedules, being off the phones or not coming in to work. This has huge implications to service delivery, cost and adds additional stress to the other agents that are performing.”

South Africa is Africa’s biggest economy and a huge market for BPO. Currently, almost 71 percent of call centres are n Gauteng, followed by Durban and Cape Town. The Eastern Cape has only two percent of South Africa’s call centre market.

BizTech’s inhouse course on Contact Centre / Call Centre Service Excellence also looks at the skills needed to be a contact centre agent, how to interact and communicate with a client. “This is not an easy role and can be highly pressurised. The average life span of a call or contact centre agent is two years before they need to move into another area of the business. The risk to the company is high attrition rates and replacement costs that are on average equal to about two and a half months salary, but the advantages are that when an operator moves out of that environment he or she is an effective communicator, should be diplomatic, business savvy and able to work under high pressure,” Van Wyk said. “This is an industry that helps grow economies in many positive ways.”

A suitable candidate for this environment is a person that is a good communicator, has the ability to learn on the job, can tolerate diversity, can empathise, listen effectively, questions appropriately and has a positive attitude that comes through on their call.

Interpersonal skills and performance measurement and management are also part of the BizTech training course.

Understanding the National Credit Act

Increasing numbers of companies are putting staff through training courses about the National Credit Act so they can use it’s mechanisms as an aid to apply it correctly in the workplace, but also to help staff become more financially astute in the workplace and at home.

"We are seeing a dramatic rise in companies sending staff onto courses especially to learn financial management skills and to learn the ins and outs of the National Credit Act – which economists agree has cushioned South Africa against some financial blows. Companies are improving financial management and showing heightened interest in ensuring managers, executives and administrators hold a tighter rein on cash flow and have the skills to improve financial assets," Liza van Wyk, CEO of BizTech said.

"South African staff have poor financial literacy and as bad debt rockets, retrenchments rise and companies collapse leading to a predicted R70bn shortfall in tax collection. Most companies found 2009 painful. At first they followed tried and failed remedies of cutting back on staff and skills but now we are seeing more sending executives, managers and administration staff on skills and executive training courses to improve financial skills," Van Wyk said.

"There is a realisation here that endless staff cutting starts impeding the ability of companies to recover and grow. What is needed is highly skilled, motivated staff to steer a company through troubled waters."

Van Wyk said that there was particular interest in their course on the National Credit Act. "The National Credit Act since inception in 2006, has stopped many consumers from getting into the vicious cycle of debt. Initially companies complained that the Act was eroding their capacity to give loans and get new clients and now many are relieved that it has actually cut their bad debt and so they are seeking new ways of using the Act to ensure their staff know how to use it most appropriately to prevent client bad debt, but to also promote financial wellness in the workplace. The BizTech course ensures that delegates attending leave with an understanding of the Act, its purpose, how companies comply with the Act and how to apply the Act in their everyday life. There are too many cases of people signing away their cars or waiting too long before they seek help."

Van Wyk gave the case of Stella Coetzee, a debt counsellor for debt counselling organisation ConsumerAssist in Cape Town. "She tells of a recent case of a single parent, a 35-year-old nursing sister from Wynberg Hospital who was too embarrassed to discuss her financial problems and was not aware that a debt counsellor could help her. The result is that her car was repossessed," Van Wyk said, "People do not know that their assets are protected due to the National Credit Act if they seek assistance from a debt counsellor. If that woman had gone for debt counselling she would have still had a car. The negative impact of people being hounded by creditors or losing their vehicles or homes is that productivity in the workplace collapses and so many companies send key staff onto the National Credit Act course to help inform other staff members on measures to protect them. Major companies like Woolworths, BMW, Absa and others have significant programmes to assist staff and clients avoid the negative consequences of bad debts."

The National Consumer Forum made the following statement: "After years of promoting and profiting from excessive consumer borrowing and buying on credit, all players in the financial services sector... must ensure that those now trapped in a debt cycle are not simply abandoned."

"BizTech stands by The National Consumer Forum’s plea for all parties concerned, including government, to channel more resources into educating consumers on financial matters," said Van Wyk. "The National Credit Act is there to protect companies and consumers and ultimately economic growth."

She alluded to a speech by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan who noted:" Our financial institutions have not had to endure the same kind of corrective process that banks in the other countries have had to undertake. The combination of prudential regulations, banking regulations and the introduction of the National Credit Act served to moderate the desire to indulge in risky business practices."

Van Wyk said she was encouraged by more companies, "paying closer attention to well-drafted legislation and using it to begin their own economic turn-around which ultimately will have a positive impact on the economy. Nothing will advance growth more than a stronger skills base and more productive staff."

Book now for BizTech's National Credit Act course. All delegates receive a training manual,
CD and one month telephonic support relating to the course content.

Facebook is not your friend

In South Africa, Duane Brady lost his job and faced criminal charges after posting allegedly defamatory messages on Facebook. In Canada, a woman off work for depression had her sick benefits suspended after she posted pictures showing her out, about and happy.

“Social networking gives a false sense of camaraderie and family,” Liza van Wyk, CEO of BizTech says. “Many feel that their 1 000 new best friends on Facebook are a safe community and so they type information or post pics that are often ill-advised. We’re seeing increasing numbers of companies coming to courses trying to navigate their way around rapid changes in information technology law or those laws that apply to it. And how Facebook is used is a real concern.”

Duane Brady was the first South African charged for posting defamatory messages on Facebook about his boss. Brady was charged with crimen injuria, a criminal offence committed when a person deliberately injures another’s dignity.

Other charges that relate to Facebook cases have been around defamation or libel which essentially relates to publication, in any medium, to two or more people something that demeans another in the estimation of his or her peers.

But there are other ways Facebook and social networking aids cyber-cops. Natalie Blanchard an IBM employee in Quebec, Canada was off work with depression and then noted her sick benefits stopped. When she asked why, her medical aid, Manulife Insurer, said they had seen photos posted since she had taken time off work at a party, a Chippendale’s show and a beach holiday and she looked happy. Manulife confirmed that it regularly trawled social networking sites looking for those who abused benefits.

Warren Weertman who is one of South Africa’s top IT lawyers (he has also been involved in helping draft legislation), facilitates AstroTech’s “IT and the Law” course. He says a wide range of laws can apply to social networking. “If you are in an employer, employee relationship, not just Facebook but blogging, you have to remember to always act in the employer’s best interest, that is a common law compulsion.”

You should also take into account the Regulation of Communications Act, he says, which allows employers to intercept and monitor communications, this includes what you post on your blog, emails, telephone calls, internet activity and faxes. “Copyright laws also apply. Employees should not disclose company information it can be subject to the Copyright Act. And disclosing other company information could be a breach of an employee’s fiduciary duties.

“If you post: ‘my boss is an idiot’ or write something criticising the policies of the company you work for, you are bringing them into disrepute and that is unlawful.”

Weertman says, “What I normally advise employees and employers to do is to have clear policies and procedures around blogging and social network pages. Establish guidelines around what you can do and what you can’t. We need to make employees aware that if they infringe policy there will be consequences and those must be spelt out. It is very important that companies put their policies and procedures around social networking on the company intranet site to ensure employees are aware of them.”

Examples of aspects corporate social networking policies should consider having include:

1. You may not divulge company sensitive information.
2. You may only access Facebook before work, after and during lunch (unless an individual is involved in marketing or networking the company through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MXit, or blogs).
3. If people want to blog they must have a manager’s written authorisation where it is related to work.
4. Employees need to be aware of the fact that if they have something on a private blog it does not reduce their liabilities. If their conduct is considered inappropriate for their status, they may find their employer taking action against them, for example, a company involved in selling products to a primarily black market would not be happy if a key employee or one in the public eye revealed he or she was a Ku Klux Klan member.

Although many companies have banned Facebook, as an example, there is a growing body that advise controlled access to social networking, especially for marketers. Van Wyk says, “companies need to assess what their needs are. Some might encourage client relationship managers and key executives to use LinkedIn, as an example, because its focus is on business networking.

“The other thing companies are concerned about is that Facebook uses considerable bandwidth with lots of photographs and videos. Extensive use of videos as an example eats into bandwidth and could bring the company to a halt.” Van Wyk advises that companies explain to staff why they do not want them to use Facebook, or limit its use. “Tell staff why you are limiting Facebook, that productivity at work is important, but too that there are bandwidth considerations.”

Weertman said a growing trend was among companies to start internal faux-Facebook sites to encourage departments to communicate better and to build team and staff loyalty.

Become money wise

Nothing provokes more lies than money and little tempts more shameless bragging. We all use money all the time and forget how hard it is to understand its workings. But a failure to understand finances also gets individuals, companies and governments into serious trouble.

What we see in the training field is a fall-off in soft skills. There is a growing demand for training courses on financial management as companies realise more than ever the dangers of financially illiterate staff. Even those educated about finance are finding it difficult to assess today’s economic barometers.

In South Africa at the beginning of 2009 economists were crowing about how this country was beating the global economic slump, but even as they spoke the economy was haemorrhaging jobs (we lost half a million jobs this year), exports fell 55% including vehicle exports, food prices continue to rise and strikes were high this year. What we can anticipate is that government too is going to take harsher steps against those that fail to deliver on VAT and tax returns. Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan has already warned that the South African Revenue Service (SARS) is increasing its focus on tax compliance. Gordhan said: "At the moment, we are about R70-billion below our benchmark target for revenue.” This is a huge loss considering South Africa needs about R10bn over the next three years to create millions of job opportunities according to Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies. The costs of salary increases for doctors alone will exceed R10bn and a National Health Insurance system when introduced, will cost a further R100bn a year.

It has never been more important for companies to ensure their staff understand financial information and to market the fact that not only are they trying to comply with the National Credit Act to protect consumers, as an example, but as a caring corporate they are working to protect their staff and enhance their knowledge.

Our courses on Graphs, Statistics and Numerical Reporting for PAs and Administrators and Finance 101 for PAs & Administrators answer the need for those who are in any way responsible for ensuring income generation or cash flow management, it helps understand the basis of financial reporting and how to display outcomes in superior ways. Our project management course teaches the art of getting things done on time and within budgets.

When one considers that SARS issued 7 000 letters of penalties to businesses for not providing adequate staff information and there were a further 4 000 cases where employers had failed to submit their tax which have now been referred for criminal investigation and prosecution it underscores the importance of staff at senior levels being adept at financial management.

The time to build competitive advantage is now – those companies swimming up through the financial whirlpool need to use it as a marketing tool. South Africans want to be more informed about their own financial affairs, those of their company and of the nation. But too, it is no longer understandable to confess that one is ‘a dunce when it comes to finance’ such cavalier attitudes are frowned upon. What is needed, however, is not merely more financial literacy but clever marketing about how clever companies know how to balance their books and build tomorrow.

managing HIV and AIDS in the workplace

World Aids Day is on the 1 December 2009 and the World Aids Campaign has come up with the following slogans to try create an understanding between HIV and AIDS from a human rights perspective:

• I am accepted.
  
• I am safe.
  
• I am getting treatment.
  
• I am well.
  
• I am living my rights.
  
• Everyone deserves to live their rights.
  
• Right to Live.
  
• Right to Health.
  
• Access for all to HIV prevention treatment care and support is a critical part of human rights.

Best practices in a workplace environment is to promote a non discriminatory work environment which can be achieved through the development of policies and programmes; awareness, education and training on the rights of all persons with regards to HIV and AIDS; support for employees infected or affected.

The objectives of an HIV Programme are:

• Risk management.
  
• Creating awareness to prevent employees being infected or re-infected.
  
• Protect the ability of those who are living with HIV to fulfil their duties.
  
• Be prepared for those who may die.
  
• Care for those who are already ill and have resources or contacts available to assist with
• opportunistic diseases; hospice care and support for families of the employees.
  

People with HIV and AIDS find it very difficult to accept their status and then to disclose to family, friends or work colleagues and therefore disclosure must be treated with dignity, respect and confidentially. Although HIV and AIDS is a medical condition, society has turned it into a social disease which results in stigma’s and discrimination. It is therefore up to you and your businesses to change this and allow those infected to manage their condition and then we can all live positively.

can you sell ice to eskimos?

This is a phrase often used to refer to a good sales person. In our current times with global warming this will become an increasingly difficult task.

Sales is a skill to create a demand and deliver value therefore your target market and clients need to be identified up front. Sales people are not there to trick a customer into buying something that they want you to buy. Yes there are some of those so called sales people out there but their working career will be short lived as their new Eskimo friend walks outside and realises that they have been “had”. The Eskimo will either go back inside and cancel the sale and or spread the word and tell all their friends and family about your shady business tactics and make it tougher for you (if not downright impossible) to sell ice in that neighbourhood.

The days of the over-talkative, over-eager and over-bearing sales person are indeed over! Today’s salesperson is an outstanding communicator who understands how to make a difference in customers’ lives , while building long term relationships and achieving enthusiastic referrals.

Sales can be conducted face to face, over the internet and telephonically. BizTech has some great tips for attention getting telephone techniques:

• Set the tone of the call
• Build rapport and ease tension
• Sell the idea of the product or service
• Find out more about your customer with specific and leading questions

BizTech offers a variety of practical courses that can enhance your selling and sales techniques. Recently BizTech received a photograph of a beautiful brand new shiny silver Porsche with a big red bow on it. Alongside the Porsche, there was a guy standing and the guy had a really, really big smile on his face. Contrary to what you might think, No, this was not the proud new owner of the Porsche. So who was the smiley guy and why did our client send us a photo of him? The person in the photo was Saul Marks, a sales executive from Porsche Centre South Africa who had just sold the car, and the reason that it was a special Kodak moment, was that this was Saul’s very first sale of a Porsche. We received the photograph from David McCann from the training department of Porsche Centre South Africa, who wanted to share the good news with us since Saul had recently attended our training programme “Becoming the Most Successful Sales Person”.

service at its best

Customers have more power and knowledge due to resources like the internet, media, access to customer reviews of a company or product and after sale discussions with friends and family.

Customer Service is how you interact with your clients and how you portray yourself and the company even before the consumer is your client. In a customer service business it is important to have a positive attitude, be rational, and willing to help. If you are dealing with a client over the phone you need to ensure you are calm and friendly to set the tone for an open, honest and productive conversation.

Dealing with customers on the phone is not easy as you have about a 70% communication gap because there is no body language or facial expressions for you to read. Therefore always be professional and have the following tools handy:

• Pen and notebook - taking notes of what your clients request is helps you to concentrate and listen effectively.
• Forms or documentation the client may request you to send or explain to them.
• Accessibility to the correct screens or system to assist you with the query.
• Sit upright
• And most importantly SMILE!

Don’t be afraid to ask a client questions. Questions are asked to gather information; to determine the customer’s needs; to check understanding or to determine if the client is happy with your proposal. There are two types of questioning: Open ended or closed questions.

Open ended questions help to gather information and often start with: how, what , when, who, where and which. ‘Why’ can also be used but may not be appropriate in a service environment, so rather use ‘what’.

Closed questions are usually short and to the point with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response. These are confirming questions.

BizTech is a top training organisation in South Africa that offers a variety of courses to address customer service and personal development. Becoming the Best Customer Service Professional is a practical training course which assists delegates in understanding the global importance of service and the impact that individuals can make to ensure the company stays ahead of their competitors.

Some of the tools and techniques that are covered in the course:

• Communication
• Time Management
• Creating a better You
• Handling challenging encounters professionally

managing your time

“A man who dares to waste one hour of his life has not discovered the value of life.” - Charles Darwin

Time should be spent to work out how best to manage your time, what you want to achieve and what the benefits are for you. Time management is about putting systems in place that will assist you in spending more time on important goals and being productive.

Benefits of good time management skills:

• You manage to free up time to focus on important goals.
• You will be more efficient and effective in getting the work done.
• You can make time for activities that will help you reach personal goals like going to the gym.
• You can have more time for the family.
  
• You will be successful in your personal and work life.
  
• You can reduce stress levels.

There are several things we do that keep us from managing our time effectively. Take note of any that may apply to you:

• Trying to remember everything you need to do and all the places you need to go to.
  
• Doing what grabs your attention which might not be as important.
  
• Spending time on unnecessary tasks.
  
• Not spending enough time on top priorities.
  
• Fail to plan your activities for the day.
  
• Trying to work in a disorganised environment.
  
• Unable to say ‘no’ can result in you doing too much.
  
• Managing the vast mediums of communication like emails, sms, phones, fax or skype.

The classic mistake in time management is the realisation that you may be very busy but it does not mean that you are productive or making a significant contribution.

BizTech is a training organisation that recognises that in today’s time, time is valuable and there are many South Africans that are not coping and better time management can have huge positive impacts to their health. Mastering time and self management: become a high achiever is a popular practical training course which assists delegates in taking back control of their time.

Some of the tools and techniques that are covered in the course:

• Daily planning
  
• Simple project management
  
• Techniques for decisiveness
  
• Developing an effective task list
  
• Using MS Outlook to increase productivity

Mastering time and self management: become a high achiever will be held from 28 to 29 September 2009 at the AstroTech Conference Centre in Parktown, Johannesburg. To book contact Hajira Asmal on 011 582 3300 or email training@biztech.co.za

masterminding the perfect business function or event

In June, President Jacob Zuma had a party after his state of the nation address. His event catered for 30 000 people. If he asked you to arrange a similar event, could you? So much goes into organising a business function or event whether it is for 10 people or 30 000 people.

“When organising a function try under-promise and over-deliver,” advises Tracy Botha , events organiser at the AstroTech Conference Centre in Parktown Johannesburg. “Plan, organise and communicate to everyone all the time. Always double-check the finer details. For example, if you need to have a translator present or ensure the venue can accommodate those that may be physically challenged.” She continues to explain that it is important to draw up a project plan with the sequence of events and anticipate possible challenges and include a backup plan. “We saw with President Zuma’s state of the nation address the organisers had to think quick when it began raining and for the first time a President could not make a grand outdoor entrance he had to walk down the corridors of parliament to avoid being soaked.”

When organising an event you should be able to provide the following details to a provider:
Date, function type (meeting; training or cocktail event), number of delegates, seating arrangements, IT requirements, contact person, dietary preferences and lastly budget.

BizTech offers a practical training course called Masterminding the perfect business function or event which will next be held at the AstroTech Conference Centre from 21 to 22 September 2009. The course will provide you with time management skills to plan correctly; how to communicate effectively internally and externally; and how to clearly outline what you want to achieve. “Effective planning will mean less stress and try keep the planning team small. Too many cooks spoil the broth,” cautions Botha.

Tips for a successful function:

• Know what your boss or client expects and wants
• If you don’t get enough information at first, ask leading questions
• Know your budget
• Know your time frames
• Draw up a project plan
• Communicate, communicate and communicate (internally and externally)

Get more than just a pat on the back or a thank you email. Attend this BizTech course and then organise the next business presentation or cocktail event and your guests will leave raving about every aspect from flower arrangements; to the venue; the service; the food; the sound and technology; the ambience. Success will be yours.

stand out of the crowd

The University of Cape Town’s Dr Mike Herrington, director of the University of Cape Town Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the UCT Graduate School of Business who compiles the annual Global Entrepreneurship Monitor says too many young people give up before they have really begun – a lack of self confidence and assertiveness cripples them.

BizTech's skills training course, Mastering Confidence, Influence and Assertiveness Skills helps individuals develop the confidence and social skills to manage others properly, to place orders confidently and to interact with co-workers or customers in an effective manner.
These are a few of the very simple remedies found in the course that can boost your confidence:

• If you fear someone, visualise being pleasant and getting along well.
  
• Praise yourself to yourself.
  
• Allow time for thinking and planning – make a list, measure progress.
  
• Learn to empathise – look at situations from the point of view of others and try to understand why they behave the way they do.
  
• Bestow compliments generously.
  
• Begin the day positively think about the things that make you happy.
  
• Do nice things for others – it surprises them and makes you feel good.
  
• Learn new things, keep developing skills and acquiring new interests – and meeting new people.

good newsletters

In a world where reputation is developed, maintained and enhanced by communication, especially written information, the newsletter is an essential tool to communicate with staff, clients, shareholders and investors.

Too often the company newsletter is left to a junior staff member with no skills in gathering information, nor writing, editing or layout experience and so the company image is left in the hands of someone who may watch Survivor as an intellectual exercise.

Serious companies understand that nothing quite beats the authenticity of paper and while an email gets scanned and deleted, the printed word lingers.

The BizTech skills training course, “Key Elements of Successful Newsletters” sees mid-level support staff assigned to this exciting challenge go through two days where they learn everything from design to typography, text devices, size, texture, colour, value, space, rhythm and movement, balance, writing, editing and proofing, planning your schedule and budget, developing ideas and sources, printing and distribution, as well as e-newsletters among others.

Good newsletters are those that deliver a fast read in crisp English and deliver pertinent information. They usually have high credibility because most don’t carry advertising and are targeted at a very tightly niched community, for example, the clients of a retail outlet, contractors for an under floor heating company or insurance brokers.

E-newsletters have gained in popularity but still tend to have lower readership than printed newsletters reliant as they are on bandwidth, server speed, capacity of individuals to read, a lower capacity for graphic material and reluctance by many individuals to read screeds of material on the web or emails. PDF files, if used, may take longer to download and be seen as an extra click nuisance by some.

The best newsletters are timely, engaging especially at a personal level, they carry important information perhaps statistics or new research which ensures people read each new edition and file them. People respond to the views of respected peers and news about people they may know, newsletters often offer a personal glimpse at an organisation or people within it.

Encourage feedback, readers like to know that their views are respected.

Transparency, being prepared to consult, engaging with criticism in a positive manner and in keeping your workforce and clients abreast of new developments and challenges are key to reputation development and management and little is better to begin with than an effective newsletter.

business etiquette

We’ve all met them, those incredible female icons of business who not only look enviably stylish, but crack the hardest business deals with a gentle grace that belies a will of steel.

Who would we nominate as the women who best combine style and business etiquette to leave an image that lingers long after their subtle perfume has left the room? Jane Raphaely who built up a publishing empire and conveys the grace of a Jane Austen heroine. Jenna Clifford, South Africa’s top jewellery designer, who can make jeans and a t-shirt look like couturier. Tshidi Mokgabudi, director at KPMG whose soft voice and impeccable grooming does not detract from a woman who makes things happen at work and in the wider community.

How can you be like these enviable women? BizTech’s Managing your Image and Business Etiquette trainer Tanya Welling gives some of her top tips:

Business Etiquette

• Today’s business environment is gender neutral, men and women are treated equally, however, studies show it is women who most often demean other women. Don’t get a reputation as the boardroom bitch, be professional to all colleagues.
• If you are communicating with someone in the office give them your undivided attention whether it is the chief executive officer or the cleaner. Respect is earned.
• Speak slower, all of us speak extremely fast and in a country with 11 official languages this often leads to miscommunication. There is an old saying that says, if you want someone to listen to you whisper; shout if you want aggression.
• The best way to leave a conversation is to summarise what has been said, then pause in case the individual wants to respond, after that say thank you and leave. Do not say ‘have you understood me’, or ‘are you clear’, you are not dealing with children. The original communicator has to end the conversation, if you phone someone it is you who has to end the conversation.
• When you join a firm a senior staff member must introduce you to people in the office. If the senior does not do this (and it is rude for him or her not to), you should introduce yourself to people. Always give a handshake and your full name and surname and the reason why you are introducing yourself eg, I am the new marketing manager. If you make a telephone call or receive a visitor, give your name, surname and reason for the call or visit.
  Five hot tips for etiquette:
  
  • Be respectful of cultural preferences. For example, Muslims and Jews do not eat pork, while some Chinese love pork and also consider dogs edible. Americans love beef but Hindu’s consider cows sacred and do not eat beef.
  • At an office function or business lunch, drink alcohol in moderation or none at all. Don’t talk loudly and avoid smutty jokes.
  • “Please” and “thank you” are the most important words in the vocabulary of business etiquette.
  • Avoid showing inappropriate physical affection to others – it could be construed as sexual harassment. Remember that cross-gender superficial intimacy remains a cultural taboo for most Muslims and many Hindus.
  • Criticising or reprimanding someone in front of others is hurtful and shows insensitivity. Give praise where praise is due.

emotional intelligence

If we are to beat low wage, high impact economies at their game, the old mantra of ‘work faster’ becomes meaningless. China and India have people power, we need to use brain power.

Or as, Larry Page, one of the founders of emotionally intelligent corporation, Google, said in the book of the same name: “There is a phrase I learned in college called ‘having a healthy disregard for the impossible.’ This is a really good phrase. You should try to do things that most people would not.”

Within less than a decade of helping found Google and barely past his 30th birthday he was personally worth $10bn. At Google they have five star chefs churning out organic, healthy meals for staff and 20 percent of your paid work time has to be spent, each week, on doing a project that has nothing to do with your job – it can be anything from skydiving to art lessons.

More companies are closely looking at what first seemed to be 1990s psycho-babble: emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence comes from work on brain potential. If one sees the brain as an onion, it has a small inner core, the R-complex, surrounded by a larger limbic system, and an outer skin called the neocortex.
The R-complex regulates reflex survival behaviour: flight or fight, social rituals (it’s the part that gives you sweaty palms) and body language (tightly crossed arms during conflict).

The limbic system generates and controls emotions and motivation. If you pay attention to the limbic and R-complex elements of a situation your ability to make good decisions will be enhanced, especially if the mediating neocortex expresses its gentle pressure. If you ignore them, you’re more likely to shout back at the boss and storm out.

BizTech’s sister company , AstroTech has it on their training schedule, because CEO Liza van Wyk says, “more companies have a holistic approach to management. Development of the individual is as important as developing the brand, and teamwork in today’s high stress environments is critical.”

Mvelaphanda, Discovery Health and game resort emperors, CC South Africa, have emotional intelligence as core operating beliefs.

Samantha Burns, head: employer brand management at Discovery said most managers tend to be “results oriented, but if there is not enough balance to the human element they get poorer results. Emotional intelligence from a manager improves focus and the results of a team and liberates the potential of people to get better results. Some managers feel uncomfortable in the beginning, because instead of just making demands they have to sit and discuss with staff. Once they realise the power of those conversations and too, the way their body language can shut people up and stop people hearing, and change that, they get much better results.”

Emotional intelligence is the preserve of the super confident manager.

A natural at EQ is Tokyo Sexwale head of Mvelaphanda, a multi billionaire, his operations include South Africa’s biggest producers of gold, second biggest exporters from South Africa of diamonds, world’s fourth biggest platinum producers, and yet every Friday he sits down to lunch with his staff.

“EQ,” he makes clear, “has nothing to do with IQ.” He says EQ often fails when bosses, “demand outcomes on those who are wrongly deployed, this person may be a navigator, not a pilot.

“Emotional intelligence means I find time. Time to sit among my people and enjoy their company. I take time to listen.” It is in listening that an effective manager best discovers the passions of his or her team members and is better able to direct and influence them.

Bev Riemer, an EQ consultant and BizTech trainer has been teaching emotional intelligence for years. She says emotional intelligence is tapping into the primeval power of our instinct.

Instinct is the thing that tells you not to cross the road. But, you look and the road is empty, your rational mind thinks, ‘I’m being silly’, you step off the pavement and get knocked over by a bus.

The primary issues Riemer focuses on are emotional honesty, literacy, debt, emotional fitness. For example, with emotional fitness, your instinct might be to give your boss a piece of your mind, “but that may get you no further in business. Emotional intelligence guides you to the right approach. Many people don’t like emotional honesty because it makes them feel uncomfortable, it may have something to do with the way in which you speak to a person, or the way in which the person receiving that information may pick it up.”

Your negative filters; your perceptions that you will be discriminated against because you are black, a woman, Jewish, Muslim, disabled, can lead to your own fears realizing themselves, not because of the discrimination of others, but because of your own negative preprogramming.

Because of this, emotional debt is an important part of emotional intelligence, Riemer says it is “recognising your own weaknesses, where is my potential, how do I overcome obstacles?” Riemer says that in those companies that implement EQ, “the levels of trust and energy are incredible. Heirarchy is not important, ability is.” She says the greater sense of personal acknowledgement a person has in an organization, the harder they will work for it.

trouble free travel planning for PA’s

One of BizTech’s most popular courses helps personal assistants and administrators deal with the nightmare of multiple airline, car hire, accommodation, subway tickets and other challenges of booking corporate travel.

In 2007, 44% or 12.7 million South Africans took 39 million trips in South Africa and spent R22.2 billion. Globally trans-continental travel increased by 6,6% from 846 million people catching trains, busses and planes to go to new destinations to 903m in 2007 and during their travels they spent $856bn according to United Nations statistics. Business travellers accounted for 12,2% of these travellers in 2007, compared to 11,6% in 2006 and despite better telecommunications more people are travelling to seek new markets, find work and strike deals.

“Business travel is a huge market and on average has the highest expenditure of any other type of traveller,” Liza van Wyk, CEO of business support training organisation, BizTech said. “If you take as two examples: the Institute of Travel Management of Southern Africa represents around a fifth of business travellers in the region, and they say their average member company spends anything from less than R1m a year on travel expenses to R450m plus a year.”

In 2007, 9m foreigners visited South Africa of which 6,6m came from the rest of Africa and 1,4m from Europe contributing R159,6bn or 8,1% to South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product.”

Travel planning has become a highly skilled operation for the average business, the people who book need to know how to source the best deals and schedule optimal timing to get the business passenger from destination to destination quickly, efficiently and inexpensively

BizTech’s course, Trouble Free Travel Planning for PA’s is consistently well-attended. These are some of the tips you will learn on the course:

• Never assume someone else is going to do something, do it yourself or double-check.
• Compile a master itinerary of airline data, contact telephone numbers, names and addresses, driver’s details and the like.
• Confirm everything in writing.
• Ensure the person travelling has briefing notes about his or her company and any relevant data about those he or she will meet and tourist information about the city or cities they are visiting especially recommended restaurants.
• Allow adequate transit time between meetings.
• It’s advisable for those who travel often to have an emergency case packed and in the office, ensure it has in it regular medication, spare glasses or contact lenses and the like.
• Keep a record of credit card details in case they get lost.
• Find out if there is special social etiquette for the country being visited and inform the traveller.
• Ensure he or she has enough stationery for the trip including spare pens, a notebook, memory stick, letterheads, business cards and adaptors.
• Make sure the traveller’s passport always has sufficient spare pages, he or she is up to date with vaccinations or carries travel meds for example, anti-diarrhoea medication or malaria tablets and has travel and medical insurance to cover them while they are away and any necessary visas.

BizTech’s Trouble Free Travel Planning for PA’s helps the busy personal assistant think beyond merely booking a ticket for a colleague or executive to accommodation for a client, to interrogating how best he or she can function effectively and efficiently in a foreign country and have time available to relax and unwind. Book for the next course from 20 to 21 April.

never lie on your cv

It’s the end of the year, you have your bonus, have submitted your resignation, and it’s time to move on and so now is the time to brush up your CV. Be careful, don’t lie, employers either know it or will find out or will send your CV to organisations that do nothing else but look for lies in CVs – don’t get listed among recruiters as a liar, you’ll never find a job.

Frequent lies are those who claim to have degrees and don’t, or have stupidly bought a fake degree on the internet, a simple phone call to the registrar of the university you claim to have studied at is enough to get you found out.

Other frequent lies are people claiming they studied at places that don’t exist, others CNN listed include:

1. Job seeker submitted a résumé with someone else's photo inserted into the document
   
2. Candidate claimed to be a member of Mensa (organisation of very clever people)
   
3. Applicant claimed to have worked for the hiring manager before, but never had
   
4. Job seeker claimed to be the CEO of a company when he was an hourly employee
   
5. Job seeker included samples of work, which were actually those of the interviewer

Most companies won’t employ a liar.

How do you make a CV stand out without resorting to dishonesty?

Be the first in line. The skills crisis means that employers are inundated with applications. A good way to break out from the crowd is to be the first one in line. Sign up for e-mail alerts and perform daily searches for jobs in a specific field or industry.

Use keywords. Many HR departments are using new technology to review job candidates on the internet. Applicant tracking systems scan CVs and provide the managers with a ranking based on keywords in the document. Among the terms employers searched for most often: "problem-solving and decision making skills," "oral and written communication," "customer service," "retention," "performance" and "productivity improvement," "leadership," "technology," "team-building," "project management" and "bilingual."

Stand out. Most hiring managers spend a minute or less looking at résumés. Think of your CV as a written audition. You have a limited window of opportunity to have the attention of the hiring manager, so make the most of it. Focus on specific accomplishments and tangible, positive results that you achieved at previous jobs. Don’t have a page that has nothing but your name on it. Put the most recent information first with your best achievements. Mention all the BizTech courses you have been on, keep the certificates.

Be honest. If you have a gap in employment periods, explain why. Mention volunteer work or classes to show that your skill set is still current and highlight what you have accomplished. People often forget to include volunteer work; part-time jobs and freelance work in a CV, even though that work is often relevant to your career path.

Use simple language. Lots of people think big words count and then use them incorrectly. Use simple language, short sentences and spell and grammar check your CV before posting or sending it out.

If you did not complete a degree, do not claim that you did; college and university attendance is easy to verify. List graduation date and the time frame you attended any institutions.

year-end office party - don't risk your career

Tough, tough, tough! That is what many are saying about 2006. Now, the festivities are here and we look forward to winding down, reflecting on what we achieved and also on what the future holds in 2007.

Let’s face it; our thoughts are on the beach and, of course, on the year-end office party! Whether the party is a highlight or a necessity, remember, what you see as a simple get-together with colleagues, could greatly improve your image or see your career crashing with that last drink that turns you from salesman of the year to office clown.

Gina Meintjes, Marketing Executive of Kelly, SA’s largest people organisation, says, “It is crucial that you view office parties as business events. Your behaviour is in the spotlight and it is largely your conduct in a social environment that impresses your boss giving the reassurance that you are the right person for the job. Leaving the party with your reputation intact makes a statement about your professionalism, social skills and ability to handle any situation with the interest of your career in mind, not to mention the company’s best interests as well.”

But don’t think you cannot enjoy the party. It is a time to have fun, build on those vital internal relationships and enjoy the company of your colleagues in a more relaxed environment.

Meintjes says that this is a vital part of developing your career and impressing your boss. “There are ways to have fun while your career progress remains on track. Use the function to your best career advantage.”

Here are some career-enhancing party tips from Kelly:

• Should I go or should I stay. Make sure you do attend; not attending could leave the impression that you are not part of the team. And when you attend, arrive on time and don’t party until breakfast the following day.
  
• Who’s invited? Don’t assume your spouse has been invited. Check first to avoid embarrassment.
  
• Social or business. Remember, office parties are social events to reward employees, but they remain strictly business events. Act like your behaviour is being watched every minute; it probably is.
  
• Behaviour. Be professional at all times. This is not the time to blow off steam. It’s a company function; proper etiquette matters.
  
• What do I wear? Again, remember you are in the spotlight. Inappropriate and revealing outfits are best left for clubbing with your friends. This is a business function; you can express your individuality, but remember in this instance less is NOT more. Rather err on the side of caution.
  
• Keep shop talk for the shop floor. Don’t spend all evening talking business. You are in a different environment that is not conducive for quick meetings. And don’t complain or trash colleagues and save the silly pranks.
  
• What do I talk about? Certainly not politics, religion or controversial subjects. Show interest in other topics. Keep conversations upbeat. Never gossip.
  
• Flirting with colleagues. As they say; there is a time and a place for everything. The year-end office function is definitely not the place to start flirting with colleagues. Keep your behaviour light-hearted, yet professional.
  
• Courtesy. Stand up to greet people as they come around. Remember to always introduce your spouse; nothing spoils an evening for a spouse more than standing aside while you share inside jokes and comments with work mates.
  
• Eat, drink and be merry, but all in moderation. Don’t abuse the open bar facility. Moderation is key to ensure you are not noticed for the wrong reasons.
  
• Network. Take the time to speak to those people you do not get the chance to during the year. Pay special attention to those who can enhance your career, like top management and people from other departments who are often taken for granted. Build business relationships, but keep it tactful. Remember your colleagues and bosses are also there to unwind and don’t want to be tagged all party long.
  
• Be culturally savvy. While it may be Christmas time for you, don’t assume everyone celebrates the same holiday. This is a year-end function. Stay away from traditional Christmas celebrations and greetings like “Merry Christmas”.
  
• Be gracious. Make sure you thank the organisers. It is often a thankless task and to get the event to the point where all staff can relax and enjoy it, has taken a lot of painstaking preparation. Do send a thank you note to top management for hosting the party afterwards.
  
• Never drink and drive. Make sure you arrange a lift or a designated driver, even if you only have two or three drinks. That second drink can take you over the limit and being a responsible citizen, you should not be driving!

Meintjes concludes. “No matter how festive the event, office parties are still about business. While letting down your hair after a long and exhausting year, keep in mind that one night of unintended slip-ups can seriously impact your career. And, as they say; prevention is always better than cure!”

watch your language in emails

We take email communications for granted, but the way you write and respond to emails says a lot about you and if you communicate badly by email it could lose your work.

Because business writing (and personal communications) is so important, BizTech has a number of courses to help you hone your skills, they include: Key Elements of Successful Newsletters and Business Writing: The Unwritten Rules but in a number of other courses facilitators stress the importance of how you communicate verbally and in writing.

Some simple rules:

• Keep your language simple, big words often show small minds, especially if the words are used incorrectly.
  
• Never use sms language when sending an email or any other form of written communication.
  
• Have a gracious beginning ‘Dear John’ or ‘Dear Ms Dhlomo’ (do not use a first name unless you know the person and know they are comfortable with that) and end ‘yours sincerely’, ‘best wishes’, ‘regards’ and sign off with your full name if it is a business communication.
  
• Do a spell and grammar check – UK or South African English, never US – before sending.
  
• Exclamation marks ! are considered bad writing style, avoid them.
  
• Never have multiple punctuation marks together eg ????
  
• Type using proper punctuation, all caps MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO READ AND CAN BE CONSIDERED AS SHOUTING; on the other hand all lower case makes you look poorly educated.
  
• If any email states to forward it all your friends, or just 5 people -- do everyone a favour: hit delete
  
• Don't forward emails that say to do so. Regardless of how noble the cause appears to be, most are hoaxes. Don't just forward it without investigating its authenticity at www.snopes.com

Judith Kallos, who is the author of ‘Because netiquette matters!’ - a comprehensive reference guide to email etiquette and proper technology use says we judge others based on:

• What they do
  
• How they look
  
• What they say
  
• How they say it

Judgements about how you communicate include:

• What kind of human being you are (or are not)
  
• Your level of professionalism
  
• How credible you are
  
• How ethical you are

If you want to brush up on your email manners try the following sites:

• Judith Kallos’ email etiquette website, books and free Tools @ Netm@nners.com
  
• To brush up on the etiquette for basically anything ranging from business and email to dating and tipping etiquette, visit 123etiquette.com
  
• Take the Netmanners.com netiquette quiz.

living a life of value

How well do you manage your life? You have the job you always dreamed of, great car, nice house – but sometimes you get a niggling feeling, is this all there is?

You aren’t successful unless you are living a well rounded life. This poem from a Wall Street stockbroker is something we should all return to regularly and reflect: how well am I managing my life?

I Have Arrived.

I have not seen the plays in town
      only the computer printouts
I have not read the latest books
      only the wall Street Journal
I have not heard the birds sing this year
      only the ringing of phones
I have not taken a walk anywhere
      but from the parking lot to my office
I have not shared a feeling in years
      but my thoughts are known to all
I have not listened to my own needs
      but what I want I get
I have not shed a tear in ages
      I have arrived
Is this where I was going?

- I Have Arrived, Natasha Josefowitz

how to fire someone

Firing people is one of the worst parts of being a leader, and there are countless ways to botch the job. We've all heard the horror stories: the retail electronics chain that retrenched hundreds of workers via text message; the middle manager who brought his daughter to work only to discover a security guard standing at his desk ready to escort him out of the building. They exemplify what not to do when you have to let people go: demean them. When you fail to treat even the most wayward employees with dignity on their way out the door, you run the risk of courting bad karma - or even a lawsuit. Remember too to follow the law to the letter, in South Africa know Section 8 of the Labour Relations Law off by heart, give the staff member three warnings, have a disciplinary and ensure you follow your company’s disciplinary procedures to the letter. Career coach Cynthia Shapiro's advises:

Don't let it come as a surprise. Employees can't be expected to conform to your expectations if you don't tell them what they are. If a staffer is flouting company policy or behaving badly, be clear about what needs to change and what will happen if the behaviour persists. Then, you can fire them with a clear conscience.

Don't avoid conflict. Many managers are so uncomfortable delivering the final blow that they delegate the job to HR or an underling, but this will only enflame the situation, Shapiro warns. Show your employees the respect of giving them the news yourself.

Don't deviate from company protocol. If you're preparing to fire a worker, take the time to sit down with HR and familiarise yourself with company guidelines. You may leave the company open to being sued if an employee doesn't receive the requisite number of warnings, or these warnings go undocumented.

Don't make promises you can't keep. In the heat of the moment, you may be tempted to volunteer to help a distraught employee find a new job. But don't do this unless you're prepared to follow through.

Do exercise empathy. Following company protocol is important, but so is demonstrating humanity - so be kind. "Company policy dictates parameters," says Shapiro, "Within them, you need to exercise as much care and integrity as you can."

Do give them constructive feedback. Because of the ever-increasing risk of lawsuits, many companies have a policy against telling people why they're being fired. But do whatever you can to let people know what behaviours may get them into trouble at their next job.

Do have their money ready for them. Being fired sends many people into an immediate financial panic. You can help alleviate their worries by making sure that you have a pay cheque ready for them to take home that day. (Marshall Loeb - Dow Jones, with some amendments to conform to South African laws and conditions by BizTech)

knowing what those challenging interview questions really mean

Understanding the hidden meaning behind key questions can give you a vital edge in winning interviews. BizTech’s course, Let’s Talk Business: Verbal Communication for the Business World from 29 to 30 September will teach you the importance of language in advancing your career and developing your business skills, here are a few more tips:

Employers look for specific examples of your competence in a range of job related areas.

Highlight positive examples where you have proven success or expertise and show how you can add value to the business.

1. Tell me about yourself
   MEANS – Can you sell yourself.
   APPROACH - Give a quick snapshot of your career history, skills and personality to show you in the most positive light. Do not waffle and do not reveal intimate information.
   
   
2. Why did you apply for the job?
   MEANS - How motivated are you?
   APPROACH - Research the job beforehand, state the benefits you expect to gain and also those you offer. Explain why you want this job, why you like the company and how you believe you can grow with them. DO NOT go on about why you hate your existing job.
   
   
3. What do you do in your spare time?
   MEANS - Are you a rounded person. However, be wary as it could also mean would your hobbies interfere with work?
   APPROACH - Go over your outside interests quickly, emphasising any work-related skills they give you.
   
   
4. When have you been involved in teams?
   MEANS - Are you a team player?
   APPROACH - Highlight any work related team roles but you can also add out of work activities.
   
   
5. What are your main strengths and weaknesses?
   MEANS: Are you self-aware and capable of developing?
   APPROACH - Link your strengths to the job. Choose positive weaknesses and turn them into strengths e.g. ‘I sometimes get frustrated when people don’t work to my standards because I take great pride in my work’!
   
   
6. Why should we employ you?
   MEANS- Can you add value to the company?
   APPROACH - Make brief but compelling comparisons between the job description and your skills and again use specific examples and facts to reinforce your answer.
   
   
7. When did you last work under pressure or deal with conflict and how did you cope?
   
   MEANS - Can you cope with problems efficiently?
   APPROACH - Give an example and how you dealt with it successfully.
   
   
8. Where would you like to be in five years time?
   MEANS - How committed and motivated will you be?
   APPROACH – They want to see that you are ambitious and goal oriented. Think of some of the functions and responsibilities you would hope to have within that company – if you are applying for a desk job in a city and you say you hope to be waitressing on a cruise liner, you won’t get the job, it shows scant commitment to the job at hand.
   
   
9. Sell me this product
   MEANS - Can you think on your feet?
   APPROACH – Be prepared and practice for such a question, do your homework on the company and the products they sell and confidently demonstrate your skills.
   
   
10. What salary do you expect?
    MEANS - How do you rate yourself?
    APPROACH – Say you rate yourself highly. Research the market rate for similar roles and either give a salary you consider appropriate or a range to show you’re prepared to be flexible. OR say you’d prefer to know how much they pay and then say whether it is what you expect.

before you give up on your present job

Changing jobs can be traumatic. Before you look for a new job, consider ways that you could make yourself happier and more successful where you are. Overcoming obstacles is the gateway to real power, so try these tips first:

1. Communicate with your supervisor better.
   
2. Ask for more money if you think you deserve it.
   
3. Ask to take on projects that interest you.
   
4. Ask for help if you need it.
   
5. Don't get bogged down by personal issues beyond your control.
   
6. Sign up for a new course to boost your skills or keep an eye out for public discussion forums at training centres, business schools or universities so you can hear innovative ideas and expand your knowledge.

Communicate with your supervisor.
As hard as it may be to bring up issues with your boss, open and honest communication is the only way to resolve that which may affect your performance or happiness at work. Most supervisors will do what they can to remove difficulties but are probably not aware of them unless you bring it up. When you talk to your boss, be professional and positive. Don't blame and have ideas for solutions.
It's time for a new job if: Your boss is defensive and not interested in helping find solutions.

Ask for more money if you think you deserve it.
If you believe you are being paid unfairly compared to other employees or compared to the market then ask for a raise or a bonus. Supervisors would rather have the chance to keep a good employee before they start looking for a better paying job. But bear in mind too that these are hard economic times, any raise is unlikely to be big. Make a list of contributions you've made throughout the year that prove you are making a difference to the company's bottom line. Find out what the fair market value for your position is. If they can't or won't give you what you're asking for, ask what you can do to move up the pay scale.
It's time for a new job if: There doesn't seem to be an adequate and fair pay structure or review process.

Ask to take on projects that interest you.
You may be getting bored with the same tasks and projects day after day, or year after year. Why not volunteer to take on new things as well? Yes, that means more work, but it also gives you more experience in areas that interest you and can break up the monotony of your usual tasks. It will show your boss too, that you are committed to the company and want to advance.
It's time for a new job if: There are no opportunities for you to grow and learn new things.

Request help if you need it.
If you're unhappy because you have too much work and not enough support, tell your boss! He or she may not realize how swamped you are. There may be an easy solution.
It's time for a new job if: You're asked to keep working extra hours even after you address the problem with your boss.

Don't get bogged down by personal issues.
Work environments often cause tension. There may be real or perceived favouritism or someone who isn't carrying their weight. Letting this affect your job and your happiness is not productive. Focus on projects and your goals and let the personal issues go.
It's time for a new job if: You're just not comfortable with the corporate culture in general. Find a workplace that suits your personality and you'll be happier.

Study further
The more degrees, diplomas or certificates you can show on your CV the more interested employers will be in you. In today’s globalised world lifelong learning is essential. The company you work for now will value you more if you take the initiative to study or draw their attention to quick courses like those at BizTech where you can learn valuable information fast and at a relatively low cost. Never underestimate the importance of networking, the people you meet on courses or when attending public discussions could give you introductions to a new career. Stop sitting back, take yourself and your career seriously.

And if you feel it is time to move on then post your resume on internet sites or with recruitment agencies and let employers do the searching.

managing change

When people are confronted with change, especially when it's 'enforced', as they see it, they can become emotional. Coping is part of a learning process.BizTech’s training courses and business support techniques are filled with an array of courses that build the emotional intelligence of an organisation. These administrative and management tools ensure that change, new procedures, diversity management, the development of new strategies are easier to accept.

Diffusing emotional feelings and encouraging objectivity are important to enabling sensible and constructive dialogue.

Be wary of expressions like 'mindset change', and 'changing people's mindsets' or 'changing attitudes', because this language often indicates a tendency towards imposed or enforced change. It implies that the organization believes that its people have the 'wrong' mindset, which is not the case. Change such as new structures, policies, targets, acquisitions, disposals or re-locations create new systems and environments, which need to be explained to people as early as possible, so that their involvement in validating and refining changes can be obtained. Two day business support courses through BizTech can provide some of the problem solving techniques you need.

Whenever an organization imposes new things on people there will be difficulties. Participation, involvement and open, early, full communication are important.

People and teams need to be empowered to find their own solutions and responses, with facilitation and support from managers, and tolerance and compassion from leaders and executives. Management and leadership style and behaviour is more important than clever process and policy. Employees need to be able to trust the organization.

The team leader or corporate executive must agree and work with these ideas, so change is less likely to be painful.

John Kotter's highly regarded books 'Leading Change' (1995) and the follow-up 'The Heart Of Change' (2002) give models to understand and manage change. Each stage acknowledges a key principle identified by Kotter relating to people's response and approach to change, in which people see, feel and then change. The steps are:

• Increase urgency - inspire people to move, make objectives real and relevant.
• Build the guiding team - get the right people in place with the right emotional commitment and the right mix of skills and levels.
• Get the vision right - get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy, with the emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency.
• Communicate for buy-in - Involve as many people as possible, to communicate the essentials and respond to people's needs.
• Empower action - Remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and lots of support from leaders - reward and recognise progress and achievements.
• Create short-term wins - Set aims that are easy to achieve.
• Don't let up - Foster and encourage determination and persistence. Highlight achieved and future milestones.
• Make change stick - Reinforce the value of successful change via recruitment, promotion, new change leaders. Weave change into organizational culture.

beating inflation & avoiding debt

• Start with your short-term debt. Make use of your 13th cheque to reduce debt.
• Pay a bit extra into your bond each month. Just an extra R100 a month on a bond of R500 000 will save you R46 000 in interest payments.
• Take this time to shop around for better mortgage rates especially if your salary has increased or your property has increased in value. Cutting 50 basis points off your current bond rate will give you breathing space should there be another rate hike. At some point the cycle will turn and interest rates will start to come down. Maintain your current payments and you will not only reduce the period of your bond repayments but be able to weather future interest-rate storms.

Make your credit-card issuer work for you:
If you really want to make your credit-card issuer work hard for your business, Virgin Money suggests you ask the following questions:

• What is the interest rate that it levies for negative balances?
• What interest rate does it offer for positive balances?
• Are these positive interest rates tiered based on the amount of money deposited?
• If the repo rate changes, does it pass on the full benefits of a higher interest rate for a positive balance?
• How many times has it increased its negative-balance interest rate when the repo rate increased, but never bothered to increase the interest rate by the same amount for positive balances?
• When you apply for a credit card, can you easily find all the information on its website or through its call centre that you require to make an informed decision?

How much are you paying in bank charges?
South African bank charges are the highest in the world. Shop around for cheaper rates. FNB as an example has made all cellphone banking and telephone banking transactions free, along with the purchase of prepaid airtime and electricity, ATM balance enquiries and ATM cash deposits.
But it has increased fees on cash deposits and withdrawals at branches by 2,2%. FNB has also reduced its annual card fee. The potshots Virgin Money has recently taken at their competitors may have prompted FNB to rethink its strategy. FNB has standardised the annual card fee across all cards, so you won’t pay more for a gold card, which Virgin Money pointed out provided little additional value. The flat annual fee across all cards is now R155, but customers who sign up for the electronic service offering will only pay an annual card fee of R99.

negotiating a pay increase

Prepare before making an appointment to see your boss.

Know your worth in the marketplace, research in newspaper ads and through recruitment agencies how much on average, people in your profession or job category earn.
Next, write a list of your accomplishments since the last evaluation. Be specific, use numbers to show increased revenue, higher sales or new clients for the company to make a business case for the raise you want. Give an idea of the hours you work and any special benefits you bring to the job. Show him or her work that you do over and above your normal duties that show your commitment and dedication to the company.

Then put yourself in the boss’s shoes and consider how he or she likes to receive information — whether it’s in the form of data-heavy bullet points, a written document or a verbal presentation and present your case. It’s always a good idea to have a written document (spell and grammar checked) to present to him or her so they can reflect on your demands afterward.

Prepare yourself psychologically. Focus on what you’ve earned, not what you believe you deserve.

Then set up a specific time to meet with your boss, ensure it is not at a time of day or during the month when he or she is either exceptionally busy or stressed and will have scant time to give your application the thought it deserves.

Negotiating is the process of making mutually beneficial exchanges; persuasion is trying to change someone’s attitude or values. People often confuse the two and wind up undermining their own effectiveness. If your meeting will focus on the amount of your compensation, it’s a negotiation, with you stating the benchmarks you’ve hit and using that to justify what you want.

You will need to use persuasion if someone higher-ranking than your immediate supervisor has control over compensation decisions. In that situation, you must enlist your boss as your ally. Your goal then is attitudinal, not transactional: go into that discussion having thought through this first: ‘What are your beliefs about my contribution to the last project I did? What can I do to change your beliefs?’ Have the answers already worked out in your head and anticipate any disagreements or questions your superior might have – have thoughtful answers for those too, be prepared to admit failures, but have a longer list of successes to present.

It’s likely, however, that your boss has barely been thinking about you at all, which usually means that you’re doing a good job. In that case, your meeting is all about raising awareness, of precisely how exceptional your performance is.

Trying to argue for a raise based on what is happening in your personal life is generally considered bad form. It’s not your boss’ problem that your wife is pregnant, or your kid’s school fees are high. Don’t whine. This is about your performance, not about your life outside of work. A manager might be sympathetic to you, but those aren’t strong arguments.

Let the boss make the first suggestion about a raise - that sets the lower limit. If your boss intended to give you an 8 percent raise and you suggest 6 percent, you can’t change your mind and say, ‘No, I meant 8 percent.’

If you’re forced to make the first move, always ask for more than you think you can get.

If the company’s stock price is way down and people are being laid off, asking for a raise could make it appear that you are blind to what’s going on around you. You will be unlikely to get an increase in these circumstances, be grateful for the job.

If it looks as if pay increases will be low or won’t happen, you can always ask for something other than money, like a larger office, a better title, flex-time or more overtime or holiday time.

understanding body language

Body language can tell you a lot about what a person thinks of you or the message you are conveying. Understanding these silent hints can help a lot in the workplace, especially during interviews or when trying to sell items to people. A way to learn the secrets of body language is to watch television with the sound turned off and try to interpret what is being said by reading body language. Humans say a lot with their mouth which is contradicted by their body, gestures and other channels of communication. Messages are ambiguous.

But take care, cultural differences can also influence body language and meaning in one culture can mean something else in another. For example, in Greece, you nod your head for 'no', and shake your head for 'yes'.

Tilting your head signals that you are friendly or empathetic. This is claimed to be a consequence of your mother tilting her head when she listened to you as a child. It showed she wanted to comfort you. We continue to do this even after we've grown up and don't have our mother there to do so anymore. We pat ourselves on the cheek, on the arm, or rub our hands together.

Perhaps you hold your hands close to your face when you talk - generally, this is a sign of insecurity. The same is true if you roll a beard or moustache with your hands or fix your hair, perhaps pushing or curling it behind an ear.

The way that people sit in chairs is not coincidental. If you are lounging with arms and legs dangling, it is probably a sign that you are relaxed and feeling comfortable. If you are positioned on the edge of the chair with your legs stretched before you and your feet crossed it can signal indifference. Someone going to the dentist or waiting for a job interview might be seated on the edge of the chair with his or her feet together. Body tension spreads to the respiratory system, making you sound short of breath. When you are in such a position it is easy to lose your head and simply run away if things take a turn for the worse.

Cheeks turn red in women who are angry or embarrassed while men's ears often turn red under similar circumstances.

When you try to interpret body language, you must interpret in relation to what is being said with words; otherwise misunderstandings can easily arise. It must be judged as a whole.

To reach your conclusion you must also pay attention to facial expression, the mouth's position, eye movements and pupil dilation and retraction. To ascertain the mood of the speaker you must observe facial muscles… How they are tightened and loosened. How the lines around the mouth are softened. How the wrinkles around the eyes can make them shine with happiness when that is the feeling the face has to express. The same features express anger and contempt, while softer features are taken to express kindness and friendliness - but note: only if the feelings also extend to the eyes. A mouth that smiles without the eyes smiling as well sends signals of falseness and unreliability.

Eyebrows that rise up and down rapidly signal acceptance of social contact. If you raise your eyebrows and keep them raised for a while it signals surprise and astonishment - perhaps even indignation.

Laughter can be a sign of happiness and friendliness, but also of contempt and sarcasm. Sometimes we also laugh if we are scared, or if we experience something very horrifying.

making your pitch in 15 seconds or less

(Taken from an article by Paul B. Brown, New York Times, 2007 (abridged))
If you have a pitch the odds are that it is (a) too long, and (b) not properly focused according to an article in Inc. magazine.

It makes four solid points.
1. The pitch must be focused on what you can do for a customer, not on how wonderful your firm is.
2. It needs to be internalized companywide. Every employee needs to give the same explanation when asked by a prospective prospect what it is your firm does.
3. The message needs to be clear. The potential customer must be able to “get it” immediately. And
4. Short. Aim for 15 seconds (or less.)

You can conduct extensive, expense market research into what your customers think but you can get a pretty good initial handle on how they feel about you by asking seven simple questions:

1. How would you rate your overall satisfaction with us?
Very satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied

2. How likely are you to recommend our products or service to others?
Very likely
Likely
Neutral
Unlikely
Very unlikely

3. When was the last time you purchased a product or service from us?
Within the last month
Between one month and 3 months
Between 3 and 6 months
Between 6 months and one year
More than one year
Never

4. Please rate us on the following:
(Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor)
Customer service/support
Quality of products/service
Sales staff
Price/value

5. How likely are you to continue doing business with us?
Very likely
Likely
Neutral
Unlikely
Very unlikely

6. How long have you used our products/service?
Fewer than 6 months
Between 6 months and 1 year
Between one year and 3 years
Between 3 and 5 years
More than 5 years
Have not used

7. Please suggest how we can improve our products or services to better serve you.

Brown wrote that among business owners, more women (90 percent) than men (84 percent) use the Internet for work. Fewer women (65 percent vs. 73 percent) say they make sacrifices in their personal life in order to run a business. American Express Small Business Monitor, which talked to a nationally representative sample of 626 small-business owners and managers of companies with fewer than 100 employees asked whether being an entrepreneur contributes to a “happy relationship” with their significant other, some 85 percent of women said yes, compared with 77 percent of male small-business owners.

making a speech

The first thirty seconds of your speech are probably the most important. In that period of time you must grab the attention of the audience, and engage their interest in what you have to say in your speech.

This can be achieved in several ways: you could raise a thought-provoking question, make an interesting or controversial statement, recite a relevant quotation or even recount a joke.
Once you have won the attention of the audience, your speech should move seamlessly to the middle of your speech.

Reading your speech from a script may give you confidence and ensure that nothing is forgotten or omitted. If you do this, read the speech several times before, so you know it well and can make frequent eye contact with your audience. Ensure you NEVER drone, do not say ‘um’ or ‘er’, smile, look relaxed, and speak as though this is someone you want to employ you – sound convincing and interesting.

If you are not confident enough to recite your speech from memory, then use notes which are keywords or points of your speech - a skeleton of thoughts or words around which you can build your speech. You may refer to your notes occasionally to maintain the thread of your speech, while for the most part of you will be able to speak directly to the audience.

In any speech, have the pages well marked, ensure you don’t have too many little notes, which can become annoying for the audience if it looks as though you are fidgeting.

Speech Delivery Tips:

Make sure that your appearance is well presented

Walk with confidence to the podium. Smile and greet your audience as if you are
really happy to be speaking with them – you should be, being invited to speak is an
honour.

Speak clearly and project your voice.

It is common to speak rapidly when nervous, try to take your time speaking

Effectively used, a pause in your speech can be used to emphasise a point, or to
allow the audience to react to a fact, anecdote or joke

Make eye contact with your audience. This helps to build trust.

Do not fidget or make other nervous gestures with your hands. - Do not keep
your hands in your pockets. Do use hand gestures to indicate subtle emphasis.

Be yourself, allow your own personality to come across in your speech

managing your finances

Bad debt not only gives you headaches, many recruitment officers will research your credit history and if you are in debt or do not know how to manage your finances, you may not get the job. In this season where the flash of a credit card is brighter than festive lights – think before you spend and if you are heading into financial problems heed this wise advice from Financial Mail writer, Ian Fife, earlier this year.

He wrote:

Typically, borrowers who have overstretched their finances tend to behave in the following way: First, they ignore the problem, believing they have enough equity in their homes, and that high interest rates won't go up further or last long. They start spreading their income between their car, home and credit card debt, falling behind a little in each. They soon realise they can't keep this up and decide to withdraw some of their home equity by increasing their bonds. If the bank agrees, they use this equity to pay their monthly shortfalls. If further bond advances are refused, they call in estate agents and ask an unrealistic price for their house to expunge their debt, leaving them with enough to buy another home. The overpriced house sits on the market for months. They start serious defaults on their debt and spend much of their time avoiding creditors or making excuses for the default. Finally, they reach the end of the line, often within sight of the market about to turn up again. But it's too late. Their houses are auctioned at rock-bottom prices and all they are left with is residual debt. Absa home-loan chief Gavin Opperman says banks are usually keen to avoid this. "We are eager to work with clients in difficulty. "People who come to us early and take drastic action are usually the ones who bounce back quickest," says Opperman. "We can, for example, give them payment breaks to help deal with necessities. If the situation warrants it, we can consider extending their payment term, or consolidate high-interest debt like credit cards into the bond to reduce the instalment. If a quick recovery is unlikely, we can help them sell their properties in a controlled way to get the maximum price."

But it's best to avoid the debt crisis altogether by:

1. Paying off your home loan as quickly as possible. It's the equivalent of saving at an after-tax interest rate of about 11%. Get it down to 40% of value first. Put any spare cash in your bond.

2. Withdrawing equity only in emergencies or to invest in other properties, shares or a business. These build your wealth further and your interest payments will be tax deductible. Don't use it to buy depreciating assets.

3. Always keeping a cushion of 30% of house value. This will allow you to sell your property quickly if you run into trouble, leaving about 20% after paying sales commission to get you started again.

4. Sharing your problems with your lender. He will worry about them at least as much as you and could come up with a solution.

keeping the customer satisfied
(These invaluable tips are from Astro Tech’s Little Book of Big Business Secrets available now at R55 a copy from training@astrotech.co.za)

Customer management
Listen - Respond - Resolve

The values of a company are most evident when it has to deal with problems. When everything is running smoothly, you seldom hear much from customers - it is when something goes wrong that you get the opportunity to really show what you are made of and what you can do.

All processes and procedures should be invisible to a customer. It is how these processes can be adapted to resolve crises that put a company under the service spotlight. Never hide behind red tape as an excuse, use each customer encounter as an opportunity to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and streamline processes.

Customer complaints are the ultimate opportunity: there is nothing worse than an unhappy client who does not complain but takes their business elsewhere. The complainer is actually looking for a resolution and wants to communicate with you, even if their tone indicates otherwise.

Establish empathy; it is important to find common ground, imagine how you would like to be dealt with in the customer's situation. What would make you calm down and what would make you angrier? You need to make the customer feel 'listened to' and acknowledged, even if their points are not necessarily valid.
Save arguments and defensiveness for letting off steam around the water cooler - they have no place in providing outstanding customer service.

Customers appreciate the concept of ownership from sales staff. If you take personal responsibility for sorting out their problem, and follow up with appropriate communication, you can make a friend for life and turn a really cross customer into someone who gives you years of repeat business.

There is nothing more valuable to a company than feedback from its clients - are they happy with us, what could we do better, where can we improve? These are the questions to be sensitive toward at every customer interaction.

Develop frontline attitudes that strive for excellence with clear, unambiguous communication. Misunderstandings are often the cause of customer dissatisfaction. Managing expectations around delivery is the way to ensure that customers are never silently disappointed. Turn the furiously vocal customer into a praise-singing advocate. Lindy Bobrow

Customer service
”Selling takes place with words; buying takes place in silence,” Mark Kaminsky, Astro Tech facilitator.

Start any communication with a big, warm smile, people will smile back at you. This sets the scene for the rest of your communication with that person.

Everybody wants to be treated as somebody. The more important you make people feel, the better they respond to you. Use their name. Listen attentively, look them in the eye and ask questions. Give sincere compliments. Pay attention to everyone in a group, and acknowledge that people are waiting to see you.

You can change your life, by changing your attitude. Negative thoughts create negative outcomes. A positive attitude results in greater positive recognition and you will handle challenges more successfully. Celeste Allen

At work have someone professional and friendly answer the phone promptly.

Do the staff that interact with clients speak clearly? Do they remember to say please, thank you and to apologise for errors? Do they make each customer, especially difficult clients; feel special and valued every time?

Be respectful of cultural differences.

what to wear

The clothing you wear says a lot about how seriously you take yourself and your future career. When in doubt, err on the side of conservatism. Smart is always good, even if you are going for a job at a company where they wear jeans, make sure yours are top class jeans, good cut, neat, not baggy, hems evenly stitched.

For Men

Traditional business attire means a dark, conservative suit and a white or pale coloured long-sleeved (even in summer), pressed dress shirt. A plain, good quality tie, ideally silk, should coordinate well with the suit and shirt.

If you wear an earring (or several), remove before the interview. Conceal tattoos; remove the nose ring, eyebrow ring, tongue ring...

For Women

Wear a corporate suit, skirts must be knee length, pantsuits must be beautifully cut, ideally plain colours with a plain shirt or polo neck jersey.

Do not show cleavage, or wear a short skirt, or have a skirt with a slit. Do not wear clothes that are too tight.

Either wear no jewellery or a very discreet pair of earrings, ideally only one simple ring, a simple chain or pearls around the neck.

Makeup must be low key and conservative, avoid eyeliner and lip liner, as well as excessive lip gloss.

Nails must be short and well manicured (ideally professionally) with either a French manicure or pale colours.

Carry a discreet handbag that matches your shoes.

For Everyone

Avoid wearing too much cologne or perfume.

Hair should be clean and well-groomed, regularly have a hair cut or blow wave.

Shoes should be polished and coordinate with your suit or dress.

Your dress sense and overall appearance says a lot about you – keep it simple.

Clothes must be clean and well-pressed.

improving your chances of promotion

Know your employer:

Most companies have a website; use it to research your company. The more you know about it, what they do and how well they do it, the better chance you have of understanding how best to manage your career to ensure advancement. Some things you need to know:

Major products or services

Size in terms of sales and employees

Locations (local, one or two branches – national – or a multi national?)

The name of the CEO and his or her major achievements?

Major competitors

What sort of image do they try and project – is this a computer-geek organization; a high fashion outfit or a conservative business? How well do you fit in with that image?

Latest news reports on the company.

Telephone Skills

Your voice and your personality – or lack of – conveyed over the phone indicates whether or not you are the right person for the post.

Answer the phone with your full name eg Pasha Moodley, never just your first name.

Learn how to speak slowly, with authority in your voice. If you smile as you speak it conveys confidence and friendliness.

Be courteous and professional.

Always have a pen and paper next to the phone so you can note messages.

Check the spelling of people’s names and read back phone numbers to ensure accuracy.

Don't eat, drink, chew gum or type on your computer when you are on the phone.

Ensure you have a professional sounding message on your voice mail.

Check

If you write anything make sure there are no spelling or grammatical mistakes

Always be punctual.

Ensure your hands are clean and your hair is neat.

Introduce yourself courteously.

Have a firm handshake.

Listen.

Remember the name of the person/s you are introduced too.

Use body language to show interest.

Do not chew gum or smoke at work.

Do not discuss politics or religion.

Thank-you is an important word; never forget it whether to the tea lady, your boss or anyone who shows you kindness.

business etiquette

Business etiquette aims to make people feel comfortable and important.

Five hot tips for etiquette:

• Be respectful of cultural preferences. For example, Muslims and Jews do not eat pork, while some Chinese love pork and also consider dogs edible. Americans love beef but Hindu’s consider cows sacred and do not eat beef.
   

• At an office function or business lunch, drink alcohol in moderation or none at all. Don’t talk loudly and avoid smutty jokes.

• “Please” and “thank you” are the most important words in the vocabulary of business etiquette.
   

• Avoid showing inappropriate physical affection to others – it could be construed as sexual harassment. Remember that cross-gender superficial intimacy remains a cultural taboo for most Muslims and many Hindus.
   

• Criticising or reprimanding someone in front of others is hurtful and shows insensitivity. Give praise where praise is due.

The cornerstone of image is impact:

Integrity – act in an honest and truthful way
Manners – never be selfish or undisciplined
Personality – your values, attitudes and beliefs
Appearance – present yourself to best advantage
Consideration – put yourself in another’s shoes
Tact – think before you speak.

Five hot tips for image:

• Ensure your clothes fit well, are made of good fabrics and are neat and pressed, with no marks, holes, dandruff, loose hair or animal fur, missing buttons, fallen hems or frayed cuffs.
   

• Wear polished shoes that show no sign of wear and tear such as worn heels or scuff marks and ensure that your handbag or briefcase, and purse or wallet are of excellent quality.
   

• A good posture whether sitting or standing creates a good impression.
   

• There is no such thing as washing your hands too often, ensure that nails are manicured and nail polish is not chipped.
   

• Use make-up sparingly and maintain a natural-looking complexion, use blusher sparingly and use natural-looking lipsticks that match your clothing and complexion.

colours and image

Image is important in any company. The colours of the clothes you wear project a certain image so be sensitive to the messages you are conveying with colour:

Black: power, modernity, sophistication, formality
Grey: respect, humility, elegance, reverence
Blue: peace, confidence, coolness, loyalty
Purple: wealth, creativity, spirituality, royalty
Yellow: happiness, joy, idealism, hope
Red: strength, confidence, energy, passion, love
Orange: energy, heat, enthusiasm, playfulness
Green: youth, fertility, wealth, masculinity, healing
Brown: depth, natural, richness, calm
White: purity, peace, cleanliness, reverence.

employers want you to

- Have a positive attitude toward learning, growth and change >- Energy, persistence and influence
- The ability to be self motivated
- Reliable
- Consultative
- Ability to set goals and priorities
- Be accountable, honest, ethical and sense of values
- Respectful toward yourself and others
- Critical thinking = logical actions
- Strong communication skills
- Passionate

They also want to know how good your knowledge is:

• generic information technology and numeracy skills
• team work and communication skills
• knowledge of how organizations work
• personal attributes like flexibility, adaptability and self-reliance

experience counts

You probably have more skills than you realise, sit down and evaluate your skills and how they can best enhance your workplace performance, you may just need to go on one or two courses to make that talent or skill something that can transform your productivity and prospects for promotion.

Start now – make a list of your:

- Skills
- Communication skills (verbal)
- Communication skills (written)
- Honesty/integrity
- Interpersonal skills (relate well to others)
- Strong work ethic
- Teamwork skills (work well with others)
- Analytical skills
- Motivation/initiative
- Flexibility/adaptability
- Computer skills
- Detail oriented

Remember a job is about more than just the certificate in your hand. Think of all the ways in your life you have shown determination and the ability to succeed, it may be something you now take for granted: did you walk 10km every day to school and back? Did you work nights and weekends to put for your studies? If you did those sorts of things it says important, positive things about you, keep developing that determination and honing your ambition, the top may not be as far away as you think.

do you have what it takes to land a top job?

Anne Short, director of the Career Development Programme at the University of Cape Town says that, “in the contemporary world of work there is an emphasis on communication skills, teamwork, leadership, time management and project management skills, as well as the capacity to innovate, lean and adapt in a constantly changing environment.” She says there are four types of career development skills:

self awareness
know your values, what you are good at, weaknesses
opportunity awareness
knowing what is available and how to secure it
decision learning
setting realistic goals, informed decisions
transitional learning
negotiating change, dealing with set backs, choosing new courses to upgrade skills
marketable skills
develop these through study, extramural activities and work experience. How you look and how you speak are also key aspects of marketability

Mark Young of Procter and Gamble says that, “Today’s job market is riskier than ever. Your job search won’t be successful simply because you’ve chosen where you want to be. Employers also have to choose to employ you!”

He advises that you choose courses that will keep career options open. “Don’t make the mistake of believing that degree = career.” Indeed StatsSA reported in 2004 that 60 000 unemployed were university graduates.

Nono Moshesh, founder of Kopano Placements in Johannesburg says she would urge young people puzzling over a career to consider, “architecture, finance, building science, tourism, engineering, financial services, actuarial science, information technology, customer service (call centre) or support services (secretarial skills).”

If you scan your environment you’ll have a pretty good idea of which jobs pay well, and which seem to have great job satisfaction. High salaries and job satisfaction aren’t always the same thing, remember you will spend most of your life at work. But remember too, that many people change careers several times over the course of their lifetimes.

covering letter for cv

Keep your covering letter simple and brief, no more than 300 to 400 words – unless you are applying for a job overseas, in that instance your CV should never be more than two pages, but your covering letter can then be longer (no more than two pages).

In the covering letter highlight those areas of your CV that show how you can add value to the job on offer.

In the letter say something along the lines of: “It is with pleasure that I respond to your advertisement in (publication/internet site/other) of (date)

I believe I meet the job criteria. You will note in my curriculum vitae the following areas in which I believe I can add value to the job on offer, these include (list no more than 5)

“I am a highly motivated, responsible individual who works well in a team and on my own. I add value to any task I undertake."
“Please do not hesitate to call or email me if you require further information or for an interview."
“I look forward to hearing from you soon."
“Yours sincerely"

(Name with phone and email details below your name – even if contained at the top of the letter)”

Enclose or attach the curriculum vitae. Do a spell and grammar check in British or South African English before you send!

internet job applications

Hiring with the aid of technology is a time- and money-saving proposition for businesses. It has maximised efficiency in the candidate selection process. Employers say they can advertise to a wider, more diverse candidate pool, find matches for hard-to-fill positions, easily share resumes of qualified candidates with hiring managers, streamline the hiring process, and tighten the timeline between the need for a new employee and the date the employee starts the job.

Applications submitted online go directly into the employer's applicant data base. A hiring manager who needs to fill a position enters keywords to search the data base and find the applications of the best people for the job.

Follow directions.

Enter the correct data in the correct field.

Tailor your application information to the position. Don't copy and paste text from your generic resume.

Use key words, buzz words, and words in the job ad as your model. Employers search on key words when they're looking for people to fill specific positions.

Complete all fields—even those that aren't required. If the company offers an optional assessment test online, take it.

Fancy bullets, text, italics, and bold do not convert well in an electronic application.

Spell and grammar check your application before submission.

Use the comment section to demonstrate that you've done research on the company and the industry. You may say, as an example, “I have noted that your company is making significant inroads into energy research in Africa, as part of my degree I studied environment law and alternative energy sources.”

Use quotes from letters of recommendation in your resume or cover letter. Not more than two and not more than one or two sentences from each.

Follow up your electronic application with a personal e-mail to the recruiter. A follow-up phone call is acceptable unless the ad specifies that they do not want phone calls.

curriculum vitae template

contact information

Name
Address
Telephone (Home and work if you already have a job)
Fax
Cell Phone
Email

personal information

Date of Birth
Place of Birth
Citizenship (If not South African. If you are not a citizen take your passport so the employer can see your valid work permit)
Because of employment equity legislation in South Africa your disability, gender and race are important to mention
Your marital status is irrelevant
Whether or not you have a driver’s license is also irrelevant unless it is a specification of the job eg. busdriver, taxi driver, truck driver.

employment history

List from most recent to first ever
Where you worked and when.
The reason for leaving is not relevant. If you can give reference names and contact details under the most recent three that always helps.
Demonstrate significant progress or remarkable accomplishments due directly to your work. Do not list day to day mundane activities as achievements, eg filing if you are a personal assistant, they are what is expected.

education

Start with most recent tertiary achievements and the institutions at which you obtained degrees, diplomas or certificates and the year in which you attained that qualification
Below that list any SETA or other qualifications
Dates, majors, and details of degrees, training and certification
Post-Doctoral Training
Graduate School
University
High School - only mention the name of the high school you graduated from if it is a very good school eg Bishops, Roedean or the ilk.

leadership

If you served on a student representative body, or on the executive of any organization while at school or while doing tertiary education mention it, and the years in which you served in that capacity
If you were a prefect, or attained honours in your final years at school, eg colours, or won a Science Olympiad or national drama award, or some such – mention it, and the year in which this was achieved.
If you are involved in outside leadership activities eg serving on the council or executive of an NGO, community organization or similar group – mention it and the years served.

professional qualifications

Certifications and Accreditations
Computer Skills

awards

publications

books

professional memberships

curriculum vitae

• The more seriously you present yourself and your achievements, the better a future employer will regard you.

• Use simple, clear English.

• Keep the tone straightforward, positive and professional.

• Do a spell and grammar check on your computer before sending (use South African or British English, not American) any communication to a potential future employer.

• If you are referring to a person by name or their position, ensure you spell their name correctly and have the right title. Never, ever spell
  anyone’s name incorrectly, if you are unsure, ask.

• Do not use slang, jargon or abbreviations, write United Nations instead of UN, write technical instead of techie, say that you are a computer
  specialist and not a computer nerd.

• Never have more than five pages of curriculum vitae and even then you should have five pages only toward the end of a highly distinguished
  career, don’t have five pages listing every single task you perform from pouring the tea to filing correspondence. If you have little experience
  keep your CV to no more than two pages of tightly compiled information.

• Always type and print a CV, leave smiley faces and interesting colours for notes to your friends.

why your cv got thrown in the bin

Research shows the most common reasons why your CV won’t even get read:

• Typos or grammatical errors - 34 percent

• Too long, too much information - 22 percent

• Not listing achievements in former roles - 17 percent

• Poor layout and/or design - 17 percent

• Too little information - 7 percent