Your staff are essential to the business, and therefore their happiness is paramount. The problems that can occur in business can often be because your staff are not satisfied with one or more things. Not every business can be perfect, but there are certainly things you can do to improve it. Here are four ways to make your staff happy.
Workstations are an important part to work on when it comes to staff satisfaction because it’s an area they spend most of their day working at. Think about the space and the layout of the office and try to figure out if it’s the best format for your staff. The last thing you want is your staff feeling cramped and so you might want to get different sized desks or just plan to rearrange the format to suit everyone a little better. Think about the comfort and safety of your staff too by making sure you’ve done a workstation assessment. This is to clarify any areas of concern for the staff member and to make sure that all staff have the right setup and comfortable position to work at a desk. You also want to cover the IT side of the business too, making sure IT support is effective for all staff. If not, then looking at managed IT services is something worth considering.
Give Them Flexibility
Flexibility is something that all staff need to some degree. Some more than others, especially when it comes to families, might need the option to work from home or on their travels. It’s important to be flexible as a business and to appreciate that life does get in the way, and things happen that are out of our hands. So perhaps look into the opportunity of giving your staff more work/life balance in the form of remote working. Giving the chance for them to work from home can be very useful and good for their wellbeing, as and when they need it.
Develop Their Skills & Career
Developing your employee’s skills is great because not only does it make them more skilled and talented in their job, but that also directly benefits the company. Sit down with all your staff and find out what they want from the job and the company. They may wish to stay the same or work their way up the company. If there’s scope for that and they’re valuable members of staff, why not help them?
Encourage Proper Breaks
It’s frightening just how many staff members across businesses don’t take a proper lunch break. And when they do, it’s usually sitting eating at the desk, while doing work. It’s important to remember that you do need some time to eat and whether that’s bringing in a packed lunch or going out, eat away from your desk. Be a good employer and encourage proper breaks within the workplace.
The more you make your staff happier, the less likely they are to leave. It’s essential to your company’s growth and success to do this.
Security is something to take seriously within the workplace because you can never be too careful with both the reality and virtual world when it comes to running a business. If you want to improve your security as a business, here are some handy tips.
Confidential data is just that, confidential. However, a lot of businesses have come under fire by not having secure enough systems to prevent those individuals, hacking into databases. The same goes for the everyday trash a business throws out and very naively throwing away important information that isn’t destroyed properly in the form of written data and electrical. With that being said, it’s important to destroy any of your confidential data in the proper manner. For example, there are companies like urmining.com who can help with getting rid of confidential data through recycling schemes and secure shredding. It’s essential you do this in order to protect your company and cover it’s back.
Get A CCTV System Installed
CCTV systems are a good thing that should be installed when it comes to the workplace. You never know who might be watching, and if ever your company is targeted for an attack, you want to make sure you are well protected. A CCTV system is a typical way that most companies would protect themselves, but you can always get security guards too if that’s something within your budget. Make sure this CCTV footage is monitored by someone, even if it’s the operations manager taking a look over it all quickly. It’s important in case there’s anything that did happen and that you’re not aware.
Do Staff Training
Staff training is a good thing to have when it comes to security, as it can enlighten your staff on things that they might not have been aware of before. Make sure to show your staff that there’s no shame in not understanding things on the internet and in person. Anything that they might not be aware of when protecting themselves online needs to be covered for the safety of the business. Ensure all staff gets inductions on the building and how to enter and exit it safely at all times.
Strengthen Entrances & Exits
Even though CCTV is handy, you might want to think about securing your entrances and exits, too, as these can be weak points for a business. Key cards or fobs to get into the building could be useful, as well as gates that staff need to scan a card or fob to get through. It’s just an extra layer of security that’s worth thinking about in order to ease the minds of your staff.
With all this being said, safety and security for your business in all aspects is important to take very seriously. Find ways to make sure you are securing your business both on the inside and online. Use these tips to help cover any areas that you hadn’t covered beforehand to further strengthen security in all aspects of the company.
In the wake of the coronavirus, organizations are changing the way they work. Movement is limited. The primary solution to slowing the virus spread is to stay home. That can be challenging if you want to communicate with business partners abroad. But that does not mean it is impossible.
One way to meet with business partners is teleconferencing. With a sound IP PBX integrated into your existing phone system, communication becomes possible. But there are things that you should do to ensure that your teleconferencing becomes successful:
1. Dress for success
One of the major advantages of working from home is being able to wear your pajamas all day if you want to. But that is not a good idea if you intend to have an international video conference. It will give your business partners a poor impression of you and cost you their business.
Make an effort to clean up and dress professionally even though you might be working from home. It shows that you are serious about your brand. And those potential clients will take you seriously, too.
2. Set a reasonable meeting time
One major challenge of having meetings with people from different geographical locations is the timing. There are many time zones in the world. And what you think is the appropriate time for you might not be suitable for your business partners.
So when setting the time, you need to be careful. Try to find a meeting time that works both for you and the people you will be communicating with abroad. So use a world clock to determine the best possible time that will not affect the performance and productivity of everyone who attends the meeting.
And make sure that you are on time. It is better to be early for a teleconference than to be late. Do not take other people for granted.
3. Get a reliable Internet connection
You might not need electricity for teleconferencing, especially if you have a fully charged mobile device like a laptop. But you do need the internet. For that reason, make sure in advance that your internet service provider is reliable. On the date of the meeting, you must have a stable Internet connection throughout.
4. Be aware of cultural differences
Different countries have different cultures. To make your teleconference a success, you should avoid offending people. Doing so could cost you customers.
Research about your business partners or potential clients. Learn where they come from and know their culture. For example, a thumbs-up can be a sign of congratulations in one country, but it can be an insult in another. Such minor details can make you lose valuable business projects.
If you think that language is going to be a barrier to communication, then find a way out. You can hire a translator to help you communicate with the participants of the teleconference. It can cost you money upfront, but you can end up gaining more clients after the meeting is over. It can be a necessary investment that will grow your business.
Changing the way you work can be challenging, but you can learn to adjust. Investing in a high-quality IP PBX system can be one way to do that. Then you can maintain communication with all the relevant business partners, suppliers, and clients, regardless of where in the world they stay.
Condos are a little different from apartments and therefore the process of renting them out is also slightly different, so what exactly is a condo? In terms of structure, condos and apartments are essentially the same and this is where the confusion lies. The main difference between the two can be defined in terms of the ownership. Condos are available to own, while (usually) apartments are only available to rent.
What are the benefits of renting out your condo?
The most obvious benefit is the income you’ll gain from renting out your condo. As property values tend to rise over time, it’s likely that your condo will be a great investment to make money. With any luck, you’ll earn a good return if you choose to sell it in a few years. What’s more, if you upgrade or make renovations, you can then take this expense off your income (and end up reducing what you owe in tax). Some people choose to rent out their condo because they are not currently living in it; however, they are not prepared to sell. Others choose to because they need money to cover the mortgage on the property they are currently living in. Whatever the reason you would like to rent out your condo, there are a few important steps and considerations to make.
What is the process of renting out your condo?
The very first thing you need to do is to look over your condo documents, to ensure that you are permitted to rent it out. Your condo may have certain lease restrictions; for example, sometimes the owner must live in the condo for a set amount of time before renting it out. Another type of restriction involves limitations on the number of condos that can be rented out in the same development.
(HOA) to check if there are any restrictions which apply to you. The HOA create and enforce guidelines and rules for property owners. When you buy a condo, you then become a part HOA automatically. On purchasing your condo, the rental restrictions will be made aware to you. If restrictions are put in place after you have already purchased your condo, then you will not be required to adhere to these.
Advertise your condo
Once you know that you are allowed to rent out your condo, you need to advertise it to prospective tenants. Be sure that you write a detailed description, including as much information as you can. From the proposed rental costs to the deposit or the type of tenants, for example will you rent to couples, or are pets allowed etc. The more specific you are in your description, the more likely you will be to attract candidates who are right for your condo.
Screen applications
You’ll need to run background checks on your prospective tenants to ensure that you protect yourself. For instance, ask for their proof of residency, their income, and references from previous rental properties. Failing to screen applications properly could land you in some financial trouble later down the line.
Prep the lease
When you are preparing the lease between yourself and the tenant, you must be thorough. Outline all of the appropriate rules in terms of looking after the property, the house rules and the deposit. When entering into a legally binding contract, it’s important to pay attention to detail. With so much to do, it can be easier to hire condo management services to complete all of these steps for you.
Consider a condo management service
These services can be useful to help you with a variety of time consuming and essential steps. There are many tasks associated with condo and rental management, and failing to adhere to them all may leave you with problems in the near future.
An excellent condo management service can streamline the process of paying association fees and property management bookkeeping. These services will often offer inspections and reports, obtain quotes for repairs, or perform landscaping if required. You can even access rental services including marketing, tenant background checks, condo viewings and resolving tenant conflicts. You likely want the benefits of renting out your condo, without a lot of paperwork and technicalities to deal with! A condo management service can prep the lease, arrange apartment clean-outs and provide useful software portals. For a simple way to rent out your condo, a professional service is just what you need.
Should You Consider the Borrower’s Intent or Ability to Pay?
by Lina Martinez
Do you often wonder how lenders, banks, and utility companies approve loans and other subscriptions? What is it in you that signals to your credit card company that they can trust you with an increase in credit limit? What makes them think that you can pay or have the intent to pay them in the first place? For all they know, you could be a criminal who hacked into the system to modify your credit score and history.
Lenders usually have different considerations to make when approving a loan or subscription. They depend on credit score companies to check how you fared in previous loans and bills. These companies compile your credit history. They create a profile of your ability to pay the loans based on your income and other sources of money.
But there has been a movement as of late in the banking industry. Borrowers are not only being judged based on their ability to repay the loans, but also on their intent to pay it in the first place. In India, this came afterbillionaire Vijay Mallyadefaulted on his almost $1 billion loans in 2016 and fled the country. The Economic Times says that this has pushed the interest of judging people’s intent to pay to the forefront of the lending guidelines.
Ability to Pay
The ability to pay is based on your income and credit history. Lenders are going to look at your credit score. They are going to check your current financial status-how deep in debt you are and how much you are earning a month. Where is your income coming from? From retirement? Investments? Inheritance? Salary? Do you have a business? How profitable is your business? Do you have a stable job? What percentage of your salary is your computed monthly amortization?
Theborrower’s ability to pay is quantitative. It is based on science. It is based on numbers and statistics. It is easier for a lender to grant a loan or subscription when there is empirical data to back up this decision.
Intent to Pay
Then, there is the intent to pay. This is a human trait. Credit companies can measure a person’s intent to pay based on their credit history. In India, since 2016, many companies have used a set of questionnaires, specifically targeting a group of borrowers. The questions reflect the needs and challenges of the sector the borrower is a part of. This means that there will be different criteria for educational loans, small- and medium-sized business loans, housing loans, and car loans. The questionnaire was made in such a way that borrowers cannot bluff their way through it.
Lenders say that this formula is around 97% to 98% accurate. They can efficiently collect payments from borrowers using the criteria of the intent to pay. When there is the intent to pay, lenders are more able to recuperate the money they have lent.
The ability of the borrower to pay should be prioritized more than one’s intent to pay. Customers with good intent to pay cannot do so if they don’t have the ability to pay. On the other hand, those with the ability to pay but don’t have the intent can be held legally. A lending business is not just about letting people borrow money. It makes its profit from recovering the money lent to businesses and people, so the ability to pay back the loan is more critical than the intent.
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