What Is a DiSC Profile?
A DiSC Profile is done to enable an individual to discover more about their own and other people’s behavior based on their individual personality. This allows situations that they may find themselves in, to be explored and understood. It shows them when they exhibit behavioral tendencies under what particular circumstances.

A DiSC Personality Test shows your way of handling stressful situations, whether individually or part of a team. It is also useful in monitoring a person’s behavior whenever there is conflict, when he or she communicates, when in fear, when trying to avoid some activities and when solving problems, among other situations.

A DiSC Profile Is Not Just Another Personality Test.
It is a report that provides the result of the test showing what your strengths and weaknesses are, your motivations, your behavioral tendencies and also shows you the different ways in which you can make yourself effective in your career pursuits and most of all, your personal life.

One of the many advantages that you can get out of DiSC Profiles, is the utilization of a commonly used language for communicating about people’s feelings, behavior and thoughts. This is manifested by using an objective and non-judgmental language that describes “what is instead of what should be.” This means that instead of you being at each other, you will be able to know how to be with each other.

Essentially all humans are the same. Therefore the principles behind human behavior will not be different either. On the surface, small differences can be found from person to person, but overall behavioral tendencies remain constant. In all people though is a basic drive based on what a person wants and needs and behavior manifests how individuals act in their attempt to achieve them.

Awareness Is The Key To Effectiveness and Success.
Not everyone is open to the fact that awareness of one’s behavioral tendencies and those of others through the use of these types of tests and personality assessments make much difference. But a DiSC Profile will help you and your team to become more organized and effective which puts you all at a competitive edge.

With a DiSC Personality Test, you or your team would learn to be able to communicate with each other better and learn how to do it in the most effective way, for when a person is aware of how to adapt to other people’s needs and the environment, it would lead them to be at their best at all times.

About the Author

Steve Giles is the owner and founder of Intesi! Resources. Intesi! Resources is your In-Sourcing Partner for everything pertaining to a DiSC Profile helping you develop these vital skills and making them an integral part of your personal and business processes. Learn about a DiSC Profile or go to the main website for more about a DiSC Personality Test and other DiSC products.

Market Entry Strategies:

Going it alone

The strategy of “going it alone” refers to a decision to unilaterally enter another country without the aid of others. This is a risky strategy, as it means that you must have all the necessary resources for success within your own company. The fact is that the resources required for success can vary greatly from one country to another. Consequently, few companies can manage to enter a foreign market alone. It can be done more easily, however, when entering countries with less psychological distance between them and your home market. This is because countries with less psychological distance between them will have similar tastes, institutions and cultural norms.

Partnership

A partnership is a good choice when entering a market which you know little about. In the case of doing business in China, the Chinese government actually requires foreign businesses to partner with a Chinese firm. A local partner will give you access to a team of people who understand the local market, the customs, laws and so forth. This means that you will experience a very steep learning curve and do not waste time and resources making mistakes in the new market. It is important, however, to have a partner whom you can trust and work with for mutual benefit.
Subsidiary

A subsidiary is a separate company that is owned by the mother company. Setting up a subsidiary in a foreign market gives you the advantage of being able to hire a local management team to operate the organization while retaining all the profits (as opposed to a partnership in which profits are shared).

Factors:

Many companies successfully operate in a niche market without ever expanding into new market. Some businesses achieve increased sales, brand awareness and business stability by entering a new market. Developing a market entry strategy involves a thorough analysis of potential competitors and possible customers. Some of the relevant factors that are important in deciding the viability of entry into a particular market include Trade barriers, localized knowledge, price localization, Competition, and export subsidies

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Consultants Europe

Etudes Consultants Asia | trade consultant | Europe Consultant | india cabinet

To gain insight into what’s required of employers, it can be useful to review tribunal decisions. In one case an employment tribunal found that an employee was unfairly dismissed after they had carried out a hurried and incorrect disciplinary procedure.

The employer in this case was GFI Software Ltd, a global computer security software company. Mr. Unlu worked for the company and was based in Staines in the UK. Following a series of concers culminating in a formal sanction, Mr. Unlu became embroiled in a verbal altercation with a colleague based in Germany, Ms Kemski, on 21st November 2008. Ms Kemski complained to Mr. Unlu’s manager, Mr. Harvey, and the following day, Mr. Harvey emailed four senior managers setting out his intention “to move to the correct conclusion” quickly and efficiently, bearing in mind that “Germany is our top performing region”. The email included Mr. Wilson, who would have acted as an appeal officer.

At about 8pm on 22nd, Mr. Unlu called Ms Kemski on her mobile phone, allegedly to return a missed call from her number. Ms Kemski said that she had not called him and told her manager that she felt that Mr. Unlu was trying to scare her.

The Head of HR, Ms Trigona, investigated, carrying out enquiries by telephone from Malta. Her notes recorded Ms Kemski’s concern that Mr. Unlu “would send someone from the Mafia”; that he had threatened to “get his cousins over from Turkey” to beat up his former manager; and her description of him as a “psycho”. Ms Trigona drafted Ms Kemski’s statement. She included the allegation about the violent cousins but not the Mafia allegation and the “psycho” description, which meant that Mr. Unlu could not challenge them.

The disciplinary hearing took place in Staines on 27 November 2008. Mr. Harvey was present and Ms Trigona participated by speakerphone from Malta. The notes of the meeting did not properly probe and explore what had been said between Mr. Unlu and Ms Kemski. Mr. Unlu accepted that Ms Kemski had been distressed because he had used the German word “verwirrt” which (as an interpreter explained to the tribunal) can mean either “unclear” or “mentally unstable”. He stated that Ms Kemski had told him that a complaint from her could lead to his dismissal, because he was on a final warning. This was not investigated. Mr. Unlu was dismissed by Ms Trigona for addressing Ms Kemski “in an aggressive, hostile and harassing manner”. He complained that he had been unfairly dismissed. The employment tribunal agreed and found that there were a number of flaws in the employer’s process.

Firstly, Ms Trigona had taken more than one role. She had been involved as friend or advocate to Ms Kemski; she was the investigation officer; she decided whether or not there was a case to answer; she also made the decision to dismiss at the disciplinary hearing.

The second concern was Ms Kemski’s statement. Mr. Unlu was dismissed on the basis of a statement drafted by Ms Trigona. Ms Kemski had not seen it. It had been read to her over the phone in a foreign language. This was not a reasonable way to handle evidence which could lead to a dismissal. The tribunal also considered that Ms Trigona had been selective in the way she edited Ms Kemski’s statement.

Thirdly, GFI was aware at the time of the difficulties in the sales team but made no effort to investigate. It did not interview Mr. Erlich, who (at Ms Kemski’s request) had witnessed the second conversation with Mr. Unlu on 21 November. It did not investigate the “silent phone call”, even though Mr. Unlu told the hearing that he could prove from his Blackberry records that he had responded to a call from Ms Kemski.

Ms Trigona did not explore Mr. Unlu’s use of the word “verwirrt”, nor the “violent cousins” allegation. The tribunal considered that she should have investigated:

* the context, place and time when it was made;
* whether or not it was made seriously; and
* why Ms Kemski often went for lunch with Mr Unlu.

Lastly, the tribunal took the view that the investigation took place with unseemly haste. The incident occurred on a Friday and the disciplinary hearing took place the following Thursday. It concluded that the company knew from an early stage that the outcome would be dismissal, and it wanted to limit damage in a major business area. Between 21st November and the date of the hearing, Mr. Unlu had to arrange representation, reply to the allegations against him (writing in his third language) and travel to England. The tribunal observed that a disciplinary meeting at which an employee’s future is at stake has not been conducted fairly where the decision-maker has engaged with the employee purely by telephone. Unlu v GFI Software Ltd [2009]

The Unlu case highlights some common mistakes. Remember to follow your procedure, keep an open mind and don’t assume that the employee is guilty at the investigation stage; and conduct the investigation in a timely fashion, but not with undue haste.

Kate Russell is the author of How to Get Top Marks in … Tackling Workplace Investigations, publication date 31st March 2011.

Interested in New Roles at Russell HR Consulting? To find out more visit us at http://www.russellhrconsulting.co.uk/index.php/working-with-russell-hr-consulting

Russell HR Consulting provides expert knowledge in the practical application of employment law as well as providing employment law training and HR support services. For more information, visit our website at http://www.russellhrconsulting.co.uk or call a member of the team on 0845 644 8955.

Russell HR Consulting offers HR services to businesses nationwide, including Buckinghamshire (covering Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Banbury, Northampton, Towcester and surrounding areas), Nottinghamshire (covering Chesterfield, Mansfield, Nottingham, Sheffield, Worksop and surrounding areas) and Hampshire (covering Aldershot, Basingstoke, Reading, Farnborough, Fareham, Portsmouth, Southampton and surrounding areas).

About the Author

Kate Russell started Russell HR Consulting in 1998 and now divides her time between advising businesses of all sizes on HR issues, and delivering a range of highly practical employment law awareness training to line managers, including a range of public workshops. Her unique combination of legal background, direct line management experience and HR skills, enables Kate to present the stringent requirements of the law balanced against the realities of working life. She is a senior presenter for several companies and a popular public speaker. Kate completed an MA in strategic human resource management in 2004.

The Giveaway Program – In many ways it is probably better to have no employee incentive program at all than to have a mediocre program. In this case, you have an incentive program where the maximum is so easy to achieve, it basically becomes an entitlement program where the organization is paying for employee behavior it should be getting for free. A program that, more than likely, will eventually be eliminated by some future cost cutting initiative. Then, you will have a group of employees that feel something has been taken away from them – not good for morale. More importantly, this type of program sets the tone that the expectations are low for the organization. Why else would an “incentive” be so easy to earn? When a culture like this is established, your overachievers will feel like they are being ripped off, and will ultimately either:

a) Turn it down a notch
b) Go somewhere else where their hard work is more appreciated.

Not to say this type of program will run off your best employees, but it is definitely not the type of environment where top achievers will thrive. It’s like having a thoroughbred racehorse and rewarding him for plowing fields.

The Impossible Dream – In this case you have probably set the bar a little too high. You want your employees to stretch a little, but you can’t expect them to be Plastic Man. With this type of employee incentive program you may have some of your overachievers still do everything they can and earn some of the incentives, but even they may burn out and think the incentive was not adequate for their effort. Meanwhile, the majority of your employees are going to feel like the program is a bad joke. Moreover, this type of employee incentive program can have a direct impact on management’s credibility as employees get the impression that management is feigning concern for their employees, or is just out of touch, by promoting such an impossible to achieve incentive program.

I Wanna “Be Like Mike” Program – This is obviously the place you want to be with your employee incentive program. Maybe 10% -20% of the program participants earn in the upper tier of benefits and another 30% – 50% earn a significant amount of benefits.

The incentives in the program should be challenging but not impossible – sending a clear message that people who give a little more, get a little more. Thus, you inspire the overachievers to keep overachieving and the average performers to become overachievers. Like the old Gatorade commercial – “Be Like Mike” (Michael Jordan). You make it cool to work hard and be the best.

So avoid the Impossible Dream scenario and don’t even bother if the best you can come up with is a giveaway program. If done properly, the program not only drives more productivity from your employee base, but it also helps you establish a culture of excellence – where challenges are appreciated, innovation is recognized and incremental effort is rewarded. Just look at the Pittsburgh Steelers for example. They are a small market NFL team that consistently puts championship caliber teams on the field. You might not like them, but you have to respect the culture they have established. Going into every season, the expectation is set – if it’s not a championship year it is not a successful one.

You want to attract employees who want to be part of an organization that is the best at what it does. Putting a challenging incentive program in place can help establish this type of top notch culture. It reminds me of conversation one of my mentors had with me and some of my peers (a team of supervisors) during a management meeting on performance.

Team of Supervisors: We sure are asking a lot of our people. It is going to be hard to fill our open job reqs with the expectations we have. There just aren’t many people that want to work that hard.

Our Manager: What do you think; maybe 20% of people are wired that way?

Team of Supervisors: Yeah, I guess that sounds about right.

Our Manager: Great! There are 300 million people in the US. That means 60 million have this attitude and we need less than 60 for our entire team. We only need to recruit one out of every one million!

Long story short, as a leader, you establish the expectations for your team and you want to recruit and retain the best people for your organization – people who appreciate a challenging and fair incentive program. Develop such an employee incentive program, keep it fresh and watch the competition begin.

If you need assistance forging an employee rewards program that says I expect a lot and I reward more, then perhaps a meeting with LoyalNation can get your employee incentive program off and running for the long haul.

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LoyalNation.com is your first stop for employee rewards and recognition solutions that build lines of communication and employee engagement.

With the 2010 World Cup just around the corner, football fans everywhere will soon be gearing up to watch and support their favourite teams. Some will experience the event via television, while others plan to journey to South Africa to witness the games in person. Either way, many people are likely to want time off from work in order to enjoy this year’s World Cup.

For employers everywhere, this could mean various things. It could, for instance, mean that many of their employees will be requesting time off at the same time – which could result in some people not getting that time off. It could also mean that some employees will call in sick – especially if they’re not given the time off due to so many requests being made at once. The event will also likely change expectations of employees in the workplace. For example, many employees might expect more flexibility in hours, so that they’re able to watch the games. Employers, on the other hand, might fear a decrease in productivity due to such expectations. With expectations and fears such as these running rampant in the workplace, tensions can run high – meaning business could suffer. But there are various ways to manage expectations, attendance, and holiday requests – even during an event as significant as the World Cup.

To begin, it’s essential that employers devise a clear – but flexible – plan regarding attendance and expectations during the World Cup. As an employer, you might consider implementing “flexi” hours – where employees can alter the times they come in and leave work, as long as they complete a certain number of hours a week. Or maybe you’re thinking about offering your employees a longer lunch break to watch the game. Whatever your terms may be, your employees are sure to appreciate some flexibility during this exciting sporting event.

Next, you’ll want to ensure you clearly communicate these terms – and your expectations with regard to performance – to all your employees. You’ll want to make it clear that while you’re making exceptions due to the event, productivity should not falter. You might also want to express that any exceptions being made during the World Cup are only temporary. At the same time, if you won’t be able to make certain employee accommodations – for example, approving time off for more than a certain number of people at any given time – you should be honest about this fact up front. In addition to any verbal communication you share with your employees regarding the matter, you might consider handing out a short guide to these temporary terms, inclusive of any applicable employment law.

Last but not least, keep in mind that while many people will be tuning in to or attending the World Cup, not everyone is going to be interested in watching the games. As such, you’ll want to ensure they’re not treated any differently (as a result of workplace changes during the World Cup) than those who are interested in watching the games. By compromising and acting in the interest of everyone involved, the workplace can be a fun, flexible, professional and productive environment during the World Cup.

About the Author

Adam Singleton writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.

In the past commercial playground equipments typically consisted of a single unit device such as a slide, a swing, a set of swinging bars or the like. These components were sometimes permanently combined during manufacture. Modern commercial playground equipments however has become a conglomeration of many playground components or modules attached to one another by various means and in a variety of arrangements. These changes in commercial playground equipments have evolved to meet the demands of a new generation of child care facilities. In the past most commercial playground equipments was found in large school yards where space was plentiful and basic equipment was sufficient. However, with the ever increasing numbers of day care facilities, centers for children needing special training and many other child care facilities, the requirements for commercial playground equipments to meet a great variety of needs have created a dilemma for the producers of the equipment. For example, if a user is providing equipment for use by special children the equipment must provide a higher than normal degree of safety, and may also be required to provide specialized training modules. The space requirements for these facilities also varies greatly.

While any commercial playground equipment having a variety of components may obviously be assembled and disassembled, the equipment available prior to this invention does not lend itself to be quickly and easily assembled and custom designed to meet the varied needs of the present generation of equipment users.

In the sale of commercial playground equipments, one most effective method is for a sales representative to transport a variety of available equipment to the location of a prospective buyer for display. Heretofore the outdoor playground equipment was completely fabricated at the factory. Because of the large bulk of the assembled equipment only a very limited variety of equipment could be easily transported. The present invention provides the capability of carrying a small number of module assembly mechanisms to which all playground modules may be attached, thus permitting simplified transportation of a large number of unattached playground modules of varied types. In use of the present invention it will be readily understood that upon arrival at a display site, one or more of the module assembly mechanisms may be quickly assembled and any of the desired playground modules, such as slides, steps.

The Vinson patent discloses an elevated house in combination with a variety of commercial playground equipments components such as a slide, a teeter-totter, and a plurality of swings.

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The answer, fortunately, is a fairly simple one: succession planning is inefficient. Almost instinctively, the words “talent management” invoke wince-worthy images of slow, laborious drudgery through interminable heaps of paperwork, digging through endless Word documents and filing cabinets in order to unearth scraps of employee information long-interred. No one, it seems, can bring themselves to tackle such a tedious task with more than perfunctory enthusiasm, and as a consequence, the art of human resource talent management as a whole has fallen by the wayside.

What many companies fail to realize, however, is that existing HRMS software can be an extraordinary help. Unlike the traditional process of talent management, which often overlooks pertinent information such as demographic data and employees’ mobility preferences, the use of HRIS HRMS technology can provide a far more comprehensive representation of company employees; it produces, in effect, what has come to be known as a talent profile.

These profiles are styled to give a full, sweeping view of employees, from a look at the sectors in which they’ve worked to a sketch of their knowledge and skills. Some companies collect this employee data by integrating their HR management software with other enterprise software, like ERP systems. Others, meanwhile, let employees keep their individual profiles up to date themselves.

Typically, a company “breaks in” its HR Software by first focusing on automating performance appraisals, simply because these appraisals are an obvious area just begging for improvement. The company will then gradually start to add additional performance management tools geared towards helping to streamline employee goals with the goals of the organization.

Unfortunately, many companies tend to stop here, daunted by the prospect of the next logical move: implementing a tool for succession planning. It would seem that our industry at large just can’t quite disillusion itself of the notion that talent management need be a strenuous undertaking, even with HR software designed explicitly for that purpose.

But interest in HR performance management software is picking up, meaning that companies will start realizing soon enough the advantages of applying it towards talent management. IDC projects that performance management spending will hit $2.6 billion by the year 2012, with posted growth of 10% a year. A recent survey by CedarCrestone, a consulting company specializing in HRMS systems, indicated that 26% of HR professionals said their companies were already using succession planning software, with 16% budgeting it for 2009; 54% were already using performance management software for other purposes, and 13% had included it in their 2009 budgets.

The problem with paper-based succession planning is that it operates only within a limited scope. Pulling up files on “John Smith, Sales Rep” can give direct, existing information, but this offers no insight into connections between people and processes, with possibilities for future improvement. With talent management software, a company can define the skills needed to perform a job, and the software will explore its HR databases to identify all employees who meet, or have the potential to be trained to meet, the target requirements. Performance management thus becomes a proactive force, rather than reactionary procedure.

Furthermore, software allows for data to be presented in visual, stimulating arrays that convey far more information than a text file ever could. Organizational charts and graphs can sort, categorize, and compare content, displaying potential successors which are at hand now and how many will be available in the future. Meanwhile, rather than wait for an annual appraisal in which they generally get only limited feedback, employees can use the software to educate themselves on which skills they need to develop in order to move into specific roles.

Succession planning is an important strategy for every organization. With proper use of HR talent management software, a company can make succession less of a painful, obligatory process and instead into an exciting anticipation of the future.

About the Author

Clay C. Scroggin has over 15 years experience in the HR software industry. Clay is President and Owner of CompareHRIS.com, a website dedicated to aiding HR professionals with their search, selection, implementation, and use of HR information systems. If you are looking for HRIS or HRMS software, make sure to try our free HRIS Software Selection Tool.

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Name: Adam Tallamy
Designation: Managing Director, Chase Zander
Web: http://www.chasezander.com