What Not to Say When Firing Someone (Spoof)

If you were asked to think of a rubbish boss, you would probably name the character David Brent from The Office. This article looks at the stupid things he, and similarly hilariously bad bosses, might say when firing an employee.

Firing Facts

Firing an individual is never a nice thing to do. No matter what anyone says, if there is a person who enjoys doing it then they are not very good at their job. What’s more, they would probably say one of the following things while doing it.

Don’t get me wrong, it is okay to be compassionate, but the best way to show this trait is to deal with the situation professionally and with the utmost integrity.

Small Talk

It is okay to greet the person and ask how they are, as you normally would, but another small talk such as asking how their family is, where they are going on holiday this summer, and whether they have made plans for filling all of the spare time they are about to have should all be left well alone. Get to the point and get it done – plan it like a meeting, have bullet points to cover off and keep it short.

“I’m Sure This is a Big Shock”

If you are making larger scale redundancies, it should never be a shock. As the person in charge, if your team does not know this is coming then you have failed in your role. It is part of a leaders’ duty of care to tell their teams what is going on at all times, so they can prepare accordingly. Nasty surprises should never happen with an issue as serious as this, and you should have laid the ground accordingly.

Patronising Them

Seriously, if you are letting someone go, for whatever reason, they do not want to hear things like “I know how you must be feeling” or “I do this with regret.” If that is the case, why do it in the first place? At the same time, you do not need to be cold and emotionless, but find a place between the two.

If I Can Help In Any Way….

This is in a similar vein to the last one, however many managers do say this sincerely. At the same time, why on Earth would you be putting yourself in this position if you have had to let the person go in the first place. Of course you could help, by giving them their job back!

Obviously firing someone is not easy, however by dealing with the process professionally, the process will be a lot smoother for all parties involved.

Posterita retail software allows management of chain store and single store operations to be so much easier because of its web-based platform.

 

Top 5 Silliest Management Books of All Time

This post takes a satirical look at the business management book genre, specifically looking at five of the most ridiculous titles and how they often lead to bad management.

Reading Up

While the old cliché that “managers are not made, they are born” can in some degrees be argued to be true, it is also worthwhile acknowledging that you can often pick up a number of tips and ideas for your own leadership style from the vast plethora of management guide books available.

While there are undoubtedly some gems, some of them just give a ridiculous message, ridden with management speak that is often regurgitated verbatim by the reader when at work, under the misguided premise that they are now a great leader.

We looked at five of the most ridiculously titled management books there are.

1.Management in 10 Words

If it is possible to sum up management in 10 words, then why on Earth has this been extended out into a 320 page book? Surely each word does not require an average of 32 pages for an explanation of why it is such a great management tool. If management really can be defined in 10 words, then a piece of A4 paper should suffice just nicely.

2.Who Moved My Cheese?

There is also another similar book called “Why is my Iceberg Melting,” however the essential message is the same. How can you and your business survive and thrive in changing conditions in an evolving world? Well, the answer is somewhat obvious in that you too must also evolve to meet the demands of the world. There is really no need for a book that likens the business world to a mouse trying to survive by looking for cheese. The scariest thing about this book is that it is an all-time best seller. Is it any wonder the global economy is a mess?

3.Getting Things Done

There is a whole series of books carrying this title, with various sub-titles based around being productive and having a stress-free work life. However, the message after 250+ pages of reading is always the same. If you want to get things done, write it down and have a plan. Simple really.

4.The One Minute Manager

For me, personally, this was the first management book I ever read. Unfortunately, it had little bearing on me, as having read it I immediately realised that the manager who had borrowed it to me was the human manifestation of the book, a product of what he had read. Basically, the book is centred around managing everyone for a minute each day, based on the old business cliché that “my most valuable minute is the one spent with my people.”

5.How to Lead

If ever there was an expensive tick the box exercise, this is it. Although it does contain a lot of leadership advice, the main purpose of the book is to tick off everything that applies to you, then go away and get the skills needed to tick the rest. Perhaps if you spent the time leading rather than reading and ticking boxes you would acquire the skills easier.

Posterita is a revolutionary POS software, and its free point of sale software can show every aspect of that.

 

The Stupidest Things Ever Experienced In Business Meetings

 

This article is a funny look at awful management practices, techniques, gimmicks, and the misuse of technology, and how they can make business meetings descend into chaos.

Dodgy Meetings

No matter the industry in which we work, we have all experienced the joys of working for an absolutely awful manager. Thankfully, for a lot of us the only time we ever see them is during management meetings, when they manage to cover themselves in glory for all to revere and laugh at.

This is a collection of the funniest and stupidest things to happen in business meetings.

The Ice Breaker

Do not get me wrong, the icebreaker is, in general, a good idea. It allows people to relax and settle them for the day ahead. Until the manager pulls out the ridiculous “Hopes and Fears” icebreaker. What are my hopes and fears for today? Well, to be honest I hope that this complete waste of time, expenses draining meeting only runs until lunchtime so we can go in the pub and get drunk. My fear would be saying something ridiculous that would make you think I am not taking this seriously at all.

Oh……..

The Backburner

I have experienced this one myself personally, and it is fair to say that the person running the meeting never used it again. It was a toss-up between this and the stupid notion of having an agenda point titled “Any Other Business,” but this one just about won out.

Putting something on the backburner is, of course, a saying for leaving something until later. During this particular meeting, the facilitator actually put a piece of flip chart paper on the wall titled “The Backburner.” Whenever someone queried something in the meeting that he did not want to discuss, it went “on the backburner.”

Everyone, except for me, obviously, thought this was a great idea, until 5pm rolled around and, with everyone wanting to head off home, we still had 12 issues to discuss that had been put on the backburner earlier. To this day I have still not experienced something so ridiculous!

What Can We Do?

It is always great to be at a meeting with someone who does not know how to use PowerPoint. Using PowerPoint as the main basis for a meeting is a crime in itself, but that is a story for another day. “Employee engagement” is a buzz word in management speak these days, so what better way to engage them than by asking them what they think the companies’ objectives are.

Better yet, why not idiotically put the answers up first without realising, then shower praise on your team for having such great ideas and being in tune with the company mission statement so closely?

Posterita is revolutionary new retail point of sale (POS) software that allows chain stores and single stores to manage every aspect of their operations via an easy-to-use web-based platform.

 

 

How Can Retail Managers Lead Their Teams More Effectively?

Managerial Challenges

There are many challenges that face the modern retail manager. Whether you work for a large company in one of hundreds of retail stores for a huge company, or run your own retail business, different challenges are thrown up every day to be dealt with in as quick a manner as possible.

In the modern world, where business costs are higher than ever meaning our headcount will likely be severely compromised, managers need as many tools as possible at their disposal in order to help them carry out their job effectively. Modern POS systems are one huge factor in giving managers this power. What benefits can modern POS systems bring not only to retail managers, but to businesses as a whole?

Knowing the Team

In a world where generally, sales figures are a whole number giving a total store performance, it can be difficult to understand which employee is adding value to your company, and which isn’t earning their wages. Using modern POS systems, today’s retailer can quickly analyse many aspects of employee performance and importantly, have the evidence at hand to take action, whether this be in the form of praise or otherwise.

POS systems can be used, for example, to monitor employee attendance and punctuality, as clocking machines can easily be integrated into POS systems. Other simpler methods, like asking an employee to sign into the system when they arrive, can also verify their attendance and timekeeping. Other business critical issues such as sales performance and even task management can also be viewed on POS. One popular way to drive sales at till points, for example, is to have a promotional product offered to all customers. Using the POS systems, managers will be able to quickly see which team members are performing better in this area of the business.

Business Owners

Modern POS systems can be extremely effective to business owners who are operating across multiple sites, or for area managers in larger businesses. Analysing and understanding trends from store A to store B, for example, can help business owners drive accountability and implement positive changes across their estate in order to ultimately make more profits. POS systems also act as the platform for the managers to understand how each business is performing, as well as the team members in each business.

Having this knowledge will enable business leaders to use POS systems much more effectively, and to impact on their business’ performance.

Posterita is innovative (POS) software that allows large or small stores to manage every conceivable aspect of their operations via a web-based platform.

 

What Are The Biggest Factors For Business Success in 2012

 

Keep your business profitable and sustainable throughout 2012 with a free POS software download.

Today’s Challenges

There are a great deal of challenges facing the business world today and in particular those businesses whose primary revenue comes from sales, such as retailers. The costs of running these businesses are forever increasing, and as such, a business’ profitability will be reduced dramatically. Whether it is in the form of increased materials, distribution costs, or minimum wage increases, business owners everywhere have a constant headache in terms of minimising costs.

The biggest way for businesses so remain successful in 2012 is to produce an effective cost reduction plan. Not only will this see them remain financially healthy in the short term but it will also put effective business practices in place, enabling the business to remain strong through another global financial crisis, should one occur in the future.

Software Costs

Significant sums of money are spent by businesses each year on the upgrading and on-going maintenance of point of sale programs. By obtaining a free POS software download program, a business can take huge steps to dramatically reducing the costs associated with this. The beauty of such software is that it is entirely cloud based, so all that is needed is a computer terminal in a business in order to use the software. The only costs associated with a free POS software download come in the support functions. However, given the increased reliability and performance levels that you get with such programs, these costs are unlikely to be colossal. In a world where business leaders are forever fighting cost increases, this is much more favourable than paying for 24/7 support cover for an unreliable software and hardware package. This is before we even get into the additional costs of an engineer visiting your business to resolve the issue if it is something that cannot be resolved remotely.

How It Helps Your Business

In addition to the superb cost savings, a free POS software download can help your business in many ways. It can be a great time saver for the multi-site business manager, as they can simply log on to the cloud at home and view each site’s performance, rather than having to visit each site individually, or rely on communication from all of their managers.

A free POS software download can also drive significantly better employee productivity, as visibility of performance measures is dramatically improved. Other key business levers such as inventory control and stock loss can also be measured accurately.

Posterita provides free point of sale software to retail businesses. Moreover, they offer marketing and business advice to their partners and clients to help their business grow. If you want to find more about their free POS software download it from their website.