Business, Careers, & Money Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 11-14-2024

Communicating effectively in business requires far more than writing clearly and delivering persuasive presentations. It requires mastering fundamental skills such as active listening, nonverbal communication, and audience analysis, and then applying them to specific business situations — presenting, negotiating, resolving conflicts, getting hired, collaborating with colleagues, and more. This handy Cheat Sheet is a quick reference for business communication basics. It offers tips for eliminating distractions, choosing the right communication medium, listening actively, choosing the right words, and avoiding common networking mistakes.

Article / Updated 11-13-2024

Change is inevitable, and the world of work is changing faster than ever. In fact, the pace of workplace change has accelerated so much that the workforce is often unable to adapt rapidly enough. The result of this imbalance can be referred to as the workforce readiness gap. To thrive in this environment, today’s employers must understand what this gap really represents and then embrace the tenets of workforce agility that close the gap and benefit employers and employees alike. Understanding the Workforce Readiness Gap The workforce readiness gap isn’t just about the here and now — it’s also about the future. Ensuring that workers have the talents and skills they need to succeed today is challenging enough, but they also must be able to continually build the skills they need for tomorrow. In other words, there’s a gap if workers aren’t thriving now, but also if they’re unable to adapt and evolve as demands of the work world change. By the way, this gap can impact both direct employees and indirect labor resources. And it’s a concern not just for employers but also for workers themselves — they want to feel certain that they’re ready for tomorrow, and they want confidence that their employers will help them be ready. One of the many tricky things about accelerated change is the fact that many jobs of the future have not yet even been invented. It’s clear enough, though, that automation is impacting millions of people and that remote work continues to change processes. All of these things feed the workforce readiness gap. Though it sounds daunting and a bit fuzzy, the workforce readiness gap really boils down to three main buckets: Employees are having trouble keeping up with changing requirements for skills. Employers aren’t living up to employee expectations for skills development. Employers don’t have good visibility into their workforce — the skills that are out there now as well as the skills that will be needed from their team down the road. Amid those uncertainties is the reality that the workforce readiness gap is costly. Skills shortages get in the way of corporate performance, and the resulting unrealized revenue adds up to trillions of dollars a year. Customers are less satisfied, productivity drops, expenses increase, and employees go job hunting. In short, employers and society as a whole can’t afford to ignore the workforce readiness gap. Aiming for Workforce Agility Two words point to the solution to the workforce readiness gap: workforce agility. Workforce agility is the ability of employers to understand both the current skills and the aspirations of their workforce, gauge where the needs are or will be, and then nurture development and growth in all the right directions. Workforce agility focuses on developing people, because organizations adapt best to change when their people can learn, grow, and contribute. Organizations must gain an in-depth understanding of the ecosystems of their people’s strengths and preferences, to help them thrive and meet business objectives. And although prudent organizations already have workforce-development infrastructure in place, it’s important to recognize that yesterday’s approaches alone won’t meet tomorrow’s need for proactivity. That doesn’t mean ditching the traditional talent development tools, such as learning and development (L&D) systems, talent mobility offerings, performance management processes, skills management programs, analytical tools, and culture surveys. These technologies still have plenty of merit, but workforce agility requires integrating them with new concepts such as artificial intelligence (AI), so the processes become personalized, customized, and tailored to the needs of the people who use them. Workforce agility is about turning the organization into a skills marketplace. Success in workforce agility means improving culture and technology, upgrading the skills strategy, turbocharging L&D, personalizing learning content, refining performance management, boosting talent mobility, and greatly enhancing talent data and analytics. An agile workforce is proactive in anticipating and solving change-related problems. It’s constantly adapting and learning, and it’s resilient in the face of ever-changing circumstances. When the workforce is truly agile, it shows up in stronger organizational results. Bringing Workforce Agility to the People As is often the case in business and in life, problems are really just opportunities waiting to be tapped into. The workforce readiness gap may be a problem today, but a workforce agility strategy transforms it into a launchpad for future success. First, all employers know that turnover is costly, so it makes sense to retain employees as much as possible, hiring or promoting from within when it’s feasible. The key to making that work is upskilling and reskilling with the help of more accessible learning experiences and smart technologies for skills management. Formal training is part of the recipe, along with on-the-job learning, observation, feedback, and coaching. Smart employers also recognize that what’s good for their people is great for the organization. Getting employees invested in their own careers and letting them know their employer has their back is powerful medicine. An AI-enhanced talent marketplace system helps chart both traditional and nonlinear job progression that matches personal skills and goals. That, in turn, helps the organization transform strategically. The end result of a workforce agility strategy is better preparation for the future. The sky is the limit when personal aspirations are aligned with the organization’s goals and future talent needs. Skills data becomes more closely linked with career and succession planning. The result of these efforts is workforce agility that builds a bridge over the workforce readiness gap. When executed properly, it’s a win-win situation. Everyone benefits, including the organization and all its people. To find out more about workforce agility, check out Workforce Agility For Dummies, Cornerstone Special Edition. Head to www.cornerstoneondemand.com/resources/article/Workforce-Agility-For-Dummies-Cornerstone-Special-Edition/ for your free e-book and to start planning how you can build more workforce agility and close the widening workforce readiness gap.

Article / Updated 10-28-2024

A bullet journal or BUJO for short, is an organizational system that helps you keep track of everything in your busy life. It’s a life hack, a physical place to store everything you need to do, remember, or give attention to. Created by Ryder Carroll, a designer in New York City, the bullet journal is a way to keep organized in a fast-paced world. This system is a hard copy version of a to-do list, reminders, upcoming tasks, and anything else you need it to be, all in one place. And you don’t need any fancy gadgets or digital devices. All you need is a pen and a notebook. Elements of a bullet journal The bullet journal is comprised of five main elements. These include: Index: The index will be the first element in your bullet journal. Adding an index helps you find what you need when you need it. All of that information may seem like a waste if it is jumbled and you are unable to locate information in a pinch. Rapid logging: As the name implies, rapid logging is a quick and easy way to record anything. Many people lose interest in journals or complicated lists because they become arduous and cumbersome, rather than helpful. Using rapid logging, you make quick work of any meeting notes, journal entries, or to-do lists. This involves notations using short sentences and abbreviations, when possible. Logs: Your bullet journal should contain logs that help you identify what you need to accomplish. Ryder Carroll recommends that you use a future log, a monthly log, and a daily log. This way you can see what you need to accomplish on a small and large level. This logging system also provides you with a way to track your progress over time. Collections: Collections are a way of consolidating related topics. You can add a collection for books you want to read, restaurants you’d like to try, or even a separate collection for tracking fitness goals. Migration: Migration involves moving uncompleted tasks into current or future logs so that the tasks remain visible. If you are unable to complete a task from a previous month, simply migrate the task to your present or future set of goals. One of the main purposes of migration is to help you identify which goals and tasks are truly important to you. Your bullet journal can contain whatever information you want. The goal is to accomplish more by weeding out irrelevant tasks and continuing to work towards the ones that matter. Bullet journaling is about the system more than the content. Fill it with whatever matters to you! Getting started on your bullet journal Your bullet journal is a flexible system that allows you to keep track of all things. Follow these steps to get started: Choose your notebook and pen.Make sure it is big enough to hold everything. You will consolidate everything (really, everything) into this notebook. Open your notebook to the first spread and title them Index at the top of the page.A spread consists of two blank pages next to one another. Open to the next blank spread and title the pages Future Log.Write the page numbers in the bottom corner of your page. Go back to your index and log your Future Log.This could say simply, “Future Log 1-4.” It is important that you log entries into the index as you add them to your journal. This will help you find entries quickly when you need them. Go to the next spread and title it Monthly Log. Create spaces for monthly entries. Often, this takes the shape of large boxes for each month, similar to the structure of a monthly planner.Don’t forget to record the page number in your index. Open to the next spread and title these pages Daily Log. To enter your first entry, record the date. Begin recording tasks, events, or notes.You want to keep each entry short, as with a bulleted list. This is the rapid logging process. Use the following symbols: Tasks use a dot bullet (•) Events use an open circle bullet (o) Notes use a dash or hyphen (-) Use a star (*) to signify important tasks Once you have completed your first month, begin a new monthly log. Go back and scan your previous month. Mark completed tasks with an x. Review open tasks. Consider whether the task is still relevant. If the task is no longer relevant, mark it through with a line (task). If your task needs completed in future months, make the dot a left arrow (<) and migrate it to the appropriate place in the future log. If the task needs completed in the current month, use a right arrow (>) and record the entry in the current month. Next, begin any collections on a new spread to keep track of related topics.For example, you may have a grocery list or track ideas for an upcoming birthday. Record the page number and collection in your index. Begin bullet journaling. To see this process in action, check out Ryder Carroll’s YouTube video describing the basics of bullet journaling. Why people love the bullet journal The bullet journal is a great way to stay organized. But most importantly, bullet journals are easy. Here’s why: You can put everything is one place. No more lost or half-fulfilled to-do lists. Bullet journals are easily modifiable to fit your needs, habits, and schedule. They don’t require a huge time investment. All topics are indexed and can be found when needed. You are already doing this. Bullet journals just make it easier. With these journals, you can identify what is truly important to you and your goals are always visible. Check out Pinterest for ideas on how you can use your bullet journal to stay organized.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 10-28-2024

An estate plan, including a last will and testament, protects your family and finances after you die. Your first step in estate planning is to write a comprehensive will that moves smoothly through the probate process. Make sure you're aware of current estate taxes that may influence your planning and how insurance factors into your estate plan. Various types of trusts are available; do some research to find out whether setting up a trust is the way to go and consider some special circumstances that may arise and how they can affect your estate planning.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 10-17-2024

Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and real estate — the allure of earning high returns from these investments gets people’s attention. However, folks also hear about the risks involved in chasing those greater potential returns when investing. Before you set out to invest, you must get your financial house in order and increase your knowledge to make your best investing decisions. The following list summarizes 20 key themes and actions that can help make you a successful investor.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 10-16-2024

Get to know the basics of blockchain! Find out how blockchains and smart contracts work, what cryptocurrency is, and how to keep your cryptocurrency safe and secure.

Article / Updated 10-04-2024

Some real estate sales approaches involve a shorter contact-to-contract cycle than others, therefore delivering a greater return on your time investment and a higher value for your business. In order, here are the factors that most influence the value of your prospecting approaches. Past clients:The highest-value form of prospecting is calling past clients and those in your direct sphere of influence. These people have either used your services in the past or know you and your character. Asking them to do business with you again is described as canvassing. Asking them to refer their friends is described as prospecting for referrals.These calls are the easiest to make because they reach those with whom you have established relationships. Typically, real estate agents experience less resistance when placing calls to this group than to any other. They also make the calls with high expectations that their efforts will generate leads. How long it takes to acquire leads with this approach varies greatly. You can secure a lead on your very first call or on your 100th call, so the ratio of leads generated to time invested is difficult to anticipate. Expired listings:This may be the number-one highest-value prospecting approach, because of the ease of locating expired listings and the relatively quick contact-to-contract cycle. Expired listings come up in the MLS daily, along with all the information you need to make the contact. Many go back on the market with another agent within a week, so the sales cycle is short, which is a key reason that expired listings offer such a high rate of return for the effort.Few agents engage in calling expired listings, largely because the sellers, who haven't experienced success with their last agents, can be hostile toward new agents, as well. Many agents feel it's "beneath them" to contact these prospects — which further contributes to the opportunity for the ones who do. FSBOs:Converting sale-by-owner contracts requires more work than securing expired listings. You have to seek out these sellers through newspaper ads or FSBO subscription services like The RedX. After you target a FSBO property, figuring out whom to call takes another round of effort, which is why FSBOs are farther down the value hierarchy.The sales cycle for FSBOs is four to five weeks on average. FSBO sellers generally try to sell by themselves for that timeframe before engaging a real estate agent. During that period, you must follow up weekly to secure an appointment four to five weeks away. Open houses and door knocking:These face-to-face techniques require more time investment than phone contacts because you can't see as many people face to face as you can speak with on the phone — but it's harder for people to reject you face to face. Cold calling:This technique, tried and true since the advent of the phone, has lost effectiveness over the years because of the preponderance of busy two-income families and the onset of do-not-call registries. If you are calling around about homes that have recently been listed or sold, it will generate business. Other people put their homes on the market after a neighbor lists or sells. Using a service like Cole Directory to secure phone numbers in neighborhoods is effective. They also provide cell phone numbers, which is highly effective.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 09-25-2024

Whatever reason you have for selling your business — finances, family, fatigue — you'll want to assemble the right group of professionals to assist you through the sale process, know which essential documents to have on hand, and understand how to value your business assets to ensure a successful sale.

Article / Updated 09-25-2024

The most important determinant of whether you'll be a successful swing trader is how well you manage risk. Ask yourself these questions before placing a trade to ensure you don't cut corners: Is the security liquid? Is the security a penny stock (hopefully not)? Are you prepared to limit losses at the individual stock level? Determine which precautionary measure you'll take: Set the position size based on the percentage you're willing to lose (0.25 percent to 2 percent of total assets). Set the risk level as a straight percentage of assets and that percentage doesn't exceed 10 percent of your total portfolio. Is your portfolio diversified? Make sure your positions are spread among different market capitalizations (for example, large cap, mid cap, and small cap), different sectors, and asset classes (not to mention domestic and international securities). Have you limited your total portfolio losses to 7 percent? Cover all your bases by confirming that Each security in the portfolio has a risk amount equal to the difference between the current price and stop loss level. The difference on an individual security level is tight — around 0.50 percent. The sum of those differences doesn't exceed 7 percent of the total portfolio value. The stop loss levels are at a level representing a profit (barring a gap in prices, of course). Cut losses when your stop loss is hit — no questions asked.

Article / Updated 09-25-2024

Being a successful swing trader calls for many skills, including the ability to assess the relative strengths of various market sectors. If you determine which stage the economy is in and then use that information as you review the following chart, then you’ll have a good idea which economic sectors are likely to lead the market in the near future.