Patra’s Tips
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Giving Thanks

Most Americans think of Thanksgiving and giving thanks. Too few of us build this into our business practices.

You know you should ‘catch someone doing something right’. Do you do that? Do you thank those who support you internally, your vendors or other external resources, others who help you regularly?

Here are some tips from a recent WomenGrowBusiness blog post which you may find useful.
Thanks Be With You

Are you a government contractor with clearances? You might find this recent post from ClearedJobs.Net on the common mistakes among small businesses in getting employees cleared helpful.

CJN Blog post

Quick Links…

SHR Website
My WomenGrowBusiness posts
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Whether you consciously planned it or not, your organization has a culture. In several HR seminars I did for Alexandria’s SBDC this year, a common comment was surprise at the importance of culture to organizations’ futures. Many of the business founders there said they simply had not thought about their culture or its value.A new President I have worked with the past 18 months is battling an existing culture that rewarded personal loyalty but little else – and put the organization’s future in grave doubt. You can imagine the challenges she has been dealing with since being hired by the Board. Every step has been undermined — and progress has required a lot of tough actions and huge amounts of time and effort.When I do organizational assessments, a common result is a divergence between what founders/CXOs say they have or want as a culture and what their practices actually are. Aligning your culture, your policies, and your actual practices is critical for success. Perhaps you never consciously tried to create a culture. Often, the culture you originally developed is not what you now need. Or worse, the culture you thought you had created is not what you actually have. The Board in the organization I mention above has been shocked at my findings in several areas and is having real difficulty reconciling their image of the organization they helped build with the critical problems the new President and I have found.As you prepare for 2012, take a look at your existing culture. Is it what you want? What you thought it was? Do you know those answers are truly correct? Will the existing culture support your strategic and business plans? If not, what are you going to do? How? When?

Hiring Veterans

Surely you have seen the big public push about hiring veterans. And, for government contractors, there are specific requirements.

Perhaps you know that veterans unemployment is almost as high as 18-34 year olds with only a high school education. But what can employing veterans do for your business?

Some ideas and resources for actual hiring here:

Hiring Veterans Toolkit for Employers
http://www.americasheroesatwork.gov/forEmployers/HiringToolkit/

and: SMBs and veterans

Just a heads up!


As always, if I can advise or assist you in any way, please call me at 703.751.2832

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