Feedback Tips

Posted on by Orla Fitzpatrick
feedback

Giving feedback on an employee’s performance is an essential part of helping them be all that they can be in your capitalist regime. Giving a quick review now and again on what they’re doing right and what they’re doing not-so-right can really help for all parties involved; they get a pat on the back and an incentive to work harder and you get to criticise someone mercilessly. Fun!

However giving feedback can also be tricky. You need to know how to strike a balance between firm and fair; too firm and you won’t have any employees left but too fair and no one will get anything done. Ultimately if you or your employee are leaving the feedback session without knowing exactly what improvements need to be made and how, then you need to work on your technique to better communicate what needs to be done. A poorly handled feedback session will just leave everyone confused and productivity can be left in a worse shape than before. Luckily here’s a handy guide to not do that! Nice.

Courtesy of the Harvard Business Review 2015, reprinted in the Irish Times, here’s a nice and easy top five list of ways to improve your feedback giving skillz. So really everybody gets to improve, far out. Presented by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, the CEO of Hogan Assessment Systems, this guide will have you dishing out feedback like a certified pro.

The Five Principles of Retail

Posted on by Orla Fitzpatrick
The Five Principles of Retail

Whether you’re a newcomer to retail or you’re a veritable veteran, it can never hurt to swot up on the basics for a bit of a refreshers course. The Marketing Donut has condensed all you need to know about retailing into five perfectly manageable bullet points. The list includes familiar faves such as the four ‘P’s and being nice to customers or whatever. Definitely worth a quick read-through if you’re a retailer who wants to know how to retail good.

Es-cent-ial Guide to Rounding

Posted on by Orla Fitzpatrick
1c 2c 5c - Rounding

Here’s a less charmingly titled article as a mild follow up to our last post on the Rounding scheme being rolled out on 28 October.

The Central Bank has released a quick guide as an overview of what’s happening in October with the Rounding initiative to slowly reduce the use of 1c and 2c pieces. Here’s a prettier PDF for all your prettier PDF needs.

The guide clears up a couple of misconceptions. For one thing, the scheme is totally optional for both the consumer and the retailer; both parties can still use exact change in the transaction if they want. And Rounding won’t be applied to single products but to the the total bill.

Check out the full guide for further info.

Double Your Retail Return – Alex Cochran

Posted on by Orla Fitzpatrick

In this detailed five step plan, Alex Cochran promises to get you doubling your net profit without having to spend a single cent. Cochran’s blog is populated with tips and tricks on expanding your business and maximising profits and this guide is no exception. ‘Double Your Retail Return’ uses lots of diagrams, bullet points and business-sounding initialisms such as GPROSI in order to whip your business into shape. A must-read for any retailer looking to increase their profit margins.

HSA Guide for Safe Workplace

Posted on by Orla Fitzpatrick

A solid few minutes were spent debating whether or not to title this post with some ‘Safety Dance’ lyrics but given that safety is THE most important topic we could discuss the council ultimately conceded that that would be a bad call. Maybe some other time.

What’s a GOOD call, however, is making sure the risk statements and safety assessments for your business are up to scratch. If you don’t know what these are, you absolutely need to. And you’re in luck cause here’s a handy link to the HSA‘s dandy guide on making such statements and assessments. The document walks you through the main health hazards you or your employees are liable to, how to minimalize these risks and what to do if something does happen. It lays out all your legal requirements as an employer in easy-to-understand terms which will make it much easier to avoid any accidents in the future. The guide also prepares you to write your own safety and health policy and even includes a number of forms at the very end to fill out and get yourself sorted. Safety is important, go check it out!!

How to Upsell

Posted on by blogfitz

Wikihow is a pretty wonderful resource on most everything you’re gonna have to face in life, including your business. This particularly excellent article on upselling is a really handy guide on making a closer connection with your customer and convincing them to get more bang out of their buck by splurging on a few more items. All the while the guide is illustrated with an anime-esque young woman staring sultrily and directly into the camera with a fairly distressing number of close-ups dedicated to her hands – it’s a win-win all around, honestly.