A portal is a central place for making all types of information accessible to an audience of varying range.

Teams come in all shapes and sizes and range in experience from the intern to the CEO of a company. An intranet portal for a company is a place where all of these different levels of employees can come together and share ideas, thoughts, projects, and other work related material to create a better work environment to either decrease costs or drive revenue for the company.

There is a lot of research on how teams function together and the dynamics that they can bring to your business to produce more, work faster, and reduce costs or bring in higher profits. The easier it is for these teams to share and collaborate, the better the execution will be on their projects.

One of the most beneficial features of an intranet portal is that everyone involved can stay up to date and informed on the projects they are working on. The thing that slows down team work the most is when the people involved don’t know what the status is on the work or who needs to complete their work before the next step can be taken. Portals solve that dilemma by allowing everyone who can access the portal the status of the projects, who’s responsible for what, and when those responsibilities will be completed.

Portals also allow members of a team to access information, documents, and other critical data while away from the office. So whether they’re at home, away on business, or just working remotely, they can still be an active participate on projects and complete their responsibilities on time.

You can also set up your portal to allow outside contractors and consultants to complete work on your projects. The security settings can be set up to allow a consultant to work on one particular project or multiple projects at the same time. This allows you to control what they can access and how much information they will be able to see.

My company has its own intranet portal because of the reasons stated above. We all have our satellite offices, but the use of a portal allows us to complete our projects and come up with better processes to work more efficiently. You can set up your own intranet portal with the help of Sharepoint Portal Consultancy who offer their services to companies looking to set up their own portals and improve the way your team works together.

If your company wants to be more efficient, having a portal is the most cost effective solution. You will see your team collaborate more on their projects while completing the required tasks more quickly. The end result will be bringing products and services to market faster, or resolving internal processes quicker to meet your business needs.

If you have ever been employed, chances are good that
you’ve had a background check run on you. Employers looking
for reliable, trustworthy individuals will often use these
reports to confirm that information given on a resume is
true and ensure that they are hiring persons of high
standards. But what is included in a background check? Do
you have control over who can access your report? How can
you find out what is on your record?

What is included in a background check? Specific details of
an individual’s past are revealed in a background check for
purposes of employment. Depending on the company providing
the background check, your report may include a range of
information, including: criminal records, litigation
records, driving and vehicle records, education records,
licensing records, military records, social security
number, property ownership, credit records, employment
history, worker’s compensation, medical records, sex
offenders list, and interpersonal interviews (with
neighbors and other character references). Some services
offer nothing more than the information given in a phone
book, while others employ private investigators that offer
the whole gamut of information. Most employers hire an
outside company to give them the type of information that
is pertinent to the job you are being considered for.

(more…)

Copyright (c) 2006 Mr Sital Ruparelia

So what’s the real secret to retaining great people?

Well, it’s certainly NOT about pay and financial benefits.
In fact it’s quite the opposite – it’s what I refer to as
the ‘Non-Financial Benefits.’

Trying to sell a product as the cheapest on the market is a
difficult strategy to follow. It is better to focus on more
than just price and look at the other services and benefits
clients gain from doing business with you.

In a similar vein, you can never compete on being the best
payer in the market place (particularly as a small
business), so it is key that you are clear about all the
other reasons why people work for you, and then build these
factors into the way you then promote these to your current
and future employees.

(more…)

There is no decision more important than who you hire for
your business.  The right people will make you money.  The
wrong people always cost you money.

When you think about it, there is only one reason to hire a
new employee; to improve your productivity and make you
more profitable.  Unfortunately, studies have shown only 16
percent of employees actually make us money.

This is why it is so important to “actively” recruit until
you have at least five qualified candidates, use all
available resources to narrow you choice down to at least
two finalists and hire the one with the best “Job Match.”
If you don’t, you’ll most likely end up with an unreliable,
unmotivated, unproductive “workplace survivor” that will
limit your business growth, or a “mis-hire” that can kill
your business.

(more…)

Copyright (c) 2006 Mr Sital Ruparelia

Many businesses struggle to deal with under performing or
‘problem’ staff members. By “problem,” I mean anything from
persistent absence and lateness, right the way through to a
bad attitude or not achieving the job requirements to the
correct standards. When I examine these situations it is
often a self inflicted problem which the business leaders
and owners have created themselves. Either…
a) they hired the wrong people,
b) maybe they didn’t train them correctly, or else
c) they simply did not manage them when the problems first
arose.

This last point, failing to deal with a problem when it
first begins really is often the core reason and the
purpose of this article. Your failure to set boundaries and
have an ‘awkward’ conversation about deteriorating work
standards, attitude or time keeping as soon as they first
arise - will lead to problems down the line - I can
guarantee that 100%. So no matter how uncomfortable it
feels, you owe it to yourself, the business and the
individual to sit them down and “nip it in the bud” (as we
say in the UK) informally before it becomes a major problem
that grinds away at you and your business. So how exactly
do you do this..? Here is a 5 step model that you can use
when you first realize you have a problem with a team
member:

(more…)

Copyright (c) 2006 The Powerful Promoter

Are you confused about whether you should hire a contractor
vs employee? If so, you’re not alone. Knowing when it’s
time to hire a contractor instead of an employee is one of
the most confusing aspects of employment for many
businesses. Below we have provided some tips to help you
sort through the confusion regarding independent contractor
vs. employee hiring.

One of the most critical aspects of understanding
contractor vs. employee hire is in understanding each are
classified. If you should incorrectly classify someone as
either one or the other, the IRS could hold you liable for
employment taxes as well as a penalty.

(more…)

Is the staff that is keeping your business where it is now,
the same staff that will take you where you want to be?

If you are not reaching your productivity, sales and
revenue goals, it is time to figure out exactly why.

What Have You Done to Grow Your Business this Year?

If you are like most business owners and managers, you have
tried just about everything; from new technology and
software, to modifying your marketing message and efforts,
to hiring teamwork consultants, to reorganization.

There are three things all of these techniques have in
common.  One, they cost you a lot of money.  Two, they eat
up a good amount of your time.  And three, they rarely (if
ever) work. To grow your business, it is imperative to
improve the productivity of your employees.  That is the
reason organizations spend their time, energy and revenues
on the products and services that are written about in
articles, advertised in the media and introduced at
seminars.

(more…)

“Greatness” is a goal of every driven leader.  Though
greatness can be defined many different ways.

Here are some examples:
• Becoming your market’s most respected company
• Double (or triple) productivity from one year to the next
• Saturate your geographic sales area with the most
profitable stores/office
• Touch and improve the lives of more clients than your
counterparts
• Dominate the marketplace to the point that competitors
are forced to close their businesses

Whatever your vision of greatness is, here’s how to build a
great company as you accomplish all of your important
professional (& personal) goals.

YOUR Business Success Formula

(more…)

Here’s a fact, almost three of four hires disappoint their
employers in the first year.  Over the years, many of these
business owners have referred to these people as “losers.”

Before we discuss how to Stop Hiring LOSERS, it’s important
to understand what a LOSER is.  To help define, here’s an
acronym I’ve created:

L  =  Lazy  (requires external motivation from your
managers)
O  =  Obtrusive (stands in the way of your peak performance
& profits)
S  =  Selfish (aren’t interested in your company’s goals,
but their own)
E  =  Error Prone (constantly make mistakes & just doesn’t
“get it”)
R  =  Rebel (can’t follow your organization’s rules,
spreads apathy & creates conflict)
S  =  Simply Shouldn’t have been hired in the first place

Now, do we really need an acronym for the word LOSERS?  Not
really.  We all know what they are and who they are.
They’re the ones that even though they were hired to
increase your productivity, profits and make you $$$,
they’ve ended up robbing you of your time, energy and
costing you $$$.

(more…)

Copyright © 2006 Relational Sensibilities

Recent events have highlighted challenges related to the illegal immigrant workforce in the United States.  Many of the immigrants at the center of the debate are from Mexico in numbers well above 10 million.  This discussion focuses expressly on the reality that Spanish-speaking immigrants, whether legalized or not, are a significant presence in the U.S. workforce, especially in certain industries.  The fact that these immigrants are associated with low paying, physically demanding jobs is a given.  For many in the United States the protests, boycotts, and debates have brought a population to the forefront of American discourse that, for all intents and purposes, has been operating in the background of our economy as a relatively invisible class.

10 COMMON CHALLENGES

1.Effective written communication of policies and procedures that Spanish-speaking employees can relate to and understand

2. Identifying professional or trade-related development opportunities

3. Recognizing the value and individuality of the workers

4. Aligning the workforce with the company’s vision, mission and values

5. Encouraging and incorporating employee innovations and suggestions

(more…)