Category Archives: Managing Employees

Employee Peer Review: The Internal Market

Posted on July 31, 2016 by John F. Dini

There are various approaches to employee peer review. Comprehensive multi-level feedback, top-down and bottom-up comparisons, and even the lightening fast Stoplight 360 I wrote about here a few years ago. In many instances, however, the most powerful rating system is … Continue Reading →

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Managing Employees, Strategy and Planning | Tagged business ownership, business planning, business strategy, employee performance, employees, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, leadership, management, small business, small business advice | Leave a comment

Employees Who Make Bad Choices

Posted on July 17, 2016 by John F. Dini

Employees who make bad choices in their personal lives usually create problems in the workplace. Should you take their issues outside of the business into consideration when hiring or assigning responsibility? The legal answer of course, is “no.” Employers are … Continue Reading →

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Managing Employees, Strategy and Planning | Tagged Baby Boomers, business, business ownership, business planning, business strategy, employee performance, employees, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, leadership, management, promotion, small business, small business advice | 2 Comments

Selling to Employees: Is Your Exit Strategy Right in Front of You?

Posted on July 10, 2016 by John F. Dini

When I interview a prospective client for exit planning assistance, we usually explore selling to employees. The first reaction is always “That won’t work. They don’t have any money.” If you have a company with reasonable cash flow, a talented … Continue Reading →

Posted in Building Value, Entrepreneurship, Exit Options, Exit Planning, Exit Strategies, Incentives, Leadership, Managing Employees, Selling a business, Strategy and Planning | Tagged Baby Boomers, Boomer Bust, Building Value, business, business brokerage, business ownership, business planning, business strategy, employee performance, employees, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, exit strategies, leadership, management, selling a business, small business, small business advice | 1 Comment

Employee Experience: Is Bigger Better?

Posted on July 3, 2016 by John F. Dini

Small businesses provide much of the initial employee experience. We take younger folks and teach them decent work habits like showing up every day, being on time, and working to deadlines. As owners, our personal skills may not be sufficient. We … Continue Reading →

Posted in Business Perspectives, John's Opinions, Leadership, Managing Employees, Strategy and Planning | Tagged Baby Boomers, business, business ownership, business planning, business strategy, employee performance, employees, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, hiring, leadership, management, marketing, sales, small business, small business advice | Leave a comment

What’s in YOUR Nondisclosure Agreement?

Posted on June 26, 2016 by John F. Dini

A Nondisclosure Agreement (NDA) has become one of the basic standard documents in every company’s wallet. Between the rising swell of Baby Boomer owners entertaining exit planning, and greater caution surrounding the legal issues of strategic partnering, an NDA is … Continue Reading →

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Exit Options, Exit Planning, Managing Employees, Selling a business, Strategy and Planning | Tagged Baby Boomers, business ownership, business planning, business strategy, employees, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, exit planning, exit strategies, leadership, management, selling a business, small business, small business advice | 5 Comments

Choosing Not to Maximize Profits

Posted on June 19, 2016 by John F. Dini

The other day, a client asked me to review some questions from an MBA student studying business ownership. One of the questions was “Are you doing everything possible to maximize profits?” I’ve seen the same question asked in a number … Continue Reading →

Posted in Business Perspectives, Customer Relations, Entrepreneurship, Incentives, Managing Employees, Marketing, Sales, Strategy and Planning | Tagged Baby Boomers, business, business ownership, business planning, business strategy, employee performance, employees, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, management, sales, small business, small business advice | 2 Comments

The New Information Direction: Push Over Pull

Posted on May 29, 2016 by John F. Dini

Ever since we started using computers in virtually every business, we’ve been putting data into them. Unfortunately, the issue has been getting information back out. In the middle 1980’s I ran a manufacturing company together with a couple of Australians. They thought … Continue Reading →

Posted in Customer Relations, Entrepreneurship, Managing Employees, Marketing and Sales, Strategy and Planning | Tagged business, business ownership, business planning, business strategy, employees, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, financial, leadership, management, marketing, media, new business, promotion, sales, sales management, small business, small business advice | 1 Comment

Is Two Weeks Fair Notice?

Posted on May 15, 2016 by John F. Dini

I formerly employed an assistant who held a Masters Degree in Human Resources. On occasion she’d say “I love working here. I’ll never quit.” Of course, as a good employer I felt an urge to reply with equal commitment, but … Continue Reading →

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Incentives, Leadership, Managing Employees | Tagged Baby Boomers, business, business ownership, business planning, business strategy, employee performance, employees, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, hiring, leadership, management, small business, small business advice | 7 Comments

What Does HR Do?

Posted on May 1, 2016 by John F. Dini

What are the roles of a Human Resources professional in your organization? A common rule of thumb is that a company should have a dedicated HR function once it reaches 80 employees or so. This post comes from a recent meeting of … Continue Reading →

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Incentives, Leadership, Managing Employees, Strategy and Planning | Tagged Baby Boomers, business ownership, business planning, business strategy, employee performance, employees, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, health care costs, hiring, leadership, management, promotion, public relations, small business, small business advice | 4 Comments

Small Businesses Fantasies: Service

Posted on April 17, 2016 by John F. Dini

As an evangelist for small business, I am the consumer equivalent of the locally-grown food movement. I spend as much of my discretionary income as possible with the owned-and-operated businesses in my area. As a consultant and coach to owners, I also … Continue Reading →

Posted in Customer Relations, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Managing Employees, Marketing, Marketing and Sales, Sales | Tagged business ownership, business planning, employee performance, employees, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, leadership, management, marketing, media, promotion, public relations, sales, sales management, small business, small business advice | 3 Comments

The 7 Deadly Sins of an Entrepreneur — Reprise

Posted on March 13, 2016 by John F. Dini

I make no claim that using the Seven Deadly Sins as a metaphor for business behavior is original. Of course, the original concept is a codifying of “undesirable” human behaviors, or sins. The work probably comes from the Latin word … Continue Reading →

Posted in Building Value, Business Perspectives, Entrepreneurship, Exit Planning, John's Opinions, Leadership, Managing Employees, Strategy and Planning | Tagged business, business ownership, business planning, business strategy, employee performance, employees, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, exit planning, exit strategies, hiring, John F. Dini, leadership, management, selling a business, small business, small business advice | Leave a comment

The Seventh Entrepreneurial Sin — Pride

Posted on March 6, 2016 by John F. Dini

Every business owner should be proud of his or her business. If you are the founder, you built every system, and probably landed the biggest customers. If you bought the business, you took what was in place and made it … Continue Reading →

Posted in Building Value, Customer Relations, Entrepreneurship, Exit Planning, Leadership, Managing Employees, Marketing and Sales, Selling a business, Strategy and Planning | Tagged business ownership, business strategy, employee performance, employees, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, exit planning, exit strategies, hiring, leadership, management, new business, small business, small business advice | Leave a comment