Doesn’t every entrepreneur and/or business owner start and maintain a business in order to see it grow? The answer seems obvious. But as many top business coaches will tell you, some business leaders who attain a certain level of success are content to stay at this...

Article written by Phil Spensieri, TAB York Region With most business owners in the Baby Boomer or Gen X generations, it’s no wonder I am often asked about how to handle millennial employees. Millennials are the largest generation in the workforce and fastest-growing...

Getting honest input from employees on workplace culture and conditions can be a valuable practice. But time and again, companies sending out employee surveys are frustrated by a mediocre response rate—and stymied as to what actions they should take on their...

In business, what can be measured must be measured. There’s no excuse for neglecting metrics that inform you and your team how the business has performed in the past, and where it might be headed in the future. The data available to compile can say a lot about what...

An executive dashboard is a tool that gives an easy-to-absorb indicator of the important business metrics - also known as Key Performance Indicators (KPI) - for your business. A good dashboard should convey important information at a glance. The business term derives...

As any seasoned business coach will tell you, starting a business depends on a wide range of factors. These include having the right personality traits (such as passion, persistence, and the ability to overcome hurdles) to engage in such an ambitious undertaking....

What skills should every CEO and business owner have? Is it more important to possess a wealth of hard skills or soft skills? What about the ability to coach others in strengthening their own skill sets? For executive business coaches—not to mention business leaders...

Article written by Phil Spensieri As a business owner, there must've been a time when you were convinced that you had to grow your business in order to be successful. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Through my experience working with other business owners,...

Article by Jodie Shaw. Some days, it feels like we marketers live in a frenzy of numbers – from data analytics software that tracks every click on our websites to the colour ­coded charts embedded in every social media platform we’re on. Even our personal lives are...

In many companies, managers and other leaders assign goals to employees, then sit back and wait for results. This passive approach sometimes ends up with missed deadlines, incomplete work on projects, and a generalised disappointment in the employee’s lack of...

One report after another confirms what many employers already know: the men and women who work for them aren’t always engaged with their jobs, and many are looking elsewhere for different employment. Keeping employees engaged has always been a challenge, but today—in...

Among the many skills a CEO or business owner should possess is the ability to provide constructive, meaningful feedback. Employees at every level of an organisation want to do the best job possible, a goal that can’t be fully achieved without input from those in...

Article written by Phil Spensieri, TAB York Region You know how it is when you’re a business owner; so many things to do, so little time. As an owner, your focus is to build your business, but in building your business, there are so many things to be done. If you...

Nearly every business has them—difficult-to-classify, hard-to-fill positions within the organisation that are always challenging to fill. Typically, these positions involve a need for highly technical skills or other specialised requirements that the “average”...

No one can say with certainty what the future of work will look like. But many elements are already in place, and employers should think long and hard about how their workplace will evolve as the “future” becomes the present. Of course, technological advances will...

Employers describe the experience of firing someone as “horrible” or “miserable” or just “an agony to go through.” It’s true, there’s nothing pleasant about terminating an employee. But it doesn’t have to be a terrible ordeal for all involved. Termination can take...

Article by Phil Spensieri, TAB York Region If there’s ever an emergency, and you need to take a leave of absence, your business must continue to be “business as usual”. In order to delegate your responsibilities to available team members, it can be helpful to have a...

You've hired a team of individuals with the skills, experience and knowledge to do their jobs well. Chances are, these employees sometimes go above and beyond their mandated responsibilities and lead projects or otherwise help keep workplace morale high. But what...

As a business owner you’re required to wear a lot of hats – the toughest being mind reader. To stay competitive, you need to anticipate what your employees want before they do. Employees fear being fired just as much as you fear their quitting. With their jobs (and...

One of the biggest obstacles to growth in a small business arises when the owner is unwilling to delegate. At a certain point, a successful business becomes too large and too complex for one person to manage, regardless of how smart, industrious and passionate that...

"Collaboration" is one of those buzz-words we hear a lot about these days. Of course, a company’s internal operations (and, for that matter, its customer-facing processes) should be driven by teamwork and interdepartmental cooperation; it just makes good business...

Article by Phil Spensieri, TAB York Region In my previous blog, I discussed why diversifying your client base is important for your business’ profitability. Once you’ve targeted the right people, how do you go about keeping those profitable clients? As a business...

Article by Ronita Mohan Finding the right candidate for your small or medium business can often be a difficult task. The number of potential employees has increased over the past few years, but so have the needs of companies. Recruitment policies have had to change,...

Article by Ken Jeanis The multi-generational workforce has truly arrived, with four generations potentially working side by side in a variety of sectors and industries. Workers over age 55 are set to become 25 percent of the workforce by 2024, which is a large jump...

Article by Lucy Philips Some difficulty in cultivating a cohesive, positive work culture may arise for companies with travelling employees. Not being in the same office, let alone the same time zone can lead some employers to subconsciously neglect their employees...

Article written by Phil Spensieri, TAB York Region Diversifying your client base can offer incredible opportunities for your business, and can serve as a way to protect your business from revenue fluctuations, create ongoing growth, and increase profit. However,...

We often hear that millennial employees are a breed apart, and require a shift in management style and perspective. The same can be said about a millennial sales team and what’s needed to effectively manage and leverage their particular outlook and talents. How do you...