by Fronetics | Nov 2, 2015 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
In mid-October, LinkedIn made some big changes: LinkedIn Groups are private and there’s a new, standalone LinkedIn Groups app for iOS users. Many LinkedIn Groups were used for the purpose of networking, research, and prospecting, however many people were misusing, and even abusing, the Group option. Rather than using groups properly, to form relationships, engage with industries that could supplement yours, and keep up with hot topics, the group option was often used for self-promotion.
The Changes
According to LinkedIn, these changes were spurred by consumer feedback. “Our research has shown that professional conversations are most effective in a private trusted space, so conversations in groups won’t be visible until you’ve joined the group. Joining a LinkedIn group now requires either an invitation or approval of your request. Our data has shown that open groups have historically attracted a larger percentage of low-quality conversations. Members-only groups have created significantly more participation and conversations than others (up to five times more), indicating that members feel more confident contributing in these types of groups.”
Some additional, prominent changes:
- Moderation: Conversations will be posted without the need for approval from a moderator, manager, or group owner, however those people can still remove off-topic conversations.
- Standard and Unlisted Groups: In an effort to simplify things for the consumer, groups will be either unlisted, meaning that they don’t show up in search results and only a manager/moderator can invite people members, or standard, meaning that groups do show up in search results and members can invite anyone with a 1st degree connection.
- Content Filtering: Filtering of spam and low-quality content to keep promotional material out of conversations.
- Subgroups: Subgroups will no longer exist to help clear up confusion. Any current subgroups will become their own, standalone groups.
- Mentions in Conversations: Like other forms of social media, the @ symbol will now be used before a name in order to reference someone and bring them into the conversation.
Other changes can be found at LinkedIn’s Help Center page.
Group Etiquette
If you’re already using groups in smart way, you’ll only see improvement from LinkedIn’s changes. Say goodbye to spam and relentless self-promotion. Groups may become more meaningful with a more exclusive approach. The people who are genuinely interested in having specific, topical conversations will. Here are some tips on how to navigate the new Groups:
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Engage Don’t Enrage:
Keeping in mind that there’s a difference between narcissism and seeking feedback, wait a bit before you post your own blogs, articles, or other branded content. You may want a group of talented, knowledge people to review your writing, but you need to establish yourself as a valued member of the group first. Comment on and like others’ posts. Put in your time and build rapport.
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Prudence in Posting:
When there’s a discussing going about a topic that speaks to you, you might feel anxious to jump in with a relevant article you’ve written, but consider your timing. Only after posting third-party articles and blogs, to show your support of others and breadth of knowledge, consider posting your own. When you do post your first article, it might be helpful to connect it to the groups’ influence. For example, Based on the recent, rich conversation about the engagement of Boomers and Millennials in the workplace, I gather my recent years of experience with this and wrote an article I though I’d share with you. I appreciate the fruitful conversations here that helped spur this article.
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Connect Cautiously:
As with all etiquette, the idea isn’t to approach people with fear, but with respect. Sometimes, early on, respect can be established by being cautious in order to better understand individual and community needs and norms. Once you’re in a group, don’t be unknowingly creepy. Engage with people who might have similar interests or who you feel might be attracted to your brand. First comment on their posts, like an article, show that you’re engaged and have something to offer intellectually. Give them your thoughts before your products. Once some sort of engagement is established, then send a connection request.
The new changes to LinkedIn’s Group option is going to serve everyone well, whether you’re in marketing in or any other field. It means more meaningful engagement and less bothersome noise and chatter.
Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a leading management consulting firm. Our firm works with companies to identify and execute strategies for growth and value creation.
Whether it is a wholesale food distributor seeking guidance on how to define and execute corporate strategy; a telematics firm needing high quality content on a consistent basis; a real estate firm looking for a marketing partner; or a supply chain firm in need of interim management, our clients rely on Fronetics to help them navigate through critical junctures, meet their toughest challenges, and take advantage of opportunities. We deliver high-impact results.
We advise and work with companies on their most critical issues and opportunities: strategy, marketing, organization, talent acquisition, performance management, and M&A support.
![Supply Chain: 4 Essential Year End Questions to Ask Yourself [Infographic]](https://fronetics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/supply-chain-year-end-questions-900x675.jpg)
by Fronetics | Oct 27, 2015 | Blog, Data/Analytics, Leadership, Strategy, Supply Chain
As the new year approaches, don’t overlook the valuable information you can glean from conducting a year-end review.
Don’t start the new year without asking these 4 essential questions.
What were my biggest accomplishments this year?
Twelve months can seem like a long time when you consider everything that happened over the course of the last 365 days. Setting aside some time to review successful projects, notes of thanks from clients, or a particularly positive performance review reminds us what we’re capable of achieving and gives us a renewed sense of accomplishment.
Try this: Designate a file folder near your workspace to collect any materials or notes related to your successes as they occur. Doing so will make it easier for you to recall your accomplishments and provide quick access to a list of your achievements – helpful for a healthy dose of motivation or last-minute performance reviews.
How satisfied are you with the past year?
Were you successful in meeting the majority of your goals? Do you feel that you worked to your highest potential? Would you have done something differently? What about missed opportunities? Examining what went right and identifying areas for growth and opportunity are powerful exercises that both prevent the recurrence of negative behaviors and reinforce our commitment to priorities.
Try this: Thinking about your experiences of the past year in sum, try to assign a value to your entire year. How would you rate your year on a scale from 1 to 10? 1 to 100? Why? Adding some context to your experiences presents a more accurate picture of your year by tempering unusual highs and lows.
Is my current daily routine structured to make time for my priorities?
It’s easy to fall victim to time suckers, especially when they become ingrained into your routine. Has your daily 15 minute coffee break gradually morphed into 25 minutes? Are your 10 minute “headline scans” now closer to 30 minutes? These small, seemingly innocent extensions can snowball into major time loss, causing unnecessary panic as you scramble to meet deadlines.
Try this: The start of a new year is a great time to reset (or rethink) our daily routines. Build activities into your day. If you’d like to continue your now-daily 25 minute coffee break, think about extending your work day by 25 minutes. Feeling like you can’t absorb everything news-worthy in less than 30 minutes? Set your morning alarm 30 minutes earlier so you can arrive to work having already completed your scan of daily headlines. By taking a hard look at where your time is actually going and then spending a few minutes realigning your daily routine with your priorities, you’re intentionally and consciously assigning time to the things you find the most important.
What is it that I want to achieve next year?
Each new year brings with it a renewed energy to being our best selves. In order to get started, we need to define our priorities and what our success will look like. Setting SMART goals, or goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely, keeps us moving forward by providing accountability.
Try this: After reviewing your past year, set aside some time to consider what you’ll set out to achieve this year. Create a detailed roadmap to successful completion of your goals.
Use this infographic to help you set, and achieve your SMART goals.
How was your year in review? What were your biggest accomplishments? Are there any goals that you’ll carry over into the new year? Do you regularly set aside time at the close of a year to reflect? We’d love to hear what you do to reset for a new year.
Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a leading management consulting firm. Our firm works with companies to identify and execute strategies for growth and value creation.
We advise and work with companies on their most critical issues and opportunities: strategy, marketing, organization, talent acquisition, performance management, and M&A support.
![How to create an effective content strategy [Template]](https://fronetics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/content-strategy-1024x675.jpg)
by Fronetics | Oct 26, 2015 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Strategy
With 3 out of 4 marketers across the globe prioritizing content marketing, producing unique content to attract and convert website visitors can be tough. From social media to blog posts to ebooks and webinars, buyers are accessing your content through a myriad of channels. The amount and frequency of content to create can be dizzying. Fortunately, by starting with a solid strategy you can assure your content flows freely and your marketing content stands out.
One key element of any successful content strategy is mapping your buyer’s journey. Considering the path of purchase of current customers can give you valuable insight into the stages that a lead goes through before becoming a customer. Typically, buyers follow a track that looks something like this: awareness, research, consideration, and purchase. Knowing your buyer’s journey can inform your decisions about what kinds of content will resonate with your prospects and which channels of distribution will be most successful connecting them to your content.
Of course, just mapping out your Buyer’s Journey won’t lead to content marketing success. It’s certainly important, but it should be one component in your overall strategy. Start building a comprehensive content strategy that includes goal setting, developing buyer personas, setting keywords, and brainstorming content topics by using our free Content Strategy Template. You’ll be well on your way to creating great content and attracting even better leads.
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Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a leading management consulting firm. Our firm works with companies to identify and execute strategies for growth and value creation.
We advise and work with companies on their most critical issues and opportunities: strategy, marketing, organization, talent acquisition, performance management, and M&A support.
by Fronetics | Oct 22, 2015 | Blog, Leadership, Strategy, Talent
Do we need to rethink the concept of happiness at work?
Do you like your job? It can be a complex question to answer when everything is taken into account. For some people that question is comprised of several other questions, many of which have different answers: If I could do anything with my life would I be working this job? Is this job my passion? Would I work as many hours if I didn’t have to? Do I feel productive? Is my work/life balance ok? Am I happy?
On average, Americans put in about 1,700 hours a year, which is much more than the French and Germans, but much less than the Koreans or Singaporeans. For Americans, this breaks down to 34.4 hours a week considering vacation time and holidays, however many adult, full-time employees report working more than 34 hours week. According to a Gallup poll, 4 in 10 workers reported putting in 50+ hours per week. So are all these hours bringing us happiness? First, let’s have a look at what happiness is.
People have always had a lot to say about happiness. Artistotle said, “Happiness depends upon ourselves.” Albert Camus said, “You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” The Dali Lama says, “Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” What is certain is that we seem to have a happiness obsession. We want it, we seek it, we’re told we need it so we believe we need it.
Harvard psychologist, Dan Gilbert, believes that happiness is not always entirely in our control and not entirely out of our control, and sometimes we feel it and sometimes we don’t. That’s ok, he says. In a TED Talk on happiness he says, “Happiness doesn’t last that long. Happiness is an emotion — it’s a feeling. The human brain isn’t built to sustain a feeling over the long term…Your emotions are a compass. They’re telling you which direction to go in. When you feel bad you turn left, you try something different in your life. When you feel good you keep on marching in the direction you’re going. What good would a compass be if it were perpetually stuck on north?”
So if we can’t feel happy all the time, and we don’t need to feel happy all the time, then why are we told we should feel happy all the time? Workplaces have been increasingly focused on employee happiness. Several studies have shown that happy employees are more productive and more loyal. Even tycoon Richard Branson is on board with this idea, “Your employees are your company’s real competitive advantage. They’re the ones making the magic happen—so long as their needs are being met.” How can the Virgin god be wrong?
A new article in the Harvard Business Review has gathered many studies and theories opposing the contemporary idea that happiness in the workplace is the key to success. The authors point to studies that show that people fail to feel happy when they are expected to be happy, that people can become emotionally vulnerable and needy when they expect their workplace to fulfill their happiness, that people may be more selfish when happy, and that people who value happiness often feel lonelier. The studies also pointed out that angry employees were better at negotiating than happy employees and better at intuiting actions of deception.
Perhaps our thinking about happiness needs to shift. Perhaps we don’t need employees bounding around the office with endless smiles. Perhaps the expectation we have for employees to be happy, and employers to be responsible for that happiness, is all too much. According to Dr. Vanessa Boute, a social psychologist, “One of the misconceptions about happiness is that happiness is being cheerful, joyous, and content all the time; always having a smile on your face. It’s not – being happy and leading rich lives is about taking the good with the bad, and learning how to reframe the bad.”
Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a leading management consulting firm. Our firm works with companies to identify and execute strategies for growth and value creation.
We advise and work with companies on their most critical issues and opportunities: strategy, marketing, organization, talent acquisition, performance management, and M&A support.
by Fronetics | Oct 20, 2015 | Blog, Leadership, Logistics, Strategy, Supply Chain, Talent
It’s common to think of the people who work for a company as “employees”, but reframing language and thinking could be critical to your supply chain. Start considering your employees as “talent”. The word employee has the connotation of working for someone or under someone. It implies being one of many, whereas the word talent has a positive connotation, implying that a person has depth, value, and potential. The term talent empowers both employees and companies to be the best and seek the best in their work and their search for other skilled people.
Reframing is an important step, but it doesn’t fix common problems that plague supply chain managers and human resource departments. It’s important to think about hiring processes as a long undertaking that extends beyond an ad, job interview, and offer letter. Companies should always be thinking about retention and promotion. This is called succession planning.
According to a study conducted by supply chain management researchers at Auburn University and Central Michigan University, 37.5% of surveyed companies had no engagement in succession planning, 27% had just started to work on planning, 23% engaged in informal planning, while only 12.5% engaged in formal succession planning.
Acquire
The supply chain is notorious for having a dearth of talent. The area is growing and more talent will need to be acquired for businesses to compete. As job titles expand and shift, due to the rapid changes in supply chain management and technological requirements, many people won’t be qualified for their own job title. Looking towards universities who are teaching supply chain management, and looking to other business sectors could be critical to find the right, flexible kind of talent the supply chain will need. Considering women for these traditionally male-dominant roles will also be important as women tend to be strong in many of the soft skills needed for the future of SCM. According to Shanton J. Wilcox, vice president, North America, and lead for logistics and fulfillment at Capgemini, “many so-called tactical jobs will be replaced by positions requiring more interpersonal and relationship management skills.”
Develop
As more and more money floods into the supply chain, it will be important to avoid the Silicon Valley problem of poaching, or talent leaving for larger and larger salaries elsewhere. Investing in current employees in a meaningful, attentive way, could make all the difference. Think about their future and next steps within your company. They probably have a plan for their future, and you should as well. Make sure those plans align and be open to assisting their journey to meet their goals.
Instead of conducting exit interviews, try conducting “stay” interviews. Ask specific questions about what it takes to create the environment that would help encourage your talents’ best performance. Ask what works, and also ask what doesn’t work. Be specific and ask what causes your talent anxiety or stress. You may find a trend and be able to fix it before people leave, rather than after. Investment is a big part of development. It helps talent feel like part of a bigger picture. If you invest in them they will invest in you.
Advance
Consider talent from within. According to a Forbes article, many companies are getting it wrong in trying to hire from outside. Internal candidates may not seem as appealing or exciting as the unknown, external candidate, but companies need to be clear-minded in these decisions. “Internal successors are in many ways lower risk than outsiders, yet surprisingly few promotions are awarded internally. That appears to be because boards often prefer the devil they don’t know to the devil they do. Also, some find it difficult to imagine someone at the top after seeing him operate in a lesser role for years.”
Internal talent may not appear to be ready for the next level if the position they’re seeking is a promotion, whereas an external candidate going for the same job may be making a lateral move and appear more “ready”. One thing to consider is the knowledge the internal candidate holds and brings to the job. Getting external talent up to speed can take months if not years.
Don’t sit back and assume your employees are willing to be passive about their careers. See your employees as assets. Have a strategy. Be part of their team, and make them part of yours. See their talent and invest in them, otherwise they’ll find another supply chain company who will.
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Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a leading management consulting firm. Our firm works with companies to identify and execute strategies for growth and value creation.
We advise and work with companies on their most critical issues and opportunities: strategy, marketing, organization, talent acquisition, performance management, and M&A support.
