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Experience BNI's Knowledge Explosion
To experience an explosion of knowledge about word-of-mouth referral marketing, stick around. BNI members and staff are living the referral marketing experience every hour of every day in every corner of the world. Members and staff add to the base of knowledge about referral marketing throughout the world every day.
Five years ago, there were three BNI annual conferences in the world. Now, there are at least eight annual conferences on referral marketing, and all eight are sponsored by BNI. This increasing number of conferences is like a series of brainstorm sessions. New information, experiences and knowledge are shared among the thousands of participants, then recorded and then shared further a field. Consider the following from the Association for Computing Machinery (www.acm.org): "More new information has been produced within the last three decades, than in the last five millennia. Over 9,000 periodicals are published in the United States each year, and almost 1,000 books are published daily around the world. In every 24-hour period approximately 20,000,000 words of technical information are being recorded. A reader capable of reading 1,000 words per minute would require 1.5 months, reading eight hours every day, to get through one day's technical output, and at the end of that period, he would have fallen 5.5 years behind in his reading!" BNI's Global Boom This "information explosion" also applies to our specialty of referral marketing. BNI staff published more than eight books and many articles in the past 12 years about referral marketing. The experiences of BNI members and staff are recorded and refined every day into effective result-driven programs. These programs are then shared at one or more of the growing number of BNI conferences held around the world where ultimately they show up in BNI chapters. Canadian BNI members test ideas that were first developed in BNI U.K. A BNI program spawned in Toronto may show up in Chicago and then be shared with BNI Singapore where it is further refined and improved upon. The next iteration for the program may come alive in BNI Maryland or BNI Israel, and on it travels. Turning Experience into Knowledge Knowledge is often used to refer to a body of facts and principles that are accumulated by mankind in the course of time. We could say that knowledge is a familiarity with a subject, which is gained through empirical experience. BNI has lots of empirical experience with word-of-mouth marketing, and we are rapidly turning that experience into our knowledge base. We gain new knowledge about our subject of referral marketing, through increasing familiarity with the many complex and intricate facts and principles of this marketing phenomenon. Knowledge comes in three levels: a. To know about at a superficial level b. To know about at a deeper level c. To know how ( according to Roger Clark) BNI's experience and knowledge base on this specialized field marketing is probably the largest in the world. Our knowledge of referral marketing goes beyond a casual awareness. We know about this field at a much deeper level, where we can increase our own referrals. Most importantly, BNI knows how to make referral marketing come alive and grow for the members. What's amazing is that we are at the beginning of our own information and knowledge explosion. BNI is hitting its own critical mass in terms of generating new knowledge from our growing experiences around the globe. With more than 50,000 members and 500 professional staff adding to this base of knowledge every day, BNI has entered a knowledge explosion that will double in the next three to five years. If you want to experience the knowledge explosion, just stick around. Work the program and enjoy your harvest. HUDDLE TIME
Six Simple Steps to a 'Slightly' Famous You
Some business owners attract clients and customers like magic. They do not cold call or rely on advertising. Everyone knows their name, and they get all the business they can handle. These people are "slightly" famous: just famous enough to make their names come to mind when people are looking for their particular product or service.
In today's noisy world, many businesses are embracing slightly famous marketing methods and attracting clients and customers without spending a fortune. Want to join them? It starts with an understanding of six basic principles for creating a slightly famous you. 1. Target the best prospects Many entrepreneurs try to sell to the widest possible market; but slightly famous entrepreneurs target only the best prospects. Alex Fisenko, the "the Dean of Beans," is a coffee expert who started his first espresso shop in the 1960s. Now he sells his expertise on launching a successful coffee business to aspiring entrepreneurs through seminars and a training course called "Espresso Business Success." His website generates thousands of dollars a month in product sales and consulting engagements throughout the world. "By targeting the best prospects, I now make more money through book sales and consultations than when I ran coffee shops," says Fisenko. 2. Develop a unique market niche Slightly famous marketers establish themselves within a market niche that they can realistically hope to dominate. Dan Poynter is a successful self-publisher who writes books about parachuting and hang-gliding. He sells books to skydiving clubs, parachute dealers, and the U.S. Parachute Association. He developed a reputation in skydiving circles and has enjoyed steady sales of his books for more than three decades. Best of all, he has the market all to himself. 3. Position your business as the best solution Positioning is about identifying a key attribute of your company, not offered by competitors, that is valuable to your target market. When Harry Shepherd started his bookkeeping service, he mastered a popular accounting program and marketed himself as a "QuickBooks Software Training Consultant." He went from blending into a sea of competitors to occupying a compelling market position. Word spread fast among accountants as they referred him to their clients. He charged higher fees and even trained other bookkeepers to use accounting software. 4. Maintain your visibility Slightly famous marketers give talks, publish articles, and create information-rich websites. They do everything they can to stay visible within their target markets. When Bart Baggett made handwriting analysis his career, he embraced the media. At the height of the O.J. Simpson trial, he sent out a news release about Simpson's handwriting. His strategy helped him appear on Court TV and later CNN. A feature in "Biography" magazine led to stories in the "London Times," the "Dallas Morning News" and others. 5. Enhance your credibility Slightly famous marketers establish themselves as "recognized" experts to earn credibility, out-position competitors and give people a taste of what they offer. Fred Tibbitts, Jr. helps food and beverage companies reach global markets. He's strategically cultivated a reputation as a global beverage-marketing expert who is fluent in all the details of his business. Tibbitts monitors global beverage trends while staying in contact with account managers at hotels and restaurants. He hosts special events in key markets and contributes a column to "Hospitality International" magazine and numerous industry publications. 6. Establish your brand and reputation When you meet Dave Hirschkop at a trade show, don't expect to shake his hand. That's because he'll be wearing a straitjacket while standing before a simulated insane asylum to promote his popular line of "Insanity" hot sauces. Slightly famous entrepreneurs use their smallness and specialty in ways that corporate giants can't touch. Dave established his brand by making the hottest sauce possible. Instead of sensual pleasure, he promised pain—even danger—but pain that came with bragging rights. It helped Dave's Gourmet, Inc. step to the front of the crowded hot sauce category, enjoy fiercely loyal customers and land great media exposure. When Dave introduced his Insanity Sauce at the National Fiery Foods Show, he made attendees sign a release form before tasting from a bottle in a coffin-like box wrapped with yellow police tape. This resulted in an unintended publicity coup when a show promoter had a minor respiratory problem after tasting his sauce and banned him from the show. You don't have to be insane to become slightly famous. But, you must cultivate a brand identity that resonates with your target market and helps you stand out from the crowd. Your brand identity will be the guiding star of your entire business and ensure that all your marketing efforts pull in the same direction. And, in an increasing impersonal world, your brand will become the soul of your company. HUDDLE TIME
Boost Business with Cardscan
We took it to tradeshows, open houses as well as to some "by invitation only" events. At each event we were able to scan the cards as they came in. Then back at the office, it was simple to import the data (that is, every card scanned) from Cardscan into the database for easier follow-up. Even the notes on the back of cards were scanned and later reviewed from within the database. In addition, it also gives you a picture of the card on the computer to which you can refer to recall more about the encounter or the person. This tool is a great way to save time for yourself or your staff. Cardscan is easy to set up and is portable. Anyone who meets a lot of people each week or month needs a card scanner to help organize and maintain their contact database. It makes your job much easier for a quicker, more timely follow-up with each new contact. Your contacts will be amazed at your efficiency and will maintain a positive impression of you. HUDDLE TIME
How to Grow Your Chapter
BNI members regularly ask, "How do we grow the chapter? How can we get the group larger to get better referrals?" The guidance given normally is to have a Visitors Day, invite more guests or do better follow-up with visitors to sign up more guests. These are all great ideas, but with my analytical background, I wanted to see what the numbers told us about the unique characteristics of large groups and small groups. I decided to focus on one of our four regions, and I defined "large" as groups with 25 members. Groups with 15 or fewer members were considered "small." First, I calculated the retention rate for each of the chapters: # dropped members ——————————— present # members + # dropped members I found that the large groups averaged a 12-month retention rate of 25.5% whereas the small groups averaged 36.7%. The next step was to figure out the recruiting rate by dividing the number of new members in the last year by the present membership. Surprisingly, the small groups had a significantly better recruiting rate (82.2%) than the large chapters (45.6%). In other words, the smaller groups were much stronger recruiters than the large groups. Looking at the raw numbers, the small groups added an average of 9.5 members per chapter. The large chapters added an average of 13.2 members per chapter. In other words, the large groups that had 2.5 times as many members only recruited 1.5 times as many members! Returning to the original question of how to grow a chapter, these figures would suggest that the biggest difference was retention of members, not recruiting of new members. If the chapters can improve their ability to keep members, the chapters will naturally become healthier and more vibrant and hence, grow. Breaking News
BNI Launches 14th Country
BNI Regional Director, Ina von Koenig says, "Many of our visitors were excited and wanted to join immediately. We had seven applications right after the launch. By the end of the month we expect to have 30 members." BNI's newest chapter, Liechtenstein-Werdenberg, is now meeting in the village of Sevelen, located near St. Gallen. Ina says she first saw an advertisement in a Swiss newspaper for a worldwide referral marketing organization. She answered the ad and soon found herself attending Director Training in London. "I was very impressed and enthusiastic, and I also liked the other people who work for BNI, whom I met there," she says. "I worked all the time quite hard. There was much to do." With helpful coaching from the U.K. National Office, Ina's hard work started to pay off. "I did exactly what they told me, because I know one cannot build up a worldwide organization if everybody just does what he or she wants to do."
From the beginning, Ina says that her biggest helpers were Heidi Haefeli, Simone Schapper and Manfred Batliner. "We see a lot of progress," says Ina. She believes that the best qualities in the group are expressed by the Leadership Team and says that they are "totally convinced about the BNI program." The results speak for themselves. "Someone who attended only one meeting has already got two new clients, and before we even launched the group, our bank manager, Daniel Meier (of Raiffeisenbank) got a referral worth 1 million Swiss Francs from one of the visitors!" Congratulations to Switzerland, and best of luck to them. Dr. Misner's New Book Available Now
When you hand someone your business card, you're setting in motion a chain of contacts that can become a new branch of your network. That's why you want your card to be attention-getting, pleasing, informative, and memorable—so people will look at it, comment on it, pass it around, and keep it handy. And the next time someone needs your products or services, they'll remember you. Dr. Ivan R. Misner and two of his BNI colleagues, Candace Bailly and Dan Georgevich, see and collect thousands of business cards each year in their networking activities. They have learned from business owners that an attractive, well-designed business card can be a very effective marketing tool. When they began examining the business cards in their files, it became obvious why this was true. Many of them are, by almost any standard, works of art. The three networkers decided to select the best of the best and write a book about them so businesspeople and fellow networkers around the world could see what a great card looks like and why it works. "It's in the Cards: Getting the Biggest Impact from Your Smallest Ad" is the result. Dr. Misner, Ms. Bailly, and Mr. Georgevich present, in full and glorious color, examples of the art of business cards that will entertain you, inspire you and show you how to realize the full potential of this small, but mighty, business tool. Order now by clicking here. North America
BNI HAPPENINGS — United States United States
This year’s conference was hosted by Louisiana’s Executive Director, Tim Paulin, Georgia’s Executive Directors, David and Kimberly Alexander, together with the enthusiastic teams from Louisiana, North Carolina, Georgia and the BNI Headquarters staff. Directors and members alike said that the conference was a tremendous success. The presentations, panel discussions and breakout sessions were as enjoyable as they were informative.
Directors of the Year Named
Michigan Members Perfect Presentations
BNI HAPPENINGS — Canada Competition on for Top Spot in B.C.
Chapters Share Big Breakfast, BNI-Style
BNI HAPPENINGS — Barbados Director Awards Outstanding Contributions
Europe
BNI HAPPENINGS — Sweden Second Scandinavian Conference Scores Big
This past May, the second national conference was arranged for BNI members and directors. "BNI Convention 2003" took place in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. The Member's Day attracted about 140 people, and many interesting speakers attended from Sweden and the U.K. Special guests were Laura Hurren, Robert French, James Sanderson and Niri Patel. They were all much appreciated, but perhaps the audience found Niri Patel's "Black Belt Networking" presentation the most fascinating. The members' evaluations after the conference showed very high scores. Gunnar Selheden, National Director for Sweden, was also very pleased with the conference. Planning is already underway for next year's conference. Stockholm Chapter Refers Millions
BNI HAPPENINGS — United Kingdom Member Balances Business and Fitness Reigate chapter member, Julia Booton, recently celebrated 10 years of running her own business. After spending many years working in various cities in internal auditing, she started her own company, Julia Booton Accountancy Service. She provides such services as bookkeeping, year-end accounts and tax returns for small businesses. In addition to running her own business, she is also a keen swimmer. She recently raised more than £300 for Macmillan Cancer Trust in a swim-a-thon at Donyngs, in which she completed 100 lengths in one hour 22 minutes—five minutes better than her swim the previous year. Chapter Receives Community Recognition Gravesend chapter recently achieved the charitable accreditation "Community Mark" for the large amount of money they have raised for charity. They are a great chapter and are in line for a Founders Award this year. BNI HAPPENINGS — The Netherlands BNI Netherlands Ready for Take-Off
Australasia/Asia
BNI HAPPENINGS — Malaysia National Conference Recognizes Outstanding Members and Chapters
BNI HAPPENINGS — Singapore Singapore Chapters Survive SARS
The Harvest and Lighthouse chapters were launched in May and June respectively with overwhelming crowds during even that frightening time. And S.A.R.S. began to take shape in BNI Singapore, though this time it stood for Strategic Alliance Referral Sources. Genesis Chapter Hits the Road for Referrals
This trip was fruitful for both chapters as Genesis and Ampang established new contacts with one another. The invitation is now open for Ampang members to visit Singapore. The red carpet is rolled out for them. Chapter Claps Its Way to Success
As soon as they were awarded their pins, they set their next goal at getting the Silver Medallion in two months.
BNI HAPPENINGS — New Zealand Innovations to Benefit Members BNI New Zealand is set for a successful year with some major innovations in place for the benefit of members. National Director, Graham Southwell, said that the Administrative Team was now complete with Regional Directors in Auckland (Darryl Buchanan), Wellington (David Byers) and Canterbury (Alastair Christie). There are also four Assistant Directors in Auckland: Amanda Paul, Brandon Wilcox, Paul Myer and Grant Everiss, plus Ambassador John Channing. The major achievement, which has taken the most effort to develop, has been the revolutionary upgrade for the BNI New Zealand website. The professional looking website is very user friendly and has the capacity to automate many administrative functions. "Online booking for training sessions and automating your BNI Dance card are just two of many new and expanding features on the website," Southwell said. PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS
Is BNI for Me? So you've recently been invited to a BNI meeting and wonder where you fit into the mix! First of all, let me say, thank you for checking us out. We've been putting business professionals together for over 15 years in a word-of-mouth marketing environment. To date, we are the largest business-to-business networking organization in the world! 40,000 plus members feel that BNI is certainly for them. We hope you will agree!
BNI was started in 1985 with a single purpose: to develop the referral business of the members. From that point, BNI has grown to the vast networking group it has become. We allow one person per profession to join each chapter, thus guaranteeing exclusivity to the members in their business category. If you are a florist, you will be the only florist in your chapter! One member values his chair at the table each week to be worth over $30,000, because that is the amount of referral business his fellow members generated for his company in one single year. Annual membership in BNI costs less than a business suit—it's the most cost-effective way to market yourself in today's highly competitive marketplace. If you value having 20 to 30 other business people marketing you to others, then BNI is the right place for you! We hope that you like what you see and that you will join a chapter near you and experience firsthand the difference a structured referral system can make in your business. For more information about BNI and our chapters throughout the world, please clink on www.bni.com. FAQ's
Ask BNI This is the place where you can ask any question about BNI. If you have a question for BNI's CEO and Founder, Dr. Ivan Misner, send it to askbni@bni.com. He will post his response here, as space allows. From time to time, a guest Director will post a response. You may view other questions Dr. Misner is posed by going to www.entrepreneur.com, where Dr. Misner participates in Entrepreneur.com's Ask the Networking Expert.
Q: Our BNI meetings are so enjoyable; however, one part that is quite laborious is the introduction of the speakers when they are using the suggested bio information. Some personal information is okay, but there must be a better way of making the introduction of the speaker more exciting. I've observed that most of the information is read without much excitement and sometimes with embarrassment. Can we revise this section of the meeting to be brief and to the point? Thanks for the great question! The introductions used to be "brief and to the point" until I went to a chapter where I saw someone do the most outstanding introduction that I have ever seen. It was awesome! As it turned out, she had made up a bio sheet (what we use now) as the foundation of her introduction. We then realized we needed to do more than "Heeeeeere's Johnny!" Most business problems can be placed into two categories: a "systems" problem or an "application" problem. Before we used the bio sheet we had a systems problem. That is, we had no system for effective introductions. Today we have a system. The application is in the hands of the person doing the introduction. If she follows the directions in the Leadership Team manual, it will turn out great. If, however, she doesn't "breathe life" into the introduction, nothing will make it effective. I honestly believe that the problem is not the bio sheet. It is the implementation of the introduction. The person doing the intro has to give it life. I love this saying: "Ignorance on fire is better than knowledge on ice." You can have a lot of information and knowledge (the bio sheet) but if you aren't on fire implementing it, you'll be putting it on ice. Dr. Misner, Founder & CEO, BNI
Chapter Snags Third Consecutive Award
How does this 35-member chapter continue to win? Here are some of the reasons:
2003 Founders Award Winners The following chapters were given Founders Awards for the first half of 2003:
Member Recognized on Capitol Hill (U.S) Maria A. Ryan, BNI member and founder and president of WebFront Solutions Corp., based in Rockville, Maryland, was honored with the 2003 NFWL Latina Leadership of the Year Award at the National Foundation for Women Legislator's annual Women Lawmakers' Networking Day on May 1 and 2 in Washington, D.C. Four hundred political and corporate leaders attended along with several members of Congress and state legislators to recognize Ryan for outstanding achievements within her community at the Congressional Reception on Capitol Hill. Great Ideas at Work The Referral Masters chapter of Federal Way, Washington, created a clever card to hand out to guests at Visitors Days and during their Networking Education Moment. The cards, created by Krista Rosemary with New Tech Web, list Ivan Misner's 'Top 10 Networking Tips.' The cards say, 'Use these 10 tips to get more out of every networking event you attend,' and list the following:
I received a cold call from some folks from my bank a couple of weeks ago. While meeting with them, I turned the tables on them and said that I love to speak to groups about business law and asked if they'd be interested. We ended up agreeing on a bank-sponsored seminar targeting their small business clients (about 125 area businesses) and all local small businesses for August. The kicker is that their entire marketing department is promoting the after-hours event. They're developing professional brochures, sending out mailings (they've paid for a mailing list of all local small businesses), they're following up with the RSVPs and they're providing all refreshments and are hosting it at their branch. I remember Dr. Misner mentioning that as networkers we should constantly be on the look-out for opportunities to speak to groups. What could be better than someone else covering ALL of the costs to promote and do such an event? Again, it's that BNI thing at work. Thank You, Dr. Misner! I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate and applaud the wonderful culture you have created though the individuals, chapters and regions within BNI. For me being a part of BNI is so much more than the referrals I can receive. Thank you for putting into action your vision of building your business through relationships. Substitute Reaps Huge Rewards I am a member of Business Advisor's Network chapter, which meets in Brookfield, Wisconsin. I am a design/construction consultant for DBI, a full service design-build general contractor that builds everything but residential. Last summer I was a substitute for a member of the Brown Deer chapter. At that meeting I received a referral from one of the members for a person who was in need of someone to build out the lease space for their new franchise business. I built out that store and am completing the third store for a total amount thus far of $507,000.00 of business. We have been selected to be the regional contractor for this national franchise so this one referral will probably result in several million dollars of business for our company. Not bad for being a sub at another chapter's meeting. But there's more. I met a banker at the grand opening of the first store and received a referral from him for putting up a building for one of his clients. Another time I was wearing my BNI nametag after a meeting when I stopped at one of my building projects, which is a hair salon. A fellow who was waiting for a haircut noticed my nametag and said his office was above the first store we built. He explained that his company was buying a number of gas stations and would be in need of construction services. He has given me a referral that I am working on at this time. More business from just one referral! This one referral has been like hitting a home run, but the best part is, I get to keep running the bases and increasing the score! Column
B2B: Moving Beyond Business Cards to Creating Actual Business The number one reason why many people do not convert business cards into actual business is that they never follow up, and they don't measure their R.O.I.: Return on Investment. Effective systems make or break good networkers. Master networking goes way beyond just giving out business cards. Granted this is one of the first steps in actually making new contacts, but returning to your office with 15 business cards after attending a Chamber of Commerce meeting is totally useless unless you do something with them. One of the keys of growing your BNI chapter is cross-fertilizing outside your network. This means attending networks other than BNI, places where you will meet new people, potential prospects, members and customers for your chapter members. Once you have decided which additional network you are going to visit, also consider the cost—door to door—for you attending this event. Calculate the number of hours from when you left your office or home to the actual time you returned. While you may have only been at the function for two hours, door-to-door time may have been closer to four or five hours. Now consider your charge-out rate for five hours, which is almost a full day. Include the cost of your registration ticket and any parking charges, and you have now come up with the actual cost for attending that event. For ease of calculations, let's say that your charge-out rate is $100 per hour, the parking another $25 and the cost to attend is $75. The total is now $600. For the self-employed BNI person this may equate to considerable cost. For the employed, it's another cost to be absorbed by your employer—no wonder employers expect results! Then if we allow another hour for follow-up after the event, be it sending information or just recording the contacts, we are now looking at an investment of $700. Who wouldn't want to see a return on that? How to Increase Your R.O.I When Attending Networking Events 1. Prepare before you leave the event. What outcomes do you want? Whom would you like to meet? If you meet the ideal BNI prospect, have you remembered your business cards? At least one third of people attending networking events for the sole purpose of doing business forget to bring their business cards. 2. Change your focus. Rather than thinking you stop work and then go to the networking event, consider the networking event an extension of your work day; you are just changing locations. Conversely, if you attended a BNI breakfast function, you started work at 7 a.m. With a work focus at this event, your priorities will be quite different. Basically you are building trust through communication. If you don't talk to people, you cannot build trust and rapport with them. 3. Become a connector at networking functions. Practice linking people together. Ask questions like, what were you hoping to achieve from tonight's function? Did you have a specific objective in attending tonight? Get people talking about why they are there and then if possible connect them with the people they are looking for. If that is not possible, then at least connect them with someone who may know someone. This is an invaluable skill to master, and in this information age when information is currency, your role as a connector becomes invaluable—during and after the event. 4. Always remember the best connectors make the best BNI members: they constantly think beyond their immediate needs. And they live by the Givers Gain philosophy. Non-connectors are constantly amazed at their achievements. Yet anyone can be a connector; it just takes preparation, thoughtfulness, constantly moving out of your comfort zone and tracking your R.O.I.
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Thank you! Editors SuccessNet Online Satisfaction Survey
To help us gauge how informative and interesting our newsletter is, we've developed the following survey for your feedback. The first ten readers to respond to the survey will be sent a FREE copy of Masters of Networking, so take a few moments to fill out this survey and email it to me. (If your email does not work, you may need to change your "SMTP host" option under your browser's preferences. If this is confusing to you, just copy and paste the survey in an email.) Please share your opinion of our newsletter: 1=Strongly Disagree 2=Disagree 3=No opinion 4=Agree 5=Strongly Agree Gold Club Members
Once a chapter member sponsors six new members into the chapter, he or she is eligible to receive a special Black Badge, indicating membership in the Gold Club. The following individuals are congratulated for attaining this status. If you are eligible for Gold Club status, contact your BNI Director.
Congratulations to: Pauline Bartel of the Southern Saratoga Chapter in upstate New York. Sherri Mills of the West University Chapter, Houston, TX, West Region. Jennifer Weaver of the Brazos Chapter of Houston, TX, West Region. Mark Taylor of the Greater Conroe Chapter of Houston, TX, West Region. Master Networkers Are Global Citizens
A global citizen could be defined as someone who looks at the bigger picture - the global picture, and adapts that worldview to their own community or organization. Master networkers all share that global vision. - As Anita Roddick says, Think globally, act locally. Global citizens individually are conscious of their own triple bottom line. The triple bottom line - another buzz word or faddish jargon or is it the answer to the corporate world profits today. Many companies reviewing their poor results for the year are considering that possibly striving for profits above all else is in fact back firing on them and driving the profits down. As a citizen, is it just about how much money we can make and spend or does quality of life, consider a lot more than just the $$ So what is the triple bottom line? Companies or individuals consciously focussing on a combination of: PEOPLE, PLANET & PROFITS Rather than making profit or money their sole motivator, enlightened organizations and individuals are looking beyond the dollars and creating preferred working environments. Places where people seek employment, not just for the salary packages, but also rather for their companies commitment to the community as well as the environment. Companies aware that 10-12 hour days are not healthy for the individual or the company. Mistakes are made through tiredness and lack of concentration. Preferred work places where senior managers literally chase their managers out of the building after 6 pm - encouraging them to get home and have a life. For some this new way of thinking is frightening and needs some major adjustment in their life. For others they talk in high praise of the organization that they feel part of. The community that they as individuals share. So lets look at what has triggered this movement. In the '90s we saw dramatic retrenchments, down-sizing, re-engineering, call it what you will the bottom line was, there were less and less people to do the same amount of work. Morale slumped; people felt threatened and questioned on a monthly, weekly or even daily basis, would they be the next to go? Each pay packet may contain the "don't come Monday". Some weren't even given the opportunity of a "farewell event", rather pack up your desk and be gone in half an hour. Absenteeism increased, stress leave abounded and profits slumped, sometimes to record lows. Was it the economy, or was it people looking for more than just a job. Even high salaries weren't enough to keep good workers, they started to look for more balance, more company caring. Networking events abounded with speakers talking about "finding balance", "looking within" and saying no to increased demands from employers. Many resigned only to be invited back as consultants at often a much higher rate of pay and hours to suit the individual rather than the company. Television shows like "Sea Change" shot through the roof with their ratings as people considered how they could make their own sea change and many did. Astute investors are looking for ethical investments. Putting their money and energy behind supporting companies who are clearly showing support of the environment and the community. Organisation seconding their staff to work on a part or full time basis with community groups - a very humbling experience for many. As the sponsorship dollar becomes scarcer, wise sponsors are often investing in small community events rather than the large costly extravaganza with a quickly response, but often-lower return on investment. VISIBILITY IS CRITICAL - BE SEEN, GET KNOWN, AND MOVE AHEAD The basis of the triple bottom line is the basis of networking - treat people the way you would like to be treated. So how can we do this on a practical basis, how can we become master networkers and global citizens, with our own triple bottom line awareness? Here are a few simple ideas you may consider:
Global Networking Specialist Ph 61.2.9369.1025 Fax 61.2.9369.1053 email:inetwork@ozemail.com.au http://www.networkingtowin.com.au |
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