Month: October 2024

Posted on

Your Company’s Values Create Your Culture

One of the most challenging things to do as a leader is to “walk your talk” or embody your company’s goals, values and mission consistently and strategically. It is fairly easy to agree on a set of values that is (or should be) reflective of your company’s goals and strategies outlining how you want your employees to behave and treat both your customer’s and each other. But implementing desired behavior and measuring it is a challenge most leaders find daunting and difficult. Here are three steps you can take to measure how effectively your company’s values are being reflected by your employees:

  • First, make sure your company’s values are actually reflective of your organization’s culture. You have hired competent, talented and capable people but do you consistently communicate and model the behavior, expectations and values that your company has embraced? Do your employees understand what is expected of them in all areas of their work? Are you communicating with them consistently and constantly? If not, then revisit your communications program and make changes.
  • Second, do a thorough review of each department within your organization and measure morale, productivity, quality and turn-over. Look for areas where employees are consistently under-performing, taking short-cuts and exhibiting bad attitudes. Look for the reasons that your employees are not modeling the desired work performance and make changes quickly.
  • Third, create ways to support, encourage and reward the behaviors and performance that you desire and which are reflective of your organization’s values and culture. Most companies have a reasonable level of expectancy regarding individual job performance but tend to only focus and reward the exemplary while overlooking the regular, daily behaviors that make a company a great place to work.

Too many company leaders adopt a set of “generic” values that are supposed to position their company as a desirable and fun place to work, but fail to provide the guidelines and standards that are reflective of your company’s culture and your desired strategic growth. Take the time to review your company’s values and compare them to the culture that currently exists in your organization and make the necessary changes to skyrocket your company’s growth.

Your employees are one of your company’s greatest assets but require the most time and attention in order to fully create and support a culture that drives your business to achieve greatness. Communicate, focus and reward positive behavior and watch your company flourish and grow.

Posted on

Restaurant Franchising – The Healthy Option

The restaurant industry has been facing difficult times recently, with the ravages of the declining economy having prompted price reductions in several ways: new items at lower prices, more small-plate and half-serving options, and more fixed-price offerings. Yet, amid such difficult times, it is the restaurant franchising businesses which are continuing to thrive. There has been a significant rise in popularity of the fast-casual healthy eating experience. Consumers are becoming more health conscious, but do not want to spend a fortune on eating out. Therefore, their primary criteria when choosing a place to eat are the quality of the food combined with value for money. They also take into consideration such factors as a great atmosphere, which is neither too formal nor too fussy, efficient friendly service and a varied menu.

The health food industry is increasing year on year and this is reflected in the fast-casual healthy concept, which is rapidly expanding throughout the country. These restaurant franchises serve nutritious yet tasty food including salads, organic steaks and burgers, risottos and soups. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, low fat or low carbohydrate meals will often be menu options. Drinks on offer may include vitamin-packed fruit smoothies, specialist coffees, detoxes and herbal teas. Skimmed, soya and rice milks may be offered as substitutes for full-fat cow’s milk.

Restaurant franchises specialising in healthy eating typically attract customers who are environmentally aware or concerned about animal welfare and who are looking for a healthy meal at an attractive price. Food is often organically sourced and/or locally produced, with many businesses using Fair Trade and free-range products where possible. Consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about the food they are eating. More people are presenting with food allergies or sensitivities and are demanding, for example, wheat-free or dairy-free alternatives. Many customers are also weight conscious and opt to eat at a restaurant franchise specialising in healthy fare because they know they will be able to enjoy a tasty meal, snack or drink that is low in calories but high on taste. Healthy menu choices, which are filling without being fattening, can include Italian flat-bread pizza with reduced fat cheese, grilled free-range chicken breast with organic spinach salad, vegetarian nut and mushroom risotto or a fresh basil and tomato soup with wheat-free bread.

With the rapid expansion of the healthy eating restaurant franchise sector, it is clear that many consumers are demanding a fast-casual eating experience that is healthier than the traditional greasy burger and fries or fat-laden pizza. Outlets range from a “kiosk” approach on major concourses, shopping malls, rail and bus stations, outdoor events etc, through to a full “cafe” environment. This restaurant franchise opportunity has enormous growth potential and is likely to continue growing in the foreseeable future.

Posted on

What You Can Expect From the Different Luxury Hotels of the World

There are a lot of things that go into a great luxury hotel. All the different Luxury hotels of the world have something unique to offer their guests and are in fact known for a number of their great aspects. No matter how large or small the luxury hotels may be, one of the things that they all have in common is to pamper their guests and leave them with an ultimate sense of satisfaction. In fact, each of these hotels is such that they have recurring guests, who will find it hard to not come back for another visit. After all, it is quite a different feeling to be completely pampered and taken care of in ultimate style.

There are many hotel organizations that one will come across if you look around. In fact, depending on which country you might be travelling to, there might be a chain of luxury hotels in that very country. It is just that you might have to do some research of your own in order to find out the exact kind of hotel that will be of interest to you and possibly be in your budget. It is also possible to shortlist a number of hotels which might be close to what you like, in case your destination might not have a true luxury hotel.

But, this is highly unlikely considering the fact that almost every other country has at least one luxury hotel organization. In fact, many of these hotels even have chains which operate internationally. The one thing that they maintain in their hotels in common is their high level of architecture and possibly a standard design that their establishment can easily be identified with. This makes it easier for guests to seamlessly adjust to whichever place that they might be going to. In fact, this is one of the reasons why people opt for high end hotels – it is the level of service that is maintained everywhere.

The facilities offered by these high end hotels are truly mindboggling and in fact something that you should definitely think about. When you look at all of the hotels of the world, a common trait that you might come across is the fact that they all offer very high levels of service and amenities that they tend to keep adding to every now and then. This is the one factor about these hotels that you can look up to and be extremely happy about. They care a lot about the comfort of the guests and want to make sure that they have no facility to complain about.

If you haven’t tried out one of these high end hotels yet, you might want to do so the next time you are presented with this option. In fact, most people are completely mesmerized by the concept itself and want to try it out for themselves before moving on to anything else. It is for this reason that the number of such high end hotels are on the rise.