The demands on the IT department can be overwhelming, and the larger a company grows the more complex those demands can become. There are some things that can be done, though, to facilitate better communication between the IT team and the end users, which can improve productivity, cut costs, and solve problems before they get out of hand.

Many companies take advantage of some tools that help this process along. It may require an initial investment to get started, but the improvements it makes in the company’s processes are generally worth it. On the other hand, sometimes it’s just a matter of reevaluating the current situation and finding ways to help the end user and IT personnel really understand the other’s needs.

Plan to Evaluate

A company can potentially improve its processes by planning to perform regular self-evaluations. There are many software applications that allow the IT department to gather information, generate reports, and determine what is working in the company and what is causing a problem or is likely to be a problem in the future.

Establish Processes

Programs like Dell KACE help desk management software can make it easier to communicate between departments. However, it’s up to the company to ensure that everyone actually uses the system. When a problem arises, every end user needs to know the proper methods to alert the IT department without confusing the system. Help desk software was specifically designed to provide management and organizational features to help the team prioritize and correct problems as they come up.

Automate System Tasks

By automating many of the basic IT tasks, the company can free up the team to handle more of the big issues that might be causing serious problems. With options like the Dell KACE software installation system, the IT team can automate OS provisioning, patch management, security updates, and much more.

Manage Inventory and Assets

The IT team must always be aware of what devices are attached to the network and what software the end users are actually using. If they have installed unauthorized software, it could lead to security and productivity problems. There are solutions that allow the team to automatically discover the assets and take inventory of the current usage, which can lead to faster, more efficient audits throughout the company.

When a company can bridge the gap that often exists between the IT department and the many end users throughout the different departments, it is possible to see some immediate improvements in productivity and efficiency. While it may not be easy to facilitate clear communications, it is a very important step in streamlining the business process.

Many institutions use some variation of a stock market game simulator to get the point across. This game consists of students picking various companies to invest their imaginary money in and monitoring the results on the real stock market. The students never lose any money and they learn a lot about how the stock market works. With imaginary money, you won’t have the threat of financial Armageddon looming on the horizon. You can invest however you please if you know you will end up with the same amount on the other end. It’s a great way to experiment and learn the basics of the stock market without the risk.

The biggest thing prospective investors must realize is risk. There’s no such thing as a “no risk investment.” Every investment has some sort of risk behind it, whether it’s small or large. The possibility of a tremendous return on investment is motivation enough to take the risk. During your research, you should look for investments that are low risk and high reward. When you have a lot of money, you can make risky investments, but that’s not a wise decision when you’re just starting out. If you can’t decide what investments to choose, consult a professional with a lot of experience in this area.

Investing should serve as a main part of any strategy to make yourself more healthy financially. Good investments keep paying dividends for the rest of your life. Some people have done such a good job investing that they don’t have to work another day in their lives. Students who decide to pursue investing and keep working at it will realize that they chose a rewarding path. They will know how to make their money last as long as possible and get the most out of an inheritance or large financial reward.

His thesis for this article was: “In particular, recent discoveries suggest that the adoption of agriculture, supposedly our most decisive step toward a better life, was in many ways a catastrophe from which we have never recovered.” The first logical fallacy that comes into play is incorrect assumption of a cause/effect relationship (cum hoc ergo propter hoc). Diamond brings up an argument that agriculture created a huge rise of disease in communities. However, this is an incorrect assumption because he fails to take into account all the factors. He does mention them briefly, but in a dismissive manner. Archaeologists are still unsure about whether the development of agriculture led to large communities of people or if people began to gather in large communities and then needed agriculture to support them. If the latter is the case, then Diamond’s argument in completely unfounded. The two very well may have occurred simultaneously and therefore the actual cause is unknown and Diamond makes an incorrect assumption when he says that agriculture is the cause. This undermines his thesis because the rapid spread of disease came as a result of established communities and whether or not agriculture played a huge role in the development of those communities remains unknown.

The second fallacy found in his article is stereotyping. Diamond makes the general statement that agriculture was a catastrophe in the past and since the world still uses agriculture then society now is in the midst of the longest catastrophe known to man. Society is not in the midst of a catastrophe, it simply possesses the same things that it did back then. Diseases still exist (but cures are being developed), wars still are going on (but that is human nature), and tyranny exists (but revolutions are changing that). Without agriculture, then the population would have to be reduced and that would result in death. With agriculture food can be made available to those that need it and lives can be saved. The catastrophe appears to be nothing more than rash sensationalism.

These are just a few examples of logical fallacies that can be found in the article. I hope this has illustrated to you the need to think critically when reading. If you do not, then you become biased and ill-educated because you miss the bigger points and problems. Authors are humans too with faults just like you.

Onboarding processes range from nothing other than a hearty handshake, to robust HRIS solutions that have the employee ready to contribute to the team.   A study by The Human Resources Corporate Leadership Council showed that an increase in an employee’s level of engagement could improve performance by as much as 20%, and reduce the likelihood of employee departure by an incredible 80%.

 Following are a few tips that can help you get started:

-          Reach out immediately!  As soon as the employee accepts the extended offer, get done as much as you possibly can.  That would include necessary paperwork and signatures (hopefully done online with e-signatures), answering basic questions regarding workplace policies and procedures, and more.  You can ensure that the employee feels welcome from day one.

-          Gain significant advantages by exposing employees rapidly to your company culture, allowing them to acclimate fast to the environment. Socialize rapidly, share accepted practices, and it will be more comfortable for the new hire and other employees.

-          Don’t stop after just one day.  According to various studies, onboarding should extend from at least 3 months up to even a full year. This will improve the experience of the employee and ultimately result in more engagement and higher retention rates of your workforce.

-          Mentor, mentor, mentor.  The Aberdeen Group found best-in-class firms are 2.5 times more likely to provide mentorship and coaching throughout the onboarding process.  These range from something simple like providing a person for them to ask questions, or a structured mentor team to walk them through various procedures.

-          Managers must be involved.  Managers get busy, but that’s no excuse for ignoring the onboarding event.  An initial meeting isn’t enough as clear expectations must be set, a sense of ownership given, and an idea of what is required for success is shared.  Managers need to make the time to make it happen.

-          Measure, measure, measure. How do you know if it’s working if you don’t measure what you’re doing?  After 7,  30, 60, and 90 days an assessment, focus group, interview, or other feedback mechanism can be put in place to determine effectiveness and results.

-          Automate everything possible.  Technology is faster, better, and more affordable than ever before.  Take advantage of the existing HR software (HRIS, HRMS) to save huge amounts of time and money to focus on this one important HR function.

The days of one-day orientation are history, as well-designed, creative, and engaging onboarding processes via human resource software is affordable TODAY for small and medium businesses. Improve your employee satisfaction, retention, and profitability through onboarding enhancements.

If you are in school and looking to start your own business, there are a lot of things to learn. But some of the most important tips have to do with legal issues because that is where you can get in the most trouble. When you’re starting up a business, you likely feel like you’re wearing a dozen different hats at once—you’re the president and CEO, the HR department, the sales force, the cashier, and the customer service department. With so many tasks all assigned to a single small team, it probably feels natural to combine your personal and business finances. But keeping all your money in one place is not only more complicated, it could also lead you into legal issues later on. Taking a little extra time and effort to separate business and personal finances may seem tedious, but it’s a necessary step that far too many start-ups skip.

Opening a business checking account and getting a credit card for business-only purposes may seem like a bit of a hassle, but you’ll be thanking yourself come tax season. Keeping business and personal finances separate is pragmatic—you’re only human, and you won’t be able to accurately remember every bank transfer or every purchase from the previous year. This fuzzy memory could land you in hot water with the IRS, which is the last thing your fledgling business needs. If you use money-management software, make sure that you keep your business files and your personal files completely separate. Try to eliminate as many chances for cross-contamination as possible.  Keep things simple: keep them separate.

Keeping personal finances separate from business finances can also help you in an even bigger way: it can shield you from legal woes should your business fail later on. In many cases, small business owners choose to keep finances segregated by forming a Limited Liability Company (LLC). Forming such an entity protects you as a business owner from having your personal assets seized in the event that things go south. If you can’t clearly demonstrate that you didn’t ever dip into the company coffers for personal use, it will be a lot more difficult to fend off shareholders from trying to get your house, your car, or your personal money seized. While no business owner plans to run a business that will ultimately fail, it’s still true that businesses young and old fail all the time. Planning for such an event by keeping business and personal finances separate could mean the difference between losing your business and losing everything else along with it.

Maintaining the boundary between business and personal isn’t easy at first, especially when you have so many things to consider at the same time. But getting into the right money-management habits early on is the smart way to go. And as a student, it is important to learn the things that will save you the most headaches and give you the greatest chance to succeed.  At the very least, good habits will save you time and effort. At most, they can save your property, your savings, your credit, and your sanity.

There was once a time when attending a university was a privilege extended to a very specific group of people, either those with a lot of money, a lot of connections, or extreme scholastic achievement. Now the opportunity for the university experience has been expanded to include a much larger percentage of the population allowing more than just the upper class and bonafide geniuses the chance to better themselves through higher education. Still, the increase in the student body has put a strain on a lot of universities as professors are overwhelmed with students and students are turned away from certain courses of study because there are too many people already enrolled. No one wants to pay money to attend a university only to be shunned from the courses they most desire to take.

There are a plethora of solutions being instituted by universities across the globe, ways in which to allow the student population to continue blossoming without sacrificing the quality of the education students can and do expect. Most students entering a university setting will be asked to undergo an evaluation of their current standing in the basic areas of reading, writing, and math skills. These assessments allow the university to recommend the best starting point for each subject so that students are able to learn what is needed for them to progress toward their personal educational goals.

Many universities now offer free tutoring centers on campus. These tutoring centers are equipped with tutors that must test into a certain level of understanding before being allowed to work as tutors, assuring ever student seeking assistance that the individual assisting them is completely qualified to help them understand whatever aspects of the subject matter the student may be grappling with. This has proven to be an effective way in which to support the increase in the student body without increasing the time demands on professors and teaching assistants.

Study groups are another great way to enrich the knowledge and enjoyment of learning for students. While study groups are certainly not a new idea, they are a proven path toward increased understanding of both the course literature and practical application of course information. Having another person to bounce ideas off of, to inquire to when certain elements seem confusing or to express a unique angle for subjects is a great way to keep ahead of the curve and keep the learning mind sharp and focused. University professors do tend to offer private meetings with their students as long as they are scheduled in advance but it is generally implied that these meetings are to have specific academic purposes and not meant to just be personal instruction time on a regular basis.

Learning Management Systems are one of the most impressive and beneficial learning tools that have come along since the internet revolution which allows for the extension of the classroom into the home. LMSs are highly organized representation of courses via the World Wide Web. Through the utilization of LMSs universities are able to make the course’s objectives available to students at all time and from any place where access to the internet is available. Through a learning management system a student can check on what assignments are due and when, view study materials, and interact with other students and their teachers. Some courses are conducted in their entirety through LMSs and it is this practice that has allowed many to continue with their higher education goals without having to quit their jobs or jeopardize time with their children. These solutions allow students to enjoy the learning process.

Persuasion

A good slogan for the 30-and-unders of today could be, “You’re not the boss of me!” Whereas earlier generations were willing to believe what they were told and buy what they were sold, consumers today are more informed about products and discerning of traditional marketing strategies. This has two implications: First, we generally know the classic tactics used in marketing to get our money away from us. I still remember a lesson from fifth grade that taught us to recognize propaganda strategies. The old ways don’t work as well anymore, so the challenge for future marketers is to understand people well enough to market to them in a way they will accept.

The second problem with Millennials and persuasion is that people usually aren’t excited to learn and understand things they resent,

and as stated, we resent being persuaded. The implication here is that many people today look at marketing as manipulation, especially if old school convincing is attempted. Increasingly, marketers will need to realize that persuasion is the ability to honestly bring people to their way of thinking, provided it is in the consumer’s best interest.

Calculation

By calculation, I mean statistics. One huge reason old school marketers used hyperbole and the FUD factor with abandon was because they didn’t have anything else! Today, we have access to mountains of data, and the ability to get more in relatively short order. The problem is that there is a real shortage of people who understand statistics and marketing. In the past, the geeks have mined the data and crunched the numbers, leaving the marketers to apply their findings to the real world. This isn’t good enough anymore, and there are great opportunities for people who can mine the data, interpret it, and apply it to actual business situations.

Communication… with computers…

Having skills once reserved for computer science graduates will give marketers an edge as technology evolves. It could be HTML, Flash, SQL, or something new. Having technical abilities is already essential as companies look for professionals who can wear more than one hat in order to keep costs down during the recession. Even if the more involved coding is left to the developers, as it usually should be, having a solid knowledge in this area drastically improves a firms efficiency and agility by reducing the gap between what marketers want and what technology can provide.

Explanation

We continue with the high tech theme. Account managers of the future will have a tough time serving clients if they lack the ability to simplify the increasingly technical elements of marketing. The skill of grasping complex concepts and translating them into language and patterns that are useful to the less technical is invaluable today. Whether it’s used to intercede between marketing and development internally (just ask any IT professional about the joys of being managed by non-technical people), or to manage client expectations appropriately, marketers who can help others understand complicated principles well enough to make informed decisions will be highly valued in the future.

Integration

Integrated marketing campaigns used to include TV, radio, and print. Then websites were added to the mix. Then search. Followed by social media and most recently, mobile devices. We can be sure that additional channels will be developed, or existing ones will be revolutionized in some way. Marketers in the future will need to adequately understand the strengths and weaknesses of more communication channels and how they can be woven together to maximize impact on consumers. Some will become experts in one of these, but all will need to understand the interplay between them.

• School to Career
• Youth Employability Skills Training and the YES Academy
• Workforce Development
• No Child Left Behind
• Job Training Initiatives
• Advanced Technological Education for Educators/NSF
• Dept. of Labor grant to train workers in bioscience, bio-medical
  and pharmaceutical manufacturing
• CT State Scholars Initiative
• Manufacturing Awareness Campaign
• Math Connections

We rely heavily on the expertise and willingness of our members and their employees to help us run effective programs. We develop turn-key solutions and provide opportunities for our members to be involved in a number of programs that improve public education, prepare skilled workers for employment and assist in the on-going training of their current workforce.