Life Loans

Only a few years ago my approach to business was very much along the lines of risk avoidance. I didn’t want to take risk, not at all.
In the last few years I have spent more time than ever with risk takers. Talking and meeting with these people has been, and continues to be, extremely stimulating. Through conversations I realised that, despite my previous perceptions, there was an ounce of entrepreneurship within me. In fact, not an ounce but a seed and like all seeds it needed nurturing to grow. I have been focussing on this ever since and channelling my energy and time toward this.
One key skill that I realised I have is that of risk management. Through avoiding risk for so long I have a great eye for identifying risks in the first place. What is different now is that I want to take risks.
Risk is stimulating and challenging. It breeds uncertainty which takes us back to challenges again. I see more and more that;
[a] taking risk is an absolute necessity in today’s world. There are far too many people out there competing with you. They are not just in your geographic location, they are global.
[b] taking risk can certainly reap rewards in much the same way that gambling can. Few people though want to gamble.
[c] the role of the Risk Manager will be key to all organisations from start-up to global. It’s not the traditional risk manager role though. This is about the literal translation – managing risk. To be explicit, it means that you need to take risks and mitigate them where possible and monitor them closely where not.For me there are few better environments to work in other than this. Let’s take risks, let’s move fast, let’s get up quickly when we fall and not slip on the same banana skin for a second time.We will all need to take risks in the future as we become more and more globalised. We’ll work with people we haven’t met before, in countries we’ve not been to. What I like immensely about this forthcoming change is how traditional project management and programme management – which I have been involved in for years – is going to change dramatically.
Management style will need to be far more innovative and creative as a direct result of your options for resourcing a project and delivering it become limitless. True project managers will need to have the fundamental skill of team building (search and selection if you prefer) and collaboration. Online communities will prevail, communities of practice, project level communities, client level communities etc etc. I’m looking forward to working with Entrepreneurs and managing teams in this new environment greatly, not all will feel the same way.

Great employees are almost always the first ones to quit, while poor employees often get fired. Great employees generally don’t mind quitting because they’re confident about finding better opportunities somewhere. However, when great employees quit, it’s bad news for employers. Recruiting and training top talent is expensive, and losing them so soon is a waste of money and precious time. Recruitment alone costs a third of an employee’s annual salary.

So what keeps great employees from quitting so soon?

To answer this question, it helps to learn why they quit. High employee turnover signals distress. It indicates that the working environment is unsafe or unhealthy, or that workers are not well-compensated, unrecognized and unappreciated, or not provided with opportunities to grow. Unrealistic expectations, ineffective recruitment, low compensation, bad practices, job dissatisfaction, and conflict in the workplace cause labor turnover. Management needs to look into the root causes of the problem and act upon them accordingly.

Longer tenure is encouraged through a number of ways.

1. Creating a work environment that’s conducive to productivity and growth. Employees tend to work harder when they know they have something to look forward to – growth. And this basically covers all forms of growth within the organization, both the company’s growth and that of its staff.

2. Making realistic expectations and not changing them too often. People are motivated to work when they know clearly what is expected from them. Although workers are flexible, management mustn’t change expectations all too suddenly as this creates stress and confusion, not to mention curb learning.

3. Making provisions to ensure health and safety. It’s not only sensible for the company to make the workplace safe and to provide health benefits, it’s the law. Workers appreciate it when the employer goes beyond what’s required of them in this regard.

With the economic recession hovering like a dark cloud over companies across the globe, many entrepreneurs are re-evaluating strategies of doing business. Because of this reason, the majority of companies bank on incorporating strategic plans that minimize risk. No one wants to face loss, which is why companies prefer to mitigate and manage the potential risks that lurk over their heads. Precarious analysis and retrospection of business strategies present certain factors that may ultimately lead to failure. Simply put, these are the risks of doing business. Risk management is a concept that helps companies deal with hazards and shocks that are faced along the way. Modern trends have seen the rise of risk management software that facilitates analysis, evaluation, and mitigation of risks in an organized manner.

In the recent past, most businesses relied on traditional paper-based or hybrid systems to determine and manage risks. Although economical, these systems pose several problems in the long run, such as wasted time and resources and inefficient management of documentation. To overcome these issues, risk management software systems came in the picture. Risk management systems provide companies with the facility of base-lining all risks in one consolidated location. Valuable time is saved in retrieving documents that can instead be spent on analyzing, mitigating, and monitoring risks.

One of the most cumbersome challenges for any business is the evaluation of risks. Usually it takes a lot of time to measure risks. The majority of companies are unable to foresee risks and may be losing out on potential revenue. Under estimation and over estimation of a risk are both situations that the companies wish to avoid. Finding a middle ground can be difficult when the business expands out to multiple branches based on different locations. This is where companies demand risk management systems to be fully equipped with analytical and reporting capabilities. Generating different kinds of reports can help drastically improve important business processes. This way, the management can keep itself informed of the strengths and the weaknesses of the business and be able to see the “bigger picture”.