Twelve (12) Technological Trends Transforming Careers and Leading to New Jobs

By Clive M. Siachiyako

As technology continues to impact lives, workers in today's ever-changing labour market need to be prepared with skills to adapt and succeed in the workplace. Job opportunities in technology are growing up to three times faster than other career fields in many parts of the world. Long gone are the days of a linear education and career trajectory as technology continues to reshape the world’s education and workplace landscapes. Nowadays, the career paths of most individuals resemble a scaffold rather than a conservative straight line.

Changes in the education and workplace landscape not only impact job seekers, but educators and employers as well. It is estimated that by 2025, we could have 20 million jobs without enough qualified people to fill them. Before you start thinking that there will be no jobs for humans to do in the near future, first realise that technology has always eliminated jobs. What we are experiencing now is nothing new. Even in the 18th and 19th centuries, new advancements in everything from textiles to railroads to mail delivery to manufacturing caused jobs to disappear. The difference is that the change used to be slow. It took a long time for those jobs to disappear, so there was time to adapt.

But today, thanks to the three change accelerators of exponential advances in processing power, bandwidth, and storage, we are experiencing rapid change or rather, transformation. Because processing power is creating a digital explosion in our tools’ ability to do more with less at a faster rate, and bandwidth is increasing exponentially, and storage is moving to the cloud, over the next five short years we will be transforming how we sell, market, communicate, collaborate, innovate, train and educate. As a result, we are going to see many jobs disappear, yet at the same time, many current job definitions redefined as technology gives us new and more efficient ways to do our old jobs.

The key is to get ahead of the curve
Ask yourself, 'Do I do a repetitive task?' Obviously, advanced automation and robotics is going to take over those jobs quickly, if they have not already. Similarly, do you have a well-defined procedure that you do every day, or do you have rule-based skills? Intelligent systems are going to be able to do those procedures for you.

Ask yourself, 'What knowledge and skills can I learn that will supplement my current strengths?' What are the new areas of learning that will make me more relevant in a world of rapid change?" It is time to ask new and better questions, because we used to have a lot of time in some cases, a lifetime to prepare for job and career changes. Today the time frame to prepare for change is extremely short. Out IT software, hardware, operating systems, etc. should be brought to speed with current trends. An organisation depending on old IT tools will remain behind and sluggish in productivity and meeting deadlines. IT changes at a speed that requires sharp decisions to acquire new tools to fit into technologically driven work system.

The problem is, we live in an uncertain world, and because of the high levels of uncertainty we all face, people of all ages and career levels are finding it difficult to know what new skills to learn, what courses to take, and what degrees to get that will provide them with the most opportunity going forward. Uncertainty keeps us stuck in the present. Therefore training programmes should be adjusted and integrate new technological changes. The syllabus too must fit in the system. Otherwise skills will irrelevant to the labour market and graduates will keep on looking for jobs or business opportunities but will not find them due to the inappropriate skills and competences.

Certainty, on the other hand, gives us the confidence to make a decision, to move forward, to invest time and money to learn new things. Over the past 30 years, the science of certainty has been developed and its power proven. The science of certainty involves a scientific method of separating Hard Trends – trends that will happen; from Soft Trends – trends that might happen. This method is currently being used by many Fortune 500 companies including IBM, Deloitte, and Pratt & Whitney to name a few, to provide an accurate road map of the opportunities that are ahead.

That is why this list of 12 certainties is being launched, as they will transform every career and create new ones. By providing an accurate road map for anyone from CEO to sales superstar to auto mechanic who wishes to increase their personal career relevancy in a world of transformative change, you now have a new tool that you can use to make career and education decisions with confidence. The list highlights technologies that are here now, and will continue to transform present and future careers. As you read through the list, ask yourself how each one will play a key role in your industry and your personal career path.

1. Mobile hardware, software and services will continue to rapidly evolve, creating many new careers, as all phones become smartphones, and our primary computer and tablets continue to evolve as our laptop replacement. This new level of mobility will allow any size business to transform how they market, sell, communicate, collaborate, educate, train and innovate.

2. Remote visual communications will become a primary relationship-building tool for businesses of all sizes as employees use smartphones, tablets and laptops, in combination with current video conferencing systems, to communicate at new levels with customers, partners and employees.

3. Social business enterprise management will grow rapidly as organisations shift from an Information Age "informing" model to a Communication Age "communicating and engaging" model i.e. creating communication systems that allow instant feedback from customers on services/products you provide either using the social media tools or interact forum.

New careers will also emerge as social software rapidly grows with applications to enhance business relationships, collaboration, networking, social validation and more. Social search will increasingly shape careers as marketers, researchers and those on the street (street hawkers) will have applications and services created to tap into millions of daily tweets and Facebook conversations, providing real-time analysis of many key consumer metrics.

4. Cyber security and forensics careers will grow rapidly as we become increasingly connected and dependent on computer systems and machines using intelligent sensors connected to just about everything. Careers in data and information forensics will grow rapidly as the need to solve cybercrimes increases.

5. Additive manufacturing (3-D printing) will create many new careers in manufacturing as this revolutionary technology allows any size company to manufacture quickly, locally and with far fewer costs. Additive manufacturing builds things by depositing material (typically plastic or metal) layer by layer until the final product is finished. Examples of final products today include jewelry, iPhone cases, shoes, car dashboards, parts for jet engines, prosthetic limbs and much more.

6. Gamification of education will create many new careers as corporations and educational institutions at all levels accelerate learning by using advanced simulations and skill-based learning systems that are self-diagnostic, interactive, game-like, and competitive, all focused on giving the user an immersive experience thanks to a photo-realistic 3-D interface.

Gamification involves creating interactive education systems supported by ICTs e.g. online marketing techniques to encourage engagement with a product or service. It involves the application of game theory concepts and techniques to non-game activities. It derives from a branch of mathematics that seeks to understand why an individual makes a particular decision and how the decisions made by one individual affect others.

7. Cloud services and virtualisation will be increasingly embraced by businesses of all sizes, as this represents a major shift in how organisations obtain and maintain software, hardware, and computing capacity. IT is rapidly becoming an on-demand service that is rapidly transforming all business processes resulting in a rapid evolution of current careers as well as creating new careers in every functional area.

8. Big data and real-time analytics describe the technologies and techniques used to capture and utilise the exponentially increasing streams of data with the goal of bringing enterprise-wide visibility and insights to make rapid critical decisions. This new level of data integration and analytics will require many new skills and cross-functional training in order to take advantage of new opportunities as well as break down the many data and organizational silos that still exist.

9. Intelligent e-personal assistants using natural language voice commands was launched with Apple's Siri, which was rapidly followed by Google, Microsoft, and others all offering what will become a mobile electronic concierge on your phone, tablet and television. The technology will rapidly evolve and soon every profession from retailers to maintenance workers will have a Siri-like assistant. Adding an e-personal assistant to support an existing product and/or service will create many new careers.

10. 3-D web will transform today's Internet experience (which is like looking at a flat piece of paper with a few photos, embedded video, and a few hyperlinks) to a true 3-D experience, similar to today's video games, where you can virtually walk into a showroom, look around and both listen to and see the new car you are interested in, or whatever the website is trying to show you. This will employ many new graphic artists, designers and programmers.

11. Connected intelligent objects using chips, micro-sensors and both wired and wireless networks will create a rapidly growing "Internet of things" sharing real-time data, performing diagnostics and making remote repairs. Many jobs will be created as we add intelligent connected sensors to bridges, roads, buildings, homes and much more. By 2020, there will be well over a billion machines talking to each other, and people will install them.

12. Advanced robotics and automation will take a giant leap forward, thanks to networked sensors, artificial intelligence, and Siri-like voice communications, taking the next level of repetitive jobs from humans. This will create many new career opportunities from design, programming and installation to service and maintenance, to name just a few.

You do not have to know the physics of a telephone in order to use it. You do have to know it exists and how to creatively use it to accomplish your goal. Do not wait until next year, or the year after, or until you are laid off. Invest the time to identify what you need to learn right away so that you will thrive both now and in the future, either in your current career or a new one. Source: TECHNODE

Get Inside Your Customers' Heads: 3 Ways….3 Essential Skills Every Entrepreneur Should Cultivate

By Clive M. Siachiyako

Understanding your customers is the universal rule for entrepreneurs. Successful businesses understand their customers' characteristics, demographics and buying habits. Exceptional businesses gain additional insight into what their customers see, hear, think and feel.

Knowing your customers so well that you can anticipate their needs and exceed their expectations is the key to securing customer loyalty and beating your competition. There are three key steps to achieving deeper insights into your customer base:

1. Make better use of your data
How well are you leveraging the customer data you currently collect? This data which may be stored in multiple databases across your business holds valuable information around customer characteristics and buying habits, as well as your ability to serve them. Analyse the data to understand when and where customers make purchases. Identify customer segments that are most profitable and what characteristics set this group apart. Analyse your customer service performance, including response times, profitability on contracts, and overall customer satisfaction. This information can help you to identify your customers’ needs more effectively. Keep in mind, however, that this analysis will only address existing customers who are using existing product or service offerings.

2. Shift to a more customer-centric business model
To better meet evolving needs and improve the customer experience, you must shift away from an organisational or product view to a customer-focused view. A few questions to ask yourself:

• What does my customer need to accomplish and how can our company help?
• How can I better serve my customers?
• What relationships do my customers expect me to establish with them?
• How do our customers prefer to be reached and how do we fit into that routine?
• For what value is our customer base willing to pay and at what price?

Answering these questions requires customer analytics informed through data, understanding your business through the customer’s eyes and process improvements that focus on the customer. Visit shopping malls and scan the population of buyers and see what they mostly buy. Assess the packaging of such products and see how you can improve the packaging of your own products to attract more customers as well.

3. Explore what your customers truly want, not just what they are asking for
The ability to view your business through your customer's eyes can lead to the discovery of new opportunities. As automaker Henry Ford said, "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said 'faster horses.'" While "the customer is always right," they may not always be asking for the right solution. This is where innovation comes in. Innovators are able to see what their customers actually want, rather than what they are asking for, which usually reflects what your competitors are already offering.

A better approach is to anticipate your customer's challenges, by identifying patterns in customer behaviour and paying attention to the differences in local, regional and global customer needs and desires. As you identify these patterns, take action to develop a solution that will meet unmet needs and deliver it to the customer. The key takeaway here is that customers often do not understand the value of a new offering until they see it.

Developing a better understanding of your customers will help you identify areas for improvement in your business model and give customers what they really want at the price they are willing to pay. That's the best way to get a leg up on your competitors.
 

3 Essential Skills Every Entrepreneur Should Cultivate 

If you are an entrepreneur, you have got your hustle on. You do not work normal hours, every day is spent on your business and you are doing all you can to make it go. You know how to work hard, but there are other skills that great entrepreneurs need too. Let us share three essential skills every great entrepreneur needs:

1. Quiet your lizard brain

Whether you know it or not, we all have a lizard brain. The lizard is a physical part of your brain, the pre-historic lump called the amygdala near the brain stem that is responsible for fear and rage and reproductive drive. The lizard brain is the resistance. The resistance is the voice in the back of our head telling us to back off, be careful, go slow, or compromise.

The resistance is a block which puts jitters. Every project that ever shipped late is because people could not stay on the same page long enough to get something out the door. The resistance grows in strength as we get closer to shipping, as we get closer to an insight, as we get closer to the truth of what we really want. That is because the lizard hates change and achievement and risk.

Quieting the lizard brain is a constant struggle for entrepreneurs. It is a skill that needs to be developed. But as we tune into the frequency of what we feel is the right decision and tune out the lizard brain we will be able to truly test our business plans and hypothesis.

2. Think like an artist

Most of us put ourselves in one of three categories: either the chef, cook or bottle washer. Chefs run the show, they hire and fire, make plans and big decisions for their subordinates. Chefs have all the power. Cooks are the executors; they get it done. Bottle washers are often disrespected. They are the grunts on the front line in the trenches doing the dirty work. Which one are you at this particular day and time?

Think beyond the norm and become artists. “It is not art if the world (or at least a tiny portion of it) is not transformed in some way. And it is not art if it is not generous. And most of all, it is not art if there is no risk,” it is said. The risk is not the risk of financial ruin (though that might be part of it). No, the risk is the risk of rejection. Art requires the artist to care, and to care enough to do something when he knows it might not work.
Thinking like an artist instead of like chefs, cooks and bottle washers opens up a whole new world of possibilities for change, progress and success.

3. Connect the disconnected

Connecting people on the surface might feel like old-school networking events where everyone just exchanges business cards. We are living in the connected economy…the era where we needed to care about catering to the masses is gone. It is about connecting people who are disconnected, then connection becomes a function of art. The opportunity in the Connection Economy is about finding the problem (where people are disconnected and cannot find a solution to their missing need for their satisfaction).

This is an essential skill that might require significant effort. How much connection did you just make? That is one way to measure whether or not the work you did made a difference...e.g. when you make a daring comment at a meeting, when you produce a video or application or an idea that spreads, when more people visit your farm stand because they cannot get enough of the way you engage.  Source: StartupProfessionals

Delivering on your corporate brand promise: Its impact on your products, service and clientele!!

 By Clive M. Siachiyako

Corporate brands make promises. Making a promise is easy; but keeping it is the hard part. Promises made with words can only be kept through actions. How you live by your words matters most than how you say it. It is about walking the corporate brand talk. Your products/services should meet what you promise. When you say you offer “Qualify Training” you need to put in place requisites for you to keep that promise.

Defining Brand Promise
A brand promise is an expression of what your customers can expect from you. It describes the proposition and the value your service/product represent to the customer. It is the expectation you have given your customers…what you want to be remembered for. It is basically what gets the attention of buyers. It is what generates desire and invokes favourable emotions in customers.

The brand promise drives institutions’ actions and investment in people, processes, products, technology, and delivery channels. It creates a laser beam focus that provides clarity and cohesion to the institution’s many and disparate activities.

Your customer experiences can help you define a brand promise that best meets their expectations. It provides a firm foundation for designing ways of meeting your customer needs; because any time a customer buys a product/service, they have a mental picture of what their purchase will do and how it will improve their lives. Often, these expectations are based on presumptions, which can lead to real disappointment when you put a substandard product or service into action as a service provider/product manufacturer.

Sometimes these expectations are built on the recommendations of others; while sometimes, they are communicated by the brand itself. A customer’s bad experience thus adversely affects loyal customers’ effort they had put in to market your service/product. You have control over the buyer’s experience through brand promise and its fulfillment. A brand promise is one of the most powerful aspects of branding.
 

Brand promise components

1. Consistency experience
This is the absolute critical component in building a brand. Whether one uses your product/service in a rural town or abroad they expect your product to taste the same or your service quality to be the same. Customers want and need a sense of excellence each and every time they use your service. Consistency, reliability and predictability are the cornerstones of creating long term relationships with customers, and customer retention and loyalty.

2. Consistent look-and-feel
To build a brand, you must develop a strong brand image. Consistent look-and-feel extends to your logo, colours, typefaces, decoration, employee clothing, etc. You set your visibility tools and make them your identifiers from the clutter. Let them differentiate you from others. They should stand out and be ‘felt’ by customers. Your colours, logo, the typefaces, etc. should be used with a conscious of your corporate brand and your visibility among competitors.

Position your consistent look-and-feel in a specific place in your customer’s mind. Ask yourself i) what do I want to come to my customer’s minds when they hear my institution’s name? ii) does my institution comes to mind when people think about the product/service of my specialty?, iii) what comes to mind when customers think  training?, etc.

3. Consistent quality
It is not enough to deliver a consistent experience to your customers. The experience must also be of a certain level of quality. Your quality of service/product should be consistent attributes which customers expect from it. Your consistency determines how often you show and offer the desirable service qualities to your customers. Service consistency is an expectation of all customers at all times; they want peace of mind and no unpleasant surprises.

Service consistency implies achieving sameness, uniformity and fairness in the delivery of all the service attributes, regardless of time, place, occasion, and service provider. Be all-weather consistent with your services/products, then your customers will say “this brand meets its promise.”

4. Repeated exposure
To remember your brand, customers must hear it or see it over and over. Of course, building brand awareness takes money, and that is a challenge if you are a small company. The key is to clearly and narrowly define your target market. Then, make sure those potential customers see you many times by repeatedly advertising in the same publications and attending the same networking events.

5. Managing your brand promise
Proving the brand promise every day demands your organisational skills and coordination between people doing the work and process and programmes you use meet your goals. Meeting your customers’ expectations is a continuous process in which the brand is carefully managed. This requires perfect connect of your processes with your brand promise.

Training new employees on your values and vision contribute to your brand performance. Emphasise the importance of living by your brand promise to new employees is from the start, they will be able to act accordingly. You can take this step further by only hiring new employees who are a good fit for the brand; those who can support your vision, mission and goals.

Delivering on your brand promise should ‘planted’ throughout your organisation. Your values should be visible every single day as the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) of the organisation. This was spelt out back in 1997 by Steve Jobs: “to me, marketing your corporate brand is about values. This is a very complicated world; it is a very noisy world. And we’re not going to get the chance to get people to remember much about us. No company is. So we have to be really clear on what we want them to know about us.”

It thus boils down that every moment your product/service is in contact with clients, you want to give them the correct LOOK and FEEL of your brand. Your actions, your messages, your product/service quality and packaging should be distinctively visible and stand out. Slackening wanes down on your customers’ trust and confidence in you and may result into lower usage of your services/products.

Customers have to experience the brand promise through all the different channels: via the telephone, in all the stores/locations, on the website and in face-to-face contact, etc. Social and technological developments make it necessary nowadays to prove what you promise in your (marketing) communication. Consumers are becoming more assertive and, with the launch of Twitter and Facebook, they are able to forward their opinions to many followers and friends. If a brand promise is not in harmony with reality, this can be communicated in an instant to large groups of people located all over the world, with the result that the credibility of your service/product is eroded.

These days, the brand promise is regarded as key to communication and behaviour as a whole. The external focus of the brand has given way to seeing the product/service as the ‘guiding principle’ for the entire organisation. A brand touch point is every moment a brand interacts with customers, employees, partners and other stakeholders is very important in placing your above board.
People need to be able to trust your service/product. You thus need to shift the way you present your products and services to the market. Quality and living up to your promise play a key part. We are living in the world of “promise and prove.”  Trust is the lever here. Your market has to trust your product/service.

Innovation in branding your institution!

By Clive M. Siachiyako 

Why innovate 

Innovation is one of the drivers of corporate reputation. Innovation enhances product and service quality. It improves your work environment, your proactiveness to client needs, and efficiency as well as placing your institution above board. When you innovate, you are setting the trend in your specialty. You are bettering your operations to meet the market expectations.

If you do not innovate you will ‘die’ because today’s business is like a wagging war and victory is short-lived. Sustaining a position in the consumers’ mind is an on-going battle and victory can be snatched away within the blink of an eye if you relax and slacken. Players entering your area of specialty are many. Some of them enter the market with well thought and creative products/services which may push you off the market grip you would have been enjoying. You cannot risk treading that path. You need to keep on improving. Do not depend on your past glory.

The continuous battle for the top-spot has forced institutions to constantly innovate. Very few institutions are successful in sustaining their dominant position and those that do; are continuously innovating. They have the courage to attack their own position in the market. They monitor and evaluate their position and adjust where they are performing badly to maintain their grip of the market share and keep on improving where they are doing well.

Innovating improves your service/product quality and your corporate reputation. A good corporate reputation comes with financial and public good-will benefits. For instance, a training institution with a good corporate status has an increasing inflow of students for its programmes. It may have to send some of them away. Yet those whose corporate image has not gained public confidence struggle to recruit even for a single programme. Thus, corporate integrity is very important.

A good corporate brand is earned over time. The confidence you acquire in your daily interaction with clients shapes it. But due to ever changing business environments and increasing competition, it is important to keep on improving. You should continuously ‘perfect’ your services and products. And when you introduce something new to improve your operations, inform the public. Let them know about it. Do not keep it to yourself. It is for their benefit. Communication is thus very essential in innovation. Great ideas have failed to tick because they have not been communicated to the public.

Understanding innovation 

Innovation has become management’s new imperative. Everybody wants to be the next trendsetter; nobody wants to be lagging behind others. Starting from street hawkers to women selling nshima in markets, to high-tech industrialists; improving the way one attends to the needs of their customers is very important. Everybody wants their clients to go smiling after getting a service from them or after using their product. They are trying to have a pool of loyal customers –customers who can market their services/products everywhere they go.
Since customers are becoming sophisticated and selective, we should continuously change the way we conduct business.  We need to innovate. Innovation is a joint contributory process towards the implementation of new ideas. It is a practice through which organisations abandon old paradigms and make significant advances. It is about involving people from many fields to change the status quo.

Who should innovate?

Innovation starts from anywhere. Anyone can innovate. You should thus accommodate ideas from anyone and evaluate how they can add value to your institution. Sometimes the person who moans and groans and complains a lot may be the source of the next great innovation. Use such people to bring new ideas forward and somehow use them in implementing them.

Sources of innovative ideas include: unreasonable demands, your goals and time pressures. Innovation begins with an idea, which comes from nowhere – such ideas usually die unless a fertile ground exists to develop them. The idea could be meant to meet you goal or address new demands from your clientele. Either situation, they may often spark an innovation.

Do not take those ‘nagging’ voices to destructors of progress; they could be sources of new ways of doing things to improve your efficiency. Listen to them. Assess how they can be blended into your operations. Shutting up innovators is like sending your institution into irrelevance. Team work is very important in bringing bright and workable ideas to your operations. Building a strong institutional corporate brand requires such innovative ideas from your team.

What to innovate?

New ways of doing things can be done in service provision, communication and information management as well as disseminate, product/service marketing, idea or product/service packaging, ways of carrying-out your internal and external communication, customer care, quality monitoring and management, etc.

You should always look for new and better ways of providing services to your clients. If you are in training provision; look out for new gadgets you can integrate into you training pathways. E.g. look out for ICTs suitable for your training programmes and assess how you can use them to improve learning. You can find appropriate audio visual aids and software on the market and gauge which ones are usable for you. Do not wait for others to start it, lead the way and make a reputation which you can be identified with.

Communication and information management is an essential aspect in the 21st century. Information puts those who have it on a vantage position than others. How it is kept, processed and communicated is very imperative. Many businesses have lost their clientele due to poor communication with their publics. Thus, you must bring innovations to life through a range of well-planned and well-executed communication activities.

How you market your services/products have a bearing on your corporate brand. Drama and marketing do no go well. When it is time to sell your service, do it in an appropriately and professional manner. Marketing your services/products in a comic and shoddy manner puts you in a category of ‘jokers’ in the face of your clientele. It dents your brand reputation. The public may not take you serious. They may consider you incapable to present your products/services in a professional-sellable manner.

Come-up with an ingenious idea and add a professional and high standard touch to your marketing pitch to make you visible from the clutter. The way you present your goods and services should be beyond basic marketing. Make your marketing punchy, professional, visible and innovative.  Innovative marketing is memorable into the minds of customers and may entice to try you. And if your product/service meets their expectations, they (customers) will become loyal to you.

Develop well-done internal and external communication systems. Tell your staff about new ideas in your institution. Whether the innovation comes from the CEO, middle managers or junior staff; sell it to others so that together you put it into practice. A bright idea may fail when kept among top management. Lower ranks may not support it, not because it is a bad idea; but it could be because of the way it is communicated to them.  Do not put innovative ideas in a manner that make lower ranks belittled…as if they cannot think. Make others appreciate it. Then they will support it.

After selling the idea to staff, communicate to your clients/stakeholders.

Innovation is not only about coming up with new services and products. It is the whole range of things you should always improve on to put you above board. Things you do to transform your ideas into reality, develop business models, processes, customer relations, etc. Put in mind that innovation involves people. Involve your staff. Make them understand your mission. They will then champion it.  Listen to their ideas and chart the way forward together. Therefore, as a corporate body you can map, systematise, manage, measure, and improve your services/products. You will be able to produce a steady stream of innovations. Remember, innovation is not a mystical act; it is a journey that can be plotted, and done over and over again. It takes time and steady leadership, and sometimes can require changing everything from budget and strategy to capital allocation and promotions. It requires you to put the CUSTOMER in front and centre.

Ideas to Promote Innovation at Your Workplace

 i)  Hiring
The market scene today is an overcrowded space where players are constantly vying for talent. Hire talented staff, those with the calibre you need to reach your goals. But hiring talented people is only the first step in cultivating an innovative and creative environment. Building a workplace where there is a constant exchange of ideas involves finding the right formula for your entity and culture.

You cannot force innovativeness, but the right setting will

ii) Be easygoing
A relaxed and flexible work environment increases your team’s productivity by letting ideas flow. Encourage an atmosphere where the boss is more likely to ‘make you coffee’ than expect you to make them one. Do not use a leadership style of Adolf Hitler, which is characterised by threats and commands. You will kill the spirit of innovation.

Let go of the traditional work culture where the head of the entity is detached from others. Do not create a vacuum between you and your ‘soldiers’ on the ground because they will sit on their great ideas. Embrace your employees’ natural rhythm, their brilliance, creativity and innovation. They will thus bring new ideas forward and will be ready to go with you in meeting your goals in resonance to you mission and vision.

iii) Encourage diversity
Put together a team with different backgrounds, passions, and capabilities. Having a group with a diverse set of ideas and problem-solving approaches helps push your services/products forward. Embrace and celebrate your team members’ individuality – out of the box ideas and problem-solving approaches helps push your corporate brand above board.

put your team in the right frame of mind to find imaginative solutions. For you to set the trend, you need people who are focused; people who are excited to go to work every day because they believe in the product/service. Adding people that want to improve your product/service will be the most beneficial for you. It is far more pleasant to work alongside interesting, friendly, and value driven people.

Who should be Involved in Branding your Institution?

By Clive Siachiyako

Branding is about creating an identity associated with a set of values valuable to the consumer; a process by which a sustainable relationship is built between the customer and the organisation – based upon a deep understanding of customer needs, motivations, perceptions and values. It is also a promise that creates a bond of trust between the brand owner and the user of the brand. Thus, the institution Chief Executive Officer (CEO) should spearhead it. 

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
WHY the CEO? Corporate branding is a strong tool for aligning (and realigning) a corporate strategy. It ensures that the institution is leveraging adequately on the untapped internal and external resources to position your institution where it visible and memorable. Therefore, a strong CEO and a dedicated management team are always essential in raising their own bar and be change agents for their institutions backed by a strong corporate branding strategy. A well-drafted and professionally managed corporate branding strategy and implementation plan can be a powerful component of the board room work.

Secondly, the CEO needs to lead the branding of your institution because the starting point for corporate branding is from the board room. The CEO must be personally involved in the brand strategy work. S/he must be passionate and fully buy into the idea of branding. To ensure success, despite the daily and stressful routine involving multiple duties; the CEO must be backed by a strong brand management team of senior contributors, who can facilitate continuous development and integration of the new strategy. It is for these reasons that for decades CEOs have been allocated resources to manage the corporate brands which are one intangible marketing asset that drive billions associate with a product/service.

MANAGEMENT
Decisions made in management meetings have a telling on the image of the institution. They either improve it or damage it. The decision on delivery, service provision, payments of clients, handling of queries, the appearance of the building and its surrounding, decisions on the kind of furniture you use, the receptionist you employ and how your reception looks etc. have a bearing on your corporate standing in the eyes of your stakeholders. Thus management is part of branding an institution from decision making point of view to pioneering delivery and efficiency of the institutional operations.

OTHER STAFF/EMPLOYEES
Your staff carries your institution on their shoulders. What they do outside the office have an effect on the institution and its standing before the public. They are your vision careers; they carry the image of your institution everywhere they go. Their good and bad deeds positively or negatively affect the standing of your institution.

For instance, when your staff does something, be it bad or good; the media will trace them to their place of work. They will relate their action to WHAT they do and WHERE they do it from. In the process, your institution gets a good or bad name depending on the type of news about your staff. That is why some institutions write disclaimers to disassociate themselves with staff involved in some ‘damaging activities’ because such actions affect their reputation and their ‘sales’. A staff involved in criminal activities may make your customers associate your institution to some similar vices. This shows the gravity of your staff’s role in institution branding.

Your staff should support your values and principles in the way they conduct their daily work. Their attitude towards work and clients should be resonating with your values and principles. Motivating them, walking the talk with them is thus very pertinent in corporate branding. They are your brand managers; you should thus walk the journey with them. Your staff should put into practice your vision, mission and business philosophy. If you say; “we offer quality training” but your staff’s culture is negating your promise; then you are failing placing your institution where you want it to be. Your words; your promise should be matched by action by your staff.

HOW TO WALK THE TALK OF CORPORATE BRANDING
Develop your own branding model.
Build your own model of branding. Not Every Model Suits All. You need your own specific requirements, set your own business values and a unique way of doing things. The CEO, management and staff should be vision carriers of those requirements, values and ways of doing things. They should interpret them to their personal, divisional/departmental work which should reflect your identity in your area of ‘business.’ Without the support of your staff on the good corporate brand you want to be identified with, you may remain in the ‘dust’ of others’ successful foothold in their specialty.

Therefore, even the best and most comprehensive branding models have to be tailored to these needs (your business values and way of doing things) and requirements. You can make necessary adjustments with other similar business models and strategies in the company to create a simplified toolbox for corporate branding. i.e. you can align your Client Charter to your delivery systems of services or products. If you promise clients that you offer “quality skills training;” then the quality of your graduates should have characteristics of that quality. They are the yardstick of what you promised your clients.

Remember that branding is the face of a business strategy so these two areas must go together. You cannot successfully implement a business strategy without a viable corporate branding because your public standing has a bearing on the viability of your business.

Exploit New Technology
Modern technology plays a part in a successful corporate branding strategy. Technology helps to gain effectiveness and improve the competitive edge of the corporation. A company website is not only a MUST, but rather a vital channel for any modern corporation regardless of size. “If your institution is not accessible on the Internet, it does not exist!” it is said. The more professional the website, the better the perception among the Internet savvy modern customer. With the advances in social media, it is also a must that your company has a strategy for how to utilise the huge number of tools and resources.

Remember that ignoring social media makes you mute – not invisible. Facebook alone hosts about 1.0 billion people. You can benefit from that population and sell your products/services at a much cheaper rate. You can tell this audience who you are, what you do, where you do it from and put testimonies (mini-videos) from graduates as market points on the video window on the social media.

Create the right delivery system.
The corporate brand is the face of the business strategy and basically it promises what all stakeholders should expect from you. Therefore, the delivery system of the right products/services should be carefully scrutinised and evaluated. Deliver effectively and efficiently on what you promise your clients. They become your life long clients, they will become loyal customers. They are your word of mouth marketing agents. Thus, the way you treat them when they are in contact with you affects your relationship and it affects how they treat your products/services.

Communicate
Bring the corporate brand to life through a range of well-planned and well-executed communication activities. The overall messages should be consistent, clear and relevant to the target audiences. The various messages should be concise and easy to comprehend. Using complicated jargon will just confuse your audience and they may miss your main message. Use simple words, straight forward sentences and precise grammar. Go straight to the point.

Adjust relentlessly and be ready to raise your own bar all the times
The business landscape is changing almost every day in every industry. Hence you need to evaluate and possibly adjust on how you do things on a regular basis. Such changes are part of corporate branding. You are fitting into the needs of the modern market. Your corporate brand should thus stay relevant, distinguished and always consistent. Do not be overtaken by events; move with time. Change your corporate branding according to what is relevant to your clientele. 

The basic parts of the corporate branding strategy like vision, identity, personality and values are not to be changed often as they are the basic components. The changes may rather involve the thousands of daily actions and interpersonal behaviors, which you employ as part of the brand marketing efforts. Do not complacent. Strong brands are those driven forward by owners whom never get tired of raising their own bars.

21 Ways Rich People Think Differently

By Mandi Woodruff | Business Insider – Tue, Sep 4, 2012 10:50 AM EDT

Steve Siebold, author of "How Rich People Think," spent nearly three decades interviewing millionaires around the world to find out what separates them from everyone else. It had little to do with money itself, he told Business Insider. It was about their mentality. "The middle class tells people to be happy with what they have," he said. "And on the whole, most people are steeped in fear when it comes to money."

1. Average people think MONEY is the root of all evil. Rich people believe POVERTY is the root of all evil.
"The average person has been brainwashed to believe rich people are lucky or dishonest," Siebold writes. That's why there's a certain shame that comes along with "getting rich" in lower-income communities. "The world class knows that while having money doesn't guarantee happiness, it does make your life easier and more enjoyable."

2. Average people think selfishness is a vice. Rich people think selfishness is a virtue.
"The rich go out there and try to make themselves happy. They don't try to pretend to save the world," Siebold told Business Insider. The problem is that middle class people see that as a negative––and it's keeping them poor, he writes. "If you're not taking care of you, you're not in a position to help anyone else. You can't give what you don't have."

3. Average people have a lottery mentality. Rich people have an action mentality.
"While the masses are waiting to pick the right numbers and praying for prosperity, the great ones are solving problems," Siebold writes. "The hero [middle class people] are waiting for may be God, government, their boss or their spouse. It's the average person's level of thinking that breeds this approach to life and living while the clock keeps ticking away."

4. Average people think the road to riches is paved with formal education. Rich people believe in acquiring specific knowledge.
"Many world-class performers have little formal education, and have amassed their wealth through the acquisition and subsequent sale of specific knowledge," he writes. "Meanwhile, the masses are convinced that master's degrees and doctorates are the way to wealth, mostly because they are trapped in the linear line of thought that holds them back from higher levels of consciousness...The wealthy aren't interested in the means, only the end."

5. Average people long for the good old days. Rich people dream of the future.
"Self-made millionaires get rich because they're willing to bet on themselves and project their dreams, goals and ideas into an unknown future," Siebold writes. "People who believe their best days are behind them rarely get rich, and often struggle with unhappiness and depression."

6. Average people see money through the eyes of emotion. Rich people think about money logically.
"An ordinarily smart, well-educated and otherwise successful person can be instantly transformed into a fear-based, scarcity driven thinker whose greatest financial aspiration is to retire comfortably," he writes. "The world class sees money for what it is and what it's not, through the eyes of logic. The great ones know money is a critical tool that presents options and opportunities."

7. Average people earn money doing things they don't love. Rich people follow their passion.
"To the average person, it looks like the rich are working all the time," Siebold says. "But one of the smartest strategies of the world class is doing what they love and finding a way to get paid for it." On the other hand, middle class take jobs they don't enjoy "because they need the money and they've been trained in school and conditioned by society to live in a linear thinking world that equates earning money with physical or mental effort."

8. Average people set low expectations so they're never disappointed. Rich people are up for the challenge.
"Psychologists and other mental health experts often advise people to set low expectations for their life to ensure they are not disappointed," Siebold writes. "No one would ever strike it rich and live their dreams without huge expectations."

9. Average people believe you have to DO something to get rich. Rich people believe you have to BE something to get rich.
"That's why people like Donald Trump go from millionaire to nine billion dollars in debt and come back richer than ever," he writes.  "While the masses are fixated on the doing and the immediate results of their actions, the great ones are learning and growing from every experience, whether it's a success or a failure, knowing their true reward is becoming a human success machine that eventually produces outstanding results."

10. Average people believe you need money to make money. Rich people use other people's money.
Linear thought might tell people to make money in order to earn more, but Siebold says the rich aren't afraid to fund their future from other people's pockets.  "Rich people know not being solvent enough to personally afford something is not relevant. The real question is, 'Is this worth buying, investing in, or pursuing?'" he writes.

11. Average people believe the markets are driven by logic and strategy. Rich people know they're driven by emotion and greed.

Investing successfully in the stock market isn't just about a fancy math formula. "The rich know that the primary emotions that drive financial markets are fear and greed, and they factor this into all trades and trends they observe," Siebold writes. "This knowledge of human nature and its overlapping impact on trading give them strategic advantage in building greater wealth through leverage."

12. Average people live beyond their means. Rich people live below theirs.
"Here's how to live below your means and tap into the secret wealthy people have used for centuries: Get rich so you can afford to," he writes.  "The rich live below their means, not because they're so savvy, but because they make so much money that they can afford to live like royalty while still having a king's ransom socked away for the future."

13. Average people teach their children how to survive. Rich people teach their kids to get rich.
Rich parents teach their kids from an early age about the world of "haves" and "have-nots," Siebold says. Even he admits many people have argued that he's supporting the idea of elitism.

He disagrees. "[People] say parents are teaching their kids to look down on the masses because they're poor. This isn't true," he writes. "What they're teaching their kids is to see the world through the eyes of objective reality––the way society really is."

If children understand wealth early on, they'll be more likely to strive for it later in life.

14. Average people let money stress them out. Rich people find peace of mind in wealth.
The reason wealthy people earn more wealth is that they're not afraid to admit that money can solve most problems, Siebold says.  "[The middle class] sees money as a never-ending necessary evil that must be endured as part of life. The world class sees money as the great liberator, and with enough of it, they are able to purchase financial peace of mind."

15. Average people would rather be entertained than educated. Rich people would rather be educated than entertained.
While the rich don't put much stock in furthering wealth through formal education, they appreciate the power of learning long after college is over, Siebold says. "Walk into a wealthy person's home and one of the first things you'll see is an extensive library of books they've used to educate themselves on how to become more successful," he writes. "The middle class reads novels, tabloids and entertainment magazines."

16. Average people think rich people are snobs. Rich people just want to surround themselves with like-minded people.
The negative money mentality poisoning the middle class is what keeps the rich hanging out with the rich, he says. "[Rich people] can't afford the messages of doom and gloom," he writes. "This is often misinterpreted by the masses as snobbery. Labeling the world class as snobs is another way the middle class finds to feel better bout themselves and their chosen path of mediocrity."
 
17. Average people focus on saving. Rich people focus on earning.
Siebold theorizes that the wealthy focus on what they'll gain by taking risks, rather than how to save what they have. "The masses are so focused on clipping coupons and living frugally they miss major opportunities," he writes.  "Even in the midst of a cash flow crisis, the rich reject the nickle and dime thinking of the masses. They are the masters of focusing their mental energy where it belongs: on the big money."

18. Average people play it safe with money. Rich people know when to take risks.
"Leverage is the watchword of the rich," Siebold writes. "Every investor loses money on occasion, but the world class knows no matter what happens, they will aways be able to earn more."

19. Average people love to be comfortable. Rich people find comfort in uncertainty.
For the most part, it takes guts to take the risks necessary to make it as a millionaire––a challenge most middle class thinkers aren't comfortable living with. "Physical, psychological, and emotional comfort is the primary goal of the middle class mindset," Siebold writes.

World class thinkers learn early on that becoming a millionaire isn't easy and the need for comfort can be devastating. They learn to be comfortable while operating in a state of ongoing uncertainty."

20. Average people never make the connection between money and health. Rich people know money can save your life.
While the middle class squabbles over the virtues of Obamacare and their company's health plan, the super wealthy are enrolled in a super elite "boutique medical care" association, Siebold says. "They pay a substantial yearly membership fee that guarantees them 24-hour access to a private physician who only serves a small group of members," he writes. "Some wealthy neighborhoods have implemented this strategy and even require the physician to live in the neighborhood."

21. Average people believe they must choose between a great family and being rich. Rich people know you can have it all.
The idea the wealth must come at the expense of family time is nothing but a "cop-out", Siebold says. "The masses have been brainwashed to believe it's an either/or equation," he writes. "The rich know you can have anything you want if you approach the challenge with a mindset rooted in love and abundance."

World's richest woman Gina Rinehart is enduring a media firestorm over an article in which she takes the "jealous" middle class to task for "drinking, or smoking and socializing" rather than working to earn their own fortune.

The Great Mismatch: Skills Shortages are Getting Worse…Youth Unemployment Reaches Record Highs –the Global Perspective.

By Clive Siachiyako

In parts of Europe and the Middle East more than a quarter of 15- to 24-year-olds do not have a job. Altogether, 75million of the world’s young people are unemployed. Twice that number (about 150million) is underemployed. This does not only represent a huge loss of productive capacity (as people in the prime of life are turned into dependents); but it is also a potential source of social disruption and a daily source of individual angst.

At the same time, companies complain that they cannot get hold of the right people. More than a third of employers worldwide had trouble filling jobs, Economist.com. Skills shortages are pressing not just in elite areas such as engineering but also in mid-level ones such as office administration.

What is going on? And what can we do about it? It is argued that a big part of the problem is that educators and employers operate in parallel universes – and that a big part of the solution lies in bringing these two universes together i.e. educators to step into employers’ shoes, employers to step into educators’ and students to move between the two.

The best way to do this is to revamp vocational education, which in many parts of the world has been treated as the ‘ginger stepchild’ of the education system i.e. as by-the-way training system. Governments are pouring money into universities, and universities are competing in singing their own praises. As a result, parents and their offspring have shunned vocational schools. Many students chose to go to academic schools, yet vocational schools give them more chance of finding work, according to the Economist.com findings.

In this regard, in some far-sighted countries, schools and firms are seriously reinventing in vocational education, Economist.com argues in its research findings. South Korea for instance has created a network of vocational schools – called “meister” schools, copied from German for “master craftsman” to reduce the country’s shortage of machine operators and plumbers. It also referred to them as “young meisters” in order to counteract the country’s obsession with academic glories (NOTE: South Korea has one of the world’s highest university-enrolment rates). The government paid students’ room and boarding as well as their tuition fees.

Technical schools are building exact replicas of workplaces in order to make it easier to cross the theoretical-practical divide. For example, TAFE Challenger Institute of Technology in Australia has a fully functioning replica of a gas-processing plant (minus the gas) in its workshops. Furthermore, talent-starved companies are striking deals with governments to mix practical and academic education. In Egypt; Americana Group, a food and restaurant company has a programme that allows students to spend to half their time working for Americana and half their time in college.

Policymakers are also enjoying some success in using vocational education to reach underprivileged groups. South Africa’s Go for Gold, a partnership between the Western Cape Education Department and the NMC Construction Group, identifies promising schoolchildren for additional instruction and guarantees them a year’s paid work experience and a chance at a university scholarship. India’s Institute for Literacy Education and Vocational Training sends people to villages to speak to families about the opportunities on offer with blue-chip companies such as Taj Hotels and Larsen and Toubro.

It is easy to be skeptical about these attempts to bridge the gap between education and employment. Academic drift is one of the most powerful forces in educational life. Look at the way Britain’s technical schools were allowed to wither and its polytechnics converted into universities. This created practical skills gap in the country due to lack of practicability of university education in comparison to vocational training, states the economist.com report.

Nevertheless there are reasons for optimism. For one, technology is greatly reducing the cost of vocational education, which has always been one of the most important reasons for its slow spread. “Serious games” can provide young people with a chance to gain hands-on experience, albeit of the virtual kind, at minimum cost. Miami Dade College, America’s largest community college, has introduced a system that sends automatic alerts to faculty advisers whenever one of their charges trips a warning wire, such as falling grades. These are creative products of artisans and craftsmen who train by doing, a drift from academic learning dominant in universities.

More and more private-sector institutions are also coming up with ideas to improve vocational training. For instance, China Vocational Training Holdings specialises in matching students with jobs in the Chinese car industry by keeping masses of data on both students and companies. Mozilla, the creator of the Firefox web browser, has created an “open badges initiative” that allows people to get recognition for programming skills. IL & FS Skills, an Indian training company, gives students a guarantee of a job if they finish its courses. This array of initiatives is a motivator to vocational learners to think outside the box and use their intellect and hands-on skills to create opportunities for themselves. Learners graduate with a mentality to create, to invent, and find/provide solutions to seemingly challenging things in their communities.

Better vocational education alone is hardly a panacea (cure-all) for the global jobs crisis.  Millions of young people will be condemned to unemployment so long as demand remains slack and growth sluggish. But it can at least help to deal with an absurd mismatch that has saddled the world not just with a shortage of jobs but a shortage of skills as well, adds the economist.com.

The global perspective on vocational training shows that the solution to youth unemployment can be lessened by increasing technical and vocation training windows which expose learners to real world situations. It entails a change from the traditional way of guiding youths into career pathways inclined towards theory. Robert Frost (author of the Book: Rich Dad, Poor Dad) argues that youths spend years in an old-fashioned educational system, studying subjects they will never use and preparing for a world that no longer exists. He adds, “Today, the most dangerous advice you can give a child is ‘go to school, get good grades and look for a safe-secure job in government, and enjoy your pension entitlements forever.’ That is old advice, and it's bad advice. If you could see what is happening in the labour market you would be concerned.”

Simply telling a youth “get a good education,” is not enough. Youths in this era need an education system which prepares them for the world they will face upon graduation. Each youth needs more education focused on using their brains and hands to earn a living. They need a different education from the one of the 60s. And they need to know the rules; they need different sets of rules anchored on appropriate vocational training of their time.

Preparing and training youths for the 21st century industry requires combined inputs of government, the industry and private sector. Government needs to put in place appropriate policy frameworks and implementation systems for relevant vocational training. Policy frameworks; (i) define funding strategies for vocational training and implementation strategies are made, (ii) training pathways designed and modes of implementing them devised (to increase access to vocational training), and (iii) industry interaction (for hands-on experience to learners) spelled out and modes of carrying them out well defined, as well as other initiatives to ensure that vocational graduates are properly nurtured for the modern labour market.

In addition, the industry needs to create a haven for nurturing vocational training in different sectors of the economy. The industry detects skills needs as soon as they arise, thus can signal them to the trainers and help learners acquire such competences through industrial attachments and other industry interaction modes strategically made to bridge skills lapses in most young graduates.

The industry can also devise funding strategies towards sectoral skills.  Each sector needs certain skills to increase its productivity. Each industry needs a certain quantum of human capital to achieve projected growth targets. Training right numbers of skilled, energetic and relevant personnel for each industry is a costly undertaking. Shared input in training such a pool of human capital is indispensable. Training the right clusters of skilled youths with the right calibre requires government, sectoral and industry input for attainment of collective goals (of having empowered youths –government goals; and having relevant, innovative and dedicated personnel on the job for increased productivity –goal of the industry.)

The role of the parent becomes very paramount in developing such a calibre of vocational graduates. Parents influence career choices of their children and who they end being in their lives. Homes are largest investment and greatest havens of creating great minds and stunted-dependent minds. Therefore, a new approach to career guidance is unavoidable in this era, especially with the failed old education system mainly focused on theory, which has been the major characteristic feature of mostly universities.

It is very risky today to simply say to a child, “study hard and look for a job.” A child today needs a more sophisticated education, and the current system is not delivering the goods. Vocational training has proved to be one of the tools in developing a new crop of youths who innovate, work hard, who use their intellect and hands to create value, who are financially competent, self-reliant and look-out for “how they can create employment (or how to come out of the ‘employed status’ when they still have the strength to create wealth for themselves), and not who can employ them until they retire.’

Parents can help the world have a class of youths whose mind is not fine-tuned towards "entitlement” mentality (i.e. pension, health policy, etc.). Things parents put in the ‘brain chips’ of their children has a huge impact on who they become in their lives. Career ‘worlds’ parents create in the minds of the children often determine the career they pursue. Unfortunately, the two (parents and today’s children) are living in very different times. In the 60s getting good grades at school, going to university and looking for a secure job in government, and waiting for entitlements made sense; but it is not workable anymore. Youths should be allowed to explore their inner-self to pursue careers that enable them fit in the world of today, not the non-existing world of the old age.

Gone are the days too when industry waited for government to training human resource for them. Industry currently require sophisticated and focused graduates who are ready to get ‘dirty’ (use their practical skills and intellect) to contribute towards personal and national development. Combined input of the industry, government and parents in sharping today’s pool of human capital can achieve a lot in addressing some of the youth unemployment challenges.