سرکار خانم سمیه رجبی
قائم مقام گروه آموزشی راد
کارشناس ارشد فیزیک اتمی از دانشگاه تهران، مدرس پروازی شهرهای اهواز، همدان، شوش و ....،
مدرس فیزیک و مشاور کنکور دبیرستانهای مطرح و بنام در تهران دبیرستانهای فرزانگان 5/ابوریحان
شاهد ایثار/نصر/ریحانه النبی/هجرت/کیمیا/ دانش مفید/امام جعفر صادق/شوق پرواز و ....
مشاور کسب و کار بیش از 100 سازمان در ایران و خارج ایران (مپنا، صنایع دفاعی، ایران خودرو، مگاموتور، پتروشیمی ها
صنایع پزشکی و درمانی، شرکت های خصوصی ( EPC) و......
معماری سازمان، طراح استراتژی، مدرس سیستم های مدیریتی، مدل های تعالی، استراتژی، مدل های کسب و کار
مدرس برتر در حوزه شکایت و رضایت مشتری، تدریس بیش از 10.000 ساعت آموزش، ممیز سیستم های مدیریتی، ارزیاب سازمانی
مشاور تحصیلی ( برنامه ریزی، تحلیل برنامه، آزمون، آنالیز آزمون و...) به همراه گروه مجرب
سخنران انگیزشی ( مدارس و سازمان های خصوصی و دولتی)
افزایش تمرکز حواس در مطالعه
(دکتر احمدی، مشاوره تحصیلی و کسب و کار)
بسیاری از دانشجویان هنگام تحصیل در تمرکز مشکل دارند. همان طور که خود می دانید، تمرکز حواس در هر کاری از جمله مطالعه و درس خواندن - از ضروریات است. تمرکز حواس، حالتی ذهنی و روانی است که در آن حالت، تمام قوای حسی، روانی و فکری انسان روی موضوع خاصی متمرکز می شود و تضمین کننده امر یادگیری و انجام صحیح کارها و رهایی از خطرات احتمالی است.
شاید شما تا به حال خیلی به حواس پرتی فکر کرده باشید و بارها از خود پرسیده باشید که چرا گاهی به هنگام مطالعه، حواس آدم پرت می شود؟ ما نمیدانیم که شما برای این سؤال خود چه جوابی پیدا کرده اید؛ اما پاسخ صحیح این پرسش را به شما می گوییم:
"حواس پرتی، چیزی نیست جز تمایل ذاتی ذهن به درگیری و فعالیت".
ذهن شما، همواره می خواهد درگیر و مشغول باشد؛ بنابراین، اگر آن چه اکنون انجام می دهید، در شما درگیری و مشغولیت ذهنی ایجاد کند، فکر شما دیگر احساس نمی کند که جای دیگری برود و در آن جا درگیر شود؛ اما اگر در انجام این کار، درگیری ذهنی ایجاد نشود، ذهن شما شتابان به جایی می رود تا خود را در آن جا مشغول کند و این، همان حواس پرتی است.
یلی از دانش آموزان به سختی می توانند در طول مطالعه تمرکز کنند. توانایی تمرکز در حالی که مطالعه می کنید برای داشتن عملکرد بهتر در کلاس و آزمون ها ضروری است.
در حین مطالعه یک کاغذ کنارتون داشته باشید تا اگه ذهنتون یکدفعه رفت سمت یه موضوعی غیر از درسی که دارید میخونید مثلا دارید درس میخونید یکدفعه یادتون میاد که باید یک کاری رو انجام بدید. اگه اون کار در همون لحظه بیشتر از دو یا سه دقیقه وقت نمی بره اشکال نداره همون جا انجامش بدید. اما اگه احساس می کنید وقت بیشتری ازتون میگیره روی یک کاغذ بنویسیدش تا ذهنتون از اون کار تخلیه بشه و دوباره تمرکز پیدا کنید. همچنین سعی کنید وقتی درس می خونید یک کاغذ جلوی دستتون باشه و چیز هایی که یاد می گیرید رو روی کاغذ بنویسید چون وقتی که حواس بیشتری رو درگیر می کنید یعنی هم حس لامسه و هم بینایی شما درگیر میشه باعث میشه تمرکزتون بره بالاتر.
چیزهایی که ممکنه حواس شما رو پرت کنه از اطرافتون بردارید. هیچ وقت تبلت یا موبایلتون رو کنار دستتون نزارید مخصوصا وقتی که در حالت آفلاین نیست و یا نت روشن هست و ممکنه هر لحظه براتون پیام جدیدی بیاد. خیلی ها اینجورن که تا پیام جدیدی میاد کنجکاو میشن بخونن ببینن کیه و یا چی گفته. همین حواس شما رو پرت میکنه و علاوه بر اون ممکنه چند دقیقه هم وقت شما رو بگیره که جواب اون پیام رو بدید و یا تا مدتی بعدش تو فکر اون پیام باشید. اینها همه باعث کم شدن تمرکز شما میشه.
توی محیط ساکتی درس بخونید طوری که صدای تلویزیون رو نشنوید چون ممکنه خبر یا جمله جذابی از تلویزیون بشنوید و دلتون بخواد برید ببینید بینم چی میگه و ادامه اش چیه. اینجا هم تمرکزتون رو از دست می دهید و هم ممکنه چند دقیقه وقتتون تلف بشه. اگه توی خونتون هر جا برید صدای تلویزیون هست سعی کنید برید کتابخونه ای که ساکت هست درس بخونید و ساعاتی که مجبور هستید خونه درس بخونید مثل شب ها بر سر قضیه صدای تلویزیون با خانواده به توافق برسید.
جمع آوری: دکتر احمدی
با لباس راحت درس بخونید. اتاق یا جایی که اونجا مطالعه می کنید نباید خیلی گرم یا سرد و یا خیلی تاریک باشه که تمرکز شما رو به هم بزنه.
اگه مکان ثابت و زمان های مشخصی برای مطالعه کردن داشته باشید کم کم شرطی میشین. این کار علاوه بر ایجاد تمرکز برای درمان خیال پردازی در حین مطالعه هم مفیده.
سعی کنید حین مطالعه از یک راهنما مثل مداد، انگشت اشاره و … استفاده کنید چون باعث روان خوانی، جلوگیری از برگشت دوباره به پاراگراف قبلی، جلوگیری از خستگی چشم و ذهن و باعث تمرکز حواس بیشتر میشه.
اگه قبل از شروع مطالعه یا تست زدن با خودتون قرارداد ببنید که مثلا من باید این چند صفحه دین و زندگی رو در یک ساعت بخونم هدف مشخصی دارید و ذهنتون شما رو وادار میکنه که این یک ساعت روی مطلب تمرکز کنید. اما اگه مشخص نکنید دقیقا چقدر قراره درس بخونید و تا کجا بخونید ذهنتون نمیتونه خوب تشخیص بده کی مطالعه رو متوقف کنه و تا کجا روی مطلب تمرکز کنه، پس هیچ کمکی هم به افزایش تمرکز ذهن شما نمیکنه. بنابرنی اگه دنبال افزایش تمرکز حواس هستید که باید هم باشید حتما قبل از شروع مطالعه حجم مطالعه و مدت زمانی که میخواهید وقت بگذارید رو حداقل به طور تقریبی برای خودتون مشخص کنید.
فعال بودن هنگام مطالعه کمک زیادی به شما در حفظ تمرکز می کند. در طول مطالعه زیر مطالب مهم خط بکشید و نکات مهم را یادداشت نمایید اینکار باعث می شود ذهن شما درگیر مطالعه و متمرکز شود. همچنین دنبال کردن خطوط متن کتاب با انگشت یا قلم می تواند در جهت جلوگیری از حواس پرتی به شما کمک کند.
تا به حال به تار عنکبوت دست زده اید؟ اگر بار اول به تار عنکبوت دست بزنید تار تکان می خورد و باعث واکنش عنکبوت می شود. کافیست چند بار تکان دادن را تکرار کنید، عنکبوت هیچ واکنشی از خودش نشان نمی دهد. شما هم وقتی در حال مطالعه هستید اگر عامل مزاحمی در محیط وجود دارد (مثلا در با صدای بلند به هم می‌خورد) نباید در مقابل این عامل مزاحم واکنش نشان دهید تا حواستان را پرت شود. از روش عنکبوتی استفاده کنید و در مقابل حواس پرتی تسلیم نشوید.
مصرف متعادل کافئین به افزایش تمرکز حواس کمک می‌کند. یک فنجان چای، قهوه و کافی میکس یا دیگر نوشیدنی‌های کافئین‌دار می تواند ذهن شما هنگام مطالعه متمرکز تر کند و خستگی را تا حدودی برطرف کند. البته مصرف زیاد کافئین نتیجه عکس دارد، در صورت زیاده روی باعث عدم تمرکز می شود.
موفقیت در حفظ تمرکز و عدم حواس پرتی هنگام مطالعه یک شبه حاصل نمی شود بلکه نیاز دارد تا مدتی مواردی که برای تمرکز حواس گفتیم را اجرا کنید. بنابراین با تمرین روزانه روش هایی که مطرح کردیم لذت مطالعه متمرکز و به دور از حواس پرتی را برای خودتان بیشتر کنید.
جمع آوری: دکتر احمدی
It’s human nature to grumble a little about the boss, the boring meeting, or some seemingly clueless directive from several layers above. Strictly speaking, such grumbling doesn’t cause real harm; everyone needs to vent now and then.
But an organization is in serious trouble when most discussions on crucial issues take place in side conversations, rather than in formal meetings, where concerns can be addressed thoughtfully with people in a position to instigate a change of course.
Recent news reports on Boeing reveal what appears to be an epidemic of side conversations about the 737 Max jetliner. In private emails and instant messages, employees expressed rampant concerns about the Max during its development — and outright disdain for some of the decisions being made, technologies being put forward, and even for the company’s customers. The 117 pages of internal communications turned over to the U.S. Congress last week paint a damning portrait of Boeing’s culture — captured in persistent side conversations. Its employees derided airline customers as incompetent and “idiots,” and had similarly harsh words about regulators and Boeing senior executives.
As Captain “Sully” Sullenberger noted in the New York Times, “We’ve all seen this movie before, in places like Enron.”
Side conversations occur because people believe it’s not acceptable to tell the truth publicly. They happen because employees have learned that meetings are places where you go along with the boss or the majority, even if you disagree with what’s being decided or planned. Because we all want to express ourselves and feel heard, we can’t stay silent forever. So we seek out our peers — the ones with whom we believe we can talk straight — and then say what we really think.
Here’s how to tell whether your organization might be plagued by an unhealthy degree of side conversations.
The way to heal a “sick” culture (as Boeing’s was called by Sara Nelson, president of the Flight Attendants Union) is to help all employees recognize that side conversations about substantive issues are a source of organizational pathology. It starts with senior executives building a culture of psychological safety where employees believe that candor is expected and welcome. As I have detailed in a recent book, this culture can be carefully built through three kinds of ongoing leadership action:
Set the stage. Be explicit about the tensions and challenges that plague all new endeavors, and constantly remind people that you understand the risks, uncertainties, and complexities. Make sure everyone knows that you recognize the tension between the profits the company desires and the absolute premium placed on quality and safety. Point out that kicking the problem down the road costs more in the long run.
Insist on input. Do not accept silence by subject matter experts in meetings. Issue explicit invitations for input. Put people on the spot by asking questions to elicit their thoughts. Force yourself to be curious and ready to hear what they are seeing and thinking.
Appreciate messengers. Respond productively to bad news and concerns. You never know how much courage it might have taken someone to speak. Focus on solutions. Invite ideas and look for volunteers to team up to help solve the problems raised.
Because of escalating uncertainty and risk in many industries, building a healthy culture for candid, challenging conversations has never been more important. It’s time to drive side conversations back onto the center stage.
from:hbr
About 10% of S&P 500 companies change CEOs annually. Behind these appointments are often years of intricate preparation grooming successors. We regularly get approached by CEOs and boards who find it challenging to groom the right candidates and look for effective approaches to develop the next CEO.
Venerable behemoths like GE, IBM, P&G, and McKinsey have historically been viewed as CEO factories; indeed, 20.5% of all CEOs appointed at the S&P 1500 firms from 1992 to 2010 came from 36 CEO factories such as these, with GE being the largest. The sheer brand power of these companies often helped their executives rise to the top of search lists. But today GE is run by an outsider, IBM’s performance has been mixed, and P&G had a painful “do-over” on their CEO succession. Now we must look beyond the brand names to uncover repeatable practices that boards, CEOs, and HR teams can use to strengthen their leadership pipelines.
It is tempting to assume that the largest academy companies have an edge when it comes to developing talent. As part of ghSMART’s CEO Genome research, we discovered that some surprising companies produce remarkable numbers of CEOs. Moreover, the CEOs these companies produce tend to perform well, thanks in part to the leadership development practices the companies embrace. We estimate there are over a dozen “stealth CEO factories” across a range of industries and geographies; these include Medtronic, Rohm and Haas, and Danaher Corporation. We’ll explore the latter two in greater detail.
Until Danaher alum Larry Culp took charge at GE, Danaher was virtually unknown to the general public despite its stellar performance in scientific innovation. Rohm and Haas (which merged with Dow Chemical in 2009) was highly respected within the chemicals industry but far from a household name. And yet both companies produced scores of successful CEOs. More important, companies led by CEOs who came out of Rohm and Haas or Danaher performed 67% better than those same companies did when other CEOs were in charge. (Our research partners at the University of Chicago, N Vera Chau and Professor Steve Kaplan, compared stock returns for companies while they were led by 35 CEOs who came out of Rohm and Haas or Danaher and compared those returns to stock market returns of the same companies during time periods when they were led by CEOs who were not Rohm and Haas or Danaher alums and adjusted for variations in industry returns.)
Three practices stand out as especially important in the success of these stealth CEO factories — and these are distinctive from the prevailing approaches we see in many large companies today. These practices are instructive for boards, CEOs, and CHROs as they groom successors. The practices also offer helpful guidance for individuals who are looking to grow.
1. Give leaders broad authority. In contrast to the complex matrix management structure prevalent among large corporations today, stealth CEO factories vest their general managers with broad roles and substantial decision authority. As Raj Gupta, former chairman, CEO, and president of Rohm and Haas reflects: “Very early on in their careers, we had GMs responsible for manufacturing, selling, R&D, supply chain and asset management. These were real CEO-like jobs running a full P&L and balance sheet, making big decisions with minimal guidance by corporate.” CEOs coming out of Rohm and Haas and Danaher spent on average nearly half of their careers in P&L leadership roles prior to their first CEO jobs, arming them with valuable experience running a business. Andy Silvernail, who joined IDEX Corporation from Danaher and created over $9 billion shareholder value as CEO, says, “At Danaher, I got my first P&L six months out of business school. It was a highly decentralized environment with a lot of opportunities to really run a business in your early thirties. The buck really stopped with you. You had to make real decisions from an early age.” The broader authority to make decisions is an important factor in grooming future CEOs. Our CEO Genome research showed that highly decisive CEOs were 12 times more likely to succeed.
2. Encourage them to think like CEOs. Stealth CEO factories push their leaders from very early days to think like CEOs — laser focused on metrics and stakeholders directly connected to value creation. Managers at Danaher are trained to prioritize cash, returns on working capital, and strong competitive positions in markets with growth outlook. As a result, CEOs coming out of Danaher are astute at selecting high quality businesses to run and to acquire. For example, Scott Clawson is a serially successful CEO who quadrupled the value of the first company he ran (GSI, a $800 million agricultural equipment business) and delivered more than twice the returns on the second (Culligan, a $500 million water treatment company). Scott told us that he leaned on Danaher training to complete over 35 acquisitions, helping strengthen companies’ competitive position and adding hundreds of millions of shareholder value.
Rohm and Haas ingrains in its leaders a sense of responsibility to five key stakeholders (“five voices” in the company vernacular): customers, employees, investors, community, and process. In most companies this broad view doesn’t factor into daily decision making until the C-suite. “At Rohm and Haas, you were taught very early to evaluate every decision from the perspective of the five voices,” says Pierre Brondeau, a Rohm and Haas alum who is now CEO of FMC Corporation. “That prepares you for the CEO role – thinking about the full set of stakeholders you are accountable to. It’s not about pleasing your boss – it’s about doing the right thing by your stakeholders.” Pierre successfully applied those principles to grow value of FMC five-fold during his tenure as CEO. In our CEO Genome research leaders who effectively engage stakeholders to produce results were two times more likely to succeed as CEOs.
3. Challenge strong performers early with big opportunities. Stealth CEO factories send young managers into uncharted waters with minimal support. “We made bets on people and moved them early on,” says Raj. As one Rohm and Haas executive noted, “Raj was very comfortable looking beyond the obvious candidates for big jobs, often reaching or more levels down.” For example, in the late 90’s Raj bet on relatively inexperienced young manager named Carol Eicher to lead the launch of a $1 billion joint venture in Saudi Arabia, which was the first of its kind for Rohm and Haas. He didn’t hesitate to send Carol to negotiate this important and complex deal, which was larger than any of ROH existing business units at the time, because he believed she had acumen to succeed. Carol successfully launched the JV and went on to become a successful CEO of Innocor delivering fourfold returns for investors.
Our research showed that these types of bold bets (“career catapults”) help accelerate leaders to the top. And CEOs coming out of stealth CEO factories have these types of career experiences more often than a typical CEO. Compared to only a third of all the CEOs we analyzed, virtually all the CEOs who emerged from stealth factories had at least one career catapult, 79% of them had two, and 37% had three or more (compared to only 6% all CEOs in our analysis).
CEO Commitment Is Critical
To benefit from these approaches, the CEO must be committed to development of the leadership pipeline as her top priority. Raj Gupta says his commitment to these practices helped him groom 16 successful CEOs during his tenure at the helm of ROH, including Ilham Kadri, who is now in her second CEO role running Solvay – an $11 billion chemical company headquartered in Brussels. Kadri says, “As a young manager with just a few months at ROH under my belt I was put in charge of closing a major acquisition in Russia in the midst of 2008 financial crisis. Later on, I was appointed first ever female General Manager in the Middle East and Africa, leading the transfer of ROH technologies in UAE and executing large investments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Those opportunities challenged me very early in my career to operate with a lot of unknowns and make decisions on a wide range of issues, which was great training for becoming a CEO.”
These three practices for developing strong leaders don’t require huge scale or large training budgets. They require leadership values and corporate structures that allow for real empowerment and risk taking. Above all, they require the leader at the top to be personally invested and genuinely eager to grow other strong decisive leaders rather than obedient corporate foot soldiers.
It’s hard to find a CEO today who doesn’t tout the importance of innovation, yet many seem stumped by how to achieve it. A widely cited McKinsey survey from 2008 found that 84% of executives believed that innovation was critical to their business’s growth, but only 6% were satisfied with their company’s current innovation performance. A more recent study by KPMG and Innovation Leader asked executives to rate how advanced their companies’ innovation efforts were on a five-point scale. Nearly 60% of respondents said they were at the earliest stages (ad hoc, which was one point, or emerging, two points) while only 2% said their innovation activities were optimized (5 points).
Having studied innovation at more than 40 companies over the last 25 years, I believe the disconnect between ambition and execution comes from an overly narrow view of what innovation entails and a tendency to conflate innovation and R&D. When business leaders don’t see breakthrough results from their R&D divisions, they take it as a sign that long-term investments in innovation don’t pay off and cut R&D spending.
In reality, innovation is much bigger than R&D. It involves three distinct capabilities: Discovery, Incubation, and Acceleration (DIA). R&D is just one part of the Discovery capability – invention. Corporate leaders need to recognize that developing business applications, revenue models, and markets for new products often requires as much time and resources and deserves as much emphasis, as inventing the technologies themselves.
Without a strategic innovation function that includes a comprehensive Discovery process and the capacity to Incubate and Accelerate new technologies, companies end up stockpiling undeveloped inventions in their R&D departments and, according to our research, don’t see a strong return on investment from their exploratory R&D. They fall into the trap of having “breakthrough ideas that are incrementally executed,” as the CTO of a well-known Fortune 500 company put it during our research.
The answer to boosting innovation, then, isn’t just about R&D spending, but about building a robust innovation capacity. Corporate leaders would do well to heed the lessons of a well-known home goods company I studied extensively from 2010 to 2016. In the early 2000s, ambitious product experiments, like a tankless water heater, failed to catch on in the market. When new leadership arrived in 2007, they were alarmed by years of investment in big bets with little commercial payoff.
Instead of giving up on Discovery, however, the company regrouped. According to a senior VP, while they were able to perfect new products on a technical level, they saw they had a critical shortcoming in developing the markets for them. They were also picking projects that stretched them into new technological areas and markets simultaneously, pulling them too far from existing competencies.
By sharpening their existing strengths and growing their capabilities to Incubate and Accelerate promising products, they struck gold. Within two years, the company launched a high-tech faucet that became their biggest seller in decades. This was followed by a series of home fixture products that together more than doubled their sales volume in those categories and increased profits by more than 20%. Along the way, they learned an essential lesson: No matter how many amazing inventions R&D produces, it is just the beginning of the innovation process. A robust innovation function is necessary for any new technology to reach its peak potential and successfully mature into a full-fledged business.
A well-functioning innovation team has capabilities beyond what a typical R&D department or existing business unit can provide. It not only refines the technical aspects of a new product during Discovery, but also maps the complete opportunity landscape of its use cases and business applications. In the Incubation phase, the team expands, tests, and elaborates the most promising opportunities and hones a business model and strategy. It Accelerates opportunities that start to take off, transitioning them into the mainstream once they have achieved the scale needed to survive under normal operations and metrics.
Rather than pigeonholing promising inventions into existing business units and the most obvious applications, a robust innovation function fosters an expansive view of what a technology might become and then shepherds it down the most promising pathways. For example, in the 1990s, the semiconductor company Analog Devices, which I studied, developed a new accelerometer capable of sensing changes in speed at 5% the cost of existing technologies. While perfecting this invention to be used for airbags in cars, other opportunities emerged to use it in video games, satellites, and scientific instruments. Experience in these smaller, specialized markets helped the company refine the technology and strengthen their position once they broke into the automotive market.
The tendency to conflate innovation and R&D also muddies people’s understanding of the long-term value it creates. Since the 1980s, U.S. companies have slashed spending on basic, exploratory science and engineering research, largely because they believed these investments wouldn’t be rewarded in the market. The benefits were too vague and not traceable to profits in the near term. However, research shows that investment in truly breakthrough innovation does pay off — if it encompasses more than R&D and includes robust Discovery, Incubation, and Acceleration capabilities.
On first glance, a 2015 study of 141 U.S. firms I conducted with Dmitri G. Markovitch and Pamela J. Harper appears to confirm people’s fears about the return on R&D spending. Across a decade of data, we found no statistically significant relationship between a firm’s investments in basic, exploratory R&D (measured by each firm’s number of patents over the past decade, weighted by how scientifically novel they were) and the firm’s stock market value. This finding aligns with existing research showing that there is either no connection, or in some cases a negative relationship, between exploratory R&D and market performance.
But the critical insight from our study is that an innovation capability that goes beyond basic, exploratory R&D is the missing piece that produces market value. We measured the presence of incubation and innovation personnel within each firm (such as senior leadership and formal teams tasked with innovation and incubation) and the quantity of the firm’s public communications about innovation — the two most readily available public indicators of investment in innovation beyond R&D. And we found that the level of these activities could turn the relationship between R&D and market performance from a slightly negative to a significantly positive one. (Interestingly, in our statistical analysis, innovation activity alone also has no impact on market value. It is only the interaction of innovation activity and basic, exploratory R&D that has a positive effect.)
Overall, our study supports what I have found across years of research at numerous companies: that investing in innovation pays off, but not if it is limited to R&D.
It’s remarkable that innovation, a principle worshiped in the modern business world, is still so widely misunderstood. As business leaders increasingly call for a focus on long-term value creation, they can only achieve this by expanding beyond R&D to develop the capacity for truly breakthrough innovation. A strong innovation function should be the norm for any well-functioning, sustainable company. Without it, remarkable technologies fall flat and fail to break through into new businesses.
Gina O’Connor is a Professor of Innovation Management at Babson College, where she conducts research, teaches students and helps executives develop breakthrough innovation in large companies through Babson Executive Education. Her most recent book is Beyond the Champion: Institutionalizing Innovation through People (2018).
from hbr.org
An increasing number of large firms are taking action on big social issues—from education, to gun control, to climate change, even impeachment. This follows, in part, consumers’ growing desire to shop with and support companies that reflect their own values and beliefs. But Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) isn’t limited to big corporations. Small businesses do this, too, and have for a long time.
Small business leaders often build tight bonds with the communities they serve and because of that, their civic engagement is driven by the customers and clients they see every day, not Madison Avenue marketing firms, focus groups, or message testing. In a recent study, 72% of people believe locally-owned businesses were more likely than large companies to be involved in improving their communities.
CSR can be a risky undertaking. Approach the wrong cause, and you risk alienating customers and even employees. Devote too many of your resources, and you risk missing your financial goals. So how are small businesses so successfully navigating these waters? Below are my top three takeaways from my time spent with small business owners through the International Franchise Association.
Focus on Needs Close to Home
Small businesses’ clear advantage is that owners see every day what issues matter to their communities. Consider Jimmy Jamshed, the owner of Dallas-area Captain D’s restaurants. After encountering several individuals desperately rummaging through trash cans in search of food, Jamshed began a casual effort to donate some of his restaurant’s food to deliver to impoverished areas of his community. Soon community members and customers joined in, transforming Jamshed’s efforts into a full-fledged charitable program called Food for Homeless. Jamshed remains deeply involved, paying out-of-pocket for meals and visiting a local park almost daily to deliver meals and clothing.
Similarly, Premium Service Brands in Charlottesville, Virginia identified a problem in their community—children with school-provided lunches didn’t have access to healthy meals over the weekend. To change that, the office staff began spending Friday mornings grocery shopping for underserved students at the elementary school down the road. Now, students enrolled in their meal program receive a backpack filled with a weekend’s worth of food for easy-to-make meals containing high nutritional value. The program provides year-round stability to local families, removing a source of stress from students’ lives.
While the small business advantage in identifying challenges is clear, larger corporations can create a more organic, bottom-up strategy for engaging their consumers to know what issues matter to them most. This approach of directing focus to community needs will undoubtedly help companies stay on-brand and authentic.
Local Leadership is Authentic
Local business owners understand that listening to constituents needs before acting is essential to achieving the highest results. For example, when Norm Robertson, the owner of Express Employment in Indiana, organized veterans to speak out for legislation that could help, it didn’t happen in a vacuum. Robertson himself was a veteran, but he also heard regularly from veterans who used his company’s employment services that they needed a better way to move from public service into the private sector. After listening to them, Robertson became an advocate for the Veteran Entrepreneurs Act, which aims to lower up-front costs for veterans wishing to open local businesses and creating a tax credit to cover 25 percent of initial fees.
In some cases, though, engagement goes beyond legislation alone. When Hurricane Michael closed in on Florida last October, Just Between Friends franchisee Karen Miner partnered with city officials to gather and deliver supplies to families affected by the storm. Miner realized the most effective way to distribute items was by collaborating with her locally elected officials to determine which areas were most affected. By working with her local police departments, Minor successfully influenced public efforts and significantly increased the effectiveness of relief for those in need. She utilized her political voice to ensure that those affected by the natural disaster were given the supplies and support essential to recovery.
There are many ways for corporations to engage in their communities, but these examples show that the most successful efforts have a common thread. They require listening, understanding and action, carefully focused on what matters to the communities they serve. These initiatives show consumers that the welfare of your community is part of your business’ value proposition.
Putting People Ahead of Politics
While it’s important for businesses to exercise their influence in the community, the best strategy for most brands is to remain out of politics. Most businesses are not pushing their political views, rather they are raising awareness on the issues that matter to their communities – where the rubber meets the road—and their customers appreciate that.
Catherine Chuck is an owner of several Applebee’s locations across ideologically diverse states. In order to be effective in her philanthropic efforts, Chuck has successfully navigated the varying political leanings of her locations by supporting initiatives that bridge party lines and bring people together rather than divide them. And she has excelled at this, raising over $14.5 million in funds and in-kind support to community nonprofits and organizations including local schools, veterans’ organizations, and for childhood cancer research. By supporting non divisive causes such as these, Chuck has successfully exercised her influence in bringing communities together for the common good.
Even education, which can be a contentious issue, can be made non-political. For example, Sonic Drive-In’s “Limeades for Learning” campaign works with the brand’s franchisees and the community’s teachers to support educational programs and products for students. Through “Limeades for Learning,” customers at local Sonic locations are encouraged to vote online in support of teacher-nominated supplies and educational materials, which Sonic then delivers to the classrooms. This unique partnership combines the community’s priorities with both locally owned and operated stores, as well as corporate engagement.
Key Takeaways
We so often talk about CSR as if it were a new concept, but in reality, small enterprises have toiled in their communities and acted upon local needs for a long time. Small businesses’ CSR and community engagement efforts may never receive the splashy coverage that large corporate donations garner, but they play an instrumental role in the success of communities and, from their local vantage point, have an ability to impact their cities and towns in ways that go beyond just jobs or service creation. Estimates by the Franchising Gives Back program, founded by Roark Capital’s Steve Romaniello to quantify charitable giving from franchises, show that locally owned and operated franchised small businesses have given more than 2.6 million volunteer hours to charitable causes in recent years. With their ability to listen to and understand local needs that matter most to the people they serve, they highlight how businesses across the country can develop relevant and authentic approaches to CSR.
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احتراما، از شما دعوت به عمل می آید تا در همایش "هدایت تحصیلی پیشرفته" روز یکشنبه مورخه 98/07/21
