Risk Management, Research and Reward

Despite clearly defined roles, entrepreneurs must wear many hats. Examples include operations manager, business manager, procurement, contract negotiation, logistics, resource management, inventory control, planning, company liaison, marketing, sales, workshop and curricula design and much more.

Yesterday we spent time reviewing risk management in the area of contracts and procurement. Today was a day to work on project residuals, followed by more research. In addition, we put our name in the hat for a curricula related project.

Risk and reward are intrinsically linked. Without risk there is no prospect of reward, and rewards require an ability weigh and mitigate (transfer) risk. Success requires integrity, tenacity and a willingness to collaborate and build strategic partnerships. It also requires clarity and perspective.

A Humane Appraisal Process

A fair appraisal process should have one professional development goal such as mastering a new technology, and one operations goal that helps move the company forward such as a sales goal. Lastly it should contain one area for improvement. Public speaking is a fear for some people. Overcoming that fear through practice would be an example of addressing a weak area. The first two goals should be the basis for measuring employee performance. The third should become one basis for reward. Rewards come in a lot of packages-a pay raise, promotion, paid training opportunities or a special trip. It can be anything that encourages and motivates a person to want to improve skills that add value in the workplace. The next two posts are related to this topic. The first is on healing after difficult interactions at work. The second is what character traits to look for in supervisors to prevent problems in the first place. Watch for our upcoming post on planning for disasters.