Despite the importance of pay, the overwhelming number one reason an employee will quit is because of his manager.There has always been a strong belief that the main reason an employee quits a job is because he was offered more pay elsewhere. Survey data from sources such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Management Association and the Society for Human Resource Management suggest that employees will leave for more pay, but the amount must be at least 10% more than they are making to even consider quitting.When we have conversations with employees, their satisfaction with the company is based directly on their satisfaction with their manager.As companies grow and owners get further away from running day-to-day operations, opportunities increase for a manager who does not adhere to the company culture or method for taking care of your employees.Layers of management create a greater risk that the culture will be compromised and that an employee could have an unfavorable experience with a subpar or even horrible manager.Well over 50% of all people in management roles have received little to no supervisor training. Many times they were the best ___________ (e.g., technician, programmer, nurse, accountant, cashier, etc.) when the management position needed to be filled.Managers often become managers because of what we call a “battlefield” promotion. A manager quits and the job needs to be filled as soon as possible. So the best “blank” is promoted without any training. Many times that promotion works out just fine but sometimes we unwittingly create the manager from hell.How do you spot a situation in which the manager is not managing the way you want him to manage?Don’t look only at results, as it is often the case that the some of the best performing groups or locations will have an Attila the Hun running the show. Your good employees will still perform in that situation because they are good employees.Sometimes employee turnover will tell the tale, although many times good employees will hang on for awhile, hoping that things will change or that the manager will just go away.Possible signs of problems can be picked up if your company conducts performance appraisals. Look at the wording used to describe employees’ performance or the ratings they receive. Also pay attention to increased used of write ups or unfavorable comments about individual employees.What do you do if you determine you have a bad manager?First, you need to decide if he is worth saving. That process is a difficult one but assuming you decide to keep him, you need to go back to the drawing board and get him the fundamental training that every supervisor needs.The manager needs to understand that managing is achieving success through the work of others and doing it in a way that leaves the employees satisfied with both the direction they receive and the results they accomplish.If you are going to leave that manager with the group or at the location in which he struggled to manage before training (usually not a good idea), you would need to create a reintroduction plan.The real lesson to be learned is to prepare for the growth and development of your management team before you actually have the need to promote someone to that team.(C) 2011 Jerry Ballard, Perfect People Solutions

An invention is a set of ideas and thoughts to ease the way people perform their daily tasks. An Inventor can be a business or an individual who has an objective behind the invention. A lot of money is required to present the invention to the world, thus, investors who find it interesting fund the R & D operations.The invention process is very wide. There is no fix time when an invention is converted into useful products. It can take 5, 10 years or even more. The R & D department performs a series of operations one after another – describing the business vision, creating strategies, describing the R & D processes, identifying resources, and drafting designs. The R & D teams comprehensively study all areas of the invention, collect different ideas, which are then combined to build products and services. Thus, the research to development of invention comprises a wide range of processes, which need thousands or millions of dollars.Patenting an inventionAn invention is patented to prevent it from being theft by others. The inventor can restrict individuals and companies from using his/her invention for making or selling products during its life. When filing a patent application, the inventor needs to mention a set of claims, which he/she should choose carefully. So, it is recommended to know the market trends, new technologies, applications, etc. at the time of performing the R & D operations, which will help in getting great claims.An invention can only be patented if it doesn’t contain any part of the previously patented technology and meet certain uniqueness standards. To find if your invention is already known or not, prior art search is conducted. The innovator can do prior art search on his/her own, or hire an expert for this purpose.What is prior art search?Prior art search can be defined as collecting information about the technologies associated with the invention. It’s main objective is to know whether the invention is patentable or not. Sources of prior art search include previous patents, filed patents, scientific reports, research papers, textbooks, newspapers, journals, and internet publications. There are many inventions that are never used in products and services, and these should also be considered during the patent filing process. On the internet, a wide range of tools are available that can help you conduct an efficient prior art search.Prior art search can provide details about previous inventions in the field, new products and services, etc. It prevents reinventing the already existing inventions. With this, the R & D department can know the already existing technologies, and focus the activities, processes, and tasks to innovate them or research the new ones.Know the market well before conducting prior art searchThe main objective is to get the invention patented with broadest possible claims. Prior art search collects existing knowledge in the fields that belong to the invention. But, this is not enough. One should know the market and companies that are already working on the technologies the invention is based, which will help in choosing the right areas for R & D.Patent filing is a broad process, and a little wrong move can convert into a big mistake. Thus, from planning to execution, every step should be put wisely. Before going for prior art search, it is important to know the markets in which the invention can bring revolution in, current market trends to focus on, activities of competitors, etc. All these details can be obtained through market research. Thus, it is recommended to conduct a market research first to know the technologies trending in the market.Why market research?Market research can help in proper utilization of all the elements of an invention. It provides comprehensive analysis of different markets associated with the invention, patent environment, and existing and future products. Thus, market research can add value to the research and development operations, making them more advanced.There are many reasons why the inventor should consider market research before starting R & D operations and prior art search. Please have a look at them -Detailed information about the markets: Market research reports not only provide information about different markets that belong to the area of invention, but also tell the top active markets. Suppose, an invention can be used in manufacturing products in 10 different industries, out of which 7 are in the growing phase. Thus, there is need to spend extra time and money to obtain patents in these 7 industries to get maximum ROI. Thus, market research reports can suggest you the right industries to continue research and build products.Competitor analysis: To emerge as a leading player in the market, it is necessary to know the activities of competitors. With market research reports, the inventor can get in-depth understanding of his/her competitors, technologies they are working on, and their existing and upcoming products and services. Thus, the R & D department can broaden their research to the areas untouched by the competitors.Helps in patent drafting: Patent drafter is the person who can help you get a patent with great claims. With extensive knowledge of market trends, active industries, and customer needs, he can write broadest patent claims possible. Thus, with market research reports, your patent drafter can prepare a clear, accurate patent application, and your get a patent, which will have great market value, and you can earn a lot from it.Top players:Market research reports provide information about the top companies using the technologies similar to that of the invention. This makes easy to know how advanced the invention is, the technologies that can be innovated, and how to plan R & D processes. After obtaining the patent with significant claims, the inventor can contact the top companies for business partnerships or licensing.

The trend towards creating a home based business is not a novel concept. During the last few years, more and more people have sought a solution to the rising threats of unemployment, long commutes and unbalanced family life that traditional business and full-time employment brings. Everyone understands that they need to generate an income but many are now becoming more creative in how they achieve this objective.Creating a home based business is often seen as the solution to this challenge. A home based business gives the person more control over their time and allows them the freedom to work around family commitments and personal preferences. In the case of some parents, it allows them to spend more time with their children and arrange their work so they can be a more engaged parent. In other cases, it allows the person to live in the location of their choice without having to settle for a location simply because their job demands this from them.However, moving from employment to a home based business is a huge move. The person needs to understand technical and computing issues, business law, banking requirements, business taxation, marketing as well as the details of the particular business that they are entering into. It is for these reasons that many who are in the process of researching home based businesses are attracted by a home based business franchise. Some people sometimes refer to this concept as a ‘business in a box’. A home based business franchise is typically internet based, but not always. It basically outlines the steps that the newbie buying the franchise or the opportunity needs to take to get started and to create a successful business. In most cases there’s a step by step training guide that shows the person exactly what needs to be learned. This is often in the form of videos, webinars, or simple instructions. At a time when there are countless other tasks for the new business owner to master, a home based business franchise aims to simplify the business part as much as possible.Typically there is often a forum within these groups. The forum allows everyone to communicate freely, ask questions, give recommendations and post comments. It is invaluable to a new person setting up a business to have this level of support and to have a dedicated resource where their many questions can be answered. The person’s learning curve is extremely steep during this time and a community like this can speed up the learning process. It helps the newbie avoid the mistakes and possible pitfalls of those that have already gone through the process. In addition, they often have physical events where all members meet up and exchange information and successful strategies. This is a far cry from the experience of those who don’t take the home based business franchise route. It is much more difficult to gain momentum when you literally have to create everything from scratch. In many cases, the business owners who do this are ‘reinventing the wheel’ and often times get caught in the ‘busy’ trap. This is when they are extremely busy but aren’t focussed on income producing activities.In addition, a home based business franchise often provides marketing templates, sales assistance, mindset training, supplier discounts and updated software. Although the costs of these are covered in the initial fee and in the monthly subscriptions, they certainly make it easier for the new member to become more successful in a shorter timeframe.From my own experience, when I decided that I wanted to move from my traditional business as a business coach to a home based business, I was very focussed on finding a home based business franchise. I loved the work that I was doing as a business coach – training teams, coaching business owners and creating marketing campaigns for my clients. However, I was driving over a thousand miles a week, working extremely long days and constantly stressed out due to poor diet and lack of exercise. I decided that I wanted to be home based while still doing the type of work that I loved. One of the opportunities that allowed me to do that was YourNetBiz. In addition to the mentoring from my YourNetBiz sponsor, this system provided the step-by-step framework to get started. It provided the products, taught me about online marketing and it continues to provide leading edge support, software and community interaction.If you’d like to find out about this home based business franchise and other opportunities, visit http://aileen-gallagher.com