Intelligence and IQ - Understanding What They Really Mean

Ask five people what intelligence is and you'll likely get five different answers. One may say it's how smart a person is. Another may say it's a person's score on an IQ test. And yet another may tell you it's how well a student does in school. Everyone seems to know what intelligence is, but few agree on how to define it.

Intelligence has been studied for over a hundred years, extending back to when French psychologist Alfred Binet developed the first intelligence test in the early 1900s. The first individual intelligence test in the United States was published in 1916 and was based on the work of a Stanford University psychologist named Louis Terman, who drew on the work of Binet. Shortly afterward, when the United States entered World War I, psychologists developed tests to screen military recruits. These tests later were adapted for the public and became the first group intelligence tests for general use.

Despite a long and esteemed history, one would think that professionals would agree on how to define intelligence, but surprisingly they don't. The reason is that intelligence is a complex concept.
Several theories on intelligence are discussed at great length in the professional literature. Some experts believe that intelligence is static and unchanging; others subscribe to a dynamic or growth approach which suggests that intelligence can be influenced and changed with effort. Adding to the debate is the view that intelligence is multi-dimensional, as with the theory of multiple intelligences.

For our purposes, we'll stick to one of the more common and simpler definitions, which is that intelligence is the ability to reason, solve problems, and understand the world in which we live.
With this definition in mind, as a person's IQ increases, the better he or she becomes at reasoning, solving problems, and understanding the environment. Persons with higher IQs also will generally learn at a faster rate, and they will learn more detail and grasp abstract concepts more easily than persons with lower IQs, assuming no learning problems are present.

It's important to understand that although the terms "intelligence" and "IQ" often are used interchangeably, technically they're not the same. Intelligence is a theoretical construct that is related to the ability to reason, solve problems, and understand the world around us. IQ is merely a score on an intelligence test that is a measure, or index, of how intelligent or smart we are.

Another thing to keep in mind is that IQ tests do not measure an individual's intellectual potential. This is perhaps one of the most common misconceptions about IQ tests. Viewing IQ as a measure of potential should be avoided because it creates a "ceiling" that may actually keep an individual from reaching his or her true potential.

IQ tests also are not particularly good at predicting who will be successful in the arts. For example, a person may not have an especially high IQ, but that same person may be a gifted dancer, artist, or rock singer who performs their art superbly. In other words, a person may be intellectually gifted but not necessarily artistically talented, and vice versa.

Generally, as one's IQ increases, so does the likelihood of success in school and career. Still, it's fairly easy to find students with average IQs who achieve above-average grades or receive above-average standardized test scores, or adults with average IQs who reach extraordinary levels of success. This occurs because of nonintellectual factors. In other words, besides intelligence, people are also influenced in important ways by motivational level, thoughts, emotions, beliefs, attitudes, interests, stamina, and more. These nonintellectual influences serve as important reminders that we live in a multivariate world where our lives are influenced by an interplay of many variables rather than a single one such as IQ.

As a closing comment, it's interesting to note that many writers have attempted to estimate the IQs of some of the great minds of all time. A popular choice is Leonardo da Vinci, who is widely regarded to be a true genius with an IQ estimated to be around 180. That estimate is based on his numerous and extraordinary accomplishments as an artist, architect, sculptor, engineer, inventor, and mathematician. He obviously wasn't administered a standardized intelligence test back in the 1400s!

What is to be learned from da Vinci is that regardless of an individual's IQ, it's what he or she achieves or accomplishes in life that ultimately counts the most.

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Is Consulting a Good Career Move?

Many people are unsure if consulting is a good move for them to make. Fears around security, being able to sell and market themselves, the need to work alone and be solely responsible for their own financial success. You may have some or all of these concerns.
Let's start by having a look at the three basic options to make a living.

• Having a job (working for someone else)
• Contracting
• Consulting

Having a job is the traditional "safe" approach. For many people it is still the best approach after all, if you're not actually that good at what you do then it's a lot easier to hide in a big company surrounded by other people who all have a part to play in your success (or failure).
If however you are really good at what you do then having a job can be frustrating and limit your freedom, creativity and earning potential.

What are the important areas for you?

Control of time
As an employee or a contractor you will have little control and will, in the most part, have to fit in with the professional working day'. As a consultant you be able to choose when you work..

Control over what you work on
As an employee there will be little choice over what you work on. You could potentially shape this by being selective about the job you accepted but it would still be down to what the company you work for wanted done.

As a contractor you may have slightly more choice as you could specialise in the areas that interest you the most however there would still be a lot of specific direction set by who you contract with.

The need to sell and market yourself
There is very little need to do this (with the exception of the actual job seeking process) if you decided to stay as an employee.

As a contractor you would need to do more of this but most contractors get their work through agencies so it would not be a massive requirement.

If you went the consultant route you will need to do a lot of this, developing strategies to get your business recognised, attract leads and turn them into paying clients.

Potential for higher income
Remaining as an employee offers the least opportunity, Contracting will certainly offer better potential but consulting is far and away the best opportunity to earn big money.

Benefits
Many people who are employees enjoy a wealth of company benefits (health insurance, company cars etc.) As a contractor or consultant the benefits will be next to none.

Job security
As an employee, particularly if you been employed by the same company for a number of years, you have a degree of job security and, even if your job is cut you may be entitled to redundancy payments. As a contractor or consultant you will have no such security.

Career security
While you have some job security as an employee your career is in the hands of other people. If your employers company merged with another, or if they suffered some other kind of major financial issue, you could find himself with no income. If you have your own consulting business you can arrange that your business was not linked to a single company and therefore you are in more in control over your overall career.

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Easy Appetizers - Bacon-Wrapped Sausage

Here in the UK Bacon wrapped around Sausages are part of a traditional Sunday Lunch and Christmas Day Lunch fayre, they also make a great quick and easy appetizer when not being served as part of a main meal! Although they can be purchased already made up, they are very simple to make at home.

The first ingredient that you will need to purchase are sausages. You could of course make your own sausages, but with so many varieties available and at such a reasonable cost there isn't as many benefits to this as there used to be. If you want something a little more special speak with your local butcher, as they may be able to customise some sausages for you.

What sort of sausages you get is up to you. Many people prefer Chipolata sausages, as they are thin and there are those who prefer cocktail sausages (cocktail wieners), but the choice is yours. If you are making them as an Appetizer then remember that smaller is better as they are easier to pick up and eat.

The second ingredient that you will need to purchase is bacon. There is of course a variety of different bacon types that you could use, and again it comes down to a person choice but for a more pleasing look a streaky rasher or strip is the one I would suggest.

There are two ideas to what to do with the sausages, some people believe that they should be quickly fried to give some colour to the sausages and to seal the juices in before the longer baking time. Others feel that the sausages look better with the contrast between the colour under the bacon when they are bitten into.

Take one sausage and wrap around one slice or rasher of bacon around the sausage. Try to keep it neat so that it looks pretty! If you have cooked the sausages to give them some colour then you need to wait until they have cooled before you wrap them, or you will burn your fingers!

When you have wrapped all the sausages in bacon you need to place them on a lightly greased baking tray and then roast them in a preheated over for twenty five to thirty minutes at gas mark 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Now simply serve and enjoy!

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Top Secret Never Tell Neufchatel Alfredo

This alfredo sauce has it all; it's low fat, tasty, and easily made in 20 minutes, SHUSH don't tell. After all, it took quite a bit of thought and time for me to finally divulge the secrets you now see listed. product marketed as a healthier low-fat alternative to cream cheese. It is not identical to French Neufchâtel. American Neufchâtel is softer than cream cheese due to its higher moisture and 33% lower fat composition. Neufchâtel cheese makes a great substitute for the heavy cream normally used in alfredo sauces, your guests will never know the difference.

You'll be making this dish often knowing that it's guilt free. Be warned, you may be approached to divulge the components of this recipe, only you can decide to keep this secret or not.
Difficulty (Scale from 1-10): 6

Serves: 4-6

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
3 tablespoons of olive oil

2 cloves of fresh garlic - pressed

1/4 teaspoon of dried crushed red pepper

1 1/2 cups of water

2 cubes of chicken bouillons

1 tablespoon of flour

2/3 cup of Neufchatel cheese

1/4 cup of fresh parsley - chopped

1/4 cup of light parmesan cheese

1 pound of pasta

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Preparation

In a medium sized sauce pan on medium-high heat add, oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper, fry until garlic turns golden brown. Add water and bouillon, bring to a boil making sure bouillon is dissolved. Whisk in Neufchatel cheese and once uniform add flour and simmer until sauce thickens, then remove from heat. Add parmesan cheese. Then add salt and black pepper to taste and serve on top of your favorite pasta.


Enjoy your meal!

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6 Brain Exercises For Children

As children are growing up they are developing thinking, as well as behavioral, patterns. Using these 6 brain exercises for children is one way to help them develop these skills for better functioning and mental abilities for life.

Word Searches/Crosswords
They make many books for kids that contain word searches and crosswords. These are great activities for children to exercise their brains by using the focus and thinking that they require. Crossword puzzles are also a great family activity, where one person can read off the clue and tell how many letters are involved and everyone else can guess.

Memory Exercises
Working with memory exercises can be one of the easiest brain exercises for children, since it can be done in the car while driving or almost anywhere else. Starting when they are young we naturally do these exercises by teaching them how to spell their names, and what their phone numbers and addresses are. We can expand on this by having them work on remembering poems, songs, and the names from family trees.

Memorizing helps children use their brain to focus and retain the information. It also is a very useful skill since a lot of education is based on memorizing, such as learning the number facts for math or learning a list of spelling words.

Obstacle Courses For The Brain
We all have heard of obstacle courses that require physical exercises, but we can also set up ones that include brain exercises for children. An obstacle course for the brain can combine both physical and brain exercises, or focus exclusively on the latter. You can make stations along a physical obstacle course where they can only proceed to the next station after they complete a mental task, such as a short crossword puzzle or word problem. You can also set is up where they have stations throughout the house where they have to complete a series of mental tasks all lined up along the floor or a table.

Write Or Draw Left-Handed (Or Right-Handed)
A great way to exercise the brain is to use the non-dominant hand for writing or drawing. This can be fun to see who can tell what was written or drawn afterwards. Another option is to draw a picture where one-half is done with the dominant hand and then afterwards it is copied onto the other half by the non-dominant hand. These are brain exercises for children that encourage both sides of their brain to work together.

While brain exercises for children can be simple and fun the payoffs can be huge. By using these brain exercises the children are learning to exercise an important part of the body.

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Benefits of Hiring a Business Consultant

There are many benefits of hiring a business consultant. This is especially true in today's fast paced business world, where there never seems to be enough hours in a day to accomplish all the things that need to be done.

Size Really Doesn't Matter
A small business can benefit just as much as a large business, when it comes to business consulting benefits. In fact, the services offered in each case are relatively the same.

All businesses, regardless of the products or services they offer, have the same basic promotion and marketing needs. They are all in business to make a profit and grow their client base. Business consulting companies are designed to take on that very task and are certainly diverse enough to work with any industry. It should be noted, however, that some of these companies prefer to specialize in certain areas.

Mapping Out a Plan
One of the services that a business consultant typically provides is assisting the business owner in mapping out a lucrative plan for the future. Very seldom is a business successful without a stable, long-term, business plan.

Some business owners know exactly how they want to proceed. Others may require assistance in this area, due to lack of business knowledge, experience or a combination of the two.

Services can be rendered at any stage of the game and will typically be just as effective if the business is brand-new or fully established. In some cases, a newer business might even be at an advantage. Working with a consultant company means less chance of making business decisions that may need to be altered in the future.

Once a business plan has been established, the service doesn't stop there. The consultant will be readily available for future consultations and brainstorming sessions, as needed. Their success hinges on the success of each and every client.

More Time to Devote to Other Business Aspects
Another major benefit of hiring a consultant is the fact that the business owner will have more time to devote to other business aspects. These aspects include things like product development and employee training.

Not only that, it takes away some of the overall stress of running a business. Even the most seasoned business owner goes through periods that are more stressful than others. A good business consultant will always be there to help alleviate some of the stress of day-to-day business activities and procedures.

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How Can Micro Teaching Technique Be Beneficial

Life is not a bed of roses; and we usually confront as many problems in our daily life. Problem is not a problem itself however we convert it to a difficult one by dealing with trivial issues or sometimes ignoring the significant ones. Our attitude to such problems compels us to face more complicated issues in even small problems.

In our daily life, the busy schedule tends us to invite more problems and we get caught in situation by one way or another. If these problems are not attended properly; these tend to tease you on every step. They say if you are not a part of solution than you are a part of problem; however the significance lies in the solution of the problem, no matter what procedure one adopts to acquire the solution .In every day life, we are confronted with many problems. Some of them continue to persist if left unsolved.

Basically, I am a school teacher, teaching Mathematics at Primary level. Teachers and students are two important cogs of the machinery of education. Both of them are some how related to one another. Teachers teach the students and the students learn from the teachers. It is our common observation that when new session commence each year there is a stream of newly admitted students in the school. From primary to secondary, there is mixed queue of students having diversified level of intelligence.

I spent about four to five hours with the children, confronting with their problems with behavior and studies. In my experience, I learnt that most of the students rate Mathematics as a difficult subject. Many parents also complaint about their wards unable to comprehend some exercises in Mathematics. Not all the students are gifted with the same skills to understand and easy pick up of complicated problems. As a teacher, I am responsible to provide these students the easy way to understand these difficult exercises. To overcome, any problem, one must analyze the nature of the problem and decide further action plan to deal with it. Analyzing the nature of the problem is to reach the core of it so that the root cause may be prevented in the future. When the new session starts in August, we are provided with new students, having different intelligence level. Among them, some are sharp and some are dull. These students suffer the most because it is their hesitant nature that keeps them away from the teacher and they try to avoid asking specially the novice students, who are still unsettled in the class. Active and brilliant students are always participating in the class work however the problem lies with these dull students. What we teachers are expected, is to provide all our students with quality education, irrespective of their Intelligence level.

Effective teaching to any student is a difficult task; however we endeavor to perform it by keeping the following factors under observation and up to the mark.

Class room Management

As a teacher, I make sure that the classroom environment is safe, pleasant and cozy for the learners. There should be proper sufficient light and ventilation in the classroom, so that the students can adjust as quickly as possible. Such relaxation is a bonus for them. Sound classroom management helps a teacher in providing effective teaching and makes learning an effective one. As students can relax, they can feel orderly while they study and there are no confused noises around.

When students are managed, the real task begins for the teacher which is to provide effective teaching to each individual. To deal with this problem, I introduced Micro-teaching technique in my class. It is a shrunk version of real teaching where size of the class is cut down.

It is the duty of the teacher to provide equal participation opportunities to all students of the class whether they are sharp or dull.

Teachers should make sure that active students not overwhelm these dull students. Some of the weak students avoid eye to eye contact with the teacher and they some how hide behind the active students. Teachers should keep such students under observation .After all; it is they who should be held responsible at the end of the session.

Working with micro-teaching technique, I divided the class in to few small groups on temporary basis. Each group consists of four to five students. I teach and explain any exercise to a group. Then these students teach it to their group fellows. Similarly, when the new lesson starts, the group division in interchanged and the whole procedure is repeated. In this way, all students are allowed to participate, mingle and interact socially. In such technique, the teacher tends to know the skills of each of her student. The stronger and the weaker sides of each individual are revealed to her, which in turn aids the teacher to plan the lesson according to the requirement of the Intelligence level of students.

Each student comes in direct control with the teacher. This is one way to get a quick response by the Individuals. The whole technique is rewarding only when it is associated with sound classroom management. Any disturbance in class will distract the students' attention.

With help from Micro-Teaching Technique, I learnt how to deal with above mentioned problems and how to create a learning environment around myself which is handy for me in the long run .It established a credibility for me among the students as well as their parents. The class participation becomes more vibrant and actively involved specially in Mathematics period. The introduction of Micro -Teaching technique revealed fewer complaints from the students as well as their parents. I also avail the benefits from its implementation as the result of Mathematics in my class, improved a lot. Now I always work on these guidelines of Micro -Teaching Technique, it is quite helpful to me and my students.

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Job in IT - How to Find a Good IT Recruitment Consultant

Now I know that a lot of IT professionals, consider IT recruiters, a necessary evil, and back in the late 90's I would say that some of that criticism was warranted. I think it's fair to say though, that things in 2010 have moved on somewhat. The REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation) have encouraged and supported professional codes of conduct within the industry and on the whole, the industry has responded.

If you are looking for a new job in IT, I would encourage you to find a couple of good IT recruitment consultants and work at nurturing the relationship with them. These guys are talking to IT clients hiring managers all day, every day, so they know what's going on in the IT job market and are worth keeping in touch with.

Here are some ways to find a good IT recruitment consultant:

•Look them up on LinkedIn. These days any IT recruiter worth their salt will have a LinkedIn profile. You'll be able to tell what sort of experience they have and see who, if anyone has recommended them.
•You need to find consultants who have a good grasp of the technologies and areas you work in so that they'll be able to, not only sell you, but also identify other potential opportunities.
•Lots of IT recruitment consultants recruit in vertical markets, so find someone who operates in your particular space. If you're an Oracle developer, for example, there are plenty of good IT recruitment consultants who specialise in your technical area.

•You could also refer to the REC's website. Any reputable IT recruitment firm will hold corporate membership with the REC. This means that they agree to be bound by the REC codes of conduct.
•The REC also holds a register of individual IT recruiters, who are IRP accredited (Institute of Recruitment Professionals). These are IT recruiters who have earned the right to use the letters "FIRP" and "MIRP" after their name, a badge of quality for anyone serious about recruitment.
When you speak to the IT recruitment consultants you'll get a pretty good idea if they know what they're talking about but don't be afraid to ask questions and test their understanding of what you do.

Good luck with finding a new job in IT.

An article by Dougles Chan - The Recruitment Guru. A Business Coach that specialized on coaching recruitment agencies & Staffing Agencies. Author of 8 books. 25 years in business coaching in recruitment and staffing agencies. Training recruitment business owners in Singapore, USA, UK, and Australia. He specialized business, sales, marketing, digital marketing, 360 recruitment process, SEO, SEM, and social media recruiting. For 121 recruitment coaching, kindly check here.

The Use Of KPI For Recruitment

Recruitment plays a crucial role in the success of a business. Hiring the right people for the jobs available in the company is an effective way to increase profitability. For this reason, businesses take recruitment as a serious concern. In fact, there are companies who hire services of other firms to do the recruitment for them. Here, they draft KPI for recruitment as basis for their standards.

KPI or Key Performance Indicators are specific measures set by either an organization or company to assess the performance of a certain area of the business. Thus, if manpower of the company is the one being looked at, then recruitment KPIs are used. KPIs are important since they are the factors that can qualify whether a specific area of the business is functioning well or not. Business owners also use KPIs as basis for implementing changes.

Companies would always aim to improve their recruitment process. To do this, they utilize recruitment KPIs. The three important areas to consider in improving human resources are duration, quantity, and quality.

Duration here means the time that the company is able to fill a vacant position. It should be understood that it would not be beneficial to the company if longer time were spent in hiring. Take note that a position is available because there is lack of manpower. However, this does not mean that there are not tasks that come with the job that need to be done. Therefore, hiring should be made urgent as much as possible.

Quantity meanwhile refers to the number of applicants. The more applicants recruited for a single position, the better it is for the company. This is because finding the right individual for the job can be easier if one has a wide selection of candidates. On the part of the recruitment staff, they see to it that the vacancies are effectively advertised. The purpose of advertising here is to reach as many jobseekers as possible.

Quality is the most important thing to consider. Remember that the key to a successful business is hiring the right people. Such is the challenge for the recruitment department of any company. From the wide selection of candidates, it is the responsibility of the recruitment staff to screen and put in the shortlist qualified applicants. Decision-making is a big factor here. Those tasked to do to the screening should be very keen on details. Other than this, they have to carefully check the background or experience of the candidate. Above all, they have to be knowledgeable on what the company is looking for in an applicant.

Another area of the recruitment that should be given due importance is training. The job of the recruitment staff does not end in hiring the employees. They likewise have to ensure that the people they hired will continuously be productive and effective. It is a fact that everyone needs training, even those highly qualified individuals. This is because technology and trends change. Employees therefore are expected to upgrade their skills in accordance with the latest development of the industry, which the company belongs to.

In conclusion, any area of human resource of a company should make use of KPI for recruitment. This is because success lies in quality produce, and such can only be obtained with effective manpower.

An article by Dougles Chan - The Recruitment Guru. A Business Coach that specialized on coaching recruitment agencies & Staffing Agencies. Author of 8 books. 25 years in business coaching in recruitment and staffing agencies. Training recruitment business owners in Singapore, USA, UK, and Australia. He specialized business, sales, marketing, digital marketing, 360 recruitment process, SEO, SEM, and social media recruiting. For 121 recruitment coaching, kindly check here.

Maintaining Organizational Success Through Succession Planning

In an era where organizations are forced to operate in environments marked by extreme instability the value of succession planning is tantamount to survival and continued success. Rothwell (2005) sided with this notion when he stated that the lack of succession planning creates drawback and eventual organizational failure. No organization irrespective of magnitude is safe. An absence of succession planning indicates defective leadership with no strategic foresight and little knowledge of scenario planning. In today's environment such negligence is an invitation to organizational failure.

This paper analyzes the value of succession planning in organizations. It examines ways in which leaders can prepare employees in their organizations to fulfill critical leadership positions. It also draws parallels to succession planning as evidenced in the early church; plans which have allowed Christianity to remain on the cutting edge of success. In culminating the paper issues a plea for leaders to incorporate succession planning as an essential part of their organizational development in order to ensure survivability but also very importantly to maintain a competitive advantage. This call is supported by Rothwell (2005) when he stated that for organization to survive in a ferociously competitive environment they must adhere to the organizational succession plan.

The characterization of succession planning and management

For over two hundred years the United States has developed a massive second to none Army. How? Their emphasis on succession planning plays a key role in their ability to remain competitive. The military identifies critical positions and examines the best techniques and strategies to ensure the continuous filling of these positions. Their interest in succession planning stems from the notion that all positions have the potential to be vacant, hence the military ensures that there are alternate employees that act as backup for all primary positions. Robbert (1997) asserts that succession planning in the military ensures that personnel in the organization are identified and developed with the intention to takeover critical positions. Such a view is supported by Rothwell when he postulated that succession planning is the manner in which critical management positions are identified and measures taken to ensure the permanence of the tenure of personnel within these positions (2005).

This planning for possibilities is not limited to one type of organization. In the 2008 season of the National Football League the New England Patriot lost their powerhouse quarterback in the first game, another player immediately stepped in, leading the team to a successful season. When Jack Welch the former CEO of General Electric decided it was time to retire he ensured that there were a minimum of three possible personnel to take over his position (Business Week, 2007). This is the key to succession planning making sure that the organization will remain viable in an environment where change is a constant.

The determining the need for succession planning

The volatility characterizing the environments in which contemporary organizations operate is astounding. As globalization and technology continue to create an extremely competitive environment for businesses; as sections of the economy crumble under the weight of poor financial decisions by bankers; as job loss, business closures, acquisitions, mergers continue to define businesses; as the pressure for organizations survival and success mounts; in order to maintain a competitive advantage, succession planning becomes necessary. Failure to fill critical positions of leadership within an organization fosters doubt and creates credibility issues for shareholders. To this extent Lawson (2008) calls for the continuity of leadership through a smooth transition in the hiring of the right individuals in order to avoid disruptions. Failure to heed Lawson's call may result in falling shares, disgruntled shareholders, lowered employees morale, lowered productivity and the possibility of business loss. What can organizations do to prevent such a dilemma? Have a talent pool of potential leaders. How?

Strategies such as a buddy system, acting positions, workshops and the creating of e-learning communities can be utilized in preparing current employees to fill critical leadership roles. In the first scenario employees are paired with senior leaders. Such a move reflects a job-shadowing or mentoring experience where knowledge is passed on. In the second scenario employees are given the opportunity to act in a senior position. This gives the employees a hands-on approach to tackling organizational challenges. Workshops are a traditional way of passing information within an organization. The advent of technology has provided a niche for the creation of e-learning

communities, once more, knowledge is shared and the organizational talent pool is maximized.
These techniques not only prepare employees to undertake key roles in the event of imminent vacancies but increase the capability and performance of employees as well as improve employee support throughout tenure and likely may increase employee retention. This is an immaculate way to increase the organizational talent pool while at the same time ensuring leadership continuity.

Rothwell (2005) concurs with the latter argument as he urged leaders to understand the need of succession planning when he stated that it is a deliberate systematic effort of leadership continuity. Bieschke (2006) believes that succession planning is a matter of discipleship, an assessment of biblical pattern laid out by Jesus. An examination of the gospels highlighted numerous mentoring and job shadowing strategies as Jesus prepared His disciples to be His successors. Woolfe (2002) posits that this was no coincidence by Jesus and His disciples; it was a process of development and potential leadership-building and preparation in the making.

As the early church established itself, the pattern of succession planning initiated by Jesus took root. In the book of 2 Tim 1, the Apostle Paul made a deliberate attempt to train Timothy to follow his footstep through mentoring and coaching ensuring that he would become a good steward of biblical principles. 1 Corinthians 4:17 alluded to Paul as Timothy's father in faith (Couch, 2004). Such profound commentary is an indication of the depth of succession planning and the extent to which leaders should go to ensure leadership continuity. It is therefore natural to assert that preparation through succession planning is a Godly principle. It epitomizes the principles of strategic foresight and embraces planning for possibilities -scenario planning. It shows that leadership is aware of the instability of current organizational scenarios and has plans in place to meet potential vacant crucial positions, critical to a successful organization.

Conclusion
The onus resides with leaders to identify critical positions within their organizations, and how best to ensure the continuous filling of these positions. Leaders must be willing to buy into the ideology that effective succession planning is an ongoing process. They must also continuously look at organization long term growth, how best to advance the organization competence, preparing workers to assume critical roles and at the same time placing focus on the permanence of leadership.

The basic fundamental in ensuring a viable succession plan is personnel-training and comprehension of what is expected in the event that a position becomes vacant. Succession planning is not a new phenomenon. A study of the operations within the early church showed that Jesus and his disciples as well as the apostles used such plan to develop and continue Christianity; a religion which survived many centuries of unprecedented changes and continue to be a success even today. It is a similar plan that is needed in modern time. Contemporary leaders should mirror the succession plan of the early church, and understand the importance for such plan as they develop long term goals for their organizations.

References:
Bieschke, M. D. (2006). Five Succession Planning values to you're your organization

alive: Retrieved January 4, 2010: http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/lao/issue_6/pdf/Bieschke_%20five_succession.pdf.
Couch, M. (2004). A Bible handbook to the Acts of the Apostles: Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
Jacobs, S. (2009). Ken Lewis retiring: Bank of America CEO to step down by end of 2009: The Huffington Post: January 17, 2009: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/30/ken-lewis-retiring-source_n_305423.html.
Khurana, R. (2002). Searching for a Corporate Savior. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Lawson, K. (2008). Leadership development basics: Alexandria, VA: ASTD.
Robbert, A. A., Keltner, B. R., Reynolds, K., Spranca, M., & Benjamin, B. A. (1997). Differentiation in military human resource management: Monica, CA: RAND.
Rothwell, W. (2005). Effective succession planning: New York, NY AMACOM.
Wolfe, L. (2002). The Bible on leadership: From Moses to Matthew: Management Lessons for contemporary leaders: New York, NY: AMACOM.

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Evaluating Employment Candidates - The Total Person

Evaluating candidates is both art and science. Gathering information to hire the right person is based on the art ( evaluating resumes, education, appearance, work history) and science (using state of the art psychometric assessments which evaluate the total person as related to job fit).

Employment candidates are clever, sly, and yes selective. Selective?

Selective - they let you see only what they want you to see. As the interviewer you may think you are in control of the situation. But the interviewee can let you see what THEY want you to see.

The sum total of the information you are provided is 10% of the total person. Yes, that is not a typo - it is 10%.

This good, but limited information includes the following:

1/ Resume' - oh yes, according to organizations such as the Society for Human Resource Management and other reputable associations, between 25 % and 40% of candidates use creative writing to expand education credentials, work expertise, omit places of employment etc. In this case it is caveat emptor - " buyer beware".
2/ Education - always trust but verify: and did they "attend", pursue or graduate? Make certain there are dates, places, and grade point averages.
3/ Appearance - candidates look their best on the day of the interview.
4/ Work History - a hoped for accurate summary of employment, skills, and work related accomplishments

We call this the tip of the iceberg. Yes, there is 90% of the candidate whom you do not see or know at the conclusion of an interview. Even with skilled, professional, behavioral interviewing, the majority of the candidate is hidden from view.

So what is missing?
1/ Thinking and Reasoning Skills - The skill to utilize verbal and mathematical skills reasoning and problem solving components. These are key indicators of success.

2/ Occupational interests - What are the candidates interests -and how do they compare with the interests needed for success in the position?

3/ Behavioral traits - Components compared with those required for success in the position including: assertiveness, sociability, manageability, attitude, decisiveness, accommodating, independence, and objective judgment.

There are a variety of pre employment assessment tools on the market. Using the Department of Labor criteria, make sure the instrument has been thoroughly researched for validity, reliability and is " job related". We use the Profile XT when evaluating candidates for our clients.

Having staff attrition situations? Talk to our talent retention & HR advisory consultancy in Singapore. Visit here. A online marketing article for smes by Scotts Digital.

Evaluating Performance Through Management to Business System Ratios

Every company has its own business system and in order to determine whether the company is improving or not there is a need to make use of business system ratios. Business systems are a necessity and there is a need to measure their performance as well. When speaking about the business system ratios, this term refers to the tools that assist business people in evaluating the performance of the organization at the present time. Now you can detect if there are problem areas in your company that need attention. This way, you can deal with them before they can get out of hand.

To make things simpler to understand, the business system ratios denote the mathematical relations between various items in the business financial statements. In order for one to comprehend what this is all about, there is a need to be aware of what exactly these financial statements are. This is a requirement and this will enable you to get good decisions on your part. Meanwhile, there are several types of business system ratios but you can concentrate on the three chief sorts that are always included in the analysis of the business system performance regularly.

The first one is all about the liquidity ratios. These refer to the type that measures the capability of the business or the organization to meet the short term goals or the obligations set by the business owner. One of the ratios included here is the current ratio which is calculated by means of dividing the total current liabilities with the total current assets. If the current ratio is high, the business is believed to be more capable in achieving the goals. Those companies that have low current ratio should not fear about the issue of bankruptcy because they can make use of different methods that will enable them to secure their finances.

Leverage ratios on the other hand pertain to the measurement of the degree by which the company is financed by means of debt. One of the ratios here is equity ratio which can be calculated by dividing the owners' equity with the total long term debt. If the ratio between the debt and the equity ratio is high, there is a risk in which the interest costs of the debt will not be most likely covered by the ROI produced by the growth. The last one is activity ratios, which measure the effectiveness of the business when it comes to the utilization of the resources. This can include the inventory turnover ratio, which can be gauged by dividing the inventory with the number of sales. When the inventory turnover is low, this means that the company has poor sales and/or has excessive inventories. In the meantime, high ratio in this area would denote that the organization may either have high sales or just insufficient in inventories so that they can fully meet the demands of their customers.

These aspects should be constantly monitored and checked by the managers or the business owner in order to support the development and the growth of the company.

Formulating a performance management system for your company? Look for Recruitplus today, an award winning HR consultancy in Singapore, click here. A guerilla marketing activity for small business by Scotts digital.

The Workforce Demographics Are Changing - Is Your Company Ready?

Everybody in the United States knows the demographics are changing rapidly, and there are more older people than there are younger people, and that the average age of the US citizen is getting higher every year. Even with the massive inflows of new Hispanic citizens and their rapid birth rates, America is still aging rapidly. Many industries that I am familiar with have already been hit very hard, and it is said that the average age of aerospace engineer is 59 1/2 years of age.

Worse, the new recruits to the industry who will be replacing these engineers have not even started university level engineering school yet. Who will replace these engineers in the aerospace sector? And it isn't as if we will not need these aerospace engineers due to technology, or have a repeat of the past when slide rules were out and computers were able to increase the productivity of aerospace engineers tenfold. Even if we believe that artificial intelligent computers will be designing tomorrow's aircraft, we will still need people to run those computers, test those designs, and actually build the prototypes.

But, I must tell you it's not just the aviation industry or aerospace sector which is going to be challenged in the future. Even the currently fast moving alternative energy industry cannot seem to get enough solid engineers right now, and we surely have an issue with our up-and-coming generation with regards to their educational expertise in math and science. Likewise, we are pushing the envelope on new technologies, such as hypersonic aircraft, new lightweight nano-materials, and the future of space exploration.

Now then, I have a question for you; we know the workforce demographics are changing and I wonder if your company is ready. And I am not the first person to ask this question. A very interesting business article on this topic was in Harvard Business Review on February 2008 in their Tool Kit Section starting on page 119 and finishing up on page 128. The title of the article was "Managing Demographic Risk; An Aging Workforce will compel businesses to change how they operate and could even threaten some companies' viability. How vulnerable is your business?" By Rainer Strack, Jens Baier, and Anders Fahlander.

In this article the author's use compelling statistics, and ask corporate executives if they are aware and are planning for this potential eventuality. The reality is most companies, even very large corporations are not ready, and yet they are planning out their futures 10 years in advance, without realizing the incredible costs involved for recruiting such scarce talent.

It is true that people are living longer and they will be able to work longer, having the same expertise, however many will be exiting the market place and choose not to work further, and instead go for their pension and retirement or an early buyout and Golden parachute deal.

This article noted that "Workers over age 50 will make up more than half of the workforce by 2011; and close to 80% by 2018," so that is a serious issue for growing companies especially those who compete sectors. Consider if you will professions like electricians, engineers, builders, information technology, aviation, high-tech manufacturing, bankers, and such. If you are planning for the future, you better be thinking about the cost of training for these specialties, any additional cost of recruiting and keeping this workforce from moving to a competitor's company.

Facing talent attrition situations? Talk to our talent management & HR advisory consultancy in Singapore. Click here. A viral marketing activity for smes by Scotts Digital.

Online Math Tutoring Provides the Answers

Online math tutoring provides the answers for your child's difficulty in keeping the pace in math class. Not everyone learns and works at the same rate of speed. So, when a student needs a little more help understanding new concepts, and extra time to complete the assignments, it can be devastating. Peers can be cruel, and the math teacher has unit deadlines to meet. Although willing to stay after school and give your son or daughter individualized lessons, your job and other familial responsibilities make it difficult to arrange after school sessions. Thus, online math tutoring provides answers to much more than the math problems.

But, if you want to find the answers that will really help your child succeed in math, the online math tutoring should be the next best thing to being there in person. Distance education has come a long way, with the advances in technology. You should expect the same quality of education in an online tutor that your youngster receives in the regular classroom. In fact, it should be better, because your son/daughter is receiving the added benefit of a 1-1 teacher-student ratio.

The hard part is finding the best online math tutoring available for your child. After all, the lessons are worth much more than help with a single homework assignment. The math concepts learned today are the foundation for the math material taught tomorrow. So, with thousands of sites claiming to provide the answers to math difficulties, you need to weed out the pretenders and pick the tutoring plan that uses proven methods and:

• A Teacher
• Individualized lessons
• 'Voice over Internet' and web cam technology
• Different tutoring plans

If your child is already struggling to keep up in math, who is better qualified to provide online math tutoring than a real teacher? The math teacher in the traditional classroom has at least a graduate or Masters Degree. You should not expect anything less from an online tutor. You want someone with the knowledge to bring out your son/daughter's best math skills.

One way online math tutoring should bring out your child's best math skills is by using the regular classroom textbook. The sessions should be built around lessons already taught, exam preparation, and familiarization of upcoming material that may be particularly difficult. The lessons should be fashioned for your youngster's specific needs, not simply related material in general.

However, even with the proper textbook, it is going to be difficult to facilitate a positive math learning environment, unless online math tutoring takes advantage of the latest advances in technology. With 'voice over Internet' and web cams, the sessions can be seen, heard, and discussed between your child and the teacher. It is the next best thing to being together in person.

In addition to implementing the latest technology to create an optimal learning experience, you child should have every opportunity necessary to succeed in math. For some, it may mean online math tutoring sessions every night after school. For other kids, occasional help with difficult homework assignments is all that is needed. Whether you child fits either math tutoring extreme, or is somewhere in the middle, you should be able to select the tutoring plan that accommodates your child's needs and the family budget.

So, online math tutoring can provide the answers, if you know what to expect from a good provider. Your child deserves the best. What he/she learns in math today will help in future success as an adult. So, do not settle for anything less than excellence in online educational support.

Seeking for best mathematics tuition centre,find Eimaths.com. A guerilla marketing singapore for SME in Singapore by Scotts Digital.

Recruiting Passive Candidates - How to Overcome Common Objections

In a recent article on Recruiting Passive Candidates I made the point that you must not take "No" for an answer on first contact. Passive candidates say this often when you call and ask them if they'd be interested in some job, somewhere, for some company. If you don't push back, all you'll be doing is spinning the roulette wheel hoping someone finds your winning number right up their alley. At our Recruiter Boot Camp Online training we describe the science of recruiting passive candidates. In this article I'll provide a sense of this by describing what you need to do when someone reacts to your offer with one of these two objections:

1. What's the compensation?
2. I'm concerned about the economy and not interested in considering anything else at this time.

In our training we describe a technique on how to open up a conversation with passive candidates that minimizes the chance of hearing these concerns. But even the best of us get blindsided once in a while, so it's important to handle them deftly when they're encountered. Let's start with the compensation one first.

When someone asks me "What's the compensation" I ask for a timeout. Literally, saying something like, "While our compensation is extremely competitive, before I describe it detail, I want to ask you a very important question."

I then ask the person to think about some job they held that was extremely satisfying. Once they have an example in mind, I then ask if the cause of the high satisfaction was due to the amount of money they were making, or the actual work they were doing. Most people respond by stating that they found the work extremely satisfying, for one reason or another. With this stick in the ground, I then ask them if the job I'm representing offered the same degree of personal satisfaction, coupled with a significant growth opportunity and an extremely competitive salary, wouldn't it makes sense to at least discuss it for 5-10 minutes, rather than just dismiss it out of hand.

The key point of this is to take compensation off the table right away by changing the discussion to one about maximizing personal growth and satisfaction. As part of this, don't rush the conversation. Here's a key point you should always remember when dealing with passive candidates: don't sell the job, instead sell the next step - a discussion about a possible career opportunity. You'll discover that going slower is a much more effective way to engage with passive candidates.

The second objection - the person is concerned now about changing jobs - requires a little more effort to get the candidate engaged in a conversation. While you still want to discuss a possible career opportunity as mentioned above, this is not so easy in the current slow economic environment. To handle this, I suggest using my "time is your most critical asset, don't waste it" rebuttal to the "I don't want to consider moving right now" objection. When the candidate raises this concern say you know exactly how the person feels about the risk of moving, but also suggest that staying in the current job for another year or two might just be more risky.

This will get the person's attention. Then go on to say that how a person uses time to maximize career growth is a key aspect of career management. Explain that those who progress most rapidly get 2-3 years of equivalent experience for every 1-2 years of actual experience. In a slow economy a person gets no more experience if they're doing the same exact job year after year. If your candidate has not progressed much in the past few years, doing the same thing for a few more years could be fatal career-wise even if it seems safe economically-wise. Suggest that's why the person can't waste the next few years. Instead, they should at least listen to what you have to offer, especially if the risk of changing can be somehow mitigated.

The point here is to not sell the job, but sell the idea of exploring a possible career move that could offer the person a means to accelerate his or her personal growth despite a slow economy. It could turn out to be a great way to maximize the next 2-3 years from a personal growth standpoint.

Recruiting passive candidates is never easy. In a strong economy you have to compete with multiple opportunities and counter-offers. In a slow economy candidates don't want to talk because of the fear of losing what they have. However, if you have a real career worth discussing, you need to persist, not take "No" for an answer, and engage in a conversation. As long as you lead the conversation you can then determine if you want to recruit the person or get 2-3 top referrals. This is what passive candidate recruiting is all about.

Looking for headhunter or want to become a headhunters Singapore,  visit Recruitplus today. A marketing initiative for SME by Scotts digital.

Differences Between Marketing and Advertising Your Product Or Service

This article aims to discuss the differences between Marketing and Advertising, how Marketing strategies differ from Advertising practices, and the difference between a Marketing plan versus an
Advertising campaign.

Let's look at a typical example of these two terms.

You have a product or service, and you want to let people know about it. How do you do this? Well, Market and Advertise it, of course. But wait. Aren't they the same thing? Oh no, they are not.
Although the terms Marketing and Advertising may seem interchangeable, in reality they are very different indeed, with distinct differences. And it is vitally important to understand the dynamics involved with both, to successfully launch the introduction of your product or service. So let's explore the nuances of these two terms.

So what is Marketing?
The act of Marketing a product or service includes the entire process of developing a brand from beginning to the end. From conceptualizing the idea, to researching the target market, to designing the product or service needed, to advertising the features and benefits, to the actual sale of the goods, marketing is the process of bringing an idea to market.

Then what is Advertising?
In contrast to the example above, the art of Advertising is another subject completely. In fact, Advertising is just part of the Marketing process, but is also a world all of its own. But in order for Advertising to be effective, it must be accompanied by the other aspects of Marketing as well. Therefore, in order to be successful in a business venture, an enterprising entrepreneur must understand the relationship between these two aspects of business management.

Marketing your product or service is an extensive development process involving many additional tasks including designing product features and benefits, product pricing and performance goals, media planning and public relations strategies, customer support systems and issues analysis, sales administration and management procedures, and much, much more.

Advertising, on the other hand, consists of planning campaign strategies such as determining what sources of media to use; and the time, frequency, and duration of advertisements. These campaigns are generally placed via mediums like television, via postal carrier, news print media, the Internet, email, radio, magazines, mobile messaging, flyers, billboards, etc. Advertising is about sending the appropriate message across to the target consumer about your product or service.

Marketing though, involves thoroughly understanding peoples behavior towards your product or service, and is perceived as the medium between consumers and the company. This can be a time consuming process, but by designing the product or service around the habits of your target consumer, and developing an advertising strategy to put your product or service in front of them, you can begin achieving sales through brand recognition.

But many companies often make mistake of confusing Advertising with Marketing, or worse yet, institute an Advertising campaign without properly researching their Marketing strategy. This would be akin to attempting to sell ice cubes makers to Eskimos.

A properly researched Marketing plan would have identified that Eskimos would not have been the best choice to attempt to Advertise this product to, and that better target markets existed. An effective Advertising campaign illustrating the performance and benefits of the product would have been more successful in these more appropriate markets, regardless of the quality and quantity of the actual Advertising itself. This best illustrates the differences between Marketing and Advertising, where Marketing insight gives purpose to the Advertising component.

Understanding these differences and properly implementing these two aspects of promoting your product or service will help to educate your consumer market targets about your company, and will help to achieve the overall goals of building your reputation and instilling confidence in consumers.
This is the dynamic of the sales process, and the importance in understanding the difference between Marketing and Advertising.

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How Did Network Marketing Start?

So, when and how did network marketing start? I have done extensive research on this topic and I will tell you that I totally disagree with the findings. In this article, you will be given some facts, some of my views and you will then have to see what your belief is.

As you will research, you will find that they will tell you that it is just about 50 years old. They say that in the US, the first major modern network marketing company started in 1959. VanAndel and Devos started the company, because it felt in sales it was unfair. If you sold to someone, and since the customer may be brand loyal, that others could sell to the customer, and you could lose commissions. They wanted you to be paid for the original work, which is finding someone with a need, want and desire and felt you should always be paid on that. They decided that they would focus on one product. They broke away and started their own company and a few years later had made enough money to buy out the original company. The first product line was Vitamins.

Now, yes, officially developing the compensation model, this could be true. Now, I guess the point that matters is that you must be paid and paid on leverage. I would say that network marketing goes back thousands of years. When was the first product created and people saw the benefit and wanted the product? Was it when the wheel was created? Was it before? I would like to say that it was even before the wheel and the first industry probably was in the food industry. Let me ask you, when was the last time you went somewhere to eat and the food was fabulous and you had to tell others? And if others liked it, then they probably created the viral nature of network marketing.

Now, why is the stigma that network marketing is a bad thing? This is something that comes natural. It is about believing in the products and telling people what you had the good experience with. Where people get hung up is that you could get paid on this form of marketing. As an example, let us talk about the food side of this. Now, say Red Lobster or your favorite seafood restaurant would pay you to fill their table. This way, the restaurant would be sold not because of someone that pays for the advertising, but it pays the guests to refer people to it based upon the accomplishment of the chefs. Now, if the chefs stink at cooking, this would never work. It gives the restaurant the desire to perform well. This would sure beat the comment cards.

Well, I do not know why they want to say network marketing began 50 years ago, but does it matter? I hope this made you think a little about the industry and where you may see it for the good it has to offer. Now, if you have just started in a network marketing business, let me encourage you to want to learn about the fabulous industry and get the education you deserve.

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