p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545} One of the most moving commercials on television right now is for McDonald’s. It’s the one where a young worker brings in a letter, which his manager snatches and reads aloud to the staff. When he gets to the words “…we are pleased…”, everyone bursts into applause. He’s going to college, and McDonald’s is helping him through its corporate educational grants.

As a manager you come up against tricky situations every day, and you know it’s important to handle them sensitively or you risk offending your employees or clients. Even the most experienced managers would be hard pressed to get these 5 situations 100% right, every time they’re encountered, but hopefully this advice will help empower you for the future.

So, what makes family run businesses so successful? Family unity? A shared vision? A driving desire to prepare for the next generation? Honestly, there is no one clear answer.

One of the most daunting challenges as a business owner is building the right team around you. After all, it has been said that your employees are your best asset. (And whoever said that was smart).

Workplace volunteer programs are a great way to get employees engaged with their fellow workers. This builds a community bond within the company that keeps workers happy, motivated and loyal.

Elevator pitches aren’t just for people appearing on Shark Tank. Any business owner should be able to describe their business and its goals in around 30 seconds. After all, you never know when you’ll need to impress a prospective client or investor, convince a new recruit that your business is the one for them or just help someone understand exactly what it is your company offers (and why you’re the best at it.)

Small business owners are often too busy to see the woods through the tress - especially when it comes to measuring their own success. But these 7 signs will give you a quick guide as to how well your business is actually doing and if you're on the much fabled road to success.

For companies battling through tough economic times, effective internal communications may not sound like a top priority. But clear and effective communication within a company, no matter what size, is a big deal. Get it wrong and you’ll soon have a workforce that is unsure, inefficient and struggling with motivation.

Since a good event takes time to pull off, the time to start planning is now. If you’ve not done an event before, it does take some planning, but the rewards – new customers, customer loyalty and great new contacts – can definitely be worth the man hours.