Whether you’re selling a burger, a widget or a service, what you’re really doing is offering your customers something they want — and understand. (Eiliv-Sonas Aceron on Unsplash)

A classic story from the burger wars provides a strong reminder about the importance of features versus benefits in sales and marketing.

It was the early 1980s. The big American burger chains were looking for ways to outdo each other — so, not much change from today.

The leadership at A&W decided it was time to go big(ger) or go home. The company offered a one-third-pound burger for the same price that McDonald’s sold its quarter pounder.

Did A&W’s mightier meat portion reduce McD’s to hamburger helper?

Well, as anyone who has visited an American A&W recently will know, the one-third pounder didn’t stick and both chains continue to sell quarter-pound patties. So, what went wrong?

When A&W conducted follow-up studies, it learned that most consumers did not think a third was bigger than a quarter — the three and the four in the fractions threw them off. In other words, many fast-food customers thought A&W wanted to charge them more for less! And even worse, the company launched a massive marketing campaign to push a product that customers didn’t want!

What can we learn from this fast-food flop? A&W sold its new burger based on its features, not its benefits. If the chain had said “more meat for less money,” instead of focusing on the specific weight of the burger, perhaps it might have come out on top. If it focused on how its burger was preferred in blind taste tests, A&W  might have enjoyed a side order of increased sales instead of disappointment.

Maybe you’ll never own a burger chain, or you think your burger-flipping days are long behind you. And that’s OK. However, there’s an important lesson here, whether you’re selling, pitching or marketing yourself, your products or your company.

Your value proposition has to be clear and has to offer your customer something they want — and understand. While you and I might know a third is bigger than a quarter, and your customers might know that too, they shouldn’t have to think about whether your product is right for them.

Whether you’re looking to improve your strategic thinking, get better at user experience or even improve your business writing skills, we have course offerings that can help complete your combo. We’re ready to take your order at training@algonquincollege.com or 613-727-7729.

If your computer screen looks like this, and it’s not your screensaver, you may want to call for help. (Markus Spiske on Unsplash)

It turns out Covid-19 isn’t the only virus that we need to worry about in 2020. There’s also an outbreak of hacking.

The Canadian government is warning about a number of Covid-19-related scams aimed at capturing your personal or business information.

In the United States, the FBI has reported a three- to four-fold increase in the number of cyber security complaints it receives — as many as 4,000 per day, in fact.

The most troubling part? Many cyber security problems start at home. The cause isn’t a sophisticated computer hacker wearing shades and a trenchcoat; it’s your team members and employees making simple cyber security mistakes. A 2017 study by London-based consultancy Willis Towers Watson found that nine out of ten cyber breaches were the result of employee negligence or deliberate acts.

So, what can you do? Consider these three key elements:

• The right talent. Looking to hire cyber security experts? Well, you’re not alone. A 2019 study from The International Information System Security Certification Consortium found 65 percent of organizations were struggling to fill IT security positions, and late last year Cybersecurity Ventures predicted5 million unfilled cyber security positions in 2021. Of course, those were pre-Covid numbers.What’s the solution? Instead of trying to find cyber security experts, the answer might be to make your own.
• The right training. We offer courses to help your team exercise safer behaviours online. Whether you want to become more aware of cyber security best practices or benefit from having a Certified Information Systems Security Officer on your payroll, we can help your organization.If you’re looking to hire someone but need to improve their cyber security skills, or you have someone internally looking to add to their credentials but can’t afford training right now, consider applying for a Canada-Ontario Job Grant. We can help with that, as well.
• The right amount of care. Many of us are implementing new tools and technologies for the first time. As we saw when Zoom exploded in popularity back in the spring, there’s a learning curve and sometimes there are security gaps. It’s important to look at the costs, benefits and risks when adopting new applications. And, if you receive a fishy-looking email, ask yourself if you should open it or wait for some kind of verification from the sender.

How ready do you feel for today’s cyber security challenges? Let us know at training@algonquincollege.com or call 613-727-7729.

PMPs bring order to chaos — an outcome many of us will appreciate in these challenging times. (fauxels on Pexels)

Are you finding you’re increasingly being asked to lead, organize and plan projects within your team? Have you considered whether you have the right training for this new work?

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re already thinking about obtaining your Project Management Professional certification.

What is PMP certification?

A Project Management Professional (PMP) certificate is a globally accepted acknowledgement that you have a good understanding of planning, maintaining and closing a variety of projects according to prescribed industry standards.

Despite the difficulty of the exam, there are more than a million PMP certificate holders around the world — and that number is growing.

Here are some of the reasons why you should consider adding PMP certification to your credentials.

Earn a higher salary

According to the Global Knowledge 2020 IT Skills and Salary Survey, the median salary of a PMP certificate holder has jumped by about 25 percent in the last three years. In Canada, Glassdoor suggests the average salary is around $70,000, although individual compensation packages can easily reach well over six figures.

Once you have the certificate, it is important to maintain it through regular professional development activities. This is actually a benefit to you and your employer, as it ensures your skillset continues to grow and develop over time.

See more job opportunities

Over the last decade, there have been more than 15.7 million project management roles created in just seven countries alone, and it’s believed that employers will have to fill about 2.2 million new project-oriented positions each year through 2027. Of those roles, research by the Project Management Institute suggests as many as 80 percent of project manager roles on high-performing projects will be filled by PMP-certified individuals.

In addition, PMPs are employed in many industries. Though we typically associate them with construction, engineering or software-related employers, PMPs are also found in aerospace, defense, utilities, banking and telecommunications. Certification is also helpful if your job search takes you abroad.

If you have the right knowledge and drive, your PMP can go to work for you in a wide variety of settings.

Looking ahead

Once you have your certification, you can make the most of a variety of tools, templates and other resources available through the Project Management Institute website. These assets help you execute great projects, maintain your certification and stay connected with your fellow PMPs.

Check out our different project management course offerings and the path to certification on our courses page, and get in touch if you have questions. You can reach us at training@algonquincollege.com.

Right now, strategic planning may feel less like chess and more like Jenga! (Michal Parzuchowski on Unsplash)

There’s a story about the American economist and Nobel laureate Kenneth Arrow that is worth recalling whenever discussions about planning arise.

Arrow was assigned to a team of statisticians to produce long-range weather forecasts during the Second World War.

As anyone who routinely looks at weather forecasts already knows, past performance is not necessarily an indicator of future success as far as the weather is concerned. Eventually, after realizing the forecasts were no more reliable than a dart-throwing monkey, Arrow asked to be relieved of duty.

However, he and his associates received the following reply: “The Commanding General is well aware that the forecasts are no good. However, he needs them for planning purposes.”

It’s a good reminder that no plan is perfect; all you can do is make the best of what’s in front of you. No one predicted a global pandemic for 2020 (even if some said we were overdue for one), and even those who took preparatory measures could not have been perfectly ready.

Still, our course is now set at least for the short term, and we know Covid-19 will come to dominate the business environment at least until a vaccine is found and widely distributed. So, whether your strategy is gathering dust in a corner or the ink is barely dry, it may be time for a refresh.

That said, updating strategy can be a daunting process — especially if you’re short-staffed or running at full tilt thanks to a pandemic. What resources are available to speed up the process?

• Get back to basics: Having trouble getting started? The Business Development Bank of Canada offers free templates, definitions and suggestions for creating and updating a strategic plan.
• Getting through the next few months: Maybe you’re too worried about now to think about tomorrow. In that case, McKinsey produced a special episode of their Inside the Strategy Room podcast focused on responding to Covid-19 and preparing for the “next normal.” It’s well worth a listen.
• Thinking long-term: When launching into this kind of effort, it’s important to think about the tools you use, the templates you start from and the bench strength of your team.

Have you had staff retire early, or has your organization suffered layoffs? Do you have the same strategic thinking power and bandwidth you had prior to Covid? Check out our leadership courses and other offerings to make sure you have the right people to build and execute your brilliant new strategy.

You can also join our upcoming Future of Work Speaker Series event, in which Stephen Harrington from Deloitte will talk about the many changes still happening to the world of work aside from Covid-19.

As Britain’s wartime prime minister Winston Churchill once said, “Never waste a good crisis.” Whether Covid has been a major crisis or a huge opportunity for your organization, it is important that you don’t let it pass without a critical examination of what you’re doing.

What sorts of conversations are you having about your strategy? What adjustments have you made already? Let us know. You can reach us at training@algonquincollege.com or call 613-727-7729.

Don’t look at crumpled up papers as a sign of failure, but rather as a sign of progress. (Steve Johnson on Unsplash)

Long lines. A lack of food and water. An events schedule that was badly off course. Phoney tickets. And, there to capture it all, hordes of critical journalists.

The Fyre Festival? Good guess, but you’re way off. I’ll give you a hint: the man in charge was Walt Disney. Yes, that Walt Disney.

Disneyland’s opening in 1955 was considered one of the worst product launches of all time — for all the reasons mentioned, and more. Even Walt himself called it, “Black Sunday.”

But the catastrophic opening day didn’t stop the company from opening Walt Disney World 16 years later, among many other attractions, and it also didn’t stop the company from becoming a success.

What can we learn from the failure to launch of one of the world’s most iconic theme parks?

• Failure is short-lived, but the lessons from it can last a lifetime. The History Channel, writing about that fateful day and the aftermath, observed: “It took only seven weeks for attendance to surpass one million visitors.” It seems that the park’s failure to launch must have taught the management team a few lessons, as Walt Disney World’s opening in 1971 did not feature any of the same embarrassing stories.
• Reputations are not won — or lost — in a single day. If you’ve never heard the story of Disneyland’s rough opening day, chances are you might not have heard about some of Disney’s other failures, including labour disruptions, a bankruptcy and the loss of the rights to his first breakout character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

  Instead, when you think of Disney, you probably think of the animated classics, an ever-expanding media empire or those one-of-a-kind theme parks. However, these huge achievements would likely not have happened without the failures.

  As one example, after losing control of Oswald, a despondent Disney started drawing a new character on the train ride home. We know that character today as Mickey Mouse.

• Dream big and dare greatly. With Disneyland, Disney aimed to achieve something that hadn’t been done before. Though not all of his ideas came to fruition, today he is recognized for his vision rather than faulted for imperfect execution.

When thinking about how far the Mouse House has come since its Black Sunday, it is perhaps Walt Disney himself who has the most apt quote. “You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the pants may be the best thing in the world for you,” he said.

If you’re a leader looking to learn more about emerging from adversity and thriving in challenging times, check out our leadership courses or contact us. You can reach us at training@algonquincollege.com or call 613-727-7729.

Want to keep employees on your payroll? Need help keeping the lights on in your building? Check out some of these government programs. (Matthew Henry on Unsplash)

It has been six months since the outbreak of Covid-19 — compelling many businesses to close their doors, unsure if they would ever re-open, as a result.

While some of the news and economic numbers have started to improve, it is believed that 10 percent of Canadian businesses may never recover from the shock, and more than half of Canadian businesses have lost at least 20 percent of their revenue to coronavirus-related factors.

In a bid to stem the job and financial losses, the Canadian and Ontario governments have announced support programs. Here are a few key subsidies to consider:

Emergency wage support

If your organization has seen a drop in revenue due to the pandemic, you might be eligible for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy to cover a portion of employee salaries.

Here are the eligibility requirements:

• You had a CRA payroll account on March 15, 2020.
• You manage a registered business — individual, company, trust, registered charity, partnership, etc.
• Your company has seen a significant drop in revenue (70% in most cases).
• Only employees who worked in Canada are eligible, and certain industries have been excluded from this program.

The subsidy can be used to cover salary, taxable benefits, commissions and fees, and wages. It doesn’t include dividends, severance pay, non-cash taxable benefits, stock benefits and tips.

You can apply for a monthly period. Applications for the period of July 5 to August 1 is now open. The program is expected to continue until the end of the year.

Visit the Government of Canada’s website to calculate the subsidy that could be available to you. Ensure you have the right information ready, and apply.

Payments typically arrive within five days by cheque or direct deposit.

Commercial rent relief

If you’re having trouble keeping the roof over your head, you might want to look into the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program for small businesses.

To access this benefit, the owner of commercial real property must apply. To qualify, the landlord’s space must be occupied by at least one business affected by Covid-19 and the landlord must enter into a rent reduction agreement with this tenant.

The process can be a little complicated, as the applicant will have to submit paperwork that includes an owner and tenant attestation, reduction agreement, loan agreement and some financial documents. But once submitted, you should receive a response within two weeks.

Only tenants that spend $50,000 or less in monthly gross rent per location qualify. There are also some other requirements, such as a reduction of 70 percent in revenues and gross annual revenues of less than $20 million.

However, this can be a great option for firms struggling to make money, as these loans will be forgiven if you meet all the required conditions.

Those businesses who own their own property but are struggling to pay their mortgage might also consider the Mortgage Payment Deferral system.

Supporting Canada’s youth

The Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) program is designed to help young people develop the skills needed to succeed in the market. Unlike the options discussed above, this is not specifically a response to Covid-19. This program was developed and launched a few years ago to tackle high youth unemployment in Canada, a problem that the pandemic has only worsened.

Almost all kinds of industries operating in Canada are eligible for the program as long as they employ young people, here defined as those between the ages of 15 and 30.

To confirm what kinds of YESS funding you might be eligible to receive, contact your Employment Ontario agent of choice.

Help with training

If your team members need training to help your business survive and thrive, consider applying for a Canada-Ontario Job Grant.

This funding, to a maximum of $15,000 in some cases, is intended to help organizations upskill their current workforce or add a new hire and provide this person with the training they need.

We can help you apply for a grant under the program. You can reach us at training@algonquincollege.com or 613-727-7729 for more information or to get your application started.

“Kitchens are hard environments and they form incredibly strong characters.” – Gordon Ramsay (Photo via GordonRamsay.com)

If you owned a restaurant in desperate need of help, where — or to whom — would you turn to find it?

Assuming you were okay with your business woes being broadcast on international television, chances are you would call Gordon Ramsay.

The widely acclaimed chef and current holder of seven Michelin Stars has travelled across the US and UK helping troubled restaurants and hotels turn themselves around on TV shows such as Kitchen Nightmares, Hotel Hell and 24 Hours to Hell and Back.

While you could be forgiven for thinking those programs are mere reality shows, have you considered them as snapshots of change management projects in action?

At the beginning of an episode, Ramsay is invited to come into a business and figure out why it is struggling. He takes some time to study the restaurant’s facilities, staff and processes. When his research is complete, he delivers a report of his findings and what the restaurant needs to improve. That is usually followed by some kind of makeover or dramatic change and a relaunch.

Unfortunately, as the website RealityTVRevisited.com has shown through its own research, many of the featured restaurants actually don’t fare well following Ramsay’s visit — and some even closed permanently before their episode made it to air!

So, what can we learn from these made-for-TV change management experiments?

1. Change is a mindset, not a series of actions. Some of the most legendary failures from Kitchen Nightmares involve restaurant owners or chefs who are simply unwilling to change. In some cases, the head chef went back to his or her own failed menu within days of Ramsay’s crew leaving town — and the restaurant closed its doors shortly thereafter. The expression “I can explain it to you, but I can’t understand it for you” comes to mind.
2. Change requires time and resources, not just ideas. It takes weeks to form a new habit. One study published in 2009 suggests it can take as long as 66 days. In contrast, Ramsay’s visits to troubled restaurants are quite short in duration — long enough for him to suggest changes and start to implement them, but not long enough to ensure they are completed.Additionally, many of the restaurants he profiles are in deeper financial trouble than we realize. Despite the help they receive, many do not have the means to survive while waiting for business to pick up again. In other words, they’ve waited too long to make a change.
3. Change is uncomfortable. Ramsay’s confrontational style certainly rubs some owners the wrong way, which seems to drive some of them further from implementing any of his solutions. However, even when Ramsay delivers the advice in a friendlier, more helpful tone, he still tends to face resistance. Many of the owners are simply unwilling to hear criticism.For example, take the one restaurant manager who tells Gordon her problem is simply that she “doesn’t have enough customers,” reflecting her belief that there is no issue with the food, management, décor or any other aspect of the business. Her comfort and familiarity with the status quo prevents her from seeing how things could be better.

   In many cases, the businesses have a major interpersonal issue that has been left to fester between the owners, kitchen staff or some other department. Sometimes, these are called out by Ramsay and fences are mended while, in other cases, some of the restaurant staff end up on the unemployment line.

The good news is that some of the restauranteurs who listen to Ramsay, persevere through change and make the tough decisions go on to succeed. He even revisits some of the restaurants to congratulate them on their success in some special episodes of Kitchen Nightmares. Like an effective change manager, he congratulates the owners on surviving and thriving through a difficult period of change.

Interested in how to execute successful change projects? Want to become the Gordon Ramsay of your industry? We have a number of change management and leadership programs that can help you master the art.

The Ottawa Employment Hub creates annual reports looking at Ottawa’s 16 key employment sectors.

On your next walk around your neighbourhood, count how many bulldozers, cranes and construction signs you see. Or, next time you take a drive around the city, stop and look at how many buildings are being built, or how much road work is being done. That joke about Ottawa only having two seasons — winter and construction — probably doesn’t seem like a joke these days.

The 2020 Construction Sector Spotlight, recently published by the Ottawa Employment Hub, shows that the sector gained 2,581 jobs from 2014 to 2019.

Here are some more key facts about Ottawa’s construction scene that might interest you:

1. There are 7,258 construction businesses in Ottawa. Together, they represent the fourth largest employment sector in the city.
2. With an average annual salary of $63,845, construction is ranked seventh among Ottawa’s top 16 sectors. Note that this number does not include self-employed income.
3. The most common occupation in the Ottawa construction industry, with 10,035 jobs, is a building and equipment operator. Those employed in these roles install or service equipment that forms part of a building mechanical system. Fifteen hundred of those jobs, which fall under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 2382, were created between 2014 and 2019.

So, what does this mean for job seekers?

• Construction jobs are in high demand. There were 32,847 construction jobs in Ottawa last year, a number that continues to increase yearly. When you see cranes and bulldozers, think jobs and growth.
• Think small. The vast majority of construction businesses in Ottawa employ under 100 people. While jobs are plentiful, the sector generally did not post many job ads — just 476 last year. You may need help finding those firms that are hiring. See the full report for some help in finding the companies that have open jobs.
• Think big. Working in the Ottawa construction industry could mean working on home building projects, major city priorities like the film production hub, renovations on federal landmarks like the Parliament buildings or important road and bridge work, among many exciting opportunities.

To download the full report, visit the Ottawa Employment Hub website.

Already working in construction? Looking to take your career to the next level? Check out our course options in project management or facility management.

The Ottawa Employment Hub regularly publishes sector spotlights looking for employment trends in Ottawa. To learn more, visit their website and sign up to receive their newsletter.

Don’t mistake confidence for competence, Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic explains in this TED Talk.

Have you ever worked with someone who needs to chime in on every subject? Who doesn’t need to know the question to know the answer? You might have a few people in mind (and, if not, maybe you’re that person!).

Try to picture their personalties. What do they look like? How do they behave? What is their role?

From a research perspective, studies have shown that they tend to be predominately male and often hold positions of power. Unfortunately for these individuals, their extreme confidence is often bundled with a lack of awareness around their shortfalls and limitations — the things that hold them back from true success.

In a classic TED Talk, organizational psychologist Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic asks the question, “Why do so many incompetent men become leaders?”

He believes that there are three main reasons:

1. There is an inability to distinguish between competence and confidence. We assume that more confident people tend to make better leaders.
2. We have a love for charismatic individuals. We tend to gravitate toward people that are charming and entertaining. Yet, when we’re looking for good leadership behaviours, Dr. Chamorro-Premuzic claims that the best leaders tend to be more humble and are almost perceived as boring.
3. There is an inability to resist the allure of narcissistic individuals. This unconsciously taps into our own narcissism.

Much of the popular advice we give to kids these days goes something like this: “Love yourself no matter what, and if you think you’re great, you are.” When looking at this advice through Chamorro-Premuzic’s research, do you see how this advice might fall short?

While positive thinking and self-esteem are important, taken too far such traits could instead promote a narcissistic mindset. Children raised to trust themselves and believe that everything they do is good and right might resist trusting the thoughts and opinions of others and fail to ask for help when needed.

So, how can we encourage better leadership?

Chamorro-Premuzic suggests there are three ways to sort strong leaders from those who are problematic:

1. Follow the signs: Beware those with an overly confident attitude, or who exhibit grandiose behaviour and a tendency to promote their own agenda. Instead, look for traits such as competence, humility and integrity.
2. Distrust instincts: Focus less on the impression individuals make during media interviews, for example, and focus more on their actions behind the scenes.
3. Apply common standards: Studies have shown women tend to score higher on traits such as competence, humility and integrity. Regardless of who we hire, we should hold them to the same standards and not reward people for narcissistic or “traditional leadership” traits.

As you might have noticed, attracting and building up stronger leaders begins with those who hire, train, promote and work with them. We need to improve our own competence in judging and selecting leaders, especially when they are men.

Did you know we offer a two-day Leadership and Management for Women course? Our next sessions take place later this year. Learn more or register now to attend.

The Ottawa Employment Hub creates annual reports looking at Ottawa’s 16 key employment sectors.

Lifesize dinosaur models. Vodka made from milk. The guitar pedal used by Lady Gaga’s guitarist. What do they have in common? All of them were made in eastern Ontario.

Does that list surprise you a bit? When you think of Ottawa and the Valley, you might think of federal government jobs, or high tech. But not only is there a vibrant manufacturing sector in eastern Ontario — it is actually growing!

The 2020 Manufacturing Sector Spotlight, recently published by the Ottawa Employment Hub, shows that the sector gained 440 jobs over the last few years and was one of the busiest sectors for job ads in 2019.

Here are a few other interesting facts from the report:

1. With an average job salary of $66,610, manufacturing ranked fifth among Ottawa’s top 16 employment sectors. Note that this statistic count does not include self-employed income.
2. Manufacturing jobs could be found among a diverse range of employers, from General Dynamics Missions Systems Canada to the Canadian Bank Note Company.
3. Beverage and tobacco manufacturing jobs in the Ottawa area rose 130% over five years, and those budding employers are forecast to continue growing for the next few years.

So, what does this all mean for job seekers?

• If you’re looking for a job, give the manufacturing sector a look. Some manufacturers are finding it difficult to attract the right employees. But, as the salary data shows, there are rewarding opportunities available.
• Manufacturing doesn’t have to mean working in a plant. When you hear manufacturing, your mind might turn to assembly lines or factories. But, as the report shows, you could also think of manufacturing in terms of breweries and bank jobs. There are many different kinds of organizations that manufacture products in eastern Ontario.
• Big? Small? Manufacturing has it all! While nearly 60% of manufacturing employers included between five and 99 employees, the sector in Ottawa also includes major national and international players. Whether you’re looking to be a part of a small, close-knit team, or part of a much larger organization, there are manufacturing jobs for you in Ottawa.

Download the full report here.

The Ottawa Employment Hub regularly publishes sector spotlights looking at employment trends in Ottawa and Ontario. To learn more, visit their website and sign up to receive their newsletter.