Leadership in the Work Place

There are two types of leaders: those who believe that you can motivate people and those who believe that motivation comes from within. When we try to motivate people what we're really doing is encouraging people to act on already-present motivation, ideally in a way that furthers the organization's mission.


How do we do that?

Encourage and Applaud Great Ideas
Open and maintain dialogue about critical areas, such as reasons for fluctuating attendance weekly. Allow idea-sharing in many ways, both formal and informal. Conduct meetings featuring formal presentations with detailed action plans. In addition, accept pitches via e-mai and coax brainstorming and idea-polishing through impromptu conversations.

Don’t Disparage Bad Ideas
When people are encouraged to suggest great ideas, it’s inevitable that they will present good ones and really bad ones as well. To create and maintain an environment that supports innovation and creative thinking, help everyone with ideas independently.

When starting a new project or assignment, even the most enthusiastic and conscientious employees need to understand your direction. Despite the depth of experience and knowledge, people may get stuck at a crossroads. To keep moving forward and keep people engaged, clarify results desired.

Eventually the vision and the steps needed to achieve goals make sense. When people see clearly how certain actions will take them down the desired paths, they take action and make good decisions without hesitation, on their own, by drawing upon their internal stores of motivation.

Specialty Foods Sales on the Rise

What is Specialty food? “Foods and beverages that exemplify quality and innovation, including artisanal, natural, and local products that are often made by small manufacturers, artisans and entrepreneurs from the U.S. and abroad.”


According to the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade’s (NASFT) annual State of the Specialty Food Industry 2011, total sales of specialty foods in 2010 were $70.32 billion, with $55.92 billion of sales at retail. Specialty foods represent 13.1 percent of all retail food sales. In the US alone there are about 25,000 Specialty Foods stores.

US consumer spending on specialty foods and beverages, a rose 7.7 percent in 2010 according to a study done by Hoovers. This means that the Specialty Food Industry is on the rise. Specialty Foods are a growing part of the American food scene, driven by new flavors, new products and growing consumer interest.

Many grocers are still confine specialty foods products to a specific area. Try integrating the fresh, organic and natural products with other similar products. This will let the consumer know they have better choices throughout the store. Store entrances and exits are a perfect showcase for these products. Display creative pictures and directional ads as consumers enter a store to create the sense that your store is promoting a variety of specialty foods. Try to avoid items such as gossip magazines, candy, soda and vending machines at the exit of the store. Replace these items with health magazines and cookbooks, fresh juices and healthier snacks.

Turn Your Customer Display into Advertising Space

Customer displays have come a long way since the days when they only showed two lines of text. Now Customer displays are full screen monitors with text and graphic capabilities. While the customer is watching their scrolling receipt, why not show them some in-store advertising?


You can display your weekly specials, show what point promotions you are offering or list the locations of your other stores. You can choose what order multiple ads will display or even show a short video to your customers. Ads placed on the display, in front of customers allows you to take advantage of extra advertising. You can sell the space to you vendors or local businesses to advertise their promotions or a community event.

To start taking full advantage of your potential adverting space contact STCR Business Systems, Inc. at (607) 757-0181. Don’t have full screen customer displays? STCR can help with that too.