The Difference Between a Debt Management Program and Personal Relief Plan

A debt management program focuses on a proper management of your financial liabilities and continuation of your ability to repay your debts on time. On the other hand, a personal relief plan focuses on elimination of your debts so that you enjoy relief from your financial problems.
Management of debt is advisable when you are beginning to face money problems. Relief options are best utilize when you know that you are facing money problems and need to escape it as quickly as possible.
If you do not prepare a debt management plan on time and follow it properly, you will end up facing personal money problems. The only option available is to go in for a personal relief plan.
Debt consolidation, conversion of unsecured debt into secured debt, interest holidays, alteration of the terms and conditions of repayment-all these options fall under the ambit of debt management programs. All this will help you plan your finances better and repay your debts by extracting maximum value out of the income you earn.
On the other hand, you can go in for a personal relief plan like debt settlement which will help you reduce your debts by 50%-70%. Once the debt amount comes down, your monthly payment amount will be reduced and you will have extra cash in your hand.
Further, the personal relief plan aims for complete reduction of all your unsecured debt down to zero with in the specified time frame. This is not the purpose or goal of a debt management program. Rather, it tries to place you in a situation where you can continue using debts to boost your finances without losing control.
The difference between debt management and personal relief may seem technical and theoretical. Yet, it is very important because you may end up going in for a personal relief plan when all you need is a debt management plan. In such a scenario, your financial position will take a huge hit and you will find it difficult to overcome your problems.
It is impossible to rely on the advice of any specific service provider unless you are confident of getting impartial advice. Since you always face the risk of getting biased advice, you should check out independent sources of advice like the internet and also make use of debt relief networks to find the right service provider. All this will help you analyze your financial condition and choose the right remedy.

If you are over $10k in unsecured debt it would be financially prudent for you to consider a debt settlement. There are organizations that exist called "Free Debt Relief Networks" that are a great place to start in locating legitimate debt settlement companies in your region. They provide free debt help and know where to locate the top performing debt settlement firms.

Employee Motivation

What Is Employee Motivation?

Employee motivation is simply a technique that a business and/or corporation implements in order to give the individuals working in the capacity of that company an incentive to push forward, and give all they have to their work. In order to motivate employees to do what it is that they need to do, and make that additional step to exceed expectations, many employers offer incentives. One of the most popular and effective types of incentives that you can provide to your employees are travel incentives. This type of motivation has been used in a number of businesses - some of which are Fortune 500 companies - successfully for many years now!

The Hierarchy of Maslow

Maslow is noted for his extensive work and studies in the field of psychology. During the peak of his career, he determined that all people, regardless of sex, gender, age, and/or culture have at least five basic needs. He developed a hierarchy system that identifies each of the needs. While each of these five components can apply to many different aspects of a person's life, Maslow insisted that the flow of needs should be addressed in a "bottom up" fashion. This means the very bottom need must be met before one can move up. If you manage employees, it is essential that you understand the hierarchy and know where to start. The following details the five needs, starting with the bottom, and some examples of each:

1.    Physiological - This covers things that are part of who we are physically. Examples of the needs in this section include food, sleep, and even homeostasis.

2.    Safety - This means security in the job, at home, and everywhere else.

3.    The Need to Be Loved and/or Needed - This includes relationships with coworkers, bosses, family members, etc....

4.    Basic Esteem - This covers respecting others, being respected, the sense of accomplishment, and confidence.

5.    Self Actualization - This is the need where we can solve problems such as those that occur in the workplace, and where we accept certain facts as truth in our lives.

Employee Motivation and Incentives

Now, as more and more companies succeed in implementing the use of incentives to encourage and motivate, many of these businesses are wondering when they should and when they should not provide incentives such as travel packages. I use a simple method in order to determine which employees qualify for incentives, and which employees do not qualify. I never reward incentives like travel packages for those that those people within the company that are doing what is expected of them. Sounds a little harsh, right?

Employees should not receive incentives that are performing within their job duties. When they agreed to the job, they accepted their responsibilities as a bare minimum. They committed to do this and that. While you can encourage them if they are struggling, or even brag a little when they hit metrics, you should never provide incentives for this type of performance. If you do, they will continue to expect the rewards. When they do not see any, resentment and hostility will develop - the attrition rate may even be high.

If you see an employee that is exceeding expectations, this is the employee that deserves an incentive - especially travel incentives. This means that this employee is having a positive impact on the business, and if they are rewarded for it, they will continue to strive to only get better in their work. You know what this means, right? It means that your business will become more successful overall!

Why Travel Incentives?

I know I keep harping on travel incentives as a tactic for employee motivation, but I am going to explain to you why I think this type of incentive is a productive means of achieving the success that you want to see your business accomplish. The following outlines some of the reasons that I believe this type of reward is effective:

1.    Everyone loves to go on a vacation - especially if it somewhere unique and away from home!

2.    Individuals who receive these types of incentives often feel as if they are highly valued in the company that they work for, as many are luxury vacations that include first class rooms and accommodations. By providing your employees with first class service all the way, you are also going to receive first class service from that employee over and over again!

3.    If you purchase travel incentives for your employees, you actually save a lot of money because of the fact that these, purchased in bulk, cost very little on the dollar. While allowing your employees to travel all over the world, you are saving the company some major money!

Conclusion

Employee motivation and incentives are two topics that should be priority in each and every single business around the world. There are some instances in which incentives should not be issued, but in other cases, employees should receive these rewards. The basis for this would be if an employee proves to be exceptional and exceeds expectations as set forth by their job descriptions.

Get Rid of A Public Speaking Fear by Making Your Speech Interactive

This is one of the easiest ways to develop a genuine connection with your audience, and break out of the mindset of just giving a lecture that you think no one wants to hear.

What do I mean by "making a speech interactive"? What I mean is involving your audience directly in the content of your speech not only by presenting material that is informative and interesting, but also by giving members of your audience a chance to actually participate in your speech.

Many speakers actually discourage audience participation in a speech, for a variety of reasons. Some think that encouraging audience anticipation would open the door for heckling; others think that it will make it too hard for them to stay focused on the material in their speeches; still others simply fear the idea of interacting with audience members.

However, audience participation can be a very valuable tool for gaining your audience's trust and support, and for presenting a speech that audience will take home with them and remember for years and years. When you get your audience involved in your speech, you are teaching them, not just telling them. And people learn more and retain knowledge better when they are taught material, instead of just having it told to them.

So, how can you make your speech interactive, so that you can engage your audience, and create a conversation rather than a lecture? First, make sure that you ask questions that are audience focused. Sometimes, this will mean that you are directing a question to the entire audience in general; other times, this will mean that you are directing your question at the audience as individuals.

Sometimes it's okay to address the audience in general, but more often than not, you will want to ask questions that make each individual audience members feel that you are talking directly to them. Instead of opening your speech with, "So how are all of you today?", you can ask, "So how are you today?".

If you want to dig to a deeper level and make your opening even more personal to each individual member of the audience, you can ask questions designed to make individual audience members think about their own personal experiences and feelings - here's an example:

"Good morning. How has your day been so far? Have you accomplished what you hoped to accomplish before you came to this presentation? How do you feel about the way your day has gone so far?"

See, a simple "How are you?" is a very general question. If you stopped and counted, you'll probably find it people ask this question to you at least a couple dozen times a day. And so how do we respond? Usually, it's, "Fine, thank you. And you?" The problem with that is that we never actually stop and think about how we really are feeling at that particular moment in time. We hear the standard question, and we give the standard answer. There's no real thought involved, and we don't really get to take inventory of how we're feeling about our lives right
now.

So, asking specific, directed questions can help your audience not only stay involved in your speech, but also take inventory of their own experiences and feelings. And once you bring them to that point where they are evaluating experiences in their own lives, you can rest assured that they will stay involved in your presentation, and support you while you are giving your speech.