By: Mike Beels, Lean Program Manager, Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center

If I were to ask you what's the most valuable asset in your company, would you say Intellectual Property? Machinery/equipment? Real estate? Surely those all have significant value. What many don't realize is the actual value of personnel. 

The staff can make or break a business based on their level of commitment, motivation and interest in their work. While engaging employees already is a complicated skill to master, incoming generations of workers are bringing with them new expectations and desires for the workplace, making it even more difficult to keep all employees engaged. 

In fact, the number of employees looking to leave their current job is higher among Millennials, with 48% saying they likely look for a new job in the next three months and 56% in the next 12 months.

Did I mention that the Millennial workforce (those born between the early 1980s and early 2000s) makes up the largest portion of workers in America?

Worried yet?

It is clear that the importance of keeping employees engaged has reached critical heights. If companies hope to maintain and grow their businesses into the future, the key is to ensure employees are engaged. 

Although the majority of business leaders agree that improving workforce engagement would improve their organization, only 25% have an engagement strategy. Do you?

First, let's define engagement. Workforce engagement can be interpreted as the execution of discretionary effort. It is a combination of commitment to the organization and its values, plus a willingness to help colleagues. Engagement is something the employee has to offer the employer. It cannot be taught or required, but rather must be inspired.

Engagement is not just about keeping employees happy. To be frank, many employees have no problem sleepwalking through the workday, putting only time - but no passion or interest - into their work. They embody what Jack Welch, author and previous CEO of General Electric, said many years ago, essentially stating, "Never mistake activity for accomplishment."

The goal with engagement is to go beyond task completion, inspiring employees to feel passionate about their work and motivated to perform their best. This requires creating an environment that prioritizes communication, promotes empowerment and offers opportunity for growth. Our surveys conducted among manufacturers consistently tell us that employees are looking for respect, accountability, trust, opportunity, communication and transparency within the workplace. They want to be cared for and listened to. They want management to believe in them, then they will be encouraged to help the company succeed. 

This engagement "strategy" starts with leadership. They must support engagement, and not just by saying they do. They must play an active role and provide the resources and budget to make it happen. This is one of the most important investments a company can make in their business, as it will benefit the organization down the line when employees reach higher levels of engagement, efficiency and productivity. 

Heed this warning:
Failure to focus on employee engagement is likely to lead to the disappearance of your most valuable employees. This is especially critical with the talent shortage facing the manufacturing industry, making it increasingly difficult to find skilled workers to fill positions. Now is the time to show your employees they are valued and give them the leadership they deserve, before they decide to look for it elsewhere. 

Mike Beels is a Lean Program Manager at the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center, which provides services and support to manufacturers in Macomb County to enable them to compete, grow and prosper. Learn more at the-center.org. 

By: Ashley Edwards, Director of Marketing and Communications, SHRCCI

Are you looking for ways to increase your social media marketing and increase your SEO (search engine optimization)? Listed are some of the best social media tips that can boost your online presence. 

1. Capture and share as many pictures as possible. It can stimulate an emotional response from viewers. It can show people what they are missing and what is happening with your business/organization.
2. Use URL's that you can track and pay attention to analytics all the time. This helps to show what content is working and what needs to be fixed and make it better. Plus you can track engagement and reach on all of your posts.
3. Cross promote on other social media platforms that you use. This can help get more people connected and increase the chances that they see your content or updates.
4. Analyze all past posts to see where you can improve and what has worked best to increase engagement in the past. 
5. Use different kinds of content to increase engagement and interest. Switch it up with videos, informative posts, pictures, testimonials, GIFs, etc.
6. Add new content consistently, this way you are always popping up on your follower's feed. 
7. Build your relationships. (a great way is through BRAG and other networking groups) Make a point to follow and engage with your connections. 
8. Live feed is a growing want on social media. Learn what platforms work best for your audience and live feed information, either at events, or maybe information that is easily digestible in a video versus text.
9. Start a hash-tag or slogan that aligns with your brand. This way followers on social media know where to look for information. 
10. Don't be afraid to pay-to-play, boosting posts can really help get you to your goal following and increase the amount of engagement on your page. 
11. Join in Community groups, these smaller social media groups can help you reach the target audience that you are looking for. 
12. Give people a reason to follow you. You should ask yourself, "why should people want to follow our account?" Think of the perspective of the consumer, what kind of information or content will benefit you from following this business or organization.
13. Pre-plan in advance. As you continue to grow your online presence you will be improving your content and the ways that you schedule posts ahead of time.
14. Build your list of influencers, supporters, and contacts. A good list will include, media, sponsors, committee members, supporters, bloggers, local organizations, and strategic partners. 
15. Understand your organization's core values and reflect on that in your social media campaigns. 
16. Keep your content original and organized. You will want to make sure that it is organic and immediate. 

By: Brian Mamo, Senior Business Solutions Manager, Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center 

If I asked you to think of the two best things ever put together, you might immediately think of pairings such as peanut butter and jelly, biscuits and gravy, or fish and chips. But what combination really surpasses all others? Smarketing.

Smarketing is the term used to describe an integrated sales and marketing team that effectively works together in a harmonious fashion. It has a funny sounding name, but when Smarketing is in full effect, the impact is serious. 

Smarketing may not seem as ground-breaking as fish and chips on the surface, but consider this: Are your company's sales and marketing teams rarely on the same page? This could be detrimental to your organization as it is nearly impossible to increase revenue and expand your client base when these departments are not integrated. Revenue and client growth can only happen when both teams work together toward shared goals that benefit the entire company. 

Once a company acknowledges the importance of this partnership, they can start working on making improvements in their planning. This process might begin with asking the question, how can both teams work together more efficiently? The answer lies in communication. Tear down the silos! If your company is fortunate enough to have a sales and marketing team, it could benefit your team and your company to open up communication and discuss the following topics. Or, if you make up the entire sales and marketing team, then have this conversation with yourself (just make sure no one else is around to witness you talking to yourself). 

1. Understand what a perfect client looks like. Where are they located? Which industries are they in? How are their decisions made? Who makes the decisions, and what are the most common objectives? Have the sales and marketing teams work together to determine what the perfect client looks like, get a list together and determine who your top 100 prospective clients are.
2. Sales Team: Show the Marketing folks what the sales funnel looks like. How many touches (any time a prospective client sees your name) does it take for a client to agree to a meeting? How many meetings does it take to provide a proposal? How many proposals does it take to get a sale? After you do the math (see, you thought you would never use algebra in your sales career), the marketing team will know exactly how many touches it will need to make in order to hit the sales goals of the company. Hopefully by going through this exercise, efficiencies and bottlenecks will be identified. Now you are getting somewhere...
3. Get together and discuss what and how frequent these touches should be. Examples of touches are phone calls, educational blogs, emails, Linkedin connections, educational events and postcards. Both teams should work to determine the frequency of touches. With an established, consistent plan for implementing touches in place, potential clients will be made more aware of your services for when the need eventually rises (also referred to as drip marketing). 
4. Build a robust website. It is up to the marketing department to make sure prospective clients have positive experiences with your branding and website. Beyond having an initial touch, prospective clients will look at your website and determine if they want to meet with your sales team based on what should be a professional, educational, easy to navigate and inspiring website. 
5. Have a story. Why choose your company over the competition? Let prospective clients know why they should work with you. Leave out phrases like "we have the best people, best product/service and best on-time delivery." These characteristics should be assumed about your company, as you wouldn't still be in business if you didn't offer good service. Ask your employees to think of a few important elements to add your story, and share it with your friends, family and business confidants to test its effectiveness. 

With all of this integrated communication and work in place, there is no reason your company shouldn't succeed in reaching prospective clients, getting leads and staying competitive. By breaking down silos and aligning strategies, your sales and marketing teams will work together even better than peanut butter and jelly. 

Brian Mamo is a Senior Business Solutions Manager at the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center, where he provides services and support to manufacturers in Macomb County to enable them to compete, grow and prosper. 

Protecting Yourself At a Real Estate Closing
By: Legal Strategies, P.C. 

If you've purchased a home recently, then you probably got an email with instructions about how to wire the money you'd need at the closing. This is a common practice.

However, an increasingly popular cybercrime involves sending you a second email with new instructions for wiring the money. Your title company or attorney will not be aware of this second email, but if you follow the instructions, you will probably wire the money right to the bank account of a criminal. By the time you realize that you've been the target of a scam, the perpetrator will have removed the money from the account and you will not be able to get your funds back. 

Because of the size of most real estate transactions, the financial impact of this scam is significant. The FBI estimated that in 2017, nearly $1 billion was diverted (or attempted to be diverted) to criminal accounts during home purchase transactions.

Here is how you can protect yourself from becoming a victim:
1. Be very suspicious of last-minute changes in the wiring instructions.

2. Be wary of a wire recipient other than the title company. No third parties should be involved in the transaction or promise to hole the money for the title company. 

3. Always confirm wiring instructions verbally or in person, not just by email. 
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4. Use only the known, verified phone numbers and email addresses that you have used throughout the transaction. No new parties should suddenly join the transaction at the last minute. 

If you are new to estate planning and not sure where to start, contact us today for a free consultation. 

Lil Adams Award Winner - Mark Vanderpool 
Michigan Week Luncheon Featuring the Sterling Edge Awards, May 15
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The Lil Adams Award if given to an individual who exemplifies the characteristics our Chamber found Lil Adams embodied: humbleness, a caring spirit, exemplary long-term service to our Chamber, our communities and our fellow man. 
This year the Lil Adams Award has been awarded to Sterling Heights City Manager, Mark Vanderpool.

Mark Vanderpool has served as city manager of Sterling Heights since 2004 where he has been a leading advocate in the city's proactive economic development program and Visioning 2030 Plan. Vanderpool has 30 years of municipal management experience and has focused on being a cost-effective leader building a strong financial foundation for Sterling Heights. Most recently, he helped lead a massive $50 million initiative to improve parks, construct new amenities and improve quality of life services. He serves on numerous boards, including Sterling Heights Regional Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, SEMCOG's Executive Committee, MML Board of Trustees and is past Chairman of the Macomb Area Communities for Regional Opportunities (MACRO). He has a BA in Political Science from Augustana College and an MPA from Northern Illinois University. 

Mark has served on the Chamber Board for over a decade, sitting as the Chamber Chair in 2010. He is a long time supporter of the Chamber and is always looking for opportunities to support the area's business community. 

Congratulations, Mark!
Join us at the Michigan Week Luncheon Featuring The Sterling Edge Awards on May 15, register online.

5 Easy Steps to Create Employee Brand Advocates for your Business
By: Ashley Edwards

There are many ways to create influence for your business. Whether it's offering an amazing product or implementing a PR strategy, the opportunities are endless. However, there's one tool your business might be overlooking: The power of employee brand advocates.

Your employees have an incredible opportunity to increase your brand's reach. Whenever they speak positively about your business, offer recommendations or create engagement through different social channels, they're supporting your brand. In fact, research shows brand messages are re-shared 24 times more frequently when distributed by employees.

Employee brand advocates have the ability to boost your company's reputation, which means more opportunities to attract clients, customers, and irreplaceable talent. 

Ways to get started:
1. Create a planned on-boarding strategy 
Transforming employees into brand advocates starts with grabbing their attention the moment they're hired. According to Forbes article by James Kelly, U.S. brand leader at PwC LLP, the strength of a company's brand is greatly influenced by the values and behaviors of its employees. 

Design an on-boarding strategy that teaches employees about your organization's mission, goals and communicates their value as a member of your team. Incorporate tools such as ongoing training, classes, certifications or professional development workshops into your on-boarding program. 

2. Clearly communicate your company culture
Before employees can promote your business, they need to understand the company as a whole. In addition to on-boarding, provide new hires with one-on-one meetings with different leaders throughout the organization where they can receive an overview of company policies, goals and communication procedures. 

3. Encourage employees to be active on social media
A 2014 study by Weber Shandwick found 50% of employees post photos, messages or videos about their employers. Establish a social media policy encouraging employees to tell a story about your organization through their perspective. Provide them with social media messaging and ideas for photo opportunities.

4. Give employees opportunities to be advocates
Social media is just one of the many tools employees can use to advocate for your organization. Encourage employees to volunteer in the community and attend events that can help boost exposure for your business. For example, send employees to networking events through SHRCCI. 

5. Reward employees for their hard work
Don't let your employees' brand advocacy go unnoticed. When an employee lands a client because of their advocacy, reward them for their hard work. Whether it's recognizing them in front of the entire company, through a congratulatory email or giving them a gift card, make sure you recognize employees in an noticeable way. 

Remember, your employees are your company's brand. Whenever they post a photo on social media or tell a friend about work, they're contributing to the overall reputation of your organization. By harnessing the power of the employee brand advocates in your marketing strategy, you'll expand your reach and establish trust with more customers. 

By UHY LLP, Certified Public Accountants 
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Due to the major changes from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is recommending that all taxpayers perform a "paycheck checkup" on their current withholdings. The IRS provides a withholding calculator application on their website to determine proper withholding amounts.

If a taxpayer owed additional taxes when filing their 2018 tax return or adjusted their 2018 withholdings during the year, calculating 2019 withholdings could help avoid an unexpected tax bill or penalty calculated on their 2019 tax return. To change your current withholdings, an updated Form W-4 will need to be filled with the taxpayer's employer. As withholdings take place throughout the year, it is best to finalize any adjustments as soon as possible to avoid future tax burdens. 

For more information click here. 

Sterling Heights Regional Chamber of Commerce recently announced that Ashley Edwards will join the organization as director of marketing and communication full-time on May 20, 2019. 

In this role, Ashley will be responsible for the organization's regular and ongoing communication with its members and the business community in general, including the Chamber's weekly newsletter, social media, press releases and media relations, content creation, advertising, graphic design and more. She will also serve as the staff liaison to the Chamber's young professionals network, YoPros. 

Ashley obtained her bachelor's degree in integrative public relations from Central Michigan University in 2017 and is currently finishing up her master's degree in general administration from CMU. During her time there, she had the opportunity to work on various marketing and social media campaigns for real clients and the university while also working full-time in management positions in local businesses. 

"Ashley's experience is a perfect fit for our Chamber," said Davis. "From her past experience, it's clear that she has always been an advocate for non-profit organizations, spending much of her free time volunteering for multiple organizations. For example, she currently sits on the board as an associate director for the Bay-Rama Fishfly Festival in New Baltimore."

A native of Algonac, Ashley enjoys spending time with her family and close friends. "My favorite part about being from Algonac is being able to spend the summers boating," she said. 

By Doug Kelly, Owner, 5by5 Designs, LLC

​There are six basic approaches to establishing your brand. 
#1 Establish your Unique Selling Position
Simply put, your USP is what makes your business different from everyone else in your market. A strong unique selling proposition can help you attract and retain customers. 

#2 Develop a Custom Logo and Brand Image 
To create a 'brand' for a company is to create their image, and to promote that image with campaigns and visuals. The ultimate goal of a brand is to make a company a unique and recognizable, and to project a desired image. This includes a well developed logo, not a clip art creation, but a studied and planned effort that hones in on the right representation for your business. 

#3 Create Print Marketing Materials
While "on-line" is the new part of marketing, and there are still enough potential customers who, after the initial online research, expect to see printed material. They need to know that you have a physical address, a phone number, and that they can see all types of printed material before they commit to you. 

#4 Website Creation
An on-line presence that compliments and works hand-in-hand with your proposed brand image. Reinforce your USP so that you can push your company's brand into the customers awareness. 

#5 On-Page SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
WordPress websites have various "on-page" SEO processes to get you to the top of web searches. Using keywords, meta tags, search snippets, tagged images, and other tools, your website will be at the top of search inquiries made by interested people and then converting them into clientele. 

#6 Social Media Promotion 
Facebook has 1.65 billion monthly active users. There are 350,000 tweets every minute. Obviously you cannot be without some kind of social media presence. 

5by5 Design can make your brand image read loud and clear!
Contact them today to get started on establishing your brand, 586.997.9647

By UHY LLP, Certified Public Accountants 
As tax season rages on, cyber criminals are targeting taxpayers with new scams. After a 60 percent jump in so-called phishing scams in 2018, the IRS is warning us to be extra vigilant this year. Hackers are using the advancements in technology to target taxpayers year-round but tax season is prime phishing season. 
Scammers imitate the IRS, TurboTax and other tax preparation companies in an effort to gain sensitive information. Below are some tips to help prevent tax season scams in 2019:

Check sender details:
If you receive an email that looks suspicious, check for more details from the person sending the email. Depending on email clients you can view more details from the sender to determine the validity of the email. Scammers have become very adept at using new email technology for scams, at times using an email that is just slightly different than a valid email, so make sure you know who you are exchanging emails with. 
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File early to avoid scammers:
Many of the scams rely on you not having filed your taxes yet, so if you receive an email after you have already filed you can be sure that it is not legitimate.

Report suspicious email activity:
Suspicious emails can be forwarded directly to phishing@irs.gov. 

Refrain from clicking on emails that contain sensitive information or responding to an email requesting it. If you receive an email from TurboTax or another tax program, go directly to the website and check your account.