Business Coaching

  Dr. Rick Franza, Dean of the Hull College of Business, discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, he talks about recruiting good employees and the importance of retaining them. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: It seems everyone these days is looking for employees. What’s going on? Rick: We’ve always had a good relationship with the local community, but we’ve never had so many businesses, both small and large, be as proactive with us because they’re so in need

We, at Augusta University’s Hull College of Business, are extremely proud to hold the most prestigious accreditation for higher education schools of business (held by only 5 percent of all such schools worldwide!). We are accredited by the Association to Advance College Schools of Business, known familiarly as AACSB International. Every five years, AACSB-accredited schools, such as AU/Hull, go through a Continuous Improvement Review (CIR), based on AACSB’s Accreditation Standards, which were most recently updated in 2020. Since we just went through our latest CIR in October, these standards are

There are more than 33 million small businesses in the United States, and Saturday is a chance to celebrate them – and buy from them – during Small Business Saturday. American Express started Small Business Saturday in 2010 as a way to promote the impact small businesses have on local economies. Last year, 51 million people participated in Small Business Saturday, spending $20 billion according to American Express – an average of almost $400 per person. Small businesses are especially popular with women and with Millennials. A Lending Tree survey

In the 4th edition of the book Rules and Tools for Leaders, there is a chapter that describes the opportunities and challenges of the electronic workspace. Here are a few examples that may be helpful. Batching Batch your activities. Reserve one hour each morning and two hours each afternoon to focus totally on electronic and telephone interactions. Let your colleagues, clients, and friends know that you will be available electronically from 10 to 11 and from 3 to 5. Also, let them know that you will not be available electronically

On Friday, Oct. 28, the world became a lesser place as Vincent Joseph Dooley, whom many respectfully just addressed as “Coach,” left this life. Since I was a senior at Notre Dame who attended the Sugar Bowl at the end of the 1980 college football season, and I am also an alumnus of Georgia Tech, you can probably figure out that I am not a Georgia Bulldogs fan. However, I am proud to say that I consider Coach Dooley to have been a role model and a friend. I am

Much like many others in the South, I spend a good part of my Saturdays watching college football and I am usually rewarded with exciting entertainment. However, unlike many of my fellow fans, I have found college football to be fertile ground for lessons on how to be successful in business. In today’s column, I’ll share some of what I have learned, not only by watching the most successful teams and programs but also by watching those who are not quite as successful. Hopefully, you can take some of these

After decades in business, serial entrepreneur, Jeff Annis discovered that profit sharing is one of the keys to employee retention. On Wednesday, Annis, founder of Advanced Services Pest Control, spoke to a group of real estate agents, loan officers, and home services professionals at this month’s CSRA Home Connections meeting. He said some of his long-term employees have told him they had considered leaving the company, but changed their minds when he began offering the lucrative profit-sharing incentive, which for most employees, meant they earned between 14 and 18 percent

For those of you who read my previous columns in the Augusta Chronicle, you know that I like to write about leadership. Although I have been in a number of leadership positions across my two careers in the military and higher education that does not necessarily make me a great leader. One thing I do know that I have in common with great leaders is that I am always looking to improve my leadership ability. Therefore, I read about leadership, and listen to others speak about leadership, but most importantly,

Few things determine the success of a business, or any organization, like good leadership. How to create leadership that can be trusted will be the topic of the next Russell A. Blanchard Distinguished Lecture Series in Ethics at Augusta University on Thursday. Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Leslie C. Smith, vice president for leadership and education for the Association of the U.S. Army, will present “Why Leadership Matters: Building Trust in Organizations” at 6 p.m. Sept. 22 in the Dr. Roscoe Williams Ballroom in the Jaguar Student Activities Center on