Lily Hoffman
According to Charter College, companies with good communication practices are three and a half times more likely to outperform their competitors. Readers will receive helpful feedback and tips on how to become a successful businessperson from the business professional herself, Mrs. April Jones. Mrs. Jones is currently the franchise owner of TapSnap 1208 and a recruiter at Chick-fil-A. In the following, Mrs. Jones’ insights are sure to encourage young professionals to always know their audience, practice good communication skills, and keep writings and presentations clean and simple.
1.) What is your professional history (include your timeline and roles)?
Answer: Mrs. Jones provided her resume. According to the resume, Jones started out as a Human Resources Generalist at Shoe Carnival from 1994-1995. Jones worked at Casino Aztar as a Personnel Administrator from 1995-1998 and then the Director of Human Resources from 1998-2000. Jones worked as a Human Resources manager at Cintas- The Uniform People from 2000-2004, worked as a Sales Representative (part-time) at Siegel’s Uniforms from 2004-2008, worked as a Recruiter (part-time) and Per Diem Human Resources at the ARC from 2008-2015, was a Homemaker from 2015-2016, worked as an HR Generalist at Allied Universal Security Services from 2016-2017, and now works as a Franchise Owner of TapSnap 1208 (part-time) from 2016-current and a Recruiter at Chick-fil-a (part-time) from 2018-current.
2.) What writing advice do you have for professional communicators?
Answer: “The way we communicate is continuously changing. Communication includes body language, written and verbal. Within those three areas, I have seen significant changes in the last 20 + years. Written communication may occur in a press release, slides in a presentation, marketing piece, story, blog, social media post, graphs & charts, correspondence, or in a text message where individuals are using abbreviations, slang and emojis. My advice is know your audience (you will communicate one way when presenting to your general Church body and a different way when presenting to the youth group of your Church).”
Always be willing to adapt to your audience, proofread, and keep writings simple and clean (this especially applies to slides during a presentation).
3.) What is your one pet peeve when it comes to professional writing?
Answer: “My pet peeve in professional writing is when it is clear the writer used spell check, but the wrong word is being used. For example an article about leek soup is turned into ‘leak soup.’ Two hundred immigrants is turned into ‘too hundred immigrants.’ A written piece is turned into a ‘written peace.’ Can you hear me, is turned into ‘Can you here me?’ ”
4.) What kind of business reports do you read and/or compose regularly?
Answer: “I have two very different jobs, so I create different reports. I may create a spreadsheet that shows where an applicant is at in the recruiting process, I may create a turnover report to show how many employees have separated from the company and for what reason, I may read a variance report to show an employee’s scheduled time VS. actual time worked, I may create and read a report to show profit VS. loss, I may create report to show the reasons why a client did not select me for a job after a proposal was sent.“
5.) What are your writing suggestions to make that type of report successful?
Answer: “Every report created is unique. It may call for different information, some readers prefer a pie chart, some prefer a bar graph. Your information must be presented clearly and mistake free. Keep the font simple. Do not overload it with multiple colors. Make sure the information is correct. If it is a report that is created regularly (a monthly report), it should follow the same format every month. Listen to the people who are reading your reports and take their advice and do not be insulted by suggestions.”
Always remember, less is more!
6.) What speaking advice do you have for professional communicators?
Answer: “Speaking is very hard!! I wish this was an area I excelled in. I ALWAYS use my hands when speaking and I wish I would break this habit! I knock over drinks, hit microphones, and I feel like it is a distraction to the listener. When you are working on written communication, you can go back and change or edit before the information is presented. The biggest challenge when speaking is we MUST know when to stop speaking and to start listening. Speakers should know their audience (you never want to talk over the knowledge level and you never want to talk down to the audience). Always speak slowly and choose your words wisely (this applies to large groups, one on one, professional speaking or speaking personally with friends)! When presenting to a large audience, speakers should know their information and know it well. Speakers should understand any slides or supporting information. I highly recommend practice before ANY professional speaking; presentations, interviews or communicating in a stressful situation (for example firing an employee). While it is so important to be professional, I believe your audience will connect with you if you are able to interject your personal flare (a story about you), people want to do business with people that they know and like!”
7.) Name one thing you wish you had known about business communication prior to your professional career?
Answer: “I majored in Public Relations, which is a lot of communication, but communicating in different formats. I wish I would have better prepared myself for public speaking. While in college, I was able to get up and present to my classmates, but I did not take learning the art of public speaking seriously. To this day, I get sweaty palms and break out in hives when I have to get up and speak in front of a group. I have participated in many trainings, but I still lack in this area.”
Take your public speaking classes seriously!
8.) After assessing the Burning Glass list of Baseline Skills (2016), which skills not in the top 5 would you move into the top 5…and why?
Answer: A) “I would move Listening up to the number one skill! So often, we do not listen to others, we are only worried about what we will say next or how to get our point across. Listening could dissipate so much confusion and create better relationships. I have discovered many times, my audience and I are both trying to get from point A to point B, but we are going there in different ways (not wrong ways, just different ways).”
B) “I would move Time Management up (although this could also work in the planning category). Many do not have the ability to plan and manage their time. This comes from growing up in a family where parents had every minute of their everyday planned out. They were told when to go to school, when to go to Church, when to go to do homework, when to go to “play dates” when to go to sports practice, and when to go to music practice. I also think the demand in the workplace is higher. Employees are expected to do the job of 1.5 people, thus creating a heavier load. Employees are saying yes to more projects, as they want to prove they can do it. This results in working longer days, weekends and taking less vacation time.”
9.) What team skills do you feel young professionals need the most?
Answer: “Team skills are so important, both professionally and personally. As organizations grow, in lieu of hiring another employee, a company will divide a job description up to a few different employees, resulting in these employees needing to collaborate to complete the task. We are often expected to work on teams and sometimes we have to be the leader and sometimes we have to be the follower. It is so important to designate those roles in the beginning, so there is no confusion. All of these skills are intertwined; when working as a team, you must have good time management and customer service (the customer may be the client or a fellow co-worker) skills. When working on time management, you must have good organization and delegation (supervisory) skills. When working on a presentation, you must have good writing and analytical skills. When working on leadership, you must have good time management and communication skills. In conclusion, everyone needs to use these skills, every single day, even if the profession is a domestic engineer (stay at home parent)! The Burning Glass list of Baseline skills does not provide any shocking new skills, these skills have always been important. However, the way we rank, use and define the skill set, is continually changing (we lacked job-sharing, work from home jobs, digital calendars that can be shared, social media, blogs, emailing, texting or cell phones 30 years ago).”
Key Takeaways:
Overall, Jones has made many constructive points focusing on business communication. Using personal skills to the best of one’s ability is crucial. Although some people may prosper in certain areas more than others, Jones encourages practice and preparation to succeed. Jones explains that team skills are very important, especially with business related professions. With public speaking or presentations, it is important to speak clearly and slowly. Jones also explains that to have minimal or no mistakes on PowerPoints or reports, it is important to proofread. However, people must care enough to succeed and put forth an effort to do so.
Biography: 
Education- Jones received a BS in Public Relations and minored in Non-for-Profit Organizations at Murray State University. Jones also had an Internship at Walt Disney World receiving her “Ducktorate Degree.”
Professional Experience- Jones started out as a Human Resources Generalist at Shoe Carnival from 1994-1995, assisting corporate and twenty stores throughout the Midwest with recruitment, employee testing, new-hire orientation, relocation, new hire/data entry, workers’ compensation, FMLA/leave of absence and unemployment claims. Jones worked at Casino Aztar as a Personnel Administrator from 1995-1998, and then the Director of Human Resources from 1998-2000. Jones worked as a Human Resources manager at Cintas-The Uniform People from 2000-2004, responsible for implementation and coordination of policies and procedures consistent with corporate objectives for 250 employees. Jones then worked as a Sales Representative (part-time) at Siegel’s Uniforms from 2004-2008, responsible for creating Advertising Specialties Division. She then worked as a Recruiter (part-time) and Per Diem Human Resources at the ARC from 2008-2015, working with hiring managers and department heads to establish staffing needs for a 250-employee faculty. She was a Homemaker from 2015-2016. She worked as an HR Generalist at Allied Universal Security Services from 2016-2017, working with account managers to provide staffing for 1500+ armed and unarmed security officers for off-site posts. She now works as a Franchise Owner of TapSnap 1208 (part-time) from 2016-current, responsible for marketing, sales, coordinating events, artwork, logistics, contracts, staffing, billing, and payroll. She’s also a Recruiter at Chick-fil-a (part-time) from 2018-current, ensuring an ongoing pool of candidates.
Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/april-jones-9635b850/
Website: https://tapsnap.net/tapsnap-1208/ (also on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter)
About the Author:
Lily Hoffman is a Business Administration major at the University of Southern Indiana and plans to graduate in the Fall of 2022. Hoffman currently works at a clothing boutique in Newburgh, IN. Hoffman aspires to one day own her own small business.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lily-hoffman-a5879a178
