The Hire Sense » 2007 » January » 11

Archive for January 11th, 2007

Important – Updating Our RSS Feed

We will be upgrading to FeedBurner over the next day or so. What this means is if you subscribe to our website via RSS, you will need to reestablish the feed by plugging the new feed address into your RSS reader. We expect this change to occur some time this evening or Friday morning.

Thank you for you patience and we hope you enjoy the improved delivery of The Hire Sense.

Presenteeism and Flexible Hours

I had never heard of “presenteeism” up until a couple of months ago as I mentioned in this post. Now I encountered this SM&M article – Working While Sick.

Top reasons for schlepping in when sick: I feel guilty for calling in; my workload is too heavy; I save my sick time for personal reasons like family emergencies, sick children, parent care issues and other unexpected events; and I try to have perfect attendance.

“Schlepping in…?” Another new phrase for me. No real surprises in the reasons for coming to work sick. I did find this paragraph insightful:

The study suggests bosses could do more to stem the trend. “Employees are craving flexibility from their employers. ‘Working 9 to 5’ is no longer the universal employee anthem,” says Stuart Itkin, chief marketing officer at Kronos. “To reduce presenteeism, bolster employee satisfaction, improve workforce productivity, and boost the bottom line, best practice organizations are providing employees with flexibility and rewarding them based on results.”

This trend is booming in the corporate world. We see it daily in our customer base and we hear inquiries from candidates on a consistent basis. Flexible hours will be a staple of the Gen Y work world.

Sales Traits Series – Using Common Sense

Today we tackle a tough trait that is in short supply according to Mark Twain. The Using Common Sense trait provides for us some insight into a salesperson’s ability to think on their feet. This trait is most important for effectively dealing with a prospect’s objections.

Using Common Sense
This capacity is determined by the persons focus on practical thinking, their ability to see the world clearly and their general intelligence.

A salesperson with strength in this capacity will have use of everyday, informal knowledge that has not been formally evaluated and placed in the decision-making process. The utilization of common sense in the decision-making process appears to be more of a natural reflex than a logical-thinking process.

A salesperson with weakness in this capacity might be encouraged to use solid record keeping, organizational skills and other tools to aid them in obtaining a better, more objective decision.

Flying The Friendly Skies

Bob Rosner has a great riff on security at airports in his Working Wounded blog – Biz Travel Safety. To be clear, he is all for safe airline travel and even goes so far as to thank the screeners when he gets plucked from the line for an additional screening. I laughed at that line since I am invariably plucked from the line no matter what airport I am at (my wife laughs every time).

An excerpt:

For example, on my most recent flight I had my baggie full of gels and liquids out and ready to show anyone who wanted to know the secret for my youthful appearance. A TSA staffer scrutinized the bag. She informed me that she’d have to empty one of my bottles because, she explained, they only allowed gels and liquids in their original containers no camping-style plain plastic bottles are allowed. She methodically emptied out my soap from its container. Apparently terrorists have not figured out how to empty shampoo bottles to put something more dangerous inside.

Read the whole thing – it is quite entertaining.