BusinessWeek.com’s playbook section offers a very short, but highly intriguing article title How Netflix nets and keeps talent.  Here it is in it’s entirety:

PAY LAVISHLY Higher-than-average salaries—and tying bonuses and raises to the market, not a pool—can make stars less likely to bolt. Money is no object in hiring.

PROVIDE COMPENSATION CHOICE Employees are more likely to excel if they can pick how much of their compensation they get in stock rather than cash.

FOSTER TALENT HUNTERS Encouraging everyone to hire the three people they’ve loved working with most during their careers creates an intense, fun workplace.

LET THEM GO Don’t give B performers a middling raise. Give them a decent chunk of cash and show them the door. And don’t surprise them. The laid-off leave with their dignity.

LIMIT RULES They reduce error. But they also stymie innovation. At Netflix, employees are responsible for their choices, even in how much vacation to take

Let Them Go is one we often see in companies…that is they accept mediocrity and do not let B performers go.  In sales this approach is cancerous.  The mediocre performers often have a negative effect on the top performers.

How progressive is Netflix’s management?  Employees determine how much vacation to take?  That is the first time I have encountered that approach.  That is an intriguing approach, isn’t it?

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The economy is slow, but this is a different economy than we have encountered before now.  I suppose this is always true since the economy is completely dynamic so no two points in time are ever the same.  Nonetheless, abcnews.com offers us this story – Job Winners and Losers in Hard Times – which has an excellent bit of information regarding this economy:

In an environment of a sluggish economy and rising unemployment, analysts said there will be some safe harbors where job demand will keep growing. First and foremost in this group will be health care, where the demographics of an aging population mean the demands for medical care will keep rising.

Also a bright spot in a generally bleak jobs picture will be education, again driven by the demographics of a rising population of school-age children and students attending colleges, community colleges and trade schools.

Outside of those areas, the falling value of the dollar against many foreign currencies is helping to power an export boom, which is benefiting farmers and some segments of manufacturing, particularly airplane makers and factories producing various types of heavy machinery where the United States enjoys a competitive edge.

Recessions, slow downs, whatever…the dynamic economy never stops.  There are always pockets to target so make the adjustments you need to make to keep closing deals.

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