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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Commission-only sales plans are risky in my opinion.  I know they are the truest form of selling – you eat what you kill.  I simply think that many salespeople view this structure as a lack of commitment from the company.  I’m not saying that is accurate, but I have talked to many salespeople under these plans and this is their perception.

Fortune Small Business discusses this topic in their article Why to be wary of commission-only sales staff:

“If you hire someone and you’re not really willing to invest time and resources in them – and that’s really what a commission-only sales person suggests – then you’re missing an opportunity,” he says.

Good sales people communicate to prospects whatever makes your company special.

Again, the investment (or lack of) is the issue here.

“With the high churn rate of commission-only sales people, providing a position where there’s an equitable base and a reasonable expectation to succeed is probably less expensive in the long run,” she says.

Commission-only sales people who are just in it for the money “are the ones who will bail out first if hard times hit,” says Ross.

I’ve seen them leave before hard times hit.  The retention factor for these comp plans is minimal.  We have encountered sales comp plans that swung too far to the other extreme.  Those salary-intensive plans can create an entire set of problems themselves.  In the end, I am a proponent of a plan that blends salary with a commission.

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Especially when you can simply look at someone’s shoes.  This Yahoo News story has to be an April Fool’s joke:

Mindset Media, a media company that examines personality traits of different consumers, found that people who buy more than three pairs of sneakers a year are 61 percent more likely to have the qualities of a modern leader.

These qualities were defined as having ideas and vision, and a style with others that is both inclusive and decisive.

The survey of 7,500 people, using market research group Nielsen’s online panel, found multi-sneaker buyers were 50 percent more likely to be very assertive and 47 percent more likely to be spontaneous.

It gets worse better:

Hybrid car owners were found to be 78 percent more likely to be highly creative than other people and less dogmatic.

This has to be a prank.

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Bob Rosner has a unique perspective on managing employees in his latest Working Wounded post – Stop Workplace Whining.  The setup:

A study by In Touch asked employees, “Why don’t you speak up at work?” More than 1 in 4 said they remain quiet because “there isn’t a good way to speak up” or “management doesn’t care.” I’ve outlined below three dos to reduce pressure at work and have everyone engaged in the problem-solving process. For more, check out Rant, Repair, Rave on workplace911.com.

I’ll leave the whale example at the beginning of his post for you to read on your own (it is funny and disgusting all at once).

Here is the suggestion I thought had some merit:

Rant. We know what you’re thinking, “Let my people rant at work. Are you nuts?” Trust us, they already are ranting! Why not move it past murmuring whispers and give them a safe way to voice their concerns and challenges? After years of counseling people in the Rant technique, we find it works best when rants are kept under two minutes. Another important guideline here is “do no harm.” Employees should be truthful in their rants, but not hurtful.

“They already are ranting!” is true, isn’t it?  It would take a particularly strong manager to be able to handle a meeting that allows rants.  I like the idea.  I have sat through meetings where individuals (myself included) went on a spontaneous rant.  After the meeting, I was called into the boss’ office and told if I ever did that again I would lose my job.

I ceased all rants (in front of that manager) from that point on.  But my rants continued with fellow employees.

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Here is an interesting article from Selling Power regarding predicting trends of the future.  Specifically, this one caught my eye:

We’ll return to real, thoughtful communications. In this era of text messaging, blogging, and email, we’ve become lazy in our communications. We tend to dash off notes without proofreading them. We tend to use generic catch phrases like “seamless solution” and “superior service” that sound good but don’t really mean anything. Why do we do it? Because it’s easier and quicker than taking the time to think, write, edit, and edit again until our message is clear, compelling, and precise. There’s going to be a backlash against today’s generic, rushed communications and it’s coming soon. The future of sales will demand that reps put thought, care, and creativity into every message they compose.

I think there is something to that prediction.  Resumes and cover emails are typically one of the most formal forms of writing in business.  The quality of writing I am encountering recently is borderline pathetic.  Informal, error-filled and cliche-driven documents are far too prevalent today.

I am convinced that editing is a lost art.  I hope the aforementioned prediction comes true.

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The retiring Boomers and the lack of X’ers to replace them is a well-documented problem in the labor force.  The Herman Trend Alert speaks to this problem, and more importantly to a solution, in their latest newsletter:

Many Baby Boomers retirements are, in fact, often “recareering” instead. See our previous Herman Trend Alert http://www.hermangroup.com/alert/archive_5-23-2007.html. All of the major players: Adecco, Manpower, Kelly, and Spherion now offer their clients the options of rehiring their retired employees as “consultants”, thus protecting them from certain legal liabilities. Many recareering Boomers are looking for project-based work, giving their employers the advantage of not hiring them as full-time, permanent employees on the payroll.

The bottom line problem is that there is still a widespread skilled labor shortage. Employers in most industries still have a hard time finding qualified workers. Wise employers are already looking for other opportunities for their valued employees within their organizations; thus, Baby Boomers may leave their high stress, high responsibility jobs and still benefit their long-term employers with their service. A recent Spherion Emerging Work Force Study reported that 80 percent of Boomer retirees “really do want to work again in some way”. They want to keep being productive.

I’m no expert on the generations, but this strikes me as the best short-term option to solve the skilled worker shortage.  Bringing Boomers back as consultants for project-based work puts a band-aid on many problems that are sure to appear in the upcoming years.

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JustSell.com offers a list of words to avoid in your qualifying activities (both written and spoken).  This is a pet peeve of mine so I was elated to see such a comprehensive list.  A few of my favorites, or should I say least favorite?

a lot
better
cheap
close
early
expensive
in a minute / second / while
occasionally
probably
soon
sort of
very

I would add “really” to the list.  Ok, why is this important?  I’ll let the JustSell guys explain:

Asked, “When can you have that for me?” in a business setting, a specific date and time is your best answer. Anyone in a leadership role will tell you that “soon”, “later”, or even “next week” doesn’t help them understand when you’ll have that for them. Say, “Tuesday before 10 am.” That’s helpful.

This is a tough one (your tough is probably different from ours, we understand). But minimizing your use of relative words can help you become much more effective and a better resource to your prospects, customers, and colleagues.

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Last week I posted on an article that discussed generational trends and specifically Gen Y and the effect of video game playing on their work habits.  Steven Rothberg from CollegeRecruiter.com added a comment to that post that I wanted to share.  Steven provides the most insightful commentary on Gen Y that I have read so I always consider his expert-level commentary.

I thought his comment on my post was as good or better than the original article:

Some may argue that video games are ruining the minds of this generation, but I feel that they’re not ruining the minds but instead changing them. The mind of someone of Gen Y age simply works differently than that of a Gen X’er or Baby Boomer.

Video games teach you how to think very quickly, collaborate (the most popular games are multi-player but even if you play single player mode you’re still collaborating with the computer), and executive decision making. Watch kids when they play video games. Yes they’re looking at the screen and can sit on the couch for hours but they’re also continuously talking with their friends and working together to solve problems. Sometimes they succeed and that’s great. But sometimes they fail.

The opportunity to fail is refreshing for a generation of kids who have grown up not being allowed to fail by their helicopter parents some teachers who mistakenly feel that everyone must succeed all of the time in order to have high self-esteem.

Now look at those same kids once they get into the workplace. You’ll find a group that is able to think quickly, decisively, and collaborate to reach goals which are optimal for the group. Sound familiar to their video game experiences? You bet.

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No question the economy is slowing down so this article from Forbes.com is not surprising:

The Conference Board found there was a total of 3,733,200 online-advertised job vacancies, a 0.6% decline from March 2007 and the first year-on-year fall in total numbers since the index began in 2005. The Board said the decline reflects a slowing in annual growth in 42 states, with 14 states showing negative growth.

Yes, I know, the index is only a few years old, but there is enough data to show the present-day trend.  Here is some anecdotal information from the survey:

The online-ad volume in California dropped 118,000, or 19%, below its March 2007 level. The volume of online-advertised vacancies in Florida (217,100) was 15% lower than the March 2007 level, while the volume in Texas (336,900) was up 8% and ads in New York (275,800) were up slightly (1.4%).

I would still caution against buying into the media hype about the “plummeting economy.”  The economy is dynamic so there are always going to be down cycles like the one we are in now.  However, some of the discussions are borderline ridiculous.  I read part of an article the other day stating that we are heading into another 1930′s era depression.  The hyperbole that surrounds economic reporting stills astounds me.

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