This may be a stretch, but I enjoyed the story too much to ignore it. Since we have had much to say about rewards and motivations today, check out this headline – Buy a House, Get a Glock: Real Estate Agent Offers Guns as Incentive. Now that is a unique incentive indeed. If you read the short article, you will find the Glock is only for police offers who buy a house through the realtor. Still, give her kudos for some creative thinking and marketing.
Continue ReadingAre Employees Satisfied with Their Compensation & Benefits?
In Segal Sibson’s 2006 survey of employee satisfaction, employees responded that their overall satisfaction with their benefit plans was droppiong. Satisfaction with their pay level dropped from 66% in 2000 and 2003 to 55% in 2006. In terms of benefits, I was surprised to see that healthcare benefits didn’t have the largest drop, it did drop to 54% from 60% in 2003, but the largest drop came in retirement benefits, dropping to 42% all the way from 56% in 2003. An interesting point that Segal Sibson made was that one company in particular had made a huge investment in retiree medical coverage, but very few of the employees (even those… Read More
Continue ReadingThere Is No War For Talent?
Toby Dayton has an eye-opening post over at his Diggings blog regarding the shortage of talent in the marketplace today. From his post: According to a recent poll in Human Resource Executive, when HR executives were asked whether or not the war for talent was under way today, 22% responded No while 17% were not sure. I didn’t see that poll but it is amazing to me that these HR executives could be so clueless. This analysis from Toby cuts right to the heart of the issue: The single most important function of HR is to make sure that their company has a constant supply of sufficient human capital to… Read More
Continue ReadingEmpowering The Sales Team
Sales & Marketing Management has an excellent article out titled Break the Bureaucracy. The gist of the article is the revenue differences between companies that micromanage their team vs. companies that empower their team (especially sales). First, an intuitive point from the author: The result of this micromanaging? Young hires felt they got no respect and so returned no loyalty, Swanson remembers. Within 18 months, he and 10 other entry-level analysts had quit. This point cannot be overstated. The younger generations greatly prefer a more horizontal org chart with less hierarchy. The example in the article describes how this analyst working for a bank (well known for multiple layers of… Read More
Continue ReadingTwin Cities’ Hiring Trend
I never put much stock in these types of surveys, but the local Pioneer Press reports on the recent Manpower survey: Twin Cities employers expect to hire at a sluggish pace during the first quarter of 2007, a Manpower employment survey found. Of the companies interviewed about their hiring plans, 28 percent expect to reduce their payrolls. Another 48 percent expect to maintain their current staff levels. Just 18 percent plan to hire more employees. This survey is a Q1 outlook only and one very important piece of data is our current unemployment. Minnesota is almost at full employment. Our unemployment rate is well under the national average so I… Read More
Continue ReadingBenefits Are A Benefit
Allow me to indulge myself for this is a pet peeve of mine. Inc.com offers up this article – Majority of Small-Business Owners Do Not Offer Retirement Benefits. Only 14 percent of the nation’s small-business owners offer a 401(k) plan to their employees, and 63 percent do not offer any retirement benefits at all, according to a new survey. I’m not surprised by this number. I’ve worked for both small and relatively large companies and there is a distinct difference between the benefits. Obviously the larger companies have the capital to offer more comprehensive plans. Here is the pull quote that struck a nerve (emphasis mine): “Small businesses employ half… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Top 10 Sales Traits
It is next to impossible to determine 1 specific set of descriptors for the perfect salesperson. The reason is simple – no 2 sales go down the same way. Each sale is almost a mini-drama in itself. On top of that, no two competitors approach the market the same way. This difference is the reason why we always start our hiring process by defining the typical and ideal sale for that company. That information provides a blueprint for the salesperson with the abilities to succeed in that particular position. Now that I have written all that, we’ll take a stab at 10 sales traits that are needed in any sales… Read More
Continue ReadingTelecommuting Trend Expands
Telecommuting is the Norm is a quick article from Sales & Marketing Management’s website. I don’t think this trend is surprising to most people. We have seen a tremendous shift towards this approach in outside sales positions over the past 2 years especially. Most candidates now expect some form of telecommuting capability including wireless-connected laptops, VPN connections and PDA cell phones. If your company does not offer these telecommuting basics, consider this excerpt from the article: “The war for talent, combined with commuting times and costs, and an increasing need for work-life balance are all factors that promote telecommuting,” says Jim Lanzalotto, vice president of strategy and marketing for Yoh.… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Multitasking Myth – Physical Limitations
Multitasking is one of those words that has entered business lexicon but should be considered an urban myth. We posted on this topic a few months ago and now I have come across a short Q&A article from CareerJournal.com that addresses the physical aspects of so-called multitasking. First, kudos to the author of the question who can really turn a phrase (emphasis mine): You’ve written that too much multitasking can leave the mind and body marinating in stress hormones. Can you elaborate on the physiological effects?…Brief or infrequent stress responses pose little risk. But when a person responds this way habitually or over long periods, the risk of injury or… Read More
Continue ReadingHope For Bad Writing Skills
Bad Writing: As Written Communication Skills Deteriorate, Business Schools Take Aim. There is hope and I am encouraged this Monday morning. We comment about writing skills frequently here at The Hire Sense since, well, we have seen some atrocious documents. The article attacks the problem right at the source: But in an era of nonstop e-mail and instant and text messaging, written communication skills within companies may be getting even worse as quality is compromised by the perceived need for speed. The casualness of email and the shorthand of text messaging has crippled writing styles. Now it appears to be affecting basic writing ability. The ubiquitousness of cell phones probably… Read More
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