A quick story from the Pioneer Press – Early exit cuts Stroucken pay package. The departing CEO of H.B. Fuller located north of St. Paul is taking a compensation package with him worth $18.5 million. The article simply states: The news release noted Stroucken is receiving $4 million less than he would have had if he had stayed through the March 31, 2007, the end of his contract. There is something you don’t see too often in today’s world – a CEO who could have made much more had he completed his contract that ends in 6 months. Obviously, he is leaving with a lucrative compensation package, but here is… Read More
Continue ReadingFlexibility and Loyalty
More from the work-life front of management: Flexibility with holiday schedules can boost worker loyalty. Absolutely true. I know, many people will comment about the abusers of such flexibility. You know, if they are abusers, they are currently applying their trade to some other area of your business. Best not to punish the upright workers due to the deceivers. Here is a good reminder for managers any time of the year: First, an owner needs to have the attitude that a worker’s personal life matters, even if the staff is small and there’s plenty of work to be done. So true of the younger generations no matter what the season.… Read More
Continue ReadingWhere to Find Your Next Job
WEDDLE recently surveyed visitors to their website and asked where they expected to find their next job. A total of 1,270 people participated in the survey. Here is where those surveyed thought they would find their next job: 57.6% Responding to an ad posted on an Internet job board 16.8% Networking at business and social events 7.2% Responding to an ad posted on an employers website 7.6% Sending a resume to an employer by mail 3.9% Receiving a call from a headhunter 1.9% Receiving a call from a staffing firm 1.9% Attending a career fair 1.6% Responding to a newspaper ad 0.7% Joining a social networking site
Continue ReadingThose Little Slices of Death
A new trend from BusinessWeek.com – Napping Your Way to the Top. I laughed out loud when I read this article. Full disclosure – I hate naps. I never take them no matter how tired I am. Hence the reference to Longfellow in title of this post. From the article: Without sleep you don’t learn. My research shows that people deteriorate during the day. It’s difficult to sustain productivity. Naps can add back to the sleep you’re deprived of at night. And a nap enhances productivity even if you have enough nocturnal sleep. I still remember the business owner I worked for in my first outside sales position. He was… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Offers Gone Bad
A friend of mine is an established, successful salesperson who is looking for a new opportunity. He recently received an offer from a large corporation that had a 6 or 7 page commission document. The document looked like a court filing. After sifting through as much as we could tolerate, we came across this gem: All newly hired participants will receive a quota for incentive purposes on or before the 30th day of their territory assignment and no later than the 90th day of their territory assignment. So, for sure before the 30th day. Unless it is no later than the 90th day. Obviously, it cannot be “on or before”… Read More
Continue ReadingCivic-Minded Millennials
The justsell.com guys reference an interesting study that came out last month regarding the Millennial generation (born between 1979 and 2001). I know, I doubt they received much input from the 5 year olds. Anyway, the study indicates some distinct trends amongst the generation just out of college. Moreover, the poll finds that as Millennials begin to enter the workforce, they not only have high expectations for themselves, but also for their employers. Nearly eight out of ten want to work for a company that cares about how it contributes to society, while more than half would refuse to work for an irresponsible corporation. Certainly the Enron, Global Crossing, WorldCom… Read More
Continue ReadingStreet Level to C Level
From a sales cover email: I can sell direct to consumers, or to “C-Level” executives. That pretty much covers everyone. I don’t know about you, but I instantly think jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none.
Continue ReadingEsteem vs. Empathy
Successfully hiring strong salespeople involves many facets, but I want to focus on a particularly important item. Sales requires a fine-tuned blend of self-esteem and empathetic outlook to be effective. First, let’s define these terms for the context in which we are using them: Self-Esteem – The ability of a person to realize and appreciate their own unique self-worth. They base these feelings on internal factors as opposed to external ones.Empathetic Outlook – This is the ability to perceive and understand the feelings and attitudes of others – to place oneself in-the-shoes of another and to be able to view a situation from their perspective. Each of these two aptitudes… Read More
Continue ReadingYahoo and the Newspapers
Here is an interesting development – Newspapers will partner with Yahoo. I find it surprising that we are quickly approaching 2007 and the antique newspapers are finally making a serious adjustment towards an online focus. The dinosaurs of the newspaper industry may have made the move too late – it is hard to say. The younger generations are not newspaper readers. Instead, they consume their news in an electronic format. Suffice to say, it is a move in the right direction. One piece of information stands out for our business: The consortium said its first move would be to bolster Yahoo’s HotJobs online classified service, allowing advertisers to post job… Read More
Continue ReadingHow To Stand Out
We are sourcing many different positions right now so my antennae are up regarding resumes, phone calls and emails. At times, the responses can be overwhelming. Or underwhelming. Just yesterday I received a stammering voicemail about a position in which the candidate said they were going to send an email with their resume. I’m still waiting. I received another call a couple weeks ago in which the candidate wanted to fax a resume to me for a technical position. I told him he could email it to me instead. He said he doesn’t have email. It seems apparent to me that their is no more odd time in a hiring… Read More
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