Here’s a good read from BusinessWeek.com titled Engaging Employees. Retaining top employees has always been a business priority, but the Millenials/Gen Y will take this management skill to a new level. That generation is looking for a strong bond with their manager and will gravitate towards managers who possess this ability. And here is a clear description of why attracting and retaining top talent is mission critical: Today’s business world is characterized by globalization, increasing competition, an ever-accelerating pace of change, an overabundance of information, a never-ending technology revolution, a growing number of mergers and acquisitions, layoffs, and a declining talent pool. In this chaotic world, a business can only survive… Read More
Continue ReadingUnderappreciated
These surveys come out on a fairly regular basis. There is a part of me that believes 20 years down the road we will still be seeing similar results to the findings in Inc.com’s Employees Feeling Underappreciated. Of more than 500 full- and part-time employees surveyed nationwide, 35 percent said the company they worked for was ineffective at rewarding strong performance, according to OfficeTeam, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based staffing services firm. At the same time, 30 percent of 150 senior executives surveyed admitted that employee recognition wasn’t a high enough priority. The reason I mention this survey is that that Gen Y/Millenials have a different take on employment. They value… Read More
Continue ReadingRetention In A Downsizing Industry
We don’t do much work in the pharmaceutical market but I do have a couple of friends who sell for the big players. SellingPower.com’s article Have You Heard Who€™s Hiring? discusses a downsizing trend in sales hiring that is occurring in that specific market. €œThe days of armies of sales reps in the field driving revenues are over,€ Davenport says in a recent Business Wire story. €œIt will no longer be about numbers and volume €“ now the focus will shift to productivity and performance of the remaining sales staff.€ This comment is spot on even though it seems counter-intuitive. My sales friends in this industry have mentioned that their… Read More
Continue ReadingChallenge Your Employees
Inc.com reports on a Korn/Ferry survey in Most Employees Believe They Can Outperform Their Bosses. I don’t think the results are all that surprising: Seventy-three percent of executive-level employees believe they would do a better job than their current boss, according to a new survey. … While a majority of executives admitted they would like to be at the top of the ladder, few indicated that they were actually dissatisfied with their boss. In fact, 42 percent of respondents rated their boss’s performance as either “excellent” or “above average,” while an additional 23 percent rated their boss as “average.” Only 11 percent of respondents rated their boss’s performance as “poor.”… Read More
Continue ReadingSmall Business Retention Strategy
Inc.com offers a short article titled Employers Focus on Worker Retention. The takeaway graphs (emphasis mine): Small businesses are focusing more resources on employee-retention plans, rather than recruiting efforts or new benefits policies, a recent survey found. Of 241 small-business executives surveyed nationwide, 21 percent said they have expanded training and professional development to boost employee retention, while 80 percent said they considered their salaries “as competitive” or even “more competitive” than larger competitors, according to Employco, a Westmont, Ill.-based business services firm. Salary is a natural point in which it compete with larger companies. Most small companies are not constrained by salary slotting for specific positions as is the… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Trick To Talent Upgrades
Great article at abcnews.com from my friend Bob Rosner titled Working Wounded: Recruiting Top Talent for Your Organization. Recruiting top talent takes an incredible amount of work to be successful. Bob’s article hits on 3 important topics to any hiring process. DO identify top talent. DO ask: Why would top talent work for us? DO showcase your talent. DON’T abuse top talent. All are good tips and you can read his description under each topic. I wanted to point out his section under his second point: Does your company pay a higher salary than the average for your industry and community? Do you let workers control as much of their… Read More
Continue ReadingRetention Past Retirement
Most companies are aware of the shrinking workforce for which we are encountering as the Baby Boomers start retiring. One short-term fix is to simply employ these boomers past their retirement age. This approach has many merits that will benefit a company. However, a recent article from Small Business Times – Survey says employers need new hiring strategies – reveals that the vast majority of companies are not implementing any hiring adjustments for this shortage. In the study of 1,000 U.S. employers, 78 percent indicated they were not concerned that an aging workforce might hamper their ability to recruit and retain talented workers. Additional findings support this sentiment, including the… Read More
Continue ReadingCompensation Limitations Part Deux
As you would expect, my interpretations of the articles referenced by Herd Enuff’s comment are much different than the musings of the young lad known as the Velvet Hammer. I’m assuming the young lad chooses to ignore the aforementioned differences between the private and public sector for a reason. Perhaps it’s because of the harsh realities of situations like the Enron scandal. Or maybe the real need for legislation like Sarbanes Oxley, or the latest SEC disclosure rules – designed to protect the “average” investor from greedy C-level execs. Unless you’re a strict libertarian, you’ll have to admit that you enjoy the benefits of our “horrible government intervention” every day.… Read More
Continue ReadingExecutive Salary Caps Continued
I am attempting to stoke this fire some more with Red Bird. One reader posted a comment to yesterday’s post stating this: You guys must be living under a bush somewhere back east. Have you ever heard of the golden parachute? Show up, don€™t do anything, get fired and walk away with millions. It€™s great gig if you can get it. Chew on this http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/03/AR2007010300553.html or this http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2007/04/10/a-53-million-golden-parachute-for-sprints-forsee/ Fair enough – I know this is an emotional topic for many people. However, emotions are not the best option for rational decision-making. I think most people will agree that CEO’s do more than “Show up, don’t do anything, get fired and… Read More
Continue ReadingCompensation Limitations
The illustrious Mr. Hammer has been attempting to illicit a response from me regarding Executive Compensation. His latest post Why Executive Salary Caps Don€™t Work requires a response. Maybe I missed it in his post, but, I don’t see where Mr. Hammer separates the “Public” domain from the “Private” domain. Two very different worlds. First a confession. I’ve been known to manage and exploit a compensation plan to it’s fullest. Actually, I am quite proud of the fact that I’ve made some CEO, CFO and HR types very, very unhappy. Getting the most out of a compensation plan is EXACTLY what you should expect from a top-level sales person. Exactly… Read More
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