From Foxnews.com’s How to Deal With the Salary-Expectations Question: Don Sutaria, president and founder of CareerQuest, a staffing and training firm, advises job seekers to avoid offering a solid figure. “Don’t answer the question. Say, ‘I’ll expect the fair market value. Make me an offer and we can discuss it.’ Or, ‘Maybe you can tell me what your range is?’” Sutaria adds that the best approach is to arm yourself with information. “It’s very easy to find now, based on the job title and industry, what your range is.” This is a pet peeve of mine. I don’t think candidates get anywhere by being coy about their salary expectations. Candidates… Read More
Continue ReadingBuffett On CEO Compensation
From the Pioneer Press’ Buffett too hard on director pay: The media, he says, have scrutinized “CEOs who have received astronomical compensation for mediocre results.” At Berkshire Hathaway Inc., where the famously successful investor has long been chairman, things are different. Pay can be high, but only when there are results. “When we use incentives €” and these can be large €” they are always tied to the operating results for which a given CEO has authority,” Buffett wrote in his annual letter to shareholders, released Thursday. We’ve posted on CEO compensation before (here, here and here) since it is a topic at the forefront of today’s business news. Warren… Read More
Continue ReadingCommunicating Your Sales Strategy
From Managesmarter.com’s Crystal Clear Communication: To hear Scott Glatstein tell it, as much as three quarters of American companies “do not broadly communicate their sales strategy” to their sales teams. The result, not surprisingly, is a breakdown in the sales process. Aligning the sales compensation plan with the desired business outcome is a critical component of sales management. One constant with salespeople – they will work the compensation plan to maximize their reward. The article contains a great example: One giant food company Glatstein worked with had lost $20 million in a year because of out-of-date products. The solution from corporate executives was to motivate sellers to avoid food spoilage… Read More
Continue ReadingGross Margin Compensation
From MarketingProfs.com’s Marketing Challenge: Gross Sales vs. Gross Profit: Our star salesman is the best closer I’ve ever seen. He sells products and services. He’s paid a salary plus commission on gross sales. He does have some pricing latitude. I’ve noticed a fairly stable gross profit percentage on products, but it’s much different on service sales. It looks like he’s “giving away” services to get more product sales. Service costs are somewhat vague and hard to accurately measure, but I need to grow the service side of our business profitably. Should I switch his commission structure to a gross profit percentage on services? In a word, yes. Gross profit is… Read More
Continue Reading2007 Salary Trends
Salary.com put this article out earlier this month. It is a lengthy article written to employees in regards to 2007 areas of compensation, but there are some points to keep in mind not only as you are hiring staff this year but in retaining your current team. These points are complementary to one of our earlier posts on the top reasons why candidates take a job. If you haven’t read this post, let me highlight the top 4 things candidates are looking for in jobs: A good manager/boss, opportunity to advance, opportunities to learn/grow and balance between work and personal life. Salary.com’s article aligns with 3 of the 4 points… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Underpaid CEO
I am all for people making as much as they can in their careers which is why I do not understand the emotional attachment to CEO pay. If those CEOs can make that kind of money, more power to them. It doesn’t bother me that Bob Nardelli made big money at Home Depot – good for him. If I could make that type of money I would. Now you know where I stand, check out this article from American.com – Why Do We Underpay Our Best CEOs? That’s right – “underpay.” The article is a thorough explanation of the trends occurring in CEO hiring due to the national witch hunt… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Right Way To Share Profits
Andersen Corp. (window makers) is a well-known employer up here in the Twin Cities whose business has slowed down greatly with the housing slow down. Nonetheless, the company is still issuing profit sharing checks for all of its eligible employees (22% of their salaries!). The part that caught my eye: Andersen announced in early December that it was cutting 400 manufacturing positions at its Bayport plant and an additional 40 at a plant in Menomonie, Wis. The company cited a dramatic downturn in housing construction as the reason for the job eliminations. Those workers’ last day on the job was Jan. 2. In that same December announcement, Andersen officials said… Read More
Continue ReadingQuestions Often Reveal The Skills
We’re working through some sales candidate sourcing activities this week for some new customers and uncovering some strong salespeople. There are many reasons why we incorporate a screening step in our recruiting process, but one of the most important reasons is the questions posed by the candidates. A crucial component of selling is asking the right questions. I laugh as I write this because a saying my father uses came to my mind – “If you want a better answer, ask a better question.” The question content, the question pattern and the follow-up questions are all highly revealing of the quality of sales candidate. A real-life example from one candidate… Read More
Continue ReadingWhen Drivers Of Retention Are Misaligned
I’m a little late to the party on this post from Spherion’s The Big Time blog. The post covers many interesting topics. To start (emphasis mine): 23 percent of companies are already dissatisfied with the talent available. One-third of HR managers mention turnover/retention as a key concern. On average, employers expect 14 percent of their workforce to leave within the next year. 31 percent of workers believe there is a turnover or retention problem at their company, and 39 percent of workers themselves expect to leave in the next year. Less than half (44 percent) of workers believe their company is taking steps to retain its employees. You can see… Read More
Continue ReadingIs There An Editor In The House?
Full disclosure – I’m no economist. You wouldn’t have to know me long to realize that fact. However, our local Pioneer Press offers a quick read business article with a potpourri of short articles – Labor could reap rewards of political shifts. From the 1st story: Political shifts in the U.S., Europe and Asia increase the chances that 2007 will bring labor higher pay and stronger job protection after five years in which its share of economic gains fell….Wages in the dozen nations sharing the euro barely shifted last year even as the region, which expanded last week to include Slovenia, enjoyed its strongest growth in six years. “Economic data… Read More
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