Inc.com’s article Seven Out of 10 Employees Admit to Abusing Office Computers, Phones relays some stats from a recent Harris Interactive survey. Nearly 72 percent of workers ages 18 to 24 said they check personal e-mail accounts at work (compared to 61 percent of the general population), and 77 percent are using the Internet personally (compared to 69 percent of workers overall), the survey says. Seventy-one percent of the young respondents said they maintain some sort of personal website. Personal blogs are the most popular among young workers, while 52 percent use networking accounts, such as MySpace or Facebook. Thirteen percent of workers 18 to 24 have an online dating… Read More
Continue ReadingManaging Gen Y Workers
Manage Smarter offers Understanding the 20-Something Workforce. I have to confess, in our business we do not have frequent interaction with 20 some year olds. Here are excerpts of the author’s suggestions: 1. Make their first day unforgettable. Twenty-somethings thrive on instant gratification. “They’re used to taking a lot of data in at one time and making a choice,” Dorsey says. While this is a great asset in business, it unfortunately means a company has little time to make an positive impression. 2. Don’t rely on a competitive salary to keep talent. “It’s a big realization, but money does not always build loyalty,” Dorsey says. Twenty-somethings’ parents, often Baby Boomers… Read More
Continue ReadingOnboarding Executives
From BusinessWeek online’s How To Take The Reins At Top Speed: In today’s era of increasingly activist investors and boards, a heightened focus on fast results is making the first few months feel more like a trial by fire than a honeymoon. … “Many senior executives feel they have a much shorter time frame to prove themselves.” This accelerated productivity demand is common to almost all positions within a company. I am appreciative of CEOs finally having this demand placed upon them also. In sales, it has been this way for years . . . maybe decades. Despite having a name only a consultant or HR professional could love –… Read More
Continue ReadingWhen Turnover Is Good
We met this morning with a sales manager from one of our clients and had an interesting discussion about turnover. This company is in an “old-line” industry and has an established salesforce. In fact, the newest salesperson has been with the company for more than 5 years. Most have a 10 to 20 year tenure – retention is not a problem since this is a good employer. The problem is this – their business has had to change over the past year to match the marketplace. There has been no layoffs, but some restructuring and new management has been added. These changes, according to our sales manager, have caused much… Read More
Continue ReadingA Rewarding Culture
I was talking to a sales manager friend today regarding motivating salespeople. This topic could fill a book, but the key point we were discussing was how managers have to focus on motivations and rewards. He told me of a company he used to work for that rewarded the sales team with a trip for the entire team. If they made their group goal, the sales reps along with their spouses got to go on an all-expenses-paid vacation together. All except the sales manager – he did not go with the team. He was not inclined to that group reward and felt he was too busy to attend with his… Read More
Continue ReadingAccountability
Sales & Marketing Management offers this quick article – Avoiding Accountability Talks. First, the context of the article is the reluctance of employees (and managers) to engage in holding other employee’s accountable. A couple of survey stats: 50 percent say they are afraid of negative outcomes. 16 percent say they don’t know how to start, hold or finish such a conversation. Sales managers take note – this activity is one of the most important components to effective sales management. We encounter this reluctance often. Salespeople need to be held accountable to their activities, their behaviors and ultimately, their results. You don’t even have to be good at it. But you… Read More
Continue ReadingEven Laundry?
Google and work-life balance – this story may make you sick with envy. In case you haven’t heard, Google was ranked as the best company to work for in the US. The aforementioned link is a slide show that reveals what the culture of Google. All I can say is amazing. Just to give you a partial idea of the Google campus: Google takes the work-life balance to a new level. A Googler who’s pressed for time can get plenty of errands done while at work. Employees can do laundry for free in company washers and dryers (free detergent too) or drop off dry cleaning.Among Google’s many other conveniences offered… 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
Continue ReadingA Culture of Fun
From abcnews.com – How to Have More Fun at Work. This topic is going to become more common as Gen X ascends and Gen Y populates the workforce. Already we are seeing numerous articles on work/life balance enter the article sphere. I’ve worked for many Boomer managers who were suit-and-tie, get your work done leaders with no time for, well, fun at the office. At one technology employer, we had a dartboard and ping pong table in the lunchroom that was a huge hit. In the sales department, we would take a 15 minute afternoon break to go trash-talk each other while competing like we were in the Olympics. To… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Perfect Storm
CNNMoney.com offers this quick story – Planned job cuts take big Dec. dip. The phrase “planned job cuts” is a poor construction, but it essentially means expected layoffs. Planned job cuts for all of 2006 fell below 1 million for the first time since 2000, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., an employment consulting firm. Be wary of the naysayers spouting an impending doom for our economy. The economy is robust and it truly is an employee’s market right now. The reason why you should be aware of this fact: “With the American economy at full employment for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001, the latest job-cut data… Read More
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