Gas prices are driving companies to adjust their reimbursement policy for outside salespeople. We have seen a handful of salespeople who have taken a real hit due to the fact they are on a monthly car allowance and not mileage reimbursement. Telecommuting is already grabbing a larger foothold in the work world which is a trend that predated the gas price increase. Our local Pioneer Planet quotes a recent SHRM report regarding telecommuting: (The SHRM study) found 18 percent of employers are allowing workers to telecommute, up from 4 percent in a survey a year ago. That doesn’t sound like much, but a 4% increase in 1 year is remarkable. … Read More
Continue ReadingLeadership Requires Resilience
BusinessWeek.com has an intriguing article titled Why Failures Can Be Such Success Stories. I have an appreciation for these discussions because I can relate to many of these topics. My career has had many ups and downs and certainly does not look like a textbook example of how to build a career. In business—as in sports, politics, and the arts—many of the greatest and most influential leaders share a history of failure. Automaker Henry Ford and animator Walt Disney both stumbled badly with early business ventures. Early in his career with General Electric (GE), Jack Welch caused an explosion that blew the roof off a building. Not long after taking… Read More
Continue ReadingJobhopping And Nomadism
I have a friend who is one of the steadiest guys in the world. He is extremely talented, has worked for some large companies and has an impressive list of degrees. However, he has been working on his career path since the moment he graduated college in 1992. He has worked for 4-5 year stints at a few companies before joining a company now that is the realization of his chosen path. The humorous aspect of his journey is that his employer is an old company. Their initial review of his stellar resume was this – he is a jobhopper. I still laugh when I think about that line applied… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Open Door Ruse
Sometimes the best advice is simply stated which is true of this Inc.com post titled The Fallacy of an Open-Door Policy. This topic catches my attention in that some of the worst managers I worked for claimed profusely that they had an open-door policy. They stated it, but we sales reps all knew it was a ruse. I think the author strikes a perfect chord with this: You need to create an environment where people can speak up in any venue. I’ve had some of my most important communications with employees driving in the car, standing in the lunchroom, or walking through the shop floor. How true…and difficult to put… Read More
Continue ReadingGen Y Is Empowered
Not my words, but rather a quote from this Selling Power article: “If I had to use one word to describe Generation Y, it’s empowered,” says Ann Fishman, president of Generation Targeted Marketing Corporation, a specialized marketing firm providing insight into consumer preferences, trends, and buying habits affecting the six generations of Americans. “This is a generation who has a tremendous amount of self-confidence. They are civic minded, optimistic, and want to be involved in their futures. They are going to come on very strong. And now for some tips: Fishman notes a few things to keep in mind when going through the hiring process with this group. First, Generation… Read More
Continue ReadingGenerations 101
The Wall Street Journal provides an article that does a nice job of laying out the upcoming shortage of workers. The focus is upon the different generations and the general drive behind each. The article is rather rudimentary, but it provides a clean view of the problem. First: Americans of childbearing age simply are not producing enough kids to meet the economy’s future need for workers, notably in fast-growing fields such as medicine and engineering. The shortfall is coming largely because the fabled baby boom generation was so huge—75 million Americans born in the 18 years from 1946 to 1964—that no other generation can be expected to match it any… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat Is A Flexible Work Strategy?
Apparently the answer to that question depends upon whom you ask. From an older RecruitingTrends.com article: Furthermore, executives’ innate understanding of what defines flexible work strategies varies. While the largest percentage (45%) define it as pertaining to time, 31% view it as something to do with an employee’s location, and another 23% see flexible work arrangements as something other than time or location. I would fall in the “Flexible location” group in terms of defining it. It would appear that this relatively new phrase requires a better definition. Or perhaps all new phrases and terms begin with some ambiguity.
Continue ReadingMore Wacky Lists
CareerBuilder.com offers up another list with “wacky” in the title. For web purposes, wacky is a euphemism for link bait, but I’ll bite. The list is comprised of the most unusual excuses provided by employees for being late. While rowing across the river to work, I got lost in the fog. Someone stole all my daffodils. I had to go audition for American Idol. My ex-husband stole my car so I couldn’t drive to work. My route to work was shut down by a Presidential motorcade. I wasn’t thinking and accidentally went to my old job. I was indicted for securities fraud this morning. The line was too long… Read More
Continue ReadingDirector Of Career Mobility
Another good article here from WSJ titled New Career, Same Employer. The gist of the article: Ernst & Young LLP last year named Nancy Harley director of career mobility for the Americas, a new position designed to help employees of the accounting firm move into new roles. “The longer someone stays intrigued and challenged, the longer they’re going stay with the firm,” Ms. Harley says. Observers say employers are creating or expanding these programs to improve retention rates in a competitive job market, particularly as Baby Boomers begin to retire. The initiatives typically include Web-based programs for evaluating employees’ career goals and suggesting relevant paths. Interesting title – director of… Read More
Continue ReadingBig Brother Scanning Your Contacts
This Wall Street Journal quick-hit article is shocking: Companies are rolling out software that allows them to mine their employees’ emails and electronic address books for contact information, in a bid to make it easier to establish relationships with potential clients and others. But the tools also raise privacy concerns, and have been met with resistance at some firms. “Raises privacy concerns”…that is an understatement. There has to be more to this story, but I can’t imagine companies using these tools. If they do, I suspect the natural reaction will be for employees to carry around their contact info on their cell phone and not place it on their company… Read More
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