I’m a big fan of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel and have the Tivo set to record it every week. If you haven’t seen it, essentially the host goes around each week and works with people who have a dirty job. Well, not just dirty, usually disgusting to the nth degree. So I’m intrigued when I see this CareerJournal.com article – Putting the Spotlight On the Grimiest Gigs. It’s a fun read and the host, Mike Rowe, is an interesting guy. Read the article and you will find this great point (my emphasis): Wall Street Journal: Why do the workers highlighted on your show often appear happy in their… 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 ReadingJuly Is _____ National Awareness Month
It has been a while since I last posted about important upcoming dates. I was looking through a promotional calendar and started chuckling at some of the titles I was reading. Instead of highlighting just one this month, I thought I would provide all of July’s honor: National Recreation and Parks Month Blueberries Month Cell Phone Courtesy Month Family Reunion Month Herbal & Prescription Awareness Month National Baked Beans Month National Culinary Arts Month National Grilling Month National Hot Dog Month National Make a Difference to Children Month National Purposeful Parenting Month Skyscraper Month Social Wellness Month Women’s Motorcycle Month Mental Illness Awareness Month
Continue ReadingOf Dads And CEOs
From CNNMoney.com comes a humorous article titled Do CEOs make lousy dads (and moms)? The Q&A format is a discussion of an entertaining new book from a former comedy programmer at HBO. The guy is now a CEO of an executive search firm in Los Angeles who almost lost his wife during an armed robbery. The article starts with some stats from a monster.com survey: …found that 58% think their employers should do more to accommodate the demands of fatherhood; 71% of those with a child under age 5 took a paternity leave when it was offered. The poll also found that, if money were no object, 68% of fathers… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Skyrocketing Telecommuting Trend
According to a recent study by World at Work: The number of Americans whose employer allows them to work remotely at least one day per month increased 63 percent, from 7.6 million in 2004 to 12.4 million in 2006. Based on government estimates of 149.3 million workers in the U.S. labor force, the 2006 data means that roughly 8 percent of American workers have an employer that allows them to telecommute one day per month. The article goes on to say that this trend is a result of the proliferation of high speed broadband, wireless access and the willingness of more employers to embrace flexibility in regards to work-life balance.… Read More
Continue ReadingSalespeople On An "E-Leash"
It’s 91° here in the Twin Cities today so vacation is on the brain. CareerBuilder.com offers up some interesting survey results in Using or Losing Your Time Off? E-leashes and hectic schedules are cutting into vacation time as increasingly wired workers are finding it hard to leave the office at home. Although an improvement from 27 percent in 2006, 20 percent of workers say they plan to stay in touch with the office during their vacation this year, according to CareerBuilder.com’s annual vacation survey, conducted by Harris Interactive of more than 6,800 workers. Nearly 15 percent of workers say they gave up at least one of their vacation days in… Read More
Continue ReadingCountries With The Longest Work Weeks
From CNNMoney.com’s They work harder for the money: The International Labor Organization (ILO), a United Nations agency, conducted a study of more than 50 countries and found that 22 percent of the total workforce surveyed (614.2 million people) worked more than 48 hours a week, an amount the ILO defines as excessive. Among the developed nations covered in the report, ILO found that the countries with the highest percentage of workers putting in a longer than 48-hour workweek are: Japan: 39.3% United Kingdom: 25.7% Israel: 25.5% New Zealand: 23.6% Australia: 20.4% Switzerland: 19.2% United States: 18.1% First off, it is a UN agency so that must be considered. I must… Read More
Continue ReadingSummer Vacations
This week school will be out for our kids and I found this SHRM article (membership required) interesting and timely. The article discusses how we here in the US are opting to move our vacations from the 2 week long once a year vacations to more 3-4 day weekend stints. A study was conducted by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. that looked at vacation habits of U.S. workers. €œWe are becoming a nation of the long weekend vacation, with workers looking ahead to each Monday/Friday holiday for the opportunity to turn a three-day weekend into a four- or five-day weekend. The switch to mini-vacations will only be accelerated by soaring… Read More
Continue ReadingThis Is A Hobby?
I just read through a local business weekly that had a profile of a power player CEO. Her bio says she is married with 3 children all under the age of 3. The first thing listed under her hobbies section: Spending time with her family I know, this is probably just semantics, but spending time with your family is a hobby? I generally think of rollerblading, hunting and traveling as hobbies. Your family is more important than work and I would characterize family life as more than a hobby. Again, maybe it is just semantics, but certainly not how I would state it.
Continue ReadingThe Enabling Freedom Of Accessibility
We’ve posted about no-email Fridays and those companies that want to encourage face-to-face meetings and phone calls that day. Now ManageSmarter.com offers a different perspective on being accessible – Office Vs. The Field: Accessibility. The premise of their article is to pit one sales manager’s opinion against one salesperson’s opinion on a specific topic. This time the question is: Should salespeople be accessible 24 hours a day? Both manager and salesperson agree that they should be available. I concur. Technology today allows for salespeople to be responsive in ways that solidify the customer relationship. I particularly like the sales manager’s take on technology: It€™s a salesperson’s responsibility to keep on… Read More
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