Category: Employee Retention
In the Elevator with Too Much Fragrance
Nov 18, 2008
While leaving the office yesterday, I entered the empty elevator on my way to the ground floor and parking lot. Suddenly, one floor away from my destination, the brass doors parted and a woman entered who was wearing enough perfume for about 18 people. Normally, I would just try to ignore the uncomfortable barrage of fragrance, but yesterday was different, because I’m just getting over a chest cold, and my cough reflex is pretty sensitive. Seconds after she boarded, an attack on my olfactory senses sent me hacking. I don’t think the offending excessively flowery-smelling fellow employee realized that she had irritated my nervous system, but I’m rather confident that her entrance into the elevator was the stimulus of my coughing fit.
For the record, this is an issue with both men and women. My dad is actually one of those guys who really enjoys cologne on the rare occasion that he gets to dress formally. For him, dressing up isn’t just a suit and tie–it’s suit, tie, and COLOGNE. The family has intervened a couple times, but some additional restraint would still be helpful.
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- Categories Employee Retention
Taking Innovation into Consideration: Why These 5 Companies are “Most Admirable”
Nov 10, 2008
I recently re-read Fortune’s list of this year’s Most Admired Companies, and I noticed how much the idea of “innovation” was mentioned. Because I also happened to have diversity on the brain, it occurred to me how closely diversity and innovation are combined. After all, what is innovation if not the result of divergent thinking and untapped ideas? But on top of that, it’s also about cultivating a culture that encourages new ideas, learning, skill development, career advancement, etc.
With all of this in mind, I looked at Fortune’s separate list of the Most Admirable Companies for managing talent to see what they’re doing right with regards to these elements, and how the combination invariably leads to continued success.
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- Categories Building a Best Place to Work, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention
IT’S A WRAP: October in Review
Nov 3, 2008
Post-season baseball, football in full gear, entertaining politics, creative costumes, lots of candy and cooler weather—what’s not to love about this past October (other than losing half of your retirement)? Aside from the “Trick or Treat?” you asked last Friday, this past month had its share of many other questions:
Marcia, Marcia, Marcia… You did what???
Why did I stay up to view the most-watched (yawn) VP debate in history?
The bailout’s here! The markets will be safe now, right?
The Dow lost how much in one day? The Dow gained how much in one day? Wait, now you’re saying the Dow lost more points again? Hold on a sec, I thought you said it lost 800–today it gained 800?
O.J…. guilty? Really?
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- Categories Economy, Employee Attraction, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Employer Advice, Interviewing, Monthly Review
Making Your Company a Best Place to Work
Oct 27, 2008
I recently attended the Pittsburgh Business Times Best Places to Work in Western Pennsylvania event. If you haven’t been to Pittsburgh in some time, if at all, I highly urge you to go. The city and the scenery are great – it is an accessible city nestled in rolling hills of low lying fog at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. I was there however not as a professional travel guide (although I can recommend restaurants and places to stay) but to celebrate some of the best places to work in the area.
The luncheon was attended by approximately 500 attendees – all finalists in the overall Best Places to Work contest. That list was then narrowed down to three finalists in a small business, medium business and large business category. And then the Pittsburgh Business Times crowned one area company as the overall champion. I was so impressed with the energy of the finalists and their dedication not only to their businesses but to their employees.
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- Categories Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Events
No, Really, Your Excuse is Totally Believable! (Cough, Cough) - 2008’s Most Unusual Excuses for Missing Work
Oct 22, 2008
Oh, come on - don’t get your I-love-staying-home-to-watch-Seinfeld-reruns-on-my-couch pajamas in a bunch. If you’ve called into work before when you’ve been feeling perfectly healthy, you’re in solid company with the 33 percent of workers who have done so this year, according to a newly released CareerBuilder.com survey on absenteeism. And if you haven’t fibbed (e.g., faked a cold while eating a pint of Chubby Hubby and alphabetizing your DVD collection), chances are one of your subordinates has.
Here are the highlights of the Most Unusual Excuses for Missing Work This Year:
- Thanksgiving karma | Employee hit a turkey (yes, a turkey) while riding a bike.
Author’s Note: Animals - turkeys in particular - seem to be a hot topic this year. See our “Unusual Jobs” survey results for more on this phenomenon. - Near-death experiences | Employee said he had a heart attack that morning, but that he was “all better now.”
- Just can’t find a thing to wear | Employee’s wife burned all his clothes and he had nothing to wear to work.
- They don’t have rifles, so… | Employee got kicked by a deer
- Paging Dionne Warwick | Employee’s psychic told her to stay home.
- Lightweight | Employee’s toe was injured when a soda can fell out of the refrigerator.
- Driving the dog to drink | Employee’s dog was stressed out after a family reunion
- Kissed and unfortunately told | Employee contracted mono after kissing a mailroom intern at the company’s holiday party - and suggested the company post some sort of notice to warn others who may have kissed him.
- Comments 40 Comments
- Categories Employee Retention, Survey Results
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- Categories Branding, Economy, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Employer Advice, Events
Well, I suppose that’s considerate, anyway. Grab your own pint of Ben and Jerry’s and read the full list of unusual excuses here.
The Smartest Investment You’ll Make in This Economy
Oct 21, 2008
from OPEN Forum:
The smartest investment you’ll make in this economy is your investment in your employees. Companies that plan to survive, even thrive, in this economy should increase their investments in their employees. That’s right. Companies should invest more in their employees during this challenging economic period.
Forget those CDOs (collateralized debt obligations) or CDSs (collateralized debt swaps) and Wall Street banks hoping for a comeback or those secret Santa Claus-like portfolios of sub-prime home loans you’ve heard are all the rage. Forget about green energy technologies like wind or solar or geothermal. The smartest investment you’ll make in this or any economy is your investments in your employees.
Now’s the time to not only maintain your current investment program of salary and benefits (You do offer benefits, don’t you?), but find ways to increase that investment. Here’s why: Employees are your company’s number one asset. Oh sure, we’ve all heard that cliche bandied about. Peter Drucker, the legendary management expert, coined that phrase decades ago. It stuck. It stuck because it’s true.
Who makes your company’s products and services? Who talks to your customers? Whose efforts make them love your company and tolerate your mistakes to their credit cards and bank accounts that ruin their day and waste their time? And, who comes up with the systemic solutions to those problems?
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