I recall vividly a discussion I had with an R&D manager a few years back. It was bonus time, and he was disappointed with the amount of his bonus. He demanded to know why his bonus was smaller in that year than it had been in years previous, even though the company had experienced tremendous [...]
I have to start this post (and I’ll probably end it) by saying that good employees are your most valuable resource. Whatever is next most valuable is so far behind good employees you can hardly see it from here. You’ll notice I said “good” employees. Average and below employees contribute little to moving your business [...]
I had an interesting experience over the weekend. I went to a warehouse to pick up a new washer and dryer where I heard the following exchange: “I can’t get the washer down,” the employee said to the woman who was, apparently, the supervisor. “Why not?” she asked. “The forklift is broken. Remember? The washer’s [...]
I just experienced the worst example of customer service I’ve ever seen (or heard of, for that matter.) I called the local Dish Network TV provider to ask what packages they had, and what promotions they were running. From, “Hello. XXXX Satellite, this is Bob. How may I help you?” it went downhill in a [...]
11 Mar
Posted by awebb as Management, Marketing, Public Relations
It seems to me there are a lot of good ideas out there that don’t / haven’t worked for whatever reason. We tend to judge the value of the idea by whether the project was a success or a failure. While this is not a bad place to start, there are many things that influence [...]
One of the things successful companies do is re-invent themselves and their products regularly. I read an article recently in one of the older business magazines (I can’t remember which one) that talked about the path of Arm and Hammer baking soda. They showed the evolution of the logo, the different ad campaigns, etc. Now, [...]
I saw an HR poster in a business the other day proclaiming “Attitude Determines Altitude,” and I immediately began to compare and contrast that statement against my own experience in business to see if I could prove or disprove it. Following are my thoughts on the matter: One of my first jobs in high school [...]
The lifeboat drill is a great way to evaluate your managers and staff from a whole new paradigm. I especially like it because it not only evaluates the importance of each employee to the company, it ranks them by importance relative to every other employee of the company. Here’s how it works. A luxury cruise [...]
I remember as a young man sitting in a job interview with several senior managers. The company was looking for a consultant to function for a period of time as production manager. It was about my third interview, and I had already talked to most of the people in the room. The one person [...]
According to just about every source you read, we’re either currently in — or headed into — a recession. Depending on who you listen to, that recession might be a slight downward blip in the economy or a deep, long-lasting recession like we had in the ’80’s. Now, I’m no economist, but when educated, credible [...]