A training must for marketing departments: customers DO talk about your company!

Okay, maybe it's just me. But it seems that there is a blissful ignorance in marketing departments across the country. It goes something like this....

Marketer 1: Do you think customers will notice if we double the prices and start using much cheaper materials in our products?

Marketer 2: Nah. They're all too busy talking on Facebook and Twitter to care.

Why do I think that? And what in the heck does this have to do with company training? Let me tell you.

I just read a rant on a site called "Search Insider: The inside line on Search Marketing"... here's a little taste of what author Gord Hotchkiss had to say:

"...where do hotels get off charging exorbitant rates for WiFi access and then give you a thin dribble of bandwidth that shuts on and off like a bad neon light? Multiply 13 bucks a night by 200 or 300 rooms for an average-sized hotel. That's about $3,000 every day, or a million dollars a year. This isn't rocket science, people. For that money, I should have a data pipe the size of a Volvo plugged into my laptop."

Conversations like this, albeit maybe without Gord's style, are going on, online, every single day!

And yes, they happen on Facebook and LinkedIn and Twitter... (and maybe even on MySpace, although I think most of those are limited to random posts from non-existent Scandanavian models looking for cash, I mean American husbands...) but most marketing departments seem to be blissfully unaware of what's being said.

And the people in the big offices upstairs? Even more unaware.

So here is the training part:

• Make sure everyone in your company knows how to use social media.


• Teach everyone in your company how to monitor social media.


• Get people in the habit of using it by creating company blogs, Facebook pages for employees, in-house Twitter accounts and other social tools. As a plus, not only will you be training people on the how-to's, you'll be increasing employee retention because connection=retention.

Not sure about the online world yourself? Look for webinars on social media, listening to buzz online and social marketing, then share the webinars and your new-found knowledge with the rest of the company.

Cutbacks creating witch hunts at work -- and very little net savings

Picture a department with a half dozen employees. They work together pretty well. It's a comfortable and productive group.

Then something changes. Someone in management decides that the best way to reduce costs is to eliminate an employee or two.

The word leaks out that someone is going to be cut.

And suddenly, that cooperative group of employees turns into a finger-pointing, fault-finding mob, all accusing each other of incompetence, malfeasance, or just plain stupidity. The witch hunt is on, and everyone is fair game.

And while such things can occasionally bring some relevant details to the surface, most of the time the "facts" about who's doing what, and who's been late and who made personal phone calls on company time have as much value as the crowd's logic in Monty Python's Life of Brian as they accuse a village girl of being a witch...



In the meantime, work doesn't get done, customers are ignored, and the company risks lawsuits for all kinds of things ranging from discrimination to harassment to creating an unsafe workplace.

From one HR pro to another, I am here to tell you that it just isn't worth it! Sure, there are times when a cutback is absolutely necessary. And in those cases, it needs to be done quickly and with chance for rumors to start.

But most of the time, the savings from eliminating a person are more than offset by the cost of lost productivity and higher turnover among those left behind. Unfortunately, most managers don't know it.

Training managers in the real versus short-term savings

As part of your management training program, address the cost of cutbacks. Teach managers how to weigh in factors like lost work hours, reduced productivity levels and higher error rates among survivors. Make sure they understand the price of a jump in turnover, as people scramble to move to someplace where they will not be "next on the list."

Companies restructure faster by firing and hiring, not retraining

As many of the country’s largest employers eliminate thousands of jobs, they’re simultaneously hiring workers for new positions to adapt to the market’s changing needs, according to a Wall Street Journal article published yesterday.

U.S. employers eliminated 539,000 jobs in April alone, said the Labor Department on Friday. However, the government also estimates that employers hired roughly 4.4 million workers in February, the most recent numbers available.

"It's not just routine turnover," says Lori Kletzer, an economics professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. "Quite often the people being laid off don't have the requisite set of skills or experience to move into the growth areas."

Some experts say the churn also shows changes in workplace policies. In past decades, many employers retrained and relocated underused workers, says Peter Cappelli, director of the Center for Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. “Now they've discovered that you can restructure even faster by laying off and hiring.” (WSJ)

Microsoft, IBM, AT&T, Yahoo and Time Warner are among the companies laying off thousands, while hiring new workers to fill positions in different business units, other places or to fill a need for new skills.

These latest employment numbers support a belief that many Americans currently share -- without continued training and skills development, their current workplace skills will be outdated within the next few years.

Workers across all generations depend on training and development to stay competitive in the changing labor market, but more than three-quarters of Americans believe the training provided by their employers will fail to meet their future career needs.

Has your company decided to fire and hire, instead of training existing employees for new positions? Is it the employer’s responsibility to develop workers’ skills for their future career needs?

Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Are you living to work or working to live?

A new survey examining the health and well-being of Americans discovered that the majority of people value their work for more than just the paycheck it delivers by asking: Do you live to work or work to live?

As the U.S. economy struggles through a recession and companies lay off hundreds of thousands of workers, CIGNA conducted the survey to explore attitudes toward work and disability insurance, along with the effect the economy is having on work environments.

Key findings of the survey include:

• Americans have a strong work ethic and derive satisfaction from their jobs.
• Americans feel unproductive, worried, afraid, anxious and depressed when they’re out of work because of an injury or illness.
• Most say the overall mood in the workplace has changed in the past six months – and most say those changes have been for the worse.

When asked about how they viewed their job, those surveyed revealed that:

• 65% would say they belong in the “Live to Work” category
• 35% put themselves in the “Work to Live” category
• 31% like their job and feel a sense of satisfaction by going to work each day
• 21% love their job and would continue working even if they won the lottery
• 13% said their work give their life structure and purpose

Among those who work to live, survey respondents said that it was the paycheck or insurance benefits keeping them at their current job. Many felt stuck because of the economy or had hopes of retiring soon, but can’t afford to.

The most common reasons why respondents felt they live to work: they like their co-workers, feel a sense of accomplishment from their job, are proud of their work, or feel their work makes a difference.

“The good news for U.S. employers is that most people say they enjoy their work and derive satisfaction from it,” said Jodi Prohofsky, Ph.D., a licensed therapist and senior vice president of health solutions operations at CIGNA. “On the other hand, the economy is causing more stress and anxiety among workers, and we know that stress can often contribute to or lead to disabling illnesses, so it’s important for employers to help their employees manage stress and anxiety before that happens.”

Earlier this week we talked about how employees desire more in-person communication with top management in their organizations. Making employees a part of the conversation during tough times is one of the most effective ways to help employees manage the stress and fear that typically comes along with organizational change.

Effective communication can have a powerful impact on morale within an organization. Though you may be navigating some rough waters right now, focusing on communication and employee morale will have you smooth sailing when everything finally calms down.

So, the question is: Do you work to live or live to work?

Friday office humor: Play the “Layoff” game

A new game has taken the web by storm that gives average employees the power to “be the boss” and attempt to save their business from going under.

Tiltfactor Labs created the game, aptly titled LAYOFF, that examines our country’s current economic situation and how a bailout could potentially help.

From a Tiltfactor press release:

The key to the project is a focus on human values in games. "The game has an unsettling feeling,” said Mary Flanagan, the developer of the game as the Director of the Tiltfactor Lab. "It is cute and fun to play, but when you realize how frightening the situation is, the game in fact functions as a very dark portent."

In the game, players take the role of management needing to cut costs and cut jobs. Players match types of workers in groups in order to make “layoffs” and increase employee efficiency. If you eliminate enough workers in a row, their positions are replaced by financiers and bankers who cannot face layoffs.

Curious? Play the LAYOFF game.

What do you think of the Layoff game?

Dream On: Improving employee morale one wish at a time

Last week, the folks over at Incentive Intelligence featured a new and surprising incentive and recognition program one company is using to improve employee morale and engagement.

Appletree Answering Service, a Delaware-based telephone services and call center firm, has found great success with a new employee incentive program called “Dream On.”

The program is simple - employees fill out a “wish” request and management fulfills wishes.

From the Delaware Online article:

"We've always had a philosophy based on taking care of our employees," said Appletree founder and CEO John Ratliff. "Dream On grew out of a concierge idea, where we would use our resources to help employees meet their personal needs."

The program is based on the Make-a-Wish idea of granting an employee's special wish for themselves or others.

"There are no criteria for structuring a wish," Ratliff said. "It doesn't have to involve a serious personal or health issue. There are no categories or limitations on what the wish can be, nor is there a set budget."

Employees can even submit wishes for other co-workers. In one instance, an Appletree employee received football tickets after a co-worker overheard how much she wanted to take her husband, currently battling cancer, to a game. The employee’s wish was granted before she ever asked for it.

With the Dream On employee incentive program, the company successfully tackled a 90-percent turnover rate among frontline employees. After the first full month of putting the program into action, the company has seen dramatically lower employee turnover rates and the savings in new-hire training costs has completely covered the cost of wishes granted.

Why the program works: By mixing the element of surprise and involving employees in the process, Appletree has found a way to improve morale and employee engagement across the board. Who doesn’t love receiving a gift from out of the blue?

How it could go wrong: One potential downside to the program may be the lack of “wish” limitations. Management fulfills wishes at random and the value of each wish varies. Without any set limitations, spending may increase to a point where cost outweighs the benefit of the program.

We want to know - Why do you like or not like this employee incentive program? What added benefits and potential problems do you see cropping up?

Holiday party canceled, two days off instead

It’s beginning to look a lot like that time of year again ... time to start worrying about the office holiday party and what could go wrong this year.

As many companies mull over the typical harassment issues that always seem to go along with office parties, others have found a way to avoid those holiday party problems all together.

This year, Viacom (owner of Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, VH1 and Nickelodeon) is canceling their holiday party and giving employees time off from work instead. While the media giant has been under enormous financial pressure, with layoffs looming, it’s a trend that some in the HR industry support.

“Viacom just sent an internal email to employees telling them that the holiday party is canceled—but everyone gets two extra days of vacation instead! To ‘relax and recharge for the coming year,’” as posted on Gawker.

The only catch is that Viacom employees must be use their two paid days off between December 22 and January 1, but wouldn’t most people enjoy some extra time off during that time anyway?

To many it’s a no-brainer, but we would still like to know what you think. Office holiday party or two days off, which would you choose?

Employee engagement drives loyalty, retention

Employers that focus on employee engagement and encourage creativity will attract high-performing job candidates and retain loyal employees, giving their company the competitive advantage, according to a new survey by IMR Research Group.

“Business leaders are now recognizing the role employee engagement and loyalty plays in the financial health of a company,” Stacey Randall, IMR’s workplace futurist, said in an IMR story.

“Employee engagement directly impacts profitability and you are wasting resources – human and financial – unless you are focusing on the policies and practices that are going to give you the most bang for your buck.”

Survey results revealed that the workplace attributes with the greatest impact on employee loyalty and retention are:

• Trust between managers and employees
• Influence on goals and strategy as they relate to the job
• Opportunities for professional development
• Employee empowerment for decisions
• Encouragement of creativity
• Passionate and motivated employees
  

Keeping employees engaged and management focused on the key factors affecting loyalty, will increase job satisfaction and decrease the number of employees searching for opportunities elsewhere.

“The future of the American company rests on our ability to innovate, and workers understand how brainstorming and other creative thinking sessions can contribute to the company’s bottom line as well as make employees feel their input is valued,” Randall said.

“This study indicates that these attributes are not standouts in employees’ minds, but efforts to improve in these areas can lead to great results.”

5 simple ways to transfer knowledge between Gen Y and Baby Boomer employees

Currently, there are about 76 million Baby Boomers in the workforce, with 19 million ready to retire by 2011, according to the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp). Most organizations have done little or nothing to retain the valuable corporate knowledge retiring employees possess.

In May, i4cp surveyed 118 organizations to find out “what they have done or plan to do about tapping into the knowledge experience of Boomers as they approach retirement.” They found:

• The majority (71%) of survey respondents said their organization did not incorporate retirement forecasts into knowledge transfer practices.
• Only one-third incorporate a skills gap analysis into their retirement forecasts.
• Less than a quarter (23%) said they train managers in the art of critical skills transfer.
  

Another study by the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations backs up the i4cp findings. In a similar survey from February 2008, the Association found only 28% of over 400 small business owners are working on knowledge transfer plans and only 4% have a formal plan to transfer knowledge to younger employees.

Even with all the buzz and statistics about “Boomer brain drains” and lagging knowledge transfer plans, many have found a simple way to get started - teamwork.

Earlier this year, Tammy Erickson from Harvard Business published an article chronicling the ‘love fest’ between Baby Boomers and Generation Y. Her research found that Gen Yers and Boomers enjoy spending time together and learning from each other.

Gen Ys enjoy the challenge:

“Y’s, when faced with a new challenge, tend to function like a heat-seeking missile – single-mindedly pursuing the person in the organization with the most relevant experience. In many cases, this person is a Boomer – often in some distant part of the organization, or several hierarchical levels removed. This approach reflects how Y’s like to learn – from an expert, just-in-time, and in response to the specific challenge they need to address. And it reflects their comfort in relating to Boomers on a peer basis, developed over an adolescence of friendly interaction with their parents and parents’ friends.”

Boomers like the recognition and a chance to learn:

“Boomers are finding they enjoy the questions (once they get over the shock of receiving emails or text messages from very junior employees) and the obvious recognition of their expertise. They are even learning a lot themselves – new ways of communicating and thinking about getting things done.”

We know it has to be done and employees enjoy learning from each other, but how do we facilitate knowledge transfer across generations?

Margery Weinstein from Training Day shared a great idea in a post yesterday:

“To make knowledge transfer efforts more salient, pair up out-going workers with promising Gen Y and X'ers. Giving their presentations together will spice up the lesson. One way to do it is by having the Gen Y or X'er interview the retiring chieftain about his/her legacy and the company's upcoming challenges. Then have the old guy/gal on the block pose a few questions to the fledgling. Rather than let a perhaps partly loved/partly loathed executive get away with self-congratulatory rambling for an hour, this give-and-take approach is potentially more substantive.

Whether savior or ogre, you thought enough of them to capture their wisdom. They shouldn't mind fielding a few questions about their corporate savior/ogre methodology.”

Embrace the “love fest” and get your Boomers and Gen Y/Gen Xers working together. Here are some ideas for fostering corporate knowledge transfer from older to younger generations:

• Set up interviews. Use Weinstein’s idea and pair together retiring workers with promising younger employees. Let the pairs interview each other and create a presentation on their findings.
• Develop a shadowing program. Like an apprentice learning from a skilled craftsman, have your younger employees shadow older workers for a given period of time.
• Teamwork. Many employees learn best by doing, so find an upcoming project that the pair can work on together.
• Let them eat cake. Or at least lunch, on the company’s tab. Send the pair to lunch for some one-on-one bonding time. It will help them develop a personal relationship, rather than strictly focusing on work.
• Make it fun. Set up fun activities around the office for your Gen Y/Boomer pairs to participate in. If they know they can have fun together, there’s something they can learn from each other.

Teamwork between your Baby Boomer and Generation Y employees is the key to slowing the “brain drain.” Find opportunities to connect the generations together and keep valuable corporate knowledge from walking out the door with retiring employees.

To train or not to train

With more people, especially Gen Y, job hopping their way around the corporate world we may see employee training go "the way of the 8 track," according to a recent prediction by YourHRGuy.

HRGuy says - With more employees job hopping, spending less time at each job, it's smarter for companies to put money into recruiting qualified candidates rather than develop current employees.

A Training Time post from earlier this year focused a panel discussion at Fortune's Global Forum where the moderator asked: "Why invest in training people when you know that a lot of them are going to leave you pretty soon?"

Panelist Anand Pillai, Vice President & Global Head of Talent Transformation & Intrapreneurship, looks at the dilemma much differently than HRGuy.

Pillai says - What happens if you don't train them and they stay? The most effective way to retain empoyees is to provide training and keep them engaged with the company.

It's an interesting argument that only starting to develop as more job-hopping Gen Yers move around the workforce.

We want to hear your opinion - Should companies continue to sponsor employee training even though there's a chance many will leave?

It pays to quit at Zappos

Getting paid to quit? What kind of nonsense is that?

If you’re counting down the hours on the clock until the end of this fine Friday, and you’ve been counting down the hours to each day this week, getting paid to quit may sound like a fantastic idea to you. And, if you work for Zappos, the billion dollar shoe retailer, you would get some cash when handing in your resignation.

At Zappos, it pays to quit, exactly $1,000.

They call it “The Offer.” Every new hire is give the offer - “If you quit today, we will pay you for the amount of time you’ve worked, plus a $1,000 bonus.” Quite a generous bribe.

Why would such a successful company do such a thing? They want to hang onto employees who are fully committed to the company, not one who will take some fast cash and run when given the chance. About 10% of new call-center employees take Zappos up on the offer.

The company would rather get rid of the bad apples sooner than later, and they’re willing to pay for employees to jump ship. Over the years the bribe amount has gone from $100 to $500, and now is at the $1,000 mark. As the company grows, that figure may grow along with it.

Burned out at work or bad day? Know the difference and how to beat it

For many, the dread and excitement that go along with the beginning and end of the workweek are fleeting. For some, just getting through the day is a challenge.

So, how do you know if you’re having a bad day, or are in the midst of a complete burnout? Experts interviewed by those at CareerBuilder.com explain how to identify job burnout and the best ways to attack it.

A few signs of burnout:

Your professional relationships are unimportant. Break room conversations have no part in your day, you eat lunch alone and headphones are glued to your ears.

Your work quality has gone down the tubes along with self-motivation. Getting the job done and doing it well are two separate things.

Your goals have vanished. When your career goals are mainly to get through the day instead of getting through to a new position, you may be looking at some serious burnout.


Here’s what the experts suggest on how to beat work burnout:

Mix it up. Ask for a new responsibility that you’re willing to take on. “New variety and stimulation is vital to overcome burnout.”

Reevaluate goals. “Goals work. Be specific and set deadlines.” Also, make the goals a little challenging and share them with others to increase the motivation to stick with them.

Come up with a plan. Think a new career is the solution? Don’t jump the gun, take the time to plan out your steps. You may discover that a new career is under the same roof you’re working at now.

Beat the Baby Boomer retirement 'brain drain'

As Baby Boomers move into their retirement years, they may be taking more than just their 401(k)s with them. Insider information and all the ‘tricks of the trade’ will retire with the Boomers, if companies don’t focus on transferring information to younger generations now.

The Baby Boomers are some of our country’s (and your company’s) longest running and most loyal employees. That time and loyalty has added up in the form of valuable corporate knowledge.

It’s estimated that by 2010, more than half of the U.S. workforce will be over 40 years old. In order to give them a little more leeway and delay the knowledge gap, many companies are doing anything they can to hang onto their older employees. More than 60 percent of U.S. companies are bringing back retirees as contractors or consultants, according to a recent AARP study.

A recent SHRM article examines how other companies are babying their Boomers to keep them working a little bit longer with health care benefits, flexible hours and guaranteed salary.

If keeping retirees on the job isn’t an option for your company, do your best to transfer the knowledge now. “How to Beat the Baby Boomer Retirement Blues” from CIO.com examines how some big name companies like Rolls-Royce dealt with the brain drain. Using both a knowledge management system and an employee tracking map, companies can manage the knowledge transfer effectively.

First, develop a knowledge management system. You must be able to tackle two types of knowledge: explicit and tacit. Explicit knowledge can be stored in databases or manuals. Tacit knowledge includes ‘tricks of the trade,’ personal experience, stories and creative business solutions.

Work on documenting explicit knowledge. Do your best to have the retiring employee document all the information someone in their position would need to know. Establish “Standard Operating Procedures” in the form of manuals, stored on your network. These even come in handy when an employee goes on extended leave.

Tacit knowledge can be transferred by experience. Have the employee who will be taking over the retiring employee’s job to shadow that person for a time. More than learning the facts, the younger employee will learn the method.

Going forward, track employees and soon-to-be retirees. Keep a database of all of your employees. Document how long they have been with the company, in what positions or departments, and if known, when they plan to leave or retire. A map like this could help you plan ahead when hit with multiple retirements or if an employee plans to go on extended leave.

Don’t be afraid to pair younger and older generations together, Harvard found that there's a "love fest" going on between the two. Gen Y and Baby Boomers generally like each other and enjoy learning from each other. Many times it is your Boomers who are the most energetic and engaged at work. Get some of that energy and excitement to rub off by pairing Generation Y workers with older coworkers.

Companies should encourage Boomer/Gen Y work relationships, in order to be more proactive than reactive when the retirement rush comes around. Do your best to hang onto the valuable corporate knowledge that has built up over the years in your Boomer employees and don't let it slip down the drain when the go.

'Recession-proof' employee training tips

With the big “r” word in the headlines everyday, along with job layoffs and a struggling stock market, it’s almost impossible for any company not to feel the crunch.

So, what does an economic recession have to do with employee training and development? Everything, according to Chris Young at the Rainmaker group.

Why? During economic hard times nervous executives start cutting unnecessary company spending. Unfortunately, employee training programs can be the first to hit the chopping block.

Though keeping an employee is much cheaper than finding a new one, it isn’t always clear how much the company benefits (in dollars) from employee training and development programs.

What’s the best way to keep up your training programs while the company is tightening it’s belt? Young offers five tips to tackle the issue:

1. Employee training is an investment. Young uses the stock market as an example: by putting money in when stocks are down, you’ll be on top when the market turns around. Keeping funds for training now will put you ahead of your competitors when the economy comes back around.

2. Be sure your training efforts are targeted and necessary. Focus training programs on employee weaknesses. Don’t waste you or your employee’s time on unnecessary training.

3. Measure results. With hard numbers in front of them, executives may find it harder to cut training costs.

4. Find quality training vendors. If you use outside training vendors often, be sure you’re getting your money’s worth in the form of measurable results.

5. Keep training flexible and unique to the company’s needs. Most “one size fits all” training programs don’t work as well as those that are tailored to your situation.


Whether the economy is facing hard times or not, company spending should be focused on results. Creating measurable results can help keep employee training and development in the budget no matter what NASDAQ looks like.

The customer is always first, right? ... Think again.

Today I came across a great video clip from a training panel discussion at Fortune’s Global Forum that attacks this question with a fantastic new idea – put the employee first.

The moderator began the discussion with a question employers constantly struggle with – “Why invest in training people when you know that a lot of them are going to leave you pretty soon?”

One panelist, Anand Pillai, answered the question that turns “the customer always comes first” belief flat on its head – the employee is number one. Pillai, Vice President & Global Head of Talent Transformation & Intrapreneurship, acknowledged the fear that you may train an employee who will leave, but he believes the more important question is – “What will you do if you don’t train them and they stay back?” The best way to retain a person is to keep on training them, he said.

Training employees keeps them constantly engaged. “An engaged employee is a happy employee. A happy employee will lead to happy customers,” Pillai said. Worry less about trying to attain a customer satisfaction goal and more about an employee satisfaction goal. With happy employees come happy customers.

Pillai shared a very “zen” concept seen from the eyes of a happy employee – “Having happy customers is not an activity that I do, it is just being what I am.” Meeting customer satisfaction will come when you have happy employees who are willing to go beyond the call of duty.

In what ways does your company struggle with the fear that once an employee is well trained, he or she will then find a new job?

And, what does your company do to try and put the employee first?