ARE YOUR EMPLOYEES PREPARING TO LOOK FOR WORK WHEN THE JOB MARKET REBOUNDS?Written by Gary Halverson
Those who care to make predictions for what to expect in 2004 may have differing opinions in a number of areas: what new fashion in hemlines will be, who will become our nation’s next president, or when expected economic recovery will occur. What most experts agree on, however, is that with an economic rebound, we can expect retention of valued employees to become a key concern for all businesses, both large and small. Organizations are now positioning themselves to grow and compete in future, and that means it will become increasingly critical to hold onto talent who might otherwise be ready to jump ship People are already dusting off their resumes as they realize that work is out there, and I think businesses should expect to see some significant defections by second quarter. There is starting to be some real concern on part of companies beginning to realize that their key players, who are relied on heavily to grow business, provide leadership direction for employees and lead company to future success, may be lured away. As economy rebounds, there will be an increase in competitive pressure in marketplace to attract best talent and organizations need to be prepared for that. Having a solid retention strategy in place is vitally important to success of any organization. In fact, that strategy should be implemented as an ongoing part of day-to-day business plan. Successful companies are proactive and approach retention as part of business structure, rather than reacting to what is happening when it might be too late. It should start with recruitment and follow through as an ongoing multi-dimensional process that allows employees to be a part of business dialogue and see that there are opportunities for growth and development within company. Gone are days when employees could plan to join a company straight out of college and stay with it until they receive a gold watch and a pension. Today, many may be poised to leave after having felt exploited for past few years during an era of widespread layoffs and less-than-adequate compensation. In many cases, bond between employees and their companies has been broken. Some have interpreted uncertainty and downsizing as a message sent that employees are expendable, and should neither strive for, nor expect, long-term employment within a single organization. However, employers must not assume that nothing can be done to manage these negative reactions. According to U.S. Labor Department, productivity grew at fastest rate since 1983 in third quarter of 2003—employees have been working hard, and companies have been running lean. Savvy organizations will be preparing now, rather than waiting until they begin to lose a critical mass of employees, to create a climate that will foster retention of these valued team members for when economic pendulum shifts.
| | Going down? This is the 1 crucial key to improving your networking results.Written by Aaron Colman
Going down? This is 1 crucial key to improving your networking results.Written by Aaron Colman info@ibasics.biz http://www.ibasics.biz If you were in an elevator and had 15 seconds to sell your business, what would you say? "My USP, of course! Right?" WRONG! Your USP is good (USP == Unique Selling Proposition. If you don't have this yet, get one first!) but 9 times out of 10 it's just too big. You need something more concise. Something that can be defined in one sentence and leaves them wanting more. The best Elevator Pitch I ever heard was at an Internet Seminar I attended. One of Personal Coaches and I had been talking and we needed, literally, to get into elevator. We talked, and around 3rd floor a middle-aged man got on. He overheard us talking and asked us "That's interesting, what do guys do exactly?" His response? "I help average people achieve extraordinary success." Brilliant. How can you say no to that? You may be skeptical,you may not believe guy... but you can't say no. "No sir, I don't want extraordinary success. That's not what I need at all!" If you can say that with a straight face then you're a better (wo)man than I. It's perfectly okay to have a few different multiple elevator pitches for different scenarios as long as you can keep them separate. In fact it's a good idea to have 2 or 3 main facets of your business and a way of approaching different types of clients for each of them. For instance I have 3 pitches I use regularly:
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