February 2010 Archives

Q:  How do I find the most up-to-date internship listings?  I'm looking for an internship this summer.

When I returned to Connecticut after my time with Disney, I encountered quite a bit of culture shock upon my return.  Although I had grown up, worked in management, and spent several years away from where I grew up, those I returned to seemed to be suffering from "small town disease".

What is small town disease?  It's a state of mind that people have when they lack perspective that can come with stepping outside one's comfort zone to see another way of looking at things.  It can also be a closed-minded approach to any outside idea or thought.

Very often, the worst way to deal with those afflicted by this "ailment" is thinking that any outside perspective you bring to the table is the right one.  Many times, people who you have left behind may have some resentment towards others who have left or come back, and don't want to hear what you have to say. Balance your perspective with what people back home are doing well, and you may find that they are doing things a lot better than you considered or observed before.

How do you prevent small town disease?  If you don't get out of town once in a while, the best way to avoid it is always to keep on top of global issues in your industry, whether or not you leave the area.  As well, stay open minded to the perspective of those who have gone outside of their area to experience something elsewhere.

I had the pleasure of having Ted Potrikus from the Retail Council speak to my Retailing class yesterday.  He enlightened my students on just how many opportunities there are in retail beyond the store manager/salesperson type roles.  Sharing many stories from the Loss Prevention and Legal aspects of retail, Ted gave many of my students inspiration to pursue new opportunities in retail that they may not have considered before.

Johnny Damon, former left fielder for the New York Yankees, asked for 2 years for $20 million to return to the Yankees when he became a free agent (or, according to some reports, he asked for 3 years and $30 million).  The Yankees countered with 2 years and $14 million, and once rebuffed, lowered that offer even more significantly.

Once the Yankees' offers were rebuffed, the Yankees made trades to replace Damon with talent that was younger, but not necessarily less expensive.  Whether the Yankees would have made the moves regardless of Damon's negotiations is unknown; what is known is that Damon may have misjudged the market for his services.

For those of us outside of baseball, the same approach may cause disastrous results.  If you want to stay with your company, despite a pay cut, refusing to settle for a fair amount may result in the offer being pulled completely.  Certainly, there are other ways to approach the situation.

Andy Pettitte took a more effective approach that rewarded him handsomely.  He waited until before Spring Training 2009 before signing an incentive-laden deal for the 2009 season.  This deal ended up paying almost exactly what he made the year before.  After 2009, he was rewarded with a guaranteed contract for 2010 for nearly the same amount he made with the incentive-based contract.

A good approach for situations where you may be facing a pay cut like Damon is to take the approach Pettitte did - look at ways you can earn incentives if your base pay has been cut (through sales goals, additional contributions to the company, etc).  Looking outside of your organization may result in seeing a market that is not there, or alienate your employer alltogether.

One of the best practices I've seen in many companies is the concept of the floating holiday.  On a day like President's Day, many people choose to work rather than take the day off, and have the option of using that day off some other time during the year.

For those of us in the Northeast, this makes great sense; I'd much rather save that day off for the summer months, where someone else may want to use today to go skiing.  Allowing for the "floating" holiday gives people the option to use it when it would be the most valuable.

Are there days in your business where using a "floating" holiday makes sense?  Certainly.

On a recent client visit, I arrived a few minutes early and met a new client in the process.  He was doing some work on my client's home and mentioned he had been looking for someone to take a look at his website for a while.

It sometimes annoys people when I get to places early, but I find it to be much more effective then running late.

And yes, I spelled "there" incorrectly above, but there is a reason.  If you want your business to turn into "their" business, it sometimes pays to arrive at your destination early.  Use the time to work on meeting with new clients, prepare for the rest of your day, or in my case, meet someone I wouldn't have met if I was simply on time or running late.

Whether its getting early for a job interview, arriving to class early, or arriving to work early, the time you have before your appointment begins can lead to meeting someone new, getting a job offer you weren't expecting, or simply having an experience you never have had before.

One of the easiest ways to recognize your staff is to remember their birthday.  A simple note or email acknowledging their birthday can make a lasting impression.  One employer in Florida that I know of actually sends a handwritten note to each of his employees on their birthday.

In my world, its as simple as using the birthday list in Facebook, keeping track of birthdays of people who aren't online, and other online or offline resources to make a simple 10 seconds of time into a genuine birthday wish.

In the world where sometimes recognition comes few and far between, wishing someone a happy birthday can make all the difference.

Computer based training is becoming more of the norm in human resources as more organizations move to an asychronous training strategy vs. face to face synchronous learning.

There are many factors to consider when it comes to computer based training, and probably one of the most important is ensuring that the technical requirements of the programs or services you are using are met by the end user.

Recently, I was working with a client who I am training remotely on using Mac OS X.  We had three very excellent sessions remotely, but our most recent one hit a stumbling block.  It turned out that he had an older operating system than I, as well as a different version of iTunes and iPhone software.  I'll be visiting him onsite to remedy these issues and continue our remote learning arrangement in two weeks.

Prior to initating any remote learning or training task, its important to make sure that the technical requirements and needs are up-to-date.  In this case, because the training was going so well, we didn't discover that the software wasn't the same until late in the game.  What could have prevented this from happening in the first place was conducting an on-site visit first to assess what the learner had for technical tools and software.

While costly, sometimes training well does require an initial on-site visit to assess what the learners need.  In lieu of that, sending along a list of requirements ahead of time can prevent a situation like this from occuring in the first place.

 

Last time, I talked about ways to earn extra income at work through new responsibilities and volunteering to work overtime. Today, I'd like to share with you some ideas on how to "moonlight" or add supplemental income without affecting your personal life or worklife and time.

Q:  I work in retail, and I can't seem to get a raise out of my employer, no matter what I try.  They tell me I am a hard worker and they make me feel valued, but it isn't showing in my paycheck.  What can I do to earn more money at work when they won't adjust my hours?

Q:  I'm graduating in May, and have applied for many companies I hope to work for over winter break.  A few companies have told me to wait until April to apply, while others have asked me to apply now.  What is the right approach to take?