Sunday, July 30, 2006

More States Boost Minimum Wage

Lawmakers in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Delaware have recently approved increases to their state's minimum wage.

In North Carolina, the minimum wage will increase from $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour effective January 1, 2007. The new minimum wage law also ties North Carolina 's minimum wage to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. If the federal minimum wage is raised, employees in North Carolina will receive whichever wage is higher.

In Pennsylvania, the minimum wage will increase from $5.15 per hour to $6.25 per hour on January 1, 2007, and to $7.15 on July 1, 2007. For employers with the equivalent of 10 or fewer full-time employees (based on a 40-hour workweek), the minimum wage will increase in three steps: $5.65 on January 1, 2007; $6.65 on July 1, 2007; and $7.15 on July 1, 2008.

In Delaware, the state minimum wage will increase from $6.15 per hour to $6.65 per hour on January 1, 2007, and to $7.15 per hour on January 1, 2008.

New Program Aims to Help Employers Comply with Immigration Law

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a new initiative to help employers ensure that they are hiring and employing a workforce that is authorized to work in the United States.

Read more here!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Danny Meyer: Keeping tabs on a food empire

The president of the Union Square Hospitality Group says a successful restaurant isn't about the menu - it's about the people who serve it.


Source: http://www.restaurantnewsresource.com/article23231.html


Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Who Would You Want Running Your Business?

I was in a meeting the other day and I witnessed an exchange between the people at the meeting about the problems they are having in their business. They were complaining that it is tough to get employees to show up on time, do their job even when the boss isn't watching, call in when they are sick or going to be late, be courteous to customers and so on. The list went on and on.

I stepped back for a moment and thought about who is it that sets this all up? Who is it that really trains these employees as to what is expected? It's the manager. So with that in mind, if you were hiring a new manager, what would be the most important qualities you'd look for? Would you want to have someone with good communication and relationship skills along with the ability to motivate, manage and solve problems? How about qualities such as honesty, integrity, moral courage, accountability and fairness? Would you also want the manager to have a high level of demonstrated knowledge and competence in the business you are all about?

What if you found someone that not only was an accomplished manager in the areas of your business but also had a history of successful business accomplishments? Would that make that person an ideal candidate? Now let's jump on the other side. What if you found someone that was a pitbull of a manager who made lots of money for the companies they were involved with but was lacking in all of the character qualities mentioned. They were demanding, temperamental, high strung, always on edge and were just downright rude and/or nasty to others around them. They do whatever it takes to get ahead, including making some unethical decisions but did them in the name of getting to that next level within the business. They were the type of person that was not liked by employees but they did what was needed to be done to make more money for the company. Their numbers they produced did not lie. Would you hire that person over the other person?

My point I'm trying to make is that who you hire says a lot about your company. Warren Buffet said, In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you.

Since it's easier to train a person of good character to do a job well than it is to develop character in a skilled but unprincipled person, if you had to choose, would you hire people in your company for character and train for skills?

I shared these points with the people at the meeting and emphasized that your business will get better when the people in your business get better. Your sales will get better when your sales people get better. Your customer service will get better when your people doing customer service get better. Your employees get better when managers supervising them get better. In fact, kids will get better when parents get better. And parents will get better when husbands and wives get better. Do you get the theme here?

A sidebar to this post is that 3 people after the meeting hired me to come in and train their managers and employees in ethics in the workplace. Pretty cool!

Source: http://ethics.ducttapemarketing.com/2006/07/who_would_you_w.html


Monday, July 17, 2006

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The first one who does this in your market is going to win big. It might as well be you!

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Saturday, July 15, 2006

"Kids Today" Articles in Stanford Magazine

The July/August issue of Stanford Magazine contains a marvelous collection of articles about “Kids Today.” If you have a kid, you must read it. If you know anyone with a kid, you should send it to them. Certainly every mommy blogger should link to it!

Here is a partial list of the articles:
Growing Concerns” Six faculty experts weigh in on aimless adolescents, media messages, and why raising kids really does take a village.
“Good Sports” A veteran youth coach says a winning record has nothing to do with scores. By Brian Doyle
“Put to the Test” Who is right about education reform? Two views on No Child Left Behind.


Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/guykawasaki/Gypm/~3/http%3A%2F%2Fblog.guykawasaki.com%2F2006%2F07%2Fkids_today_arti.html

Thursday, July 06, 2006

The "Killer" Interview Question

By: Harry Joiner, Management Recruiter

Did you know that an ostrich's eye is bigger than it's brain? Yep. And they probably have a better eye for management talent than many companies.

All management recruiters are in the business of trying to help companies get their arms around what Peter Drucker believed was the final frontier in competitive advantage: Attracting, hiring and growing great people. So much has been written on the subject -- yet so many companies get it wrong, which is why it's still a reliable source of competitive advantage.

And it's not like I have all of the answers. But I do read old-school management books by guys you may have never heard of. Like Richard Sloma -- who wrote No Nonsense Management way back in 1977. Mr. Sloma had a cult following among management students who enjoyed his clear, unvarnished way of handling issues. In particular, Mr. Sloma had a knack for distilling complex issues down to one or two key points.

The Killer Interview Question

For example, Mr. Sloma had ONE, single job interview question that he used for learning almost everything you need to know about an interviewee's managerial competence. Are you ready? Here it is ...

What was the worst mistake you ever made; and what was the worst damage you did to your employer's P&L and balance sheet?

According to Mr. Sloma, you immediately learn four critical things about a candidate from his or her answer:

  1. The magnitude of the mistake directly identifies the level that the candidate had in his employer's hierarchy. Mr. Sloma always reasoned that candidates cannot make big mistakes at low levels.
  2. The magnitude also demonstrates the extent to which leadership was exercised.
  3. Since few people repeat a mistake once made, you learn the depth of experience gained by the interviewee.
  4. Finally, the elaboration in the answer reveals character traits -- especially the extent to which the mistake was palmed off as someone else's fault.


All of this makes perfect sense. Executives who get great results often lead great, big projects -- and the bigger the project, the bigger the risk. And sooner or later, even the most successful executives are bound to taste failure.

It's like my dad used to tell me: Sometimes you gotta go out on a limb because that's where the best fruit is.

Source: http://recruiter.ducttapemarketing.com/2006/07/the_killer_inte.html

Online applications for hourly jobs skyrocket!

The Internet is now the preferred application method among hourly job-seekers, according to new research announced by Unicru Inc.


Read article.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Exit Interview Questions!

Here are some typical interview questions being included on exit surveys and depending on the answers, most surveys include follow-up questions that hone in on specifics:

  1. Did you find your new job or did it find you?
  2. Were you satisfied with your compensation and benefits?
  3. How did you feel about your supervisor?
  4. How did you feel about the working relationships you had with members of your team?
  5. Did you work give you a sense of accomplishment?
  6. Are there things we could have done to make your job more fulfilling?
  7. Did you feel you had opportunities to expand your knowledge and learning?
  8. What are some things you would address that are problems in the workplace?
  9. What competencies do you feel were required to do your job and did you have them?
  10. What did you like about your job? What did you dislike about your job?
  11. If there were an opportunity to return, would you do that?

New Hire Questionnaire

Download my New Hire Questionnaire here.

End Your Recruiting Problems … Without Spending a Dime!

Almost everyone now realizes that the so-called "next war for talent" is already well under way. In some industries it has only recently heated up, while in other areas, like health care, law enforcement and construction, the battle to attract top talent has been ongoing for years. Making the fight even more difficult is the fact that budgets in most recruiting departments have been cut to the point where there is no extra money to try new recruiting approaches. But here’s the secret: If you want to attract the very best talent, it doesn’t take a lot of money or technology. All it takes is the courage to try something new. So if you’re looking for almost foolproof no-cost recruiting tools, here some of the ones used by leading firms.

Read more here.