Exit Interviews

Ok, quick everyone!  What is an exit interview?   How many times have you left a job, and the employer did an exit interview, either at the time of leaving or at a later date?  How many people have ever been contacted by a third party to do an exit interview.  

The cost of replacing an employee is extremely high.  I have heard 1 year of the person’s salary.  That is a real  bottom line issue.  That includes the cost of searching for and training a replacement employee.

There is another cost as well, the cost of employees that have left that really didn’t need to.  Good employees. Loyal employees. Brand sensitive employees.  Is there something in your corporate culture that is driving away good employees.  Corporate culture exists even in a small organization. 

Not everyone leaves a position for negative reasons.  People move, are recruited to another position, have live style changes. All their experience and opinions about their place of work are valuable to the employer.

Are there really good things happening at your organization?  Do you know about them?  You could have a gold mine that you don’t even think about.

In my opinion, having a 3rd party do the interview is the best option. and doing it online often  gives the employee the ability to be more candid in their opinions.  However, the flip side of that, is sometimes a one on one interview leads to more productive results.

Listen to your employees.

 

 

 

 

Sponsorship vs Advertising

September is upon us, and this is the time of year many of us start  looking at  their Marketing Calendar for 2014.  Do you have a Marketing Calendar?  Do you follow it?

The world of advertising has changed significantly.  Although we are more aware of it,  as a result of being bombarded by ads on the internet, people are more confused than ever before.   And when they’re confused, most people do nothing. 

Few small to medium size businesses have the time to develop an adequate Marketing Calendar, and research all the advertising options on the market.

That is why many of the larger companies have developed a Sponsorship strategy, as a way of targeting the people they want to reach.  And its not just one ad in a print publication, one  fleeting internet ad.  It is cost effective and it is long lasting.

Sponsorships can give a small company the same exposure as a large company.    Whether it’s a local  performing arts group, a local chamber, or sponsoring a  conference, your name and your logo can be predominately displayed  in places  your customers see.  Throwing thousands of dollars on media advertising can be wasted, or at least not measured. Sponsorship gives you long lasting presence in the community, and directly helps the community.    So the next time you see someone’s logo, think about the last advertising you did, and compare the longevity of the two.

 

 

Reblog of Bob Bly : by permission

Confession time: I am an inferior human being … meaning I come
up short in almost every category by which people are measured.

Every day, I look around and see people who are more athletic
than me … better-looking … taller … smarter … thinner … kinder …
more personable … wealthier … healthier … more well-adjusted …
even funnier.

Whatever I do professionally – copywriting, book writing,
speaking, information marketing, consulting – there are others
who are more successful and make much more money at it than I do
(though in one of these vocations not many others and not that
much more money).

How do I live with myself knowing that I am so inferior?

The secret is that you can be lousy at 99.9% of things and still
have a happy and successful life – at long as you are good at
just a few or perhaps even only one thing.

As far as I know, Paul Simon is good at only music. He’s
certainly not the biggest, strongest, or best-looking guy on the
block.

Also, most fans listening to his music would agree that Paul
Simon doesn’t have the best voice and isn’t the greatest singer
in the world.

But Paul Simon has enough people who like his songs and his
singing to give him a lucrative and successful music career.

You do not have to be the best there is at what you do to make a
great living at it. SR is a great example.

SR is a professional stand-up comic who decided to make the
transition to more lucrative performing as a corporate
motivational speaker.

I have heard SR do both comedy and speaking. He is not the
funniest comic I have ever heard. He is not the best
motivational speaker I have ever heard.

But he IS the funniest motivational speaker I have ever heard.
So he makes a great living speaking for meeting planners who
want a motivational speaker who can also make their audience
laugh.

What most people don’t realize is that you don’t have to possess
nearly as many fans as Paul Simon to make a lot of money and
live well from your work.

I think it was Seth Godin who observed that if you have just
10,000 fans, you can make a great living and have a successful
career.

For instance, if you have an e-list with 10,000 subscribers, and
can convince each to spend just $100 a year with you, you will
gross annual sales of a million dollars.

Ten thousand people are hardly a big fan base; Bon Jovi probably
has millions of fans. You do not need a huge fan base to succeed
at whatever it is you do.

If you are a freelance copywriter, and tomorrow 10% of the
Fortune 500 wanted you to write copy for them, you would be
overwhelmed and could not handle a fraction of the workload.

You simply do not need every company out there to consider you
the top copywriter. You only need a few who like what you do
well enough to want you to work on their promotions.

And even those few companies do not have to consider you the
“best” at what you do. They simply have to feel that your
service is a good fit for what they want.

Years ago, when I did some consulting work for Dow Chemical,
they shared with me that they were producing 778 print ads,
brochures, catalogs, press releases, data sheets, and other
marketing documents that year.

If you were a copywriter back then and Dow was your only client,
they could keep you busy and profitable round the clock – and do
the same for ten other copywriters at the same time. And that’s
just one client.

So if it helps you, I want you to know:

1-You can be middling to poor at most things and still have a
successful life and career.

2-You don’t even have to be the best at what you ARE good at to
have a successful life and career. You just have to offer
something that other people want.

3-You don’t have to have throngs of admirers. In many instances
10,000 fans, 100 customers, or 10 clients or less can keep you
busy and profitable all year long.

If all this is of some comfort to you, and stops you from
fretting about what you think are your shortcomings, then I have
achieved my goal for this e-mail.

Sincerely,
Bob Bly
Copywriter / Consultant
590 Delcina Drive
River Vale, NJ 07675
Phone 201-505-9451
Fax 201-573-4094
http://www.bly.com

Clinton Foundation Press Release, May 16, 2013 In Peru. Chapiki, a venture of the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership was launched in January to recruit local female entrepreneurs to sell consigned goods in their own communities. This new pledge from Nestle and Proctor & Gamble will create life changing income opportunities for these women, many of whom are single heads of households. Nestle and Procter and Gamble will also provide nutrition and hygiene training for entrepreneurs, enabling them to add value in the sale of these products within their communities.
Great work! I look forward to my trips to Central America to mentor female entrepreneurs. Need a hand Bill?
I recently posted this on my facebook page but I feel the need to report it here as well in case it gets lost. Women entrepreneurs world wide do what they have to do. Thank you to Nestle and Procter & Gamble, and the Partnership for their efforts.

Rutgers – another Workplace Bully

The newly chosen coach for the Rutgers University apparently has a history – and one that is not pretty. The members of her team a few years ago believed they were subjected to Workplace Bullying, and performed a  very brave action by sending a letter to complain. Congratulations go to them for that!  It is on file, and long after the targets have gone their separate ways, the report is still available. The same bullying behaviour against her former assistant, is also part of a pattern. Gov. Christie is looking into this hiring, and lets hope he too has the courage to investigate this situation thoroughly,  I would be happy to assist him with my book.  I will be writing directly to him next.  Only 4 % of bullying gets reported to HR or anyone for that matter.  Most people don’t even tell their friends and family because they are ashamed and feel guilty.  Bullies target the strong and they have not done anything wrong. Anyone who has been bullied owes it to themselves, and to others who follow to take an action, and not suffer in silence.

 

 

 

EKWEE – East Kootenay Women Executives and Entrepreneurs

In the new year, a new women in business organization networking group will be formed.
For more information contact Bev Campbell at 778-481-4883 or bgcampbell@shaw.ca.
This will not be industry specific -i.e. only one representative per industry. Looking for founding board members.

Workplace Bullying: The Big Picture

Facebook page for Empoowed Employees Initiative Launced

Reality T V worse than Violent Content

On a newscast recently I saw a story where a football player was injured and laying on the field and the crowd of 70,000 people cheered. The surrounding comments discussed how social media with no repercussions was partly responsible for this outrageous behaviour.. Although I don’t disagree with the social media comments, I believe that reality programs where people get their entertainment by watching other people being hurt, their feelings being hurt, and made mockery of are the real culprits.  I remember when the comments about the trash being shown on TV would ruin personal values.   Then the first reality programing came along, and it seemed to be a cheap way to produce a program.  And people watched, and watched.  Social values we have tried so hard to maintain are being destroyed, and cruelty and bad behaviour seems to to have become acceptable, even in the workplace.  We really need to find a way of changing these attitudes.