Quote of the Week 4/6/11
Here’s a two-step plan to have happy employees:
1) Find some happy people. 2) Hire them.
Posted in Employee Relations, Pick, Quotes.
– April 6, 2011
Innoculating Against Healthcare
When the spirit of our country moves from leaving citizens alone, so they can at least try to be happy – to grabbing whatever we can, to be sure we all get what’s coming to us – then we share the mentality of peasants storming a castle. The election results are in. The actual results are not.
Time to look in on the health care monstrosity. We don’t need to review my opinion about how fundamentally wrong I believe this is. That would be repetitive. We can now witness what is actually happening as this outrage begins crushing its way into our lives.
Continued…
Posted in Compensation, Employee Relations, Reviewed.
– November 17, 2010
Quote of The Week 10/06/10
Now that you’ve found someone who can think outside of the box, do you have any idea what to do with him? – Ted Dieck
Posted in Employee Relations, Quotes, Reviewed.
– October 6, 2010
Surprising Price Of Pay Pressure
How can I talk about pay pressure when there’s no earnings movement in sight? Well, when the pressure’s on, money isn’t the only thing that moves. Talent moves, too.
Do you wonder if maybe I’ve got the pay thing wrong?
I talk about rising pay pressures, and yet I also write about employers low-balling candidates.
So which is it? Is pay going up, or is pay going down?
First, I’ll give you the technical answer. (Which is “Yes, it’s going up.”)
Then I’ll give you a really cool perspective. You can decide for yourself what you see.
Continued…
Posted in Compensation, Reviewed.
– September 4, 2010
Ethan Allen Consolidates and Automates
Here’s another company that made big cuts early, reinvesting in technology to make up the difference. Note: In each of our examples, we are only now seeing the results and benefits of work that began more than a year ago.
Here’s a link to Jim Cramer’s excellent interview with Ethan Allen (ETH 15.34) CEO Farrooq Kathwari on July 29, 2010:
Cramer – Kathwari interview video
Mr. Kathwari began the interview by describing the crushing collapse of business in the Great Recession. Of course, layoffs were inevitable. And being a vertically integrated company, the setbacks were even more brutal.
We have seen many companies react badly during this period, kicking everything into neutral, and trying to hunker down until the beatings stopped. In a sea of indecision and negativity, few had the willpower or foresight to do much more than cut costs and hold on tight.
This is not Mr. Kathwari’s style. Continued…
Posted in Companies, Reviewed.
– August 2, 2010
Business Development Update
Want to win your next project before it even goes out to bid? Relationship marketing puts you in the game earlier, and at a higher level.
My take on this market: There is work; and there is money to pay for it. You have four months to make friends. Continued…
Posted in Business Development, Reviewed, Special Report.
– June 29, 2010
Quote of the Week 06/25/10
We have plenty of cash. I just can’t find anything to invest it in. – CEO of a U.S. small business.
– June 25, 2010
Learning From Your CAT
Powering Up in a Down Market? These Guys Are Good.
Now, don’t zone out on me, here. This is a heck of a story. Caterpillar was supposed to be dead. Instead, in this sloppy market, they’re paying a higher dividend:
Caterpillar announced a 5% dividend increase on 6/9/2010, moving the August 20 distribution from $0.42 per share to $0.44 per share (for shareholders of record on July 20.)
Still with me? Paying out a bigger dividend isn’t just a nice way to get rid of all that spare money. Exactly one day earlier, Caterpillar released their updated Vision 2020 Strategy. The goals and strategy are, shall we say, aggressive.
To me, the Strategy said, “We’re going to dominate.” The dividend boost said, “And we’ve got the power to do it.”
If you want to see how a winning team addresses a murky market and an indecisive future, just read the Press Release. It’s pretty invigorating:
Caterpillar Announces Updated Strategy
Wait, Wasn’t Everything Slowing Down?
We’ll skip over the stories about how terrible everything in the world is supposed to be, and simply observe here that CAT stock is up 100% from July last year. Continued…
Posted in Companies, Reviewed.
– June 20, 2010
Quote of the Week
“Historically, in dark times, we’ve always just charged ahead, because there was always light somewhere out in front of us. Now, we’re charging ahead because that’s what we’ve always done.” – Senior Plant Manager
– June 11, 2010
