You hate your job. The hours aren’t right, the work isn’t stimulating, and you feel there are no growth opportunities. Your new hero is Marina Shifrin and you play her epic resignation video over and over again in the hopes that you: 1) can get up the courage to quit, and 2) you can acquire some of those dance moves.
While going out Shifrin-style may seem like a good idea – it isn’t. Yes Shifrin’s video has gone viral and has gotten more than 15 million views in 10 days, but can you execute those dance moves? Let’s face it – you can’t. And even if you could, you’d be seen as a follower – not an innovator.
So what are you to do?
If you are truly miserable in your job start by determining why you feel this way. Is it the position itself? The company? The industry? The hours? The work-life balance? Depending upon the answers to these questions it is possible that you could schedule a meeting with you boss or with HR to discuss your concerns. Perhaps there are changes that could be made within your current position, or maybe you could be transferred to another division.
If, when you get right down to it, you feel it is time to say good-bye, say good-bye tactfully. So how to quit your job? While going out in a blaze of glory may seem like a good idea, the fire that blaze creates – it burns bridges.
So, when it is time to quit – be prepared to give at least two-weeks notice and leave on a positive note. The world is small. Plus, you don’t want to leave the door open for your boss to one-up you.
Vacations are going the way of the dinosaur. I say – bring the vacation back.
The Center for Economic and Policy and research released a report in May on vacations – or lack thereof. It turns out that the United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its employees paid time off. That is right; the US is the only advanced economy that does not legally require employers to give employees either paid vacation time or paid holidays. Given there are no legal requirements, what percentage of private sector employees receive paid time off? Seventy-seven percent of employees receive paid vacation time, and seventy-seven percent of employees receive paid holidays. Not surprisingly the higher the wage the employee receives, the more likely they are to receive time off. Specifically, half of low-wage workers typically receive paid time off whereas more than 90 percent of high-wage workers receive paid time off.
Harris Interactive reports that people like the idea of more time off. Specifically, 50 percent of workers who receive paid vacation time in the top 10 cities in the US say they would be willing to sacrifice a workplace benefit for more paid time off. Ironically, although employees say they want more time off, 57 percent don’t take off the time they already receive. In fact, each year there are 175 million vacation days which American workers are entitled to which are not taken.
So what about that vacation?
Those who do actually use their time off don’t spend the time unplugged. A recent survey by Pertino found that 59 percent of Americans regularly work, check email, take a phone call, and do other work related tasks while on vacation. Surprisingly, 47 percent of those surveyed reported that they are less stressed on vacation if they can stay connected to the office.
Are you one of the 36 percent who are conducting business from the beach?
The reality is that taking a true vacation is important to both physical and mental health. Taking time off is better for work performance and productivity. For example, a 2011 Harvard Medical School study found that sleep deprivation costs American companies $63.2 billion a year in lost productivity. Ernst & Young offers another example. In 2006 the company conducted an internal study of its employees and found that for each additional 10 hours of vacation employees took, their year-end performance ratings from supervisors (on a scale of one to five) improved by 8 percent. What’s more – retention rates were significantly higher among vacationers.
Security is another reason why employers encourage employees to unplug while on vacation. The Pertino survey found that 77 percent of those who work on their vacation do not have access to their office network. Because of this employees use unsanctioned or unsecured cloud services (32 percent) and/or bring their work computers and files with them on vacation (35 percent). Public Wi-Fi hotspots are commonly used by vacationers, creating an opportunity for data, credentials, etc. to be stolen.
Vacations, true vacations, are endangered. Let’s work to bring them back.
Breaking Bad, AMC’s award-winning drama, is dark, violent, gritty – and it offers 9 essential business lessons.
1. Don’t cut corners; quality is paramount
Look, I like making cherry product, but let’s keep it real, alright? We make poison for people who don’t care. We probably have the most unpicky customers in the world.
You can make a million excuses as to why cutting corners is ok, but the reality is that cutting corners is not okay. Quality has a direct impact on your company’s productivity, profitability, costs, image, and customer satisfaction. Strive not to meet your customers’ expectations, but to exceed them.
2. Know your competition
While it is unlikely that knowing your competition is a matter of life and death as it is for anti-hero Walter White, it is necessary that you know who your competition is, what they are up to, and gain a competitive advantage. The company that is consistently first to the marketplace and is the best in the marketplace is the one that is noticed by customers.
3. Create strategic partnerships
You asked me if I was in the meth business or the money business. Neither. I am in the empire business.
Throughout the series, we watch Walt determine which partnership(s) will best serve to further his empire and then he does whatever necessary to establish those partnerships. Walt takes things to extreme, but he does offer a lesson – strategic partnerships are an essential component to a successful business.
If you are interested in learning how to choose a potential partner – you can check out a previous post I wrote on Find[ing] Your Perfect Outsource Mate.
4. Stick to what you know
Look. Let’s start with some tough love. You two suck at peddling meth. Period.
It is important to know and respect your core competencies. As I wrote previously, you need to determine your company’s core competencies and how you can deliver the best value to your customers. Are there services at which your company does not excel, or non-critical services which could be carried out more efficiently/effectively if the service were outsourced? If so, you may want to think about outsourcing.
5. Right person, right position
You may know a lot about chemistry man, but you don’t know jack about slangin’ dope.
Want to be the best? Make sure you hire the best and that you have the right person in the right position. This means instilling a rigorous performance plan and communicating with employees. This also means thinking outside the box – moving people within the company, hiring from outside the industry, and even firing people.
6. Establish a culture of innovation
Innovation is essential to Walt’s quest to establish an empire. While I don’t condone Walt’s murderous and vindictive actions, the guy does think out of the box and does recognize an innovative idea when he sees one.
A culture of innovation is essential to a successful business. Establish a culture that encourages employees to aspire to innovation and rewards innovation.
7. Have a contingency plan
Did you not plan for this contingency?
It is important that you not just have a risk management strategy for the big events, but that you also have a plan in place to deal with the everyday events that are more likely to occur.
8. Learn from your mistakes
Never make the same mistake twice.
Mistakes happen and, as James Joyce points out -“Mistakes are the portal of discovery.” That being said, learn from mistakes, do not repeat them.
9. Motivate your employees
I don’t believe fear to be an effective motivator.
An Inc. article astutely points out: “When you think about it, the success of any facet of your business can almost always be traced back to motivated employees. From productivity and profitability to recruiting and retention, hardworking and happy employees lead to triumph.”
This post is written by our Marketing Analyst Intern, James Kane. James is a senior at the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore School of Business and Economics.
A recent article by Patrick Burson in Logistics Management discussed the use of 3PL providers. The article noted that 86 percent of domestic Fortune 500 companies use 3PLs for logistics and supply chain functions, and that the average customer utilizes multiple 3PLs. For example, companies such as General Motors, Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart each use at least 50 3PLs.
I decided to take a closer look at the use of multiple 3PLs. What I discovered is that companies utilize multiple 3PLs to minimize risk, and to maximize efficiency and revenue; the decision to engage each 3PL is strategic.
What do 3PLs think about the use of multiple 3PLs? It turns out the majority are ok with it. A growing number of 3PLs see value in companies working with more than one 3PL. A Market Insight Survey found that 51.2 percent of 3PLs polled believe customers should have more than one service provider. Thirty-nine percent of respondents reported that they feel customers should work with just one 3PL and 9.8 percent reported that outsourcing strategies should depend upon the customer and the scope of the venture.
I’m interested. With how many 3PLs does your company engage?
This post is written by our Marketing Analyst Intern, James Kane. James is a senior at the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore School of Business and Economics.
Truck drivers are in short supply. This has had, and will continue to have an impact the logistics and supply chain industry. Here’s how to leverage this challenging time.
The 24th Annual State of Logistics Report reported that there is currently a truck driver shortage of 30,000. With the new HOS regulations, this number will increase. The Report predicts the shortage to increase to 115,000 by 2016. The driver shortage has resulted in an increase in truckload prices and a decrease in the percentage of on time deliveries. 3PL providers are taxed – they are working around the clock to meet the needs of their clients. The question is – can you and your 3PL provider ride out the storm together? Or is it time to move on?
First, it is important for your company to acknowledge the driver shortage and its impact. Next, open the lines of communication with you 3PL provider. Let them know you want to determine how you can best work together. Once you have opened the lines of communication – keep them open. Make sure that you establish a transparent 24/7 tracing system – a system through which both you and your 3PL provider know what is going on and where everything is.
Communication and transparency will enable your 3PL provider to better serve your company. Additionally, it enables both you and the 3PL provider to identify issues and address – quickly.
If you and your 3PL are able to work together through the implementation of the HOS regulations and driver shortages – great. If you find that issues are continually cropping up and/or are not being addressed quickly enough, it may be time to find a new 3PL provider.
