Friday, October 29, 2004
Taking Humor Seriously in the Workplace
By Steven M. Sultanoff, Ph.D.
"How serious can we be about humor in the workplace, and how
humorous can we be about the seriousness we often find there?
According to a Robert Haft International 1985 survey only 15% of
workers are fired because of lack of competence. The remaining 85%
are let go because of their inability to get along with fellow
employees. When asked about the qualities of an effective employee,
senior administrators and human relations personnel check humor as
one of the choice attributes of a desired employee."
Full article at:
http://www.humormatters.com/articles/workplac.htm
"How serious can we be about humor in the workplace, and how
humorous can we be about the seriousness we often find there?
According to a Robert Haft International 1985 survey only 15% of
workers are fired because of lack of competence. The remaining 85%
are let go because of their inability to get along with fellow
employees. When asked about the qualities of an effective employee,
senior administrators and human relations personnel check humor as
one of the choice attributes of a desired employee."
Full article at:
http://www.humormatters.com/articles/workplac.htm
Learning by Numbers: The Thinkers 50
Here is a list of the top 50 management and leadership gurus and
thinkers.
If you click this link to get a brief explination of each of the
thinkers:
http://www.thinkers50.com/
"Thinkers 50", a ranking of the Top 50 management gurus at:
http://www.thinkers50.com/
Accenture's take on the Top 50 at: http://tinyurl.com/5eyeg
and Financial Times (FT) has their own take...
http://news.ft.com/jobs/businessed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Thinkers 50
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 Peter DRUCKER
2 Michael PORTER
3 Tom PETERS
4 Gary HAMEL
5 Charles HANDY
6 Philip KOTLER
7 Henry MINTZBERG
8 Jack WELCH
9 Rosabeth MOSS KANTER
10 Jim COLLINS
11 Sumantra GHOSHAL
12 CK PRAHALAD
13 Warren BENNIS
14 Peter SENGE
15 Robert KAPLAN & David NORTON
16 Stephen COVEY
17 Edgar H SCHEIN
18 Chris ARGYRIS
19 Kenichi OHMAE
20 Bill GATES
21 Kjell NORDSTROM & Jonas RIDDERSTRALE
22 Clayton CHRISTENSEN
23 John KOTTER
24 Nicholas NEGROPONTE
25 Jim CHAMPY
26 Andy GROVE
27 Scott ADAMS
28 Richard PASCALE
29 Daniel GOLEMAN
30 Naomi KLEIN
31 Chan KIM & Renee MAUBORGNE
32 Don TAPSCOTT
33 Michael DELL
34 Richard BRANSON
35 Edward DE BONO
36 Ricardo SEMLER
37 Thomas A. STEWART
38 Geoffrey MOORE
39 Jeff BEZOS
40 Paul KRUGMAN
41 Lynda GRATTON
42 Alan GREENSPAN
43 Manfred KETS DE VRIES
44 Robert WATERMAN
45 Watts WACKER
46 Patrick DIXON
47 Geert HOFSTEDE
48 DON PEPPERS
49 Stan DAVIS
50 Fons TROMPENAARS
thinkers.
If you click this link to get a brief explination of each of the
thinkers:
http://www.thinkers50.com/
"Thinkers 50", a ranking of the Top 50 management gurus at:
http://www.thinkers50.com/
Accenture's take on the Top 50 at: http://tinyurl.com/5eyeg
and Financial Times (FT) has their own take...
http://news.ft.com/jobs/businessed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Thinkers 50
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 Peter DRUCKER
2 Michael PORTER
3 Tom PETERS
4 Gary HAMEL
5 Charles HANDY
6 Philip KOTLER
7 Henry MINTZBERG
8 Jack WELCH
9 Rosabeth MOSS KANTER
10 Jim COLLINS
11 Sumantra GHOSHAL
12 CK PRAHALAD
13 Warren BENNIS
14 Peter SENGE
15 Robert KAPLAN & David NORTON
16 Stephen COVEY
17 Edgar H SCHEIN
18 Chris ARGYRIS
19 Kenichi OHMAE
20 Bill GATES
21 Kjell NORDSTROM & Jonas RIDDERSTRALE
22 Clayton CHRISTENSEN
23 John KOTTER
24 Nicholas NEGROPONTE
25 Jim CHAMPY
26 Andy GROVE
27 Scott ADAMS
28 Richard PASCALE
29 Daniel GOLEMAN
30 Naomi KLEIN
31 Chan KIM & Renee MAUBORGNE
32 Don TAPSCOTT
33 Michael DELL
34 Richard BRANSON
35 Edward DE BONO
36 Ricardo SEMLER
37 Thomas A. STEWART
38 Geoffrey MOORE
39 Jeff BEZOS
40 Paul KRUGMAN
41 Lynda GRATTON
42 Alan GREENSPAN
43 Manfred KETS DE VRIES
44 Robert WATERMAN
45 Watts WACKER
46 Patrick DIXON
47 Geert HOFSTEDE
48 DON PEPPERS
49 Stan DAVIS
50 Fons TROMPENAARS
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Chick-fil-A's Recipe for Customer Service
Not all fast food chains are fast companies. Chick-fil-A is an
exception.
by Chuck Salter
All too often, top-notch fast-food service is an oxymoron, like having high tea at a NASCAR race. Speed is the top priority, a strategy that produces high volume, but leads to notoriously inconsistent, impersonal, and uninspired interaction with customers.
Chick-fil-A is different. Its staff focuses on being swift and
attentive. For the past two years, the Atlanta-based chain was named
"best drive-through in America" by the quick-service restaurant trade
journal QSR.
President and chief operating officer Dan Cathy infuses everyone from
franchise owner-operators to teenagers earning $9 an hour with his
passion for service and his conviction in its intrinsic worth -- to the individual as well as the company.
As we noted in our Customers First Award to the company, customer-centered leadership is the cornerstone of Chick-fil-A's
service. Here are some of the other ideas that keep its customers coming back:
Mind your manners.
At the end of each transaction at Chick-fil-A, you don't hear,"You're
welcome," "Glad to help," or "Come back and see us." You hear these two words: "My pleasure." It's distinctive and classy, the sort of service you expect at a much fancier and expensive establishment, like Ritz Carlton, which is where Cathy says his father got the idea.
Cathy loves to add service touches that people don't expect from a
fast-food restaurant. His latest is folding the last sheet of toilet
paper into a triangular point. He believes it conveys a sense of
cleanliness and meticulousness that customers appreciate. When he or one of the operators comes up with a new twist, he promptly sends out a voicemail message to owner-operators at the nearly 1,200 locations.
Nobody sells your business like your customers.
When the chain opens a new restaurant, it goes out of its way to find
Chick-fil-A fans in the area. Regulars at other locations and people who stop by the construction site eager about the opening get invited to a special dinner the night before the official opening. After serving the crowd a free dinner, Cathy gives them 10 coupons for free meals and deputizes these "raving fans" to act as Chick-fil-A ambassadors. They promise to spread the word and hand out each coupon to a different person, someone unfamiliar with the restaurant.
If you want to race, build yourself a race car
Chick-fil-A employees strive to complete orders within 90 seconds in the drive-through window and 60 seconds at the counter. The technology behind the counter helps them get the job done; a timer on the computer monitor flashes yellow if an order is cutting it close, red if it runs over. Owners also create a sense of competitiveness among the crews. In Louisville, Kentucky, owner Chris Flanagan erected a big red "drive-through wall of fame" to motivate employees. It lists the current record (110 cars an hour) and the names of the employees who achieved it. Whenever a team sets a new mark, he rewards each member with $50.
Know what matters to customers
Every year Chick-fil-A spends more than a $1 million evaluating its
service. In addition to traditional focus groups, the company conducts a quarterly phone survey with customers from each restaurant (the incentive: a free sandwich). The 20 or so questions focus on four factors that most affect loyalty according to Chick-fil-A research: taste, speed, attentiveness and courteousness, and cleanliness. Each location receives a two-page report detailing how it's doing in each area and how it compares to the chain's top performers. In other words, what's working and what needs improving.
You can't be too thorough about hiring
The process of selecting new franchisees is so painstaking and lengthy (up to a year) that it's easier getting into the CIA, Cathy likes to joke. Applicants work in a restaurant and endure countless interviews; often, their spouses and parents get interviewed as well. Cathy wants to be sure that new operators share Chick-fil-A's corporate values. All the restaurants, for instance, are closed on Sunday, as a day of rest and worship. Operators don't necessarily have to be Christian, Cathy says, but they do have to exhibit humility, passion for service, compassion, and genuineness.
The main idea of "servant leadership," says Cathy, is that leaders serve the staff. Managers treat their employees how they want those employees, in turn, to treat customers. "If we have to keep telling people what to do, it means we're not modeling the behavior ourselves," says Cathy. "If we're living it every day, we don't need to talk about it."
~~~~~~~~~~
Copyright© 2004 Gruner + Jahr USA Publishing. All rights reserved.
exception.
by Chuck Salter
All too often, top-notch fast-food service is an oxymoron, like having high tea at a NASCAR race. Speed is the top priority, a strategy that produces high volume, but leads to notoriously inconsistent, impersonal, and uninspired interaction with customers.
Chick-fil-A is different. Its staff focuses on being swift and
attentive. For the past two years, the Atlanta-based chain was named
"best drive-through in America" by the quick-service restaurant trade
journal QSR.
President and chief operating officer Dan Cathy infuses everyone from
franchise owner-operators to teenagers earning $9 an hour with his
passion for service and his conviction in its intrinsic worth -- to the individual as well as the company.
As we noted in our Customers First Award to the company, customer-centered leadership is the cornerstone of Chick-fil-A's
service. Here are some of the other ideas that keep its customers coming back:
Mind your manners.
At the end of each transaction at Chick-fil-A, you don't hear,"You're
welcome," "Glad to help," or "Come back and see us." You hear these two words: "My pleasure." It's distinctive and classy, the sort of service you expect at a much fancier and expensive establishment, like Ritz Carlton, which is where Cathy says his father got the idea.
Cathy loves to add service touches that people don't expect from a
fast-food restaurant. His latest is folding the last sheet of toilet
paper into a triangular point. He believes it conveys a sense of
cleanliness and meticulousness that customers appreciate. When he or one of the operators comes up with a new twist, he promptly sends out a voicemail message to owner-operators at the nearly 1,200 locations.
Nobody sells your business like your customers.
When the chain opens a new restaurant, it goes out of its way to find
Chick-fil-A fans in the area. Regulars at other locations and people who stop by the construction site eager about the opening get invited to a special dinner the night before the official opening. After serving the crowd a free dinner, Cathy gives them 10 coupons for free meals and deputizes these "raving fans" to act as Chick-fil-A ambassadors. They promise to spread the word and hand out each coupon to a different person, someone unfamiliar with the restaurant.
If you want to race, build yourself a race car
Chick-fil-A employees strive to complete orders within 90 seconds in the drive-through window and 60 seconds at the counter. The technology behind the counter helps them get the job done; a timer on the computer monitor flashes yellow if an order is cutting it close, red if it runs over. Owners also create a sense of competitiveness among the crews. In Louisville, Kentucky, owner Chris Flanagan erected a big red "drive-through wall of fame" to motivate employees. It lists the current record (110 cars an hour) and the names of the employees who achieved it. Whenever a team sets a new mark, he rewards each member with $50.
Know what matters to customers
Every year Chick-fil-A spends more than a $1 million evaluating its
service. In addition to traditional focus groups, the company conducts a quarterly phone survey with customers from each restaurant (the incentive: a free sandwich). The 20 or so questions focus on four factors that most affect loyalty according to Chick-fil-A research: taste, speed, attentiveness and courteousness, and cleanliness. Each location receives a two-page report detailing how it's doing in each area and how it compares to the chain's top performers. In other words, what's working and what needs improving.
You can't be too thorough about hiring
The process of selecting new franchisees is so painstaking and lengthy (up to a year) that it's easier getting into the CIA, Cathy likes to joke. Applicants work in a restaurant and endure countless interviews; often, their spouses and parents get interviewed as well. Cathy wants to be sure that new operators share Chick-fil-A's corporate values. All the restaurants, for instance, are closed on Sunday, as a day of rest and worship. Operators don't necessarily have to be Christian, Cathy says, but they do have to exhibit humility, passion for service, compassion, and genuineness.
The main idea of "servant leadership," says Cathy, is that leaders serve the staff. Managers treat their employees how they want those employees, in turn, to treat customers. "If we have to keep telling people what to do, it means we're not modeling the behavior ourselves," says Cathy. "If we're living it every day, we don't need to talk about it."
~~~~~~~~~~
Copyright© 2004 Gruner + Jahr USA Publishing. All rights reserved.
Multiple Strategies and then Skill - or - Single Strategy,Skill, and Then Additional Strategies?
This is actually the thoughts of a Mr. Pete Blair of Tampa. I found this on the net and didnt know how to contact him n ask him if I could put this on my blog. So Mr. Blair if u read this, Im giving full credit to u, but forgive me for not being able to ask your permission.
~~~~
In today's Tampa Tribune, there is an article that brings an argument to my thinking, and I'd like others in this forum to express both their opinions, their experiences, and any research that backs up either argument.
The article in question indicates that in this county's elementary schools, students are simultaneously taught multiple strategies and are then expected to use the method or strategy they understand.
The example cited was the addition of two numbers, 37 and 46.
In strategy 1, students are taught to add the columns starting with the left most column and then adjusting that column if the next column figures exceed 9. Using this strategy, 3 + 4 = 7 and 7 + 6 = 13. Since the 13 exceeds 9, the 1 in the 13 is used to "adjust" (add to) the 7, resulting in 8. The final answer therefore is 83.
Strategy 2, which is similar to strategy 2, says to add, again from right to left, but in this case, treat the sums of individual columns as partial sums and then add those sums. Once again, 4 + 4 = 7 and the 7 goes below the "tens" column. 7 + 6 = 13 with the 3 going below the units column and the 1 going below the tens column. Adding the numbers in the tens column (7 + 1) again results in 8. Since there is only one figure (3) in the units column, the number is simply brought down resulting in a total of 83.
Strategy 3 strives to convert at least one of the original numbers to a number ending in zero because numbers ending in zero are easier to work with and are considered "friendly numbers." To achieve this, the student would be taught to add 3 to the 37 to bring it up to 40 (a friendly number), and then to subtract that same number from the 46, reducing it to 43. Adding 40 to 43 yields 83.
As a side comment, I was taught to add from right to left, carrying the tens value of numbers greater than nine into the next column and repeating this process until all columns had been added. However, that was in the pre-enlightened era, back in 1941, so you will just have to bear with me.
Here's my argument and the one which I would like feedback.
I believe, on the contrary (and based on many years of personal experience in developing industrial training), that it is more difficult to learn a skill while assimilating multiple strategies than it is to be taught a single strategy, gain experience and skill in applying it, and then to be introduced to additional strategies.
Do you agree with me or the learned ones running the Hillsborough County schools?
My second question is, "does the principle apply differently to adult learners than to children?"
If you agree or if you disagree with me, what is your rationale for doing so?
Pete Blair, Raleigh, NC and Sun City Center, FL
~~~~
In today's Tampa Tribune, there is an article that brings an argument to my thinking, and I'd like others in this forum to express both their opinions, their experiences, and any research that backs up either argument.
The article in question indicates that in this county's elementary schools, students are simultaneously taught multiple strategies and are then expected to use the method or strategy they understand.
The example cited was the addition of two numbers, 37 and 46.
In strategy 1, students are taught to add the columns starting with the left most column and then adjusting that column if the next column figures exceed 9. Using this strategy, 3 + 4 = 7 and 7 + 6 = 13. Since the 13 exceeds 9, the 1 in the 13 is used to "adjust" (add to) the 7, resulting in 8. The final answer therefore is 83.
Strategy 2, which is similar to strategy 2, says to add, again from right to left, but in this case, treat the sums of individual columns as partial sums and then add those sums. Once again, 4 + 4 = 7 and the 7 goes below the "tens" column. 7 + 6 = 13 with the 3 going below the units column and the 1 going below the tens column. Adding the numbers in the tens column (7 + 1) again results in 8. Since there is only one figure (3) in the units column, the number is simply brought down resulting in a total of 83.
Strategy 3 strives to convert at least one of the original numbers to a number ending in zero because numbers ending in zero are easier to work with and are considered "friendly numbers." To achieve this, the student would be taught to add 3 to the 37 to bring it up to 40 (a friendly number), and then to subtract that same number from the 46, reducing it to 43. Adding 40 to 43 yields 83.
As a side comment, I was taught to add from right to left, carrying the tens value of numbers greater than nine into the next column and repeating this process until all columns had been added. However, that was in the pre-enlightened era, back in 1941, so you will just have to bear with me.
Here's my argument and the one which I would like feedback.
I believe, on the contrary (and based on many years of personal experience in developing industrial training), that it is more difficult to learn a skill while assimilating multiple strategies than it is to be taught a single strategy, gain experience and skill in applying it, and then to be introduced to additional strategies.
Do you agree with me or the learned ones running the Hillsborough County schools?
My second question is, "does the principle apply differently to adult learners than to children?"
If you agree or if you disagree with me, what is your rationale for doing so?
Pete Blair, Raleigh, NC and Sun City Center, FL
Gurus Galore
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gurus Galore
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Theory-of-the-month' books, buzzwords have made millions for their creators Most offer little new insight into management, say experts.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename==thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c==Article&cid=98181264778&call_pageid=—0599119419
or
http://tinyurl.com/6lf7y
Gurus Galore
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Theory-of-the-month' books, buzzwords have made millions for their creators Most offer little new insight into management, say experts.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename==thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c==Article&cid=98181264778&call_pageid=—0599119419
or
http://tinyurl.com/6lf7y
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Cubicle Culture by Jared Sandberg
Bleeding Indicators, Other Indexes Gauge Workplace Health
by Jared Sandberg
October 20, 2004
The Wall Street Journal
The barrage of economic data coming at us with extra topspin during this election season suggests that macroeconomic figures actually mean something to the average office schlep.
In an effort to supply more relevant data about the health of your
workplace, here's my own list of Office Economic Indicators. My
apologies if they remind you a) just how badly your company is actually doing, and b) that it's time to pull out your résumé:
Really Gross Domestic Product: One of the most important quarterly
measures of a company's performance, this figure gauges increases in
output, specifically trash piling up in office garbage cans as a result of janitorial cutbacks.
Changes in the index are sometimes overlooked because of false
assumptions that the cleaning team is undergoing a temporary blip. When Allan Whitescarver, who worked at a Colorado ski resort that had fallen on tough times, noticed that the prior day's trash was still in the can, his first reaction was that it was just weird. He says he figured "maybe someone got sick in the janitorial pool." In fact, though, the resort had pared its cleaning services to once weekly, citing downward revisions in "perceived need."
Perk Deficit: Measures the drastic reduction in available workplace
assets, ranging from free food and paper products to office supplies
(seasonally adjusted to exclude September's back-to-school theft).
The numbers also take into account new limits on the number of light
bulbs that have to burn out before someone fixes them, increases in
brown-bag lunch meetings, and changes in holiday party venues. "We went from a big hotel with a night of endless shrimp," says marketing
consultant Susan Johnson, "to an in-house pot luck with a colleague
singing on the guitar."
Fudge-It Surplus: This measure of the depth of trouble a company is in is based on the number of times the management insists that it's
healthy.
Coleen Flathman was a financial analyst at a Texas bank on a buyout
binge, including the acquisition of some questionable loans, when her
employer began to attach memos to its bimonthly paychecks. The memos
"would tell different statistics about why it was such a great company," negative news reports notwithstanding, Ms. Flathman recalls. Attached for six months, they always concluded "that we did not need to worry; there were adequate funds to cover payroll." But, she notes, "a solvent company doesn't feel the need to tell you that your paycheck won't bounce."
After the bank started providing the memos, Grousing Starts and
Disinterest Rates spiked. "People started leaving left and right," Ms. Flathman says. (See also Bleeding Economic Indicator.)
Disposable Personnel Nincompoops: This real-time index gauges the
inventory of idiots-on-hand. Applicable to all industries, the DPN
measures people's stupidity as indicated by everything from their
suggestion-box entries to their PowerPoint presentations.
Downticks in the index, though rare, suggest that despite all odds,
smarter heads have actually prevailed. When Robbie Jennings worked for a hospital, its chief financial officer proposed to reduce the number of ply in the toilet paper from three to one. At that point the chief operating officer raised his hand and said, "If we go from three-ply to one-ply, I'm outta here," recalls Ms. Jennings.
Bleeding Economic Indicator: Charts the departure of key personnel,
giving extra weight to the lameness of a former executive's new job and excuses about wanting to spend more time with the family.
When Bob Cly was an Air Force contracting officer, he witnessed the
problem every time word spread that certain projects wouldn't be funded. "Everybody who could jumped ship right away," he says. "It was the most depressing thing you can imagine."
But an associated index -- the Parking Availability Index -- can rise, too. When that happens, says Mr. Cly, "I have no problem getting the very best parking space."
No-Confidence Index: This measure emerged to track the rise and fall of company T-shirt production during an era when a company initiative, product or trade show wasn't an initiative, product or trade show without its own T-shirt. The past four years have seen the lowest NCI in the postwar era. "No one seems to wear company clothes anymore," says Suzanne Ambiel, a competitive analyst for a major technology company.
A downward trend in the NCI frequently tracks closely with the Office
Park Agricultural Index, which weighs the ratio of costly annuals to
cheaper perennials. "Many campuses went to geraniums, which are
self-seeding, from pansies and snapdragons," she says.
Underemployment Index: Tracks the number of fliers on the office
bulletin board from employees who are seeking to moonlight in order to make ends meet. The fliers solicit new clients for such services as notarizing documents, in-home child care and scrapbooking. "You know, selling stickers or scrapbook lessons," says Ms. Ambiel. "You can become a franchisee for a scrapbook-supply company."
----
Sharky's add on :
This should include:
Caffeine Allocation Ratio (CAR) : The word 'ratio' is actually a
misnomer, as this indicator is actually presented as a graph where the X-axis measures the average % Volume Utilisation of each cup of coffee dispensed by office coffee machines, and the Y-axis measures the % (of total) buttons on the same machines for different varieties of coffee that actually work.
In times of growth, points representing CAR for individsual companies
when plotted on the graph are known to cluster around the top right
corner, and so on...
by Jared Sandberg
October 20, 2004
The Wall Street Journal
The barrage of economic data coming at us with extra topspin during this election season suggests that macroeconomic figures actually mean something to the average office schlep.
In an effort to supply more relevant data about the health of your
workplace, here's my own list of Office Economic Indicators. My
apologies if they remind you a) just how badly your company is actually doing, and b) that it's time to pull out your résumé:
Really Gross Domestic Product: One of the most important quarterly
measures of a company's performance, this figure gauges increases in
output, specifically trash piling up in office garbage cans as a result of janitorial cutbacks.
Changes in the index are sometimes overlooked because of false
assumptions that the cleaning team is undergoing a temporary blip. When Allan Whitescarver, who worked at a Colorado ski resort that had fallen on tough times, noticed that the prior day's trash was still in the can, his first reaction was that it was just weird. He says he figured "maybe someone got sick in the janitorial pool." In fact, though, the resort had pared its cleaning services to once weekly, citing downward revisions in "perceived need."
Perk Deficit: Measures the drastic reduction in available workplace
assets, ranging from free food and paper products to office supplies
(seasonally adjusted to exclude September's back-to-school theft).
The numbers also take into account new limits on the number of light
bulbs that have to burn out before someone fixes them, increases in
brown-bag lunch meetings, and changes in holiday party venues. "We went from a big hotel with a night of endless shrimp," says marketing
consultant Susan Johnson, "to an in-house pot luck with a colleague
singing on the guitar."
Fudge-It Surplus: This measure of the depth of trouble a company is in is based on the number of times the management insists that it's
healthy.
Coleen Flathman was a financial analyst at a Texas bank on a buyout
binge, including the acquisition of some questionable loans, when her
employer began to attach memos to its bimonthly paychecks. The memos
"would tell different statistics about why it was such a great company," negative news reports notwithstanding, Ms. Flathman recalls. Attached for six months, they always concluded "that we did not need to worry; there were adequate funds to cover payroll." But, she notes, "a solvent company doesn't feel the need to tell you that your paycheck won't bounce."
After the bank started providing the memos, Grousing Starts and
Disinterest Rates spiked. "People started leaving left and right," Ms. Flathman says. (See also Bleeding Economic Indicator.)
Disposable Personnel Nincompoops: This real-time index gauges the
inventory of idiots-on-hand. Applicable to all industries, the DPN
measures people's stupidity as indicated by everything from their
suggestion-box entries to their PowerPoint presentations.
Downticks in the index, though rare, suggest that despite all odds,
smarter heads have actually prevailed. When Robbie Jennings worked for a hospital, its chief financial officer proposed to reduce the number of ply in the toilet paper from three to one. At that point the chief operating officer raised his hand and said, "If we go from three-ply to one-ply, I'm outta here," recalls Ms. Jennings.
Bleeding Economic Indicator: Charts the departure of key personnel,
giving extra weight to the lameness of a former executive's new job and excuses about wanting to spend more time with the family.
When Bob Cly was an Air Force contracting officer, he witnessed the
problem every time word spread that certain projects wouldn't be funded. "Everybody who could jumped ship right away," he says. "It was the most depressing thing you can imagine."
But an associated index -- the Parking Availability Index -- can rise, too. When that happens, says Mr. Cly, "I have no problem getting the very best parking space."
No-Confidence Index: This measure emerged to track the rise and fall of company T-shirt production during an era when a company initiative, product or trade show wasn't an initiative, product or trade show without its own T-shirt. The past four years have seen the lowest NCI in the postwar era. "No one seems to wear company clothes anymore," says Suzanne Ambiel, a competitive analyst for a major technology company.
A downward trend in the NCI frequently tracks closely with the Office
Park Agricultural Index, which weighs the ratio of costly annuals to
cheaper perennials. "Many campuses went to geraniums, which are
self-seeding, from pansies and snapdragons," she says.
Underemployment Index: Tracks the number of fliers on the office
bulletin board from employees who are seeking to moonlight in order to make ends meet. The fliers solicit new clients for such services as notarizing documents, in-home child care and scrapbooking. "You know, selling stickers or scrapbook lessons," says Ms. Ambiel. "You can become a franchisee for a scrapbook-supply company."
----
Sharky's add on :
This should include:
Caffeine Allocation Ratio (CAR) : The word 'ratio' is actually a
misnomer, as this indicator is actually presented as a graph where the X-axis measures the average % Volume Utilisation of each cup of coffee dispensed by office coffee machines, and the Y-axis measures the % (of total) buttons on the same machines for different varieties of coffee that actually work.
In times of growth, points representing CAR for individsual companies
when plotted on the graph are known to cluster around the top right
corner, and so on...
N R Narayana Murthys message to HR professionals
Message delivered at the International NHRD Conference 21 October 2004
----
Indias exports currently account for about 11% of the countrys GDP bringing in earnings of $ 70 billion. If India needs to grow and become a developed nation, it needs to focuson expanding its export base from the current level of $ 70 billion to about $ 250 bllion. It would require a focus on being globally benchmarked which is possible with high quality people. However, we often find that high quality people donot have the requisite experience and this is something that the HR fraternity needs to address.
Another issue which the economy would need to address, is the vexatious problem of low productivity displayed by the countrry"s agriculture sector which despite employing 65% of the nations workforce produces oly about 220 million tonnes of foodgrains. A portionof the workforce needed to be redeployed in either the services or manufacturing sector.
One of the biggest obstacles to eradicating poverty in India has been the inability to raise the peoples aspirations whichin turn could lead to growth and prosperity. We have built huge iron and steel industries, sent rockets in the space still we have 30 crore people who are illiterate. there is no drinking water for more than 25 crore people. There are no sanitation facilities for more than 75 crore.
There has been failure of leadership as well as failure in our HR function. In 57 years of independence India had achieved major landmarks like construction of bridges, dams and building of world class educational institutions, but the country still had to combat evils like rampant poverty, illeteracy and lack of educational facilities. More than 50%of the rural classes do not have adequate teaching staff. Indian political and administrative leadership has failed in their duty. Standard of living of indians is gong down day by day. we have failed in putting the nations interest above personal interest and to increase in aspirations of the people.
HR professionals have a challenge to build the leadership meant for the public sector, academia or even the political establishment. The Nehruvian view of a large population being bneficial to a nation was no longer corrrect and that the quality of workforce was deteriorating by the day.
It is time for the HR professionals should awake to this need of the hour. Coming out of their airconditioned rooms they should play active role in society. They should develop human resourse which will provide leadership in political, admnistrative and corporate world.
HR professionals should not have limited agenda of having human capital but also should aim at developing high aspirations among the peopleand create a feeling that we Indians are second to none. It is essential that young professionals to have higher aspirations, nobler goals and not to get satisified too easily.
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Indias exports currently account for about 11% of the countrys GDP bringing in earnings of $ 70 billion. If India needs to grow and become a developed nation, it needs to focuson expanding its export base from the current level of $ 70 billion to about $ 250 bllion. It would require a focus on being globally benchmarked which is possible with high quality people. However, we often find that high quality people donot have the requisite experience and this is something that the HR fraternity needs to address.
Another issue which the economy would need to address, is the vexatious problem of low productivity displayed by the countrry"s agriculture sector which despite employing 65% of the nations workforce produces oly about 220 million tonnes of foodgrains. A portionof the workforce needed to be redeployed in either the services or manufacturing sector.
One of the biggest obstacles to eradicating poverty in India has been the inability to raise the peoples aspirations whichin turn could lead to growth and prosperity. We have built huge iron and steel industries, sent rockets in the space still we have 30 crore people who are illiterate. there is no drinking water for more than 25 crore people. There are no sanitation facilities for more than 75 crore.
There has been failure of leadership as well as failure in our HR function. In 57 years of independence India had achieved major landmarks like construction of bridges, dams and building of world class educational institutions, but the country still had to combat evils like rampant poverty, illeteracy and lack of educational facilities. More than 50%of the rural classes do not have adequate teaching staff. Indian political and administrative leadership has failed in their duty. Standard of living of indians is gong down day by day. we have failed in putting the nations interest above personal interest and to increase in aspirations of the people.
HR professionals have a challenge to build the leadership meant for the public sector, academia or even the political establishment. The Nehruvian view of a large population being bneficial to a nation was no longer corrrect and that the quality of workforce was deteriorating by the day.
It is time for the HR professionals should awake to this need of the hour. Coming out of their airconditioned rooms they should play active role in society. They should develop human resourse which will provide leadership in political, admnistrative and corporate world.
HR professionals should not have limited agenda of having human capital but also should aim at developing high aspirations among the peopleand create a feeling that we Indians are second to none. It is essential that young professionals to have higher aspirations, nobler goals and not to get satisified too easily.
