Monday Mornings with Madison

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Planning & Strategy

February 16, 2015

Benefits Employees Want Most – Part 2

Issue #366

Although the most headline-grabbing economic issue in the U.S. during the last decade was the ballooning unemployment rate, this particular woe has been decidedly declining in direct proportion to the rise in jobs. With the Department of Labor Statistic reporting unemployment holding at about 5.6% – 5.7% since October 2014, job gains are still being reported in retail trade, construction, health care, financial activities, and manufacturing in January 2015. Ironically, though, a decline in unemployment is now accentuating a different concern for U.S. businesses; namely, the need for more highly-skilled employees. U.S. companies report wanting to only hire people who are “job ready.” But such skilled workers are increasingly harder to find.

Indeed, recent surveys of business executives indicate that finding appropriately skilled workers is their biggest worry, and they foresee it getting worse. In 2015, businesses are facing the reality that, with little slack in the U.S. labor market plus a global skills-job disconnect, efforts to attract enough employees to fill high-skill jobs is becoming increasingly difficult. If skills shortages do increase in 2015, as expected, businesses will need to get more creative in how they attract and keep top talent long-term. In addition to increasing wages, which have been stagnant, employers will need to offer benefits that are most valued by employees. According to the late Steve Jobs, “I noticed that the dynamic range between what an average person could accomplish and what the best person could accomplish was 50 or 100 to 1. Given that, you’re well advised to go after the cream of the cream. A small team of A+ players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players.” Indeed, in the long run, companies with the best benefits will be the most successful simply by attracting and retaining the most innovative and productive staff.
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February 9, 2015

Benefits Employees Want Most – Part 1

Issue #365

Salary is not the only variable that employees factor when considering a company to work for or job to keep or leave. While pay is obviously a primary concern – after all, the reason people work is to earn a living – there are a number of other variables employees consider when deciding where to work. An employee’s benefits package is often just as important. However, which benefits are valued most by employees depends on the employees and their particular circumstances. A woman with small children might value flexible work hours and a Flexible Spending Account for child care while a man nearing retirement might value a company’s 401K plan and more vacation time. One might say that the benefit of a benefit is in the eye of the beholder.

That hasn’t stopped government from weighing in on the matter. In the recent State of the Union address, for example, one employee benefit that was given the spotlight was paid sick leave. Touting it as ‘middle-class economics’, President Obama challenged Congress to pass a federal mandate that provides paid sick leave for all employees, saying “Send me a bill that gives every worker in America the opportunity to earn seven days of paid sick leave.” In fact, three states and 15 cities have already passed measures requiring employers to provide paid sick leave to all full-time employees. Under current U.S. labor law, employers are not required to provide short-term paid sick days or longer-term paid sick leave. As companies and government weigh the pros and cons of what types of employee benefits to support, it might be useful to consider what benefits are needed and wanted most by employees. Companies that want to be top in their industry and want to attract the best talent must go beyond salary to offer benefits that employees want most. Continue reading →

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January 26, 2015

The Challenges Ahead for U.S. Businesses in 2015

Issue #363

According to President Obama’s State of the Union Address this week, “After a breakthrough year for America, our economy is growing and creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999. Our unemployment rate is now lower than it was before the financial crisis. More of our kids are graduating than ever before; more of our people are insured than ever before; we are as free from the grip of foreign oil as we’ve been in almost 30 years.” Indeed, just a few weeks into 2015, the nation’s economy does seem to be in the best shape it’s been since before the Great Recession (which is indeed good news, but certainly does not set the bar very high). U.S. employment increased by nearly three million jobs in 2014. Unemployment decreased a full percentage point between 2013 and 2014, dropping to the current 5.6% — the lowest rate since 2008 and the largest year-over-year decline since 1984. If things continue on this track, the U.S. is predicted to reach 5% unemployment by the end of the year, which is nearing that economic nirvana of “full employment”. Also, declining oil prices have helped bolster consumer purchasing power. The U.S. dollar is also at its highest value in many years. These are all good indicators.

Despite all the positive economic indicators, most U.S. businesses will still face certain challenges in the year ahead. Even as the U.S. enjoys a healthier economy than most any other industrialized nation in the world today, companies will have to contend with issues, many of which were carried over from 2014. Companies that ignore these problems do so at their own peril. However, recognizing what issues lie ahead is the first step to either tackling them head-on or sidestepping them altogether. Continue reading →

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January 19, 2015

To Change a Behavior, Change the Environment

Issue #362

At the beginning of a year, many people make resolutions to change. They want to break a bad habit or start a good habit. Or they want to improve or reduce how or how much they do something. For some, the change is personal. Lose weight. Eat healthy. Exercise. Stop smoking. For others, the change is professional. Stay organized. Find greater work/life balance. Be on time to work. Have more patience. Be more pleasant to customers. For each person, it is a different resolution. Yet, everyone basically wants to do the same thing: change a difficult-to-change behavior. (After all, if it was easy to change the behavior, there’d be no need for a resolution!)

Indeed, changing a behavior is not easy. Even when a person really, really wants to change their own personal conduct, behaviors persist. Eating the wrong foods. Drinking too much. Smoking. Being tardy. Why is that? In part, it is because humans are creatures of habit. Habits — which live in a specific part of the brain (interestingly independent from the part of the brain that houses memory) — control of much of the automatic behavior we perform each day… often mindlessly. Many behaviors are done on auto-pilot with very little thought. If so much behavior is done on auto-pilot, how does a person break a bad habit or start a new behavior? For decades psychologists suggested that to change a behavior, one simply had to first change one’s attitude. But, it turns out that that is not really true. To change a behavior within, start by changing the environment outside. How so? And is there a way a manager or employee can use this to improve productivity, short-circuit undesirable work behaviors and increase profits? Continue reading →

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January 12, 2015

Handling Competitors

Issue #361

There is no business that exists anywhere in the free-market world that is without competition… at least not for long. The moment a product or service is invented and sold, someone somewhere opens a business that rivals it somehow. The competitor’s delivery method might differ. Or its service and support might be better. Or the competitor’s product might be slightly improved. Competition is inevitable.

Since part of being in business includes having competition, businesses must decide how to contend with competitors. Is there a right way to handle business rivals? Some entrepreneurs approach competitors like arch enemies. Others see competition as a good thing, driving companies to continually improve. Still others see competition as a non-issue. And there are some who – at their own peril — dare to ignore competition altogether. Which approach for dealing with business rivals is correct? Is there a right way to view competition and handle competitors? Continue reading →

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January 5, 2015

Four Tips for Making a Fresh Start

Issue #360

An unequivocal part of being human is making mistakes. We try things and fail. When standing at a fork in the road, we sometimes take the wrong path. We act when we should wait, and wait when we should act. However, failing is not synonymous with failure. Mistakes and wrong turns are the reasons that there are erasers on pencils and a ‘reverse’ gear on every car’s transmission. Miscalculations, blunders and slips are an undeniable and unavoidable part of the human condition. No matter how big the error or how ‘off track’ one might go, there is always an opportunity to pause, reassess, and start again.

There is nothing that says that fresh starts are reserved for the beginning of a calendar year. However, it does seem to be the time of year when many are inclined to consider changing course. Resolutions abound. Some folks start diets and begin exercise programs. Some companies change policies. The idea is to stop doing things the “wrong” way and do things a “better” way. Just as errors are part of being human, so is the desire to start anew. Here are four tips on how to wipe the slate clean. Continue reading →

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December 29, 2014

A Time to Plan

Issue #359

In the course of an ordinary day, most business people rush from meeting to meeting, call to call, and task to task at a frenetic pace. There simply are not enough hours in a day to do everything that needs to get done. The here-and-now is both emphatic and demanding. This relentless focus on the immediate makes it nearly impossible to plan for the future. Moreover, the future is so vaguely ambiguous. In the present, everything must get done now, but even when current needs have been met, the future remains distant and fuzzy. Notwithstanding, planning ahead is among a business owner’s most essential responsibilities, and this is the time of year when most companies should take time to look ahead and consider goals for the future.

Indeed, there is a tremendous value in planning. Planning helps provide guidelines and goals for future decisions. It also helps managers exercise more control in a situation, establish goals “proactively” and consider contingencies. Likewise, planning can help quantify goals and establish a means to measure success. It also ensures that a coherent set of actions are implemented that are consistent with the values and priorities of the leadership and organization. Planning also helps allocate limited resources like staff, materials, and time in an orderly and systematic manner. Last but not least, planning each year helps a company take advantage of changes within its industry. Given that planning is so helpful and necessary, how does one find the time to plan? And what exactly should annual planning entail? How complicated does this need to be? Continue reading →

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December 22, 2014

Charitable Giving – Part 2

Issue #358

By most accounts, the U.S. economy is doing better. Unemployment is down. Job growth has been robust. Businesses are doing better, and the Dow is hitting historic highs. As companies and people find themselves doing better financially, they are more inclined to want to help those who are less fortunate. However, deciding which charity or charities to support can be a challenge. Determining which charity is the most worthwhile and trustworthy to use the donation wisely is hard for even those most knowledgeable about good causes. There are over a million charitable organizations in the U.S. alone. It is hard to decide which cause is ‘best’ when there are so many worthwhile charities. For example, UNICEF helps protect the world’s children by providing clean drinking water, vaccinations and emergency relief in disaster areas. The Against Malaria Foundation provides bed nets to families in malaria-prone regions. The Seva Foundation treats trachoma and other common causes of blindness in developing countries. The list goes on and on. How does one decide which organization is most deserving of financial support?

The truth is that most people spend very little time deciding on a charity to support. In fact, studies have shown that people spend far less time researching a charity to which they give money than they do researching the purchase of a new appliance or car. If charitable giving were handled like a business decision, the goal would be to donate to causes that can do the most good for the most people. However, even then, the choices are many. Here are some things to consider when weighing options and researching charities. Continue reading →

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December 15, 2014

Charitable Giving – Part 1

Issue #357

Did you know that charitable giving increases at this time of year? Indeed, about 40 percent of all charitable donations in the U.S. are made in December. For many charities, end-of-year fundraising is the difference between a successful year and financial hard times. But who is doing the giving? Many think that the majority of all charitable donations are made by the ultra wealthy (think Bill Gates and Sam Walton), big foundations, or prosperous companies trying to increase their tax deductions. In reality, of the more than $300 billion that Americans give to charities every year, only 15% comes from foundation grants and 6% from corporations. The rest – nearly 80 cents of every dollar — is given by individuals. Yet, it’s not primarily by the people you’d most expect.

Who does give to charity? If you think that social class would be a straightforward predictor of charitable generosity, think again. Yes, it does stand to reason that the more wealthy a person is, the more they have to give and the less risky it is to give away some of that wealth. By the same token, the poorer a person is, the less they have to give and the more precarious it is to give some of that away. Therefore, logic dictates that the mega rich should be giving far more to charities than those nearest to the poverty line. Likewise, one would think that people living in the most affluent and liberal states would be more likely to give to charity than those in conservative and poorer states. However, the reality about charitable giving – in the U.S. and abroad – would probably surprise most people. It’s not what you’d expect.
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December 8, 2014

Logo Mania

Issue #356

Often people confuse the words ‘logo’ and ‘brand’, and use them interchangeably. For many, the two words are synonymous. That is not so. A company’s brand is comprised of much more than its logo. A brand is a promise. It’s a unique combination of a logo, words, typefaces, colors, slogan, mascot, personality, price, customer service, aesthetics, attitude, voice, and more, all working together to convey the essence of the company or organization. That said, the company logo is a key, integral part of its brand and, often, it is the most easily-identifiable representation of the company’s identity.

It used to be that once a company created its logo, it stuck with that logo for a long, long time…. say 50 or 100 years if not forever, unless there was a very good reason to change it. That is no longer the case. With the rise of the Iinternet and improvements in design programs that have made it easier than ever to create digital art, companies are opting to regularly update their corporate logos. But deciding to update a company’s logo – or even create a new logo for a new company – has its challenges. Like art, the appeal of a logo is often in the eyes of the beholder. Those who decide to engage in this exercise should understand the common elements shared by the best logos of all time.
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