(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ...Low Productivity? Blame high gas prices!
A recent survey completed by Florida State University professor Wayne Hochwarter reveals that when the price at the pump goes up, employee productivity and morale goes down.
“People concerned with the effects of gas prices were significantly less attentive on the job, less excited about going to work, less passionate and conscientious and more tense,” Hochwarter said. “These people also reported more ‘blues’ on the job. Employees were simply unable to detach themselves from the stress caused by escalating gas prices as they walked through the doors at work.”
Hochwarter surveryed over 800 people early this spring when gas prices were hovering around $3.50 per gallon. Everyone surveryed each used their own personal transportation to cummute to work and traveled on average of 15 miles each way.
Some of Hochwarters main points:
The interesting point about this survey is that is was completed in the spring with gas prices significantly lower than what they are today. Here in Arizona, with gas prices hovering around $4.19 per gallon for regular unleaded, I wonder if these same statistics will hold true in our own backyard. I'd be willing to bet the results would be staggering now that the prices have increased and more than likely will continue to rise. I recently heard of a man here in Phoenix taking a significant paycut to find a new employer within walking distance of his home. His only reasoning for it was the cost of fuel since his trip was about 30 miles each way. I personally know people driving double that mileage just to get to work.
Many companies are now getting very creative in an attempt to boost moral and get their employee motivated by helping privide solutions or band-aids for the increased prices of fuel.
A few suggestions we have seen from helpful companies are:
- Organizing car pools
- Telecommuting or allowing employees to work from home a few days of the week (if it's feasible for your position),
- Exchanging tips with one another on fuel coservation
- Pre-Paid Gas Cards as incentives instead of movie and lunch gift certificates
Hmmmm, what would you rather have? A gift certificate for $25 to Chili's or a $25 pre-paid gas card? I'll take the gas!
Posted June 20th, 2008 by Vincent - Posted in Benefits, Human Resources, Other, Productivity | | 0 Comments
(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5) Loading ...Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?!
We do it all the time – Communicate. But… it doesn’t mean we are good at it…
In talking to a co-worker today, I realized once again the importance of awareness in communication. Sure you might have delivered the message in a way that made sense, in a logical pattern of thought, and in the right setting – but is your job in the communication done?
In my opinion – NO! Delivering the message is only half the battle. Making sure the other party actually got it is crucial. Don’t be afraid to ask… but be careful it does not come across as you being condescending… (see title)
Oh that's right… then there is that whole thing about listening - I heard that is important too 
Posted April 29th, 2008 by Harry Glazer - Posted in Customer Service, Human Resources, Other, Uncategorized | | 0 Comments
(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5) Loading ...Please, Stay Away if You’re Sick
If you are sick, should you go to work anyways? This is a great debate among many. Staying home to watch tv and lounge on the cough is an easy suggestion, right? To some it may be, but to others a day staying home from work is just creating more work to go back to, or some feel they are indespensible and can’t miss a day, while others just don’t have the time to take work off. Whatever the reason is, is it really a good idea to go in to work when you are under the weather?
An article from Business Week that I ran into goes into great detail of the downfalls of having a sick co-worker show up on the job. “Illnesses like the cold and flu can be spread by physical contact. When we're sick, the people with whom we come into physical contact have a significantly increased risk of coming down with the illness, according to virologists, epidemiologists, and other experts. There is a causal relationship between being sick with a cold or the flu and making others sick by touching them directly or handling an object that they soon touch themselves.”
Some other points brought up in the article for staying away from the office were, if we can actually perfrom to the best of our abilities while not feeling well, getting other co-workers sick, getting co-worker’s families sick, and the last one here that caught my attention, “going to work sick is unfair to your employer. According to a report published in The New York Times in 2006, researchers at Cornell University found that ill workers on the job could account for up to 60% of corporate health costs. The recently coined phrase "presenteeism" speaks to the financial downside of overly motivated workers who bring their upper respiratory illnesses to work with them.
All in all, is it fair to yourself to work when you are not feeling well? I guess that is up to you.
Posted February 29th, 2008 by admin - Posted in Benefits, Health, Human Resources, Other, Productivity | | 0 Comments
(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5) Loading ...Get Blogging or Get Out of Business
Has your company tried out social networking or blogging? Better jump on board before your company is left behind.In a article I just read from Business Week, it goes into fine detail on the ins and outs of where businesses are looking to make an advertising splash. Yes, that's right, social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are and have been the hot topics around companies. Also, another craze has caught on called blogging. "Go ahead and bellyache about blogs. But you cannot afford to close your eyes to them, because they're simply the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself." I find it fascinating that blogging has become such a phenomenon. Who would have thought that hearing other amateur people's opinions on a particular topic would be something of interest to the masses of people that surf the internet? Its the new generation that you always heard when you were a kid from your grandmother. "Back when I was younger…", you know what I mean.
Some numbers from the article that really caught my attention were, " There are some 9 million blogs out there, Yes, there were 9 million, but how many of them were active? Probably only a fraction. In early 2008, says Technorati Chairman David Sifry, the search company indexes 112 million blogs, with 120,000 new ones popping up each day. But only 11% of these blogs, he says, have posted within the past two months. That means the active universe is closer to 13 million blogs. Kevin Burton, CEO of FeedBlog, argues that the number should be lower, from 2 million to 4 million blogs. with 40,000 new ones popping up each day."
Posted February 22nd, 2008 by admin - Posted in Advertising, Human Resources, Other, Recruiting, Uncategorized | | 0 Comments
(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5) Loading ...Is Your Place to Work, Great?
Having open communication is a key to avoiding organizational or interpersonal problems at work. What can you do shen there is silence among some employees? Are your employees just not speaking up or is it just in thier personality not to?
Here are a few ways to create a work environment with a commitment to open communication and how to break the silence. (Creating a Great Place to Work from Business Week)
Spend the day out of the office: Meet with employees in their own departments. Actually take the time to see your workers in their element rather than yours.
Have an employee orientation: New employees should have an extensive training and "getting to know you" period. Have a strict plan in place to make them feel welcomed.
Company wide meetings: This way everyone is in the same place hearing the same thing. Everyone is then on the same page.
Keep open lines of varying communication: Have multiple ways for your employees to communicate to their managers and bosses. Some personality types like face to face conversations while others express themselves better in writing.
Posted February 15th, 2008 by admin - Posted in Customer Service, Human Resources, Other, Performance Reviews, Productivity, Recruiting, Uncategorized | | 0 Comments
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...Sanctions Law Clearing Out Illegals in Arizona
If apartments are starting to sit vacant, this must mean that the new Arizona Immigration Sanctions Law is starting to take its toll on the illegal immigrants here in Arizona. What will this mean for your company?
“The sanctions law is pushing immigrants to leave the state. The law is aimed at clamping down on illegal immigration in Arizona, which has the highest share of illegal immigrants of any state, by threatening to yank the business licenses of employers caught knowingly employing such workers.
The law also requires businesses to electronically verify the work eligibility of all new hires as of the first of this year.
To avoid sanctions, employers have been letting go workers who can't prove they have permission to work in the U.S.
As a result, many immigrants are leaving, either to other states where they think it will be easier to get jobs, or back to Mexico, where the majority of illegal immigrants in Arizona are from.”
So far, the law has done what it was intended to do. How has this law affected your company? Businesses that catered to the illegal population have seen drastic sales hits, apartments have seen a large wave of vacancies, what will be next?
Posted January 31st, 2008 by admin - Posted in Human Resources, Immigration, Other, Recruiting | | 0 Comments
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...“Being In the Moment”
Posted January 18th, 2008 by Aaron Witsoe - Posted in Customer Service, Human Resources, Other, Productivity | | 0 Comments
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Watercooler Ethics
There are a few issues that shouldn’t be brought up at work.
When we all gather around the water cooler in the afternoon or the coffee pot in the morning, there are a few topics that should always remain off limits. The more controversial the topic, the stronger the reasoning is to not bring it up. More specific topics that you might want to leave out, such as…
- Should abortion continue to be legal?
- Should same-sex marriage be legalized?
- How relevant to holding public office is a person's religion?
- How much should the wealthy be taxed?
- To what extent should the federal government be involved in social programs?
Keeping the workplace free from controversy will help keep the employees productivity levels up. Maybe this is something to look into for your company.
Posted January 18th, 2008 by admin - Posted in Human Resources, Other, Productivity | | 0 Comments
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Pulled over for going 77 mph….are you a legal citizen?
I have heard the rumor. Maybe you have heard it too. The rumor is: Police Officers are now able to ask for proof of citizenship from anyone they pull over.
Are our public safety officers expected to become immigration officials? If this is true, how will the state handle complaints that only those with darker complexions are being asked their status? Is this really happening? If not now, will it? Some are saying that this new practice is already in effect. I tried to find some additional information to back this rumor up. All I could find were various articles stating something similar to this:
PHOENIX — Police in suburban Scottsdale have begun routinely asking for proof of citizenship from every suspect they arrest and turning those who are in this country illegally over to federal immigration officials. The procedure was started Oct. 15, a result of the September killing of Phoenix police officer Nick Erfle by an illegal immigrant, Erik Jovani Martinez. Scottsdale police had arrested Martinez on a misdemeanor charge 16 months earlier but they released him then because they didn’t know he was an illegal immigrant who had been twice deported. Erfle’s killing “caused us to look at what were asking suspects,” Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark said. “If we arrest someone and then find that we called ICE (Customs and Immigration Enforcement) and they put a hold on them, then we know they have been deported and are back again.”
Reading this, it makes sense that an individual who has been "arrested" be properly identified. But is it going to far to pull people over and ask them their immigration status?
Posted January 14th, 2008 by Camille - Posted in Customer Service, Human Resources, Immigration, Other, Uncategorized | | 1 Comments
