Ahhhh, so true.  So true.  Well played Scott Adams.

Dilbert: Beth the New Marketing Manager for Social Media is a post from: HR Think Tank

In August, I was pumped to be starting on a challenging project at a new client.  I had met the team, and was content with the fact that I was faced with a few long days of ramp up.  I had all of the documents laid out on my desk and only one thing was missing – my standard afternoon Diet Coke.  So I strolled into the break room, and BAM.  It hit me.  There it was, like a shining beacon of despair.  The PEPSI machine.

I think Coke takes better, and I’m not alone.  Yet Pepsi and Coke alike have blasted us with their blind taste test campaigns to try to turn their non-believers.  I’m not buying it.  What I am buying, is the notion of Brand Imagery, supported scientifically, that when study participants are aware of the brand before they drink, three quarters of the participants chose Coke over Pepsi.

American Cancer Society VP Andy Goldsmith gives you more detail in his article Coke vs. Pepsi: The Taste Test They Don’t Want You to Know About. Goldmith highlights studies that suggest that there is such a thing as Brand Imagery:

The brain studies suggest that Coke’s iconic brand and arguably stronger cultural connection may in fact make a difference in preference. And that preference is linked not just to taste (hello, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex) but also memory-related brain regions that are related to cultural influences.

At the most basic level, this means that your company, and your product, are not evaluated on quality alone.  It means that your sales process has to appeal to both rationally and emotionally to your target customers.   This example focuses on the Coke vs. Pepsi debate, but the phenomenon certainly transcends consumer goods.  Technology vendors and consulting firms need to be aware that there is an emotional response to their brand that affects their ability to penetrate new accounts and grow their business.

You may be a handshake company that doesn’t need marketing or fancy brand strategists.  I won’t disagree… that type of overhead isn’t a fit for all organizations.  But there is no denying that there are no companies that are isolated from science and human psychology.  If your sales are lacking or you are having trouble convincing new clients to invest in your product or services, your lack of focus on brand positioning may pose an improvement opportunity for your company.

Now can someone get me a Coke please?  This Pepsi vending machine has got to go…

Coke vs. Pepsi: Brand Image is a post from: HR Think Tank

Yeah I know, this is a blog about business, social media, and getting things done.  Awe inspiring posts (okay, that might be a little optimistic!) about the value of relationship marketing, being in the conversation, and solving tough problems for clients.  So why I am cross-posting about the PMC and a rider raising money to arm the Dana Farber Cancer Institute with the funds it needs to battle cancer?

Because I am a believer in causes that transcend ‘typical’ business relationships.  The PMC is my cause.  It’s motivates me to continue to do more.  I think the PMC is critically important, and people like Pete Getchell are the ones that make it happen.

When I reached out to Meghan M. Biro of TalentCulture about joining as a sponsor for cyclingagainstcancer.com in support of my 2010 PMC, I didn’t even have to ask twice.  And it wasn’t because there was a big business deal hanging out there as a carrot for her sponsorship.  I think she sponsored because she believes in rallying a community behind a cause, and I thank her for that!

Similarly, my coworkers and friends at SEI have been very supportive.  I asked my CEO, Dan Pierce, for a donation, and he supported without question.  The firm also has a generous gift matching program for charitable contributions.  It makes me even more proud to be working for the company.

I have been incredibly busy this summer.  I’m riding 80-120 miles a week, supporting client work, and moonlighting in support of internal SEI operations like interviewing, and looking for new business and partners.  HR Think Tank has taken a bit of a back burner, but it’s still important to me, and I thank you all for sticking with me.

I hope that you will check out my charity blog, cyclingagainstcancer.com, and read about Pete Getchell.  I’ll be featuring more riders and stories in the next few weeks as we steam towards the 2010 PMC (August 7th and 8th).

Want to support my cause?  I could certainly use your help.  Retweet this post, send people to cyclingagainstcancer.com, and if you are so inclined, donate here.

2010 PMC and Rider Spotlight: Pete Getchell is a post from: HR Think Tank

The recent recession has been a significant game changer for business in a lot of ways.  There were the obvious changes, specific to the recession, such as a significant power shift to the employers.  We all watched (and some of us, unfortunately, participated) as hordes of qualified candidates piled out of the workforce and into applicant tracking systems where companies could be selective about who they hired, and at what cost.  Then there are the more long term game changers – the things that have the traction to outlast the recession and continue to be a major part of business strategies moving forward.  Amongst those – the significant increase in the use of the virtual workplace.

The virtual workplace isn’t a new concept – for the last decade industry analysts and organizational change management consultants have been hypothesizing about the benefits of virtual teaming and the best ways to manage the virtual global workforce.  Their findings are well documented and at a high-level can be summarized like this: identify if a virtual workplace fits with your corporate culture and organizational objectives; identify jobs and individuals that work in a virtual model; modify processes to manage and engage remote employees; keep a razor sharp focus on evaluating effectiveness and continuous improvement of the program.

In 2007, Gartner reported that by 2011, 46.6 million corporate employees globally will spend at least one day a week teleworking, and 112 million will work from home at least one day a month.  This pace has been accelerated further combination of the recession, the emergence of ever-improving document management and collaboration platforms.

This all means that chances are good that you will find yourself working virtually at some point in the near future.  In the last three years of consulting with SEI, I have worked virtually at least 50% of the time – both in support of my clients and in collaboration with our other offices in Cincinnati, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Dallas.  I have found that working virtually can be even more productive than working in cubicle-land if you employ a healthy dose of organizational discipline.  Here are some of the approaches that work for me:

1. Use your ‘Commute time’ to get organized. One of the biggest benefits of working virtually is the ability to recover your commute time.  For some people, this could mean an additional 3 hours added to productive time in your day.  For me, this is the time I use to brew up a nice pot of Dunkin Donuts, prioritize my task list (beginning of the day commute time), and then note any follow-ups for early the next day (end of day commute time).  Know what the first thing you want to work on the next day is.  Don’t sleep through this time, you will leave an opportunity on the table.

2. Learn to manage your inbox(es). When working virtually, your computer is your command center.  It’s impossible to know what you need to focus on if you have 1,600 unread messages and nothing is flagged for follow-up.  Personally, I use three flags – personal, SEI, and client, and then prioritize accordingly.  Once you close an e-mail, file it in the appropriate folder and repeat.  I like to keep my inbox to 50 e-mails or less.  Find out what your sweet spot is, and try to stick with it.

3. Prioritize your work by the 80/20 rule. There is always a small percentage of your work that will yield a larger return.  Identify those items, and nail those first.  Do the 20% of work that gives you 80% of your results. Remember, excuses don’t matter.  What matters are results.

4. Take a Lunch Break and Reward Progress. Virtual work is loaded with distractions.  Laundry waiting to be done.  Playstation 3 and Modern Warfare.  Facebook.  Twitter.  If you are disciplined about the way you structure your day, you can use these distractions to your advantage.  Take a lunch break and knock out a few non-work related things while you eat.  Reward the fact that you are absolutely slaying your to-do list.  Trust me, manage this right and you will waste less time at home than you do around the water cooler at the office.

5. Establish a ‘Virtual Hierarchy’ that allows you to close issues. When working virtually, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of getting into an endless e-mail conversation on issues without seeing any real progress.  I like to apply time-frames and a sanity check on these issues, and then immediately schedule a teleconference to discuss if I don’t feel like progress is being made.  This includes knowing who the stakeholders are, what the escalation path is, and documenting when documents come in and go out for review.  At the top of this hierarchy – that’s right – a good old fashion face-to-face.  Nothing beats it.  Ever.

This is a short list, and many bullets and sub-bullets can be added even to these.  Are you working virtually or have you worked virtually in the past?  What’s working for you?

In Today’s Virtual Workplace, Organization is King is a post from: HR Think Tank

I get it, some of you may never like soccer.  Some of you just can’t stomach the annoying buzz of the vuvuzela for 90 minutes just to watch a game end in a 0-0 tie.  Like it or not, the World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world.  So big in fact, that according to Digital Blog All Things Digital, the World Cup is creating some unparalleled buzz out there on Twitter.

Trendrr, which pulls data from Twitter’s API had 48 different World Cup-related terms showing up about 150,000 times an hour, similar to the intensity from Monday at Apple’s iPhone 4 unveiling. Kafka goes on to note that while the iPhone 4 traffic crested only in the last hour of Steve Jobs’s presentation, the World Cup intensity has been pretty steady with more than 8,000 per minute (that’s a rate of 480,000 hourly) right after the first goal of the tournament.

Love it or hate it, the World is passionate about soccer.  There’s just something about national pride that incites a level of passion that’s unifying and really cool.

I use soccer as the example, because the World Cup is hot right now.  You get a similar unifying force and passionate outpouring for the Olympics and in any big sports city right here nationally.  I was at the Celtics – Lakers game last night and it was so loud, you would have though everyone in the crowd knew each other and had coordinated chants in Sully’s Tap before the game.  Red Sox fans are so loyal, they have long eclipsed the consecutive sell-out record (455 games was previous record, broken September 8th, 2008 – I was there) , and are still adding to that tally.  We are so unified we refer to ourselves as Red Sox Nation, and we have a President, the Rem Dawg!  I use Boston as an example, because I live here and love Boston sports, but there are fans like this in Philadelphia and Chicago too.  Great sports cities with rich tradition, and a knack for developing passionate fan bases.

Here’s my challenge for the businesses out there: Try to replicate that kind of passion amongst your workforce around your brand.  I know you already have at least 3 excuses in your head for why it can’t be done.  I can hear them now – my company is too big, we need these strict corporate policies, our employees can’t buy $7.50 beers two at a time like they can at the Fenway.  I know, I hear you, but I think you’re wrong.  In fact, think there are a lot of companies getting this right, and the dividends are incredible!  Talent attraction AND retention!

Who is getting this right?  Video interviewing firm HireVue definitely comes to mind.  Here’s a company that has a ton of momentum, and I think it’s because of their people.  Give Josh Schwede 15 minutes over a beer and tell me that you aren’t an advocate for what they are trying to do, or that you don’t want to replicate that kind of passion in your company.  Need something bigger?  Locally, one company that I consistently see employees buzz about is EMC.  Here’s a sample of tweets from Polly Pearson, VP of Employment Brand and Strategy Engagement from last week:

“Just got EMC’s 2011 FORTUNE Best Places to Work For book: “Innovation, Passion, SUCCESS!” Includes refs to 2.0, TWITTER + EMC Tweeps”

“Excited to share EMC’s story at BU tomorrow! Attendees are business leaders looking at new models for innovation, workforce management”

3 of Polly’s top 5 words in her tweet cloud are #emc, EMC, and thanks.  Her top 5 hash-tags: #emc, #emcworld, #emcs, #jobs, #1.  I know what you are thinking.  Jason, that’s obvious, because Polly is EMC’s VP of Employment Brand and Strategy Engagement.  Isn’t that her job?  Yes, of course.  But she’s out there talking about her company, and people like me are writing about how it’s cool that there are people out there being passionate about their company.  And let me ask you – does your company have a VP of Employment Brand and Strategy Engagement?

That’s what I thought.

(Note: If you were wondering, neither HireVue nor EMC are clients of SEI-Boston, LLC. or of me personally at the time of this post.  I am, however, guilty of liking soccer, going to Sully’s Tap before Celtics games, and being a loud and obnoxious member of Red Sox Nation.  Now stop reading this disclaimer and go out and make your company a great place to work)

Sports and Business: Are Your Employees Passionate About Your Company? is a post from: HR Think Tank

First of all, I think that most of the time spent in meetings is a waste of time.  I don’t think the actual meetings are a waste of time, since they are an enabler to face-to-face interaction, which is critical, but EVERY meeting should have a set duration, agenda, and a desired outcome before you get to the table.  And about that duration,  I think that in most cases, meetings should limited to 20 minutes.  There are just too many channels for real-time communication to save it all up for a three-hour marathon sessions.

In any case, in today’s business world, meetings still exist, so you should schedule them wisely.  Back when I was a road warrior consultant, I got accustomed to Monday being a travel day and Friday being a “home office” day to catch up on paperwork and local office requirements.  This schedule is convenient for both personal and professional purposes.  Personally, you don’t miss critical weekend time with your friends and family, and professionally, it pulls your real work into the most productive days of the work-week: Tuesday through Thursday.  If you have a meeting that you need people to show up to, and you want their attention, avoid scheduling on Mondays or Fridays.

Also, in my opinion the best time to schedule those meetings is mid-morning.  Ending your meeting at lunch is a great idea too – it helps bound the meeting, and it provides an opportunity for you to take your client, or your staff to lunch following the meeting.  Need to get at a senior executive?  Look for early morning, before their calendar becomes completely derailed, or early evening, where they are less likely to have their schedules blocked to handle other unexpected fire drills.

But remember, scheduling is only half the battle.  To truly excel in this space you have to master meeting execution.  The #1 reason that people complain about having too many meetings is not only because of the quantity of the meetings, but they are also being dragged through unproductive time wasting meetings with no objective and no clear articulated path to solve a problem.  Do you know your audience?  Knowing the attendees and how they consume information to make decisions is critical to meeting success.  Before you block the calendar for your next session, make sure to think through the problem, objective, and approach.  Attendees, duration, and even the venue will set the tone.  Your job is to get stuff done.  Are meeting habits in your organization getting in the way of that?

Are You Having Board Meetings or Bored Meetings? is a post from: HR Think Tank

The power of social media is not rocket science – it provides a channel to increase connections and enhance communications by exponentially expanding your reach.  What you do with those connections and your now boundary-less network is up to you – no tool will convince people to buy your services, be your friend, or connect you or your company to clients, consumers, or partners.

However, I believe that if you focus on engaging your community, listening, and adding value where possible, you will find that social media will open doors that you didn’t even know were there before.

My new charity website, cyclingagainstcancer.com, launched yesterday, and it would have never happened the way it did without my community that I have built through my social media presence.  It went a little something like this…

In November 2009, I was reading more and more about the power of Twitter.  I started to think that I was missing a big opportunity to engage with thought leaders in my industry, as well as potential clients and business partners.  I quickly discovered that I was right.  I had already known that my strategy was also to develop a blog – that I had ideas and discussion that wouldn’t fit in 140-character tweets – and conceptually I had developed the idea of HR Think Tank.  Problem is, I knew nothing about developing a blog.  I didn’t know what WordPress was.  Or the Thesis theme, Google XML Sitemaps, or Feedburner.  Enter Michael Long.  Despite the fact that we barely knew each other, Michael stepped up and got me going.  This site wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Michael, and he was in on the call talking conceptually about cyclingagainstcancer.com as well.  He’s a great guy, and there’s a reason he has 17,000+ followers on Twitter – he’s smart, adds value, and he’ll help you out when you need it.

Right around that same time, I attended the #socialrecruiting summit in New York City.  When I committed to increasing my social media footprint, I promised myself I wouldn’t just engage online – where appropriate, I would take the opportunity to meet in person.  That, combined with SEI investigating an increased business presence (both recruiting and otherwise) on various social media platforms, brought me to the Social Recruiting Summit.  It was there that I first started talking to Laurie Ruettimann and Sarah White.  Both are respected thought leaders in the HR and recruitment space, and I am glad I know them.  Increased awareness of both this blog, and of cyclingagainstcancer.com can be attributed to Laurie, who featured me on her Sunday HR Shout Out, and Sarah has continuously gone above and beyond, with one of the many things being the purchase and subsequent donation of a design day from the idesignyourlogo.com team for our logo design.  Speaking of idesignyourlogo.com, they are some great guys – not only do they design some amazing logos, but they also raised money for my PMC, effectively donating over 7 times the cost of the logo in the first place.

With the logo in hand, cyclingagainstcancer.com started to become a reality.  It was then that Veronica Ludwig stepped up huge.  Like with Michael, I had hardly engaged Veronica before she offered to help with design and hosting of the new site.  Lucky for me, she is a great person with a soft-spot for philanthropic efforts and social media.  When Veronica got busy, I turned to Matt Chevy, who blogs over at Life Without Pants, to put my mental concept of the site into a design.  Matt was flexible with our partnership, and was a truly engaging consultant.  His portfolio of work is impressive, and I am happy that I chose him to put my thoughts online to help build the cyclingagainstcancer.com community.

Last but not least, there’s Meghan M. Biro.  I think every one of my readers knows Meghan.  It’s hard not to – she’s engaging, personable, and the founder of TalentCulture, a social community focused on building a culture of innovation, awareness, creativity, and understanding.  That’s what we’re trying to do as well, but around the PMC and cancer advocacy.  Despite being spread thin across a number of other commitments, Meghan stepped up as our first corporate sponsor for cyclingagainstcancer.  It’s very much appreciated.

I’m sure I forgot a host of others, and I am positive there will be many more to add to this list.  Being successful in social media and in business is about the give, more than the take, and as I read back through this post and think about the last 6 months, I find it hard to believe that I have given back half of what I have received from this great community.  I’ll keep trying, and together, we will keep on moving the ball forward.  Thanks for your continued support, and please know that you will always have mine!

Leveraging Social Media Where It Counts: Charity is a post from: HR Think Tank

Today’s guest post is from Eric Leist, a Public Relations major in Boston University’s class of 2010.  Eric blogs over at Meghan Biro’s firm Talent Culture and on his own blog, EricLeist.com

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You’ll never figure out what’s wrong with me. Am I lazy? Arrogant? Rude? I’m an enigma. A puzzle waiting to be solved. I have wired veins; technology is my DNA. I pay for pre-ripped jeans. And yes, I do expect to wear them to work.

I’m Gen-Y. Hear me roar.

Like it or not, my generation is charging into the workforce. Yep, all 70 million of us. We’re a talented herd, too. HR directors will play Ringling Brothers trying to tame us, hire us, and retain us. Most will fail.

The Gen-Y stampede of talent cannot be stopped and refined. It must be harnessed.

So for all you HR directors out there struggling with the wild Gen-Y animals, here are five characteristics we look for in the workplace. Know them. Embrace them. Love them. You’ll need to in order to attract and retain the top talent in my generation.

1) We want to wear jeans. But it’s not about the denim. It’s about the casual atmosphere. We want coworkers we can hang out with. We like relaxed environments. We’re not afraid to log long hours. We’ll get our work done before the deadline, and the results will be stellar. So what difference does it make what we wear when we work? If you don’t let us wear pajamas, at least let us wear jeans.

2) We want flexibility. Forget these formulaic job descriptions. You won’t be able to force our skill sets into roles defined by previous generations. You’re better off creating roles around our skill sets. Give us the freedom to work from home, and we’ll prove we deserve it. Gen-Y-ers don’t mind checking in on their BlackBerry over the weekend if they have the option of working remotely.

3) We want the latest and greatest gadgets. Our generation was the first to grow up with computer classes. Cell phones and texting were everything in high school. We get frustrated when we know better, faster, sleeker technology is out there and we don’t have it. The most defining value of Gen-Y is the desire to be tech-savvy.

4) We want mentors. Our grandparents held long-standing relationships with employers. We don’t. People work for people; not brands. We want to work for people who take a genuine interest in our careers. We seek out the opinions of our peers and our superiors, and we’re equally as willing to give advice.

5) We want to contribute, and we want to be paid for it. The Internet wove incredible information access into our upbringing. We competed fiercely against our peers for college admission. We’re deeply in debt after slaving over coffee machines and data entry programs at unpaid internships. Yes, we expect to be paid handsomely, but we’re eager to earn the cash and the respect that comes with it.

If we can’t find these things, we’re not afraid to start our own businesses. We’ll sculpt our own corporate cultures to fit our needs.

Eric Leist is a senior at Boston University and currently interns with TalentCulture. He has previously interned with the New York Giants, Mills & Company and 451 Marketing. When not studying Public Relations and Business, he’s an anchor and producer at BUTV10′s InsideBoston and VP of BU’s Public Relations Student Society. Eric also coaches a competitive public speaking team in Newton, MA and spends his extra time experimenting in the kitchen.

Photo Credit: Deanwissing

Harnessing the Gen-Y Beast is a post from: HR Think Tank

Most of you have probably already seen this video (if your browser doesn’t display the video, get it on YouTube here). It’s message is pretty difficult to refute – the Social Media Revolution is upon us.  I mean, the one stat alone that ‘If Facebook (with over 400 million active users) were a country it would be the world’s 4th 3rd largest between above the United States and with only China and India being larger is incredible.  People are getting involved – they’re on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and increasingly, they blog.  According to Universal McCann, 133,000,000 blogs have been indexed by Technorati since 2002 and 77% of internet users are reading blogs.  Are you blogging?  Are you wondering if you should be?

The blog, the future buzz had a great article on the 70 Usable Stats from the 2009 State Of the Blogosphere with some great stats on what motivates bloggers and the impact to their business.  Here are some of my favorites:

71% say they blog at least in order to speak their minds

72% say they blog to share their expertise

53% are looking to attract new clients from blogging

72% of those who are self-employed and blogging are interested in attracting new clients

71% of respondents who maintain blogs for a business report that they have increased their visibility within their industries through their blogs

58% say that they are better known in their industry because of their blog

All great numbers, and good reasons to blog.  I’m definitely blogging for some of these reasons – I’m passionate about organizational culture discussion and the talent side of the business.  I like the idea of sharing my experiences, and I have been pitching my company’s leadership to start a business blog specifically because of some of these statistics.

But, when I really sat down and thought about why I am blogging, here is what I drew up:

For me, I’m blogging because, well, because I wasn’t.  And I felt like that was leaving an opportunity on the table, because in the consulting business, and in business in general, being a good connector is a good thing.  And effective connectors are good at building actionable communities.  Apparently, I am not the only one who feels that way.  When I typed in “HR blogging and connectedness” into Google, I recognized the 5′th result that got returned: Ben Eubank’s Upstart HR.  One of Steve Boese’s HR Technology class students, Carolina Correa, just recently guest posted on Ben’s site about a similar topic, writing “To blog or not to blog is a debate that only finds answers when discussed in the context of finding value, this is true not just for the HR community but just about any profession seeking the comforts of connectedness.”

Well said Carolina. Because within that connectedness is opportunity.  Opportunity to learn, contribute, build relationships, and build a community.  And that’s why I blog.

Thoughts?

What motivated you to start blogging?  Is blogging helping you or your business?  What are people doing wrong out there on their personal or business blogs.  Share your thoughts in the comments section!

(6/17/2010 – Updated the post with the latest Social Media Revolution video with updates statistics)

The Answer to the Question: Why Blog? is a post from: HR Think Tank

Even in a down economy, employee retention is a key management issue.  Despite rising unemployment, some employees have critical skills and intellectual capital that make them very attractive to your competition.  These employees, likely amongst your top performers, will look for continuous reinforcement that your company is right for them, and that they should stay.  If you don’t identify, recognize, and reward top performers, the inevitable WILL happen:  Your best employees will be working for your competition.

It’s no secret that this is a complex topic.  Employee retention sits somewhere at the intersection between stimulating and challenging work and recognition and rewards. What I do know is that intrinsic rewards are a huge factor.  In 2002 I participated in an extensive analysis of the results from a longitudinal study on Air Force retention across two types of motivators: extrinsic, intrinsic (for a full analysis, altruistic and social motivators could also be considered). The study found that intrinsic motivators – such as personal development, intellectually stimulating work, and the ability to produce feelings of accomplishment – outweighed extrinsic motivators like level of pay and yearly pay increases.  With that being said, I’ll leave the real heavy lifting around incentive, recognition, and reward strategies to guys like Paul Herbert but I’d like to talk about one critical piece of employee retention that should not be overlooked: Company Culture.

One key to retaining top talent is to establish a meaningful relationship between the employee and the company.  It comes down to creating an environment that breeds bidirectional loyalty.  What does this mean for you as a company?  In a world of thinner margins and tighter budgets as long as compensation is within a reasonable range, you can retain employees by focusing on your corporate culture.  Good, transparent “what you see is what you get” leadership and a strong focus on hiring and protecting the door can go a long way in developing loyal employees.

The importance of team chemistry cannot be emphasized enough.  I can speak from experience – In 2006 when I was making the decision to leave the Air Force, the one thing that kept nagging at me was the feeling like I was letting my coworkers down.  I felt an intense loyalty and closeness to the people I served with, and despite traveling 180-200 days a year, and being paid about 25-30% less than my market value, I didn’t want to leave.  Lucky for me, I eventually landed at SEI.  Recruited by another colleague who I have immense respect for, I’m working for a company that really get’s this right.  SEI has an intense focus on recruiting the right people, and then reinforces a strong business model with an engaged leadership team.  Recently, leadership reinforced their proactive approach by unveiling a well planned 5-year succession plan, which in itself was architected with a focus on ensuring the long-term viability of our unique corporate culture.

So when considering retention, focus on what matters and what you can readily influence – your corporate culture.  Hire the right people, protect the integrity of your organizations culture, and don’t sacrifice long term team chemistry for short term revenue gains.  Be loyal to your employees, and give them a reason to be loyal back.

(Photo Credit: http://www.aurora-tds.co.uk)

Retention Issues? Focus on Culture First is a post from: HR Think Tank