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October 26, 2005
Work Environment Index Ranks Best US States For Workers
The Political Economy Research Institute has just issued a 2005 report that ranks all 50 US states (plus the District of Columbia) according to overall conditions for workers. For the first time, PERI has created an index for each state that can be accessed on their website
http://www.umass.edu/peri/. You can also download free copies of the report there.
The state with the best situation for workers either currently employed or looking for a job was Delaware; the worst was Louisiana with Texas not far behind.
Posted by Christopher at 9:42 AM
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| TrackBackOctober 24, 2005
McDonald's launches employee recruiting and retention campaign
McDonald's announced recently that it's launched a campaign to improve retention and recruitment. The campaign has several components, among them a focus on famous people whose first job was at McDonald's, an internal singing contest that lets employees around the world commpete for a $10,000 prize and a trip to the finals of the popular show "American Idol," and a very extensive contest to allow employees to staff McD's restaurants at the upcoming winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy.
Larry Light, who is McD's chief marketing officer, clearly gets it. He said "If each employee tells just five people something cool about working at McDonald's, the net effect is huge...we have something other brands don't -- 1.6 million buzzers."
Posted by Christopher at 3:47 PM
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Mc D is certainly doing a great job at retaining their employees for they know how to correctly keep the employees engaged with a sense of pride in their work,which pays off in a big way...in the form of boosting the workforce morale,making them feel important and moreover providing a feel good factor through the different mode of entertainment that Mc D offers.Good Luck!
Posted by: Saman at November 29, 2005 4:01 AM
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| TrackBackOctober 18, 2005
Whole Foods allows employees to design health benefits program
The US car maker General Motors announced this week a major agreement with its labor unions to lower the costs of providing health care to employees and retirees by $1 billion a year. Most outside analysts have applauded the move, but also said that GM is still about "15 years behind" other companies in regards to how much employees and retirees contribute to health care costs.
On the complete other end of the spectrum is the grocery chain Whole Foods. In 2003, the company put its entire benefits package (including vacation time) out for a vote by its 25,000 employees. After three rounds of voting and an 87 percent turnout, employees voted for a health plan that takes nothing from their paycheck and offers cash to cover out-of-pocket expenses. The trade off was that vision and dental care comes at higher costs, and perks like childcare reimbursement were voted down. The benefits plan is going out for another vote in February 2006.
Walter Robb, Whole Foods copresident, summed it by saying "Happy team members make happy customers...our job as management is simply to make that a reality."
Posted by Christopher at 9:40 AM
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I think Trader Joe's does a great job in this area as well.
Posted by: Sara at October 20, 2005 3:21 PM
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| TrackBackOctober 17, 2005
Edelman/Technorati blog study highlights credibility of employee bloggers
Over the last several weeks, we've been conducting an online survey with Technorati to assess the relationship that PR firms have with bloggers, among other things. The general results are extremely interesting and available at https://extranet.edelman.com/bloggerstudy/.
While reviewing the results, I came across some data that makes a strong case for companies to nurture and support employee bloggers as a credible lifeline to external bloggers. The survey showed that 77% of bloggers found blogs written by an employee of a company to be very or somewhat trustworthy. The study also found that when bloggers are looking for information about a company or product, they trust other bloggers over a company website by a 3-1.
Interested to hear what others think about this.
Posted by Christopher at 12:47 PM
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| TrackBackOctober 10, 2005
Reaching employees through podcasting
Sorry for the gap in postings to my blog; we had a technical issue that has finally been resolved.
I thought readers of my blog might be interested in some perspective on podcasting as it relates to an employee engagement method; this is definitely something that I would recommend most companies at least consider -- especially ones that have younger and/or hard-to-reach workforces.
Podcasting 101
Podcasting refers to a digital audio recording – typically in MP3 format – posted online. Individuals download the recording to an MP3 player, such as an iPod, and listen at their own convenience. Listeners use an online feed to "subscribe" to the podcasts they wish to receive. Through this subscription feature, as new podcasts are posted online, they are automatically downloaded and synched up with a listener's MP3 player. Podcasts are not only easy to download and listen to, they are also simple and inexpensive to produce, generally requiring just a microphone and recording software.
Advantages of Internal Podcasting
Since almost any type of audio recording – from music to a speech to a book reading – can be podcast, organizations could podcast a variety of content for employees, including messages from leadership, training, overview of recent industry news, business reviews and project updates. Podcasting offers several advantages over traditional employee communication channels, including:
1) Reduces Cost: Podcasting eliminates the expense of producing and distributing certain training manuals, newsletters and CDs. In some cases, it could even eliminate the cost of traveling to a speech, meeting or training session. According to recent research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, more than 22 million American adults own MP3 players, which indicates it's increasingly possible for employees to download company podcasts to their personal players.
2) Increases Productivity: Since podcasts are accessible anytime and anywhere, employees can listen to them during what would otherwise be downtime, either on the job (e.g., while waiting in airports or performing routine tasks) or on their own time (e.g., while exercising, commuting or running errands).
3) Saves Time: An online feed alerts employees when new podcasts are available, which eliminates the time they spend checking for new and relevant content in newsletters or on the intranet.
4) Ensures Relevance: The subscription capability of an online feed allows employees to automatically receive content relevant to the entire company, as well as information specific to their team, function or location.
5) Meets Learning Needs: Podcasting effectively reaches auditory learners – something few other internal communications channels offer. It also gives listeners the ability to replay information they missed or didn't comprehend the first time they heard it, which isn't possible during a live meeting or speech.
A Look at Organizations That Podcast for Employees
Given that podcasting is still very new, it's not surprising that few organizations have ventured into internal podcasting. There are, however, a few companies, including IBM and Capital One, testing the waters. Capital One, for example, recently bought 3,000 iPods for employees, each of whom can download content ranging from information about diversity initiatives to highlights of the company's earnings calls. According to the August 2005 issue of Workforce Management, Capital One employees said podcasting saved them time over traditional learning methods.
Companies evaluating podcasting for employees should take note of the technology's success in educational settings. For example, in 2004, Duke University gave all first-year students iPods and voice recorders so they could listen to and record course materials. A Duke study found the experiment increased student engagement, reduced dependence on physical materials and supported individual learning styles.
If your organization is considering podcasts or already using them, I'd be very interested to hear from you.
Posted by Christopher at 7:02 PM