by Daria Steigman on September 8, 2010
I was wrong. Utterly and completely.
I argued with my mom in early August that former HP CEO Mark Hurd would only be unemployed for a year or so. (She thought his career was over.) That he’d do a requisite stint in the wilderness and then get some cushy consulting gig. That’s because, despite being really stupid, Mark Hurd’s a pretty smart business guy.
Turns out that exile didn’t even last a month.
In case you didn’t see the news, Hurd has been hired as Oracle’s newest co-president.
I guess business ethics don’t matter after all. What other conclusion can you draw?
Photo by Hamed Saber (Flickr).
Tagged as:
Business,
Ethics,
Mark Hurd
by Daria Steigman on September 7, 2010
Are you happy at work?
The Pew Research Center released a study the other day that finds that 26 percent of all employed workers in the United States have been out of work at some point since the economic downturn began. While it’s good that some people have found new jobs, what’s troubling in this study is that these workers are considerably less satisfied with their jobs than workers who didn’t suffer a period of unemployment.
According to Back at Work But… Most “Re-Employed” Workers Say They’re Overqualified for Their New Job:
- While 78% of re-employed workers say they are satisfied with their jobs, that contrasts to 89% for those who never lost a job.
- 55% say their family is worse off than before.
- Only 39% say they get a sense of identity from their job (versus 52% of continuously employed workers).
- 54% say they are overqualified for their job (versus 36% of other workers).
Fresh off Labor Day, I thought it was appropriate to look at shifting American attitudes toward work. The most interesting statistic here for me is identity because, for many Americans, identity has traditionally been wrapped up in what one does for a living.
So what are the long-term implications of an unhappy workforce? And what statistic stands out most to you?
Photo by FaceMePLS (Flickr).
Tagged as:
Business,
Pew Research Center
by Daria Steigman on September 6, 2010
It’s Labor Day in America. A day when, ironically, most of us get a rare day off from work.
To celebrate Labor Day, here’s a brief excerpt from “Every Blessed Day.” It’s an amazing poem from Philip Levine‘s award-winning What Work Is:
Waiting at the corner he feels
the cold at his back and stamps
himself awake again. Seven miles
from the frozen, narrow river.
Even before he looks he knows
the faces on the bus, some
going to work and some coming back…
In a few minutes he will hold
his time card above a clock,
and he can drop it in
and hear the moment crunching
down, or he can not,
for either way the day will last
forever. So he lets it fall.
Photo by Leszek Leszczynski (Flickr).
by Daria Steigman on August 26, 2010
What’s the most annoying thing about many mid-range and higher-end hotels?
Charges for Internet.
If you’re like me, the idea of being nickeled and dimed over something as basic as going online makes you crazy. Especially when the “cheaper” brands are factoring the cost into their room rate calculations.
The Hyatt Regency Atlanta wowed me yesterday when I checked in. They told me that the log-on fees would be waived for my stay.
Then, when I got up to my room, there was a text message on my phone from the hotel thanking me for choosing Hyatt and wishing me a great stay in Atlanta.
Now if they could just do something about getting rid of the old, clunky TV in my room…
It doesn’t always take the big gesture to make your audience happy. Sometimes it just takes doing the small things right.
What are you doing to wow your clients or customers?
Photo by Cameron Cassan (Flickr).
Tagged as:
Customer Experience,
Customer Service,
Hyatt,
Hyatt Regency Atlanta
So I go out of town for a few days and miss the big sports story. No, not 