Economic Crisis - Desperate Measures

In my last post "Lessons From A Recession", I said be careful of who you trust. In less than 24 hours I received this chain email from a credible, trustworthy person that I have known very well for over 40 years. I am not sure why he sent this to me, but I figured he thought he would give it a try...what does he have to lose? Creditability? Respect?
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Subject: PLEASE READ! IT WAS ON GOODMORNINGAMERICA TODAYSHOW , JUST DO IT!! !!

This was sent to me by my accountant... if you think this is ridiculous
I have no problem giving you his contact information...

Read carefully...
THIS TOOK TWO PAGES OF THE TUESDAY USATODAY - IT IS FOR REAL

To all of my friends, I do not usually forward messages,
But this is from my friend Pearlas Sandborn and she really is
an attorney. If she says that this will work - It will work. After all, what have
you got to lose?

SORRY EVERYBODY.. JUST HAD TO TAKE THE CHANCE!!! I'm an
attorney, And I know the law. This thing is for real. Rest assured AOL and Intel will follow through with their promises for fear of facing a multimillion-dollar class action suit similar to the one filed by PepsiCo against General Electric not too long ago.

Dear Friends:

Please do not take this for a junk letter. Bill Gates sharing his fortune. If you ignore this, you will repent later.

Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies
and in an effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the
most widely used program, Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail
beta test.

When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will
track it (If you are a Microsoft Windows user) for a two week
time period.

For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay
you $245.00 For every person that you sent it to that forwards it on,
Microsoft will pay you $243.00 and for every third person that receives
it, You will be paid $241.00. With in two weeks, Microsoft will contact
you for your address and then send you a check.

Regards. Charles S Bailey General Manager Field Operations

1-800-842-2332 Ext. 1085 or 904-1085 or RNX 292-1085

Thought this was a scam myself, But two weeks after receiving this
e-mail and forwarding it on. Microsoft contacted me for my address and
within days, I received a check for $24, 800.00. You need to respond
before the beta testing is over. If anyone can afford this, Bill gates
is the man.

It's all marketing expense to him. Please forward this to as many
people as possible. You are bound to get at least $10, 000.00.

We're not going to help them out with their e-mail beta test without
getting a little something for our time. My brother's girlfriend got in
on this a few months ago. When I went to visit him for the Baylor/UT
game, she showed me her check. It was for the sum of $4,324.44 and
was stamped 'Paid In Full'.
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Take a look at this...does the letter look familiar?

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/nothing/microsoft-aol.asp

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/nothing/billgate.asp

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Unfortunately, as long as there is fear and greed, this kind of stuff will never go away. Things are likely to be worse in the future. The economy has created a desperate environment that have people searching for some once in a lifetime chance to save their financial situation. This is a play on those fears. It illustrates that fear can prompt good honest people into trying desperate measures.

I know this appears innocent, but chain emails can spread viruses or some other nasty thing that will destroy your data. They can spread programs that collect personal information. And what about the next scam? What will it contain? If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Don't let desperation cloud your judgment. Panic, fear, and greed can break the best of us. Learn to be disciplined and never stop learning. And by all means, be careful who you trust.

Lessons From A Recession

As we come to a close on what has been a treacherous and punishing economic cycle, it is important that we all learn something from this economic cycle.

A recession is a cleansing process, and a painful one. But from the ugly, opportunities to prosper will be abundant again.

But first, in order to prosper, we must take a few lessons forward with us to prevent a repeat of history. The lessons are the same for business and individual success.

Lesson number one - Keep your balance sheet clean. Have little to no debt and keep an ample amount of cash for emergencies. Cash gives you the flexibility to ride things out and invest timely when things start to recover.

Lesson number two - Keep your credit clean. Part of this can be accomplished by having enough cash to ride out the economic downturns, but the other part is discipline (don't be too greedy). Keep debt manageable and borrow conservatively. Debt is burdensome and will strangle a company or individual quickly. Planning for debt repayment should be a plan based on worse case scenario. The 2008 global recession is a worse case scenario. Always plan for the worse.

When greed takes center stage it reminds us all to be careful who you listen to. From the Madoff debacle to the demise of companies like Lehman Brothers, trust is at a premium. So what is the third valuable lesson? Do your homework. Gain as much knowledge as possible and don't get into things you don't understand. Concentrate on what you know best. Blind faith is a bad strategy.

Finally, things can always be worse. Be prepared for the worst. Strive to be in the best financial position possible at all times. When times get good, take calculated risks, but realize the economy can change for the worst in hurry. An "all in" attitude is a gamble and often a move of desperation or greed. Avoid the urge to get greedy.

Here's hoping that you see the recent events as a learning experience and an opportunity to recover. Best of luck.

BIG OIL...the root of all evil, right?

Well we have to blame someone for the high price of oil, don't we? Let's crack down on those oil speculators and oil companies for driving up the price of oil and all will be right with the world again, right? WRONG!

The price of oil or any other commodity is driven by supply and demand. Yes, speculators may drive up the price, but the higher prices will only hold if demand equals or exceeds the supply. If not, the speculators who got in late will run for cover and sell their positions driving the price down. Eventually the price will settle at the appropriate market level. This is basic economics, yet I hear people whine that the government should get involved to crack down on speculators. Even Obama is touting this in his ads to bring the price of oil down. Yeah, that's what we need, government involved in controlling those that invest in oil and those big oil companies like they are the root of all evil. The people who vote on these principals are absolutely clueless. If you trade or sell anything, aren't you trying to get the best price? Maybe the government should crack down on you for driving prices up on whatever you are selling because I want your product for a cheaper price! See how ridiculous this is?

Those people that speculate take on a great amount of financial risk. For example, attempting to ride piggyback on anything that is rising or falling in price at a dramatic rate to make money is a dangerous path if you don't know what you are doing. It is high stakes gambling. But, if they are willing to accept these huge risks they also deserve to reap the potential huge rewards. In the end prices will always settle at an equilibrium. The extreme prices are only temporary. Speculators are needed in the market (especially in the commodity markets) and trying to eliminate this group of investors will cause many undesirable issues. The high price of oil will be the least of our problems.

If you are really serious about lower oil prices or lower prices for anything, then reduce your demand for that product. There are always alternatives. Having the government controlling a free market and the price of anything is a recipe for disaster.

The US Economy - March 10, 2008

You have to love the political rhetoric of the promises to fix the economy. The economy, like all things in life, is a cyclical process. The ebbs and flows are similar to the change of seasons. While policies and events help shape the direction, it is businesses and the consumer that ultimately moves the needle. Humans are greedy by nature and a recession is merely a cleansing of that greed. Government and the Federal Reserve react to put more money in the economy and eventually the pendulum will swing again.

In May, Americans will receive tax rebate checks to help stimulate the economy. And it will do just that. But, this is not a fix to the current conditions. It will provide a temporary spark but it won't be sustainable unless Americans find more discretionary income in their pockets to spend. And it needs to be noted that if the government knows this is a way to stimulate the economy, why are corporations and consumers taxed to death? Higher taxes will always lead to a depressed economy (eventually) because consumers and businesses drive economic growth and nothing is more powerful than the discretionary dollar that can be spent.

To key weapons to control the US economy are taxes and interest rates. Lower one or both and the economy will prosper. Raise both and the economy will suffer. It really is that simple and complex. It is complex because inflation works in the opposite direction most of the time.

So if Americans want to influence the economy, they will need to understand what impacts it first. Take universal health care for example. Where will the money come from to pay for this? Higher taxes? If so, this means less jobs and tougher economic conditions. We all need to ask these questions before voting for "change".

Time will heal the wounds of the current economic cycle like it has done in the past. Understand what impacts the economy and why and you will make more informed and prosperous decisions in the future.

NFL Network Wins

Obviously this didn't turn out to be a week 2 exhibition game and now both teams face off in the Super Bowl. The NFL Network got some much needed exposure and fans were treated to a great game. Now, fans will have to decide if it is worth switching providers.

NFL Network caves in to pressure

In an about face from the NFL, the Patriots-Giants game will be televised on NBC and CBS. Is there that much interest in this game? Why did the NFL cave in on this demand?

I read an article on CBS Marketwatch by Jon Friedman that suggested that the NFL did it because it was afraid of Congress. We don't want to rouse the sleeping giant of Congress, do we? Are you kidding me? Shouldn't Congress be concentrating on other things rather than worrying if some football fans are going to miss a game that will look like week two of the exhibition season. And do we really want the government to "fix" this so called problem? Why don't we just vote for communism and let the government run our lives? How ridiculous.

While the NFL Network will get some exposure, it did step on some toes of the companies that already support the NFL Network. It also has set a precedent that will only serve to heat up an argument on how the big bad NFL is cheating it's fans the next time a big game is televised only on the NFL Network.

We don't need Congress to have our backs. Fans have a choice on TV providers. This is a free market economy and it needs to stay that way. If fans want the NFL Network that bad, then they should change to a provider that has the station.

NFL Network: Satellite vs Cable

As the Patriots inch closer to perfection, the battle between cable TV and satellite will intensify this week. But should you really blame NFL and the NFL Network for giving you the opportunity to see the game?

The last time I checked, this is a free market economy. As a customer, you are free to choose cable or satellite. Yet, the media and fans want to blame the NFL and the NFL Network for not giving them a chance to watch the game. Of course cable blames the NFL Network (and the Big Ten Network) for wanting too much money for the station to be included on their basic package. Besides, they don't want to "subject" all their customers to paying a higher cost for the basic package. But, it is OK to include (take your pick) other stations that many have little to no interest in watching, but that is another story.

What is interesting is that the satellite companies can offer competitive package prices that includes the NFL Network and Big Ten Network and cable companies like Time Warner can't. It is hard to understand why more people haven't made the switch. Perhaps they are fearful that their TV will go out on them every time it rains or snows. Cable companies can only hope that their customers hold on to these false beliefs.

For sports fans, satellite TV, like DIRECTV is far and away a better choice than cable. Offering the NFL Network is only part of the overall sports menu. As the NFL Network continues to grow, you can expect more live games to be offered. You can also bet that the TV providers that do offer the NFL Network will continue to hammer the airwaves to get people to make the switch. If the cable companies continue to be arrogant and not give customers want they want, cable prices will continue to increase in order for them to absorb their lost in market share.

Regardless of what side of the argument you are on. The fact is this. You have a choice. You do not have to whine and blame the NFL and the NFL Network for being greedy. They are running a business. If it is something you want, it IS available to you. You just need to change your provider.

CITI

Back in April, I wrote that Citigroup must have been mismanaged for quite awhile when they announced 17,000 job cuts. Doesn't look like that did the trick. The stock has plummeted since then. Of course the company can mask their ineptitude and blame it on the credit crisis. But is it really the credit crisis? Or might it have something to do with how they treat their employees? Time will tell.

Team Chemistry

Looking for a way to improve results in your department or company? Try team chemistry.

Employees are your greatest asset. They can also be detrimental to your overall business plan. One bad apple can negate the hard work of many.

If you want more from your employees, you need to spend more time developing them. More importantly, you need to have the right players on your team. Team chemistry can elevate a group of employees to new heights. It isn't about having 10, 15, or 100% of your team as superstars. It is about getting the right players and having them all work together to create efficiencies, develop one another, and increase productivity.

So how do you get team chemistry?

It begins first with strong leadership. As a leader, you must find the right players to play on your team. They must be able to get along and create strong bonds with one another. Hiring a pompous superstar that has an MBA, but is selfish and lacks people skills is not the right type of player to have on your team. Do you ever wonder why some of the most talented teams in sports fail? Big egos, selfishness, and a cancer to the team all play a part. You don't need superstars to create a winning team. You need great team players with great people skills.

Second is open communication. Employees need to be able to tell leadership when they disagree. Leaders need to listen and play as part of the team. This fosters learning and development. Ever watch a sporting event and see a rookie sit next to a veteran or superstar and just listen? This sharing of ideas creates better players and a better team.

In sports you will often hear about teams playing "loose" or " tight". Playing "loose" is a result of great team chemistry. They play with less pressure creating an environment that is conducive to producing winning results.

If you want a winning organization, quit looking for selfish players who have "credentials" and starting building your team with team players.

Good Worker does not equal Good Manager

How often have you seen it? A great worker gets promoted to manager and the results are disastrous. So, how can you or your company avoid hiring bad managers?

Most employers look for employees who are the cream of the crop. They want the employee to have a college education, preferably an MBA. By hiring the smartest people (so they think) it is a ticket to increased profits and better talent for the company. Yet in so many instances this line of thinking fails miserably.

A good worker is not necessarily the best choice for manager. The fact the employee excels at their current position does not give them the entitlement to become manager. Yet many companies do just that. It becomes a reward for doing a great job.

To be a great manager and leader, the first asset you must have is great people skills. Job skills can be learned through proper training, but people skills are part of a person's character. Find a person with good character and you will likely find the right person to become manager.

Superior management is the greatest asset a company can have. It takes a unique individual to manage people effectively. Don't limit your search solely based on education and look for solid, well respected individuals. You won't be disappointed.

Ecomonic Lesson

The following is a chain email I received recently. I applaud the passion to stand up and fight for a cause, however before taking any action it is important to understand a little about economics and how it can help (or hurt) the action being taken.

Here is the email:

GAS WAR - an idea that WILL work

This was originally sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came from one of his engineer buddies who retired from Halliburton. It ' s worth your consideration.

Join the resistance!!!! I hear we are going to hit close to $4.00 a gallon by next summer and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action. Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea.

This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May! The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.

BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can really work. Please read on and join with us! By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $2.79 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the
marketplace..... not sellers. With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.

Here's the idea:

For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.

But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out at this point.... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people.

I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us sends it to at least ten more (30 x 10 =3D 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 =3D 3,000)...and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth group of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers. If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE
>>>>HUNDRED MILLION >>>>PEOPLE!!!

Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all. (If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million and all you have to do is send this to 10 people.... Well, let's face it, you just aren't a mathematician. But I am, so trust me on this one.)

How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!!

I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did you?

Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN.

THIS CAN REALLY WORK.

Do you think this will work?

Here is the problem. The price of any item in a marketplace is determined by what what the consumer is willing to pay for the item. More importantly, the price is a direct result of the supply and demand for that product. When supply exceeds demand, prices will eventually come down. The opposite is also true. When demand is high for a product and exceeds supply the price for the product will increase. Shifting demand (as suggested in the email) for the same product to another company will only hurt the company the consumer refuses to buy from. Meanwhile, all the other competitors will start raising their prices to keep up with the increase in demand for their product.

If the author really wants lower gas prices, then the effort should be directed at reducing the overall demand for gas and oil. More supply and greater inventories with a decrease in demand will bring the price down.

This is basic economics.

Citigroup

Yesterday's post was on shareholder value. Here is another example of a company who values the shareholder (and themselves) above their employees.

Citigroup (C) announced a massive restructuring earlier last week. The headline from this restructuring is 17,000 job cuts! Wow, is this because the company has been mismanaged for so long? So one day you need 17,000 employees and the next day you don't? The company rids itself of "back office" employees like they are some sort of a disease. These same people are the workhorses that make people like the CEO, Charles Prince, as rich as he is.

So, who is going to do the work that is left behind? They certainly didn't get rid of all that work overnight, did they? 17,000 full time employees equates to 35,360,000 hours a year. It begs the question, what were these people doing and how will it effect the customer? Work doesn't just disappear. Less people doing the same, or even close to the same amount of work means mistakes and inefficiencies. With these mistakes come increased costs of doing business. Of course Citigroup won't tell you this. For them, it is all about the stock price.

Why all the job cuts? Well, Charles Prince was quoted as saying "nobody is more upset about the stock price than I am". I wonder why. He owns 1.6 million shares worth about $83 million. Maybe he is trying to get to $100 million. Why not upset 17,000 lives in the process to squeeze a few extra million to line his pockets.

Prince may get his wish in the short-term as the fools rush in to buy on the promises of the company. But will this provide long-term value to the investor? Does owning 1.6 million shares affect the decision making ability of a CEO? What do you think?

Shareholder value

Dell recently announced that they had identified a number of accounting errors and evidence of misconduct at their company. This news follows a bonus takeaway I talked about in a previous post. http://givemebigmoney.blogspot.com/2007/02/opportunities-in-guerilla-recruiting.html
The news just keeps getting worse at Dell, but Dell is similar to many other companies in corporate America. The difference is, Dell got exposed. Others won't be far behind.

So what drives this sort of behavior? One of the major culprits is executive compensation. Incentive plans that reward top executives based on the value of the share price is a recipe for disaster. The temptation to manipulate the books to prop up the stock price is very real when the executive stands to lose a boat load of money from reporting a quarter that missed "expectations". Yet most companies continue to reward their executives with stock options and restricted stock forcing executives to focus primarily on the stock price.

While it is important to continue to provide value to shareholders, short-term solutions that put the company at risk is not the answer. Top executives should be rewarded on revenue growth, employee retention, profit, leadership skills as determined by their employees, and ethical behavior as determined by an independent firm. These are things that will provide long-term value to the shareholders.

Taking care of the business will take care of the share price. A lesson many companies have failed to learn. It has already caught up to Dell, who is next?

Bonus Pay??

Do you know the difference between bonus pay and variable pay? Chances are your bonus pay program is truly a variable pay program. Why does it matter? Variable pay that consistently falls short of the target is another way to tell you that you are being underpaid for your position.

A bonus is something paid to you that isn't part of your regular salary. It is an extra form of compensation (an addition to your regular salary).

Variable pay IS part of your regular salary. It is the portion of your regular salary that is "at risk" every year and often dependent on company and/or employee performance during the plan year. Of course your employer won't tell you that you have pay at risk. Instead they will often disguise this portion of your salary as a target in a bonus, incentive, or performance pay plan. Bonus, incentive, profit sharing, and performance pay programs are all just other names for a variable pay program.

To illustrate, company XYZ is creating a new position for a Director of Finance. The HR department at XYZ will determine how the new position fits within the company's pay structure. They then will recruit and hire for this position offering the new employee a compensation package and within that package will be a base pay component and a variable pay component.

Let's assume that the HR department at XYZ values the new Director of Finance position at $120,000 a year. Of the $120,000, the company will pay $100,000 as the base salary and the other $20,000 will be a "target" in a variable pay program. If the employee in the position averages $10,000 a year over a five year period in variable pay, then the employee is being underpaid by $10,000 a year.

It is important to know your compensation structure or the worth of your job in the open market. Consistently being underpaid is a bad career choice and a lost opportunity. If the company you work for makes it difficult to earn your pay at risk, then you are being underpaid for your position. Goals to make the variable portion of your pay need to be obtainable. Unfortunately, many companies do the opposite and put stretch goals in place for employees just to earn the variable portion of their pay. This allows them to underpay their employees year over year.

To learn a little more on compensation or how getting that little extra a year will increase your overall wealth, visit http://www.givemebigmoney.com/base_pay.html
and
http://www.givemebigmoney.com/pay.html

Goodyear

As a follow up to a previous post - http://givemebigmoney.blogspot.com/2007/03/guerilla-recruiting-goodyear.html

Here is an excellent example of a company who puts the shareholder above the employee. Of course, the president owns quite a few shares so the decisions made by the Board that he is on impacts him in a positive way. To top it all off, Goodyear is on Fortune's "Most Admired Companies" list. Their industry rank for people management is 2nd! After reading this story, you decide if they really are doing a good job for their employees or a better job at brainwashing the public.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) Chairman and Chief Executive Robert J.
Keegan received executive compensation valued at $11.7 million during 2006 even though the company lost $330 million last year. Yes, a 3-month strike contributed to this loss, BUT when a company decides to do away with their pension and make retiree health care more expensive, do you think a CEO deserves $11.7 million?

Keegan received a base salary of $1.13 million, a bonus of $2.24 million (for losing $330 million), equity awards valued at $220,800 (nice bump in net worth from cutting benefits for the employees) , and $8 million through Goodyear's executive performance plan ($8 million on a performance pay plan.....for what?) for the period Jan. 1, 2004, through Dec. 31, 2006.

When the company loses a good portion of their talent pool and doesn't perform as Wall Street expects, what's next? A big fat severance package? And how will they pay for that?

He also received other compensation worth $93,377. This includes $32,760 for a
home security system installation and monitoring expenses, as well as the cost
of an annual physical exam, personal use of company aircraft and annual dues
for club memberships. Again, Goodyear did away with their pension plan for non-union employees and increased the cost of retiree health care. Perhaps the CEO could have taken a cut in pay and eliminated some of his fringes to save the company some money rather than shoving all the costs to the employees. What kind of message does this send to his current and former employees?

Here is what the company is changing for the employees. Make sure you read the quote below about retaining talent.

 Benefit plan changes effective Jan. 1, 2008, include:

-- Increasing the amounts that current and future salaried retirees
contribute toward the cost of their medical benefits,
-- Redesigning retiree medical benefit plans to minimize cost impact on
premiums,
-- Closing the company's Medicare supplement plan to new entrants and
-- Discontinuing company-paid life insurance for salaried retirees.

The   pension changes include:

-- Freezing the current salaried defined benefit pension plans as of Dec.
31, 2008,
-- Replacing the defined benefit pension plans with enhanced 401(k)
savings accounts with varying levels of company contributions for
current associates beginning Jan. 1, 2009 and
-- Introducing company-matching contributions for the salaried 401(k)
savings plan at 50 percent of the first 4 percent of annual pay
beginning Jan. 1, 2009.

"These changes allow us to continue to provide the kind of compensation packages that are competitive and will attract and retain talented associates," said Kathleen T. Geier, senior vice president of human resources.

Really? So the company is going to reduce the compensation and benefit packages to save $90 million a year and they expect to attract and retain talent. Wow! What part of this math equation adds up to more for the employee that will make them want to stay? As far as attracting employees, if a company is "struggling", why would someone want a job at Goodyear? When they fail to please Wall Street, what will they cut next?

Brainwashing or looking out for their employees? You decide.

Floor Burns

What are floor burns? Watch a college basketball tournament game and you will see players willingly suffer floor burns diving for loose balls. This is maximum effort.

Are your employees willing to suffer floor burns for the success of your company?

The competition for top notch talent is fierce. You need to go above and beyond as an employer if you want employees to do the same. So what can you do to get maximum effort from your employees?

Here are a few tips:

1. Recognize them for what they do. A simple thank you goes a long way.
2. Reward them with little extras. A gift card, a luncheon, or anything that simply says thank you is a very small investment. Don't bombard them with these types of extras or they will be viewed as an entitlement rather than something a little special.
3. Ask them, rather than directing them to do something for you. This style of delivery will earn you their respect. Employees want to do things for their boss. By asking them, they feel valued. Telling them what to do because you're "the boss" does not have the same touch.
4. Be upfront and honest. Your trust and credibility is at stake. People work harder for someone they trust.
5. Support and encourage their career development. The more people that get promoted from your team, the better you will be viewed as a manager.

As a leader, you have the opportunity to maximize what you can get out of your workforce.

These five little tips will have your employee's willingly diving on the floor for loose balls and suffering floor burns all for the success of the company.

Guerilla Recruiter

Many recruiters are uncomfortable with Guerilla Recruiting. Why? They feel it is crossing the ethical boundaries of fair play. As a recruiter, you can' t think this way. To be a great recruiter, you need to be a Guerilla Recruiter.

Guerilla Recruiting is simply about taking talent from your competitor. Would you hesitate to take a big customer from a competitor? Why would you hesitate taking talent from them?

To survive and prosper in the business world it takes shareholders, customers, and talent. If you lack talent, you will lack customers and shareholders.

To illustrate my point, take a look at the baseball world. What team over the course of baseball history has the most championships? What team draws the most fans (customers)? Even if you are not a baseball fan you should know the answer is the Yankees. How can a team continue to excel year after year? What can a company learn by looking at the Yankee business model?

For starters, the Yankees pay their employees well and know how to hold on to their key players. They are a classic example of how an organization can utilize their pay programs to attract the best talent. If they want a player, they have the compensation plan to attract them. They offer players the opportunity to win a championship by employing a talented workforce around them. Add one of the best managers (strong leadership) in baseball and a great customer base (the fans) and you have an organization everyone is trying to catch up to. This is Guerilla Recruiting in the baseball world.

So what does it take to employ Guerilla Recruiting at your company? First and foremost you need to have great leadership. The leadership must have a strong commitment to make your place of business the best place to work at. Employees must have opportunities for advancement. You need a great compensation plan that includes lucrative bonuses for hitting realistic goals. Tack on superior benefits and you have all the tools necessary to attract the best talent.

Don't be afraid to employ Guerilla Recruiting. Business is about building a strong winning team and whipping your competition. Get the right players on your team and you will be the team to beat. You will reap the rewards by gaining market share and increasing your bottom line. Customers and shareholders will follow and want to be associated with your winning team.

Going back to the baseball analogy, who do you think draws more fans to the ballpark? The Yankees or the Royals? How do you turnaround a losing team into a winning team. Ask the Tigers. They hired a great manager and they aggressively recruited and paid for talent. The result was a winning team. Do you think their attendance increased any? You bet it did! The Tigers experienced a 27% increase in customers (attendance). What changed? They put a better team on the field. Winning starts with TALENT.

Talent = Winning = Customers = Shareholders. Notice what comes first in the equation.

Unfortunately many companies think it starts with the shareholders. They end up in a constant cost cutting mode to improve their bottom line. Eventually the team is depleted of their talent pool and the company ends up being a losing team that loses customers and shareholders.

Be bold and be different. This will set you apart from your competition. Be a Guerilla Recruiter and put your team on the path to winning.

Guerilla Recruiting - Goodyear

Guerilla Recruiting is all about opportunity. Knowing where and when to cultivate your talent is the key to your success.

Here is a solid opportunity that a good recruiter will seize.

Goodyear decided to do away with the pension plan for their salaried workforce. That was great news for shareholders as it will save the company somewhere in the neighborhood of $90 million a year. BUT....how do you think the workforce is feeling? Tack on the news that they will have to pay more for retiree health care and you have a bunch of disgruntled workers looking to get out.

If you are a competitor of Goodyear, you have just been given a terrific opportunity to recruit talent away from them. Employees who have benefits reduced or taken away from them are prime candidates for the Guerilla Recruiter. Top notch employees with strong marketable skills will be available for the taking. Why? It is basic human emotion. No employee wants to feel under appreciated.

Need some ammo to fire up a recruit? Show them the Goodyear 2006 proxy and point out the current president has beneficial ownership of about 650,000 shares and he just increased his net worth by $1.6 MILLION in the last couple days by taking away the employee's benefits. Play this card to your advantage! The president and the Board get richer off the backs of their employees. Nothing will fire a recruit up more than that.

Stealing talent from a competitor offers three huge advantages over "regular" recruiting. You gain experienced talent in your industry, Goodyear loses it. You gain market share, Goodyear loses it. Finally, you gain a highly motivated employee who wants to crush one of your main competitors (Goodyear).

As companies continue to cut costs, opportunities to recruit top talent from your competitors will remain bountiful. Stay tuned.

Greenspan & The Economy

On Thursday, March 1,2007; Alan Greenspan was quoted as saying that a recession in the U.S. economy is possible, but not probable. Way to take a stand Mr. Greenspan! Nice to see he hasn't lost his touch. So which is it?

It is inevitable that the U.S. will go into recession. The question is how deep into recession will it go and when will it happen?

The Federal Reserve has taken an aggressive approach on interest rates. History shows that rarely do they ever achieve a soft landing. At some point the multitude of variables that make up the U.S. economy will hit a rough patch and the economy will dip into recession.

So when will it happen? Greenspan has covered his bases well, but does offer some advice on where the US economy is headed. Reading between the lines, he is cautious on his outlook for the U.S. economy in 2007. The recent sell-off in the world markets is also flashing caution.

Will this be the year the economy finally goes into recession? It is possible...

Saving Money Using Direct Deposit

Do you have trouble saving money? Do you live paycheck to paycheck?

Here is an idea that can help.

Have your employer direct deposit part of your paycheck into a separate account.

For example, assume you have a weekly net pay of $500. Take $10 a week and have it direct deposited into your savings account and put the remaining $490 into your regular checking account. Forget about the $10, you probably won't even miss it. After one year you will have saved $520 plus interest. Keep this up for two years and you will have over $1,000 socked away.

Take this idea a step further and set up a total of three extra accounts. Divide up your $500 paycheck. Deposit $10 in an emergency account, $10 for a Christmas savings account, and $10 into a regular savings or investment account. Each time you get a raise, put 20% of your increase in net pay towards your extra accounts.

Saving money this way is easy because it allows you to mentally separate your paycheck. Think of the extra accounts as a withholding tax to yourself. It may take a few weeks to get used to it, but you will learn to live without the money that is being "withheld" from your check.

This method of saving can get you ahead of the constant grind of living paycheck to paycheck. Give it a try!