Entries for month: September 2012
453,000 more jobs added in third year of recovery
Posted by Insightlink Communications | Tags: employment
This is much better news on the jobs front that we've been hearing for a while. In it's revised firgues, the BoL says that the U.S. ecomony added 386,000 more jobs that it's previous estimate. This means, of course, that the jobs picture over the year was not quite as bleak as we thought. It's also an important reminder that the monthly jobs number is actually just a rough estimate that maybe doesn't deserve all the fevered attantion that it gets.
Is It a Mistake to Pick an Employee of the Month?
Posted by Insightlink Communications | Tags: Employee Engagement , Reward and Recognition
Here's an interesting article in today's small business section of the New York Times. Many companies both large and small use something like an 'Employee of the Month' award as a way to both reward good employees and motivate others. But do these programs really work as well as we think? Many management consultants are not so sure. In my personal experince I've seen them lead to resentment and anger among those never chosen as "teacher's pet" and the feeling that these "attaboy" awards are often handed to the office "suck-ups" rather than the folks who work hard and go the extra mile without constantly tooting their own horns. Part of that, of course, is simply due to bad management, but even when it's not out-and-out favoritism driving these programs, rewards like these which highlight some employees while ignoring the contributions of others may not be the best prescription for overall employee engagament. Time to re-think perhaps?
How to Convince Your Boss You Should Work at Home
Posted by Insightlink Communications | Tags: Employee Engagement , Work-Life Balance , telecommuting
If you've read our last two articles on the advatages of working from home, you may be wondering how you can make telecommuting part of your own job. Here are a few tips from tech entrepreneur and writer Seth Porges on how you might be able to convince your boss that letting you work from home is in his or her best interest.
Home-Based Workers Are More Productive
Posted by Insightlink Communications | Tags: Employee Engagement , Attrition
Following up on yesterday's post about the higher enagement levels of home-office based workers, here's an article from Wired Magazine that cites a study published recently by Stanford which among other findings shows a 12% increase in productivity among home-based workers as well as a 50% decrease in attrition levels.
Why Remote Workers Are More Engaged
Posted by Insightlink Communications | Tags: Employee Engagement
Surprising results on whether remote workers are actually more engaged than their office-bound counterparts. Scott Edinger of Edinger Consulting Group gives us his take on the subject.