Seth’s Blog: Basting the turkey.
Basting the turkey might sound like your job description, but ultimately, we’re known by the projects we get involved in. Saying “no” or even “stop” is the hallmark of the professional you want on your team.
Management
TaskRabbit Confirms Layoffs – TechCrunch
The company started as a purely consumer-focused product to let regular people outsource their odd jobs and tasks to others, but it has indeed been increasing its focus on the enterprise space in recent months.
via TaskRabbit Confirms Layoffs As It Realigns To Focus On Mobile And Enterprise | TechCrunch.
Regular people don’t outsource errands and odd jobs.
Expense reduction will only postpone the inevitable.
Your Brand Follows the Work – Nilofer Merchant – HBR
Focus on the work. Your personal brand follows. Don’t let the goofy title dissuade you from clicking the link and reading the post. The author is thought provoking and absolutely spot on.
We talk about “reinventing your brand” when in reality the goal is to reinvent what you work on. We talk about the “brand called you” when we talk about being able to do more of the work you love to do. We talk about ways to “deliver on the impact equation” without asking first, “what is it you want to impact?” We are told by marketing gurus that “everyone now owns a media company!” — as if somehow this is, itself, the goal — rather than a means to an end. Marketing has become the default language — the lingua franca of the day — that we use to describe work, and it is distorting how we evaluate what matters.
What is it you care about? It takes courage to find and follow an individual path; finding our own path takes us off the path that others are following, in directions that can seem distinctly alone.
Employers May Reduce PT Hours – Insurance & Financial Advisor – IFAwebnews.com
Almost one in five large- and mid-sized U.S. companies plans to reduce the hours that part-time employees work in order to limit exposure to coverage mandates under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management.
Once employer mandates of the sweeping federal health reform laws begin going into effect in 2014, employers with at least 50 full-time workers (determined by ACA to be those working at least 30 hours per week) will be required to offer health benefit plans to 95% of qualifying employees or incur a $2,000 per employee tax penalty.
Two reports released by SHRM on the impending impact of the health care reform law indicate that 18% of companies with between 500 and 2,499 employees will reduce part-time schedules to less than 30 hours per week to mitigate costs related to the addition of new members to the plan. And approximately 19% of large firms with 2,500 to 24,999 employees plan to cut part-time employees’ hours.
On the other hand, the study found that smaller employers, those with fewer than 500 employees, were less likely to cut part-time employees’ hours. Just 5% of employers with fewer than 100 workers expect to reduce part-time hours.
Does anyone out there (besides me) believe company managements need to manage as if people mattered?
Entrepreneurs Get Better with Age – HBR
Entrepreneurs Get Better with Age – Whitney Johnson – Harvard Business Review.
Independent Work May Be Inevitable – Whitney Johnson – Harvard Business Review.
Just as larger businesses provide economic stability to society in the form of higher pay, better medical care, and retirement, experienced workers provide intellectual and emotional ballast in the workplace including innovation expertise. Think about it — disruptive innovation is about playing where no one wants to play (low-end), or has thought of playing (new market).
Disruptive innovation. The more I think about this term the more I begin to realize it is time to change once again. As a life underwriting expert witness I’ve played in an area where few underwriters get to play. As I look back on the recent past expert witness work was never the main focus. The more I think about this the more I come to realize it is time to refocus.
So where do you want to play?
Discover Your Personal Narrative – HBR
Sure, your personal brand and your message can be focus-grouped and wordsmithed by others. But the best place to look, at least initially, is at the stories you tell, to yourself and about yourself. You’ll start to see patterns and themes — if most of your most meaningful experiences are centered on global leadership, or if the “moral” of most of your stories is about the need for better executive communication, then you’re on your way to finding the essence of your brand.
via Discover Your Personal Narrative – Dorie Clark – Harvard Business Review.
For a short piece this post is one of the more thought provoking blog articles you’ll ever read. What is your personal narrative? What stories do you find yourself telling over and over? What is your true voice? What defines you? What is your essence?
Take your time. This project will take some time.
The Economy In Pictures and Rock and Roll
Guest Post: The Economy In Pictures | Zero Hedge.
How Rock ‘N’ Roll Can Explain The U.S. Economy : It’s All Politics : NPR.
Saturday morning, a little exercise, a lot of coffee, time to catch up on the news. Then it dawned on me: I haven’t posted any Scary Charts in a while. Click the first link above and feast your eyes. Then read the article on NPR to remind yourself…
It’s only rock and roll but I like it.
Truly Great Companies Add More Than They Extract – The Energy Project
A company’s greatness is grounded in doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people, and the least harm. It is neither first nor foremost about maximizing short-term return for shareholders. Rather, it is about investing in and valuing all stakeholders – employees, customers, suppliers, the community and the planet – in order to generate the greatest value over the longest term for all parties, including the shareholders.
via Truly Great Companies Add More Than They Extract – The Energy Project.
Genworth Cuts 400 Jobs as CEO McInerney Pressured by Rates – SFGate
MetLife Cuts 2,500 Advisers – Businessweek
MetLife has about 5,000 advisers who sell insurance and investment products, down from 7,500 in February of 2012, Eric Steigerwalt, head of MetLife’s U.S. retail business, said at a May 21 investor day presentation. The New York-based firm lowered the number of agencies to about 60, from 85, he said.
“We’re not financing advisers who, frankly, were never going to make it in this business,” Steigerwalt said. “Our productivity is way up and we’re saving a lot of money.”
via MetLife Cuts 2,500 Advisers Seen Lacking Chance of Success – Businessweek.
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