OK OK.. I know A Bad Mingled Wryness is an Anagram for Wednesday Ramblings… 

Yea, it’s Thursday.  Look at that… I lost a whole day.  I’m neck deep in client employee survey data and all of a sudden it’s Thor’s Day. 

Did you know Tuesday comes from Tyr, the Norse god of war? Tyr was a son of Odin, or Woden, the supreme deity after whom Wednesday was named. Friday was derived from Frigg’s-day, Frigg, the wife of Odin, representing love and beauty, in Norse mythology.  All in the family!

Anyway…

A Caffeine Kick For the Future

Last week, Starbucks closed all of its 7000 stores for three hours of re-education and retraining. The  CEO wanted employees to rededicate themselves to improving the coffee experience of Starbucks customers.  The training revolved around the things that drive the commitment of the customer to the core product.  The same product a customer can easily buy within a stone’s throw of any Starbucks.

Starbucks has 134,000 employees.  If only half of the employees received the training, Howard Schultz, the newly-returned CEO spent about $2.5 million bucks in salary alone to reinforce the importance of the company’s mission, vision, and values.  That doesn’t account for the lost revenue from shutting down for three hours, or the lost customers who might have gone to Mickey-Dee’s or Dunkin Donuts for their java fix.

That’s quite a commitment to employees and customers.  Is there any doubt as to why Starbucks is number 7 on the Fortune Best Companies to Work For list? 

In A War For Talent

Which industry is this?

• This industry has nearly 7,500 organizations headquartered within a 75 mile radius
• Within this 75 mile radius, this organization employs a couple of hundred thousand people
• These 200,000+ employees contribute nearly $10 billion to the local economy
• Experts say the industry is facing a crisis in leadership
• Organizations are struggling to recruit and retain talented workers
• Baby-boomers are retiring
• Younger workers are looking for greener pastures, feeling underpaid, working long hours, and upset by a perceived lack of advancement opportunities

Ready?  It’s the NOT-FOR-PROFIT industry! 

And to make matters worse, NFP’s have to find people who believe in their mission and have the requisite skills, knowledge, experience, and compentencies to be successful in the job.  This is one industry that can’t afford the silent profit killer.  In the world of NFP’s, increased employee turnover links directly to a decrease of services provided to their stakeholders. 

Now that’s a real problem.

And The Hits Keep On Coming

The top 10 most active jobs in 2008 according to a recent survey?

1. software design/development
2. nursing
3. accounting/finance executive
4. sales/business development representative
5. administrative assistant
6. corporate finance
7. networking/system administration
8. intelligence
9. general accounting
10. technical customer support

Whew.  No special skills or education needed for those ten groups.  It should be easy for any company to recruit and retain these folks.   Just remember:  the unemployment rates for college grads is half or less than the national average, for the last year it has hovered around 2%.

TWO PERCENT.  Anyone listening?  That’s a sweet place to be if you’re an employee.  Not so sweet if your looking to attract, motivate, and retain employees.