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TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 2010 A WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER COMPILED BY SAM GEIST
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| MARKETPLACE LESSONS |
Note: A great observation on last week's Marketplace Lesson:
"Are you spending your 41¢ wisely?" Sid Williams commented that: "It is an interesting conjunction of orbits with the "41cents" analogy you draw in today's letter. You note that 41 cents of every dollar is invested in the folks - they make the business ... work. Coincidentally, a first class stamp is ... 41 cents.
Since the key to optimum performance, career satisfaction is always a function of the quality of communication between/among the folks, the coincidence of the amount invested in people (41%) and investment in basic communication (41 cents) is eye-catching - it really reinforces the lesson."
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Now that we are well into Value Chain Deconstruction, we should also have entered Value Chain Reconstruction--that phase where we look at how we can renew our value chain to meet the demands and expectations of today's savvy consumers--and even go so far as to surprise them with benefits they had not yet fully realized were available to them.
I was asked recently by a client to spend the day at his company, to shadow him and some of his people to see how far they had come in the VCR (Value Chain Reconstruction) process and offer up an objective perspective on what would encourage further gains along this path.
At the end of the day I realized that to make gains on VCR basically requires answering the following three questions honestly.
1. What do I (really) sell?
2. What problem does it solve for my customers?
3. What does it ultimately help my customers achieve?
By considering the thought process of the employees in his company against these questions I was able to give him some ideas to assist him in this goals.
LESSON LEARNED:"We must create real value in the new evolving chain--and continue to re-create value as the environment and our customers change."
-Sam Geist
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THE STATS
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This comprehensive survey, just released, provides an in-depth look at where retailers are succeeding on the talent front and where there is room for improvement.
Closing the leadership gap:
- 83% of participants rank leadership development as critical to their organizations' success
- However 21% don't monitor their future supply of talent
- And 31% believe that their succession planning efforts are not effective.
Adjusting to demographic changes:- 45% of respondents cite greater workforce diversity as a very or extremely critical issue to their organization.
Attracting new talent:
The top three tools cite:- 76%, financial rewards and incentives
- 69%, training & development opportunities
- 66%, brand attraction and affiliation.
--NRF/Deloitte Consulting LLP
Click here for complete survey results.
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Job seekers must prepare smart answers to these five interview questions. And interviewers must ask themselves, are they asking these questions:
1. Why do you want to work for us?
(List of skills interviewee has that match what is needed).
2. Tell me about yourself.
(Interviewee must be prepared to tell interviewer what he needs to know about them that will keep the interviewee in the running for the position).
3. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
(Gives the interviewer an idea of how interviewee reacts to challenging or stressful questions. Use it an opportunity to show how interviewee plans to improve professional skills).
4. Why did you leave your last job?
(Interviewee needs to explain reason in one sentence and then make clear that they understand their problem, take responsibility for it and are ready to move on).
5. What salary figures do you have in mind?
(Can try to deflect question back to interviewer and ask what they had in mind. Must do research before hand to know what the going salary is).
--Naplesnews.com/Tim Reardon
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| THE QUOTES |
"The most common way people
give up their power is by
thinking they don't have any."
-Alice Walker,
American author and poet
"Retailers that take a
proactive approach to engage
top performers, develop the
next generation of leaders,
and increase workforce diversity through effective recruiting, development and retention strategies may be well positioned to drive positive business performance through an economic recovery
and beyond."
-Dan Butler, VP, Retail Operations, National Retail Federation
To read about the survey from which this quote was taken see first
SITE SEEING link below.
For findings from this study
see THE STATS below.
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Connect with Sam Geist
  
Reproduction for publication is encouraged with the following attribution:
From "QuickBites," by Sam Geist. (800) 567-1861 http://www.samgeist.com
Sam Geist lectures, facilitates workshops and conducts training seminars on sales & marketing, the changing marketplace, leadership, differentiation, customer service and staff motivation. His three books, "Why Should Someone Do Business With You... Rather Than Someone Else?" "Would You Work for You?" and "Execute... or Be Executed" are available in bookstores everywhere, published by Addington & Wentworth Inc.
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