As more employers consider alternatives to traditional pensions for providing retirement benefits, new data reflects a growing need for defined contribution retirement plans among America’s small to mid-sized companies. Symetra Financial offers a variety of flexible and cost-effective retirement plans to help emerging businesses provide meaningful savings options to more workers.
A recent poll by Wall […]

I came across this interesting video at experiencecurve.com and I think it shows great insight as to the new and different behaviors of students who WILL be our future leaders and employees. Are you ready for them? Take a Look.

I am working on a project right now where I am implementing a new sales compensation plan that will better align with our new ‘Customer Intimate’ orientation. That being we serve a well defined set of accounts or markets and we bring them solutions, not products, not transactions but complete answers to their problems.
So I […]

At my office I am in the middle of a compensation plan change for the sales team. Unfortunately I did not anticipate the amount of “static energy” that would be generated amongst the team as a result of my authentic and early communication around the changes.
I have outlined the purpose for the change (based on […]

Healthcare cost growth has slowed slightly in the last few years but the overall cost of providing employees of small businesses healthcare continues to be a BIG problem.
How can small businesses compete for talented individuals when healthcare costs prevent them from offering the best total compensation package available.
Listen to Dawn Rivers Baker of the Microenterprise […]

This article contributed by my special guest, MJ Gilhooley.
It was once said that the true sign of business integrity is collaboration. Expanding on my earlier article on Business Relationships I want to add one additional step. It is paramount to the enduring success of any firm to reinvent, renew and restore the relationships within its own walls as […]

Very early in my management career (1976-1993) I worked for a company called Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). In 1979 I went into the management development program and obtained my first management position in 1980.
One thing DEC invested heavily in was a formal management development program. At each level of of management there was a defined […]

This article contributed by my special guest, MJ Gilhooley.
The importance of maximizing technology, rather than hiding behind it, is worthy of note in today’s tech-crazed business culture. Regardless of our server size or our dashboard widgets, blogs and blackberry’s, enduring business is still the result of key, well maintained human relationships.
While the argument remains that […]

There is really nothing new about a sales organization encouraging their staff’s to be ethical in their business behavior.
Many companies though are finding that taking this stance to a whole new level is getting great results.
Organizations from the Direct Selling Association to the Wall Street Journal are echoing the message. Companies can increase their sales […]

Like our physical condition our managerial competence and capability can get out of shape. What can we do to exercise it to help us compete, grow and lead our businesses successfully? This is a challenge I am facing with a company right now.
Here are the facts:

15 Year Old Company (was a roll-up of 3 previous […]