Is culture your company's most important asset?

CareerBliss.com recently released its list of the 50 Happiest Companies in America for 2013. CareerBliss receives thousands of independent employee-provided reviews each year. These are analyzed for key factors which affect work happiness, including work-life balance, boss relationships, co-worker relationships, company culture, compensation, and control over the work they do each day.

The happiest company in America for the coming year is Pfizer, which moved up from 11th place in last year’s list. Every company on the top 50 list should be proud of that accomplishment. They are working hard to create a happy, rewarding work culture for their primary internal customers: Their employees!

To what extent does your company intentionally create a happy, rewarding work culture for staff? You can go to CareerBliss to see if your company is rated. An even better place to start: Ask your employees. Most senior leaders put greater thought into their products and services than they do into their culture — yet culture drives everything that happens in an organization, for better or worse. Because of this fact, corporate culture may be your company’s most important asset.

If you leave your corporate culture to chance, you may experience a culture that hurts or hinders employee performance and work passion.
Employees don’t miss a thing. They know what works and what doesn’t work in their organization’s culture. Their perspective is the most important data you can tap regarding the quality and health of your organization’s culture.

Consider new research from management consultancy Orion Partners. Its survey of over 2,000 employees found that 24% of employees thought their bosses were overstressed, poor communicators, and lacked empathy. Only 5% of employees felt that their managers were empathetic, explained why organizational change was good for employees, or rewarded employees for their efforts.

Almost half (47%) of employees said that their managers made them feel threatened. 85% said that their managers cared more about what they did than what they were feeling. Every one of these issues is fixable. Most managers can easily reframe key messages in ways that demonstrate care, that encourage employees, and that make employees feel heard and valued. The trick is to invite employee opinion, then refine behaviors to better serve their needs — and, in the process, create a safe, inspiring work culture.

What are proven ways to gather reliable, valid employee perceptions about your work environment? Employee surveys are a very effective “formal” means to gather this data. Informal ways include regular one-on-one meetings, “breakfast with the CEO,” town hall meetings, exit interviews, or discussions that organically happen when leaders “manage by wandering around.” It’s amazing what leaders can learn if they are available and present for these conversations.

The path is clear: Ask employees what they think of your company and culture. Then share the results, no matter how depressing the data. Then act — repair lousy systems, coach lousy bosses and employees, etc., to improve your company work culture day by day. The worst thing you can do after asking employees what they think? Do nothing with the information.

Why Year-End Reviews Are A Big Fat Waste Of Time

By Denis Wilson

December 20, 2012

The standard-model performance review is an unhelpful barrage of built-up criticism. Instead, give feedback consistently so that your employees hear the good with the bad and make improvement a matter of routine.

Let's cut to the chase: If the only feedback your employees get from you is in the form of a 6- or 12-month performance review, it’s time to change your approach to feedback. Dropping bombs on employees once or twice a year only serves to build up pressure and make feedback sessions feel like indictments. And most importantly, it does little to alter behavior and improve performance and productivity, which should be your goal.
For feedback to be effective, it can’t be a special occasion, says Bruce Tulgan, author of It's Okay to Be the Boss: The Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming the Manager Your Employees Need. “My view is that feedback is much too often given when things are going wrong. I call that ‘bad-news management’ because every time they hear from you, it means something’s gone wrong. You should always give feedback when things are going wrong, but you should also give feedback when things are going right, when things are going average.”

So instead of waiting for the obligatory performance reviews to come around, you should have a built-in feedback loop with your reports. “The best approach is to be giving people feedback on an ongoing basis about how their performance is lining up with expectations, and giving them guidance, support, and helping them make adjustments,” says Tulgan.
With this kind of ongoing dialogue, and by encouraging transparency and candid truth-telling company-wide, everyone stands to benefit through improved performance and enhanced working relationships.

Up Your Frequency
There are a litany of reasons managers give for why they don’t provide feedback more frequently, says Tulgan. They don’t have the time. They think that empowering people means letting them figure everything out for themselves, including what they’re doing right and wrong. Some feel they aren’t any good at coaching, while others are conflict avoidant or afraid of spoiling the collegial work culture. “All of these things contribute to managers being either unwilling or unable to engage in sufficiently detailed and consistent dialogue with their people,” says Tulgan.

The problem is that when conversations providing feedback happen infrequently, they have a tendency to cause more harm than good. Tulgan makes an analogy to working out: If you go out and try to do a five-mile run without working out regularly, that’s when injuries occur. “Part of why the ongoing dialogue works so well is it lowers the stakes in each of the conversations. Think about what happens in the 6- and 12-month reviews. You’re talking to people about stuff they did 6 or 12 months ago, for one thing. And they’re like, ‘Wow, I wish you would have told me that at the time.’

Not that performance reviews should be tossed out altogether. But instead of bringing new feedback to the table, they should summarize the ongoing dialogue and how the employee can take his performance to the next level. Big picture stuff. Meanwhile, the ongoing discussions should provide clear goals, concrete expectations, a timeline, and requirements within which to meet agreed upon goals.

Get Your Motives & Your Facts Straight
Much of the work that goes into providing effective feedback should actually take place well before you sit down with an employee. Having clear intentions for the conversation will help set an appropriate tone, says Joseph Grenny, co-author of Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. If you come from a place of anger or revenge, it will hamper progress. “We know that coming at people with that kind of motivation is going to shut them down,” says Grenny. “They’re going to get defensive, they’re not going to be interested."

Before offering feedback, Grenny suggests asking yourself three questions: What do I want for me? What do I want for the other person? What do I want for the relationship? “The people that are really good at creating a non-defensive, open conversation with people tend to talk to people from a perspective of, ‘I care about you and I want you to be able to achieve the results that are important to you, and I want to be able to get my results.’ When you are coming from that place, people sense it and it colors the entire conversation.”

The other homework you need to do before a feedback session is gather facts so you can provide substantive evidence of the points you want to make. “You need to write down what conclusions you want to share with this person about their performance and what supporting facts you have to dredge up to help illustrate the points you’re trying to make,” says Grenny. “You have to do that work. If you don’t, what you’re going to be having is an abusive conversation where you insult somebody without informing them.”

Stay On Track
It’s important to make sure the feedback sessions stay on track, both in terms of the topic at hand, as well as the emotional balance. “You need to be clear on the points you’re trying to make and if people are moving off topic, you’ve got to be good at bringing it back to the central point,” says Grenny.
The emotional aspect of a conversation can be a bit more difficult to negotiate. “Oftentimes, if someone is getting loud or argumentative or defensive we think “Oh boy, they can’t handle this,” so we start being apologetic and watering down our message, and sugar coating it.”

This is the wrong approach. The way to handle defensiveness is not to minimize your message, but to make the person feel safe, says Grenny. So when you sense someone starting to bristle, set aside the feedback for a moment, and show them that you have their best interest at heart. “The first thing you have to say is, ‘Look, I want you to know that I want you to win here. I’m not giving you this feedback because I’m trying to tear you down. In fact, I need to talk with you about this because I think you got potential here and I want to make sure you achieve your potential."

Create a Candid Culture
Many organizations suffer from a dearth of candor, says Grenny. He suggests creating a culture where most performance issues aren’t handled by you as the boss, but by the person’s peers. “Let’s be honest, in today’s world we don’t interact with our bosses the way we used to when they were standing there with a clipboard on the factory floor observing us.”
Grenny says it’s key to empower peers to provide each other with feedback and teach them the skills to do so effectively so performance problems are handled on the spot and between the people with which they occur. “You need to be actively teaching skills they ought to use for delivering feedback and sharing things because people don’t come into your organization with these types of soft skills. If leaders aren’t fostering the kinds of competencies needed to a create a positive cultural operating system, then what you’re getting is the path of least resistance, and that’s obfuscating, that’s politicking, it’s gunnysacking, it’s withholding, it’s all of that negative stuff that creates cancer.”

Feedback as Transparency
To that point, encouraging feedback has its operational benefits, but it also contributes to an overall healthy, open culture. Rand Fishkin, founder of SEO software firm SEOmoz, has a notorious proclivity for transparency. He’s blogged about the company’s ups and downs: the trials and tribulations of venture funding, his own performance, and an insider’s view of mistakes the company has made. “It’s expected when you say that your company believes in transparency, that what you really mean is ‘We will write about things we do well and we’ll share when we’ve been successful.’ And it’s actually far more interesting and far more challenging, but also much more authentic when you write about failure.”

Transparency and authenticity have already been written into SEOmoz’s core values--which Fishkin takes very seriously--but his outward transparency has also been a good model for internal culture, says Fishkin. “That’s definitely something that over the years, I’ve become conscious of. And it’s very refreshing. I think it takes a little while for someone who’s new to the company to get into that mode of thinking.”
Fishkin continues, “In much of the corporate world, what I hear is that a lot of people have this fear around sharing their insecurities or sharing things that have gone badly. At SEOmoz, we’re working very hard to make it the opposite.”

 

The Critical Difference between Leadership and Motivation

Here’s something that might surprise you: The best leaders do not attempt to motivate their employees, athletes, students or children.

In fact, those people in leadership positions who try to light fires for others tend to not keep their jobs for long. However, those who know the difference between leadership and motivation create a different legacy; their impact on others endures.
The difference between leadership and motivation, to me, is summed up like this:

• Leadership: A consistent example of rising above any and all circumstances. Leadership is external.
• Motivation: The inner knowledge or insight that makes rising above circumstances possible. Motivation comes from within.

So, in my opinion, leadership is not about encouraging, pushing or cheering on; it’s about pointing others inward so they recognize that the ability to be motivated rests with them. If you are a parent, for instance, you know that it is virtually impossible to motivate your children to work hard at their studies. But you can lead.

You can show your children, by example, that no matter how sick you might get or how difficult your circumstances might appear, you can passionately apply yourself to your own job or projects. Thereby pointing your children inward to their innate ability to rise above any circumstance (and excuse) and crack the books with pride and vigor.
My message about leadership is simple: Great leaders serve to bring out the inner wisdom and free will of those they serve. Instead of inducing people to view life situations a certain way (or their way), great leaders demonstrate that there are an infinite number of ways to view any life situation.

To illustrate, one of my mentors, Sydney Banks, must have given hundreds of seminars and lectures during his lifetime. Like clockwork before each talk, the audience would file in with notebooks in hand. While Syd was incredibly generous with his wisdom, he would always instruct those in attendance not to take one single note. His words were his alone — his interpretation of “truth,” he would say. He wanted the audience to develop their own feelings and ideas, and draw their own conclusions, not follow in his footsteps.

I believe, then, that great leaders are those individuals who, like Sydney Banks, set great examples. Why can’t we simply leave leadership right there? Who came up with the belief that leaders must be motivators of others anyway? We must recognize the difference between leadership and motivation, because if we don’t, our companies, teams, schools and even families will be overrun by followers incapable of lending an imaginative hand, let alone coming through when the chips are down.



Motivation is personal; leadership brings out personal potential for the benefit of the greater good. Take note of the difference. The business, sports and political worlds — actually the world, in general — can use more of both.
 

 

Five Supply Chain Resolutions for the New Year

by Dan Radunz

 

December 6th, 2012

 

New Year’s resolutions are easier to make when you know they will save you time and money. To that end, here are five areas of your supply chain you should take a fresh look at in 2013:

Warehouse Management System: Is it time for an upgrade or replacement? Consider whether your current system is strengthening or hindering your ability to execute business strategies. Your WMS should free up your IT department to focus on customer-facing applications, allow for maximum configuration to your unique business practices, and adapt to changing market demands and regulatory requirements. You may also want to examine how well your WMS integrates with other software: It should serve as the hub of your warehouse and seamlessly exchange data with other systems, like your ERP.

Performance management: You’re collecting data left and right, but do you know what to do with it? A performance management system will turn those numbers into graphical, actionable information to help you drill down for root cause analysis and ultimately make better operational decisions. The right system should produce real-time, comparative dashboards based on best-practice metrics like inbound, outbound and capacity, while also allowing you to customize it for your own company-specific performance indicators.

Moving to the cloud: Cloud technology allows you to access the most up-to-date system through a secure web portal, while the vendor hosts the actual software and hardware infrastructure off-site. This arrangement can save you time, expense and labor by off-loading the software and hardware maintenance associated with maintaining on-premise software. Specifically, your IT department can spend less time maintaining a system or learning every new technology stack and application needed to run the company, and more time with the customer-facing services that differentiate your business and add to the bottom line. And as we saw most recently with Hurricane Sandy, companies that have off-site, cloud-based systems may avoid catastrophic data loss if they are hit by flooding or a hurricane.

Voice technology: This can be a key component for increasing efficiency and productivity in the warehouse by improving picking speed and accuracy. Voice solutions can include distribution voice-enabled workflow for areas such as picking, receiving and replenishment, as well as for manufacturing processes such as kitting, assembly and inspection. If your company is searching for ways to increase efficiency even more, voice technology may be the next step.

Hardware: Ensure you are taking full advantage of the latest hardware technology. It’s easy to get comfortable with older models and devices, but examining the ruggedness, scanning tolerance, speed and ability to integrate with other tools (like voice) may lead to changes that improve accuracy and productivity. Many WMS providers can recommend the best solutions for your business and current system compatibility, and even locate, price and order the hardware for you.
As we continue to emerge from the recession and start to move more boldly, resolve to ensure your supply chain is well positioned to drive your company to bigger growth and a better bottom line.

Dan Radunz is vice president of product strategy and development and oversees HighJump Software’s worldwide product development group and technology operations, supporting the company’s entire source-to-consumption software portfolio.

Guide your teams to attain goals: 3 ways

 

by Executive Leadership on December 2, 2012 6:00pm
in Leaders & Managers,Team Building

 

Savvy leaders induce compliance rather than demand it. They guide people to think for themselves and draw their own conclusions. To lead others in the right direction, articulate a clear goal and set a time­table for attaining it. Let the conversation unfold in three phases:

1. Discuss a deadline. After establishing the goal, say, “Let’s explore when you need to achieve it.” Solicit the employee’s thoughts on the time frame and, if necessary, cite your own preferences.
For example, a supervisor may tell you he thinks training staff on new purchasing software will take one month. You might reply, “Sounds good. But if everyone was up to speed in two weeks, we’d reap more savings sooner and that would increase your team’s year-end bonus.”

2. Define the stakes. Explore why your employee thinks the goal matters. That’s better than giving a lecture. Ask, “Why do you think this is important?”
When employees say, “This is a big project for us and here’s why,” you lead by letting others see the meaning and organizational impact of their effort. This breeds commitment and a shared spirit of success.

3. Postulate “what ifs.” Make sure employees understand the positive consequences of goal attainment—and the negative consequences if they fail. Pose hypothetical queries such as, “What if you miss the deadline?”, “What if you get derailed by unexpectedly high costs?”, “What if worst-case outcomes get in the way?”
By walking people through “what if” scenarios, you help them anticipate un­­knowns and prepare contingency plans. And you underscore the seriousness of the goal and implicitly signal how much it means to you that the employee plow ahead despite any obstacles that arise.

— Adapted from Selling Results!, Bill Stinnett, McGraw-Hill

 

Modern Transportation Management Systems Make LTL Neutral Rate Bases Obsolete

by Geoff Comrie

 

November20th,2012

 

Long ago, a LTL (less-than truckload) neutral rate base (NRB) was promoted as way for shippers to more easily compare shipping costs between carriers because carrier contracts and the actual rating process were both complex. A NRB was seen as a compromise based on simplicity, but neither the business interests of the shipper or carrier were optimized.

I believe, however, that neutral rate bases have outlived their purpose.
Today, modern transportation management systems (TMS), with robust contract and pricing management capabilities, have negated the need for a NRB and allow for both shippers and carriers to reap the rewards of a well-negotiated, collaborative contract.
How is this done?

There are many LTL carriers in the U.S. and not one of them services every part of North America equally. For many reasons — too many to get into here — some regions and lanes make stronger business sense than others. And when the needs of the shipper are aligned with the strengths of the carrier, both the shipper and the carrier enjoy a profitable and healthy relationship.

It is well known that almost no two carrier contracts are identical, even year-to-year by the same carrier. What appears to be a conspiracy between carriers to make their contracts difficult to compare is more a reflection of how well carriers know their costs to the penny. This results in complex and different rate structures — what kinds of costs are associated with certain kinds of freight, how much to charge for specific accessorials, how much it costs to service various lanes and facilities, and so on.

Modern Contract and Rating
This is where highly-detailed contract management systems are invaluable in quickly determining the complete and actual costs of a shipping transaction. These systems account for every detail and nuance, providing shippers with reliable, least-cost choices within seconds.

There are many contract management (CM) systems around. Strategic and functional value boils down to detail and process, not the pretty colors of a user Interface. It can certainly be intimidating when you first look at a very granular CM system because it just “looks complicated” due to all of the carrier contract information that needs to be entered. But the work is absolutely necessary and can mean the difference between getting back a simple estimate versus the actual cost, or even if the freight can be delivered to a certain address.

Hard Work + Detailed Input = Reliable Output
I cannot overstress this point.
Here’s a real-life example of what can happen if a contract management system isn’t robust enough to consider important details:

You have a 2,000 lb. shipment moving from Atlanta to New York City, with a freight class of 55, requiring an inside delivery by the carrier.

ABC, an “undetailed” contract management system, returns a hundred-weight (CWT) rate of $93.99, yielding a gross freight charge of $1,879.80. After your well-negotiated discount, the net freight charge would be $375.96.

 

You ultimately choose to use this carrier because, according to the transportation management system’s utilization of ABC contract management, this was the least cost carrier.

 

Unfortunately, this shipment is going to cost you much more than $375.96.

ABC does not take into account the additional accessorial cost for Inside Delivery even though it’s clearly stated in the carrier contract. ABC simply has no capability to have this detail recognized in the contract management system. Inside Delivery has a cost of $14.50 per CWT, yielding a total charge of $290 for this accessorial.

Further, ABC doesn’t recognize there is an automatic additional delivery charge of $60 for delivery into the borough of Manhattan.

 

So the total cost is actually $725.96, not the $375.96 returned by ABC.

Ouch!

 

In summary, to lower your transportation costs, use your own negotiated carrier contract in tandem with a modern transportation management system. This delivers lower shipping costs and better accuracy, which is important in delivering fundamentally good customer service and if you are looking to build a certain margin into your shipping services.

But, if you are still going to use a neutral rate base, then do a bit of homework. With carrier acceptance being neutral, pick a neutral rate base that is not really governed by the carriers, is cost-effective and offers the highest value, because your financial benefit, as shown above, can be compromised by up to 20 percent. In addition, look for a NRB that uses modern technology that any current and future software can use, offers the most rating options, and offers friendly licensing terms.

You can view transportation management as simply moving freight from one point to another. Or you can view it more strategically, as a way to save money, increase customer retention, and as a profit center. It is this strategic perspective that is driving shippers and 3PLs to adopt sophisticated transportation management systems. But as you evaluate TMS solutions, it’s important to remember that it all starts with well-negotiated carrier agreements, and the utilization of a robust contract management system.

 

Profits or Bust:  Inside the Mind of an Efficiency Expert

 

 

 

image credit: Shutterstock

 

If you could hire an efficiency expert, what would one say? Business-efficiency consultant Andrew Jensen finds himself repeating the same things to his clients over and over again.

Jensen, president & CEO of Shrewsbury, Pa.-based Sozo Firm Inc., goes into businesses, schools and organizations and makes recommendations on what their leaders can do streamline operations and increase productivity.
Here are the most common recommendations he makes to clients looking to do more with their existing resources.

1. Trim the overhead. Look at all of your fixed costs with a critical eye. Business owners operating for more than a dozen years tend to get into a routine with their overhead expense budget. Just because you have spent $100 on a particular good or service does not mean that you should keep doing it, says Jensen. "I encourage business owners to evaluate, evaluate, evaluate."
For example, look at your marketing budget, suggests Jensen. Ask yourself: Is the marketing that I am doing really bringing in more customers? If you are outsourcing your advertising to another agency, be sure that you are corresponding with the ad agency regularly to keep tabs on their progress, says Jensen. If you have been spending money to advertise on the radio, consider giving out a separate web address on the radio ads so that you can track whether the money you are spending is bringing in any new customers, says Jensen.

Related: Your Business Leaking Money? 5 Holes to Plug
With regards to the physical goods included in overhead, if you have a broken piece of equipment, consider repairing -- instead of replacing -- it, says Jensen. Decrease the amount of inventory you lose by installing a new security system. Overhaul your stock-management system to reduce waste.

2. Train your staff. Entrepreneurs often don't spend enough time training staff, says Jensen. Even when a small business hires a competent candidate with the best qualifications, if he or she doesn't spending enough time training, then the company isn't likely to get the most out of the new hire. Since staff costs money, you want to make sure to get the most that you can out of every employee.
Training does not end at the point of hire, says Jensen. You need to continue to devote resource to making sure your staff is fully up to speed on any new systems, operating systems or procedures. Entrepreneurs and managers tend to think of training as lost time or a waste of money. "They don't really focus on the benefits," says Jensen. "It will make a profound impact on how efficient your staff is."
Related: 3 Belt-Tightening Mistakes to Avoid

3. Cancel meetings. Technology has eliminated the need for many meetings, says Jensen. Often client meetings can happen over video conference to save money on travel expenses. Further, traditional meetings don't allow all types of thinkers to have an equal chance to respond. Workers who need time to read, think and digest before responding can be at a disadvantage amid the spontaneity of a meeting. While many meetings can be replaced by a digital communication, there is still a place for some face-to-face meeting time, says Jensen, to foster community and camaraderie among the staff.

4. Get organized. If the boss isn't focused, then the business won't be, either.

• First and foremost, do the simple stuff: Clean out your desk, briefcase and files.
• Cut out the digital noise: Turn off all messaging systems for a few hours at a time. Create a habit of checking messages every few hours. Between times, stay focused on the task at hand.
• Prioritize: Make to-do lists. Avoid the urge to grab for the low-hanging fruit first. Do what needs to be done first, first.
• Assign specific tasks to specific times of day. Do the hardest mental work when you have learned you are the most focused. Stagger rewards throughout your day to keep you on track.
• Get your homelife cleaned up. "If a person's home life is hectic and stressful then their productivity at work is also going to suffer," says Jensen. Eat right, exercise and get enough sleep.

 

By Beverly Kaye and Julie Winkle Giulioni
Where do I stand? How am I seen? What do you think? I don’t mean to sound needy … but a little bit of information could go a long way with me. — An employee (perhaps yours)?

Feedback.
How appropriate that the word begins with feed. Because for many employees, information from others about how they’re perceived and how they’re doing is currently a severe source of malnourishment in today’s workplace.
Yet in study after study, employees in every sector are starving for feedback. And, it’s a pretty human response. We spend 40+ hours each week at work, dedicating our bodies, minds, and souls to the cause. A little attention is not too much to ask.
Managers, beware. A low-feedback diet may be harmful to the health of your business. Side effects include:

• Disengagement;
• Stunted growth;
• Lack of clarity;
• Lost opportunities;
• Loss of talent.

Good people move on — either psychologically or physically — when their hunger for feedback isn’t satisfied. And this loss of talent is completely unnecessary because feedback:

• Doesn’t cost anything except a little genuine attention to others.
• Lends itself to literally any setting — face-to-face or virtually — with no more than a moment’s preparation.
• Isn’t just the domain of managers — anyone who is willing or asked can get involved.

Feedback is a hindsight lens through which people can pass their self-perceptions — and in the process, it yields a clearer vision of who they are and the value they bring. Sounds good, right?
What about you?
Be honest. When it comes to giving and getting feedback, where do you stand?

It’s feeding time
Opportunities for feedback abound. And what probably comes to your mind first is performance feedback — job-related information about an employee’s behavior or results that helps to drive improvement. That’s certainly important — but it’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about a broader and more expansive dialogue that drives development.

We’ve just discussed the value of hindsight conversations with employees, which surface essential information from their point of view. The problem is that an individual’s perspective is rarely a complete picture.
Employees need a reality check — an opportunity to expand their perspective beyond their own to round out their self-assessment. Voila! An opportunity for feedback.
When you help employees to proactively solicit the points of view of others, they get a two-fer:

1. They’re able to check their assumptions, balance their understanding of themselves, and discover who they are in the eyes of others.
2. They develop the capacity to independently initiate feedback conversations.

Do this well enough for long enough and pretty soon you’ll have a self-generating feeding frenzy (in a good way) in which employees become comfortable getting and volunteering feedback freely among themselves.

Who’s who in their zoo

So feedback is another sort of a hindsight conversation. The good, the bad, and the ugly need to be confirmed or dispelled as employees’ perspectives are checked against the points of view held by others.
To ensure the most complete picture, it’s important to tap into the broadest career audience possible. Ask employees who might have additional insight into them, their strengths, abilities, interests, and opportunities.
The answer will likely include some combination of:

• Peers;
• Employees;
• Customers;
• Family;
• Friends;
• Manager.

You’ll notice that you are last on the list. And that’s to make a point.
When it comes to career development, it takes a village!
Employees need to develop the broadest network possible to facilitate their career success. Co-workers and others within and outside the organization have potentially important information, ideas, and helpful contacts. And gathering feedback from them is an ideal way for employees to begin to engage others in creating the path forward.
As a manager, you have a unique perspective. But yours is one of many that will inform employees’ understanding of themselves and help to be the basis for effective planning.

Encourage employees to gather feedback from others before sharing your own. It’s not about politeness (e.g., letting the guests get their food first) but about power. You’ve got it and, as a result, your perspective may carry undue weight. When employees come to you with a plate full of feedback from others, they are better able to put your perspective into perspective.

Just remember: ABC

Soliciting and accepting feedback graciously are skills that distinguish successful and effective individuals. Yet, many people have not had the benefit of learning these skills. Your employees are likely among them.

Since the act of opening one’s self up to the opinions of others can be challenging, the agenda for such a discussion should be simple — as straightforward as ABC. Encourage employees to focus on just three things as they gather feedback from others: abilities, blind spots, and conditions.

Abilities

• What are my greatest strengths?
• Which of my skills are most valuable?
• What can you always count on me for?
• What value do I bring?

Blind spots

• What behaviors have you observed that might get in my way?
• How have I fallen short of expectations?
• How might my strengths work against me?
• What one change could I make that would have the greatest positive effect on my success?

Conditions

• In what settings or under what circumstances do I make the greatest contributions?
• Under what conditions have you observed me struggling?
• Do I tend to perform best when working with others or flying solo?
• What factors have you noticed trigger stress or other negative reactions for me?

Work with employees to select a question or two from each category to use as the starting point for feedback conversations with individuals in their career networks.
As you can imagine, live, face-to-face feedback conversations are ideal. But, given today’s distributed workforce, employees may need to resort to virtual means — phone or web-chat. Either way, this sort of real-time interaction can surface valuable information while strengthening relationships.

Greater awareness and stronger relationships support career development. In this way, feedback really does help employees grow where they are, so they won’t go and grow somewhere else. As a bonus, they develop a critical skill that leads to greater success on the job and in life.
And, if you have an online tool that you love, keep using it — in addition to, not instead of, conversation.

Excerpted from the book Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go — Career Conversations Employees Want by Beverly Kaye & Julie Winkle Giulioni, with permission from Berrett Koehler Publishers 2012

It's Time To Burn Your Organization Chart



New technology has opened many business opportunities for industrial distributors. Customers, and your own sales people, are using smart phones, tablets, and many other devices to improve the ways that business is being conducted. Given this, how will new technology and practices alter your organizational chart? 
 
Sales and Marketing
Every distributor will need an "Eyeball Manager", the person responsible for tracking visitors to your web site, LinkedIn, Blog, and Facebook page as well as responding to tweets. Many large companies already have whole departments doing this for their brands and customers. How many sets of eyes are viewing your company's messages, advertisements, product offerings, etc. today? You need to know who is watching you and find ways to be sure your sales folks have the opportunity to turn them into customers.

Virtual Sales Person - Once you know which eyes are looking at your company, you need at least a sales person, maybe a sales manager, who is skilled in communicating with prospects and customers electronically. Billions of dollars of business is now conducted over the Internet. Companies are opening markets on a global basis and it may be impractical for you to conduct business in the traditional person-to-person way.

Virtual Marketing Manager - Your catalog used to be a virtual sales person on its own. Now it has likely become an on-line catalog. The text, pictures, price sheet, etc. are no longer printed, they have moved on-line. But is that the end game from a marketing perspective? How interactive is your on-line catalog? Can I conduct business through my iphone or android device? How quickly can you respond to texted or tweeted questions? Does your marketing material look the same on a tablet as it did in a glossy printed catalogue? What new virtual media will be available 5 years out? 
 
Electronic Trade Show Manager - It keeps getting harder to justify the cost and time invested in some trade shows. We have not seen many where that fact has not affected attendance. At some point, a virtual trade show is going to replace the old model. Booth duty will finally be a good assignment! Your trade show manager will need a different set of items to draw in prospects and to differentiate your "virtual booth" from your competitors.
Operations 
 
Virtual Warehouse Manager - We may not have virtual inventory anytime soon, but where your inventory is located is changing already. Many distributors buy or sell on a consignment basis. Many distributors hold stock outside of their own warehouses for key customers. Shared warehouse space, 3PL's, and other options exist today and are used by many distributors on a regular basis. Can your current manager also insure the proper handling and control of inventory spread across the country? Or across the globe? We think he/she might need a virtual counterpart, a person to manage inventory in locations other than your own warehouse.

Supplier Relationship Manager - Manufacturing companies have been working on developing collaborative relationships with their suppliers because they see it as a way to take cost out of the end-to-end process. Distributors buy products from their suppliers and those relationships need to be more collaborative, as well. Our view is that at least some of your suppliers will be open to looking for cost saving and efficiency options that will strengthen both of you to compete in the future.
Finance
Margin Manager - Every distributor understands the importance of margins, but not many have given a person the responsibility of looking for improvement opportunities. The margin manager will challenge sales on discounts and other margin reducing tactics. However, he/she will also be looking internally to find ways to improve margins, as well. Issues like managing margins through commodity cycles; tracking product line margins and specific item margins across the company and working with purchasing on competitive analysis will be tasks that your margin manager will accomplish.
Update the Hiring Process
You may need to hire people to fill at least some of these new positions. Here are some tips for you to consider when filling any new positions:

• Hire people with the skill set that the job requires, don't hire based on industry experience. Many small to mid-size companies operate under the assumption that a new employee must have worked in their industry segment - i.e. MRO distributor. Large companies benefit greatly from new employees with different backgrounds and experiences. A person with the right skills can learn about your products and customers. And, they may be able to add valuable insight based on what they previously learned in other companies or industries. We helped an industrial distributor hire a warehouse manager from the consumer products industry. That individual brought a wealth of different ideas that led to many improvements in warehouse operations.
• Hire a person who will "fit" in your company and culture. Said another way, if you are the owner, don't hire somebody that you don't like as a person, it will not work.
• Involve other key managers/employees in the interview process. That will give you some additional perspectives on the potential new employee and, importantly, people will buy in to the new person if they participated in the hiring process.

Change is a given these days in every aspect of a business. It is important to keep your organization current in terms of roles and responsibilities. Talk to every level of your organization and ask these questions: "How do we need to change our organization to remain competitive?" "Who do we need to hire next?" What positions are obsolete and which ones need to be added." What is going on in our markets that will affect our people in every position in the company?" When you have answers to these and other organizational

Hackers Go After Small Business!

August 7, 2012

Computer hackers are focusing more on small businesses than ever before, with more than a third of targeted attacks aimed at companies with fewer than 250 employees, says a new report.

The percentage of attacks on small business in the first six months of 2012 is double that of the same period in 2011, according to the report from security software provider Symantec. The company said it blocked an average of 58 attacks per day aimed at small businesses in the first half of the year. Daily attacks on all businesses leaped 24 percent to around 154.

Prime Targets

Companies in the defense industry are cybercriminals' top targets, followed by chemical, pharmaceutical and manufacturing firms. If you're a small company with large company partners or customers, you are a particularly tempting target; hackers know that small firms often are the weakest link in the security chain, and thus use them to gain access to their partners' or customers' data. (Large companies with more than 2,500 employees remain the most popular targets: They account for 44 percent of all targeted attacks.)

Defining a 'Targeted Attack'

What's a targeted attack? Pretty much what it sounds like: An attack that's customized for a specific company and its vulnerabilities. Hackers will use publicly available information—or in some cases, information stolen from other companies—to create e-mails with malicious attachments they hope have a better chance of tricking employees into opening them. This technique, called social engineering, is sophisticated enough that just warning employees about thinking twice about opening e-mails with attachments is not enough.

Staying Safe

What can you do? The report puts some of the blame squarely on small businesses, saying that many are not taking the basic safety precautions that would help them keep out cybercriminals.

Kevin Haley, director of Symantec's Security Response unit told PC World: "[Small businesses] are not prepared, because they don't think they have to be, and that's left them vulnerable."

And Eric Maiwald, an analyst for Gartner says that "SMBs [small and mid-size businesses] tend not to have the resources to implement the same types of security programs large enterprises do."

But small businesses often are not taking even the simplest (and cheapest) of precautions, such as making sure all software is up-to-date and patched. If there is a known crack in the software and you haven't spackled it, you're basically leaving the back door open.

Haley added that "They don't have to be genius hackers, because a lot of small businesses are not taking the basic steps to protect themselves."

How to boost the efficiency of your warehouse

When it comes to a successful supply chain process, warehouse efficiency is a critical key to success. From design to management, an efficient warehouse can improve safety, efficiency and overall quality of a company’s supply chain. While there are many ways to streamline the warehouse-related components of an effective supply chain, we’ll briefly examine a few design and management ideas below.

Design upgrades
Without question, meeting the highest safety and health standards must be part of the warehouse design process from the very start. Location, occupancy, function and potential dangers must all be considered, in addition to the impact of environmental issues, waste disposal, site drainage and neighboring businesses or residences.

Flooring is an important key to warehouse design. What type of floor will best match the specific demands of your warehouse? The best floor will offer the least maintenance while providing the greatest flexibility, performance and safety.
With an increasing amount of products on the market—especially Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and chemicals—cold storage has become a necessity in many warehouses.

While it may not seem obvious to consider doors in warehouse design, they are a highly relevant component of warehouse efficiency. Doors are in operation constantly and each must provide the best fit for its sole purpose. Will they be used internally or externally? Is insulation required? How heavy is the traffic pattern? Do they meet safety standards?

Improvement management
Keeping machinery in proper running order through scheduled maintenance will save time, money and frustration over the long term. Keep all equipment, such as lifts, in good repair. Don’t neglect regularly scheduled updates and maintenance, especially in regards to machinery that will slow or even stop production if it breaks.

Carve out time to interact with and motivate employees. A short motivational boost can exponentially increase worker morale and consequently, their productivity. Be aware of factors that cause boredom and demotivation.

Encourage a healthy sense of competition among the different zones, facilities and departments by publishing metrics for everyone to see. What types of incentives and rewards can be used to increase overall productivity?
Be sure to have plenty of supplies such as carts, tape, totes, pallets and batteries on hand. Keep track of when items are low and restock regularly.
Minimize how often items are touched in your processes. Consider taking away staging areas and unload, receive and put products away with a single touch. Don’t pick and stage, but live load instead.

The efficiency of a warehouse depends on a wide and varied number of factors. From seemingly simple design issues such as climate, doors and floors to the more complex areas such as meeting safety and health regulations—smart warehouse management and a well-planned design are key for optimal supply chain results. Pay attention to your workers and keep them motivated, invested and interested. Their commitment to the warehouse will inevitably result in the higher production you’re aiming for.
Pete Kontakos is a contributor from Michigan State University.

What biz leaders can learn from astronauts

By Shelley DuBois, writer

Former astronaut Jeffrey Ashby discusses what it takes to make last-minute judgment calls in space and building a solid team.

 

FORTUNE -- The corner office can be a high-pressure environment, but imagine calling the shots in a cramped shuttle in orbit 100 kilometers above the planet.
Jeffrey Ashby made some split-second decisions while space-sick and weightless. He was commander of the shuttle Atlantis on its 2002 mission to bring equipment to the International Space Station. He made the tough choice to manually dock Atlantis to the Space Station, bucking protocol, when he feared the mission might fail.

Yet he felt confident, he says, because of the chemistry he built with his team during the nine months prior to launch. Ashby insisted that his group complete a grueling outdoor course with National Outdoor Leadership School in southeastern Utah's desolate canyon country.

Ashby's resume reads like the dreams of a third-grader: he flew jets in the Navy and commanded a squadron of fighter pilots before he became an astronaut. He's seen our planet from space three times. For now, the career of 58-year-old Ashby has taken a more terrestrial turn. Ashby is the Chief of Mission Assurance for Blue Origin, a company that aims to make commercial space flight affordable. Ashby talked to Fortune about leadership in the Final Frontier at a recent conference at the Wharton School.

Fortune: You don't seem to be afraid of leading in life-threatening situations. So, what scares you?

Jeffrey Ashby: A lot of people ask if I'm afraid during a launch. My stock answer is, not of dying, because you've sort of accepted your destiny at that point, but I am afraid of making a mistake that will either cost lives or cost the mission. Alan Shepard started a tradition where, on the way up to the launch pad, the astronauts recite the astronaut prayer, which is, "Please God, don't let us screw this up."

That is a very team-oriented philosophy to apply in a scary situation.

Oh. I mean, if you put yourself above the cause and your team, you will eventually fail. I see leaders who are screamers, who lead by fear, and that's all ego-driven. You have to be selfless to be a truly great leader. That kind of leader, people will follow, and even if they don't agree with decisions, they'll disagree and commit.

Don't the problems that business leaders face from the safety of their offices seem relatively minor?

No. We all have different sets of talents. I happen to be pretty good at flying off of aircraft carriers and, I like to think, flying shuttles.

Those are inherently more badass than most talents.

Well, they certainly look badass on paper, but you know, I look at my resume, and I'm proud of what I've done, but also recognize that there's a lot of things that I'm not the best person to do. Leaders need to recognize where their strengths and weaknesses are, and where the weaknesses are, they really want active followers to step up and help cover them.

For example, Pam [Melroy] and I were co-leaders one day in the canyons. I got dehydrated. I looked at her, and I said, 'Pam, I feel really bad. You need to be the leader until I can regroup.' Of course, Pam didn't bat an eye. That was a very powerful lesson for me. For a man especially, for a fighter pilot more so. But what a great lesson, to swallow my pride and see how well it comes out, and go, 'Man, maybe I should do that more often.'

You've spoken about how Melroy helped in the crucial decision aboard the Atlantis to manually dock the spaceship at the International Space Station. How did your crew work together?

They key was that she knew me and could tell that I was vacillating. The obvious choice was to do what we were trained to do. She knew it was my decision, and so did every person on that crew. They all fed me information to let me know a) we had enough capability on the crew to pull off a manual rendezvous and b) that it was okay with them. I mean, that is powerful. And it came from a team that had been built only nine months before.

Will you fly again?

I will, but in a new private space vehicle. I'm telling everyone that I'm number one to fly at the little company I work at, and I won't go unless I think it's safe. I'm there to represent the safety of the human beings, so no one else should fly until I do.

Why does space travel matter to humankind?

I think, and this is my personal belief now, that space is written in our DNA as a survival mechanism. It can ignite passion in us when properly incited. I think that we see that passion ebb and flow in society and individuals as they go through their lives and they have other priorities.

Will I go to space?

I would say with near certainty, yes. You'll fly some day. What you should strive for -- because the suborbital thing is easy for you, right? -- is an orbital flight. First of all, you're two to three times as high. You're going to sit there and cross over lines of thunderstorms and the lights of cities and plumes of the Amazon flowing into the ocean. You'll see the Rocky Mountains as a series of tiny little bumps on the surface of the earth. And you'll see the great forests as little strips of green. You'll look at the atmosphere, this thin little band, and you'll say, 'all of human kind lives in that little band?' And you'll think. Wow. First, we better take care of that little band, and second of all, we better have an out. You will be astounded at the fragility of humankind. Life is clinging to the surface of this earth like a little plant would cling to a cliff side in a tiny bit of dirt.

Maybe if we sent our CEOs into orbit, they would put everything in perspective and stop making ego-driven mistakes.

(Laughs) I doubt it.

 

 

Top Level Communications Can Improve Trust, Performance in Companies

The IABC World Conference this week heard from the winner of the IABC 2012 Excellence in Communication Leadership (EXCEL) Award, Irene Lewis, president and CEO of SAIT Polytechnic, Canada’s first publicly funded polytechnic institute.
No stranger to recognition, Lewis was named one of Canada’s 100 most powerful women in 2010. She discussed the transformation of SAIT under her leadership from a “trade school on the hill” in crumbling disrepair with a disengaged workforce to a majestic, award-winning institution that is globally recognized and has received accolades as a top employer in Canada.

Lewis credited communications as a key part of that transformation, emphasizing the role of the CEO in carrying that out. The best things a leader can do are:

• Listen closely and look people in eye.
• Be authentic and lead from the heart.
• Tell and reinforce the organization’s story.
• Acknowledge hard work, never forget to say thanks and give credit where it’s due.

She challenged audience members to create communications structures that help leaders make authentic personal connections and establish relationships. She did this when she arrived at SAIT, when trust was at an all-time low. She called it her “conversation, connection and collaboration” stage, asking employees three simple questions:

• What’s working well?
• What’s not working well?
• How can we fix it?

She read every reply and set up discussion groups, creating a springboard for an employee engagement and participation program that helped define company culture. SAIT compares itself against its own progress and that of other organizations using a survey administered by The Hay Group.

After dismal scores the first time around, SAIT is now at or above the public-sector norm with communications in the best practices category. Lewis credits the success to requiring all departments to submit a plan that addresses weaknesses, is linked to compensation and comes with a commitment to communicate those plans widely.
Lewis says the biggest gains from corporate communications came in 2005, when she separated communications and marketing, as she had yet to see an organization that does both well when they are combined.
Today, SAIT corporate communications’ role is to:

• Provide leadership in telling the SAIT story.
• Safeguard the SAIT reputation.
• Put a face and heart to the organizations’ leadership.
• Tell the employees where SAIT is going and how they expect to get there and how employees can help.
• Recognize organizational and individual accomplishments.

SAIT Communications carries out this role using vehicles such as creative videos and events, a world-class intranet and an ice cream party where the leaders serve up scoops.

The SAIT communications department is able to do this and more because they’ve earned the trust of leadership. As part of earning this trust, Lewis provide resources and makes herself available to carry out communications. The SAIT leadership team willingly participates in innovative communications — including zany things such as parody videos — and they do these things because the communications are authentic and from the heart.

In Lewis’ words, “Employees don’t care what you have to say until they know you care.”

Employee Engagement: 9 Tips to Help

By Timothy R. Clark
Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer conducted an interesting study that looked at what employees are thinking and feeling as they go about their work, and how leaders can use this information to help job performance.
Their research concluded:

The most important managerial behaviors don’t involve giving people daily pats on the back or attempting to inject lighthearted fun into the workplace. Rather, they involve two fundamental things: enabling people to move forward in their work, and treating them decently as human beings.”

Tips to help leaders enable employees

Leaders can have a big impact in helping others achieve by taking those principles to heart. Listed below are tips to help leaders do that very thing and enable their employees to achieve more.

• Ask yourself the following questions about how your employees achieve:
• Do I know the goals my employees are working on in their achieving cycles (personal and professional)?
• What are the roadblocks getting in the way of their progress? What am I doing to remove those roadblocks?
• Is there a clear connection between their professional work and the important work of the team? How can I strengthen that connection and help them understand it clearly?
• Are they overloaded with minutiae or busywork? What can I do to eliminate this type of work?
• Do I know how each employee is motivated? What actions can I take to enhance their motivation?
• Set clear goals with employees. People make more progress when leaders are clear about the link between what they do and what matters to the organization. And successful teams are those that have clear goals, and where people know how their work affects those goals. Help your people gain lineof- sight visibility from their work to the team’s goals.
• Help employees break projects, goals, and work assignments into small victories. Small victories tap into motivation. Achieving is fueled by making small amounts of progress, such as accomplishing a task or solving a problem. Help those that work with you jump into an achievement cycle and experience the benefi ts and rewards of moving through all five steps.
• Teach people how to manage time and energy wisely. Coach employees to fully engage in the task at hand, focus on the important rather than the urgent, avoid distractions, and create balance and renewal in the achievement of the goal. Help them learn to say no to urgent requests or terrifi c ideas that aren’t aligned with the important work of the team.
• Commit resources and remove roadblocks. Enable people to move forward in their work by committing appropriate resources, removing obstacles, helping them work across boundaries, and aligning processes, structure, and systems.
• Help employees engage others. Encourage those you work with to reach out and engage others with similar goals. Remind them that goals can be created independently, but achieving them almost always requires help and support from others.
• Identify specific motivators and adjust accordingly. Discuss with employees their extrinsic motivators, and identify opportunities and implications to bolster the achieving cycle. If they are motivated by recognition, identify ways to give meaningful praise, show approval for their work and team behaviors, or commend them for achievements along the way. Find ways to acknowledge them in front of their peers and express appreciation. If they are motivated by rewards, identify both economic and noneconomic rewards that you can give as a consequence of achievement.
• Discuss achieving opportunities outside of work. Have conversations with employees about what they want to achieve in their careers and in their personal lives. Highly engaged individuals fi nd sources of motivation inside and outside of work. Talk about all aspects of achieving, knowing that the organization still benefi ts whether an employee becomes more engaged from working with an outside volunteer organization or from working on a project to solve one of your biggest customer complaints. Genuine interest and a little fl exibility on your part can go a long way toward increasing motivation, achievement, and ultimately engagement.
• Adjust motivators over time. Stay connected with your employees. Remember that people’s motivations can, and often do, change over time. Have achieving conversations with employees regularly, preferably outside of the annual performance review process. Adjust as they adjust.

Excerpted from The Employee Engagement Mindset, by Timothy Clark. © 2012, McGraw-Hill Professional.

Timothy R. Clark is founding partner and CEO of TRClark . He is considered an international authority in the areas of leadership development and large-scale organizational change. He advises leaders and organizations around the world. A former two-time CEO, he writes the weekly column “On Leadership” for the Salt Lake City Deseret News. He' s also the author of the critically claimed book, "Epic Change: How to Lead Change in the Global Age." You can follow him on Twitter, or contact him directly at trclark@trclark.net..

AUSTIN, Texas, June 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- iKey®, the world's premier innovator of rugged computer peripherals, is proud to present the industry's first rechargeable wireless keyboard designed for infection control. To date, the SBW-97-TP™ is iKey's most innovative and flexible user-friendly design.


The SBW-97-TP is the first fully sealed, rechargeable, wireless keyboard on the market using QuickPair™ technology. QuickPair is the unique ability to pair to a USB dongle over a 802.11G wireless frequency without interacting with the host PC. Unlike traditional wireless keyboards, iKey's latest product does not require the user to press any buttons on the dongle or interact with the computer's operating system.

"Pairing the keyboard is only a two-keystroke procedure with any PC that has the USB dongle installed," Dave Huddleston, iKey Operations Manager, said. "This is an exclusive feature that allows the keyboard to be moved across various computers or workstations with ease."

Powered by a lithium ion battery, the keyboard has superior battery life of two weeks with regular use, and is easily recharged with its included micro USB cable. The keyboard only takes five hours to fully charge, and maintains full functionality while charging.

As with all of iKey's medical peripherals, the SBW-97-TP is engineered with infection control in mind. Ideal for use in operating rooms, nurses' stations, medical carts, and patient rooms, its case and silicone rubber keys are fully sealed, washable and compatible with hospital-grade disinfectants. Featuring a CleanLock™ key, the SBW-97-TP can be quickly and easily disabled during cleaning procedures.

"iKey's products are built to withstand difficult environments where standard keyboards will fail," Huddleston said. "A keyboard is one of the most commonly touched objects in any environment. As awareness of hospital-acquired infections grows, so has the need for washable input devices."

Measuring only 14.96" x 5.91" x 0.84" (w-h-d), the SBW-97-TP includes an integrated touchpad and 10-key numeric pad. Designed to be user-friendly, it also has three LED indicators for battery life, pairing and charging.

The SBW-97-TP's case is built from rugged, ABS polycarbonate plastic, and has an integrated VESA mounting pattern on the back. Perfect for use on carts and trays, the unit is also available with an optional magnetic mount, providing a hygienic alternative to Velcro, which may accumulate germs.

For more information on the SBW-97-TP, visit iKey online at www.iKey.com or iKey's YouTube Channel for product demos and features About iKey, LP.: iKey designs and manufactures rugged, sealed keyboards, displays, pointing devices for industrial, public safety, medical and military applications. A pioneer in its industry since 1989, iKey is known as an innovator of industrial computer peripherals. For more information, visit www.iKey.com.

SOURCE iKey

High Tech Connections offer today's OEM's and contract manufacturers complete power and interconnection solutions. Our power supply cords, electronic wire, cable, power supplies, adaptors and wire harness assemblies encompass a standard products line for off-the-shelf service and components built to meet customer's specific design requirements.

We can provide single end, pre-terminated wires, wire harnesses, ribbon and IDC cables and connectors, RF/microwave cable assemblies, fully-molded data cables and more. Our products undergo rigorous quality inspections and are continually monitored for compliance to the highest manufacturing standards.

High Tech Connections' products reach diverse market sectors including consumer appliances, telecommunications, computer and data, medical and patient care, automotive harnesses, industrial lighting, portable heat and air movers, power equipment, etc.

So, whether your application is simple or complex, standard to custom... High Tech Connections has the technical expertise and maufacturing capabilities to help. To get the ball rolling, just email us at: sales@hightechcords.com.

Electronic Changes Means a Mightier Medicare

By JARED SHELLY, senior editor/web editor of Risk & Insurance®

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- In the old days of workers' comp and liability, Medicare-eligible workers hurt on the job would go to the doctor, then let Medicare pick up the bill. Many times, the employer or another entity would be ultimately found to be responsible for the bill -- however Medicare didn't seem to have an effective way to get its money back.

Those days are now over...

With electronic medical reporting, Medicare now has a terrific weapon that informs the agency if it's owed the money from conditional payments. While Medicare has been around since 1965, the recent developments are quite a change for the industry, according to experts who spoke at Gould & Lamb's Medicare Secondary Payer Educational Conference in Atlantic City, N.J. on June 18 and 19.

"Before 2009, they relied on the insurer to tell them there are owed funds," said Russell Whittle, senior staff counsel at Gould & Lamb in Bradenton Fla. who was reached by Risk & Insurance® a few days after the conference, "Now the law has been given teeth and they can find out whether there is money that they're owed."

And the penalties can be stiff -- $1,000 per claim per day for non-reporting, said Whittle.
But it's no secret that Medicare eligible people (who are either over 65 or have a chronic condition like renal disease) will likely have medical issues going on at the time of an accident or claim. That means that Medicare may actually be responsible for some or all of the payment, even if it contests it.

"We find that about 80 percent [of medical bills] are not related to the accident," said Whittle.
But with its new-found way of gathering data, (Whittle said that cases are now "delivered into their laps"), Medicare has gotten aggressive in its collection process.
"It's easy pickin's [for Medicare]," said Whittle.

Chatting between sessions at the conference, Brian J. Fillion, associate at Ringler Associates, a settlement annuity company based in Aliso Viejo, Calif. said that "Medicare is looking for all the reimbursement they can get their hands on."

While Medicare has been a hot topic in workers' comp for years, it's sure to be a hot topic in the liability arena as well, Fillion said, since many claimants are on Medicare and accumulating liens for their medical coverage.

"How to control the size of the liens and who controls the size of the liens are huge issues because the last thing the insurance companies and the self-insured companies need is to overpay on these conditional payments because the right analysis wasnt applied during the negotiations and settlement of the case," he said.

Medicare is also concerned with future payments. If a claimant wins money in a lawsuit, then gets all the money right away -- rather than a structured settlement -- they may spend it rather than saving it for medical bills. While companies have been setting up Medicare set-aside programs for years, Medicare is "on the verge" of creating new requirements, Fillion said.

"This is not one of those issues that is easy to understand. Insurance companies, TPAs and consulting firms absolutely need to understand this stuff cold before the law comes in, because the learning curve for their employees is huge," he said.
Fillion said several large insurance companies are dedicating staff to work exclusively on this issue -- and he said it's paying off.

"Because the law is still in transition," said Fillion, "because they haven't fully defined everything ... to have one person focused on the issue, talking to Medicare and getting the answers directly from them, it gives you an expert resource within your company to go to."

How to Create a Financial Portfolio

No matter the amount of money that you wish to make from financial investments, the time to start is always now. Financial portfolios can help throughout your life, whether it is during a rough financial spot or to make your retirement plan have a better future. Financial portfolios are important, and luckily with a little bit of effort you can start building yours immediately.

1. First: Set your goals

   The first step is to consider your short-term and long-term goals as this helps to determine how the money is invested. Short term goals include building an emergency fund, purchasing a new car or paying the down payment for a new home. Long-term goals are more than five years away and include events such as retirement or children attending college.

2. Second: Start to save

   To start investing, you need money. Look over your budget and try to cut back to save that money to invest. Anyone can find some extra money, no matter how tight your budget seems.

3. Third: Speak to your employer

   Check in with your human resources department. Your company might have 401(k) or 403(b) plans available, or it may have company stock plans that you can utilize. These simple investments are great because they are taken directly from your paycheck, eliminating the need to set money aside.

4. Fourth: Meet with an investor

   If you cannot invest through your employer or would like to invest in alternate ways, it is best to speak with an investor. The investor can help you find a variety of ways to invest your money and build a diverse portfolio.

5. Fifth: Start investing

   The final step is to set up an automatic monthly transfer of money that is invested. These investments are done through a program worked out with your investor and are based upon the current state of the market.

Tiny Raspberry Pi Computer Causes Big Stir on Launch Day!

(CNN) -- The debut of the tiny $35 Raspberry Pi computer crashed its distributors' websites on the way to selling out within hours of launch. Looking like little more than a credit card-sized chip of circuit board, the powerful, fully-programmable PC can plug into any TV and can power 3D graphics and Blu-ray video playback.

Its British-based designers at the Raspberry Pi Foundation hope the computer, which has been in the works for six years, will spark new interest in programming among children. "The primary goal was to build a low cost computer that every child could own, and one where programming was the natural thing to do with it," said co-founder Robert Mullins.

The computer's miniature uncased circuit board is crowded with an Ethernet connection for the internet, two USB ports and an SD card port for memory and is powered by a standard USB mobile charger.
The low-cost computer runs a free, open-source Linux operating system and does not include a monitor or keyboard.

The first version of the Raspberry Pi will ship soon to developers, and the hope is that they will design software that will enable children to design their own computer programs. The project came about when a group of Cambridge-based computer programmers noticed that fewer and less-qualified students were applying for computer science courses at Cambridge University.

Inspired by computers like the BBC Micro and the Commodore 64 in the 1980s, the group of engineers set out to build a new programmable machine for a new generation. "Each year we had fewer and fewer students applying, and most of them hadn't really done much more than write a web page," Raspberry Pi co-founder Eben Upton told CNN. "So we kind of set out to recreate that feeling of the BBC Micro in the hopes it would spark a new wave of kids knowing how to program."

Upton told CNN that an even cheaper version of the computer, which will retail for just $25, is going into production within the next several weeks. In the long term, he hopes the computer will generate an additional 1,000 engineers in the UK each year -- an "industry-changing development", according to Upton.

"Anyone who expresses a desire to get into designing software should have a platform to do it," he said.