Why Good Employees Leave?

A study came up with this surprising finding: If you're losing good people, look to their immediate supervisor. More than any other single reason, he is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he's the reason why they quit, taking their knowledge, experience and contacts with them. Often, straight to the competition.

"People leave managers not companies," write the authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. "So much money has been thrown at the challenge of keeping good people - in the form of better pay, better perks and better training - when, in the end, turnover is mostly a manager issue."

If you have a turnover problem, look first to your managers and supervisors.

Beyond a point, an employee's primary need has less to do with money, and more to do with how he's treated and how valued he feels. Much of this depends directly on the immediate manager.

-David W. Richard

The frog who didn’t give up

A frog hopping through a barnyard accidentally fell into a pail half full of milk. Unable to hop out, it floundered around at first but refused to give up. Hours passed as the frog swam around, its legs feverishly churning through the milk as it sought some way to jump over the edge of the pail.
And the little frog struggled so long that its legs churned the milk into butter, which gave it a solid surface to jump from. The frog leaped out, safe and sound, because it hadn’t stopped trying.

Via My Kelly

Looking for jobs? Check out the BN Youth Job Fair 2012!

Fresh off last year’s success, the Barisan Nasional Youth are back bigger and better than ever with the Barisan Nasional Youth Job Fair 2012. Expect location spots in cities such as Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Penang, Ipoh, K.Terengganu, Senawang and the grand finale will conclude in PWTC, Kuala Lumpur. YB Encik Khairy Jamaluddin, Chairman of Barisan Nasional Youth said, “The encouraging and welcomed success of BNYJF’11 where over 1,000,000 participants attended across the country with an estimated 100,000 jobs offered has given us the ammunition and has persuaded us to make this year’s event more auspicious with greater added value for the masses across the country in seven different states.”

JobsDB will be promoting the largest job fair in Malaysia to both its clientele, which are possible employers and its 750,000 jobseekers. Acting General Manager of Jobs DB Malaysia Sdn. Bhd, Mr. Steven Seek said, “As an event partner of BNYJF’12, we are able to present a great avenue for jobseekers and employers through a comprehensive job portal.” JobsDB will also be introducing Radar work style online profiling for the first time in a Malaysian job fair. This is definitely a key feature of BNYJF’12, where candidates can assess and know their work style to match-score against more than 600 researched positions when they register as participants during the BNYJF’12. A minimum 200,000 jobseekers will be allowed to access Radar profiling at no cost to them.

If you’re thinking of a career change, then this is your best chance to seize the opportunity. Job seekers are advised to come early with resumes in hand and be prepared for on the spot interviews with prospective employers.

The Success Factor Indicator

“This chart was inspired and composed after meeting and working with some of the smartest, most successful entrepreneurs in the world, many of who are dear friends. The following is that chart I compiled of characteristics, traits and behaviors of successful people vs. unsuccessful people,” highlights MaryEllen Tribby, Founder and CEO of WorkingMomsOnly.com.

Successful People

• Have a sense of gratitude
• Forgive others
• Accept responsibility for their failures
• Compliment
• Read everyday
• Keep a journal
• Talk about ideas
• Want others to succeed
• Share information and data
• Keep a "to-be" list
• Exude joy
• Keep a "to-do/project" list
• Set goals and develop life plans
• Embrace change
• Give other people credit for their victories
• Operate from a transformational perspective

Unsuccessful People

• Have a sense of entitlement
• Hold a grudge
• Blame others for their failures
• Criticize
• Watch TV everyday
• Say they keep a journal but really don't
• Talk about people
• Secretly hope others fail
• Horde information and data
• Don't know what they want to be
• Exude anger
• Fly by their seat of their pants
• Never set goals
• Think they know it all
• Fear change
• Take all the credit of their victories
• Operate from a transactional perspective

Five Business Tips from David Ogilvy of O&M

“While reading ‘Ogilvy on Advertising’ written by the man himself, I came across these five nuggets on running an advertising agency. These five excellent business tips are valid not only for running advertising agencies but for managing any business under the blue sky,” shares John from StreetLessons.com.

Here they are:

1. Never allow two people to do a job which one could do. As George Washington once said, “Whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of duty by close application thereto, it is worse executed by two people, and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein”.

2. Never summon people to your office; it frightens them. Instead do to see them in their offices, unannounced. A boss who never wanders about his agency becomes an invisible hermit.

3. If you want to get action, communicate verbally. If you want the voting to go your way at meetings, go to the meeting. Remember the French saying: “He who is absent is always wrong”.

4. It is bad manners to use products which compete with your clients’ products. When I got the Sears Roebuck account, I started buying all my clothes at Sears. This bugged by wife, but the following year a convention of clothing manufacturers voted me the best-dressed man in America. As the number of brands advertised by Ogilvy & Mather now exceeds two thousand, my personal inventory is getting complicated.

5. Never allow yourself the luxury of writing letters of complaint. After my first transatlantic voyage I wrote to my travel agency complaining that the service on the Queen Mary was slovenly and the decoration vulgar. Three months later we were on the point if getting the Cunard account when they happen to see my letter. It took them twenty years to forgive me and give us their account.

How to work better

1. Do one thing at a time
2. Know the problem
3. Learn to listen
4. Learn to ask questions
5. Distinguish sense from nonsense 
6. Accept change as inevitable
7. Admit mistakes
8. Say it simple
9. Be calm 
10. Smile

12 Things Successful People Do Differently

1.    Create and pursue S.M.A.R.T. goals -- S.M.A.R.T. goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.
2.    Take decisive and immediate action – Knowledge and intelligence are both useless without action.
3.    Focus on being productive, not being busy – In other words, work smarter, not harder.
4.    Make logical, informed decisions – Think things through before making life-changing decisions.
5.    Avoid trying to make things perfect – The only way to get things done is to be imperfect 99% of the time.
6.    Work outside of your comfort zone – Embrace all moments of opportunity for personal growth and success.
7.    Keep things simple – Rather than evaluating every last detail of every possible option, choose something you think will work and give it a shot.
8.    Focus on making small, continuous improvements – Soon you'll find yourself on a spiral of changes – one building on the other.
9.    Measure and track your progress – Step back and assess your progress regularly so you know what needs to be done to excel and accelerate.
10.    Maintain a positive outlook as you learn from your mistakes – Look for the silver lining in every situation.
11.    Spend time with the right people – You are the sum of the people you spend the most time with.
12.    Maintain balance in your life – An imbalanced lifestyle will hold you back from reaching your full potential.