Employees

Facebook gets the door slammed in its face

August 23, 2007

Shhh….listen for it.

It's happening all over the world.  Companies are slamming the door in the face of Facebook.

Citing productivity and security, corporations from Australia's largest telecommunications company, Telstra to many ma and pa store fronts, are banning the growing social networking tool.

According to London's Telegraph, more than 2/3 of UK companies are making Facebook off limits and visiting it during work hours is a sackable offense. (I so wish I spoke UK)  Interesting that London was just identified as having more Facebook members than any other city in the world.

According to a survey by Sophos, over 50% of workplaces are now "FaceBlocking" and the ones who have not are afraid of employee backlash.

And it's not just corporate America.  Colleges and public access points are also blocking or considering blocking the site.

What do you think?  Smart?  Paranoid?  An over-reaction?  Justified?  If you were the CEO of an organization, what would you do?

Related posts:

Social Media isn't just for kids

MySpace holds first primary

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Do you market to your own employees?

August 1, 2007

John Moore over at Brand Autopsy talks about the incredible marketing value that Apple generated when they gave every one of their employees a new iPhone. No argument from me there.

But what do you do when you're not Apple and you can't pop for a $600 phone for every team member?  Most companies don't do anything.  Big mistake.

Read about how one marketer made sure his employees felt appreciated in a way that any business can afford and do.

And yes, the photo is a hint.

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Do you inspire joy?

May 28, 2007

We spent the weekend in New York City.  While we were there, we saw the new play, Curtains.  It’s a whodunit musical and well worth the ticket price.  The performances, singing, dancing and choreography were really something to behold.

As I stood watching people spill out of the theatre, a young girl about five years old literally came dancing up the aisle.  Her face was one of pure joy.  At that moment, she *was* on that stage, dancing to the roaring crowd.  You could see it all in her eyes.

My first thought was, "I wish the cast could see her.  They’d be reminded why they chose this profession.  Because they inspire joy."

My second thought was for you.  (And me.)  Do we inspire joy in our work?  Does our product or service make our customers want to dance?

It’s really easy to dismiss that question with a "We don’t sing or dance, we build websites.  Or we sell checking accounts …or we  insure their families."  But that’s a cop-out.

Every one of us has the capacity to create a joyful experience.  Haven’t you ever hung up the phone with a big smile on your face because someone exceeded your expectations?  Haven’t you ever finished a meeting with a business partner and felt so good about the work you’re doing together that you wanted to do a little jig?  How about that little song of relief that wants to burst out when you realize that someone really and truly "gets" you and your work?

If not…you need to find new business partners.  And if we’re not inspiring our clients, so do they.

What could you do that would inspire joy in your clients this week?

And now, for your viewing pleasure…some shots (off their official website) of Curtains.  The lead in the play is David Hyde Pierce (Frasier’s brother Niles). 

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Marketing Tips from a Marketing Agency: Brand Your Interviews

May 2, 2007

It would only stand to reason that a marketing & branding agency would be pretty good at branding and marketing itself.

So I thought it might be fun to explore some branding & marketing concepts using our own agency, McLellan Marketing Group, as the guinea pig.

Brand your interviews

We brand ourselves so consumers can decide if we’d be a good match.  We make a promise so that someone who isn’t interested in our promise just moves on.  We should be using our brand to do that same kind of sorting/weeding for employees too.

Your interview questions should do more than tell you about the candidate.  They should tell the candidate about you.

Here are some MMG favorites:

• What rules do you break at work?
• What’s the first thing you do in the morning?
• In a team environment, are you a motivator, player, leader, or enthusiast?
• If you were a salad dressing, what kind would you be and why?
• Persuade me to move to Des Moines.
• How do you manage stress?
• What’s your personal motto?
• You’ve got one seat left in the fallout shelter, family not included, who gets the seat?
• What’s your definition of working too hard?
• If I met one of your former co-workers at a BBQ and they’d had a beer or two, what would they tell me about you?
• If you could have one super power, which would you choose?

I’m not suggesting these are the questions for you. These questions speak to the MMG brand. Each of these give a little clue about the company and the people who work there. 

So knowing your culture like you do — what might your branded interview questions be about?

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Good news for Iowa Businesses!

May 1, 2007

 

 

Today is a great day for Iowa Businesses!  IowaBiz.com officially launches and boy is it packed with content!

IowaBiz.com is designed with only one goal — helping small businesses grow stronger and more profitable.  We’ve lined up 12 incredibly smart and generous Central Iowa bloggers who are going to create new content every single day of the month.

Meet the Team

Accounting/Finance:  Joe Kristan
Human Resources/Leadership:  Shirley Poertner
Intellectual Property Law:  Brett Trout
ESOP/Company Culture:  Victor Aspengren
Life/Work Balance:  Mitch Matthews
Insurance:  Brian Honnold
Networking:  Adam Steen
Social/Viral Media: Mike Sansone
Business Law:  Rush Nigut
Call Center/Customer Service: Tom Vander Well
Project Management:  Tim Johnson
Marketing/Branding:  Drew McLellan

All of the authors are open to topic suggestions, so stop by, enjoy the high quality insights and ask a question or two.

Special thanks to Professional Solutions Insurance Services for being our corporate sponsor!

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Marketing Tips from a Marketing Agency: Celebrate your work as fine art

April 29, 2007

It would only stand to reason that a marketing & branding agency would be pretty good at branding and marketing itself.

So I thought it might be fun to explore some branding & marketing concepts using our own agency, McLellan Marketing Group, as the guinea pig.

Celebrate your work as fine art

It’s easy to take the work we do for granted.  A successful campaign.  No biggie.  We do it every day.  A delighted client.  Great but no time to slow down to celebrate — we’ve got work to do.  Lands End calls and asks if they can use on of our logos in the catalog because they like it so much. A quick "wow, that’s cool" and its back to the next project.

We take it for granted because we do it every day.  But our work is the magic of what we do.  It’s what creates the oohs and ahhhs.  It’s one of the reasons prospects are drawn to us. And we should celebrate that.

What’s in your lobby?  A Grant Wood painting?  An abstract sculpture? What do you have laying around for your clients and vendors to look at while they wait?  Could you make those opportunities for a subtle sales message?

At MMG, you’ll find our walls covered with art.  Our art.  Our clients’ art.  We celebrate our work, our clients’ faith in us and our creativity. (the photography doesn’t do it justice)  A side benefit of our work hanging around the office is that clients,  guests and vendors ask questions.  Which lets us tell the story of the project — challenges, ideas, execution and results.  It’s a beautiful thing.

No matter what you do — there are elements of your work that are fascinating to other people.  You probably don’t notice it anymore because you take it for granted.

When was the last time your client asked you to tell them about one of your successes?  What could you do to inspire that sort of opportunity?

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I dare you not to love this

April 19, 2007

Picture this.  You dial your mobile phone.  You speak for half a minute.  Those sentences get e-mailed to your e-mail address. 

Or your client. Or your employee.   Or an intact team.  Or your spouse. 

It’s like instant dictation.  But not only does it get typed, it gets delivered. 

Brilliant.  I predict Jott.com is going to be the breakout of 2007.  Here’s how I’m going to use it:

• Dictate notes from meetings and send them to myself for a record.  Jott it.
• I’m pulling out of a client’s parking lot and send a note to our Project Manager about opening a new job.  Jott him.
• Forget milk?  Never again.  Jott me.
• Have a breakthrough idea while waiting to board a plane — jott my entire staff before I forget said idea.  Jott the team.
• Want to remind my daughter to do XYZ but she’s  going to get home before I do. Jott her.
• See someone across the way at Panera and want to remember to call them in a week or so. Jott me.
• Have forgotten to grab a book from the office 3 times. Jott me.
• All the stuff that I try to write down before I forget it. Jott me.  Jott me. Jott me.

Ah yes…and on every e-mail there’s a link so I (or whoever gets jotted) can listen to the audio file.

You can’t tell me this wouldn’t be helpful to you too. Come on, admit it. You’re going to Jott.

I will give the geniuses at Jott the last word.

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Office politics are not optional

April 15, 2007

When someone utters the words "office politics" everyone shakes their head in dismay and comments that it sure would be great if there were no such thing. 

But the reality is, office politics are not going anywhere.  So wouldn’t it be to our advantage to learn how to recognize and deal with it when it appears?

Carpe Factum’s Timothy Johnson tackles the realities of office politics in his new book, Gust, The Tale Wind of Office Politics.  Written in an easy-flowing business parable style, Johnson introduces us to a team of professionals that we’ll all recognize. 

One of the greatest insights from the book is that office politics are not inherently bad. 

Every business is filled with human beings and in some ways the book is as much a personality and psychological study as it is a business book. Being able to step back and objectively see the game being played is the first step to understanding what’s creating the problems at hand.   The book also examines the power of influence within an organization and all the different ways someone exercises that influence.

Practical, straightforward and easy to remember solutions are woven all through the book. 

Included in the book’s resource section, there are surveys that both employees and managers can take to facilitate a discussion around office politics. 

Why is this a book all marketers should read?  In most companies marketers rely on the cooperation of many departments and people. Without the ability to spot office politics and do the necessary analysis to identify the motives behind the behavior, we don’t stand a chance of being successful.

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Does your company’s mission statement sound like this?

April 9, 2007

"We are the market leader, earning our clients’ loyalty by providing exemplary service and value.

We value honesty, innovation and our employees most of all."

If so….shame on you.

Flickr photo courtesy of slight clutter.

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:60 ticks marketing tip: Sad stats about employees

April 2, 2007

Grab it fast…it’s gone in about a minute.  A :60 ticks marketing tip is 150 words or less…so read it in a minute and implement it in the next!

65 percent of employees say they receive no job recognition.

And 88 percent of workers say they have ideas to improve their work, yet only 15 percent offer those ideas.

Source: WorkForce Week

That’s it….what can you change in your workplace to make sure you beat these stat?

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