Archives: March 2008

We’ve all done it, we still come into work even when feeling sluggish or stuffed up from cold medicine. Many of us want to “save” our sick days for dire emergencies or those perfect sunny days in the summer, but the productivity of work from employees under the weather can be negative AND more expensive for the company than frequent absences. It’s called “presenteeism”, and although employees are physically present at the office, the efficiency of work isn’t up to par – not to mention the chance of a contagious virus spreading to other co-workers.
Presenteeism is now associated with workplace-related stress. According to Dr. Ballard from the American Psychological Association, one-third of Americans are living with extreme stress, with 74% of respondents saying work was the main cited source of this stress – 15% above last year’s results. Some large companies like GlaxoSmithKline and PricewaterhouseCoopers provide health assessments and discussion groups to alleviate struggles involved with workplace stress. Although these efforts can definitely help overall performance, taking a day off when necessary doesn’t seem like such a bad option. After all, it IS better off for the company as a whole, isn’t it?
*Image courtesy of Jupiterimages

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion's Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook's Morin Oluwole, and bitly's Tim Devane. Register now.

It really is a bear market out there. The news this past weekend strengthened people’s fear of a recession taking place, when JPMorgan purchased Bear Stearns. What was once considered one of the largest global investment and securities firm in the world, has now sold each share for $2 – a year ago it was $170 a share. There is still a lot of trepidation for further losses related to mortgage investments and people are preparing for any negative effects due to this, especially in job cuts. One great piece from ABCNews provides the five hottest places to find a job in America despite the slowing economy. Texas took 3rd and 5th place with booming job growth in Austin and Fort Worth for teaching, construction, and technology. Atlanta, GA and Wichita, KS also made it to the list for jobs in accounting, aircraft/petroleum, and health care, but Salt Lake City, UT was placed as the #1 hottest place to find a job, with many positions in nursing, education, and banking. It doesn’t hurt to be have a backup plan in case there are blows to the economy, especially to those unfortunate ones who might have placed all their eggs in one basket.
*Image courtesy of Jupiterimages