Disaster Recovery Tip #24

Everyone on the same page.

Often the most overlooked part of a disaster response is the restoration of your most important and least predictable asset: your people. Getting in touch with your employees is absolutely crucial, and during a disaster you need to account for the likelihood of all types communications interruptions: cell service, email, exchange servers, etc.

The first step is gathering the information. This includes home phone, cell phones for both voice and text messaging (SMS will often work when calls will not), home email address, and at least one emergency contact person.

The second step is storing this vital information in a manner that is secure, yet accessible. Online planning sites like MyAgility allow you to store employee contact information and other vital data from anywhere that has an internet connection.

Disaster Recovery Tip #3

Plan ahead for evacuation.

Businesses located in disaster prone areas (such as hurricane, tornado, ice storm and earthquake zones) should develop an evacuation plan directing employees to a safe and pre-established area, and then recover business operations in the same location. You will have employees on-hand to begin working again, rather than spending days or weeks trying to locate them.

For more information on creating your evacuation plan, visit Ready.gov.

Desk jobs making more people obese, study finds

Desk jobs are increasing obesity, with many employees and employers ignorant of the risks of sitting down all day. A link between obesity and conditions in the workplace was growing. As the workplace becomes our second home, our traditional diets have been swapped for fast food that is high in saturates.

"A basic cause of obesity related to the workplace is a lack of awareness of how serious this issue is among employers and employees," said Athena Linos, an epidemiology lecturer at Athens University. "Factors include work-related stress, overtime and desk-bound jobs."

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Over-sharing Personal Information at Work...

Do you know what TMI is? Chances are you're either guilty of it or have been its victim. It stands for "too much information" and it's making daily life awkward for people across the country.

Just think back to a recent uncomfortable conversation you had with someone -- a friend, family member or total stranger. Things were going well until the other person just laid it all out there: an unnecessary peek into his or her financial situation, sex life or health problems. No matter what you do, your view of an oversharer is forever changed.

If you haven't suffered through one of these conversations, your time will come ... or you are a walking diary.

Painful chitchat on a train is one thing, but workplace TMI is its own monster. At work, oversharing can damage your reputation, make your co-workers avoid you in the hallway and even damage your career.

Here are 13 things you shouldn't share while on the clock:

1. Medical history: Hospitals and human resources departments are prohibited by law from giving out your medical information for a reason. People have a tendency to adjust their behavior when they find out you have, or had, a medical condition. They might treat you like a sick child or make you an outcast.

2. Confidential work information: Hey, did you hear who's getting fired? You -- because you couldn't keep private information to yourself.

3. Plans to quit: When you're hunting for a new job, don't let co-workers know. Loose lips or devious motives can mean your secret search finds its way to the boss.

Possible outcomes: you're let go before you're ready or you're quietly pushed out, which is what happened to Ron Doyle. He mentioned to some co-workers that he and his wife were deciding if one of them needed to quit. Doyle was just thinking aloud and had no intention of turning in his resignation letter quite yet.

"Within 48 hours, I noticed the meetings through the office window -- every administrator present except one -- me," he says. "Communication on critical issues came to a halt and the separation was palpable."

When he eventually quit, everyone was surprised. He explained how ostracized he felt, but they insisted that they had no idea they were acting that way toward him. "Never tell them you might leave -- subconsciously or otherwise, they'll act as if you already have."

4. Online venting sites: If you use your social networking profile or a blog to release frustration about your personal and work life, don't send your co-workers a link. You'll have to clean up your digital dirt (even more than it already should be) and censor yourself from now on.

5. Matters of the heart: Soap operas are fun to watch on TV, but they're not fun to live. Your reputation will suffer if you come into the office in tears one day because you broke up with your significant other and then you dance down the hall the next week because you met the love of your life. Your love life isn't as interesting to anyone else as it is to you, and people may be unable to separate your romantic life from your professional one.

6. Politics: You've seen how out of hand political discussions can get with your family at the dinner table. Do you really want to start that kind of drama at work? Keep in mind that while your family is obligated to love you no matter what, co-workers are not.

7. Salary information: Money's a weird topic in our culture. As eager as we are to find out what other people make, we're not as ready to divulge our earnings. Salary is associated with worth, and when your salary's known, it invites speculation of whether you're being over- or undercompensated. Why are you getting paid that much when another person with the same qualification earns much less?

Vicky Oliver, author of "Bad Bosses, Crazy Co-Workers and Other Office Idiots," also cautions that your accomplishments can be downplayed if this information is public. "You don't want your co-workers to snivel about how you 'don't need the money' every time your boss wants to give you a bonus." Avoid the drama and gossip and keep your salary to yourself.

8. Religion: See politics.

9. Your privileged life: Along the same lines of keeping salary information to yourself, your enviable pull with society's high rollers should also stay private. Although you have the good fortune to know powerful business leaders and social butterflies, bragging about how many doors they've opened for you will tarnish your image.

"Don't rub your privilege in other people's faces," Oliver warns. "People should be rewarded on the basis of merit." Bragging about how you got into an Ivy League school or even in your current position will put doubt about your qualifications.

10. Therapy sessions: Keep your visits with a therapist a private matter. Petty co-workers can start rumors about you or make snide remarks behind your back. No need to put yourself in that situation.

11. The Rubik's Cube that is your personal life: When Marci Diehl worked as a recruiter, she encountered a job seeker who came in to register with the staffing agency -- and she still remembers her over a decade later. The woman came in and explained that her boyfriend was waiting outside with her child because she didn't have a car and that speed was of the essence. Also, her son was not the boyfriend's child.

"Somehow in this tale about the boyfriend, she told us that the boyfriend was not a happy camper, because her 6 year old slept with them every night -- and they'd only been going together for a few weeks," Diehl remembers. Naturally, the agency had a difficult time placing her because she was a risky employee who didn't know when to keep her thoughts to herself.

12. Gossip: One of the big reasons you want to keep important information to yourself is to avoid the gossip it can spur. Well, don't play the gossip game either. Spreading rumors or secrets that you'd want kept secret isn't going to help your career.

13. Your Chris Rock routine: In an episode of "The Office," Michael Scott gets in trouble for repeating, verbatim, a Chris Rock stand-up routine full of racially charged jokes and cuss words. Comedians get paid to be edgy, daring and even offensive. You get fired for it.

Source

Is the Customer Always Right?

The old adage “the customer is always right” has been implemented into many business environments since the early 1900’s. The phrase implies that no matter what your customers say, demand, or even behave is tolerable by your company’s standards. The underlying question this ideology presents is by putting the customer first does that lead to better customer service or is it even good for business? The following are five examples of why the customer is not always right and in some cases the customer is even wrong.

Everyone does not know what is best for your company. People innately look out for their own best interests. This mentality leads them to believe that you should do whatever it is they want you to do. Companies that cave into each and every customer’s demand eventually find themselves stressed at keeping the customer happy. The more you give a customer; the more they feel they can get from you. Altering customary business practices for certain clients provides an unfair advantage to those customers that are the most demanding and abusive. Some customers you will never be able to satisfy. The best way to succeed at providing the best customer service is to keep your nice clients happy and invite the difficult and abusive clients to succeed elsewhere.

Walking away from bad deals is much harder for some companies to accomplish. More customers are not always better for business. Meeting each customer’s request can place a significant burden on your financial budget. Taking on a very large client may lead you to have to expand infrastructure, inventory, and even hire additional employees. If that customer was ever to not require your services and leave, you are stuck with the anticipated costs of servicing the client. Although turning down future revenue may be difficult, companies often don’t realize the hidden costs of acquiring that revenue. Walking away from bad deals is not always a financial decision. Some clients just cause too much disruption to your current service levels. Taking on one client can easily cause a decrease to the service levels provided to your current customer base. What you may think is a positive expansion, could lead to loyal long term customers to leave due to decreased overall customer service to the smaller clients.

A company that always sides with the customer tends to deal with unhappy employees. Employees are working for you everyday forming a bond with the company, while customers may come and go as they please. Creating a business environment where employees always feel subordinate to the customer leads to poor attitude where employees don’t care about the job. Employees that don’t feel valued by their company or respected by the customers have no reason to provide quality customer service. Without employees that care and have a positive attitude about their job, your company will eventually lose your customer base. Not that all employees can provide excellent customer service, but explaining poor service by saying the customer is always right is counter-productive and hides the true problem at hand. Hiding bad service by telling customers they are right doesn’t solve future complaints. Respect and support your employees and in turn they will respect and satisfy your customers. If you can fire bad employees, you can “fire” bad customers as well. Some customers just don’t fit your business model. For instance, companies that specialize in a certain industry may not wish to venture outside of that market. Whereas a company that services a general client base may not be able to successfully handle all the demands of a specialized client. Maybe refer the clients you can not handle or wish not to take to a friendly competitor. You never know they may respond by referring a client they don’t want that could be beneficial to your business. Each company needs to find its preferred level of diversification. You don’t want to service just one client in case they no longer require service; on the other hand, servicing too many different types of clients create the possibly of mistakes and not fully understanding those clients’ needs.

The ideology “the customer is always right” generally leads to bad customer service. Having employees know that the customer is always right develops the attitude of providing a fake quality of service to satisfy customers. Putting your employees first lets them know you will support them when they encounter difficult clients. Finally, it is important to note that you can’t satisfy all customers. Sometimes it is best to just walk away from a client and keep the bad clients from affecting other loyal customers.