Have you noticed the efforts to diminish the compensation or banking honchos and Wall Street hotshots?
Or at least make it look that way.
Our friends at Goldman Sachs are in the forefront, which should give you lots of confidence that the effort is for real.
The bonuses are in restricted stock that has to be held at least five years, so if the stock value went down 20% the banker would receive only $8 million instead of the $10 expected—poor baby, a lousy $8 million dollars, that’s terrible! Of course, the stock goes up 20% they’ll pick up an extra two mil.
Goldman …read more

When the economy slows, it’s easy to ignore retention factors because management kids itself into believing that replacing people is no big deal.
But slow as it’s happening, the times they are a’chnging.
At least here and there, in companies that really understand the importance of attracting and retaining scarce talent.
“To reduce “female brain drain,” global companies such as Ernst & Young, Goldman Sachs, Booz Allen Hamilton, Hewlett-Packard, Best Buy and dozens of others are increasingly offering a variety of flexible work options.”
Don’t get me wrong. These companies aren’t doing it out of the goodness of their corporate heart or caring social …read more

Raising kids is about teaching values, among other things, but kids learn by watching more than by listening. “Do as I say, not as I do” just doesn’t fly these days.
Cheating is not only a good example, it’s a global one.
Everyone knows that cheating is wrong, yet in US surveys 64% of high school students say they have cheated, while 84% of undergraduate business students and a whopping 56% of MBA students also admit to cheating. Not only is cheating prevalent, parental action often condones it.
Since many of these same parents are leaders in the workplace, the results of a …read more

Honing “CEO skills” isn’t just for CEOs—it’s for every manager who wants to do a better job and every employee who wants to be promoted.
Sure, you may not know as much, or have access to, the same information as the boss, but don’t let that stop you.
It’s similar to managing a fantasy sports team, you know all the easy information and a little research usually gives you a lot more with which to work.
You can make it even more interesting and fun by recruiting colleagues to choose other companies to shadow and compete.
Whatever level you’re at, you may know a …read more

See how Calvin explains the economy
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I’ve never been a lover of the MBA, its almost holy status, depending on the school, and especially its dominance on Wall Street,
In a recent post Justine Larbalestier said, “I was fascinated by Background Briefing’s recent documentary about the emergence of business schools and their effect on corporate culture and its relationship to the current crisis: MBA: Mostly Bloody Awful.”
I agree with Justine regarding the illogic of assuming that people can walk in and manage or advise a business of which they know little to nothing, especially with little to no experience.
It’s said that MBA can also stand for ‘Mediocre …read more

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The world is full of acronyms and many are part of corporate culture, but all acronyms are not created equal.
Many are benign, as in executive titles,

CEO – Chief Executive Officer, COO – Chief Operating Officer, CFO – Chief Financial Officer, CTO – Chief Technology Officer;

or defining the legal entity,

DBA – Doing Business As, LLC – Limited Liability Company, LLP – Limited Liability Partnership;

or general business terms,

COB – Close Of Business, COGS – Cost of Goods Sold, PL – Profit and Loss, PO – Purchase Order, QA – Quality Assurance, QC – Quality Control;

or oriented to customers,

CRM – …read more

The markets are in turmoil, the economy sucks, borrowing has gone the way of the dodo bird and businesses large, small and micro are looking to cut costs while still motivating their people.
For many companies this means a change in corporate culture, but which changes will have the most impact?
Short answer: creating/enhancing a culture of fiscal intelligence.
Long answer: a transparent culture that spends its money wisely, sharing the reasoning with its people, eliminating low ROI frills and cuts without selling the company’s future down the drain.
This doesn’t mean substituting crappy coffee for the good stuff and eliminating free soda or …read more

Now see how it should be.
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