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2001 Employer
Poster Set - Is Your Business in Compliance?
Your business
could be fined from a few hundred to thousands of dollars for not
displaying the required Employee Posters.
The Alameda
Chamber has the 2001 California Employee Notices available through
our office at $18 per set. You will receive up-to-date versions
of the 12 required posters printed on two, easy-to-display, 24"x36"
sheets. The set also includes the OSHA Log 200.
Employers have
the responsibility to display this information where their employees
has access to it. Don't risk a large fine, when you can easily meet
the requirement for $18.
Stop by the
Alameda Chamber office at 1416 Park Avenue between 9:00 a.m. –
4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday to purchase your set.
From Feb
2001 Chamber Newsletter
Training as
an employee retention tool: "The Loyalty Investment"
There is no
question about it...the rules of business have changed thanks in
part to the advance of technology. But as with any type of advancement,
and in this case societal, there are some growing pains along the
way. These technological changes have virtually (pardon the pun)
revolutionized the working environment of employees as well as the
managers responsible for their success. Employees now live in a
world full of new acronyms and euphemisms all relayed to them at
warp speed.
As a snapshot
of this new work environment, a pattern of insecurity has developed.
This insecurity is exacerbated by the onslaught of M&A (our
first acronym: Mergers & Acquisitions), the dot com cratering
(our first euphemism: crashes) and the employment shift of cradle
to grave service which, combined, wreak havoc on the longevity of
employees.
This shift in
corporate culture has, in fact, re-framed the perspective of employees
replacing the thought of long-term employment to a du jour outlook.
Remember when you looked at a resume and viewed one-year stints
or "job hoppers" as being unstable? Now, that same resume
is the model employee and long-term employment is viewed as an abnormality.
Despite these
notions, however, a balance must be found to nurture this highly
prized, invaluable human capital component of an organization. Balance
is imperative on a number of levels. For instance, how do you create
a future vision and direction without the long-term commitment of
key personnel? How do you build creative teams to inspire innovation
with unstable (meaning they may be gone tomorrow) team members?
These questions, factored together, create the organizational need
for training as an employee retention tool. Perhaps it is better
to think of this training tool as a loyalty investment.
Studies are
beginning to surface regarding what employees' value in a company.
Rising to the top of the heap is an organization's willingness to
invest in an employees' knowledge base. Once again, training and
development is en vogue and this gives cause for celebration.
So, if you are
currently faced with double-digit turnover, increased market growth
and shareholders clamoring for high returns (or your customers!)
where do you begin? Establishing a solid base with your key management
personnel is one way to start. Whether you choose to call this Leadership
Training or Team-Building, the training journey intersects on the
same corporate road. Here are some tips to begin your successful
training journey:
* Blueprint
your vision. When was the last time you reviewed your Mission, Goals
and Strategies? Establishing a clear Vision statement supported
by continuously updated Mission, Goals and Strategies are critical
to longevity. Including your management team in this process makes
certain your vision is evangelized throughout the company.
* Create an
environment of success. A survey conducted by the Department of
Labor found that organizations which supported risk taking, collaboration,
quality and security were peak performers and highly innovative.
Thus, creating this environment of success is not a "window
dressing" label, but one of survival.
* Develop employee
enrichment through reward. Employee recognition is personal and
must be celebrated as such. However, designing the correct approach
requires a solid corporate culture base, which understands its most
valuable asset....its employees!
Investment in
training not only enhances your chances of retaining key personnel,
it sets the future foundation of success for your company. Remember
the words inscribed on the National Archives building: "The
heritage of the past is the seed that brings forth the harvest of
the future." Here's wishing your firm a successful harvest!
Submitted
by: Melissa Mischak, the Chief Solutions Officer for Tsirigo's Orbit
providing strategic business development to achieve increased sales,
providing communication tools to stamp out consumer confusion, and
the Ideashoppe training modules designed for management and project
teams. For more info call 510-522-2884 or melissamischak@mindspring.com.
The pain
isn’t as bad in the East Bay
The downturn
in the high-tech economy has so overtaken our news media that a
visitor might think that all the high-tech companies in the Bay
Area were folding their tents and slinking off into the night. Indeed,
who is left? The answer is: most of us!
The East Bay,
slow to blossom as a high-tech region, now has a critical mass of
technology companies that represents a highly-diversified group,
both deep and broad in its tech offerings. Once considered bedroom
communities for both Silicon Valley and San Francisco, the East
Bay’s technology community has developed in such a way that
it is not feeling the pinch of the downturn as painfully as either
of those regions.
Why not? What
have we done better than those two powerful centers of technology
and new business startups? It may be less planning than accident,
but happy accident, nonetheless. John Woolard, CEO of Silicon Energy,
puts it succinctly, "To start a business in the East Bay you
have to have stronger fundamentals because the venture capitalists
won’t come here."
Another major
reason, according to Junona Jonas, General Manager of Alameda Power
& Telecom, is that the neighborhood culture of the East Bay
demands that decisions on growth be weighed with consideration for
neighborhoods as well as businesses. She says, "Silicon Valley
started as an agricultural area, and then technology burst onto
the scene. As a single industry grew fast, there was little planning
for that kind of growth. In a way, we were lucky, because we didn’t
have the pressure to grow: we were the sleepy side of the Bay."
Jonas likens
the East Bay technology growth to that of the "Friends of the
Forest" model for tree planting: they don’t plant lots
of a single variety of tree because it may become susceptible to
blight. "There are more varieties of businesses in the East
Bay because we weren’t focused on building a single industry
here. We now have biomedical, pharmaceutical, genetic research,
software development, internet infrastructure, networking, telecommunications
and all the professional services that support them."
Woolard says,
"I’m from the East Coast, where it’s very conservative.
In the Valley they thrive on huge risks. A healthy balance is ideal.
The East Bay is an incubator for that kind of balance. We’re
far enough removed from the metrics of things like click-through
and eyeballs to pay attention to fundamentals: revenue and cash
flow."
The reality
of the downturn, however, is that it does have an effect. Woolard,
whose company recently cancelled its plans for an IPO, says, "This
media hype is like a disease that creeps around; the rumors affect
everyone." His response to his 195 employees? "We had
an all-hands meeting in which we openly shared the financial plan
and the budget with the entire company. We’d never done anything
like that before, but now everyone understands our goals our objectives
and our constraints."
Is the cancelled
IPO a disaster? "Not at all. We have choices and options and
no pressure at a time when it is basically irrational to go out
with an IPO. We’ll follow our plan and grow with our revenues."
Submitted
by: Meriby Sweet, CEO, Cynosure: A Business Accelerator, Inc., Chair,
Silicon Island Technology Consortium, 2425 Webb Avenue, Suite 200,
Alameda, CA 94501 510-522-5800
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