All Blog Posts Tagged 'talent' (93)

Experience has taught us much over the last few years about the power of people as a competitive advantage and the rise of socially conscious brands. In some ways the recession has been good for us. Let’s face it. For at least a decade, perhaps longer, disingenuous leaders and brands were able to grow leaps and bounds on the economic strength of our country – regardless of their values or vision for the people or communities they served.

And at the heart of these matters, are people.…

In the restaurant industry, being fully staffed — with top-quality employees — is Holy Grail of HR. It is constantly sought after, rarely achieved and rumored to be difficult to achieve. More often than not a restaurant has a decent team, with a few outstanding employees and the occasional bad apple. It’s not uncommon to find a manager or head chef stepping in to cover a “no-show” staff member.

Foodservice faces such high turnover rates that managers often jump to quickly…

Soup and Sandwich.  Bacon and Eggs.  Love and Marriage.  Peanut Butter and Jelly.  Culture and Customer Service. 

Some things just go together !  Like the lyrics from a song my Mom used to sing “you can’t have one without the other”!  If there’s any truth to this premise, why then are there so many organizations that seem unable to admit it?

(Break out…

I love air travel when it goes according to the plan.  I hate air travel when it doesn’t go according to the plan. …

Attention Boys and Girls:

I’ve got every excuse in the book but I’m not even going to attempt to explain why my bucket list has gone done the tubes.  I will however own it and ask for a reprieve from my friends and fellow bucket list participants.  

I know something about me.  I’m either all in or all out and for the past couple of weeks I’ve been the latter.  Here’s a rundown on my inability to deliver on my bucket…

I know that fuel prices are up and margins are thin in the airline business. The airlines are struggling and we all know it.  I heard the following story from a friend of mine the other day that I felt compelled to share with you.

My friend is like a triple medallion,…

I’ve been in the restaurant business my entire career.  I have enjoyed the challenges and successes and I’ve learned a great deal from the failures.  I have a real passion for the people who work in the business, especially those who work in the restaurants. 

Much has changed since I…

Remember when “shifting paradigms” was the buzz phrase back in the 90’s?  It became “marketing speak” and just like any great phrase it got used and abused and eventually lost its meaning.  I’m bringing it back for this blog because quite honestly I can’t think of a better way to communicate my point. 

Shifting a paradigm is described by Wikipedia as follows:

 …

Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.

Our mission is to support our stores so that they are able to do what is most important in retail — serve our customers' needs.

The mission…

I never went to Summer Camp growing up.  I always thought it was a little weird because your mom had to sew your name into your underwear and things like that.  The kid across the street went every year and told me all about it.  He’d like get shipped off at the end of the school year and show up just in time to go back to school at the…

Am I being a little melodramatic with this headline? I think not.  I’m cool with growing older.  Truly I am.  I figure everyone is doing it, none of us have a choice so I might as well enjoy the ride.  It especially warms the cockles of my heart to know I am part of a generation that is 78 million strong.  Of course the generation of which I speak is the…

Recently I was having a conversation with my son who just happens to be a server.  He’s been serving for 3 or 4 years and has experienced decent success (enough to live on his own, pay his bills and enjoy a few beers with his friends now and then).  Because I have a passion for customer service and for my son’s success, I was interested in…

Starbucks and Meijer is probably enough said but as usual I can’t help myself.  I visited both today and I want to share my observations.  

My Starbucks experience was rather typical.  It was 8:00am and the place was buzzin.  Baristas with smiles on their faces crankin out java at record speed.  I had a meeting with a former colleague and we…

That’s right no New Year’s Resolutions for me.  With the help of my partners at Talent Revolution I have discovered a more effective approach to making meaningful

changes in my life and my work.  It’s

called living your life 30 days at a time. 

This approach works for me because I’m confident I can do anything…

Submitted by the Talent Revolution team

10.  Your positive approach to life and business.  

9.  You guys possess the confidence to make bold moves which we respect and admire.

8.  Each of you have demonstrated the ability to rise up after adversity which is a testament to your leadership abilities.

7.  You are Big Picture business people who understand the power of the top line and know how to deliver on the bottom…

Submitted by the Talent Revolution Team

10.  You have a a great sense of humor and you don't take yourself too seriously!

9.  You are a loyal attendee at the people report conferences where its been our pleasure and privilege to get to know you!

8.  Posting pictures of Tatum eating on your facebook page for all of us to enjoy.

7.  You live by an awesome set of personal and professional values.

6.  You are…

I read a blog the other day where the author was complaining about an over-zealous waiter. He was trying to conduct business over lunch and this waiter kept interrupting the conversation. As I read this account it sent a wake-up call to an idea about service that went to sleep years ago somewhere in the catacombs of my mind.

Why wouldn’t we just ask our customers what type of service they desire instead of guessing? One might say that this waiter…

I love technology and I have no clue how computers work. I don’t know how to back up my files and I don’t know a bit from a byte. I’m not exactly sure where computer viruses come from and I’m baffled by how these viruses can become debilitating to a computer. And I must admit I am bewildered by the thought that there are fake “spyware” programs…