Yield Effect - Random Ruminations on Recruitment and Retention

I’m not a big fan of Monday, but then again… who is?  This one started off particularly rough.  Speed bumps at work and 4 new tires on my wife’s car for $500.

Then at lunch I ran by home and grabbed the mail. There was a letter from Rehema, a 7 year old from Tanzania that we sponsor.  She was writing to say thanks for her birthday letter, in which my wife sent 2 sheets of stickers. The amount of joy over these stickers was unreal to me. How could I not smile and be happy with my life and everything that Americans have after reading a letter like that?

Sometimes it’s the unexpected things that’ll get you through a day. Sometimes the unexpected is half way around the world. Thanks, Rehema.

Today is Bosses Day. (It’s also my birthday!)  Make sure you thank your boss today and treat them well. Be sincere and appreciative of them, maybe tell them of a time they really got you out of a bind.

Some day, if you aren’t already, you’ll be a boss. How will you want to be treated?  Start treating yours that way.

Just ran across a quote in Seth Godin’s new book, Tribes, that sums up how I work.

Change isnt made by asking permission.  Change is made by asking forgiveness, later. (p. 70).

Hear, hear.

Do something now. Show your boss later. It’s much easier to inflict change this way.

Oh how I long for a flexible workplace.  Read this article on Productivity 1.0 vs. 2.0.

Some day….. some day. Until then, put that tie on and see you at 8:30am.

Hear all that buzz on the internet today?  Apple is releasing new products, and the tech world waits in suspense.

What about your application decisions?  What if you could create buzz around it?  Text the decision like Barack did for his VP?  Show up with balloons on their doorstep like Ed McMahon (You may have just won the best 4 years of your life!!). Sounds excessive. And expensive.   But that’s not the point.  The point is…. make your decision something special and meaningful.  They won’t forget that.

Paul starts the week off with a Columbus Day quote:

I heard this on the radio this morning and thought it was more than applicable to higher education:

“If Columbus had an advisory committee, he would still be at the dock.”

Thankfully, Columbus just went for it.  Hoist your sails, it’s time to get going. Make a plan, set your navigation, and act on it.

If you sit on the dock and wait for others, you’ll never get anywhere. BUT, it takes a team to sail a boat.  Find your team and pull in the anchor.

Are you giving your employees the right tools?  Do they even know what to do with them?

Maximize your efficiency. Todd’s right.  Some people don’t even know what to do with the ax. Some people need their hands held.  Should you? Or should you just let them cut their foot off?

What are you doing to make sure your university/college makes the class this year?  I’m just not sure that “business as usual” is going to work during these tough economic times.

Try something new. Something different.  Stand out. You know that one idea that’s been sitting on your desk?  Now is the time to propose it.

How many times have you had a conversation like the one I just had?  I was walking across campus and passed a colleague I hadn’t seen for a month or so.

Me: “Hey, how are you?”
Her: “Good, how are you?”
Me: “I’m good.”
Her: “Good!”

I need to invest more into those small conversations.  And sometimes I wonder if that’s all our conversation to prospectives students is.  “Hey, we’re Butler.” “Good.” “Yeah, good.”

Build meaningful relationships and have meaningful conversations. That’ll increase yield.

Yesterday is gone. The world moves fast. People forget.

Don’t hang on to those cool things you did in the past.  Instead, think of what you’re going to do next.