MultiBriefs - Your source for industry specific News Briefs

Guidelines for appearance policies in the professional workplace

D. Albert Brannen Business Management, Services & Risk Management

For good business reasons, many professional employers adopt policies regulating dress and appearance in their workplace. These policies can help enhance an office's public image, promote a productive work environment, comply with health and safety standards and even prevent claims of unlawful harassment and discrimination. While no law requires an employer to maintain a dress/appearance policy, some laws are relevant to such policies.

Record growth in the US wine market

Bambi Majumdar Food & Beverage

U.S. wines are taking both the domestic and world market by storm. An increase in exports as well as domestic sales figures point to this positive growth. Sales figures of all wines in the U.S. hit a record high in 2012 with a 2 percent increase in sales from the year before, at around $34.6 billion. These figures are a result of a staggering 360.1 million cases of both domestic and foreign wine sold across the country.

Experience and skills are no match for talent

Mel Kleiman Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Human knowledge is now doubling every 3.7 years. This means 50 percent of what you now know will be out of date in less than four years. For this reason, it is no longer about hiring skills and/or experience. Today, it's all about hiring talent.

Employee turnover vs. retention — Which one costs you more?

Harry J. Friedman Retail

Almost every retail business owner knows employee turnover is a fact of life, as it is in most any kind of business. It's just multiplied by about 10 zillion in retail. The number of employees leaving their jobs may have dropped during the recent recession, but turnover is already starting to increase again as the economy heals. The typical view on employee turnover is that it's costly in terms of the time and money to find and train someone new. Another important consideration that's often overlooked is the cost in terms of customer loyalty.

A new paradigm for older workers

Michael J. Berens Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Results of a recent Gallup study show that large numbers of baby boomers plan to continue working well past the current average retirement age of 61 and even the traditional retirement age of 65. This is both good news and bad news for organizational leaders: good because older workers are valuable employees, bad because many organizations don't know what to do with older workers as they seek to increase opportunities for talented younger employees.

Corporate asset protection: Shielding your business from lawsuits, threats…

David B. Mandell and Jason M. O'Dell Business Management, Services & Risk Management

As we discussed in Part I of this article, in attempting to protect an ongoing business against lawsuits and potential creditor threats, most businesses leave much to be desired. They may rely too heavily on insurance, have suboptimal corporate structures in place and even unknowingly miss out on significant tax advantages.

Who comes 1st? Customers or employees?

Mel Kleiman Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Who comes first, the customer or the employee? Some argue that running a business is pointless without customers and that making the customer happy comes first. One expert believes that having customers is pointless unless you have employees who will do their utmost every time to create a positive experience for your customers, so making your employees happy comes first.

Lead nurturing 101

Sladen West Retail

A common mistake among businesses is to automatically siphon all leads the marketing team makes off to the sales team. The sales team may try to act on those leads for a while, but when they find that the majority of those leads are still researching the product, they will quickly become frustrated and dismiss most of the leads sent their way as a waste of time. What is missing in this process is the act of lead nurturing.

Best practices are not the holy grail

C. Fredrick Crum Business Management, Services & Risk Management

In my travels I have heard many leadership teams tout with great pride that they are using best practices. So when I say, "You are using common practices," they always get a strange and puzzled look on their face. How can you dominate or lead in your market by implementing the same practices and solutions everyone else has adopted as best practices? The answer: you don't.

Relieving your biggest management headaches

Harry J. Friedman Retail

As a retail business owner or manager, it often seems that you're so busy trying to put out daily fires that you let certain sales standards slide. It's up to you to decide whether you're willing to accept these behaviors or put an end to the headaches for good.

Industries