No Bull Blog has moved!

The No Bull Business Blog has moved to a new service. You can now find it at: http://pbp.typepad.com/nobull

Sorry, but we needed to do this. So please visit!

Most Difficult Conversations: Telling employees they smell!

When it comes to difficult conversations with employees, which ones cause the most angst for managers?

Firings? Nope.

Explaining why someone didn’t get a raise? Guess again.

The most dreaded conversation:

Telling an employee that he or she smells!

And the easiest conversation?

Confronting an employee about having inappropriate photos on his or her computer.

In fact, managers don’t mind giving an employee bad news if he or she deserves it. But they squirm when things aren’t so cut and dry, says the survey by HR News Update and Communications Update of more than 900 managers and HR professionals. The managers were asked to each of 19 difficult conversations on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being the least difficult conversation and 5 being the most difficult.

The 5 Most Difficult Conversations (Total percentage those giving ratings of 4 or 5)

1. Telling an employee that he or she smells or has a hygiene problem (78.9%)
2. Telling an employee the company is downsizing and he or she will no longer have a job (73.8%)
3. Informing an employee that he or she is being demoted (68.4%)
4. Telling a hard working, valuable employee (but who doesn’t have tremendous talent) that he or she isn’t likely to rise any higher in the organization (67.6%)
5. Explaining to an employee this his or her spouse’s behavior at a company event was unacceptable (53.4%)

The 9 Least Difficult Conversations (Total percentage those giving ratings of 1 or 2)

1. Confronting an employee who has porn on his or her computer (77.9%)
2. Confronting someone who is spending too much time on MySpace.com, etc. (74.9%)
3. Talking to an employee about begin tardy or missing work (72.9%)
4. Confronting an employee who is job hunting on company time (70.7%)
5. Confronting someone who has stolen from the organization (70.0%)
6. Confronting someone for sending inappropriate email (68.7%)
7. Confronting an employee who’s blatantly lied (65.5%)
8. Firing an employee for cause (63.7%)
9. Confronting someone who is spending too much time on the phone (60.3%)

And the 5 Conversations with average ratings:

1. Explaining to an employee why he or she didn’t get a promotion
2. Firing an employee for performance
3. Explaining to an employee that his or her clothing is inappropriate for the office
4. Telling a normally excellent employee his or her work is not up to par
5. Explaining to an employee why he or she didn’t get a raise

ADDITIONAL HELP:
We’ve all had some of these “uncomfortable” conversations with employees. To help, you’re invited to check out the Executive Report: Handling Difficult Conversations with Employees: What Every Manager Needs to Know.

Are you using the NEW Form I-9 yet?

If you haven’t started using the new Form I-9, better get on the stick. Deadline: Dec. 26, 2007. The Feds have made the first major changes to the form in 20 years. The biggest mistake that most employers make with I-9s – they ask new hires for too much documentation.

Outside its original purpose to control illegal immigration, Form I-9 is now clearly also being used as a security tool to identify which workers are on what work sites and to weed out people with potential ties to terrorist organizations. That creates a host of new liability issues for employers.

However, it’s also illegal to demand a host of documentation from prospective employees who speak with an accent or have foreign-sounding names if Mr. Jones and Miss Smith aren’t subjected to exactly the same process. That would be illegal employment discrimination.

As a result, employers today find themselves in a balancing act. Not only do they have to set their own standards for hiring and determine what could be “constructive knowledge” of the presence of illegal aliens among its workforce, but also how to avoid discrimination situations based on national origin.

ADDITIONAL HELP
You absolutely have to start using the new form, but making sure you’re in compliance can be the hardest part. To help, check out the Executive Report: Complete Guide to the New Form I-9: Everything You Need to Know to Ensure Compliance.

Why optimists sell 37% more!

Excerpted from the Executive Report: Conquering Cold Calling: What Is and Isn’t Working:

Attitude drives behavior. That’s why pessimists don’t last long in sales.

Optimistic salespeople sell an average of 37% more products and services during cold calls than their negative counterparts. How do salespeople maintain a positive attitude while dealing with gatekeepers who won’t let them through or prospects who hit them continuously with the “satisfied with present supplier” excuse?

Here are five tips that may help:

1. View success in the long term and failure in the short term. Success is the long-range goal. There’ll be failures along the way. Failure is always short term. The best salespeople experience momentary setbacks. It’s how you process those experiences that determines whether you learn or limit yourself.
2. Reframe what you hear and see. Perception is how you choose to interpret events. If prospects tell you they’re happy with their present suppliers, do you place them in the “do not call category”? Or do you accept the statement as a challenge and vow to show why they should do business with you? Whenever you get a negative message during a cold call, ask yourself, “Is there another way to perceive this situation?”
3. Remain focused. Lock in on your goal and lock out distractions. Focus is positive tunnel vision. You may not be able to control the feelings and statements of prospects, but you can control your reaction to them. You may not be able to control the outcome of your presentations, but you can control your input. You may not be able to overcome all of the objections prospects may come up with during a cold call, but you can prove them wrong about their negative impressions with your own positive attitude and behavior. 
4. Practice positive mental programming. This is how you talk to yourself and how you program your thinking. Concentrate on those things that will help, not hurt you. Does it really help to obsess on negative news about your industry or the economy? Or is it better to stay positive and go out and increase your cold calling efforts? One study shows salespeople reduce their cold calling efforts by 38% during tough times. They make cold calls at 62% of their “good times” calling rate. If you increase your cold calls by 25%, you have doubled your exposure in your industry. That’s positive mental programming.
5. Read inspirational stories of others who have persisted in the face of failure. It helps to know that others have walked the path before you. Fuel yourself emotionally, spiritually and mentally. Surround yourself with motivational quotes and slogans. Paste them on the refrigerator. Keep copies in your briefcase.

Boss can’t spell? You’re lucky!

This might explain a few things. More than a third (35% actually) of entrepreneurs identify themselves as dyslexic, says a London professor. That’s staggering when you consider that only 10% of the population is dyslexic.

But it makes sense. The study says dyslexics are:

• more likely than nondsylexics to delegate authority since they’re used to getting others to help them read
• excel in oral communication
• extraordinarily creative in maneuvering around problems

Dyslexics have trained from childhood to identify people they can trust to help them. Their willingness to delegate authority gives them a great advantage over nondyslexic entrepreneurs who tend to be control freaks and do everything themselves, says the report in the New York Times.

Dyslexics tend to be hands-on who push very little paper. They lead by talking a lot, not writing memos and reading.

On the other end of the spectrum, only 1% of corporate managers are dyslexic.

Well-known dyslexic entrepreneurs: Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic Airways; Charles Schwab, founder of the discount brokerage firm; and Paul Orfalea, founder of Kinkos. Orfalea also proudly admits to having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

“I get bored easily and that’s a great motivator. I think everyone should have dyslexia and ADD.”

What do these high-injury jobs have in common?

Which workers are more likely to suffer injuries on the job that lead to days away from work? The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) latest report says the average rate of occupational injuries requiring days away from work (DAFW) in 2006 was 128 per 10,000 workers. These specific occupational categories have high injury rates:

• nursing aides, orderlies and attendants, 526 DAFW
• construction laborers, 488 DAFW
• freight, stock and material movers, 466 DAFW, and
• heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, 411 DAFW.

What do these four groups have in common? Sprains and strains are the major causes of their injuries.

BLS says the trunk, including the shoulders and back, is the most common body part affected.

Your next CEO? Women to watch

Interesting report in the Wall Street Journal. The number of women in top corporate jobs (particularly CEOs) has barely budged since 2002. But WSJ’s Top 50 Women to Watch in 2008 indicates that the pipeline of talented women ready for top jobs has grown significantly. Read WSJ’s report to see who they are.

Ante up: Negotiating “tells” to watch for

Playing poker is lot like negotiating business deals. The best “players” know how to read their opponents. In both worlds, savvy opponents try to act weak or appear uninterested, says Gregory Stebbins, author of PeopleSavvy for Sales Professionals.

These behaviors will tell you a lot about the person sitting across the negotiating table:

• The Stare-down: Often the tactic of the person in the weakest position. He or she tries to appear strong and confident.
• The Uninterested: If they’re still at the table, then they’re still interested. The uninterested tactic is usually a sign of strength.
• The Shakes: Don’t misinterpret trembling, shaking hands as fear. More than likely the person is excited about the way the deal is going and is in a position of strength.
• The Sigh (or Shrug): Another attempt to hide a position of strength.
• The Chatterer: If the person across the table is normally quiet, but is now chatting up a storm, more than likely they’re nervous and in a weak position.
• The Quiet Type: Top negotiators avoid unnecessary conversation. Important information often slips out during those asides.

The worst employees of 2007: Can you top ‘em?

What’s the worst thing one of your employees has done? Can you top this list from Careerbuilder?

• Bank employees forgot a 73-year old woman was checking her safe deposit box and locked the building and went home. She was found by a cleaning person later that night.
• The postal carrier that was stealing money from birthday cards, etc.
• Employee, unhappy with his wages, decides to make up the difference by pushing his manager out of the way and helping himself to the cash register.
• The West Virginia ambulance driver arrested for driving impaired after running two red lights. He was stopped because he didn’t turn his siren on.

See the full list here.

If you can top these, please share them by leaving a comment.

Weird business stories of the year

There’s so much depressing business news out there, you could probably use a smile right about now.  So how about the weirdest business stories of the year! CNN lists the 15 weirdest of the year. A sampling:

• Alleged robber asks victim out for a date
• Employee takes 1 million screws home from factory
• Eau de Lawsuit: Woman sues over scent
• Workers killed after seeking raises
• 4 women fired for gossiping

Check the story for all 15.