Last week on an upgraded flight between Denver and Orlando, I was given a warm cookie after the meal service. This is a nice touch United Airlines does and has done for first class passengers for years. But as I examined the little brown paper sack the cookie came in, I was amused by the…
When you fly, do you actually pay attention to the airline safety announcement? Neither do I. These FFA mandated announcements are, for the most part, monotonous, mundane, and insulting to the intelligence of anyone with a fifth grade education. Instructing passengers on how to fasten their seat belt by inserting the end with the clip…
A customer service manager of a regional banking chain recently told me about a challenge her managers were having in getting young tellers to handle incoming calls when they were assigned phone duty. “It’s astounding how many will answer our business line by just saying ‘Hello’ or ‘Yo. Wat up? This is Monique.’ It’s almost…
…they want a career. They may not openly confess to their employer that this is what they want. (Heck, they may not even admit it to themselves.) But while we continue to hear so much political rhetoric about “creating jobs,” what Americans really want is a career. And there is a monumental difference between a…
Back in 2006, I published a Special Report titled More than 50 Great Interview Questions to Ask a Gen Y Applicant. The questions were gathered from hundreds submitted by clients, readers of my books, and HR managers from a wide variety of companies and organizations across multiple industries. Now that the focus of my work…
Every company that employs teens and young adults wrestles with the boundaries of professionalism. How do you get the emerging workforce to set aside, if only temporarily, the supposed “personal right of individual expression” in favor of representing you and your organization without completely zapping them of their enthusiasm, creativity, and energy? Sometimes their personal…
