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Survey Says: It's Summer. Do You Know Where Your Employees Are?
No, it's not your imagination. Employees are a lot more likely to call in "sick" during nice weather, according to a new survey.
Posted 7/ 21 11 at 6:00 PM | Business Trends, Technology, Money, Advertising & Marketing, Management, Online Business, Human Resources
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Do you feel like it's harder to get more out of your employees this time of year? Turns out, it's not your imagination. If you're feeling less productive yourself, maybe it's time to shake up your work environment -- with a coworking space. And speaking of social spaces, starting an effective social network can be easier than you think. Here's a closer look at some of the latest small-business surveys.
Summer Breeze
Productivity is a year-round concern for small-business owners, but the latest Productivity Index from timesheet software provider Replicon found that small companies face a major productivity challenge during the summer. According to the survey of nearly 100,000 users, employees are 52 percent more likely to use vacation time from June through August than any other time of the year.
Replicon also polled companies about sick-day usage. The most popular sick days? The Tuesdays after Memorial Day and Labor Day. You'd think, overall, Fridays would be a popular sick day, but employees were most likely to call in sick on Mondays. And despite what most people might think, managers take significantly more sick days than the rest of the staff do.
Are You Blowing Your Budget on Lattes?
Are You Blowing Your Budget on Lattes?
Are you one of the many solopreneurs working out of a coffee shop or other public space? You might be spending more than you need to on that "free" workspace, according to a new study by Deskwanted, an online marketplace for coworking space.
The Deskwanted study, reported by GigaOm, found that the average cost of renting a "flexible desk" during regular business hours was $152 a month. Assuming there are 20 workdays in the average month, that's about $15 a day -- probably less than you'd likely spend on food and drink hanging out at Starbucks for eight hours.
Circle of Trust
Are you trying to start a social networking community on your small-business website? According to a survey by Ning, a leading online platform for creating communities, the magic number to make an online community vibrant is smaller than you think.
Ning's survey found it only takes 20 people to bring an online community to a significant level of activity and connectivity, as long as members are engaged, visit the site regularly and spend an increasing amount of time there.
This doesn't surprise me. In our obsession with the numbers (followers on Twitter, Klout scores, Facebook friends) we've lost the purpose of social media -- true interaction. The key to any successful group is a devoted core, not thousands of hangers-on.
Rieva Lesonsky is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a content and consulting company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Follow Rieva at Twitter.com/Rieva and visit SmallBizDaily.com to sign up for her free TrendCast reports.
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Comments (Page 1 of 1)
If you get perks like paid PTO/Vacation time paid/Sick days/Holidays paid?
If you are the lucky folks with no layoff since 2009..You may take days off paid?
But those that get no perks, no gas allowance, no health care perks, and you had
worked 40 hrs like your Union coworkers...Think on that awhile...million are in
default, houses devalued 41% since 2009...and U3 is not 7% like it was in 2007!
Try 14% in Calavears county! That's in Sierra MT in Cal! I'm 58..married no UI!
I refused to take time off...because one I got no pay for time off for 2yrs ok!
My wife took 6 trips to Europe in 6 years..2-4 weeks each time, w/a perked job;
she quit it in April...to increase our FIN woes...and my stress for 3 yrs BIG!
As a teacher I had accrued almost the maximum number of sick days possible because I was almost never out of school. Most teachers will come to work unless they are practically dead because writing lesson plans for someone else to do your job is a nightmare and then your sub is more than likely to not even follow them. That means a day of learning can be entirely wasted and with high-stakes testing pressure looming larger every year teachers just can't afford it. One year, however, I became seriously ill in May, toward the end of the year and after testing. I was out of school almost the whole month with 3 weeks of that being in the hospital. I was certainly glad I had those days saved up and was not a person who had to use her sick days more frequently, such as a mom with small children who get sick a lot.
I do appreciate that most people do not have sick days, but since teachers only get paid for the 190 days we work, each day would be such a huge hit on our salary we would have to be wheeled in on a gurney to teach if we did not have paid sick days. Many people think we have all these paid free days but it is not true. We just have our salaries spread over the entire year so we can budget better. Any day there is no school we are not getting paid for it.
The problem is that we, the people, elect these idiots. Most are attorneys who have little finanacial experience and are blessed with huge egos. Once in Washington these guys are wined and dined by the lobbyists. Make all lobbyist meetings public information. Pass a balanced budget amendment. Get rid of the all federal agencies that duplicate state agencies.
Attn. Pres Obama, Speaker Boehner, Mr Reed, Ms Pelosi, Senate, Congress: Ridiculous, Both sides still way off base. Clean your house first. Cut waste & fraud in Government. Exec Branch, Senate, Congress, take a pay cut, cut your staff, start with "smaller" in your own offices. Cut your own budget in half. Show the American people that you can control your own costs. BTW guys, there is no I in TEAM! After watching the "Breaking" news last night I was ashamed for our Government. Unable to see the real goal for America & be able to work together as a team to make it happen. You all should be ashamed of yourselves. Why do you always go after Medicare & Soc Sec? We need a smaller Government from the top down. Our Government needs to quit wasting taxpayer money everyday/all day. It's too crazy. If you can't fix it ask for help. Quit kicking the can doiwn the street. Let's face it, you have all failed. You are all fired. What the heck are you thinking?
Mea, you need to seriously get a life. Teachers get paid for the entire year and then are able to take off the summer. You work 190 days while the rest of us work the entire year. You basically cannot get fired, you get great benefits, you day ends before 4pm. You get automatic raises even if your not doing your job. Teachers are sucking money out of every homeowner in the country with high school taxes to meet the payroll and golden benefit packages. Stop you whinning!! You are overpaid for what you do.
Just some food for thought...the US has an annual Defense budget closely equal to the rest of the world COMBINED. Just do the numbers, the US is a 14.9 Trillion dollar economy with 330 million souls. The SECOND largest economy is China, at 5 Trillion with 1.2 BILLION souls. Why do we, the American people so quickly think we are going down the tubes?
We need to get together an organization of American people and say to Washington, if you cannot or will not do your jobs without ego benefit, let us do it. We have plenty of experts in finance, business and law. The organization can put together a plan to reduce the deficit with common sense and expertise. Germany did it in 2000. The US is not "going out of business"! How 'bout this...each American, according to their ability voluntarily sends in to the Treasury a contribution. That contribution is taken off their Federal taxes by 10% for ten years...I bet we could raise a few billion and show the politicos that the PEOPLE of this great nation have the will and the guts to go where they cannot...to begin a solution!
This organization ought do one main thing in the law. Revisit on behalf of the American people, in the Supreme Court the "Citizens United" case. We, the people, ought overturn the legal concept that a corporation is equal to an American. If we do not, the country is headed for a two tiered oligarchy.
to answer ya question: Government workers.
It is no wonder that over-worked Americans, slaves to a work work work capitalist system, need and want more time to enjoy life here on earth. Throught Europe Workers get 3 months and more off work per year for Holiday (what they call vacation) while here is America we are forced to work with little time off at all. High standard of living? Give me a break! Don't worry it, will be better after you die because if your are a good employee and a quiet citizen you will go to heaven! So we are to believe life here on earth is the hell a person must endure, while making a few rich, just to get to heaven? NOT !