Utah’s economy continues to outpace the United States, though we’re losing ground on key economic indicators, we’re losing that ground more slowly than the nation as a whole and many states around the country.

September 2008 Unemployment Rate Utah VS. USA Click for latest employment situation report
Utah: 3.5%	U.S.: 6.1%
Year-Over Nonfarm Growth
Utah: 0.1%	U.S.: -0.4%

With economists and pundits expecting the worst Christmas shopping season in a generation.  Like Alisa Roth with Marketplace says it, “It’s hard to believe. But it looks like Americans may have quit shopping. Retail sales fell nearly 3 percent in October. And that’s the biggest drop since the Commerce Department started keeping track back in 1992.”

Things aren’t getting nicer, either:

Jerry Yang at Yahoo! calls it quits, meanwhile Republicans appear to be pushing Detroit off the cliff they’re facing.

How is the economy and recession (which Jeff Thredgold estimates began nearly a year ago) affecting YOU, personally?

What have you changed about your lifestyle? No-longer online window shopping? Stricter budgeting? Only perusing certain aisles at the grocery store? Job change? Changes in retirement goals?

PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS. What’s happening out there?

Here’s the latest list (below), from the February 4, 2008 edition.  Find the full Fortune 100 list online.

It’s worth noting that eBay is the only company listed on the Fortune 100 that is in Utah.

Notes:
N.A.: Not available. U.S. employees includes part-timers as of time of survey. Job growth, new jobs, and voluntary turnover are full-time only. Revenues are for 2006 or latest fiscal year. All data based on U.S. employees.
* Average annual pay: yearly pay rate plus additional cash compensation for the largest classification of full-time salaried and hourly employees.

I shared a few things with him which I am glad to say were published in this month’s magazine along with some other good, insightful thoughts from both local and national employers.

If you don’t receive Business Connect Magazine (which I strongly recommend), you can read Peter’s article online here: How to Retain Your Employees.

Just for fun, I’ve listed the more verbose responses to some of what Fretty asked me:

What do you see as the most effective means of retaining employees?

The most-common reason people leave their jobs is because they don’t like their boss. This takes on a lot of forms from not feeling challenged, to feeling micromanaged, passed over for opportunities, or not being trained well. It’s regular for new managers to completely change over much of their staff within a year after they take a new post, generally because of these personality factors.

It’s not about the money, it’s not benefits, it’s not getting a shiny car for being employee of the year like Doba did last year*. At the end of the day, the employee’s direct supervisior has more power and ability to help and employee feel liked and encouraged or disgruntled and dissatisfied than any other thing a company can do.

We all know that the cream rise to the top, and in business, the superstar talent will always keep their eyes and ears open through active and passive networking. Even the least-talkative or outgoing employee likes to work where they feel liked and appreciated, and even they will seek new opportunities when they feel their relationship with their direct supervisor is strained. Superstars are savvy enough to not complain about their boss around other people, but they will sing their praises, and your company’s, if they like what they’re doing, and they feel satisfied with their job.

That being said, the best boss in the world will lose employees hand-over-fist if the company is not:

• Paying well (by the way, which means ahead of the curve, not right at the median pay-range),
• Doesn’t provide adequate (read: liberal quantities of) tools to help employees succeed at their jobs
• Misses opportunities to praise and reward employees for the hard work they do (recognition is more important than money, but money talks very loudly).
• Provide all of the required and some over-the-top benefits to make sure their employees (and their families) feel appreciated as more than cogs in the machine.

What mistakes do people commonly make when trying to keep employees?

1. Hire the wrong bosses.
   People are promoted to management for the worst reasons. They look the part, they have the right degree, or they’ve been there the longest. Just like a brilliant doctor without any bedside manner, the most accomplished, credentialed, superstar manager will fail miserably if she can’t incite enthusiasm and success in her employees.
2. Don’t give bosses tools for retention.
   Corporate policies always play their heavy hand when employees want flex time, or to try out a special project, or even take an extra day of vacation to see their kid’s last soccer game of the year. Google’s 20% rule, where employees get one day a week to work on any approved project of their choosing has produced some of their best creations. Why not?  This is much better use of “water cooler” time anyway, isn’t it?
3. Don’t ask people what they want to do next.
   People will jump companies in a heartbeat for new challenges. Companies are usually horrible at actually helping people accelerate through their careers internally. Challenge them, ask them for help with special projects, allow them to be creative and try new things with your blessing.
4. Pay exactly the “market rate”.
   Duh. This one is easy to fix, but hard to approve through management. Yes, employee costs are high. But replacing an employee costs up to 70% of that employee’s annual salary. It’s your choice: You can lose them every 8-16 months (current averages for non-executive transitions), or you can pay them an extra 10% or even 30% over the market, with regular, meaningful raises.
5. Stifle creativity by maintaining the status-quo.
   Doing more of the same, but hoping for something different is the definition of insanity. People will either go insane or go somewhere else if you don’t allow them to have input to your processes and take on difficult projects. Toyota championed this, allowing any factory line worker to stop the whole plant if they saw something that needed to change.
6. Don’t Talk.
   The old joke is, if you hear from your CEO more on CNN than in your own business, there’s something wrong (See GBAT #16).  Maybe your CEO isn’t ever on CNN, but this is the age of transparency, and if your employees don’t know what’s really going on behind the brass-handled doors of the C-suite, they will go elsewhere.
7. Don’t Listen.
   Gatekeepers, assistants, and other executives are great at keeping the bad news and feedback from getting to the top. That’s bad. Engage in conversations. Real, honest, and serious ones. Your staff will respect you for listening, and likely respect you even more when you recognize where you’re wrong, admit it publicly, champion the better ideas, and make sure you always pass credit where it’s due. Likely, when people know that if they talk to you, you will act… they will make sure they only talk to you about really crucial things in the first place! P.S. If your employees blog, comment on them!
8. Don’t Relax.
   Companies that let their hair down once in a while and do something fun–take your employees to the premier of a new movie, send them to lagoon for a day, host a staff retreat that’s actually about retreating–will retain employees longer because people will like working there.  Do something once a quarter… maybe two smaller events and two significant onces. Make them memorable, fun, and for everyone.

* Don’t get me wrong, Doba did an AMAZING thing by doing this, but not everyone can/should.  I’d be open to it, personally though…

Sam’s Blog, Go Big Always, pushes the envelope just by its nature. He hits right at home when he says, “Companies are so highly matrixed and political that they make sticking your neck out nearly impossible”.

He gives 5 ways to GO BIG ALWAYS:

• Bravery
• Conceptualization
• Intuition
• Relationships
• Execution

I love the visuals, but what do YOU think of his message? Please comment!

How to do this?

LISTEN TO YOUR COACH

Your “coach” in this sense is your best advocate. They want you to win.

My usage of the term here comes from the Miller-Heiman sales training series where a “coach” is defined as a certain individual of particular influence in the “buying” process… here, the so-called sale is you-being-promoted.

The unique and very special role of a Coach is to guide you to your particular sales objective by leading you to the other Buyers (people with other types of influence on the decision) and by giving you information that you need to position yourself effectively with each one… Your Coach’s focus is on helping you make this sale. [The New Strategic Selling by Robert B. Miller and Stephen E. Heiman, p. 68-69]

The point is, find the person in your organization who wants most for you to win, and can introduce you to the other people who will ultimately make the decisions about your promotion, etc… the “buyers”.

Your coach might be:

• Your boss
• Your CEO
• The CEO’s admin
• Your recruiter
• An outside consultant
• Another team’s director
• The receptionist

When you determine who your coach is, ask for their time. Buy them lunch if you need to get them offsite, and let them know what you’re trying to accomplish and ASK FOR THEIR HELP and ADVICE.

Note: Make sure to give them the opportunity to back out. Coaching doesn’t work when they don’t really want YOU to win THIS promotion. If this backfires on them–if they even sniff that in the air–they will run from you like you have the plague.

Finally, remember the COACH watches from the sidelines. Strategy and Timing. YOU have to EXECUTE. Nobody ever blamed a coach when the receiver fumbled the ball. Don’t forget your part… execution.

GO, FIGHT, WIN!

Utah Blogger/Geek Dinner May 2008: Read CodeAway for the whole story: http://voxpopdesign.com/wordpress/?p=136

Come and geek out (or just hang out) with fellow geeks, bloggers, etc. Find more info at Codeaway.org and RSVP at Upcoming:

September’s Utah Geek/Blogger Dinner is this Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM.

We are having it at My Thai, which is a new Thai restaurant in the Salt Lake Area. They have EXCELLENT food and the owners are so nice. When I asked her if it would be a problem if we invaded and took up her whole restaurant on a Thursday night, she looked grateful instead of annoyed. Yeah!

Here’s a link to a review of the restaurant:

My Thai Salt Lake City | Thai restaurant in South Salt Lake | Restaurant menus, reviews and maps on urbanspoon.com

My Thai
1425 South 300 West
Salt Lake City, Utah 84115

Description:
Bloggers, freelancers, web workers, and digital Bedouin - all are welcome to this once-a-month event. Come with your stories, your conversations, and you questions and enjoy the curries and Pad Thai!

Google Map

Thursday August 28, 2008 - Saturday August 30, 2008
Salt Lake Community College Redwood Campus
4600 S Redwood Road
Salt Lake City, Utah 84130

Website: http://2008.utosc.com

The Utah Open Source Conference 2008 will be held at the Salt Lake Community College, Redwood Road campus from August 28 - 30, 2008.

The Salt Lake Community College Computer Science department is excited to be a sponsor of the 2008 conference and will be using it to improve students’ awareness and understanding of open source software.

The Utah Open Source Foundation is proud to volunteer their time to help such a great cause as promoting free software and open source.

The pricing for this event is $70, but for college students, Local User Group members and a few select others, the total price will be $35/person. This price is less than last year’s event but will have almost twice the presentations and more room for the presentations.

On the Couchcast, we spoke with Jason Hall about the Utah Open Source Conference this year.

Utah Blogger/Geek Dinner May 2008 by Laura Moncur

Looking for the Utah geeks, bloggers and coders? You’ll find them at the Utah Geek/Blogger Dinner. This month, we’re meeting at Paradise Bakery. If you have been feeling lonely for computer conversation in the Salt Lake Valley, you’ll find it all here!

THEY HAVE WI-FI, so you can bring your laptop if you want!

RSVP at Upcoming.org: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/857123

Utah Blogger/Geek Dinner
Thursday, July 31, 2008
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Paradise Bakery
1010 E 2100 S
Salt Lake City, Utah 84106

Website: http://codeaway.org/

Here’s some of the takeaways:

“Unemployment is still below the generally-accepted measure for ‘full-employment’ of 4-5%,” Robert Merrill, Technical Account Manager for SOS Engineering and Technology, said. “This means that people who would otherwise choose not to work are taking jobs and staying employed.”

“Current travel prices have become a particularly poignant concern for job-hunters,” said Robert. “Many recent placements we have made resulted from people wanting to limit their commutes or ’stay closer to home’”

“I would be cautious to believe that we have hit bottom,” concludes Robert, “but Utah seems to have an interesting connection with industries either benefiting or otherwise unaffected by national events (energy, transportation, natural resources, military). The combination of those things leads me to believe Utah will likely have an even-stronger opportunity to take-advantage of the new technologies and innovations our companies are already investing in.”

Note: Matthew Reinbold and I participate togetether in producing the Couchcast Internet Talk Radio Show

The change will apply to about 17,000 employees, roughly 80% of the state workforce, [Utah State Governor] Huntsman says. Public universities, the state court system, prisons and other critical services will be exempt. Residents still will have sufficient access to state offices, many staying open from 7 a.m.- 6 p.m., and more than 800 state services are available online, he says.
[USA TODAY: Most state workers in Utah shifting to 4-day week]

The move, which will have employees working the same number of hours, but just cramming those hours into a 4-day week, should help save state employees money, keep some cars off the road, and reduce the other energy expenses they have just to keep doors open and lights on.

The green work blog, TreeHugger, noted the states’ move, as the first state in the US to try and do this across the board:

By shutting down 1,000 buildings statewide on Fridays, an estimated 3,000 metric tons in carbon emissions will also be cut. Admittedly, though the energy and fuel savings is not as great as telecommuting, the idea of a four-day work week is probably more appealing to reluctant employers who are willing to test more moderate, but still viable, alternatives.

My thoughts on the 4-day work week move is that, as long as crucial state services are still available when needed, this is a good thing. For a long time, the biggest problem I personally have with the “public good” is that there is so much over-availability required to make sure that services are always available to everyone.

It does make sense, however, to keep offices open later than normal 8-5 business hours… I have often been annoyed that I need to take time off work to take care of something at the government.

What do YOU think about the 4 day week?