The Miller's are in Mystic, CT...and guess what? We weren't on vacation and it wasn't a weekend. My husband took the day off work last week (that's him with the really big amount of hair), didn't send the kids to camp, and decided he needed a break! In a Salary.com survey, 39% of workers said they would choose time off over the equivalent in additional base salary. Of course, most of the respondents are still opting for the bigger paycheck but the desire for time off is up almost 20% from the last poll!

Younger workers are more likely to be "family-centric" or "dual-centric" rather than "work-centric" when compared to members of the Boomer generation. The impact of September 11th is evident. We are reevaluating life priorities and realizing it is necessary to take the time to spend with your family. Things can change in an instant, as many unfortunately found out, and what is the sense of putting in those 10-14 hour work days when you can come home and spend time with your kids.

Monetary needs are also less intense due to dual income households. The sole responsibility does not have to rest on one person's shoulders. Of course these numbers are not major however, employers are anticipating not only the change in people's thinking about work but how it will affect their building a high-retention workplace. In the past few years, human resources experts say that time off has consistently placed among the top three employee concerns (along with compensation & staffing levels).

So, when Mr. Miller went in and said he was taking the day off, it's a good thing no one stood in his way....he was a much happier person at work the next day and maybe more productive??? By the way, if you haven't been to Mystic...take the drive....it was only 2.5 hours from Queens, and we only heard "Are we there yet" maybe 6 or 7 times!

Flip-flops have become more acceptable as “regular” shoes rather than just beach attire, especially as designs and prices follow trends of other shoes. The one place flip-flops have not become acceptable is in the office. However, if a flip-flop clearly doesn’t belong at the beach, can it be worn to the office?

The author of “The Perfect Fit: What Your Shoes Say About You” says that “wearing flip-flops conveys the mood that you are relaxed and on vacation” and that it is not a good message for the office environment. However, many young professionals can take their jobs very seriously and produce great work, all the while wearing those V-strap summer sandals.

When many companies have summer Fridays and relax their dress code in light of heat, doesn’t that convey relaxation and getting ready for vacation? In addition, black leather flip-flops worn with an office appropriate dress or delicate straw flip-flops with a brown pants suit, aren’t exactly dressing down, especially when many women wear dressy flip-flops out to bars, restaurants and weddings.

I think the biggest difference about flip-flops and professionalism is the quality of the shoe. If someone is dressed down casually and wearing plastic or rubber flip-flops that you could hose down after a trip to the beach, then they are in vacation mode. However, someone who is wearing some that clearly cost more than $5 (more likely $40 to $50) with normal summer attire and has an overall professional appearance, it should be acceptable. This person isn’t saying they’re on vacation; instead they are embracing summer within the office.

Granted, this leads to a fine line that people are destined to cross, but the point is that all flip-flops should not be ruled out in office dress codes, especially when they are all over the stores and are a main shoe option for many women. Overall though, I say flip-flops should be worn in the office as long as the work still gets done.

Well, its finally happened-- we've moved from milk carton advertising for missing children to egg advertising about the new CBS TV lineup for September!

I actually think it's an egg-cellent idea for employee communications as well. I'm guessing the appropriate demo is the woman returning to the workforce since those would be my guess as to who's buying and cooking them. Or maybe you're a restaurant or fast food chain looking for kitchen workers.

The possiblities are endless --- won't someone let us have any fun??

Humptey Dumptey!

Let's See What Sticks

That's life in the world of marketing in the age of technology as we've moved from 3 tv networks to cable to Tivo to PodCasts to messages near outlets in airports. People are looking for new and better ways to both capture and measure consumer attention.

Spending on Internet display ads are up 13% and newspapers are down.

I love technology, I love viral marketing, I know that a Norelco Viral campaign was started by the EMPLOYEES of the ADVERTISING AGENCY that created the spot and the pass-along results were 6x the expectated outcomes!

The cost of a TV spot (in the land of non-recruitment advertising) is 350K without the media. A successful viral campaign could cost 50K - 100K. Now do the math.

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By the way, I read that the army is meeting its new recruiting goals by lowering the standards for those who get it. Is that allowed? Can you guys do that?

Online job recruitment is up, according to the Monster Employment Index, which was created by Monster World Wide Inc, to measure online job posting websites. The index increased 25% over last year, which means that more employers are posting positions online, as well as more employees have started to rely on these sites. This increase is especially beneficial to those seeking entry-level jobs, as that is where many new graduates and first time job seekers start to look.

The big question to ask though, “Is it now too easy to apply to jobs”? I was guilty of sitting down, finding between 5 and 10 listings a week and sending off my resume and cover letter so fast that when people would call to follow up, I sometimes had no idea who I submitted my information to, or what the company really did. When employers called me back, I was always good about retracing my steps and seeing what I had submitted, but would I have applied to so many different companies and jobs had it not been so easy? Probably not.

However, I was able to expose myself to companies that I might not have considered because their listing was convenient on the online sites.

I never expected to hear back from every job that I sent my resume to for consideration. But what really didn’t seem fair to me was once I had interviewed with people, they never called me again. Or I would call to follow up on the first or second interview and get no answer, voicemail, or some vague timeline of when the decision would be made.

Candidate care should be a huge part of human resources. There are a couple of companies that treated me so poorly by not getting back in touch after second round interviews that I still have a little bit of bitterness towards the brands. I’m an adult, I can handle not getting a job, but I’d like to hear about the situation. Yes, there are more applicants because of the ease of these online sites, but that also means the market is competitive and candidates should be contacted in a timely manner- they could be applying to 15 more jobs while they wait.

There are two sides to every story and I know HR departments are busy and constantly needing to get back to people, but from the side of someone who just got her first job about a month ago, the more in touch the company was, the better impression they left on me. And the winner of the good impressions contest was BRANDEMiX- I started here mid-June!