Keeping up with technology a matter of survival in auto repair business
Posted On July 25, 2019
Technological advances in the automotive industry have made today’s cars safer and more fuel efficient. Those advances also present a challenge for the people who must fix them when they break – keep pace or perish. Our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,”Cockrell’s Body Shop owner Tim Cockrell, says two of the most challenging aspects of his business are finding good employees who are young enough to grow with the business and keeping up to date with the technology. “You’ve continuously got to be on top of your game,” Cockrell says. “It’s going to roll… Read More
Categories: What's Working with Cam MarstonLighting up the cigar industry with a hot new idea
Posted On July 22, 2019
We all would love to be ahead of the curve, to have that hot new business idea that disrupts an industry and sets a new trend. In a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” I talked with someone who has done just that – Jeff Zeiders, co-founder and CEO of CigarClub.com. Traditionally, cigar smokers are older white men who find a couple of brands of cigars they like and buy them from local shops or from large online providers. CigarClub.com has developed a new distribution model to reach a new customer base and to grow by utilizing new… Read More
Categories: What's Working with Cam Marston
This Week’s Keeping It Real – Meet Conrad and Thomas. Two kids in the neighborhood learning about work and money.
Posted On July 15, 2019
On this week’s episode of Keeping It Real meet Conrad and Thomas – two neighborhood kids learning the value of hard work and money. They came to my door one Sunday afternoon and my heart melted.
Categories: Uncategorized
The BP Method: Using reverse mentoring as a talent recruiting tool
Posted On July 5, 2019
A year ago, I spoke with Pershing Advisor Solutions CEO Mark Tibergien about reverse mentoring, where older business leaders enlist the help of younger employees to keep up to date on current trends and the issues important to millennials in the workplace. Now one of the largest energy companies in the world is utilizing the approach as well. According to a recent Bloomberg article, CEO of British Petroleum’s Upstream, 48-year-old Bernard Looney, is taking mentoring from 26-year-old BP petrophysicist Connor Tann. Looney’s goals are more than just making sure BP is meeting the needs of its millennial employees, however. He… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Recruiting, Training Industry, Workplace
Ghosting in the hiring process: Just because both sides are doing it doesn’t make it right
Posted On July 1, 2019
Have you ever been ghosted? You know, that’s when you’re emailing or texting with someone and they stop responding, leaving a question hanging or ignoring attempts to call them back in. Hello? Are you still there? According to an article earlier this year in Barron’s, ghosting has become prevalent in the job application process – by both sides. Many of us have probably experienced ghosting from a potential employer or a company with which we’ve applied for a position. We sent our resume, made a follow-up phone call, maybe even got an interview and then, nothing. We were left to… Read More
Categories: Work, Workplace
Workplace culture is too important to leave to chance
Posted On June 28, 2019
We all know – or we say we know – that workplace culture is important. Not only important, really, but critical to the success of a company or organization. But how many CEOs or other company leaders are actually being proactive and deliberate about creating the culture within their organizations? Our guest in this recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” David Friedman of High Performing Culture LLC, says that number is surprisingly low. “Every other aspect of our business that we would say is critical – our finances, our strategic planning, our operations, our sales – we’re really… Read More
Categories: What's Working with Cam Marston, Workplace
How to build a successful, family-run import business
Posted On June 12, 2019
How do you turn a sawmill into a successful family import business that’s still thriving over a century later? With a little foresight, a lot of travel, and paying attention to Mom. Our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” is Luckett Robinson, whose family’s company, Overseas Hardwoods Company, imports wood from all over the world for a variety of uses across the country. In 1917, Robinson’s grandfather began the family’s immersion in the lumber business with the purchase of a sawmill. While that sawmill was ultimately sold to Scott Paper Company in the 1960s, Robinson’s… Read More
Categories: What's Working with Cam Marston, Workplace
Why an 8-way championship isn’t a “participation trophy”
Posted On June 10, 2019
You knew it was coming. You hoped it wouldn’t, but you knew better. When the Scripps National Spelling Bee ended in an eight-way tie for first place last week, it was only a matter of time before the cries of “participation trophies” rang out over the internet. And we’re talking minutes, not days. While the vast majority of commenters on the Bee’s Facebook page were congratulatory, there was one who denounced the result as some sort of politically-inspired plot: “They did not want to hurt the feeling of these little snow flakes and have losers.” Yes, someone who thinks “snowflakes”… Read More
Categories: iGen
Keeping It Real – People Are Good
Posted On June 9, 2019
Last week’s broadcast: People are good. Don’t let others tell you otherwise.
Categories: Keeping It Real
Xers are in peak years for work-related anxiety
Posted On June 3, 2019
Generation X is in its peak earning years, but it’s also in its peak years for work-related stress. MarketWatch.com recently shared findings that probably aren’t that surprising: Gen-Xers are significantly more stressed in their jobs than other generations. Fifty-four percent of Gen-Xers surveyed in a recent LinkedIn Learning study said they were stressed with their work situations, compared to 46 percent of millennials and 48 percent of Baby Boomers. Only about two-thirds of Gen-Xers who responded to a MetLife study reported being happy at work, compared to 75 percent of millennials and 74 percent of Baby Boomers. And another survey… Read More
Categories: Blog, Generation X, Work, Workplace