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
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
The wisdom of investing in a future workforce
Posted On May 23, 2019
What can small businesses learn from large corporations about attracting and training employees? Surely, the hiring process at a major international company like Airbus has nothing in common with that of, say, a Mom-and-Pop pizzeria. But is there anything they can learn from each other? Our guests in the latest episode of “What’s Working With Cam Marston” are intimately involved in Airbus’ hiring and workforce development efforts in Mobile. Michelle Hurdle is Director of Economic and Community Development at Airbus Americas, and Kristi Tucker is its Director of Communications. Airbus opened the final assembly line for its A320 line of… Read More
Categories: What's Working with Cam Marston, Workplace
Even the NFL is having to adjust to a millennial workforce
Posted On April 2, 2019
All kinds of businesses and industries are having to adjust to the increasing numbers of millennials in the workforce. Some are quicker to adapt than others. It’s curious that an industry with a workforce dominated by millennials would be one of those more resistant to change. But in a business like professional football, where toughness is the greatest virtue, my-way-or-the-highway has been the accepted management style. For a couple days last week, the biggest story in the NFL was the news that new Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury planned to give his players “cell phone breaks” during lengthy meetings…. Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Work, Workplace
Why “coaching is coaching” is a myth
Posted On March 20, 2019
You don’t need me to tell you that women are a force in today’s workplace – just look around. Women are established at all levels of management, from corporate boardrooms to main street entrepreneurs, even in industries that were once completely male-dominated. But are they motivated in the same ways as men? Should managers coach or mentor them in the same ways? Or are there mentoring approaches that work with men that might not be as effective with women, and vice versa? In the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” I asked these questions to two women who… Read More
Categories: Podcast, What's Working with Cam Marston, Women, Workplace
Creating significance: How to sell young people on hard work
Posted On March 8, 2019
Have you ever heard that kids these days don’t really want to work? Do you often feel that way yourself? Our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” would disagree. Sid Sexton, founder and president of Daphne, Alabama-based Sexton Lawn & Landscape, has made a living – and a thriving business – off selling young people on the benefits of hard work, and watching them succeed at it. Lazy millennials? “That has not been my experience,” Sexton says. Sexton, a former college soccer player and U.S. Coast Guard veteran, started his landscape business 15 years ago… Read More
Categories: Podcast, What's Working with Cam Marston, Work, Workplace
Creating connections: The key to a happy workplace
Posted On March 1, 2019
Is it the job of an employer, or a workplace, to ensure that its employees are happy? Many Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers would argue that most employees should be happy just to have a job. Many millennials, however, will tell you that workplace environment is an extremely important factor to them in deciding where to work. Which of them are right? I asked my guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” — Dr. Elise Labbé-Coldsmith, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of South Alabama. And the answer I got was: Probably both. Research shows people… Read More
Categories: What's Working with Cam Marston, Work, Workplace
Why you don’t have to be a car guy to sell cars
Posted On February 8, 2019
Can you run a successful car dealership if you’re not a car guy? If you answered no, you might want to listen to Ty Bullard. Bullard, our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” runs Joe Bullard Automotive Group, a successful dealership of Acura, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover, Cadillac and Ford in Mobile. He is third-generation in the business, and he will be the first to tell you: He’s not a car guy. “I can’t drive a stick-shift,” Bullard says. “We’re not car people. We’re people people. As soon as you can realize this business has… Read More
Categories: Automotive, Blog, What's Working with Cam Marston, Workplace
Process is as important to building boats as winning football championships
Posted On January 15, 2019
To excel in the world of college football, Alabama coach Nick Saban is famous for focusing on what he calls “the process.” He doesn’t worry over the end result as much as he does about completing the steps he knows it will take for his team to get there. That emphasis on process is also important in the manufacturing world. Our guests in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” Joan and Owen Maxwell of Regulator Marine, tell us that what’s good for winning national championships is also good for building quality boats. “Everything we do is a… Read More
Categories: Product Design, What's Working with Cam Marston, Workplace