Techno Finance and Executive Diary...

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

It's all relative

If you've ever been unfavorably compared to Einstein, you can take heart. In fact, if you've ever been told that you're "hardly an Einstein", you may actually be closer to the great physicist than you think.

This recent article by Eric Weiner in the LA Times shows the link that many of us share with Dr. Einstein. Unfortunately, it's not that we share his freaky intelligence, but rather that we're all just about as loafing as him.

AOL recently conducted a study that, not surprisingly, showed how much time-wasting went on in American office buildings. Rather than quantify it in time, let's do it in money. We've been wasting away time to the tune of $579 million, I'm sorry, I meant billion, per year.

What's surprising is that is that we're loafing at a rate 20% less than we were just a few years ago. However, I suspect that with inflation, we're still pissing away the same amount of productivity in dollars.

What's sad is that the United Nations International Labor Organization recently reported that Americans were the most productive nation in terms of worker productivity. What's sadder is that they're so far ahead of the rest that the results aren't even close.

So if we're losing hundreds of billions of dollars in productivity and are still the most productive nation on earth, I'm scared to see what other nations are losing. Let's not spend too much time patting ourselves on the back on this victory. As I've come to learn, he who works longest doesn't always work best!

Labels: stories

Posted by "CPerformance" :: 6:08 PM :: 0 comments

What are the best and worst jobs around?

What are the best and worst jobs around? Researcher Les Krantz has some views on this he has espoused in this piece for CareerJournal.com - and some of his answers may be a bit surprising.

The criteria Krantz used to determine the best and worst jobs is a bit interesting. For example, he makes assumptions about certain professions and assumes that working inside is better than working outside. He also assumes that working in a non-competitive environment is a plus-point.

As for what factors he used to choose the best, he concentrates on income, stress, physical demands, outlook, security and work environment.

As such, the list of Krantz' best and worst is rather strange. For example, on his list of the best jobs he has Accountant and Actuary listed first. Parole officer and Statistician also appears on the list of best jobs.

The worst jobs list also has some interesting choices. Construction worker tops the list. Dancer also makes an appearance. Cowboy also shows up on the worst list.

No sign anywhere of hairdressing – which regularly gets cited as the job which makes people happiest. And probably the first time ever that a survey has made anyone out there who is an accountant or actuary feel better about their career choice.

Labels: human resource, motivation

Posted by "CPerformance" :: 6:04 PM :: 0 comments