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Business.com

Samsung, Microsoft Reveal Smartphone-to-PC Integration

Posted: 08 Aug 2019 10:01 AM PDT

  • Starting with the Galaxy Note 10, Samsung and Microsoft are working to release "seamless productivity experiences" across mobile and PC platforms.
  • 42% of employees spend more than three hours a day working on their mobile devices. The number increases to 51% for millennials.
  • The companies also announced that the Galaxy Book S will be able to bridge the gap between smartphones and laptops.

A strategic partnership between Samsung and Microsoft was front and center during the Galaxy Note 10 launch yesterday, as the two tech giants unveiled their plans for establishing a streamlined productivity link between the mobile device and PCs.

Officials announced that, starting with the Galaxy Note 10, Microsoft's Your Phone app will be preinstalled on Samsung's mobile devices. Your Phone will also be made available for download on PCs with the Windows 10 October 2018 update or later. Once configured, the app will allow for text messages, Android notifications and your phone's screen to be mirrored on the PC.

"We believe the mobile industry is on the cusp of a transformation, one in which individual devices give way to seamless, connected and continuous experiences, wherever we go," said DJ Koh, president and CEO of Samsung's IT and mobile communications division. "As new technologies like 5G become a reality, our partnership will play an important role in helping people live more fluid, flexible lives."

Easing productivity between devices

In today's highly connected business environment, it's common for people to do work on their smartphones. The handheld computers in our pockets facilitate numerous ways to keep in touch with our colleagues and potential clients, but once we sit down at a computer, transferring that information can be difficult.

Through yesterday's announcement, officials said they hoped to end the days of having to look at your phone and open an app to view and send files from your smartphone. Through the Your Phone app and planned Microsoft OneDrive integration, data will sync automatically via the cloud, ready to be used on multiple platforms.

The companies also announced that, starting with the Galaxy Note 10, Samsung smartphones will feature an optimized Microsoft Outlook app that "enhances work and personal communications, as well as time management." Through the app, users will be able to have their email, calendar, contacts and attachments in one location.

During yesterday's press event, Microsoft's Shilpa Ranganathan also announced that Your Phone will let users make and receive calls through their PC, though that functionality won't be available until later this year.

"Our ambition is to help people be more productive on any device, anywhere – and the combination of our intelligent experiences with Samsung's powerful, new devices makes this a reality," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Samsung Book and DeX integrations

Along with the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 launch, the two companies revealed other integration efforts, like the new Samsung Galaxy Book S.

Touted as an "always-connected solution that brings the smartphone experience to a laptop," the thin and lightweight Galaxy Book S will have built-in LTE connectivity. Along with its long battery life, officials said, the laptop is a way to "usher in a new mobile computing experience."

Samsung also noted that its DeX interface will be reworked with the launch of the Galaxy Note 10. Previous users of DeX will remember that their compatible devices needed to be plugged into a monitor and required a mouse and keyboard to be paired with the phone. While that use case still exists, officials said the newest version will allow users to simply plug their phone into a compatible Windows or Mac computer. Once it's connected, a screen will pop up with the phone's apps and the option to drag and drop files to and from the device. [For more information about Samsung DeX, check out this related article.]

Previous Experience Can Lead to Entrepreneurial Opportunity

Posted: 08 Aug 2019 09:45 AM PDT

Tyler Stauss' startup idea – to create an online index of promo codes – did not fall from the sky or come to him in a dream. "I started my career at a startup called SurfMyAds.com," he said. "After a year there, I started a company in the same space called GoPromoCodes.com." Ten years later, Stauss is still running the website.

"I don't think I could have done it without working for the first company," Stauss said.

Stauss' story is a familiar one in today's entrepreneurial landscape, where company loyalty is eschewed for being your own boss.

After talking to several entrepreneurs whose current ventures are spinoffs of initial office jobs, we concluded there's more than one way to innovate from your previous employer.

Spinoff series

Spinoffs that identified a competitive advantage

A spinoff startup does not have to involve a complete overhaul or groundbreaking innovation to be worth it. Instead, most are marginal, incremental innovations on their parent company – enough, however, to gain a competitive advantage in the industry.

During his time at SurfMyAds, Stauss identified several areas for improvement. One was search engine optimization.

"I thought having a better URL structure for my retailer-specific pages would rank better in Google," Stauss said, which he did by replacing the string numbers his previous employer used in their URLs with the name of the specific retailer.

Another was in the number of retailers offered. While his previous company had a limit to their offering, Stauss listed as many retailers as possible, "regardless of whether I could make money from the coupons or not."

GoPromoCodes did not invent anything new or revolutionize an industry. By applying a few tactical changes, however, it was able to gain a leg up on its parent company.

Spinoffs that applied a new technology to an old industry

In another example of incremental innovation, some changes are just a matter of applying new technology to an old industry. This was the case for Maria Vorovich, co-founder of GOODQUES, after spending 10-plus years in the advertising industry and growing tired of the "blatant inefficiencies, Zeus-sized egos and inflated belief in our own intuition."

Vorovich started GOODQUES when she realized she could do better – rather than pulling ideas from thin air, her company would create campaigns informed by consumer data.

Vorovich is first to admit she did not invent the use of data. Instead, she said, "GOODQUES took an innovation that was staring us in the face," noting that while data collection is hardly new in the business world, the communications field has been slow to catch up. "What is interesting is that brands are starting to realize this as a need, but agencies are slow to respond, slow to adapt and slow to change their Mad Men ways."

Spinoffs that filled needs encountered in previous jobs

Just as business-to-customer startups are often formed around consumers' unmet needs, business-to-business startups are formed to meet employees' unmet needs. This proved the case for Will Read, founder and CEO of Sideways 6, who, rather than creating a competitor of his previous employer, created a service his employer could have used as a client.

The idea planted itself when Read became frustrated with the "structural rigidity" – particularly the impossibility of communicating suggestions or ideas for improvement – in his first job at UK TV network Sky TV. When Read sought out to create what he described as a "suggestion box 2.0," he realized that Sky TV already had one in place – providing further testament to its ineffectiveness.

Instead, Read focused on creating a program that was less clunky. Rather than requiring users to download a separate app or software, Sideways 6 integrates with pre-existing communication tools like email and Facebook to capture employee ideas. Thus, his startup is kind of meta – an employee's idea for a way of cataloging employee ideas.

Then there are the serial entrepreneurs who create startups based on the needs of their own previous startups. Apres, for example, was created to address an issue that founder Matthew Waite encountered at his previous company, which served mid-market technology companies as clients.

"Technology companies were having issues scaling operations in a lean and flexible way," Waite said. "This was an issue felt most seriously at companies trying to implement AI, my previous company included."

The problem led Waite to his next startup, Apres, which uses machine learning and automation to help companies manage their data. "Had I not built the previous company, I would have never intimately understood the innovation needed, and Apres might never have been developed," Waite said.

Spinoffs that capitalized on an entrepreneur's unique expertise

A further subset of spin-offs are simply the result of employees realizing their own value. After working for an international financial organization, developing their cloud-based architecture, Sebastian Dolber realized his skill experience was in demand and started his own consultancy, Astor Software.

Meanwhile, Juli Lassow started retailing consultancy JHL solutions based on her experience assessing and onboarding suppliers at Target, where she worked as an executive for over 15 years. Describing her time at Target, "I found that less of my time and my team's time was dedicated to having open and direct conversations with suppliers," Lassow said. "Time wasn't spent discussing their goals for their businesses, or their goals for their partnership with Target … So I left the security of Target and I started up my own business."

Neither Lassow nor Dolber could have started their own company if it weren't for the experiences gained at their previous employer. Eventually, however, they started their own companies when they realized their expertise had value outside the company.

Sources of conflict

Companies are aware by now of the potential competitive threat of their own employees. There's a fine line between inspiration and intellectual property theft, which many companies take advantage of with noncompete clauses, trade secret laws and nondisclosure agreements (NDAs).

For aspiring entrepreneurs, this is something to be wary of. One story that strikes fear is Vanity Fair's 2013 account of former Goldman Sachs employee Sergey Aleynikov, who was arrested for stealing computer code Aleynikov had been storing on a flash drive for later use. (Aleynikov was prosecuted twice and acquitted both times.)

Luckily, for Dolber, this was not a concern. "I did not take any proprietary code with me; I just realized the potential of the fully managed/serverless cloud services and decided to start building a business around it," he said.

Some states, like California, are also lax about enforcement, lessening the legal challenges for entrepreneurs. "I was certainly afraid when I first started thinking about [GoPromoCodes.com] because I was young and didn't know any better," Stauss said, until he researched it and realized he was safe in California.

Indeed, much of the Bay Area's success over the formerly rivaling Boston Route 128 region has been credited to California's ban on noncompete laws, allowing people like Stauss to pursue their own entrepreneurial ventures.

"I just learned the bare bones of what I needed to get started, and then there was lots more learning after that, on my own, independent of my previous company," Stauss said.

The irony is that many of the same companies that began as spin-offs are the ones that later spawn further spin-offs, benefitted by the same innovation-conducive legislation that once benefitted their previous employer. Even where it's legal, no number of NDAs can stop a former employee from capitalizing on their experience.

What Sigmund Freud Said About Business

Posted: 08 Aug 2019 09:45 AM PDT

  • Freudian motivation theory holds that an individual's unconscious desires and emotions shape their behavior.
  • Freud's theories can make you a better manager.
  • Freud's theories can help you better market your services and products

Ever wonder why your colleague reacts to negative feedback by kicking his desk? Or why your manager seems to approach one-on-ones differently with each employee?

Sigmund Freud may have the answers. As one of the most famous figures in psychology, he is known for theories that have shaped humanity's understanding of personality, memory and therapy. Thanks to Freud's work, we can explore the deeper reasons behind why people do what they do. 

Much of this is due to Freud's development of psychoanalysis, where people explore hidden reasons that explain negative behavior by talking about their issues with an impartial analyst. Almost all forms of counseling are rooted in Freud's notion of the "talking cure."

While laying on a couch and talking out your problems with your management team may not be conducive for solving business problems, there are plenty of business lessons you can extract from Freud's work and theories.

Applying Freud's advice to performance evaluations

Bonnie Oglensky, Ph.D., a professor at City University of New York, uses Freudian theory to diagnose the dynamics of workplace interactions. A manager who does not understand their role in relation to their employees and how they are viewed can run into catastrophic issues, she says.

She provides the example of subordinates who see their manager as a parental figure. Because, according to Freud, humans depend so greatly on their parents for growth, motivation and development as children, many bring that same mentality into the workplace, viewing their managers as taking a pseudo-parental role in their professional development.

And although the goal of growth is independence, Oglensky says, the shift in authority can trigger a renewed sense of dependence on one's manager.

That could be good or bad, depending on whether the manager understands that he or she is perceived this way. A manager who is unaware of how they are viewed by their employees is likely to make critical mistakes, such as coming across as overly critical to employees who idealize their manager, or being too distant with employees who need more direct feedback.

This is especially true during performance evaluations, where an employee is told directly what they are doing well and areas that require improvement.

"When you understand the unconscious, the phenomenon of resistance and defenses, and how ineffective interpretations and insight can be, you can start to frame your interventions in ways that the ego can manage," said Claudia Luiz, PsyaD, a psychoanalyst. "You learn how to help [your] employee perform better without feeling attacked."

Make a point to put yourself in the employee's shoes and try to understand the reasons behind why they are feeling the way they are. Try having your employees fill out a self-evaluation before you sit down with them to get a better idea of how they see their work and performance, and build your critique or praise from there. 

Using psychotherapy on your workplace culture

It is not just people that can benefit from a Freudian approach – an organization can have Freudian characteristics. These include a focus on:

  • Past events and achievements. Companies become fixated on improving existing products or services rather than innovating new ones
  • A "phallic-centric" culture, or a workplace dominated by male hierarchies and masculine stereotypes
  • Top-down management and power relationships

Freud was not only interested in the role of strong figureheads and competition to achieve recognition (most famously, the Oedipal complex); his own personal and professional relationships provide a case study in unbending orthodoxy. Many of Freud's psychoanalytical disciples broke with him because of his refusal to consider independent views that challenged his authority.

If a close analysis of your organization reveals such Freudian characteristics, the company might need a little therapy, or at least a deep dive into why these characteristics have become part of the culture.

If your business relies on past achievements, revisit your mission and vision statements, and see where your company can establish new goals. Seek to understand why you have a reliance on past achievements and what, if anything, that is doing to help the business now.

 If valuable employees are leaving the company because they feel the business doesn't recognize their contributions, re-examine your management style and promotion policies. How can you better meet the needs of employees? What can you do to make them feel valued? Where are you lacking in motivating your workers?

Take a clear look at the demographics of your company. Is your C-suite or upper management all male? Are female employees given adequate support and advancement opportunities? Consider an anonymous survey to see where you can better support and meet the needs of female employees.

Is there a strong top-down hierarchy at your company? Are your manager/employee relationships based on power? If so, consider a culture adjustment to open communication and help employees feel empowered to speak up.

Implementing Freud's approach to the psychology of marketing

Of course, where Freudian analysis really comes into play is how your customers feel about your products. Marketing has always played on subconscious desires to get people to buy a product or try a service, and much of this is due to Freud's theories on what drives human desire.

Freud posits that there are reasons far deeper than "I like this" that drive people to purchase something. Maybe it speaks to the person they want to be, for example, or reminds them of a product from their childhood, or fills a subconscious void.

Understanding these reasons and what drives people to buy your product can take your marketing to the next level. Take, for example, some of the earliest examples of psychology-based marketing from the '50s and '60s. Ads portrayed an ideal life consumers could have if they bought the company's product, whether it be cigarettes, cars or trousers.

Advertisers understood that their customers wanted – and were able to, thanks to the economic boom at the time – improve their lives in every possible way, and they played into that desire.

To help understand your consumers more, you can create buyer personas, or a psychological profile of your typical or ideal customer. You can assign things like gender, body type, hobbies, location, age, occupation or anything that helps define who you are selling to. Developing buyer personas can help you narrow your focus and dive into how you develop your marketing psychology.

Be decisive without becoming paralyzed

Perhaps one of the biggest lessons to learn from Dr. Freud is that as important as self-reflection and analysis are, sometimes you can go overboard to the point where you're unable to take appropriate action because you are overthinking, particularly when it comes to work.

"Everyone can relate to wanting to achieve perfection," said Amy Finlay, web content creator at Edinburgh IFA. "But, sometimes, you just have to push forward and ensure you actually follow through and take action."

And while Freud has said that a little neurosis can be good, it's important to know when to rein yourself in and return to the task at hand.

If you're overthinking to the point where you are unable to complete your task or project, try breaking it down into smaller parts. Write out every aspect of the task, from start to finish, and what you will need to do at every step. Then break up these steps into sections, starting with the first one. Do not allow yourself to worry about any of the following steps – work to keep your focus on the section at hand.

"Often, the little things you worried about so much become irrelevant [as you work through it]," said Finlay.

Understanding Employee Monitoring Systems and Privacy Issues in 2019

Posted: 08 Aug 2019 09:00 AM PDT

Employee monitoring systems empower businesses with the means to track workers at all times. This is an ideal way to measure productivity, performance, time-keeping, punctuality and other factors inherent in running a successful company.

Yet, despite the benefits that employee monitoring systems offer, there are some real dangers that have to be addressed.

Any enterprise or organization looking to leverage GPS technology to monitor their workforce must do so ethically, carefully and respectfully. In this article, we'll explore how you can do this, what employee monitoring systems are available and what privacy issues must be considered before introducing tracking into daily processes. 

What types of employee monitoring systems are available in 2019? 

Investing in employee monitoring systems is a big step for any business or organization, on any scale.

Perhaps you run a small taxi firm in a big city rife with competition. Maybe you operate a warehouse processing thousands of packages a week. Or you could even manage a courier company with staff in multiple cities across the country.

Whatever your mission, whoever your clients, your core focus is on delivering the best service, satisfying your audience and retaining their business. Employee monitoring systems facilitate this by allowing you to:

  • View workers' activities and movements in real-time, to minimize time-wasting and ensure a harmonious balance of effort across your entire team
  • Help employees on the road (such taxi drivers or couriers) find the best routes, avoid traffic jams and reach their destinations with minimal delay
  • Measure productivity and ensure that your staff operates at their maximum capacity, hits targets and generally meets expectations
  • Identify problems affecting your team's results and create a streamlined, efficient way of working

As you can see, there are very real advantages to implementing employee monitoring systems in 2019 – but actually choosing the right ones can be daunting. Here's a brief rundown of your options:

  1. Wearable tech. Badges or wristbands equipped with GPS technology enable you to track the locations and movement of your staff, with some products capable of gathering audio data. Some can also identify whether the wearer is sitting or standing (using an accelerometer).
  2. Software monitoring on computers and devices. Your business or organization may install employee monitoring software that tracks everything employees do on their computers, whether you want to capture screenshots, record videos or measure the number of keystrokes performed in a given time.
  3. Vehicular GPS tracking devices. Businesses with a fleet of cars or trucks at their disposal (again, as with taxi companies and delivery firms) can stay connected to their vehicles using cutting-edge employee GPS tracking for location sharing, recording fuel consumption, recording distance travelled, viewing routes taken, etc.

Each and every one of these options offers practical benefits suited to diverse goals. Retail brands, for instance, may find it helpful to equip the staff on their shop floors with wearable tech (wristbands or badges) to keep track of who's doing what and when through location sharing. 

This may help owners see which areas of a store are left unmanned and vulnerable to thieves throughout the day. They can also detect which employees are gathering together to chat and which are left to handle the heavy lifting by themselves. 

Haulage firms, on the other hand, may install employee GPS tracking devices in their vehicles to monitor how honest drivers are when claiming expenses for fuel. It's not out of the bounds of reality to imagine that some drivers may try to get a little extra here and there, or claim they drove further than they actually did during a given time. 

Said firms can monitor their drivers' movements with location sharing, their routes, their fuel consumption and more, helping them to stay updated on their employee activities. This reduces the risk of wasted time, unnecessary expenditure and cultivates a culture of honesty.

Editor's note: Need employee monitoring software for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you with free information.

 

Privacy issues you must consider with employee monitoring systems 

CNIL (Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertes), France's data protection authority, issued a fine of 20,000 Euros when Uniontrad Company conducted illicit video monitoring of its employees over a number of years. 

Employees made numerous complaints to CNIL during 2013 and 2017, prompting CNIL to investigate Uniontrad Company's activities. It was discovered that the videos were recording staff activities 'continuously' – and, even worse, employees were given no information on what was actually being picked up by the cameras. 

This is just one example of how unethical practices can cause problems between businesses and their employees when implementing employee monitoring systems. It's more important than ever for companies to respect their workforce in an age when data protection and consumer rights are so prevalent. 

The GDPR, which came into effect across Europe in May 2018, equipping civilians of the EU and European Economic Area with more protection. Since then, the process of browsing websites has become a little bit different in countries affected, and people are generally more aware of their data rights. 

The same is true of employee monitoring systems. Workers may have been more susceptible to intrusive behavior on the part of their employers in the days of Henry Ford (with his team's bizarre brand of in-depth questioning), but businesses today may meet some resistance to monitoring their teams using one or more systems.

That's why it's so important to be honest, open and willing to answer your workers' questions from the moment you decide to embrace employee monitoring systems. 

An ethical approach to employee monitoring and respecting privacy

Simply installing employee GPS tracking devices in your company vehicles without telling the drivers affected is hugely unethical and likely to inspire resentment. You may even be liable for a fine. 

Equipping staff with wristbands, badges or smartphones capable of gathering data on their activities in secret can lead to the same problems. 

To avoid alienating employees, make sure the following details are fully available at all times: 

  • What data will be gathered and what it will be used for
  • How this information will be processed
  • When the monitoring system will be brought into effect
  • Where employees can find relevant details on all of the above 

Failing to disclose this information could have a serious impact on productivity, performance and staff turnover. After all, if they can get the same money doing the same job at a business which respects their privacy, why should they stay?

If you think it sounds extreme to suggest that employees may quit over monitoring, think again. According to a blog at Accenture, just over half of the people questioned for a survey claimed they would think about quitting their current role if employers failed to use workplace data and technologies in a responsible way. 

Make sure you remain completely transparent when implementing employee monitoring systems into your workplace. As Accenture's blog further reveals, BMC Software took a fair approach when launching email and calendar tracking. It offered employees the chance to opt-in and delivered tailored feedback on how they could manage their time better. They used data gathered to reduce staff becoming overworked, showing an explicit respect and concern for their employees' wellbeing.

Hitachi, too, equipped workers with wearable devices to monitor their activities and used the data effectively, leading to a rise in workplace satisfaction. 

You want your employees to be satisfied. You want them to feel valued. You want them to feel driven to succeed on a daily basis. Especially when research shows a happy workforce is more productive – up to 20% more, actually. 

Both BMC Software and Hitachi's examples show that it's possible to get employees on-board with monitoring systems if you take the right approach. Make sure your employees understand what the technology does, what benefits it offers and give them the option to decline the opportunity if they feel it's inappropriate.

Conclusion

Integrating employee monitoring systems into your business or organization's processes is clearly worth doing – but it's worth doing right. 

Keep the above points in mind when using employee monitoring systems. Define your goals from the start, respect your workers' privacy and make them fully aware of their rights. 

Always be transparent with your staff, from the moment you announce the initiative onwards. Never try to sneak wearable tech or GPS employee tracking devices into your workers' daily activities without their consent; the potential damage you could cause to your employees' trust, your reputation, and your business's future when you're discovered simply isn't worthwhile.

11 Tips for New Staffing Managers

Posted: 08 Aug 2019 07:00 AM PDT

Finding and hiring the right person for a position takes time, which is why it's important to get it right. Staffing managers need to make sure they're spending their time wisely throughout the hiring process. Finding ways to become more efficient when sorting through applicants and scheduling interviews will be crucial to your success as a talent management staffer.

If you're new to staffing management, here are some tips and strategies to make the hiring process as smooth as possible and ensure that you have the most talented candidate filling your company's open position.

1. Take advantage of your network.

Having a robust network can reduce the amount of time it takes for you to find the perfect candidate. If you don't already have a large network, it's worth spending time now to develop it. Online networks are great for making connections, but only if you're proactive. Consider these 10 professional platforms to make business connections:

  • LinkedIn
  • Bark
  • BranchOut
  • Doostang
  • JobCase
  • Lunchmeet
  • Meetup
  • Opportunity
  • Slack
  • Xing

Send personal messages or pick up the phone and talk to people in your network who you think might know someone who's qualified for open roles within your company. This can help you find qualified candidates in less time.

Genuine personal connections are the best way to build your network and turn it into a resource that you can use during the hiring process.

2. Understand your company's hiring process.

Every company has a different hiring process. It could be quick or it could take months to find, interview and hire job candidates. Make sure you fully understand the company's expectations, so you can give candidates an accurate timeline for the process. This also ensures that you don't overlook any important steps.

Once you understand the hiring process, look for areas that could be improved. For instance, some hiring processes are quite lengthy, to the point that you may lose qualified candidates to companies who are faster to hire. If you experience this, see if there are aspects of the process that can be shortened or eliminated to improve your company's efficiency, which then helps you get the right people into the right positions in less time.

3. Avoid becoming overwhelmed.

When you're a staffing manager, it's easy to become overwhelmed with everything involved in recruiting and talent management, on top of other important tasks you might have on your plate. Creating time blocks can be a good way to help you devote enough attention to each task without sacrificing your entire workload.

Set aside blocks of time dedicated to checking email, reading resumes, scheduling interviews and handling other tasks. Try not to multitask as this will likely make you less efficient and even forgetful of everything that must be taken care of.

4. Stay organized.

A staffing manager often works to fill multiple positions at the same time. If you don't have the right organizational structure in place, you can soon become disorganized. This can lead to all sorts of problems, including missing out on opportunities to interview talented and qualified candidates.

Spreadsheets are a popular organizational method for new staffing managers. The manual process is tedious, however, and these tools are prone to human error due to lots of manual entry. What's more, spreadsheets aren't compliant, and it can be difficult to track data in real-time. As an alternative, consider talent management software to keep track of data and receive reports that will make the hiring process simpler.

5. Ask the right questions.

There's a lot more to hiring than just finding someone with the right credentials. You also need to find candidates who have the personality traits and characteristics that will allow them to succeed in their role.

When interviewing candidates, go deeper than just learning about their work and education backgrounds. Ask questions that get to the root of what motivates the candidate to determine whether they're truly a good fit for the position. Also consider the level of cultural fit a job candidate demonstrates by asking questions that help you verify a job candidate is right for the company. Here are some examples:

  • What is one word that former coworkers would use to describe you?
  • What would your most recent manager say about you?
  • What elements do you feel a team must have for success?

6. Build your brand.

As a staffing manager, you become the face of the company to job candidates who are seeking employment. Candidates may search your name online when they apply for a position and they'll expect to see a professional profile that gives them confidence in your abilities.

Take the time to build your online profile (such as on LinkedIn) so when a job candidate searches for you, they find up-to-date, accurate information that reflects your professional experience and capabilities.

7. Understand ideal candidate profiles.

Before you start recruiting for an open position, spend time with the hiring manager to understand exactly what type of candidate they're seeking. Consider asking the manager questions like:

  • Who are the best employees you currently have on the team?
  • What are the personality traits of a great candidate?
  • What traits do you notwant to see in a candidate?
  • What skillset does the ideal candidate for the position have?

Asking these questions before you start recruiting will help you identify and zero-in on candidates that meet the qualifications and expectations of the hiring manager.

8. Use technology to find candidates.

The great thing about being a staffing manager in the 21st century is that you have the benefit of technology on your side to help you find qualified candidates who meet your specific set of criteria. Recruiting technology has come a long way and will quickly become your new best friend as you navigate the world of hiring in today's competitive environment. As a staffing manager, you can use technology to your advantage to do the following:

  • Find candidates
  • Sort through profiles
  • Filter out resumes from unqualified candidates
  • Verify credentials
  • Schedule interviews

The right talent management software will give you back more time, so you can focus on finding the perfect hire. For example, you can use Veriklick to verify the candidates' authenticity.

9. Keep notes handy.

As a staffing manager, you're in a role that consists of many moving parts, and unfortunately, this makes it easy to forget things. Take notes as you move through the hiring process, so you can learn from experiences and have a better idea of what to do next time.

For instance, if you had a difficult time filling a position and then finally found a good candidate, make note of why the process took so long, what worked, what didn't work, etc. Reference your notes the next time the position (or a similar one) becomes available so you're prepared to find a good candidate faster.

10. Get to know your company's all-stars.

Knowing who excels in their role at your company will provide valuable insight into the types of candidates you need to bring in for interviews. New staffing managers should spend time with the all-stars throughout the organization to understand how they go above and beyond in their roles. Have informal conversations with them over coffee and ask questions such as:

  • What do you love about your role and responsibilities?
  • What do you love about the company?
  • What do you do to help the company succeed?
  • What motivates you?

Asking top-performing employees these questions will help you weed out the candidates that don't necessarily align with the same feelings and attitudes.

11. Expect rejection.

Hiring the right candidate is a marathon – not a sprint. Chances are, you won't find the perfect match 100% of the time, so be prepared to experience failure and rejection as part of your job. Remember that when you're working with candidates, you're working with a resource that isn't always reliable – people. People can act unexpectedly and unpredictably. For instance, you might make an offer to a great candidate only to have them accept a counteroffer from their current employer.

You can't always predict or prevent rejection, so the best thing you can do is learn from your experiences and move on. Know that this is part of the deal as a staffing manager, so don't let a failure to fill a job prevent you from moving forward in your profession.

The Financial Independence, Retire Early Movement Explained

Posted: 08 Aug 2019 05:20 AM PDT

  • FIRE is an acronym for the Financial Independence, Retire Early movement. 
  • The goal of the FIRE movement is to work hard, live below your means and then retire in your 30s (or whenever you hit your FIRE number) while still maintaining a reasonable lifestyle.
  • The amount you need to have saved by your FIRE number will vary based on your annual salary, geographic location and your faith in the stock market.
  • The FIRE lifestyle isn't for everyone. 

After graduating with a master's in computer science at 24 years old, Jeremy Schneider turned down a job offer from Microsoft to work on his own company, Rentlinx. Surviving on nothing but a credit card, he reached $12,000 in debt.

But after a few years of bootstrapping it, by age 30, Schneider's company was turning a profit, and he was paying himself a $36,000 salary – the lowest at the company – and investing $5,000 of that salary in a Roth IRA, enough to retire at age 52. 

Instead, by 34, he sold the company for seven figures, and by 36, retired with $3 million in the bank, only 12 years into his career. "Today I flip houses, coach beach volleyball, work on Personal Finance Club, do photography and travel," Schneider wrote in a blog post about his retirement. [Are you looking for the best retirement plan options for small business owners? Check out our reviews and our best picks.]

What the Financial Independence, Retire Early movement means

Schneider is an adherent of the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement – a practice that has existed for years under the radar in Reddit forums and personal finance blogs like Mr. Money Mustache but only recently hit mainstream consciousness in a New York Times article last year.  

To "FIRE" is to believe in delayed gratification – the goal is to work hard and live below your means until you hit your "FIRE number," or the dollar figure that will enable you to retire while maintaining a reasonable lifestyle. To put it one way, you can either live nearly paycheck to paycheck, putting away very little in savings until you retire in your 70s, or you can concentrate all your hard work and sacrifice early on, only to live off interest the rest of your life.

The miracle is that not everyone has to be a software engineer to make it work. With a combination of early-and-often investment and extreme penny-pinching, some successful adherents retire by their 30s on a five-figure salary.

For those with tastes for the finer things in life, however, not everyone takes so zealous an approach. Different spin-off movements cater to varying levels of commitment, including fatFIRE, for those who want a larger nest egg in retirement, Barista FIRE, for those who plan on maintaining a part-time job for the healthcare benefits, and leanFIRE, "for those that want to approach the problem of financial independence from a minimalist, stoic, frugal, or anti-consumerist trajectory."

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The amount of savings you'll need to retire early

If you peruse Reddit's financial independence forums, you'll see a lot of references to the 4% rule. This refers to the "safe withdrawal rate" from one's FIRE number, an amount large enough to live on but small enough that it's safe to assume the portfolio will continue to grow based on historical stock market returns.

For the oft-cited retirement goal of $1 million, this means annual expenses amounting to $40,000 for the household – not exactly a lavish lifestyle, but for FIRE proponents, well worth the leisure time.  

Of course, a sudden windfall or massive return on investment can help speed things up, making it easy to discount a story such as Schneider's. Still, with a $36K salary and the same spending habits, Schneider estimates he would've hit millionaire status in his early 50s even without the sale of his company.

"I chose the entrepreneur track, but if I wanted to FIRE on that day-job salary, I probably would have picked up a side hustle of some sort, thrown all of that income at investing and retired in my 40s," Schneider said.

That's not to say it's easy.

"I fully acknowledge I had a huge amount of privilege and unfair advantages," Schneider said. "Graduating from college debt-free, thanks mostly to my parents, is something that was simply gifted to me ... living below my means and buying and holding index funds didn't get me here alone."

FIRE opponents point out its flaws

In addition to the FIRE movement's occasional tendency to come across as tone-deaf and privileged, critics are also skeptical of the subculture's disparaging attitude toward work.

"Work very hard at something you hate, for the money, and save a tremendous amount, giving up most pleasures so that you can live modestly and do what you want later in life," one reader commented in the New York Times article. "Why don't you just live modestly and do what you want, from the beginning?"

Others point out that you're wasting your best years – and who's to say you won't die early, having postponed all your life's pleasures in vain? There are also plenty of things to poke fun at – see The New Yorker's tongue-in-cheek profile of Peter Adeney of Mr. Money Mustache as a parsimonious control freak, which drew a lot of ire from his FIRE followers. To be fair, when Adeney announced his divorce this year, he did so in a blog post bragging about how he only spent $265 in the process.  

FIRE adherents explain themselves, however, by saying that they don't hate work, they just don't let it define their life, preferring to focus on family, hobbies or other nonfinancial ambitions.

FIRE proponents see frugality as optimizing happiness

Others practice the FIRE philosophy with an emphasis on financial independence over the retire early part. For them, the goal isn't to sit around and play golf for over half of their life but to do work they actually enjoy, whether or not that's paid.

"I like my co-workers, and I like what I do," read another New York Times comment, "but I can't wait to hit my FIRE number and say farewell. Life is short. Give me one minute, and I can give you 20 things I'd rather be doing than working."

And while some consider the movement a form of masochism, Schneider describes FIRE not as a life of denial but a way of optimizing happiness. By that logic, the only real thing setting FIRE proponents apart from those following a traditional career route is that they get more pleasure from not having to work than from excess consumption.

"Personally, the thing that makes me happy is freedom. I can do what I want with my time. Travel when I want. Help people. Work on what I want. Do something that makes a difference," Schneider said. "If owning a home is what would really make me happy, then I might choose differently."
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