by Elizabeth Hines | Oct 8, 2015 | Blog, Strategy, Talent
Hiring someone who says he or she is not a team player sounds like a risky proposition, right? Few employers are, after all, searching for renegade employees or stubborn loners who refuse to interact with co-workers. But what if it actually turned out to be a good strategy? Researchers at the University of Tuebingen set out to examine the effects on applicant pools by stressing the need for teamwork in job ads. The conclusion of the study puts it like this: “Given the evidence of a possible downside, it is recommended that firms should never look for team players just because ‘everyone else is doing so.'”
The study analyzed survey data from 1,300 college students who had been asked to evaluate a number of job postings that outlined various requirements, including whether the applicant should be a team player or an independent task-oriented self-starter. Interestingly, what researchers found was that although the ads did indeed attract applicants who considered their teamwork skills to be a primary asset, they also discouraged people whose qualifications matched the job description with the exception of one criterion: social skills. As a result, the employer missed out on technically skilled or task-oriented candidates who took themselves out of the running before the race even began. The study went on:
“…considering that organizations always need employees with high task-related skills, but that they may not always need team players, they should carefully consider when the requirement for teamwork skills is listed in their job advertisements—because there is a downside to looking for team players.”
For organizations that truly need employees with an aptitude for collegial collaboration, the study shows ads that stress the importance of possessing teamwork skills do what they were intended to accomplish. But in other cases, where teamwork takes a backseat to specific talents or technical skills, the employer is likely to end up with a smaller pool of applicants than if that routine phrase had been left out of the job requirements.
People who don’t cite social acumen among their list of skills may not thrive at “water-cooler conversations” or rush to plan the next company outing, but they know how to get the job done and they do it well. If teamwork is irrelevant to their job description, isn’t that all we really need?
Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a leading management consulting firm. Our firm works with companies to identify and execute strategies for growth and value creation.
We advise and work with companies on their most critical issues and opportunities: strategy, marketing, organization, talent acquisition, performance management, and M&A support.
We have deep expertise and a proven track record in a broad range of industries including: supply chain, real estate, software, and logistics.
by Fronetics | Sep 15, 2015 | Blog, Data Security, Data/Analytics, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
Personal connected devices – our laptops, cell phones, and tablets – are arguably the most complicit tools in the recent blurring of the parameters between personal and work life. And while most businesses have generally recognized the benefit of allowing employees to use their personal devices for work purposes, the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) revolution has certainly thrown a curve ball to those responsible for safeguarding company data. Although corporate finance groups are singing the praises of the trend due to its inherent reduction in costs, it’s not all rosy in the BYOD world. That’s why it’s crucial to format a corporate strategy policy that will protect your company from a potentially dangerous data-leak train wreck.
Here’s why: Employees are now widely accessing corporate data from their own computer, a tablet, even their mobile phone. With so many of us bringing more and more smart devices inside our office environments and hooking them to our corporate networks, the potential for data leakage grows exponentially. When anti-virus and digital security software company BitDefender set out to explore the connectedness of typical American workers last year, they found that over half stored work-related data on their personal devices. Shockingly, almost 40 percent of them had nothing in place to prevent unauthorized access to their device. Further, in a study conducted by the University of Glasgow, 63 percent of used smart devices purchased through second-hand stores and eBay-like marketplaces still had data on them. This data included personal information as well as sensitive business information.
The problem is there’s no chain of custody in the BYOD world. Think about it. When the corporations owned your cellphone and your PC or laptop, they controlled its issue to you, how you used it, what software you put on it, and when and how it was turned in and destroyed. A solid internal tracking of electronic assets coupled with a solid electronic asset disposal solution provider meant that, for the most part, the corporate digital assets were safe. In the BYOD world, the corporation does not own the IT equipment. Personal smart devices are being linked to corporate IT environments. This mating of personal and professional equipment and data is happening everywhere. Your corporate data is being commingled with secure and non-secure access points to the Web, cloud, etc. Not to mention the fact that those devices metaphorically walk in and out of your office every day, and you have no control.
Companies are scrambling to address this issue in a number of ways. Some have addressed the problem via software solutions at the enterprise level (think Blancco or BlackBerry enterprise), some at the device level (think solutions like Apple Find My Device, etc.), and some at the human resources and legal levels with policies and procedures that prohibit users’ use of corporate information. But the truth is, without a chain of custody model incorporated with these solutions, once the corporate data is accessed or downloaded, it’s already gone — you just don’t know it yet.
The reality is that it’s going to take some time for the corporate world to catch up with what some have called the “semi-private information revolution” like the cloud, Facebook, or social media. Secure file sharing, essential for an organization’s BYOD guidelines, is one of the best options available. Services are now available to help with cloud encryption and it’s changing the way we share and monitor files. Encrypting data is crucial and minimizes the risk of sharing sensitive data and having it tampered with. Rely on your electronic asset disposal provider to help your company develop a strategy and process that is aligned with your corporate information sharing guidelines. Right now, your corporate data is only as safe as the process that you create.
Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a leading management consulting firm. Our firm works with companies to identify and execute strategies for growth and value creation.
We advise and work with companies on their most critical issues and opportunities: strategy, marketing, organization, talent acquisition, performance management, and M&A support.
by Elizabeth Hines | Sep 7, 2015 | Blog, Strategy, Supply Chain
Multi-channel distribution is likely to fuel the demand for on-demand packaging as companies continue their search for more cost-effective solutions.
Only 7% of companies are making their boxes on demand. However, that figure is set to grow quickly. The explosive rise of e-commerce and all the uncertainties it entails in terms of order fulfillment will likely prompt a growing number of companies, especially those serving multiple sales channels, to seek the answers in on-demand packaging.
The potential savings of always getting the right-sized box at just the right time should speak to all those multi-channel distributors. In a Peerless Research study, distributors were asked to name the areas where fulfillment costs have gone up. The three most popular answers were transportation, labor, and packaging and materials.
A corporate manager at an e-commerce business said about trends in packaging automation, “We are able to consolidate multiple orders from one customer into as few boxes as possible. This saves on time and shipping costs.”
That study talks of the “ripple effect” felt throughout the supply chain as packaging optimization drives down the number of cases on a pallet, as well as storage space requirements and shipping costs, and ultimately has the power to increase a company’s sustainability rating.
In numbers, some of the advantages cited by on-demand packaging proponents include:
- A 28% reduction in the quantity of corrugate
- An 80-90% reduction in filling material
- Savings of 20-35% over conventional supply chains
- A 75% reduction in footprint required by two laborers to pack dunnage, seal, and label a box
Packsize, one of several companies behind the new automated technology, says it actually takes less time to make packaging on demand than going the conventional route of locating and moving packaging purchased from a vendor. Stockouts and obsolete inventory also become relics of the past when boxes can be made minutes before they are needed. In an industry chasing next-day or even same-day delivery, any gain in timely execution counts as a victory.
Though 80% of the 322 top materials handling, logistics, and supply chain managers surveyed by Peerless still purchase and store their corrugated boxes, the trend is pointing in favor of the new solutions. Industry familiarity with on-demand packaging is increasing while the desire for new packaging solutions continues to grow. “We currently have to order in advance custom size boxes for upcoming orders, and it would be better to make them on the fly, adapting to changes,” an engineering manager said. “We are considering some form of on-demand packaging to prevent the storage of cartons,” another said. “We can use the space better.”
It all sounds promising, but is it the way of the future?
Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a leading management consulting firm. Our firm works with companies to identify and execute strategies for growth and value creation.
Whether it is a wholesale food distributor seeking guidance on how to define and execute corporate strategy; a telematics firm needing high quality content on a consistent basis; a real estate firm looking for a marketing partner; or a supply chain firm in need of interim management, our clients rely on Fronetics to help them navigate through critical junctures, meet their toughest challenges, and take advantage of opportunities. We deliver high-impact results.
We advise and work with companies on their most critical issues and opportunities: strategy, marketing, organization, talent acquisition, performance management, and M&A support.
We have deep expertise and a proven track record in a broad range of industries including: supply chain, real estate, software, and logistics.
by Elizabeth Hines | Aug 31, 2015 | Blog, Strategy, Supply Chain, Warehousing & Materials Handling
Going green in the warehouse is no longer an afterthought, but a necessity to boost the bottom line. With the US Green Building Council reporting nearly 172,000 gross square meters being certified LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) every day in the U.S., it speaks volumes about the widespread industry acceptance of sustainable design.
Once an afterthought, the “greening” of warehouses and distribution centers has emerged as one of the most effective tools to boost the bottom line. With so many external pressures on profit margins, energy savings have the potential to provide that much sought-after way out. Needless to say, we have moved well beyond simply dimming or turning off the lights (although not to be neglected).
If you have not considered such increasingly common green features such as white roofs to reflect sun light, prismatic lenses for skylights, solar panels, and high-efficiency lighting, you should know others are moving ahead.
A one-million square-foot distribution center in Fort Worth, Texas, for example, where temperatures frequently hit triple-digits, hardly needs to turn on the HVAC since the company installed an integrated fan control system, which uses 26 networked warehouse fans 24 feet in diameter. Designed to move high volumes at low speeds to cool indoor temperatures, it operates to the tune of 12% to 50% savings in heating and cooling costs.
Another example is the corporate campus of Somerset Tire Service in Bridgewater, N.J., which is constructed as a net-zero facility, by using a roof-mounted, 1.2 megawatt photovoltaic array. In less than five years, the system will have paid for itself.
And, to cite a third example, consider a recently completed building for Coca-Cola where clear glass brings in an abundance of natural light. In combination with integrated daylight tubes, which automatically reduce or turn off when the sensors determine there is enough ambient light, the facility can frequently operate without any artificial lighting.
Optimizing the building envelope and lighting solutions can yield as much as 40% in energy savings. Lighting is indeed the low-hanging fruit of going green, especially if your lighting system is pushing 20 years. Other common strategies such as dimming, occupancy sensing, and scheduling can be combined with more advanced lighting control strategies such as daylight harvesting (as in the Coca-Cola example), task tuning (light is adjusted depending on the needs of the space), demand response (light is adjusted at peak times based on signals from electric utilities), and specific software for energy management. These strategy combinations can save up to 70% in energy costs.
But let’s not forget that the good-old “location, location, location”. It’s ever-important as well.
One analyst put it this way: “Anytime you can reduce transportation distance, time, and costs for your network, you are also providing a green benefit… While there is much that can be done within a warehouse to save energy, optimizing the network is where some of the biggest bang for the buck can be found.”
When it comes to cutting energy costs in warehouses and distribution centers, where do you see the greatest potential for savings?
Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a leading management consulting firm. Our firm works with companies to identify and execute strategies for growth and value creation.
Whether it is a wholesale food distributor seeking guidance on how to define and execute corporate strategy; a telematics firm needing high quality content on a consistent basis; a real estate firm looking for a marketing partner; or a supply chain firm in need of interim management, our clients rely on Fronetics to help them navigate through critical junctures, meet their toughest challenges, and take advantage of opportunities. We deliver high-impact results.
We advise and work with companies on their most critical issues and opportunities: strategy, marketing, organization, talent acquisition, performance management, and M&A support.
We have deep expertise and a proven track record in a broad range of industries including: supply chain, real estate, software, and logistics.
by Elizabeth Hines | Aug 19, 2015 | Blog, Data/Analytics, Strategy
Understanding your financial metrics at a granular level is important in that it allows for a true understanding of what is happening, and what is not. It enables you to drill down and appreciate, for example, similarities, differences, and outliers. Being informed at a granular level enables better decision-making when it comes to determining how to increase profits. How often does one need to look at these metrics and how does one evaluate and react to numbers?
The frequency with which to look metrics depends upon the area of business. For example, inventory flows and manufacturing output should be looked at on a daily basis. Your sales pipeline, on the other hand, should be looked at on a weekly basis, and your financials should be looked at monthly.
Once a schedule has been established, the question is what to do with the data – how should the data be evaluated and when is it time to act? The reality is that there is no hard and fast answer to this question. When to act is dependent upon the type of business, its typical cycle, and the company itself. It is therefore important to develop a database that captures your metrics. This database should be updated with the same frequency that the data is collected (see above for suggested frequency). A historical database will enable you to quickly identify a data point that is deviating, positive or negative, from the historical. When this happens, it is time to act.
Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a leading management consulting firm. Our firm works with companies to identify and execute strategies for growth and value creation.
Whether it is a wholesale food distributor seeking guidance on how to define and execute corporate strategy; a telematics firm needing high quality content on a consistent basis; a real estate firm looking for a marketing partner; or a supply chain firm in need of interim management, our clients rely on Fronetics to help them navigate through critical junctures, meet their toughest challenges, and take advantage of opportunities. We deliver high-impact results.
We advise and work with companies on their most critical issues and opportunities: strategy, marketing, organization, talent acquisition, performance management, and M&A support.
We have deep expertise and a proven track record in a broad range of industries including: supply chain, real estate, software, and logistics.
