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" Influential cognitive processes are at play as people stumble through life ." This, my friends, is a geek-speak pun inside a conclusion from a serious study of how the shoes consumers wear while shopping effect their buying behavior.  There conclusion? "When shopping for a big ticket item, such as a television, there is a checklist of things you should always do: Read reviews. Compare prices. Wear high heels." Other ways to curb your urge to spend? Ride up and down the escalator, play a few games using the Wii Fit, or go shopping immediately following your yoga class. Here's the gist of the report ~ A new BYU study finds that consumers experiencing a heightened sense of balance (i.e. wearing high heels) are more likely to weigh the options and go with a product that falls in the middle of the high-end, low-end scale. "If you're someone who tends to overspend, or you're kind of an extreme person, then maybe you ought to consider shopping in high he...

The "Engaged Employee" is the backbone of the success of your business.  By engaged, we mean an employee who actively works toward the goals you set, who cooperates with your programs. Unfortunately, engaged employees make up only 30% of the American work force, with 70% either just putting in time at your expense or, worst of all, actively engaged in defeating you. For a further discussion of  the engaged employee, visit our post:  Creating Corporate Culture II: Employee Engagement One generally accepted technique to keeping your engaged employees engaged is to grant them a degree of autonomy in how they organize their work.  A book published in January, 2011 concludes that, "Workers who feel they have autonomy -- that they are free to make choices in the workplace and be accountable for them -- are happier and more productive according to an extensive research literature review. And by definition, a happy, productive employee is an engaged employee. This is o...

The headline of the story read: "Successful Entrepreneurs Share a Common History of Getting in Trouble as Teenagers". A new study by Professor Ross Levine of the Haas Economic Analysis and Policy Group and Yona Rubinstein of the London School of Economics and Political Science found that entrepreneurs earn on average 50 percent more than their salaried counterparts who are working in the same industry and have the same education. In this study, an entrepreneur is defined as a person who undertakes a novel, risk-taking activity. Levine says think Michael Bloomberg or Bill Gates. Levine and Rubinstein found that successful entrepreneurs possess distinct traits identifiable back when they were teenagers. These traits turn out to be accurate predictors of entrepreneurial success. Some of the traits include ~ A high IQ, A stable family, Parents who earn a higher than average income, and Exceptionally high self-esteem and confidence. However, some other common traits are o...

" Employers should give tests that measure flexibility, balance, coordination, and other forms of movement quality ." More than 28 percent of Americans today work in physically taxing jobs such as law enforcement, firefighting, construction, maintenance, or the military, so fitness screening is an increasingly important part of the hiring process. However, physical ability tests are also highly litigious because most male applicants are physically stronger than women. This fact leads to physical ability tests being the third highest cause of workplace discrimination suits in Federal courts.  And who, really wants to be sued in Federal court. It turns out that physical fitness tests that focus on sheer strength and endurance may not be the most accurate ways to determine is qualified for a physically demanding job, and may also increase your  likelihood of a gender discrimination lawsuit from female applicants, according to new research from the Univers...

" We're more influenced by attractiveness than we are willing to admit ." High school.  Both the high point and low point experience of growing up. Why?  Because every school has an in-crowd and an out-crowd, with the outs often the butt of jokes, teasing and downright mean treatment.  Do we grow out of it? Apparently not, according to new research by Timothy Judge, professor of management at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, and Brent Scott of Michigan State University. In the article "Beauty, Personality, and Affect as Antecedents of Counterproductive Work Behavior Receipt," recently published in the scientific journal, Human Performance, the researchers examine how physical attractiveness plays as much of a role as personality in how a person is treated in the workplace. According to Judge, "Unattractive individuals are more likely the subject of rude, uncivil and even cruel treatment by their coworkers. And, not only do we,...

The spread of some very nasty viruses seems to be constantly in the news, with the possibility of catching illnesses such as the Novel Corona Virus or the latest IH7N9  Influenza currently spreading in S.E. Asia becoming more likely. This probably seems obvious, but this study is the first to really examine how these illnesses and others can be spread through routine social contacts - such as working in retail sales or as a food server.  Having just recovered from my second head cold in two months, I thought passing along this study to be appropriate.  Here's the jist: Most people have an average of around 26 social contact hours a day but a small number have up to 50 contact hours a day since people can spend time with more than one individual simultaneously. “There are many sensible measures people can take to cut down on the risk of catching or passing on these kinds of infections. These include regularly washing your hands with soap and water, keeping surfaces cl...

To win customers — and a bigger share of the marketplace — companies must first win the hearts and minds of their employees.                                                                                                                                                 ~ Gallup State of...