Human resources executives are telling me employees are showing more signs of stress. For example: More loans out of 401K plans More referrals to Employee Assistance Programs More requests to employer-sponsored charity funds More requests to add a spouse to health insurance (spouse has lost job) More employee relations issues and complaints addressed to corporate […]

How are marketing executives responding to the down economy? Is this the time to “hunker down” or “build share”? These are some of things marketing executives are telling me they are doing: Mining current customers and focusing on retention. Doing competitive analyses. Paying attention to internal marketing. Re-evaluating marketing mix. Getting house in order. Tightening […]

A group of marketing executives recently met to tackle this question and came up with these general observations about Big M small m marketing: 1. Big M is the vision that is bigger than the year or the quarter. It’s 3-5 years out. What do I want my story to look like in 2012? 2. […]

Every three or four years I have the “seat at the table discussion” with a group of senior HR executives. Just recently it was time again, and I must say I was encouraged by the confidence I sensed. It was a fascinating discussion? While many HR executives still struggle to gain credibility as business partners, […]