Leaders in transition need to come up to speed quickly, requiring a mind-set shift and a specific set of leadership behaviors.

World-class manufacturers who outperform their competitors better leverage talent across the employee lifecycle and talent pipeline.

Some developmental assignments are more beneficial for the leader and effective for the organization, while others are a total waste of time.

From the 2000 election to Ferguson, here's how the comedian covered the biggest news events.

By Christine Schaefer Who are the folks who judge applications for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award? In an ongoing blog series, we have been interviewing members of the 2015 Judges’ Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. In the interviews, they share their insights and perspectives on the award process, on their experiences, and on the Baldrige framework and approach to organizational improvement. Following is the interview with Roger Triplett, a third-year judge. Triplett is vice president of Eaton Business Excellence at Eaton Corporation. What experiences led you to the role of Baldrige judge? About 25 years ago, I was working for a division of Eaton that served the military electronics market. The collapse of the "iron curtain" caused a significant decline in that market. We decided to pursue a state version of the Baldrige Award in hopes of differentiating ourselves in a crowded competitive environment. I found myself leading that quest, and after three years, we received the highest-level state award. That experience made me into a life-long believer in the Baldrige Criteria, and the assessment process, as a force to drive performance excellence in an organization. I have been involved with Baldrige in one way or another continuously since that time. I began my direct service to the Baldrige program in the mid-90’s by joining the Board of Examiners. At that time, an experienced examiner coached me that to optimize my Baldrige experiences, I should "never say no" to a request from the [Baldrige Performance Excellence] Program office. Baldrige has afforded me many rewarding experiences as an examiner, senior examiner, and alumnus over the years. I’ve had the privilege of facilitating examiner training at NIST a few times, and I served on a training scorebook team. When [Baldrige Program Director Emeritus] Harry Hertz called me and asked me to consider serving on the Panel of Judges, I was flabbergasted and intimidated, but extremely honored. Having been coached early on to "never say no," I knew the right answer. You have a great deal of experience in the business sector, particularly in manufacturing. How do you see the Baldrige Excellence Framework as valuable to organizations in that sector/industry? Particularly for publicly held organizations in the United States, investors’ demands for quarter-to-quarter financial performance drives many such organizations to maintain a relatively short-term focus. At the same time, operationally focused performance-improvement initiatives or tools such as Six Sigma and Lean have become popular and important tools to help improve the cost side of the financial performance equation. These initiatives can be deployed with a relatively small investment and often generate measurable, beneficial results in a pretty short period of time. The relative ease of deployment and quick gratification provided by these tools has enhanced their traction in manufacturing businesses. These tools fit seamlessly within the bigger picture of the Baldrige Excellence Framework, which addresses performance excellence organization-wide and encourages a long-term view. The Baldrige framework enhances the overall sustainability of a manufacturing organization and, in doing so, protects the long-term interests of all stakeholders, including investors. Concepts that Baldrige "insiders" embrace, such as process integration, drive the efficient use of organizational resources; enhance the quality of product, process, and financial outcomes; and poise an organization to be more nimble and successful at navigating through frequent, significant, and often unexpected changes in markets, customer requirements, and the competitive environment. The "elephant in the room" question you haven’t asked is, "Why aren’t more manufacturing organizations pursuing Baldrige today?" In my opinion (and that’s all it is), there are a couple of factors. First is the focus on short-term performance I mentioned earlier. This is not an instant gratification process. It may be a cliché, but Baldrige is in fact a journey. It is a journey that requires some leadership vision to undertake and some courage to stick with until results appear. The degree of senior leadership churn that we see in some organizations may inhibit this demonstration of vision and courage. Second, to a degree that is not as significant in health care or education, manufacturing today is highly competitive and global. The global nature of markets and manufacturing capabilities along with the ease of communications and logistics has driven many manufacturers similar to our early Baldrige Award recipients to diversify and to establish a significant presence in numerous regions of the globe. The Baldrige Excellence Framework is still extremely valuable to these diversified, multinational organizations, but they may find distilling the "story" of their diverse and dispersed enterprise into a 50-page response to the [Baldrige] Criteria to be daunting (and yet still incomplete); as a consequence, we don’t see them pursuing the award. I think the Baldrige family could do a better job of articulating the Baldrige value equation for these manufacturing organizations. How do you apply Baldrige principles/concepts to your current work experience/employer? At Eaton, we have conducted internal Baldrige-type assessments for 25 years. For the first ten years or so, we were using the Baldrige Criteria as written to perform assessments using an internal board of examiners. These assessments were voluntary, but the businesses that were routinely assessed seemed to perform better and more predictably than others. About 15 years ago, we upped the game. Over time, some standard processes were defined that were expected to be deployed across the company. We began to tailor "the criteria" to drive and confirm deployment of these standard processes. Essentially, mandatory Eaton processes became the right answers to what were open-ended Baldrige approach questions. The spirit of the overarching Baldrige Excellence Framework is intact, but it is expected that standard Eaton processes are deployed. Periodic assessments are required of all [our] businesses, and the most mature are recognized through an internal award process. We’re lucky at Eaton to have had the stability of senior leaders with the vision to see the value of deploying some standard processes within an overarching framework of a business system. My team at Eaton is responsible for educating leaders in the system and for managing our internal assessment process. As a judge, what are your hopes for the judging process? In other words, as a judge what would you like to tell applicants and potential Baldrige Award applicants about the rigor of the process? My experience as a judge has completed my view and understanding of the Baldrige process like the last piece of a puzzle. It all comes together when we see the examiner reports of what is really going on in applicant organizations. Sometimes as an examiner, we feel some of the assessment process steps seem a little bureaucratic; some of the documentation may seem a bit excessive, and the program requirements for examiners [may appear to be] bordering on OCD. Yet when the examiners’ products, the deliverables, are laid out in front of the judges, it all comes together. I get it now. The rigor of the process isn’t just in the judging. It comes from the consistency and performance excellence in every step of the process from examiner training, Independent Review, Consensus Review, Site Visit Review, and the judging process. The consistency of each step and the hard work and dedication of the examiners to produce the information that comes to the judges enable the judges to do their job. The judges get to see the product of all the hard work of all the contributors. Reviewing the detailed documentation, the reports, and the stories of the excellent applicants is an amazing opportunity and honor. I can also tell you that in my almost-40-year career, I’ve never worked with a group of such exceptional and dedicated people as those on the panel of judges. The composition of the panel changes year over year, but the caliber of the people continues to impress me.  Examiners need to know how important their hard work and perseverance is and that it is much appreciated. Applicants should know we’re inspired by their stories and that we work tirelessly to make the best-possible recipient recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce. What encouragement/advice would you give Baldrige examiners who are reviewing award applications now? As a past examiner and senior examiner, I know well how demanding their job is. It consumes a vast amount of time of people who are accomplished and busy in their own right and can least afford the time. It demands an enormous amount of patience and emotional energy. Not every team will bring an award recipient to the judging process, but their efforts will help ensure that the right organizations are recognized, that the cause of performance excellence is advanced, and that the prestige of the Baldrige Award is preserved. One more thing: Never say no to a request from the [Baldrige] Program office. See other blogs on the 2015 Judges’ Panel: Laura Huston (chair), Dr. Ken Davis, Michael Dockery, Miriam N. Kmetzo, Dr. Sharon L. Muret-Wagstaff, Dr. Mike R. Sather, Ken Schiller, Dr. Sunil K. Sinha, Dr. John C. Timmerman, and Fonda L. Vera. Greg Gibson, a candidate for the 2015 panel, pending appointment, will also be interviewed for this series.

The comedians mixed serious topics with funny ones as Stewart kicked off his final week as host of 'The Daily Show'

  This HR lady is fired up!  Lately, there is no shortage of posts and articles about Human Resources not being strategic, not being valued, and needing to change in order to make everyone else in the C-Suite feel better. From articles in  HBR (including their current magazine cover saying "It’s Time to Blow Up HR"), to Forbes to the Korn Ferry Institute, people are questioning whether or not HR can be strategic, what they need to do to become strategic and whether we should just start over from scratch. As someone who has dedicated my entire career...

Pernice wrote songs for Roger Lion's self-titled debut while thinking about Josh Ritter's divorce.

According to yesterday’s Significant Stat, 87% of organizations cite culture and engagement as one of their top challenges. How is culture enlivened at your organization? The Blog Post Quick Survey: Organizational Culture appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Clues included the line, "Never do anything out of hunger, not even eating."

The veteran actor will play the Three-Eyed Raven.

Do you ever get the sense that retail technology is overhyped? Personally, I love it. In my career, I have overseen technology roll-outs at thousands of high-touch retail stores nationwide. I have also consulted with major retailers and automakers on a raft of tech-related projects. But let’s take a moment to get real about the role of technology in retail. One of the biggest stumbling blocks I often see is the tendency to apply new technology to old techniques. We all feel comfortable sticking with known commodities — the approaches that have generally worked for years or even decades. All too often, the Web and ad agencies with which retailers have existing RFPs and retainers find it easier to rely on status-quo methods. This leads to shortcuts along the lines of, "We already paid $XX,XXX to create that message for the end cap, so let’s just make that show up on someone’s phone, too." Or, "Make sure to tweet about that new (brand/product/feature)." Tweeting might seem advanced, but if you think about it, it’s really a one-way communication — the equivalent of taking out a newspaper ad. Likewise, push text messages are hardly different from those pesky hawkers on the street who try to stuff random flyers in your hand. Some would even have retailers step into the role of an omniscient Big Brother by tracking customers’ always-on cellphone signals and automatically texting a coupon within a certain radius. Truth is, most people find this kind of thing irritating… and a little creepy. Retail technology is useful only insofar as it sparks meaningful conversations with and among consumers. If the technique in question won’t feel authentic and humanized on the receiving end, is it worth adopting? If it doesn’t involve listening and learning on both sides, is it really cutting edge? The real promise of retail technology is its ability to facilitate meaningful two-way interactions in a variety of channels, both digitally and in real life. So what does that look like? For starters, you don’t need to spend $1 billion on holograms and virtual-reality headsets. A simple tablet will do. What’s important is how you use the tools at your disposal. Let’s say you’re a retailer of high-end, modern furniture. A customer wants to know what that svelte sofa would look like in lime green. She also wants to see it in a living room that has pastel-yellow walls just like hers. The salesperson can now use the tablet to show the customer a digital mockup of exactly what she has imagined. In this scenario, the salesperson can offer to enhance the mockup with coffee tables, lamps, ottomans, etc., because the pitch is taking place as part of a two-way exchange that is willingly entered into by the customer. Neiman Marcus, for example, rolled out a shoe table that "listens" to customers in a novel way. When the customer picks up a shoe to examine it, a video rolls on the table showing a model striding down the runway in those flats or pumps. The customer thereby gains information both visually and, by holding the shoe, through touch. She has made a closer connection to the product, and the retailer learns about this connection because, upon activation, the sales staff learned precisely which shoe had piqued the shopper’s interest. The moment that video rolled, a legitimate reason for the salesperson to engage the customer in further conversation was presented. The two-way nature of this is important, because when people feel listened to, they want to extend the dialog rather than walk out of the store. This is why retailers such as Apple, Nordstrom and AT&T were smart to bring point-of-sale out from behind the counter and into the workspace. The conversation just flowed. At AT&T, the goal is to inject learning into these interactions. "You have a new Audi A3?" the salesperson says. "That’s cool. Did you know those cars have wireless-hotspot functionality? It can save your family a ton of data." Yes, the tablet has a quick video showing how AT&T’s hotspot plan works, but it’s only effective because customer interest was piqued by a personal conversation. So why not just rely on status-quo methods? Because attitudes are changing. Today, consumers want to be in charge of the buying process. They want to have conversations with brands and with each other. So forget about "pushing" content down a one-way street. Instead, let your customers take the wheel with you right by their side. Andy Austin is group director of experience technology at brand agency CBX. Related Posts: How to create a WOW customer experience Social loyalty programs pay off for retailers A "Moneyball" approach to restaurant real estate Obama, financial execs detail new vision for cybersecurity Meijer, Unilever execs: Capture today’s consumer with trust, evolved marketing What Neiman Marcus gets about retail technology originally published by SmartBlogs

SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 190,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each week in our e-newsletter. How well do reorganizations go in your organization? They’re great — smooth with no issues: 5% They’re OK — we get through them with one or two issues: 42% They’re bad — we really struggle with them: 33% They’re horrible — our reorgs are typically a disaster: 21% Change is Painful. 55% of you say your reorgs go much worse than planned. People dislike change. That’s a given. One of the biggest reasons reorgs fail is because we don’t think about the human component of them. We move a box on an org chart, change some responsibilities, and keep on truckin’. Unfortunately if you don’t account for the personalities, aspirations, and skills of your people, you could be precipitating a mass exodus from the organization. Spend some time thinking through the implications of the changes you’re making. It could make all the difference in the world. Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS, author of "Lead Inside the Box: How Smart Leaders Guide Their Teams to Exceptional Results" and "One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership." Related Posts: Would you rather be seen as being a fair leader or a just one? How do you handle someone who’s a "squeaky wheel"? How do you deal with "steamrollers" on your team? Leadership : Which is harder: improving a slacker’s performance or getting a high-performer promoted? How do you invest your time and energy in your team members? How well do reorganizations go in your organization? originally published by SmartBlogs

Hi! We are Monica Oliver and Krista Collins, evaluation practitioners in Atlanta, GA. Through our extensive work with the US Department of Education (e.g. Investing in Innovation (i3), Race to the Top-District), we have constructed implementation fidelity frameworks for several complex, multi-level education programs.   At the past two AEA annual conferences we, along with our colleagues, presented a step-by-step process for working with stakeholders to compute a fidelity index, or an overall summative score that assesses the extent to which the program in reality aligns to the program in theory. We demonstrated how to work with program staff in various contexts and stages of program development to identify the program’s core components, select quantifiable fidelity criteria and compute fidelity scores to provide program staff with concrete information to guide implementation decisions. We’ve expanded this conversation into an interactive half day workshop at this year’s conference. Our goal is for participants to walk away with the following information: How measuring implementation fidelity can foster thorough process evaluation and inform programmatic decision-making What a fidelity index is and how it can dovetail with an impact study How to construct a fidelity index, including engaging stakeholders in the process How to compute a fidelity index once it is constructed and data is collected How to interpret fidelity indices and utilize them for program improvement, and How fidelity indices need to be modified as programs develop and age. Cool Trick: Approach fidelity assessment by first identifying your program’s key direct service components. This is harder than it sounds: not every program activity is a direct service, and not every component is key. Naming the key service components of your program at the outset will give you a running start toward assembling a comprehensive fidelity index. Rad Resource: Look for our presentation materials in the AEA Public Library to get ready for the workshop. 2013: Computing a Fidelity Index on a Program with Multiple Components 2014: Assessing Program Fidelity across Multiple Contexts: The Fidelity Index, Part II Rad Resource: The David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality conducted a Youth Program Quality Intervention Study to understand best practices in youth program implementation. They describe a detailed institutional process for assessing implementation fidelity within an after-school setting to validate an effective and sustainable intervention model. Rad Resource: Use this Tiered Fidelity Inventory developed by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs Technical Assistance Center developed to measure school-wide Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports. Want to learn more? Register for Creating an Index for Measuring Fidelity of Implementation at Evaluation 2015 in Chicago, IL. This week, we’re featuring posts by people who will be presenting Professional Development workshops at Evaluation 2015 in Chicago, IL. Click here for a complete listing of Professional Development workshops offered at Evaluation 2015. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

When it comes to using technology in the classroom, teachers "have to be open-minded" and willing to take risks, said Moananui Blankenfeld, a senior at Kamehameha Schools Hawai’i during a conversation I had with her and her peers at their tabletop session at ISTE 2015. "Get out of your comfort zone," advised Blankenfeld. "Do something you haven’t done before." She was not alone in her thinking. I spoke with several other student presenters at the conference to get their take on the issue and see what advice they have for tech-wary educators. Their insight and advice was honest, practical and (surprisingly) fair. Here’s what they had to say: Turn to your students. Today’s students were "born in the digital age," and technology is "second nature" to them, said Keakealani Pacheco, a senior at Kamehameha. Take advantage of this, she recommended. They offer a wealth of knowledge and experience. "Don’t be afraid to ask," Pacheco emphasized. "If there’s something you need to know, there’s plenty of help available to you. Have some faith in your students." Be patient with the learning curve. Using technology tools can be a frustrating, intimidating process, conceded Kamehameha senior Kaluhikaua Kaapana. Nevertheless, she encouraged teachers to invest the time to learn, be patient with their progress and keep an eye on the bigger picture. "If you are open to learning new things," Kaapana said, "your students will be, too." Experiment. Knowing what technologies work and don’t work in the classroom "is all about trial and error," said Luke Taniguchi, a senior at Kamehameha. He suggested that teachers play with different tools and "test them out with your students" to determine which are best for collaboration as well as individual use. Take a class. Many teachers today didn’t grow up with technology, so they are not used to it, said Audrey Mullen, a sophomore at a private school in California, who spoke at a student panel discussion hosted by PR with Panache. She recommended teachers take classes to get trained on different tools and technologies. Mullen acknowledged that it "sounds so boring, going to a class on technology," but she encouraged teachers to take the plunge so they can get some "fresh, new ideas." Foster digital responsibility. Teachers worried about students’ misusing technology —especially social media — is fair, conceded Kamehameha senior Mikaila Braun. But that shouldn’t stop teachers from using digital tools, she argued. Instead, she recommended schools implement digital-citizenship programs that train students to use devices and applications properly. She cited as an example a program used at her school called Na’u e koho. Created by Kamehameha students — including Braun — and teacher Keali’i Akina, the program teaches digital literacy and responsibility. "It was built to help students with ‘digital tattoo’ and to have good Internet ethics and to use our computers properly," Braun explained. "What we put in the lesson teaches them how to use it properly." Apply yourself. Getting comfortable with technology means users have to learn how to use devices and applications, according to Pacheco. She cited instances where teachers, unfamiliar with a tool, asked her to "do the work for them instead of learning how to do it" on their own. That won’t work in the long term, she said. Using tech effectively in the classroom means teachers must apply the time and work needed to build a knowledge base for themselves. Today’s digital natives are growing up with more and more technologies, said Kaapana. She encouraged teachers to embrace the tools and the opportunities they present. "Don’t be afraid to utilize it," she said. "That’s what it’s there for." Related Posts: No Related Posts From the mouths of babes originally published by SmartBlogs

Eliminating restrictive governance within societies and associationsA not-for-profit’s bylaws guide its activities, outlining how it must be governed. They are not meant to provide a blow-by-blow policy and procedures manual, dictating how to execute on every turn an organization may take. Allowing for agility and innovation within an organization means ceding strict governance control, at least in good part, to those…

Technology is mainstream in education today. Students have a number of devices and applications available to them, at their fingertips, and engagement is up. But what about the work they’re doing? One way to boost engagement and make learning more relevant is to bring in an authentic audience for your students. Give them opportunity to share their work beyond their classroom walls. The Web is a great place to start. Help your students to create Web pages for their work. Weebly and Wix offer great platforms for students, plus they’re free and easy to use. Students can build pages, post their work and then share it with family, friends and - with parent permission - others around the world. Authentic audiences instill motivation in students to do their best work. When planning your next assignment, think about ways you can share your students’ work beyond your classroom walls. Brandi Leggett teaches fifth grade for the School District of Philadelphia. She has served in this role for three years and was a third grade teacher for the six years prior. She is a National Board Certified Teacher in Middle Childhood Generalist and will be an instructional coach in the Shawnee Mission School District in Kansas this coming school year. She was named the 2014 Kansas Regional Teacher of the Year. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Sports and Recreation Management from Temple University and a Master in Education from Arcadia University. ***** Tech Tips is a content collaboration between SmartBrief Education and GreyED Solutions. Have a tech tip to share? Contact us at techtips@greyedsolutions.com Miss a Tech Tip? Visit our Tech Tip archive. ***** Related Posts: No Related Posts Tech Tip: Share student work beyond the classroom walls originally published by SmartBlogs

Today’s business environment is more complex than ever. Global influences, technology disruptions, regulatory shifts, and other distractions are changing the landscape. To stay relevant and competitive, conventional approaches won’t cut it any longer. Leading companies are responding by changing their core mindset on learning and equipping their employees to produce only the outcomes that will drive real impact to their business. During a recent webinar I partnered with Butler Newman to discuss those challenges and how to overcome them. If you missed the webinar, a recording is now available. But if you’re looking for the Reader’s Digest version, I wanted to offer a quick look at some of the key takeaways we offered: The four essential strategies to improving performance are found in the acronym TOPS: Identify TOP performers delivering the desired results Uncover the OUTCOMES they focus on delivering Teach PEOPLE to produce those same outcomes Coach those people to deliver SUCCESS Every project has, at it’s heart, a Game Changer, someone who sees what is possible and fights through the barriers to bring it to fruition. Game Changers all exhibit: Recognition that the old model no longer works An active search for a ne approach to improving performance A willingness to take some personal risk as a Vanguard Leaders The perseverance to see it through to success. More information about one Game Changer and how she succeeded along with a detailed guide to the process can be found in our recent book Game Changers: Driving Performance by Focusing on What Matters. There is much more to discuss on this topic. I encourage you to continue the conversation with us at http://www.longandnewman.com/.

The movie in development will bring the candy dispensers to the world of animation.

Marketers regularly borrow catchy tunes from popular musicians to help sell their products, but musicians are typically less interested in working marketers' jingles into their own compositions. Therefore, it's perhaps surprising that the jingle for French rail company SNCF was chosen by celebrated Pink Floyd guitarist, David Gilmour, to form the basis of his new single "Rattle That Lock." Art imitates life after all, it seems.

Before Jon Stewart leaves "The Daily Show" Thursday, take a look back at his late-night predecessors and how their viewership has changed over the years, using this interactive based on Nielsen data.

The announcement marks the resolution of a legal dispute over the property, and a script is already in place.

The squeeze is on. Consumer spending has been slow to recover with the economy, and, as a result, the size of the retail pie isn’t getting any bigger. To stay competitive, retailers are increasingly finding that they need to focus more on gaining and maintaining customer loyalty as an imperative to business success. Not only is it cheaper to keep current customers than to acquire news ones, but happy customers can be an amazing recruitment tool, if they are incentivized to advocate for their favorite brands. As a result, social loyalty is becoming the newest trend in retail marketing’s tool belt. Social loyalty, according to Forrester Research, is "brand affinity built on the connection of consumers to the brand as well as to each other." It provides an opportunity for brands to engage with members beyond the transaction — encouraging awareness, advocacy and emotional loyalty. Here’s how front-line retailers are using social loyalty to obtain these benefits — and how you can, too: Word-of-Mouth Marketing Turning loyal customers into advocates on social media gives brands a powerful way to increase awareness and reach among connected consumers. Moreover, research by Sociable Labs has found that 62% of online shoppers read product-related comments from friends on Facebook, 75% of whom click through to visit retailer websites and 53% of whom go on to make a purchase. Clearly, word-of-mouth marketing works to drive awareness and even sales. In fact, the iterative effect of delighting customers for doing what they already do — interact with their friends and family via social - has helped brands acquire 45% more customers. Immediate Response Opportunity Social loyalty programs combine listening with immediate response mechanisms to provide instant gratification, surprises, or other replies designed to thank or delight customers. Not only does a simple recognition and thank you go along way, but customers are more likely to make a subsequent purchase, which enhances their lifetime value and reinforces loyalty. Brands that successfully tie social to their loyalty programs correlate rewards to pre-defined social actions. Rewards can be anything from a promo code for a discount online to points if the brand has an existing points-based program. For example, one restaurant automatically replies to all Instagram photos of its food with a thank you and free drink offer. And, a large retailer replies to digital check-ins with a percent-off coupon for the customer while they are in the store. To keep the program from feeling stale, these retailers mix up the rewards over time, layer in special promotions and include seasonal events. Close the Data Loop & Personalization A very important aspect of social loyalty programs is that they can provide a 360-degree view of customers. Retailers who are killing it at social loyalty link their loyalty program members’ online and offline data, understanding, for example, that Jennifer Holland is the same person as @Jennlovesshoes. With this data, brands are able to close the loop within their databases and different data silos within their organization giving them more data and tools with which to personalize future offers and rewards for Jennifer. This is critically important. According to an IBM-eConsultancy study, nearly 90% of marketers agree that personalizing the customer experience is critical to success, but 78% of consumers said the average brand doesn’t understand them as an individual. The result is that 49% of consumers switched providers over the past year. Brands that are able to bridge this divide and provide tailored offers and rewards are kicking off a virtuous cycle where customers return because they feel understood, know their needs will be met, and will, in turn, be willing to share even more personal information with the retailer and share their great experience with their social networks. In fact, retailers that have turned their focus to social loyalty have increased brand engagement by up to eight times. Brands connect advertising of out-of-home to mobile and social to encourage participation. Competitive Advantage Immediate thanks, surprise and delight, personalization. Social loyalty components all work together to create competitive advantage by creating a virtuous cycle where brands are able to personalize their offers, as well as personalize how they communicate (e.g. does this customer prefer Facebook, e-mail or Twitter), and then deliver experiences that surprise and delight. Experiences that show the customer that you know them work on two levels: First, the customer knows that you care because you took the time to deliver an offer that is relevant; second, the consumer can draw comparisons between your tailored communication and the competition, whose communication may be far afield. All these elements leave the customer feeling positive about the brand, further reinforcing a positive view, emotional loyalty and lifetime value. Much has been written about the value of customer loyalty and the benefits of keeping happy customers happy, versus the cost of being in constant customer acquisition mode. Leading retailers are embracing social media as not just a way to interact with consumers for customer service needs, or to chat with them about trending memes, but as a means to meet new customer expectations for immediacy, personalization and social mobile brand interaction. The competitive advantage it brings is paying business dividends for those on the retail front lines. Jessica Williams is senior marketing manager at Chirpify, where she is responsible for driving social strategy, engagement, and conversion in concert with SEO, analytics and digital marketing initiatives. She received her degree in journalism from the University of Oregon and can be reached at Jessica@Chirpify.com or @Jessica_J. Related Posts: Leading a new era of customer engagement with customer loyalty 3.0 6 steps to getting more of the right people paying attention to you How to create a WOW customer experience A step-by-step guide to social direct response What you’re getting wrong about customer referrals Social loyalty programs pay off for retailers originally published by SmartBlogs

Carrick The economy has been slowing down, and isn’t growing as quickly as expected, said Alex Carrick, chief economist at CMD, formerly Reed Construction Data, during Thursday’s construction outlook webinar hosted by CMD. That statement was underscored when the stock market closed down, cutting the year’s gains to a measly 0.10%. And the wobbly economy was a concern to the other top economists in the industry, Ken Simonson of the Associated General Contractors of America and Kermit Baker of the American Institute of Architects. The construction-building picture now, going forward Total nonresidential construction last year was more than $606 billion, up 7.1% from a year earlier, according to the Census Bureau. Leading the charge were lodging, office, and manufacturing construction projects. Total residential construction last year was $354 billion, up about 3.5% from a year earlier, led in large part by growth in multifamily construction. And this year is off to a reasonable start as well, the economists report, citing continuing strength in multifamily housing starts, as well as power and manufacturing projects. Lodging, too, has been a strength, but Baker sees this as late in the cycle, saying most of the "growth is behind us." However, all three see construction growth as "spotty" and "uneven," and note there are challenges. Challenges For instance, the number of civil engineering projects in 2104 was up more than 9% from a year earlier, according to Carrick, but he sees that increase declining to 4.2% this year and yet another declining increase to only between 2.2% and 3.3% over the next several years. Then, there’s MAP-21, the bill that funds transportation infrastructure projects in the country, is due to expire at the end of this month, Ken Simonson and legislators still have no agreement about how to fund it. Because of that, Simonson sees a no growth this year or even a 5% decline in spending on highway and roadwork projects this year, and even a cancellation of contracts if the current bill lapses with nothing in its place. He also forecasts a spending on health care facilities to remain steady or even decline 5%, although Carrick sees potential for a double-digit spending increase, saying "this [sector] has got to start taking off because as a society as a whole we’ve become health conscious and there’s the aging baby boomers." Both note that it’s strange not to have seen this particular segment tick up yet as the population ages and is starting to live longer. The availability of construction workers is also an increasing concern. So many were let go during the Great Recession that the available workforce has shrunk. And, it’s getting older as fewer young people and immigrants enter the field. Baker says the industry "needs to attract more immigrants, younger workers, and make it more attractive to women if we want to see workforce numbers worthy of a growing industry." In addition, Simonson notes three trends that are holding back the need for building: "Government spends less on schools, infrastructure; consumers switch from stores to online buying; and employers shrink office space per employee." Bright spots Kermit Baker Remember, all three see the industry growing. Simonson and Carrick note the increase in construction activity at tidewater ports in preparation for the large Panamax ships expects once the Panama Canal expansion is complete. There’s more dredging, building of terminals and rail links, roadways and tunnels leading to the ports. In addition, all three see the trend of the young and old migrating to cities so they can live near work and play and learn as something that isn’t going away soon. This means continued construction of mixed-use projects be they residential towers with retail and restaurants on the ground floor or even more mixed uses.   Related Posts: 3 economists give construction outlook for rest of 2013, and ahead AGC outlook: 2013 is a "tentative recovery" year in the construction sector Construction industry now, 2013 and beyond: 3 economists look into their crystal balls 3 economists sum up state of construction industry, share predictions 3 economists offer construction outlook for 2014, beyond 2015 Construction outlook appears good — sort of originally published by SmartBlogs