When is a vacation more than a vacation? When it has a hidden purposeiStockPhoto/Getty Images/iStockphoto
MANAGEMENT
An employee perk with a purpose
Every month at Motley Fool, a Virginia-based investment information company, a name is drawn out of a hat at a meeting of the 250 employees. The winner gets two extra weeks off, which must be used within the next month.
This not only gives employees some unexpected time to recharge but because they must take the time soon after, they need to have trained backup and need to keep others info
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Offshore call centres 'engines of annoyance'
Entrepreneur Seth Godin says overseas call centres and online chats that are handled by untrained workers with no incentives are "engines of annoyance," time-sucking processes that raise expectations among customers and then totally dash them. Seth's Blog
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
When smart people aren't smart enough
A key behavioural trait that holds back smart people is their reluctance to accept an opportunity because they don't think they're ready for it. www.marcandangel.com
TECH TIP
Now you really can write on the walls
Washington, D.C.-based author Dan Pink used to have a collection of whiteboards in his office to capture and organize information but he has switched to what he calls "ginormous stickies," more formally known as a Restickable Tabletop Easel Pad.
Sold by major office suppliers, the pad comes in various sizes and has adhesive on the back of each page so you can peel them off and stick them on a wall like a Post-It note. He is no longer limited by the size of the whiteboard, doesn't see ideas erased, and can put them anywhere he wants. DanPink.com
Harvey Schachter