Flexible Staffing

The last several years of unbridled consumption, creative & secondary financing, fancy bookkeeping and unlimited M&A activity morphing Financial institutions into too-big-to-fail behemoths and the great awakening that came from the bottom falling out of our economy has brought many of us to a new discipline. As Wall Street and the engine of commerce driving it demonstrates, that while sales revenues continue to sag, profits grow to reflect the cost management strategies managers embraced as they learned to live within their means. At kitchen tables and in living rooms all over America people reworked budgets and remembered core values taught us by the Greatest Generation as wallets closed and mcmansions sat empty. Business managers & leaders continue to refine their lessons learned as we prepare for the much anticipated and overdue upturn.
Many companies have strategically positioned themselves for the recovery by taking advantage of the employment market and upgraded key leadership positions as they changed their company labor rolls from armies to SWAT teams. Now, not wanting to repeat mistakes of yesterday that made life difficult for them financially when the turbulent economy and lack of consumer confidence shrunk their sales revenues straining their banking relationships, they’re beginning to realize they no longer have the luxury of over-specializing their company employees. Instead of ramping up their employee numbers with people specializing in niche functions and disciplines, hiring managers are instead searching for people who bring the ability to perform multiple functions and assume a broad range of responsibilities. This flexible staffing approach to rebuild your team allows you to get more work done with fewer people. This is one of the key lessons learned from recent, challenging economic times. Flexible Staffing will help drive profitability as our economic ship rights itself. So, put an oar in the water and as you begin to rebuild, hire people who can play more than one position for your team. It’ll help you control your costs; build a broader base of talent from whom to choose your future leaders and prevent crippling or hardship from employee turnover.
Now if only we could get our government to learn some of this stuff and find the benefit of doing more with less and oh yeah, living within our means.

So, the Superbowl surpassed the final episode of Mash as the most watched television program in history? More than 106 million people watched the game. Ok, I enjoyed the game, the nachos and the pizza as much as the next guy...and even felt my eyes tear-up a little with that shot of Drew Brees holding and kissing his son in celebration... but c'mon...the final episode of Mash is an unforgettable moment in our history. For some of us it's like bell bottom jeans, weejuns and the Honeymooners all of which represent an era in our evolution. It helps us remember who we were and the way we were. Most of us feel so beat up or out of place as we become the older generation and feel less current or contemporary about today's living and it's issues...that we have a vise like grip on these iconic moments because often, it's what separates us from everyone else. It's like talking to someone who gives you a blank stare back after you mention Sinatra...and you realize they have no idea who you're talking about.
So, don't let me catch you thinking for one minute that because this last Superbowl had more eyes on them than the final episode of Mash means it's a more momentous moment in our history. It's not. And by the way, just remember...we didn't have 300 Million people back in those days either...so, the record should really be based on the percentage of people alive who were watching...don't you think? Yeah, me too.
And speaking of the Superbowl...they hire the Who for the half-time show. Now I can tell you know I'm all for nostalgia but after listening to the Who I thought they should change their name to the What. I mean seriously, 2 grandfathers and a drummer? What's that? I don't even like the guys music but I would have thought a better choice would have been someone like Daughtry...maybe a little more "today", know what I mean?
Ok, enough about football. I don't even like it that much anymore. But let's give Basketball and Baseball some time too. Flash alert: Lebron's NOT coming to the Knicks. Know why? Because the guy has a brain and he's too competitive to come to this mess. And speaking of Baseball...What's up with Cashman NOT giving Johnny Damon a contract. He's gotta get that done. Too many women in the Tri-State area are revolting...seems they like Damon in pinstripes.
The movie thing: Crazy Heart is good plus not great. It took forever to get here under limited release and I listened to all that noise about how great an acting job Bridges did...but know what? I guess I'm sick of these guys making a name for themselves by playing drunken jerks...I think Nicholas Cage and that movie about Vegas had something to do with that. It's not so much acting as it is remembering college behavior. Like when Dustin Hoffman was in Marathon Man and shooting a scene where he had been running a long time. Just before the shot he was running in place and his co-star Laurence Olivier said to him, "what are you doing"? Hoffman replied, "well, I'm running because my character is supposed to be exhausted in this scene." To which Olivier said, "can't you just act exhausted?" Ah, the difference, eh?
Oh, yeah...pitching a book: "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving. Asks and answers some of the more important questions and just so damn well written.
See you next time when we pick up Chapter 2 of "The Bend in the Road".