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The Total View
Your resource for cutting-edge news, tips, and tools to help you hire, manage, and motivate top-performing employees.
Welcome to the January 4, 2006 issue of The Total View.
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in this issue
-- Global Good Luck Traditions
-- Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #479 to #480.
-- The Employee Five-Finger Discount Is Alive and Well!
-- Have You Downloaded our Complimentary DISC E-booklet Yet? -- What Would You Do if You Could Get Inside The Head of Your Clients?
he Total View is written and published each Wednesday
by Ira S. Wolfe, founder of Success Performance Solutions.
(Yes, Ira writes every article, every week!) and is
distributed with permission by The Chrysalis Corporation.
Ira S. Wolfe 2006 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and
other distribution by permission only.
To learn more about The Chrysalis Corporation or to read
back issues of The Total View, visit
our web site - www.chrysaliscorporation.com.
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Global Good Luck Traditions
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The tradition of the New Year's Resolutions goes
all the way back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of
early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar.
The New Year has not always begun on January 1, and
it doesn't begin on that date everywhere today. It begins
on that date only for cultures that use a 365-day solar
calendar. January 1 became the beginning of the New
Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar
that would more accurately reflect the seasons than
previous calendars had.
The Romans named the first month of the year after
Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors
and entrances. He was always depicted with two faces,
one on the front of his head and one on the back. Thus
he could look backward and forward at the same time.
At midnight on December 31, the Romans imagined Janus
looking back at the old year and forward to the new.
With the start of the new year, here's a look at some
of the good luck rituals from around the world. They
are believed to bring good fortune and prosperity in
the coming year.
- AUSTRIA - The suckling pig is the symbol for good
luck for the new year. It's served on a table decorated
with tiny edible pigs. Dessert often consists of green
peppermint ice cream in the shape of a four-leaf clover.
- ENGLAND - The British place their fortunes for the
coming year in the hands of their first guest. They
believe the first visitor of each year should be male
and bearing gifts. Traditional gifts are coal for
the fire, a loaf for the table and a drink for the
master. For good luck, the guest should enter through
the front door and leave through the back. Guests
who are empty-handed or unwanted are not allowed to
enter first.
- WALES - At the first toll of midnight, the back
door is opened and then shut to release the old year
and lock out all of its bad luck. Then at the twelfth
stroke of the clock, the front door is opened and
the New Year is welcomed with all of its luck.
- HAITI - In Haiti, New Year's Day is a sign of the
year to come. Haitians wear new clothing and exchange
gifts in the hope that it will bode well for the new
year.
- SICILY - An old Sicilian tradition says good luck
will come to those who eat lasagna on New Year's Day,
but woe if you dine on macaroni, for any other noodle
will bring bad luck.
- SPAIN - In Spain, when the clock strikes midnight,
the Spanish eat 12 grapes, one with every toll, to
bring good luck for the 12 months ahead.
- PERU - The Peruvian New Year's custom is a spin
on the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes at the
turn of the year. But in Peru, a 13th grape must be
eaten to assure good luck.
- GREECE - A special New Year's bread is baked with
a coin buried in the dough. The first slice is for
the Christ child, the second for the father of the
household and the third slice is for the house. If
the third slice holds the coin, spring will come early
that year.
- JAPAN - The Japanese decorate their homes in tribute
to lucky gods. One tradition, kadomatsu, consists
of a pine branch symbolizing longevity, a bamboo stalk
symbolizing prosperity, and a plum blossom showing
nobility.
- CHINA - For the Chinese New Year, every front door
is adorned with a fresh coat of red paint, red being
a symbol of good luck and happiness. Although the
whole family prepares a feast for the New Year, all
knives are put away for 24 hours to keep anyone from
cutting themselves, which is thought to cut the family's
good luck for the next year.
- NORWAY - Norwegians make rice pudding at New Year's
and hide one whole almond within. Guaranteed wealth
goes to the person whose serving holds the lucky almond.
- UNITED STATES - The kiss shared at the stroke of
midnight in the United States is derived from masked
balls that have been common throughout history. As
tradition has it, the masks symbolize evil spirits
from the old year and the kiss is the purification
into the new year.
What ever your beliefs or nationality, resolve to make
2006 your best year ever.
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Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #479 to #480.
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Fact #479: employers who hire young people
right
out of school and college professors who teach
freshmen and sophomores said the public high school
graduates they encounter had just "fair" or "poor"
skills in:
Grammar and spelling
(73 percent of employers and 74 percent of college
professors) Ability to write clearly
(73 percent of employers, 75 percent of professors)
Basic math
(63 percent of employers, 65 percent of professors)
Fact #480: Employers and college professors also
were not impressed with the attitudes high school
graduates bring to the job or the classroom.
Young people were given fair or poor ratings for "work habits, such as being
organized and on time" by 69 percent of employers and
74 percent of professors. Students also were given low
marks for "being motivated and conscientious" by 72
percent of employers and 58 percent of professors.
Don't
be caught in storm without all the facts. "The Perfect
Labor Storm Fact Book: Why Worker Shortages Won't Go
Away" is a must-read leading edge forecast that predicts
workforce trends for decades to come.
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The Employee Five-Finger Discount Is Alive and Well!
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When it comes to office supplies, the latest survey
by Vault Inc. shows workers may have a different
attitude than their employers when it comes to
helping themselves.
According to the survey, 67 percent of workers have
taken office supplies form work to use outside the
office or for matters unrelated to the job. Virtually
all-97 percent-of respondents said it would not
matter if they were caught raiding the office pencil
cups.
Most popular item to pilfer: pens. Post-It notes came
in second. Other popular items lifted from the supply
closet:
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Have You Downloaded our Complimentary DISC E-booklet Yet?
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If you are new to the DISC behavioral model, or just
want to brush up on your DISC knowledge, we invite
you to download our complimentary e-booklet
Teamworks: 42 Tips to Help Teams Thrive & Survive.
This easy reference pocked guide will provide you
with a solid understanding of the DISC model in clear,
concise language. You will learn:
- Four ways that people approach their work.
- How to communicate with "challenging" people.
- Secrets to reading a person like a book.
- How to predict a person's behavior.
- What motivates your boss and coworkers
Download Teamworks: 42 Tips to Help Teams Thrive Here.
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What Would You Do if You Could Get Inside The Head of Your Clients?
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Have you ever imagined how valuable brutally honest
feedback from your clients would be to your company
or organization? I'm talking about no B.S. feedback
about how your clients REALLY feel about your
products, services, and support. What would it be
like if your clients provided you with suggestions that
actually increased your profits and bottom line and
eliminated the "hit and miss" approach to sales and
marketing? Stop imagining and start knowing!
The easiest and most cost-effective way to get this
information is to conduct a survey. A survey
eliminates the psychological pressure for clients to
tell you what they think you want to hear. Some
people, regardless of how unhappy they are with a
product or service, refuse to voice their
dissatisfaction with a company because it makes
them feel uncomfortable. They simply "vote with the
feet" and tend to go away without you ever knowing
the reason why. The end result -- you lose business
without ever knowing the reasons why. Surveys
neutralize a potentially awkward and uncomfortable
situation for clients by providing a way for them to
provide you with honest and direct feedback in an
anonymous manner.
We have taken all the stress and hassles out of
creating, deploying, inputting, and analyzing survey
results.
Contact us today to learn about about real-time e-
mail and web based surveys. No more hassles with
entering results and creating presentations. Let us
do the work for you. We can help you write, set-up,
distribute (electronically), process and present in less
time for less cost than you can imagine.
For more information about the survey solutions we can provide you with, including our Rapid Survey Option, go here and type "Surveys" in the comment box. You can also contact us by phone at: 229-257-0665
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Contact Information
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phone:
229-257-0665
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Contact Information
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email: mike@chrysaliscorporation.com
voice: 229-257-0665
web: http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com
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