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Jan30
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I'm all for personal leave and sick leave for em ployees. But now, Japanese marketing firm, Hime & Company has upped the ante, by offering its workers heartache leave. This company is generous with its leave entitlements. It even gives employees paid leave "to hit the shops during sales season." After a relationship break up Staff aged 24 years or younger can take one day off per year, while those between 25 and 29 can take two days off and those older can take three days off, the company said. Women in their 20s can find their next love quickly, but it's tougher for women in their 30s, and their break-ups tend to be more serious.
Everyone deals with crises in a different way, and a few days away from work may certainly help. After all, mental health is as important as physical health. Potential Discrimination
I'm not sure that calling it "heartache leave" is helpful though. It also appears somewhat discriminatory to vary the entitlement according to age and gender. Men don't seem to feature in this policy at all. Personal Or Special Leave - An Equitable Approach
I think it would be more equitable to call it personal or special leave. This would allow all employees to use this allocated leave for a range of equally legitimate personal circumstances, rather than specifically for relationship break ups. A Proactive Company
Hime & Company appears to have its employees' interests in mind. An organization that is generous and proactive enough to support its employees with "heartache leave" is bound to be able to work out an equitable solution for all.
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Jan29
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With over 100 milion personal and business blogs, and growing daily, blogging is here to stay. Target doesn't seem to get this. They also don't seem to understand that many bloggers are Target customers, and that they have a powerful...
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Microsoft has applied for a patent for software which monitors workers' work habits. Wireless sensors in computers track brain signals, heart rate and stress level. While employers may use the term "monitor", it will be interesting to see if the...
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Jan27
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Enjoy our top 8 most popular Small Biz Mentor posts.Partner With Another Business - Use A Double Sided Business Card - Team up with complementary businesses and share a business card to leverage off each other's networks.Recruiters Borrow From Speed...
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Jan26
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Accounting Web in the UK reports on research about small business owner-accountant relationships. I found the results interesting and informative. Most of us in small business could learn from these findings, regardless of our field. The research reveals a client base that...
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Jan25
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The Small Business Summit 2008 is coming to New York on Monday, February 11, 2008 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Times Square. The 2008 focus is Small Business Summit: Business & Technology: It’s Time to Reinvent Your Business. From...
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Jan24
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Tip of the hat to fellow Aussie blogger Sueblimely for alerting me that today, Thursday January 24th is Thank Your Mentor Day in the U.S. Americans across the country will participate in Thank Your Mentor Day™ by reaching out to...
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Jan23
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Liz Strauss at Successful Blog is one of my favorite business bloggers. I respect her wisdom and sense of community... and then there's her business savvy.Liz is known as a relationship geek, a person who answers every comment, and someone...
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Jan22
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GG of The Fawnskin Flyer shared with me how she makes the most of her business card. How many of us truly use both sides of a business card effectively? Of course, you may purposely leave one side blank so...
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Thumb drives are reasonably priced these days. So you can afford to think laterally about ways you use them for marketing.Skellie at Anywired suggests using a thumb drive as a digital business card When meeting a prospective client or networking...
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Jan21
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Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends is hosting a free webinar, Convert Visitors To Paying Customers.PanelistsThree panelists will answer questions, both Anita's and webinar participants' questions. Laura Allen, Co-founder, 15Second Pitch.com Doug Shuman, Senior Vice President, Register.com Shawn Holt, Vice...
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Jan20
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Here's a great small business gift voucher marketing idea. Go to where the customers are, rather than waiting (hoping) they will come to you. As part of their Valentine's Day promotion, a local hairdresser is taking gift vouchers around to...
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Jan19
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Sharing networks in complementary businesses is a great way to expand your existing customer base and to build your business brand. This could include complementary businesses exploring -Joint business promotions and special offersShared double sided business cardsWindow displays incorporating items...
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Sometimes the simplest business innovations are the best ones. My post, Partner With Another Business - Use A Double Sided Business Card, struck a chord with Small Biz Mentor readers. Here's a recap on the post. A local Indian restaurant...
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My husband and I went to a cafe and decided to share lunch between us. I was ready to grab some extra cutlery so we could share off the one plate. To our delight, the friendly waitress came with 2...
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Jan18
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Syndicated columnist, Dale Dauten found a business book he considered so woeful that he created a special award.He says, I hereby announce that the first Double Flush Award for Bad Business Writing goes to "What Men Don't Tell Women About...
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Jan17
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While space impacts on what you can do with your home office, color, "organization and natural ambience rank high on the priority list" for women with a home office, according to Teena Hammond Gomez at the Gannett News Service. She...
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Jan16
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A few days ago, I made an appointment at my regular hairdresser. The reason I'm a customer there has to do with my son's wedding, three years ago. A Hairdressing Tale of WoeI was distraught because another hairdresser had...
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Jan15
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Do you work from home or have a home based business? I've expanded on some helpful reminders from Choregus about designing your office space for increased home office productivity. Productivity Productivity can be increased when you are more focused and...
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Jan14
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What do you do with an unused cathedral? Turn it into a Museum? How about converting the cathedral into a bookstore? The Selexyz Dominicanen bookstore in Maastricht, Holland is as far from the cookie cutter chain look as you can get. ...
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Jan13
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Sponsored ReviewAdvantage Commercial Brokers are professional Seattle business brokers.They specialize in the following key areas - Business BrokerageMergers & AcquisitionsCommercial Real EstateWashington (WA) State SpecialistsThey deal exclusively with businesses and commercial real estate in Washington (WA) State. This offers an added...
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Australian actress, Toni Collette has given birth to a baby girl. Toni Collette has made a name for herself with Little Miss Sunshine, The Sixth Sense and a catalog of other film credits. But Australians know her best for the...
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Jan12
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Have you tried telecommuting? What Is Telecommuting?Telecommuting is working from home, usually using the internet as a key mode of doing business for your employer. You can also telecommute as a contractor. Freelance writers and virtual assistants often find telecommuting...
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Jan11
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Many employees jump at the chance to telecommute and work from home. But telecommuting offers significant advantages to employers too. These may includeless office space neededless staffroom space neededless hardware and software to be housedflow on effect of less maintenancemotivated employeesemployees...
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Jan10
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It wasn't too long ago, that if you told someone you work from home they dismissed it as not being a "real" job. Work at home jobs have come of age. Entrepreneur predicts work from home business as a rising...
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Jan 9
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Today I picked up a business card at one of my favorite Indian restaurants. Dual Company Business CardI turned it over and noted that it was double sided. It was a dual company business card. On one side was the...
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Jan 8
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One of the major expenses for any small business can be that of voice communication— phone bills, cell phone bills, phone service, VoIP, phone hardware, etc. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) can be a highly viable communication solution for...
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Byestart UK reportsMore people decide to start their own business in January than any other month, according to research carried out by one of Bytestart's partners, home business website Enterprise Nation. A new year is a fresh start for new beginnings,...
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Jan 7
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The New York Times reports the latest development in the DRM (Digital Rights Management) scene.Journalist Saul Hansell says Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos may be rivals in the music sales business, but between them they have forced the music industry...
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Jan 6
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Trade shows are important buying and selling industry events in the small business calendar. Trade Show Seminars & WorkshopsTrade shows are also a great opportunity to learn and to network. Most trade shows have key note speakers, seminars or workshops...
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Jan 5
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Barack Obama has used social media to great effect from the outset in the US election campaign. He uses it to communicate and to connect.Obama And MySpaceAdweek refers to the MySpace Primaries. This is a reference to the huge support...
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Trade shows are a big deal for small business managers and owners, whether you are a seller or buyer. Pre Register Before You GoI love going to trade shows. If you're heading to a trade show, be kind to yourself...
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Jan 4
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Something as simple and old fashioned as saying "Thank You" can make your business stand out from the crowd.It's so simple, that many businesses forget to do it. To many of us saying "Thank You" is a courtesy. But...
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You own a boutique clothing store. A good customer has asked you to order a dress for her. It's for a special occasion. She phones the week before, and you assure her all is on track and it will be...
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Communicating with customers is key to building credibility, trust and to developing a customer relationship.Something as simple as keeping customers and prospective customers in the loop about changes to your business hours is basic, but important. It's not only courtesy,...
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Customer service recovery, is when you put a potentially negative customer service situation right, solve a problem, or at least, make amends. Forget About Whose Fault It Is & Laying The BlameYou are hoping to salvage the situation and your...
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Recently, I went to a new cafe with my husband and ordered just after a busy lunch period. Lack Of SupplyThe waitresss came over to our table after a few minutes and apologized that the snack my husband ordered was...
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Jan 3
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If you have a main street business, it's obvious you need a business card.Do Freelancers Need Business Cards?What about if you work from home? Do freelancers need business cards?Some small home based business owners think getting a business card designed...
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Just saying a simple "Thank You" is a great start to making your business stand out, in this frenzied world.People are looking for connections. Many people are gravitating back to smaller local shopping centers, and away from cookie cutter...
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The US elections are officially up and running with the Iowa caucus today. As an Australian, far removed geographically from the action in Iowa, I'm following this election closely, as are most other Aussies. It's been widely covered from the...
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Camridgeshire County Council in the UK has developed a customer charter with a difference.Many customer service policies are developed and then "thrown in a cupboard" in a figurative if not literal sense. Some do have benchmarks and performance indicators...
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I love customer service stories. Small business is all about customer service. Learn Customer Service From Our Own Experience As ConsumersWe can learn from our own experiences as consumers and apply those lessons and reminders to our own business....
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Jan 2
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While we've all experienced great customer service, we are also familiar with the following scenario. You wait at the check out. The shop assistant doesn't acknowledge you. When your parcel is packaged, and hastily given to you, you hear...
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Here's a great story about customer service.San Francisco - 1980's Nordstrom, even then was setting the standard for customer service. A customer has just purchased a shirt in The Emporium, a rival store to Nordstrom. The Emporium salesman stops the...
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Communicating with customers is key. One of the basics is letting customers know about changed hours. Customers are creatures of habit. If you don't communicate, they will naturally make assumptions that the status quo remains. Let Customers Know About Changed...
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It seems that Small Biz Mentor readers agree about the power and potential of handwritten thank you notes. Reader Comments SpotlightI'd like to share some insights left by readers in the comments section on my post, The Power Of Handwritten...
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One of our most popular Small Biz Mentor articles has been Are You Missing Out On Introverts Input Into Your Decision Making?Introvert vs ExtravertI detailed how basically, the introvert is energized by their inner world. Extraverts are energized by interactions...
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Jan 1
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In the UK, the Guardian reports on the situation with doctors wanting to be compensated for offering extended hours.GPs in England will today be offered a £150m sweetener to persuade them to back Gordon Brown's plan for extending surgery opening...
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Here are just a few of the best December posts from 2007 at Small Biz Mentor. These may be of interest for your 2008 plans and goals. Enjoy! Do employees shop online in your time? What is your policy? Open...
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The best of 2007, and the best of 2008 still to come. Celebrate Your SuccessesOn the cusp of a new year is an exciting place to be - a time for looking forward and looking back. It's a time for...
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Does your small business have a customer service policy or charter?While customer service comes naturally to some staff, it is optimal to have it "hard wired" into the culture of the organization. This fosters consistency, so that customer service becomes...
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Happy New Year to Small Biz Mentor and Know More Media readers. You are just great. I love all your comments and interaction, insights and feedback. I'd love to know what type of things you'd like to see in 2008...
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ployees. But now, Japanese marketing firm, Hime & Company has upped the ante, by offering its workers heartache leave. 
