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9 Tooth Chatter Business Links, Tuesday, October 18, 2011 Book Review Courtesy of Halton Hills Library The Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing By Lisa Gansky ISBN: 978-1591843719 Library Call #: 658 Gan Review by Beverley King, Halton Hills Public Libraries By Cory Soal . . . Lend Me Your Ears Please Recycle This Newspaper "HIS TURN" A young man saw an elderly couple sitting down to lunch at McDonald's. He noticed that they had ordered one meal, and an extra drink cup. As he watched, the gentleman carefully divided the hamburger in half, then counted out the fries, one for him, one for her, until each had half of them. Then he poured half of the soft drink into the extra cup and set that in front of his wife. The old man than began to eat, and his wife sat watching, with her hands folded in her lap. The young man decided to ask if they would allow him to purchase another meal for them so that they didn't have to share theirs. The old gentleman said "Oh no. We've been married for 50 years, and everything has always been shared 50/50." The young man then asked the wife if she was going to eat, and she replied... "Not yet sonny, it's his turn with the teeth!" For your own personalized set of teeth, give us a call!!! Creating confident smiles since 1982. R.H.A.D. I LOSS OF HEARING DUE TO NON-AGING FACTORS Hearing loss due to aging can be compounded by other things. A few of these include noise exposure, disease, and ear infections. Hearing loss due to age and noise are cumulative. That is, hearing loss from noise exposure will be added on to hearing loss due to aging. Neither are not medically correctable. There is something to be said for protecting the hearing that we have left by wearing hearing protectors when exposed to noisy environments. Each of us reacts differently to hearing loss. We may totally or partially deny that a problem exists. Typical "denial" statements are "you're mumbling again", or "I was not paying attention", and can be a way of concealing hearing difficulties. n October, 15 million Fraser River sockeye salmon will return to British Columbia to spawn. They battle the turbulent Fraser River and the Thompson River for 500 kilometres until they reach their final destination, the Adams River. During the salmon run, grizzly bears gorge on salmon and leave thousands of half-eaten fish in the forests nearby. At first glance, it looks like a total waste. Why do the hungry bears waste food? In nature, waste is food for another system. The salmon left by the bears provide rich nutrients for the trees and soil. The bears are part of a natural recovery system. How can you build a similar recovery system in business? The challenge is how to recover value from waste of all types and share that value. Take car sharing as an example. Most cars sit idle for most of the day. Zipcar profits from that idle waste. As a customer, you get consistent access to vehicles, but you don't have to deal with maintenance, parking or insurance. You simply share vehicles with others around your city in the same situation. Zipcar is what Lisa Gansky calls a Mesh business in her book, The Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing. Mesh businesses have given up the sell-to-own, one-off transaction in favour of renting out a product or service over and over and over again. Is this a new idea? No, not really, but new technologies and the ability to access real-time information are expanding what we can share. My favourite chapter is the Mesh Directory where Gansky lists over 1,000 ventures. The Mesh business ideas are endless. The businesses listed show natural ways to make use of the waste in our market place. Everything from sharing bicycles, DVDs and tools to skills, space and finances are listed. Not necessarily original, just practical ideas to minimize waste, share and make a profit at the same time. Take a careful look at your business through the Mesh lens. Can you find things that look like a half-eaten salmon going to waste? Remember, at first glance it might look like waste, but there may be a way you can share it or turn it into profit. In this case, I won't recommend that you buy Lisa Gansky's book. Instead, borrow it from the library. After all, your library is part of the mesh. Alexander Trenton, DD, F.C.A.D. (A) Denturist Georgetown Denture Clinic, 18 Church Street, Georgetown, Ontario 905-877-2359 (Across from the Library and Cultural Centre) We care about your hearing! Professional Arts Building 99 Sinclair Ave., Suite 210 Georgetown (905) 873-6642 Employee Retention - Do's and Don'ts he key to employee retention is employee engagement. No matter the size of your company, your employee will stay with you when they feel fully engaged and winning at what they do. People do not leave companies; they leave people. Turnover is rarely due to noncompany-related issues or even money. Limited opportunities for growth, poor or ineffective leadership, feeling undervalued and other similar reasons cause people to seek opportunities outside their company. When hiring a new employee, clarity of your expectations of them is a number one issue. The employee needs to know what success looks like in the position and the value it contributes to the goals of the company. Here are some hiring and on-boarding suggestions: · Hire slowly ­ never hire out of desperation or because the person is a friend or a friend of a friend. Be sure that you have a good fit for the job, the culture and the environment. Using employee assessments helps find a good job fit. · Before hiring make sure you have clearly stated in writing your expectations of the employee. Know in advance what defines success in the position, how long it will take to learn the job, how you will measure success in the position, how often you will meet to discuss their performance T and how you will help direct the success of the individual. Clarity and measurement of success is of utmost importance to full engagement. · When going through the on-boarding process, make sure the new employee has been introduced to the team leader as well as the other members of the team. Let the team know in advance about the new employee and how they can help to make that person comfortable during the onboarding process. These preliminary steps can make all the difference in employee engagement. Statistics have proven that the turnover cost of one employee is the equivalent of at least one-third of the employee's salary. This equates to $10,000 for a $30,000-a-year salary. Cost of turnover is high and can have a great impact on the bottom line. Turnover also has a great impact on the customers and suppliers of the company. In some industries, the customer will follow the employee rather than lose the relationship. Constant turnover can create a feeling of instability not only in customers but also in other employees. Nothing stabilizes your business more than fully engaged staff who stay and grow with your company. Submitted by Wendy Hue, PCC, CSP Partners in Progress www.partnersinprogress.ca 348 GUELPH STREET, GEORGETOWN Check out our flyer for more great deals! Riley McAneney Store Manager T H I S W E E K S F E AT U R E S Windshield Washer Fluid Biodegradable Garden Bags 348 GUELPH STREET, GEORGETOWN Hours: Mon. - Fri. 6:30 am - 8:00 pm, Sat. 7:00 am - 6:00 pm, Sun. 10:00 am - 6:00 pm TO OUR CUSTOMERS - The information in this ad reflects the information available during its conception. If, despite our vigilance, some errors occurred, a notice wil be printed in the store. 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