The Worst!!

Worst Employees of 2007. This year’s most awful employees… Use bad judgment A former Chicago television reporter was videotaped with her two young children, wearing a swimsuit at the home of a man whose estranged wife has been missing since April 2007. The reporter said she was on her way to the pool with her kids when she received a call from the missing woman’s sister to come to the home to discuss the case with her. Jog in the nude A Catholic priest in Colorado went jogging one morning before sunrise – naked. The priest said that he didn’t think anyone would be around so early in the morning, and that he sweats profusely if he wears clothes while running because he’s heavyset, according to police reports. The priest was placed on administrative leave. (Source: TheDenverChannel.com) Disobey orders A bakery employee in Canada resisted an order to stay home from work while he was sick with salmonella poisoning. He was required to stay home until his tests came back negative, but he never submitted samples for testing and returned to work without permission. He was fined $1,000 and there’s no evidence customers became ill as a result of his negligence. (Source: CanWest News Service) Get Physical “Cola wars get physical as Pepsi worker attacks Coke employee” Two employees from the rival companies got into a tiff over shelf space in the aisle of a Wal-Mart in Indiana. The Pepsi worker allegedly assaulted the Coca-Cola employee, hitting him in the face, giving him a black eye and breaking his nose. Police say the two were also accused of trying to run each other over with pallets full of soda bottles. Make Bad Decisions “Wienermobile gets cop roasted” When a 27-foot-long, 11-foot-tall vehicle – known to most as the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile – was slowing traffic in a construction zone in Arizona, an officer ran its “YUMMY” license plate to make sure it was street legal. A bad computer entry erroneously showed the Wienermobile as having stolen plates, forcing the officer to pull it over. After further investigation, the officer learned that the entry should have read that license plate had been stolen – but only if found on any vehicle that isn’t a giant hot dog.

The Flu or Not The Flu???

Nearly every adult in America has had a bout with the flu. And once you get knocked down by influenza, you're flat on your back. No single malady keeps more people out of work. Vaccines have progressed in flu prevention, but the closest we've seen to a cure is chicken soup and a hug. Next time you're in the midst of a self-diagnosis, wondering whether you should spend the day at work or with Oprah, consider the facts. How do you know it's the flu? The term flu is tossed around casually enough to confuse what actually qualifies as an influenza infection. There is no real stomach flu, for instance, and while the flu shares some symptoms with the common cold, they are very different viruses. Far more than a case of the sniffles, influenza typically comes on with a miserable mixture of fever, chills and body aches. The onset of a high temperature101 degrees to 102 degrees Fahrenheit in adults is sudden, and the patient can hardly bear to stand upright. Abdominal pain and nausea are less common, except in children, and everyone can expect a painfully pounding headache, especially after a coughing fit or in response to light. Other fun stuff includes pink eye and the requisite runny nose. The medical term for runny nose is rhinorrhea. Tell your boss you have a contagious case of rhinorrhea, and see how quickly that gets you a day pass. That's the flu. Once you know these symptoms, it's hard to miss. But if you're too groggy to diagnose yourself, call the office and tell them you're going to see a doctor. You may need a physician's note anyway, and a formal diagnosis removes any skepticism on the part of your employer. How the flu spreads Like all viruses, influenza needs a host in order to survive and multiply. The flu spreads from one person to another when tiny droplets of contaminated saliva are airborne by a cough or a sneeze. Hanging in the air, they find a new home when inhaled into an unsuspecting host. Flu virus can also survive for several hours on a surface—telephone handset, a copying machine, a doorknob, a screwdriver—before a host comes along, gets the virus on his or her hands and then internalizes the virus by touching the eyes, nose or mouth. The virus has a quick incubation period, and most people will fall ill within one to three days of becoming infected. In otherwise healthy adults, influenza lasts between seven and 14 days, with at least three days of severe symptoms. No-nonsense tips

• Finally, a few ideas you can use and share in the workplace to help stop the spread of flu germs or any other germs:
• If you know you're sick with the flu, stay home.
• Get a flu shot, which not only protects you but helps prevent contagion.
• Within a day of becoming ill, ask your doctor about antiviral medications, which can shorten the episode and contain the virus.
• Be especially cautious between late December and early March, the peak of flu season.
• Sneeze or cough into your elbow, not into your hands.
• Clean phones, doorknobs and desktops with alcohol swabs.
• Throw used tissues away!
• Wash your hands and face often with hot, soapy water.

In a bad flu season, 15 percent of the workforce may become sick, with average absences of two to three days per worker, plus another day or two at less-than-normal productivity. Whether battling lingering symptoms or in a medicated fog, employees on the mend simply can't operate to their potential.

One Task Too Many?

I don’t know about you, but for me the Holiday Season descends like a fog. Sometime mid-January, I wake up and realize that it’s finally OVER! We talk about to-do lists around here like they are the #1 reason for our existence but can you have one task too many??? I made a 16-hour trip over the holidays and that can give you lots of time to think (as long as the kids are asleep!). Sometimes, we stuff our day like it’s the Thanksgiving turkey. We plan too many things making it impossible to reach the end of the day and some sort of pride that we accomplished the things we set out to do. This Holiday Season, make time for YOU!! That’s right, reduce the list and you may just keep your sanity. Stick to the things that are important and move the less urgent things down the line. By organizing and planning ahead, you may just find that you enjoy the Season and all it offers. We are gearing up for the big rush in all of our offices so think of what I suggested and I hope it keeps you from too many frantic days. Have a great one! Yvonne

5 Tips for a GREAT Audit

5 Tips for a GREAT Audit

1.Audit Your Office!

2.Check Advance Customer Cards: Please fill out all of the blanks on their card, specify direct deposit (Every two Wks, Same or Opposite from our payday), Landlord's name and phone number, and please get all references with the relation to the customer and their phone numbers.

3. Title Customer Cards: Please fill out all of the blanks on their card. Make sure that all cards have their loan number, loan date, loan amount, landlord's name and number, have the customer sign the title card at the bottom to state who may pick their title and keys up, and fill out all references with their relation and phone numbers.

4. Make sure that you have all of your passwords under each keyboard in your office.

5. At the beginning of each week print out a detailed principal report and check to see if your Out for Repo Files and Customer Cards and also your Out for Auction Files and Customer Cards are filed in the correct spot and order.

The number one thing to help keep everything in order is to AUDIT your office . I must say that we really had some great audits this past week. We appreciate everyone's hard work to keep everything in order and running smoothly.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Comments

If you have not noticed you can leave comments under each blog. We would like to know what you think. Kim

10 Things You Should Never Do at Work

Mary Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com writer From the e-mails we “forget” to return to the voice mails we “never received,” telling little white lies has become a very real part of our workplace routine. For the most part, we get away with it. After all, we tell ourselves, who are we really hurting? Anything beyond the occasional fib, however, and the lines get blurred. To avoid a serious faux pas – and possible career sabotage – stay clear of the following 10 workplace sins: 1. Stealing Whether you think that the company “owes” you things like Post-its, pens and other office supplies, or you simply don’t think it’s a big deal, you should be sure about that in case your boss or co-worker catches you. Stealing can not only get you fired, it’s illegal. 2. Blaming someone else for your mistake It’s dishonest, childish and tacky. Very tacky. Sure, having to admit you made a mistake is embarrassing, but not nearly as embarrassing as it would be to have to admit you lied about it or tried to cover it up. 3. Spreading gossip Who knows why people get a certain high from hearing juicy gossip. Many of us are guilty of passing along at least a few rumors at times, but the more you can avoid doing so, the better off you will be. Try to avoid it. In addition, if you hear it, don’t repeat it. 4. Calling in sick when you are perfectly healthy … If you wake up and just cannot face the idea of going in to work, there’s no reason (unless this happens every day) you shouldn’t give yourself a vacation, personal or mental health day. Nevertheless, calling in sick is not only irresponsible and insensitive to the co-workers who have to cover for you, it could also be grounds for firing if you’re caught. 5. … Or showing up when you aren’t The admiration your co-workers show you for coming in to work despite having the flu will be short-lived: It won’t take long for those around you to tire of hearing hacking, sniffling and coughing coming from your desk, nor will they appreciate being exposed to your germs. 6. Abusing office technology This includes (but is not limited to): spending a significant amount of time on personal phone calls, e-mails or instant messages; using office time to type and print out the pieces of your screenplay; going online to catch up on last night’s episode of “My Life on the D List”; and using the office printer to make the invites to your holiday party. 7. Involving co-workers in your personal problems If problems at home are distracting you from doing your job, that’s one thing, which you should take up with the boss or human resources. But involving your co-workers in your personal problems is distracting and unprofessional. 8. Getting too comfortable Dressing professionally is just as important as behaving professionally in the workplace. No matter how long you’ve been with the company, how “cool” your boss is, how much sleep you got the night before, or how cold or hot it is outside, you should always maintain a clean, workplace-appropriate appearance. Even if you work in a relatively casual office, you should still make the effort to wear clean clothes and have well-groomed hair. A good rule of thumb is to never dress better than your boss, nor worse.

Just passing it along...

This is an article that Luke shared with us and we thought we would pass it along. Recovering From a Poor Performance Review Dos and Don'ts By Robert Half International You were anticipating a raise. Instead you got blindsided by a less-than-stellar performance review. Whether you expected one or not, a poor evaluation isn’t something you look forward to receiving. But what’s often more important than the news itself is how you react to it. Here are some dos and don’ts to keep in mind: Don’t get defensive. Upon receiving a negative evaluation, you may reject the possibility that you need improvement and try to justify your performance. While you should argue your case if you think the feedback was unwarranted, take a step back and look at the review objectively. Carefully consider your boss’s concerns and determine if they are justified. For example, you may think you should not be penalized for a project that exceeded budget guidelines because you did not formulate the original estimate. But, as the team leader, your boss likely views you as ultimately responsible for keeping costs in line. Do reassess. Also determine if the criticism is really as harsh as it seems. Even if you’re used to receiving flawless marks, an evaluation that contains a handful of suggestions for improvement may be par for the course for most employees in your organization. In addition, your boss may normally point out one or two areas of improvement for every employee — even the top performers — simply to help staff continue advancing their careers. Do improve communication. A negative review should never come as a surprise. If you were shocked by the feedback you received, you and your manager aren’t communicating as well as you should be. To improve things, request a regularly scheduled meeting with your boss. By keeping your supervisor apprised of what you’re working on, you’ll have the opportunity to receive feedback on your productivity and quality of work. You’ll also be able to discuss challenges and ways of overcoming them so your performance doesn’t suffer. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Most people will receive a poor performance review at least once in their career. What will set you apart is how you respond to the feedback you receive. It’s easy to brood and blame yourself. It’s much more difficult to own up to any failings and do what you can to address your weaknesses. Look at the review as a wake-up call: You’ve discovered that something is amiss, and now you have a chance to fix it. Do make a plan. An ideal means of addressing your boss’s concerns is to work with him or her to devise a plan for improvement. Set performance goals and a realistic time line for achieving them. If your manager would like to see you collaborate more effectively with other members of the team, the two of you may agree that you’ll complete a team-building seminar through a local professional association within the next three months. You might also request informal performance reviews with your supervisor after six months, for instance, so you can better track your progress. Above all, don’t let a poor review discourage you. In many cases, with the right attitude and approach, you can rebound and set yourself on a successful path. Consider how the following person dealt with a similar stumbling block: As a skinny, 5-foot-11-inch sophomore, he got cut from his high school’s varsity basketball team. Instead of throwing in the towel, he practiced even harder, played on the junior varsity team that season and attended basketball camps to further strengthen his skills. The following season, he made the varsity team and went on to play professional basketball. He may even be familiar to you. Does the name Michael Jordan ring a bell?

Trick or Treat!

"Batman & The Witch" - Austin & Emma kids of Brooke Ewing

"Hannah Montana" - Ashlan is the daughter of Bellena Criddle

"Happy the Clown" - Aubrey is the daughter of Bridget Adams

"Spiderman" - Drew is the son of Andy and April Moore

"Bumble Bee" - Hunter is the son of Michele Jackson

"Stinky the Skunk" - Drew is the daughter of Kim Wright

Christmas shopping safety tips

Ready to start shopping for everyone's Christmas gifts after Thanksgiving? If so, beware that robbers are going Christmas shopping too and they may have you on their Christmas list! According to FBI statistics, every 23 seconds there is a motor vehicle theft and every 59 seconds someone is robbed. Don't let yourself become a victim statistic! Here's some street savvy wisdom you can use to outsmart the bad guy and enjoy holiday shopping: 1. Make sure you shop with a partner; there's strength in numbers. 2. Park close to the store entrance in a well lit area. 3. If possible have an employee or security guard walk you out to your car. 4. Carry pepper spray and learn how to accurately spray it. 5. Always look under your car and in it for a hidden robber before getting in. 6. Carry credit cards, driver license and other valuables on you instead of in your purse. 7. To avoid injury from a purse snatcher, do not wrap the purse strap around your shoulder or neck. 8. Don't park by a van. If you come out and a van is parked next to you enter from the other side. 9. If you do get approached, throw your purse away from you to distract the robber and run. I am sure there are a lot more things you can do but these are just a few we came up with. Have fun Christmas shopping. There are only 7 weeks left!!!