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Cheesecake is kicking you know what and taking names!!

sterlingsmith — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:31:35 +0000

Cheesecake 1Q 2012 Earnings Release

Interview Cheat Sheet

sterlingsmith — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:51:40 +0000

Interview Cheat Sheet

By Carole Martin, Monster Contributing Writer

Relax — a cheat sheet is not really cheating. It’s a checklist to make sure you stay focused before, during and after the interview. Creating a cheat sheet will help you feel more prepared and confident. You shouldn’t memorize what’s on the sheet or check it off during the interview. You should use your cheat sheet to remind you of key facts. Here are some suggestions for what you should include on it.

In the Days Before the Interview

Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper. On the left side, make a bulleted list of what the employer is looking for based on the job posting. On the right side, make a bulleted list of the qualities you possess that fit those requirements.

Research the company, industry and the competition.

Prepare your 60-second personal statement.

Write at least five success stories to answer behavioral interview questions (“Tell me about a time when…” or “Give me an example of a time…”).

List five questions to ask the interviewer about the job, the company and the industry.

Research salaries to determine your worth.

Determine your salary needs based on your living expenses.

Get permission from your references to use their names.

Prepare Your Interview Answers

Be ready to answer common interview questions such as these:

Tell me about yourself.

Why did you leave your last position, or why are you leaving your current position?

What do you know about this company?

What are your goals?

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Why do you want to work here?

What has been your most significant achievement?

How would your last boss and colleagues describe you?

Why should we hire you?

What are your salary expectations?

Before You Go to the Interview

Do you look professional? Check yourself in the mirror; part of your confidence will come from looking good.

Carry these items to the interview:

Several copies of your resume on quality paper.

A copy of your references.

A pad of paper on which to take notes, though notes are optional.

Directions to the interview site.

Upon Arrival

Arrive early — enter the building 10 minutes before your appointment.

Review your prepared stories and answers.

Go to the restroom and check your appearance one last time.

Announce yourself to the receptionist in a professional manner.

Stand and greet your interviewer with a hearty — not bone-crushing — handshake.

Smile and maintain eye contact.

During the Interview

Try to focus on the points you have prepared without sounding rehearsed or stiff.

Relax and enjoy the conversation.

Learn what you can about the company.

Ask questions and listen; read between the lines.

At the conclusion, thank the interviewer, and determine the next steps.

Ask for the interviewer’s business card so you can send a follow-up letter.

After the Interview

As soon as possible, write down what you are thinking and feeling.

Later in the day, review what you wrote and assess how you did.

Write an interview thank-you letter, reminding the interviewer of your qualities.

10 employee types that drive managers crazy

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:13:46 +0000

By Steve Tobak

(MoneyWatch) COMMENTARY I’ve had employees I wanted to strangle. I’ve also had CEOs who wanted to strangle me. I don’t blame them. I can be pretty annoying at times. But overall, the pluses usually outweighed the minuses so no crimes were committed and everyone lived to work another day.

That said, some employees are such royal pains in the you-know-what, such impediments to getting things done, that you really start to question why you hired them in the first place.

When one well-known high-tech CEO was fed up with one of his people, he’d picture the guy’s compensation on his forehead and think, “is he worth it?” If the answer was “no,” the guy was gone. Really.

Now, executives and managers can and will overlook all sorts of weird and quirky behavior as long as the job gets done. But certain types of employees can’t seem to stop themselves from creating more problems than they solve. For them, the dollar amount on their foreheads just isn’t worth it.

I don’t generally like stereotypes but I’m going to make an exception for these 10 behavioral types that drive bosses nuts because, well, they really do it to themselves:

I’m important. Takes himself too seriously. Anytime you need something, he has to check his schedule or who-knows-what and get back to you. Or he has all sorts of questions and concerns, every little bit of minutiae he can think of just to sound important. It’s so annoying that, after a while, you just go somewhere else.

The persistent negatron. Some people are all about why things can’t be done or shouldn’t be done a certain way. They’ve always got reasons why something is wrong but never any good suggestions on how to do it differently or better. They’re always trying to stir up trouble or a debate over nothing. Those people just suck the energy out of organizations.

Surprise! In preparation for an IPO due diligence meeting with all the bankers, I needed some critical revenue forecast data. I gave someone plenty of time — two weeks — to accomplish this important assignment. The day of the meeting, the pressure’s on, and he sends me the data with a bunch of stuff missing. When I tracked him down, all he had were excuses. What a mess. I didn’t fire him but I probably should have.

“Trust me.” I don’t know why, but when an employee I don’t know well enough to actually trust says “trust me” it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. If I trust you, you don’t have to say it. If I don’t yet, you have to earn it. Saying it just makes me think of all the reasons why I don’t or shouldn’t.

Mr. Know-it-all. People who think they know it all are annoying to those of us who do. Old joke. But seriously, the most accomplished executives are always aware of how little they know; that asking questions is far more important than knowing answers. That just comes from experience. So when the “smartest guy in the room” acts like he has all the answers and we know he doesn’t, he loses credibility. Not a good thing.

The brick wall. I don’t know why, but some people are so stubborn, so inflexible, if they don’t do things exactly a certain way — their way — you’d think the whole world is going to fall apart. It gets to the point where they’re actually intimidating to work with, so you just give up. Maybe that’s the point.

High maintenance, high anxiety. It’s one thing when you’re new to a job and need some handholding to get going. I’m actually a bit of a slow starter myself. But some employees stay that way. They have zero self-confidence, are full of angst, and need to be told exactly what to do and how to do it and confirm every little thing with you for fear they might actually get it wrong and be held accountable. It’s sad, but it’s also a real problem.

The filibusterer. It’s easy to spot these people in meetings. They’re the ones who always have to know why we have to do it this way or that way and why not the other way. They’re really just wasting everyone’s time to hear the sound of their own voice — or so they don’t have to actually do any work.

In everybody’s business. Everywhere I’ve ever worked there’s been an employee who’s got to be involved in everything. Outwardly, they appear helpful and eager to assist. They want to help everybody do everything. Everything except actual work, that is. After a while you realize it’s all just distraction, to feel important, or stay entertained while getting absolutely nothing done.

“It’s the principle.” Whenever someone says, “It’s the principle” at work, I get nervous. I’m not talking about real ethical dilemmas or anything illegal. I’m talking about subjective stuff, like “I don’t understand why John gets all the accolades and promotions instead of me. It wouldn’t bother me, but it’s the principle…” That’s just code for someone who feels entitled to something they apparently didn’t earn.

So, what type of coworker or employee drives you nuts?

Why women executives are good for the bottom line

Kevin Kalstad — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:29:24 +0000

The business case for gender-balanced leadership

For some 20 years, companies have been running women’s leadership development programs a lot like sensitivity seminars, to develop awareness in both women and men that business women are, well, “different” and to help women understand how best to integrate into the existing business culture.

The good news is that these efforts, combined with education and encouragement, have helped put women on 15% of the boards of the Fortune 500. More good news is that studies show that companies with about 30% gender diversity on their boards actually outperform those with no women by a wide margin measured through multiple metrics (e.g., an 84% return on sales).

The bad news is that 15% is paltry for the Fortune 500, and it looks like midcap firms’ leadership teams may be even less gender diverse. Worse news is that progress is slowing at exactly the time we need women’s strong leadership skills in upper management more than ever; and women — especially young, highly educated women — are bailing out of the system. They’re not all leaving the workforce to have babies either — many of the best and brightest are going to start entrepreneurial ventures.

This puts business leaders interested in recruiting and developing the next generation of leadership in quite a bind. On the one hand, we have an economy — in need of powerful up-and-comers — struggling to right itself into productivity, ethics, sustainability and profitability. On the other hand, we have an up-and-coming, educated, appropriately skilled resource in plentiful supply (representing over half the workforce) who is choosing to opt out of the system.

You see the danger ahead, don’t you? We’ve identified talent pool key to our economic success who’s not making it into leadership positions where they can deploy that positive impact, and thus our leadership class is becoming systematically weakened at the very time we most need to strengthen it.

This isn’t new news — the seminal research on this subject was published by McKinsey in 2007 — but discussion and action on this subject in the U.S. is far behind Europe and even developing nations. Are we asleep at the switch? As importantly, why are so many women taking the path of least resistance?

As many women entrepreneurs tell me, “Why should I put up with a culture that doesn’t meet my needs and let me shine? I know I’m good. I’ll go make money for myself.” And then — thanks to the Internet — they do, along with many creative-thinking, industrious young men. When I talk to women both in and outside corporations about why they have left, or are tempted to leave, corporate culture is most frequently cited as the barrier to bringing more women into leadership.

Corporate attempts to support “women’s leadership programs” are often seen as a burden — another job on top of the one they already have and the family they value. But as importantly, many women’s development programs are viewed as attempts to “fix them,” which leads many to conclude they’re just round pegs being stuffed into square holes and might as well leave, taking their talent and potential with them.

It’s easy for a corporation to throw up its (metaphorical) hands and say, “It’s our culture, we can’t change,” but I submit that there’s simply too much at stake now not to change. And this change isn’t only for social justice reasons – there are hard metrics to motivate it too. Change isn’t hard when you understand what you have to lose and what you have to gain. After all, what would your financials look like with an 84% increase in return on sales or a 46% increase in return on equity?

I believe, after scanning almost 100 research studies on the subject, that by bringing more women into leadership, their mere presence in balanced numbers (i.e., 30% or more), with men will strengthen the capabilities of any organization’s leadership culture. This phenomenon, The Woman Effect, has already been validated through the research above and has the power to revitalize our economic engines to spur yet another wave of phenomenal growth.

However, to activate The Woman Effect in our economy, we’ve got to do it in our companies; and to activate it in our companies, we’ve got to stop running sensitivity seminars to adapt the women to the existing culture. We’ve got to take on the challenge of systemically adapting our culture to bring out the strengths of both female and male leaders, working together. This is a core strategic investment in profitability and sustainability, even more strategic than implementing a new ERP system.

The good news is that many of the same change management practices we use to implement technology can help us adjust to gender-partnered leadership. My colleagues and I will be running some change management pilot programs to do this and I’ll report back here. Go ahead and get started. You won’t be alone!

By Dana Theus on April 9th, 2012

10 employee types that drive managers crazy

Krista M. — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:10:20 +0000

By Steve Tobak

That said, some employees are such royal pains in the you-know-what, such impediments to getting things done, that you really start to question why you hired them in the first place.

I don’t generally like stereotypes but I’m going to make an exception for these 10 behavioral types that drive bosses nuts because, well, they really do it to themselves:

So, what type of coworker or employee drives you nuts?

Talent, Passion, and the Creativity Maze

Kevin Kalstad — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:22:40 +0000

We live in a world mad for talent. From Hollywood and sports to executive search firms and HR departments around the globe, everyone seeks that special mix of natural abilities and attitudes that will make performance pop. A few months ago, Douglas Conant wrote a terrific blog post on how to find talented candidates for a job. When evaluating a potential hire, Conant looks for a strong mix of three qualities — competence, character, and skill as a team player. He gives great advice on how to find such a person. But he’s missing a crucial ingredient.

That ingredient, at least as important as the talent package described by Conant, is passion for the work — what psychologists call intrinsic motivation. Without it, no amount of talent will yield great performance. For 35 years, we have been exploring how motivation affects creativity. In studies involving groups as diverse as children, college students, professional artists, and knowledge workers, we have found that people are more creative when they are more strongly intrinsically motivated — driven by interest, enjoyment, satisfaction, and a sense of personal challenge in the work they are doing.

Arthur Schawlow, a Nobel laureate in physics, said it eloquently: “The labor of love aspect is important. The successful scientists often are not the most talented, but the ones who are just impelled by curiosity. They’ve got to know what the answer is.”

Intrinsically motivated people are more creative because they engage more deeply with the work. Imagine a task you have to do — say, an important marketing problem you have to solve at work — as a maze you need to get through. Most business problems have multiple solutions that would work, multiple exits from that maze. Often, there is one clear, straight path out of the maze — the standard solution that everyone uses for this type of problem. If you’re extrinsically motivated, perhaps by a looming deadline or fear of a negative evaluation, you’re likely to take that safe path. The solution works, but it’s boring; it doesn’t move things forward. But if you’re intrinsically motivated, you love the hunt through the maze for a more interesting — and likely more creative — solution.

As a manager, you can leverage the link between passion and creativity by following three guidelines:

First, hire for passion as much as for talent. If you don’t look for passion in the people you hire, you could end up with employees who never engage deeply enough to dazzle you with their creative productivity. As Conant advises, get to know potential hires for important positions as thoroughly as possible, long before you might have an opening for them. When you talk to them, ask why they do what they do, what disappointments they’ve had, what their dream job would be. Look for fire in their eyes as they talk about the work itself, and listen for a deep desire to do something that hasn’t been done before. When you talk to their references, watch for mentions of passion.

Second, nourish that passion. Unfortunately, standard management approaches often (unwittingly) end up dousing passion and killing creativity. But keeping it alive isn’t rocket science. We have found that the single most important thing you can do to fuel intrinsic motivation is to support people’s progress in the work that they are so passionate about. This is the progress principle, and it applies even to the seemingly minor small wins that can lead to great breakthroughs. You can use the progress principle by understanding what progress and setbacks your people are experiencing day by day, getting at the root causes, and doing whatever you can to remove the inhibitors and enhance the catalysts to progress.

For example, be vigilant about whether your creative professionals have sufficient resources to make progress without a constant struggle. Give them autonomy in how to achieve a project’s goals, because there’s no point in hiring people with great talent if you don’t let them use it. And support them in learning from both successes and failures, because talent is not a fixed quantity; it can and should grow over time. Give talented people every opportunity to develop, keeping in mind the “10,000 hour rule” cited by Malcolm Gladwell: You can’t become expert enough to create an innovative breakthrough in a field unless you have put in at least 10,000 hours of practice. That kind of persistence is fueled by passion.

Finally, look to yourself. If you don’t have passion for your own work, you’ll end up disappointing both yourself and those who count on you. And you’re unlikely to develop your own best talents. One of us, Steve, is an avid photographer of landscapes. An important mentor, the photographer Craig Tanner, has taught both of us a great deal about the connection between passion and the development of talent. In a brilliant essay on “The Myth of Talent,” Craig says: “Long-term, focused, practice powered by the energy of passion [...] leads to amazing transformations. The bumbling beginner becomes the exalted expert. The trapped and depressed become the liberated and empowered.”

Ask yourself: Am I liberated and empowered by passion in my work? Are the people around me?

12:25 PM Monday February 27, 2012

Harvard Business Review Press
by Teresa Amabile and Steve Kramer

The Interview. Are You Presently Prepared To Get The Job?

Robert Krzak — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:08:55 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from an excited restaurant manager who wrote he had finally got his first 3 interviews following a 6 month drought. We had been corresponding about his struggles to appeal to the restaurant recruiters. After a few e-mails and some simple advice on how to enhance his presence, he began working on this tirelessly. As a result, the candidate got the interviews. Two weeks later he followed up to tell me that he didn’t get either job. I asked him where he felt things went awry? He said he felt like the interviews went well but wasn’t sure where he went wrong.

The next day I attended a human resource conference and took a number of notes of the keynote speakers suggestions geared toward client and company sales calls and tailored them to hiring managers and interviews. All things considered, in every interview you are tasked with selling yourself to the hiring manager for the purpose of landing the job. The best way to do so would be to prepare, prepare, prepare. I walked my candidate through the following interview prep exercise and asked what percentage of these things he did prior to the interview, his answer…ONE !!! Walk yourself through this list and figure out what number you do before interviewing with a company.

1. Did you checked out the web site belonging to the company and familiarize yourself with their restaurant, menu, culture, values, locations, etc.

2. Did you “Google” the company for recent news, press releases, as well as other applicable news about their concept?.

3. Did you obtain the name of the recruiter or hiring manager you were planning to interview with?

4. Did you try and search the recruiter on LinkedIn and see if you have any connections exactly the same? In that case, did you contact them to be able to learn more about the restaurant recruiter and possibly have them call to provide you with recommendation?

5. Did you Google the restaurant recruiter to see if there has been anything significant written by them or about them?

6. Did you study the job requirement to make sure you were set to explain your experience and how it was relevant to each required and desired skill?

7. Did you check out their company LinkedIn page and study their stats, demographics, employee’s etc.

8. Did you review your resume?

9. Did you prepare questions to ask the recruiter during the interview? Many interviewers use your questions as a way of understanding your fact finding skills first hand.

10. Did you inquire if their may be time for Q & A at the end of the interview or would they prefer that you ask questions while you think of them?

11. Did you bring a note pad to write down the questions or thoughts throughout the interview?

12. And most importantly, did you make an effort to close the recruiter to get a decision.? Did you emphasize to the recruiter that you wanted the job?

These are just some of the ways to help prepare for your following interview. The thing is, individuals who tend not to prepare for interviews are likely to miss out to those who do.

NRA Forecast: Recruiting to get tougher

Kevin Kalstad — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:58:27 +0000

U.S. restaurant operators say recruitment and retention of employees will be more challenging this year now that the economy and job growth are improving, according to new findings from the National Restaurant Association. The data, part of the association’s 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast, determined that 32 percent of fine-dining and quick-service operators and 27 percent of family-dining, casual-dining and fast-casual operators agree that employee recruiting and retention will be more challenging this year than it was in 2011. “We don’t expect national employment to fully recover until 2014, but restaurant operators should still think ahead and place their labor needs before market conditions tighten over the next years,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the NRA’s Research & Knowledge Group. “Right now the potential labor pool is still larger than it was during prerecession times. With millions still looking for work, operators can more easily recruit workers now rather than when they are faced with a shallower labor pool downstream.” The report further found that total restaurant and foodservice employment is expected to grow 11 percent over the next 10 years, while the number of 16- to 24-year-olds in the labor force will advance just 6 percent. It also indicated that the employment participation rate among adults aged 55 and older would continue to grow.

To obtain a copy of the 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast

Clean it Up: How to Fix Your Online Image

Wendy Gawlik — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:55:31 +0000

Sometimes our lives become so hectic that we don’t think before we make our next move, especially when it comes to the Internet. However, in one swift movement, our online image can be tarnished just by a few posts. What’s worse, it takes longer to win back the trust of your followers or even gain the confidence of a recruiter or hiring manger than it does to tear it down.

So, take some time to clean up your online image, even if you believe it’s spotless. Here’s how to get started:

Revamp every profile. Over the years, we tend to disregard certain profiles and give more attention to others. However, it’s important to keep a clean track record with all platforms, not just your favorites. Update your LinkedIn profile with your current work status, make your Twitter bio reflect your interests and industry, and list your experiences on Facebook.

Moreover, it’s important to get rid of the junk that has accumulated on your profiles. For example, if there are some questionable photos from your college days, get rid of them. Even though they may not be permanently deleted from the Web, at least they will be out of plain view.

Lastly, if you don’t use a particular profile anymore or you have a new blog, get rid of the old versions. It doesn’t exactly bode well for you if a hiring manager or recruiter finds dated material that’s not even updated. In this case, the “delete” button is your best friend.

Make some profiles private. Your privacy settings are important, especially when it comes to popular platforms like Facebook. Don’t be one of “those” people and leave it up to chance. Those who really want to find you will find a way, and they will judge you based on the content they see, even if it’s not by you or years old. However, if you don’t like the idea of ironclad privacy settings, at least hide things like your personal information, friends, images or videos. This will limit cases on mistaken identity and won’t put the spotlight on your private life.

Conversely, sites like Twitter and LinkedIn should remain open and updated often. Why? These types of social networking sites can bridge the gap between your personal and professional life if done correctly. They can be a huge asset to you, especially during the job hunt.

Stay away from bad influencers. It’s terrible to make assumptions about someone based on who they know. Unfortunately, that’s how it goes sometimes. However, knowing this information should help you make decisions, particularly regarding whom you follow and interact with. Just like good influencers can help you on your path to thought leadership and enhancing your personal brand, bad influencers can do just the opposite for your image. Be careful when networking with questionable characters, especially if your platforms are public. No matter how innocent you may seem, you can always be guilty by association.

How else can you clean up your image?

A Change of Seasons Brings Optimism Back to the Restaurant Industry

Robert Krzak — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:52:19 +0000

Looking back at 2011, and looking forward into 2012, there exists improving signs of economic activity both coming from the consumer, as well as in the boiler rooms of several restaurant companies. Many of these restaurant companies have experienced a surge of sales picking up in the beginning of January, and anticipate that carrying through Q1 into Q2. There seems to be some marked improvement at the executive level which has resulted in additional levels of opportunities opening up, and should result in additional movement throughout the industry. Having recently attended a national restaurant recruiting conference, the buzz was both hopeful and encouraging, as many presentations demonstrated a mood of optimism and growth.

The mood of 2011 started out in similar fashion only to have several unprecedented events take place throughout the entire year that sent things into a challenging pattern for employment and search activity. We had the Japanese earthquake in March together with the run up of oil topping $115 a barrel. Then there was the Arab democratic uprising in the Middle East that put a damper on things, followed during the summer by our Government’s debt ceiling issue. The headlines continued throughout fall of 2011, which were all about the EU debt problems and held the bulls captive much into the holiday season.

Statistically speaking, the probability for such events recurring are remote, and there should be the groundwork for things to continue improving throughout the first half of 2012. On the M&A front, there has also been several notable acquisitions created in 2011 within the restaurant industry which should create new opportunities in 2012. These changes have led to a fair amount of leadership turnover and should result in growth opportunities throughout the rest of this year.