Best Buy, Blueshirtnation and CultureRX

The Minneapolis, St. Paul Business Journal ran a great article this past Friday on Best Buy’s employee social networking site blueshirtnation.com. It’s one more example of Best Buy’s visionary approach to HR. By using technology to creatively solve HR pain points Best Buy has become a thought leader in employee relations.

Another example of Best Buy’s forethought is its Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) experiment where employees set their own schedules and work where they want. That venture was successful enough to result in a spin-off – CultureRX.

Perhaps we’ll soon see a spin-off from the creators of blueshirtnation.com. At the very least, let Best Buy inspire you to create a new solution to solve a work environment pain point. Then rethink the out-of-organization potential your idea might hold.

Image credit: Ian Muttoo

Inspiration from a pencil and W.S. Merwin

Last night I came across the poem The Unwritten by W.S Merwin. I found the following lines inspirational. I hope you will too.

Inside this pencil
crouch words that have never been written
never been spoken
never been taught
they’re hiding

maybe there aren’t many
it could be that there’s only one word
and it’s all we need
it’s here in this pencil

every pencil in the world
is like this

You can read the poem in its entirety here.

Image credit: hownowdesign

Borders makes coupons easier

I'm an avid reader and not a big fan of Amazon (they're free shipping takes too long for me) so I buy most of my books from Borders and Barnes and Noble. Visiting the bookstore is also a much more pleasant experience for me than ordering on-line. There's something about grabbing a cup of coffee, browsing the titles and lounging around while deciding which to buy. However, I still want a good deal on the books I purchase so I have rewards card for both bookstore.

Each week I receive an email from Borders with that week's coupon. While I appreciate the weekly coupons I don't appreciate having to print them out. I've often wondered why Borders doesn't incorporate the coupon with its rewards card, it would be easier on the consumer (me) and less wasteful for the environment.

Borders still hasn't incorporated its coupons into its rewards card. But still, my paper coupon frustration came to an end this week. Earlier in the week when I clicked through Border's email message to me to print my weekly coupon I was given the option to receive future coupons via text message. I always have my phone with me so I jumped at the offer. I'm not sure how long Borders has been offering this feature as the company didn't have the foresight to proactively tell me about it. But I'm happy it's a feature nonetheless. And Borders should be happy too; it gave me an incentive to visit its store today and pick up a copy of The Omnivore's Dilemma. I showed the cashier my text message and viola I received 30 percent off my purchase. And now that the coupons are more convenient for me I'll probably be spending a little more time (and money) at Borders.

Stress, money and health problems abound

Stress, money and health problems abound in the US. The Gallup Organization and Healthways, Inc. released data today from a poll on health and happiness. The results (in my opinion) paint a depressing picture of Americans. Take these stats for instance:

• Almost 40 percent of those polled said they were significantly stressed the day before
• Two-thirds said they had at least one of a list of chronic health problems
  
• 28 percent said they were not well-rested
  
• A third said they worried about money the day before
• 30 percent said they had a lot of worries in general and
  
• 23 percent said they were in physical pain

What are the implications of a study like this? Perhaps drug companies will use the results as fodder to increase marketing budgets to better reach the hoards of stressed Americans. Or maybe the results point to why there has been such an increase in drug advertisements over the past five years.

According to an AHIP article The sponsors are hoping employers might use the information in support of bolstering social events for workers. It aligns with the finding that social time with friends and family is used as a buffer for stress. It also assumes that better social relationships in the workplace would help combat the stress born out of a bad workplace environment (one of the stress factors indicated in the study). Or is this the encouragement needed for the masses to adopt social networking. If an increase in friends and social activity correlates with a decrease in stress perhaps that’s the new message for conversing online and planning in-person meet-ups.

However you interpret the data, the important take-away is that the emotional wellbeing of Americans seems to be getting worse. Forty-seven percent of respondents identified themselves as struggling, up from thirty-seven percent in 2006, though that's to be expected in today's economic situation. Maybe we should release a Get Happier RFP, if that were the case what would your proposal include?

image credit: lindseyy

The Method Pop-up Retail Experience

I had my first pop-up retail experience this weekend courtesy of Method. It started with excitement as I thought perhaps the store was the newest fixture on Newbury Street. But upon entering, the salesperson who greeted me explained that the store would be gone April 28th. It was a temporary disappointment as I knew this would still mark an opportunity to stock up on my favorite cleaning supplies, and of course there were special offers to be had. It also presented an opportunity to experience pop-up retail first hand.

The store was beautiful, it was well thought out with lots of greenery, my favorite being a toilet bowl filled with daffodils and grass. There was a photo booth to add to the playful mood and the signage was a challenge to the city's residents - Detox Your Home Boston.

The products were displayed on clear shelving, by scent making it easy to pick up all the products in a single scent family and there were scent bottles to involve the senses even more. Jars of colorful gumballs helped tie the color pallet together and there were dog treats on hand for any four-legged visitors (as a dog owner I can tell you I'm much more loyal to brands that keep dog treats on hand). Reusable bags made of recycled plastic were given to shoppers to tote their purchases home in, helping to drive home the "green" message. My only complaint was that the full spectrum of products was not available, making it hard to take advantage of the 5 for 20 dollar special without purchasing duplicates.

If I was reader of the Method blog I would have benefited from knowing that I could bring in my chemical based cleaners and trade them in for Method cleaners. Though readers of the blog are probably already Method customers and might not have any chemical based cleaners in their homes, hmmm, perhaps the blog wasn't the best place for that message...And if I had mentioned "beantown is a green town" I would have received an extra 10 percent off my purchase. But I'm not a reader of the Method blog so I missed out on the incentives. I did visit the blog after visiting the pop-up store to learn more about their tour.

Boston was Method's first stop, NYC will be the next. I'd be curious to see how at the end of the travels pop-up retail helps Method to convert people to its biodegradable, earth friendly cleaners and what kind of ROI it produces, if one can be determined.

The Boston stop was maestroed perfectly. The store popped up on a high traffic (with equal parts local and visitor traffic) street around Earth Day. The message was succinct and the scents produced by the store were intoxicating. Staff was friendly and they were will trained in the message of the brand. As for myself, I now have enough All Surface Cleaner and Wood For Good Surface Cleaner to last a year. However, I'll need to make the trip to Target to pick up some more Wood For Good Floor Cleaner as that's the one thing I really needed.

Image taken from the Method Blog.