Monday, April 19, 2010

Love and Business

As women will do, I was chatting with a friend about well, yes, relationships. We were talking about people marrying up or down. My friend recalled a conversation she had with her bright, successful niece about her engagement to a man that was quite frankly a total loser. The bride-to-be beamed when she spoke of how her loser fiancĂ© made her feel special and loved like never before. The wise aunt asked her “Tell me what you love about him?” Again the bride rallied on about his understanding of her personality, his patience with her, how he adores and accepts everything about her. She had never felt so confident about herself in a relationship or even in general. She owed it all to him. Asked again, “But really, what do you love about HIM?”  The young woman cocked her head and said “I don’t get what you mean?” Yikes. Fast-forward three years, and predictably the niece had taken her now self-confident self on the road and left the loser, telling her friends that she realized she never really loved him. Double yikes. Aunt: 2 points!

So what does this have to do with business? Plenty. The employer/employee relationship is very similar to a marriage. If an employee judges their marriage with your company only by what they get from the relationship, it won’t last. However if an employee loves being a part of the company, feels pride in how the company operates, can point to specific examples of the company doing the right thing, acting with integrity and charity in the community, respecting all employees, and making smart decisions, the employee will stay with you through thick and thin.

These are the businesses that when a company-wide pay cut is needed, employees don’t gripe or curse; they work harder to save the company they love. How do you know which type of company you are?

Ask yourself:
Do departing employees typically leave for higher paying companies?
Are company parties, special occasions poorly attended?
Employees would prefer to not wear logo attire?
There are many long time employees?

Your answers should give you some insight into how lovable your company is. Surprisingly it has very little to do with compensation and more to do with integrity, smart management and caring about your staff.

My advice: People need to know that they a part of something bigger and better than themselves. Be a good company and communicate the how and why to your employees and your community. Make employees feel proud of their association with your company.

If you work for a company you love, tell us why. Maybe an employer will learn something.

Mary

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

We Make "Forever Families", Guest Blogger Jim Scherrer, CEO Child and Family Services

I’m honored to be Mary’s guest blogger this week…. Glad she is home in the “Rogers Spa,” and best wishes for a speedy recovery. Maybe if I do a good job, she will promote me to guest hosting the show someday!

We at Child and Family Services are fortunate to have Mary’s commitment, expertise, not to mention sense of humor on our Board of Directors, as well as Marigold’s and Mary in the Morning’s partnership on our 9th Annual Festival of Tables, set for Friday and Saturday, May 14 and 15, 2010, at The Hagerty Center.

The Festival of Tables celebrates good food, good company, and the art of entertaining at home. It includes dozens of exquisitely designed dining tables—all to inspire but some to be taken home with lucky raffle winners! You will also have an opportunity to win one of five fantasy raffle packages such as “”Room Re-Do” or “A Year of Fine Dining,” each with a value of at least $2,000! And the Festival of Tables will host one of the best silent auctions you’ll see anywhere. Back this year for the Friday Night Gala will be the popular “(Not) Just for Men” Tent, with all sorts of great fun for the fellas, and those who love them. And Saturday will be the traditional Ladies’ Luncheon with all the fun, friendship, and creativity you’ve come to expect. Visit www.festivaloftables.org for all the details.

The Festival of Tables is a great event for a great cause—that cause being our foster care, adoption, counseling, and advocacy programs for children and families throughout Northwestern Michigan. We’ve been at this work since 1937—quite a long, home-grown history.

As I thought about what to write about here, one of our staff members perceptively noted that most often we celebrate the adoptions that take place at Child and Family Services, the creation of new “forever families.” We don’t give as much time or attention to those biological families whose children are placed in foster care because they have not been able to keep home safe. We forget that foster care is a means to an end, that the reunification of families is its main goal. And we have been seeing enough reunifications of families that it seemed, in this spring season, worthy of celebration. I’d like to tell you a couple of stories that illustrate this success.

“Nicole” is a single mom of three children, Adam, 5 years old, Sierra, 3, and the 18 month-old boy, Andrew. Nicole had become pregnant with Adam as a junior in high school, and now at the age of 24 she looked 10 years older, probably mostly due to the alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine she abused. She was living with a man who was not the father of her children and who was physically abusive toward her and them. As a result of his traumatized family life her older son had severe anger and anxiety issues.

The children were placed in foster care when it became clear that Nicole was about to become homeless. The foster family with whom the children were placed were very seasoned, having been foster parents for more than 15 years. Dave and Karen spent a good deal of time with Nicole, talking with her about effective parenting techniques and using love and reasoning to deal with behaviors. She began to say things like “I cannot accept the words you are using” to Adam when he cursed at her, or used loving touch, held him close and stroked his hair and back when he threw tantrums. At the same time, Nicole made the personal decision to fight to get her children back. She took advantage of the community resources available to her to get off drugs and alcohol. She kept up her appointments, left her abusive companion, and found temporary shelter for herself while she looked for a home. In short, she did what the court required of her. At her three-month court review, she had met all her goals. At her 6-month review, her workers were so impressed with her that they recommended unsupervised visits. It has been nearly a year since Nicole’s children were in foster care, and while we don’t always know exactly what happens after children leave us, I’d guess the family is probably still doing pretty well.

A trend in the past year or two is that of relative placements—licensing grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other kin to foster children within an extended family. This process helps maintain family ties and builds on family strengths in the best interests of the children. After a young mom died of an accidental drug overdose, her husband was so distraught he was unable to adequately care for their children James, 15, Jesse, 12, and Joshua, 9. He began drinking heavily and lost his job after several warnings about tardiness and other issues. His late wife’s parents, as grief-stricken as they too were, were up to the task of caring for their grandchildren while their son-in-law worked to confront and overcome these terrible life challenges. They became licensed foster parents and the children lived with them for nearly a year while dad got the counseling and support he needed to parent well again.

It is this work that your support of the Festival of Tables helps make possible. Not only will you be lending a hand to children and families as they heal and grow, you will have a blast. We promise! Buy your tickets at www.festivaloftables.com. For more about Child and Family Services visit www.cfsnwmi.org.

Thanks, Mary, for giving me this forum to share a little bit about Child and Family Services with your readers and fans!

Jim Scherrer, M.A.
CEO Child and Family Services
3785 Veterans Drive
Traverse City, MI 49684
231.946.8975

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Your Mary in the Morning Internship Experience

What do you do when you need more staff and the budget master says "No!". You hire interns!!!  If you need college credit, or you are "available for new opportunities", this may be just the way to spend your summer, gaining valuable work experience, references and contacts. You do not need to be interested in a radio career to benefit from the Mary in the Morning Internship Experience. You will be using skills in marketing, research, social media, promotion, entertainment and more. You will also have more fun than any intern deserves, but we can't help that!


Join the Mary in the Morning Show as an unpaid intern.
The Official Mary in the Morning Internship Experience 
Spring/Summer 2010


Title:
Mary in the Morning Intern

Location: Traverse City, MI

Job Description: Intern will support Host and Producer of Mary in the Morning.  We are currently offering a unique and exciting internship with Northern Broadcast, including 1067YOU-FM, Marigold and Mary in the Morning.

Approx 25-30 hours per week with some flexibility.


Roles and Responsibilities: Intern will assist in day-to-day activities of creating the Mary in the Morning show with heavy emphasis on show prep including guest/topic research, developing local contacts, and social media.  The vast majority of your duties will be hands on, seat of your pants Mary in the Morning show creation providing support for all behind-the-scenes elements including promotions and programming. During the live show, you will be greeting show guests, making them comfortable, assisting chefs with their gear, getting coffee, pulling audio from internet sources, and generally working in fabulously orchestrated chaos.Yes, you may find yourself ON-THE-AIR, but your primary role will be behind the scenes.

Requirements:
•    Must be computer literate and internet savvy
•    Internships are available to non-students looking for work experience
•    First consideration is given to college students seeking an academic internship for receiving academic credit - it is the applicant's responsibility to set up the internship with the school
•    You must be 18 years of age or older
•    We specialize in lifestyle issues of women age 30-55. Interns must relate to this market segment
•    Must be available in-studio 6AM to 9AM Mon-Fri. for 90 day internship. Interns are invited to, but not required to work off-site events.

How to get this position:
Send an e-mail to Mary@GoMarigold.com including a message of WHY you want to join our team, what you bring to the table and when you can start. Also include a link to a you tube video or article that you think would make a great topic for a segment of the show. Include your resume and contact info!