Thank you to the Associated Press for reminding me (and hopefully millions of other US consumers) to re-register on the nation’s Do Not Call list.

Established in 2003, this service prohibits telemarketers from calling numbers on the list. Excluded are chartitable, research and political organizations, as well as those institutions (banks, etc.) with which you have an existing relationship. Administered by the Federal Trade Commission, Do Not Call has registered over 149 million phone numbers to date.

So here’s the kicker… you must re-register every five years or you will once again become fodder for telemarketing firms. This means that in 2008, over 52 million phone numbers will open up. Some members of Congress think this is an absurd notion and are pondering legislation to remove this restriction, but in the meantime, go to the URL today and plug in up to three numbers a shot. If done today, you’d be protected until September 21, 2012. I for one could use another five years of uninterrupted dinners.

Let’s keep the conversation going.

This was my initial question several months ago when a good friend suggested that I establish a MySpace account. I truly hesitated.

As a 36 year old so-called “professional”, I somehow thought that MySpace was reserved for the wanderlust of youth, that I was perhaps a generation too late to fit in with the millions of college and high school students who measured success by the number of friends and comments received on their creatively assembled profile pages. What would my clients think if they saw pictures of me online? Would they look at my profile and extrapolate some fundamental character flaw that would forever preclude me from ongoing consideration? When Googling me, would this page come up and its pure existence be enough to cause them to pause and pass judgment?

Here’s the reality after I decided that experimentation was the best means of assessing the outcome:

a) I have found that every possible geography, demographic, and personality has some form of representation within MySpace.
b) Within my profile, I posed a relatively high level question on today’s workplace and asked people to drop me a note with their thoughts. I have subsequently heard from over 100 individuals across 14 countries, providing a very interesting series of sound bites from a wide variety of perspectives.
c) It’s very easy for your blip on the radar of comedians and musicians to immediately grow. These two groups have really capitalized on what MySpace can offer their careers.
d) Like all online forums, spam still rains down. I’d like to suggest that the spammers get a little more creative with their outreach since their approach is so painfully obvious.
e) I was wrong to be concerned about my client’s reaction. Most of them think it’s pretty interesting and some have said they may even consider giving it a shot.

So in conclusion, MySpace is for adults….and grandparents….and doctors….and kids….and perhaps even you. Sometimes it just takes a little leap of faith to find out the truth.

Let’s keep the conversation going.

When most employees initially enter into flexibile work arrangements with their employers, both parties express concerns about communication, connectivity, trust, and loyalty. A recent study by the Kenexa Research Institute (KRI) shows that perhaps some of these concerns are unfounded.

Over 10,000 employees were surveyed to compile these findings, which dispel many barriers to employer adoption of telework. Namely:

KRI examined the impact of an employee’s office location on their pride in the organization, confidence in its future, willingness to recommend their organization as a place to work and overall satisfaction. Employees who work remotely or from their homes outscored those who work within the bricks and mortar on each of these key indicators. In addition, employees who work remotely or from home are more likely to say they intend to stay with their organization.

KRI found that men are more likely to work from home than women, with the typical teleworker between 36 and 45 years of age. It appears that morale, fair treatment, a sense of trust and well-being all contribute to this increase in loyalty. Said Jack Wiley, Executive Director of KRI, about the findings:

“”It is clear that with the increase in available technology, a noteworthy number of U.S. workers are telecommuting. Not only are those who telecommute more engaged than those who work in an office, they are much more likely to rate both their senior managers and their immediate managers more favorably. Managers who allow and support telecommuting enjoy a boost in employee appreciation and are seen as notably more employee-centric and competent. This represents yet another weapon in the war for talent.”

And with competition for talent increasing, employers will need to add telework to their arsenal. A recent Inflexion client expressed how telework will allow them to seek the best and brightest in their area of expertise, anywhere in the world. However, telework is not for everyone and employers and employees alike need to properly equip themselves for all considerations to ensure that the loyalty described above is, in fact, achieved.

Let’s keep the conversation going.