Lori Reed | A Passion for Learning

A Day in the Life With Lori Reed – Wednesday

7:00am

My husband is taking a furlough day today so I sleep an extra hour since he will drop both kids off at their school. Almost out the door when the 2-year-old begins her screaming fit of “Mommy don’t go.” Today it’s harder than normal because I have been so busy this week and have not had much time for family. It’s a sad fact of juggling work, school, and other activities that some weeks family gets less time.

8:00am

Out the door and try to maximize my commute time by making some phone calls to wrap up loose work projects. Sometimes the phone is much more efficient than email. Check my Blackberry for email at red lights on the way to work. A member of the HR Department is out today so I will need to fill in at new employee orientation. Make mental plans to rearrange my schedule.

8:30am

Quick check of email then time to prepare documents for a meeting.

9:30am

Attend a meeting with the senior managers over library experiences (public service). Give an update on our learning curriculum. Present plans for self-paced training to begin in April and live, online training to begin in October. Feel satisfied with the work I put into the business case. Calculated the number of training sessions attended by our staff last year and multiplied that by average travel time to and from training and then multiplied by average hourly wage. Even moving half of that training online yields a substantial savings in lost time for travel and more importantly saves lost opportunity — time staff could spend on something productive.

10:30am

My presentation is over. Back to my office to look over materials for orientation. Need to see who is registered, print out a roster, and review slide deck. Receive confirmation for two more training rooms. So close to being done. I also need to update attendance records for previous day’s training session. Reschedule meetings planned for the afternoon. Respond to several emails regarding Learning Round Table board stuff.

1:00pm

Did not allow myself enough time for a decent lunch. Fast food drive thru and then off to orientation.

1:30pm

Arrive early enough to make sure room is set up and chat with orientation team. Talk to a fellow team member about plans to convert orientation to an online format.

2:00pm

Orientation begins. Hiring freeze has recently lifted so small group but so happy to have them. I always learn something at orientation and this time I learn some library history that I did not know. I give a short presentation on library policy, procedures, benefits, ALA Code of Ethics, and staff development opportunities.

4:00pm

Orientation is over. Help pack up and visit for a few minutes with branch staff.

4:30pm

Off to pick up my son from school. Today is wear your favorite jersey day and there are lots of Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers jerseys. The first words out of his mouth are, “Mommy do you feel better today?” He is the sweetest kid in the world. He remembers that I’ve had a headache every night since Sunday. I lie and say that I do. On the drive home I wonder what he will be when he grows up. I’ve never met a person with a bigger heart except maybe one person. Part of me thinks he might want to be a teacher.

5:30pm

Home. Husband had furlough day and caught up on sleep so the house is still a mess. These days I don’t really care as long as everyone is healthy and happy. He takes our son to pick up our daughter and to buy groceries. I have about an hour of quiet time to myself so I…get online and work on my blog post for ALA Learning.

7:00pm

Kids are home. Husband cooks dinner. We watch some cartoons and relax on the couch with the kids fighting over who will sit in my lap.

8:00pm

Kids and husband go to bed. I am back on the computer to finish my blog post, write this blog post, and work on assignments for school.

10:00pm

I go to bed on time for the first time this week!

Learning from Corporate America: Zappos will pay you to quit

I once worked in a call center where we went through a week of training. On the last day of training we were put on the phones to take customer calls. I knew after about day 2 of training that this was not for me, but I needed a job. I needed to pay my rent that month. After a few weeks when I finally quit, the supervisor begged me to stay. About to be the busiest time of year in retail, they were desperate for bodies–anybody to take customer orders.

Looking back I wonder why a company would want someone to sell their product who does not want to be there. How enthusiastic is that person going to be? How much is that employee going to go out of his way to make the business shine?

Tonight I discovered a company that is at the polar opposite. Zappos will pay you to leave if you don’t want to be there. Talk about engaged employees and customer service.

[Zappos] is a company that’s bursting with personality, to the point where a huge number of its 1,600 employees are power users of Twitter so that their friends, colleagues, and customers know what they’re up to at any moment in time. But here’s what’s really interesting. It’s a hard job, answering phones and talking to customers for hours at a time. So when Zappos hires new employees, it provides a four-week training period that immerses them in the company’s strategy, culture, and obsession with customers. People get paid their full salary during this period.

After a week or so in this immersive experience, though, it’s time for what Zappos calls “The Offer.” The fast-growing company, which works hard to recruit people to join, says to its newest employees: “If you quit today, we will pay you for the amount of time you’ve worked, plus we will offer you a $1,000 bonus.” Zappos actually bribes its new employees to quit!

Read the full Harvard Business Review post by Bill Taylor

The comments for this post are fascinating too. Ever wonder why a library should have a Twitter account? Read on…

The Twitter effect makes me feel like I am buying from friends, not a big company. I follow Zappos folks from both the Vegas and Kentucky facilities and with each Tweet, not only am I entertained, but I also become a more loyal customer and most importantly, an advocate.

- Posted by Judy C
May 19, 2008 4:47 PM

Granted libraries are already running on tight budgets so we can’t pay people to leave, but what can we learn from Zappos?