Comments for VendingMarketWatch Blog

Comment on Leo Fante Of Consumer’s Choice Coffee Sets Unique Customer Satisfaction Benchmark At Coffee Summit by Barry Gellman

Barry Gellman — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:23:24 +0000

I thought Leo’s presentation was the high point of a great event . In this doom and gloom atmosphere we are all struggling in today Mr Fante’s presentation energized me and reminded me of what it was like doing this 20 years ago . I’m grateful to Leo for sharing so generously.

Comment on Technology gives a way to fix blind vending programs and a new business opportunity by Howard Rubin

Howard Rubin — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:30:28 +0000

Great article. First Vending uses a revenue tracking system for its bulk machines called SmartMech (www.smartmech.com). The system is 99% accurate and I saw my sales increase close to 15% the first year I installed. The system allows total transperancy, even the customer has access to the online system to view their sales so they know what their check will be each month. SmartMech removes all doubt regarding how much operators pay their accounts. I would love to talk to the California state official mentioned in the opening sentance as I am sure I can increase his revenue by at least 10%. I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you further about SmartMech.

Comment on Dollar coin is a losing battle by Positive Invoice Finance

Positive Invoice Finance — Sat, 16 May 2009 08:13:50 +0000

hey ,

awesome article

Comment on Dollar coin is a losing battle by douglas

douglas — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 16:19:25 +0000

the treasury should have made a 5$ coin instead.

in flation has erodied since 1979 the 1$coin therefore a 5 dollar coin would be more practical and would have been better used by us.

Comment on Dollar coin is a losing battle by Fred Shester

Fred Shester — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:36:35 +0000

The $600 Million dollar figure is not the cost of printing the dollar bills. This was explained in the GAO report printed many years ago and it seems that nobody who argues against the dollar coin has ever read this report. The treasury must borrow money to issue dollar notes (”bills”) and they do not borrow to issue dollar coins. Minting dollar coins makes a profit. Read the report: http://www.gao.gov/archive/2000/gg00111r.pdf

Comment on Wall Street Journal says “…performance reviews destroy morale, kill teamwork and hurt the bottom line…”. by Yancey at You can learn basic employee rights

Yancey at You can learn basic employee rights — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 23:57:41 +0000

The article makes an excellent point about the incompetence of an employee performance review solving the issues of improving the workplace skills of employees. What is also omits is the assumption that managers and supervisors have been competently and adequately trained in how to conduct performance reviews in the first place.

In my 10 plus years as a mediator of employment issues, I have found that companies typically get themselves in legal hot water in conducting performance reviews by not doing these things:

(1)Proper evaluation of whom they promote to management or supervisory positions including Human Resources.

These involve things such as psychological profiles, interpersonal skills testing, etc. I have found this to be particularly true when promotion occurs from within the organization. The “good ole buddy” system of a manager getting promoted and then with the help of HR gets a subordinate promoted to his/her former position.

I have not done a statistical breakdown of percentages but far more often than not, the individual promoted is not qualified to function in a management capacity.

(2)Specific training that involves all aspects of the employment experience. Inconsistent enforcement by a supervisor of state and federal guidelines always spells trouble. I have seen in my own employment experience and mediated cases where the manager was ignorant, biased or incapable of discerning what their management decisions were setting in motion. Until it was too late of course!

I have experienced and mediated issues when supervisors during performance reviews play amateur psychologists, amateur ADA(Americans with Disabilities Act) specialists,
amateur discrimination experts, etc. One other monumental mistake companies make through ill trained managers is this, assuming the subordinate is ignorant
of his/her employee rights!

However, in my opinion the issue isn’t the employee or the manager/supervisor. The bottom line is the quality or lack thereof in the top management/ownership of the organization and the credibility of its Human Resources.

I have witnessed over the years how HR departments work in collusion with supervisors and managers and progressively work the company into a minefield of
litigation especially when performance reviews are used as weapons for discrimination. A fresh perspective called “performance preview” would deal with the why of an employee objectives not being met.

However, until an overhaul of the system from that perspective takes place, employees should always seek to educate themselves about how the employee performance review process works or more importantly doesn’t work.

Comment on Retail Forecast: Self-Service Will Be Hot, Hot, Hot! by Mo Sikich

Mo Sikich — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:55:43 +0000

Biscomerica’s new Sunmaid Trail Mix cookie is the best new cookie I have tasted in a long while.

Comment on To Ms. Marianne Hind, Ann Michaels and Assoc. re: comment on performance management by Dave McCaffrey

Dave McCaffrey — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:40:00 +0000

Dear PaidToShop: I think what I am suggesting is the employer of those employees noted for performance issues by a shopper only know the issue happened, not WHY the employee did not perform as hoped for (or trained) by the company.

Same might be said of your shoppers? Some do very well, and some not so well. More than likely you know which group is which, but do you know WHY they were not equal to the task? They all went through the same hiring/enrollment process, right?

How come “some do….but others (larger %?) don’t”.

It may have to do with job fit, which is a combination of learning skill, behavioral traits, and interest levels of the individual, and how they match those successful in the job.

Comment on To Ms. Marianne Hind, Ann Michaels and Assoc. re: comment on performance management by Paid To Shop

Paid To Shop — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 17:57:42 +0000

Totally agree that mysteryshoppers are there only to provide objective overview of performance.
There is however, some degree of possibility of finding out “why” if the parameters of the mysteryshop are wide enough.
Mysteryshoppers report what the company ask for.
If the company does not ask for the “why” it will not be noted by the mysteryshopper.

Paid To Shop http://paidtoshop.zoxic.com

Comment on Are Performance Reviews an endangered species? (Chapter II) by Marianne Hynd, Ann Michaels & Associates

Marianne Hynd, Ann Michaels & Associates — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:37:50 +0000

Employee performance management is an important step, as mentioned in this article, for many reasons. In addition to the performance management successfully used by best in class companies, many turn to objective measures of employee performance as well, including mystery shopping programs. Used correctly and positively, this type of program can measure employee performance on an ongoing basis, allowing managers to provide feedback and additional training where needed as issues arise versus waiting for a performance review.

In my experience, many companies use mystery shopping programs for ongoing monitoring, feedback for performance reviews, and bonuses or incentives.

I look forward to next quarter’s discussion of the connection between productivity, turnover, and job match.