Ever wonder why paying to market just doesn’t do it? I thought this quote told the story. If you want to get their attention, every once in a while you have to surprise them.

I’m not talking about making your payroll go nuts, but I do advocate for really going for it every once in a while and surprising a superstar with excess. I’m talking about something huge. Sarah told me the story of a firm she used to work at and how they used to award cars to superstars. How cool is that?

Days Off are the New Short-Term Incentives

Sarah and I were sitting at Little Pete’s this morning, having breakfast in the booth next to the wealthiest man in Philadelphia. There’s really something great about that place. Over our eggs and coffee we were talking about communicating short-term incentives to Millennials. And Sarah said, “Days off are the new short-term incentives.”

Ain’t it the truth? How cool would it be to create a bonus system that rewarded your Gen Y and Millennials with what they value most — time off? Brilliant. I’d like to be the communicator of that plan.

Can a Fish Climb a Tree?

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
–Albert Einstein

My wife, Sheryl, sent this quote to me yesterday. I think it perfectly captures why performance reviews, by themselves, aren’t enough. Or even close to enough.

Performance reviews without a look at what people are good at, especially with Jack Welch’s world’s worst “10 percent of people won’t make it” system, is a little like judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree. I’m a big believer in “do what you love and success will follow.” You can argue with my logic, but go ahead and take on Einstein.

Business Slang: TLA – Three Letter Acronym

Young girls write TLA on folders and sneakers and backpacks. TLA, to them, mean true love always. Young businesswomen, and men, write TLAs in emails and PowerPoints and memos. But it’s not the same thing. In business slang, TLA means three-letter acronym. And businesses love their acronyms.

The OCE is Full of TLAs
TLAs, a branch of business slang, started in the office of the chief executive (OCE). We have the usual suspects – CEO, CFO, and CIO. We can get behind those. But if your company has a CRO (chief restructuring officer), watch out. If you CPB (conduct personal business) before COB (close of business) too much, it could be worse than a CLM (career limiting move). You may find yourself part of a RIF (reduction in force — and that means fired).

What’s a TLA for a TLA?
Just to add to the confusion, lots of TLAs contain numbers. B2B (business to business), B2C (business to consumer), E2E (eye to eye), F2F (face to face), A2O (apples to oranges), P2P (peer to peer), and V2V (voice to voice) are all TLAs. The standard ones don’t, e.g., PFP (pay for performance), LTI (long-term incentive), and L&D (learning and development). Once everything in a company becomes a TLA, then you’re in for it. Especially if you’re new.

Are TLAs SEP?
Employees often can’t remember what TLAs stand for. When it comes to key concepts, brevity is no match for clarity. Someone else’s problem (SEP)? Nope. BFO (blinding flash of the obvious) – LOK (lack of knowledge) is HR’s problem. My advice – CYA and PDF a dictionary of your company’s TLAs.

About Business Slang
Please send your HR and business slang suggestions to business [DOT] slang [AT] knowhr.com – we’ll feature some in an upcoming articles.

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