By Karen Axelton

Harvard Business Review posted a thought-provoking look at the future of work that has some key implications for how you manage your employees.

The recession has accelerated changes that were already happening in the work force, writes Tammy Erickson. It’s worth reading all of them, but if I were to boil the 5 trends Erickson pinpoints down to one word, I’d call it “detachment.” Employees are less and less confident that employers will provide benefits, stability, a regular paycheck or all of the things that used to be part of the deal. As a result, they’re giving less and less of themselves to the job.

Some aspects of detachment are good – like what Erickson calls “adult arrangements.” Simply put, this means treating employees like adults, such as letting them choose their own benefits or hours from a menu of flextime options. At some point in the future, she suggests, we might even give employees the freedom to set their own pay levels or take responsibility for their own performance reviews.

But others are bad—like the fact that increasingly, you’re competing with a host of other priorities for your staff’s “discretionary energy.” Already, Erickson says, holding multiple jobs or starting a side business is starting to become the norm—driven in part by the current trend toward employers cutting back hours to save money. Employees who are being told to only work 4 days a week naturally start to assess their work in a “by the hour” fashion, unwilling to give more hours than necessary to the job.

As employees start to become clock-watchers, you’ll struggle harder to engage them. But engage them you must. “More and more of the work in today’s economy cannot be done rotely — success requires a spark of extra effort, creativity, collaboration, and innovation,” Erickson writes. Ironically, removing employees’ incentives to spend their discretionary energy on you could sap their innovation just at the time when you need it most.

What are you competing with to get your employees’ discretionary energy?

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There are days when running your business might seem like an Olympic challenge in itself. On those days, think of Ruben Gonzalez–who’s running a business while competing in the 2010 Vancouver games. Guest blogger Charlotte Jensen talked to Gonzalez (shown at right) about his strategies for excelling in both arenas.

By Charlotte Jensen

When high-speed slider and four-time Olympian Ruben Gonzalez is not competing at the Olympics or training for them, he’s running through airports and building his professional speaking business, OlympicMotivation.com. “In my life, I never know where I will be in two weeks,” says the Houston entrepreneur, who has authored two books and is working on his third.

In fact, this grueling schedule of travel, flying and losing sleep has actually rendered an unexpected payoff for Gonzalez: “[It’s been] training my body and mind to be able to handle what’s happening this week.”

The previous few days had been tough ones for Gonzalez and his fellow luge competitors, as he told me by phone the afternoon following the opening ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Since his arrival on February 9, he’d been averaging only four hours of sleep per night. Then, opening day of the luge track in Whistler had been marred by the tragic death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili.

“We’re a tight-knit group,” Gonzalez said to me just hours before a new briefing on track safety and his first two runs in competition. “We have to figure out a way to deal with it quickly.”

Keeping your business on track while training and competing in the Olympics may sound like a remarkable feat, but the balancing act doesn’t faze Gonzalez, who is representing his native Argentina at the games. “It’s a lot like at home,” he says. “I’ve created a lifestyle that allows me to do this.”

So in between all the Olympic excitement, tragedy and responsibilities, Gonzalez, who has no employees, still must find time to schedule upcoming speeches, make changes to his Web site, blog, write articles and try to garner as much media as possible. The media spotlight has been particularly intense following the accident. And at the end of a long day, it’s back to the hotel to work on the sled, removing nicks and polishing it up with diamond paste to reduce friction.

During the first few days spent training in Whistler, Gonzalez devoted 30 percent of his time to his business, which has a client base of Fortune 100 companies such as Chevron, Dell, Exxon and Xerox. Following his final run nearly two weeks ago (and the day after our phone call), he expected to increase that to 50 percent.

Mobile tech allows him to work pretty much when and where he likes—even when he’s not at the Olympics. “I don’t work 9 to 5,” says Gonzalez, 47, who started his business in 2002. “It’s all piecemeal.” Back home, a usual work day comprises four or five 90-minute intervals. “So here at the Olympics, I’m doing the same thing.”

Gonzalez’s dedication to his company means that in between training runs he was lining up a few speeches back in the U.S. for the week between his final run (where he finished last) and the closing ceremony. Those speeches now behind him, he’s flying back to Vancouver tomorrow to take part in the festivities. Following that, it’s five more speeches in as many different cities.

His family joined him in Whistler to offer support. And despite all the traveling for his business and sport, his flexible hours and home office allow him to spend a lot of quality time with his kids, who are home schooled. “I’m weaning them to be entrepreneurs,” he says. “We’re a different breed.”

Charlotte Jensen, an internationally published journalist, has been writing and editing for more than 14 years. Previously executive editor of a national consumer magazine, she specializes in business topics.

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By Karen Axelton

Every day my son’s elementary school has a schoolwide assembly to start the day. At the assembly, students repeat the “Gator Goals” (the school mascot is an alligator). I’ve heard 500 kids yell the Gator Goals at the top of their lungs most weekday mornings for the past two years, but only recently did it dawn on me that they are also excellent goals for how you should run your business.

G = Go the extra mile. If your customer service doesn’t already go the extra mile, you need to start doing so.

A = Act responsibly. Everyone in your business needs to take responsibility for their actions rather than pointing fingers or shifting responsibility onto someone else with “That’s not my job.”

T = Think before you act. Yes, as small-business owners we’re often in a hurry, but actions have consequences. Whether it’s dealing with an employee who’s screwed up, signing a contract or launching a new product line, take time to think it through.

O = Offer respect. If you want to get respect from your employees–or you want them to treat the customer with respect–you need to offer them respect as well. It’s the foundation for your business.

R = Respond like a leader. Your employees look to you to set the tone. But in the best businesses, they, too, will respond like leaders if you’ve given them respect and empowered them to act responsibly.

S = Serve and contribute. Everyone on your team should be working for a greater goal–serving the whole (not just their own advancement) and contributing to the success of the business. Beyond that, for your business to succeed, it must  serve the customers and contribute something of value to the world.

Put these goals into action for yourself and your team, and your business can’t help but get good grades–er, make the grade.

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By Maria Valdez Haubrich

Today, the world’s most recognized online trust mark, VeriSign, announced an extension of its authentication and verification services. “We recognize what small businesses want is to establish credibility,” explained Fran Rosch, senior vice president of authentication for VeriSign.  For Web sites that outsource their shopping cart or payment functions to third-party providers or for information-only Web sites, the new VeriSign Trust™ Seal will bring the same image of confidence and trust to customers that the long-established VeriSign Secured® Seal does. The VeriSign Trust Seal pairs the familiar VeriSign checkmark circle with the words “VeriSign Trusted,” enabling Web sites of any size to capitalize on displaying the  highly-recognized and respected brand seen on well-established Web sites. For a small company, a reputation of trust can increase traffic and secure customer loyalty.

Available next week for Web sites in North America, the VeriSign Trust Seal costs $299 for a one-year license. Here’s what you get for your money:

• Authentication: Validates that a Web site represents an actual business and is not a scam.

• Daily malware scan: VeriSign will scan your site daily for signs of hackers trying to inject malicious code on your site. The VeriSign Trust Seal tells visitors they don’t have to worry about picking up a virus when visiting your site.

• Seal-in-search results. VeriSign will partner with shopping search engines such as TheFind, which will display the VeriSign Trust Seal in the search results reassuring customers your site is a trusted site.

For more information on the VeriSign Trust Seal go to www.verisign.com/trust-seal/index.html.

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By Rieva Lesonsky

If a million entrepreneurs around the world grew their companies to $1 million in sales, it would add up to a global GDP of $1 trillion, and up to 10 million new jobs. So contends Sramana Mitra writing on Forbes.com about her new project, the 1M/1M Ambassadors.

Mitra, a technology entrepreneur and strategist who has founded three companies, came to this conclusion after observing hundreds of businesses. “The most vulnerable phase in an entrepreneur’s life is the pre-$1 million revenue stage,” Mitra explains. “Once the $1 million revenue milestone is crossed, it’s easier for entrepreneurs to find additional customers, manage working capital and access funding.”

Mitra believes her goal can be accomplished through education, and is using her blog, books and roundtables to develop an entrepreneurial education system that entrepreneurs worldwide can access. The goal of her 1M/1M Ambasssadors—a core group of entrepreneurs who are supporting her efforts—is to share the best practices of Silicon Valley with entrepreneurs to help them grow.

I love Mitra’s approach to her goal. While she admits it would be easy to ask for government help or funding, she’s not doing so. Instead, she’s creating a community of business owners to help other business owners grow their companies. “Make no mistake,” she writes, “an entrepreneurship movement is ultimately going to be taken forward by entrepreneurs.”

Are you interested in moving it forward? Find out more about 1M/1M Ambassadors.

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