Saturdays at Finnegan’s are memorable for any kid, but we try to make memories. How do we do that? By hosting Saturday Play Days!

Most Saturdays, from 11-4 or thereabouts, kids ages 3 and up can partake in any manner of activities, depending on the day. (Tomorrow, for instance, we’ll have an obstacle course—with prizes at the end, for those who don’t believe that the journey is the goal…) 

We like the kids to have a takeaway of some sort; if not an actual project they made, then some sort of souvenir to remember us by. 

It’s a great way for parents to pass the time, too, since Finnegan’s offers fun at any age.

One Saturday we made the village that graces our southern-most window on 9th Avenue. Check it out if you’re around downtown. There’s an observatory, a food cart (mais bien sur!), a movie theater—or maybe it’s a video store? 

Make a Finnegan’s contribution to your child’s memory-bank. And as for you, it’s never too late to have a happy childhood. (Tom Robbins said that.)

Love,

-F

New hires come and go. But they don’t have to. Retain new hires longer.

The technical sector has the highest turnover rates. That’s a fact.

For hiring managers, that means more time spent looking for, training, and onboarding new talent. If you onboard better, you’ll onboard less frequently. Unless, of course, you’re growing the company such that you’re always hiring. That’s a different problem. A good problem.

Either way, you want your tech hires to stay. So why are they leaving? The number one reason is the inability to thrive: not feeling connected to the company/culture and/or the department/team.

Whether at the office or working from home, connection is key. Start before day one. Send the paperwork prior to onboarding and get that out of the way. That’s not what we mean by onboarding. That’s just paperwork.

How would you treat a well-known speaker coming in to meet with your staff? How would you treat, say, Sir Paul McCartney? How would you want to be treated on your first day? They aren’t called “talent” for nothing, so let’s give new hires rock star treatment.

Get Eddy

Better onboarding starts before onboarding begins.

Corporate culture. Define it, know it, embody it. It’s not just an idea or words on a page; it must live and breathe through its staff. If an engineer can work anywhere, what makes staying worthwhile? A company’s culture and the ability to thrive within it. And that starts at the top. The culture lives through its personal connections. New hires need the connection to their team, their managers, and hopefully to the mission put forth by upper management. How we communicate with our staff is as important as how we communicate with our customers, whether business-to-business or end users—or the Internet/public at large. Establish a culture and then truly live it.

The common wisdom is that ladder-climbing requires moving from job to job. So, how can employers make the day-to-day work experience above average? What’s in the commissary?

Would a ping pong table make all the difference? How about the lighting? Has anyone thought to consider the ideal work environment might include ambience?

Incentive packages are great too. Have the long-term roadmap in place if you want long-term hires.

We all know the key to marketing is finding and creating new customers. Once that time and money has been spent, you want to keep them. Think of new hires the same way.

Start with eddy.