Facts for the Classroom

Assembled by Betty ScottTexas FBLA State Adviser

Applicants with professional

appearances were offered up to 20%

higher salaries than others with identical

résumés but less professional appearances.

Farleigh-Dickinson study

To burn off one plain M&M candy, you need to walk the full length of

a football field!

A positive attitude increases life expectancy - with lower death rates over a 30-year period.

Each evening list 3 positive things that happened

Avoid negative self-talk Identify school/work aspects that are

fulfilling Admire your work and accomplishments Surround yourself with positivity. Focus on what you control; forget what you

can't

After one of my students acted

up, I took him to our school

psychiatrist, who asked if he had ADHD. “No,”

said the boy, “I just have

normal TV.”

Joy has been working as a temp in an office since her predecessor

retired. When she began to file invoices, she was confused to find that the M section was

almost fullwhile the other sections

were practically empty. After checking, she realized that the

last person had filed all the invoices under “Mr.” or “Mrs.”!

What Does It Cost?Nearly 40% of large businesses in the US now have paid staff whose sole purpose is to monitor employee electronic communication for compliance with company rules. Nearly 43% have conducted investigations of violations of company digital policies. And nearly a third (31%) have fired employees for violating those policies.

The average worker today

stays at each of his or her job for

4.4 years.

Attitude and GratitudeA 2005 survey estimated the majority of employees spend over 10 hours a month complaining or listening to others' complaints. One third of employees spend 20 hours or more a month complaining or listening to complaints.

If a group includes more women, its collective

intelligence rises.

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Customers who receive positive and upbeat service after waiting

estimate their wait time to be shorter thanthose who didn't.

Employees displaying positive attitudes earned

greater tip wages than those who didn't.

Managers spend a total of 37-41 days a year correcting and

managing underperformance. The same study found that it takes an

average of 8 months of training for employees to fully reach expected

performance standards.

Customers spent 27% more when purchasing from employees in uniforms in comparison with

purchasing from salespeople who were not wearing uniforms.

A Sun Microsystems study found that employees who received mentoring had a 72% retention rate compared with 49% for those who didn't.

The average teenage texter sends more

than 3, 500 texts per month, or 116 per

day, 7 days a week. If only 1 minute texts, that would be about

2 hours each day.

Texters are four times more likely to disobey traffic lights, jaywalk or fail to look

both ways before crossing the street.

They also take longer to cross the street

than others.

A 2011 study showed 53% of prospective employers

checked applicant social media profiles before hiring. Checks revealed that 1/3 of applicants misrepresented

their backgrounds.

SecurityGlass

Ad

"They told me at the blood bank this might happen."

"This is one of the seven habits of highly effective people!"

"I was testing the keyboard for drool resistance""Boy, that cold medicine I took last night just won't

wear off!""I wasn't sleeping. I was trying to pick up my

contact lens without using my hands."And the best thing to say if you get caught sleeping

at your desk: "Amen."

What to say if caught sleeping at your desk:

ZZ

ZZZ

Red White TaxedA visitor from Holland was chatting with his American friend and jokingly explaining about the red, white and blue in the Netherlands flag."Our flag symbolizes our taxes," he said. "We get red when we talk about them, white when we get our tax bill, and blue after we pay them.""The same with us," the American said, "only we see stars, too."

What Does It Cost?

According to a study by the Illinois Retailing Merchants Association, 38% of retailers' product losses or "shrinkage" is attributable to employee theft. That translates into price increases of $400-$600 per consumer household each year.

Coke Classics

• The Coca-Cola company made enough novelty items in 1913 to supply everyone who’d ever lived in the U.S. since 1650

• During WW II, Coke was deemed an essential morale booster and exempted from sugar rationing

• Coca-Cola is reputedly the second-best-known word on the planet, after okay

A Kronos study of over 450 businesses showed that the total cost of all forms of absence, including tardiness, amounts to about 36% of payroll expenses. That's over a third of payroll being used to compensate employees who are not working at the expense of those who are.

A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.

Mahatma Gandhi

Totally Wrong Predictions• I have travelled the length and breadth of this country

and talked with the best people, and I assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year. - Editor over business books, Prentice Hall, 1957.

• I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. - Thomas J. Watson, 1943, Chairman of the Board of IBM.

• We don't need you. You haven't got through college yet. - Hewlett-Packard's rejection of Steve Jobs, who went on to found Apple Computers.

• 640K ought to be enough for anybody. - Bill Gates, 1981.

Employers who worked to create a positive workplace culture experience a turnover of only 11%, significantly less than the national average of 38%.American Psychological Association

The average checking account has 30 possible fees!

Women are the sole or primary earners in four out of every 10

American households

with children under the age

18.