“Stocks buckled Thursday under the growing belief that the global economy is weaker…the Dow Jones industrials briefly traded below 10,000 for the first time in three months.”

Granted, it all sounds very scary and dramatic but what does it mean?

The Dow Jones is an economic indicator.  A fairly complex index of 30 publicly traded companies based in the U.S. that measures their trades in the stock market during a single session.  Self explanatory right?

As business owners, it’s not the value of this economic indicator that is so important but the cause of the over all change.  It’s sometimes hard to read between the lines of these financial reports but that is exactly what needs to happen in order to judge the effects this may have on our business and view that information objectively.

The report continues as follows:

“A flood of bad news, including rising debt levels in European nations and an unexpected jump in the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits, had investors pulling money out of assets like stocks and commodities that look increasingly risky. Fears of more disappointing news Friday, when the government issues its January employment report, contributed to the slide.”

While the Dow is based on U.S. companies, it is known to be influenced by foreign politics and events which accounts for the mention of European debt, but as business owners, our focus should lay on the second subject of unemployment.  We’ve all seen the reports about the decrease in new jobs and the increase in unemployment. This has an adverse effect on our current economy, but what does it mean for our businesses?

It means that the market is inundated with skilled and experienced people eager to put their best attributes to work for your business.  We all know the difficulties that come with hiring the right people to work in our business and yet, even in these times when companies are receiving hundreds of applications for a single open position, they’re still finding it hard to find the right people. 

As business owners, we need to take advantage of this unique climate to better ourselves and our position in this market.  Many times we find ourselves so wrapped up in day to day operations that it’s hard to step back and take an objective look at our business to see how we can make it more efficient and profitable.  Right now I think one of the most effective things we can do is to develop the policies and procedures of our human resources to maximize the efficiency of our workforce. 

Often times wages are a companies largest expense.  What are you doing in order to get the most from your employees?

Credit for the quotes and information go to Associated Press Business and Yahoo Finance.

That is the thinking of many business owners, small or large, but it seems that along with the times changing so are the minds of business executives.  An article over at Mashable.com called, Execs and Social Media: Why they Love It, Why They Fear It, examines a recent survey that shows that even though many executives still have concerns about its usefulness, the majority are embracing this new marketing medium.

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Out of 438 management, marketing and human resources executives polled, 81% saw social media as being useful for both brand-building and enhancing customer or client relationships. Just under 70% see it as a valuable recruitment tool, 64% think social media is useful for customer service, and a lower sampling at 46% saw it as improving employee morale.

Asked how they actually used social media in the workplace, respondents listed brand-building as their top goal (82%), followed by networking (60%), and a long tail of other reasons including customer service, sharing project information, monitoring their competitors, prospecting for sales, research, and other.

Yet many executives still appear to have concerns about using social media in the workplace. Of those in the survey who reported not using social media, over one half listed the reason as not knowing enough about it.

Read the entire article at Mashable.com