ProblemSolver

Cheryl Lynn Dratler, executive vice president at Fort Myers-based Resource Innovations, answers:

Compensation and benefits are important to employees. So offering wages well below the market range may present a retention challenge. Paying fair compensation is important. However, having the highest wages isn't a guarantee that employees will stay, either.

Retention plans are as unique as the companies that develop them. Ask yourself: What is the makeup of your workforce? What are their values? Why have they stayed with your company this long?

Here are a few ideas to retain those valuable assets:

• Team building and management efforts to enhance cooperation and build strong relationships not only contribute to peak productivity and performance; they build employee commitment to the organization.
• Internal or outside training is often highly valued by employees.
• Genuine appreciation and recognition are often cited as very important. Communicate with employees regularly regarding their value to the company, and the tangible and intangible benefits of working there.
• A positive, safe and comfortable work environment can also contribute to retention.

Retaining talent involves an array of strategies that build loyalty and longevity. These are just a few outside of compensation that can be considered as part of an overall plan.

Resource Innovations specializes in employee relations and human resources, operations support, supervisory training, employee development and international outplacement. Dratler can be reached at (239) 936-3903.

Q: What is a brand worth and where do you find it on a balance sheet?

William Ernest Waites, president of the Advertising Federation of Southwest Florida, answers:

In figuring the value of top corporations, primary attention is paid

to balance sheets and income statements. These tend to focus on cash,

accounts payable and receivable, and tangible property. Yet one of the most

valuable things many companies own is their brand, or brands.

Sometimes referred to as goodwill, a strong brand is much more than goodwill. It is an accumulation of perceptions about your products or services that leads customers and prospects to trust them and to prefer what you offer to competitors' products and services.

Ed Ney, former chairman of Young & Rubicam, one of the world's largest advertising and marketing agencies, once told me that, for most companies, the value of their brand franchises far exceeds the value of their other assets.

Brands are built by investing in positive customer experiences, product quality and astute marketing. Part of the return on that investment materializes in day-to-day sales. An even larger part accrues in business yet to be booked. It has value. It is the value of your brand. Continue to nurture and build it. And factor it into the value you place on your company.

Waites can be reached at (239) 482-7025 or sanibelart@earthlink.net.

Q: I often hear about workers getting in trouble for using e-mail improperly. Some end up in court and even in jail. How can I protect myself?

Jim Jacoby, an independent consultant who teaches at Florida Gulf Coast University and Edison Community College, answers:

The number-one rule: E-mail is not private. Nothing's private on the Internet or your local intranet, as glitches often cause messages to go awry. Instead, send confidential information by hardcopy in a sealed envelope.

Here are some other tips:

Never send an inappropriate message. Among the no-nos: jokes or stories involving such topics as religion, color, sex, race, heritage and politics. Many employees have been fired for such actions. In fact, should someone-either an employee or outside guest-see something inappropriate on your computer screen, you and your firm could be sued.

Realize that a message too compact may not be understood. Sometimes in our haste to get out a message we may word it just like a telegram. If it's too short or ambiguous, your reader may not get the message you intended. Assume the role of your reader; then check your message by reading it aloud (or silently mouth the words) to see that it's complete and makes sense.

Don't spread rumors. Even worse than verbal comments, the paper trail that e-mail leaves could land you in court, or even jail. Offended employees have struck back at perpetrators and walked off with hefty settlements.

Understand that e-mail messages can be discoverable. If your firm ever gets involved in a court case, not only are your file cabinets fair game for the opposing legal staff; your hard drive is also open to their review. Delete non-essential files weekly.

Be aware that trashed e-mail isn't really deleted. Modern computer technology can recover those documents.

Be aware that your e-mail may be monitored. Many firms today have software that monitors employee e-mail either continuously or intermittently. By treating others as you'd like to be treated, you should never run into a problem with e-mail.

And finally, never send any e-mail that you wouldn't want to see on the front page of the newspaper!

Jacoby has more than 35 years of experience in writing, editing, publications management, consulting and teaching. He's president of Estero-based Management Communications Consultants and teaches more than 50 writing seminars annually.