Posted on: Sunday, January 13, 2008
If New Year's resolution doesn't pan out, there's always next year
Compiled by John MacIntyre
Percentage of people who achieve half or fewer of their resolutions, according to a poll conducted by DecideBetter: 76
Percentage of respondents who make at least some of the same resolutions every year: 86
Percentage of the respondents who stated that they expect to achieve all of their resolutions this year: 50
IS IT CHILLY IN HERE?
Percentage of women who report that they control the home thermostat, according to a survey conducted by OpinionZone for MARC USA: 70
Percentage of men who say they are in charge: 56
Percentage of respondents who say they and their spouse/partner differ on a comfortable home temperature: 67
MORE REASONS TO QUIT
Estimated annual economic burden of smoking, in excess medical expenses, per smoking employee, according to a report from the National Business Group on Health: $1,623
Estimated additional cost in health-related productivity losses per smoking employee: $1,760
Percentage of survey respondents who said that they believe providing employees with smoking cessation benefits can help improve employee health: 75
HERE TODAY ...
Percentage of employers who reported an increase in the past six months in the turnover of front-line employees, such as sales representatives and customer service representatives, according to a study conducted by ClearRock: 37
Percentage of employers who reported an increase in the past six months in the turnover of high-potential employees — workers whom employers have identified as future leaders based on their background, testing and performance: 31
Percentage of employers who say they have implemented new or revised retention programs for high-potential employees: 56
NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP
Rank of the Federal Emergency Management Agency among U.S. citizens' least-liked federal agencies, according to a poll conducted by The Associated Press and Ipsos: 1
Ranks of the Internal Revenue Service and the Transportation Security Administration: 2 (tied)
RETIREMENT SAVINGS
Percentage of couples with household incomes of at least $75,000 who are in agreement about retirement savings, according to a study conducted by Harris Interactive for The Wall Street Journal Online: 67
Percentage of couples with incomes of less than $35,000 who are in agreement about retirement savings: 30
PAY'S BETTER NOW
Year that Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. — the first women's college in the U.S. — was established by Mary Lyon, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1837
Weekly salary that Mary Lyon earned as a teacher: 75 cents
Average weekly salary earned by men at that time: $2 to $3
WHAT ABOUT HONOLULU?
Rank of flight delays and cancellations among the biggest irritants to business travelers, according to a survey conducted by TripAdvisor: 1
Percentage of business travelers who say they are members of a hotel points program: 78
Percentage who "often" stay at the same hotel chain: 59
Ranks of New York; Chicago; London; San Francisco; and Washington, D.C., among the top destinations preferred by business travelers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
GOOD BOSS IS KEY
Rank of "working with a boss they respect and can learn from" as the most important consideration in selecting an employer by baby boomers and Generation Y (those born between 1979 and 1999) — ahead of having a nice office space, a short commute and working for a socially responsible company, according to a study from Robert Half International and Yahoo!: 1
Percentage of Generation Y members who want to hear from their managers at least once a day: 60
NEVER IN THE DARK
Percentage increase in the number of portable and standby generators in household use from 2002 to 2006, according to a report from market research publisher SBI: 30
Estimated rise in sales over the next five years due to advances in design, marketing and availability of portable generators: 5 million
IDLE THOUGHT
"The ingenuities we practice in order to appear admirable to ourselves would suffice to invent the telephone twice over on a rainy summer morning."
— Brendan Gill
Contact John MacIntyre at john macintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.
