VendingMarketWatch Blog

I hate to say it, after all the years of hard work our industry put in on this subject , but, I agree with this guy.  The Dollar coin is a losing battle, NAMA needs to let it go and focus their time and energy achievable bottom line issues. 

Friday, December 19, 2008 5:38 AM EST (excerpt)

By Richard Miniter
Times Guest Columnist

NAMA’s members expect their operational costs to drop dramatically if dollar coins are the norm. Since coins tend to take up less room inside machines than bills, collection personnel can make fewer stops at vending sites.

At a July hearing held by the House Financial Services subcommittee, NAMA president Richard Geerdes claimed a switch to dollar coins would save “the American taxpayers at least $600 million a year.”  But this year, according to the Federal Reserve, the entire budget for printing all U.S. currency is $578.5 million. So unless Geerdes is actually advocating the elimination of the nation’s entire monetary system, it’s safe to say his figure came out of thin air.

The pro-coin lobbying push is not only bad for taxpayers; it also undermines the interests of the vending-machine operators NAMA claims to represent. Today, more Americans are using credit cards than ever before. Instead of pushing for dollar coins, NAMA should be encouraging its members to invest in technology to allow credit card purchases at vending machines.

Yet at the behest of special interests, the federal government persists in spending millions trying to convince us that we should. This campaign for change is costing taxpayers dearly. It’s time for lawmakers to use a little common sense and say, “no thanks” to the dollar coin.

(forwarded by)

Tom Britten
Analyst . Intermediary . Consultant
Britten Management Services, LLC
3922 Bubba Drive, Zephyrhills FL 33541 Phone 813.469.5437
Fax 813.783.7908
E-Mail tombritten@msn.com

Do you do REviews or PREviews at your company?

Are you still trying to predict the future from past performance?  How is that working for you? 

You look back and see ALL that happened, but you don’t know WHY it happened, right?   

• Performance REviews: see only what happened yesterday, not why.

• Performance PREviews: see what will happen tomorrow, based on an employee’s skill set today.

The Wall Street Journal says “Instead of stimulating corporate effectiveness, they [performance reviews] lead to just-in-case and cover-your-behind activities that reduce the amount of time that could be put to productive use”

Managing employee performance is like trying to catch water with a sieve.  

A REview of past performance is no indicator of future success.  Rather, it usually finds there were (or may still be) performance shortfalls that caused objectives to not be met.  The REview does NOT tell you  WHY the objectives  are not being attained or, as important, how performance might be improved to help attain the objectives.    

Today all operators have the capability to do Performance PREviews.  These are appraisals that CAN affect future performance because they show WHY an employee may be lacking in performance.   

Some PREviews include Coaching Reports for employees (think instruction manual for EVERY employee) that identify strengths and growth opportunities, not a REview of past results.

For more information on PREviews vs. REviews, comment or raise your hand on this blog, and I will help find the best solution for your company.

Stop looking backward; ……..Start looking forward! 

Happy Holidays to all!

Dave McCaffrey