NRF 2014This week in New York City, the National Retail Federation held their annual conference, the retail industries' "Big Show".   Kronos always has a large presence at the conference because we have such a significant share of the world's retailers as customers.  As I wrote in Good Jobs Strategy=Happier Employees=Better Customer Servicemany successful retailers are not only managing their employee costs carefully, but also investing in those employees to deliver a better customer experience.  Customer experience was a big theme at NRF this year.  If you were at NRF this week, we'd love to hear your impressions about what's new on the retail horizon.

 

You can read on below for show coverage from some of those who were there:

Check out pictures from #NRF14! http://ow.ly/sy2yt

#NRF14: Retail Industry Rising! http://ow.ly/sGqCb via @andrewbusby

#NRF14: Two new friends http://ow.ly/sE1tB via @andrewbusby

Day 3 from #NRF14: The 900 pound gorilla http://ow.ly/sGpw1 via @andrewbusby

#NRF14: Elevated Perspective http://ow.ly/sGqGb via @andrewbusby

Other Items of Interest This Week:

@mollielombardi - We admire your strength and vulnerability. Sending lots of support your way! http://ow.ly/sE4Ai #cureparkinsons

RT @sreeseRNMBA: Research: Using a Smartphone After 9 pm Leaves Workers Disengaged http://ow.ly/2CYE9e

RT @sreeseRNMBA: Healthcare staffing issue higher mortality for weekend admissions http://ow.ly/sE3f8 #Kronos4HC Why staff different?

RT @jcmeister: Mining the technological genius of the crowd http://fw.to/s0tPf4B @facebook #SHRM

Recruiting Trends: Social Graph & Mobile Will Be Big in 2014 #recruittrends http://ow.ly/sGpfe via @Blogging4Jobs

Kronites are also writing about this week:

New Time Well Spent #Cartoon: http://ow.ly/sE1Cp #resolutions, #bigdata #analytics #NRF14

Are You Feeling SAD? - Nearly 10 Million Work Days Lost Due To _Winter Blues' http://ow.ly/sGr5c via @simonmacpherson @KronosUK

Three Workforce Management Approaches to Improve Employee Engagement http://ow.ly/sE1jj via @fmoreno44

2014: The Year #Social #HR Matters http://ow.ly/sE1Kl via @WF_Institute @jcmeister

#Analytics and the Workforce Nest http://ow.ly/sGqWl via @SmarterCafe

Ready for Patch Tuesday? http://ow.ly/sGr1s via @SmarterCafe

Cementing Your Kronos Support http://ow.ly/sE25g via @SmarterCafe

BuzzFeed for #cloud http://ow.ly/sGp62 via @SmarterCafe

Suite Talk: Workforce System Makes @mitsucars Nimble http://ow.ly/sE65E via @IndustryWeek

 

 

Dr. Robert Yerex, Chief Economist at Kronos, was recently recognized by the National Association for Business Economics for his paper “Consumer Driven Economy at a Cross Roads”.  Robert's research leverages the Kronos Retail Labor Index, a family of metrics and indices that analyze the relationship between the demand and supply sides of the labor market within the US retail sector, and provides a distinct and early indicator of the overall state of the economy.

Robert and I spoke in December about the key findings in his paper and what they portend for the recovery of the global economy.  At its peak in the 2007/2008 time frame, consumer spending made up 70% of the US GDP.  This spending, driven in large measure by high consumer debt that was often built on home equity, has retracted significantly during the recession.

In this podcast, Robert discusses what his research reveals about the "new normal" with respect to economic growth in the US and what must be done to achieve the right balance between encouraging consumer spending without re-creating the adverse economic situation we've experienced in the recent recession.

Click here to listen to my conversation with Robert Yerex about the "new normal" consumer economy.

Visit the Kronos booth (2319) at the NRF 2011 Show in New York City next week to hear how organizations like Jamba Juice and Bob's Stores are working with Kronos to effectively manage retail workforce productivity and quality.

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