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This is the latest news and information for workers and managers from across the Web universe, brought to you by Monday Morning Manager writer Harvey Schachter. Follow us on Twitter @Globe_Careers or join our Linked In group.
Rehiring boomerang employees – who left your firm but want to return – is a highly effective recruiting technique, second only to referrals from your top performers, expert John Sullivan says. You can obtain high-quality staff with known skills. And it's easier these days, using LinkedIn, to keep tabs on former employees. Ere-Net
RESEARCH
Don't rely on purchase intention data
When you ask people whether they would use your product, their response will likely be a lie because you have asked them to imagine a future event, entrepreneur Seth Godin says. It's different from asking why people have purchased something: They can judge only after using the product. Seth's blog
MANAGEMENT
Keep digital workers in separate hives
McKinsey & Co. consultants say firms with successful digital operations put a "ring fence" around digital employees, keeping them in their own unit with their own working patterns and tools. Placing them side-by-side with existing staff will simply frustrate them and they will leave. McKinsey.com
RETAIL
Why big-box barriers failed
Efforts to protect independent retailers from big-box stores in the United Kingdom backfired, a study by Harvard's Raffaella Sadun found. Instead of reducing the number of big stores, restrictions on big-box chains created an incentive for them to invest in smaller, more centrally located formats that battered independents. Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
TECH TIP
Packing lists for every trip
The Ultimate Travel Packing List is a Web app that generates a list of things you should pack for your next business (or other) trip, based on gender, length of time, climate and nature of the visit. AddictiveTips.com
Harvey Schachter is a Battersea, Ont.-based writer specializing in management issues. He writes Monday Morning Manager and management book reviews for the print edition of Report on Business and an online work-life column Balance. E-mail Harvey Schachter
Harvey Schachter