ON THE JOB

lu, which is in season from October to May, is a leading cause of employee absenteeism, costing employers millions of dollars. The single best way to prevent flu is to get a flu vaccination. The Centers for Disease Control recommends getting the vaccine by November, but says December is not too late. Employers can encourage flu shots by having a health care provider make them available on-site. There are two types of vaccines: shots and a nasal-spray.

Even if you have received a flu vaccine—and especially if you have not—keep in mind the following preventative measures:

Avoid close contact with people who are sick. When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick, too.

Stay home when you are sick and encourage your employees and coworkers to do the same.

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing.

Wash your hands often with soap to help protect yourself from germs.

Avoid spreading germs by touching your eyes, nose or mouth with your hands.

Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Maxim Health Systems.

SAFETY TIPS

When the weather begins to cool, many people turn to space heaters to add a little extra warmth where it’s needed. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission ( www.cpsc.gov ) offers these tips for staying safe:

Place the heater on a level, hard and nonflammable surface (such as a ceramic tile floor), not on rugs or carpets or near bedding or drapes. Keep it at least three feet from bedding, drapes, furniture and other flammable materials. Keep children and pets away.

Never leave a space heater on when you go to sleep or place one close to any sleeping person.

Use only space heaters that have been tested to the latest safety standards and certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory. Unvented gas space heaters that meet current safety standards will shut off if oxygen levels fall too low.

Make sure your heater is correctly rated for your home. An oversized heater could deplete the available oxygen, causing excess carbon monoxide to be produced. Keep a window in the room open at least one inch and keep doors open to the rest of the house to ensure proper ventilation.

Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to provide sufficient combustion air to prevent carbon monoxide production.

Have gas and kerosene space heaters inspected annually to ensure proper operation.

SPOTLIGHT

As one of 10 children of a die-hard New York Yankees’ fan, Berna Greer, CPA, grew up in a house that revolved around baseball. But she never expected to make it to the Major Leagues.

Still, there she was, throwing out the first pitch at the Detroit Tigers game at Comerica Park on July 14—thanks to her dual role as national treasurer of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and senior auditor for DaimlerChrysler. DaimlerChrysler is a sponsor of AKA, which was having its national convention in Detroit that weekend. AKA is the nation’s oldest Greek letter sorority founded by African-American women.

Greer got involved with AKA as an undergraduate at Jackson State University, where she followed her older sister into the sorority and into the field of accounting. She first worked with DaimlerChrysler on AKA’s ONTRACK Program, which helps ease the transition of disadvantaged elementary school children into middle school; today she is a member of AKA’s board of directors.

While she was too busy studying to play sports in college, Greer has run six marathons to raise money for charity. Still, she spent an entire weekend pitching—pointing, stepping and throwing to three brothers and two nephews—before hitting the mound in Detroit.

“I’m ready for Yankee Stadium now,” she says.

—Cheryl Rosen

NUMEROLOGY

$3.6 billion
Value of turkeys shipped by U.S. poultry processors in 2002. Arkansas led the way with $581.5 million in shipments. Businesses that primarily processed turkeys operated out of 35 establishments, employing about 17,000 people.

7.3 billion pounds
The total weight of turkeys produced in the United States in 2004.

649 million pounds
Estimated U.S. cranberry production in 2005.

1.6 billion pounds
Total weight of sweet potatoes grown in the United States in 2004. North Carolina produced more sweet potatoes than any other state (688 million pounds).

998 million pounds
Total pumpkin production of major pumpkin-producing states in 2004. Illinois led the country with 457 million pounds.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

TOP 10

Paying off debts, credit cards and loans
Savings
Out-of-house entertainment
New clothes
Holidays and vacation
Home improvements and decorating
New technology
Mutual funds and stocks
Retirement fund
Don’t know/Undecided (So it’s in the mattress?)

Source: ACNielsen Online Consumer Confidence Study, www.acnielsen.com , 2006.

GOLDEN BUSINESS IDEA

Attention CPAs at all levels. Well-meaning colleagues give you many tips about how to find your dream job. Here are four things not to do when conducting your search.

1 | Don’t rely on only one technique to land a job. Just 10% of all jobs are filled through ads and search firms. Contact firms and companies directly and network. Focus on getting interviews—not getting a job.

2 | Don’t just hit the Send button. The least effective way to go about searching for a job is through Web site listings. If you can hit the Send button so easily, so can thousands of others.

3 | Don’t disparage previous employers . It tells people you are disgruntled and unconcerned about protecting a company’s image.

4 | Don’t be melancholy. Stay upbeat and have some fun when looking for a job. Go to the movies, sporting events or art galleries so you’ll have something interesting to say on an interview that is not job-related.

Source: Five O’Clock Club, www.fiveoclockclub.com .

GOLDEN BUSINESS IDEA

Have a difficult manager? Try some of these coping strategies from CareerBuilder.com:

Take a look in the mirror. Maybe you’re being a pain in the neck, too. Clean up your act, concentrate only on work and see whether things change.

Focus on the boss’s needs. Employees who perform well, make the boss look good and are easy to manage generally find themselves in his or her good graces.

Show your worth. Document your achievements and call them to your supervisor’s attention. Offer new ideas and solutions to business problems.

Stop disagreeing. Don’t dispute every idea your boss has.

Get buddies. Find other sources of support and mentoring at your company.

Get a life. People who have interests outside of work are not only happier, they also are able to put things in perspective and are more productive at work.

Have an exit strategy. The goal is to outlive your boss. But have a contingency plan in place that includes negotiation strategies for your severance package, current resume, names of recruiters and several references.

Source: CareerBuilder.com , 2005.

SURVEY SAVVY

Half of all CEOs surveyed recently by the NYSE Group ( www.nyse.com ) planned to increase their employee education and retention programs. Eight out of 10 said operational efficiency, driven by employees, would be the greatest internal factor impacting profitability in 2007.

SURVEY SAVVY

eople who buy socially responsible mutual funds are more likely to use their wallets in other socially conscious ways as well, a February survey by TIAA-CREF ( www.tiaa-cref.org ) found.

The company surveyed 1,002 TIAA-CREF customers, split evenly between those who invested in its Social Choice Account (SCA) and those who didn’t. SCA investors were more likely to purchase products from companies whose corporate practices they approve of (71% vs. 59%), boycott products from companies whose corporate practices they disapprove of (77% vs. 67%), buy organic food (61% vs. 48%) and consider buying a hybrid car (76% vs. 69%).