Today is a special day here in the Astron family. Happy birthday to our very own blogmaster, Andrew!! Thank you for all you do with Welcome to the World of HR! Wishing you a great day filled with fun, cake, and presents - or whatever your heart desires!!
This morning I heard that CareerBuilder recently released the results of a survey about interacting with co-workers. Their latest findings suggest that complaining about your co-workers - why is he always on Facebook?, why does she get more vacation time than me? - is a sure fire way to fall out of favor with your boss.
Intuitively, this makes sense. Few people like a whiner or a tattler.
Of course, if the person is commenting on something involving personal safety, the organization's financial well-being, etc., then bring on the commentary. Otherwise, most likely the person on the receiving end of things doesn't want to hear it.
Instead of being pulled down into office discussions, wouldn't a better route be to outshine that co-worker and make your supervisor notice you for the great things you do, rather than the squeaky wheel effect? I'm wondering why someone would opt for the latter approach - baggage from childhood? Insecurity in the job? Something else?
I'm interested to hear your thoughts. I'm sure that at some point we've all worked with someone who frustrated us.
Over the next two months, I'm going to be on the road giving presentations on total rewards. Hopefully among my travels I'll come across some blog worthy discoveries!
One of the key themes of my presentations is that, in today's economy, employers can't rely solely on base pay and benefits to attract and retain employees. Rather, total rewards is the new focus. Total rewards includes pay and benefits, and also adds work/life balance, career advancement and development, and performance management and recognition into the mix. Moving forward, organizations will have to tap into all 5 of these areas, and customize their blends to meet employee needs, in order to be successful.
In light of this I found two separate conversations I had yesterday quite interesting. In both instances, the employees' employers were trying to do something nice to reward their employees by tapping into the 3 new elements of total rewards. In both cases, the employees knew how much their company was spending on the "reward," and would rather have had the cash. They felt like their companies were forcing the "reward" on them.
Customization of rewards is key moving forward. To be done right, however, customization must be done from the perspective of the employee, not the employer. To truly reward and motivate, the compensation elements must be what the employee wants and needs, not what I as your manager think you should have because I happen to like it.
How much rewards customization does your organization use? Is it truly customized? How will your rewards programs change moving forward?
Let's start off this Monday with a little humor!
Most Saturday afternoons you can find me at the 4:30 PM mass at St. Cecilia's Church in Rockaway, NJ. The pastor, Monsignor John Hart, always ends mass with a joke. This week's was perfect for HR! No matter your religious beliefs, you should find a chuckle here:
Three men were fishing and complaining about getting old and the various aches and pains that come along with aging. Suddenly, St. Michael appears on their boat and asks the first man what his trouble is. "My back is killing me," he says. St. Michael touches him and the man's back is pain free! The second man says "My eyes are terrible. I can't see very well at all." St. Michael touches the second man and his vision is perfect. St. Michael turns to the third man, who says in a frightened voice, "Don't touch me - I'm on disability!"
How many employees in your organization are following the approach of the third man, rather than seeking a quick recovery and return to work? When was the last time you reached out to individuals on both short and long term disability to see how they're doing?
I’m writing today to let you know about a new web community that we're launching – myhrwebsite.com.
How many times have you asked a handful of people that you know:
•Who’s a good vendor for a specific HR service?
•How to do something in Microsoft Office?
•Referrals for a job opening?
•HR trends in others’ organizations?
The network that you reach out to is probably small, relatively speaking. As you know, the more people you reach out to with a question, the more valuable information you’ll receive.
Myhrwebsite.com gives you the power to reach out to thousands of individuals with the click of a button, without the hassle of having to remember to visit message boards or access listservs with targeted members.
How myhrwebsite.com works is when you have a question, you visit the website and complete a quick form to submit your question. Up to once a day, everyone in the community receives an e-mail with all the questions submitted by myhrwebsite.com members. You can answer the questions you have expertise in, and ignore those on topics that you’re not familiar with. My team and I will pre-screen the questions before the e-mail goes out to prevent spam from getting to you. If there's no questions on a day, we won't send an e-mail.
Today I’m asking you for a minute of your time to please do two things:
•Sign up to join myhrwebsite.com’s community – we can’t do it for you because we're not spammers – and
•Forward this invitation to individuals in your network whom you think would enjoy and benefit from this free service.
We look forward to having you and your network join us, so that the next time you have a question, you can say “let me visit myhrwebsite for the answer!”
I'm a fan of the J. Peterman Company. Remember them from Seinfeld? The urban sombrero? The Entenmann's shim-sham? In case you didn't know, they're actually a company. They used to have a store here in New York at Grand Central Terminal, but have since closed their retail outlets and focus strictly on catalog sales, or "Owner's Manuals" as they're called.
Their latest Owner's Manual promotion highlights the benefits of the color red. Specifically, "eminent researchers have proved that the color red speeds up the pulse and respiration, raises body temperature, and increases muscular strength 13.5%...making a person feel more alive."
Peterman's latest catalog is the second time this week I've heard comments about red. Earlier this week at school, I was wearing a red top, pink scarf, and red jacket. The combination sparked a conversation with one of the other employees, who noted that red is very striking and a "powerful color."
In today's world, we could all benefit from feeling a bit "more alive." With spring also arriving soon, it's time to break out of the darkness of winter and the drab colors and brighten things up. Over the next week, add a touch of red to your outfit. You might just start a conversation with a colleague, and feel more energized in the process.
I was on a conference call this morning, demoing our Flare(tm) talent management system to a prospect in the Midwest. One of the first questions the prospect asked was about Astron's financial solvency. The prospect wanted to know right up front if we are going to be around for the long haul. Apparently, they had been working with another potential vendor who, thanks to the economy, suddenly went out of business.
This question got me thinking. How does the economy change the landscape of competitive bidding? Is the ability to be in business beyond 2009 now a strong selling point? I suppose I took for granted the fact that they operate a cash flow positive business when working with my vendors. Perhaps now we should all start asking this question of the organizations we buy goods and services from. Not to be nosy, but rather to position ourselves as strongly as possible.
Have any of our readers heard the finance question coming up in discussions with prospects or vendors? I'm curious to know if we're at the start of a new trend in the RFP process.
Yesterday I was at various networking events and other meetings from 7:30 AM until 9:45 PM. Naturally, I'm a little behind on my e-mail as a result! This morning, I discovered the following e-mail sent Tuesday 3/10/09 from SHRM, which I'm reprinting here for you. It's a great summary of the latest news from Capitol Hill.
"Today, the Employee Free Choice Act was introduced in Congress! The bill was sponsored by Representative George Miller (D-CA), the House Education and Labor Committee Chair, and Senator Tom Harkin (D-MA).
The legislation would amend the National Labor Relations Act to allow unions to use the “card check” process – and bypass the secure, private election format – each time they attempt to organize workers.
Background
The National Labor Relations Act currently provides two opportunities for employees to decide whether or not to form or join a union:
Private ballot election - When a union receives a majority of votes through a secret ballot election administered by the National Labor Relations Board, the union is certified as the sole bargaining agent on behalf of the employees, or
“Card check” recognition - When a union receives at least 30 percent of signed authorization cards, the employer can request that a private ballot election be held. (When a union receives at least 50 percent of signed cards, the employer can either recognize the union immediately or request an election.)
Legislation
The EFCA would dramatically change federal labor law. The legislation would allow a union to bypass the election process after collecting authorization cards from a majority of employees. Thus, employers would lose the right to request that an election be held.
If enacted into law, EFCA would:
Eliminate employees’ opportunity to vote in a federally-administered, private ballot election;
Require binding arbitration within 120 days after a union is certified through a signed card collection process, if the employer and the union are unable to reach an agreement;
Restrict an employer’s communications to employees about the workplace issues involved in the union organizing drive; and
Create new fines against employers for an expanded list of unfair labor practices."
Now's the time to reach out to your members of Congress to show your support or voice your opposition to the law. It's expected that this legislation will move through Congress quickly.
If you haven't already heard, today is National Napping Day! I was shocked when I learned about this from SHRM. Who knew there was a holiday dedicated specifically to rest!
When I nap, I wake up flushed, nauseous, and cranky, so I will pass on the day's festivities. ;-) For those who find naps refreshing, however, today's a great day to press the pause button on life, even for just 10 minutes. If you don't have time for a nap, take a few quiet moments for yourself to recharge before tackling the afternoon's activities. With our "Spring Forward" time change yesterday, you may be missing that extra hour of sleep!
It's Friday. We've made it through another week of nightmare stories from Wall Street, big business, and the other gloom and doom that permeates the news.
I'm keeping things light today - that's what weekends are for, right?! Be sure to take some time for yourself over the next few days, whether that's spending time with your family and friends, sleeping, or maybe even playing hookie from work for a day. We're all dealing with enormous amounts of stress. It's important to treat ourselves to something fun every now and then so that we stay strong and effective during the months to come.
And don't forget to change your clocks this weekend - Spring forward!
This morning I caught up with a former student of mine. She is in the process of applying to graduate schools in order to obtain her Master of Public Administration (MPA). She is currently working and not involved in the recent waves of layoffs that have happened at so many organizations.
As we were talking, I asked her what she thought about the economy in general and also from an HR perspective. She sees the present as a fantastic time to invest in herself and develop her skills. That way, when things turn around - and they will - she will be in a much stronger position than her competition. As she told me this, her enthusiasm and excitement for the potential inherent the future was infectious.
With all the gloom and doom around, it's easy to get weighed down. We hear about the horror stories from Lehman Brothers, AIG, and Fannie Mae. But do we hear of the success stories of Lego and McDonald's? Doubtful. Fear sells. In the midst of these trying times, we need to break free of the negativity and take advantage of the opportunities around us to learn, grow, and reinvent ourselves. While formal degree programs can fill that need, so can continuing education classes, or even exploring our passions and hobbies more completely.
Many people consider investing in the stock market or their 401(k)s a "given." When was the last time you invested in yourself? The only investment you can have 100% faith in to increase in and maintain its value is you.
This morning I was a guest at a Manhattan BNI (http://www.manhattanbni.com) chapter meeting. For those of you not familiar with BNI, it is a structured networking group with chapters around the world. The purpose? To learn about other members' businesses and share referrals.
I found the meeting exciting, well run, and interesting. One item that particularly caught my attention was a networking approach shared by several members. These members seek out events, meetings, and seminars geared towards industries different from their own to broaden their networks even more. For instance, if you're a real estate specialist, how exciting would it be to attend a seminar on the newest COBRA regulations? While the content itself might be "boring," the networking opportunities are invaluable.
How many times do we push ourselves outside our comfort zones? Do we tend to lock ourselves into our niche of "Human Resources" or "Insurance" or whatever our profession might be? Within our organizations, how often do we truly seek out cross-discipline projects to work on? Thinking outside the box and taking a chance can be instrumental in succeeding in both the short and long runs.
This weekend I was reading Woman's World magazine. If you're not familiar with the publication, it's a weekly, easy read filled with health tips, budget advice, recipes, and reader stories. Without fail, the main focus of every issue is the latest diet craze.
This week's issue features a diet that - long story short - focuses heavy on protein, but also includes carbs, sugar, and fat. The trick to this diet is that while you're cutting calories, you're basically eating dinner for breakfast and a small breakfast-like meal for dinner.
I read this diet on Saturday, and I'm still fascinated by it. Why? For one thing, a diet that allows me to eat cookies and candy at breakfast rocks. On the other hand, though, I can't even fathom eating 3 ounces of meat and two ounces of cheese at 5 AM. Sometimes I can hardly choke down cereal at that time of the morning, let alone a meal with substance.
The diet also fascinates me because it defies the norms. Taking this diet and applying it to the broader world, how many things do we do because that's how we're told we should do them? What would happen if we ate dinner for breakfast at work, or did something the opposite of how it should be? Would we metaphorically choke, or would good, unexpected things happen? In today's economy, the tried and true are no longer tried and true. Now is the time to shake things up, to look at the world differently, in order to generate success in the short- and long-terms.
With Andrew "Down Under" for the next two weeks, I'll be taking the lead on blog posts. To kick things off, I'll comment on his excellent post from Saturday.
First, to clarify Andrew's comment regarding his Astron interview, as I remember it was about two hours long. And a fun two hours! Andrew made me laugh with his impressions of a favorite college professor and, more importantly, what he got out of that class. He showed me that he was cool under pressure, knew how to have fun, and wasn't overly self-conscious. Fantastic traits for success in a consulting environment!
Andrew makes several important points in his post regarding probing questions. Best HR practice dictates that interviewers, especially inexperienced interviewers, ask the same questions of each candidate to prevent inadvertent discrimination. While it's not a fun approach, it is a wise one.
However, asking the same questions without the necessary follow up probes reduces the overall effectiveness of the interview. If a standard question reveals a potential red flag, interviewers have the responsibility to delve further to determine suitability for the position and potential risk to the organization. Effective interviewing that balances both these needs is a skill that develops with time, practice, and mentoring.
How structured is the interview process at your organization? How can you make it more effective for both parties?
Astron Solutions has partnered with Bond Schoeneck & King, PLLC, to present "Can Your Compensation System Weather the (Hurricane) Winds of Change From the Obama Administration?" We'll be presenting the program through the state of New York in late March and early April.
You can learn more about the Long Island and New York City programs by visiting http://astronsolutions.com/general/BSKBriefing.pdf.
You can learn more about the upstate New York programs by visiting http://astronsolutions.com/general/BSKBriefingMarch.pdf.
The lead speakers at all programs include Astron's own Michael Maciekowich, and BSK's Lou DiLorenzo.
We hope to see you there!
Sent out today by the SHRM Government Affairs department: "Employers should note that it will allow not only aggrieved employees but other 'affected' individuals, including spouses and children, to file a claim, even after the employee has died."
You can read the whole article here: http://messaging.shrm.org/ct/0daBMYp1SRxH/
Pay discrimination is, of course, wrong. This approach to remedying the situation, however, seems to merely open the door to a myriad of lawsuits, many probably without merit.
Yesterday, Congress approved the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. BLR has a clear synopsis of the law at http://compensation.blr.com/display.cfm/id/156373.
At the moment, I have many conflicting thoughts on the passage of this legislation, and will spare our readers my stream of consciousness! :-)
As a first step, have HR professionals already audited their compensation programs to make sure discrimination does not exist? If not, now is the time to investigate and take positive action.
With the passage of this Act, it appears that a tidal wave of new HR legislation will be coming from Washington. With legal costs typically averaging $100,00 or more per case, advance preparation and positive action now are essential to ensuring a "lawsuit free" organization.
Yesterday Astron had a booth at the New Jersey Collegiate Career Day, sponsored by Rutgers University. The event was featured on NJN News last night! NJN News is the nightly news program of New Jersey Network (channel 50), NJ's PBS affiliate.
Check out this link:
http://www.njn.net/television/webcast/njnnews/wednesday.html
to see our own Technology Supervisor Brendan Williams interacting with a candidate. Marketing Specialist Stephen Lella can be seen on the right in the background during the interview with Charles Kratovil.
Fast forward to 18:45 of the news video to get right to the story.
We had at least 300 candidates stop by our booth, keeping all three of us busy from opening at 9:30 AM straight through 2:30 PM.
Ah, my long-suffering New York Jets. This weekend they once again snapped defeat from the jaws of victory.
The big news yesterday and today here in New York City is the firing of Jets head coach Eric Mangini. A few other NFL coaches also were let go, including record-breaking Detroit Lions coach Rod Marinelli, but none have received the airtime like Mangini's firing did.
From both a fan's perspective and that of an HR professional, I have mixed feelings on the sudden termination. This year the Jets had a winning season, so that in and of itself is an accomplishment and not something to be terminated for. But with the caliber of players they have, the Jets should have done better. However, is it all Mangini's fault, and therefore worthy of such a brisk termination? I can raise questions regarding other players' and coaches' performance, particularly near the end of the season.
I suppose that professional athletes and coaches go into the business knowing that the fates are fickle, opinions can change on a dime, and despite the lip service paid to "teamwork," in the end it is the individual's performance that matters. Do the rewards of high salaries and fame outweigh the risk of swift termination should things not go 100% perfect? Not every employee can be a A player, much as we might like.
Let's try to pull some good from Eric Mangini's experience, and consider our own organizations - how they are and how we'd like them to be. Is teamwork or individual performance more important? Is it OK to have B and C players to support our stars?
We've all heard the reports from the news regarding the number of organizations that have slashed their holiday parties due to the economic downturn. While you may or may not agree with that approach - I don't, assuming the organization has funds to cover the cost of the party - one aspect that hasn't been covered as much is the decision to attend the party.
Now more than ever, it's critical that employees attend their organizations' holiday parties. What better way to demonstrate your interest in and support for your co-workers and your organization? Those who attend parties will be seen as the employees who care and are team players, and may have the upper hand if layoffs arise down the road.
While at the event, mix and mingle with attendees outside your typical work group. Expand your network. Get into as many pictures as possible to be remembered as the outgoing, caring person who is thankful for their job. Who knew that partying professionally could contribute to job security?!
