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Winter Cleaning! I have tons of great links to share with everyone that I will post here at the Astron Solutions blog over the next few days:

The first is from way back in May from ResumeBear and, with the national spotlight on the healthcare, they have a list of the healthiest companies in America.

From back in December about how young entrepreneurs are making their own jobs in this bad job market instead of waiting around to find one from the New York Times.

Then on to ABC News which has tips for interviewing and 5 tips that no one mentions. These are helpful hints not only for the job applier but for Human Resources as well.

Next, from this past week, some advice from TLNT on how you can avoid a people management fiasco at your company like the Juan Williams/NPR case.

Lastly, from FINS we have an article which states there's actually a science behind your employees blowing their bonuses.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, it's that time of year again. It's time to give and receive performance reviews. But while most people dread that time--and since it's usually tied to bonuses and raises, that's totally understandable--it should be a time where an employee can reflect on their progress from the previous year and managers and Human Resources can access an employee's year-to-year performance AND development.

The development aspect of it can be the most important part of the process. It is important to look at what happened in the past year but other than compensation or layoff purposes, it's all information of what's already happened. What can be just as important--or more important in many cases--are the development growth planned to build on the the current year's performances for next year and beyond. Since the goal is to retain most of your employees and make sure they perform to the highest capabilities, the development plan for the future--and employees goals being aligned with that plan--is vital to make sure that you meeting your overall corporate goals.

And that's why goal planning should always be tied into the performance review. That isn't to say that there needs to be punishment for not meeting goals or great rewards for exceeding them, but it is important to make sure everyone is rowing in the same direction. That way, when the actual performance review takes place, the employees next-year development plan can be ironed out more easily. Employees would go from fearing reprimand to wondering what they needed to incorporate into their own planning for the next year. In the end, if their goals are tied to the company's goals, then they can actually feel like they're making a difference--which makes performance reviews just a little more palatable.

It's a mega link week here at Astron's World of HR blog.

First, from The Journal of Commerce, an interesting article about the hiring freeze starting thaw (H/T Wendy). The article does point, out, however that the road to recovery is just beginning and overall the U.S. job market is pretty flat (with unemployment hovering at 9%-10%). (Picture also from this article).

Next, The Wall Street Journal came out with the numbers yesterday that Wall Street bonuses were up 17% to $20.3 billion in 2009. Now, while it's not surprising that bonuses are up after last year's bonus-busting recession and the tight regulation on Wall Street bonuses, it is still disconcerting to much of Main Street that their tax dollars went to Wall Street for this. The interactive graph that accompanies the article is a good view to show how crazy the bonuses have gotten on Wall Street. You have to figure that many of these bonuses were "making up" for last year. But while most of America is dealing with unemployment, hearing that the average bonus was $124,850 and the average compensation was $340,000 has to be upsetting to many.

Tomorrow we'll get more into the job losses that we talked about as well as looking at which states tax you the most.

So, here I am. My very first blog post! I hope it goes well. Drumroll please...

Internet retail giant Zappos has an amazing policy called “The Offer.” This policy is basically a tool the company uses to weed out any potential employees who aren’t 100% committed to the company. Zappos has extensive training courses for all employees that runs four weeks long. After the first week is when “The Offer” is, well, offered. An employee is given two options:

1) Stay

2) Get paid for their first week here (these trainees receive full salaries) PLUS $1,000 bonus to quit.

Yes, you get bought out to QUIT. This is definitely a unique tool to use, but also a very effective one. The company has grown exponentially the past five years, and shows no signs of stopping. This kind of growth must be, at least in some part, related to the company retaining only the best of the best (and the most loyal of the best). You can check out a full article about Zappos’ organizational culture here.