Last month, Jessica wrote eloquently about the disaster that befell Oklahoma, tearing a swath through the community of Moore where she lives. In this post, she outlined the ways employers can help during disasters. I’d like to expand on that excellent advice to cover personal tragedy.

Last year, our family went through a personal tragedy that’s still too painful for me to write about. One shining star in that hellish year was my company, the management, and my co-workers.  My employer couldn’t have been better. I’d like to share how they helped me in hopes that you will think about how you can help your employees or coworkers when tragedy strikes them.

How to help a grieving co-worker

1. Think about what you’re going to do in advance

If you’re a manager, read up on bereavement policies and every kind of leave available in cases of personal tragedy. Are there funds available for flowers or other assistance? Does your company have an relief fund or foundation? What about Employee Assistance Programs? Gather all of this information in one place and have it ready when you need it.

2. Be careful what you share

This is not your story. If your employee shares details of the tragedy, be sure to ask for permission to share. Say something like, “I know your team is very concerned about you. May I tell them what happened?” If you don’t have permission to share, be very vague about the reasons for absence to anyone who doesn’t absolutely have to know.

3. Take care of the work details

When my family tragedy struck, I was scheduled to go on a business trip. I couldn’t get my head around cancelling the arrangements and making sure I was credited. One of my co-workers stepped in and took care of all that for me. Meetings were pushed and anything that required my presence simply slipped. I never heard a word about it. They had my back.

4. Don’t ask, “What happened?”

On that note, when an employee has lost a loved one suddenly, one of the worst things you can ask is “What happened?” You don’t need the details until your employee or co-worker feels like sharing. Recognize that your curiosity has no place in their grieving.

5. Write the day of the tragedy on your calendar the following year

Anniversaries are particularly difficult, especially the one year anniversary. Make a note of this day and offer leave if you can. If you have any kind of friendship with your co-worker, write a note offering sympathy on this difficult day. Your employee or co-worker may want to work to get through the day. Be flexible.

6. Don’t avoid the subject

Your co-worker is thinking about the tragedy all of the time. Don’t bring it up unnecessarily, but don’t avoid the topic either. Grieving people are often afraid that everyone will forget the person they lost, and friends of grieving people feel awkward around them. Don’t be awkward. Just be open to conversation and don’t avoid the subject that is on their mind 24/7 anyway.

7. Read up on grieving and PTSD

There is no “normal” way to grieve, but reading up on the grieving process will help you understand what’s going on with your co-worker. I was a zombie for a couple of months. I cried at my desk. I was a mess, but my co-workers were very supportive. Don’t hassle grieving or traumatized employees about “doctor’s appointments” every week or every other week at the same time. Those are likely counseling or psychiatrist appointments.

If your co-worker just can’t cope after several months, he or she may be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, which is common when loved ones die suddenly in their presence, from witnessed trauma, or when they discover their loved one’s body. Once again, urge them to get help through your Employee Assistance Program or through counseling. Emphasize that you want to help.

Workplace Grief Resources

I realize that this is a morbid topic — one that you’d rather not face. But we all face tragedy and death. You can help your employees and coworkers by educating yourself with the following resources:

A Friend in Grief: Simple Ways to Help by Gina Callaway
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (pdf) – a free pamphlet from the National Institutes for Mental Health (NIMH)

Do you have any experience handling these matters in the workplace?

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Human Work

When it comes down to getting the word out about an open position, what is the best practice? Do In-House or Corporate Recruiters or HR Professionals rely on current employee incentives or employee referral programs to drive interest or garner candidates? Do you utilize job boards, your own career site or otherwise? Should you engage with search firms or third-party recruiters? Do you tweet jobs out to a community? Do you send out email blasts to a talent network? Do you maintain a database of past applicants/candidates? Have you invested time in establishing and maintaining good relationships with your Hiring Managers? Do you have a melt-down on Friday because the Organic Chemist position is still unfilled?  I did.

Or do you manage an Executive Search Firm or are a Third-Party of Contract Recruiter? A CRM is imperative but are you diligent about its maintenance and updates? Are you meticulous when it comes to follow-through with both clients and candidates? Do you post on job boards? Do you tweet out your jobs? How do you source new clients? Do you attend or exhibit at conferences specific to your niche? Do you advertise? Do you update and distribute marketing materials? Are you thorough when starting up a new search, harvesting as much information and specifics as possible? Do you work at maintaining relationships with the clients and hiring managers?

So Much to Do in So Little Time

Finding the best talent management and acquisition practices for your organization and team can be difficult, but not impossible. Keeping solid metrics to measure efficiency and validity will help ascertain whether or not to continue those practices. Taking advantage of social media seems to be the modern solution to all problems, but is it, truly? It seems like the more we interact online, the less we interact over the phone or in person. Using excuses like, “I sent an email,” instead of picking up the phone are becoming more and more prevalent.

A Human Touch

I have attended live networking events for LinkedIn groups which typically turned out to not be very interesting events with less than 100 people present and held in bars or patios of very nice hotels or sports’ clubs. These could be shot-gun, speed dating-esque events but I usually decide, upon arrival, that I will connect with one or two people I have never met and spend the next hour and a half talking and brainstorming with these folks who often happen to be HR Professional, funny how that works.

Staying on Task

Selecting a course, sticking with it, learning about others, taking the time to bond, making connections, truly networking: all this is not easy. It takes time, patience, diligence, and an open mind. But the pay-off is huge.

The human touch – it might not be what signs an agreement or offer letter, but it is what closes the second and third.

by Rayanne Thorn

The 50^th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act occurred this past week. The President held a news conference commemorating the event but in his speech he made the point that women still earn less than do men. It is well known in both HR literature and in the popular press that women earn less than men. There are a number of reasons for this difference, but one of the reasons often stated is that women don’t negotiate for salaries as often or as well as men. As it turns out these differences can be offset if you empower women to negotiate.

The Study

A Freakonomics blog post, When Women Don’t Negotiate, tells of a study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research that shows that women can and do negotiate as much men, given the right situation. The study took a look at a couple of situations. The researchers advertised different jobs and took 2500 applications. (See DO WOMEN AVOID SALARY NEGOTIATIONS? EVIDENCE FROM A LARGE SCALE NATURAL FIELD EXPERIMENT)

The Results

They found an interesting pattern. If a job situation was ambiguous and did not mention anything about salary negotiation men were far more likely to negotiate than were women. However, if the ad for the position stated that “salary was negotiable” the researchers found that women negotiated as much, if not more, than did men. Apparently women like to be told they can negotiate. If rules don’t exist they don’t attempt it. According to the researchers “…we find that men in contrast to women prefer job environments where the ‘rules of wage determination’ are ambiguous.” Since most situations tend to be more ambiguous in terms of negotiation this puts men at an advantage and may help lead to the salary discrepancy.

Others agree

Writer Alexis Code relates her own story of not knowing how to negotiate in ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Get’: How to Fix the Gender Gap in Salary Negotiations. She also quotes Linda C. Babcock, a professor of economics. Babcock who has also co-authored two books on the subject, Women Don’t Ask and Ask For It. Babcock, from Carnegie Mellon, offers these observations:

• Men initiate negotiations about four times as often as women.

• When asked to choose a metaphor to describe the negotiation process, women picked “going to the dentist.” For comparison, Men chose “winning a ballgame.”

• Women enter negotiations with pessimistic expectations about what wage increases are available, and thus if they do negotiate, they don’t ask for much: 30 percent less than men.

• 20 percent of adult women say they never negotiate at all, even when it may be appropriate.

An interesting side note is that women, while not negotiating strongly for themselves will negotiate strongly for their subordinates. So it is not a lack of skill it is a lack of application for personal gain.

Empower women

If you are trying to rectify the wage inequality what you need to do is empower women to negotiate by telling them it is OK to negotiate. State in your ads that “salaries are negotiable” as opposed to “salaries are commensurate with experience.” This last statement does not give permission, where the former does.

Of course this will not solve all wage inequality in the work place. And these results may be dependent on level of position, though the study used administrative jobs. But if you have been puzzling on what you might be able to do then try this out.

 What do you think? Do you think women are less likely to negotiate? 

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While the Millennial workforce is now the majority age demographic and candidate pool at your workplace, all employees bring different skills, experiences and benefits with them to the table as employees especially the older and more experience group of your employee population. The over 50 age category is challenging to recruit, retain and hire because this audience can be lumped into 3 different categories.

• Part Time Over 50 Workers. These individuals might be retired and jumping back into the workplace pool looking to stay busy, keep relevant, grow their skills or generate additional income to supplement retirement and social security. Whatever the reason, these seasoned workers are reliable and in my experience some of the best employees because they use their past experience often senior level to make sound job decisions. Question is how do you reach this flexible workforce who is open to working weekends and taking on part time or temporary work? 

• Over 50 Workers Who are Reinventing Their Careers. They may not have the exact skills or number of years experience you are looking for, but they have a proven track record, reliable employment history and know how to get the job done. The key is identifying these individuals as they begin their career transition likely through providing resources online and in person to help them determine how their previous work experiences can be shaped and marketed to fit new vertical, industry and jobs.

• Over 50 Steady Eddies. This group over 50 is reliable, dependable and not ready to slow down. One of my favorite employees was 72 and was fabulous as a customer service representative in our call center. He had such great relationship and personal skills but struggled in adopting the new computer program or technology. We provided in location training and brown bag lunch and learns for our workers including those over 50 to help those less than savvy employees continue to stay happy, productive and engaged like my former 72 year old employee. I heard he just went part time just last year.

Best Employers for Workers Over 50

The 50 best workplaces and employers for Boomers and the Traditional workforces  as recognized by AARP is largely healthcare related which doesn’t surprise me in the least. These companies offer not only great benefits but flexible schedules. Colleges and Universities are also common places where these experiences workers spend their time. The environment is formal yet complex especially if the organization is state and publicly funded. Not surprisingly government entities also made the list. Like universities, these are more traditional workplaces focused on tenure and provide specific information around retirement, benefits and compensation pay bands and classes.

1.               National Institutes of Health (NIH)      

2.               Scripps Health                                                           

3.               Atlantic Health System                                               

4.               The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center   

5.               Mercy Health System                                                                                          

6.               The YMCA of Greater Rochester                                                                         

7.               West Virginia University                                                                                      

8.               Bon Secours Virginia                                                                                          

9.               National Rural Electric Cooperative Association                                                   

10.             WellStar Health System                                                                                      

11.             Cornell University                                                                                               

12.             West Virginia University Hospitals                                                                       

13.             George Mason University                                                                                    

14.             Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

15.             Monongalia General Hospital                                      

16.             S&T Bank                                                                  

17.             Virginia Commonwealth University                               

18.             FCCI Insurance Group                                                

19.             TriHealth Inc.                                                              

20.             Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)             

21.             Stanley Consultants Inc.                                             

22.             Southern Company                                                    

23.             Yale-New Haven Hospital                                            

24.             Michelin North America Inc.                                         

25.             Department of Veterans Affairs-Veterans Health Administration

26.             Saint Vincent Health System                                       

27.             Cianbro Corporation                                                   

28.             SSM Health Care                                                        

29.             Solix Inc.                                                                   

30.             Mountain States Health Alliance                                  

31.             Central Florida Health Alliance                                     

32.             Securian Financial Group                                            

33.             One Nevada Credit Union                                           

34.             Swarthmore College                                                   

35.             MEI Technologies Inc.                                                

36.             School Board of Brevard County                                

37.              Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center

38.              Tufts Health Plan                                                        

39.              Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)               

40.             Coconino County                                                       

41.             Winston-Salem Industries for the Blind                        

42.             BlueCross and BlueShield of North Carolina                

43.             Ochsner Health System                                              

44.             University of Pittsburgh                                              

45.             American University                                                    

46.             Lee County Electric Cooperative                                 

47.             Massachusetts General Hospital                                 

48.             Pinnacle Health System                                              

49.             Perkins Coie LLP                                                       

50.             CheapCaribbean.com

Top Benefits and Workplace Culture for Over 50 Workers

What types of workplace benefits, culture and environment appeals to you if you are over 50 or as a business leader or HR professional for your over 50 workers? How do these perks and environment for experienced workers differ from our younger Millenials and Generation X? I would love to hear your comments below.

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Purchase a copy of Eric Mosley’s The Crowdsourced Performance Review book on Amazon today! 

Are you happy with your performance review system? I thought not. Traditional performance reviews are desperately out of date. An annual review based on a manager rating performance on a scale of 1 to 5 according to a job description was designed for the workplace of 1973, not 2013.

Imagine a workplace in which employee performance reviews are as flexible and varied as today’s jobs must be.  What if the review were an objective, accurate and detailed narrative of each person’s work achievements?

Now imagine that it is the employees themselves who create that narrative and celebrate each instance of good performance; the inspirations and extra effort, creativity and determination that distinguish a high-performing employee. Over time, the system would aggregate thousands of those moments across the workforce. HR professionals and executives could then understand exactly which behaviors led to higher profits, customer delight, or nonprofit missions fulfilled.  Instead of a stack of 1-to-5 ratings, performance reviews would unlock the secrets of full productivity.

It can be done, and it will be done more and more as HR and executives get serious about fixing performance reviews. The way to achieve this is to combine the burgeoning popularity of crowdsourcing with today’s social technologies.

Why crowdsourcing?

The term “crowdsourcing” might be relatively new, but the social mechanisms that define it are as old as capitalism itself. In essence, crowdsourcing proposes that that a marketplace assigns value to work, whether that’s expressed in goods or services. Here’s why the “crowd” called your workforce should assess the relative value of individuals e.g. performance.

Crowdsourcing is accurate

Decades of research such as that detailed in James Surowiecki’s The Wisdom of Crowds confirms that many people deciding together make more accurate assessments over time than one person acting alone.

Crowdsourcing is trusted

Over time, people have learned to rely on crowdsourced assessment systems. This is why crowdsourced “star ratings” on Amazon.com, eBay and the iTunes store work — customers know that if many people like the product, chances are they will too.

Crowdsourcing supplements expertise with genuine experience

Why have Zagat, Yelp and TripAdvisor supplanted so many professional critics? Consumers have learned that the opinion of the crowd in so many situations is more reliable than the opinion of one person. In the case of employee performance reviews, crowdsourcing means many people, not just one manager, have assessed an individual’s performance

Crowdsourcing is effective in business

Similarly, B2B companies crave “likes” on their Facebook pages and top rankings from users in online forums. When you answer a questionnaire from a business research company ranking B2B services in HR, you’re participating in crowdsourcing.

With all these attributes, crowdsourcing is the performance review method of the future. What has been missing until now is a technology platform and a set of rules to combine the thoroughness of performance reviews with the wisdom of crowds.

Social recognition is the platform

Social recognition combines a technological platform and set of rules by which employees rate each other’s performance in a constructive and nuanced way.

Social recognition combines ranking with narrative, just like the traditional performance review. With real-time, authentic feedback from employees’ peers, it creates a detailed yet unbiased view into who and what is driving your business.

Where does this leave the manager? In the performance review of the future, the manager will still be accountable for group performance. The performance narrative provided by social recognition doesn’t diminish the manger’s authority. On the contrary, it empowers the competent manager to celebrate achievement and spot problems early (which a lack of recognition can often show).  Because social recognition is inherently positive, the manager is still responsible to “praise in public, criticize in private.”

As a database of crowdsourced performance feedback grows, analytical software will reveal hidden social dynamics in the organization. Executives will identify quiet but influential individuals, those who I call “hidden influencers,” and groom them for more formal leadership.  HR can reward creativity and engagement with higher pay and better opportunity. High-potential employees can be targeted early to mitigate flight risk.

The wisdom of crowds is already revolutionizing consumer and B2B decision-making. Now is the time for HR and other leaders will bring the wisdom of the employee “crowd” to the crowd itself by adding social recognition to performance reviews.

Purchase a copy of Eric Mosley’s The Crowdsourced Performance Review book on Amazon today! 

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When sending an email to request an appointment for a Conference Call – be precise and to the point in what you plan to discuss and how much time you are requesting. Sharing as much information during the initial request helps all parties to be effective, relevant and professional participants during the conference call.

Not only does it save time and confusion sending clarifying emails back and forth, but it also saves the recipient the frustration of wondering ‘what is the conference call about and why do we even need to schedule one?’

By being proactive and sharing as much information upfront, it will help to all parties to prepare in a timely manner so the call can be productive and efficient.  No one likes to be caught off guard and unprepared.

Here’s an example:

Joe, I would like to schedule 30 minutes next week for a conference call with you to discuss:

1)  The status of XYZ project

2)  Marketing materials for the ABC program

3)  Preparations for the LMN conference

I’m available either:  (list three possibilities).  Do any of those times work for you?  If not, please let me know what is convenient for you so I may plan accordingly.

I look forward to the call.

Thank you,

John

As the facilitator of the call, make sure you stick to the agenda and the time outlined in the request.  If the call gets off topic, make a note of the new topic and decide if it needs to be addressed at a later date.  Keeping on topic and on task shows respect to the other parties and only helps to build your credibility and demonstrates professionalism.

Are you ready for your next conference call?

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