HR Files

Social Networking Sites in the Labor and Employment Realm: Harness the Power or Be Left Behind

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:29:00 +0700

By Elizabeth Ebanks

Since the world wide web became public, the internet has been changing the way that companies communicate and conduct business. Social networking sites, online communities that enable people to communicate and build networks based on similar interests, activities, values, and ideas, have significantly contributed to that change. These sites can provide a number of advantages to employers, such as publicity and marketing, recruitment, and employment screening. Improper or careless use of such sites, however, may result in tort liability, can compromise confidential information and business reputation, and may lead to discrimination, privacy, and freedom of speech suits. While the use of these sites can present increased litigation threats to businesses and employers, the reality is that not only are they here to stay, but also that they are growing at an exponential rate. Employers can either harness the power of these sites and use them to their advantage, or be left behind while their competitors do so.

The following article describes the major social networking sites in today’s market, and the advantages and disadvantages of using such sites. It concludes with recommendations on how employers and businesses should treat these sites to reap maximum benefits in the current market.

The Major Players

There are hundreds of social networking sites, and that number is growing by the day, but four major players stand out: LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. Employers should understand the intricacies of each site in order to effectively use them to their advantage and avoid their pitfalls.

LinkedIn. Unlike the other major free social networking sites, LinkedIn is primarily designed and used for professional networking and business-oriented endeavors. The site was launched in 2003, and enables users to join networking groups and add other users as “connections,” i.e., people they know or trust in a business setting. Members may utilize their connections and groups to network with other business professionals and find jobs and business opportunities. In addition, employers may use the site to list job opportunities and search for potential employees. Currently, all Fortune 500 companies have executives who are LinkedIn members, and over three-hundred law firms have a presence on the site.

Facebook. Facebook is a free, international social networking portal launched in 2004. With approximately 200 million users and over one billion visits per month, it hosts more users than any other major social networking website. Although originally targeted at college students, Facebook now allows anyone with a valid email address to sign up and access the site. Facebook features personalized profiles, current status updates, email, video and image sharing, group pages, instant messaging, and notes, which are similar to blogs.

MySpace. Launched in 2003, MySpace is another free social networking website with international use and popularity. The site primarily attracts 18-24 year olds, but users of all ages frequent the site. Although marketed as a “Place for Friends,” the site also features profiles of musical artists, companies, businesses, and other groups in addition to personal profiles. Users can write blogs, post photos, videos, and music, message other users, and join groups.

Twitter. Launched in 2006, Twitter is one of the more recent social networking sites and is rapidly gaining popularity among users of all ages. Twitter is a free micro-blogging site that enables users to post “tweets,” which are short messages with a maximum of 140 characters. Tweets provide succinct updates or web-related links and approximately three-million tweets are sent per day. Users have the option of making tweets public or only viewable to friends.

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So what happens when ALL of your employees quit?

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:21:00 +0700

By Ron "Mr Motivation" Hummel

Ok Mr. C.E.O or you Human Resources Director when then the economy starts it's up turn in 2010 will you be ready for the mass exodus that is going to take place in hundreds of companies across the United States? Probably not.

You see right now you believe that those people are a dime a dozen and you would be right. As of now.

Very shortly however new opportunities are going to start to develop and if you haven't invested in those individuals you have in your company, guess what, they are GONE!

So you ask. What can I do to keep them. First of all money is NOT the first answer unless of course you have them so under paid it's an embarrassment to even process payroll.

No! The answer is motivating and sincerely caring about their well being. Now keep in mind that sincerity is the key word here. If you pretend to care, they will see through that very quickly.

First of all employee's are people, human beings, just like you. They have feelings. They have pride. They want, NO they demand to be recognized for who they are and what they do.

Sure you recognize them, every time they do something incorrect you write them up. Our HR group has 15 different forms just for that process. NOT surprising. One of the first things we notice when we do a seminar in a corporate setting is how the format within the company structure is set up to assist the employee to fail. Does that shock you, it shouldn't

When is the last time you or a member of your staff went out into the company and sincerely simply talked to your employee's. NEVER!

Companies don't do that. They take all the time, energy and money and train Senior Management, Upper Management, the management teams, Managers and Supervisors and NEVER spend a dime on the Assistant Supervisors, leads and front line people.

Oh! I'm sorry! I forgot about the turkey at Thanksgiving. Oh really, a $25 gift card at Walmart. Or maybe that real nice polo shirt with the company logo. Nice!

Think about this. The New York Yankees just won the World Series. Now what would have happened if the entire management staff showed for the series BUT the players NEVER came to the game? You really believe the managers abilities to coach wins the series without the players. NOT going to happen is it?

So you and your entire management staff show up for work all set to impress your dime a dozen employee's with your intellect, and they don't come into work!

Good luck with that!

Listen invest in them it's easy and simplistic.

Even as a C.E.O (In fact every position I ever held) I went around the entire building every morning I was in the office and shook the hand of each employee, asked them how they were doing, how the job was, how their family was and how were they being treated.

OK! now you going to say you have 10,000 employee's there is NO way I can do that and you would be correct.

So set the example and accomplish this with those around you encouraging your ENTIRE management team to do likewise.

However do NOT and I mean do NOT do it if you do not care or have the sincerity to do it. Believe me those $10.00 an hour dime a dozen employee's know when it's real and when it's not!

Remember when we said you noticed them and your HR people noticed them when they did something incorrect. Will take the same amount of time and energy to notice the positive they do. You just might be surprised how little correction there will be in the future. How attendance and tardiness are no longer an issue. Sick days decrease and productivity increases.

When is the last time you or a member of management said "thank you" to an hourly worker. When is the last time you even acknowledge their existence?

Remember your good, your Vice Presidents and Directors are good, your Management team is good but if those front line managers, supervisors, leads and front line employee's don't show up for work even for one day, what's the bottom line on the monthly P&L look like. Not sure the stockholders are going to understand the relevance in your Ph.D.

Realize they are NOT a dime a dozen, Good employee's are difficult to find and keep.

Remember! If you don't treat them well...... who will?.......Your competition!

Source: articlesbase
Ron Hummel has been "Mr Motivation" since 1978 talking to thousands of individuals in all types and sizes of companies. AT&T, BMW, Bell South, Sun Trust, Zenith, Wendy's, Long John Silvers, Taco Bell, Publix, Kroger, Eli Lilly, Ford Motor Company, and Honda just to name a few. Isn't it time for you and your company to invest in your employee's. Go to www.mrmotivation.net and schedule a seminar today. Watch the positive improvements tomorrow!

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"Top 4" Total Rewards Predictions for 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Sat, 2 Jan 2010 08:00:00 +0700

A prediction by Rebecca Regan

Listed in no particular order:

1). The unemployment rate will bottom out in the first quarter of 2010, relieving pent-up demand from high performing, skilled employees and creating movement in the job market for the first time since 2008. Employers will only add staff once they must, with the pain of recent layoffs still fresh in their minds. Once overtime has been maxed out and employers cannot add more temporary staff, they'll begin to hire workers. Employers must identify their highest tier of performers, develop and deploy retention programs to mitigate loss of talent (hopefully, these plans are already in place....).

2). With increased scrutiny from the Federal government on managing risk versus reward in executive pay plan design, compensation professionals will need to play an integral role in auditing and assessing all of their in-house compensation programs. This review includes Board sub-committee structure, authority, oversight & review for compliance with new guidelines. These new regulatory standards from the Fed and SEC are expected to expand and apply to all prudently managed organizations (i.e., not only TARP recipients) within the U.S.

3). Variable pay plans will reward employees and recognition programs will help to retain them in 2010. The economy will be improved by November, 2010 because of the elections scheduled then. The question is how much of an improvement will happen between now and then? The key will be to track movement in specific job groups to respond to market pressures to compete from a total compensation perspective. With base pay used primarily as an inflation hedge, variable pay will increasingly become a commonly used tool to identify and retain A,B & C levels of performers.

4). We're not going back to where we were. Regardless of the direct impact of our own personal experience, whether it's been a loss of job, reduced 401k balance, lost home, or slashing employee expenses in total compensation programs at work, each of us has a new reality check with reduced expectations emerging on the backside of 2009. We've all struggled in some way this year, whether it affected us personally or through some member of our family. And because of that struggle, I think that many have a new found appreciation for the things that really matter in life such as our health, job stability, financial soundness, family, freedom, country and faith.

Because we don't take things for granted as much as we did only two short years ago, we have a new appreciation for the things that are good in our lives; we're simply not as greedy as we were. The bubble burst, and we're smarter for having lived through it. This is one prediction that I hope doesn't lapse before the end of 2010, because it's the silver lining of having lived through the recession.

What's your top prediction for 2010?

Copyright 2009, Regan HR, Inc.
Becky Regan is the founder and President of Regan HR, Inc., a human resources consulting firm specializing in compensation consulting for California employers and purveyor of online HR products.

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Top 10 New Year's Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:35:00 +0700

The end of the year is a good time to reflect on your business's progress over the past year and plan how you want your business to develop. Do you want increased success or the chance to enjoy the success you've achieved more? These top 10 New Year's resolutions are designed to help you strike a better work-life balance, so you can achieve a truly satisfying success in the New Year.

1) Learn how to delegate and do more of it.

There are so many things to do when you're running a small business, it's easy to delude ourselves that we need to do all of them. Then we wonder why we're so tired and frazzled and have no time to do anything else! Determine Your Personal Return on Investment, and decide to let someone else do some of the tasks for a change. Delegation is the key to a healthy work-life balance.

2) Promote your business regularly and consistently.

Too often the task of promoting a small business slips to the bottom of the to-do list in the press of urgent tasks. If you want to attract new customers, you have to make promotion a priority. Make a New Year's resolution to hire a marketing expert, or take the time to create a marketing plan on your own and follow through. Try some of these Low-Cost Ways to Promote Your Business to get started.

3) Make business planning a weekly event.

Planning is vital if you want a healthy, growing business. Business planning lets you take stock of what worked and what didn't work, and helps you set new directions or adjust old goals. So why do it just once a year or once a quarter? Set aside time each week to review, adjust, and look forward - or even better, make business planning a part of each day. Not only will this help you avoid costly mistakes and stay on track, but you'll feel more focused and relaxed.

4) Learn something new.

What you choose to learn may be directly related to your business (as are the four free ecourses I offer on this website) or completely unrelated. Learning something new will add to your skills and add a new dimension of interest to your life - another important part of achieving a healthy work-life balance. Depending on how you choose to learn, you may meet new and interesting people, who may become customers, colleagues, or friends. How will you find the time to learn something new? By delegating, remember?

5) Join a new business organization or networking group.

There's nothing like talking to other business people for sparking new ideas, refining old ones, and making contacts. Whether it's a group specifically designed for networking or an organization dedicated to a particular type of business, in person or over the 'Net, making the effort to be a part of a group will revitalize you and your business.

6) Give something back to your community.

There are all kinds of worthy organizations that make a difference in your community. Make a New Year's resolution to find a cause that matters to you, and give what you can. Make this the year that you serve on a committee, be a mentor, volunteer, or make regular donations to the groups in your community that try to make the place you live a better place. And those that give get. As I say in Top 10 Ways to Get Known, nothing will seed and grow goodwill for you and your business better.

7) Put time for you on your calendar.

In Schedule Time for You, I point out how important it is to take the time to recharge and refresh yourself; a healthy work-life balance demands time out. All work and no play is a recipe for mental and physical disaster. So if you have trouble freeing up time to do the things you enjoy, write time regularly into your schedule to "meet with yourself" and stick to that commitment. If you won't invest in yourself, who will?

8) Set realistic goals.

Goal setting is a valuable habit - if the goals lead to success rather than distress. Make a New Year's resolution that the goals you set will be goals that are achievable, rather than unrealistic pipe dreams that are so far out of reach they only lead to frustration. If you have trouble setting realistic goals, see Goal Setting Is the First Step to Achievement for a formula to help.

9) Don't make do; get a new one.

Is there a piece of equipment in your office that's interfering with your success or something that you lack that's making your working life harder? Whether it's an old fax machine that's a pain to use, or the need for a new employee to lighten your work load, make a New Year's resolution to stop putting off getting what you need. The irritation of making do just isn't worth it. You'll find information on both office equipment and business software in the Running Your Office section of this site.

10) Drop what's not working for you and move on.

All products aren't going to be super sellers, all sales methods aren't going to work for everyone, and all suppliers or contractors aren't going to be ideally suited to your business. If a technique or a product or a business relationship isn't working for you, stop using it. Don't invest a lot of energy into trying to make the unworkable workable. Move on. Something better will turn up.

Achieving a healthy work-life balance is like maintaining a good relationship; you have to keep working on it. But if you apply these New Year's resolutions throughout the year, your success is guaranteed!

Happy New Year for Everyone...

An article by Susan Ward at About.com

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Handling the Holidays - Be careful and Accomodating!

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:35:00 +0700

Yes, it is once again the holiday season. The holidays often have employers and managers racking their brains about how they should handle them. Do you say “Happy Holidays” or do you stick with “Merry Christmas?” Is it okay to let people have days off or to let them leave early to observe different holidays? Which types of office décor are appropriate and which should you leave at home? Just thinking about all of these questions might give you a headache, but it’s very important to know how you intend on handling the holiday season in your office.

There are only two simple options when approaching holiday décor. You can either ALLOW all of it or BAN all of it. If you play favorites and tell your employees that they may display Christmas trees, but there are to be no Menorahs in the office, not only are you being unfair you are discriminating. Discrimination is most definitely an illegal offense and you don’t want to find yourself in court over something like an electric Menorah. If you let one employee decorate for the holiday that they celebrate, be prepared to allow everyone else to decorate the way that they wish to as well. On the other hand, though it might sound cold and Scrooge-like, you may choose to ban all holiday decorations regardless of religion. If you choose to go that route, be prepared to enforce the ban all year-round (watch out for Valentine’s Day and Easter!) However, if you are a public employer, it is always recommended that holiday decorations are limited to secular holiday symbols such as snowflakes and candy canes.

During this time of year, you will likely have many employees requesting time off for one holiday-related reason or another. Generally, the best way to handle these requests is to be flexible and accommodate employee’s requests to the best of your ability. Encourage employees to schedule these days well in advance. An easy way to do this would be by using an automated time and attendance system to allow employees to submit early leave requests. By submitting these requests early, you are given time to adjust the workload of others to compensate for the missing worker. Try your absolute best to accommodate your employee’s needs through flexible scheduling. You can also allow them to work longer shifts to make up hours and, provided that there’s no local or state law against it where you are located, you could also allow them to work through their lunch. If you choose not to accommodate a certain employee, be prepared to explain why and provide documentation to support your decision. If you say an accommodation is too expensive, for instance, be prepared to show the numbers. For the most part, if you encourage employees to schedule their time off early and plan for their absence, then accommodating each and every employee’s time off needs should be fairly simple. Be sure to discourage last-minute requests and remind employees of disciplinary actions that may be taken for any unscheduled absences.

The holiday season is a very important time in one way or another to most people. As an employer or manager, it is your job to respect everyone’s beliefs and handle things appropriately if you don’t want to be accused of discrimination. So make your “holiday game plan” now if you haven’t already. How are you going to handle all of the time off requests and religious icon decorations? Remember to be consistent in your rules to avoid harassment and discrimination accusations. Simply thinking ahead will help you make this holiday season as peaceful and happy as it should be.

Source: Legiant

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Employees' New Year's Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:38:00 +0700

The holidays tend to be a time to reflect on the past and plan for the future. So be warned, your employees are reflecting and planning, and now is the time to pay attention to keeping and reaping top talent.

It may be common sense but it bears repeating anyway. When we talk about talent retention, we're talking about key people and top talent. As we prepare to ring in the New Year, we should bear in mind a few things about our recruitment and retention efforts that might make this time of year both opportunistic and threatening where top talent is concerned.

It'is the season for resolutions after all. People everywhere will soon be resolving to lose weight, start a fitness program, drink less, or quit smoking. But the number one New Year's resolution last year, according to About.com, was to find a better job. In fact, more of us turn our attention to our working lives at this time of year than at any other time. (Traffic to major job boards typically spikes between 40-60% from December to January each year.) Monster itself agrees that its spike in traffic in January is the biggest all year (including increased traffic after its Superbowl ads) and that this is mostly due to resolutions.

Maybe it's having time off to reflect on the past year that causes so many people to think about improving their working lives. After all, according to Freud, love and work are the cornerstones of our lives. When we reflect, we tend to reflect on those two things more than anything else.

Derrick Barton, founder and CEO of the Center For Talent Retention notes, "Whenever there's a major holiday, Thanksgiving, July 4 or Christmas, you're around family and friends. People ask how work is going. Sometimes people open up beyond the usual one or two word response because they're comfortable talking with a trusted person. This may get them thinking that perhaps they're lucky in their work, or that maybe they need to get out of a bad situation. When that mental 'click' is turned on, there is a strong correlation to actually leaving, particularly among top talent and people with skills that are in demand. Worse, what held them back in 2004 will not as likely hold them back in 2005."

For many, work has become the dominant force in their lives. Numerous employee surveys this year and last revealed an enormous pent up desire for change; some surveys even suggested that more than half of all employees (and managers) plan to leave their employers within the next 12 months or "when the economy improves." If recent economic trends, which indicate a stronger economy and improved labor market, hold, 2005 could be the biggest year so far this decade for job change.

So how might this present an opportunity for recruiters and/or trouble for organizations? For recruiters, the New Year is harvest time. Clever recruiters will have planted seeds of interest into the top talent they hope to recruit from other organizations so that their follow-up calls in January and February connect them to people in the career-change state of mind.

Organizations, on the other hand, should spend some time in December and January cementing their ties with top talent. This involves more than a Christmas card or even a bonus. Employers should use this time of year to show real appreciation for the hard work of key performers during the past year. Of course, retention initiatives should occur year round, but it doesn't hurt to emphasize and increase those efforts at year end and during the first months of the new year, when employers are most vulnerable to losing their best people.

Retention of critical talent is not a one-to-many exercise. Top talent and those that have been identified as having strong potential should be met with one-on-one. Perceptive managers will gain a sense of whether an employee's commitment is strong or waning. At the very least, it will give managers the opportunity to express gratitude and learn what is important to keeping their key people engaged. This time of year has the advantage of being a natural time for taking stock of accomplishments during the past year and looking ahead to goals for the coming year.

However, this won't just happen. Data gathered by the Center For Talent Retention at the start of the decade found that 86% of managers did not feel accountable for engaging and retaining employees. Despite the elevation of "talent retention" as an issue since then, it is very doubtful that the situation has improved much. The surest path to getting managers actively involved in the retention of key people could be to build it directly into their compensation plans. Again, there is no better time to revisit incentive plans than the beginning of a new year.

The New Year is not a time to sit back and reflect. In fact, it may be the best time exploit the vulnerabilities of competitors, after all, all's fair in the war for talent.***

Source: inc.com

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HR Strategy to Keep Your Workers Happy

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:30:00 +0700

by George Butler

Human Resources (HR) is a major growth industry in the small business and corporate arena. Gone are the days where bosses got away with making ridiculous demands of their underpaid, unhappy and frequently on-strike workers. In these current times, good employees are hard to come by and even harder to keep - strategy planning is essential. If you research an effective HR strategy ahead of time, that takes into account your most valuable assets, you'll be saving money, enhancing productivity and growing a more positive working environment!

Your Most Valuable Asset.

Believe it or not, it is not your product, nor is it your enormous brain or fantastic location - it's your workers! Without them nothing happens - you can't do it all! Without strategic management, retention of your staff can be difficult. Going through the ordeal of replacing an unhappy staff member can cost up to three times their original annual salary. Couldn't that money be better spent on trusted, loyal employees that reflect your business values? On a quality HR strategy? On simply making them happy? Side effects of looking after your most valuable assets include; lower staff turnover, attraction of the 'right' talent when you do need new people, higher productivity and output and increased customer satisfaction. Sounds like a terribly successful way of doing business doesn't it?

What Workers Really Want.

So what makes for a dissatisfied worker? It could be one of many things... lack of advancement in their position, boredom with job content, low wages, long hours, managerial gripes, bullying, company dynamics or personal problems. What a way to spend eight hours, every day - for whatever reason, it's pretty evident that this person will either leave or eventually stop doing their job effectively. A happy worker on the other hand, envisions a workplace where they are valued and feel appreciated, where they feel a shared ownership in the brand or company.

Opportunities for professional advancement, training in and access to new technologies, and a pay cheque that reflects their contribution to the business also helps! On a more human level, workers just want to communicate and feel heard once in a while. They'd love it if the boss would acknowledge that they have a life outside the office and be flexible for family and social commitments.

How You Can Deliver.

First and foremost, if you have a large company and are not trained in human resources yourself, get an expert in strategic management in to look after it. Whether on a contract basis, or a permanent addition to your team, an expert in HR strategy will ultimately save you time and money. Even if you don't have a huge number of employees in your own small business there are lots of ways to get your staff morale flying high above the bar and raise the stakes for your success! Try being more flexible, both with hours and job roles. Allow timeshare or trading for parents or students; where they can either work from home or take a 'part time' or different roles when outside pressures and commitments arise.

Work with people's natural circadian rhythms; have rotating shifts for morning and afternoon people - as long as the same amount of work is getting done, does it really matter when? Offer genuine thanks for good work; this is so simple, but almost never done properly. Have readily available opportunities for advancement available, in-house or external professional development can only help give you an edge over your competitors. Any which way you look at it, an investment in your workers happiness via quality strategy planning, will reap major rewards for your overall business performance.

About the Author:
George Butler is a successful businessman who believes in utilising your human resources management to the best of your abilities. His areas of interest are human resources planning and technology resources to help business grow.

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Is Twitter a Recruiting Tool?

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:54:00 +0700

Once depicted as a trendy social media experiment, Twitter has officially arrived. From cell phone integration to CNN broadcasts, we can no longer escape the fact that Twitter is not a passing fad. The site once criticized for a complete lack of utility has evolved into one of the most flexible tools available in the social media space. HR departments, Corporate Recruiters and Job Seekers have taken notice. Twitter has become an important tool in corporate recruiting.

In the current job market companies are clamoring to hang on to their talent. Blasting out new positions in real-time is an exciting strategy to target quality candidates. The fact of the matter is that there are more job seekers than jobs. This situation results in the limited number of prime candidates being scooped up with greater urgency. Despite the fact that there are less job openings, publicizing your new positions is critical to landing top talent.

Another interesting facet of Twitter's contribution to the recruiting field is an enhanced ability to find passionate candidates. Companies that actively rely on twitter to publicize new job openings create a channel for passionate supporters and potential future employees to track. For example, A software engineer who thoroughly enjoys the online music service Pandora.com will be more likely to respond to a new job opening if the candidate can track the available positions for Pandora in real-time.

Perhaps Twitter's most impressive function in the recruiting process is to establish a company's reputation for hiring quality, renowned talent. Spacex, the growing rocket company founded by Elon Musk, uses Twitter to announce talent acquisition. When Spacex hired former astronaut Ken Bowersox they tweeted out the news. This PR strategy serves to build a reputation around the human capital at a company. The more talented super stars that a candidate perceives to work for your company, the more likely that candidate will want to join your ranks. Ultimately companies want top candidates beating down the doors to get a chance to join the team. Twitter can help make this desire a reality.

A few smart software companies are working to seamlessly integrate Twitter and other social media sites into the recruiting process. These applicant tracking providers allow corporate recruiters to automatically post new positions to Twitter. Whenever a new job goes live the system will tweet out the new position. As more recruiting software packages leverage the Twitter API, Twitter will become more integral to the hiring process.

The recent Twitter revolution in the recruiting field is only a subset of how the social media site is affecting business across the board. With adoption rates soaring and users hunting out innovative applications for the service, Twitter's inherent flexibility may become its killer feature.(HR Rsource)

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The Art of Employee Motivaton

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:05:00 +0700

If you think that your employees’ poor performance on their designated jobs is costing you a whole lot of loss profits, then instead of just doing a total overhaul of your employee roster, why not try to do some employee motivation tactics to get them to actually come around and be able to save your company from looming bankruptcy. It really is fairly easy and simple to rouse some employee motivation, you just have to take these techniques to heart:

People nowadays are concerned of the lack of importance that is being put into health care plans. Is your company one of those companies who does not provide their employees with the health benefits that they should be entitled too? This is a possible reason why your employees’ morale are down. You need to reassess the situation and try to give them the health benefits that will ensure them that they will be protected by the company that they have been loyal even in their times of sickness. Always remember that a happy worker is a satisfied worker so make sure to use this employee motivation tool in order to give your employees morale a much needed boost.

Remember, companies are usually employed with some women who will, most often than not, become mothers. So it is highly important that you know their needs especially during the time when they would want to avail of their maternity leave. It is important that your company, no matter what kind of product or service you offer, is always sensitive to your employees needs, no matter what gender.

When it comes to having a good health plan for your employees, you must be sure that your health plan is actually of any good or else it would not really do any good to your employees’
morale. Make sure that the health plan will be able to cover all their basic needs and it wouldn’t really hurt if you throw in some added kicks.

Basic health care plans that you can use for employee motivation actually covers the following: full coverage for any basic illness or injury, coverage of hospital payments in case the employee has to be checked in at the hospital or if there are some minor surgeries that need to be done.

Added benefits to further boost employee motivation through a health care plan is through having their dental health covered as well as their optical needs, eyeglass subsidies as well as free dental cleaning and check-ups will be a good treat for your employees and will surely be a great added employee motivation move.

Apart from having a good health care plan for your employee motivation tactics, you must also be able to provide for them some other additional care such as an insurance plan which they can rely on in case something bad happens to them and they are still of service to your company. Even if this employee motivation move will not be availed by the employee’s family during the time of his or her service, your employee can still choose to continue on paying for the premiums of the insurance plan even after he or she has retired from your company. Unfortunately for your employees, once they resign
from a job position at you company the said insurance plan will be revoked since the company will not be able to play for your insurance premiums anymore (remember, all the payments from these employee motivation tactics will actually come from the employee’s salary).

Another great employee motivation move for loyal employees of your company is to have a car loan ready for them, employees who have already served some considerable amount of years in the company should be entitled to a car plan wherein deductions from their salary will be used to pay for their vehicle of choice. This is a great employee motivation move since those who are not able to afford a car (a brand new car at that!) would actually want to continue staying in your company because of this added employee motivation benefit.

From time to time, especially during special occasions, you need to be able to give your employees some added morale boost by organizing events or parties that will foster camaraderie among your employees. A little good time certainly wouldn’t hurt anyone and this will all be in the spirit of good ole’ company fun. Employee motivation directed events such as Christmas parties and company picnics are surely a welcome treat to your seemingly overworked and over fatigue employees.

You must also remember to give your employees some time to unwind like providing your regular employees the benefit of having a two-week paid vacation leave. That’s the least you can do for your employees who you have held captive for the majority of the year in your office.

These are really simple and easy employee motivation tactics that you can do in order to boost your employees’ morale and be able to ensure a good upkeep of your company.

For more great employee motivation info and advice check out: http://www.profitable-employees.com

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The Importance HRM in Modern Organization

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Fri, 6 Nov 2009 10:55:00 +0700

Organizational Psychology holds that successful organizations do not owe their success solely to market realities and sustainable competitive advantages. Actually, there is a lot more. Successful companies are those that consider their human capital as their most important asset. Facts and figures are the quantitative elements of successful management, yet the qualitative, i.e. the cognitive aspects, are those that actually make or break an organization.

Human Resources Management (HRM) is the strategic management of the employees, who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the strategic objectives of the organization. Assuming that the employees of an organization are individuals with own mental maps and perceptions, own goals and own personalities and as such they cannot be perceived as a whole, HRM holds that the organization should be able to employ both individual and group psychology in order to commit employees to the achievement of organizational goals.

Aiming to enable the organization to achieve its strategic goals by attracting, retaining and developing employees, HRM functions as the link between the organization and the employees. A company should first become aware of the needs of its employees, and at a later stage, understand and evaluate these needs in order to make its employees perceive their job as a part of their personal life, and not as a routine obligation. To that end, HRM is very crucial for the whole function of an organization because it assists the organization to create loyal employees, who are ready to offer their best.

The HRM activities in modern organizations are typically performed in communication with the General Management in an effort to provide a variety of views when a decision must be taken. In that way, decision making is not subject to the individual perceptions of the HR or the General Manager, but it becomes the outcome of strategic consensus.

The main goals / responsibilities of HRM are:

To retain low employee turnover rate by inspiring people to work for the company
To attract new employees
To contribute to employee development

To achieve these goals, Human Resources Management trains and motivates the employees by communicating ethical policies and socially responsible behaviour to them. In doing so, it plays a significant role in clarifying the organization’s problems and providing solutions, while making employees working more efficiently.

On the other hand, challenges do not cease for the HRM. Modern organizations can survive in the dynamic, competitive environment of today only if they capitalize on the full potential of each employee. Unfortunately, many companies have not understood the importance of the human capital in successful operations. The recruitment and selection of the best employees is a very difficult obligation. Even companies that are voted in the top-ten places to work at, often endure long periods of hard work to realize that human element is all an organization should care about.

New challenges arise even now for the organization, and it is certain that new challenges will never cease to emerge. Therefore, the use of proper Human Resources techniques is a really powerful way for organizations to overcome these challenges, and to improve not only their quantitative goals but also their organizational culture, and their qualitative, cognitive aspects.

Source: Article Base by Christina Pomoni

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Monday Wisdom Makes You Wiser to Act

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Mon, 8 Jun 2009 07:00:00 +0700

What is seen outside is 15% - 10% (appearance). What's really happening inside is 85% - 90% (emotions). Emotion is like gravity. You know it's there. You know it exists but how do you define it? It is always experienced by the people.

Emotional intelligence -"Is a term used to describe the various competencies that are essential for building, developing and managing relationships" (Peters, 2008, p.13). Emotional intelligence consists of two dimensions; intrapersonal intelligence and interpersonal intelligence.

Emotional Intelligence or Emotional Quotient is simply defined as "Knowing what one feels good, what one feels bad, and how to get from bad to good. Knowing your emotions and knowing emotions of others." It refers to emotional management skills, which provide competency to balance emotions and reasons so as to maximize long term happiness.

"Emotional Intelligence is the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships. Emotional intelligence describes abilities distinct from but complementary to academic intelligence," said Daniel Goleman (1998).

Are we giving EQ training in school?
Are we giving training for how to control emotions?
Are we training people how emotions related with one event change their future?
My answer is "NO."

Emotional competency, Emotional maturity and Emotional sensitivity can be learned and develop person.

Bad News!
EQ abilities are declining in children. More impulsive, aggressive, and angry entry level employees need more training in EQ competencies.

Good News!
EQ is teachable and tends to increase over your lifetime (maturity).
Work climate is dependent on EQ level of management. Majority of employees choose to leave or stay at an organization based on relationship with their manager.
What is observed in the life is that people take emotions heartily and break down the relationship. People react with emotions towards others and this hurts the other one. The other one takes it personally instead of taking it professionally. Other people do not take it as a reaction to an event but treat it as a critic to him and take it personally. This breaks down the long time relationship for life time.

Emotional reactions spoil relationship, future goals and tend to change destination. Other people also treat it personally and react badly to the action, which hurt the people and love in the relationship is slowly drop down where as bitterness starts flowing in the relationship. Finally, no one wins, and team spoils off, relationship spoils off and organization is spoils off.

Today's conclusion of Monday wisdom is Emotional competency, Emotional maturity and Emotional sensitivity. It can be learnt by developing person. Emotions should be treated mentally instead of personally.

Article by Dr. Shailesh Thaker, a business coach and young power-house of Motivation and Leadership, holds Ph.D. in Cognitive Thinking and Creative Writing (INDIA). He is also one of the third named fellows of JCI University for the International Training Fellowship from SAARC countries.

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Ten Common Hiring Mistakes Done by Managers

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Thu, 4 Jun 2009 08:56:00 +0700

The Consistent Risks Inherent in All Hiring Decisions

To errors in hiring is human - and is considered to be very expensive. Many "standard" hiring procedures are actually common mistakes, so to choose more competent candidate, you need to be prepared to revise your hiring methods. Learn the consequences of the hiring errors managers often make, and then eliminate them from your hiring practices to help you choose only the cream of the crop. Most, if not all managers would agree that there are always risks when hiring new employees. These risks exist whether the new hire is a fresh-out-of-school Field sales rep. or a new chief executive officer.

Some concerns are rather low-level risk issues. "Does this candidate always dress like that?" Other questions are more qualitative. "Does this candidate's education and experience truly 'fit' the requirements of this open position?" Another important category is mostly subjective. "Does this candidate have the best personality and demeanor to provide positive 'chemistry' to the team on which he or she will work?" or to answer the biggest question, "does this candidate thinks and acts like the way we want him to do?". In most of the hiring decisions, the line Managers and the H.R tends to think if they can get the 'white elephant' out of the candidate that best suits their purpose.

Most of the hiring decisions are hardly based on a complete availability of information on the candidates and there is no much information available to carry out a full proof investigation on the candidature. Although it is argued that the real need of a 360 degree investigation is actually needed for an entry level or junior position and most of the senior hiring are through referrals and market knowledge but still their has been a dire need to re calculate the actual risk of hiring an wrong candidate at the senior management level than a junior management level. Hiring a wrong CEO can get the organization into doldrums of never ending problems or annihilate the corporation.

It is the most critical decision of a human resource professional, department head or a line manager to understand the sensitivity of a hiring decision. It is not expected that every time one makes the right hiring decision and every hire turns out to be a superstar in the organization, yet the damage can be controlled better if precautions have been proactively taken in every organization.

1. Too much of dependency on interview techniques to evaluate a candidate.
2. Managers sometimes use too many criteria for selection
3. The "I need someone right now" or the Emergency syndrome.
4. The "I hired this person because I got a great referral from her sister, father, or close friend who works for our organization" or the Neighbor syndrome.
5. The "I hired this person because they said they liked to do the work I hate to do" or the Action Leader syndrome.
6. The "I must hire this candidate because he/she is just like me" or the 'Halo Effect'.
7. Evaluating "Personality" instead of the required Job Skills.
8. Lend an ear to the candidate. Hear him loud and test his emotional intelligence.
9. Failure to have a sales mentality and obvious enthusiasm about your organization when speaking with a candidate.
10. And finally, hiring a candidate who is a good "job" fit, but not a team or organization match.

Recruiting and hiring the best candidates for your organization is a challenging responsibility. One or more of these hiring errors are often made by even the most experienced HR professionals unknowingly. Avoiding these mistakes is not really difficult and can make a measurable positive improvement in your organization operations. The personal "star rating" of HR professionals, who avoid these errors, may also rise noticeably.

Hiring is both an art and science and its root is embedded in the field of behavioral and social sciences. Hiring is an on going process and is considered to be a pivotal and strategic part of the H.R function in an organization. Although the list of common hiring mistakes is exhaustive and several studies have been conducted in this regard. The risks will always exist, but being aware of them should greatly improve your managerial scorecard and the ability to recruit the right talent. With the discovery of hiring mistakes comes the opportunity to make positive change. Even if you are content with most of the people you have hired so far, remember that continuous improvement is key to success. (An article by Mayuk S Dasgupta)

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The Importance of Online Recruitment

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Mon, 1 Jun 2009 14:48:00 +0700

When you plan to recruit people for your business you generally expect it to be a hassle. There will be a lot of people who will apply and who won't be qualified, and there will be a lot of people who will be qualified but for one reason or the other you just won't want to hire them because you won't feel comfortable with them - they just don't 'fit' with what you're looking for in regard to the company. Sometimes, your ad won't target the right people or the right people won't see it, and you won't get enough response, despite the cost.

So, what do you do? One of the best things to do is to recruit online. It helps stop people from flooding to your place of business, resumes in hand, disrupting what you're trying to do. It also reaches a lot more people, so you have a better chance of finding the person that you want. Advertising in newspapers and trade publications is still done, but it's slowly giving way to online recruitment because of these reasons, and also because of the lower cost and the ease with which a person can generally be found and hired. Posting the ad is usually free or very cheap, too, so that helps to drastically cut down on costs.

Online recruitment isn't suitable for every job, though, and sometimes the ads just don't work. If they aren't worded well or don't reach your target audience they can be a disappointment. Still, however, most companies can use them for most job openings with a very high degree of success, and that's something that's hard to beat. Traditional ways of finding job applicants often don't work that well, so the online recruitment option is really the way to go for most people. Jobs can be posted in the morning, a few resumes will come in by noon, and it might even be possible to talk with a candidate that afternoon - and possibly even hire that person that day. It isn't always that quick or simple but it has the potential to be, and that's something that traditional ways of recruiting people just don't offer.

This article was written by Tom Sangers on behalf of MKH London Recruitment advertising specialist and London Advertising agency.

Article Source: Ezine Articles

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The Importance of Employee Performance Reviews

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:53:00 +0700

Employee performance reviews are essential to ensure that your company functions at its optimal level. For the well-being of employees, as well as the growth of the company, these reviews are invaluable tools to maintain a satisfying and enriching environment for all. However, most managers view performance reviews as one of their most uncomfortable tasks. A little bit of planning and preparation makes all the difference, and transforms the entire process into a productive tool.

A company’s strength lies in how secure an employee feels about his job. Remember, it’s a performance review, not a criticism session. The primary objective is to evaluate how an employee can add more value to the company. An employee should feel motivated after a performance review session. A positive attitude makes all the difference!

Of course, all companies have a mixed population of employees; some are top performers, while some are mediocre or weak. Top performers deserve appreciation, and weak performers need positive inputs. However, the real challenge for any manager is to remain consistent and act without prejudice or favoritism. The prime factors during employee performance reviews are generally the quality and quantity of work. The employee’s attitude is a secondary, but important criterion as well.

An important, yet commonly overlooked tool for effective employee performance reviews is an interactive session. Two-way communication ensures that the employee feels important, and the inputs you get might prove equally important to the company.

Performance reviews are also a great to show that you really care about your employees. Your active listening skill is valuable in showing concern for an employee's well-being. Discuss and address the concerns of the employee in a way that makes the employee feel important and acknowledged. This reaffirms the employee’s value to the company.

Avoid restricting the conversation to an employee's job. It gives a mechanical feel to the performance review and dilutes the interest of the employee. A good way to connect with your employee is to discuss how he balances his professional life with his personal. Discussing personal, but not personally sensitive topics creates a friendly ambiance, which helps the employee feel at ease and more willing to listen to your comments.

Employees are assets, and acknowledging their efforts goes a long way in increasing their value and consequently, the net worth of the company. The bottom-line: Employee performance reviews — when done correctly — increase productivity and job satisfaction.

Article by Angela Martin

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One Minute Training Videos

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:00:00 +0700

Having worked in the training video production industry for quite a while, I have been brought up in the school of thinking that the ideal length of a training video should be around 12 minutes.

You could imagine how my eyebrows were raised when I was approached by the OHS Manager of a multi national corporation recently to ask me to think about producing some 60 second training videos for them. In his words; “every one is time poor nowadays, instant coffee is not quick enough and we can’t afford to take our people off their lines for 30 minutes to watch a training video even though OH&S is a hugely important part of our business”

“I also have to compete with Production, HR, Administration and sales for employee attention during our staff meetings, so I want a communication that is quick, edgy and effective”

A series of 25 x 60 second occupational health and safety training videos were written and produced as if they were television commercials. They featured a cartoon character and supporting posters were produced and put up on all factory walls throughout the country. These 1 minute productions also found their way into the company’s tool box meetings and were emailed from factory to factory, employee to employee.

The short sharp messages proved to be great motivations for some dynamic discussions that followed their screening The campaign has been so successful that the training videos were translated into several languages and distributed around the world.

A great lesson was taught to me by someone who was willing to think a little outside the square!

Article by Scott Weston

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The Secret to Great Training

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:45:00 +0700

It is well known that presenting is different from training. A good trainer focuses on delegates and his intention is to transfer a set of skills to them. In contrast a presenter is interested to report what has already been accomplished for the benefit of the audience. Although they are both public speakers, their roles are fundamentally different. A good trainer should put the delegates at the centre of the learning process and continuously use novel interactive high retention methods to make sure the delegates learn the new skills and remember them well after the course is finished.

How exactly can a trainer achieve this? The following is a number of core principles a good trainer should follow to get quality results from the training he provides.

Learn Every Ones Name and Use it.

One fun way to do this is to ask participants to ask the person on their right the following two questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. In a movie about your life, which Hollywood actor or actress should play you?

Then ask the participants to introduce the person on their right with their first name and the Hollywood name. This exercise is a good ice breaker and also helps you to remember names more easily by association.

Teach with Examples.

There is nothing like a good story to help people remember a principle or technique. Use stories from famous people and their experiences as your examples. Have at least two sets of different examples for each concept. Look animated and enthusiastic when telling the story and use participants questions and expressions to improve your examples and the way you communicate with them.

Make it Fun.

Studies from the University of New Hampshire have shown that humour has a positive impact on a variety of processes including communication, development of goals and emotional management. These result in increased productivity, viability and personal development. Light hearted humour and some spontaneous interactions with delegates can increase participants’ interests and attention in the subject and therefore boost learning.

Ask Effective Questions.

Asking the right questions is essential when it comes to information exchange which is exactly what we do in a training session. Trainers obtain some information from delegates by questioning and give some information back in the form of techniques, principals and concepts. There are many different types of questioning techniques that can be used but one of the most effective ones which can be applied to almost any situation is Kipling’s questions:

“I keep six honest serving men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
and How and Where and Who”

Get Feedback.

At the end of the session ask every delegate these two questions:

1. Which part of the session did you find most useful?

2. How would you apply this technique/method/principle to your life?

Asking specific questions helps delegates to recap the course in a few seconds and think about the application of the materials in their professional and personal life.

Offer half day follow up courses after three month.

Follow up courses enable participants to examine their learning and discoveries and get a chance to put the techniques and methods suggested in the course into practice. Be prepared for questions and suggestions. This is also an ideal time to collect valuable feedback to improve your course for future.

Article by Chelsea Elm

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Maintaining A Good Organizational Culture

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:35:00 +0700

The word used to describe all the employees in terms of their background, strengths, weaknesses, education, psychology, attitudes, beliefs, values, and experiences in life is organizational culture.

Other management experts assert that this term has a different meaning from corporate culture, which refers to the characteristics in total, that make an enterprise unique.

It represents the internal ethical standards and also the kind of leadership role such a company has.

Seniors can implement it in form of standards of behavior aligned with the overall organizational goals and impose them on the subordinates.

Maintaining a good organization culture or environment for your employees is very important as it is to the external publics.

Employees contribute a lot to this almost as chief executive managers do through their role in leadership and their actions.

Many companies include this in their recruitment strategy to only make sure that their potential candidates expected to fill the vacant positions can culturally fit in their organizations.

It is not easy to ascertain if a particular candidate can match the organizational culture but in a way or two, recruiters know when they have found the right person for the job.

Whether a company culture is strong or weak starts from within and more specifically from what the employees and other internal groups gossip about it.

The employees are well motivated to operate as per the set standard when they feel that a strong and positive organizational culture exists.

When it is weak, they may respond aggressively to instigate action from the top management and at the same time tarnish the organizational image to the external public.

At times the internal public may not assertively push for alternative actions even when there is an apparent need to alter management thinking.

This could be because the organization climate is in such a way that parties should not be involved in any actions or talks that would bring conflicts or when there is a key compelling person whose thinking can never be challenged.

When the internal publics lack confidence with the organizational culture, even the external ones will in one way or another behave similarly.

When bad news are shared with the outsiders, and spread far and wide, the overall performance of such a company is negatively affected, if the society, being the key source of resources is not satisfied.

The human resources wishing to be part of it now and in the future may change their minds for it then would not guarantee working with nice people, a kind atmosphere, reasonable reviews and so on.

Carrying out an evaluation of the current organization culture is something that managers should do.

The results of the assessment may be positive and encouraging or simply disappointing.

All they need to acknowledge is that they could never start creating a strong culture without first seeking to understand that they have a problem to solve.

If every new employee who becomes a part of a given organization were to be allowed to interact, act or think as they please, the end results would be a division not a union.

This is why seniors come up with company sets of standards of behavior to guide the subordinates, but the problems come in when they do it on their own.

Involving the subordinates in such decisions to bring about the radical or minor adjustments in the current organizational culture is the way forward.

Article by Esteri Maina

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Job Satisfaction Factors

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:29:00 +0700

What is it that makes people feel satisfied with their job? A Management Consultant namely Roy Walters after having spent years on studying job satisfaction and productivity has developed a Satisfaction Potential checklist which contains nine characteristics that define truly satisfying job. Hence, look out for these characteristics and if you don't see them in your job it is better to seriously search for another job.

1. The job isn't monotonous, but allows employees to change pace with varying tasks.

2. The job does not waste a person's time and effort. It has been planned in such a way that it can be done without exerting energy uselessly.

3. Employees are free to plan their work the way they can do it most effectively.

4. Employees believe they have a reasonable degree of authority over how their work should be done.

5. Employees believe they have adequate opportunities for individual growth and recognition.

6. Employees don't feel too closely supervised, over-instructed or rigidly controlled.

7. Employees see their job as an integral part of the whole company and each employee is treated as an individual, not merely a cog in the wheel.

8. The answer to the question, "How am I doing?" comes from the job itself. Thus, employees can correct their own errors and improve their techniques.

9. Superiors offer feedback without causing embarrassment.

In other words, if any employee has to truly enjoy his job and give his best for the organization the superior has to ensure that the task given to him is not monotonous, routine, mundane and design it in such a way that he utilizes his energy to his optimum level and still feel fresh, plan his work the way he considers doing it best, give him reasonable degree of authority, responsibility and freedom to perform the way he would like to start and complete with the job, which will give him opportunities for growth, development, recognition and status, ensure that he doesn't feel closely supervised, treat him as an integral part of the organization, give him the freedom and autonomy to improve upon their techniques and offer constructive feedback which enhances his work ethics.

Wouldn't it be great if every job matched these criteria as given above? It is not just a theory which we read from the management books and forget but we need to start with the jobs in our own company and see just how satisfying you can make them?

Article by Iyer Subramanian. He is working with Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry as a Joint Director-HR.

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Why Should You Use Psychometric Testing?

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Tue, 7 Apr 2009 13:24:00 +0700

Testing provides more information about a candidate in an objective way than the CV or Resume can provide. You can therefore make a more informed decision than working with the skills the CV provides, and the impression your recruit makes during the interview. This is therefore the most important reason you should use psychometric testing; it leads to hiring decisions that are more valid than decisions made by any other means. It takes the guesswork and “feeling” out of the hiring process and allows you to work with fact and logic. This puts you in control.

Psychometric testing improves the effectiveness of the employment process by selecting the most suitable candidates first. This will help reduce the amount of money you spend on people who don’t fit into your organisation, either by having to rehire soon as someone who doesn’t fit into your organisation won’t stay long, or wasting money on them during the hiring process.

Speaking about money: Imagine the amount you need to spend to get the same information about a new recruit than a psychometric test gives you.

You can profile a job so that you can see the personality type that is required for it. Then you can choose the person that has the personality type for the job. This makes the hiring process quick, stress free and easy.

Interviewing alone places emphasis on skill. Psychometric testing tells more about the behaviour of the candidate. As people get hired on skill, but fired on behaviour it would make sense to test the behaviour.

Psychometric testing uses assessment tools that have been designed by skilled psychologists and tested in over 38 countries so that you have the peace of mind that your business will benefit from hiring the right recruit.

These tests are designed to use for employment and is targeted to your business needs. You can see whether the person you need fits into your organisation, as it measures what they will bring to the job, and match their strengths with your requirements.

You can see someone’s development needs and strengths at a glance in easily understandable language. No psychological jargon to confuse you.

You can measure the potential of the individual tested so that you can train that person and know how to motivate them to give their best.

You can test all your staff while you’re at it, and make sure they are where they should be to enable them to help your business grow. You can then make interdepartmental changes to put them where they will perform at their best and retrain where necessary. You will reap the results of this in the form of revenue. Your staff will thank you, because they will be where they are happiest, and your business will flourish.

an article by Hannah Du Plessis

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Your Workplace and Anti-Harassment Training

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Fri, 3 Apr 2009 13:19:00 +0700

A major area for litigation that continues to grow on both the federal and state fronts is that of Harassment and Discrimination. Under federal law, Title VII prohibits workplace harassment and discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, sex stereotyping. In California, the state legislature has adopted Title VII and expanded on the protections afforded under anti-harassment/discrimination laws to include protections based on religious creed, color, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status, and perceived sexual orientation.

Federal law requires employers in the U.S. respond immediately to claims of sexual harassment and provide assurances that work environments are free from harassment. The EEOC has established minimum standards and guidelines which states should adopt in order to adhere to anti-harassment laws. The EEOC Enforcement Guidance provides that employers should ensure that supervisors and managers receive periodic training so they fully understand their responsibilities under anti-harassment laws and harassment/discrimination complaint procedures.

Many states, prompted by the federal government, have passed training mandates across a broad spectrum of topics for employers. A prime example is California’s AB 1825 otherwise known as California’s Sexual Harassment Prevention Training law. California employers are subject to the following requirements if they have 50 or more employees.

Two Hours of Training Every Two Years. Must be provided to each supervisory employee, every two years.

New Hires and Promotions. New supervisory employees must be trained within six months of their assumption of a supervisory position, and then every two years.

High Quality Training Required. The training mandated must be of a high quality, conducted via "classroom or other effective interactive training" and must include the following topics: Information and practical guidance regarding federal and state statutory laws about sexual harassment. Information about the correction of sexual harassment and the remedies available to victims of sexual harassment. Practical examples aimed at instructing supervisors in the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.

Failure to Comply Opens the Door to Harassment Lawsuits. A claim that an employer failed to provide AB 1825-mandated sexual harassment training does not automatically result in the liability of an employer for harassment. Plaintiffs will argue, however, that the failure to meet the training mandate is evidence of an employer's failure to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.

Workplace professionals argue that the training required under AB 1825 must extend beyond sexual harassment and to other forms of prohibited harassment, discrimination and retaliation. Thus the well-rounded sexual harassment training will include, at the minimum, discussions of "how harassment of an employee can cover more than one basis.”

an article by Michele O'Donnell

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Indonesia HR Conference 2009 "Changing People Changing Nations"

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 14:59:00 +0700

The need of an organization to give more attention on HR issues is getting inevitable. Considering its duties to shape qualified HR with vital skills and knowledge, HR nevertheless should be regarded as an asset that is able to contribute more into business operations. HR Conference is a proportional combination of practical case studies and interactive discussion that provides participants with opportunities to obtain fresh insight and perspective from acknowledged leaders and experts on human resources development in Indonesia.

Key Benefits
- Discover new technology that able to expose HRD to reach business goals.
- Learn and discuss strategies to strengthen the skills and capability of HR organization.
- Build character to enhance personal performance through motivational method that able to create regeneration of leadership in organization

Forum Speaker:
- Fauzi Bowo (DKI Jakarta Governor)
- Samuel Sung (Chairman of JobsDB.com)
- Chandra Ming (General Manager of JobsDB.com Indonesia)
- James Gwee (Director of Academia)

Stream Speakers:
- Joris De Fretes (Director Corporate Services of Excelcomindo Pratama)
- Steven Seek (Managing Director of JobsDB.com Singapore)
- Jansen H. Sinamo (Indonesia "Guru Etos")
- Lucia Nany Lusida (Human Resources Director of HM. Sampoerna, Tbk)
- Alexander Sriewijono (Director of Daily Meaning)
- Freddy W. Liong, MBA (Director of Freddway International Learning)
- Latif Harnoko (Corporate Services Division Head of Trans TV)
- Lucy Sycilia (VP Corporate HR of Elnusa, Tbk)
- Jakoep Ezra (Character Specialist of Power Character)

Event Date: 18 - 19 March 2009, 09:00 - 18:00 WIB
Venue: Blitz Megaplex, Grand Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia

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Training | A Major Focus of the U.S. Stimulus Package

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:31:00 +0700

President Obama was signed the massive $787 billion dollar stimulus legislation, called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (HR 1) on February 17, 2009. The bill is designed, in part, to stimulate the economy and to create millions of jobs across the United States.

The stimulus package includes more than $5 billion in training for a variety of programs across a number of U.S. federal agencies. The bill will invest heavily in new technologies, infrastructure projects, and health care. It also calls for investments to help laid off workers get back to work. An important part of the legislation allocates $3.9 billion to the Department of Labor. $2.95 billion will be used for training and employment services through FY09. The Department of Labor has 30 days to allocate funding to the states.

What should you know about this bill, and what can you do to help your organization take advantage of these opportunities?

The majority of the training funds will be allocated through the publicly-funded workforce system. You can access information about how much of these resources are coming to your states and communities by reaching out to the executive director of your local Workforce Investment Board or to the manager the local One-Stop Career Center in your community.

A significant portion of training funding – $750 million – is being devoted to competitive grants for high growth industries, and $500 million of these funds will invest in projects as part of the new Green Jobs Act. If history repeats itself, the competitive grants will require active private-sector participation with community colleges or higher education institutions.

With billions devoted to training, it is clear that U.S. lawmakers understand the important connection between learning, job creation, and economic recovery. This increased focus on training means that everyone in the workplace learning and performance profession has a huge opportunity to engage in the economic recovery efforts. Let’s work together to help our organizations and communities make the best use of their investments in training and development.

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What Are Employee Assistance Programs?

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Sat, 7 Mar 2009 12:38:00 +0700

It happens! work related problems and stress can cause major health issues for workers who then land up with severe health problems! The UK Health and Safety Executive issued a statement which said that Work-related stress, depression or anxiety was the main cause of staff absenteeism causing a loss of about 12.5 million days a year in the year 2003/4. And that means that office related worker problems required intervention from companies to ensure the well being of their staff!

How it started!

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations presented a legislation in 1992 which presented a company obligation towards the health of its staff. According to the ruling office related stress was to be considered to be an occupational hazard which companies had to deal with to ensure optimum productivity of their staff. This also meant that employers were responsible for dealing and helping with the mental anxiety and physical risk to the workers when they were at the workplace.

Advantages to the organisation!

Although the primary fear was about dealing with the rising cost of setting up a Employee assistance program which the company had to pay for, in the long term the benefits became obvious! Organisations and their staff began to accrue several benefits like:

1. Employee assistance programs were able to recognize and help workers who were suffering from office and work related problems of drug abuse, deaths in the family and office related chronic stress problems. One great effect of these intervention programs is that companies were able to assist workers before situations got out of hand. It also definitely helped to reduce staff absenteeism

2. Many employees have relationship problems which can hamper their office work and attendance. But they are embarrassed to get in touch with counselors or lawyers for legal issues related to personal problems. Quite a few of these personal problems could be settled with timely intervention from a good employee assistance program.

3. About 5.6% of a companys outgoing cash is spent on absenteeism and coping with absenteeism in the form of replacement staff. With the help of a good employee assistance program, absenteeism is significantly reduced. And the cost to the company is about less than 1% for a single employee! This turns out to be a huge cost saving for the company.

4. Employee retention increased. Several studies indicated that in about 65 to 80% of termination cases, the main reason provided was personal or work related issues. An employee assistance program was able to catch these problems early on and provide a solution to the problem before termination became necessary. As a result, employee morale increased and turnover rates decreased.

5. A good Employee Assistance program can also catch stress related issues early on by diagnosing symptoms like office aggressiveness, lack of creativity, concentration and motivation.

Getting an Employee Assistance Program in place is a vocal commitment from the company for employee health. And it does work.

Source: Best Management Articles by Richard Reid

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CPLP from ASTD

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Thu, 5 Mar 2009 04:23:00 +0700

Sounds familiar with CPLP? If not, CPLP is Certified Professional in Learning and Performance™ credential to provide a way for workplace learning and performance professionals to prove their value to employers and to be confident about their knowledge of the field. CPLP build by The American Society for Training & Development Certification Institute.

The CPLP™ competency testing process requires candidates to pass both a knowledge exam and a work product assessment. The knowledge exam has 150 multiple choice questions covering nine areas. The work product assessment requires a sample of recent project work and essay responses. The work product must pertain to one of the following areas: Designing Learning, Delivering Training, Improving Human Performance, Measuring and Evaluating, Facilitating Organizational Change and Managing the Learning Function.

Eligibility Requirements:

Professionals in the learning and performance field who have a minimum of three years related work experience may apply, though five or more is preferable.

Become a CPLP? Check it out here...

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Downsizing as a Staff Management Technique

noreply@blogger.com (Syam AG) — Tue, 3 Mar 2009 13:14:00 +0700

Downsizing is a method used by the personnel managers to reduce the labor force to a manageable number and thus cutting the overall costs of the organization.

It is not something that should be done hastily because the manager proposing it did it successfully in a different firm.

Becoming unmindful of the fact that such a strategy will be involving people squarely risking to be put on the exit line is unwise.

Human resources who should be valued company assets would not sit back and do nothing if their stay at the organization is being violated without a proper cause.

The personnel officer suggesting the downsizing strategy must start by presenting it to the managing director and other senior managers to get a go ahead if he sounds convincing and fair.

Resistance to change however, may surprisingly start at this meeting if some of those in big positions feel they would be shown the door as well, if the strategy implementation pushed through.

If the threat is felt from the above, you can be assure that this personnel manager would now be treated like a threat to the organization normal operations.

Sooner than later, these managers will influence even the small ranked worker to refuse to give in to the proposed downsizing strategy following strikes planned via involvement in grapevines.

And since one of the steps of deciding which worker should be declared redundant is carrying out thorough job analysis and specifications, no one would be willing to cooperate if they feel downsizing proposal is unethical.

More organizational politics on this kind of personnel officer are likely to bring his career in to an abrupt end while he thought it would have been fair for other employees to be victims.

Employees’ grievances are heard in industrial courts where their rights are protected from being violated unjustly and such efforts to retrench them may be ended immediately.

A downsizing strategy works best where the company in question is in financial trouble, because personnel managers can sell their cost cutting ideas to then desperate directors.

Also ahead of implementing such a strategy, it would be very important to consider your understanding of the organizational culture, structure, and weaknesses.

One must be capable of demonstrating how lay off of some workers can bring substantial savings on wages without risking productivity, quality and profitability.

As mentioned earlier, keeping the welfare of your staff in mind when drafting the new structure after downsizing is very imperative because a lot in their lives is to be impacted negatively by such a sudden move.

And how do you do this? Allowing them to speak up their minds after listening to your proposal without interrupting them is the way forward.

Becoming authoritative would only make things worse and before you realize it, you have gained a good share of enemies across the organization.

Use of proper communication channel that is suitable for each individual worker is the right way of conveying the new changes.

While this is happening, a lot of disagreements will arise from those whose retrenchment efforts are likely to hit badly, and it is then up to the proposing agent to make clarifications.

Workers would obviously reject downsizing strategy because they would fear loosing their only source of livelihood, but at times organizational managers lack other ways of mitigating the costs!

Source: Article Base by Esteri Maina

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