Human Resource Management

The rise of Gig economy: a challenge for HR professionals

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 04 May 2018 08:04:00 +0000

The Gig economy is a labor market that is based on the short term contracts of freelancing jobs rather than permanent jobs. As compared to the regular salaries, workers get the amount in return of the gigs, they perform. Traditionally, jobs in the gig economy were courier services, ride hailing services, freelance journalism, etc. However, online platforms such as upwork, fiver, freelancer, etc. bring new impetus in the economy. Information technology has connected the employers and employees through these online platforms. Most of the people work in the software development, creative and multimedia sector, sales and marketing support services, writing and translation services, clerical and data entry and other professional services. According to online labor index 2017, Asia by far dominates the freelancing market globally with India at the top, Bangladesh on the second, while US on the third place. Affordable labor, a highly-skilled and technical workforce compel the companies to look to hire freelancers.

Online Labor Index-Top 20 countries

There are several benefits associated with the gig economy not only for the employees but for the employers as well. Employers prefer to hire freelancers for these skilled jobs, as they don’t have to pay fixed salaries. They also able to decrease their fixed cost by hiring the freelancers, when there is work. Employees also feel autonomy, flexibility, and better control of work life balance.

Though, companies are relying increasingly on contingent labor forces, such as freelancers, consultants, and temporary workers however, these workers are not part of the regular talent pool of the company. Therefore, companies usually don’t invest to retain them. On the other side, freelancers get involve in pseudo-employment without getting payments for redundant work, paid leaves, or other employment benefits.

This phenomenon of gig economy is also making HR professionals irrelevant due to the change in the traditional mode of hiring, training, and compensating the employees, as most of the online platforms are managing the workforce on employers’ behalf. According to the survey of 2017 conducted by upwork,57.3 million Americans are freelancing (36 percent of the U.S. workforce). As the gig economy is continuously rising, there is very much likelihood that this mode of employer-employee relationship has to stay. The popularity of gig economy would create challenges for hiring and retaining the right persons at affordable cost. Therefore, there is a dire need of the hour for HR professionals to carve out the strategies to make the work more attractive for the young professionals by incorporating autonomy, flexibility, and better control of work-life balance to stay relevant with the upcoming trend.

Coworking spaces and a paradigm shift

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 16:21:00 +0000

Image by pinnstation coworking

In 1980, Toffler predicted

“Put the computer in people’s homes, and they no longer need to huddle. [. . .] White collar work will not require 100 per cent of the workforce to be concentrated in the workshop”.

This prediction was widely quoted in telecommuting research and started a new trend towards virtualization processes in organizations. According to a survey carried out in year 2014, 1.3 billion people worked from the space and time of their own choice. Advancement in digital technology has enabled professionals to work literally ‘anytime-anywhere’.

Coworking-spaces, which originated in 2005 in San Francisco have developed rapidly in the last decade. Currently there are 13,700 coworking spaces operating worldwide and around 1.5 million people are working in those spaces. Some coworking spaces are government funded aim to enhance startups and entrepreneurial activities while many others are private funded owned by private owners or big corporations hosting mostly freelancers, independent professionals, consultants, entrepreneurs, small and micro enterprises, employees, students, etc. There are countless benefits associated with these spaces e.g. new startups, business ventures, employment opportunities, innovations, etc. On one hand, these spaces are bringing entrepreneurial revolution while on the other hand these spaces are also encouraging more and more professionals to work independently as a freelancer.

For example, according to a survey of 2014 conducted by Elance, out of 10 university graduates with first or second class degrees, nine see freelancing as a lucrative career choice whereas, every fifth graduate with first or second class degree have already decided to work as a freelancer. The result of the study also shows that 29 per cent of all graduates intend to make freelancing as part time career while 85 percent think that it would become norm in next five years. The reasons behind starting career as freelancer is the independence and flexibility it offers as compared to the traditional job structure.

This means that coworking spaces would grow exponentially in the upcoming years as these spaces offer a cooperative working environment equipped with office utilities and accessories, in which professionals have the autonomy to work either as independent professional, or shared knowledge of other diverse professionals along with the shared working values of 'collaboration, openness, community, accessibility and sustainability'. Coworking spaces are not limited to the provision of office spaces and amenities to participating professionals. In fact, these spaces represent an elusive concept for working alone-together of participants, which is one of the major reasons that coworking- spaces are expanding globally. However, this rise would also influence the work practices in the existing organizations.

In this situation, organizations can either recruit freelancers and developed their policies accordingly or they can restructuring their organizations by providing more autonomy and flexibility to their workforce. In that case, organization need to reduced hierarchical structure by incorporating fewer layers and decentralized decision making. In order to attract and retain skilled workforce, organizations need to break down the existing organizational boundaries and shall focus on the collaboration and team working while provisioning more flexible work structures. The traditional roles in the organizations need to be abolished and a manager shall act more like a coach and mentor rather than a boss or commander.

How to save yourself from losing your Job

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:35:00 +0000

If you lost your job and are looking for a new job, it means you don't hear enough about saving your previous job. You probably hear a lot about finding a new job but surely, you also need to focus, how to save your existing job. You can lose your job for various reasons. Some of the reasons may be out of your control, e.g. Your employer is not making ample money or there is a corporate merger or your department is eliminated and you become redundant. But there are few factors, which are totally under your control, e.g. your performance is not upto the mark or you don't have a good working relation with your boss. So, you could manage these factors and can yourself from laying off. Here's how:

1.Understand Expectation

You think that you are doing very well at your position but may be your superiors don't think so. It does not matter, what you think about your performance but it does matter what other think about your performance. You must have to understand the expectations of your boss and your colleagues. If you get a vibe from your boss that you are not meeting his expectations then it is always better to discuss with your boss that what he/she expects from you.

2. Prioritize the tasks

Again, you not only have to understand the performance expectations of your boss but you also have to prioritize the tasks accordingly. Today's business world wants the person, who could handle the multitasks effectively. May be one task has high priority for you but for your bosses, it would not have such worth. There may be certain other tasks, which are of high priority.

3. Self Confidence

Always have self confidence "Work as if you are totally confident that your job is there forever," says Seiden, a leadership and career-development expert. That's a tall order, but, "if you bring worry into work, people are going to smell it," he says.

He recommends avoiding entertaining paranoia at every turn, wondering why you were or weren't given a particular project or assignment. "Even if you see [that your job is not going to last], you have to put blinders on," he says. Just keep showing up, physically and mentally, to do a great job in the here and now.

4. Brand yourself

It's good to be humble but in workplace, it would not be wise option. You must have self confidence on your abilities and you need to prove yourself continuously and effectively that you are a valuable resource of the organization. No one born as Socrates, skills could be learned and improved so don't be timid, if you don't have some skill to perform a task. Always open yourself for learning and to experience something new. Try to be the part of new assignments and projects, which would not only help to boost your self-confidence but also help to build the trust of others on you.

5. Learn about office politics

I actually hate office politics and I am sure, most of us also hate this. So it would always good option to learn about office politics, if you are tone-deaf from the office politics, you could wind-up making mistakes that could cost you losing your job.

6. Always prepared for the worst

At the beginning of the post, I mentioned that there are certain factors that are beyond your control like restructuring, downsizing, business reengineering, etc. So, always keep a sharp eye on that and don't put your all eggs in one basket. It's good to hope for the best but you have to be ready for the worst.

Difference between Harassment & Bullying - Workplace

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 11:17:00 +0000

Bullying and Harassments are two of the major problematic behaviors in today's workplace. Most of the people took it as same and could not differentiate between these two behavior. The understanding of these two behaviors are necessary as in the eyes of law, they are both different. I would describe the difference between bullying and harassment and would also propose strategies to overcome these behaviors in your workplace.

Workplace Bullying

It is a repeated pattern of mistreatment and unwelcome behavior from others towards a particular employee or a group of employees that could cause harm and create a risk to health and safety. It can include verbal, nonverbal, psychological, physical abuse and humiliation. Workplace bullying is different than the typical school bully, as it operates within established rules and policies of the organization. In workplace bullying, it is usually from top towards subordinate(s), however, peers can also be involved in bullying. Workplace bullying causes demotivation, dissatisfaction, anxiety, stress and demoralization in the target employee.

Workplace Harassment

Harassment is a topic which cover a range offensive behaviors. It is repetitive in nature causes disturbance, stress and anxiety. In the workplace, it is a negative behavior which can offend, humiliate or intimidate a target employee or group of employees based on their race, culture, age, gender or religion. In workplace, sexual harassment is most common and unwanted behavior, where the consequences of refusing could be potentially very disadvantageous to the victim.

How to avoid these behaviors at workplace

Following preventives measures should be taken in order to avoid bullying and workplace harassment.

Zero tolerance policy on workplace bullying and harassment should be adopted
Clear policy guidelines with strict disciplinary procedures should be circulated and communicated among the employees.
Orientation sessions and training shall be arranged in order to aware the employees to identify these negative behaviors but also to provide awareness to the consequences
If certain case/situation arises in the organization, immediate disciplinary action should be initiated, even if victim does not wish to complaint. Matter should be probed and policy guidelines shall be improved in order to avoid certain incidents in the future.
Victims of such cases shall not be penalized in anyway, psychological treatment should be provided.

Hire the candidate best for your firm

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 14:34:00 +0000

Previously, I wrote about the topics of Recruitment, which play an important role to gather a pool of candidates for a particular job. The next important step is to find out, if the potential candidate has the right mixture of KSA's (knowledge, skills and attitude/abilities) which exactly match with the job description.

Hire the candidate best for your firm

These simple tips would help you to hire the best candidate(s), which would be a valuable resource for your firm.

1. Identify your needs

You have to identify your needs. Clarify your self, why do you need a person for this position. It is always a good option to publish the job description in the job advertisement and also communicate to the candidates well in advance. Identify the skills that are requisites and having prime importance for the incumbent to perform the job. Identify those skills, which are not required but could help the incumbent in the next 1-2 years.

2. Be Realistic and Reasonable

Don't expect that the employee, you are going to hire would be in your firm for the next ten to twenty years. This era which is based on professionalism, people are more loyal with their profession rather than the firm. Don't expect that high salary would encourage a high motivation in the potential incumbent. Money play a role for a while but not for a long term. So before going for hiring a candidate, you have to consider that perks and privileges you are offering to the incumbent is according to the skills and abilities or otherwise.

3. Evaluate the Personality

Perhaps evaluation of personality is more important than the evaluation skills. You need a team player in your firm, who can coordinate with other team members to achieve the objectives of the whole firm rather than some lonely wolf, who just want to achieve only his personal or professional objective. It is always better to go for the detailed background check. You don't need to rely only on the references, you could always find your own resource persons, who could give you the honest opinion.

4. Go for multiple Interviews

Don't just rely on a single interview session lasts for 20-25 minutes. You could not evaluate a person in a small session therefore, it is always wise to go for multiple interview sessions. If you have not evaluated the technical skills by arranging a formal test then arrange at least two interviews, one focuses on the evaluation of skills while other on the professional side. Don't go unprepared for the interviews, always prepared before hand. It is always good to have an evaluation form in order to evaluate different aspects of the interviewee. Always start the interview from light conversation and allow the candidate to settle. Give time to the candidate at the end of the interview for questions. Be open to answer the questions asked by the candidate in a polite manner.

5. Don't Hurry

After interview, don't just decided at once. Consider all the factors like notice period, arrears to be paid in the previous firms, joining period, etc. After keeping in consideration all these factors, arrange a list of candidate w.r.t their suitability for the job.

6. Offer the best

If you find a suitable candidate that exactly match with your need then offer the best at once. Don't remain open the room for negotiation. If the candidate is not willing to join at a position that you are offering, don't start bargain. Let him go and offer the second best waiting in the lane.

7. Give time to settle

Even if you have hired the top candidate of industry, don't expect for sudden radical improvements. Give him due time to settle himself in new working environment. Arrange orientation sessions for the newly hired incumbent. Social events such as welcome dinner could be a good option.

Test yourself, if you ready to start your own business

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 14:35:00 +0000

In this era of globalization, the concept of loyalty among professionals have been reduced several folds. Now, people are more loyal with their profession as compared to their job. The recession has also played its role and now, people are more worried about their jobs. On the job, an incumbent has to face a number of challenges. Someone has a problem with his/her boss or colleague while other may be worried about downsizing or rightsizing, etc. Perhaps, you are also one of them, who want to get rid from such a problems and want to be his/her own boss.

Be aware with the hurdles that are going to come

If you are planning on such a thing, be aware that it is a huge step. If you did not plan well, your whole investment would be disappeared in a sinkhole. People make plans to start their own business. Initially, they have strong commitment that they would spend every single minute on their business. They feel good as started daydreaming about their potential successful venture. But, instead of daydreaming, you have certain important decisions to be made. These are the ten musts questions that you need to be answer:

Are you really ready to quit your job?
Are you ready to sacrifice your holidays, family gatherings, late night fun, etc.?
Do you have required skills?
What will be unique in your business?
Have you ample financial resources to start the business?
Do you have required workforce and how would you manage it?
What can you sell or offer to your customers?
How your product and services would be different from the other?
What would be your potential/target population?
Do you want to start it, as a full time or a part time business?

You have to be aware that on the job, you are availing certain facilities and have access to certain perks. You have a fixed salaries and allowances (home allowance, travel allowance, personal and family insurance, etc.). But, if you quit your job, you will lose all the perks and privileges. Being the entrepreneur or a business owner (rather small, medium or large), you have to put a number of caps on a single head. You have to work day and night in order to achieve your personal, family and organizational goals. You must also kept in mind that a number of skills are also must while starting of business but if you don’t have or lake of one or more then starting a new business with all your investment could be a disaster for you. You must be aware that while you start your business, there would be no weekends, there would be considerable amount of anxiety and stress for hunting about orders, fulfilling them and so on.
Make a roadmap today!

One of the most important decision while starting your own business is, either you want to quit your job completely and want to start a full time business or you want to carry on your job with the start of a part-time business. Although, the next chapters will throw light on that however, the major decision is yours. You have to deeply analyse the circumstances and start planning it today. If you are planning to start your own business with your job then your job may also get suffer from it. While answering the above mentioned questions, don’t be over optimistic, try to be realistic. Take a break for a couple of days, sit down and think, if you can do it and are you really ready do it. After getting through all this, if you have decided that you can sacrifice your holidays; you can work till the late hours and you can take the responsibility than congratulate yourself, as you are ready to be an entrepreneur. It is the great time for you to make a roadmap for your business.

Payroll Management Systems

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:37:00 +0000

An employer, regardless of the number of workers they employ, must maintain all records pertaining to payroll taxes (income tax withholding, Social Security and federal unemployment tax) for at least four years after the tax becomes due or is paid, whichever is later.

Given below are the Top Most Recommended Systems, that can definitely enhance your performance.

Bullhorn ATS and CRM

Bullhorn will reduce the time and cost of payroll processing with its quick, accurate and easy-to-use payroll software. Designed to grow with your business, this solution will keep your organization agile and efficient.

6 Reviews

Price

Demo

BambooHR

BambooHR is a cost-effective SaaS-based system, recommended for small to mid-size organizations. Whether you want help with compliance issues or deeper payroll integration, this software can be tailored to your business needs.

4 Reviews

Price

Demo

Ascentis

Ascentis Payroll is an online system that can reduce payroll processing time up to 30%. With a customer base of more than 1,500 organizations and superior customer support, Ascentis is a great option for almost any business.

3 Reviews

Price

Demo

Kronos Workforce Central

Kronos Workforce Central simplifies payroll and employee time & attendance tracking. This solution is excellent for organizations of all sizes--even Fortune 1000 organizations--seeking a complete payroll management suite.

2 Reviews

Price

Demo

UltiPro

UltiPRo offers unified sets for various HR functions, including payroll, benefits admin, and time & attendance. A cloud-based solution, the system is accessible 24/7 on devices with Internet connectivity, giving it global reach.

2 Reviews

Price

Demo

NuViewHR

NuViewHR streamlines your payroll system, automating time-consuming tasks like timekeeping and data entry. The system also has a self-service option, allowing employees to fill in timesheets directly, saving managers time & money.

1 Review

Price

Demo

Sage HRMS (formerly Sage Abra)

Perfect for SMBs, Sage HRMS Payroll offers total control over your payroll. Sage keeps you up-to-date with changing tax laws with quarterly updates, and unlimited direct deposits to help streamline the payroll process.

Price

Demo

Kronos Workforce Ready

Kronos’ Workforce Ready is great for SMBs needing a powerful payroll system. This fully integrated payroll solution allows you to continuously process payroll and provide calculations when needed.

Price

Demo

SentricWorkforce

A highly configurable solution, SentricWorkforce unifies payroll, HR and time & attendance processes into one web-based system. This is a truly global system, allowing users access from any device with an Internet connection.

Price

Demo

Lawson Talent Management

Lawson's payroll solution draws on more than 25 years of industry best practices, delivering a superior product you can rely on. Offering robust functionality and an intuitive interface, Lawson is ideal for 1000+ employees.

Price

Demo

iSolved

With 25 years of experience in the industry, iSolved offers a one-stop solution to all your payroll needs. A solution that is easily scalable, it will grow with your business and help your company achieve its maximum potential.

Price

Demo

Vista HRMS

With multi-currency, multi-language support, Vista HRMS's paycheck application is just one part of its web-based integrated HR suite. Great for organizations with 250+ employees, this software automates broad range of HR functions

Price

Demo

Triton HR

Triton HR offers small to mid-sized companies a cutting-edge, end-to-end HR solution that seamlessly integrates payroll services, employee benefits, and core HR applications into a single, user-friendly system.

Price

Demo

Empower by ECI

Electronic Commerce, Inc. (ECI) was founded in 1996 and is now an award-winning company. ECI's Empower is a highly scalable web-based HR application that integrates and simplifies every facet of employee administration.

Price

Demo

SAP ERP Human Capital Management

By automating the payroll process, and streamlining it with your other essential HR functions, SAP's ERP Human Capital Management solution gives users the tools they need to keep your business running smoothly.

by Erin Osterhaus
Managing Editor, Software Advice

The Top 50 Job Boards for Job-Seekers:

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:43:00 +0000

Here are 10 of the 50 best job posting sites (job boards) for job-seekers.

After College

Best Jobs in the USA Today

great

The Interview Exchange

jobalot.com

JobCircle.com

Jobfox

Mutual Suitability System

Jobirn: Insider Referral Network

Job Search Shortcuts -- a great job-search site that provides links directly to more than 20,000 company career centers job listing Web pages in 41 metropolitan areas nationwide. Jobs are categorized both by city within each metro area as well as alphabetically -- and links send job-seekers directly to the employer. No cost to job-seekers.

JobShouts! -- a job search engine integrated with social media, helping to create connections and deliver better matching results for job seekers, which delivers real-time job postings and automated one click searching across multiple social networks simultaneously. No cost to job-seekers.

Jobs in Pods -- a Web 2.0 job site in which job-seekers can listen to employer "jobcasts" -- audio interviews from employer HR managers/employees that discuss corporate culture, benefits, etc. At the end of each podcast you're instructed on how and where to apply to the jobs you just heard about. Each podcast also comes with a blog post which lists all the relevant links and information about the employer and job listings. No cost to job-seekers.

Jobs.NET -- job-seekers from all over the world can browse or search for jobs, post your confidential online resume, and receive job-hunting tips and advice. Job posting can be searched by just about any criteria, including keywords, location, recency of posting, salary, job title, industry, company size, and more. Free to job-seekers.

JobsINBOX -- an international job search engine and networking site, where job-seekers can find relevant job postings from around the world through a matching process based on key skills. You can also create communities of your work interest, offer/receive advice/info/help from others with the same interests. No cost to job-seekers.

Jobzerk -- a self-proclaimed world's first community and socially-driven job site, where job-seekers can easily interact with other members and publish useful information about themselves, the job search, or hiring process. No cost to job-seekers.

Juju -- an interesting resource -- one of the best, where job-seekers can search 15 different job sites (including CareerCity, CareerMosaic, HeadHunter.net, JobOptions, NationJob, and others) using keywords that describe your preferred job, as well as a preferred location. Free.

LatPro -- the worldwide leader in online employment for Hispanic and bilingual professionals, where job-seekers can search thousands of job listings from pre-screened employers, post multiple resume versions, create an email job agent, and access other career resources. Free to job-seekers.

LinkUp -- a job search engine that only lists jobs taken directly from more than 20,000 legitimate company Websites. The site claims it only shows current openings; listings are removed if a company removes the posting from its Website. Job-seekers can search job listings (by keyword, location) and apply directly to the employer. No cost to job-seekers.

LocalHelpWanted.net -- lots of features and benefits to this job site where job-seekers can search for job listings by first narrowing choices by state and major city. You can also post your resume, audio resume, video resume, and portfolio items after registration. For an additional fee, you can obtain addition space to post even more information. No cost to job-seekers for basic services.

Monster.com -- one of the oldest job sites on the Web, with several hundred thousand jobs worldwide. Also includes career advice and relocation services for job-seekers, as well as an auction-style marketplace for independent professionals.

myCareerSpace -- where job-seekers can search for jobs (by category, region, or keywords) and post up to five different resumes that you can then use to apply to job openings online. Also includes other job-seeker resources, such as career expos, relocation, insurance, and more. Free to job-seekers.

NationJob Network -- an online job search service with thousands of current job listings and company profiles. Includes an email service that send you jobs that match your qualifications and interests.

Net-Temps -- a site where job-seekers can search thousands of job listings or post your resume. Includes contract, temporary and permanent employment postings. Also includes career development articles, tools and resources. A top site. Free to job-seekers.

Realmatch.com -- takes the job-seeker's qualifications and preferences and matches them with the employer's requirements. You can also search job listings by keyword and location. Free to job-seekers.

Simply Hired -- a job search engine where job-seekers can search job listings by keyword and get results from a multitude of sources. Also offers you the opportunity to get updates when new jobs are posted -- by email, social networks, blogs, your homepage, and even your mobile phone. Free to job-seekers.

SnagAJob.com -- largest job site for part-time and full-time hourly jobs. Job-seekers can search for a job by type of job or by location, as well as register for email alerts. Also includes career resources and advice. Free to job-seekers.

thingamajob.com -- a free career site for all job seekers from the Allegis Group. Job searches, online resume posting, job alerts, and career tools, are a few of the many features available to job-seekers. You can search for jobs by job categories, keywords, location, and date the job was posted. Free to job-seekers.

TopUSAJobs.com -- a job site that lists the top jobs from numerous "niche" industry and geographic-specific job boards. Job-seekers can search for job listings (by category, location, job title, and job detail keywords), or go directly to the individual job boards. Free to job-seekers.

TweetMyJobs -- with 8,000+ vertical job channels segmented by geography, job type, and industry, this site is able to connect employers and recruiters with job-seekers instantly any time a new job is posted. Simple register to get instant notification of newly posted job opportunities and internships. No cost to job-seekers.

TwitterJobSearch.com -- a job search engine for Twitter, where job-seekers enter search keyword(s) and receive immediate results of tweets for job openings. No cost to job-seekers.

USAJOBS -- a one-stop source for job-seekers seeking information about jobs and employment with the United States Federal Government. Job-seekers can search for jobs (by keyword, location, and occupation), post your resume, and register for a job-matching email service. Also includes lots of other resources and tips for finding employment with the government. Free to job-seekers.

US.jobs -- a national employment network formed by an alliance between two nonprofit associations to provide job seekers in all industries and occupations, entry-level to chief executive officer, employment and career opportunities nationwide. Search postings or browse by company. No cost to job-seekers.

Vault.com -- well-known for its insider reports on thousands of companies, this site has branched out into recruitment and has more than 150,000 job postings from about 27,000 employers, which job-seekers can search through multiple criteria (such as job categories, keywords, location, experience level, posting date). Job-seekers can also sign-up for an email job criteria matching service. Free to job-seekers.

VetJobs.com -- a great site for veterans and transitioning military personnel and their family members. Job openings for all levels and types of jobs. You can search for jobs (by type, keyword, and location), as well as post your resume. Includes other key resources for vets. Sponsored by Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. Free to job-seekers.

The Top 10 Job Board Sites for Job-Seekers

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:36:00 +0000

There are thousands of job sites (job boards) on the Web. What follows are the ten best job sites for job-seekers.

Just click on their logos and you're on your way to exploring some of the best online resources for finding a new job or career!

And while using one or more of these top job sites makes some sense, be sure you also examine niche job sites (by industry or location) and the company career centers of employers that interest you.

Indeed.com
CareerBuilder
CollegeRecruiter
Monster.com
Simply Hired
LinkUp
US.jobs
Jobing.com
Net-Temps.com
JobCentral.com

If none of these sites have what you are looking for, please feel free to continue onto the Top 50 Job Sites, or go all the way to our entire list of the general job sites.

How to get a raise when they are not handing it out

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 00:32:00 +0000

Think you deserve a bigger paycheck? Want to ask for a raise but not sure you’ll get one?

Plenty of employees are finding themselves in this predicament, because many recession-wary companies that stopped handing out raises during the economic downturn are still hesitant to open their wallets today.

But career experts say that despite all the penny-pinching, a salary hike isn’t necessarily out of the question–so you might as well ask.

Photos: Some of the world's most creative and unique resumes

“Clearly most companies today are not looking for opportunities to hand out money,” says Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant.

“During the boom era of the late ’90s when talent was scarce and retention was top of mind, nearly the opposite was true. While the corporate landscape is different now, you shouldn’t sit idly and feel dissatisfied in silence. If you have supportive evidence your salary is at sub-market levels, you should speak up.”

She says it is possible to get a raise, even in an environment where money isn’t exactly falling from trees. “Your organisation has invested time and money in you. Savvy bosses understand that unhappy and underpaid employees are under-performing employees, which helps no one. It’s a drain on their time to have to re-hire and train a replacement that fits the corporate culture. So if you have a legitimate request, you do have a certain amount of leverage.”

Photos: Toughest job interview questions answered

Connie Thanasoulis-Cerrachio, a career expert and co-founder of SixFigureStart, a career coaching firm, agrees. “I think it’s always a good idea to ask for a raise, even when employers are not handing them out,” she says.

“But only when that discussion is tied to performance.” Employees should keep careful records of how their actions helped the bottom line of their company, or helped other team members improve the bottom line of the company, she suggests. “No one is going to hold your hand and remind you of the great things you did all year,” she adds, so keep track and share them with your manager at the appropriate time.

Asking for a pay raise is a delicate conversation and something you should not do without careful planning, says Dr. Katharine Brooks, director of Liberal Arts Career Services at The University of Texas at Austin and author of You Majored in What? Mapping Your Path from Chaos to Career. “Being prepared can help you overcome your hesitation.”

Aside from keeping track of your accomplishments and contributions, you can plan by thinking about things like timing. “This is key,” Brooks says. “If others are being laid off, or there has been a cutback in revenues to the organisation, that is generally not the time to ask for a raise.

Wait for things to settle, then assess the situation. Perhaps you are now doing the work of two former workers, or you have brought in more revenue than in previous years. Wait until you can approach from a positive rather than negative stance.”

Once you’ve determined whether it’s the right time to ask for a raise, here’s what you can do to get it:

Know your value. Do the proper research to figure out what you’re worth, even if it means going on interviews or using resources like Getraised.com, Payscale.com, or Glassdoor.com, says Thanasoulis-Cerrachio. If you find out you’re underpaid, you can use that to negotiate an increase.

“Look at salary surveys, cost-of-living comparisons, and rates of compensation within your organisation, if possible,” Brooks says. “If you are aware that colleagues are earning more than you, tread carefully. You don’t want to put others in a negative light or violate a corporate written or unwritten rule about knowing what others earn. Simply present what the field generally pays, and why you believe your performance is at the top of your field.”

Know the number. Once you do the research, figure out what you think is a fair amount of money to ask for, says Thanasoulis-Cerrachio. “Have that number in your head when you ask for a raise.”

Schedule a meeting. Find a time that works best for you and your boss, Thanasoulis-Cerrachio says. Taylor adds, “Give your boss a head’s up that you want to chat about your career growth so that you both have ample time.”

Photos: Things to do at the end of each work day

Practice salary negotiations. This can be a difficult or awkward conversation. Practice with a friend who can be a tough negotiator, Thanasoulis-Cerrachio says.

Start on a positive note. Taylor suggests kicking off the conversation with something like, “I really enjoy working here and find my projects very challenging. In the last year, I’ve been feeling that the scope of my work has expanded quite a bit. I believe my roles and responsibilities, and my contributions have risen. I’d like to discuss with you the possibilities of reviewing my compensation.”

Or, “I’d like to discuss my career and how I can do my best work.”

Tell them you know that the company isn’t handing out raises. Anita Attridge, a Five O’Clock Club career and executive coach, says, “Make the case of why you should be an exception to this policy. This will need to focus on the results you have achieved for the company.”

State your case, and then pause. Listen to what your manager has to say. “Give it your best case for why you should get a raise,” says Thanasoulis-Cerrachio. “Never use idol threats or mislead an employer to think you have an outside offer. Make your case based on your research and the results of your work. The worst they can say is no.”

Depending on the response, gauge how much detail you now need and how much back up support you require, Taylor says.

Be specific. Give your boss a range for the raise you want, and explain why. “Be prepared to say, ‘After a lot of research, which I have here if you’d like to see it at some point, and how I feel I have contributed to the company, I would ask for you to consider an increase of $5,000 to $7,000. It has been ___ (time) since my salary was last reviewed. I greatly appreciate your consideration,” Taylor says.

Bring your personal kudos file. Bring a list of your key achievements, and focus specifically on the areas of accomplishment that are important to your manager, Attridge says.

Get ahead in your career - all the tips and tricks

“Bring up your strengths and talents, your accomplishments, your desire to do even more, and your ideas and plans for the future in your role at the organisation,” Brooks adds.

Don’t be aggressive. Be diplomatic, well-prepared and assertive, but not aggressive. “The squeaky (not screechy) wheel gets the grease,” says Taylor.

Don’t threaten your employer. Whatever you do, don’t threaten to leave if you don’t get the raise, Brooks says.

You also shouldn’t threaten your boss with other job offers, interviews, recruiter conversations, etc., Taylor adds. “You run the risk of your boss mistrusting you, or in the worst case, if you’re already on somewhat shaky ground, him saying, ‘maybe you should consider those offers.’”

Ask for endorsements. “One of the most powerful ways to demonstrate to your manager that you deserve a raise, or at least some form of recognition for your results, is to have other people endorse the work you have done and how it helped them,” Attridge says. This may be done through a phone call to your manager or an e-mail. The more your manager hears about how your work has contributed to organisation goals and results, the stronger you will be positioned to be seen as someone deserving of consideration for an exception in the time of no raises or at least some form of recognition.

Don’t share your sob story.

“Don’t bring up personal issues,” Brooks says. Don’t tell your boss that you can’t afford your rent, or that you need a raise to cover other personal expenses. Stick to your accomplishments and the value you add to the company.

Be patient. Remember, your manager may need a few days to think it over and get back to you, so don’t be disheartened if you don’t get an instant “yes,” Taylor says. There’s also a chance your boss isn’t the one to make the decision. He or she might have to go to the higher-ups with your request.

The Informal Organization

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 13:48:00 +0000

In addition to formal organizational structures, an organization may also have a hidden side that doesn't show up on its organizational chart. This hidden informal organization is defined by the patterns, behaviors, and interactions that stem from personal rather than official relationships.

In the informal organization, the emphasis is on people and their relationships; in the formal organization, the emphasis is on official organizational positions. The leverage, or clout, in the informal organization is informal power that's attached to a specific individual. On the other hand, in the formal organization, formal authority comes directly from the position. An individual retains formal authority only so long as he or she occupies the position. Informal power is personal; authority is organizational.

Firmly embedded within every informal organization are informal groups and the notorious grapevine; the following list offers descriptions of each:

Informal groups. Workers may create an informal group to go bowling, form a union, discuss work challenges, or have lunch together every day. The group may last for several years or only a few hours.
Sometimes employees join these informal groups simply because of its goals. Other times, they simply want to be with others who are similar to them. Still others may join informal groups simply because they want to be accepted by their coworkers.
The grapevine. The grapevine is the informal communications network within an organization. It is completely separate from — and sometimes much faster than — the organization's formal channels of communication.
Formal communication usually follows a path that parallels the organizational chain of command. By contrast, information can be transmitted through the grapevine in any direction — up, down, diagonally, or horizontally across the organizational structure. Subordinates may pass information to their bosses, an executive may relay something to a maintenance worker, or employees in different departments may share tidbits.
Grapevine information may be concerned with topics ranging from the latest management decisions to the results of today's World Series game to pure gossip. The information may be important or of little interest. By the same token, the information on the grapevine may be highly accurate or totally distorted.

The informal organization of a firm may be more important than a manager realizes. Although managers may think that the informal organization is nothing more than rumors that are spread among the employees, it is actually a very important tool in maintaining company-wide information flow. Results of studies show that the office grapevine is 75 percent to 90 percent accurate and provides managers and staff with better information than formal communications.

Rather than ignore or try to suppress the grapevine, managers should make an attempt to tune in to it. In fact, they should identify the people in the organization who are key to the information flow and feed them information that they can spread to others. Managers should make as big an effort to know who their internal disseminators of information are as they do to find the proper person to send a press release. Managers can make good use of the power of the informal organization and the grapevine.

contribution by cliff notes

10 Best Careers for Human Resources Professionals

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 30 May 2012 14:15:00 +0000

For anyone studying human resources and getting a human resources MBA, there are many areas to choose from when it comes to careers. You can stay a generalist and climb the career ladder into a management role, or you can distill the aspects of the career you like best—teaching people, negotiating, the technical aspects, etc.—and become a niche specialist.

The jobs below represent the best of both worlds. They are the best jobs in human resources because of job satisfaction, career potential, variety, freedom, monetary compensation and more.

10 Best Careers for Human Resources Professionals

Human Resources Manager

Why this career track is great: Personal satisfaction

While higher-ranking human resources executives may oversee organizations and strategy, human resources managers get the benefit of person-to-person interaction, helping employees directly. HR managers coordinate and plan HR activities, then manage them once executed. This may involve guiding employees through the hiring process, benefits programs, training, labor disputes, and other administrative needs important to workers within a company. HR managers, unlike the people above them, have a direct influence and positive impact on the people in a company. For people who are satisfied when they are helping others, this leads to great social benefit, human connection and the satisfaction of having a real impact on your fellow human beings.

Nonprofit Human Resources Expert

Why this career track is great: You are helping people while helping the world

A nonprofit human resources expert could be a recruiter, a human resources manager, a human resources executive, or any other HR professional operating within the nonprofit field. Such an HR professional has many of the same tasks as an expert working in a for-profit role, such as recruiting, administering benefits, training and development, assisting with policies and strategy and more. The operative difference is the in the nonprofit world, the human resources professional is working for an organization that exists to make a positive impact on the world around it, whether through health, education, the arts, preserving cultures or any of the many things that nonprofits do. So the impact on fellow workers is magnified in this context. A nonprofit human resources professional truly has the opportunity to impact people directly and, more indirectly, make a strong contribution to the betterment of the world at large.

HR Consultant

Why this career track is great: You make a lot of money, when and where you want it

These days, companies are growing increasingly complicated, and human resources departments are no exception. Enter the human resources consultant, an offshoot of the management consultant who charges companies a high hourly rate to impart much-needed services. Human resources consultants may specialize in a variety of fields, including benefits, employee incentives and rewards programs, company culture after mergers and acquisitions, employee motivation, retirement plans, recruiting and even the outsourcing of any of the many functions of an HR department. This high-level individual assesses a company’s current situation and offers and helps deploy systemic recommendations that will get the company to its desired goal. The HR consultant, meanwhile, gets to choose whom he or she works with, when that work is completed, and what to charge. It is the HR path where freedom meets money.

International Human Resources Professional

Why this career track is great: You can visit countries all over the world and experience a great variety of people and cultures

The job of the international human resources professional may involve recruiting candidates into global positions, training and development standards across an international organization, implementing benefits plans as national laws allow, labor relations, employee programs and many more. This HR track involves the same kinds of tasks that a national human resources professional might engage in, but with a great variety of cultures, languages and locations thrown into the mix. International HR is an ideal field for people who love to travel, speak multiple languages and are adept at engaging successfully with a wide variety of different people who adhere to different customs. Boredom is not the operative term for this unique and exciting human resources career path.

Human Resources Executive (Chief HR Officer or Vice President of Human Resources)

Why this career track is great: Money

If you’re good at HR and you want to make enough money for a vacation home—and perhaps a boat—the human resources executive track is the best job for you. The Chief HR Officer and, one tier below that, the Vice President of Human Resources each on average make more than $200,000 per year. These executive positions require an individual to devise an HR strategy for the company, including policies, systems and goals. Every aspect of a human resources department, beginning with recruiting and moving through contract signings, training and development, benefits, and more run through the CHRO (Chief HR Officer) or, if the company does not have such a position, the Vice President of HR. With 10-20 years’ worth of experience and a proven track record of human resources success, the HR executive can have a satisfying and, above all, well-paying career.

Training & Development Manager

Why this is a great career path: If you love teaching, this is a the corporate path for you

Training and development managers help employees improve their skill sets and careers. They do this by training employees in specially-held classes, workshops, conferences and other kinds of gatherings. Training and development managers are also sometimes in charge of designing the most effective coursework for employees, given the content that their employer wants to emphasize, while keeping training sessions entertaining and informative. If you like standing up in front of people and helping them learn and improve their lives, this career path is a very fulfilling one.

Employee Education Consultant

Why this is a great job: It combines the fun of teaching with the freedom of consulting

In this CNNMoney survey, 60 percent of education and training consultants said their job was low-stress http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/moneymag/0910/gallery.bestjobs_leaststress.moneymag/index.html. Such consultants do similar tasks as training and development managers—that is, they hold workshops, classes and conferences aimed at increasing employees’ skill sets and knowledge—but without the full-time commitment. Companies hire them on a contract or retainer basis to help improve their employees’ skills. This means that the companies hiring such consultants are already interested in keeping their employees well-trained and happy, so they tend to be welcoming places to work at, according to CNNMoney. The consultants work in an accommodating environment and employees are interested in what they have to say. In addition, training and education consultants can set their own hours and choose their clients. If an education and training consultant only wants to work six months out of the year, she can. Such freedom makes this job a fantastic choice for anyone who both loves to teach and train and wants independence in their position.

HR Entrepreneur

Why this is a great job—Once you build a successful company, you can hire someone else to run it and make passive income

Be it a headhunting firm, employee placement company, HR consulting firm, or a professional employer organization (PEO), which takes on the role of an outsourced HR department for a company, launching a successful HR company can be a golden ticket in terms of career choices. HR professionals with an entrepreneurial bent can set up such a firm, find a stable of clients and, with hard work and tenacity, build their firm into a successful organization. The ideal trajectory from there would be to either a) step back from day-to-day tasks, let the firm run itself, and glean a passive income from it—in effect retiring, or b) sell the firm for millions of dollars to a bigger company that wants to buy it. Either method spells one thing, early retirement, and that is the dream of many workers and entrepreneurs. If you like HR and are excellent with people, and have a killer work ethic and high risk tolerance, the entrepreneurial human resources path stands as a potentially lucrative, if difficult option. But with more and more companies choosing to outsource their HR functions, this path remains a promising one for years to come.

Executive Recruiter

Why this is a great career path: You can make lots of money while improving peoples’ careers

If you’re good with people and building relationships, a position as an executive recruiter could be one of the most lucrative ways to make friends. Executive recruiters are tasked with finding and filling job openings for senior executives, the so-called C-level executives including CEOs, as well as people in vice president positions. Executive recruiters generally get paid on retainers or paid in full after they have filled a position, and because companies are so interested in finding good senior talent, these fees can be quite high. This is where the making friends part also comes in. Executive recruiters want to build such solid relationships with companies that when an opening occurs, those companies call them first, at which point they launch their executive search, contacting other contacts in other companies—potential executives to fill that position—and trying to see if they’re interested. Because this field is so lucrative, it’s very competitive, so having a so-called Type A personality also helps.

Human Resources IT Specialist

Why this is a great career path: With the advancing role of technology in HR, you’ll be much sought-after, highly paid and advance quickly

While some HR jobs, such as HR manager, haven’t changed too much over the years, the ever-expanding world of HR is adding new niche positions, and HR information technology (IT) specialist is one of them. Anyone with a bent for software or hardware and an interest in human resources can combine their skills to become an HR IT specialist, and enjoy the career rewards that come with it, including being sought after and more often than not paid well. HR IT experts could be software developers, systems administrators, IT architects, or have another level of technical expertise that can be applied to a company’s human resources systems, which may include calendars, databases, payroll systems and the like. Although there isn’t necessarily direct interaction with employees, this member of the IT team plays a crucial role in supporting the human resources team, while facilitating the technology that helps a company stay efficient and organized.

Work/Life Balance Greatest Source of Stress for Accounting, Finance Pros

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 27 May 2012 15:50:00 +0000

Work/Life Balance Greatest Source of Stress for Accounting, Finance Pros

The survey, developed by Accountemps, asked CFOs, “Which of the following do you think is the greatest source of workplace stress for accounting and finance professionals?”

Forty-one percent of chief financial officers (CFOs) interviewed in a recent study said trying to find work/life balance is the greatest source of workplace stress for accounting and finance professionals. Office politics or conflicts with coworkers was cited by 28 percent of respondents.

Here are the results:

Trying to balance work and personal demands—41%
Office politics or conflicts with coworkers—28%
Keeping current with changing accounting and finance regulations—16%
Higher workloads—9%
Challenging commute—4%
Don't know/no answer—2%

“Work/life balance may seem like an issue for individuals, but it also should be a concern for businesses,” said Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps and author of Human Resources Kit For Dummies® 2nd edition (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). “Whether it's through flexible work schedules, telecommuting arrangements or other options, companies can benefit from helping their teams balance professional and personal objectives. Organizations that commit to these efforts enhance morale and productivity and make their businesses more appealing places to work.”
The national study was developed by Accountemps. It was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on more than 1,400 telephone interviews with CFOs from a random sample of U.S. companies with 20 or more employees.
Source: Accountemps

Glass Ceiling its causes and Types

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:53:00 +0000

In economics, the term glass ceiling refers to "the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements."Initially, the metaphor applied to barriers in the careers of women but was quickly extended to refer to obstacles hindering the advancement of minority men, as well as women.

Women saw little advancement in corporate boardrooms and compensation in 2010, extending a 5-year trend in which companies have lagged in promoting and mentoring women to their own detriment, according to a new study released on Monday.

“Corporate America needs to get ‘unstuck’ when it comes to advancing women to leadership,” said Ilene Lang, president and chief executive of Catalyst, a non-profit organization that advocates greater opportunities for women.

The study found that 136 of the Fortune 500 companies had no women executives. Among those with no women were Exxon Mobil, Berkshire Hathaway, Citigroup, Costco Wholesale and Sears, the study said.

Women held 14.4 percent of executive officer positions in 2010, up from 13.5 percent in 2009, and female executive officers held 7.6 percent of the top earning positions, up from 6.3 percent in 2009, the 2010 Catalyst Census said. The best five companies in terms of women in the executive suit were: Gap 50 percent, H&R Block 50 percent, Limited Brands 50 percent, TIAA-CREF 50 percent and Western Union 45.5 percent. Reuters. There are number of barriers and have various types, some of the majors are given below.

Societal barriers

The Federal Glass Ceiling Commission of the United States Department of Labor identified two major societal barriers that cause and reinforce a glass ceiling. The supply barrier is related to opportunity and achievement. The difference barrier manifests itself as conscious and unconscious stereotypes, prejudice, and bias related to gender and ethnicity.

Internal business barriers

The following business-based barriers were identified:

Outreach and recruitment practices that fail to seek out or recruit women and minorities
Prevailing culture of many businesses is a white male culture and such corporate climates alienate and isolate minorities and women
Initial placement and clustering in staff jobs or in highly technical and professional jobs that are not on the career track to the top
Lack of mentoring and management training
Lack of opportunities for career development, tailored training, and rotational job assignments that are on the revenue-producing side of the business
Little or no access to critical developmental assignments such as memberships on highly visible task forces and committees
Special or different standards for performance evaluation
Biased rating and testing systems
Little or no access to informal networks of communication
Counterproductive behavior and harassment by colleagues

The Federal Glass Ceiling Commission and independent research suggest that the underlying cause of the glass ceiling is the perception of many white males that as a group they are losing control and opportunity. Many middle- and upper-level white male managers regard the inclusion of minorities and women in management as a direct threat to their own chances for advancement. As a result of this "upper- and middle-level white male resistance", business-based barriers are not always being as forcefully addressed as they should.

Governmental barriers

The Federal Glass Ceiling Commission pinpointed three governmental barriers to the elimination of the glass ceiling. They are:

Lack of vigorous and consistent monitoring and law enforcement
Weaknesses in the collection of employment-related data which makes it difficult to ascertain the status of groups at the managerial level and to disaggregate the data Inadequate reporting and dissemination of information relevant to glass ceiling issue

Other barriers

Different pay for comparable work.
Sexual, ethnic, racial, religious discrimination or harassment in the workplace
Lack of family-friendly workplace policies (or, on the flipside, policies that discriminate against gay people, non-parents, or single parents)
Exclusion from informal networks; Stereotyping and preconceptions of women's roles and abilities; Failure of senior leadership to assume accountability for women's advancement; Lack of role models; Lack of mentoring
Requiring long hours for advancement, sometimes called the hour-glass ceiling

Use of Social Media for Recruitment

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 13:12:00 +0000

As a recruiter you want to be where the most qualified, talented, and largest pool of applicants are. Human resources can leverage social media to tap in to potential recruits. This type of head hunting is called social recruiting. It's about engaging with users and using social media tools to source and recruit talent.

LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have over 535 million combined users. That equals a lot of potential talent for your company. But how do you find the right person for the job you have available using social media? Here's how to get started.

How to Use Social Media as a Recruiting Tool: Understanding Each Social Network

By now you should be familiar with LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. But just in case your're not, here is a quick overview.

"LinkedIn is an interconnected network of experienced professionals from around the world, representing 170 industries and 200 countries. You can find, be introduced to, and collaborate with qualified professionals that you need to work with to accomplish your goals," states the company's website. That is the corporate way of saying they are a giant jobs board and you can connect to other professionals. There are over 65 million professionals on LinkedIn.

Facebook is the largest of the social networking sites with over 400 million users. Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study, and live around them. It is intended to connect friends, family, and business associates. The model has expanded to include connections to organizations, businesses, and interests -- not just individual people.

Twitter is a microblogging social networking service. Messages, better known as tweets, are no more than 140 characters. According to their website, "Twitter is a simple tool that helps connect businesses more meaningfully with the right audience at the right time."

So now that you know what the major social media sites are, which one should you use and how do you use it?

Digg Deeper: The Business Owner's Social Media Toolkit

How to Use Social Media as a Recruiting Tool: Using LinkedIn

The most obvious ways to use LinkedIn are to post jobs you have available and search for candidates. It costs $195 to post a job for 30 days. Or you can buy job credits and pay less per job posting if you buy more credits. You can also sign up for LinkedIn Talent Advantage. It is an exclusive suite of tools for recruiters. But if you don't have the budget to pay for job postings or join the Talent Advantage you can still tap in to the free resources LinkedIn offers.

You should start by building connections to people you already know. This could include former co-workers, current clients, local entrepreneurs and even friends and family. Because you never know who someone else may be connected too that could make for a top-notch candidate. You should also join groups where you might connect with potential candidates. For example, if you are always looking for IT consultants you can find an affiliated group on LinkedIn. Once you join relevant groups find ways to begin discussions with people in the group. If you notice people who are active in the group, they always ask questions and answer others questions, those might be the people you hone in on for job opportunities.

There is also a free way to advertise that you are hiring on LinkedIn without posting a job. Use your network activity box (also known as a status box) to broadcast that you are hiring. "Looking for an IT consultant. If you know someone, maybe even you. Contact me."

When you find someone who may be a good fit for your company you have to evaluate their LinkedIn profile. Does the person have a complete profile including a picture? Do they have recommendations from peers, managers and colleagues? Are they a member of groups relevant to their field? Do you have any 2nd or 3rd degree connections to the person to get a more personal referral? You can find out a lot about a person from their profile before contacting them for an interview.

As small business owners, you can easily leverage LinkedIn to find talent.

Digg Deeper: More about LinkedIn

How to Use Social Media as a Recruiting Tool: Using Facebook

How many candidates do you have in your database? Whatever the number is it doesn't come close to how many potential candidates are on Facebook. Facebook provides easy and affordable ways to increase your applicant pool. First utilize theFacebook Directory to search for users, pages, groups and applications.

You can post a job for free in the Facebook Marketplace. The ad requires basic information such as location, job category, subcategory, title, why you need to fill this position, description and if you want to post your photo with the job posting or another image. The limitation of a free job posting is that you can't target it to a specific group of people like you can with a Facebook Ad.

Facebook Pages are another free resource within Facebook. A Facebook Page is a public profile that enables you to share your business and products with Facebook users. If you don't have a Facebook Page you can search other Facebook pages to find people both active and interested in your field or that would be interested in your available position. If your company has a Facebook page you may want to use it as a recruiting tool. Make sure the information about your company is relevant and up-to-date. You can also post job openings for your fans to see. These people are passionate about your company and can be just as passionate about working for your company.

Another option is to post a Facebook Ad if you aren't getting the results you want from searching. The advantage of the ad platform on Facebook over its rivals Google Adwords and Yahoo! Advertising is that Facebook has laser targeting ability. With a Facebook Ad you can choose the exact audience that you are looking to target. The system will ask a series of questions about the characteristics of the people you want to see your job posting ad. You will be asked about the group's age, sex and specific keywords related to the position. Facebook will then calculate how many users fit that criteria. You have the choice to pay per click (how many people clicked on your job ad), pay per impression (how many people potentially saw your ad) and set how much you are willing to pay. You can decide whether to run the job ad continuously or only during a certain time.

For example, if your company is in Minneapolis and you are not including relocation in the budget for this position you can target the job posting to only be shown to people that live in Minnesota or bordering states. If the position is an entry-level position you can target the job posting to a younger age demographic. It is normally a violation of EEOC to target for or against a specific gender but a Facebook Ad is a loophole to bypass that. Because if you know a woman would be better suited for your position, you can target your job posting to only be seen by women. The options are endless to how narrow a field you can define. Be careful to not make the criteria too specific or you may not get the applicants you want.

Digg Deeper: More about Facebook

How to Use Social Media as a Recruiting Tool: Using Twitter

Twitter can be powerful for small companies or a recruiter who wants to get an edge over the competition. The easiest way to recruit is to tweet jobs you have available. "Looking for a Sales Rep in NYC, Very competitive salary, apply at (include a shortened url)."

If your company has a Twitter account but not a lot of followers you can expand your network and build relationships with clients and job candidates on Twitter. Run a quick search on Twitter (search.twitter.com) for anybody discussing a specific keyword and you can get hundreds of contacts. You can search for people you know, by location, by industry or interest, by hashtag, by popularity, by time and more.

To make your job posting tweets standout you can also use hash tags, #. Hash tags are used as a way to filter and find information on Twitter. All you have to do is include the hash tag with a keyword in your tweet and it becomes instantly searchable. Here are a few examples of hash tags you might consider using: #job, #jobpost, #employment, #recruiting, #hiring, #career, #staffing, #salesjob, #NAJ (that is Twitter lingo for 'Need A Job?') You can use more than one hash tag in your tweet but remember you are limited to 140 characters so be strategic in which hash tag or tags you use.

You can engage with candidates and see what topics they tweet about. There is also the opportunity to market events you will be attending. "Stop by our career booth at the Sales Tech Expo."

There are companies like AdLogic that help businesses target to a particular Twitter audience. AdLogic lets clients create custom job feeds and corresponding specialized Twitter profiles for each area that they recruit for.

Your company Twitter account is also an opportunity to inform potential hires about your company. Your tweets say a lot about the company and what topics are important to your company.

When you find a potential candidate on Twitter evaluate their activity to see how often they tweet, if they have a healthy balance between followers and following, how big is their network and the quality of their tweets. Do they keep a balance between personal and professional tweets? Do they only post updates or do they respond to others and retweet others fully utilizing what Twitter is about?

Digg Deeper: More about Twitter

How to Use Social Media as a Recruiting Tool: Return on Investment

Social media recruiting helps an employer get to know a potential job candidate. Is this a highly skilled, well-rounded individual that fits with your team? As with any job opening, using social media recruiting requires time and effort but it's an investment in longer-term benefits for your company. Using LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter takes recruiting back to its grass roots of networking but for a digital age.

How to answer 10 tough questions

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:01:00 +0000

There's no worse feeling than when you're in an interview and the interviewer asks you a question to which you don't know the answer.

The best way to handle this dreaded debacle is to go into the interview prepared. Familiarize yourself with a few common difficult questions and arm yourself with answers prepared ahead of time.

Check out these tough interview questions and some suggested responses in order to avoid an interview disaster:

Tough question No. 1: "Tell me about yourself."

This is usually the opening question in an interview and it's the perfect moment for you to toot your own horn -- not to tell your life history. Your answers should be a quick rundown of your qualifications and experience. Talk about your education, work history, recent career experience and future goals.

Suggested answer: "I graduated from University X and since then, I have been working in public relations with an agency where I have generated millions of PR hits for my clients. While I've enjoyed working on the agency side, I'm looking to expand my horizons and start doing PR for corporate companies such as this one."

This is your chance to talk about your experience and your career goals, not to badmouth a former boss or give a laundry list of reasons for your exit. Instead, focus on what you learned in your previous position and how you are ready to use those skills in a new position.

Tough question No. 2: "Why did you leave your last job?"

Suggested answer: "The company just wasn't a good fit for my creativity, but I learned that organizations have distinct personalities just like people do. Now I know where I'll be a better fit."

Tough question No. 3: "Where do you see yourself in five years?"

Let the employer know that you're stable and you want to be with this company for the long haul. Keep your aspirations to take over the firm with which you are interviewing, own your own company, retire at 40 or be married with five children to yourself.

Suggested answer: "I want to secure a civil engineering position with a national firm that concentrates on retail development. Ideally, I would like to work for a young company, such as this one, so I can get in on the ground floor and take advantage of all the opportunities a growing firm has to offer."

Tough question No. 4: "What are your weaknesses?"

The key to answering this age-old question is not to respond literally. Your future employer most likely won't care if your weak spot is that you can't cook, nor do they want to hear the generic responses, like you're "too detail oriented" or "work too hard."

Respond to this query by identifying areas in your work where you can improve and figure out how they can be assets to a future employer. If you didn't have the opportunity to develop certain skills at your previous job, explain how eager you are to gain that skill in a new position.

Suggested answer: "In my last position, I wasn't able to develop my public-speaking skills. I'd really like to be able to work in a place that will help me get better at giving presentations and talking in front of others."

Tough question No. 5: "Why were you laid off?"

This question will become more common as the economy continues to slow down. It's a tough question, however, especially because many workers aren't told exactly why they were laid off. The best way to tackle this question is to answer as honestly as possible.

Suggested answer: "As I'm sure you're aware, the economy is tough right now and my company felt the effects of it. I was part of a large staff reduction and that's really all I know. I am confident, however, that it had nothing to do with my job performance, as exemplified by my accomplishments. For example..."

Tough question No. 6: "Tell me about the worst boss you ever had."

Never, ever talk badly about your past bosses. A potential boss will anticipate that you'll talk about him or her in the same manner somewhere down the line.

Suggested answer: "While none of my past bosses were awful, there are some who taught me more than others did. I've definitely learned what types of management styles I work with the best."

Tough question No. 7: "How would others describe you?"

You should always be asking for feedback from your colleagues and supervisors in order to gauge your performance; this way, you can honestly answer the question based on their comments. Keep track of the feedback to be able to give to an employer, if asked. Doing so will also help you identify strengths and weaknesses.

Suggested answer: "My former colleagues have said that I'm easy to do business with and that I always hit the ground running with new projects. I have more specific feedback with me, if you'd like to take a look at it."

Tough question No. 8: "What can you offer me that another person can't?"

This is when you talk about your record of getting things done. Go into specifics from your résumé and portfolio; show an employer your value and how you'd be an asset.

Suggested answer: "I'm the best person for the job. I know there are other candidates who could fill this position, but my passion for excellence sets me apart from the pack. I am committed to always producing the best results. For example..."

Tough question No. 9: "If you could choose any company to work for, where would you go?"

Never say that you would choose any company other than the one where you are interviewing. Talk about the job and the company for which you are being interviewed.

Suggested answer: "I wouldn't have applied for this position if I didn't sincerely want to work with your organization." Continue with specific examples of why you respect the company with which you are interviewing and why you'll be a good fit.

Tough question No. 10: "Would you be willing to take a salary cut?"

Salary is a delicate topic. In today's tough economy though, how much a company can afford to pay you might be the deal breaker in whether or not you are offered a position.

Suggested answer: "I'm making $X now. I understand that the salary range for this position is $XX - $XX. Like most people, I would like to improve on my salary, but I'm more interested in the job itself than the money. I would be open to negotiating a lower starting salary but would hope that we can revisit the subject in a few months after I've proved myself to you.

By Rachel Zupek
CareerBuilder.com writer

why you choose HR as your career

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:33:00 +0000

Dealing with human beings is a toughest job in the world. Here is an opportunity to feel the pulse of the people and to help them to help themselves.So since i would like to take up challenging task in my life, i have chosen this field. Moreover.... HR professionals are called as Human Doctors.

Over the past 30 years the HR profession has moved centre stage. Its professionals are now known as business partners who get the best from people in order for organisations to succeed, and it has shed its label of a backroom function that only reacts when prompted.

The positioning of HR at the heart of the business has opened up exciting and varied career paths. Professionals are likely to have the opportunity to blossom into respected generalists, or develop a specialism (such as reward or learning and development). Another option is to make horizontal moves across an organisation and reach the top either as HR director or as a managing director, bolstered by an understanding of how people and commercial awareness are mutually inclusive.

“HR really is a flexible discipline,” says Aileen Brown, regional director at Hays HR. Brown makes the comparison with other professions such as management accounting, which do not usually offer diverse options. “One of the attractive traits about HR is that there are so many career paths within it and when someone specialises it doesn’t mean that anything else is closed,” she says.

As the global marketplace expands, Brown adds that the flexibility of HR careers and a go-anywhere set of skills (reinforced with local knowledge) leaves exponents well-positioned to take advantage of the ensuing career opportunities.

How to get to the top

So, where do you start and how do you get to the top? Broadly speaking there are six rungs on the HR career ladder, with job titles and salaries dependent on the size and type of organisation:

HR assistant or HR administrator
Adviser or officer
Manager
Senior manager
Director of HR
Group director of HR

Some professionals develop their careers by consistently applying for the next rung on the ladder or by moving to a similar role in a larger organisation. Others take a zig- zag route by first getting some general experience under their belt at officer or manager level, then specialising in an area such as organisational development in a large company, before moving back into a generalist role, perhaps as senior HR manager in a slightly smaller company.

Finding a way through the profession has become easier with the CIPD’s HR Profession Map. This is available to view online and can be developed in detail as a personalised tool. It illustrates what HR people do and deliver across every aspect and specialism of the profession and looks at the underpinning skills, behaviour and knowledge that they need to be successful. Commercial awareness is key.

“At the heart of the HR profession map is HR’s impact on business,” says the CIPD’s membership director Sue Upton, adding that HR professionals are expected to position themselves at the heart of a business.

Other research from the CIPD, published in its guide "Next Generation HR", shows the personal qualities that HR professionals need to get the top: “The most common descriptors of them are professional, transparent, insightful and thought-provoking,” it says.

So, applicants who are looking to get into HR because they see it as a people-oriented profession may be misguided. It might be far better to go into HR because it offers the opportunity to see how an organisation and its people can get the best from each other.

Flexibility

Hays HR regional director Aileen Brown cites the example of an international HR business partner who wanted to return to the UK as an illustration of the flexibility offered by an HR career.

He took the post of a generalist within a UK charity and has now taken an assistant HR director’s post in a major organisation.

For Brown, career flexibility is derived from a skill in managing people and reading what an organisation needs to give it competitive advantage. This skill can take an HR professional anywhere.

Organizational Change and Development

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 17:58:00 +0000

Adapted from the Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Developmentand Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development with Nonprofits

Today, teams and organizations face rapid change like never before. Globalization has increased the markets and opportunities for more growth and revenue. However, increasingly diverse markets have a wide variety of needs and expectations that must be understood if they are to become strong customers and collaborators. Concurrently, scrutiny of stakeholders has increased as some executives have been convicted of illegal actions in their companies, and the compensation of executives seems to be increasing while wages of others seems to be decreasing or leveling off. Thus, the ability to manage change, while continuing to meet the needs of stakeholders, is a very important skill required by today's leaders and managers.

NOTE: This site distinguishes the difference between "organizational development" and "Organization Development." The former phrase refers to the nature and scope of change in organizations, i.e., the change is to the entire organization or to a significant portion of the organization. The latter phrase refers to a field of well-trained people with expertise in guiding successful organizational development.

Sections of This Topic Include

Also See the Library's Blogs Related to Organizational Change

In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which have posts related to Organizational Change. Scan down the blog's page to see various posts. Also see the section "Recent Blog Posts" in the sidebar of the blog or click on "next" near the bottom of a post in the blog.
Library's Consulting and Organizational Development Blog
Library's Leadership Blog
Library's Supervision Blog

FOUNDATIONS FOR MANAGING CHANGE IN ORGANIZATIONS

Introduction

Why Is It Critical for Leaders and Managers to Be Successful at Organizational Change? Because It's Their Job

Significant organizational change occurs, for example, when an organization changes its overall strategy for success, adds or removes a major section or practice, and/or wants to change the very nature by which it operates. It also occurs when an organization evolves through various life cycles, just like people must successfully evolve through life cycles. For organizations to develop, they often must undergo significant change at various points in their development. That's why the topic of organizational change and development has become widespread in communications about business, organizations, leadership and management.
Leaders and managers continually make efforts to accomplish successful and significant change -- it's inherent in their jobs. Some are very good at this effort (probably more than we realize), while others continually struggle and fail. That's often the difference between people who thrive in their roles and those that get shuttled around from job to job, ultimately settling into a role where they're frustrated and ineffective. There are many schools with educational programs about organizations, business, leadership and management. Unfortunately, there still are not enough schools with programs about how to analyze organizations, identify critically important priorities to address (such as systemic problems or exciting visions for change) and then undertake successful and significant change to address those priorities. This Library topic aims to improve that situation.

Don't Do Change for the Sake of Change -- Do Change to Enhance Organizational Performance

Organizational change is undertaken to improve the performance of the organization or a part of the organization, for example, a process or team. Therefore, it's very useful for the reader to scan the topic Organizational Performance in the Library, to get a basic sense of an overall framework to enhance the performance of an organization. Then return to this topic on organizational change to learn more about how to guide successful change within that framework.

Focus and Scope of This Library Topic

The focus of this Library topic is on principles and practices to successfully accomplish significant change in organizations.Successful organizational change can be quite difficult to accomplish -- it can be like trying to change a person's habits. Fortunately, there is an increasing body of research, practice and tools from which we all can learn. A major goal of this Library topic is to make this body of information much more accessible to many -- to give the reader more clear perspective on overall organizational change and development, along with sufficient understanding to begin applying principles and practices for successful change in their roles and organizations.
The following resources are not sufficient to guide a large, comprehensive and detailed organizational change effort -- that amount of resources comprises a significantly sized book -- and besides, there is no standard procedure for guiding change. However, the following resources might be sufficient to provide the reader at least a framework that takes him or her from which to begin guiding change in smaller efforts for organizational change -- and then to begin to learn more.
There are many approaches to guiding change -- some planned, structured and explicit, while others are more organic, unfolding and implicit. Some approaches work from the future to the present, for example, involving visioning and then action planning about how to achieve that vision. Other approaches work from the present to the future, for example, identifying current priorities (issues and/or goals) and then action planning about to address those priorities (the action research approach is one example). Different people often have very different -- and strong -- opinions about how change should be conducted. Thus, it is likely that some will disagree with some of the content in this topic. That's what makes this topic so diverse, robust and vital for us all.

Broad Context for Organizational Change and Development

Understanding Organizations, Leadership and Management

To really understand organizational change and begin guiding successful change efforts, the change agent should have at least a broad understanding of the context of the change effort. This includes understanding the basic systems and structures in organizations, including their typical terms and roles. This requirement applies to the understanding of leadership and management of the organizations, as well. That is why graduate courses in business often initially include a course or some discussion on organizational theory. This topic includes several links to help you gain this broad understanding. The following links (broadly reviewed in the following order) might be helpful to establish some sense about organizations, and their leadership and management.
Introduction to Organizations (to get a sense for the system, forms, roles and structures)
Introduction to Leadership (to get a sense for what leadership is, its scope, and where it might fit during change)
Introduction to Management (to get a sense about planning, organizing and controlling resources)

Understanding Organizational Performance Management

Organizational change should not be conducted for the sake of change. Organizational change efforts should be geared to improve the performance of organizations and the people in those organizations. Therefore, it's useful to have some understanding of what is meant by "performance" and the various methods to manage performance in organizations.
Basics of Performance Management
Employee Performance Management
Group Performance Management
Organizational Performance Management
It's also to have some sense of what it takes for an organization to be sustainable. See
Organizational Sustainability

Systems Thinking

The past few decades have seen an explosion in the number of very useful tools to help change agents to effectively explore, understand and communicate about organizations, as well as to guide successful change in those organizations. Tools from systems theory and systems thinking especially are a major breakthrough. Even if the change agent is not an expert about systems theory and thinking, even a basic understanding can cultivate an entire new way of working. The following link is to many well-organized resources about systems thinking and tools.
Systems Thinking
In that topic, the subtopic, Systems Thinking in Organizations, is particularly useful to understand.

Professionalism for Practitioners Focused on Organizational Change and Development

About the Field of Organization Development (OD)

The field of Organization Development is focused on improving the effectiveness of organizations and the people in those organizations. OD has a rich history of research and practice regarding change in organizations. Why not learn from that history? This topic includes links for the reader to get a basic understanding of the overall purpose of the field and also provides many resources from which to learn more.
NOTE: This site distinguishes the difference between "organizational development" and 'Organization Development." The former phrase refers to the nature and scope of change in organizations, i.e., the change is to the entire organization or to a significant portion of the organization. The latter phrase refers to a field of well-trained people with expertise in guiding successful organizational development.
About the Field of Organization Development (OD)

Understanding Yourself as an Instrument of Change

Your nature and the way you choose to work has significant impact on your client's organization, whether you know it or not. You cannot separate yourself from your client's organization, as if you are some kind of detached observer. You quickly become part of your client's system -- the way the people and processes in the organization work with each other on a recurring basis. Thus, it is critical that you have a good understanding of yourself, including your biases (we all have them), how you manage feedback and conflict, how you like to make decisions and solve problems, how you naturally view organizations, your skills as a consultant, etc. The following articles will help you gain understanding of yourself, how you might prefer to work and how you actually work.
Understanding Yourself as Instrument of Change (ends with a self-assessment)

Consulting -- Professionalism and Ethics

Nowadays, with the complex challenges faced by organizations and the broad diversity of values, perspectives and opinions among the members of those organizations, it's vital that change agents work from a strong set of principles to ensure they operate in a highly effective and ethical manner.
Before reviewing the resources listed below, do a quick can of the list of subtopics in the overall topic of Consulting to get a sense for the broad field of consulting, because people who work to guide and support organizational change are consultants. See All About Consulting
Principles for Effective Consulting
Ethical Consulting
Boundaries for Consultants
Multicultural Consulting
Minimize Consulting Liabilities and Risk

APPROACHES AND METHODS FOR MANAGING CHANGE

Overview of Change Management

Clearing Up the Language About Organizational Change and Development

There are several phrases regarding organizational change and development that look and sound a lot alike, but have different meanings. As a result of the prominence of the topic, there seems to be increasingly different interpretations of some of these phrases, while others are used interchangeably. Without at least some sense of the differences between these phrases, communications about organizational change and development can be increasingly vague, confusing and frustrating.
Cleaning Up the Language About Organizational Change and Development

An Orientation to Change Management

The following links are to articles that together provide an increasingly comprehensive and detailed orientation to change management.
Basic Overview of Organizational Change
Biggest Mistakes in Managing Change
Requirements for Successful Organizational Change
Change Management 101
Education Systemic Change Tools

Specific Types of Organizational Change

There are different overall types of organizational change, including planned versus unplanned, organization-wide versus change primarily to one part of the organization, incremental (slow, gradual change) versus transformational (radical, fundamental), etc.. Knowing which types of change you are doing helps all participants to retain scope and perspective during the many complexities and frequent frustrations during change. Read the following article to understand more about each type of change.
Types of Organizational Change
The following articles provide another perspective on types of change.
The Three Shades of Change
Coping With Type I Change
Managing Type II Change

Key Roles During Change Management

Successful change efforts often include several key roles, including the initiator, champion, change agent, sponsor and leaders. The following article describes each of these roles.
Major Roles During Change and Capacity Building
Organization-wide change in corporations should involve the Board of Directors. Whether their members are closely involved in the change or not, they should at least be aware of the change project and monitor if the results are being achieved or not.
How to Make Sure the Board of Directors Participates in the Project for Change
Benefits of Involving Boards in Projects for Change (Part 1 of 2)
How to Ensure Board is Appropriately Involved in Projects for Change (Part 2 of 2)
As the change agent, you might be performing different roles during the project. The following article might help you decide which role to perform.
How to Know When to Facilitate, Train or Coach

Example of a Philosophy and Some Perspectives and Models From Which to Manage Change

This section helps the reader to appreciate the diversity of ways that people can approach the management of change in organizations.

Appreciative Inquiry -- Example of Overall Philosophy From Which to Manage Change

Appreciative Inquiry is a recent and powerful breakthrough in organizational change and development. It's based on the philosophy that "problems" are often caused as much by our perception of them as problems as by other influencing factors. The philosophy has spawned a strong movement that, in turn, has generated an increasing number of models, tools and tips, most of which seem to build from the positive perceptions (visions, fantasies, wishes and stories) of those involved in the change effort.
Appreciative Inquiry

Various Perspectives From Which to Manage Change

The following articles provide ways or perspectives from which to manage change.
Four Change Management Strategies
An Educational Process for Change and Improvement Efforts

Various Models for Change Management

There are numerous well-organized approaches (or models) from which to manage a change effort. Some of the approaches have been around for many years -- we just haven't thought of them as such. For example, many organizations undertake strategic planning. The implementation of strategic planning, when done in a systematic, cyclical and explicit approach, is strategic management. Strategic management is also one model for ensuring the success of a change effort. The following links provide more perspectives on approaches to managing change. (Note that, with the maturation of the field of OD, there are now more strong opinions about which are change management approaches and which are not -- there seems to be no standard interpretation yet.)
Strategic Management (systematic, explicit implementation of a strategic plan)
Action Research (probably the most popular approach -- and much more familiar than we realize)
Plan Do Check Act (this approach also is quite common)
Lewin's Freeze Phases
McKinsey 7S Model
Many people would agree that traditional models of organizational performance management are also models for managing change.
Examples of Organizational Performance Management Systems

Various Perspectives on Organizational Change

There is now a vast array of highly reflective articles about the nature of change. Many of these articles focus primarily on the role of leaders during change. However, it's not likely that the reader can gain useful frameworks for change primarily from reading numerous reflective articles, so be sure to review at least some of the other articles in each subtopic in this overall Library topic. You can learn a lot about the overall design and approaches to change even by scanning how the subtopics are organized in this topic, as listed at the top of this page.

Role of Change Agent

Here We Are. Now What?: Tips for Change Agents in 2011
Change Agents: The Power Behind Effective Change Management
Harnessing the Energy of Change Champions
Change Agents: The Power Behind Effective Change Management
Jack Griffin's Ouster: Lessons from a Failed "Change Agent"
Organization Change: Learning from the Best

Reflections on Change

Teaching the Caterpillar to Fly
Reflections on Change
Change Is Not Necessary?
The Case for Change Management
I Hate Change and So Do You
Leader to Leader: Fall 1996
Conserving Our Best During Change

Factors of Change

Seven Drivers Of Organizational Success
Factors of Change

Guidelines for Change

Six Keys to Changing Almost Anything
Hard Side of Change Management
Getting Commitment to Change
Top Down or Bottom Up Approaches to Change
Managing Change More Effectively
Improvement Planning for Taking Charge of Change
Implementing Successful & Sustainable Change
Balancing Top-Down and Bottom-Up Change Processes
Change Management and Employee Communication Strategies
Four Ways to Increase the Urgency Needed for Change
Change Model 3: John Kotter's 8 Steps of Leading Change
7 Dimensions: Principal Skills of Change Facilitators
Change As Influence: How to Get the Attention of Deniers, Followers, Dreamers, and Leaders?
6 Lessons for Successful Change Implementation
You Don't Need an Empire to Build Strength for Change
Effective Communication: Getting Everyone On Board The Change Train
Change Management: How to Avoid Resistance Part 1
Change Management: How to Avoid Resistance Part 2

Example of a Planned, Systemic Change Process -- Action Research

A typical planned, systemic (and systematic) organizational development process often follows an overall action research approach (as described below). There are many variations of the action research approach, including by combining its various phases and/or splitting some into more phases. This section provides resources that are organized into one variation of the action research approach. Note that the more collaborative you are in working with members of the organization during the following process, the more likely the success of your overall change effort.

Phase 1: Start-Up -- Clarifying Expectations and Roles, Assessing Readiness, RFP and Contracts, Getting Buy-In

This phase is sometimes called the "Contracting" and/or "Entry" phase. This phase is usually where the relationship between you (the initial change agent) and your client starts, whether you are an external or internal consultant. Experts assert that this phase is one of the most - if not the most - important phases in the organizational change process. Activities during this stage form the foundation for successful organizational change. The quality of how this phase is carried out usually is a strong indicator of how the project will go.
Types of Clients (this helps answer the critical question: "Who is the current client?")
Defining Project "Success"
Assessing Client's Readiness for Change
Whole Field Assessment And The Change Readiness Checklist
Example of an Entry Conversation Between Consultant and Client
Requests for Proposals, Proposals and Contracts
Before You Can Get Buy-In, People Need to Feel the Problem
Here are some useful skills for the change agent to have at this point in the process.
Interviewing
Listening
Non-Verbal Communications
Questioning
Building Trust

Phase 2: Joint Discovery to Identify Priorities for Change

The more collaborative the change agent is in working with members of the client's organization, the more likely that the change effort will be successful. Your client might not have the resources to fully participate in all aspects of this discovery activity -- the more participation they can muster, the better off your project will be.
Whether you are an external or internal change agent in this project, you and your client will work together during this phase to understand more about the overall priority of the change effort and how you all can effectively address it. It might be a major problem in the organization or an exciting vision to achieve. Together, you will collect information, analyze it to identify findings and conclusions, and then make recommendations from that information. Sometimes the data-collection effort is very quick, for example, facilitating a large planning meeting. Other times, the effort is more extensive, for example, evaluating an entire organization and developing a complete plan for change. The nature of discovery also depends on the philosophy of the change agent and client. For example, subscribers to the philosophy of Appreciative Inquiry (referenced above) might conduct discovery, not by digging into the number and causes of problems in the organization, but by conducting interviews to discover the visions and wishes of people in the organization.
Sometimes, people minimize the importance of - or altogether skip - this critical discovery phase, and start change management by articulating an ambitious and comprehensive vision for change. Many would argue that it is unethical to initiate a project for organizational change without fully examining (or discovering) the current situation in the client's organization. Focusing most of the change efforts on achieving a robust vision, without at least some careful discovery, often can be harmful to your client's organization because your project can end up dealing with symptoms of any current issues, rather than the root causes. Also, the project could end up pushing an exciting vision that, while initially inspiring and motivating to many, could be completely unrealistic to achieve -- especially if the organization already has many current, major issues to address. Therefore, when working to guide change in an organization that already is facing several significant issues, you are usually better off to start from where your client is at -- that usually means conducting an effective discovery to identify priorities for change.

Preparation -- Establishing a Project Team

One of the most powerful means to cultivate collaboration is by working with a project team. Besides, no change agent sees all aspects of the situation in the organization -- team members help to see more of those various aspects.
Establish the Project Team
Team Building

Joint Planning and Conducting Data Collection

Basic Research Methods (planning, selecting, methods, etc., to collect data about performance)
Designing Assessment and Evaluation Tools (to evaluate during and at end of project)
Diagnostic Models (these sometimes suggest what data to collect)
Organizational Assessments (tools to assess current performance)
Selecting from Among Publicly Available Assessments
Some Common Types of Data to Collect
Some Sources of Data and Methods to Collect that Data

Joint Analysis of Research Results

Analyzing, Interpreting and Reporting Results
Diagnostic Models (these can guide the overall analysis and also suggest findings)
Systems Thinking (see recognize overall patterns, cycles, themes in the data)
Critical Thinking (for more robust analysis of data)
Problem Solving (for means to make conclusions, etc., from data)
Maximum Performance -- Different Things to Different People

Joint Generation of Findings and Conclusions

Decision Making (to make final recommendations)
Some Types of Issues Reported, or Found from Data, in Nonprofits
Some Types of Issues Reported, or Found from Data, in For-Profits

Writing Reports

Communications (Writing Research Findings and Recommendations)

Joint Sharing of Findings and Recommendations in Client's Organization

Meeting Management (if recommendations shared in a meeting)
Group Facilitation
Presenting
Sharing Feedback
Managing Group Conflict
Handling Difficult People
Negotiating

Phase 3: Joint Planning of Organizational Development Activities to Address Priorities

In the previous phase about discovery, you and your client conducted research, discovered various priorities that needed attention, generated recommendations to address those priorities, and shared your information with others, for example, in a feedback meeting. Part of that meeting included discussions - and, hopefully, decisions - about the overall mutual recommendations that your client should follow to in order address the priorities that were identified by you and your client during your discovery. This phase is focused on further clarifying those recommendations, along with developing them into various action plans. The various plans are sometimes integrated into an overall change management plan. Thus, the early activities in this phase often overlap with, and are a continuation of, the activities near the end of the earlier discovery phase. This is true whether you are an external or internal consultant. Action plans together can now provide a clear and realistic vision for change. They provide the "roadmap" for managing the transition from the present state to the desired future state.
Development of the various action plans is often an enlightening experience for your client as members of their organization begin to realize a more systematic approach to their planning and day-to-day activities. As with other activities during change management, plans can vary widely in how they are developed. Some plans are very comprehensive and systematic (often the best form used for successful change). Others are comprised of diverse sections that are expected to somehow integrate with each other. Subscribers to the philosophy of Appreciative Inquiry (referenced above) might do planning by building on past positive outcomes and on the strengths of members of the organization.

Selecting Organizational Development Activities to Address the Findings from Discovery

NOTE: A following section in this topic, Possible Organizational Development Activities ("Interventions") to Use in Change Management Activities, includes many other examples of activities (or "interventions") for organizational change and development. During this phase, you might select one or more of those activities from that section, as well.
Some Types of Capacity Building in For-Profit Organizations (and how clients choose them)
Some Types of Capacity Building in Nonprofit Organizations (and how clients choose them)

Joint Development of Action Plans

Basic Guidelines to Successful Planning
Visioning (in context of strategic planning, but applies to change management, too)
Setting Goals
Action Planning

Joint Development of Evaluation Plans

Basic Guide to Program Evaluation (is also relevant to projects -- use to develop evaluation plans)

Joint Development of Learning Plans

Complete Guidelines to Design Your Training Plan (to capture the learnings during the project)

Phase 4: Change Management and Joint Evaluation

During this phase, emphasis is on sustaining and evaluating the change effort, including by addressing resistance that arises from members of the organization -- and sometimes in the change agent, as well.

Client's Ongoing Communication of Action Plans

Basics of Writing and Communicating Plans (in context of strategic planning, but applies to change management plans, too)
Basics of Internal Organizational Communications (to communicate the actions plans)

Client's Implementation of Action Plans

Project Management (to manage implementation of the action plans)
Basics of Monitoring, Evaluating and Deviating from Plan (in context of strategic planning, but applies to change management plans, too)

Client and Change Agent Maintain Momentum During Change

Motivating Others (e.g., to implement the changes and action plans)
Coaching (e.g., to clarify and achieve goals, and learn at the same time)
Delegating (e.g., for leaders and supervisors to ensure action plans are implemented)?
Dealing with resistance (scroll down to the section, "Resistance to change")
Stress Management

Joint Evaluation of Project Activities and Desired Results

Evaluation occurs both to the quality of implementation of plans so far during the project and also regarding the extent of achievement of desired results from the project. Results might be whether certain indicators of success have been achieved, all issues have been addressed, a vision of success has been achieved, action plans have been implemented and/or leaders in the organization agree the project has been successful.
Basic Guide to Program Evaluation (use to conduct evaluations during and at the end of the project)
As part of the final evaluation, you might redo some of the assessments that you used during the discovery phase in order to measure the difference made by the project.
Also see
Evaluation (in Training and Development)

If the Project Gets Stuck

During this phase, if the implementation of the plans gets stalled for a long time, for example, many months, then you might cycle back to an earlier phase in the process in order to update and restart the change management project. Projects can get stuck for a variety of reasons, e.g., if the overall situation changes (there suddenly are new and other priorities in the client's organization), people succumb to burnout, key people leave the organization, the relationship between the consultant and client changes, or people refuse to implement action plans.

Project Termination

(Many times, this activity is defined as a separate phase in the project plan.) These activities are very important to address, even if all participants agree that the project has been successful and no further activities are needed. Project termination activities recognize key learnings from the project, acknowledge the client's development, and identify next steps for you and your client. They also help to avoid "project creep" where the project never ends because the requirements for success keep expanding.

Possible Organizational Development Activities ("Interventions") to Use in Change Management Processes

The field of Organization Development uses a variety of processes, approaches, methods, techniques, applications, etc., (these are often termed "interventions") to address organizational issues and goals in order to increase performance. The following partial list of interventions is organized generally in the order presented by Cummings and Worley in their "Organization Development and Change" (West Publishing, 1993). The following types of interventions are often highly integrated with each other during a project for change.

How People Choose Organizational Development Activities

There are no standard activities that always successfully address certain types of issues in organizations. Many times, the success of a project lies not with having selected the perfect choice of activities, but rather with how honest and participative people were during the project, how much they learned and how open they were to changing their plans for change.
However, there are some basic considerations that most people make when selecting from among the many choices for organizational development, or capacity building, activities. Considerations include:

First, does the change-management method (if one was used) suggest what organizational development activities to use now, for example, the method of strategic management might suggest that a SWOT analysis be done, strategic goals be established along with action plans for each goal, and then implementation of the action plans be closely monitored.
Is the activity most likely to address the findings from the discovery, that is, to solve the problems or achieve the goals? To find out, review any research about use of the activity, discuss the potential outcomes with experts and also with members of the organization. Consider posing your questions in online groups of experts about change.
Does the nature of the activity match the culture of the organization? The best way to find out is to discuss the activity with members of the organization.
Does the change agent and key members of the organization have the ability to conduct the activity? For example, technostructural and strategic interventions sometimes require technical skills that are not common to many people.
Does the activity require more time to conduct than the time available in which to address the problem or goal? For example, a cash crisis requires immediate attention, so while a comprehensive strategic planning process might ultimately be useful, the four to five months to do that planning is impractical.
Does the client's organization have the resources that are necessary to conduct the activity, considering resources such as funding, attention and time from people and facilities.

The following article provides another set of considerations.
Four Change Management Strategies (scroll to near the bottom of the article)
Management for You: Interventions for Change
Before you and your client select types of interventions for the project, be aware of your strong biases about how you view organizations. Without recognizing those biases, you might favor certain types of interventions primarily because those are the only ones you can readily see and understand, even if other types of interventions might be much more effective in your project.
Understand the Preferred Lens Through Which You View Organizations

Human Process Interventions (Group and Individual Human Relations)

With today's strong emphasis on humanistic values, the following interventions are getting a great deal of attention and emphasis during efforts for change. They focus on helping members of the organization to enhance themselves, each other and the ways in which they work together in order to enhance their overall organization. Although the types of interventions selected for a project depend on a variety of considerations and the interventions in a project often are highly integrated with each other, the following human process interventions might be particularly helpful during change projects in organizations where there is some combination of the following: many new employees, different cultures working together, many complaints among organizational members, many conflicts, low morale, high turnover, ineffective teams, etc.

Guiding Individuals

Coaching
Counseling
Delegating
Leading
Morale (Boosting)
Mentoring
Motivating

Group-Based

Conflict Management
Dialoguing
Group Facilitation
Group Learning
Self-Directed Work Teams
Large-Scale Interventions
Team Building
Virtual Teams

Technostructural Interventions (Structures, Technologies, Positions, etc.)

The following are examples of activities that focus on improving the performance of organizations primarily by modifying structures, technologies, operations, procedures and roles/positions in the organization. Although the types of interventions selected for a project depend on a variety of considerations and the interventions in a project often are highly integrated with each other, the following technostructural interventions might be particularly helpful in the following kinds of situations: rapid growth but few internal systems to sustain that growth, much confusion about roles, a new major technology or process has been introduced, many complaints from customers, etc. These interventions might also be useful in new organizations where internal operational systems must be developed and implemented.
Balanced Scorecard
Business Process Re-Engineering
Downsizing and Outplacing
ISO9000
Management by Objectives
Organizing Staff
Organizing Tasks, Jobs and Roles
Six Sigma
Total Quality Management
Six Overlooked Keys to Organizational Alignment
Strategy First ... Then Structure
Basic Principles of Organizational Design (Part 1 of 2)
Basic Principles of Organizational Design (Part 2 of 2)
A Strategic Nonprofit Reorganization Plan
The Importance of Organizational Design and Structure

Human Resource Management Interventions (Individual and Group Performance Management)

The following activities aim to enhance overall organizational performance by improving the performance of individuals and groups within the organization. Performance is in regard to setting goals, monitoring progress to the goals, sharing feedback, reinforcing activities to achieve goals and dissuading those that don't. Performance also is in regard to developing employees, including by enhancing their overall sense of well-being. Although the types of interventions selected for a project depend on a variety of considerations and the interventions in a project often are highly integrated, the following human resource interventions might be particularly helpful in the following kinds of situations: new organizational goals have been established, a major new system or technology must be implemented in a timely fashion, many new employees, plans don't seem to get implemented, productivity is low, ineffective teams, etc.

Employee Performance Management

Establishing Performance Goals
Performance Plans
Observation and Feedback
Evaluating Performance
Rewarding Performance
Recognizing Performance Problems ("Performance Gaps")
Performance Improvement / Development Plans
Staffing
Firing Employees

Employee Development

Career Development
Leadership Development Planning
Management Development Planning
Personal Development
Personal Productivity
Personal Wellness
Supervisory Development Planning
Training and Development

Employee Wellness Programs

Diversity Management
Drugs in the Workplace
Employee Assistance Programs
Ergonomics: Safe Facilities in the Workplace
HIV/AIDS in the Workplace
Personal Wellness
Preventing Violence in the Workplace
Safety in the Workplace
Spirituality in the Workplace

Strategic Interventions (Organization and Its External Environment)

The following activities focus especially on the organization and its interactions with its external environment, and often involve changes to many aspects of the organization, including employees, groups, technologies, products and services, etc. Although the types of interventions selected for a project depend on a variety of considerations and the interventions in a project often are highly integrated, the following strategic interventions might be particularly helpful in the following kinds of situations:rapid changes in the external environment, rapid or stagnant sales, significantly increased competition, rapid expansion of markets, mergers and acquisitions, the need for quick and comprehensive change throughout the organization, etc.
Business Planning
Cultural Change
Large-Scale Interventions
Open Systems Planning
Organizational Alliances
Organizational Transformation
Strategic Planning

General Resources

Service Organizations Focused on Organizational Change and Development

International Association of Facilitators
International Society for Performance Improvement
Institute for Cultural Affairs -- World-Wide
Midwest Facilitators' Network
National OD Network
Regional OD networks
Society for Human Resource Management

Online Groups

Online groups

Toolkits, Etc.

Change Management Resource Library
Organizational Change Resources
Change Management Toolbook
Managing Change

payscale.com. know your worth, compare your salary

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 07:49:00 +0000

I still remember my first interview, when I demanded a salary that was not actually compatible with the market. i got rejected, perhaps if i ever gone through this site, i probably get that particular job. Payscale is such a wonderful site that report the worth of the employee by getting the realistic data.

There are several features that this pay portal is using in order to calculate the worth of the job. This site is actually beneficial not only for employees but for employers as well.

PayScale is a market leader in global online compensation data. With the world's largest database of individual employee compensation profiles, PayScale provides an immediate and precise snapshot of the job market. Our patent-pending real-time profiling system indexes custom employee attributes (such as industry-specific certifications) and specific job titles for every industry.

PayScale MarketRate provides employers with accurate, reliable compensation detail never before available. My PayScale and PayScale Premium give individuals the accurate facts and negotiation know-how they need in order to make smart, informed career decisions.

Launched in 2002 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, PayScale owns the largest database of online employee salary data in the world. PayScale possesses a unique and diversified team, with areas of expertise including compensation, business and statistics, that brings an innovative and technical approach to online acquisition and analysis of job profiles and compensation data.

Benifits of Human Resource Certification

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 07:58:00 +0000

More than 108,000 HR professionals have earned HR certification. Earning the PHR, SPHR, GPHR, PHR/CA or SPHR/CA credential demonstrates to you and your organization that you commit to a higher standard.

If you’re an HR professional, when you become HR certified, you

show you know the most current principles and core practices of HR management

become more marketable when you compete for top HR positions

raise your professional confidence among your staff and your peers

If you’re an employer, when you insist on certification for your professional HR staff, you help to ensure updated HR programs and policies in your organization. See how a certified HR staff can help your organization stay competitive and current on important HR-related issues.

Smart business leaders know that organizations spend up to 70% of their revenue on human resources. Decisions on workforce planning, labor relations, risk management and employee benefits such as health care and payroll can make or break an organization. So you need the most qualified professionals to make those decisions.

That is why more and more employers are listing HR certification as “required” or “preferred” on their job postings. They have the peace of mind that their HR professionals have proven mastery of the intricate HR laws and core practices that make an organization successful.

The HR Certification Institute awards HR certification exams to HR professionals who

meet strict professional experience and educational requirements
pass a challenging exam
maintain their credentials through continuing HR education

In an HR Certification Institute survey of top business leaders

50% said that recruiters consider a job candidate’s certification status when they decide whom to interview—and hire—for HR positions
48% said that their company believes that HR-certified professionals give them a competitive edge

50% said that certified HR professionals show better motivation, HR knowledge, and performance than non-certified HR professionals do

The Top 10 Best Practices of High-Impact HR Organizations

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 05:32:00 +0000

Few magazine articles have had such a monumental impact on an entire profession the way that Fast Company’s “Why We Hate HR” did on the world of Human Resources after it was published back in 2005.

Not only was it discussed, debated, and argued about about ad infinitum (and still is, some would say), but it articulated the notion that strategic, high-value HR executives should have a “seat at the table” with an organization’s other high level leaders, but, that this was simply a pipe dream for many in HR.

Many think that the “seat at the table” debate has been debated to death, but it is back in a new research study by Bersin & Associates of The Top Best Practices for the High-Impact HR Organization. In the Executive Summary (and you can get a copy here), Bersin principal analyst Stacey Harris references the article and writes:

Though controversial and full of assertions that were hard to face, the article summed up important frustrations that were common among HR professionals at the time. Many were forced to acknowledge its validity, to pause and to wonder, “Okay. But where does HR go from here?”
In the years since, HR leaders have fought an uphill battle to change the profession. Today, smart companies do have a place at the table for HR. The challenge for HR now is in living up to the high expectations that come with the seat – expectations of high impact. It is not easy…
With this new report, we tie together past research in the areas of talent and learning, and brand new research on the strategic elements of HR we have found that hold the greatest challenges for the function today.”

HR organizations lack the skills to succeed

The bottom line to the new Bersin research is pretty simple: it shows that many HR organizations still lack the skills they need to succeed in 2011. The study, which included surveys and interviews with more than 720 global organizations, found that overall spending levels, organization structure, and team size have far less impact on business performance than the skills of the HR professionals themselves.

“This research clearly shows that the days of bloated HR organizations focused on administrative tasks are over,” said Josh Bersin, chief executive officer and president of Bersin & Associates. “Lean, technology-enabled, well-trained HR teams are able to take advantage of modern talent practices and partner with business leaders to drive impact.”

The research also makes the case that the decades-old “HR generalist” model is no longer effective unless the HR generalists are highly trained and connected to senior business leaders. That sounds like a contradiction to me, but the study also points out that the key HR competencies that drive results today are familiarity with integrated talent management, understanding of workforce planning, and comfort with social networking and HR technology.

Top 10 HR Best Practices

What I found most compelling in the survey was the list of the Top 10 HR Best Practices that produced the highest impact ratings out of all of the 140 HR practices and features that Bersin evaluated. See if you agree that this is a list that makes a lot of sense:

Structured governance and business case development (HR impact opportunity — 39%). From Bersin: “Building a business case requires a clear understanding of the business or businesses that HR serves, as well as working relationships with all business leaders. HR can achieve both by involving business leaders in the planning processes and governance. This involvement also helps to ensure business alignment and, as a result of that alignment, business buy-in and support.”
Developing advanced workforce planning capabilities (HR impact opportunity — 28%). From Bersin: “High-impact HR organizations incorporate sophisticated forecasting and workforce analytics into their processes. This enables them to translate company-wide talent, business data and external workforce segment data into workable insights that they can use and share with business leaders.”
Implementing the “right” HR philosophies (HR impact opportunity — 27%). From Bersin: “High-impact HR organizations tend to commit themselves to creating work environments that enable employees to thrive both as individuals and as contributors to business success. They strive to create positive employee environments, and clearly communicate these expectations in the HR philosophy and mission. The most effective philosophies focus on fostering innovation and collaboration, or creating the best place to work, while the least effective philosophies focus narrowly on efficiency or cost-cutting efforts.”
Reducing administrative work for HR business partners (HR impact opportunity — 25%). From Bersin: “Many HR functions have a role that is a liaison between the HR function and business leaders. The specifics of this role vary widely. High-impact HR organizations use it to advise senior business leaders, focusing on decision support, workforce planning, leadership development and executive coaching. By enlisting the right person, HR can improve its credibility across the enterprise, improve working relationships with business leaders, cultivate mutual understanding and gain influence. When this role is implemented poorly, with more focus on administrative duties and taking orders, our research found that it can actually reduce an HR function’s ability to work effectively and efficiently.”
Implementing flexible HR organization design (HR impact opportunity — 20%). From Bersin: “High-impact HR organizations are flexible and agile. Like earthquake- proof buildings, they are structured to allow adaptive movement if the ground shifts. No overall HR structural model (centralized, decentralized or a combination of the two) in itself emerged as a predictor of HR success. But certain structural features do lend themselves to areas of excellence. One feature that we found to be universally valuable was flexibility. Fancy organization charts and designs are fine – provided that you also have a culture which recognizes the need to adapt structurally when business needs and challenges change, as well as an HR staff that is capable of making those changes.”
Improving employee-facing HR systems (HR impact opportunity — 19%). From Bersin: “The most significant contributions to the overall effectiveness of an HR function come from community-building and self-service elements. Knowledge-sharing portals, web-based recruitment tools and management dashboards let various HR stakeholders and clients find what they need when they need it. HR functions with user-friendly client systems are regarded as twice as effective and efficient as functions that do not invest in this advantage.”
Measuring both HR operational and business metrics (HR impact opportunity — 19%). From Bersin: “Measurement strategies in high-impact HR organizations have evolved to ensure efficiency, effectiveness and business alignment. Such strategies incorporate both operational measures by which to manage the HR function and strategic people measures to support crucial business decisions.”
Developing internal HR skills (HR impact opportunity — 13%). From Bersin: “As they focus on programs to develop employees company-wide, HR organizations often neglect the development of their own team members. This is a mistake. The world of HR solutions is constantly changing. High-impact HR organizations must invest the time and money needed to ensure team members’ competence grows in such disciplines as change management and relationship management. Efforts must also focus on developing team members’ business acumen, industry knowledge and command of current best practices in all areas of talent management, as well as the use of social networking tools and other HR technology.”
Improving line manager capabilities (HR impact opportunity — 10%). From Bersin: “A common pitfall for many HR functions is the attempt to meet the needs of every stakeholder directly, thereby spreading limited HR resources very thinly. High-impact HR functions have prioritized the focus of their HR resources on building the capabilities of their line managers. This decision allows them to work in partnership with their line managers, versus trying to work around line managers who may be incompetent or ill-prepared.
Outsourcing HR services strategically (HR impact opportunity — 10%). From Bersin: “High-impact HR organizations use outsourcing to enable their internal teams to focus on things that cannot be outsourced, such as building business relationships and developing custom solutions for business managers. These organizations outsource areas that can be improved through economies of scale, or which require global coordination and expertise. What an organization outsources often depends on its level of maturity.”

Seat at the table = high expectations

The research study comes out of Bersin & Associates’ new HR Practice, which was recently launched, the company says, to “address long-standing requests from HR professionals to help them build their skills, and prioritize and align their HR strategies with the business to deliver the greatest return.”

“The challenge for HR professionals today is living up to the high expectations that come with a seat at the table — expectations to drive business results through people and culture,” said Bersin’s Harris. “Our new HR Practice and this particular body of research reveal the keys to driving impact. We are also addressing long-standing requests by our Bersin & Associates members to help them prioritize and align their HR strategies with the business to deliver the greatest return.”

I’m not sure how the HR Practice will go for Bersin, but if it performs like other parts of the Bersin organization, it should give all the other HR consultants a good run for their money.

In fact, just this list of the Top 10 best HR Practices is a great start because it clearly gets to the heart of what HR needs to be doing to add value to an organization. And if you have spent much time around HR, you know that just about everyone needs to focus a lot more on that.

Top Ten Most Effective Job Search Websites

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:35:00 +0000

Looking for Work? Spread Around Your Efforts

The most important thing that any job seeker can do to improve their chances of landing a job is using multiple resources in their job hunting efforts. This means posting your resume online, as Mahendra described in Top 5 Free Resume Hosting Websites, or using social networks as Charnita described in 8 Sites For Beating The Job Hunting Blues. However, the core of your efforts should be focused on websites that bring all of the world’s jobs to your doorstep.

Difference between HRM and Soft HRM

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:58:00 +0000

HRM - Hard v Soft HRM

There are a variety of ways to approach the management of HR in a business. The business textbooks like to describe two broad approaches to HRM which are explained further below:

“Hard” HR
“Soft” HR

However, it is important to remember that, in reality, these two approaches are somewhat academic in nature. In real businesses, an HR department or manager would be likely to adopt elements of both soft and hard HR, and in many cases would not be interested in the slightest in the distinction!

The key features of the hard and soft approach to HR can be summarised as follows:

Hard HR Management	Soft HR Management
Treats employees simply as a resource of the business (like machinery & buildings) Strong link with corporate business planning – what resources do we need, how do we get them and how much will they cost	Treats employees as the most important resource in the business and a source of competitive advantage Employees are treated as individuals and their needs are planned accordingly
Focus of HRM: identify workforce needs of the business and recruit & manage accordingly (hiring, moving and firing)	Focus of HRM: concentrate on the needs of employees – their roles, rewards, motivation etc
Key features	Key features
Short-term changes in employee numbers (recruitment, redundancy)	Strategic focus on longer-term workforce planning
Minimal communication, from the top down	Strong and regular two-way communication
Pay – enough to recruit and retain enough staff (e.g. minimum wage)	Competitive pay structure, with suitable performance-related rewards (e.g. profit share, share options)
Little empowerment or delegation	Employees are empowered and encouraged to seek delegation and take responsibility
Appraisal systems focused on making judgements (good and bad) about staff	Appraisal systems focused on identifying and addressing training and other employee development needs
Taller organisational structures	Flatter organisational structures
Suits autocratic leadership style	Suits democratic leadership style

Which of the two approaches is better? The answer is – it depends!
The “hard” approach to HR might be expected to result in a more cost-effective workforce where decision-making is quicker and focused on senior managers. However, such an approach pays relatively little attention to the needs of employees and a business adopting a genuinely “hard” approach might expect to suffer from higher absenteeism and staff turnover and less successful recruitment.
The “soft” approach will certainly appeal to the “touchy-feely” amongst us who like to see people being treated nicely!
And you can also make a good business case for an approach which rewards employee performance and motivates staff more effectively. However, the danger of taking too “soft” an approach is that when all the employee benefits are added up, the cost of the workforce leaves a business at a competitive disadvantage.

Multitasking: Is it Good or Bad?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:49:00 +0000

How many of you have tried to get multiple tasks done all at once?

How many of you have succeeded in completing them properly till the end?

How many times have you succeeded in completing tasks altogether?

Multitasking simply means to have a lot of tasks done at the same time in the wrong order – without prioritizing them. It’s the worrisome situation where you have six things to complete immediately. You go back and forth, checking every task and instead of fully completing one of them, you end up having all of them undone.

This panicky attitude gets you nowhere. You lose your focus and even make errors along the way because you’re not focusing in getting things done the right way.

So, you’re sitting at your desk worried with your mind swirling around, still wondering: how in the world will you ever get all of the tasks done at once you will get them all done at once. That’s when you will sound like Helena Bonham Carter who says, “Multitasking? I can’t do two things at once. I can’t even do one thing at once.”

The good news is; you CAN multitask. The bad news is; you will only be able to do it once or twice a time with a lot of blunders. You also lose your focus because while you’re finishing your first task, you’re in a hurry to hop towards the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth. So in between you make mistakes and very silly ones.

This does not only harm your work but it also affects your brain because it gets stressed when you multitask. William Stixurd, a Ph.D Neuropsychologist says, “The brain is a lot like a computer. You may have several screens open on your desktop, but you’re able to think about only one at a time.”

Here’s the best way to handle multitasking: make a quick decision and prioritize. If you have three tasks placed on your desk and you have three more coming in, you’re going to have to decide quickly which one to do first according to the time it will consume. It’s better to have three things done in an hour in order, rather than having five things sitting on your desk with you biting your nails.

So, from now onwards learn to prioritize and decide quickly.

By- Hiba Naz

Human Resource Management

The rise of Gig economy: a challenge for HR professionals

Coworking spaces and a paradigm shift

How to save yourself from losing your Job

Difference between Harassment & Bullying - Workplace

Hire the candidate best for your firm

Test yourself, if you ready to start your own business

Be aware with the hurdles that are going to come

Payroll Management Systems

The Top 50 Job Boards for Job-Seekers:

Here are 10 of the 50 best job posting sites (job boards) for job-seekers.

The Top 10 Job Board Sites for Job-Seekers

There are thousands of job sites (job boards) on the Web. What follows are the ten best job sites for job-seekers.

Just click on their logos and you're on your way to exploring some of the best online resources for finding a new job or career!

If none of these sites have what you are looking for, please feel free to continue onto the Top 50 Job Sites, or go all the way to our entire list of the general job sites.

How to get a raise when they are not handing it out

The Informal Organization

10 Best Careers for Human Resources Professionals

10 Best Careers for Human Resources Professionals

Human Resources Manager

Nonprofit Human Resources Expert

HR Consultant

International Human Resources Professional

Human Resources Executive (Chief HR Officer or Vice President of Human Resources)

Training & Development Manager

Employee Education Consultant

HR Entrepreneur

Executive Recruiter

Human Resources IT Specialist

Work/Life Balance Greatest Source of Stress for Accounting, Finance Pros

Glass Ceiling its causes and Types

Use of Social Media for Recruitment

How to answer 10 tough questions

why you choose HR as your career

Organizational Change and Development

Sections of This Topic Include

Foundations for Managing Change in Organizations

Approaches and Methods for Managing Change

General Resources

Also See the Library's Blogs Related to Organizational Change

FOUNDATIONS FOR MANAGING CHANGE IN ORGANIZATIONS

Introduction

Why Is It Critical for Leaders and Managers to Be Successful at Organizational Change? Because It's Their Job

Don't Do Change for the Sake of Change -- Do Change to Enhance Organizational Performance

Focus and Scope of This Library Topic

Broad Context for Organizational Change and Development

Understanding Organizations, Leadership and Management

Understanding Organizational Performance Management

Systems Thinking

Professionalism for Practitioners Focused on Organizational Change and Development

About the Field of Organization Development (OD)

Understanding Yourself as an Instrument of Change

Consulting -- Professionalism and Ethics

APPROACHES AND METHODS FOR MANAGING CHANGE

Overview of Change Management

Clearing Up the Language About Organizational Change and Development

An Orientation to Change Management

Specific Types of Organizational Change

Key Roles During Change Management

Example of a Philosophy and Some Perspectives and Models From Which to Manage Change

Appreciative Inquiry -- Example of Overall Philosophy From Which to Manage Change

Various Perspectives From Which to Manage Change

Various Models for Change Management

Various Perspectives on Organizational Change

Role of Change Agent

Reflections on Change

Factors of Change

Guidelines for Change

Example of a Planned, Systemic Change Process -- Action Research

Phase 1: Start-Up -- Clarifying Expectations and Roles, Assessing Readiness, RFP and Contracts, Getting Buy-In

Phase 2: Joint Discovery to Identify Priorities for Change

Preparation -- Establishing a Project Team

Joint Planning and Conducting Data Collection

Joint Analysis of Research Results

Joint Generation of Findings and Conclusions

Writing Reports

Joint Sharing of Findings and Recommendations in Client's Organization

Phase 3: Joint Planning of Organizational Development Activities to Address Priorities

Selecting Organizational Development Activities to Address the Findings from Discovery

Joint Development of Action Plans