A capable Human Resources (HR) specialist is an invaluable asset to any company. HR specialists can help create and nurture corporate culture as well as grow and maintain a talented, productive workforce. Not all HR specialists are created equal though, and while good specialists can provide value for your company, a truly great HR specialist can help take your organization to the next level.

Here are four characteristics you should look for in an HR specialist:

1. Strong background in HR

A background in HR is a must. This can include a degree in Human Resources, a Human Resources Certification Institute (HCRI) certification, and/or related professional experience. HRCI offers certifications including PHR (Professional in Human Resources), SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources), or GPHR (Global Professional in Human Resources). While these credentials do not guarantee the perfect candidate, they do indicate that an HR specialist has the well-rounded background to become a quality representative for your company.

2. People skills

Great people skills are also something to require of your HR specialist. After all, the job requires face-to-face interactions with your workforce. A good HR specialist should be able to interact, communicate and understand other people in a respectful, professional manner. Given that employee engagement is an important part of your company culture and directly affects your bottom line, a great HR specialist should be able to motivate and engage your staff.

3. Ability to Reason

While humans are not always rational creatures, the HR specialist who deals with them must be. When a problem arises in the workplace, a good HR specialist should be able to use reason to uncover the solution. This includes the ability to understand the perspectives of a diverse range of employees and to develop fair, comprehensive responses to employee issues.

4. Strategic Thinker

Not only does an HR specialist have a lot of interaction with your employees, he or she has a lot of interaction with company leaders. This requires an ability to think strategically and work with company leaders toward your larger business goals.

Having an HR specialist on your team who possesses these four characteristics will help you both build and maintain a strong workforce. Hiring, retaining, motivating and developing human capital requires significant knowledge and ability.

What are some other characteristics of a great HR specialist? What about some characteristics of a bad HR specialist?

Yahoo announced yesterday that CEO Scott Thompson had resigned amid controversy surrounding his academic credentials. A mere two months into his tenure with the company, it was discovered that Thompson does not hold the computer science degree that’s been listed in numerous biographies and securities filings.

Surprisingly, Thompson is not the only high-profile executive to have been caught in this type of scandal. RadioShack CEO David Edmondson resigned in 2006 after the Fort Worth Star-Telegram discovered that he hadn’t earned the two degrees he claimed. And Kenneth Lonchar, CFO of Veritas Software, resigned in 2002 after the company found out he didn’t hold the MBA listed on his CV.

According to statistics, resume fraud is not uncommon. Further, it seems to be quite easy to get away with it. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, just under half of companies check to see if job applicants have the degrees they claim to hold. An even smaller percentage verifies that job-seekers actually went to the schools they say they attended.

The problem lies not in the fact that obtaining this information is difficult—we live in an age of unprecedented connectivity. The simple truth is that the majority of businesses lack a comprehensive employment screening process, which allows such exaggerations and fabrications to go undetected.

As the Yahoo scandal shows, failure to vet new hires can result in tremendous embarrassment and damage to both a company’s brand and bottom line. Regardless of size, every organization should screen its candidates thoroughly, with best practices pointing to partnership with a reputable employment screening agency. By trusting your verification processes to professionals, you will increase the quality of your employees and management pool, and decrease potential resume fraud and its far-reaching consequences.

A poll conducted by Gallup and Healthways found that in 2011, 44.6 percent of employees were enrolled in their employer’s health insurance plan. While that percentage has been steadily dropping since the poll began in 2008, the newest finding is the lowest yet.

So why are fewer workers taking advantage of employee health benefits?

Gallup suggests that because unemployment and underemployment have increased since 2008, fewer employees have had access to an employer-sponsored plan.

But those already in the workforce are also becoming less likely to take advantage of health insurance plans. The Gallup Poll identifies two major contributing factors for opting out of employee health benefits.

First is that employers cannot absorb the expense of offering employees health benefits and reducing their health insurance offerings. The other factor is that employees simply cannot afford the rising cost of health care with its higher premiums, higher deductibles and higher out-of-pocket expenses.

Who is Opting In?

Gallup found that among those with health insurance who didn’t work for the government and weren’t eligible for government plans, 57.1 percent still received their health care benefits from employers.

Higher earners are much more likely to be enrolled in an employer’s plan than are lower earners.

Young adults and Hispanics are the least likely to be enrolled in their employer’s health care plan, according to the findings of the Gallup poll.

Who is Opting Out?

As the number of workers opting for company health care benefits falls, the number of uninsured Americans continues to rise. Gallup found that 17.1 percent of Americans are uninsured. That is the highest percentage of uninsured since the inaugural survey in 2008.

Small businesses may soon be on the hook to fill this gap in coverage. The Affordable Health Care Act contains something called the individual mandate, which will require most Americans to purchase health insurance by the year 2014. The businesses themselves may have to adjust to higher health care costs as they share in the expense of adding employees to the company plan.

The experts at Gallup believe that until that point in 2014, the number of workers enrolling in company health insurance plans will continue to fall and the number of uninsured people will continue to rise.

The U.S. Supreme Court isn’t expected to release a ruling until sometime in June. If the Court upholds the mandate, more employers will be required to offer benefits that include employee health insurance plans and more employees may look to their employers for health care coverage.

Fewer people are signing on for company-sponsored health care coverage and more people than ever before are simply uninsured. What remains to be seen is if the Affordable Care Act changes those trends. If Americans are required to buy health insurance or face penalties, will more of them look once again to their employers for health care coverage? And is your small business ready to absorb the costs?

According to the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), about 73 percent of employers conduct criminal background checks on their workforce. And while some companies are more vulnerable to the risks associated with negligent hiring—for example, those who send employees into other businesses or private homes—the benefits of background checks for all companies far outweigh the costs.

The Process

A comprehensive employment screening program will ensure that candidates have the skills, experience and personality traits required to fit within your organization. A typical screening may include a factual background check, including I-9 verification to confirm work eligibility, as well as drug and skill assessment testing. The goal is to identify the candidates who lack the necessary skills and experiences needed for the position, and also those whose work status or criminal background might make them a high-risk hire. In addition, the tests may identify candidates who have shown poor judgment or lack of responsibility in the past, which is often a fair predictor of future conduct.

The Payoff

A bad hire can do more than tarnish your company’s image. It can put your employees, customers, and the public at risk. By hiring a candidate without verifying their credentials, at the very least you risk hiring someone who can’t do the job. There is also a possibility that your company will suffer setbacks in productivity, additional training costs, and may even be forced to start the hiring process over again. A comprehensive screening process can identify discrepancies, such as when the responsibilities listed on a resume don’t match a candidate’s current salary, and much, much more.

Get With The Program

There are enough proprietary resources, public records, verification processes and testing services available for any employer to screen candidates on their own. But no company, even one with an in-house designee, should attempt to implement a nationwide program alone. With varying state and federal employment laws and candidates with records in multiple jurisdictions, compliance can become too much to handle.

The best way to mitigate corporate risk exposure and protect your company’s integrity is to work with a reputable employment screening agency. By outsourcing your screening program to professionals, you’ll gain the peace of mind that comes with making informed hiring decisions every time.

Still, it is fairly common to find that the range of merit and bonus pay in companies is more limited than would be expected given the difference in work contributions between superior (“eagle”) and mediocre (“turkey”) performers. Pay variance within jobs tends to be small, and more often reflects years of service than measureable contributions.

Feed Eagles, Starve Turkeys

If employee performance is so critical to business success, why don’t we see more companies “feeding their eagles and starving their turkeys” when it comes to pay? The reasons are twofold: Companies use inadequate methods to gauge performance, and managers are reluctant to offer variations in pay to employees in similar roles.

While managers can usually identify their eagles and turkeys, they often lack a system of measurement for charting different levels of performance. The standard five-point rating scale is too crude an instrument for performance calibration, since the rating categories are somewhat ambiguous and subject to interpretation. Consequently, the distribution of ratings in companies often becomes compressed (i.e.—mostly “threes” and “fours”) and the entire “flock” gets similar wage increases.

Why Measuring in Dollars Makes Cents

A more precise method of evaluation would be to express performance differences in dollar-valued terms. Despite the fact that the work outputs of many employees are not tangible or directly tied to the bottom line, their performance still has monetary implications. A dollar-valued measurement scale illustrates the real financial impact of employee performance on the company. Managers are asked to translate employee performance levels into estimated dollar amounts—relative to salary—across principle job activities. This in turn allows for the allocation of rewards commensurate with the dollar-valued performance of each employee, and as a share of the return on the company’s ‘investment’ (above a minimum hurdle) in their salary.

What’s the Matter? Chicken?

Why then are managers reluctant to differentiate for high performance when rewarding employee performance? Notwithstanding the hardheaded rhetoric commonly heard in companies, managers are apt to “turn chicken” when it comes to delivering different reward treatment to their eagles and turkeys. One explanation is that managers simply wish to avoid any unpleasant confrontations associated with rendering extreme evaluations. By awarding higher-than-deserved payouts to the turkeys, they preempt negative employee reactions, and by awarding lower-than-deserved payouts to the eagles, they need not justify (to their own managers) the exceptional reward treatment.

Another explanation is that managers seek to preserve group cohesiveness, even at the risk of undermining the pay-for-performance link. Among all groups of employees there will be a hierarchy with attendant status distinctions, based on relative performance. However, the high status accorded the eagles is dependent upon the turkeys’ willingness to remain at the bottom of the performance “pecking order” (i.e.—not leave the group). To maintain this group dynamic, a manager may subconsciously foster, and the eagles tacitly support, the transfer of a reward portion (“bribes”) to the turkeys to offset the indignity of low status. Thus, the payouts for turkeys may be somewhat higher, and for eagles somewhat lower, than their productive value would warrant so as to reinforce the group status quo.

Explore Your Options

What, if anything, can you do to align your employees’ pay with their work contributions? One alternative is to use group incentive or team-based pay plans to compensate employees for their collective, rather than individual, performance levels. However, unless there is sufficient task interdependence or opportunity for collaborative work activity, these plans are unlikely to align reward treatment. Moreover, such plans raise the possibility of the “free rider” problem in which the turkeys share the rewards generated disproportionately from the work contributions of the eagles.

Exploring the pros and cons of “feeding the eagles and starving the turkeys” within your organization is your best bet for providing fair compensation to your employees while upholding your commitment to the pursuit of success. Employee performance has monetary implications, and properly rewarding your top workers will motivate them to remain productive and loyal to your company.

Ted Weinberger has more than 25 years of experience as a compensation professional focusing on the linkage of pay to business strategy, the development of salary administration programs, the design of annual and sales force incentive plans and competency- and team-based pay approaches. He received a B.A. in psychology from Kent State University, an M.S. in industrial relations from the University of Wisconsin and has completed course work toward a Ph.D. in industrial relations from the University of Minnesota.

In 2012, Boomers are reaching the age of 65 at a rate of over 10,000 per day. The inevitable increase in demand for health care could push America’s current health care system to its breaking point, resulting in higher inflation, higher taxes or reduced health benefits for everyone. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported that spending for Medicare, Medicaid and total health care costs accounted for 3 percent each of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009. If a change is not implemented by 2035, spending for Medicare alone will increase to 8 percent, and by 2080, will reach an astonishing 15 percent.

Exorbitant health care costs are not the only problematic issue the U.S. will face as the Baby Boomers reach retirement age. According to a report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) entitled “Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce,” aging Boomers are facing a health care system far too small and unprepared to meet their needs. Despite the rapid increase in the country’s senior population, the number of geriatricians is actually decreasing. Taking into consideration the increased life expectancy of today’s seniors, coupled with the disproportionately large utilization of health care resources by the elderly, it is not hard to see the issues America’s health care workforce stands to face in the near future.

Regarding solutions to the problems at hand, LeadingAge, an association of 5,600 not-for-profit organizations dedicated to making America a better place to grow old, predicts that a consumer-driven model will replace the current service model for aging services, with other technologies greatly improving an individual’s ability to remain independent. Prevention, rather than crisis care, will emerge as the new focus of aging services.

According to Barbara Bradshaw, CEO of Eben Ezer Lutheran Care Center, “The goal of reforming the Medicare program is based on a triple aim. Number one is better health through education and preventative strategies; second is to reduce the cost; and third is to improve the quality of health care services.”

Despite the trepidation the influx of Baby Boomers has brought the health care system, their arrival will bring with it positive effects as well. The exploding Boomer population will bring about a demand for technological innovation. According to age researcher Joseph Coughlin, speaker at a panel discussion on health care and technology sponsored by the New England Business and Technology Association, the numbers of economically wealthy older people will provide business opportunities. Grocery stores and pharmacies will have to pay more attention to the aging population than they ever have before. Companies that have never been involved in health care in the past will move into the health, wellness and vitality industry.

Also, according to Coughlin, shared access to digitally stored medical records will be necessary to enable the public to choose from the plethora of health care services available to them. Today, shared access to medical records is restrained due to competition and privacy issues. In the future, however, public reporting of information on hospitals’ physicians will allow the consumer to pick and choose, and make an educated decision on his or her healthcare services based on quality.

Now more than ever it is important for individuals and small business owners to weigh their options for affordable health care and plan for the future. Do you have any suggestions on how to control health care costs on a go-forward basis?

John Feldmann has more than 5 years of copywriting and editing experience in the advertising industry, and 5 years of recruiting and sourcing experience in such industries as real estate, construction, engineering, accounting and healthcare. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin and specializes in recruitment ad development.

1. Encourage face-to-face interactions on a daily basis.

While some may see working alone undisturbed as the epitome of productivity, isolation can be a roadblock on the path to creativity. The quick emails with cube mates and conference calls with people across the country feel efficient, but they engender creativity-stifling routine. For those who do work in the same building, encourage face-to-face meetings and brainstorming sessions in an effort to increase workplace performance. When employees who work in different functions or departments share the same water cooler, good ideas from one function or department can cross-pollinate with other areas of the company.

2. Create a mentoring program.

Pair up unlikely coworkers from different departments for a monthly mentoring program. When employees get to know others across the organization, they will have a better awareness of and compassion for their fellow coworkers and their business decisions. By having employees at different stages of their careers talking informally, younger workers can learn how to solve problems that may be new to them, while older employees can be energized by youthful enthusiasm. And when employees genuinely care for one another on a human level, the work they complete together rises beyond isolated silos.

3. Organize “just for fun” company events.

Quarterly company gatherings, from a potluck lunch to an organized community-building activity, can foster inspiration and out-of-the-box thinking. Employees will take unique approaches to various conversations and challenges that may not have been previously attempted. As always, exposure to different perspectives will stimulate creativity and carry over to the workday, increasing workforce performance and business efficiency.

4. Let employees express their interests – and learn something new.

The interests and hobbies of your employees are likely varied. Ask for employee participation in launching initiatives such as opening a lunch-hour chapter of Toastmasters, starting an after-work running club, or creating a carpool map. Send an email survey to get a feel for the most popular events, then ask for a company volunteer to lead the charge. Again, it’s a unique way for different departments to meet and mingle with others and learn about different perspectives of the company.

5. Promote mid-week PTO.

Vacation time isn’t only for lengthy getaways. Every employee can benefit from taking a random personal day here and there, and so too can your bottom line. The occasional mid-week break offers employees a chance to refresh, recharge and do something different, which can result in renewed energy, enthusiasm and creativity upon their return to the office.

The inspiration found in a relaxing day at home, an impromptu company get-together, or an interesting conversation with someone new can fuel a more creative environment – and improved business efficiency and productivity – for the next workday, workweek, or even work month. Small steps will lead to great gains for both your staff members and your company as a whole.

How do you encourage creativity in your workplace?

Nick Venturella has more than 10 years of traditional and digital marketing management experience. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Art and Design from Edgewood College in Wisconsin, and recently became a certified professional coach through Coach Training Alliance in Colorado.

In place of asking hypothetical questions (i.e.—“How would you handle a conflict with a fellow employee?”), you should ask specific questions (i.e.—“Describe a time when you successfully solved a conflict with a coworker.”) to elicit concrete examples of desired behaviors from the past. A proven approach to this type of interviewing is the STAR method.

STAR —which stands for situation, task, action and result—is a form of behavioral interviewing that focuses on the past experiences of a candidate to judge his/her response to identical situations in a future role. Instead of allowing the candidate to theorize or generalize about events, you pose questions that illicit three details of each experience:

1. What was the situation?
2. How did the candidate deal with the situation?
3. What was the outcome?

Since the overall goal of conducting job interviews is to determine if a candidate has exhibited required behaviors in past jobs, has applied both knowledge and experience at work, and is going to be satisfied with the job, the STAR method is an effective way to obtain this insight.

Sample STAR questions include:

• Tell me about a time when you had to reject a client or customer’s request. What reasons did you give? How did you communicate?
• What was a constructive criticism you received recently? How did you respond to it? Did your relationship with this person change?
• Describe a situation when your team members disagreed with your ideas or proposal on a project. What did you do?

When candidates respond, their answers should include the following details in each area:

Situation: A specific description of a situation they were in or a task they needed to accomplish. The example can be from a previous job, a volunteer experience, or any relevant event.

Task: An explanation of the goal they were working toward.

Action: A description of the actions they took to address the situation. The focus should be on their specific contributions (listen for use of the word “I” instead of “we”.)

Result: An explanation of the outcome of their actions, including accomplishments and lessons learned.

When conducting job interviews with the STAR method, your questions are just as important as the candidate’s answers. Consider carefully what you plan to ask, and stay away from theoretical or leading questions.  Your goal is to dig beneath the surface of a candidate’s resume and discern how past behaviors will influence future performance. Screening applicants in this manner will greatly increase the your chances of hiring STAR employees every time.

Melissa Trocko has worked in the recruiting industry for 15 years and is currently the Managing Director, Recruiting Services at Insperity. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Dallas.

In a previous post, we outlined 5 ways social media can help boost your bottom line, including managing your brand and connecting with your target audience, but here are the steps you can take to launch a social media campaign proven to drive small business success.

Create a Strategy

Successful social media strategies hinge on two factors: your target audience and the platforms you intend to use. Begin by identifying your primary and secondary audiences. By designing your strategy around your audience, you will be able to communicate with them in a voice they respond to. To launch your campaign, it’s best to start small and work your up to a second presence. Many small businesses start with a Facebook page and may add a Twitter feed or blog some months later.

Brainstorm an Editorial Plan

What kinds of unique content, special offers, and visuals can you share? Build your community by offering something your customers or clients can’t find on your website or in your store. Show your business’s personality and engage your fans with conversational posts, questions, and contests. Happy followers and fans can become unpaid salespeople by recommending your brand to their social networks.

Create a Process

Each social media site needs someone to write the content, someone to post the content, and someone who can respond to community members. This doesn’t have to fall on one person—Facebook, for example, allows you to have multiple administrators. Decide how many times per week you can post—two to three times is great for Facebook. Some companies choose to outsource their social media efforts to freelance writers. Others draft copy a month in advance and take turns posting the content throughout the week. Develop a process that works for you and your team.

Market Your Social Media Presence

Simply establishing an account on a social media site is not enough to attract fans. A Facebook plug-in or social media icon should be included on your website’s home page and email signatures. A vanity URL (the direct URL to your page) should also be included on all of your marketing materials. Marketing within Facebook is important, too. Facebook ads are a cost-effective way to promote your page.

Monitor the Metrics

When it comes to social media, goals should be set. It is best to concentrate on fan engagement as opposed to number of fans—quality, not quantity, is most important. Facebook’s “Insights” tab includes demographics, interactions, and total reach which can help you tailor future posts to your fans. The trick is to understand which measurements will provide you with the information you need to make better business decisions and improve your approach to social media.

Your social media strategy should be constantly evolving based on engagement, metrics, and feedback. Each fan base has a unique personality that will reveal itself over time. Study what your target audience is talking about on social media and learn which sites they visit most.

Be creative, take chances, and make trial and error a part of the process. As your social media footprint grows, the community that develops will help drive the success of your small business.

Nick Venturella has more than 10 years of traditional and digital marketing management experience. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Art and Design from Edgewood College in Wisconsin, and recently became a certified professional coach through Coach Training Alliance in Colorado.