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Archive for November, 2010

Want To Re-Engage Your Employees? Make Sure You Do This First…

So here’s the bad news: your employees are feeling a little burned out these days. But here’s the good better other news: it’s not just your employees.  A recent study by international HR consulting firm TowersWatson shows that fewer than 21 percent of employees surveyed described themselves as “highly engaged” at work, down from 31 percent in 2009. Nearly one-tenth of workers indicated that they were fully disengaged.

The increased lack of engagement comes as no surprise to workplace management expert Holly Green, who recently spoke with me over the phone about how managers can work to re-engage employees. Even managers, Green says, are feeling a little burned out right now, thanks to the extra hours and workloads everyone has had to take on as an effect of the recession.  But before trying to re-engage employees, Green says, managers must take two important steps managers first: inform their employees, and then inspire them.

Green, who is the author of More Than a Minute: How to Be an Effective Leader and Manager in Today’s Changing World, was kind enough to share some of the ways she helps managers inform, inspire and then engage their employees in today’s workplace.  In the first of a three-part series, below is a checklist for the first part…

Step One: Inform  – 7 Key Topics
The first key step to engaging employees is to keep them informed. That is, make sure your employees are clear on their goals and the goals of the company. You want to align your employees and get their buy-in, so this step involves taking a moment to consider these goals. Start by discussing with them the following areas:

  1. Mission – Why does your company/team/role exist?
  2. Guiding principles – How will you behave?
  3. Value proposition – What do you offer key stakeholders?
  4. Destination – Where is your company going?
  5. Strategic priorities – What are the areas of focus for the organization?
  6. Key initiatives – What will you do to get there?
  7. Impact – What difference do these efforts make to the individual? The job? The team? Continue Reading…

Fired for Holiday Shopping at Work? It’s Just Another Cyber Monday

In a scandal of Bristol-Palin-on-‘Dancing-with-the-Stars’ proportion, CareerBuilder’s most recent survey reveals that 27 percent of workers plan to spend at least one hour shopping online for holiday gifts during office time on Cyber Monday. More than one in 10 will spend at least two hours.

The survey of more than 2,400 employers and more than 3,100 workers also revealed that nearly half (47 percent) of companies act like total Scrooges monitor employees’ Internet and e-mail use, and 5 percent have even fired someone for holiday shopping online at work.

While you might anticipate that some of your employees will try to sneak in a little bit of time during the workday on Amazon, you’re also probably hoping they’ll practice discipline and only do so during their downtime. Short of playing Internet traffic police (which, btw, is like the least fun game ever), you may not be able to stop your employees from doing their holiday shopping at work, but you can try to meet them halfway: Be candid and tell them of your expectations to limit their non-work related activities to downtime, and be sure to remind them of your company’s Internet use policy.

General Internet Usage
In addition to holiday shopping habits, the survey brings to light some interesting findings about employee Internet use in general – and how employers feel about it. Among the major findings:

  • In news that should shock no one these days, 13 percent of workers said they spend one hour or more using the Internet each day for non-work related activities or research while at work.
  • On a related note, 59 percent of workers said they typically send non-work related emails each day, with 16 percent reporting they send six or more personal e-mails during a typical workday.
  • 21 percent of employers have fired someone for using the Internet for non-work related activities, and 9 percent have fired someone for non-related emails.
  • Half of employers (50 percent) block employees from accessing certain web sites while at work.

What the survey doesn’t reveal, however (and the question I know we’re all dying to get the answer to), is: Exactly how much online shopping does a person have to do to get fired anyway? (Or maybe a better question is: On which sites were they doing their shopping?) Continue Reading…

CareerBuilder Leadership Series: Spotlight on Martin Rueter, President of Weichert Real Estate Affiliates, Inc.

In the following excerpt from CareerBuilder’s recent interview with Martin Rueter, President of Weichert Real Estate Affiliates, Inc., Rueter discusses the importance of empowering people to succeed and how a little empathy never hurt anybody.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE WEICHERT’S CULTURE, AND WHAT ROLE DO YOU PLAY IN REINFORCING THAT CULTURE? Continue reading

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Job Seekers Are On To You…And More From This Week’s News

While you were busy picking the absolute worst time to cut away from a live television feed, making every bride-to-be in the world slightly less excited now about every detail of her own upcoming wedding, or figuring you’ve cornered the market on everything else online, so why not move to e-mail?…here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week… 

Do HR Professionals Flock to Fish? What Your Pet Says About Your Profession

Beckham the Wonder DogDoes the fact that you cringe at the sight of your neighbor’s 20 cats and prefer the company of your trusty Lassie companion mean you’re more likely to have a job as a police officer — or a CEO? Does your love of slithering reptiles mean you spend your days as a salesperson or a social worker? Does your strange obsession with your foul-mouthed parrot mean you’re more likely to be in construction or public relations?

Pets bring many things into our lives — including companionship, fun, and, unfortunately, more cleaning duties. Research has shown that pets may also make their owners more trustworthy, better at making connections and more apt to help out others by volunteering — “social capital” traits that can carry over into the workplace. So what do our choices in pets tell us about our professions? CareerBuilder’s newest survey of more than 2,300 workers with pets examines a person’s choice of pets in relation to chosen profession, compensation and job satisfaction — and the results may surprise you:

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Today’s Job Seeker: 10 Things You Should Know

We may never have the technology that enables us to truly read job seekers’ minds (if only Steve Jobs would channel some of his energy into recruitment and human resources, right?), but darn it if we don’t keep trying…The latest attempt comes courtesy of job aggregator SimplyHired, which recently released a survey profiling today’s job seeker – where they go to look for jobs, what they look for in employers, and what they’re willing to negotiate.

As expected, the findings are consistent with previous CareerBuilder studies (like this one here) and so, by that same token, include some interesting and useful takeaways for employers.  I’ve included my top 10 below…

Top 10 Takeaways of the Latest Job Seeker Report

  1. The “beggars can’t be choosers” attitude has to go: Despite the perception that it’s a buyers market for employers right now, but there are still some things job seekers aren’t willing to settle on: nearly half of job seekers (46 percent) are unwilling to settle when it comes to healthcare, and 24 percent said the same of salary. Other all-or-nothing items included commute, 401(k)/retirement options, and vacation time.
  2. The Internet rules when it comes to searching for jobs: A remarkable 86 percent of job seekers search for jobs online, with job boards leading the way as the main go-to source for job listings, followed closely by company career sites. Networking, staffing agencies and recruiters rounded out the top five. Interestingly enough, however, when it came to finding a job, job boards came second to networking, a finding that is consistent with other surveys that indicate that employee referrals are among the most effective recruitment resources.
  3. Don’t put all your eggs in the social media basket: For all of its hype (albeit well-deserved hype), social media still isn’t on the radar for over a third of job seekers (36 percent). So while it’s certainly advantageous for employers to utilize sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter (the top three social networking sites job seekers look for jobs), social media should only serve as part of their overall recruitment mix.  Otherwise, as these results indicate, using social media alone prevents companies from reaching a significant portion of potential candidates.  Continue Reading…

The Workplace Technology Gap: What Does it Mean for You and Your Employees?

I recently attended a brunch linner lunch seminar hosted by the Business Marketing Association of Chicago which featured the findings of a study called Talent 3.0:  Solving the Digital Leadership Challenge — A Global Perspective. This seminar was particularly interesting to me, because while it’s common to hear about the importance of employees learning about new technologies to stay relevant in a changing workplace, it’s not as common to hear about how the efforts to do so are actually playing out in the real world. Continue reading

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Facebook Can Get You Fired (But Also Sued)…And More News From This Week

While you were busy scaring the living daylights out of Pat Sajak, wondering if it’s too late to reconsider your honeymoon plans, or getting Star Wars fans everywhere all riled up, here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

“What Working on ‘Undercover Boss’ Has Taught Me:” An Interview With ‘Boss’ Creator Eli Holzman

Undercover BossWhile it’s common to see film and television studios convert best-selling books to screen, rarely does it go the other way around. And yet, that’s exactly what Eli Holzman and Stephen Lambert, creators and executive producers of CBS’ hit show “Undercover Boss,” have done, with the release of their new book, Undercover Boss: Inside the TV Phenomenon That is Changing Bosses and Employees Everywhere.

“It’s the story behind the story,” Holzman said of the book in a recent phone interview. An extension of the television show, Undercover Boss features new, in-depth interviews with the bosses featured in the first season of the show, offering greater detail about what went on behind the scenes, how they changed since the show and where their employees are now.

But beyond the book’s entertainment value, readers will also be able to take away some valuable business lessons and management insights, as well. (The book even includes a “How to” guide for bosses who want to experience going undercover themselves.)

‘Boss’ as Business Book
If anyone can speak to the show’s value as a business tool, it is Holzman himself, who says that working on the show and witnessing what these CEOs experience first-hand has influenced the way he now runs his production company – and to which he attributes much of the success of the show. Continue Reading…

Let’s Talk About Paychecks, Baby

Third of employers are willing to negotiate salariesMake that paycheck increases…baby.

The fact is, as the job market continues to pick up, your employees (current and prospective) are starting to get antsy for more cash, and it’s entirely possible they’re getting better offers elsewhere.  According to a recent CareerBuilder survey of over 2,400 hiring managers nationwide, about one third of employers are willing to negotiate salary increases for employees in 2011. So, what’s your story?

If you’re not among this group, hopefully, it’s because you already have a solid compensation strategy that gives you a competitive edge in talent attraction and retention. Either way, you can see where you fall among your competitors when it comes to salary offers and pay raises by checking out the following…

Highlights of CareerBuilder’s survey on employers’ willingness to negotiate salary increases for 2011:

  • 31 percent of participants said they are willing to negotiate 2011 salary increases with current employees.
  • Half (51 percent) plan to leave some negotiating room when extending initial offers to new employees.
  • 21 percent are willing to extend two or more offers to the same candidate.
  • When it comes to industries with the most wiggle room – and willingness – to negotiate salary increases, IT leads the pack, followed closely by retail, sales, and professional and business services.

(Learn more about the survey results here.)

Salary Negotiation Do’s and Don’ts Continue Reading…

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