Your Employment Brand is Your Competitive Edge (You Just Don’t Know It Yet.)
When you have a strong employment brand, you don’t have to tell people you’re a great place to work. Your brand says it all for you.

Register for our free webinar, hosted by an award-winning employment brand expert:

“Real World” Employment Branding: A Blueprint for Success with Jim Welch
Date: March 1, 2011 | 2-3 p.m. CST

“Real World” Employment Branding will address the following crucial topics:

• Why employment branding matters to small businesses
• Finding your employment brand Critical Points of Difference
• Building your employment brand essence
• Activating your small business employment brand message
• Creating your employment brand ambassadors
• Integrating your small business employment brand delivery strategy

Spots are filling up fast, so register today!

About Jim Welch:
Jim Welch is the former Chief Marketing Officer of Hallmark and founder of The Growth Leader, where his work as a speaker and leadership consultant has been recognized by colleagues and industry thought leaders alike. His book, Grow Now – 8 Essential Steps to Flex Your Leadership Muscles, has been hailed as a “high-powered and entertaining business growth leadership book.” Learn more about Jim Welch at www.thegrowthleader.com

If there’s one thing American workers love, it’s each other…at least if a new survey on office romance is any indication.

According to CareerBuilder’s Annual Valentine’s Day Survey, nearly 40 percent of workers say they have dated someone they worked with over the course of their careers, and another 18 percent really get around have done so at least twice.  Of those who have dated a colleague, 30 percent went on to marry that person. 

The survey of more than 3,900 workers nationwide also found that, of those who have dated in the workplace, 10 percent have done so within the last year.

When it comes to gender breakdowns, more women than men report dating someone who was a superior.  One in three women say they have dated someone who holds a higher position in their organization; one in five men report they have done the same. Of the 8 percent of workers who are currently crushing at the office, however, more men then women (11 percent of men versus 4 percent of women) say they currently work with someone they are interested in dating.

Going from colleagues to couples
So what is it that turns people into more than just co-workers? Is it stolen looks across the cubicle aisle? The brushing of hands when reaching for the community stapler? Coy flirtations in the copy room? 

Actually, 12 percent of workers reported that their relationships started when they ran into each other outside of work. Other popular events where workplace romance has blossomed include:

• Happy hour
• Lunch
• Working late at the office
• Company holiday party
• Business trip

Office romance: Business as usual?
The survey also showed that people are getting less apologetic about having interoffice romances, too. “Workplace relationships no longer carry the stigma they once did, as 65 percent of workers said they aren’t keeping their romance a secret,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder.

The prevalence of office romances doesn’t surprise Haefner, either, who says that, with economic conditions forcing workers to spend more time in the office, the line between working and socializing has become blurred, creating more opportunity for deeper relationships to develop.

Despite the more relaxed attitude toward it, however, workplace romance can still be tricky, um, business.  According to the survey, 6 percent of workers say they have actually left a job due to an office romance. 

“It is the responsibility of the individuals to understand company policy and make sure they adhere to it,” Haefner says, adding that workers also need to keep their relationships from negatively affecting their professional behavior and the quality of their work. One way to ensure office romances do not affect the workplace is to make sure that if your company has any formal policy regarding office dating your employees are aware of it.  

What’s your take on office romance? Do you find it to be disruptive, or should it be treated as just business as usual?

While you were busy being frozen in fear by the idea of losing cable or internet access, having a very awkward social media moment, or declaring 2010 the best year ever (for you, at least),  here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• There’s No Business When It Comes to Snow Business An infographic via Mint.com illustrates the true cost of ‘Snowpocalypse 2011’ – including $100 million a day in lost productivity for the U.S. Federal Government. But at least we got to catch up on all that mail we’ve been meaning to sort, yes? (Mint.com)
• More Employers Developing an Affinity for Affinity Groups A new study out indicates that special interest groups among employees are increasing at companies across the nation, and receiving financial backing from these companies as well. (Employee Benefit News)
• If This Is True, Oprah Employees Must Be Crazy Engaged In efforts to convince top talent to stick around, some small businesses are using unusual teambuilding practices – like starting book clubs – to engage workers. The most unusual thing of all is that it’s working. (Reuters)
• The City of New York is Saved! Its Workers? Not So Much New York’s mayor has proposed new budget cuts – and it will only cost future city workers a big chunk of their retirement benefits. Shockingly, some people don’t find this to be good news. (BloombergBusinessWeek)
• Our Big Fat Greek Wage Comparison A new study by The European Commission comparing the minimum wage in the U.S. to that of European countries found our minimum wage to be most similar to Greece’s. (Business Insider)
• What You Won’t Learn by Watching Grey’s Anatomy A new survey shows that the gender pay gap among starting physicians has increased over the past 10 years. Maybe that’s why Meredith’s so mopey? (MSN)  
• Southwest Employees Add “Blogger” to Their Resumes In efforts to engage both fellow employees and customers, Southwest has called upon 30 employees companywide to write and record online blogs. No comment from Kevin Smith…yet. (Ragan.com)
• Hiring Illegal Immigrants Doesn’t Come Without Repercussions. Ditto For Firing Them. A group of workers fired from Chipotle Mexican Grill or being illegal immigrants are suing their former employer for failing to comply with Minnesota law and pay them on time. (Star Tribune)

Much like the comically large scale on the Biggest Loser that refuses to budge, no matter how much those hopeful contestants – and the American viewing audience – want it to, this month’s unemployment report offered nothing but disappointment and confusion for the millions of hopeful Americans looking to it for significant signs of progresss.

Disappointment because the economy generated only 36,000 net new jobs – the smallest gain in over four months – according to the BLS. At the same time, however, the unemployment rate dropped remarkably to 9 percent. That’s where the confusion comes in.

And that’s why I say we might want to take today’s jobs numbers with a grain of salt. Hear me out…

You know how when people are trying to lose weight, they’re told to pay less attention to the numbers on the scale and instead focus on how well their clothes are starting to fit? That’s the same attitude we should take with today’s unemployment report.  

Why? Because, in the words of Mark Zandi, Chief Economist at Moody’s Analytics:

“I think these numbers are meaningless,” Zandi told CNBC this morning, pointing out both the weather’s role in the modest job creation, as well as the obvious discrepancy between the household survey numbers (which include self-employed and agricultural workers) and the unemployment survey numbers (which don’t).

Zandi also noted that “January has historically been the month the BLS has had the most difficulty getting right. I would not read anything into any of these numbers.”

I agree. (Because it’s also worth mentioning that Gallup’s numbers also conflict with those released by the BLS today. Confusing!)  So I propose that rather than trying to make sense of how good or bad these numbers really are, we should focus instead on what is in plain sight…

…which is that CareerBuilder continues to see a steady growth in employers posting jobs on our site: proof that employers are hiring and jobs are increasing – and they’re doing so at a steady rate. Take a look at the facts:  

• Overall job postings on CareerBuilder are up 6 percent year over year.
• Business development job postings are up 18 percent
• Customer service job postings are up 28 percent
• IT job postings are up 45 percent
• Sales job postings are up 23 percent

For further insight into the jobs numbers, check out the following video of the CNBC interview mentioned above:

With yet another report out today about how more employees are voluntarily leaving their jobs than being laid off right now, it is a good idea for crucial that small business owners invest in their employment branding efforts if they want to retain their top talent. 

 “People do not usually leave organizations. They leave their leaders,” workplace management expert Jim Welch notes in his book, Grow Now: 8 Essential Steps to Flex Your Leadership Muscle.  One of the most effective – and oftentimes most overlooked – ways employers can prevent people from leaving their organizations is to really step up their employment branding efforts. 

“The benefit of employer branding is that it creates a powerful emotional connection between the leadership of the company and the front-line employee,” Welch says.

When it comes to needing a strong employment brand, small businesses are hardly the exception to the rule.   If anything, it’s even more essential for small businesses to be concerned about the way their current employees perceive them.  “Companies still are very thinly staffed, so losing people can really leave gaps,” says John Challenger of executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas in this ABCNews story, “It’s important for employers to get out in front of the issue.”

7 Reasons to Invest in Your Small Business Employment Brand
Of course, while talent retention is a strong incentive to investing in your employment brand, it’s just one of the many reasons to do so.  Below are at least seven benefits to building a strong employment brand.

1. Improved Quality of Candidates: Companies with strong employment brands have an easier time recruiting qualified candidates, because candidates come in already understanding what the company stands for as an employer. They recognize something in a company’s culture that appeals to them and makes them feel as if they would be a good fit for the company. A well-communicated brand also helps job seekers understand when they would NOT be a good fit for a company, saving them the trouble of applying – and you the time of sorting through another irrelevant resume.
2. More Passive Candidates: A clearly articulated employment brand also helps attract candidates who are not actively looking to change jobs but would consider a good opportunity if it came their way. A global study conducted by CLC (Corporate Leadership Council) found that effective employment branding enables organizations to reach into a deeper pool of talent. The study of more than 58,000 new hires and tenured employees from 90 organizations found that organizations with managed employment brands are able to source from more than 60 percent of the labor market, while those with unmanaged brands can source from only 40 percent.
3. Fewer Costs Associated with Turnover: Companies do damage to their employment brand when they fail to deliver on the expectations they set for their employees during the interview and hiring process – leading, in turn, to higher turnover. In fact, a recent CareerBuilder survey found that 35 percent of workers cited the company as the main reason they decided to voluntarily leave a previous position, while only 28 percent cited the job itself.
4. Fewer Costs Associated with Recruitment: If you have a compelling and well-communicated employment brand message, candidates are more likely to seek you out to inquire about open positions. You save yourself the time and trouble of sourcing candidates from scratch because there’s less of a need to advertise open positions and wait for applications to come in.
5. Happy (A.K.A. Productive) Employees: When your company creates an environment where employees feel challenged, feel that their contributions hold value, and are recognized for their efforts, employees become more engaged in their work. This increased level of engagement leads to a higher quality of service or product, which subsequently leads to more satisfied customers – and better business.
6. Brand Advocates: Speaking of engaged employees…When people love their jobs, they tend to be vocal about it. For this reason, employees can be your greatest asset not only in driving your business forward, but also in filling your talent pool. Because they know what it takes to fit in and work for your company, employees are the utmost authority on who else will make a good employee. They also know how to sell your company to their peers because they know first-hand what job seekers want in their ideal employers.
7. A Better Bottom Line: Research has shown a definitive link between a company’s employment brand and its financial performance. A recent study of publicly traded companies on FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies to Work For In America” list by professors at Michigan State University and University of Wisconsin-Madison showed a connection between the strategy of developing an attractive workplace and performing financially well. “Being an attractive employer may create an important intangible asset, positive employee relations, that differentiates firms in a value-producing way,” the authors wrote.

Such is the advice of Garrett Miller, author of the new book Hire On A WHIM: Four Qualities That Make for Great Employees.  As the president and CEO of workplace management company CoTria, Miller frequently coaches companies and gives keynotes on the subject of workplace productivity. 

Shortly after starting CoTria, Miller says he started to reflect on the things that made him successful in his previous career, and one thing he always came back to, he say, was hiring. 

“I started to wonder, ‘Why did I have so much success hiring?’ As I wrote down qualities that made them [great hires] great, I began to see these four threads that wove them all together. And suddenly, the word ‘WHIM’ popped up,” he told me in a phone interview recently.   Thus, the inspiration behind his new book.

“No matter how good you are as a manager, you can’t teach someone integrity.”
WHIM, as the book’s title implies, is an acronym for the four qualities Miller believes are the foundation for a great hire: work ethic, humility, integrity and maturity.  

Why these four qualities? “What makes these qualities so unique is that you can’t teach them,” Miller says. ”No matter how talented a manager you are, you can’t teach someone to have more integrity. That’s something life teaches you.  And, yes, you certainly can learn these qualities, and you can grow in these qualities, but as a hiring manager, I can’t adopt you without these qualities.” 

What’s conspicuously absent from WHIM is the mention of skills or experience, but as far as Miller’s concerned, that’s no accident. He says he’s not discounting the importance of experience when making a quality hire, but even the most experienced employees will make poor hires when they lack any one of these qualities.  “What separates the great employees from the mediocre employees? And it comes down to these qualities.”

And only a candidate who possesses all four qualities will do, Miller insists. He says he learned this lesson the hard way that “if you hire three and give a pass to one, you’re going to pay for it…It cost me dearly and my team dearly. And it’s affected my reputation as a manager, because everyone I hire is really a reflection on me, isn’t it?”

“Peel back the onion” by asking unexpected interview questions
To help others avoid the same mistake, Miller provides a list of questions at the end of each chapter in WHIM to guide hiring manager through the act of “peeling that onion back so that you’re really seeing the individuals – as opposed to someone who answers questions well.”

Miller says that one of his personal  favorite interview questions is, “What one event helped to shape you into the person you are today?” because it’s an unusual question that generates a thoughtful answer – one that reveals whether or not a candidate “can come through adversity on the other side and grow from it.”

In fact, Miller seems to have a soft spot for unusual interview questions. “One last thing I do in an interview is I sell them out of the job,” a tactic that Miller uses to keep himself from setting false expectations and reducing the amount of “I wasn’t expecting this” feeling from new hires.  “Once they’re in the ‘I wasn’t expecting this phase’ part…in a sense, they feel you’ve lied to them. So now, the integrity is busted, and they look at you without integrity. And you can’t have that in any type of relationship.

“We need to keep in mind the ROI of getting this right.”
But Miller also understands that sometimes just getting to the interview phase of the hiring process is half the battle. “It’s funny, because people think this is the greatest time to hire because you have so many applicants, but it winds up being a nightmare – you  post a job, and you get 300 resumes.” While Miller doesn’t have an “easy answer” to those hiring managers who are overwhelmed with more resumes than usual right now, he is adamant in his belief that as time-consuming as the process is, going through those resumes thorously will pay off in the end.  “What takes more time is when you hire incorrectly.  We need to keep in mind the ROI of getting this right.” 

He suggests having a sort of litmus taste when going through resumes that revolve around WHIM, such as screening for charity or volunteer work. Another piece of advice he has is giving priority to those resumes that come from personal recommendations and networking, which he has personally found leads to a lot less “spam” and a higher quality of candidate.

“I can’t guarantee a great hire every time, but I can guarantee MORE great hires,” Garrett says of what readers will get out of his book.  “My goal isn’t to be right, but to share what made my career so great,” Miller says of his purpose in writing these book.  He hopes others can take away the lessons he’s learned and apply it to their own careers, and understand that “no matter how good they are, they can be better.”

So what is the secret to his success? “It wasn’t because I was a good manager,” Miller says, “but because I hired great people and then got out of the way.”

* * * * *

Garrett Miller is a workplace productivity coach and keynote speaker with extensive experience in hiring, training, attracting, and retaining top talent. Learn more about his book, Hire on a WHIM: Four Qualities that Make for Great Employees, at www.HireonaWHIM.com).

While you were busy updating your Amazon.com wish list, confirming what you already suspected about your favorite 2 a.m. dining facility, or in no way whatsoever exploiting your reunion with a long-lost family member,  here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Motivating Losers Starts with Perks (And Also Not Calling Them “Losers”) Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have found that giving perks to departmental losers makes them better employees, according to Post-Gazette writer Ann Belser. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• Program Helps Transgender Workers Work Their Transferrable Skills In hopes to garner support for a new equal rights bill that highlights gender identity and gender expression in Massachusetts, the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights group will start offering “Back to Work” seminars geared toward transgender workers. (Boston Herald)
• If There’s One Thing Younger Workers Love, It’s Not Going Into Work More younger workers are looking for employment with companies that offer work-at-home and telecommuting options for employees, according to CNN. (CNN)  
• The Only Time It’s Ever Maybe Okay to Go Pantsless to an Interview Virtual interviewing – via Skype and other means – is one of the many ways in which recruiting is going high-tech, according to an ABC News article, along with mobile text alerts and video resumes. (ABC News)   
• Google Won’t Stop Until Everyone in the World is Working for Them In its ongoing attempt to take over the world maintain its competitive edge in the marketplace, Google announced this week that it planned to ramp up its hiring in 2011. (USA Today)
• Mass Layoffs Increasingly a Distant Memory According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), many of the companies plagued by mass layoffs in 2009 and 2010 now expect to recall workers. (The Fiscal Times)  
• Behind Every Great Female CEO is a Great Sponsor.  According to a new study by the Center for Work-Life Policy, the reason women hold just 3% of Fortune 500 CEO seats is a lack of sponsorship – that is, the backing necessary “to inspire, propel, and protect themselves on their journey through upper management.” Hey, let’s change that, shall we?  (Harvard Business Review) And finally…
• A Messy Workplace Situation Just Got a Whole Lot Messier The aftermath over Juan Williams’ dismissal at NPR and consequential resignation of SVP Ellen Weiss continues, with questions looming over the circumstances – and necessity – of Weiss’ departure, as well as her boss’ management decisions. (Washington Post)

For the sixth year in a row, Hay Group released the results of its Best Companies for Leadership study, naming General Electric the top company for leadership worldwide.  Proctor & Gamble, Intel, Siemens, Banco Santander, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Accenture, Walmart and Southwest rounded out the top 10.

What exactly does ‘great for leadership’ mean? In a nutshell, the companies on this list actively promote and support leadership development throughout all levels of the organization, providing extensive training, education and mentoring programs – as well as viable work/life options. 

Notice how the top companies for leadership also happen to be leaders in their industries as well? That’s no coincidence – their leadership and development initiatives benefit the bottom line just as much as they benefit the individual employees.  Hay Group’s research finds that these companies owe much of their long-time success and sustainability to “attracting and developing leaders who can collaborate, inspire and lead,” according to the group’s website.

Leading the Way: Four Characteristics that Define a Great Company for Leadership
For more specific examples of what defines a company that’s great for leadership, check out the list below of the characteristics that define these companies – according to Hay Group’s official study – and how various companies on the list embody these characteristics:

1. Diversity is Valued as a Business Asset.
Diversity and inclusiveness is central to General Electric’s mission, with affinity networks and employee groups geared specifically toward minorities, women and veterans, among other groups. Proctor and Gamble has a U.S. Diversity Recruiting Team in place to ensure “consistent and continuous representation in the leadership networks in order to provide the best sourcing pipeline available” Siemens’ management training programs are specifically designed to teach managers “how to effectively leverage and develop the talents of our employees across the entire spectrum of similarities and differences.” The company also keeps the conversation on diversity alive across the the company with its blog, DiversityTalk@SiemensUSA. And as part of its diversity commitment, FedEx encourages employees to get involved with community service and volunteer initiatives, an effort furthered by its partnerships with such organizations as the American Red Cross, United Way, NAACP, and the Special Olympics.

2. Effective Leaders are Increasingly Collaborators.
According to the study, companies that are great for leadership have programs in place “designed to develop leaders who can creatively bring together resources across different parts of this organization.” Such is the case at Southwest, where employees can spend a day on the job of another employee if they’re interested in another department or position at the company, and its Manager in Training Program is designed to identify and develop leaders. In addition to internal communities and networking events, Accenture ensures collaboration between leaders and employees with its mentoring program. And with its Performance and Development Planning program, Unilever encourages employees to take responsibility for the next step of their careers as they maintain an ongoing dialogue with their managers for feedback and guidance.  According to Pfizer’s career page, “each individual contributes to Pfizer’s scientific medical and business leadership possible.”  The company’s interactive “It Begins With Me” website highlights the ways in which employees are collaborating in order to accomplish this mission.  

3. Leadership Development is a Continuous Priority.
General Electric claims to invest more than $1 billion annual on training and educational opportunities, including its Masters and MBA Leadership program to further their careers, and the Undergraduate Leadership program, which combines “responsible and important job assignments with formal classroom studies,” according to GE’s website. Intel employees can attend Intel University for nearly every learning need – from developing management abilities to improving computing skills, to enhancing personal organization. Employees also have anytime-access to an entire library of professional development books.  McDonald’s Corporation is the only restaurant organization that awards college credits from the American Council on Education, and its Hamburger University teaches in a total of 28 languages, including Spanish, German, French, Japanese and Mandarin.

4. Work-Life Balance is Encouraged.
Intel employees enjoy a slew of flexible work options, such as compressed workweeks, alternate work schedules, telecommuting and part-time and job share opportunities.  Not to mention various transportation opportunities like rideshare and shuttles to take the stress out of getting to and from the office.  And with childcare and eldercare benefits, employees are still able to put family first. In addition to easier travel options with free flights, Southwest employees can share certain flight privileges with friends and families as part of the company’s Buddy Pass program. PepsiCo counts an employee assistance program, adoption assistance, family leave, an auto and home insurance program and service awards among its work/life benefits.

But again, these are just a few of the many examples as to what makes these companies great for leadership.  To see Hay Group’s full list of winners and methodology, go here.

Where does your company fit in with these categories? Share!

“Engaged employees are the competitive advantage of today,” Eric Mosley and Derek Irvine argue in their new book, Winning with a Culture of Recognition.  If they’re to be believed, that means bad news for employers: Employee engagement is at its lowest level in 15 years, according to a recent Hewitt survey.  From that standpoint, it’s no wonder the number employers are struggling to hold on to top employees, despite a still-slim job market.

If anyone can speak to the important role engagement has in an organization’s success, it’s Mosley and Irvine. Through their work at Globoforce®, they have helped companies of all sizes – including such recognized corporations as Dow Chemical, Intuit and Fairmont Hotels – develop strategic recognition programs to increase employee engagement levels and ultimately drive bottom line results. Winning with a Culture of Recognition is their effort to bring those same strategies and solutions to a broader audience.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Irvine, who heads Globoforce’s strategy and marketing team, via e-mail to discuss how the book addresses today’s key employer challenges, including what is causing the drop in engagement levels, the impact it is having on U.S. businesses, and what leaders can do to not only stop – but reverse – these effects.  Below is the edited version of our conversation.

What sets “Winning with a Culture of Recognition” apart from other management books? Winning with a Culture of Recognition gives practical step-by-step guidance, proven stories of success, and the research behind the power of recognition to create a culture of appreciation that increases employee engagement for dramatic bottom line results. This isn’t a soft-skills “1,000 ways to thank your employees” book. This is a hard management practice with proven results. We bust the myths around old-school recognition and incentives, making strategic recognition attainable for companies of any size.

In your book, you talk about “strategic recognition.” What do you mean by that? Strategic recognition means integrating recognition with a company’s core values and strategic goals.  It helps employees understand the behavioral norms you have identified to achieve the desired business outcome. What matters in the recognition moment is not showmanship but sincerity. Let the managers express appreciation in their own way; if it’s personal, tied to company values, and genuine, it will be effective.

What does “winning with a culture of recognition” mean?  “Winning” with a culture of recognition refers to winning in the marketplace. It’s proven that companies with more engaged employees are more successful. Recent Gallup research found that for companies in the top 25 percent for employee engagement, earnings per share (EPS) exceeds competition by 28 percent. That number increases to 72 percent for companies in the top 10 percent. What did the level of employee engagement mean to companies during the recession? Those in the top 25 percent that were trailing competition before the recession surpassed the competition in 2008. Those in the top 10 percent were already ahead of their competition in 2007, but widened the gap further in 2008.

What sets the companies that successfully foster a culture of recognition apart from others? Three things set them apart: 1) Executive sponsorship with defined goals. Support from senior management is critical to success in any ini­tiative, and this is especially true in managing corporate culture.  2) A single, global strategy. A global strategy creates a single recognition brand and vocabulary. It creates clear visibility into budgets and can be audited. Executives in different divisions, locations, and markets can view uniform metrics that provide insight into program adoption, operation, and results. 3) Alignment with company values and objectives. When individual-recognition moments are consciously linked to company values and goals, employees understand how their actions directly affect the culture.

What is the biggest roadblock to creating a culture of recognition? Possibly the biggest roadblock is overcoming the assumption that a company culture cannot be proactively created and managed. It absolutely can be, but the first step is determining what your company culture is today. After spending so much time and effort developing a strategy, mission and values, company leaders hope those values become the basis for the company culture, but that is not always the case. Unless the values are visibly and quantifiably reinforced on a daily basis, they become nothing more than an engraved plaque hanging on the wall.

Why is recognition so important? Why do you find that it is so frequently overlooked as a business strategy? Too often, recognition is believed to be a “soft-skill” – a nice-to-have component if managers are willing to do it, but certainly nothing to push for. Recognition, when done strategically, is much more. It’s a data-driven business initiative that can have quite significant impact on a company’s bottom line.  

There is a great deal of data to support this from various research organizations including Gallup, Towers Watson, the Human Capital Institute, Deloitte Consulting, and many others. For example, Gallup has shown managers who focus on employee strengths have 61 percent engaged employees versus 1 percent actively disengaged. But managers who focus on employee weaknesses have 45 percent engaged employees and 22 percent actively disengaged. Managers who ignore their employees are the worst with only 2 percent engaged employees and 40 percent actively disengaged. Employees need feedback – they need to know how they’re doing and if their efforts are valued and appreciated by others.

But what’s the impact on the bottom line? Employees who are engaged drive financial results. And those results are not insignificant. In their 2007-2008 Global Workforce Study, Towers Perrin (now Towers Watson) found that companies with high employee engagement vastly outperform low-employee engagement firms in terms of operating income, income growth rate, and earnings per share.

What advice do you have for employers who say, “We can’t afford to give our employees pricey bonuses or raises, or throw extravagant parties, so we might as well give up”? Companies should make recognition a priority. If they do not, they are at risk of losing employees even in a down economy and having a disengaged workforce. Strategic recognition does not have to be costly, though it does require investment. Our customers have found that, simply by consolidating multiple tactical programs, they can fund a strategic recognition investment. Giving up just isn’t an option.

While you were busy surprising the technology world with the announcement of your resignation, surprising the technology world with the announcement of your temporary leave, or surprising…meh, probably not really anyone with the announcement of your retirement, here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Call These Companies ‘Frosted Flakes,’ Because They’re Grrrrreat! FORTUNE magazine released its annual list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. Prepare to not be shocked. (FORTUNE)
• No Pressure at All on Obama’s New Hire…None. At. All. Putting the future of job creation more or less in the hands of one man, President Obama has appointed GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt to chair the new “President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.” (MSNBC)
• Employees in Virginia Apparently Free to Act as Ridiculous as They Want Virginia’s Supreme court ruled that a restaurant worker was entitled to worker’s comp after being injured during on-the-job horseplay, thanks to the, um, “horseplay doctrine.”  (Workforce)
• Just Like the Poltergeist (But Way Less Scary), Workplace Perks Are Baaaaack Rather than survival, more companies are switching their focus to employee satisfaction and retention these days, bringing back perks they might’ve cut during the recession. (Star Tribune)
• The Office File Cabinet Isn’t Just For Files You’ll Never Revisit The NYPD recently released a study that found that the office file cabinet was the best place for workers to hide should someone ever walk in and start shooting a gun. (New York Post)  
• Dress Codes Get Workers’ Panties in a Twist After inciting controversy over what some say is an overly strict workplace dress code, Swiss banking giant UBS AG announced plans this week to revise its current 44-page dress code to be less micro-managey.(MSNBC)
• Another Product of the Recession: Pay-For-Performance Models Last week it was GM, now even more companies are adopting the pay-for-performance model. (Advertising Age)   And finally…
• What Happened to the Good Ol’ Days When You Could Spy on Employees on Facebook with No Repurcussions? More and more companies are facing legal troubles these days, as the lines between their rights as employers – and their employees’ privacy rights – become ever more blurry. (Wall Street Journal)

Yesterday, FORTUNE released its annual list of the Best Companies to Work For.

Simply looking at the profiles FORTUNE provides for each company, which includes such big names as Google, Whole Foods Market and Goldman Sachs, you might be thinking, Well, sure, if my company had an annual revenue of $23.6 billion, we could afford to give our employees on-site dry-cleaning and free gourmet lunches, too.  But it’s important to remember that the perks FORTUNE highlights in its profiles of these companies are just that – perks. 

Sure, things like Google’s free laundry services, Zappos’ no-charge vending machines, or the state-of-the-art gym at SAS are nice – very nice, in fact – but those things don’t even scratch the surface of what makes these companies great workplaces.  In other words, it’s not the benefits themselves, but rather the implication that employees and their work are valued that keep employees happy, engaged and productive.

Building a Great Workplace: Think ‘How,’ Not ‘What’
Last month, I had the pleasure of speaking with Michael Burchell and Jennifer Robin, researchers at the company behind FORTUNE’s list, The Great Place to Work® Institute, to discuss what differentiates great places to work from other companies.

As they note in the opening pages of the new book they co-authored, The Great Workplace: How to Build It, How to Keep It, and Why It Matters, when it comes to creating a great place to work, “it’s not what you do, but how you do it.” And these companies execute their employee benefits in such a way that says, “We value you.”

It should also be noted that these companies don’t treat their employees well because they can simply afford to offer a bunch of perks, but they can afford to offer perks precisely because they treat their employees well.

“The research we’ve done on the business benefits are pretty clear and compelling that great workplaces just do better financially [than their competitors],” Burchell says.

Aside from the financial impact, however, Burchell notes that a lot of leaders simply believe creating a culture that recognizes and rewards employees for their hard work is just the right thing to do.  The fact that it happens to be good for the bottom line, too?

Well, that’s just a perk.

FORTUNE’s Best Companies to Work For 2011: Top 10
Get a peek at what makes these places so great…or check out the entire list here:

1. SAS: While perks like on-site healthcare, high quality childcare, summer camp for kids, car cleaning, a beauty salon, and access to a state-of-the-art, 66,000-square-foot gym are nice, the real reason employees stick around is because – as one manager told FORTUNE – “they feel regarded — seen, attended to and cared for.”
2. Boston Consulting Group: Employees here have the chance to work with the U.N. World Food Program and Save the Children through the company’s Social Impact Practice Network (SIPN), contributing to a larger community effort.
3. Google In addition to recognition from executive leadership (Google employees recently received a surprise 10 percent pay hike and $1,000 bonus for their service), peer recognition is also emphasized here: Googlers can award one another $175 peer spot bonuses.
4. Wegmans: Combining the tenants of camaraderie with wellness, Wegmans holds a companywide challenge to eat five cups of fruit and vegetables a day and walk up to 10,000 steps a day for eight weeks. Wegmans also covered the costs of flu shots and H1N1 vaccines for its employees.
5. NetApp: Even hourly employees have it good here, with executive assistants making $76,450 a year, supplemented by a $21,917 bonus.
6. Zappos: Zappos follows through on its promise to “create fun and a little weirdness” by offering, among other benefits, a full-time life coach on hand.
7. Camden Property Trust: When economic pressures forced budget cuts, Camden gave its employees a say in how it should trim $6 million in costs, which ultimately entailed renegotiating contracts and reducing pay.
8. Nugget Market: Nugget embodies the ‘Communication is key’ idea, as management uses a big flat screen computer monitor in each store to deliver important information about products, messages from the leadership team, employee awards, and pump up the troops.
9. REI: Employees get a none-too-shabby 50-75 percent discount on merchandise and free equipment rental – as well as the chance to participate in an outdoor adventure for $300 in grant money.
10. Dreamworks: Any DreamWorks employee can pitch a movie idea to company executives — and can take the company-sponsored “Life’s A Pitch” workshop to learn how best to do it.

What makes your company a great place to work?

Missing out on the opportunity to catch up on the always-entertaining-for-one-reason-or-another The View, 72 percent of workers go to work when they are sick, according to a new survey released today by CareerBuilder.  Evidently, “presenteeism” and workplace pressures outweigh the desire to see the ridiculous charming banter between Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Whoopi Goldberg, as more than half of those workers (55 percent) say they feel guilty if they call in sick.

(Side note: I can’t help but notice that this 72 percent overlaps slightly with the 29 percent of workers who admitted they have faked an excuse to call in sick in a previous CareerBuilder survey. I’d love to get a peek inside the minds of those who show no remorse at calling in sick when they aren’t, but just don’t feel right about it when they are.)  

While I understand feeling too guilty to take a sick day, is there no shame when it comes to putting your co-workers at risk of getting sick? (Did anyone else not see Outbreak?!) More than half of workers surveyed (53 percent) said they have gotten sick from a co-worker who came to the office sick.

According to Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, it’s important for employees to stay home if they aren’t feeling well – for the sake of their health and everyone else’s.  It’s also in managers’ best interest to promote the health of their employees in order to maintain productivity. 

Haefner offers the following tips managers can use to promote a healthy – and productive – workplace: 

• Insist that sick employees go or stay home. If they absolutely must come into the office, let them work in a conference room or away from others so they don’t spread their sickness.
• If you think your employees might be hesitant to take sick days, talk to them – or have HR talk to them – about how their sick days can be used.  Offer to let them telecommute, delegate or call-in if necessary. Do whatever you can to ensure they take care of themselves, get healthy and get back to work as soon as possible.
• Provide healthy resources. Make sure hand sanitizers, hand soap, paper towels, tissues and other cleaning supplies are readily available for employees to use.
• Develop company telecommuting policies – or, if necessary, adjust existing ones –and determine standards for allowing employees to telecommute during this time to reduce the potential for spreading germs.

Add this to the list of terms that have become nothing more than meaningless business jargon: Workplace attire.  After all, when considering the following workplace stories, it’s hard to say what even constitutes appropriate “workplace attire” anymore…

First, there’s Esquire magazine recently naming Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg its ‘Worst Dressed Celebrity.’ While I’m confident the billionaire isn’t losing any sleep over the title, there is a bigger implication here: ‘Dressing for the job you want ’ evidently no longer applies in the business world. After all, if someone can reach Zuckerberg’s scale of success without so much as having to ever step foot into a Brooks Brothers, why bother ever changing out of your pajama jeans? Does Zuckerberg represent the new executive style – and the death of professional attire as we know it?

For those who are alarmed by this notion, rest assured that there are still some employers that will go to any – however uncomfortable – lengths to preserve the good name of businesswear.  Consider the following stories…  

No Red Undies and No Garlic – After generating ridicule for a 44-page dress code – in which employees are instructed to avoid eating garlic for fresher-smelling breath and wear only nude-colored underwear, among other advice – Swiss bank UBS recently announced that it would revise the existing code. While the new code is said to be less micro-manage-y, UBS maintains that a code is important to uphold “the perfect look” of the staffs at its banks.

Bosses Get the Final Say on Bras – Arguing that “being told to wear a bra and keep fingernails to shorter than half-a-centimetre does not impinge on personal rights,” a German court ruled recently that employers in Cologne have the right to make certain demands on workplace dress – including asking female workers to wear bras and male workers to trim their beards.

Aside from wondering which poor intern would have the unfortunate duty of ensuring employees keep within these standards (“Pull down your pants a bit. I just need to see the color of your skivvies…okay, now let me smell your breath…”), I also can’t help but think…are all of these rules really necessary?

Sure, I understand the need and the expectation for employees in certain roles and industries to look presentable…but if you’ve hired them for that position, shouldn’t you already be able to trust that they can decide what is or isn’t appropriate attire? 

What do you think? How much control should employers be able to have over their employees’ personal appearance?

While you were busy realizing you’ve been reading the wrong horoscope all your life,  thinking it was about damn time you got some credit for something, or planning your return to the Big Game, here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week… 

• Let’s Leave This One Out of the Guinness Book of World Records 2010 was a record-breaking year in terms of lawsuits filed by private-sector workers on employers on charges of discrimination. Yet one more thing we can blame on the economy. (WSJ)
• Morale Booster or Sexual Harrassment? (You Say Potato…) Despite claiming that he was merely trying to boost morale, Navy Capt. Owen Honors was relieved of his command last week over raunchy videos he made and showed to his crew five years ago. And the Facebook community is up in arms about it! (MSN)
• Some Business Jargon is Annoying. (And By “Some” We Mean All.) You’d think using terms like “drill down” and “think outside the box” would make you sound smart. You’d be wrong. (Forbes)
• Facebook Just Can’t Help Itself When It Comes to Causing Workplace Problems A waitress at a New England tavern filed a complaint against her employer, alleging that the threatening comments that appeared on the tavern owner’s Facebook page were directed at her, in retaliation for filing a sexual harassment complaint. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
• Don’t Let Your Place of Business Turn Into an Episode of Hoarders Keeping a clean and organized office space isn’t (just) about being anal, anymore. It’s also about being cheap saving time and money. (LATimes) And finally…
• GM Union Workers May Soon Feel Pressure to Perform General Motors announced this week that it wants union-represented workers’ pay tied to performance and the company’s financial health. What could go wrong? (Chicago Breaking Business)  

“The way in which we understand great workplaces is based up on relationships in the workplace,” says Michael Burchell, corporate Vice President with The Great Place to Work® Institute . “So a great place to work is one that has a high degree of trust between employees and leaders, a great deal of pride between employees and their work, and a great deal of camaraderie between employees and other employees.”

Burchell would be the person to ask. Not only is The Great Place to Work Institute the company behind the annual Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list, but he – along with colleague Jennifer Robin, a Research Fellow at the institute – literally wrote the book on great workplaces.

Their recent collaboration, The Great Workplace: How to Build It, How to Keep It, and Why It Matters, draws on 25 years of case studies and testimonials from employees working at the best workplaces in the U.S. to answer the question, “What is the business value of creating a great workplace?” 

And with so many employers today struggling to both find qualified talent to fill open positions and retain their top performers, the timing for this book could hardly be better. 

Trust, Pride and Camaraderie: A Winning Formula
Looking at the over two decades worth of research on great workplaces, one thing is glaringly evident: Culture is king. “When we talk about a great workplace, we’re really talking about a culture – a culture of trust, pride and camaraderie,” Robin says. The Great Workplace aims to show leaders how they can create that culture by building relationship with employees based on those three elements – trust, pride and camaraderie. 

“Pride and camaraderie are a lot of fun to build, whereas trust is a bit harder. It takes a lot of persistence and it takes a lot of deliberate thought to try to develop relationships with people,” Robin says. And that’s where managers tend to run into trouble. “We often hear [from managers], ‘I’m a working manager. I have my own set of responsibilities, and I don’t have time to add anything to my plate.’”  

But what managers need to understand – and what the authors emphasize throughout the book – is that the extra time and effort they put into building those relationships now will have a huge payoff later on. One need only look at the list of companies highlighted in The Great Workplace – Google, General Mills, Microsoft, to name a few – to understand that, business-wise, creating a great place to work simply makes sense.

“The research we’ve done on the business benefits are pretty clear and compelling that great workplaces just do better financially,” Burchell points out. 

But there’s more than just the financial impact to consider, too. “I think there are two issues here – a head and a heart issue,” Burchell says. Certainly, there are many leaders who want to build a great place to work because it makes sense financially; however, for many other leaders, creating a great workplace is simply the right thing to do.  “Leaders have a huge opportunity to have a huge impact on a lot of people. And so the question there is, ‘What kind of legacy to you want to leave?’”  

Creating a Great Workplace: It’s About Knowing Who You Are
There’s a reason this book is called The Great Workplace and not The Best Workplace: There’s no such thing.  “There are companies on the [Best Places to Work] list I wouldn’t necessarily want to work for – and not because they’re not fantastic companies, but because they’re not a fit for me,” Robin says.  And that’s totally okay. What makes them great companies is that they have a clear grasp on who they are and what they value – and they actively seek out employees who share these values. 

“Great companies know who they are and they’re able to communicate it through their managers, their leaders, their employees, their new recruits – in a way that helps people decide ‘do I want to work there?’ first, and second, ‘here’s how I could contribute, and here’s how I could grow and thrive as well,’” says Robin. 

Michael Burchell and Jennifer Robin are the authors of The Great Workplace: How to Build It, How to Keep It, and Why It Matters, now available on Amazon.com.

Last month, I spoke with Heidi Grant Halvorson, author of the recently released book, SUCCEED: How We Can Reach Our Goals, which takes a unique approach to helping people achieve success: unlike other motivational books that rely on personal experiences and anecdotes to prove a point, SUCCEED draws from years of  scientific studies to uncover practical but effective strategies that have been proven to help people from all walks of life achieve even their most hard-to-reach goals.

While SUCCEED is written for all audiences, Halvorson was kind enough to take a moment and offer insight into how managers in particular can apply the lessons in the book to their own careers, especially in regards to engaging and motivating their employees.

Here’s what she had to say about the following management topics:

On motivating your employees…

“People need to feel that their work has impact – that it matters to someone – even if that someone is their immediate supervisor.” Halvorson says she hears a lot of complaints from employees who’ve put a lot of work into a project that ultimately – for whatever reason – gets tossed by someone up the chain of command, making them feel as if their efforts were worthless. “As the manager, something you need to remember to do – besides just saying, “Bummer” – is to make them feel like their work wasn’t pointless – that even if that project isn’t getting the green light, you as their manager, noticed. You thought their work was excellent. You are impressed with the way they tackled the challenge.” You may not have the power to give every project the green light, but you do have the power to create a feeling of impact among your employees. Use that power. Otherwise, your employees will start to feel like they’re wasting their time, and little else is better at killing engagement.

On giving workers the freedom of choice…

“Realistically, most employers can’t just let employees run around making their own decisions about everything, but there are a lot of studies that show that giving people ‘the feeling of choice’ is just as effective.” Equally as important to workers as feeling like their work matters is a feeling of autonomy. Here again is an instance where you as a manager have more control than you may realize, because you can create that feeling of autonomy by allowing employees as much choice as possible.  Even if you can’t give employees total control over their job, you can at least give them certain jurisdiction over certain aspects of their work – no matter how small. “People need that feeling of choice,” Halvorson says. That feeling of control – “that feeling like you’re sort of the master of your own destiny,” as she puts it – weighs heavily on engagement.

On what she really thinks about annual performance reviews…

“They’re awful. From a psychological perspective, the annual performance review does everything you don’t want it to do in terms of motivating people.” One of the major problems with the annual performance review, says Halvorson, is that it focuses too much on where employees are – rather than how far they have come.  “People don’t get enough points for improvement. Someone who goes from being a terrible communicator to a mediocre communicator, that’s actually a pretty good step forward. So let’s applaud that.” None of this is to say, however, that any sort of feedback should be abolished altogether. Rather, feedback should be frequent (on a weekly basis, ideally), as specific as possible, and focused on progress. “Managers need to own up to a responsibility that they don’t simply tell people that they didn’t do well, but help them figure out what the recipe for success is.”

On the art of giving feedback…

“People tend to either see a goal as an opportunity to gain something or seeing it as an opportunity to avoid a loss.” For instance, one person will look at an upcoming performance review and say, “This could be great for my career. It will help me climb the ladder”’ and another person might look at it and say, “I want to do well on this because I don’t want to lose my job.” Therefore, an employee who tends to focus on gains will find optimism very motivating, whereas for someone who focuses on loss, “giving them the ‘rah rah’ motivation speech doesn’t work for them, because on some intuitive level, they’re thinking, ‘If I allow myself to believe that I’m awesome, I’m going to let my guard down, lose my motivation, and fail,’” Halvorson says. Managers are most effective when they can recognize which type of employee they’re dealing with, and give feedback accordingly.

On regaining momentum as we come out of a recession…

“There’s an opportunity here to say, ‘Here’s what having less has taught me about what makes me happy and what actually makes me feel effective,’ and to remember that experience.” Given everything you and your employees have had to deal with over the past several months – longer work hours, fewer resources, extra workloads – it’s to be expected if you’re all feeling a little disengaged right now.  One of the ways to combat this feeling is to take a moment to reflect on everything you have gone through together – and worked to overcome – and use that as motivation for future endeavors. “Having weathered the storm, you realize you’re capable of handling adversity that you never thought possible. This can be confidence-building. The best way to look at this experience of getting through a difficult time is to go, ‘If I can do that, what else am I capable of?’”

Heidi Grant Halvorson is a motivational psychologist and the author of SUCCEED: How We Can Reach Our Goals, now available on Amazon.com.

While you were busy beating the odds of one in 178 million, eagerly awaiting M. Night Shyamalan to announce he’s making a movie about this (if the world doesn’t end first), or wrongly believing there aren’t enough reality shows in general (and about this family in particular), here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Lois Lane Not the Only One Fooled by Glasses Beware job candidates who wear glasses to interviews. A new study suggests job seekers who wear glasses to interviews are more likely to be hired because they’re automatically viewed as more intelligent and more professional than their 20/20 counterparts.  (Daily Mail)
• Even Obama’s Having a Hard Time Filling Open Positions Overwhelmed by incoming cases, the federal courts say they are in desperate need of candidates to fill about 10 percent of vacant seats right now. I’ll do it! (NPR)
• Pulled “a Boehner” Lately? Don’t Make a Habit of It Incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner may get away with it, but crying at the office is still a workplace faux pas, says business writer Allison Lynn. (Life, Inc.)
• Now Recruiters are Just Picking People Right Off the Street You really never know where your next employee will come from, do you? After hearing a homeless man showing off his self-described “God-given gift of a great voice” on the local radio, a recruiter for the Cleveland Cavaliers called in and offered him a job with the organization on the spot. (MSNBC)
• Goldman Sachs Wants It Both Ways While Goldman Sachs officially prohibits Facebook use among employees, the firm recently invested $450 million in Facebook. At the same time, employees are expected to be able to educate less tech-savvy clients about the social networking website. Catch-22?  (FastCompany)
• B-Schools, Employers Try to Help Graduates Bring Their A-Game Business schools have started soliciting input from companies that want to hire MBA grads, in hopes to shape their curriculum around skills that will help graduates’ job prospects. (Wall Street Journal)
• Lawmakers Now Free to Act Like Every Other American Worker During Meetings Thanks to a new rule from the incoming House Republican majority, members of the House may now use electronic devices on the House floor as long as it doesn’t “impair decorum” (which, apparently, tweeting does not do).  (TheHill.com) And finally…
• Overqualified Workers Aren’t the Devil, Study Shows A new study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology suggests that hiring overqualified job candidates doesn’t necessarily lead to turnover. In fact, they may even stay longer because they enjoy a better work/life balance. (Human Resources Executive)

Dropping to 9.4 percent in December, the nation’s unemployment rate is now at its lowest level since April 2009, according to the Labor Department’s employment situation report for December. Good news, yes? Well…

While much of that .4 percent decrease represents those people who are no longer unemployed (yay!), it also represents those people who gave up their job search last month (boo!).

Also according to the report, employers added 103,000 jobs last month. Good news, yes? Well…

While this was more than double the number of jobs added in November (yay!), it fell far below economists’ expectations (boo!).  Here are some highlights from the report:

• Private employers added 113,000 jobs, while the Government shed 10,000 jobs.
• The number of unemployed persons dropped by 556,000 to 14.5 million.
• Looking at specific industries, employment rose in leisure and hospitality, which added 36,000 jobs, and in health care, which added 29,000 jobs.
• Despite losses in November, in December, retailers added 12,000 jobs and manufacturers added 10,000 jobs. Job losses continued in contruction, which cut 16,000 jobs.

A year in progress: 2010 vs. 2009
A still-over-9-percent unemployment rate is certainly nothing to brag about (not that anyone is trying); however, compared to where we were a year ago, the difference between the economy of 2009 and the economy of today is like the difference between Jersey Shore’s Jwoww of season one and the Jwoww of today – not a total train wreck, but a vast improvement. Take a look at the progress from the past 12 months…

• The economy added 1.1 million jobs in 2010.
• The unemployment rate decreased from 10 percent in December 2009 to 9.4 percent in December 2010.
• The number of unemployed persons went down from 15.3 million in December 2009 to 14.5 million in December 2010.
• Average hourly earnings have increased by 1.8 percent in 2010.

Good news, yes? Well…
While the economy is showing much needed signs of improvement (yay!) there’s still a lot that needs to change – specifically, the economy needs to add about 250,000 jobs per month before the unemployment rate goes down significantly. (Over the past three months, we’ve averaged 128,000 jobs added, which is only just enough to keep the rate from going up again.) Boo!

Getting to where we want to be will be a daunting effort for sure, but  – let’s end this post on a high note, shall we? - both economists and employers anticipate that 2011 will be an even better year than 2010 in terms of economic growth and employment (yay!).

Thoughts?

Okay, I couldn’t resist the urge to squeeze in one more “year’s best” list…but can you blame me? (Don’t answer that.) From flight attendant freakouts to too-sexy bankers (is there such a thing?), and everything in between…let’s just say that if the following workplace stories were people, Barbara Walters would be interviewing them during sweeps.

So while you were busy deciding to go with an understated-yet-elegant look, clarifying that you are in fact not a witch (although who isn’t, on some level?), or saying, “Dictionary, schmictionary!”…here’s what was going on in the world of workforce management this year…

1. Getting Fired Over Facebook is So 2009 In what became a groundbreaking case highlighting workers’ rights when it comes to social media, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against a company the group said illegally fired an employee for criticizing her supervisor on her Facebook page. (For the record, none of this stuff ever happened with Friendster.)
2. Sorry, Mario Lopez, but A.C. is No Longer the Most Famous Slater Steven Slater became a household name in August when the then-Jetblue flight attendant, after arguing with a passenger (and possibly overreacting), dramatically activated the plane’s inflatable emergency slide and literally slid off the job in a huff.  
3. Jenny the Office Assistant Punk’d Us All Hot on the heels of Slatergate (sorry, I’ve always wanted to ‘gate’-ify something) emerged another working class hero: Jenny, the office assistant who emailed her entire office a series of photographs of her holding a dry erase board with messages revealing that she was quitting – and, oh, yeah, the boss is kind of a perv. The photos went viral and made Jenny a social media star…until it all turned out to be a hoax.
4. We’ve All Totally Been There Ever been fired for being too hot? That’s what a former Citibank employee claimed when she filed a suit against the bank, saying she was unfairly terminated for being too attractive. Citibank, however, has said the termination was due to poor job performance and has refused to comment further.
5. Working for Oprah is Just as Awesome as Being in Her Audience In September, Oprah surprised every O Magazine staffer with an Apple iPad, customized leather iPad case, and a check for $10,000. Y’know…just cuz. (Okay, it was actually to celebrate the magazine’s 10^th anniversary. But still.)
6. Sometimes a Simple “Thanks, Here’s a Starbucks Gift Card” Just Won’t Do In a bold move to boost morale, Google announced a surprise 10 percent pay raise and $1000 bonus for all of its workers in November. Unfortunately, one person in particular is no longer eligible for the perk: the (now former) employee who leaked the news to the press. So close!
7. Twitter’s Use as a Business Tool Knows No End In February, Jonathan Schwartz resigned his post as the CEO of Sun Microsystems by sending out a message on Twitter. The best part? He did it in haiku. Hip and romantic! 
8. Football Players Act Improper in the Locker Room (Spoiler Alert!) In September, after several New York Jets players were cited for treating a female reporter with “unprofessional conduct,” the National Football League ordered the team to pay for workplace conduct training for the entire league. This will surely take.
9. It’s Like You Can’t Even Call People Bigots on TV Anymore…CNN was less than pleased earlier this year when newscaster Rick Sanchez made some controversial comments on air in regards to Jewish people in general and Jon Stewart in particular, calling the “Daily Show” host a bigot, among other things. Not 24 hours later, CNN told Sanchez to take his rants elsewhere.
10. Workers Who Wanted the Freedom to Drink During Work Hours Got Their Wish If you’re going to drink on the job, well, don’t. But especially don’t do it in front of a local TV news crew. In September, Chrysler fired 13 employees whom a local TV station caught drinking beer and smoking what appeared to be marijuana while on break from their jobs.

Okay, what did I miss?

 
It’s a non-denominational holiday miracle! (Okay, ’miracle’ might be a bit of an oversell, but regardless…) Good things are in store for the job market this coming year, if CareerBuilder’s 2011 Job Forecast is any indication. 

Released today, the annual survey shows that more employers plan to grow jobs and increase salaries than last year – indicating a stronger overall employment picture for 2011.  According to CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson, in a statement for the press release:

“More than half of employers reported they are in a better financial position today than they were one year ago…Our survey indicates more jobs will be added in 2011 than 2010, but job creation will remain gradual. The year will be characterized by steady, moderate gains across various industries.”

For this year’s annual survey about the state of the job market and employment trends, CareerBuilder surveyed over 2,500 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries and company sizes.  Below is a summary of the results: 

HIRING AND EMPLOYMENT TRENDS IN 2011

• Continued Growth of Full- and Part-time Staff: According to the survey, 24 percent of employers plan to hire full-time, permanent employees in 2011 (up from 20 percent in 2010 and 14 percent in 2009), and 13 percent said the same of  part-time employees (up from 11 percent in 2010 and 9 percent in 2009).
• Less Downsizing Planned: In another promising sign, plans to downsize staffs are trending below the last two years.  Only 7 percent of employers plan to decrease full-time headcount this year, marking an improvement from 9 percent in 2010 and 16 percent in 2009; and only 5 percent plan to decrease part-time staff (down from 8 percent last year and 14 percent the year before). 
• Increased Reliance on Contract and Temporary Workers: In order to supplement leaner staffs in the comin year, 34 percent of hiring managers say they will hire contract or temporary workers, 24 percent of whom expect to add more than they did last year. Moreover, 39 percent of employers plan to extend permanent job offers to these workers.
• More Competitive Compensation: Amid increasing concerns over top talent leaving, 61 percent of employers said they will increase compensation for their existing staff in 2011, up from 57 percent in 2010. When it comes to hiring, 31 percent plan to increase their job offers to candidates, up from 29 percent last year. 

REGIONAL HIRING:  Similar to last year’s forecast, the West surpasses other regions when it comes to hiring plans – but only slightly – with 26 percent of hiring managers in the West reporting plans to add full-time, permanent headcount followed closely by 24 percent in the Northeast, 23 percent in the Midwest and South.  As for downsizing plans, 8 percent of employers in the South expect to decrease headcount followed by 7 percent in the Northeast, Midwest and West.

HIRING AND COMPANY SIZE: While small businesses have been slower to recover, hiring is gradually improving among companies of all sizes.  Thirty percent of employers with over 250 employees plan to increase full-time, permanent headcount in 2011, followed by 27 percent of employers with 51 to 250 employees and 14 percent of employers with 50 or less employees.  Five percent of employers with 1 to 50 employees plan to reduce their workforce compared to 6 percent of businesses with 51 to 250 employees and 9 percent with more than 250 employees. 

Download the full CareerBuilder 2011 Job Forecast here.

If there’s one thing Americans love, it’s year-end,”top ten” lists.  

Not to discount the role family time, seasonal light displays, gift-giving and Charlie Brown all play in creating an overall sense of merriment this time of year, but I’d be willing to bet that top ten lists have a lot to do with what makes this season so merry and bright. Because for everything that divides this country throughout the year – religion, politics, the necessity of airport patdowns, Jacob versus Edward, etc. – December marks the one time of year we can all seem to agree that there’s nothing we, as a country, can’t – or won’t – categorize, list, judge, rank…and then blog about. 

So in the spirit of the season (and not wanting to miss out on one of America’s favorite pastimes), I’m proud to announce The Hiring Site’s very own year-end top ten list:

The Hiring Site’s Top 10 Most-Read Blog Posts of 2010:

1. How to Craft a Candidate Rejection Letter or E-mail (Yes, You Have Time To Do It) Time was not on the side many overworked hiring managers this year, but that’s no excuse to leave a candidate hanging. While you probably don’t want to write a candidate rejection letter any more than a candidate wants to receive one, there’s a good reason why you should. Fortunately, there’s also a way to do it that won’t eat up valuable work hours. We provide both.
2. Will the Real Candidate Please Stand Up? How to Spot a Fake Resume Thanks to a rise in websites like CareerExcuse.com and FakeResume.com, it became even easier for job seekers to falsify information on their resumes. Here we give tips for making sure you don’t fall victim to fakes.
3. Job Creation Up, Unemployment Rate Down (But There’s a Catch…) Little did we know at the time, but June 2010 – the topic of our monthly summary of the unemployment situation report – would later be identified by economists as the month the recession officially ended. 
4. Social Media Recruiting Made Easy: A New (Free) eBook If you haven’t visited this post since February (or at all) be sure to go back and download our popular eBook on social media recruitment, Will Tweet for Talent: A User’s Guide to Talent Recruitment through Social Media, which has since been updated with more current facts and figures.
5. The HIRE Act — What Does It Mean for Your Business? In March of this year, President Obama signed into law the HIRE Act, which allows businesses that hire unemployed workers certain tax credits. We broke down the basics of the law to show what the HIRE Act means for both you and your organization overall.
6. CareerBuilder Unveils Its New Big Game Commercial (With a Little Help from You) Adding a little levity to our usual fare, we asked you to vote on which CareerBuilder ad you wanted to see during the Big Game – the very ad that results in one of CareerBuilder’s biggest traffic surges of the year and – more importantly – increased exposure for CareerBuilder customers.
7. Perceived Risks Don’t Negate Proven Rewards of Social Media Recruiting While it’s fun to focus on the benefits of social media recruitment, in June we took a moment to address – and clarify – the realities and misconceptions of its potential risks.  
8. How Does Your Company Promote Employee Wellness?  Sure, it helped that we sweetened the deal by adding the chance to win an iPod nano – but it was refreshing to see the huge response from employers who actively promote their employees’ well-being.  Although only one person won the iPod, everyone who read both this post and our follow-up post walked away with some great ideas for promoting wellness at their own organizations.
9. BLS Employment Situation Report for July – Channeling “Groundhog Day”? July marked yet another month of slow but sure – but definitely slow – progress, when we did our monthly summary of the Labor Department’s Employment situation report. (Five months later, can we not say the exact same thing? Maybe we are living Groundhog Day.)
10. “What Happens if the Owner Dies?” True Tales of Interview Questions That Stumped Hiring Managers When we challenged readers to share the most difficult interview questions they’ve ever gotten – from job candidates, the only thing more surprising than the questions our readers submitted were the surprisingly insightful lessons they gleaned from their experiences.  

What’s Ahead for 2011?
But let’s not dwell too much on the past…Here’s a peek of the topics we have in store to cover for 2011:

• Building a talent pipeline for today and the future
• Using talent intelligence to make smarter decisions and strengthen business operations
• Emerging media and recruitment: Strategies and best practices
• Employment branding: Taking it to the next level
• The new rules for succession planning and retention
• New recruitment trends: Do they live up to the hype?

Anything we’re missing? What topics do you want us to cover in 2011? Tell us in the comments section below!

While you were busy preparing to hang up your suspenders, claiming you were going to be busy washing your hair that night anyway,  or trying to ruin every child’s fun…here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Working in pajamas is preferable to fighting traffic. Employees who telecommute the majority of the workweek have more job satisfaction, a new study from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee shows. (UWMNews)  
• Sometimes the best workplace holiday gifts are the ones not given. Workplace gift-giving can be tricky (and by tricky, I mean ‘awkward and potentially disastrous’). Todayshow.com offers tips for what to get – and what to avoid getting – for that special colleague in your life. (TODAY)
• All Obama wants for Christmas is more jobs. President Barack Obama held a meeting with 20 top CEOs on Wednesday, hoping to encourage them to invest their funds in growth and hiring.  (WSJ)
• No more playing fast and loose with the term ‘contract worker’ State and federal agencies are cracking down on companies that misclassify employees as independent contractors. (USAToday)
• Too bad this story is real, and not just another bad sequel to Wall Street. An insider trading probe at Wall Street continues to deepen, with charges now against six people. (NPR)
• Micro-management’ could take on a whole new meaning. More businesses try to do more with less workspace, increasingly taking away corporate office space and closing the walls on corporate workers.(Los Angeles Times)
• American CEOs have been waiting four years to feel this good. A new survey indicates that optimism about the future of sales, investments and hiring among U.S. chief executives is at its highest level since2006. (Bloomberg) And finally…
• Sometimes, trying to save a buck just isn’t worth it. After violating federal labor law by withholding employee raises and benefits, Kaiser Permanente must now pay workers what they are owed. (Sacramento Business Journal)

Note: This post is the last of a three-part series on re-engaging your employees. Click here to read part one: Want to Re-Engage Your Employees? Do This First…or here to read part two: 7 Ways to Inspire Your Employees

If you feel like you’ve been hearing a lot about employee engagement lately, it’s probably not your imagination…

From the recent Towers Watson survey that shows that only 21 percent of workers feel “highly engaged” in their work, to the Hewitt Associates study that shows that employee engagement and morale have declined more in 2010 than in at least the past 15 years - not to mention Corporate Executive Board’s recent finding that a mere 23 percent of employees indicated a high level of “intent to stay” with their current companies this year – employee engagement is basically the ‘HMU’ among talent management experts.

And it’s no wonder, either: It’s not unusual for businesses to see high staff turnover rates following periods of economic depression, so now is the time for employers to focus on ways to retain their top talent.

In my earlier posts from this series, I discussed the first two of workplace management expert Holly Green’s three steps to re-engaging your employees: informing and inspiring. Finally, we’ve gotten to the third part: engaging your employees. Among the benefits of having engaged employees are higher rates of productivity and lower (costly) turnover rates. Plus, they’re way more fun to be around.

Step 3 – Engaging Your Employees

To keep employees engaged, Green shares the following 7 tips to use as a guideline:

1. Answer the question, “Why will we still win?” Once again, consider what winning looks like for your team, and think about how you will achieve that even in the face of adversity or setbacks.
2. Get great at giving feedback.
3. Get great at giving feedback…on a regular basis. Visit with employees throughout the year to check on their progress. Make sure all individual goals remain aligned with company goals.
4. Show and tell. Share stories of how teams are aligned and achieving goals. Highlight team accomplishments and link them to the strategy they support.
5. Write it down and put it up. Create an employee pledge wall or flip chart where people can affirm their commitment by listing one thing they will do differently to support the goals.
6. Get great at getting feedback. To measure employee understanding, commitment, inspiration and engagement, take quick surveys following team or company meetings.
7. Go public. Solicit questions via email or intranet and address them in open forums. Publicly thank employees for raising the issues.

As you go through this list, remember that your actions speak to your employees much louder than your words do. So you can talk about winning all you want, but if your own actions don’t reflect that you don’t care about the goals of the company yourself – your employees will not only notice, but walk away with the message that they shouldn’t have to care, either. “The more your behavior is in alignment with what you are saying,” she says, “the more you will inform, inspire and engage your employees.”

You might call Heidi Grant Halvorson the Patti Stanger of success.  After all, there are a few striking similarities between the author of  SUCCEED: How We Can Reach Our Goals and TV’s “Millionaire Matchmaker.”  Much like how Stanger has made a career out of helping people who are struggling to find love, Halvorson specializes in helping people achieve that other seemingly elusive goal: success.  Even Stanger’s own theory on love (“Everyone wants it, but not everyone finds it.”) could be applied to success.

But that’s where the similarities end.  Where Stanger’s expertise is limited to matters of the heart, Halvorson, a motivational psychologist, applies her years of experience and research to helping people achieving success in virtually every area of their lives.

And while Halvorson may not have her own reality show on Bravo (…yet), she is spreading her expertise to the masses another way: With the release of SUCCEED, in which she outlines practical strategies people can utilize to help themselves achieve success.  Success, Halvorson says, is surprisingly easy to come by. It’s simply a matter of understanding the habits that help us in – and, in some cases, inhibit us from – reaching our goals and creating a plan to keep ourselves accountable.

“People can’t always explain why they are successful”
“People are surprisingly bad at understanding their own behavior,” Halvorson told me in a recent phone interview to discuss the book. This lack of understanding creates a problem with much of the motivational advice that is out there today: People who write these books base their advice on theories or beliefs about what makes them successful that, in reality, aren’t necessarily right. “Even if they are right, they can’t always tell you how to do the same.” Not to mention that what works for one person won’t necessarily work for someone else.

Unlike so many other motivational books, which are based on anecdotes and personal experiences, Halvorson, who holds a doctorate in the field of psychology, based the advice in SUCCEED on years of scientific research on the specific behaviors that contribute to success. She says she wanted to write a book that explained, succinctly and “in plain English,” how years of scientific research prove the behaviors that lead to success. “The scientific approach allows you to have confidence in this advice in a way that we don’t have with other people’s experiences.”

“’Not having the time’ to reach a goal is almost never literally true.”
The reasons people fail to meet their goals, Halvorson says, aren’t always what they think they are. For instance, people tend to blame their inability to reach a goal on some inherent inability, such as too little willpower. Abilities like willpower, however, aren’t fixed things. In fact, they’re much like muscles in the sense that they simply need to be exercised in order to grow and gain strength.

In actuality, one of the main reasons people fail to meet their goals is that they don’t take time to figure out exactly which steps they’re going to take to reach those goals. For instance, simply giving yourself the goal to include your employees in more decision-making is not enough to motivate you to act on that goal. You need to specify things like which decisions you’re going to include them in and what role they will play in those decisions.

“When we leave goals in the abstract, without getting specific about the behaviors – down to the level of ‘this is the thing I’m going to do, specifically’ – we don’t reach the goals. Your brain requires that you take that extra step of really putting it into action.”

The second thing that keeps people from reaching their goals is that they let opportunities to act on those goals slip away. “I hear from people all the time say, ‘I didn’t have time.’ But that’s almost never literally true.” The problem is that it’s far too easy to miss the many opportunities throughout the day to reach those goals.  One of the main focuses of the book is how people can apply scientifically-proven strategies for overcoming these obstacles and find the strategy that works for them.

“There’s almost nothing there isn’t a solution for”
If there’s one thing Halvorson wants readers to take away from her book, it’s that there’s almost no goal a person can set for him- or herself that can’t be reached.  No matter the obstacles, Halvorson says, there are proven strategies – surprisingly simple strategies, at that – that anyone can find and implement to overcome them.  “If there’s a goal you’ve been trying to reach – at work, in your personal life, wherever it is – that’s been giving you trouble, you can do something about it.” If this message sounds too good to be true to some readers, Halvorson says to simply look at the research.

“There’s a science to this…It’s really about finding the information about what’s going to work for you and solve your problem,” Halvorson says, adding, “The overall message of the book is optimistic because the science suggests that you should be optimistic.” 

Heidi Grant Halvorson is a motivational psychologist and the author of SUCCEED: How We Can Reach Our Goals which will be published December 23. Stay tuned for the second part of this interview, in which Halvorson discusses tips for engaging employees and managing a diverse workforce.

You know how every once in a while you do a mental check to estimate how much money you’ve spent in coffee in the last year, and you’re all, “Holy $*^@! Did I really spend that much money? On coffee?”

Well, replace the word “coffee” with the term “bad hires” and that pretty much sums up the results of CareerBuilder’s latest survey, in which 67 percent of employers said that a bad hire has adversely affected their business in the last year.

Here’s what else the survey of more than 2,400 employers nationwide revealed:

• 40 percent of hiring managers said that one bad hire cost their business more than $25,000 in the last year.
• 24 percent said one bad hire cost them more than $50,000.

(As a point of reference, $50,000 can also get you: Toyota’s first hydrogen car, Carrie Bradshaw’s dress or a cloned pet…and $25,000 can get you Nissan’s new electric car, an entry into the Kentucky Derby, or Michael Jackson’s coffin. Just in case you’re wondering what you’re missing out on.)

What was lost – a breakdown
When asked for specifics on how a poor hire affected their business in the last year, employers reported the following:

• Lost time to recruit and train another worker – 39 percent
• Loss of productivity – 38 percent
• Lost money to recruit and train another worker – 37 percent
• Negative effect on employee morale – 30 percent
• Negative effect on client relations – 21 percent
• Fewer sales – 11 percent
• Legal issues – 9 percent

Where did it all go so wrong?
While it might seem that the plethora of talent available today would make making costly hiring decisions a virtual impossibility, employers reported that time constraints, strained resources and a lack of insight into target talent have been obstacles to finding the right people for their open positions. Of employers who made a bad hire…

• 36 percent said their hiring mistakes happened because they needed to fill the job quickly
• 20 percent blamed a lack of understanding of where their target talent is
• 9 percent attribute the mistakes to unsuccessful sourcing techniques

Understanding who target talent is and how they will fit into an organization is increasingly important as hiring costs increase. For 58 percent of employers, the average cost per hire is more than $1,000, up from 29 percent in 2008. Nearly 10 percent of employers estimate this cost at more than $10,000. The rate gets even higher when it comes to hiring for specialize areas where there is a shortage of qualified talent.  For example, 80 percent of IT employers said it costs them in excess of $1,000 to fill an open position, and 67 percent of health care employers said the same.

“Among other things, hiring the wrong talent for a position can have a significant effect on an employer’s bottom line,” says Jamie Womack, vice president of corporate marketing for CareerBuilder. One of the best ways employers can proactively prevent bad hires is to leverage data on job seeker behavior and perceptions, which helps employers target the right talent and find ways to improve their hiring processes.

What steps is your organization taking to improve your hiring and recruitment process?

While you were busy getting lost on the ABC studios lot surprising the ladies of The View, mistakenly using the words ‘fascinating’ and ‘overexposed’ interchangeably, or explaining Solar Death Rays to the most powerful man on the planet …here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• If there’s anything Facebook loves, it’s rolling out new changes (and confusing recruiters) Facebook made yet another high profile change to its platform this week. Find out what these changes mean for social recruiting efforts. (Social Talent)
• ‘Employees behaving badly’ isn’t nearly as fun or sexy as it sounds You can’t exactly afford to fire “superstar” employees who have special talents, technical capabilities, or who rake in top sales…but you shouldn’t have to put up with their bad behavior, either. (The Globe and Mail)
• Even if women professionals wanted to rely on their looks (we don’t)…we can’t anyway A new study suggests that attractive women may be at a disadvantage when it comes to landing a job interview. For men, on the other hand, good looks work to their advantage.  (OreganWomensReport)
• If you can’t beat social media, join it, says CEO While most CEOs are still skittish about using social media, Best Buy’s CEO has found a way to embrace it.  Find out how he uses social media to engage employees and customers alike. (Bloomberg Businessweek)
• (Spoiler alert!) Managers don’t have it so easy Just in case you didn’t already know that management is tough, TLNT.com drives the point home with 10 reasons as to why. (TLNT.com)
• Soon, it’ll be just another Sunday for Wal-Mart employees. Weeks after announcing its plan to offer its workers limited tuition reimbursement, Wal-Mart hits them with news that it will stop paying its staff an additional $1 an hour for working Sundays. (Washington Post) And finally…
• Here’s an idea for what to get the employee who has everything Adding to the many lucrative perks Silicon Valley already offers employees, workplaces in the Bay Area are now providing electric-vehicle charging stations for their employees. (Mercury News)

Note: This post is the second part of a three-part series on re-engaging your employees. Click here to read part one: Want to Re-Engage Your Employees? Do This First…

Even if you haven’t read the recent TowersWatson study showing that a mere 21 percent of employees are engaged in their work, you probably could’ve guessed that your employees aren’t exactly sunshine and lollipops these days. 

No doubt the heavier workload and longer hours workers have had to take on a result of the recession have done their fair share of the damage.  That’s why now is the time for employers to start engaging their workforces again. 

And that means…what, exactly? Well, for Holly Green, a workplace management expert, consultant and author of More Than a Minute: How to Be an Effective Leader and Manager in Today’s Changing World, engagement is a three-part process. You can read about the first step, Keeping Your Employees Informed, here in my previous post on re-engaging your employees.

The second step is a little loftier: Inspiring your employees. Why inspire? “Today’s employees want to believe that their work is making a difference in the world,” Green says.  While showing your employees how their work makes a difference in the world might seem like a daunting task, Green was kind enough to share with me some of her tips that managers can use as a guide for inspiring their employees:

Step 2: Inspiring Your Employees  

1. Share a compelling vision of what tomorrow looks like. Communicate how that vision will make the world a better place and improve your employees’ lives.
2. Explain what’s in it for them. Why should your employees aspire to achieve the goals of the organization? How do their goals align with those of the organization?
3. Share your own story. Talk about why you believe the destination is compelling, and what it is it about where the company is going that inspires you. After all, why would your employees care about the mission of the company if their own manager doesn’t?
4. Communicate with enthusiasm and passion. Again, if you don’t appear to care, your employees won’t care, either.  That enthusiasm and passion will help carry you through even when faced with barriers or obstacles.
5. Solicit employee input. Ask your employees what the vision means to them. Let them provide their own take on the vision – and how they see themselves contributing to it – and then share their responses via multiple channels.
6. Share positive customer feedback. This ‘customer’ can be internal or external.  These testimonials will prove to your employees that their work is affecting real people. Give them reasons to feel good about what the company does.
7. Celebrate achievement of milestones. Keep your employees motivated by recognizing their progress and success along the way to your goals.

The ultimate goal here is communication: Start the conversation about what the mission and goals mean to your employees individually. The more they focus on these areas, the more likely you are to get buy-in and alignment. Then check back here for the final part of this three-part series on engaging your employees.

Well, maybe not a lot like recovery, but it’s at least starting to bear a small resemblance…

CareerBuilder’s latest survey on workplace holiday parties and perks reveals that more employers are offering holiday perks this year than last year. The increase could be further evidence of an economy on the mend.  In a survey of more than 3,600 workers and 2,600 employers nationwide, CareerBuilder found that more employers plan to offer holiday bonuses, throw holiday parties and gift employees gifts this year, compared to 2009.

Aside from simply being in the financial position to do so, employers are also hoping that keeping – or re-introducing – holiday perks will keep their employees happy and productive at a typically stressful time of year. According to Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources for CareerBuilder, “Many employers are financially in a better place this season and recognize the positive impact holiday perks can have on office morale.” 

In addition to giving back to their employees, 45 percent of companies also say their charitable donations will be the same or more than previous years.

So how much of an increase will there be exactly? The gains are modest, to be sure, but they’re gains nonetheless. Here’s the breakdown:

• Holiday bonuses are up by 3 percent: 33 percent of employers plan to give their employees holiday bonuses this year, up from 29 percent in 2009.  Among that group, 59 percent are planning to give the same amount as in previous years.  Nine percent of employers say they will not be issuing holiday bonuses even though they have in previous years, down from 12 percent last year.
• Over half of employers are planning holiday parties: 52 percent of employers are planning a holiday party for their employees this year, up from 49 percent in 2009.  Of that group, 70 percent plan to throw the same party as in previous years.  Eight percent (down from 11 percent last year) of employers don’t plan to have a holiday party in 2010 even though they have in previous years.
• Nearly 3 in 10 employers are giving gifts this year: 29 percent of employers plan to give holiday gifts in 2010, compared to 26 percent in 2009.  Only 6 percent of employers who’ve given gifts in years past will not give gifts this holiday season.  

Keeping Spirits High When Budgets are Low
Since budgets are likely still tight this holiday season, here are a few ideas for workplace holiday celebration ideas:

• Don’t underestimate the power of the potluck: Office potlucks are a great and budget-friendly way to have a low-key celebration in the office with your employees.
• Host an ugly sweater day at the office. You’d be amazed what collectively looking like rejects from Good Housekeeping magazine can do to bring people closer.  Choose a day for everyone to wear and enjoy their favorite gaudy, holiday-themed sweaters and sweatshirts. Give a prize for the most outrageous sweater, and of course, be sure to provide plenty of refreshments for all.
• Pay it forward: Taking a day to volunteer with your team or company at a local charity not only enables you to socialize outside of the office, but it gets everyone in the holiday spirit by making the holiday a bit nicer for someone else.
• Say thanks: Recognition is a welcome gift any day of the year, but if any time of the year calls for saying thanks, it’s the season of giving. Even seemingly small gestures – like a card with your sincere words of thanks, free breakfast one morning or an unexpected afternoon off – can go a long way. Or check out more ideas for giving your employees thanks here.
• Let them choose: Of course, you can never go wrong with this option. Let your employees know that even though budgets are tight, you still want you want to celebrate with them and show them your gratitude for their work and dedication. Give them a few options from which to choose and encourage them to lend their own ideas for creative and fun holiday celebrations.

What office holiday perks are you implementing – or bringing back - this holiday season?

While you were busy proving that you can go home again despite no one being happy to see you, accomplishing something that might be impressive were it not so despicable, or estimating your net worth at $4 billion (must be nice)…here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Yes, your employees were probably shopping during work hours this past Monday, and no, probably not for stuff for you.
• Then again…not taking a non-related work break could be a sign that your employees are workaholics.
• Employers, your resistance to Facebook is futile. May as well just accept it now (if not that invitation to Mafia Wars).
• There are 50 ways to leave your lover and at least 12 ways to create a great corporate culture.
• Just in time for holiday sales, employers are snagging former executives at a fraction of their previous salaries.
• I hope no one had grown too attached to the seven million jobs that didn’t come back.
• Recent college grads have as hard a time finding work as older workers…only much earlier in life.  
• Don’t hiring managers have enough applications to go through without having to review an 11-page presentation, too? And finally…
• This is…just…wrong.

Anyone else feel like they were just handed a Jelly of the Month membership – a la Clark Griswold in Christmas Vacation – right about now?

I suppose we expected too much, what with last month’s BLS Employment Situation Report revealing better-than-anticipated job growth in October and setting our hopes high for a similar outcome in November. But apparently, triple-digit job growth two months in a row is too much to ask.

I’ll just say it: the findings from November’s employment situation report suck. Maybe not November 2008 suck (remember those numbers? Those numbers sucked…), but the economy definitely lost momentum in the past month. By a lot.

After adding a whopping 172,000 jobs in October, the economy only added a fraction of that number in November: 39,000 new jobs, to be exact.  Not only did this figure fall short of the 150,000 added jobs economists predicted, but it also fell short of the 120,000 jobs needed to keep the unemployment rate steady, which explains why it rose to 9.8 percent (up from 9.6 percent in October). 

Some more findings from the report: 

• Private employers added 50,000 jobs, the smallest gain since January.
• 15.1 million people were out of work in November.
• The number of underemployed (people working part-time who would prefer full-time jobs and those who have given up looking for work) was 17 percent.
• Job losses included retailers with 28,100 job cuts; factories with 13,000; financial firms with 9,000; and construction companies with 5,000. The public sector eliminated 11,000 positions, mostly reflecting cuts from local governments.

A Few Bright Spots
While this month’s report likely necessitates a new word for “disappointing,” there were some bright spots: health care industry added 19,000 jobs last month, and the mining sector added 6,000 jobs. Temporary jobs continue to show strong growth, with 40,000 added jobs in November and an overall increase since September of last year.

It’s also worth noting that the unemployment rate is a lagging indicator, and that job growth typically slows in November anyway. What’s more, consider the remarks from financial research firm Baird, in a statement released today: “The weight of evidence from the ADP report, initial jobless claims, both ISM reports, and the Beige Book (not to mention multiple contacts with recruiters) continues to point to an improvement in the macro economy and in employment,” and, “We think this report will be revised.” 

So that’s something…right? *Sigh* Oh, Cousin Eddie, if only your heart “that’s bigger than its brain” could help us through this one.

Till next month, readers…

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 percentin 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?

7 Key Questions to Ask Yourself
As you go through the process of informing your employees, keep yourself on track by asking yourself the following questions:

1. Have I provided clarity recently on these six areas?
2. What have I learned in the past 30 days that others on my team may not know?
3. Has something changed?
4. Did I use multiple channels and speak to multiple preferences?
5. Did I keep things positive while discussing the future?
6. What can I do to create ongoing management routines to keep team members informed?
7.  Who can help hold me accountable to do this?

Finally, take a moment to outline the actions you will take to ensure you keep your employees informed on each of these points. Once you’ve clarified your employees’ mission and goals – and how they play into the larger picture, then you’re ready to inspire them.  Check back in to The Hiring Site for part II of this series: how to inspire your employees.

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?)

Care to venture a guess – or share a similar story of your own? Comment below!

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… 

• Top talent doesn’t come cheap…anymore, at least.
• If you’ve been ignoring unemployed job seekers, don’t think they haven’t noticed.
• Unless that top talent also happens to be nearing retirement age, that is…
• You can’t put a price on employee engagement. Unless you’re Microsoft, where said price is up to $10,000.
• Keith Richards is giving out management advice. Yes, that Keith Richards.
• Some companies giveth their employees extra healthcare incentives…
• While some companies taketh away (rather illegally, at that).
• Along with Turducken and fruit cakes, get ready to see a lot more work perks in the coming months. And finally…
• I wonder if these new robot workers are anywhere near as scary as this robot actress.

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. 
4. Job seekers want love more than they want money. Want good employees? You better have a good offer on the table – and that doesn’t just mean salary.  An astounding 83 percent of job seekers would rather have a job they love than a job that pays well, according to the survey. When asked what would make a job a job they “love,” 37 percent of job seekers said the work itself.  The people came in as the second most popular workplace motivator, with pay coming in third. The lesson? Sell the job, sell the opportunity, and sell your culture first. Then talk pay.
5. Green looks good on you. Over half of job seekers (52 percent) stated that they prefer to work for green companies. And if ‘green company’ gives you visions of solar-powered computers and cubicles fashioned out of moss, it’s actually much simpler than you think: Recycling is the most popular eco-friendly initiatives employees look for in potential employers. Reducing energy use and using less paper tied for the second spot, followed by purchasing green products and carpooling/rideshare options.
6. Choosy moms choose flextime: Of the working mothers who participated in the survey, 43 percent named flextime schedules as the most important working mother program, making it the most desired benefit for working mothers. Child care services and telecommuting tied as the second most preferred benefit, followed by parental leave (for things like child sick days), compressed workweeks and job-sharing.
7. Opportunity knocks out the competition for new grads: For 40 percent of new graduates, the most important thing to them in their first job is opportunities to learn and develop their career. Salary and benefits is most important for 25 percent of new grads, and work/life balance is tops for 17 percent.  Rounding out the top seven ‘must-haves’ were finding a great mentor, testing possible career paths, challenging work, and growing a professional network.
8. Older workers are in the last place you’d expect to find them: If you’re targeting older workers, one place to advertise your jobs might be on Facebook. The number of workers 55 and older on Facebook has increased 922 percent since 2009, according to iStrategyLabs.
9. Healthcare is a must-have.  Forty-six percent of job seekers say they won’t compromise when it comes to healthcare/insurance. Salary was the second most popular non-negotiable, followed by commute/transportation, 401(k)/retirement options, vacation time and stock options.
10. Most job seekers will go where the jobs are, maybe. While 22 percent of job seekers are willing to relocate for a job, nearly the same amount (19 percent) would refuse the job.  The rest, however, say it depends on one of three factors: the offer (for 37 percent of job seekers), the location (18 percent) or the company (4 percent).

Do any of these findings surprise you? What fascinates of confuses you most about job seekers today?

For more information, download the complete report here.

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…

• Wall Street is all, “Now THIS is how you celebrate Veterans Day.”
• Law firms want more than just a pretty report card when it comes to new hires.
• It turns out, there is such a thing as office envy.
• Walmart joins the list of companies offering employees tuition reimbursement.
• This isn’t your grandaddy’s workplace…even though he works there, too.
• Employees are complaining about their employers on Facebook…and there might not be anything companies can do about it.
• Take it easy, managers – your employees aren’t out for your job.
• Perhaps this is one of the reasons employers avoid giving feedback.
• Google’s controversial pay raise costs one employee his paycheck.
• No kidding. Really?  And finally…
• Preparing for that dreaded performance review? Check out the top 10 performance review euphemisms.

While 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.

“That message of appreciating people is a really powerful one, and it’s really good business,” he says. He has found that having people who work hard and dedicate themselves to their work and producing a quality product is a direct result of that message. 

Holzman just may be on to something, because he’s clearly doing something right: Undercover Boss became the most-watched premiere of a reality series in history when it premiered to an audience of 40 million viewers last February – a number that surprised even the producers.

“We loved the show and we were incredibly proud of it, but we didn’t dare to dream it would reach such a wide audience,” Holzman says.

Tapping Into Americans’ Desires for Recognition
So what accounts for the show’s popularity? Holzman believes the show gets such a large audience because so many people can relate to it. “I think every one of us has thought at one point, ‘Gosh, if they only knew what they’re asking of me, they’d appreciate me much better.’ I think we all have that longing. And we tapped into that.”

He recounts one visit to a White Castle frozen food packaging plant, when the CEO was giving him a tour of the facility prior to taping.  In the middle of the tour, the CEO stopped to introduce Holzman to a woman working on the line, pointing out that she had a perfect attendance record going back nine years.  Recalling the look of joy on the woman’s face upon being recognized for the distinction, Holzman says, “I think that’s what’s at the heart of Undercover Boss: We crave esteem, and we crave recognition for our hard work…and when someone appreciates us, it means the world to us.” So when audiences see it happening on television, he says, “it touches a nerve.”

Hitting Close to Home
But it’s not only his audience with whom these stories resonate: Simply working on the show has pushed Holzman to try to be a better boss himself.  “People tell me ‘you made me cry again. Well, we cry when we make the show,’” he says of witnessing the emotional impact this experience has on both bosses and the people who serve them.

He admits that, early in his career, he gave little thought to developing his skills as a manager, something he now realizes is as important to the success of his business as anything else.

“One of the things that is really challenging for bosses of big companies, they have so much going on that they can’t immerse themselves in the details… however, as important as [things like the bottom line and key growth areas] may be, they don’t trump the vital aspect of the quality of your workforce,” Holzman says, recalling how Harvey Firestone used to say, “We’re not in the tire business, we’re in the people business.”

“It’s an old adage,” he admits. “But it’s true.”

Listening to Holzman talk, it’s clear that with both the book and television show, he is setting out to provide more than just entertainment value. “I like to think that we [the people behind the show] help our world to the extent that we can make a show that helps people understand each other a little bit better, that helps people appreciate each other a little more,” he says. 

And while he admits that trying to make the world a better place is “a very lofty goal,” he also believes – after witnessing it firsthand – that it’s not an impossible one.  And with a new medium by which to spread that message, the co-author of Undercover Boss is that much closer to reaching this goal.

Eli Holzman is president and cofounder of Studio Lambert USA, where he launched and executive produced Undercover Boss. The second season of Undercover Boss airs Sunday nights on CBS at 9/8 CST.  Undercover Boss: Inside the TV Phenomenon That is Changing Bosses and Employees Everywhere is available for $24.95 by Jossey-Bass.

Make 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
So since we’ve raised the subject, here are a few tips on handling employee pay raises (or lack thereof)

DO: Make sure you know of the going compensation rates right now. Check out industry Web sites for your occupational and geographic areas and others that specialize in salary information, such as www.CBSalary.com, or the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. You’ll be able to make informed decisions when it comes to salary negotiations – and ensure that neither you or your employees get the raw end of the deal.

DON’T: Give your employees false hope. If, despite crunching the numbers every which way, a pay raise is simply not in the budget, be honest with your employees, and try to give them an ETA for when they might be able to expect to see their compensation levels go up.

DO: Find other ways to compensate employees. Take a cue from survey participants and find opportunities to round out employees’ paychecks by offering some alternative perks. Among the most popular perks employers are offering right now: 

• More flexible work hours (42 percent)
• Bonuses (29 percent)
• Training (23 percent)
• Vacation time (21 percent)
• More casual dress codes (17 percent)
• Academic reimbursement (14 percent)
• Title change (14 percent)

DON’T: Assume you know what your employees want. Take inventory of your employees’ wants when it comes to certain benefits. Not only will you be sure that the benefits you offer don’t go to waste, but your employees will appreciate that you took their preferences into consideration.

DO: Ditch the “employees will take what they can get” mindset.  Because they won’t. Job seekers are being more and more particular when it comes to accepting job offer, according to a recent survey from Personified, CareerBuilder’s talent consulting arm. Of the 17 percent of unemployed workers who received a job offer since becoming unemployed, 92 percent rejected the offer, with over half (54 percent) saying they did so because the offer was too low.

Spoiler alert (or not?): HR officially hates performance reviews. Okay, maybe that’s a little harsh, but HR professionals sure don’t think very highly of them these days.

At least that was the indication from the results of a recent survey from Sibson Consulting, Inc. and WorldatWork.  Of the 750 human resource professionals who participated in the 2010 Study on the State of Performance Management, 58 percent of human resources professionals graded their organization’s performance-management system at a “C” or below.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement the system, eh?

Not exactly surprising, either, though, considering how performance reviews have long been a topic of contention among management experts. And with the release of this survey, we get a little more in-depth look as to why. Other major findings included the following:

• Only 43 percent of respondents view their organization’s performance-management system as effective.
• When asked to name the biggest challenges to performance management, 66 percent of respondents said that managers lack of courage to have difficult performance discussions, 47 percent said the perception that performance management is an “HR process” rather than a business-critical process, and 36 percent identified poor goal setting.
• Over a third (35 percent) of organizations have no targeted method for differentiating individual performance ratings.
• Only 30 percent of respondents believe their employees trust the performance-management system.

Looking at these findings, it’s no wonder HR is so frustrated with performance-management:  For one thing, organizations probably aren’t even taking the time to assess the effectiveness of their performance-management systems (and after all, any attempt to measure success would be virtually impossible if no one is effectively setting any goals). I’m also guessing that a lot of frustration HR professionals are feeling stems from not only the belief that performance management is solely HR’s responsibility, but perhaps an underlying attitude among organizations that  “this is the way it’s always been done, so why change it?” Does that sound like a possibility?

If not, what would you say is the biggest thing that frustrates you about the performance-management system at your organization? If you could, how would you change the performance-management system?

While you were busy taking the inaugural ride on the official Farewell Season jet, starting a petition to make Spoonachos happen (can we, please?), or not being quite ready yet to call it water under the bridge, here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Your employees might be more productive if they would just simmer down now.  
• If you didn’t make Forbes’ list of the most powerful leaders, take heart: there’s always next year.
• Awkward! Bosses aren’t quite the amazing managers they think they are.
• (…but if you’re like President George W. Bush, Kanya West will be there to set you straight.)
• Employees at one McDonald’s franchise got a little something extra in their most recent paychecks.
• Speaking of being a better manager, looks like Uncle Sam needs some help in that department, too.
• Water cooler chats aren’t just good for employee hydration needs.
• Perhaps tired of hearing the old “A Cow Broke Into My House” excuse, many employers are changing their sick leave policies. And finally…
• Encouraging your workers to do yoga could be a good (wait for it…) ommmmen for your company

And yes, I meant to write “better.”

It seems there’s always some sort of surprise contained in the BLS’ monthly employment report.  Today, however, the surprise is actually kind of a pleasant one.  According to the latest Employment Situation Report, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 151,000 in October – far surpassing economists’ expectations of 60,000 added jobs.

Overall, economists agree that this growth is a positive sign toward economic recovery, but (and isn’t there always a “but”?)…well, I’ll get to that in a bit.  First, check out the major findings below first:

• Nonfarm payroll increased by 151,000 – surpassing economists’ expectations of 60,000. (Since December 2009, nonfarm payroll has risen by 874,000 and private sector employment has risen by 1.1 million.)
• For the third month in a row, the unemployment rate remained steady at 9.6 percent (which isn’t completely discouraging if you look at it in the at-least-it-didn’t-increase-and-it’s-only-a-lagging-indicator-anyway sense).
• The Labor Department revised reports for August and September to reflect that 110,000 fewer jobs were lost during these months than initially thought.
• In yet another sign that the jobs picture is improving, employers extended the average workweek by one-tenth of an hour to 34.3 hours. (An expanding workweek is typically an indication of more permanent hiring to come.)

So where does all of this leave us?

…but of course, it can’t all be good news… While it’s great that so many jobs were added last month, economists say it’s still not nearly enough; In order to bring the unemployment rate down, the U.S. needs to add 200,000 or more jobs each month over the next several months to bring the unemployment rate down, they project.  And while the economy’s 2 percent growth in the third quarter was an improvement over the second quarter’s 1.7 percent growth, economists estimate that it will take as much as a 5 percent growth rate for an entire year in order to bring down the employment rate by a percentage point.

So there’s that little bit of rain for this short-lived parade, but…

I would like to just point out that, while we still have a lo-ong way to go, let’s not forget that progress – even if annoyingly slow – is still progress. Jobs are opening up and employers are finding themselves in the position to hire again: one needs to look no further than the increased job listings on CareerBuilder.com for evidence of this growth. In an ABC News story about the current state of the economy this morning (just prior to today’s BLS release), CareerBuilder’s CEO discussed the progress of job creation. Check out the video below:

While you were busy winning America’s hearts, if not Project Runway, feeling relieved to know it’s not just you, taking all of the fun out of Halloween, here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Sure, they can run entire companies, but most CEOs still can’t tell their Farmvilles from their Mafia Wars
• Speaking of…employees in Germany are unfairly being forced to play Farmville on their own time.
• Drug testing involves some tricky questions for employers. (Yes, that was a pun. But also true.)
• Research suggests the reason some companies thrive is a cultural thing.
• McDonald’s employee sues the company for what could be called a $17.5K wellness benefit of sorts…
• Companies and employees pretty much agree: technology rules.
• Steven Slater thinks that perhaps telling Jetblue to shove it wasn’t the ideal way to quit his job now that he thinks about it. And finally…
• Timing is everything.

Feeling unmotivated? Uninspired? Disengaged? You’re not alone. “There’s a lot of valid reason we’re feeling burned out,” says Holly Green, workplace management expert and best-selling author of the book More Than a Minute: How to Be an Effective Leader and Manager in Today’s Changing World.

“It’s because we are,” she says.

I recently spoke with Green about the amount of stress managers are under today to re-engage their employees in an increasingly stressful work environment. If employees think they’re the only ones who need a break these days, Green says, they should think again.   “Managers are feeling the same way. And when you’re burned out, it’s that much harder to think about engaging someone else.”

So rather than add one more thing to the already-overstretched manager’s to do list, perhaps it would be easier to simply know what NOT to do…Green was kind enough to offer the following advice on how NOT to manage your employees.

Top 10 Things Managers Should NOT Do To Engage Employees:

1. Don’t Practice the Halo Effect. This is when a manager assumes that, because someone has one good quality, the person is great at everything, preventing managers from seeing the opportunities for improvement; similarly, managers should also avoid the opposite of the halo effect – the devil effect.
2. Don’t Humiliate or Demean Employees (especially not in front of others).
3. Don’t Withhold Feedback because you assume your employees already know where they need to improve or will “figure it out” on their own. “If you’re going to be a good manager, it is essential that you get good at giving feedback,” Green says. That means both constructive and negative feedback.
4. Don’t Underestimate the Power of Ongoing One-on-One Conversations to build trusting, more productive relationships with your employees.
5. Don’t Assume Your Team Knows What Winning Looks Like. “A manager’s most important role is to clarify what winning or excellence looks like, and then help people achieve it for themselves and the organization – you can’t over communicate in this regard.”
6. Don’t Assume People Understand Your Reasoning behind decisions. By the same token, don’t blame any decisions on “upper management,” “the HR department” or anyone else. Employees see right through that.
7. Don’t Forget That Praise is About Them, Not You. When recognizing employees, pause and consider what the individuals would want to receive and how they would want to receive it.  “For some people, presenting to the senior executive team could be a big perk and considered a reward for a job well done; for others, this could be the worst possible and most stressful of all scenarios,” Green says. Likewise, don’t give lavish public praise to someone who is very private, a Starbucks card to someone who doesn’t drink coffee or tea, or buy a cake for someone with dietary restrictions.
8. Don’t Speak Negatively About Other Team Members, their peers or senior management and leaders.
9. Don’t Give ‘Sandwich’ Feedback. While many managers were taught to give sandwich feedback (saying something good, sneaking in something negative and then quickly saying something good again), this method only “leaves the receiver wondering what the heck was the point,” Green says.
10. Don’t Ever Stop Recruiting. “Folks need to be re-recruited and re-energized – especially after the past few years.”

Anything you would you add to this list? What “habits” have you broken (or would like to see others break)? DO share in the comments below!

What specific traits do you look for in seasonal workers?

For 31 percent of employers who are hiring seasonal workers this year, great customer service skills top the list of most wanted skills in a seasonal worker they’d be interested in hiring full-time. 

For its most recent survey, CareerBuilder asked more than 2,400 hiring managers about their seasonal hiring plans this year. According to the survey of over 2,400 employers nationwise, of those employers who are hiring seasonal workers in the fourth quarter of this year, 40 percent are likely to hire them as full-time, permanent basis.

Industry and Compensation Breakdown
Unsurprisingly, the top five industries where seasonal workers will be most in demand this season are retail; customer service; administrative/clerical support; shipping and delivery; and hospitality.  As for pay plans, while some hiring managers (13 percent) reported plans to increase pay for seasonal workers compared to the same period last year, 14 percent are planning a decrease.  

• 48 percent of hiring managers plan to pay seasonal workers $10 or more per hour
• 9 percent plan to pay $16 or more per hour
• 32 percent plan to pay between $8 and $9 per hour
• 19 percent plan to pay between $6 and $7 per hour

Planning to hire seasonal workers? Check out these tips from an earlier post on hiring seasonal workers. (Or read the full post: ‘Tis the Season: 7 Tips for Hiring Seasonal Workers)

1. Start recruiting for seasonal positions now to get first dibs on top seasonal talent.
2. Implement screening questions in your application process to weed out some of the unqualified applicants and cut through some of the resume clutter.  
3. Make personality a priority when interviewing. You need employees who can stay calm in stressful situations (like dealing with frantic holiday shoppers and tight deadlines).
4. Recruit from college campuses. College students – with their flexible schedules and high energy – make ideal candidates for seasonal positions. 
5. But don’t discount retirees, either. Like college students, retirees have flexible schedules, but they also have years of valuable work and life experience that they can apply to several different positions.
6. Remember to check references. You may be short on time, but it’s in the best interest of your company to ensure that your candidates have references who can attest to their performance, professionalism and character.
7. Hire for the short term, with the long term in mind. As long as these employees are working for you, they’re representing your company, so treat them just as you would full-time employees.

While you were busy barely even trying to hold it in, wasting absolutely no time at all, or thinking to yourself, “If we can get 33 trapped miners out of a cave, surely we can find a way to distribute movie popcorn butter more efficiently!”…here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Oprah tops the list of most wanted celebrity bosses. (There’s a shocker.)
• I have a feeling I know where Mario Batali would fall on that list desirable celebrity bosses
• There’s a good chance your employees don’t think as highly of you as you’d like them to.
• The demand for digital business cards is, ahem, virtually non-existent.
• Is Wall Street writing paychecks their shareholders can’t cash?
•  20 perks your employees are bitter that they are not getting want.
• It’s true: Social media and professionalism can coexist. And finally…
• Eliminating full-time staff sets some employers free.

Does that headline sound like it was ripped straight from The Onion to anyone else?

Sadly (or perhaps somewhat comforting to know, if you’re among this group), it’s no joke: Findings from CareerBuilder’s most recent survey suggest that 36 percent of workers with college degrees said they wish they had chosen a different major in college. 

The survey of over 2,000 workers with college degrees nationwide also found that:

• 26 percent of workers said the market for jobs in their chosen field worsened from the time they entered college to when they graduated. 
• 19 percent of all workers with a college degree still have not found a job in their desired field.
• 27 percent of workers who graduated from college at least 10 years ago still haven’t found a job related to their college major.
• 21 percent spent at least three years finding an opportunity in their desired career path, and 12 percent spent at least 5. 

Not that these findings should come as a surprise to anyone who’s read anything about the job market in the past few years…but what do they mean for employers?

Well, one thing these findings indicate is that future candidates may soon display more diverse skill sets, as workers start to take the initiative to round out their skills: According to the survey, 13 percent of workers plan to go back to school to make themselves more marketable.

Also, it highlights the need to consider workers’ transferable skills. As employers struggle to fill open positions, they may need to be more open to candidates they might not usually consider. Not to say that you maybereallyshouldafterall consider that history major for the engineering job…but certainly there are a lot of majors that cater to many different jobs.  Not to mention that, based on a recent poll of The Hiring Site readers, it seems that many of you feel that soft skills like good communication skills and a solid work ethic trump all other job candidate must-haves.

What do you think? Do you find that you’re seeing more candidates whose degrees are in an area other than the ones you traditionally require for certain positions? As you struggle to fill your open positions, are you more open to considering these candidates?

While you were busy getting the makeover no one really thought you needed in the first place, forgetting to press “end call,” or downloading CareerBuilder’s latest hiring forecast (what’s that? It’s free? Okay!)…here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Johnny Depp did not write history’s greatest cover. He just played the guy who did on film.
• A new healthcare waiver helps employers get off easy. Their employees? Mmm…not so much.
• Obama addresses “women’s issues,” Warren Buffet at the Most Powerful Women conference.  
• Some of these “workplace don’ts” are funny, and some are true, but all are funny because they’re true.
• Remember when United Airlines announced its merged with Continental? Neither did we. But anyway, the CEO is very excited about it.
• Doesn’t Rick Sanchez know that the cool way to be fired is to make controversial public statements on Facebook – not national TV (hello!)?  
• Older workers are watching their 401(k) accounts shrink right alongside their bones. And finally…
• This survey about restaurant employees working while sick may have you eating TV dinners for a while.  

Get your favorite seasonally appropriate pumpkin-flavored coffee beverage in hand: The latest Unemployment Situation Report is here. Just make sure that drink is caffeinated, because today’s BLS report is pretty – as Credit Suisse economists called it – “blasé.”

For the most part, figures were relatively unchanged from August to September, which certainly bodes well in the “no news is good news” sense that we’re still on the road to recovery…at the same time, however, we’re still on the road to recovery.

Even as top economists speculate that a double-dip recession is unlikely (silver lining!), it is painfully evident that recovery is going to take a long time… An AP story today cited Deutsche Bank economists pointing out that since the recession ended in June 2009, the economy has only grown 3 percent – far less than the average 6.5 percent pace in postwar recoveries. Here’s a recap of the report:

What stayed (nearly) the same:

•  Unemployment was essentially unchanged, with the number of unemployed persons at 14.8 million and a steady unemployment rate of 9.6 percent.
• The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over), at 6.1 million, was little changed over the month but was down by 640,000 since a series high of 6.8 million in May.
• The average workweek for all employees was unchanged at 34.2 hours.
• Average hourly earnings for both employees on private nonfarm payrolls and private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by a whopping 1 cent (to $22.67 and $19.10, respectively).
• Employment in manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information, and financial activities showed little change in September.

What changed for the better…

• Private-sector payroll employment continued to trend up over the month, adding 64,000 jobs.
• Health care employment rose by 24,000; professional and business services added 28,000 jobs; and leisure and hospitality jobs increased by 34,000.
• Mining employment added 6,000 over the month.

… and for the worse:

• The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (those working part time because their hours were cut back or they were unable to find full-time work) rose by 612,000 over the month to 9.5 million.
• Total nonfarm payroll employment edged down by 95,000, government employment fell by 159,000, and employment in construction fell by 21,000.

For more highlights from the forecast, watch this clip of CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson on Squawk Box , as he discusses the hiring outlook for the next half of the year:

While you were busy announcing your 2012 presidential bid (good luck with that, btw), finding someplace to put that extra $100 million you had lying around, or believing again that true love really does exist…here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• McDonald’s hourly employees should probably start cutting down on eating their employer’s food.
• “Forced fun” in the workplace is exactly as delightful as it sounds.
• Spoiler alert! Business execs reveal the one question they ask on every job interview
• Sure, your employees are talking on social networks, but are they saying anything?
• Shocking: Working Americans don’t get enough sleep.
• Possibly even more shocking: Women managers are still few and far between.
• Fun fact: In addition to forest fires, you also have the power to prevent workplace stress.
• The Senate really, really wants you to reconsider outsourcing jobs.
• Turns out those Chrysler employees who wanted to be able to drink during daytime hours actually got their wish. And finally…
• Internal promotions = everyone wins!

While you were attempting to give Katie Couric a run for her money, admitting what everyone had pretty much already assumed,  being deemed “too hot for public access TV,” or having the most productive two days of work you’ve had in years…here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Does the latest ad trend mean that casting calls will replace employee interviews?
• The recession ended in June 2009? Funny how we missed that somehow.
• “Hey boss, take my wife (to dinner), please!”
• Maybe if Sen. Harry Reid is real nice to them, the Jets will spring for his workplace sensitivity training, too.
• The other kind of ”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
• If you, as an American worker, feel tired and overworked, workers in Luxembourg must be exhausted! And finally…
• When your employees booze, you lose…especially when your employees booze in front of TV news cameras.

“We need to look around our environment and say, ‘Is our environment encouraging the best talent possible? Are we choosing the right generational mix of people?’” Meagan Johnson says about the responsibilities managers have today.

Johnson and her father, Larry, are multigenerational workforce experts who recently spoke with me about their new book, Generations, Inc.: From Boomers to Linksters–Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work, and the challenge of managing multigenerational workforces.  One of the unique challenges managers face today, they told me, is learning to work with and manage a new generation of workers they refer to as “Linksters.”

Who are Linksters? A Cheat Sheet

• Also known as “The Facebook Generation,” this group of 15- to 19-year-olds live and breathe technology
• They still live at home and, unlike previous generations, are typically best friends with their parents
• They are more tolerant of alternative lifestyles than their predecessors
• They’re very much involved in green causes and social activism

Despite all they have to offer, however, Linksters are still very young and inexperienced, and managing them requires understanding the environment in which they grew up as well as the unique way in which they communicate. During our interview, the Johnsons shared 10 tips for managing this generation.

10 Tips for Managing Linksters

1. Ride herd on them. They have short attention spans and lose interest if the work is boring. If there’s a way to incentivize task accomplishment, do it.
2. Provide them with job descriptions. Linksters need clear direction about what you expect. This includes basics, such as when you expect them to arrive, number of hours, and duties of the job. They are used to being told what to do, in detail and explicitly.
3. Treat them like valued coworkers. Linksters are used to a steady diet of connection and communication from family friends. If you have a company party, be sure to invite them. Same with meetings, where appropriate.
4. Lead by example. Linksters are still trying to figure out how to act and behave. They will look to older coworkers and managers to shape their workplace identity and demeanor.
5. Orient them to the obvious. Be specific about expectations that may seem obvious. For example, teenagers are used to having their parents cover for them. Make sure they know the consequences of showing up late, taking lunch breaks that are too long, or texting on the job.
6. Welcome them with open arms. Let your people know them Linksters are joining your team and ask everyone to welcome them. Pair Linksters with buddies — good role models with good work ethics. Call Linksters the night before their first day. Remind them of dress code, arrival time, items to bring, traffic, snacks and water, where to park, whom to contact once they arrive, and quitting time.
7. Know what songs are on their iPods. Young people have a language that’s distinctly their own. Make an effort to get to know their culture.
8. Create microcareer paths. If you have a young person manning the cash register, give her other tasks that help her understand different aspects of the business from time to time. This keeps her challenged, engaged, and feeling valued — and sets her up for more responsibility.
9. Reexamine your uniform policy. Part of being young is having a heightened interest in how you look. Are you asking your Linksters to wear embarrassing uniforms? Are they comfortable? Are they outdated? Try to remember what being a teen felt like.
10. Thank their parents. Linksters are young and may still live at home with parents. Invite their parents for a visit, call and express appreciation for raising a great kid, and thank them for helping to get your young employee to work on time, well rested and prepared.

Meagan and Larry Johnson are the founders of the Johnson Training Group, which help companies manage multigenerational workplaces.

I know what you’re thinking: “Linkster? I hardly even know her! What’s a Linkster?” Linksters, also known as The Facebook Generation, are members of the population who were born after 1995, according to Larry and Meagan Johnson, authors of the new book Generations, Inc.: From Boomers to Linksters–Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work. I recently spoke over the phone with the father-daughter workplace expert team and founders of the Johnson Training Group, to discuss how companies can help manage multi-generational workforces.

What gave you the idea to write this book?

Meagan: Back when I graduated from Arizona State in ’93, I got a job with Quaker Oats, and I absolutely hated it. I hated the way boss managed me, I hated what I considered stupid rules, and I thought the reward system and bonus system was archaic. I was complaining to my parents about it when my dad said, “Hey, you should be grateful. When I was your age, I would’ve removed my left arm to have this great job, and a company car and make more money than my peers.” I think that was what planted the original seed of the book.  I started speaking about generational differences in the workplace, and, finally, the idea of the book came into fruition: Our own experiences with the generational gap and our own perceptions about what the worklife world should look like.

You talk specifically about this generation you call “Linksters,” which refer to teenagers still living at home, working part-time.  Where did the term Linksters come from?

Larry: Meaghan and I were looking at the new generation coming up into the workforce, and the most obvious thing about them, is that they’re digital natives, as opposed to digital immigrants. Most of us who are older have learned to be digital. For instance, I have a Facebook page, but I’m struggling with it. These kids, they were born into it. They think as much about it as I think about using a toaster. They seem to all be “linked up,” so Meaghan and I came up with the term “Linksters.” It seems to fit.

Meagan: Linksters, when they came on board – when they came back from the hospital – Facebook was already set up. Landlines were already obsolete. They are coming on board where technology is already a part of everyday life.

Is this a detriment to them, too, though? Does it hurt them to not know a world without high speed technology?

Larry: It has its pros and its cons. If you spend all of your time texting, you don’t get as much practice in personal interaction and face-to-face communication, so… it’s a scary thought to see them dealing with customers, because they have a tough time carrying a conversation and maintaining eye contact because they don’t have as much practice with it.

Meagan: The danger is that baby boomers have information in their head that’s not written in the books. If baby boomers leave without you creating some sort of mentor/mentee relationship, they’re going to walk out of the door with some very valuable info.

Larry: There’s truth to that movie Space Cowboys, about the old astronauts who had to go do something because no one else knew how to do it. It’s true! And it’s true in most organizations. These people who have implicit knowledge of the way things work – procedures that need to be adjusted as they go, or the quirks of all the big customers – that implicit knowledge you gain over years of experience…The nation, our national security and economy will be at threat by boomers exiting the workforce.

You’ve touched on how Linksters don’t have the same soft workforce skills that their older counterparts have, so what’s the solution to that?

Meagan: We need to look around our environment and say, “Is our environment encouraging the best talent possible? Are we choosing the right generational mix of people?” Making the right choices is still essential. Look around and say, “Is my environment encouraging highly talented young people?” Are there certain rules at your organization that young workers are hitting their head against, but that you’re reinforcing? If so, you need to ask yourself what I call “the three layers of why:” Ask yourself, “Why is this rule important?” And if none of the answers have to do with cost/safety, customer service or quality, I suggest getting rid of the rule because the rule is no longer serving you. Sometimes, these rules have been put into place 10 or so years ago and no longer serve a purpose.

So you’re saying that the workforce has to change to adapt to this generation. Is this a change you’ve found managers are willing to make?

Meagan: What I hear a lot is “Why should I have to do this?” Managers feel that they’re the ones doing all the bending. But it’s not about making the effort – it’s that we do things differently when we gain more information. There was a time we didn’t wear helmets or seatbelts, but then we learned that we were much safer when we did these things. It’s the same thing in the workforce – when we gain more information, we learn that we need to do things differently to be more effective. We have a whole new generation of workers whose brains are wired differently, so now we have to change the way we interact with them, so they can be more productive for us.  We operate differently as we gain new information.

I’m looking at some of your tips for managing Linksters, and you talk about calling them the night before their first day to remind them of the dress code and what items to bring, but to me, that seems like a lot of handholding.

Meagan: Rather than seeing it as handholding, it really is creating an environment where they can be successful. Now, I’m not saying you have to look the other way when they don’t do a good job, but why not create an environment where they can be successful?

Larry: It really boils down to playing the hand you’re dealt. If you’re a manager today hiring young people, you’re dealt a different hand than you were in the past, and it’s not only that they think different, but they’ve been raised differently. They’ve been raised by baby boomers who are doing it the second time around and they can be attentive at the least and in some cases, they can be…what do you call them Meagan?

Meagan: “Snowplow parents” because they remove any obstacle that might be in their child’s way.

Larry: Yes, these parents who’ve coddled them. So these young people have lived pretty structured lives and need a lot of direction. So you need to manage them differently.

Meagan: But just because management styles change doesn’t mean you lower your expectations. Just make your expectations clear to make sure they perform.

So when it comes to managing this generation alongside older generations who have an entirely different working style, how can managers work to make both parties productive (and keep them happy)?

Larry: One thing we suggest is using older employees as mentors and then reverse mentor with younger employees. By that, I mean, older employees have a lot to offer in terms of teaching and developing younger people, and so if, say you’ve got a Baby Boomer who finds it irritating to work with some Gen Y-er, one way to overcome that difference is to ask him to teach and develop this person – not just work with him. Make that a formal relationship where both of their success depends on the success of the younger person developing; likewise, you can reverse that [with a reverse mentorship]. A lot of companies are doing that, where young people are teaching the old folks to do their Facebook page and what not.

Any final thoughts?

Larry: I’d just like to add that for the older generations, rather than cry and moan about the younger generation, this is really an opportunity to make a difference for the future of the world – by the way you treat and develop and mentor young people.  It’s really a responsibility we all have – to develop them.

Meagan and Larry Johnson are the founders of the Johnson Training Group, which help companies manage multigenerational workplaces.  For more information on multi-generational workforce management, check out my follow-up post, in which I list the Johnsons’ 10 tips for managing Linksters.

Well, it’s official: the recession is over – and has been for quite some time now (shocking how we could’ve missed that), according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, which means now might be the time employers start worrying about the possibility of a talent exodus.  But while employers might be worried about which employees are going to leave their organization, instead, they might want to worry about those employees who actually stay.  

That’s because, according to Peter Barron Stark and Jane Flaherty in their book, “Engaged! How Leaders Build Organizations Where Employees Love to Come to Work,” employees quit their jobs in one of two ways:  The first is physically, where an employee moves on to another job.  Though unfortunate, at least this method is manageable because there’s a definitive next step: hiring a new employee.

The second way an employee quits – the one that “strikes fear into the heart of every manager” – is mentally. Unlike a physical quit, when an employee mentally quits an organization, it’s not always clear what an employer’s next steps should be. You can’t, after all, simply hire someone new, but at the same time, the same old engagement tactics you’ve been doing all along clearly aren’t working anymore, either.  

Stark and Flaherty idenfity five red flags employers can use to identify these disengaged workers who are no longer invested in their work or the company.

Five Signs Your Employees Have Mentally Quit Their Jobs

1. Evidence of a “whatever” attitude. The employee is not confrontational, but clearly is not motivated.
2. Minimal contribution that produces a mediocre level of performance. The employee shows up right on time, leaves right on time, and does just enough to keep his/her job, and no more.
3. Absenteeism. The employee uses up all sick, vacation, or PTO (paid time off) time on a regular basis.
4. Loss of enthusiasm. The employee may have been a motivated contributor, but now withdraws and contributes little.
5. Little or no interest in the future. Whether you are discussing a vision for the future or your office holiday party, this employee is clearly only interested in what’s “here and now.”

Unless employers act quickly to manage those employees who’ve ‘checked out,’ it could literally cost organizations: The Gallup Organization recently reported that, at the end of 2009, more than 25 million people were actively disengaged with their jobs, costing U.S. employers $416 billion in lost productivity.

What Can We Do To Make It Right Again? Salvaging the Broken Employee EngagementIt’s really no wonder employees, especially now, are disengaged: The recession left so many workers with heavier workloads thanks to organizational layoffs and slashing of resources, they’re simply burning out.  One of the first things employers can do to salvage an increasingly overwhelmed workforce is to give employees back control…with flex-time offerings, such as reduced or non-traditional hours and telecommuting, according to a recent Human Resources Executve article.

Speaking of giving back control – and what companies can do to re-engage employees – I recently came across this recent interview with Mark Hirschfeld, co-author of Re-Engage: How America’s Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times, in which he identifies the two steps any employer can easily and immediately take to significantly benefit employee engagement:

1. The first is to “listen intently and deeply to your associates about what would be helpful to them in creating a more engaged place to work.”
2. And the second is to “Make sure you follow up on anything you commit to do.”

Hirschfeld’s second tip stood out to me as being absolutely crucial to re-engaging employees. After all, how many times do we see organizations administer employee surveys…only to see nothing come of them?  More often than not, employees understand that leaders can’t realistically act on every suggestion, but according to Hirschfeld, “They do want to have a sense that their opinions matter. The ability to feel genuinely heard can be very empowering, and if employees see actions being taken based on their feedback significant growth can result.”  While getting employee feedback is important for improving retention rates and productivity, it means nothing if employers don’t actually use this feedback to make a noticeable change. Otherwise, it could be even worse for morale.

(For more ideas on re-engaging employees, check out my earlier post on Peter Barron Spark’s presentation from SHRM 2010, wherein he addresses 10 Ways to Get Your Employees to Say “I Love My Job”.)

Have you noticed more employee burnout of late, and if so, what are you doing about it?

With so many job seekers looking for work – and getting increasingly alienated from not hearing back from employers regarding where they stand – it’s become a common topic of conversation over at our job seeker-focused blog, The Work Buzz, as to exactly when and how (and how much) to properly follow-up with employers regarding candidate status…

So, finally, we decided to help our colleagues over at The Work Buzz out, and come straight to those who can speak to this question the best:

When it comes to candidates following up with you, where do you draw the line between persistence and peskiness?

Is follow up even necessary? Can it salvage a lackluster interview? Give us your deal-breakers, your golden rules, your horror stories personal experiences, etc…We want to hear from you!

(Think not only of all the job seekers you’ll be helping out – but of all those hiring managers out there just like you, who will be spared future aggravation.)

Give us your thoughts in the comments below!

While the current job market has left millions of job seekers frustrated and distressed, it hasn’t exactly been a picnic for hiring managers and recruiters, either: Readers often tell us how the wealth of resumes piling up on their desks – a significant percentage of which often carry no relevance to the job or company – leave them tired, frustrated and overwhelmed.  

Today, CareerBuilder released a survey that sheds more light into this issue, giving a peek inside some of the more bizarre – and exasperating – aspects of the job of screening resumes.  

In a survey of over 2,500 hiring managers nationwide, CareerBuilder asked participants to name the most memorable things they’ve seen from job seeker resumes recently. Among their more notable answers:

• Candidate listed God as a reference. (Alas, the candidate didn’t include a phone number.)
• Candidate listed her hobby as alligator watching.
• Candidate claimed to be a direct descendant of the Vikings.
• Candidate’s email address had “lovesbeer” in it.
• Candidate listed “Master of Time and Universe” under his experience.
• Candidate started off the application with “Do you want a tiger?”
• Candidate specifically pointed out that he was not a gypsy.
• Candidate’s condition for accepting the position was being allowed to bring his pet monkey to the workplace.
• Candidate pointed out, “I’ll have your job in five years.”
• Candidate sent a 24-page resume for a 5-year career.
• Candidate put a picture of her cat on top of her resume.
• Candidate declared himself “the LeBron James of table games.”
• Candidate sent a video trying to hypnotize the HR manager into hiring him.

Certainly, there’s an argument to be made that these job seekers were simply trying to stand out from the rest of the applicants (mission accomplished), but clearly, these applicants didn’t know their audience (perhaps “lovesbeer” would have better luck applying to a position at a brewery). This isn’t the first time we’ve seen bizarre applicant behavior and, I would guess, it won’t be the last. Would you agree?

Got any strange resume stories of your own to share? What’s the most bizarre thing you’ve ever seen on a resume?

While you were busy downloading your new, free e-book (what?), watching your 15 minutes of fame finally run out, or proving that money actually does buy happiness (in a way), here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Score 1 for Charlie Brown: Turns out, too much confidence can be a bad thing.
• ‘Baby-faced’ entrepreneurs struggle to be taken seriously (but those public kegger pics on Facebook probably don’t help matters).
• H.P.’s war with its former chief executive plays like an episode of “The Hills”
• Re-employed workers on relationships with new employers: “It’s complicated.”
• BMW sets the bar for employers bracing for the ‘Silver Tsunami’
• Employers find that it pays to do pro bono work. And finally…
• For American workers, 100 is the new 65.

While it’s widely understood that employee referrals are one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to recruit new employees…what’s not always easy to comprehend is why so many company-sanctioned employee referral programs fail don’t meet their full potential.

Recognizing the great business benefit of having a well-designed employee referral programs, CareerBuilder wanted to create a resource that would enable employers and hiring managers across all industries and organizations to create and build a program that would benefit not only their hiring process – but their business overall.

Introducing our new eBook, Referral Madness: How Employee Referral Programs Turn Good Employees Into Great Recruiters and Grow Your Bottom Line, with such advice as:

• What employee referral programs mean for business
• Three essential elements of any successful employee referral program
• Easy, inexpensive ways to get your employees involved
• Potential pitfalls and how to avoid them

We consolidated the best in advice, solutions and best practices to create one comprehensive (20 pages, y’all!), easy-to-read guide.

Think of it as your anti-business book business book. Download Referral Madness for free today!

CareerBuilder released the results of its most recent employee-focused survey today, in which American workers revealed how they really feel about their bosses.   

When asked to rate their bosses’ professional capabilities, nearly one-third (31 percent)  of the more than 4,400 workers surveyed said that they feel they can do their bosses’ jobs better than their bosses.  

Not only that, but 60 percent of workers said they don’t feel that their bosses were capable of doing their (the workers’) jobs, either.

The Worker/Boss Relationship Status: It’s Complicated
In the survey, some workers cited a lack of focus on career development, feedback and support as the main reason they felt disconnected from their bosses. Here’s the breakdown:

• 61 percent of workers said their bosses do not properly groom them to move up in the organization
• 45 percent said their bosses do a poor job of providing regular and consistent feedback
• 34 percent said their bosses could back them up better

On the upside, bosses earned higher marks from workers when it came to being open to different work arrangements, taking time to listen and providing resources:

• 72 percent of workers said their bosses did a good job offering flexibility
• 69 percent felt their bosses listened to their ideas and concerns
• 68 percent said their bosses provided them with the resources needed to do their job effectively   

So What Does It All Mean?
Despite the good news, these findings should be a wakeup call for employers to realize that they need to step up their efforts to provide support for their employees – especially considering that employees aren’t as afraid to quit their jobs as they previously were.  

The simple solution? Communication, says Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder.  “The workforce has been through a lot during this recession, so it’s important for workers and bosses to maintain a strong and communicative relationship,” Haefner said in a statement for the press release.  “As many companies recover from the challenges of the last 18 months, both parties need to listen to each other and be flexible, with a common goal of moving the organization forward.”

Are You an Oprah or a Simon?
As a frame of reference, CareerBuilder also asked the survey participants to name the TV bosses who reminded them the most of their bosses….So, if you’ve ever fashioned yourself a bit of a MacGyver, chances are that your employees have, too – he was named among the top of the list, due to his capability under extreme circumstances.  (‘Course, MacGyver’s spastic knock-off, MacGruber, also made the top 10, so it could go either way. Sorry.)

Check out who else made the list – and let the speculation begin!

• Jacob from “Lost” – Employees are never really sure where you are, what you want or what you have in store for them
• Judge Judy from “Judge Judy” – You’re no-nonsense and fair when making decisions
• MacGyver from “MacGyver” – You’re resourceful and can fix any situation
• Jack Donaghy from “30 Rock” – You’re likeable and corporate, through and through
• Oprah Winfrey from “Oprah” – You’re very influential and informative
• Simon Cowell from “American Idol” – You’re judgmental and insulting
• MacGruber from “Saturday Night Live” – You’re terrible with managing projects and deadlines, causing everything around you to blow up
• Michael Scott from “The Office” – You’re bumbling and idiotic
• Lesley Knope from “Parks and Recreation” – You believe your job is more important than it probably is
• Donald Trump from “The Apprentice” – You’re demanding and powerful

I know, I know…Walgreens only just started selling candy corn, so while it might seem premature to break out These Are Special Times just yet, it is time to start thinking about the winter holidays, at least in terms of hiring.

If you’re in the customer service, retail sales, administrative/clerical, hospitality, shipping/delivery, inventory, technology or accounting/finance industries, you probably already know you’re going to require extra help during the holiday season, so why not start now? It may seem early, but consider this: How overwhelmed do you become around the holidays – both personally and professionally? Start planning now for the hectic hiring season to avoid having to make any last-minute, hasty hiring decisions – and your holidays will be that much brighter.

Treat yourself this holiday…Follow these 7 tips for hiring seasonal workers:

1. Avoid the Holiday Rush. Remember in the beloved holiday classic Jingle All the Way when Arnold Schwarzennegger and Sinbad’s characters get into a fight over a coveted TurboMan doll? Well, (even if you say you don’t) think of your ideal holiday employee as that Turbo Man doll. While most companies are waiting until November to post openings and seek out top talent, you can give yourself a leg up on the competition by starting your search now – and reaching more qualified candidates before other seasonal employers have touched them.
2. Avoid an Ambush. With so many job seekers competing for one position, you may find yourself getting overwhelmed by the sheer volume of applications coming in – and unqualified ones at that. In order to cut down on time spent mining resumes, consider attaching filtering questions to your job postings to screen out unqualified candidates from the beginning (a service that’s provided free to CareerBuilder clients, btw).  
3. Seek Out Warmth. Personality accounts for a lot with seasonal hires. When interviewing, keep in mind that the candidates will likely have to deal with angry and annoyed holiday shoppers who expect stellar customer service. He or she must be able to stay calm and professional in these situations. Asking behavioral interview questions will help you determine how a person tends to react in stressful situations.
4. Go Back to School.  Whether home for the winter break or staying on campus, college students – with their flexible schedules and high energy – make ideal candidates for seasonal positions.  Bonus: If you like what you see during the holidays, you can probably count on them to return for work when you’re ready to take on extra help during the summer, too.
5. Consider Retirees. There is an extremely large job market for retirees, and businesses are quickly finding that they make excellent full- or part-time candidates. For starters, they’re available in an increasing abundance and, like college students, have flexible schedules. Best of all, they provide years of valuable work and life experience that they can apply to several different positions.
6. Check References – In the best interest of your company, it is important with seasonal hires that you double check their references. Candidates who are available for temporary work should have previous employers listed as references who can attest to their performance, professionalism and character.
7. Think Less Temporary…and More Employee – Finally, while you might be thinking of these employees as temporary, it’s crucial to remember that the impression they give outsiders of your brand isn’t.  Treat them just as you would a full-time employee. You also never know which of these employees you will want to bring on full-time later on, so look for employees who not only meet the qualifications of the position, but who fit in culturally, as well.  Happy hiring, y’all!

Another monthly jobs report from the Labor Department, another mix of decent and not-overly-fantastic news.  Take a look at some of the more positive findings from the report:

• Private companies added 67,000 jobs in August, more than the 41,000 economists had forecast, bringing the total number of jobs added in private sector employment since December 2009 to 763,000.
• The numbers for previous months were revised to show an overall loss of 175,000 jobs in June rather than 221,000; and a loss of 54,000 in July, instead of 131,000.
• Average hourly earnings rose 0.3 percent in August, and the number of temporary jobs rose by 16,800.

…and some of the not-so-positive findings:

• Overall, the government lost 121,000 jobs in August, bring the total number of unemployed people to 14.86 million in August, up from 14.59 million in July.
• The unemployment rate rose slightly to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent (however, the increase is due mainly to the surge of people rejoining the labor force rather than job loss). 

While  today’s numbers didn’t reveal anything that hasn’t already been made very clear over the past several months (yes, we get that the economy is recovering, and yes, we also understand that it’s taking its sweet time to do so, and yes, we’re more than aware that we shouldn’t get too excited just yet, okay?)…

…there is one little nugget of information we can take home: August’s better-than-predicted job growth seems to disprove recent speculation from economists that we might be headed toward a double-dip recession. Scott Brown, an economist at Raymond James, told NPR that he sees no sign of the country slipping back into recession. “You’re still seeing broad-based job gains. It’s not strong, but it’s positive,” he said.

Over at The New York Times, however, Credit Union National Association economist Bill Hampel indicated that he’d like to see the job growth numbers surpass 100,000 before we can be sure we won’t slip back into a recession. “We need it over 150,000 to feel confident we have a nice, sustainable recovery,” he was quoted as saying.

More Reactions to Today’s Numbers…
Overall, economists’ speculation on the future of the recovery is cautious but optimistic. Here’s what others are saying in response to today’s numbers:

 “While the economy is still soft, at least it is expanding. Unless the Fed sees a double-dip recession or deflation as a risk, it will be in wait-and-see mode and we do not expect Fed hikes until 2012.” – Michell Meyer, senior US economist, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

“If you look at it in absolute terms, it’s not very good. But relative to expectations, it’s clearly better than expected and it suggests we’re still growing. We’re not growing very fast, but it doesn’t suggest the situation is continuing to deteriorate.” – Nigel Gault, chief US economist, IHS Global Insight

“You have to take these earnings reports relative to expectations, so all in all this will be reviewed as a favorable report showing that the private sector is stabilizing and once we get past the drag from the census – and I think we are close to being past the drag from the census – that we will start to see some positive numbers for the totals in the months ahead.” - Robert Dye, senior economist, PNC Financial Services Group

“Obviously one month doesn’t make a trend, but hopefully this means the next couple of months will show continued growth.” - Cort Gwon, director of trading strategies and research, FBN Securities

“This will offer short-term relief to currency and equity markets by reducing stress on the Federal Reserve to add more stimulus.” – Kathy Lien, director of currency research, GFT

While you were telling the world’s worst lie defending your ex-girlfriend, reminiscing about the time Donna Martin almost didn’t graduate, or never looking at economics the same way again (or wanting to), here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Not everyone’s drooling over Food Network stars. Namely, their employees.
• The best new workplace trend ever?
• The CEOs of the future will have a lot more in common with Lady Gaga.
• 10 things your employees hate about you.
• Unsettling.
• Breastfeeding holds benefits for babies and business…
• Look, we’re not saying women CEO’s are more trustworthy (but that’s because a bunch of British people already did).
• More business trips are becoming family affairs.
• Nigerian workers may want to start investing in alarm clocks. And finally…
• British Prime Minister David Cameron is like the Rosa Parks of paternity leave.

Employers may want to pay attention to a new CareerBuilder survey that reveals that one in five workers are having trouble making ends meet. After all, financial worries don’t just take a toll on workers’ stress levels: Studies have shown that money-related distress can negatively affect employees’ quality of work - and, ultimately, the company’s bottom line. 

According to the survey of more than 4,400 workers nationwide, 77 percent of workers live paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet, up from 61 percent who said the same last year.  And as many as 22 percent said they’ve missed bill payment in the last year.

You might not be able to manually solve your employees’ financial problems, but you can help them better manage – and feel more in control of –  their finances. As a result, they will be less distracted on the job and more focused on their work:

Ask for feedback.  Instead of guessing what your employees want, go straight to the source to find out how you can be of assistance to your employees. From there, you can negotiate which cost-effective benefits you can provide – such as flexible schedules (to cut down on child-care costs or gas) – to best address their needs.

Focus on what you can offer them.  Maybe providing a bigger paycheck isn’t an option, but again, you’d be surprised by what you can offer your employees that doesn’t scream “cha-ching!” – such as setting up an employee assistance program, where they can go to for financial (or general) advice; inviting financial planning professionals to come speak and answer questions; or providing free educational resources such as classes and webinars or newsletters that contain information and advice on financial planning and fiscal responsibility.

Help them maximize their benefits. Many employees don’t take advantage of their employers’ benefits simply because they are unaware of them or aren’t sure how to make use of them. Step up your communication efforts to make sure your employees know of all the benefits available to them. Set up meetings with various teams or departments and HR to discuss these benefits and answer any questions they may have. 

Finally, check out what other companies are doing: When we released this survey last year, we asked readers to weigh in and tell us how their company was helping employees weather the rough spots of the uncertain economy, and here were some of their answers:

• Offer flexible/alternative work schedules and telecommuting
• Encourage employees to sign up for 401(k) accounts  
• Offer educational literature or presentations specific to specific to investing/retirement planning
• Catered breakfast or lunch (like free pizza on Fridays)
• Provide advances on wages or 401(k) savings  
• Offer flexible spending accounts for commuters

And should all else fail…two words: Power naps.

If reading Amy Chulik’s recent post about how one third of employers use social media to promote their organizations – and one quarter use it to recruit and research potential employees – has you thinking that you should be doing the same, you might want to check out the recent interview between CareerBuilder’s Vice President of Corporate Marketing, Jason Ferrara, and Melissa Murray and Christina Bottis of  Personified. 

As Emerging Media Consultants for CareerBuilder’s consulting arm, Murray and Bottis help companies build and manage their brand presence online to recruit employees and build customer loyalty.  The three recently sat down to discuss in more detail the various ways in which companies are leveraging social media to enhance their employment brands and recruit talent. Read excerpts from the interview below, or listen to the complete audio version of the podcast “How Companies Use Social Media to Recruit” here.

Jason Ferrara: My first question is, what are companies doing with social media? How are they conducting their recruitment efforts using social media?

Christina Bottis: We see companies using it more to build their overall employment brand – either companies that are trying to launch a new brand, heighten brand awareness, or shift existing brand perception.

Melissa Murray: They see it as a place to rally their evangelists and get them spreading recommendations about their brand, about what it’s like to work there and they use Facebook as a platform to do so. And they also use it to defray any negative comments about their brand. For instance, people may come and post questions or suggest things that they’ve heard that are maybe misconceptions about what it’s like to work for a company and that company has an immediate opportunity to not only answer that particular individual but also show the rest of the community that that wasn’t true.

JF: I do hear that from people I talk to as their hesitancy around social media is “I don’t want people to say bad things about us.” What is your response to that?

MM: First and foremost, people are going to say negative things about you regardless [of whether you have a social media presence of not]. So if they have a negative opinion to share, they’re either going to turn to their friend and talk about it, or you can provide a forum where they can come and share those thoughts and you can have the opportunity to respond.

CB: And usually, all these people [who are posting negative comments] want is to know is that your brand cares and you hear them. That’s all they want, just a little validation. And usually, the most negative situations do a 180-degree turn.

JF: So it’s the ability to respond and show that you care which is one of the major ways to change perception using social media.

CB: Precisely.

JF: Melissa, tell me a little bit about fans. Are fans really important? What does it mean for my organization to be fanned by someone?

MM: Well it’s really someone raising their hand and saying “I like this company” or “I am interested in this company.” If you think about it in terms of careers pages, it’s someone that says “I aspire to work at this organization” or “Someone I know works at this organization, and they’re really happy and so therefore I’m going to fan you because that’s an expression of endorsement.” And I think that today, particularly with how busy and overwhelming even Facebook is becoming, for someone to raise their hand and say “I’m a fan of you” is pretty profound. I think that that’s a win in and of itself.

JF: And should companies be measuring fans as a success metric for their involvement with social media?

MM: I think in the beginning that’s a good place for organizations to start just to see that they’re gaining traction. But then once you’ve got a good healthy base of fans, it’s really about engagement, and it’s about how many of those 400 or 500 fans are actively responding when you pose a question, or how many of those people are expressing sentiment by liking things that you post or are posting content themselves.

JF: Ok, so engagement is really the ultimate metric of social media success. Can you talk a little bit about what companies need to do to properly resource social media within the organization and then what alternatives they have to that?

CB: Ideally you could give one person this responsibility because it’s a daily task. You are trying to foster a relationship with current, prospective, and even unknown, candidates so it’s something that you continually need to be working on. And if you’re not continually engaging, you’re going to see your existing fan base decrease. So ideally, you would want one person managing it, whether that’s internal or outsourced, that’s the ideal.

The biggest problem today in this industry is that people jump in without any sort of plan. While you may have somebody in your company who you can have man this ship, if they don’t know where they’re going, it’s pretty much meaningless.

MM: And I think there’s skill sets there, too, that people might overlook. When you really break it down, you need to have PR skills, you need to be able to respond in a way that isn’t going to accelerate any negative sentiment that appears on the wall. You need to have marketing skills, so being able to portray the organization in a positive light and convince people and sell them on why they would want to work there. There really is a bigger, wider skill set that’s required to do something like this than what people initially think.

JF: How would a company who wants to begin to use social media for recruitment, specifically, how would they get started? What do they do first?

MM: Social media is truly just an extension of what you’re doing today, so taking elements of your existing strategy that are successful and applying them to social media is the easiest way to start. For example, if internal referrals are a really great source of hires for an organization let’s take that internal referral program and spread the word on Facebook. Let’s engage your existing employees on Facebook and provide easier ways for them to share openings or career opportunities at your company with their Facebook friends. We’ve seen a lot of organizations post up job openings on their Facebook wall and then encourage people to share that with their friends who they think might be a fit and they get a lot of really good applications that way. So that’s one way to take something that’s a tried and true recruitment practice and apply it to social media.

CB: Once you have established your fan base and you feel like you’ve got an established community, then it’s time to look and see where you can expand to create more of a synergy. But Melissa hit it on the head: if it’s not integrated into your existing marketing recruitment efforts, and if it’s not well integrated, it’s severely damaging to the real overall effect it can have.

MM: And I think, too, for a lot of the companies that I’ve worked with that are successful in social media, they’ve gotten to the core and the root of their story. A perfect example is David’s Bridal. We recently started an engagement with them, and I sat down with one of their regional recruiters and she told me, we spoke for about 30 minutes, and I was about ready to join them when she was done. But it was really talking about what the true spirit was behind their brand and why people – once they were inside the organization – wouldn’t want to leave.  So it’s those elements that I use to create the posts and the things that I talk about on the page. Finding those little elements that are unique about a company’s culture, and really bringing those to light on the page, is the easiest way to engage and get started.

JF: Well Melissa and Christina, thanks very much for sharing that information and sharing those stories with us. It’s such an exciting new place to be for a lot of companies and I think that hopefully listeners will get a lot of value out of this conversation and take that first step.

While you were remembering to pack your stuffed tiger for that upcoming trip (we’re looking at you, mister),  throwing in a live tiger while you were at it, or breaking your nine-month silence on someone named Tiger, here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Most American workers are satisfied with their pay, a suspicious-sounding survey shows.
• Clearly, Germany is on a quest to ruin everybody’s fun.
• It’s official: Shirley Sherrod and USDA awkwardly amicably end their relationship.
• Doing favors at the office isn’t doing you any favors, says science.
• Happy workers make for more productive workers, an obvious-sounding study reveals.
• “Fantastic” news from the boss could be anything but…
• If you’ve ever been exposed to an awful cover letter, you’ll appreciate this. And finally…
• If you share something in common with judge James GIbbons, you may want to make a note to yourself to clean out your cache.

While you were busy taking your bank-robbing business elsewhere, thankyouverymuch, doing your part to help more Americans develop heart disease, or taking some of the heat off of Dr. Laura, here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Is news that women aren’t moving up in the workforce like men really news?
• This might be the cuuuuutest workplace story EVAH!
• Unlimited vacation time with no catch? (Suspicious!)
• It was only a matter of time before America’s favorite unruly employee got his own reality show.
• A Massachusetts teacher gets, ahem, schooled on the dangers of Facebook.
• Guess what won’t be on Oprah’s list of favorite things this year…
• First it was God. Then it was the Web. Now, apparently, creativity is dead, too.
• The upside to high unemployment?
• CBS wants all of America to watch you get passed over for a promotion.  And finally…
• Gordon Gekko had it all wrong: Green is good. (Zing!)

The recent media overkill coverage of Steven Slater – the Jetblue employee and future reality TV star who became mad as hell on the job last week and wasn’t going to take it anymore - is just the latest in several high-profile incidents of employees behaving badly. We took some time to reflect on this and four other recent stories of employees whose antics caused some very public embarrassment for their (now former) employers – and how those employers were able to maintain their employment brand image in the aftermath. Take a look…

1. Jetblue Flight Attendant Leaves Passengers in Shock

The Incident: If you don’t already know the name Steven Slater – and how the Jetblue flight attendant dramatically told off passengers before grabbing a beer and walking off the job (via the plane’s emergency exit slide) last week….well, you do now.
The Aftermath: While some believe that Slater’s behavior is symbolic of the overall frustration workers feel right now, others went so far as to praise him as a hero…resulting in what could have been a PR nightmare for Jetblue.  
Damages incurred? Jetblue has shown before that it can bounce back from bad PR, and the chances that it can do so again seem pretty promising. TheSeamlessWorkforce lauded Jetblue for handling the situation the way it did: By addressing the situation, and acknowledging that while yes, this unfortunate incident did happen, “the company’s culture is bigger than any one employee or event.”  Jetblue also pointed out that this was an isolated incident, and reminded us that there are a large number of employees who are currently happily employed. The airliner also wins points for taking the high road in not badmouthing Slater.     

2. Domino’s Employees Become Infamous on YouTube

The Incident: Last April, two Domino’s Pizza employees filmed themselves preparing sandwiches for delivery while, shall we say, violating various health-code standards – and then posted the video on YouTube.
The Aftermath: Domino’s initially attempted to keep its damage control under the radar, believing that a knee-jerk response would only draw more attention to the video; however, just one day after the video appeared on YouTube, over a million viewers had seen the video (thanks in part to link-sharing on Twitter). That’s when Domino’s president, Patrick Doyle, decided to fight fire with fire by issuing an apology video on YouTube and setting up a Twitter account in order to address the comments regarding the incident.
Damages Incurred? Despite its attempts to save its tarnished brand, Domino’s received criticism for reacting too slowly to the incident, and a company spokesman later admitted that they underestimated “the perpetual mushroom effect of viral sensations.” While media coverage of the incident has since died down, employers would be wise to learn from Domino’s nightmare: Namely, to maintain a presence in social media in order to pay attention to what others are saying about your brand so you can respond in a timely and appropriate manner.

3. ‘Too Hot’ Citibank Employee Fires Back After Being Fired 

The Incident: After a suit filed earlier this year, in which former Citibank employee Debrahlee Lorenzana claimed she was fired for being ‘too hot,’ was dismissed, Lorenzana then filed a gender discrimination complaint against the bank.  
The Aftermath: Citibank has consistently played the “we’re not playing the public outcry card” card, refusing to comment on the first lawsuit and saying only the following about the most recent filing: “Unlike Ms. Lorenzana, Citibank does not intend to try this case in the media and we reiterate that her termination was based on poor performance. Although we can’t speak to her previous attention-seeking activities, her current attempts to gain personal publicity are as transparent as her legal claims. We remain confident that when all of the facts and documentation are presented, the claim will be dismissed.”
Damages Incurred? Few to none. Alleging that Lorenzana is only in it for the media attention (a claim Lorenzana isn’t exactly helping to dispel), Citibank seems confident that its brand advocates will do their part to defend Citibank’s brand. (It also probably works in Citibank’s favor that the defendant’s story doesn’t exactly incite an outcry of public sympathy.)

4. TSA Employees Learn What Goes on the Internet Stays on the Internet

The Incident: Last December, five Transportation Security Administration employees allegedly posted a 93-page confidential document on airport passenger screening to the Internet on.
The Aftermath: The TSA immediately placed the employees on leave, and released a statement announcing that release announcing they take “full responsibility for this improper posting and all individuals who may have been involved have been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the review.” The TSA also made sure to downplay the significance of the security breach, assuring the public that the document was “not the everyday screening manual” and that “screening protocols have not been compromised.” Under pressure from Congressional critics, the TSA also promised to launch an internal review to investigate the matter.
Damages Incurred? It’s hard to tell…The initial controversy over the security breach seems to have died down in the 10 months since it happened (and a more recent PR hiccup has since taken some of the attention), but some have suggested that the TSA’s newly adopted recruitment ploy reeks more of desperation than creativity.    

5. Comcast Employee Falls Asleep on the Job

The Incident: Once again, the power of YouTube helps tarnish a brand’s name, this time in June 2006, when a video of a Comcast employee who fell asleep on the job was uploaded to the site and became a “minor internet sensation.”
The Aftermath: Comcast fired the employee immediately and released a statement assuring its customers that providing a positive customer experience was its top priority.
Damages Incurred? In the world of employee scandals, this one was relatively minor, and because no one was hurt (or ingesting any tainted food products), Comcast was able to come away from this one incident relatively unscathed.

What are your thoughts? Do you think these employers have sufficiently recovered from these incidents? Would you have reacted differently had any of these incidents happened at your workplace?

With multiple reports lately discussing how employers are having difficulty filling open positions – despite the high unemployment rate – now is the perfect time to invest in an employee referral program (ERP) – whether that entails creating one from scratch or enhancing your current one.

Referrals make up 26.7 percent of all external hires, making referrals the number one resource for them, according to the 2010 CareerXRoads Sources of Hire study. 

Not only are well-structured ERPs one of the best ways to generate new hires, but they’ve also been shown to increase retention, lower costs, boost morale, and essentially make your job easier. Take a look…

The Top 10 Reasons to Build Your Employee Referral Program:

1. More bang out of your budget – A robust employee referral program can help lower your cost per hire.  The 2006 DirectEmployers Recruiting Trends Survey showed that employee referrals produced the highest ROI of any other sourcing method. According to Staffing.org, companies spend an average of 16 cents for staffing for every dollar of compensation recruited, but a study of Lincoln Financial Group, whose employee referral program accounts for 55 percent of all external hires, revealed that the company boasts a much lower staffing cost ratio of 10.9 cents per dollar.
2. The possibility of actually getting through that “to do” list.  ERPs can cut down significantly on the time you spend sourcing and screening candidates, as they essentially outsource this job to your employees, whose own discretion helps ensure you don’t spend time sorting through irrelevant applicants (see #3).  And by holding on to the resumes that don’t turn into immediate hires, you won’t always have to start from scratch when new positions open up (see #4).
3. A better quality of candidates – Who better to recommend candidates who fit the culture of your company than the very people who live it every day? Because your employees already know what it takes to be successful at your company (and because no one in his right mind would refer a candidate who could reflect badly on him), employee referrals eliminate the need to weed out unqualified applicants.
4. Make that a steady supply of quality candidates – While not every employee referral will lead to a hire, a well-designed employee referral program will help you build a generous pool of qualified resumes from which to pull as more positions open up.   
5. Less turnover – Employers with robust ERPs tend to have a lower rate of turnover. One reason for this? Hires produced through ERPs tend to stay with the organization longer because they enter the organization with already established social connections and a better understanding of the culture. ERP hires are also 3.5 times less likely to be terminated than hires produced through other sources.
6. Your employees will have a new appreciation for their job - and yours – ERPs provide employees with a sense of ownership in – and deeper respect for – the hiring process. Employees value meaningful work and a sense of connection to their company even more than they do high salaries, according to the 2009 10th annual Deloitte Best Company to Work For survey. Giving them a chance to participate in the hiring process is a way to foster that sense of connection and the feeling that they are making a positive contribution to the company. 
7. A better-looking employment brand – ERPs turn your employees into brand advocates. If they’re telling friends about job openings at your organization, they are essentially sending the message, “This is a great place to work.” Not every referral will turn into a hire, but it does contribute to the notion that your organization is an employer of choice.   
8. A boost in competitive intelligence — A more indirect – but equally beneficial – result of implementing an employee referral program is that it gives your employees an excuse to proactively seek out and network with other professionals, who can be a resource for gaining knowledge, sharing best practices and, of course, generating more referrals.
9. You’ll stop resenting the time your employees spend on Facebook.  With the widespread use of social networking sites to connect with other industry professionals, your employees today have an even wider range of connections by which to source qualified, trusted candidates for you.
10. Your new employees will pay it forward – According to the American Journal of Sociology, referred workers tend to outperform their non-referral counterparts and are more likely to refer future employees.

While you were busy losing ground in your bid for “employee of the month”, providing too-good-to-be-true water cooler gossip, or hoping the other two stories would detract from your little workplace mishap, here’s what else was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• I think the answer to this question is “only if they buy you a lobster dinner first.”
• It’s funny because it’s true: Workplace jargon edition
• Sick of the bad economy? Start hiring already!
• Not to be Debbie Downer, but let’s talk about workplace violence. 
• Trying to find qualified workers is like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife.
• “Extreme Downsizing” sounds like the least fun reality TV makeover show ever.
• Can’t afford health care? Send your employees to Panama. 
• Economists are being all “Step off!” to lawmakers….And finally….
• Suddenly, Steven Slater doesn’t look like such a bad employee anymore.

That internship application from the guy with 15 years of management experience? Don’t send it to the shredder just yet – it might not be a fluke. It may simply just be part of a growing workforce trend in which older workers are competing with their college-aged counterparts for open positions.

According to a new survey released today by CareerBuilder, 23 percent of employers are seeing experienced workers (those with more than 10 years of professional experience) and mature workers (workers aged 50 or older) apply for internship positions at their organizations. (The results are consistent with a 2009 survey that indicated that more mature workers were considering internships as a way to break into a new industry.)

Of the more than 2,500 employers surveyed, more than one quarter (27 percent) said they plan to hire interns during the remainder of 2010 to help support workloads, the majority of whom plan to offer paid internships – with hourly pay ranging from $10 or more per hour (for 55 percent of employers) to $25 or more per hour (for 5 percent of employers). You can see more statistics from the press release here.

The Atypical Intern: Consider It
If you’re among the 23 percent of employers seeing more experienced workers apply for your positions, do yourself a favor and take them seriously. Today’s workers – regardless of age and experience level – view internships as a way to explore new opportunities, according to Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, while the companies that hire them can leverage these workers’ years of professional experience, strong work ethic and extensive skill set to benefit their bottom line.

What is with today…today?

By now, you’ve likely heard of Steven Slater, the (now former) Jetblue flight attendant who’s making headlines today for loudly storming (or sliding, if you will) off the job yesterday. Slater, if you don’t know the story, made a scene when, after a heated argument with a passenger, he opened the plane’s emergency door and slid down the chute in a dramatic exit – but not before grabbing a few beers from the galley first.

Meanwhile, geekostystem.com is reporting today that a woman named Jenny recently quit her personal assistant job by emailing her company photos of herself using a dry-erase board to out her boss for wasting company time playing Farmville.   

I’m sure that, to disgruntled employees everywhere, people like Steven and Jenny are heroes. But what I wonder is: Did they just seal their fate with future employers? In other words, will this behavior work against them when interviewing for their next position?

Presumably, these employees had their reasons for doing what they did – they evidently felt mistreated/undermined/unappreciated/etc. in their positions, driving them to behave the way they did; however, I can’t imagine the hiring manager interviewing them for their next position would be so quick to believe that their behavior was justified (or at that very least, that these were stand-alone incidents that would never ever happen again…). 

If anything, their behavior should be red flags for hiring managers – possible indications that these individuals could act out at any moment on their next job or, at the very least, are simply unprofessional.  But is that fair to assume? Or can you chalk it up to a one-time mistake (especially if, for the sake of argument, the rest of their work history/recommendations from previous employers is nearly impeccable…)?

What do you think, readers? Could you ever take a chance on an employee who left a previous employer on such hostile terms? Would you?

UPDATE: Turns out, Jenny’s story (reported on August 10,2010) was too good to be true, Mashable reports today (August 11, 2010).  Farmville-addicted bosses everywhere can relax…BUT the story is not without its lessons to treat your employees with respect (so, maybe a thank you to Samsung is in order?) And my earlier question of hiring Steven Slater (which by all accounts is still very true) still applies…

Spill! (You know you want to…)

So back in April, my colleague over at The Work Buzz discussed things job seekers should leave off of their resumes, including gaps in work history. Transferring the advice of career coach and author Catherine Jewell, blogger Kate Lorenz wrote that job seekers should eliminate gaps in work history and replace them with short, truthful statements (such as “homemaker sabbatical” to explain a five-year work hiatus).

….But my question is, when job seekers don’t know to do this (or even if they do) does having a gap in work history automatically put the candidate at a disadvantage in the eyes of the interviewer?

Surely, as the job market opens up, and as most companies begin rehiring at a faster rate, hiring managers and recruiters are likely to see a lot of resumes with gaps in work history.

What we want to know is: What’s the best way for job seekers to explain gaps in work history – from the cover letter…to the resume…to the interview? Or can they?

Especially now, do job seekers still carry a stigma when it comes to having gaps in their work history? (And if so, how can they eliminate it?) Talk to us, or better yet…

Share your success stories! Ever hire a candidate despite having a significant gap in work history – only to have him or her prove himself as a top performer?

(P.S. Got something to say, but don’t want to leave it as a comment? Feel free to email me your stories instead!)

While you were busy hiding your Jersey Shore knowledge, making the announcement the world was waiting with bated breath to hear, or getting your Amazon pre-orders in, here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Maybe you should just consider implementing a social media policy.
• Maybe Sherrod and Obama can talk about this the good ol’ fashioned way.
• Never a dull moment at the Essence offices these days…
• Before you write off that candidate…see how that candidate writes.
• Don’t eliminate training programs entirely: Just trim the fat a little. (Maybe Drew Carey can give you some tips.)
• See? There IS a place in corporate America for the cast members of Jersey Shore.
• (…of course, if corporate America is really lucky, they’ll follow the latest job seeker trend. )
• Leaders, do not as Tony Hayward does, but…well, no, that’s it. Just don’t do what he does. And finally…
• Some employers are such commitment phobes these days.

If you’re not yet familiar with the government’s recently revised stipulations for hiring unpaid interns, might I suggest pouring yourself a nice glass of Merlot, perhaps turning down the lights and putting on some Al Green, while you sit back and get to know them a little bit better…?

That’s because the Obama administration recently announced that it intends to crack down on companies that don’t comply with the rules regarding unpaid internships, in reaction to recent criticism that such practices unfairly favor privileged students and enable employers to take advantage of free labor.

Six Rules for Employers Offering Unpaid Internships
According to a document on Internship Programs, released in April by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, employers are not required by law to pay their interns only if they meet all of the following criteria:

1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.

Why All the Fuss?
So what’s so bad about not paying interns, anyway? You might ask. After all, shouldn’t they be grateful just for the opportunity to get real world work experience, network with industry professionals and get school credit?

In an ideal world, yes. But it seems that far too many employers have interns doing menial tasks that offer little educational experience or quality training.  Other companies, meanwhile, hire interns under the (false) promise that the interns will be offered a full-time position once their internship is complete. Another criticism of unpaid internships is that they favor students from well-to-do backgrounds whose parents are well-connected in the industry (and can afford to work for free) over those who come from lower-income backgrounds.

Unfortunately, many employers that fail to meet the above criteria still manage to get away with not paying their interns.  Illegal practices concerning unpaid internships often go unreported, it seems, because many interns do not file complaints for fear that they will lose their current internship or be branded as troublemakers and endanger their chances of future employment at other companies.

Advantages to Offering Paid Internships
Aside from helping organizations avoid any potential legal problems, offering paid internships offer a number of benefits for employers.  For one thing, paid internships help employers attract a bigger group of qualified individuals, as financial need prevents some highly qualified students from pursuing unpaid opportunities.  Paid internship also help ensure students stick to a time commitment; furthermore, students that are paid as if they are professionals are more likely to act the part, too.

Of course, now you might be asking: Why have interns at all if we have to pay them? In a recent Student Branding Blog post, career counselor Karen Obringer lists the following ways companies benefit from hiring interns:

• Internships enable companies to train potential future employees
• Interns provide new energy to the office
• Interns provide new ideas and technology into the office
• Interns can do the work that the full-time staff haven’t had time to accomplish or even start
• Interns can help evaluate current company practices and offer suggestions of alternate options

Can’t afford to pay your interns? The career counselors at Washington University in St. Louis suggest that employers consider offering an alternative mode of payment, such as transportation reimbursement, free parking, complimentary meals, or free training or workshops.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree that employers take advantage of interns? Do you believe interns should be paid? How do you compensate your interns in other ways?

Rejecting a candidate because they have too many credentials? On the surface, it seems absurd: Here, it seems you’ve been handed the opportunity to snag executive-level talent at an entry level price…and yet you know that doing so means you could soon be dealing with a very bitter employee who resents taking a job that is below them, or perhaps you fear they’ll leave the minute a better opportunity comes along…

That’s the dilemma employers face when it comes to hiring overqualified workers – and why so many just say no; however, while you certainly want to be wary of someone who “will just take anything” to make ends meet (not that you don’t sympathize), you could also be doing yourself a disservice by dismissing an overqualified worker outright – and miss the opportunity to score major talent for your organization.

So before you immediately dismiss an overqualified worker, just consider the following questions to help you assess why you’re really discounting them – and if you should reconsider…

How do I define “overqualified”?
Dismissing someone based only on a resume that is more extensive than what the hiring manager expected might be jumping the gun.  For one thing, having “too much” experience is relative.  Check with the hiring manager to see how much additional qualification is acceptable before ruling someone out entirely.  Not to mention that more experience and qualifications means less time spent training and developing the individual. And finally, just because the person may have more experience doesn’t mean he or she isn’t the best person for the job – it might be worth your time to let the candidate prove it to you. 

Are my biases getting in the way?
“Every organization has its own internal biases…Hiring managers and recruiters need to acknowledge these biases and realize that great candidates may not fit the typical mold,” one commenter reasoned in response to an earlier post I’d written about not writing off candidates too soon.

Echoing this sentiment, management expert F. John Reh writes that the biggest obstacle to hiring overqualified workers is dealing with underqualified managers who feel threatened by the idea of having someone on their team who is competing for their position or will do anything that might highlight their own shortcomings. What these managers fail to realize, however, is that something done well by their team will actually reflect well on them.

Also, judging from the comments generated by a recent TheWorkBuzz post asking workers to discuss how they felt about being overqualified for their jobs, it’s apparent that many job seekers are frustrated by the “overqualified” label – and many suspect that employers just use this term as an excuse for not hiring older workers. (If that’s true, it’s important to realize that mature workers “offer a wealth of knowledge and experience that has translated into a significant competitive advantage for employers,” according to Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.)

Am I assuming too much?
It’s understandable that you might suspect that a worker with more experience than the minimum qualifications will ask for too much pay; however, posting the salary or salary range for the position in the job ad will help to screen out these applicants.  While there’s still the risk that a more experienced worker may still push for a higher salary, that doesn’t mean they won’t ultimately – and happily – accept the salary you offer.

Perhaps you’re worried that a more experienced individual will be more difficult to manage than someone “greener,” but you shouldn’t screen based on this assumption: wait until the interview process, where you can find out about the person’s personality, work ethic and cultural fit within the organization.

It’s also common to assume that an overqualified worker will be bored in his or her “lesser” role, and is simply waiting for the job market to open up to pursue better opportunities, which is, of course, a valid concern – but it’s a concern that should apply to all of your employees.  A recent New York Times article addressed this topic, saying that while studies indicate that workers who perceive themselves as overqualified do tend to report lower job satisfaction and higher rates of turnover, various research shows that these workers tend to perform better – and that managers can mitigate many of the negatives that come with overqualified hires by giving their worker autonomy, treating them with respect, and making them feel valued.

Thoughts? Have you had experience hiring or managing what you’d consider overqualified workers?

While you were busy getting ready to indulge your inner geek, finding the world’s scariest personal trainer, or failing to truly clarify a rumor about yourself, here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Don’t worry, your employees are just reading it for the articles.
• Good news – you can totally justify expensing that mani/pedi now.
• Can the Japanese government prevent workers from being exploited?
• Salesforce CEO says leaders should emulate MC Hammer. (Maybe so your employees will be too legit to quit?)
• More good news – you can totally justify spending the last three house playing Mafia Wars now.
• A new Outlook plug-in helps you check yourself before you electronically wreck yourself.
• Don’t count on seeing pre-recession numbers anytime soon. And finally…
• The best news yet – you can totally justify that martini lunch now (or at least attempt to).

While you were busy getting ready to indulge your inner geek, finding the world’s scariest personal trainer, or failing to truly clarify a rumor about yourself, here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Don’t worry, your employees are just reading it for the articles.
• Good news – you can totally justify expensing that mani/pedi now.
• Can the Japanese government prevent workers from being exploited?
• Salesforce CEO says leaders should emulate MC Hammer. (Maybe so your employees will be too legit to quit?)
• More good news – you can totally justify spending the last three house playing Mafia Wars now.
• A new Outlook plug-in helps you check yourself before you electronically wreck yourself.
• Don’t count on seeing pre-recession numbers anytime soon. And finally…
• The best news yet – you can totally justify that martini lunch now (or at least attempt to).

Does your body language betray you?  

You’ve probably heard the stats that say that body language accounts for somewhere between 55 and 90 percent of  all communication…and when interviewing job candidates, you likely pay a lot of attention the nonverbal cues they give out that convey their interest, honesty, enthusiasm, confidence, etc. – or a lack thereof…

But how often do you think about how your own body language comes across? It’s likely you’re so focused on them that you forget to think about your own nonverbal cues: Do you unintentionally intimidate candidates? Do your hand gestures and facial expressions convey boredom, irritation or condescension?

Understanding the nonverbal signals you send can be just as important as reading your candidates’ body language – especially since, as the interviewer, you have a direct impact on the candidate’s impression of the company and the resulting decision to accept or reject a job offer.

Unfortunately, sometimes the biggest offenders are the seemingly harmless things we do – tics, if you will – that we don’t even think about – and the negative messages they send candidates.  Below are seven messages your body language sends others, and how to correct them:

The Message: “I’m uncomfortable.”
The Tip-Off: Sitting with legs crossed while shaking one leg or wiggling a foot. A lot of leg movement in general is both distracting and indicates nervousness. Sit with your legs crossed at the angles, or place both feet flat on the floor to convey confidence and relaxation.

The Message: “You’re annoying me.”
The Tip-Off: You’re drumming your fingers on your desk. Rubbing your face can also indicate irritation.  You can keep your hands in check by resting them, loosely clasped in your lap or on the table in front of you.  

The Message: “I couldn’t be more bored by what you have to say.”
The Tip-Off: Rubbing the back of your head or neck indicates boredom, as well as irritation. An innocent enough gesture (maybe you have a headache…or you accidentally wore black without the Blue), but now that you’re aware of the message it sends, try to keep it to a minimum, if not stop altogether.

The Message: “I’m better than you.”
The Tip-Off: You’re leaning back in your chair and folding your arms across your chest, which can be seen as arrogant. The same goes for resting one leg or ankle on top of your other knee. Give the candidate your full attention and respect by sitting upright with your torso facing him or her.

The Message: “I’m not taking you seriously.”
The Tip-Off: You’re smiling a little too much. You’re probably only trying to put the other person at ease, but be careful to not smile too much when talking about serious subjects, as your grin might suggest that you aren’t taking the discussion seriously enough.

The Message: “I’d rather be anywhere but here.”
The Tip-Off:  Pointing your feet toward the door – or leaning in that direction – tells the person you’re conversing with that you get heck out of there ASAP. Make sure that you are facing the other person squarely, with your feet flat on the floor or crossed at the ankles.

The Message: “I don’t care.”
The Tip-Off: Leaning back in your chair, placing your hands in a “steeple” position, tends to show indifference on your end.  Instead, show (or feign?) interest by leaning forward slightly in your chair, and lightly clasp your hands in your lap or placing them near your knees.

Even if you are bored, annoyed, disinterested, etc…It’s still important that you maintain a professional demeanor and treat your candidate with respect. After all, the interview is not the time to evaluate a candidate. Save the eye rolls and exasperated sighs for after the interview, when you have a chance to process everything.

In fact, now that you are aware of how others might be interpreting your nonverbal cues, be willing to forgive these gestures in others, as, your interview subject may not realize he or she is doing the same.  While you want to ensure you hire someone who is comfortable within your company, you have to be willing to forgive some degree of nervousness.

Could this be a good sign? CareerBuilder’s latest nationwide survey, released today, shows that small businesses will be hiring in the second half of 2010. Considering small business is one of the major drivers for economic recovery and job growth, I think the answer’s a definite …hopefully? 

Findings from the survey of more than 1,300 employers in businesses with 500 or fewer employees indicate that in the second half of the year, 32 percent of companies with 500 or fewer employees plan to add new employees.  Twenty-four percent of companies with 50 or fewer employees said the same.

Seeing these plans for growth mean not only good things for small businesses, but should come as good news about the state of the economy overall. In a statement for the press release, Brent Rasmussen, President of CareerBuilder North America, said, “Historically, it has been the small business sector that has created the most jobs at the end of an economic downturn, allowing the overall job market to bounce back faster.”

And according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses employ just over half of all private sector employees, account for more than half of nonfarm private gross domestic product, and have generated 64 percent of net new jobs over the past 15 years.

For more on these findings, see the full press release.

“I woke up one morning and just said, ‘I…hate…my…job,’” workplace engagement expert Peter Stark told the audience of HR executives during his presentation during SHRM 2010 in San Diego last month.  “The problem was, I owned the company.”

Laughter ensued, and I took the crowd’s immediate engagement with Stark as a good sign that I wouldn’t be wasting my time in a presentation titled “Engaged!” – about how top companies create a culture where employees love to come to work. 

Turns out, I was right. Not only is Stark a dynamic speaker, but dude knows his stuff: Stark had studied 250 companies employing 100,000 people.  And after narrowing them down to the top 25 percent in terms of employee engagement, he found 10 factors these top companies have in common, which I’ll share with you now…

Oh, but first, a quick side note: Before Stark shared his list, he did something interesting.  He challenged the audience to tell him the difference between a leader and a manager…which turned out to be a deceptively difficult task. After listening to a few good (but apparently wrong) guesses from the crowd, Stark revealed the answer: A manager is just a title; whereas a leader is someone whose qualities lead people to follow them. “Followership is a conscious decision, with or without a title,” Stark said. (The more you know…)  Anyway, without further ado…your recap of Stark’s list of…

10 Ways to Get Employees to Say, “I Love My Job”  

1. Create a compelling, positive vision with clear goals. The top leaders have a very clear vision of where they’re heading. According to Stark, a great vision is composed of three key qualities: it must come from the heart, be unique to the organization, and be radical and compelling. People have to care about it.
2. Communicate the right stuff at the right time. Yes, even the “hard stuff”…Stark found that the best of the best companies were better at communicating the hard stuff to their employees.
3. Select the right people for the right job. Seems like a given, yet some companies are much better at this than others. Why is that? Stark says that what the best companies do differently is have more people involved in the hiring decision than the typical organization, and they have a thorough understanding of the competencies they need individuals to have in order to be successful at their organization. (Side note: Nancy Newell also spoke to the importance of this understanding in her SHRM panel on interviewing. Consistency!)
4. Facilitate cross-departmental teamwork. It’s important to remember that you all work for the same company – with the same goal. The best companies are better at cross-departmental teamwork.
5. Do “cool stuff.” When you’re working on cool stuff, Stark says, the rest of the organization has to respond to you; therefore, you become a leader. So practice continuous improvement and innovation. (Warning: The best companies are able to do this because they already have their day-to-day ducks in a row, so you might want to consider that first.)
6. Recognize and reward excellent performance. While some people aren’t crazy about rewards systems, it makes others work for it. (And, oh yeah, it seems to be working pretty well for top companies.)
7. Make accountability and performance count. “If I came in and reviewed your performance reviews, could I truly see a difference between employees? And could I see that the manager truly cares about the employee?” Stark asked the audience. Performance reviews are a window into how you treat your employees – and how engaged your employees are likely to be as a result. After all, a manager who can’t take time to write a performance review is unlikely to take the time to communicate clearly with employees on a consistent basis (see #2).
8. Make sure every employee has the opportunity to learn and grow. Giving employees a growth and development plan is essential, as it tells them, “I care about your success. I believe in you.”
9. Don’t let problems be any problem at all.  The top companies foster a culture that allows for mistakes, because they know they can handle them.
10. Make it all about the customer.  When you’re able to focus on the business side and the customer side, Stark says, it increases your credibility and value in the organization.

Anything you’d add to this list? Chances are you’ve heard several – if not all – of these concepts before; still, it’s always good to have a refresher, as it is probably easy to forget the crucial importance of keeping the very people you rely on to run your business motivated, and at the very least, not….hating…their…jobs.

Look at any “best places to work” list, and you’ll notice that most of the companies listed tend to share the same four employee benefit offerings, SHRM’s Steven Williams pointed out during his presentation on employee benefit programs for the organization’s annual conference in San Diego last month: 1) Health care; 2) Work/life balance; 3) Unique or unusual benefits; and 4) Leave. 

It should come as no surprise that companies that offer these types of benefits would be considered great places to work.  Unfortunately, with the economy the way it is, and health care being the most expensive benefit to offer, it should also come as no surprise that not every company has the luxury to offer employees health care…

…And not for lack of trying, either: According to 2010 SHRM internal research, despite rising health care costs, employers say the are unlikely to drop health care coverage at their organizations, for fear that doing so will: lower employee morale and satisfaction; hinder their ability to recruit new employees; and significantly increase employee turnover, among other concerns.

And at a time when companies are struggling to both recruit the skilled talent they need and retain top employees as new opportunities open up, these concerns are certainly valid. Yet, as health care costs continue to increase, what is a budget strapped employer to do to maintain this benefit?

Five Ways Employers Can Reduce Health Care Costs
Fortunately, Williams had some advice for these companies, addressing the following five tips for reducing health care costs:

1. Design the health care premium around each employee’s base salary or tenure
2. Make available – and encourage the use of – wellness programs. If implemented correctly, employee wellness programs work: they effectively reduce healthcare costs; they help cut down on employee turnover; and they decrease instances of absenteeism.  (See more about the benefits of implementing wellness benefits in 7 Habits of Highly Successful Corporate Wellness Programs .)
3. Emphasize the use of a mail-order prescription drug program on all maintenance prescription drugs.
4. Require working spouses to elect coverage from their employer, and charge extra to employees whose spouses do not elect such coverage.
5. Consider association-sponsored plans or partnering with other companies.

What about you? Does your company use any of the above methods to reduce health care costs? What else? Please share with us how your company cuts back on health care costs in the comments section below!

The last thing you might expect to hear when walking into a presentation about how to inspire creativity from your employees is: “Tell your employees to think inside the box”…and yet, that’s pretty much the advice Disney’s business program consultant, Scott Milligan, had for the audience when he presented at SHRM 2010 in San Diego last month. 

“We tell our cast members to think INSIDE the box,” Milligan boasted to the audience of HR professionals during his presentation, “Disney’s Approach to Inspiring Creativity”. (“Cast members,” by the way, is Disney’s term for employees.) After all, he reasoned, how creative is it, really, to tell people to “think outside the box” anymore? (Finally, someone said it!)

The other surprising thing about this idea of “thinking inside the box” is that it seems awfully practical and structured for a company that prides itself on the very idealistic notions of making magic happen and dreams come true, etc…And yet, this structured approach works for Disney.

Thinking inside the box, Milligan said, provides companies guidance and direction, helps them avoid wasting resources and keeps everyone focused.  But what is the box? As Milligan explained it, the box is your company’s organizational identity – who you are or what you intend to be – and it encompasses four things:

• Your Customers – Who are they? What do they need from you?
• Your Vision – What do you want to be?
• Your Mission – What do you want to do?
• Your Essence – How do we want people to feel when they experience your product or service?

Find Your Essence
A lot of companies, Milligan believes, leave essence out of the equation – and that, he explained, is an unfortunate oversight, especially when it comes to recruiting: In order to find the best people, hiring managers and recruiters must understand their company’s essence in order to seek out and identify the very people who share that essence.

As an example, he cited how Disney makes it a goal to create happiness for people. Milligan then challenged the audience to find their own companies’ essence, and look to that when hiring employees. 

(When considering your company’s essence, it might help of it to think of it in terms of how blogger Derrick Daye defines essence: ”…the heart and soul of a brand – a brand’s fundamental nature or quality. Usually stated in two or three words, a brand’s essence is the one constant across product categories and throughout the world.”)

Structure, Not Confinement
Again, while you might think that a company that tells its employees to think inside the box would be fostering a culture of confinement, discouraging creative thinking by setting up rules and restrictions, the box model actually serves the opposite purpose for Disney – and it can do the same for others as well.

“Within that box, companies can expand their identity,” Milligan said, explaining how the box model has enabled Disney to expand its brand identity - from being merely about cartoons to also encompassing live action features and then expanding to theme parks, hotels and resorts and then even on to cruise lines – all while staying focused on the mission to enable “magic” to happen.

What do you think? Does your company think “inside the box” as well? Is essence something that you talk about or communicate at your company? How does it play into attracting and engaging employees?

While you were busy announcing your engagement the old-fashioned way, breaking – or more likely saving - hearts all over the world, or actually NOT imagining that you were seeing the Old Spice guy everywhere yesterday, here’s what else was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• No one likes finding out their best employee is leaving via ESPN…but that’s no excuse for bad management.
• Finally, a workplace comedy for the tween set.
• 10 signs you work in a fear-based workplace.  
• Obama says job loss keeps him up at night. (You and about 15 million other people, Mr. President.) 
• One agency is about to find out what happens when interns stop being polite and start being real…or just live together for six months
• And now…deep thoughts.
• TSA tries a cheesy approach to recruiting employees (pun intended, btw).
• Don’t try to convince these guys the recession is over. And finally…
• Hiring for a social media director? Join the club.

“The only way to measure a candidate is to measure every single candidate with the same yardstick,” Nancy Newell, principal at Nth Degree Consulting told an audience during her panel “Beyond Behavioral Interviewing: Asking the RIGHT Questions, Evaluating the Answers,” at he annual Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) Conference in San Diego last month.

One of the major flaws with the interview process, Newell believes, is a lack of consistency.  Every candidate needs to be asked the same question – or as Newell put it, be measured by the same yardstick – otherwise, the evaluation process is meaningless. You can’t expect to properly evaluate candidates if you’re not holding them up to the same set of standards. Not that maintaining consistency is easy, she admits. There’s no “magic bullet” to getting the right answers from candidates and ensuring the right hire, Newell says. (On the contrary, it takes a lot of discipline and hard work); however, there are steps hiring managers can take to create a better, more consistent process and minimize hiring mistakes – which I went ahead and broke down into a simple Do’s and Don’t's list. Check it out…

DO conduct Behavioral Interviews. Behavioral interviewing is key to hiring, Newell believes, because it helps predict future success on the job by looking into past behavior.  Thus, questions should be shaped to look at previous behavior – not potential behavior. A question that begins with “Tell me about a time when…” for example, is much more predictive than “What would you do if…” which tends to lead candidates to say what they think you want to hear, rather than give a real-life example that provides insight into their skills, personality and work ethic.

DON’T go into the interview blind. It’s crucial that you have a clear idea of what you want your end result to look like. Before interviewing any candidate, consider the following questions:

• Why am I filling the job? (Are we growing, or are we replacing someone?)
• What’s missing on this team?
• What do our customers need, require and expect?
• Who’s the supervisor? What kind of person works best under this supervisor’s management style?
• What sort of person will fit best within this organizational culture?
• What skills am I willing to train on, and what skills do I need to hire for?

DO use the same measurement tool on the same candidate. Ask the same questions of every candidate.  The minute you stop using the same yardstick, the yardstick doesn’t measure anything. You can’t find your rock star that way. (Follow up questions can be different.) Your candidates are smarter, they’re savvier, and they’re going to challenge your skills as a recruiter.

DON’T tip your hand. Ask the questions first, then talk about the job and the company. Don’t lead them. What you say and when you say it matters. Explain what the interview process is going to look like.

DO get over your own biases. The time for evaluation comes later. The interview process is the time for gathering data. “Get out of your own way,” Newell says. “Get over your own biases, your own assumptions…If the industry equivalent of Kobe Bryant applies to your organization, and there’s a typo on his resume and you screen him because of that typo…your screening process is flawed.”  The same goes for writing someone off who doesn’t show up to an interview dressed in the way you might think is “proper.” “You never know where people are coming from…Maybe they’re coming from another job where the dress code is casual.” These minor details don’t necessarily reflect the type of employee this candidate will be.

DON’T be afraid to probe. Keep asking follow-up questions until you get a complete understanding of the situation. “Pull the thread,” Newell says. ”Make sure the behaviors they talk about are consistent.”

DO coach your candidate. Coach them to give you specifics on how they got those results. For example, ask something like, “I’m looking for a time when you demonstrated really good customer service.”

DON’T waste your time. Don’t ask questions candidates are going to lie to you about. Questions like, “Are you planning on staying in the area?” or “Can you do (blank)?” tell candidates what you want to hear. Asking big, broad questions will generate more telling, honest answers. For example, a question like, “Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult co-worker,” enables the candidate to tell you what they think a difficult co-worker looks like and how they handle adversity.

DO train everyone involved in the interview process. Not only is it important that everyone is on the same page, and they understand the reason behind the questions they’re asking, especially when it comes to asking follow-up questions.

DON’T be afraid to rephrase a question. When you really want to probe, Newell suggests taking a question and turning it negative, which can give added insight. For example, instead of asking, “Tell me about a time when you accomplished something,” ask, “When did something not go well?” You’ll see not only how people handle adversity but also what, to them, constitutes a problem.

DO create a score card by which to evaluate candidates. Incorporate the critical success factors of your ideal candidate. Think about what’s most important to success in that job, within the company, and then develop a score card based on that information. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to score it.”

You also need to communicate those benefits, too.

That was the message Steven Williams, Director of E-Media Innovations and Business Development at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), had for his audience during his presentation, “Employee Benefits: Just How Competitive Is Your Company?” at SHRM’s annual conference in San Diego last month.

It should come as no surprise that benefits are crucial to attracting and retaining top talent (especially with employers complaining about how good talent is still so hard to come by these days)…but where “HR drops the ball,” as Williams put it, was in communicating these benefits. “It’s very important that you communicate your employer brand,” Williams told the audience of HR managers. After all, he said, you may have a great brand, and that’s great, but it has little impact if no one communicates it. 

Get the Word Out
“This is not the time to be modest,” Williams told the audience. If companies want to stay competitive, they have to get the best talent, and in order to do that, they have to really step up their recruitment marketing efforts. This means not only offering something unique and desirable to employees, but ensuring prospective employees are well aware of those offerings.

Williams suggested taking a cue from employers with strong brands like Google, Zappos and Southwest Airlines – all of which enjoy various “Best Companies to Work For” honors (and aren’t shy about boasting it). Not only do these companies offer unique benefits (like free gourmet meals for Google employees or getting offered $2,000 to quit at Zappos), but they also make ample use of their resources to advertise these facts – including their own websites, blogs, Twitter and Facebook pages, and, not least of all, their employees: Zappos employees, for example, blog and tweet frequently about life at Zappos, and Southwest employees keep an active blog about their work life. Google includes employee testimonials on its website.

Williams also urged his audience to look for any and every opportunity to communicate their employer brand, including (but certainly not limited to) the following:

• Company website (Side note: in addition to including info about your company’s mission and values, benefits, awards and recognition received, or job listings, think of ways you can incorporate various media, such as employee testimonial videos, virtual office tours, or photos from company events.)
• Print and online job ads
• Chat rooms/forums/blogs
• Visual branding on billboards, posters (Or take a cue from what the TSA recently did and deliver your job ads right to job seekers’ doors…)
• Job podcasting
• “Best Places to Work” lists (Don’t wait around, hoping to be recognized: Submit your company for local, regional and national awards.)
• Company lobby (You need a place to hang that “Best Place to Work” plaque, don’t you?
• Industry magazines
• Policy and procedures manual

Real-Life Benefits You Haven’t Tried
One final thing to note: Employee benefits don’t have to be of Oprah-taking-her-entire-staff-on-a-cruise proportions (although that is nice…), so long as they’re meaningful to the employees and they differentiate a company and its employer brand. 

Case in point: Throughout his presentation, Williams asked audience members to contribute the unique benefits their companies offered. Here are some of the ones they shared:

• Self-funded sabbaticals where employees bank part of their income
• Phased back-to-work for nursing moms following maternity leave
• Employee concierge service that aids in personal care
• Grocery services
• Symphony and theater tickets are reimbursed 50%
• Back up care hours for moms who must travel for business
• All employees are given their birthdays off
• A surprise all-expenses paid trip is organized for a long weekend every five years
• Employees are encouraged to purchase new outfits and expense them
• Free on-site yoga
• “Free latte Fridays”
• Free employee health screenings
• First Fridays, in which employees are treated to lunch out

These perks may seem small, but they’re also the kinds of things employees remember and appreciate (because it shows they are appreciated) and that differentiate them from other employers – so consider those things that make your company unique and don’t be shy about promoting them.

Over the years, CareerBuilder has spoken with some of the industry’s most successful and influential leaders as part of our CareerBuilder Leadership Series to discuss the importance of attracting the right talent in order to maintain success. Time and again, these discussions reiterate the important role people play on every aspect of the business – from shaping the way these leaders lead to driving organizational growth, to increasing the bottom line.

We recently incorporated highlights from these conversations into CareerBuilder’s Mid-Year Hiring Forecast, but you can see them here, below:

• “A company is its people. The other resources that are available – cash, inventory and fixed assets – aren’t really valuable unless they are properly deployed by people who have the best interests of the enterprise at heart, are motivated to do the right thing – both in terms of being honest and doing business with high integrity – and people who align themselves with the goals and mission of the enterprise. The people in a company are everything.” – Bob Carr, Chairman and CEO of Heartland Payment Systems, on the impact people have on organizational growth.
• “As a company, it’s important to us to be viewed as a thought leader and organization that is both innovative as well as active in certain public policy debates.   I think people want to join organizations that they think are leaders, that have good values, and that value diversity. I think one of the things that we do well as an organization is value diversity, both in the traditional senses of gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual preference, disability, et cetera, as well as diversity of ideas and approaches to solving problems. That makes us an attractive destination for talent.”  – Ronald A. William, Chairman and CEO of Aetna, on the importance of employment branding to set yourself apart
• “We made an acquisition in 2007, and the company that we acquired had a brand line: “Never settle for less.” We decided to adopt that brand line across the enterprise because, ultimately…that’s what the culture is – that’s what this company is – for people. It kind of plays like going to work anywhere else should be thought of as settling for less….The reality is that we’re in the people business.  People are the core of what we do: They are the face to our customer, they are our brand, and in many cases, they are the extension of our customers’ brands. We have to care about them – we don’t have a choice.  It’s that big of a deal.” – Tom Nightingale, Vice President, Communications and Chief Marketing Officer, Con-way, Inc., on the importance of fostering corporate culture.
• “At the center of every leader comes a passion for people, because leaders never get to where they are by themselves. They always get there because they have people around them who can be inspired, who believe in the journey ahead and get the work done as you go forward. You have to have the ability to rally people and inspire people to believe. That’s part of it. The other part is you have to give people respect, have to give people their dignity and you have to be a good listener. You can’t ever demand respect along the way, and if you don’t give people their dignity, you’ll never get people to believe.”  – Jon Luther, Executive Chairman of the Board, Dunkin’ Brands on how people influence his leadership philosophy
• “People truly are the cornerstone of our ability to serve our clients – without them, our business would not exist.  Every client relationship is formed from the talented individuals we place front and center to act as an extension of their business.  Our employees are our greatest advantage, and the service we provide places our company’s integrity and reputation in the hands of our employees every day.  We place a great deal of trust in them and believe they will deliver on Kelly’s promises to provide the highest quality service and solutions to our customers, employees, shareholders and communities.” – Carl Camden, CEO, President and Director of Kelly Services, on the role people play on day-to-day business
• “It’s important to understand each of your employees’ gifts, goals and passions – both in- and outside of work – as those passions can be leveraged and further drive performance at work. We all work to live, and it’s important to understand the ‘live’ part and to tie people’s goals to that life or focus. It creates that leverage in performance….Our people are our most valuable asset. It’s important to give them the freedom and responsibility that will maximize their potential, and thus their impact on your company.” – Mary Delaney, President of Personified, a CareerBuilder company, on the importance of engaging your people.
• “I don’t believe that [micro management] fosters creativity and excitement in the workplace. My personal philosophy is to hire the right people, give them their job description and what their key result areas are, and then let them go ahead and figure out how they are going to achieve those results…We believe that nobody’s perfect, and you’re going to make mistakes, and your mistake is like an education. We are here to guide you, but you’ve got some freedoms and some flexibility to make your own decisions on how you’re going to run your business.” – Martha O’Gorman, Chief Marketing Officer at Liberty Tax Service, on the importance of giving employees freedom to do their jobs
• “Ensuring you have the highest quality of talent in place makes your job as a leader that much easier. When you have people in place who you can rely on and have confidence in, you don’t have to be concerned that the day-to-day basics won’t get done. Especially today, if you have people who are underperforming or fall short of expectations when you’re already tight on headcount…it really hurts your ability to move your business forward.” – Richard Castellini, Chief Marketing Officer of CareerBuilder, LLC, on the importance of having the right talent in today’s economy.

What is your leadership philosophy? Please share your own thoughts and insight in the comments section below…

While you were busy humbly announcing a career decision, making what is probably a wise career decision, or wondering if you still even have a career, here’s what else was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Employers are trying to take all of the fun out of getting lung cancer.
• See, Jake and Vienna? Parting ways in the public eye doesn’t have to be messy.
• If you like processed meat, then you probably also like annual job reviews.
• If sexism still exists in the workplace, you won’t find it here.
•  Let’s hope dermatologist visits are covered in this employer’s health care plan.
• As green initiatives go up, so too, does worker productivity.   
• Ditto for family-friendly benefits…
• I could think of a few other countries where lessons in workplace etiquette are needed…
• Every day??? Being a leader sounds exhausting. And finally…
• Best. Pension deficit solution. Ever.

Sorting through all the fabulous feedback we received after asking readers to share what their companies are doing to promote employee wellness, we noticed a few shared characteristics among the various initiatives readers discussed.

Below are seven standout traits that a vast number of these wellness programs share, with examples of how – in our readers’ own words – companies’ employee wellness programs embody these traits.

1.       They Don’t Focus Solely on Weight Loss

• “Our approach to exercise is very ‘functional,’ meaning it’s not intended to help you ‘look’ a certain way but to help you feel better all the time and to do your job, at work or at home, with energy, full range of motion and injury-free.” – Dave Parmly
• “Pressley Ridge believes wellness goes beyond the typical medical and stress concerns, but also into mental and personal growth as well. That is why Pressley Ridge offers Employee an Assistance Program at no cost to employees. This is a confidential assistance to employees and dependents 24 hours/day on a toll-free number and face-to-face professional counseling sessions and access to their website with a wide range of tools, resources and information. “ – Phillip Novak
• “My organization promotes wellness through Farmer’s Markets, healthy competition (Like the Biggest Loser), smoking cessation programs which are no cost and they cover any cessation programs like the patch, gum and lozenge. Additionally, they promote a healthy mind through increased awareness and programs. There is an entire website through the company that is dedicated to healthy mind, body and habits.” – Raina

 2.       They Have Buy-In from Leadership

• “Our company gives a very generous discount on the cost of our benefits for employees who participate in the wellness program…But perhaps the most important thing our company does to promote the wellness program is that is it embraced by our CEO and senior leaders within the company. Wellness is not viewed as an ‘HR initiative’ but as a core part of who we are as a company.” - Noreen
• “We have partnered with a local gym and our Senior Leaders are on board. We are trying to get as much employee participation as possible, to let them know that we care about their healthy work environment!” – Tori Hinote
• “Our CEO understands the importance of weight loss and healthy weight maintenance to offset the costs associated with healthcare – both now and in the future.” – Donna Cornwell

3.       Employees Are Never Far From Resources

• “We have an onsite fitness center with a trainer that provides continuous fitness challenges, boot camps, etc. We also have a physician’s assistant who works on site full time so we have immediate access to the seasonal ailments and we have our prescriptions delivered to the office.” – Janet J.
• “Our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provider conducts voluntary annual blood draws onsite at our headquarters. They also arrange for branch associates to visit their local lab to have the screenings performed.” – Recruiter
• “Our company provides free access to on-site exercise facilities. We also provide access to education on exercise, diet, cooking, lifestyle and behavior modification (including a stop smoking program).” – Mark

4.       They Sweeten the Deal with Incentives

• “We offer a Creating Wellness Program to employees…Those who participate for 6 months then receive $25/month in wellness bucks (for gym memberships, yoga, Pilates, etc.) as a reward for continued involvement.” – Rick Thompson
• “Recently, we sponsored an 8 week fitness challenge and gave away an Ipod Touch for the winner… This year, our grand prize drawing will be for either a gym membership, Fitness equipment or a Nintendo WII with WII ACTIVE.” – Jenny
• “Each quarter employees are asked to set a Health Improvement Goal. We pay them $50/Qtr for meeting their goal…We have had tremendous success with this approach.” – Kimberly
• “Our company has a $300 wellness credit toward health insurance premiums for non-smokers and then provides programs for employees to quit smoking.” - Ally

5.     They’re Not Limited By Smaller Budgets

• “We have researched local ‘healthy’ vendors such as local gyms, Jamba Juice, Whole Foods, etc. and invited them to come onsite to talk about their products. It’s been working out great and it’s no cost to the company!” – Stefan
• “Although our wellness budget was reduced to ZERO this year, we continue to come up with new and interesting wellness initiatives… We are even offering cost-effective prizes, like jean days and premier parking!” – Holly
• “Our company just started our official ‘Steps to Wellness’ Program… The employees complete a “scorecard” with several tasks and turn the completed card in for a chance at a “Day Off With Pay”. The more staff who enter, the more days off we will raffle.” – Sue K
• “We have…raised funds to assist with our program by producing a cookbook that we sold.” – Mary Wicker
• “One really fun wellness initiative that my company implemented is building an employee vegetable garden…We just started the garden project this year and participation has been huge. This is a really fun project and is relatively inexpensive!” – Kathryn

 6.       They Assign Measurement to Gauge Success

• “We work with our insurance carrier to hold an annual health fair each year that consists of blood work for a variety of areas and each employee is given the results that day. The results are discussed with health coaches from our insurance carrier and given advice as to how to improve results in any areas that reflect a health issue. These statistics are used to determine where we need to concentrate our efforts to best improve the wellness of our employees…Since we have implemented the program our data from the health screenings have shown improvement each year which in turn helps to keep our health insurance cost down.” – Mary Wicker
• “In the year 2009 our corporate headquarters developed a 3 component program to get the employees premium costs down and in the long run, help them develop healthy life habits… This year the Myers Lawn and Garden site is conducting their 2nd annual health fair since the first one in August of 2009 was so successful…Employee participation is growing and the savings are too for both the employee and the company.” – Lee Herman
• “The goal is overall health of our employees. If we can prove that we have lowered healthcare costs and possibly insurance premiums for our employees, because of healthier lifestyles, we have been successful!” – Tori Hinote

7.      They Empower Employees

• “The company promoted wellness with the staff by also ‘promoting’ US…For example, I had always wanted to be a nutrition education writer, a secret desire of mine…The company decided to start putting out a monthly newsletter in the club for our members and not only was I asked to be a columnist, but I was asked to be the editor as well. Our whole staff took part in the newsletter, writing about their known specialty in the field. This tactic was most rewarding for me, as I had the chance to really reach a long time goal of mine. This made me feel like I was on top of the world, how do you get more ‘well’ than that?” – Renee S.
• “List Innovative Solutions is extremely active in the community…and encourages its employees to do the same by sponsoring the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training Program…this allows our employees to be active and also give back at the same time.” – Jennifer Bonner
• “We encourage all employees to offer ideas on the ‘Healthy Life’ bulletin board so everyone gets a chance to bring something to the table!” – Dustin Shay

As I stated in my earlier post on readers’ company wellness programs, it’s great to see how many organizations take an active interest in their employees’ health – not just for employees, but for the companies themselves, as wellness programs can help employers cut costs related to healthcare, turnover and lost production.

What do you think? Care to add an “8^th habit” that makes your own company’s wellness program successful?

Sorting through all the fabulous feedback we received after asking readers to share what their companies are doing to promote employee wellness, we noticed a few shared characteristics among the various initiatives readers discussed.

Below are seven standout traits that a vast number of these wellness programs share, with examples of how – in our readers’ own words – companies’ employee wellness programs embody these traits.

1.       They Don’t Focus Solely on Weight Loss

• “Our approach to exercise is very ‘functional,’ meaning it’s not intended to help you ‘look’ a certain way but to help you feel better all the time and to do your job, at work or at home, with energy, full range of motion and injury-free.” – Dave Parmly
• “Pressley Ridge believes wellness goes beyond the typical medical and stress concerns, but also into mental and personal growth as well. That is why Pressley Ridge offers Employee an Assistance Program at no cost to employees. This is a confidential assistance to employees and dependents 24 hours/day on a toll-free number and face-to-face professional counseling sessions and access to their website with a wide range of tools, resources and information. “ – Phillip Novak
• “My organization promotes wellness through Farmer’s Markets, healthy competition (Like the Biggest Loser), smoking cessation programs which are no cost and they cover any cessation programs like the patch, gum and lozenge. Additionally, they promote a healthy mind through increased awareness and programs. There is an entire website through the company that is dedicated to healthy mind, body and habits.” – Raina

 2.       They Have Buy-In from Leadership

• “Our company gives a very generous discount on the cost of our benefits for employees who participate in the wellness program…But perhaps the most important thing our company does to promote the wellness program is that is it embraced by our CEO and senior leaders within the company. Wellness is not viewed as an ‘HR initiative’ but as a core part of who we are as a company.” - Noreen
• “We have partnered with a local gym and our Senior Leaders are on board. We are trying to get as much employee participation as possible, to let them know that we care about their healthy work environment!” – Tori Hinote
• “Our CEO understands the importance of weight loss and healthy weight maintenance to offset the costs associated with healthcare – both now and in the future.” – Donna Cornwell

3.       Employees Are Never Far From Resources

• “We have an onsite fitness center with a trainer that provides continuous fitness challenges, boot camps, etc. We also have a physician’s assistant who works on site full time so we have immediate access to the seasonal ailments and we have our prescriptions delivered to the office.” – Janet J.
• “Our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provider conducts voluntary annual blood draws onsite at our headquarters. They also arrange for branch associates to visit their local lab to have the screenings performed.” – Recruiter
• “Our company provides free access to on-site exercise facilities. We also provide access to education on exercise, diet, cooking, lifestyle and behavior modification (including a stop smoking program).” – Mark

4.       They Sweeten the Deal with Incentives

• “We offer a Creating Wellness Program to employees…Those who participate for 6 months then receive $25/month in wellness bucks (for gym memberships, yoga, Pilates, etc.) as a reward for continued involvement.” – Rick Thompson
• “Recently, we sponsored an 8 week fitness challenge and gave away an Ipod Touch for the winner… This year, our grand prize drawing will be for either a gym membership, Fitness equipment or a Nintendo WII with WII ACTIVE.” – Jenny
• “Each quarter employees are asked to set a Health Improvement Goal. We pay them $50/Qtr for meeting their goal…We have had tremendous success with this approach.” – Kimberly
• “Our company has a $300 wellness credit toward health insurance premiums for non-smokers and then provides programs for employees to quit smoking.” - Ally

5.     They’re Not Limited By Smaller Budgets

• “We have researched local ‘healthy’ vendors such as local gyms, Jamba Juice, Whole Foods, etc. and invited them to come onsite to talk about their products. It’s been working out great and it’s no cost to the company!” – Stefan
• “Although our wellness budget was reduced to ZERO this year, we continue to come up with new and interesting wellness initiatives… We are even offering cost-effective prizes, like jean days and premier parking!” – Holly
• “Our company just started our official ‘Steps to Wellness’ Program… The employees complete a “scorecard” with several tasks and turn the completed card in for a chance at a “Day Off With Pay”. The more staff who enter, the more days off we will raffle.” – Sue K
• “We have…raised funds to assist with our program by producing a cookbook that we sold.” – Mary Wicker
• “One really fun wellness initiative that my company implemented is building an employee vegetable garden…We just started the garden project this year and participation has been huge. This is a really fun project and is relatively inexpensive!” – Kathryn

 6.       They Assign Measurement to Gauge Success

• “We work with our insurance carrier to hold an annual health fair each year that consists of blood work for a variety of areas and each employee is given the results that day. The results are discussed with health coaches from our insurance carrier and given advice as to how to improve results in any areas that reflect a health issue. These statistics are used to determine where we need to concentrate our efforts to best improve the wellness of our employees…Since we have implemented the program our data from the health screenings have shown improvement each year which in turn helps to keep our health insurance cost down.” – Mary Wicker
• “In the year 2009 our corporate headquarters developed a 3 component program to get the employees premium costs down and in the long run, help them develop healthy life habits… This year the Myers Lawn and Garden site is conducting their 2nd annual health fair since the first one in August of 2009 was so successful…Employee participation is growing and the savings are too for both the employee and the company.” – Lee Herman
• “The goal is overall health of our employees. If we can prove that we have lowered healthcare costs and possibly insurance premiums for our employees, because of healthier lifestyles, we have been successful!” – Tori Hinote

7.      They Empower Employees

• “The company promoted wellness with the staff by also ‘promoting’ US…For example, I had always wanted to be a nutrition education writer, a secret desire of mine…The company decided to start putting out a monthly newsletter in the club for our members and not only was I asked to be a columnist, but I was asked to be the editor as well. Our whole staff took part in the newsletter, writing about their known specialty in the field. This tactic was most rewarding for me, as I had the chance to really reach a long time goal of mine. This made me feel like I was on top of the world, how do you get more ‘well’ than that?” – Renee S.
• “List Innovative Solutions is extremely active in the community…and encourages its employees to do the same by sponsoring the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training Program…this allows our employees to be active and also give back at the same time.” – Jennifer Bonner
• “We encourage all employees to offer ideas on the ‘Healthy Life’ bulletin board so everyone gets a chance to bring something to the table!” – Dustin Shay

As I stated in my earlier post on readers’ company wellness programs, it’s great to see how many organizations take an active interest in their employees’ health – not just for employees, but for the companies themselves, as wellness programs can help employers cut costs related to healthcare, turnover and lost production.

What do you think? Care to add an “8^th habit” that makes your own company’s wellness program successful?

“How isn’t it?” Is more like it…Two weeks ago, we asked you to share with us if and how your organization promoted employee health and wellness.  Aside from giving you the chance to brag about how your organization could easily give Jillian Michaels a run for her money in the fitness coaching department, we also wanted to give you the chance to share with each other creative – and often cost-effective – ideas for promoting employee wellness.  

As it turns out, many of you have not just one or two, but several initiatives in place to help employees focus on improving their health – an effort that is as much a benefit to your company as it is to your workers: If implemented correctly, company-sponsored wellness programs effectively reduce company healthcare costs, employee turnover and incidences of employee absenteeism, according to Dr. Steven Williams, Director of E-Media Innovations and Business Development at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), who recently presented on this topic during the Annual SHRM Conference in San Diego last month. 

So what are you doing to promote employee wellness (and, in effect, cut costs)? Let’s take a look at the results…

READERS’ RESULTS: THE TOP 15 CORPORATE WELLNESS BENEFITS

With so much great feedback, it was nearly impossible to list all the initiatives individually, but several, listed below, were shared by a lot of you (see the full list of comments here):

1. Contests – most particularly, those inspired by TV’s “The Biggest Loser,” complete with some pretty lucrative awards (including iPods and hundreds of dollars in cash) – were among the most popular ways employers are motivating employees to get healthier.
2. In-house Weight Watchers programs offered for free or at a discount
3. Rewards systems where employees can exchange points earned through activity for “prizes” such as spa certificates, health club discounts, or gift cards toward sports apparel shops
4. Health living newsletters sent to employees on a weekly or monthly basis, complete with healthy living tips, exercises and recipes
5. Online tracking programs where employees can easily log and assess their progress toward a specified goal
6. Healthier snack alternatives to typical vending machine fare
7. On-site fitness facilities where employees can work out solo or participate in classes (often for free)
8. Organized sports teams or walking/running groups
9. Cash or discounts toward healthy purchases, including  fitness gear, weight loss programs, smoking cessation programs, or participation in community run/walks
10. On-site health fairs that include health assessments, massages and free, in-person consultations with community health professionals
11. Smoking cessation programs
12. Partial to full-paid health club membership fees
13. Free health screenings and assessments, accompanied by professional advice for understanding and improving the results
14. Employee assistance programs to help employees better their work/life balance, and providing help with everything from legal consultation to financial planning to stress management to childcare referrals.
15. Regular “lunch-and-learn” sessions where local wellness professionals present on healthy lifestyle topics

THE BEST OF THE REST – Here, in your own words, some other interesting perks that stood out:

• “We are getting rid of one of our coke machines and replacing it with a cooler that will hold 100% fruit juice.” - Sarah Benedum
• “We have onsite showers for those who go out for a run during the day or bike to work.” - Kathy
• “We’ve initiated walking groups, Weight Watchers, heart-healthy cooking demonstrations, team fitness challenges, and even a Salsa dancing class.” - Robert
• “For the month of July we have a ‘submit a healthy recipe’ contest planned. At the end of the [company’s summer-long] walking challenge, the recipes will be compiled into a book and distributed to our employees.” - Raelene Neumann
• “We have a Holiday Weigh In which runs from Thanksgiving week to the day after Super Bowl. The goal is to maintain or lose weight during the most challenging time of the year.” - Jane
• “Our agency sponsors an annual Wellness Day complete with…a spa corner featuring makeovers and massage and free organic vegetable plants for all participants.” – Rachel S.
• “One really fun wellness initiative that my company implemented is building an employee vegetable garden.” - Kathryn
• “The company promotes healthy living by providing health conscious snacks such as granola bars, fresh fruit, nuts and more. Water, protein shakes, fruit juice and sports drinks are also readily available at no cost to employees.” - Melissa
• “Our Fun Committee regularly organizes events for holidays, birthdays and, well, just for fun. Hat Day, High-Five Wednesday, Hula Hoop contests, Wii competitions - random, silly but fun and stress relieving.” - Carol
• “The company donates 40% of the fundraising amounts for [community] events that their employees choose to participate in, this allows our employees to be active and also give back at the same time.” – Jennifer Bonner
• “We…have drop-off and pick-up for our dry cleaning and a mechanic who comes on site to take care of things such as oil changes and other maintenance issues. Things like dry cleaning and auto care may not sound like a wellness issue, but when it keeps you from making additional errands with our already overloaded schedules, it reduces stress.” - Janet J.

Anything you want to add to the list? Feel free to do so in the comments section below. Otherwise, check out even more reader results in my follow-up: The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Corporate Wellness Programs.

While you were busy getting ready to own Steve Jobs, planning a single ladies’ night to the tune of $750 million or finally retiring those bright blue hot pants, here’s what was happening in employment news this week…

• All that time you spent watching the World Cup during work hours doesn’t have to be a total loss.
• Some people may have to put off that move to Florida.
• Managers need management, too.
• Will Bret Michaels make a cameo as an intern on VH1′s new reality show? (Fingers crossed!)
• Remember these scary intern stories for your next office camping trip.
• Older workers just can’t catch a break this week…
• Gay Google employees, on the other hand, are having a pretty good week. And finally…
• Hey Maywood, CA, why not just outsource your entire city?
• …and then maybe these CA state workers could apply for those jobs.

Anyone else looking at the latest Employment Situation report, released this morning by the BLS, and feeling like the die hard fan of a pro sports team that just can’t seem to get it together? (Cubs fans, you know what I’m talking about…Ditto for Saints fans pre-Super Bowl XLIV.)  

I’m referring to the news that U.S. payrolls declined in June – quite a setback after six months of job growth. And here, we thought we were doing so well! (Okay, well, maybe not so well, but at least the economy was gaining jobs…) But now here’s this huge blow, and it’s not only frustrating, but also a little scary to see the economy lose momentum like this. Am I right?  And yet, despite these setbacks, we continue to watch and to root for economic recovery because it’s simply what we’ve always done. And we’re not just hoping it will recover, but we believe it will - one of these days - because it has to. It just has to. (Sound familiar, sports fans?)

Sappy sports analogies aside, here are the, ahem, highlights of today’s unemployment situation report:

• Employers cut 125,000 jobs in June, the most since October 2009. (The loss was driven by the end of 225,000 temporary census jobs.
• Businesses added a net total of 83,000 workers, representing an improvement over May, but below March and April totals.
• The unemployment rate fell to 9.5 percent – mainly because 642,000 people gave up on their job force, and thus are no longer counted as unemployed.
•  The underemployment rate, however, is down to 16.5 percent (a modest improvement over the 16.6 percent in May

Despite the disappointing report, we’re not out of the game yet (seriously stopping with the sports references now, I swear). In fact, the results of CareerBuilder’s latest Hiring Forecast indicate that 41 percent of employers are planning to hire in the second half of the year.  For more highlights from the forecast, watch this clip of CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson on Squawk Box this morning, as he discusses the hiring outlook for the next half of the year:

Remember in Back to the Future II, when Marty travels to 2015 and sees that future Marty has the technology to video-conference in to his office from his very own living room and it was completely awesome?  Funny how that technology is actually a reality now.  (I can only hope this means good things for the hover board…) Sadly, video-conferencing is as far as Robert Zemeckis got in predicting what the workplace of the future would look like…

Fortunately, however, workplace experts Jeanne C. Meister and Karie Willyerd pick up where the movie director left off with their book, The 2020 Workplace: How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop & Keep Tomorrow’s Employees Today. While there’s no discussion of flying DeLoreans (tear), technology does play a major role in shaping what the workplace will look like 10 years from now – something the authors discussed in a recent MSN Careers article regarding how those changes will affect employees. 

We here at The Hiring Site, however, wanted to explore what impact those changes will have on the employer.  Read on, and then give us your thoughts below.

1. The Prediction: A More Diverse Workforce - “By 2020, the American workplace population will be more diverse: 63 percent white, 30 percent Latino, and 50 percent female. Four or even five generations, from Boomers to Generation 2020, will be working at once,” Meister and Willyerd say. What It Means for You: Certainly, a more diverse workforce means new challenges in recruiting and engaging these various groups, but if employers are up to the task, the payoffs will be significant. Employers can leverage the experiences and backgrounds of a diverse workforce for a broader exchange of ideas, knowledge and opportunities.
2. The Prediction: More Corporate Social Responsibility - “Companies that once only operated for profit will place new emphasis on the importance of its people, as well as the impact the company’s existence has on the planet. The new bottom line will incorporate profit, people and planet,” the authors say. What It Means for You: Not only will an increased focus on social responsibility benefit the community, but it will also help employers’ recruiting efforts: A recent Staffing Industry Review study found that job seekers gravitate to social responsible companies.
3. The Prediction: More Social Technology – “Vlogging, Twitter, intranet chat rooms, Skyping — even today, there’s a vast array of online communication tools, with more to come.” What It Means for You: More tools available by which to facilitate communication mean more ways to facilitate learning and collaboration – both within and across departments. Of course, there’s such a thing as too many choices, and companies that don’t take the time to find the social technology that fits within their culture may not fully realize these benefits.
4. The Prediction: Mobile Workplaces - “Increasingly powerful mobile phones are replacing laptops as the main work device.” What It Means for You: Ideally, a more mobile workforce means a more productive workforce – and more opportunities for flexible work arrangements; however, if employees feel as if they’re on call 24/7, it can blur the line between work and life altogether. In a recent CareerBuilder survey, 17 percent of workers said they feel like their work day never ends because of the technology connecting them to the office. As workplaces become increasingly mobile, employers will have to work that much harder to ensure their workers do not get burned out and allow themselves technology-free time when away from work.
5. The Prediction: More Work/Life Flexibility  - “For younger generations, work is a significant part of their life, but they don’t compartmentalize it like older generations tend to. It isn’t about work-life ‘balance;’ it’s about work/life integration.” What It Means for You: While advancements in technology make it increasingly easy for employers to offer flexible schedules, flexible schedules may not work for every company culture.  Employers who want to offer this benefit should take a good look at their company culture and see what may need to change first.
6. The Prediction: Serious Play as a Training Tool – “‘Sims’ (Simulated Games) is the new buzz word in training: online Sims allow employees to learn new jobs through low-risk direct practice.” What It Means for You: Some companies are already embracing “serious games” to train employees. As this type of technology becomes increasingly accessible to employers, virtual training programs could very well become standard. Employers would be wise to start looking into these types of training programs now to stay ahead of the curve.
7. The Prediction: A Different Kind of Mentoring – “One-on-one mentoring is still a powerful way to develop employees, but companies will also use reverse-, micro- and group-mentoring.” What It Means for You:  Mentoring will become increasingly important as employers deal with the impending talent shortage (see #10). Employers shouldn’t wait until then, however, to create opportunities for colleagues to collaborate and teach one another.
8. The Prediction: The Democratization of Information - “Digital record keeping makes company information accessible to all.” What It Means for You: More transparency means more accountability on leadership’s end to ensure they’re putting the organization’s stated mission and values into practice. Good news for employers who already do this. Bad news for those who don’t. Where do you fall?  
9. The Prediction: An Increase in Personal Branding – “Social technologies track personal ratings, referrals and reputations.” What It Means for You: Considering nearly half of employers already use social networking sites to recruit, it comes as little surprise that savvy candidates will also utilize these sites to build their personal brands. This could be a win/win.
10. The Prediction: Talent Shortage – “There’s a big gap between all the Boomers retiring and the number of Generation X’ers available to fill their shoes.” What It Means for You: Again, no surprises here as employers already complaining that, despite the plethora of job seekers out there, they still can’t find the right talent for their positions. This shortage places an even greater demand on employers to start providing training, development and mentoring programs now to build and retain their future leaders.  

What’s your take? What changes (or challenges) do you foresee the 2020 workplace?

While you were busy totally seeing this coming, inexplicably getting your own YouTube channel,  or showing would-be iPhone owners what waiting in line for a guilty pleasure really looks like, here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• America’s CEOs are hoping to make this year more like 2007.  
• If you’ve ever been the victim of office chair envy (yes, it’s a thing) you know just how serious the matter is…   
• We know the rules bend slightly in the summer, but some employees are playing fast and loose with the term “casual dress.”
• Japanese employers are all, “You can’t pull off a beard, so don’t even try.”
• The government gives gay workers another reason to celebrate during Gay Pride Month.
• What to do when you can’t add employees? Add employee hours.   
• Tips to avoid getting burned (out) at work. And finally…
• It’s time to start hittin’ the ol’ “delete” button.

Care to offer some insight?

Earlier this week, my colleague over at our job seeker blog, The Work Buzz, Kaitlin Madden, told me about an article she’s working on about what constitutes a deal breaker for hiring managers or recruiters.  So I thought I’d help her out by asking for your feedback…

What do you consider a deal breaker…during an interview? On a resume or in a cover letter? During salary negotiations?

That is, what’s the one thing a candidate can do – or, rather, has done – to immediately take him or herself out  of the running for consideration?

Got any stories to share?  Maybe a few words of wisdom? (It could end up working out in your favor…After all, the more we educate job seekers on the behavior that they should avoid – or altogether abolish – the more head- and heartache it’ll save everyone in the end…) 

Please give us your thoughts in the comments below!  (Got something to say, but don’t want to leave it as a comment? Feel free to email me your stories instead!)

You know when people ask if you should read the book before you see the movie?  Well, that’s kind of how I felt upon reading Tony Hsieh’s new book, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose, his personal account of helping develop and become CEO of successful online retailer Zappos.

The book is divided into three parts. The first is a look back at Hsieh’s childhood, wherein Hsieh shows signs of drive, business-savvy and entrepreneurship from a young age, setting the stage to become a successful business owner before turning 30.  The second part of the book focuses on his life as CEO of Zappos and the inner workings of Zappos’ famous corporate culture. The third part of the book recounts Zappos’ Amazon buyout, bringing us to present day and Hsieh’s new role as a public speaker on the topics of culture and values.  Hsieh concludes the book by driving home its central theme that, basically, as long as you do what you’re passionate about, everything else will fall into place.

Does It Deliver?
I had the pleasure of seeing Hsieh give an incredible keynote at SXSW in 2009, so I was excited to read the “book version” of the speech – and learn even more about the inner workings of the company made famous for its unique culture, superior customer service, and innovative use of social media. In person, Hsieh is a dynamic speaker, with the ability to captivate audiences and clearly convey the passion he feels for running his business, giving his customers that “wow” feeling, engaging his employees and, of course, delivering happiness.

… And yet, something gets lost in the translation to paper. 

The book falls flat in storytelling and short on expectations. Perhaps it’s his decision not to use a ghostwriter that works against his pursuit to truly convey the entire story to his audience. While his decision to do so is brave (he admits that he is not a writer, but makes no apologies for it) and consistent with his mission to maintain transparency, it is also distracting.  He has a tendency to “tell” rather than “show” – a cardinal sin in any English writing course – and his overuse of cliché acts as filler to distract from the lack of any real emotions he might convey.

In fact, it is only through the employee anecdotes – placed throughout the section about core values to illustrate how employees incorporate these values into their lives – that the reader finally gets a true feel for the culture. At one point, Hsieh himself even mentions that his employees’ stories are among the biggest crowd-pleasers at his speaking engagements…which is why it’s disappointing that of the countless stories Hsieh claims his employees could tell about their experiences at Zappos, only a handful of these stories appear in the book. Sure, Hsieh tells plenty of his own stories, but he relies so heavily on hackneyed phrases to describe significant events that his stories lose any unique perspective and distract from the details that his audience truly craves.

We never find out, for example, what made him decide to create a formal set of core values, when he fought so long to stay away from something that once seemed “so corporate,” or how he came up with the unlikely decision to pay new employees $2,000 to quit.  And it remains a mystery as to why some things with which so many other companies struggle – mainly, letting employees use social media as both a job seeker and customer engagement tool – comes so easily to Zappos. The whole concept of using Twitter to recruit and retain employees is all but glossed over – which is surprising in light of the fact that Zappos basically set the bar for using Twitter for business purposes.

The Verdict
If you’re looking for a rags-to-riches memoir of a company that came into its own, you won’t find it here. (Compared with other companies, the obstacles Zappos has had to overcome seem relatively mild.) Nor will you find a comprehensive business book explaining how to better your corporate culture.

While Hsieh talks at length about the things that make Zappos such a unique culture, he says very little about how Zappos’ actually got to that point. What’s missing are the details of the growing pains the company went through to get to that point. Even for a company that seems to get everything about culture and internal communications right, it’s hard to believe some of those lessons weren’t learned the hard way.  What you will get is an overview of life at Zappos and, in that, several tips and new ideas for creating or strengthening your own corporate culture (and possibly the urge to apply for a job at Zappos).

Ultimately, Hsieh seeks to inspire the reader to pursue his or her passion, and, were Hsieh a better writer, he might come close to achieveing that. But he falls short of of properly conveying the level of passion he so adeptly shows in person, and thus, fails to say anything on paper that truly resonates with audiences. My advice? Skip the book, look for Hsieh at a speaking event, and see the live version instead.  You’ll get your money’s worth.

Disclosure: I received a free promotional copy of Delivering Happiness.

While you were busy figuring out what to spend today’s $59 on, suddenly thinking that having lactose intolerance wouldn’t be that bad, or (shameless plus alert) seeing all the free stuff you could get when you visit Booth #1419 during SHRM 2010 in San Diego!…here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• If you or someone you know abuses the “Reply all” button, you should read this.
• Speaking of… if it IS a ‘must-reply-all’ e-mail situation, avoid saying these 23 things.   
• Can you divorce yourself from the family business?
• It’s sort of like Netflix for your business needs.
• Oprah sure knows how to show up every other boss in the world recognize her employees.
• ‘World Cup madness’ takes on a whole new meaning at the office
• The next best thing to reading your employees’ minds.
• U.S. oil spill workers find themselves dealing with a whole other mess. And finally…
• Do you think Steve Forbes’ employees get a raise if he gets more Twitter followers than Ashton?

There’s been growing evidence to suggest that not only do American workers need to better care of their health and wellness (recent studies show correlations between job stress and weight gain, and working overtime and heart health), but also that companies benefit from wellness programs, which help them cut back on costs related to healthcare and lost productivity.

Given these findings, it’s no wonder that more companies are finding ways to entice employees to get healthier, by sponsoring contests or offering cash incentives for everything from losing weight, to quitting smoking, to providing healthier food choices at the workplace. 

Since this seems to be the latest trend and all, it got us wondering over here at The Hiring Site what else companies are doing to promote employee health and wellness. So now, we’re asking you, our readers, to share…

How is your company promoting employee health and wellness? Whatever your organization is doing to encourage employees to focus on their health – whether through something similar to the efforts mentioned above or some other initiative – we want to hear about it!

Aside from satisfying our own curiosity, we hope that this idea share will help you discover and think about new ways to promote employee wellness. You could discover new, inexpensive ways to offer a unique benefit that will not only help you cut costs at your own organization, but make you even more valuable in the eyes of current and future employees.  

And just to (naturally) sweeten the deal, by participating in the comments section below – you’ll automatically be entered for the chance to win $200 worth of fitness gear – including a duffle bag, eco-friendly stainless steel water bottle, heart rate monitor, digital bathroom scale and an iPod Shuffle!

HOW TO ENTER:
Simply answer this question – “How is your company promoting employee health and wellness?”– in the comments section below, and you’ll automatically be entered to win more than $200 worth of fitness gear – complete with a premium quality duffle bag, water bottle, heart rate monitor, digital bathroom scale, and iPod Shuffle.  Just be sure to abide by the terms and conditions.

CONTEST DETAILS:
Entries will be accepted from 12:00 a.m. CST on Monday, June 14, 2010 until 11:59 p.m. CST on Friday, June 18, 2010.  Each account may only submit one answer for consideration; subsequent entries will not be considered. Spam responses will not be considered. The winner will be picked at random and notified via e-mail the week of June 21, 2010. Please read the full list of official contest rules and regulations.

While you were busy denying you were ever a member of the Tag Team crew, exchanging text messages with child services,  or becoming the unlikely (to everyone but my grandmother) new queen of daytime TV, here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• The editor of this article about how a beer company successfully recruits new employees beat me to the pun…
• I could make a good case for why “Dancing With The Stars” could be on this list.
• employment situation report, planning to hire this quarter, according to a new survey.
• You say you don’t want to hire unemployed workers? You may want to reconsider…
• Turns out it’s not just job seekers who feel frustrated right now.
• Offering workers flex time to watch the World Cup? You may want to reconsider.
• Turns out it’s not just basketball players who learned John Wooden’s coaching.
• Nobody likes a complainer…especially at this energy company.
• The debate continues…And finally…
• Don’t you hate when this happens to you?

Going to the 2010 SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition in San Diego?  We’ve got 5 reasons for you to visit CareerBuilder Booth #1419 while you’re there:

1. To pick up your free report on talent compensation…which you have until June 18 to register for by going to www.careerbuilder.com/shrm2010/report. (Did we mention it’s worth $150? No? Well, it’s worth $150. Just a little fyi…)
2. To see presentations on topics that you get to pick. That’s right: You have from now until June 20 to visit www.careerbuilder.com/shrm2010/vote and select up to three topics that you’re most interested in learning about. CareerBuilder is creating its presentation schedule around your interests, and is choosing its presentation topics based on audience vote…Check back after the 21^st to see the finalized schedule – or simply stop by booth 1419 during conference breaks.
3. We’re throwing a birthday party! On Monday, June 28, CareerBuilder celebrates the one year anniversary of our Applicant Experience service – and everyone’s invited to join us.  Stop by the booth between noon and 2 p.m. for free food and drinks!
4. To speak with our recruitment experts about ways to better your recruitment process. Our recruitment experts will be on hand to answer questions and discuss ways to help you meet your recruitment related goals, solve your most baffling talent questions or simply make your life easier overall.
5. (More) free stuff. Who needs another conference T-shirt? You do! (But trust us..these aren’t your mother’s conference T-shirts…) As a token of our appreciation for visiting us at booth 1419, we’re giving away some great door prizes – so don’t miss out!

Want to let others know you’ll be visiting us at SHRM? RSVP on Facebook.

DOWNLOAD a free one-day expo pass, compliments of SHRM.

Can’t Make It to SHRM This Year? Follow us on Twitter (#CBSHRM10) for real-time updates on all the conference action – and check back here for daily recaps from the conference room floor.

For more information on what we have in store for SHRM 2010, visit www.careerbuilder.com/shrm2010 or if you have specific questions, feel free to leave it in the comments section below!

And why wouldn’t there be?

Well, it’s the first Friday of June, and while it may just be a coincidence that there are free donuts available on the very same day the latest Employment Situation report is released, it is awfully convenient: After seeing these numbers, you might be in need of some comfort food.  

Because while jobs did grow this month, they fell far short of analysts’ predictions. And while the unemployment rate did go down, it’s largely because many unemployed workers gave up their job searches. Here are the highlights: 

• Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 431,000 in May (driven by the hiring of 411,000 temporary Census workers)
• Private employers added just 41,000 jobs in May – down sharply from 218,000 in April and the fewest since January.
• The unemployment rate decreased from 9.9 percent to 9.7 percent (which seems like good news until you realize that it reflects that people gave up searching for work.)
• The underemployment rate (those who’ve given up looking for work and part-timers who would rather be working full time) fell from 17.1 percent in April to 16.6 percent in May.
• All told, 15 million people were unemployed in May.

Understandably, this month’s report is being called “disappointing,” and, indeed, it is; however, I’m kind of trying to view this report like I did the ending of “Lost” (no spoilers here, I promise).  While both fell short of my expectations and left a lot of unanswered questions, I also kind of saw this coming all along…That is to say, there’s nothing to me all that shocking in the report.

After all, the overall takeaways from the report remain are the same as they’ve been in previous months:  Private employers are still hesitant to bring on full-time workers, jobs are still being added – but still at a frustratingly slow pace – and it still looks like it’s going to be a while before there is significant relief for the roughly 15 million unemployed Americans.

While you were busy snagging your free donut, snagging free ice cream, and gorging on both to numb the pain while watching a particularly bittersweet “Golden Girls” marathon, here’s what was happening in employment news this week…

• Employers are attempting to cut down the fat – in more ways than one.
• Jack Cafferty asks, “How do you define ‘job’ in 2010?”
• For all the lies on Mark Kirk’s resume, at least he never claimed to be a Kennedy.
• Don’t you hate when this happens to you?  
• Hiring? Full-tie workers are out. Contractors are in.  
• It’s not just resumes: A lot of want ads leave a lot to be desired. And finally…
• Employees feeling unproductive? It might be time to spring clean the office.

Leading up to tomorrow’s unemployment report, CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” this morning to discuss regional job market trends based on CareerBuilder.com listings. 

Regional Job Market Trends
Among the highlights of Ferguson’s interview:

• In terms of jobs opening up, there has been a continual, but moderate increase of job postings on CareerBuilder.com, indicating that employers are starting to hire again
• Big cities, like New York and San Francisco, are seeing the most improvement in terms of the number of jobs available
• General positions, such as those in the sales, marketing, healthcare and hospitality, are making the biggest comebacks right now
• The Silicon Valley job market is also tightening up, with IT execs claiming they are having a hard time filling open positions

New Tool to Help Employers
Ferguson also discussed the official launch of hireINSIDER, a new tool from CareerBuilder with benefits for both job seekers and employers. According to the press release:

hireINSIDER also benefits employers who may not have the time or resources to respond to an increasing amount of applications in a tough economy.  By providing the feedback that job seekers need, it helps to alleviate the negative impact that a lack of response can have on a company’s employment brand.  Employers can also utilize hireINSIDER’s technology to gain a better understanding of the demographics of their applicant pool.   

Tomorrow, the BLS releases it’s monthly employment report. Check back here for highlights from the report.

While most of the discussions we’ve had here on The Hiring Site about social media recruitment focus on its benefits, I wanted to take the opportunity to address a recent whitepaper by talent management firm Taleo about social media recruitment’s potential risks.  (The main risk being, according to the paper, that companies could, in theory, be accused of practicing discrimination by advertising their opportunities on sites whose user demographic disproportionately represents the workforce demographic.)

While it’s good to be aware of the potential risks Taleo mentions in the whitepaper, it is important to point out that these risks represent the exception, not the rule. 

The biggest risk comes from when companies use only social networking sites to source candidates, which could put them at risk for discrimination, according to Taleo, because advertising on just one type of social networking site that attracts only a certain demographic could be seen as an intent to exclude others. (For instance, because the demographic of LinkedIn users disproportionately represents the demographic of the entire workforce, using LinkedIn to source candidates, it could be argued, excludes some groups from getting equal opportunities for employment at your organization.)

But smart companies already know better than to limit their recruiting efforts to just social media because they recognize that social media is just one part of an overall recruitment mix, used to supplement other talent engagement and attraction efforts.

“Anyone who suggests social media be the sole source for any company’s recruiting, or recruiting for a specific position for that matter, is giving bad advice,” says Melissa Murray, Emerging Media Consultant at Personified.

For instance, used in conjunction with postings, hiring events, internal referrals, college tradeshows, etc., social media adds another channel to attracting the right talent to an organization. And while some companies use it for sourcing, it is best used for employment branding and attracting candidates to apply to jobs.

(This isn’t just good legal advice, by the way – it’s smart marketing. Using a variety of channels by which to advertise your open positions will ensure you get in front of a wider range of diverse candidates, each with different skills to offer and ideas to bring to the table.)

In fact, if anything, Taleo’s report is simply a reminder of what companies should be doing anyway (and, for the most part, already are) when it comes to recruitiment, namely:

1. Plan ahead.  Discuss potential risks and contingencies with your legal team, PR department and human resources managers before getting involved in social media.
2. Train your recruiters – whether internally or with the aid of a third-party consultant – on the social networking tools that your company plans on using – in addition to general training on Affirmative Action, EEOC and your company’s own practices to improve its diversity and inclusion efforts.
3. Create social media guidelines for your company and make sure your employees – or whoever is representing your company in the social media space – are well-versed in these guidelines.

“Bottom line,” says Murray, “If a company’s application process is compliant, and they’re inviting candidates from a variety of platforms, they’re creating a diverse pool. It’s up to their sourcing team and hiring managers to select from this pool in a way that supports the company’s diversity initiatives.”

So long as you view social media as a complement to – and not a replacement for – your overall recruiting process, you can still reap the benefits of a social media recruitment strategy.

While you were busy pondering about a thousand or so unanswered questions, wondering why you never thought to put your favorite NBA team’s logo on a pizza (seems so obvious now, doesn’t it?), taking the movie Up a little too literally or planning an amaaaaazing Memorial Day barbecue, here’s what you may have missed in the world of talent management and recruitment.

• The latest ‘fired because of Facebook’ story is a total joke.
• Saying no to employee vacation requests could get you burned.
• Take that, Farmville, Mafia Wars and Scrabble…Even after all these years, Pac-Man’s still got it.
• An ex-employee tried to give away secrets of the club that’s made for you and me.  
• Zappos’ CEO discusses delivering happiness (and not just in the form of shoes…although that’s a close second).  
• Employees will play a critical part in the United Airlines and Continental merger.
• FYI…when you hire Gen Y, you’re also hiring their parents. And finally…
• Quit happens.

No surprises here: American workers need a vacation now more than ever. 

And thanks to an improving economy, more workers are tending to that need this year, according to CareerBuilder’s annual vacation survey. 

According to the survey of nearly 4,800 workers, 56 percent of workers say they are more in need of a vacation in 2010 than they have been in past years. With less anxiety over job stability and the economy, 36 percent say they feel more comfortable taking a vacation this year than they felt in 2009.

Not only are they more likely to take a vacation, but workers say they’re taking longer vacations, too, with 23 percent saying they plan to take a week off this year (up from 19 percent who said the same last year) and 12 percent will take off two weeks or more. 

And while 21 percent of workers say they still can’t afford a vacation this year, that’s slightly less than 25 percent who said the same in 2009. (Hey, a slight decrease is still a decrease – we’ll take it!)

Beach BlackBerry Bingo
While employees are a little more lax about taking time away from the office, many still plan – and are expected by their bosses – to check in while they’re away: 

• 49 percent of employers say they expect employees to check in with the office while they are away (down slightly from 50 percent who said the same last year)
• 37 percent indicated that checking in would only be necessary only if they are working on a big project or there is a major issue going on with the company (down from 40 percent who said the same last year) 
• And where 28 percent of workers said they planned to contact the office during vacation regardless last year, slightly fewer workers – 25 percent – said the same this year.

Companies Need Employee Vacations, Too
Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, says that it is to a company’s benefit when workers take advantage of their vacation benefits.  “Utilizing time off to recharge batteries is even more important today as staffs have shrunk over the last 18 months and workers are dealing with added responsibilities and pressure,” she says.  

Now that it’s prime time to schedule some days off, help ensure that your employees’ time off is a true break from the office:

1. Encourage your employees to take advantage of their vacation benefits. They’ll appreciate that you’re looking out for their best interests – and the time off…and that can only improve morale.
2. Encourage your employees to check in with one another – If you are operating with smaller staffs, having more than one person out of the office can negatively impact productivity.  Ask that your employees be flexible with one another and work together to schedule vacation time before booking anything. 
3. Encourage your employees to plan ahead – Give yourself – and your vacationing employees – peace of mind by planning for the unexpected. Before they leave, encourage your employees to start keeping a record of important information, key contacts and deadlines that will come up while they are gone and give it to a coworker they have trained to fill in for them while they are gone.
4. Lead by example – If you are a supervisor, you should go through all the steps of planning and executing a successful vacation away from the office. That way, your workers will be more comfortable doing the same. 

While you were spending precious work hours your leisure time playing the best new party game EVER, opening a moral and ethical can of worms, or withdrawing $20 fast cash in solemn tribute to the inventor of the ATM, here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Gen Y job seekers aren’t asking for a green workplace — they’re demanding it.   
• Gender stereotypes at work go both ways.
• If anyone can make internships trendy, it’s Lady Gaga.  
• Serious thoughts on leadership from the CEO of The Onion   
• The Rhode Island school that fired its 93 staff members last year is all “My bad!”
• Woman’s Day names the 7 Stupidest Employee Mistakes Ever
• Don’t worry. Your employees (probably) won’t do (all of) these things while you’re away.
• New technology makes it possible for you to work remotely and still creep out your colleagues…and finally…
• Are smartphones making employees act stupid?

While you were busy tasting a genuine American burger, denying divorce rumors, or ending an respectable 85-year-old career…here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Here’s where the ‘transferrable’ part of transferrable skills comes into play…
• We needed 11 years’ worth of scientific research to tell us this?
• Buffalo job seekers are subtle.
• Twitter isn’t your everyday social network (…in fact, it really isn’t a social network at all.)
• Here’s where the ‘constructive’ part of constructive criticism come into play…
• Was there plan B? (Because here’s where the ‘B’ part would…well, you know.)
• Not this old excuse again…
• Proof that you really never know what you’re going to find when you Google yourself. And finally…
• Company-paid incentive trips aren’t just for Oprah’s employees anymore.

True story.  According to a new CareerBuilder survey of more than 2,700 employers and 4,800 workers nationwide, 33 percent of workers said they are likely to start looking for a new job when the economy picks up. 

(Could you imagine losing an entire third of your employee base? That would be like, say your staff was the Jonas Brothers, okay? And Joe Jonas suddenly up and leaves to join another band.  Consider the toll that would take on the quality of…Okay, maybe that’s not the world’s greatest analogy, but the point is, it would be bad.)

Anyway, in the same survey, nearly the same amount of employers (32 percent) say they are concerned about losing their high performing workers in the second quarter of this year (as, apparently, they should be). 

What Makes Good Employees Stray?
Dissatisfaction with pay (32 percent), career advancement opportunities (27 percent) and work/life balance (22 percent) were the top reasons employees gave for wanting to leave their current jobs, an increase from the 29 percent, 24 percent and 20 percent, respectively, who said the same in 2009.  

The increased levels of dissatisfaction could be attributed that increased workloads, longer hours and fewer resources related to the recession may be contributing to higher job dissatisfaction.

What Makes Good Employees Stay?
Understanding what you’re employees want is the first step to keeping them motivated and happy and retaining them.  After competitive pay and benefits, the following incentives topped hospitality workers’ “most wanted” list of employer offerings:

1. Good career advancement opportunities (60 percent)
2. A good work culture (57 percent)
3. Company’s financial stability and growth potential (52 percent)
4. Training and learning opportunities (47 percent)
5. Less stressful work environment (45 percent)
6. Flexible work arrangements (43 percent)
7. Sense of ownership in their position, that they can make a difference (42 percent)
8. Camaraderie, more family-like work environment (34 percent)

Asked what they were doing to hold on to top talent and reduce turnover, employers listed the following:

• Offering more flexible work arrangements
• Investing more in employee training
• Promising future raises or promotions
• Offering more performance-based incentives, such as trips and bonuses
• Providing a higher title without a higher salary

 What is your company doing to keep Joe Jonas in the band retain workers?

Despite a recovering job market, there appears to be no year-over-year increase in employers’ summer hiring plans this year, according to CareerBuilder’s Annual Summer Hiring Forecast, released today. 

According to the survey of more than 2,700 employers nationwide, 22 percent of employers plan to hire seasonal workers this summer, in line with estimates from 2009. Fifteen percent of employers say they are planning to hire the same amount of summer workers as last year, while 5 percent plan to add fewer.

“While companies have begun to take steps in the right direction toward rebuilding their workforces, their summer hiring plans clearly show that they are still waiting to see what the future brings before they move forward with recruitment,” said Rosemary Haefner, CareerBuilder’s vice president of human resources, in the press release.

Summer plans? Of those employers who say they plan to hire seasonal workers this summer, 

• 71 percent will offer the same pay to seasonal workers this year as they did last year, while 14 percent will offer more…
• …and 57 percent will consider bringing these employees on full-time in the fall.

What’s a seasonal worker worth? Here’s a breakdown of the compensation offerings from employers this summer:

• 43 percent of employers are offering $10 or more per hour
• 30 percent will offer between $8 and $10 per hour
• 9 percent will offer less than $7 per hour
• 6 percent will offer $20 or more per hour

Who’s hiring? Across all industries, those doing the most hiring include:  

• Retail – 40 percent
• Hospitality – 33 percent
• Office support – 28 percent
• Customer service – 21 percent
• Landscape/maintenance – 16 percent
• Research – 13 percent
• Sales – 12 percent
• Restaurant/food service – 12 percent

While the moderate hiring forecast inevitably means more competition among job seekers, it doesn’t necessarily mean recruiting and hiring managers are going to have it any easier when it comes to finding qualified workers. If you’re in the market to hire, follow these tips from QSR Magazine:

1. Think “seasonal,” not “temporary”: The term temporary implies that workers aren’t really invested in the company when in fact you want employees who are sufficiently invested in the company and its future. (Workforce.com also has a great article about how to manage “nonstandard” work arrangements.)
2. Consider rehiring: Managers often keep track of former seasonal workers who are on breaks from school again and may be interested in coming back for work again. You also save money on training this way.
3. There’s no time like the present: Summer workers begin looking up to two months in advance…meaning employers would do well to start their candidate searches now in order to get their pick of the seasonal talent litter.
4. Set clear expectations from the start: To avoid confusion/trouble/plain-ol’-awkwardness later on, ensure your employees understand from the beginning that they are being hired as seasonal help, that their hours or a full-time position are not guaranteed, or anything else they need to understand about their contracts. 

In case you missed the BLS’ employment report released Friday, check out a quick recap in the First Business video below, where Brent Rasmussen, President of North America at CareerBuilder, talks about the highlights of the report and what it means for the current and future state of the job market:

Among the highlights of the report:

• Employment rose by 290,000 in April, surpassing the 185,000 predicted by economists
• The unemployment rate, which hit 9.9 percent, increased due to the number of people who, previously discouraged from looking for jobs, have resumed their job searches (the unemployment rate only captures those who are actively looking for jobs)
• Hourly wages increased slightly last month, to $22.47 from $22.46
• The average work week increased to 34.1 hours from 34 hours in March
• The manufacturing industry sector experienced the biggest boost in growth, adding 44,000 jobs; followed by temporary help services (26,000); health care (20,100); construction (14,000); retail (12,400); mining (7,000); computer systems design (7,000) and federal government (66,000 – due largely to temporary workers hired for the census) 
• The transportation and warehousing and information companies industry sectors all cut jobs last month

While recovery is well underway, its status as a slow one has yet to change. With the economy growing at just a 3.2 percent pace in the first quarter of this year, it has a long way to go to catch up for the 6 percent to 8 percent per quarter gains it needs in order for employers to start hiring significantly.

Last week, I challenged readers to share the most difficult interview questions they’ve ever gotten – as interviewers. 

From the blunt (“What don’t you like about working for your company?”) to the bizarre (“If you walked into a room filled with jars and I was one of the jars, what would I have to contain to stand out from the others?”), the only thing more surprising than the actual questions our readers submitted were the surprisingly insightful lessons they gleaned from those questions.  

So without further ado, I present The Hiring Site readers’ nominees for the most difficult-to-answer interview questions they ever received from job candidates…and what they took away from the experience:

• “What is your company’s mission statement?” Seems like an innocent enough question, but Christina Thais was still relatively new to her company when a candidate asked her this during a phone interview, causing her to go blank. Another reader, Angie, had a similar experience when a candidate asked her to describe the company’s corporate culture. Since then, Angie writes, she has “taken the time to really think about how to communicate our corporate culture to future candidates.” Lesson learned: Both Christina and Angie’s experience highlight how important it is to ensure your employees understand the company vision, mission and values and constantly look for opportunities to communicate these things. Not only will the constant reminders keep you and your employees accountable for upholding these values and objectives, but the ability to recite these things off the bat is a sign to candidates that you actually “walk the walk.”  
• “What don’t you like about working for your company?” After being asked this question, reader Jessica writes, “I now prepare myself with potential similar difficult questions that may come up during the interview process.” Lesson learned: Alas, you can’t anticipate every difficult question that’s going to come your way, but you can anticipate that difficult questions will come up, and when they do, your best bet will be to simply tell the truth.  After all, if you’re dishonest or bend the truth, you risk the chance of setting false expectations for the candidate. A sugar-coated answer might help you fill the position, but it won’t stay filled very long. [Side note: This is also a good attitude to have if you, like one reader, Bridget, ever get a question like: “If you walked into a room filled with jars and I was one of the jars, what would I have to contain to stand out from the others?” “I’m still not sure how to answer that question,” Bridget writes.]
• “So what’s in it for me?” Another reader, NL, remembers being “appalled” when a potential candidate for an entry-level receptionist position asked this, the second in a line of questioning that began, “Why should I accept an offer to work for this company? Obviously, you’re not Google, with candidates sending you flowers, balloon telegrams or banging on your door to get it in.” Lesson learned: Not only did the candidate’s attitude reveal that she would not be a good fit for the company and that “phone screens are essential!” but it also seemed to confirm what NL already knew: It’s more than okay to not be Google. “Considering that every other candidate had heard about us prior to even applying…we are doing something right.”
• “Will you be keeping in touch? WILL you?”  It’s easy to forget how heavily candidates depend on that post-interview phone call from you…until one of them actually says so. Such is what happened to one commenter, J., who was met with bitter disbelief after promising to keep in touch with one candidate, who had apparently been (falsely) told one too many times by recruiters that she’d be called back.  Lesson learned: The confrontation taught J. ”that a response to a candidate is not a courtesy, it’s an essential part of the process and should never, ever be overlooked or taken lightly. We are dealing with real people with real lives and very real concerns and challenges. Every one of them deserves respect, and a response.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.
• “How many healthy choices do you offer in your vending machine?” When Eileen Hershkowitz received this question as well as many others about various working conditions at her company that promoted a healthy lifestyle, she realized that the candidate was seeking affirmation that her company not only talked about employee wellness, but truly executed that in its culture. Lesson learned: Eileen writes, “The candidate really had a valid point in my mind and made me re-think how important areas such as break rooms, and choices in vending machines and/or cafeterias can affect how your employees view your organization in the commitment to its most valuable resource.” In other words, it’s in the every day things things companies do – not just through quarterly bonuses, annual awards or periodic celebrations – that communicate to your employees that you sincerely value their efforts, support them and want to ensure their success. 
• “What are the specific steps you as my manager take to ensure my success in this position, and what are your procedures for preparing for my termination if I’m not?” After getting this question at the end of a sales position interview, reader James was understandably thrown off guard. After all, not many people ask about the firing process; however, James wrote that it made him consider how his accountability practices play into his goals for his team’s performance.   Lesson learned: “Interviews (especially for sales positions) need to include detailed expectations for success and ‘how’ the candidates will be held accountable for that success so that he/she knows exactly what will be expected of them should they get the job.”
• “Why isn’t anybody that works at your company happy?” Sure, it’s not the most eloquently phrased question, and perhaps a tad on the presumptuous side, but when a candidate  threw this question to one anonymous reader, rather than take offense and immediately dismiss the candidate, the interviewer instead took the opportunity to find out where the candidate had gotten such an impression and clarify any misconceptions about the company. Lesson learned: The interview process provides an opportunity to find out how well your company is executing its employment brand, and give insight into how to better execute it. 
• “What do you do if he (the owner) dies?” Despite its bluntness, reader Brett found this question to be smart once he realized that the candidate was thinking long term, and was concerned about the company’s viability should he be hired. Brett writes that this question “made me start to think – we prep for a lot of things like talking salary & benefits because we think about what we’d want to know… but you never know who’s sitting on the other side of the desk and what their wants/needs are…”  Lesson learned: Brett brings up a good point about the importance of doing the right research to understand candidate attitudes, behaviors and perceptions when recruiting and trying to sell your company to candidates.

The overall lesson?
At the very least, questions like these can give you insight into how an individual thinks and his or her motives for taking a job, as well as a glimpse into their soft skills, what kind of employee they will make and how, if hired, they would potentially sell your company to others, to name just a few additional benefits.

At the most, these questions can help prepare you for future interviews and give you insight into something about your company that needs to be addressed (see “Why isn’t anybody who works at your company happy?” above) – whether it’s better communication about the company mission statement, or the fact that you need to better manage or build your external employment brand.

What about you? Any questions of your own to add to the list? And if so, did you learn from the experience?

In yet another sign of a recovering job market, a new CareerBuilder survey released today shows that laid-off workers’ job searches are beginning to improve as well. According to the nationwide survey of 900 workers who were laid off in the past year, 51 percent of workers who were laid off in the last three months have found new full-time or part-time positions.

The percentage shows a marked increase from the 44 percent of workers who said the same in a November 2009 survey.

“As consumers and businesses grow more confident in the economic outlook in the U.S., hiring managers are beginning to add new staff at an improved, but cautious pace,” says Brent Rasmussen, President of CareerBuilder North America, in the press release.

Among the highlights of the survey:

• 40% of the newly employed workers surveyed reported they were able to negotiate comparable or higher pay for their new position, while 61% took a pay cut.
• 57% of workers laid off in the last six months have been re-hired by their former employer who laid them off from their jobs.
• 71% of workers who were laid off in the last six months and have not found jobs would be willing to work for their former employer, 22% of whom said they would only return if offered more money.
• 64% of workers who were laid off in the last six months and landed new jobs said they found work in a different field than where they were previously employed.
• 63% of workers who found new jobs in the last six months plan to stay with their current employers when the economy turns around
• 37% of workers who found new jobs in the last six months plan to look for new jobs as the economy improves.
• 46% of workers who were laid off in the last six months and found jobs relocated. Of those workers, 93% moved to another city versus another state.

What do these findings mean for you, the employer? A few thoughts…

• While many job seekers are willing to negotiate a lower salary, this may be temporary, as indicated by the nearly 4 in 10 workers who’ve indicated that they plan to look for new jobs as the economy improves, making it crucial that you start thinking about a talent compensation strategy to ensure you’re offering the salary that is not only fair to your organization, but also competitive enough to attract new employees and compel your current ones to stay.
• And while offering competitive compensation can go far in attracting and retaining talent, you also need to think about the intangible benefits employees crave, such as career growth opportunities and work/life balance.  Learn more about ways to retain your best talent.
• Perhaps you only want to consider local candidates, but if you’re having a tough time getting the right talent in your area, think about how 42 percent of workers report that they would consider relocating for a job opportunity, and consider expanding your geographic talent search.
• Finally, as the need for talent increases, don’t discount former employees as talent sources. (Even if your open positions differ from those the former employees occupied, consider the 64 percent of workers who made use of their transferrable skills by taking jobs in a different field).  After all, former employees are already familiar with the culture, have established relationships and may have an easier time making the transition to a new role in a familiar environment than someone completely new.

What are you taking away from these findings?

While you were busy breaking barriers in the comic book world, sending “shockwaves” throughout the NFL with your draft pick, or really, really, really wishing you’d remembered to clean out your cookies…here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• This whole “green” thing seems to be catching on.
• A new book on performance reviews likens the practice to Bill and Ted’s journey .
• You might say America’s favorite boss‘ employees are his lucky charms. (Get it?!?)
• Poaching talent can leave some employers with a bitter taste in their mouths.
• Your internship program is (possibly) killing your reputation.
• Now the Supreme Court has to decide if employees have to sext on their own time.
• When McDonald’s seeks to stire up some friendly workplace competition, it really goes all out.
• Oh, the church is making you do it, you say? These employees aren’t buying it. And finally…
• Oregon employers are legally allowed to kill employees’ buzzes.

We’ve all heard stories about “difficult” interview questions. Rarely, however, do those stories focus on the interviewer, so…For our latest “We Ask, You Win” contest, The Hiring Site is asking you to share with us: Has a job candidate ever asked you a question that you found particularly difficult to answer? 

• Perhaps, for example, a candidate asked a question that threw you off-guard and made you change the way you prepare yourself or your team for interviews…
• Or maybe a candidate asked about something you never would have thought would be important to them (like your corporate social responsibility or green initiatives), thus making you rethink how you sell your company to job candidates…
• Or perhaps a candidate asked about something your company didn’t currently offer (like a certain benefit), that you had never considered before…

Whether you didn’t know the answer, didn’t know how to answer, or perhaps you knew that the answer wasn’t what the candidate wanted to hear…We want to hear from you to tell us the question, how you handled it and, most importantly, what you learned from the experience.

By sharing your experiences of how you handled a difficult interview question – or how you later wish you’d answered it – you will be helping your fellow hiring managers and recruiters…

• Prepare better for the interview process
• Gain a better understanding of what potential employees want in employer
• Enhance your overall recruiting process

And just to sweeten the deal….Just by telling us how a job candidate “stumped” you – and the lesson that came out of it – you’ll automatically be entered for the chance to win a 5^th Generation iPod Nano.

 (Free advice and the chance to win a new toy? Doesn’t seem like such a bad deal.)

How to enter:
Simply answer this question – “What interview question from a job seeker has ever stumped you, and how did it change the way you think about your company’s recruitment process?”– in the comments section below, and you’ll automatically be entered to win a brand new 5^th Generation iPod Nano.  (Feel free to post anonymously, too. It won’t hurt your chances to win – so long as you abide by the terms and conditions.)

Contest details:
Entries will be accepted from 12:00 a.m. CST on Monday, April 19, 2010 until 11:59 p.m. CST on Friday, April 23, 2010.  Each account may only submit one answer for consideration; subsequent entries will not be considered. Spam responses will not be considered. The winner will be picked at random and notified via e-mail the week of April 26, 2010. Please read the full list of official contest rules and regulations.

While you were busy learning a recipe you’d never find in Martha Stewart Living, explaining the difference between ads and what sound an awful lot like ads, or saying goodbye to any chance you ever had to get tickets to Oprah’s ‘favorite things’ episode…here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• It’s not just employees who benefit when companies implement wellness programs.
• These companies sure treat their mothers well, according to Working Mother magazine
• No offense to Jennifer Lopez, but this is the comeback we’ve all been waiting for.
• Employers should know better than to mess with employee perks – especially when said perk is beer.
• A sad – and somewhat bizarre – reminder of the toll workplace harrassment takes.
• Sure, they get their 15 minutes of fame, but what else do CBS’ “Undercover Boss” bosses get?
• Companies are cracking down on business trips. (As if air travel is ridiculously expensive or something.)
• And finally…Predicting a slow economic recovery is so hot right now.

Looks like the rumors (being rumors and all) were false: TBS announced today that Conan O’Brien has signed a deal to star in a late night talk show on the network, effectively putting to rest earlier speculation that FOX was going to sign the former “Tonight Show” host. 

I wrote earlier about how ,as an employer who’s hoping to attract a top talent like O’Brien, FOX was doing everything right…so how did TBS, a cable television network that isn’t exactly known for its original late night programming and certainly doesn’t bring in the same audience numbers that FOX does, secure this coveted hire?

Oddly enough, it was the perception that TBS is not a network like FOX that became a crucial part of its employee value proposition.  As noted in an NPR story published today, after dealing with all the “affiliate politics at NBC,” O’Brien was apparently wary to sign a deal with FOX only to have to deal with demanding affiliates all over again. (The tactic is not unlike what I posted last week about how AOL was leveraging its status as a “non-Google” to attract former Google employees.)

Another major selling point? TBS appealed to its candidate’s intangible needs: By letting O’Brien own this show, the network is giving its new hire those career opportunities that employees love so much.

Finally, in a move that seemed to cap the deal for TBS, according to Media Decoder, the network wisely utilized what we in the recruiting world call an “employee referral.”  Here’s how it happened…

 TBS’ offer to put O’Brien in the 11 p.m. time slot and push George Lopez’s show to the midnight slot was eerily similar to the very proposal that eventually led to O’Brien’s bitter departure from NBC. Needless to say, O’Brien was unwilling to do to Lopez what he felt had been unfairly done to him, and initially refused the offer. That’s when TBS enlisted the help of its own employment brand advocate, if you will, Geore Lopez himself, who personally called O’Brien to sell him on the offer.

So just to recap what we’ve learned today: FOX’s employee value proposition was good. But as far as O’Brien was concerned, TBS’ was better. Employers would be wise to take a cue from TBS, which smartly did its homework on its ideal candidate, then leveraged what it knew about that candidate’s perceptions, values and needs to market itself and appeal to that candidate as an employer of choice. Well done, TBS.

While you were busy announcing plans to someday release your next book, announcing plans to produce your Next Chapter,  or being announced as the next Susan Boyle…here’s what was happening in the world of hiring, recruitment and workforce management…

• At the office, sharing doesn’t always mean caring.
• Of all the cutbacks the USPS is planning, morale isn’t one of them.  
• Is this the beginning of the rise of anti-social media?  
• Stiffing your workers out of pay? Enjoy it while you can. (On second thought, don’t. That’s just not cool.)
• Can you also expense the carton of Ben & Jerry’s and box of tissues while you’re at it?
• Thanks, we’ve only been waiting two years to hear this…
• Today’s interns may be different, but the rules for hiring them stay the same.
• IT men (and women) needed to become G-Men.  And finally…
• Not everyone is over the moon about pay-for-performance.

Can you remember the last time you heard the phrase “You’ve got mail”? (And NOT counting all the times it’s followed the question “What movie is the Oxygen network going to be playing this Friday night?”)  Feels like a while, huh?

Well, prepare for a blast from the past, because the company that used to be America Online is suddenly a hot commodity again…or at least it is among job seekers…

In the past year, AOL has successfully recruited employees from high-profile companies like Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, The New York Times and Time Warner, prompting AdAge’s Michael Learmonth to ask, “Why does everyone want to work at AOL all of a sudden?” in a recent article for the online magazine.

You can’t blame the guy for asking: Nothing against AOL, but it’s been roughly a decade since the company’s heyday as the “goliath of Internet service providers.”  So how is it suddenly an employer of choice among what is surely a highly sought-after talent demographic?  Well, it’s simple, really: Basically, AOL is a lesson in employment branding done right.

By understanding the specific talent demographic its brand appeals to, AOL gets one of the most crucial elements of employment branding right: It knows what it stands for – as well as what it doesn’t stand for – as an employer.  

“Employment branding is about knowing who you are as an employer, but just as importantly, it’s about knowing who you aren’t,” says employment branding expert Mary Delaney, President of CareerBuilder’s human capital consulting company, Personified. 

In AOL’s case, the company knows it’s no Google…nor is it trying to be.  Sure, Google enjoys a reputation as a top company to work for, but that doesn’t mean that it’s the right fit for every single worker ever.  Understanding this, AOL seems to be using its smaller position in the industry as its employee value proposition: By marketing itself as a place where employees will be challenged to expand their knowledge and help rebuild what was once an industry giant, AOL is appealing to a candidate base that is hungry for career, professional development and training opportunities, factors that a recent employment branding study found to be among the top reasons employees chose their employers. 

Similarly, if you look at the list of the 50 Best Small and Medium Companies to Work For in America, you’ll notice how these employers sell their brands as ones that can meet employees’ intangible needs – such as motivation, empowerment, trust and recognition.

The takeaway here? All too often, companies try to sell themselves as something they are not – effectively making promises they can’t fulfill – when, in fact, they should be embracing what differentiates them from other companies and focusing on what they do offer. 

As AOL demonstrates, companies need to look at what is unique about their culture – and what demographic is attracted to that – rather than waste their time trying to appeal to a group of candidates that would fit better elsewhere.

Thoughts?

Things are about to get real, y’alls…

I’ve discussed before how employers are increasingly using social networking sites to screen job candidates. Well, now it looks like the trend could take a  scary leap forward…

With the launch of Unvarnished, a new social networking site that lets users rate their colleagues,  users can post anonymous reviews about anyone they want – and understandably, it’s creating a whole lot of controversey.

Enabling users to anonymously criticize people and rate them on a five star system is a mean-spirited move, many believe.  One reviewer warns that it “could cost you your next job,” and TechCrunch calls it “a clean, well-lighted place for defamation,” while Gawker puts it even more eloquently, describing it as “the ultimate distillation of all the most evil social networking practices…where strangers can set up your ‘profile’ and mock you before potential employers.”  

Aside from just being, well, mean, there could be legal implications as well.  Some lawyers have weighed in about Unvarnished, calling the site a “litigation nightmare” that “essentially encourages defamation…and it’s smartly leveraging Facebook’s very popular format to do so.”

Here’s how it works:

Only users with active Facebook accounts can access the site (presumably to discourage people from creating fake profiles just for the purpose of badmouthing others). Users can only register after they’ve written a review of the user who invited them.

Here’s the brutal part: Any member can create a profile for any other member, and the reviewee cannot remove the profile and has to accept every review.  So it then falls on users to proactively manage their online reputation by posting updates or requesting reviews, moderate others’ reviews and report abuse. While reviews can’t be removed, those that are considered unfair or too negative receive lower rankings.

The site is still in its testing phase, and users have to be invited to to join, but already there are hundreds of users, thousands of reviews and over 400,000 professional resumes housed on the site.

Still, despite the criticism that the site creates an easy pathway to defamation and career ruin, site creator Peter Kazanjy argues that Unvarnished is not meant to be mean-spirited, but instead “a site that encourages candid and nuanced information about prospective hires, bosses and business partners.” Meanwhile, there is at least one person coming to Kazanjy’s defense: craigslist founder Craig Newmark, who wrote on SFGate.com that the site “might work, given what I’ve seen in fifteen years of customer service. People do look out for each other.”

What are your thoughts? Would you use a site like Unvarnished to screen candidates or has does it take social networking too far?

In the following excerpt from CareerBuilder’s recent interview with Jim Greenwood,  chief executive officer of Concentra, Greenwood discusses the importance of giving colleagues an opt out, getting the right people “on the bus,” and what it means to be “chief encouragement officer.”

How do your people affect your business, particularly as it relates to patient care?
To [our] patients, the Concentra brand is defined by the warmth and respect they experience from our people. In some of our worksite settings, where we have taken health care to the workplace, there may be only one or two Concentra colleagues who represent our brand on a daily basis. Each and every one of these colleagues has an opportunity to deliver a positive, memorable customer service experience.

What is your philosophy as it relates to people and their impact on your daily business?

We believe that a patient’s healing process begins when they enter one of our medical centers, and therefore we strive to create an environment that is warm and welcoming. This philosophy, coupled with skillful care that is delivered in a respectful manner, forms the foundation for our organization.

How do you engage with and relate to your employees?

I consider myself the “chief encouragement officer” of the company. Outstanding service begins with me, and as leaders, our senior team members view themselves as servants – our leaders realize that they are here to equip the colleagues we serve and to lead by example.  I personally write dozens of notes to outstanding colleagues each month (or sometimes to their spouse and family members). These notes go to the homes of colleagues who have impressed a patient or a co-worker in a remarkable manner, who are celebrating an anniversary, or who have been noticed for sacrificing in other ways. I started asking our leaders to send in examples of such colleagues a couple of years ago, and now there is a consistent flow of great care stories from internal support organizations and client facing colleagues. Many of our senior leaders are now doing the same thing.

How do you define Concentra’s culture? As a leader, what role do you play and what is your impact on the culture?

Our core values drive our culture. They are: Healing Focus, Selfless Heart and Tireless Resolve. As leaders, it is imperative that we make decisions in concert with these core values; including hiring decisions, promotions and unfortunately, in some cases, terminations. The leaders set the tone for our culture, and if we have someone in a position of authority who does not share these values, they are not going to model positive game changing behaviors or serve their people well.

What are the most important leadership lessons you’ve learned?

Our duty is to serve our 6,000 colleagues, who in turn will serve our patients. Happy, fulfilled colleagues are much more likely to deliver a positive customer service experience to our patients. As a leader, it is important to focus on the people who actually want to improve, learn, and maximize their potential. My time as CEO will be a mere chapter in the Concentra story; I hope to make the company better each and every day, for as long as I am in this role.

I understand that in the past 5-6 years Concentra has centralized many of the corporate recruiting functions. How has this been received by the organization and how has it improved your efficiencies?

We aligned regional field recruiters with each of the five zones to better serve the hiring managers. This regional alignment has been well received and has allowed the regional recruiters to assume most of the interviewing administration, management and tasks. This model has allowed our regional recruiters to develop a partnership with the hiring managers in the field, to develop a clear understanding of the local cultures, and thereby to source candidates who best fit the profile for success.

What other advice would you share with your executive peers though this piece?

As leaders, we work diligently to establish cultures, get the right people on the bus, train those people, [and] coach and equip them to reach their potential. I am encouraged by the fact that more and more CEOs are gaining an appreciation for the importance of creating a culture of health within their workplace. My message to these peers is that YOU can make a difference. You can improve the health of your people and, in doing so, enhance their productivity, their customer service levels, and their loyalty to your organization!

Any closing remarks?

In my opinion, America is facing a health crisis, not a healthcare crisis. As leaders, we need to change this culture in order for our nation to compete in a global economy. If we don’t act, the threat of additional job migration to other parts of the world will become a reality. More importantly, for the first time in the history of our country, the life expectancy of our children is likely to be less than ours.

About Concentra
Concentra is a leading national health care company focused on improving America’s health, one patient at a time.  Through its affiliated clinicians, the company provides occupational medicine, urgent care, wellness and preventive services, physical therapy, physical examinations, travel medicine and drug testing from 300 medical centers located in 40 states, with over 100,000 employer clients.

While you were busy forgetting to fill this out, renaming yourself Topeka for a day (silly you!), or putting the final touches on your Peeps diorama…here’s what was happening in the world of hiring and recruiting this week…

• Paycheck yourself before you pay-wreck yourself. Hey-o!
• Unexpected advice of the week: Figure out who among your staff is indispensable, then fire (?) them.
• The World’s Most Ethical Companies (They exist!)
• If workers are in fact choosing fear over flex-time…then should we just throw this report away?
• We’ll believe this when we see it.  
• No such thing as a free lunch? Tell that to Facebook employees.
• Don’t think of it as losing a tax break… the Obama administration hopes you’ll think of it as gaining so much more.
• Is this job seeker move a sign of desperation, ingenuity, or simply…the times?
• Your employees may be happy just to have a job…but will it last? (Cliffhanger!)
• Job seekers make it even harder to stalk screen via Facebook. And finally…
• It’s not the jeans. This job is making you look fat.

With 162,000 jobs added in March, the nation’s economy saw its largest job gain in three years, according to the latest Employment Situation report, released by the BLS today.

While the unemployment rate remained at 9.7 percent (and will likely stay that way for a while), the increase is a sign that economic recovery is sustainable, and healing in the job market has definitely, finally, offically BEGUN! begun to turn a corner. 

Not exactly the kind of good news that warrants a ticker-tape parade, but hey, I’ll take it.

Highlights from the report include the following:

• Employers added 162,000 jobs in March, the most since the recession began but below analysts’ expectations of 190,000. The total includes 48,000 temporary workers hired for the U.S. Census.
• Private employers added 123,000 jobs, the most since May 2007.
• Among industries: Manufacturers added 17,000 jobs, for a third straight month of gains. Meanwhile, temporary help services added 40,000 jobs; health care added 37,000; leisure and hospitality added 22,000; and the construction industry added 15,000.
• The average work week increased to 34 hours from 33.9 (a positive sign as most employers are likely to work current employees longer before they hire new workers).
• Average hourly earnings fell by two cents to $22.47, but average weekly earnings rose by about $3 to $629.37, partly reflecting the longer work week.
• The “underemployment” rate – made up of Americans who are working part-time but prefer full-time work and discouraged workers who have given up searching for jobs – ticked up to 16.9 percent from 16.8 percent.

Latest Job Forecast Supports BLS Findings
Further evidence of the recovering jobs market can be found in CareerBuilder and USA Today’s latest quarterly job forecast, which showed that for the third consecutive quarter, more employers plan to increase their headcount in the next three months, while fewer will cut staffs.

This morning, CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson appeared on CNBC’s SquawkBox to discuss the results of the forecast and what they mean for the current state of the job market and the economy:

BLS Experts Answer Consumer Questions in Live Chat
Finally, the BLS conducted its first live web chat this morning devoted to the employment report.  You can see of  full transcript of the chat here, or continue reading for chat highlights:

This morning, the BLS held a live web chat with a panel of experts from both the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the Current Employment Statistics (CES) programs on hand to answer users’ questions.  Below are some of the highlights of that chat, with user questions in bold:

 Is there an estimate for how many census workers will be hired for the current census and when those hires will occur? Are these employees full, or part-time? How does the BLS treat these employees? Are they counted as “regular” employees? Current information on the census intermittent worker impact on CES estimates can be found on www.bls.gov/ces/cescensusworkers.pdf. To be considered employed in the CES survey, workers need to receive pay for any time during their pay period including the 12th of the month. Workers getting paid for just one hour would be considered employed. The CES survey cannot distinguish between full- and part-time workers. For future hiring expectations for census intermittent workers, you should consult the Bureau of the Census or visit http://www.census.gov/

Why have people on extended unemployment benefits dropped by over 50% since the beginning of the year while those on EUC are up? BLS does not produce the data on unemployment benefits. The Employment and Training Administration is the source of that data. Information is available on the Department of Labor website at http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims_arch.asp.

Why was the weather effect in February not larger given the severity of the snow storms and past similar storms, i.e. Jan. 1996? It is not possible to determine specifically how weather impacted employment estimates from data reported through the CES survey. The dynamics of the economy, as well as differences in weather systems, vary.

What states are enjoying a growth in employment? Details on statewide job growth can be found in the Regional and State Employment and Unemployment news release issued most recently on March 26, 2010. In February, nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 27 states and the District of Columbia and increased in 23 states. The largest over-the-month increases in employment occurred in Florida (+26,300), followed by New York (+5,800), Alabama (+5,600), Wisconsin (+5,200), Nevada (+5,100), and South Carolina (+5,000). Nevada experienced the largest over-the-month percentage increase in employment (+0.5 percent), followed by Florida and New Hampshire (+0.4 percent each) and Alabama, South Carolina, and Vermont (+0.3 percent each). Over the year, nonfarm employment decreased in 49 states and increased in 1 state and the District of Columbia.

Unemployment rates for Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and cities are issued in a separate release, several weeks after the Regional and State news release, cited above. Currently, data is available for January 2010

Why is this report released on Good Friday? The BLS news release schedule for major economic indicators, including the Employment Situation, is announced prior to the beginning of the calendar year, allowing advance notice to all users, and is rarely subject to change. BLS schedules news releases any day the Federal government is scheduled to be open, based on when data will become final.

Why is the civilian non institutional population listed as 237,159? The civilian non institutional population is 237,159,000. The figure excludes persons under the age of 16, members of the Armed Forces, and those in institutions such as prisons.

Does the payroll data differentiate between part time and full time? The payroll data does not differentiate between part- and full-time workers.  The CPS survey does have employment by full- and part-time workers.   

How are the adjustments to prior months reports determined? The CES survey is a voluntary survey, and respondents report employment for their pay period that includes the 12th of the month. BLS first produces estimates with less than full response. We collect data on a continuous basis and update our estimates during the 2 months following initial release. In addition to additional sample, BLS also recalculates seasonal factors using the latest estimates.  Once a year, BLS resets its employment level (for March) to an actual count and revises seasonally adjusted estimates back 5 years. The latest of these benchmark update was for March 2009, released on February 5, 2010.

Does the BLS make available the raw data results of the surveys? The mission of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is to collect, process, analyze, and disseminate essential statistical data to the American public, the U.S. Congress, other Federal agencies, State and local governments, business, and labor. In order to maintain credibility and trust with our survey respondents, confidentiality protections for our data are essential. Protecting the confidentiality of data is central to accomplishing the BLS mission. More information can be found on this subject at http://www.bls.gov/bls/confidentiality.htm.

What are the standard errors on the employment number and unemployment rate? At the 90 percent level of confidence, the standard error on the change in CPS employment is about +/- 400,000, and the standard error on the change in the unemployment rate is about +/- 0.2 percentage point. For the payroll survey, at the 90 percent level of confidence, the standard error on the monthly change in nonfarm employment is about +/- 100,000.

Who do you survey to get the temp employment number? The CES survey samples Temporary Help companies to estimate employment in Temp Help.  Our sample includes firms of all sizes.

When will the data from the 2010 Displaced Worker Survey supplement be available for download? Those data should be available in the fall of this year.

Does the BLS break out employment by size of firm? The BLS does break out employment by size of firm from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program.  For more details see:  www.bls.gov/cew

How are independent contractors and the self-employed counted? In the household survey, independent contractors and the self employed are counted as employed if they are operating their business. If their businesses are closed and they are actively seeking other employment, they would be considered unemployed.

Why is March selected as the bench mark month as opposed to other months? March is selected for the annual benchmark, because it has less seasonal variation than most months and no holidays.

Where can I find more specific information about the BLS’ unemployment calculation methodologies? You can find a number of documents describing the concepts and methods used in the unemployment calculations at: http://stats.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#ces_cps

What are some of the common reasons why the numbers in a prior months’ report could be revised? CES estimates may revise from additional sample received, corrections to previously reported data, and recalculation of seasonal adjustment factors using the most current data.

Do you have data regarding individuals working beyond the age of retirement? You might be interested to see a recent piece that Emy Sok published on older workers http://www.bls.gov/opub/ils/summary_10_04/older_workers.htm

It goes without saying (at least, I hope it does) that you should know the behaviors and perceptions of your target audience before embarking on any sort of recruitment marketing campaign – that is, any sort of successful recruitment marketing campaign.

…Which is why you might find the recent findings from online advertising network Chitika interesting. Chitika recently studied users on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and Digg, to find that each social site has a distinct makeup of users with unique tastes. 

For instance, Twitterers mostly consume news, MySpace users want games and entertainment, Facebookers are into both news and community, and Digg’s audience has a mixed bag of interests.

 Among the most interesting findings from the study:

• Nearly half the traffic (47%) that Twitter generates falls into the news category
• Facebook users top interests appear to be news (which accounts for 28% of traffic), community (17%) and how-to/DIY (13%).
• MySpace users are most concerned with video games (28%) and celebrity and entertainment content (23%).
• Digg users have nearly equal parts interest in news (18%), celebrity/entertainment (18 %), and video game content (17%), but the majority of their interests (26%) fall into “other.”

What do these findings mean to you as a recruiter?
For one thing, as this Mashable article points out, it should serve as a reminder of how integral social media has become as a communications tool. “It’s important information for marketers, advertisers and brands hoping to appropriately leverage each site,” writes Mashable’s Jennifer Van Grove.  

Ditto for recruiting: This glimpse into social networkers’ behavior should give you an idea of not only which social networks your ideal talent is using and how they are using these networks, but also how you should shape your message based on which site you choose to spread that message.

(For instance, MySpace might not be the ideal place to recruit for many employers, but it could be a great avenue for employers who are looking for younger workers with enthusiasm for entertainment or video games to reach this audience. Want to get the attention of news-hungry Twitter users? Don’t just tweet out jobs. Link to interesting articles about something fun /exciting/positive/etc. your company is doing right now.) 

Secondly, and more to Van Grove’s point, these findings represent exactly the type of research employers and recruiters should be conducting in order to build and enhance their recruitment strategy.  As any marketing expert would tell you, you need to truly analyze and understand the behaviors of your target audience – in your case, current and potential employees – to ensure that your recruitment marketing dollars are being spent in the best possible way.

Recently, a colleague of mine over at The Work Buzz answered a reader’s concern that, I suspect, is becoming more and more common in today’s workplace:

What’s the best way to decline a co-worker’s social networking friend request?  

Certainly, there are valid reasons for following or “friending” your colleagues on social networking sites like Facebook, Bebo or Twitter; however, many people believe in keeping their professional and personal lives separate. A perfectly valid and reasonable choice, of course, but it can make for an awkward situation when that Facebook friendship request comes around…

And when said request is from a colleague someone you manage or are superior to, the situation can be that much more sensitive. While you might not feel comfortable having access to information on your employee’s personal life, this concern might not have occurred to your employee, and ignoring or declining their request could send the wrong message.

That said, we here at The Hiring Site decided to look at this issue from the manager’s viewpoint, and give some tips for declining an employee’s social networking friendship request – without damaging the workplace relationship:

• Explain why you rejected the request: Rejecting a friendship request is quick and easy…until your face-to-face with the person you just rejected.  Fortunately, all it takes is a short, simple explanation to alleviate any awkwardness.  Work Buzz blogger Anthony Balderrama suggests saying something that’s light hearted, but gets the message across that you don’t mix your professional and social lives. Try something like, “I prefer to keep that profile separate from any work stuff just to be safe. I don’t want anyone seeing the embarrassing high school pictures. I was so goofy!” Suggest instead that you two connect over LinkedIn, Brightfuse or another site meant specifically for professional networking.“Few people will hold a grudge about a Facebook rejection (if it comes with a good explanation). But careers can and have been ruined by the wrong people seeing the wrong information,” Balderrama writes.
• Be honest: The “I want to keep my personal and professional lives separate line” can come back to bite you if it’s not the truth – especially if the employee you just rejected finds out that you’re online friends with other people at the company.  Maybe for whatever reason, you just don’t want to be friends with that particular employee, but if you’re not honest, that employee is likely to find out you lied to him or her, which is a quick way to kill morale – not to mention your own credibility.

Of course, there’s always the option of just sucking it up, accepting the request, and living with the consequences – but that could also mean being privy to more information about an employee than you may want or feel comfortable with… 

What are your thoughts? Ever had to reject an employee’s friend request – or wished you had rejected it? Share with us (anonymously, if you prefer) in the comments section below!

While you were busy negotiating a reality show with A&E, participating in the most awesome March Madness bracket ever, or planning your trip to Orlando/buying a new cape…here’s what was happening in the world of hiring and recruiting this week…

• The President gets to work from home, so maybe after his upcoming forum, a lot of other people will get to, too.
• New York Magazine takes a trip down “What if” Lane…
• Seven phrases to avoid with your employees.  
• And speaking of things to avoid…15 workplace habits to add to that list.
• How much are you really paying for your employees?
• What one reality show teaches us about management. (Spoiler alert! It’s not Steven Seagal: Lawman…not this time, at least.)
• Starbucks’ CEO talks about how he brews success…Yep, he sure has a whole latté say about the subject. No beans about it. (Okay, I’m stopping now.)
• Companies finding that the best new hires…aren’t really new at all.  And finally…
• Guy Kawasaki is so over Tolstoy

Hearing that the FOX network may announce on May 17 that it is recruiting Conan O’Brien (who famously severed ties with former employer NBC recently) for a new TV gig perked our ears over here at The Hiring Site for two reasons…

One, we’ve been going through serious “Celebrity Secrets” withdrawal, and two (because we always have talent recruitment on the brain…don’t be jealous), FOX’s move actually mirrors two current recruiting trends, which, just for a little hump-day fun, I thought I’d point out…

1. Recruiting Candidates Going Through Career Transitions: Of course, while Conan’s departure from NBC wasn’t exactly a layoff, it was a case of NBC failing to recognize a good thing while it had it find the right fit for someone with Conan’s skills. By jumping on the opportunity to negotiate a deal with the newly unemployed Conan, FOX seems to be going the same route as many employers and recruiters lately and sourcing talent that other companies were forced to let go.  While it might not be as simple as picking up the latest issue of Variety to find that a coveted candidate is suddenly available, many recruiters have found luck by going to outplacement firms to look for quality candidates with real-world work experience and transferable skills who are making the transition to new jobs or careers.
2. Rehiring Former Employees: Perhaps taking a cue from the increasing number of employers who are finding that their best new hires are former employees,  FOX is considering rehiring a former employee of its own: Conan used to write for the network’s award-winning show, “The Simpsons.” Seems there’s something to be said about not burning bridges with your former employees – without the need for introductions, it sure makes reconnecting that much easier.  Not only that, but having worked together before, the employee needs little to no training or orientation back into his or her role and the company’s culture.

It would be no surprise to see Conan thrive in a position at FOX, considering the success many employers and recruiters have found using these recruiting tactics.  Guess we’ll just have to wait and see. (May 17, y’all!)

While you were busy trying to take ownership of your party name back, denying a link between your new weight loss plan and Scientology, or having a little trouble preparing your St. Patrick’s Day meal…here’s what was happening in the world of hiring and recruiting this week…

• Well…guess this news takes a little pressure off of some employers.
• One employee’s bad experience with a co-worker’s perfume leads to lawsuit, punny news headline.
• Fast Company shows you how to “procrastinate the right way”…starting with reading this article.
• For everyone’s sake, let’s hope the answer to this is “No.”
• There’s no “i” in “team,” but there are three in this company’s employee management system.  
• It might be lonely at the top, but at least you still have your health. Right?
• Is this the start of a new job seeker tactic? And finally…
• If this is true, I hope Dolly Parton writes a new song.

Once again, the worlds of marketing and recruiting have collided.  You’ve probably heard (and if you haven’t, I’m telling you now) that one of the most important elements of using social media effectively is to be authentic…but how, exactly, do you do that?

Mashable’s Greg Ferenstein recently addressed this issue on a blog post called “The Science of Building Trust with Social Media,” talking about how psychological behaviors of social media users can help guide companies in their marketing efforts.  

The same lessons, however, apply to recruiting efforts – that is, the same way companies might use social media to build trust with their customers can be applied to building trust with employees and candidates.  Here are some of the key takeaways of his article, from a recruiting standpoint:

A Quick Response is Better Than No Response at All
Because telling forms of trust – like voice intonation and body language – do not transfer over email, job seekers will instead base their opinion of how trustworthy you, as an employer, are on how quickly you respond.  Does this mean answering every job seeker question that gets posted to your company’s Facebook page?  

Actually, yes, it does. 

Even if you don’t have the time to give the most thought-out response to every single question right away, it is important that you show current and potential employees that their voice is being heard.  The least you can – and should – do is write a short post to acknowledge that you’ve seen the message and will answer the question in more detail at a later time.  “It is better to respond to a long Facebook message ‘acknowledging’ that you received the message, rather than to wait until there’s time to send a more thorough first message,” Ferenstein says.

Case in point: Notice below how CARQUEST Auto Parts recently responded to a job seeker inquiry via its Facebook page - and the appreciation and positive feedback the company saw as a result of doing so.

Even if job seekers are using social media to express frustration or disappointment, employers and recruiters should see this as an opportunity to open up a line of dialogue about how to better the candidate experience.  Notice how staffing firm Staffmark quickly responded to a comment on its Facebook page, and how that response turned not only into positive feedback, but also an opportunity for the company to improve the quality of its candidate and employee experiences.

Written Communication is Better Than No Communication, But Video Communication is Best
Ferenstein already established that voice intonation and body language don’t transfer through written communication, so it’s no surprise when he points out the benefit to using video above all forms of communication when trying to get the most important messages across.  “The more non-substantive information the medium can convey, the more data a listener has to decide how trustworthy the speaker is,” Ferenstein writes.

As evidence, he cites the video Domino’s Pizza president, Patrick Doyle, put out last year to apologize for an infamous employee YouTube prank.  You can see the impact Doyle’s apology had on viewers below.  The video is overlaid with a graph of user reaction to show how “believable” viewers gauge his apology, based on body language and inflection.

What does all of this tell us?
Just as it did before social media came along, authenticity rules – it’s just a matter of figuring out how to best convey that authenticity across new technology.  

In an environment where candidates are getting increasingly frustrated because they feel either misled or ignored by recruiters and hiring managers, it’s no wonder that employers are hesitant to build a social media presence – afraid that having a public profile on a site like Facebook will make them vulnerable to criticism; however, what Ferenstein illustrates (and what is further illustrated in the experiences of CARQUEST and Staffmark) is that companies can actually utilize the viral aspect of social media to show job seekers and employees alike that they are listening to them and do care – and turn that criticism into brand loyalty.