It’s happening. Retail stores everywhere are stocking the shelves, folding the clothes, straightening the shoes, organizing the Trapper-Keepers, and bracing themselves for restless, sun-streaked kids to come and clutter it all up. Back-to-school shopping is now in season. 

We’re not kids anymore, but as adults (employed or not), continuing to educate ourselves and hone our skills is one of the most important things we can do for our careers and ourselves. Aaaaand you’re in luck: July’s contest brings you a chance to give yourself (or your employees) the gift of education with a chance to win a CareerBuilder Institute class. We can’t promise your employees will express their immense thanks by bringing donuts in for breakfast, but we think there’s a strong possibility. Read on to find out how to win.

What’s CareerBuilder Institute?

CareerBuilder Institute, founded in 2008, offers e-learning content for businesses so that they can better assess, test, train, develop, and provide continued education to more effectively onboard and improve skills of existing talent. attract. CareerBuilder Institute has helped more than 1 million people reach their educational goals — and fill in current skill gaps. CareerBuilder Institute offers everything from computer and business skills, to language training, to licensing and certification, to sales training, to management and leadership skills.

Specifically? How about “Mastering Project Management,” “Operating Budgets for Non-Financial Managers,” “Understanding Personality Variables,” “Business Writing,” “Time Management,” “Exploring Adobe Creative Suite II,” “Real Estate Exchanges” or “Leadership Motivation”? CBI’s got you covered. Oh, and many of the courses, like 401(k), give a state-specific course option.

Expected versus teachable skills

In 2009, the average company investment in employee training was $1,200 per employee. It’s apparent that companies are investing a lot of time into their training — but on what, exactly? There are some skills that you expect candidates will have coming into a position — skills into which you’re not willing to invest time, money and resources. And then, there are others you expect to teach new employees on the job; either skills you don’t think can be taught outside of the position, or ones you’re willing to teach because a candidate is an otherwise great fit. You may be willing to teach project management skills, for instance, but expect a candidate to come into the job with superior people skills and ability to work within a team structure.

The July Contest Question

Sooo, we’re asking you: “In an interview situation, what skills do you expect candidates to have already, and what are you willing to teach on the job?” If you’re a current job seeker, just tell us what skills you expect employers expect you to have, and which skills you expect to be taught on the job.

By answering our question in the comments below, you will automatically be entered to win ONE online class (five winners; $50 value each) from CareerBuilder Institute.

Using CareerBuilder Institute can not only help employees improve skills in certain areas, but also lower turnover, decrease training and hiring costs, increase accessibility to training content, and increase overall productivity. The skills you’re spending time to teach on the job can likely be taught by a CareerBuilder Institute class — freeing up other employees’ time and resources — and saving you a significant amount on training expenses.

CareerBuilder Institute — Did you know? (Don’t worry, there won’t be a test):

• Learners can retake courses within the year at no additional cost.
• CBI has the largest learning library in the nation, with more than 12,000 titles including videos, assessments, tests and courses.
• More than 3,000 pre-license certification and continuing education courses are offered.
• CBI is the only e-learning service to offer Predictive Job Fit Assessments, Hard and Soft Skill Courses, Microsoft Courses, Learning Videos, and Professional Certification and Continuing Education Courses.
• Employee training has been shown to lead to greater employee productivity (26% higher revenue per employee) and reduced employee turnover (41% lower for high-performing employees; 17% overall).

HOW TO ENTER:
Simply answer this question in the comments section below: ““In an interview situation, what skills do you expect candidates to have already, and what are you willing to teach on the job?””– and you’ll automatically be entered to win one online class from CareerBuilder Institute (five winners will be chosen at random; $50 value per class).  Be sure to read the terms and conditions in full.

CONTEST DETAILS:
Entries will be accepted from 12:00 a.m. CST on Monday, July 26, 2010 until 11:59 p.m. CST on Friday, July 30, 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 August 2, 2010. Please read the full list of official contest rules and regulations.

“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.

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?

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.

Okay, not every professional eats the healthiest things imaginable (or is free of legal troubles, for that matter) — a la competitive hot dog eater Takeru Kobayashi. However, according to the results of a new CareerBuilder survey of more than 4,400 workers, many folks are reaching less for the potato chips and more for the straight-up potatoes; less for the cigarettes and more for the treadmill. What gives?

The economy has trickled down into many areas of our lives, and our eating habits may be one of the biggest — if somewhat overlooked — of them. While the negative effects of our economy may be a bitter pill to swallow, it looks like our health is getting a boost. Largely because of tightened funds, workers are making more healthy choices — including packing lunches, smoking less, and walking more.

Let’s break it down fast. (Get it? Breakfast?):

• 47 percent of workers report they are packing a lunch more often to save money or eat healthier.
• 44 percent of workers who smoke said they are more likely to quit smoking given the state of the economy.
• One-in-five workers (21 percent) have already decreased the number of times they smoke during the workday — and 20 percent have quit altogether.

And while healthier habits may be fueled by economic hardship, it may have been the trigger many of us needed to start taking a closer look at our personal health habits — and make habit-forming changes.

“Economic stress over the last year has caused some workers to reflect on their habits, and many of them have turned to healthier routines,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder.

“In addition to helping cut personal costs, employees who limit their smoking and lunching out habits are taking better care of their overall health. This type of ‘better-for-you’ behavior can be encouraged by companies who implement wellness programs, healthy living challenges or smoking cessation support.”

HOLD. THE. CHEESE PUFFS.

Like most feel-good stories, this one has a dark side, too. While it’s true that many workers are taking the higher healthier road, it’s also true that heavier workloads and added stress associated with a downsized place of employment may have other workers taking a different, more hermit-like, direction.

Lunch breaks — what are those?

If you ask a co-worker “What’s the weather like today?” because you haven’t seen the light of day since dawn and your body has been molded to your chair, you’ll probably relate to the following:

• Nearly one-third (32 percent) of workers report they take less than a half hour for lunch, while 5 percent take less than 15 minutes.
• One-in-ten never take a lunch break, and 16 percent report they work right through their lunch hour.
• Nearly one-in-five (18 percent) typically don’t leave their desks during their lunch break and eat in their workspace 5 days a week.

So, where do employers weigh in?

Whether your employees are going for a carrot-eating world record or reaching for that candy bar (and eating it at the desk from which they don’t move all day), do you as an employer have a right — or a responsibility — to get involved and attempt to influence your employees’ decisions?

Poor employee health has been pointed to as one of the biggest challenges to maintaining affordable benefit coverage. And with new health care reform going into effect, many businesses, particularly smaller ones, will likely be affected, as they may be penalized for not providing health care benefits to their workers. With more businesses who don’t currently offer benefits soon be incentivized to provide them (or penalized if they don’t), what will the effect be on employees? Will there be more of a Big Brother-like trend of keeping employees healthy to keep costs down?

In the “YES” camp

Many of you appear to be promoting employee wellness for various reasons, from what you’ve recently told us. Many companies don’t hide the fact that they are deeply involved in employees’ health not only because it makes their employees healthier and  happier, lowers stress, and promotes team spirit — but also because it benefits the company’s bottom line. And as a recent New York Times article  points out, 50 to 70 percent of the nation’s health care costs are preventable — which means company wellness initiatives could in fact help prevent employees from costly medical procedures. All good things, right?

In the “NO” camp

Well, not so fast. Although corporate wellness programs help companies keep insurance costs down while assisting employees in getting more fit, many people argue that employees’ lifestyle choices shouldn’t be dictated by their employer — and that it’s really none of their business. In addition, by rewarding employees who choose to participate in wellness initiatives, “unhealthy” employees may in effect be punished. For example, although Whole Foods has quite a robust benefits program, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, in a since controversial move, decided to give his employees discounts on health insurance and Whole Foods products if they maintained lower readings for measurements like body mass index (which many people argue is a poor indication of health). While that’s great for employees who manage to stay within the company’s standard of health, what about those who don’t? Or is everyone motivated to get healthier on this type of plan?

So, which camp are you in?

It’s clear that this is a complicated issue, to say the least. There are pros and cons to both sides, but it’s helpful to everyone to keep the conversation going. If you are considering getting involved in wellness as an organization, we’ve rounded up seven habits of highly successful wellness programs to help. And if you’re not, well, we’d love to hear why.

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.

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?

SAS. Nordstrom. Google. Whole Foods. What do all these companies have in common beyond their brand recognition? They all made the 2010 FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For. And this year at the 2010 SHRM Annual Convention in San Diego (#SHRM10), Michael Burchell, Ed. D., vice president for Global Business Development, Great Place to Work® Institute returned to talk about what exactly these 100 company’s do to make the list (last  year his talk focused on the 50 Best Small and Medium Companies to Work For in America).  He noted that any company has the potential to make one of these two lists, regardless of industry, employee demographics, location or work status.

Commonalities between companies that make the list
Burchell started his presentation asking, “What is the difference between a good place and a great place to work?” following that up with, “It’s not about what you do, but how you do it.” Through his company’s 20-plus years of research on this topic, Burchell found the one thing all these companies have in common: TRUST. These companies are all places where employees “trust the people they work for, have pride in what they do, and enjoy the people they work with.”

The Three Components of Trust:

1. The relationship between employees and management.
2. The relationship between employees and their jobs/company (pride).
3. The relationship between employees and other employees (camaraderie).

Building this kind of trust enables companies to reap positive business benefits and increased productivity through increased caliber of employees, increased quality of products and increased levels of risk taking and innovation.  It’s an investment, but a worthwhile one.

Having this kind of trust also decreases costs by lowering turnover (best companies typically have a voluntary turnover of 9% or less) and lowering resistance to change.  Surprisingly, it also lowers health care costs: Employees who feel trusted – and trust their companies in return – tend to have healthier lives outside of work because they leave work at work, leaving them with more to give to their personal life (family and community). This also means that when they are at work, they show up because they want to and are ready to contribute because they have the perception the company offers a special and unique culture where “we are not like others.”

Building Trust
Trust between employee and company (and vice versa) begins during the pre-hire stage; although the treatment employees get on their first day of work really sets the stage for future trust. Employees who feel welcomed and appreciated generally foster a genuine level of trust much faster than those employees who are just shown to a desk to begin working right away. Makes sense, right? You’d be surprised how many companies overlook these little details. Burchell continued by saying that employees who have the opportunity to interact with senior leadership very close to their hire date are better informed and feel true value and connection immediately.

Best Companies to Work For also…

• Motivate
• Empower
• Listen
• Thank
• Develop
• Care
• Celebrate
• Share

Common Benefits that Best Companies to Work For Offer:

• Job sharing
• Telecommuting
• Compressed work weeks
• Flexible scheduling
• Phased retirement
• Paid sabbaticals
• Child services
• Dry cleaning
• On-site mailing
• Free beverages or snacks
• Personal travel experience

And while this list of perks is impressive in and of itself, what truly makes the difference is how the company communicates these employee benefits, supports them and enables employees to take advantage of them. One example given was Goggle’s TGI Fridays – and yes, it does revolve around food, but not exactly in the way you might think. Each and every Friday employees are invited into cafeterias for an agenda-less meeting where employees get to talk with Google’s CEO and senior leadership team about anything. And as you’d expect, not all questions hold the same weight but all questions are valid and go back to the idea of trust. This practice also shows employees that they are valued as a part of the business, not merely people who work for the company. This is also a time for the leadership to reinforce the company values and make everyone feel connected. Google’s success is unquestioned, but did you know they have also created a pool of quality applicants that is so extensive, they may never have to actively recruit ever again?

The Hidden Benefit to Being  a Best Place to Work
Earlier, I mentioned the benefits a company gains by striving to be a best place to work – such as higher productivity and profitability - but there’s also this other (kind of huge) perk: Once word gets out that your company is a great place to work, you’ll really start to see more qualified applicants applying to your open positions.  I’m talking about people who understand your company’s unique culture and want to be a part of it because they feel a connection to your values.

While much of this information may not seem new, it is wonderful to see so many companies really trying to step up their game to become a best place to work. Remember, employees are your greatest asset, and they leave every night. What are you doing to ensure they return? If you build around this model, everyone benefits. Hiring gets easier. Top talent is retained. Production increases. Profits grow. Build a best place to work and you build a foundation for ongoing success.

Explore our previous Building the Best Place to Work article series to gain insights on our five basic building blocks and other tips for creating the best working place. As always, we welcome your feedback in the comments section of this post. Tell us more about your own recruitment and employee engagement experiences as you try to build a company that your employees call a best place to work.

Take Your Dog to Work Day, started by Pet Sitters International, was first celebrated in 1999 (with 300 companies participating) to celebrate the companionship of dogs and encourage people to adopt dogs from humane societies, animal shelters and breed rescue clubs.  As we’ve discussed in the past, this annual event encourages employers to experience the value of pets in the workplace for one designated day, for the primary purpose of promoting pet adoptions and better the lives of shelter dogs.

And while bringing a four-legged friend to work isn’t practical for every kind of work environment, supporters claim having dogs around the office has many benefits, including lowering stress and boosting employee morale.

There are a lot of ways you can get involved in Take Your Dog to Work Day, including partnering with a local shelter to bring adoptable dogs into the office. And if bringing dogs into your work environment just isn’t possible, consider finding another way to give back to the canine community — like volunteering with The Humane Society. Some businesses, like Esser Vineyards, are getting creative with events like Take Your Dog to Dinner Night, in which they donate wine to be paired with cuisine to dog-friendly participating restaurants, while diners’ furry pals enjoy a free meal.

Those who sign up and participate in the day get celebration ideas, sucess tips, a sample “dogs at work” policy for the office, coupons, pet product offerings, and the comfort of knowing they are helping raise awareness of shelter dogs and pet adoption. Tomorrow too tight of a deadline? You can request info for next year’s event.

Steve Dale has some great tips to make the day a success (like “give your dog a job” by stuffing some food in its toys), and TakeYourDog.com offers some of their own:

• Dogs should be kept on a leash, unless in the employee’s office or cubicle.
• Employees should use a baby gate to prevent dogs from leaving their office unsupervised.
• Specific areas, such as bathrooms or employee dining halls, can be designated as dog-free.
• Have a back up plan for taking the dog home if he or she is not comfortable in the work environment.
• Find a local pet sitter at Pet Sitters International to provide midday walks to employees’ dogs.

Are you celebrating Take Your Dog to Work Day, or thinking about getting information to participate next year? Or are dogs in the office a no-go? Let us know!

I recently spoke with Dean Gualco, human resources manager and author of The Good Manager:  A Guide for the Twenty-First Century Manager, a book that focuses on how managers have gone from being respected in society and trusted by their employees to the source of blame for many workplace problems today.

Gualco rallies against this new view of managers, and lays out six attributes that he thinks are essential to being a good manager: Like What You Do, Knowledgeable, Solid Organizational Skills, Work Hard, Make Work Fun, and Be a Good Person.

During our discussion, he also shared his thoughts on everything from why employees view managers’ jobs as less stressful than their own, to the growing tendency to blame managers when things go awry, to the role managers play in their employees’ development, to the one thing managers can start doing today to become better managers.

Below is the Q&A -- simply click the “Play” button within each to hear Gualco’s answer to my question.

Q: What is the most important aspect of being a manager?

Q: Do you think many managers today are unqualified?

Q: What do you think is the most commonly lacking managerial attribute?

Q: Do you have any suggestions for how managers could make work more fun?

Q: What’s one thing managers can start doing today to become better managers?

Q: Why do you think employees tend to view a manager’s job as less stressful than their own?

Q: How can employees and managers work together to understand each others’ roles?

Q: How can managers prevent themselves from becoming less effective due to boredom in their roles?

Q: You mention in your book that it baffles you that many people aren’t in jobs they love. People may argue that they can’t find a job they love in a tough market. What do you say to them?

Q: How can workers stay competitive in their jobs in such a competitive marketplace?

Q: How are managers responsible for their employees staying competitive and continuously learning in their roles?

Q: Have you seen a lot of change in the role of a manager over the last few years, with the recession and a changing market?

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.

This Sunday is Father’s Day, and while it’s a great excuse to spoil dads everywhere with the latest gadgets, grill supplies, or bacon of the month club memberships, a little extra quality time with Dad might be in order this year, in light of results from CareerBuilder’s annual Father’s Day survey.

Survey results among 800 working fathers who are employed full-time showed that a still-struggling economy is causing many working dads to experience more stress, more work — and, not surprisingly, less time spent with their families.

Why the stress?

• One in ten working dads said their spouse or significant other has become unemployed in the last 12 months, with 50 percent of those dads indicating it’s causing stress at home.
• Forty-two percent of working dads said they are the sole providers in their household
• Nine percent of working fathers say they have taken on a second job in the last 12 months to provide for their family.

Office overtime on overdrive

As many of you know firsthand, leaner staffs have led to fewer people handling a higher volume of work. This has made it more difficult for working fathers to achieve a healthy work/life balance, as many are stuck at the office working longer hours — and less time with their kids.

But just how many hours?

• Sixty-three percent of working dads said they work more than 40 hours per week.
• Three in ten (31 percent) working dads who take work home reported they typically bring work home five days a week or more.
• Thirty percent bring work home on the weekends.

And how much less time with their kids?

• Close to four in ten (37 percent) of working dads said they spend two hours or less with their children each work day.
• More than three in ten (35 percent) reported they missed two or more significant events in their child’s life due to work in the last year.

How to be a better juggler

These are bleak statistics, but as Mary Delaney, one of CareerBuilder’s own busy working mothers, has said, there are things you can do to better balance work and family. and now, Jason Ferrara, VP Corporate Marketing at CareerBuilder and a father of two, shares his tips for working dads everywhere to better manage the delicate balancing act of providing for one’s family — and being there as a partner and a father.

“Especially in tough times, working dads have to be more creative and strategic to successfully juggle both work and family commitments,” said Jason Ferrara, VP Corporate Marketing at CareerBuilder and father of two.  “Employers understand the importance of working dads’ time away from the office and continue to place an emphasis on work/life balance through benefits that encourage employees to better manage their schedules. However, year over year, we find that nearly half of working dads do not take advantage of the flexible work arrangements offered to them.”

I’m not suggesting getting Dad a juggling set for Father’s Day (though I’m not not suggesting it, either), but the following tips are designed to help working Dads more effectively juggle their professional and personal lives. After all, although our multitudes of work and life commitments won’t necessarily go away, learning to prioritize them is a strong start.

Ferrara recommends the following tips for working dads navigating through difficult economic times:

1. Keep everyone in the mix. Remember that communication is a two-way street.  Besides just listening to what is going on in your family’s lives, talk about what is going on in your office, so everyone understands why you are away or have to do some work when you are home.
2. Learn to say no. In addition to actual work, sometimes activities associated with your job can take a toll on your free time. Determine what additional activities you can turn down and which are necessary so that you can free up more of your time outside of the office.
3. Develop a master family calendar. Add every family member’s schedule to one master calendar so there are no surprises.  Also, save vacation days for important events and talk to your supervisor about flexible work arrangements.
4. Play now, work later. Put down your Blackberry and avoid checking e-mails until after your children have gone to sleep.
5. Plan a family event in your office. Take advantage of the summer months when school is out and the office may be less hectic by scheduling a kid-friendly potluck or other event with co-workers and their families.

What’s worked for you?

Do you have a solution that’s helped you better manage your work and family lives to add? Let us know in comments — We’d love to hear about it!

Workplace Flexibility — It’s Not a Trend

More and more businesses are talking about the importance of workplace flexibility in today’s society – and the White House even dedicated a recent forum solely to the topic. As the forum stressed, we need a 21st century workplace to meet the demands of a 21st century work force. A report by the President’s Council of Economic Advisors found that more flexibility in the workplace leads to happier employees, more family time, and higher employee retention and productivity – as well as more competitive and profitable workplaces.

One of the more interesting discussions in The Hiring Site’s contest history recently unfolded around the very idea of workplace flexibility, as we asked all of you the following question for our May contest (and gave away some cool stuff — congrats to our winners!):

“Do you think a results-only work environment would work at your company? Why or why not?”

You were all more than a bit divided on the subject; opinions ranged from “This would NOT be a good environment at ANY company!” to “Yes! Thinking outside the box is what keeps America growing.” I’ve rounded up some of the highlights below (you can read the full list of comments here).

“I think ROWE is a fantastic way of boosting employee morale and engagement, and it can be used as a “perk” for some employees (it works for me!)” –PJ

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“It’s a good concept for companies without strict production deadlines.” –Donna

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“I think that the staff on my team would enjoy this freedom. I even believe some of them may produce the results in order to have the freedom. I do also believe that I need some one here 8-5 to take care of clients who have that expectation of us. It’s a great concept, but I’m not sure how I can make the logistics work in my 5 man team.” –Stacy

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“While I think this would be a great concept in several work environments; the concept would not work in our setting; we are in the business of providing 24/7 care to our patients. The level of staffing that is needed depends on the number of patient we have to take care and the level of the care that each patient requires.” –Lara

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“I think the best part of a ROWE would be the work life balance that it creates. As a working mom I can imagine how helpful and ideal a ROWE would be.” –Bernadette

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“In the field of corrections, this is not possible. You cannot monitor an inmate population from the grocery store. There is also no quantitative way to measure remote job performance… Most people are not able to handle the organizational issues and self-motivating actions this would require.” –KCI

“We treat all our colleagues as adults and they all manage their own time. We have no handbook. We have no time clock. All but one of our people work from a home office or on client sites. We do not track how much time is spent in either place (except for billing purposes.) Our turnover is basically zero in the last several years – not just in HR District Office, but in Higbee Associates as a whole.” –Lynn

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“I love the concept! Unfortunately, I don’t think it would work in our business, which is retail. We might be able to use it for back-office/administrative functions, but I believe there has to be some face time in order to foster teamwork.” –Lise

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“On the surface this appears to be a creative way to bridge the gap between generations and work place expectations.” –Kim

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“It is pretty hard to mentor someone that is not around on a consistent basis. This will undermine the relationship and make it harder to give feedback.” –Denise

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“Working set amounts of hours is really not about results, but about doing something because it is supposed to be done this way. If people could be more tied to the outcome of their work then more people would be happier with their careers. Its a great idea whose time may come down the road.” –Noelle

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“It sounds fantastic and I would love to be able to do it! But, I think that we (Americans) are used to a certain mindset in the workplace and that is the harder (usually more hours) you work the better employee you are. It would be hard to change that mindset in all of your employees and this could in turn create some resentment.” –Jen

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“Unfortunately adopting such a paradigm shift in culture would possibly cripple an organization who still follows workflows and corporate driven goal setting they built decades ago. Many newcomers are all for it and working smarter is. Not looked at as valuable as sitting at your desk looking busy from 9-5. Anyone else’s company still in a time warp?” –Steve

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“The flexibility to manage your time as you need would create less stress in a job and in life. In turn this makes you more productive. More productive means more money, and money is always the bottom line.” –Brad

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“The ROWE concept is a great one but measures would have to be in place to ensure excellent service. Customers want/need (pay) to have access to their vendors so making sure the correct results are delivered would be a challenge. It really requires drilling down to the specific results the organization wants to achieve and being able to understand what your customers want/need/are willing to accept. Companies would also need to have technology and communication (practices) infrastructures that would support the diversity of schedules and patterns brought on by this approach.” –Charles

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“I think more companies need to expand their thinking and rewards structure, sometimes money isn’t really the bottom line and quality of life is much more appealing.” –Gytahnna

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Your Biggest Concerns

From what I gathered in your comments, many of the concerns or challenges you expressed in your comments regarding ROWE boil down to physical presence and time elements — the need for employees to be physically in the office and during certain times, whether for meetings, teamwork building, customers, last-minute projects, ongoing deadlines, the ability to mentor, the desire to keep an eye on employees’ progress, or something else. The founders of ROWE have detailed answers to many of the same questions and concerns you have all expressed — you can determine whether or not their answers satisfy you.

ROWE — Who’s Doing It?

Some of you also asked at which companies ROWE was currently in place. Companies like Best Buy, Gap Outlet, Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council, and Fairview Health Services’ (their IT department) have adapted a results-only work environment. You can read about one employee’s ROWE experience here.

And as for the concern that with ROWE, employees won’t show up for meetings, answer calls, or meet deadlines, Eric Severson, VP of HR for Gap Inc., says, “That just doesn’t happen. People need feedback on projects and will come to meetings to get sign-offs. Some people still work 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, and that’s fine. ROWE is your choice.”

ROWE or not, workplaces are constantly changing — and we enjoy discussing those changes with you. Any additional thoughts about ROWE?

Seeing more co-workers stuffing large quantities of cupcakes left after meetings into their purse, or frantically kicking the vending machine to try to trick it into giving them two candy bars? Hopefully not, because that would be messy and violent, respectively — but if you’re eating a little more and are seeing everyone around you do the same, you may be happy to know there’s a reason for all the eating madness: Work stress and economic pressure.

The combination of these two negative forces seems to be a factor in the U.S. labor force’s weight gain, according to a new CareerBuilder survey of more than 4,800 workers. But how much of a factor, really?

Here’s the skinny:

Forty-four percent of the roughly 4,800 workers surveyed say they have gained weight in their current jobs – and 32 percent of those workers attribute the weight gain to stress. 

Do you celebrate every co-worker’s birthday with a big ol’ cake, which you eat at your desk, before going out to lunch to celebrate? You’re not alone. Workers’ other reasons for weight gain at work include:

• Sitting at a desk most of the day (49 percent)
• Eating out regularly (25 percent)
• Workplace celebrations  like potlucks and birthdays (16 percent)
• Skipping meals because of time constraints (14 percent)

What do the scales say?

• 28 percent of employees report they have gained more than ten pounds, and 12 percent say they gained more than 20 pounds while in their present positions.
• Comparing genders, women were more likely to put on weight — and more weight — than men.
• Half of female workers (50 percent) say they have gained weight in their current position, compared to 39 percent of their male counterparts.

What can you do to help your employees — and should you?

Employers are divided as to how deeply they should get involved in employees’ personal fitness and health. However, it’s hard to deny that an abundance of stress at work isn’t good for employee morale — and can lead to weight gain in the workplace, unhappy employees, lower productivity, and health issues.

In contrast, company wellness programs have been shown to lower employees’ stress rates, improve health and quality of life, and also save companies money in the process.

“Especially in this economy, it is easier to pick up unhealthy eating habits in the office as workers spend more time on heavier workloads and less time on themselves,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder.

“Employers know that employees who are healthier and have less stress are more productive and ultimately stay longer in their positions. Because of this, we continue to see employers taking a more proactive role in their staff’s health by offering perks such as gym passes, onsite workout facilities, wellness benefits and even contests that promote healthy living.”

Even if you don’t want to get too involved as an employer — or involved at all — it’s smart to have available resources for employees should they reach out to you. Haefner recommends the following tips for employees trying to workplace weight gain:

1. Set an eating schedule. Planning out all your meals and snacks will help control your hunger. Set up alerts through your work calendar — or even on your phone — when it is time for you to eat something (and then don’t forget to eat!).

2. Pack a lunch and snacks. You’re less likely to eat something unhealthy if you bring food from home, because you can control portions, take in less calories — and save money while you’re at it. Consider lower-calorie foods for the office such as lean lunch meats, fat-free or reduced calorie chips, celery and carrots, fruit, or low-fat yogurt.

3. Go the extra mile. Especially in this economic environment, every little bit of activity helps, so take the stairs to your floor, get up and walk around the office periodically, and get off the train or bus one stop further from your home or office to get a few extra minutes of exercise.
Read the full press release on workers gaining weight at the office.

Be the hero and surprise your team with three months of breakfast treats from Wolferman’s, or singlehandedly caffeinate your employees for all of Q3 2010 with a 3-month Dunkin’ Donuts coffee subscription. And even if you don’t win either of those, you have a chance to win your own copy of “Why Works Sucks and How to Fix It.”

Entering is Easy:

Simply answer the question, “Do you think a results-only work environment would work at your company? Why or why not?” in the comments below — and you’ll automatically be entered to win!

What’s ROWE all about? Read on to find out — and then enter to win for your chance at free swag!

What’s ROWE?

At a SXSW Interactive panel this past March, I listened to the founders of the ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment) movement, Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, speak. After hearing more about ROWE and the well-known companies who had successfully adapted a results-only work environment, I was intrigued — and like many others, I had a lot of questions.

The concept of ROWE is, at its face, simple. People should have control of their own time — not the companies for which they work. In a results-only environment, the only thing that matters is results – not how many hours you’re at the office.

• As an employee, you own your time 24/7.
• Unlimited PTO as long as the work gets done.
• Go to the grocery store on a Tuesday at 10 a.m. if you need to.
• No more mandatory meetings.
• No more permission-granting from your employer, but instead, performance guiding.
• Employees are trusted with their time.

As Ressler and Thompson say, “Work isn’t a place you go — it’s a thing you do.” They are quick to stress that ROWE is not the same as flex time, telecommuting, job sharing, or employees to work from home a couple of days per week — those options, they say, are not enough.

From www.gorowe.com:

In a results-only company or department, employees can do whatever they want whenever they want, as long as the work gets done.  You make the decisions about what you do and where you do it, every minute of every day.

Here’s a video explaining ROWE, featuring employers who have adapted it:

The CEO of Girl Scouts of San Gorgonia Council, who pioneered ROWE for the organization when she came on board as CEO, recently wrote an article about her take on ROWE and workplace flexibility.

The Benefits?

According to stats on Ressler and Thompson’s website:

• ROWE teams report an average increase of 35% in productivity by eliminating waste from systems and processes, which increases employee capacity.
• ROWE teams also experience up to a 90% decrease in voluntary turnover rates.

Other benefits:

• Talent retention and attraction — Ressler and Thompson argue that companies in a results-only environment have a competitive advantage, as many candidates willing to be paid less money and have more freedom rather than work in a company with a traditional structure and more money.
• Optimization of space — Employees are working remotely much of the time.
• Elimination of wasteful processes — Employees will not be wasting a company’s time, money, and resources.

Challenges?

This may all sound too good to be true — so in our follow-up post, we’ll address some of the challenges companies who choose this route face, as well as some of your proposed challenges.

As employees of companies of all sizes (or as candidates looking for your next job), we at The Hiring Site want to get your thoughts. If nothing else, with work/life lines blurring more and more and more workers demanding (or at least requesting) flexibility and freedom in the workplace, it’s an interesting concept to start discussing.

How to Enter:
Simply answer this question in the comments below: “Do you think a results-only work environment would work at your company? Why or why not?”

Once you submit your answer, you’ll automatically be entered to win.

What Can you Win?

• One of you will win a 3-month breakfast club subscription for your team
• Two of you will win a 3-month Dunkin’ Donuts coffee subscription (that’s 2 lbs./month of regular or decaf, whole bean or ground, however you want it!)
• Four of you will win a copy of “Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It” by Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson.

Contest Details:
Entries will be accepted from 12:00 a.m. CST on Monday, May 17, 2010 until 11:59 p.m. CST on Friday, May 21, 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 May 24, 2010. Please read the full list of official contest rules and regulations.

Just answer this question: “Do you think a results-only work environment would work at your company? Why or why not?”

Want to hear more about ROWE? Listen to Ressler and Thompson on NPR, in a three-part story about result-only work environments.

You may have a dozen reasons to celebrate Mother’s Day this Sunday, but here’s one you may not have thought of — a tough economy. A recent CareerBuilder survey of 604 women, employed full-time with children 18 and under living in the household, shows that working moms may be feeling more stressed — and less appreciated — in our current economic climate.

Working moms, many of them recently tasked with the responsibility of keeping their families afloat due to unemployed spouses or other financial issues, have had to become more resourceful than ever.

According to survey results:

• Twelve percent of working moms said their spouse or significant other has become unemployed in the last 12 months, with two-thirds (67 percent) indicating that it is causing stress at home.
• Thirty-six percent of working moms said they are the sole provider for their household.
• Nearly one-in-ten (9 percent) have taken on a second job in the last 12 months to provide for their family.

Work/life balance — what’s that again?

As a result, achieving a work/life balance can be a lot of work in itself, as moms are working more hours — which often translates to less time at home with the family:

• Forty-three percent of working moms work more than 40 hours per week.
• More than one-third (34 percent) who take work home reported they typically bring work home three days a week or more.
• Twenty-three percent bring work home on the weekends.
• Nearly one-in-five (18 percent) of working moms said they spend two hours or less with their children each work day.
• Nearly three-in-ten (29 percent) reported they missed two or more significant events in their child’s life due to work in the last year.

So what can working moms do to achieve more balance?

CareerBuilder’s Mary Delaney, a working mother herself, offers other working moms her thoughts and tips:

“The tough economy has taken its toll on family units and working moms are challenged with doing more with less time,” said Mary Delaney, President of Personified, CareerBuilder’s talent consulting division, and mother of three.

“What we’re seeing from these moms is a great deal of resourcefulness and resilience as they provide for their families.  While they may not be able to spend as much time with their children as they would like, working moms are making the most of the time they do have and getting creative in work arrangements.”

Delaney recommends the following tips to help working moms navigate through difficult economic times:

1. Talk to other working moms. Many families are in the same boat as you and having a support network is essential to your personal and professional sanity.  Getting tips from other working moms on how they juggle personal and professional commitments can be a big help.
2. Seek out flexible work arrangements. The vast majority of working moms who have taken advantage of flexible work arrangements said it hasn’t negatively impacted their careers.  In fact, one-in-five (21 percent) said it has actually helped their careers.
3. Have a plan. Structure in your life will save you time, stress and mental energy.  Keep one calendar for business and family commitments to avoid double-booking. Set up a schedule for chores, homework, family activities, playtime, etc.
4. Take advantage of work perks. Companies offer a variety of perks such as wellness benefits, company discounts on entertainment venues, etc.  Talk to your HR department and see what is available to help save money on monthly expenses and fun family outings.
5. Make the most of your family time. When you’re home, it’s all about them.  Wait until after the children go to bed before checking email or finishing up that presentation.
6. Schedule some “me time.” Working moms need to take care of themselves too.  Put actual time on the calendar for an hour or more of doing something you enjoy such as going to the gym, taking a walk, reading, etc.

Working moms (or dads) — any tips to add that have helped your family get things back in order?

If you can tear yourself away from KFC’s Double Down sandwich or the latest episode of Glee long enough, take a few minutes to check out what you’ve missed this past month in the wonderful and sometimes wacky world of recruitment.

We found reason to be optimistic with CareerBuilder and USA Today’s Q2 2010 hiring forecast results, and BLS released March’s Employment Situation report, which revealed that the economy saw its largest job gain in three years. And hey! Things are even looking up for college graduates in terms of the job outlook.

While we’re talking about better news in hiring, I should probably mention that we just released our new how-to-hire e-book, CareerBuilder’s Ultimate Recruitment Guide. Download a copy for yourself — or your team — now.

What are workers spending their tax refunds on this year? Is it that trip to see grandma in Wyoming? A new lifetime supply of bathroom tissue? You may be surprised. On that note, a new CareerBuilder survey found that the majority of employers are doing something to become more environmentally friendly, or “green” –investing in bathroom tissue made from recycled tissue, perhaps?

Jim Greenwood, CEO of Concentra, Inc. shared his thoughts on being a CEO — a Chief Encouragement Officer, that is — and talked about Concentra’s workplace culture, the importance of giving colleagues an opt out, and much more.  Another leader, Martha O’Gorman, chief marketing officer at Liberty Tax Service, talked with us about why employees should be left to do their jobs, when humor’s appropriate in workplace culture, and why the company doesn’t believe in traditional national advertising.

Do you want colleagues — or ex-colleagues — rating you anonymously and gaining control over whether that next employer wants to hire you? A new social networking site, Unvarnished, thinks you do. Speaking of the power of employee referrals, we revealed how a personal phone call from George Lopez to Conan O’Brien helped Conan decide to sign on to Team TBS.

Lastly, we discussed AOL’s success in employment branding, and why you need to know who you are — and who you aren’t — as an employer.

Here’s some other employment news that’s been making us gasp, cringe, or smile this past month:

• Sooooo… did we mention our new recruitment e-book is out? We might have.
• Some companies send you back to school.  Other companies school you on social media best practices, university-style.
• Why the job hoppers who make you hesitate may actually make the best employees.
• You’d probably gasp if you got this kind of e-mail from a potential intern. Amirite?
• The best culture attracts the best talent — here’s 10 ways to get in on the action
• Top Employee, anyone? Five ways food and restaurants are mixing in an awesome culture.
• Sometimes, your employees need to feel empowered to get on that bike and fall off. And learn to get back up. And, you know, fall off again.
• Speaking of bikes, some of you may want to bike to a nearby establishment to see what a  “jobless recovery ale” is like. Taste the happy… ?
• Would you pay Donatella Versace to judge your skills and that skirtyougotforlike$10shhhh — for charity?

Anything we missed?

As many of you are likely aware, the 40th anniversary of Earth Day is tomorrow, April 22. Around the world, people are taking part in everything from planting gardens, to clean water projects, to climate rallies, to people-powered smoothie making to celebrate and raise awareness. The White House is making a splash by dedicating five days of events to celebrate Earth Day.

In addition, Vice President Joe Biden announced earlier today that $452 million in Recovery Act funding will go toward energy-efficient building retrofits in 25 communities. These 25 projects will leverage an estimated $2.8 billion from other sources, which will go toward retrofitting hundreds of thousands of U.S. homes and businesses in the next three years.

Are businesses ready?

So, with all this retrofitting to come — and with many job seekers seeking out socially responsible companies — it’s exciting to hear that many companies are paying attention and have taken steps — or plan to take steps — to become more environmentally friendly, as indicated by a new CareerBuilder survey of more than 2,700 hiring managers. As Kimberly, a recent commenter on The Hiring Site, wrote:

“Our job descriptions have been revamped to instill a “day-in-the-life” of… to example our culture. We also include our organization’s work/life balance, community involvement and our “green” initiatives.”

According to survey results, one in ten employers say they have added “green jobs,” otherwise known as environmentally-focused positions, in the last 12 months, despite the tough economy, and nearly 10 percent plan to add more in 2010.

Which region’s leading the pack?

Employers in the Northeast (14 percent) added the most “green,” or environmentally friendly, jobs over the last year, followed by 11 percent in the South, 10 percent in the West and 9 percent in the Midwest.

Of those surveyed, which industry’s most green?

Retail led the industries surveyed, with 24 percent indicating they have added green jobs over the last 12 months. What percentage of other industries indicated they’ve done the same?

• Eighteen percent of transportation and utilities
• Fifteen percent of sales
• Fourteen percent of IT and manufacturing
• Ten percent of financial services

Companies are not only adding environmentally friendly positions within their organizations, but they are also strengthening their current in-house green programs. Nearly 70 percent of companies say they have added programs to be more environmentally conscious in the last year. The most popular green programs include:

• Recycling (47 percent)
• Using less paper (43 percent)
• Controlling lighting (40 percent)
• Powering down computers at the end of the day (29 percent)
• Purchasing office supplies made from recycled materials (25 percent)

“Green opportunities continue to grow as companies take advantage of increased government programs designed to spur job growth and reduce the country’s carbon footprint,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder. “The green category has expanded over the past few years and job seekers are finding environmentally friendly positions in virtually every industry and at every job level.”

What’s going on in the marketplace?

The following are some examples of green job opportunities that can be found at Going Green Jobs, CareerBuilder’s site designed to connect green employers and job seekers:

1. Hydrologist — The median annual income is $78,458.*
2. Solar energy system designer –The median annual income is $65,160.
3.Wildlife biologist – The median annual income is $38,301.
4. Science teacher – The median annual income of kindergarten, elementary, middle and secondary school teachers ranges from $51,373 to 57,537.
5. Waste management engineer — The median annual income is $89,067.
6. Environmental attorney — The median annual income for attorneys specializing in construction, real estate and land use is $99,579.
7. Urban planner — The media annual income is $65,768.

* Salary information from CBsalary.com.

What are you doing for Earth Day 2010?

What is your company doing to take part in Earth Day — or what has your business done recently to become more environmentally friendly? What kind of an impact is it having on your business and on your employees?

If you are looking for ideas of service projects in your local area, check out the Earth Day 2010 list.

We at CareerBuilder have created this e-book for you, the employer.

• For the small bait and tackle shop owner, as well as the restaurant franchise owner.
• For the small tech firm, as well as the Fortune 500 corporation.

Because while your recruitment needs may be vastly different from every other business, you still do have recruitment needs. And whether you are concerned with getting less application drop-off, building a stronger employment brand, delving into the world of social media, providing more training opportunities for your employees, or a myriad of other challenges, CareerBuilder’s team of experts can help you isolate and tackle the specific areas of concern in your recruitment process and move forward to meet your next challenge with confidence and ease.

Use this e-book to discover our best tips around:

• Recruitment benchmarking
• Talent intelligence
• Compensation strategy
• Employment branding
• Social media recruitment/ social recruiting
• Employee engagement and retention
• Candidate attraction
• Recruitment process optimization
• Employee training
• Succession management
• Employee onboarding
• Interview questions
• …and more!

Download CareerBuilder’s Ultimate Recruitment Guide e-Book, our brand new how-to-hire guide stocked with the latest tips and advice – and designed to address your unique recruitment needs today.

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!

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!)

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.

There are six words that, when used together, can cause a bit of anxiety (no, I’m not talking about So You Think You Can Dance?).

Consider this scenario: Your employee is rushing to get to work. He or she is driving a car, one hand on the wheel — and one hand on the smart phone. Every once in a while your employee anxiously glances down at the phone, anticipating the inevitable work correspondence. Your employee doesn’t have to wait long, because five minutes into the drive, you, the frazzled boss who’s up early and thinking about a project, decides to e-mail said employee, knowing full well your employee will check the message right away – and feel compelled to respond. You type those six very important words: What is the status on this?

You hit send.

This type of situation may be more of a problem than you realize. Whether you’re a boss who’s always connected and expects the same of your employees, or you’re an employee who feels pressured to be “on” at all times, even while driving – you may need to slow down a bit. According to the results of a new CareerBuilder survey of more than 5,200 workers, more than half (54 percent) of workers who have a smart phone or similar device said they check it when driving a vehicle — and many are risking safety on the road because they feel pressured to respond.

Which Industries are Most Connected On the Commute?

In comparing industries:

• Sixty-six percent of sales workers used their smart phones while driving, more than any other group surveyed.
• They were followed by  professional and business services workers (59 percent).
• Health care workers were third in terms of industry use (50 percent).

How Bad Is It?

It’s bad enough that almost of quarter (21 percent) of workers say they check their mobile device every time it vibrates or beeps — but worse that 18 percent report they are required by their company to be accessible beyond office hours via mobile device. In addition, 14 percent of workers said they feel obligated to constantly stay in touch with work because of the current tough economy.

It’s true that the lines between work and home lives are often blurry at best due to our ability to be connected in so many ways and at all hours of the day. It’s important for bosses to keep in mind, however, that if employees are not at work and you require them to correspond or make work decisions, there’s a possibility you could be putting them in danger.

And while it’s also true that employees are not always in the precarious position of driving while texting or e-mailing, consider that your employees have personal lives just like you. By corresponding during off-hours, you may be forcing them to respond while they’re mid-first-date (and nervous to begin with), enjoying a Broadway show, praying, or even attending to other “personal business” — in the bathroom. Workers with smart phones said they are checking in with the office on their smart phones from virtually anywhere and everywhere, including:

• During a meal:  62 percent
• On vacation:  60 percent
• While in the bathroom:  57 percent
• Lying in bed at night:  50 percent
• At a movie, play, or musical:  25 percent
• On a date:  18 percent
• Working out at the gym:  17 percent
• At a child’s event of function:  17 percent
• At church:  11 percent

Think Before You Hit “Send”

While sometimes communication outside of the office may be necessary, consider your options before contacting — and decide whether the message you’re communicating is important enough to hit “send” regardless of where your employee may be at that moment. And think of your frequency — are you abusing your power as an employer, as well as your employee’s time? Or are you acting in good faith?

“It is challenging for workers to maintain a good work/life balance when they are constantly connected to the office, so turning their devices off is important for their health and safety,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder. “The lines between work and life can be very blurry these days – 17 percent of workers said they feel like their work day never ends because of technology connecting them to the office. To reduce burnout and avoid potentially risky behavior, workers should allot technology-free time when away from work.”

Consider the three tips below to help you and your employee to work together on a work/life balance:

• Encourage employees to turn off the smart phone while driving. Not only is it illegal in many states, but using a mobile device while driving is dangerous to both your employee and others on the road. Let your employees know that if it’s necessary to leave his or her smart phone on and a conference call or other urgent matter comes up, you want them to pull over to safely handle the situation.
• Help your employee create a backup plan: Help your employee plan to have an out-of-office message or voicemail at the ready, and arrange for them to leave contact information for others on your team familiar with your employee’s area of the business who are able to step in if needed. Alternately, arrange to handle business yourself if you’re able to in a sticky situation. That way, any emergency can be handled appropriately if your employee can’t get to it — and you’ll still be aware of what’s going on.
• Have a personal policy in mind. What are your parameters for getting in touch with your employees on off-hours or while out of the office? Where do you draw the line — and if you don’t, consider whether there are ways you can modify your plan and communicate that out to your employees.

What’s your take on the issue — is it a problem or a necessary evil in our current work environment?

Millenials. Comprised of those born after 1980, or those 18-29 years old, they’re America’s newest generation.  (And it’d be more fun if they were called this, no?) But what else are we learning about them, particularly when it comes to the workplace? A new report aimed at Millenials attempts to answer some of our unanswered questions.

Who are Millenials?

Fifty million people currently fall into the “Millenials” category. Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan fact tank that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world, has just released a report called “Millenials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change.”

The report, conducted by Pew Research Center’s “Social & Demographic Trends Project,” compares the values, attitudes and behaviors of Millenials with those of older adults, and seeks to shed some light on which formative experiences Millenials will carry throughout their life cycle. Among other findings, the report found that personality-wise, Millenials are confident, self-expressive, liberal, and upbeat, and are open to change.

Dissatisfied With Work Now — But Optimistic for the Future

Interestingly, although Millenials’ careers have been derailed — or at least detoured — with a recession, they are more upbeat than their elders about both their own economic futures and the state of the nation.

Having a high-paying career is cited by only 15 percent of 18- to 29-year-old respondents as one of the most important things in their lives, while things like a successful marriage and being a good parent rank much higher — even though unemployment for this age group is higher now than it has been in more than three decades.

Unemployed Millenials

• Only 19 percent of unemployed Millenials say they have enough money to live the kind of live they want

• 89 percent, however, believe they will have enough income in the future

Employed Millenials

• Just 31 percent of employed Millenials reported making enough money to lead the kind of life they want — leaving 69 percent who are not satisfied.
• They are less satisfied than previous generations; 46 percent of Gen Xers, for example, cite satisfaction with their income.
• Among those employed Millenials dissatisfied with their income, 88 percent are confident that they will be able to earn enough in the future.

How They View Their Elders

They respect their elders. Surprised? According to the report:

“A majority say that the older generation is superior to the younger generation when it comes to moral values and work ethic.”

New Einsteins

This generation is also poised to become the most educated generation in American history — a trend which, according to the report, is driven largely by the demands of a modern knowledge-based economy, but also by the millions of 20-somethings enrolling in educational institutions like graduate school or community college due to lack of a job. A record share of 18- to 24-year-olds (39.6 percent) were enrolled in college in 2008, according to census data.

BlackBerrys in the Bed

As we’ve discussed on the blog before, the lines between work and personal lives are getting blurrier by the minute. And now, Millenials are being called the first “always-connected” generation in history. According to the report:

“Steeped in digital technology and social media, they treat their multi-tasking hand-held gadgets almost like a body part — for better and worse. More than eight-in-ten say they sleep with a cell phone glowing by the bed, poised to disgorge texts, phone calls, e-mails, songs, news, videos, games and wake-up jingles,” the report says.

Social Media? Yes Please!

A whopping 75 percent of 18- to 29-year-old respondents said they have a social networking profile. And although this generation is characterized as wary of human nature and many have their profile on lockdown, there are still great ways to c0nnect on public pages and forums.

If you’re an employer and you’re not involved in social networks, you’re missing an opportunity to get in front of a huge group of potential candidates.

Education

When ranked with older generations at comparable ages, Millenials are shown to be more highly educated (in the formal sense).

• More than half of Millenials (54 percent) have at least some college education, compared with 49 percent of Gen X, 36 percent of baby boomers, and 24 percent of the Silent Generation
• Millenials, when compared with previous generations at the same age, are also more likely to have finished high school
• Conversely,  Millenials are less likely to be employed than their elder generations; 63 percent of Millenials are likely to be employed, compared to 70 percent of Gen Xers or 66 of baby boomers had been at the same age
• Compared with the Silent Generation at the same age, Millenials are overall are more likely to be in the labor force

We’re Different

Like many of us (see what I did there?), sixty-seven percent of Millenials also see their age group as unique, according to the report. When asked why, the most popular response at 24 percent was “technology use.” Other responses included music, pop culture, and tolerance. And 6 percent say it’s because they’re smarter.

There’s much more to the report — you can read it in its entirety here.

Employers, what do you think, based on what you’ve experienced with Millenials in the workplace? And Millenials, do you agree with the report’s findings?

As a former Super Nintendo addict enthusiast, I was both excited and surprised to come across this recent Go magazine article about the growing number of companies using interactive software and video games as employee training and development tools.

Excited, of course, because it seems like a cool, fun way to engage employees (and brought back fond memories of watching Mario hop around in a Frog suit)…But also surprised by just how many companies are embracing this trend: A reported 70 percent of major domestic employers used these ”serious games” to train employees in 2008, according to the Entertainment Software Association.  That figure is estimated to increase to 80 percent by 2013.

It’s encouraging to see employers move away from more traditional training methods like white papers, PowerPoint presentations and training calls - many of which seem as if they were designed to be tuned out (apologies if this is news to anyone) – and toward more engaging methods.  According to the article, those who use these training techniques say that video games help employees build business skills by putting them in situations that require critical thinking and decision making. 

Not to mention that being able to interact through computer simulation programs helps employees retain complicated information better than they would using other, more traditional training techniques.

Of course, the obvious downsides to using video gaming techniques to train is that the time and cost spent setting up and designing the customized software could be significant, depending on the complexity of the project.  And then there’s the not-so-minor fact that simulations can’t completely replace actual human interaction…But none of this is to say this technology doesn’t hold value (so long as its viewed as a supplement to, and not a replacement for, real world training) – and many will argue that the business benefits ultimately outweigh the costs.

No Longer Just a Training Tool…
In addition to helping companies develop employees’ business skills, more companies are utilizing video games in their recruiting and branding efforts as well. Here are a few examples:

• Candidate Attraction: The MITRE Corporation, for example, enables job seekers to download a 3D video game that gives players a better understanding of the company’s campus, how the interview process works, and view examples of company projects. Similarly, staffing firm Kelly Services has a virtual community in Second Life that gives job seekers an interactive experience to see what it’s like to work for Kelly, create buzz and differentiate Kelly from its competitors. In August 2009, the U.S. Army opened its Experience Center at a Philadelphia shopping mall, where potential recruits can play military videogames and learn about military bases and career options in an interactive way – helping the Army meet and exceed its recruiting and retention goals.
• Employee Engagement: Kansas City-based benefits provider Assurant launched the gaming suite, “It’s Your Business,” in 2007 with the goal of helping employees better understand the business in order to boost sales. What it ended up with was increased employee engagement and knowledge retention.  Today, employees are even more involved in the project, as they are the source of input for developing new training games.
• Employee Retention: In efforts to help employees relieve stress, refocus and (most importantly) avoid burnout, companies are increasingly relying on video games – turning their ordinary break rooms into game zones.  At the offices of the Chicago-based tee shirt company Threadless, taking a break to play a little Guitar Hero is an everyday occurrence for employees. And recently, Phoenix-based Multi-Systems, Inc. gave its employees a $10,000 budget to design a game room for them to unwind in, as a thank you for making various pay and benefits sacrifices the previous year. 

Where does your company fall among these other companies and their efforts? Does your company use interactive programs to engage current or potential employees? If so, feel free to share your experience in the comments section below…

If Quiznos’ was hoping to boost its employment brand, the fast food chain’s new environmentally conscious “Eat Toasty, Be Green” campaign – which includes the use of new biodegradable packaging and employee uniforms made from recycled materials – could not have come out at a better time.   

Job seekers seem to gravitate toward social responsible companies, according to a recent Kelly Services survey of nearly 100,000 people in 34 countries in North America, Europe and Asia. 

The reason for this? “Employees gain a sense of fulfillment when their employer is focused on not only the bottom line but also on initiatives and practices [that] have a common connection with the communities in which they operate,” said George Corona, Kelly Services’ executive VP and COO, in an article for Staffing Industry Review Magazine.

(Perhaps this helps explain why companies like Whole Foods and Starbucks – both of whom are often acknowledged for Corporate Social Responsibility efforts – often find themselves on ‘best companies to work for’ lists.)

Among the survey’s other findings:

• Almost 90 percent of respondents say they are more likely to work for an organization that is considered ethically and socially responsible, something that is consistent across all generations.
• 80 percent are more likely to work for an organization that is considered environmentally responsible, a figure that is considerably higher among older age groups.
• In deciding where to work, an organization’s reputation for ethical conduct is considered “very important” by 77 percent of Baby Boomers, 72 percent of GenX and 65 percent of GenY.
• 53 percent of Baby Boomers would be prepared to forego pay or a promotion to work for an organization with a good reputation, compared to 48 percent of GenX and 46 percent of GenY.
• In deciding where to work, policies to address global warming are considered “very important” by 36 percent of Baby Boomers, 35 percent of GenX and 31 percent of GenY.

Quiznos is just the most recent in a long line of companies who have started tweaking their products to appeal to an increasingly environmentally conscious consumer base, and hopefully, other companies will follow suit. 

While these initiatives are certainly good for branding purposes (and, of course, Mother Earth), employers should be aware that, in order to truly engage employees, they should also focus on internal initiatives, like letting employees work from home or investing in energy-saving technology.

Not only do these efforts reduce the strain on the environment, but also – and perhaps more enticingly – they help improve the bottom line by qualifying companies for tax incentives, boosting employee productivity and garner consumer support. 

Do the above findings surprise you? What sort of environmentally-friendly initiatives is your company using to both reduce energy use (and how has it made an impact on your workplace)?

Thanks to everyone who – in response to last week’s “We Ask, You Win” contest – shared their company’s biggest challenges in recruiting and retaining workers.  You gave us some great feedback, and I’d like to share some of those answers with the rest of our readers.

Challenge: “I have too many resumes to sort through.”  The influx of resumes recruiters and hiring managers are receiving right now can be both a blessing and a curse. As one reader puts it, “It’s great to have lots of choices [as far as resumes go], but the burden of time spent on this can be touch to manage.”  (Burden might be an understatement: One reader reported receiving as many as 800 resumes for a recently advertised job opening.)

Solution: “With the economy the way it is anyone and everyone applies for jobs regardless of title or description,” says reader Michelle, a source of frustration for many readers.  Michelle gets around this challenge by pre-screening applicants by asking them to answer detailed and specific questions.  Customized screening questions saves you time by enabling you to quickly distinguish between those applicants who actually meet the qualifications for the job and those who are simply “applying to anything and everything in hopes of the chance of just finding work,” as reader Shannon Crone put it.

(FYI, if you’re a CareerBuilder client, you should know that you can take advantage of free screeners – personalized questionnaires that job seekers fill out as part of the applciation process – to help weed out unqualified applicants.)  

Challenge: “We can’t offer competitive compensation to retain and attract valuable employees.” Due to tighter budgets and fewer monetary resources, many companies (understandably) are wondering how they’re going to attract and retain valuable workers unless they can offer competitive rates. 

Solution: First, make sure you’re aware of today’s going compensation rates. Many employers today are relying on old salary reports or historical data – which do not account for today’s economic situation and are therefore outdated.  Utilizing third-party talent compensation reports to pull real-time data from industry and area competitors will give you a clearer idea of what your competitors are offering – and the results may surprise you.

Second, think about what you can offer them that won’t cost as much.  Can you offer  relocation fees? A signing bonus?

Third, realize that salary isn’t everything for today’s job seekers. They also want a place that respects their need for a work/life balance.  Consider any unique benefits you offer – anything from flexible schedules to recognition programs to wellness benefits – and make sure you emphasize those anywhere you can – beginning with your job advertisement.

Kelly, a reader who says her company’s greatest challenge is competing to retain and attract employees at a time of reduced salaries and a frozen 401k match, says her company plans to stay competitive by communicating the value of the experience employees gain by working at the company and being part of a leading and growing company in its industry.

Not wanting to lose their top performers and well aware of the need to engage their employees, another reader, Angela, says her company recently implemented an employee recognition program to improve employee morale, engagement and retention.  

Good call, Angela: Employee recognition programs effectively lead to lower turnover rates, according to The Carrot Principle: How the Best Managers Use Recognition to Engage Their People, Retain Talent and Accelerate Performance, based on 10 years worth of data on 200,000 managers and employees. According to studies cited in the book 79 percent of employees who quit their jobs give “a lack of appreciation” as a key reason for leaving. 

Challenge: “I can’t find the qualified candidates I need.”  For some of you, it’s not that you can’t offer candidate the right price, it’s that you can’t get the candidates in the first place. This is especially true for those recruiting for candidates with highly specialized skills, which is the predicament one reader has found himself in when looking for a particular type of health care professional. 

Solution: Frustrated by the current supply of candidates, he has started reviewing psychology industry publications to source candidates.  (A tactic that isn’t unlike what Seattle-based Tableau Software recently did when it needed a Web developer with extensive knowledge of Drupal:  the company’s recruiters began surfing niche social networking sites that catered to Drupal enthusiasts, where they eventually found their new hire.)

For reader Nick Tompkins, geographic location is an obstacle to finding qualified candidates, who are hesitant to consider relocating to his company’s rural location, where there is a limited availability housing market. To counter this challenge, Nick is working to change relocation benefits for professional hires, as well as partnering with the local chamber of commerce to build more affordable rental housing.  Last but not least, the company is focusing on its stability and “strong industry position in the current economy” to sell itself as a desirable place to work. 

Challenge: “We can’t respond to candidates the way we want to.” Reader Keil Werner says that, as a recruiter, his greatest challenge – bigger than sorting through the plethora of resumes he’s getting – is making the time to respond to these candidates in an effort to maintain good relationships with these candidates and build a network from which he can source qualified candidates in the future.  

Solution: Keil brings up a good point about the importance of not only fulfilling the immediate need to hire, but also working to grow your talent pool so you’ll have an easier time filling positions that open up later on. Not to mention that maintaining ties with candidates can be good for both your employment brand and your business.  One way to keep the lines of communication open with candidates is to set up automatic e-mail alerts that tell applicants that their resume has been received and where it is in the review process – either through your company’s internal careers site or with the help of a third party.  If you use CareerBuilder’s Resume Database, for example, you can use the free ”My Letters” tool to create and save up to 20 different automatic response letters to send to job seekers after they submit an application to your job.

Care to add your two cents? Got any advice of your own to share?

No, I mean you’re kind of living In Good Company, the 2004 film where Dennis Quaid’s character finds himself working for a much younger boss, played by Topher Grace.  Oh, and also, you actually are in good company…

According to a new survey by CareerBuilder,  43 percent of workers ages 35 and older said they currently work for someone younger than them. (Sorry…no data on how many of these workers’ daughters were also dating their younger bosses.)

That figure increases to 53 percent when looking at workers age 45 and older, and to 69 percent for workers 55 and up. Perhaps not surprisingly, the survey showed that the younger boss/older worker dynamic can be a source of friction in the workplace, with 41 percent of those who work for someone younger saying they had difficulty taking direction from a younger boss. 

The reasons it’s so hard to work for someone younger? According to survey participants:

• They act like they know more than me when they don’t.
• They act like they’re entitled and didn’t earn their position.
• They  micromanage.
• They play favorites with younger workers.
• They don’t give me enough direction.

(What do you think about these findings? Are you on either side of a younger boss/older worker relationship?  If so, does that dynamic affect your workplace? Tell us in the comments section below, or keep reading for tips on how to better manage these types of relationships.)

Despite the differences between you and your younger boss or older employee, if you can recognize that you each bring something different and valuable to the table, Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, says that will be the key to getting along and driving the business forward.  

“By looking past their differences and focusing on their strengths, workers of any age can mutually benefit from those around them, creating a more cohesive workplace,” Haefner says in the press release.

PrimeCB.com, CareerBuilder’s job site for mature workers, offers the following tips for bridging generational differences at work: 

• Understand others’ point of view: Different generations tend to have differing opinions on a variety of topics, from management style to pop culture. Put yourself in others’ shoes to better understand where they’re coming from.
• Adapt your communication: Younger workers tend to favor communicating frequently using technology, such as e-mail and instant messenger. Older workers may prefer more face-to-face contact. Both parties should take this and other communication differences into consideration when interacting.
• Keep an open mind: Try not to make assumptions about those who are of a different age group than you. All workers have different skill sets and strengths, so see what you can learn from others rather than making judgments based on their age.

Ever had to answer to someone younger or manage someone older? What advice would you give to others?

Reality-TV-addicted hearts were breaking all over the country Monday night as Ali Fedotowsky left ABC’s  “The Bachelor” and its newest bachelor, Jake, in order to keep her job. While Ali’s two worlds were separate, however, the lines between work and love are often much blurrier. In fact, 37 percent of workers have dated a co-worker at some point in their careers, according to CareerBuilder’s annual office romance survey of more than 5,200 workers.

Would Aly and Jake’s problems have been solved if they had just been in love while sitting in cubicles next to each other from 9 to 5? It’s possible; 32 percent of workers surveyed said they went on to marry the person they dated at work. On the flip side, though, 5 percent of workers surveyed said they’ve left a job because of an office romance.

“Employees are working longer hours and under increased pressure, creating an environment that could cause relationships to bloom. Workers need to keep it professional under all circumstances, though, to ensure that the quality of their work is not negatively impacted,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder.

Climbing the romantic ladder

Dating “above you” on the corporate ladder? You’re not alone — many respondents indicated they’ve dated a superior. More women than men indicated they’ve dated someone above them in their company’s hierarchy; almost a third of women (30 percent) said they have dated someone who holds a higher position in their organization, while only 19 percent of men report they have done the same.

Longing looks over the water cooler

Some co-workers may simply be pining for their co-worker from afar. Eight percent of workers currently work with someone whom they would like to date, with more men (11 percent) than women (4 percent) reporting they would like to take that next step.

Many of those who said they’ve dated a co-worker revealed that they didn’t actually meet that special someone at the workplace. So, when and where are co-workers finally giving that “Tweet Me” candy heart to their crush?

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

Workplace responsibility

“Workplace relationships are more accepted these days, with 67 percent of workers saying they aren’t keeping their romance a secret. However, it is the responsibility of the individuals to understand company policy and make sure they adhere to it,” Haefner said.

Extreme Casual Fridays are not the way to go when it comes to getting the attention of your co-worker crush. Haefner offers the following tips for workers who may want to spark a workplace romance:

• Know your company’s office relationship policy: While some companies are completely open to office romances, others may have stricter policies. Make sure both parties in the relationship are aware of potential rules or consequences.
• Beware of social media: Before you start posting pictures and status updates about your newfound coupledom, it may be better to inform your co-workers or boss in person. That way, there is less chance for gossip or speculation.
• Always take the high road: If your relationship should end, do your best to maintain professionalism and not let the issues affect your performance on the job.

Any workplace romance stories of your own to share?

Oh, Patti Stanger, once again, your wisdom has unwittingly transferred over to the world of recruitment and talent management…I’m referring of course to TV’s Millionaire Matchmaker, who I’ve once likened to a talent recruiter in how she is often challenged with finding a happy medium between giving her clients what they want and what they need – even when the two don’t always align.

In Tuesday night’s episode, however, Patti exhibited the qualities of a manager who understands the value in providing opportunities for employees to develop the skills that will not only help them succeed in their endeavors, but ultimately reflect well on her abilities as a leader. 

During the episode, Patti coaxed her client, Michael, to take a class that would help the “painfully shy” bachelor to become more outgoing. While the scene already served as a great example of how managers should actively encourage their employees to improve their skill sets, Patti went one step further. She went the unconventional route by making Michael take an improv comedy class, which she recognized as a way to not only improve his confidence, his ability to engage his date in conversation, and ultimately his chances of closing the deal securing a second date…but also to help him have fun doing it.

What is improv comedy? If you’ve ever seen “Whose Line Is It, Anyway?” (or last night’s episode of Matchmaker) you’re already familiar with improv, or improvisational, comedy – that is, comedy that is made up on the spot by a group of actors, based on a suggestion from the audience. 

How improv works in the business world.  There’s a reason why companies like Pepsi, McDonald’s and United Way have utilized improv theaters like Second City and iO for their corporate training – and why several business schools include improv classes in their curriculum: The very skills that improv comedy teaches performers for use on stage (and, evidently, singles for use in the dating world), also transfer remarkably well to the business world. Among just a few of the business and presentation skills it helps students hone:

• Thinking on the spot
• Listening and communication
• Collaboration
• Innovative thinking
• Taking initiative
• Knowing one’s audience
• Presenting with confidence

Improv is also a great team-building tool – not least of all, because it’s a unique experience employees get to share. But with its “Group Mind” mentality, improv also teaches groups to work together and agree on a uniform idea, while recognizing every person’s individual input. In fact, the first lesson taught in improv is to say “Yes, and…,” an exercise that helps others get along, and learn to accept others’ unique ideas.

For these reasons, improv is also great for developing your own management skills, as the “Yes, and…” aspect forces you to listen and explore the possibilities contained in new ideas, rather than rejecting them off the bat. You’ll gain trust and respect from employees by learning how to listen to others in a way that shows they are being understood, and learning to stay open to new ideas. It also forces you to pick up on nonverbal cues, such as body language and eye contact, helping you better understand what your employees are telling you, even when they don’t say it aloud.

Why now? At a time when employers are struggling to keep workers engaged and retain them, investing in this type of training can not only raise morale, but it also sends a clear message to your employees that you’re committed to providing learning and development opportunities (a lack of which is a major reason employees leave companies) – and that you care about their engagement in the company. 

What about you? Have you ever used improv as a training tool at your organization? What was your experience?

If you’ve snuck a peek at CareerBuilder’s Big Game ad winners, you’ve probably noticed a recurring theme: workers questioning their current jobs because of workplace behavior. 

Say what you will about the bizarre premises of casual Fridays with everyone in their underwear or, um, flatulent colleagues, but the inspiration behind these ads is sure to resonate with employees across the nation, if CareerBuilder’s latest survey is any indication.

The survey of over 4,900 workers nationwide, released Tuesday, found that 39 percent of workers don’t feel that they fit in with their colleagues.  When asked to name specific behaviors that have made co-workers feel as if they don’t fit in, workers reponded with the following:

• Co-worker ate the cheese off the pizza box at a company meeting.
• Co-worker talks openly about flatulence.
• Co-worker wears 3-D glasses with the lenses removed.
• Co-worker repeatedly bangs a mallet on the table for no apparent reason.
• Co-worker whistles 8 hours a day.
• Co-worker chews tobacco and spits it into empty soda bottles.
• Former boss brought a baby sippy cup to a meeting and started drinking out of it.
• Co-worker cleaned fingernails using a counterpart’s business card while sitting in their office.

I’ll be the first to admit that some of these complaints seem ridiculous, but they’re obviously not ridiculous to the people complaining. (And living with someone who has a proclivity for whistling, I can attest to that.)  

And as a manager, you might want to be aware if your employees’ habits are causing tension in the office.  According to the Center for Dispute Resolution, employees are less likely to do work while fuming, think more about quitting and become less committed to their work. 

Not that you should be playing office mommy or daddy, either…in which case, try the following tips from Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder to help your employees get along:

1. Encourage open communication. Don’t wait until there’s a problem, either. You should always be encouraging your employees to speak professionally and honestly with one another in order to promote a harmonious workplace.
2. Step in only when absolutely necessary. If an employee complains about a co-worker’s behavior and doesn’t feel he or she can approach that co-worker him or herself, it might be necessary for you to step in. (Check out my earlier post on resolving employee conflict.)
3. Let them agree to disagree. If your employees can’t come to an agreement with each other, the best alternative might be to simply switch things around, letting them move to another seat, office or cube.  

Is the recent drama with Conan O’Brien over at NBC hitting a little too close to home? Perhaps you’ve seen this sort of thing before? Like, maybe…at your own office?

Today, NPR compared the recent high-profile contract disputes between the network and the soon-to-be-former “The Tonight Show” host to a ”surprisingly familiar workplace mess,” where NBC’s efforts to get around the contract it made with Conan six years ago - and more or less force Conan out – are not unlike what you might see in today’s workforce when poor management mistakes are made.  

 Additionally, where NBC has succeeded in alienated Conan fans (a.k.a. Team Conan) with its behavior, employers too risk alienating the entire staff when they do something that is seen as unfair (even if they insist on attributing it to “cost-cutting” measures).

Of course, NBC being the powerhouse it is, the risk of the company losing overall viewership over Conan backlash is probably slim to none.  Any other employer, however, might not recover so easily – and risk losing the trust of the rest of the staff, consequently doing serious damage to both morale and its employment brand. After all, employees reason, if management is willing to  treat one employee this way, who’s to say it won’t do the same to anyone else?

Additionally, NPR argues that Leno represents the loyal, high-performing worker who was hastily “pushed out for a new guy on the theory that he was too old,” and, now back, comes off looking to his staff like the guy who bullied the other guy out of his position – as a result of management’s mistakes, no less. That doesn’t bode well for morale, either.

What do you think? Does the NBC-Leno-Conan mess seem all too familiar to you? How would you have handled the situation?