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

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

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

The Top 10 Reasons to Build Your Employee Referral Program:

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

What is with today…today?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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: August’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 August 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, August 9, 2010 until 11:59 p.m. CST on Friday, August 13, 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 18, 2010. Please read the full list of official contest rules and regulations.

Last week, I talked about the pros and cons of rehiring former employees, and mentioned that the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act is one of the major reasons employers should be looking at hiring unemployed workers (which could include former employees). But let’s explore further why the bill is so important — both for unemployed workers and the employers hiring them. After all, as a CFO, controller, business owner, vice president of human resources, hiring manager, accountant, or anyone else with a stake in your business’s bottom line, the HIRE Act could have a significant impact on your business.

What is the HIRE Act?

The $17.5 billion legislation, signed into law by President Obama on March 18, 2010, gives a potential tax exemption and credit to businesses that hire unemployed workers. Specifically, the HIRE Act grants businesses that hire workers unemployed 60 days or longer an exemption from the 6.2 percent Social Security payroll taxes for each worker for the remainder of 2010. Additionally, if workers are retained for one year, participating businesses  get a tax credit of $1,000.

The maximum value of this incentive is $6,621 per qualified employee, which equals 6.2 percent of the Social Security FICA maximum wage cap of $106,800.

The goal:

The HIRE Act aims to provide hiring incentives to stimulate the economy, restore some of the jobs lost in the latest economic recession, and put Americans back to work. The average unemployed worker has been unemployed for ten months, so the Act is in effect targeting those job seekers who have been having difficulty finding work for quite some time.  The HIRE Act calls on employers like you to hire unemployed workers and work to retain them.

Keep in mind, recent graduates who are unemployed or working part-time can qualify — so if you’re seeking out new grads or are a start-up looking for fresh talent, you should also be looking into the HIRE Act.

The two major tax incentives of the HIRE Act

No. 1:

Employers who hire unemployed workers this year (after Feb. 3, 2010 and before Jan. 1, 2011) may qualify for a 6.2-percent payroll tax exemption, in effect exempting them from their share of Social Security taxes on wages paid to these workers between Mar. 19, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2010.

• This reduced tax withholding will have no effect on the employee’s future Social Security benefits, and as an employer, you will still need to withhold the employee’s 6.2-percent share of Social Security taxes, as well as income taxes.
• The employer and employee’s shares of Medicare taxes would also still apply to these wages.

No. 2:

For each worker retained for at least a year, businesses may claim an additional retention credit, up to $1,000 per worker, when they file their 2011 income tax returns.

Significant savings

Let’s say you hire an employee and pay them a $60,000 salary. Normally, you would have to pay 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax, or $3,720. With the HIRE Act, your business wouldn’t have to pay that $3,720, plus you have the potential of an additional $1,000 tax credit if that employee stays with your company for one year.

Finding the right employees with the HIRE Act

Not only are you helping stimulate the economy and employ people who need work, but you are also potentially saving a significant amount of money that will impact your bottom line. Instead of looking at hiring as an expense, the HIRE Act encourages employers to think of  hiring as an investment.

While the HIRE Act helps making hiring “cheaper,” the quality of your new hires is still paramount; you and I both know that cost savings plus a bad hire is actually more expensive in the long run. This is why CareerBuilder is focused on targeting the right people within that group who would be a good fit for your organization.

CareerBuilder currently attracts more than 9 million unique visitors each month who meet the qualifications as set by the HIRE Act. We go even further by helping you find the qualified workers who are the right fit for your particular culture and business needs. After all, you might need one employee or 100 — but it’s important that you find the right employees to stick around and grow with your business.

The Fine Print: Criteria needed for a business to receive benefits of the HIRE Act

• New employee/s must be hired between Feb. 4, 2010 and December 31, 2010.
• The payroll tax exemptions are effective for wages paid between Mar. 19, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2010.
• The newly hired employees must have been unemployed during the 60 days prior to starting work, or worked fewer than 40 hours for someone else during that 60-day period (and the employer must get a statement from each eligible new hire certifying this fact).
• New hires filling positions qualify, but only if the workers they are replacing left voluntarily or for cause.
• Family members or relatives do not qualify.
• Businesses, agricultural employers, tax-exempt organizations and public colleges and universities DO qualify to claim the payroll tax — although household businesses and federal, state and local governments l do not.

HIRE Act — How are businesses reacting?

It’s a bit of a chicken versus egg argument; it’s hard to say at this point whether the HIRE Act is causing employers to hire more, or businesses are catching on to it after they have already hired. Regardless, any businesses are taking advantage of the new legislation. And although the HIRE Act expires Jan. 1, 2011, President Obama is working to extend it. According to a recent report by the U.S. Department of the Treasury:

• From Feb. to May 2010, an estimated 4.5 million workers who had been unemployed for eight weeks or longer were hired — meaning all of the employers who hired these workers are eligible for the HIRE Act payroll tax exemption.
• Newly hired workers whose employers are eligible for the exemption constitute 12.2 percent of all workers who were unemployed for eight weeks or longer since the law took effect.
• If the 4.5 million newly hired employees who are eligible for the exemption are employed for the rest of the year, their employers would be (collectively) eligible for an estimated $5.1 billion in payroll tax savings.

Find out more about the HIRE Act

While we’ve covered a lot of the basics here, you’ll still want to investigate further to find out how your business can qualify. Here are some additional resources:

• Find out more about the HIRE act and what it may mean for your business on the IRS’s website (VIDEO).
  
• Read up on the IRS’s questions and answers page for employers.
• Read the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s recent report on the HIRE Act’s progress thus far.
• Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Affidavit (PDF; to be signed by new employees who qualify)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This year, 54 percent of large U.S. businesses that laid off employees in the past year want to rebuild their work forces, but some will have trouble finding the skilled workers they are looking for, according to a recent study by Accenture. Because of this gap, many employers will likely consider an alternate option to gain skilled workers: rehiring former employees.

Employees may be rehired for very different reasons. Maybe they were laid off due to a company’s financial situation, but not because they weren’t a valued employee. Or perhaps they were let go unfairly and a company realized its mistake. Maybe, just maybe, they were fired but fixed whatever caused them to be fired in the first place. Regardless of the reason, the question remains: Is this a positive trend or a recipe for disaster? Let’s examine.

Firing — and rehiring

Firings and rehirings can have a major effect on the employees in question. Since George Steinbrenner’s passing last week, many have commented about his tendency as a coach to treat employees rudely and fire them, then reconsider and hire them back soon after. Most wouldn’t argue that  many of his firings were impulsive. Steinbrenner, who reportedly made 20 managerial hirings and firings in 23 seasons, even admitted he was often unreasonable in his employee dealings.

Other organizations, like the Red Cross,  recently rehired two fired employees who complained about the heat during a blood drive, amid union talks. And an ex-employee who worked for the City of Fort Worth for years alleges she was wrongly fired after whistleblowing — what would happen if she was hired back?

What about rehiring laid off employees?

While it’s true that the decision to lay off employees is generally not a hot-headed game time decision a la Steinbrenner, layoffs still create unrest with laid off employees as well as remaining staff — and can leave a lingering bitterness in both camps toward company leadership. So what happens when you rehire employees post-layoffs?

Pros of rehiring former employees

Aside from the obvious — that rehiring employees is giving someone a job who needs to support themselves or a family, rehiring employees can have many other benefits.

Employee morale – If employees see that their employer is actively working to bring back employees, it can have a positive effect on morale — and it can bring people back together who formerly worked well as a team.

Training – Rehired employees understand the company culture, and employers don’t have to retrain them. Even if company structure has changed somewhat since they left, you’re likely looking at a quick brush-up versus a training overhaul.

New perspective — Time may actually have not just healed all wounds — but may have enabled both the person or people who let an employee go, and that employee, get away from a negative situation, gain some perspective, and learn from mistakes made. Even if the situation ended on a neutral or positive note, time away in which a former employee has had a chance to pursue other interests, hobbies, and skills may benefit not only them and their place in the organization, but also their employer, once he or she is brought back into the fold.

The HIRE Act — What it Means to You

If you’re an employer rehiring currently unemployed former employees — or an employer hiring any unemployed worker in general — you could benefit from a new tax incentive. One of the major benefits to employers who hire unemployed workers comes in the form of two new tax benefits that are part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act. The two major parts of the act state:

1. Employers who hire unemployed workers this year (after Feb. 3, 2010 and before Jan. 1, 2011) may qualify for a 6.2-percent payroll tax incentive, in effect exempting them from their share of Social Security taxes on wages paid to these workers after March 18, 2010.
2. For each worker retained for at least a year, businesses may claim an additional general business tax credit, up to $1,000 per worker, when they file their 2011 income tax returns.

Find out more about the HIRE act and what it may mean for your business (video).

Cons of rehiring former employees

As much as rehiring a former employee can have positive effects, things can just as easily swing the other way — making a situation less than happy for rehired employees, employees who haven’t been let go, and company leadership.

Resentment – If things ended on a sour note, rehiring former employees can be complicated — and may not work out well in the long run. Even if an employer did everything they could to ease the stress of the situation, an employee may harbor resentment and bitter feelings, and those feelings may have grown stronger since they left the organization.

Current employee backlash — Employees who watched someone else leave and then come back may become jealous because a rehired employee is now getting work they were handling and returning “without paying their dues” as a new employee would. After all, remaining employees are often the ones left picking up the extra work when a company downsizes.

Short-term success – It’s important to keep in mind that even if an employee is willing to come back, they may only be accepting the job because they really need one (and are still looking for something better). This is where “onboarding” a rehired employee may help (see below).

If you’re going to rehire

If you do choose to rehire laid off employees, there are some things you can do to avoid the potential pitfalls listed above and ensure it’s as smooth a transition as possible.

Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, senior adviser at global executive search firm Egon Zehnder International, offers employers a few tips; namely, to clearly communicate to the rest of the company the reasons for hiring back a former employee; sufficiently brief a former employee about the company’s current situation and present very clear expectations; and to follow up, at least quarterly, with the returning employee to make sure he or she is adjusting well.

Would you rehire a former employee? What pros or cons would you add?

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.

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.

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?

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?

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

Among the highlights of the survey:

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

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

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

What are you taking away from these findings?

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.

What is your compensation strategy — or do you have one at all? In many workplaces, employers are often just throwing darts to ultimately decide upon the monetary figure which becomes an employee’s salary. Last week, we asked all of you to answer the following question for a chance to win a Talent Compensation Portal report for two job positions: “What do you think is the most important factor in determining compensation?”

We received some excellent and diverse answers from you, our readers, and here are a few:

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I believe work experience is the most important factor in determining compensation. Likewise, job performance should be the #1 determiner for raises and promotions. –Heather

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The most important factor is the value the employee brings to the company. It’s not an exact science because there are multiple things to consider but at the end of the day you don’t want to be paid more than the value you are giving to your company or else it will be a short-lived situation. –Joe

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I see experience along with certification/education as the biggest factors, but someone showing initiative and doing work beyond their job duties to better the company is deserving of a raise or promotion. –Stephanie

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A person’s earnings at his/her most recent employer. –Jaime

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A like position should not pay the same in NYC as it will in rural Nebraska since the cost of living are no where even close to the same. HR departments must know what their competition is offering for like positions “down the street” to be competitive and attract the best person for their company. A company that offers excellent benefits needs also to promote this to the candidates. –Lisa

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When determining compensation for a new hire – experience, drive, passion, and aptitude play a role in compensation. If I can tell the new hire is applying or interviewing because they are just looking for a paycheck, I will not compensate them at the same rate initially as someone who is coming to the position with the same experience but is thirsty to grow. –Allison

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The single most important factor in compensation is relevant job experience. Education is important, but someone with a degree and no relevant work experience, should not recieve as high a pay scale as someone who was working in their chosen field while getting their education, even if it was an internship. Attitude, drive, flexibility, vision, achievable goals all should be considered at the time of performance evaluation or promotion time. -_DG

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Results, ROI, Performance – whatever you want to call it. New hire or veteren – it’s the one with a proven track record that should get the greatest compensation. –Brenda

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There is a salary range for various “job titles w/descriptions/qualifications” in every industry area which is usually a boiler plate for compensation. Based on these salary ranges, employers will negotiate a compensation package within that range or sometimes higher to recruit and retain the best talent for all positions. –Sherry

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The mention of a “boiler plate” is interesting, as are the answers we received from many of our readers, precisely because the idea of what compensation strategy is, or should be, is so varied. As we’ve seen from the responses, many employers think of  compensation strategy in terms like  “experience,” “past performance,” or “recent salary.” While these are definitely important and part of what makes up a strategy, it’s also important to think beyond these factors to questions like:

• What are you measuring a candidate’s experience against to determine the right salary?
• What are your competitors doing?
• What is the most frequent salary for the position you are filling, in your geographic area and industry?
• Do you have any idea whether your number is on the low or high end of the scale?

Compensation strategy is essential for attraction and retention

Obviously, your company doesn’t just pull a number out of thin air (right?), but it is important to understand which factors are involved in deciding upon a fair salary – and how those factors are determined in the first place. Assigning weight to factors arbitrarily without research off which to base it and back it up can be a dangerous decision.

If you want to position yourself as a best-in-class organization, it is wise to start thinking now about which compensation factors are important to your company, then use the most current and accurate compensation statistics to develop a strategy around your company’s compensation decisions.

Compensation is not only a big expense to businesses of all sizes, but is also crucial in both attracting and retaining your best employees. If your company doesn’t know the right compensation for a particular position, it is difficult to compete for a stellar candidate. And if your current employees find out that your company doesn’t realize their true worth, they’re not going to be sticking around for long.

As the employment market is constantly changing, your company, too, must continue to evaluate and adjust your compensation strategy to ensure you’re remaining competitive and balanced. With the most fresh and comprehensive compensation data at your side, your company can start putting method behind your money – and reaping the rewards.

The time has come! Enter for a chance to get a report with the most accurate, fresh, and complete compensation data available today.

How to Enter:
Simply answer this question in the comments section below: “What do you think is the most important factor in determining compensation?”

Once you submit your answer, you’ll automatically be entered to win a report generated from CareerBuilder’s Talent Compensation Portal product for (2) job positions (a $300.00 value).

What will that get you, exactly? The most up-to-date compensation information available for two of your most pressing job positions. No joke. Check out the video demo of Talent Compensation Portal here.

What’s a star performer worth…

…And why should you care? Well, as it turns out, compensation is the single largest expense for companies of all sizes. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. corporations’ total employee compensation expense in 2007 was approximately $7.51 trillion. Staggering, isn’t it? Yet, few companies have a real strategy around their compensation. Have you thought about the factors influencing compensation? How much is a great new hire “worth”? How about a company’s best employees?

Having the most accurate, fresh, and complete compensation information enables a business to:

• Optimize its salary budget
• Attract and retain the best people at the right price
• Keep up with the latest compensation trends
• Manage compensation during times of change
• Reduce turnover

It’s smart to start thinking about the factors important to you in determining compensation — it’s not only a big expense to businesses of all sizes, but compensation is crucial in attracting and retaining your best employees. If employers don’t know the right compensation for a particular position, how can they compete for a star employee? And if employees aren’t aware of what they are worth, they could be missing the right opportunities. Alternately, if they find out that a company doesn’t realize their true worth, they’re not going to be sticking around for long.

Contest Details:
Entries will be accepted from 12:00 a.m. CST on Monday, March 15, 2010 until 11:59 p.m. CST on Friday, March 19, 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 March 24, 2010. Please read the full list of official contest rules and regulations.

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…

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?

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?

What makes a company great to work for? Recently, we asked all of you what you think makes your company great — specifically, how you sell your company to your ideal candidates. Your answers covered everything from honesty in your candidate expectations to allowing dogs in the office, and now, FORTUNE has released its own list of 2010’s 100 Best Companies to Work For. For the companies that made the cut, what makes them so great?

The answers include on-site child care, unlimited sick days, an absence of layoffs (some companies on the list have never had a layoff), time given to focus on creative projects, stock options, surfing lessons, the “no asshole” rule, high priorities on diversity — and that’s just a fraction of the amazing things some companies are doing to keep their employees happy and attract their ideal candidates.

What company strengths mentioned on FORTUNE’s list would be most appealing to your candidates and employees? Which do you share — and which are on your wish list?

For most companies, the answer is “yes,” according to a recent story on NPR.org.  According to yesterday’s report, while diversity hiring practices have come a long way in recent years, most companies still have a long way to go with their diversity efforts, particularly when it comes to promoting minorities.  

Even companies that have a good reputation for having great diversity programs still have difficulty mentoring and creating opportunities for minorities to advance in their organizations, says Debbie Atterberry, president of the multicultural nonprofit RESOURCE, in a recent blog post about her organization’s own diversity efforts.  And even among the 60 organizations named as HispanicBusiness Magazine’s “Diversity Elite” this year, diversity in management positions lags far behind the makeup of the general population.

Why is Diversity So Hard for Organizations to Achieve?

A large part of the problem could be an unclear understanding of just what is meant by the term “workforce diversity.” According  to SHRM’s 2007 Workplace Diversity Management Report, while most organizations tend to believe that diversity in the workplace is important, only 30 percent of organizations have an agreed definition of diversity.

(In fact, according to the roughly 1400 human resource professionals and diversity practitioners who participated in the survey, failing to have a well-defined or understood diversity program was one of the major hurdles to diversity management.)

So then perhaps the first step to becoming a more diverse, or inclusive, organization, is to define both what worplace diversity means to your organization, and your goals for achieving a more diverse workforce.

The next important step is to then make sure you communicate that message to everyone – at every level – of the organization. (At RESOURCE, for instance, each staff person is evaluated annually on his or her understanding of the organization’s diversity efforts, and each manager is assessed on his or her ability to develop and manage a diverse staff.)

Evaluating Your Organization’s Diversity Programs: 5 Questions to Ask

At the same time, it’s important that you evaluate your current diversity program, so you know which areas you need to improve.  Start by asking yourself the following questions (based on the methodology Hispanic Business used to determine the Diversity Elite 2009):

• Is there minority representation on the board of directors and at the executive level?
• Does my organization have focused efforts to hire from minority groups? Do we participate in diversity job fairs? Or advertise on niche sites, newspapers or magazines geared toward minority groups?
• Does my organization make concerted efforts in place to support, retain, and promote minority employees? Do we offer incentives, employee support groups, executive training, and diversity awareness and sensitivity training?
• Does my organization do marketing and advertising to reach minority consumers? Are we involved in philanthropic or community services that benefit minority groups?
• Does my organization support or sponsor supplier-development programs, executives involved with supplier diversity, incentives tied to supplier diversity, and procurement goals?  

The answer to these questions will provide the first clue as to which workplace diverstiy effort (or efforts) needs the most attention. What about you? What steps is your organization taking to increase diversity?

Just in time for the job market to start stabilizing, employers are getting something all-new to worry about: How to retain the very talent that helped them survive the downturn.  

According to a new CareerBuilder survey on worker satisfaction, released today, nearly one-in-five workers (19 percent) plan to leave their current job this year to find a new one.   

This should come as little surprise to employers who were forced to make tough business decisions last year, which often meant asking workers to take on heavier workloads with fewer resources and less pay.  In fact, as I’ve mentioned before, it’s not unusual to see employees leave their companies following a downturn – when market conditions improve and more job opportunities open up. It seems all that cost-cutting eventually takes a  toll on satisfaction levels.  

The key to holding on to your most valuable employees, says Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder, is constant and open communication. Haefner says, “Employers should take workers’ pulses early on in the new year. That way, they can be aware of the issues that may affect their staff’s performance, retention rates and overall happiness on the job in the coming months.”

The survey found that job satisfaction overall is down from last year.  Only 61 percent of employees reported satisfaction with their jobs in 2009, compared with 70 percent who said the same in 2008.

Among the survey’s other key findings:

Workers want more advancement and training opportunities…or else:

• 28 percent of workers say they are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the career advancement opportunities provided by their current employers.
• 26 percent of workers are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with training and learning opportunities provided by their current employers.
• 90 percent of workers did not receive a promotion in 2009, and 23 percent felt they were overlooked.
• 27 percent of workers who did not receive a raise or promotion in 2009 said they would leave their current positions in less than a year if they did not receive either.
• Of the 20 percent of workers who plan to switch careers/fields in the next two years, 41 percent say it’s because they want more career advancement.

A work/life balance? What is that?

• More workers are dissatisfatisfied with their work/life balance this year than last year: 23 percent of workers say they are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their work/life balance, an increase from the 18 percent who said the same last year.

Where have all the good leaders gone?

• Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of workers rate their corporate leaders as poor or very poor.
• 35 percent of workers cited an inability to address employee morale as a major concern with senior leadership
• 30 percent of workers said their senior leaders lacked transparency
• 28 percent of workers complained that senior leaders made major changes without warning

For more insight, read the full press release here.

While it’s true that many companies have been forced to make difficult business decisions this year, many employers still plan to reward their employees for hard work with holiday perks like bonuses, gifts and parties — even if these perks are scaled back a bit. These results are from CareerBuilder’s recent survey about workplace holiday giving among more than 3,000 hiring managers and HR professionals. We’ve got the lowdown on what businesses are doing about bonuses, gifts, and the oft-infamous work holiday party.

Bonuses:

• Nearly three in ten (29 percent) employers plan to give their employees holiday bonuses this year.  Among that group, 16 percent are planning to give the same amount as in previous years, while 11 percent plan to give less.
• Twelve percent of employers say they will not be issuing holiday bonuses even though they have in previous years.

Gifts:

• More than a quarter (26 percent) of employers plan to give holiday gifts, with 15 percent planning to spend the same amount for workers as in previous years.  Eight percent plan to spend less.
• Another eight percent say they are not planning to give holidays gifts in 2009, even though they have in years past.

Parties:

• Almost half (49 percent) of employers are planning a holiday party for their employees this year.  Of that group, 30 percent plan to throw the same party as in previous years, while 18 percent are planning something on a smaller scale.
• Eleven percent of employers don’t plan to have a holiday party in 2009 even though they have in previous years.

“After a challenging year, some organizations are cutting back on the holiday perks that they may have offered in previous years,” said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources for CareerBuilder. “Even though holiday bonuses, gifts and parties may be trimmed back this season, employers are doing what they can to reward their workers and get their staffs in the holiday spirit.”

So with cutbacks more prevalent in the workplace,  how can you make your employees happy this holiday season? What do they really want?

Here are some alternative workplace gift-giving ideas:

• The gift of financial preparedness. Help employees be realistic in their holiday budgeting this holiday season. Workers often need to budget more carefully around the holidays, so let your employees know upfront and early whether or not they can expect a bonus this season. This way, they will be able to gauge whether they’ll have that extra money for a plane ticket — or whether they’ll have to stock up on canned soups for dinner this season. Give your employees the gift of preparedness; their pocketbooks will thank you.

• The gift of giving. Volunteering is a great workplace activity all year ’round, but if you’re looking for an alternative to the typical (and pricey) holiday bash, I can’t think of a better way than helping others in need by donating time to local charities.  Volunteering with your team or company still allows you to be out of the office in a social setting while fostering your holiday spirit, giving back to your local community, and making the holiday a bit nicer for someone else. Sites like VolunteerMatch let you search for volunteer opportunities in your local area. Read more tips about finding a charity here and here, find an extensive list of charities here, and check out the Better Business Bureau’s “Charities and Donors” section for more resources.

• The gift of fun. Even if your company holiday party is canceled, you can still  celebrate the season with your employees with some warm drinks and hot food. Office potlucks are a great and budget-friendly way to have a low-key celebration in the office with your employees. Even better, as commuting after work hours can sometimes present obstacles for employees, you can host a potluck breakfast or lunch during the work day. As an alternative, screen a movie of your employees’ choosing, pop some popcorn and provide sodas, and have a low-key but entertaining in-office party.
• The gift of appreciation. While material gifts are nice, sometimes nothing is better than getting a bit of recognition for work well done, whether it’s for a single project or an entire financial quarter’s worth of blood, sweat and tears. As we have learned, 79 of employees who quit their jobs cite a lack of appreciation as a key reason for leaving. Remember to say “thank you” to your employees this holiday season! Even small gestures, like a  card or letter with your sincere words of thanks can mean a lot to your employees. Spontaneity of gestures can also be a nice change in the work routine; grab your employees coffee and bagels unexpectedly one morning — or dream up your own creative way to say “thanks.”
  
  
• The gift of friends and family. While employees may enjoy coming to work, they may in fact be longing to spend more time with loved ones outside the office, especially around the holidays. Yes, businesses are busier than ever, often juggling fewer people and more work — but your employees will enjoy and appreciate even a small break from the grind. Consider letting them leave a bit early one afternoon, or offer a flexible work option for a week or two, like coming in early/leaving early, or working four 10-hour days so they can take a long weekend. Different options will work for different types of businesses — but employees will savor the gift of more time with loved ones — and they’ll likely come back more refreshed, relaxed, and focused post-holiday.
• The gift of choice. One final idea: Ask your employees what they want this holiday season! Let them know that budgets are tight, but that you want to celebrate with them and show them your gratitude for their work and dedication. Let them brainstorm ideas, and pick one or implement them all.

What are you giving your employees this holiday season?