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On “Up in the Air,” empathy, detachment and corporate layoffs

clooney-up-in-the-air

Our recent blog post about “Up in the Air” inspired Mackenzie Carpenter of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to call us for a story she was writing about the movie and its portrayal of corporate layoffs.

Here are a few excerpts from Mackenzie’s piece, which appeared in Sunday’s paper:

Just how accurate a portrayal of your friendly corporate terminator is “Up in the Air” anyway?

Not very, say those who actually do it for a living.

“A lot of human resources people were excited when we found out that George Clooney was going to be playing one of us, and the movie is very good — but it doesn’t reflect HR consulting as I know it,” said Sanjay Sathe, founder and CEO of RiseSmart, a Silicon Valley-based outplacement firm, which provides job-search help and career coaching to laid-off employees.

“People who are laid off don’t want a generic pep talk from someone they don’t know. I can’t imagine that tactic being as effective in real life as it’s portrayed in the movie.”…

[T]he film’s premise that people doing the firing are emotionally detached is not true, argued Mr. Sathe.

“People go into human resources, as opposed to, say, finance or accounting, because they enjoy working with people, they genuinely like people and empathize with them … my experience is that layoffs are usually very difficult emotionally on HR people.”

Still, as the economy limps along, will employees be seeing more strangers — handsome or not — come to bid them so long and have fun with that gourmet cooking gig?

Despite recent growth in the outsourced human resources industry, most companies will continue to handle firings themselves — with consultants brought in to help plan the layoffs or, like his company, to help them find new jobs, Mr. Sathe said. And there’s one small detail in the film that cuts a little too close for comfort, he added.

“I wish Clooney’s character were not called a transition consultant in the film because we call our employees transition specialists.”

Just as Mr. Clooney delivers inspirational speeches to those he’s just fired, “We also give pep talks — not about building empires, but about how marketable they are based on a review of their backgrounds,” Mr. Sathe said.

“We might say, ‘Hey, have you considered applying for a job in the health care sector? Because your experience is great and would transfer very well to that industry.’ But I guess that kind of pep talk would not sell many movie tickets, would it?”

To follow up just a bit on the topic of empathy vs. detachment, I’ve recently read critiques of “Up in the Air” that argue that it’s not so much Clooney’s character, but the movie itself, that is detached and glib in dealing with corporate layoffs.

As Salon’s critic puts its:

What [director Jason] Reitman doesn’t seem to get is that [the film's] real-world testimonies are only a half-twist away from the slickster line of goods — “Losing your job is the best thing for you. Really!” — that Ryan’s character specializes in.

When Ryan is spouting these prefab pearls of wisdom, they’re treacherous falsehoods; when real people use them to make the best of a bad situation, they’re enlightenment. Reitman can’t even see the condescension in that.

By putting these faces in front of us — faces of people who have, most likely, suffered through some pretty rough times in real life — he isn’t making a grand statement about the precarious world we live in; he’s turning the misfortunes of others into a gimmick, a convenient hook on which to hang his movie.

That makes him less honorable than his smooth-talking, high-flying antihero. At least Ryan Bingham knows he’s selling us a line of bull.

Personally, I liked the film. But I suppose you could argue that if Reitman really gave a hoot about the fate of those laid off, he would have attempted to make a film like Time Out, which explores the pain of an executive who loses his job (but can’t bring himself to tell his family) in excruciating detail.

At the very least, I’d put the empathy of HR folks up against that of Hollywood types any day of the week.


On “Up in the Air,” empathy, detachment and corporate layoffs Our recent blog post about “Up in the Air” inspired Mackenzie Carpenter of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to call us for a story she was writing about the movie and its portrayal of corporate layoffs. Here are a few excerpts from Mackenzie’s piece, which appeared in Sunday’s paper: Just how accurate a portrayal of your friendly corporate terminator is “Up in the Air” anyway? Not very, say those who actually do it for a living. “A lot of human resources people were excited when we found out that George Clooney was going to be playing one of us, and the movie is very good — but it doesn’t reflect HR consulting as I know it,” said Sanjay Sathe, founder and CEO of RiseSmart, a Silicon Valley-based outplacement firm, which provides job-search help and career coaching to laid-off employees. “People who are laid off don’t want a generic pep talk from someone they don’t know. I can’t imagine that tactic being as effective in real life as it’s portrayed in the movie.”… [T]he film’s premise that people doing the firing are emotionally detached is not true, argued Mr. Sathe. “People go into human resources, as opposed to, say, finance or accounting, because they enjoy working with people, they genuinely like people and empathize with them … my experience is that layoffs are usually very difficult emotionally on HR people.” Still, as the economy limps along, will employees be seeing more strangers — handsome or not — come to bid them so long and have fun with that gourmet cooking gig? Despite recent growth in the outsourced human resources industry, most companies will continue to handle firings themselves — with consultants brought in to help plan the layoffs or, like his company, to help them find new jobs, Mr. Sathe said. And there’s one small detail in the film that cuts a little too close for comfort, he added. “I wish Clooney’s character were not called a transition consultant in the film because we call our employees transition specialists.” Just as Mr. Clooney delivers inspirational speeches to those he’s just fired, “We also give pep talks — not about building empires, but about how marketable they are based on a review of their backgrounds,” Mr. Sathe said. “We might say, ‘Hey, have you considered applying for a job in the health care sector? Because your experience is great and would transfer very well to that industry.’ But I guess that kind of pep talk would not sell many movie tickets, would it?” To follow up just a bit on the topic of empathy vs. detachment, I’ve recently read critiques of “Up in the Air” that argue that it’s not so much Clooney’s character, but the movie itself, that is detached and glib in dealing with corporate layoffs. As Salon’s critic puts its: What [director Jason] Reitman doesn’t seem to get is that [the film's] real-world testimonies are only a half-twist away from the slickster line of goods — “Losing your job is the best thing for you. Really!” — that Ryan’s character specializes in. When Ryan is spouting these prefab pearls of wisdom, they’re treacherous falsehoods; when real people use them to make the best of a bad situation, they’re enlightenment. Reitman can’t even see the condescension in that. By putting these faces in front of us — faces of people who have, most likely, suffered through some pretty rough times in real life — he isn’t making a grand statement about the precarious world we live in; he’s turning the misfortunes of others into a gimmick, a convenient hook on which to hang his movie. That makes him less honorable than his smooth-talking, high-flying antihero. At least Ryan Bingham knows he’s selling us a line of bull. Personally, I liked the film. But I suppose you could argue that if Reitman really gave a hoot about the fate of those laid off, he would have attempted to make a film like Time Out, which explores the pain of an executive who loses his job (but can’t bring himself to tell his family) in excruciating detail. At the very least, I’d put the empathy of HR folks up against that of Hollywood types any day of the week.
Coupon Code: On “Up in the Air,” empathy, detachment and corporate layoffs Our recent blog post about “Up in the Air” inspired Mackenzie Carpenter of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to call us for a story she was writing about the movie and its portrayal of corporate layoffs. Here are a few excerpts from Mackenzie’s piece, which appeared in Sunday’s paper: Just how accurate a portrayal of your friendly corporate terminator is “Up in the Air” anyway? Not very, say those who actually do it for a living. “A lot of human resources people were excited when we found out that George Clooney was going to be playing one of us, and the movie is very good — but it doesn’t reflect HR consulting as I know it,” said Sanjay Sathe, founder and CEO of RiseSmart, a Silicon Valley-based outplacement firm, which provides job-search help and career coaching to laid-off employees. “People who are laid off don’t want a generic pep talk from someone they don’t know. I can’t imagine that tactic being as effective in real life as it’s portrayed in the movie.”… [T]he film’s premise that people doing the firing are emotionally detached is not true, argued Mr. Sathe. “People go into human resources, as opposed to, say, finance or accounting, because they enjoy working with people, they genuinely like people and empathize with them … my experience is that layoffs are usually very difficult emotionally on HR people.” Still, as the economy limps along, will employees be seeing more strangers — handsome or not — come to bid them so long and have fun with that gourmet cooking gig? Despite recent growth in the outsourced human resources industry, most companies will continue to handle firings themselves — with consultants brought in to help plan the layoffs or, like his company, to help them find new jobs, Mr. Sathe said. And there’s one small detail in the film that cuts a little too close for comfort, he added. “I wish Clooney’s character were not called a transition consultant in the film because we call our employees transition specialists.” Just as Mr. Clooney delivers inspirational speeches to those he’s just fired, “We also give pep talks — not about building empires, but about how marketable they are based on a review of their backgrounds,” Mr. Sathe said. “We might say, ‘Hey, have you considered applying for a job in the health care sector? Because your experience is great and would transfer very well to that industry.’ But I guess that kind of pep talk would not sell many movie tickets, would it?” To follow up just a bit on the topic of empathy vs. detachment, I’ve recently read critiques of “Up in the Air” that argue that it’s not so much Clooney’s character, but the movie itself, that is detached and glib in dealing with corporate layoffs. As Salon’s critic puts its: What [director Jason] Reitman doesn’t seem to get is that [the film's] real-world testimonies are only a half-twist away from the slickster line of goods — “Losing your job is the best thing for you. Really!” — that Ryan’s character specializes in. When Ryan is spouting these prefab pearls of wisdom, they’re treacherous falsehoods; when real people use them to make the best of a bad situation, they’re enlightenment. Reitman can’t even see the condescension in that. By putting these faces in front of us — faces of people who have, most likely, suffered through some pretty rough times in real life — he isn’t making a grand statement about the precarious world we live in; he’s turning the misfortunes of others into a gimmick, a convenient hook on which to hang his movie. That makes him less honorable than his smooth-talking, high-flying antihero. At least Ryan Bingham knows he’s selling us a line of bull. Personally, I liked the film. But I suppose you could argue that if Reitman really gave a hoot about the fate of those laid off, he would have attempted to make a film like Time Out, which explores the pain of an executive who loses his job (but can’t bring himself to tell his family) in excruciating detail. At the very least, I’d put the empathy of HR folks up against that of Hollywood types any day of the week.
On “Up in the Air,” empathy, detachment and corporate layoffs Our recent blog post about “Up in the Air” inspired Mackenzie Carpenter of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to call us for a story she was writing about the movie and its portrayal of corporate layoffs. Here are a few excerpts from Mackenzie’s piece, which appeared in Sunday’s paper: Just how accurate a portrayal of your friendly corporate terminator is “Up in the Air” anyway? Not very, say those who actually do it for a living. “A lot of human resources people were excited when we found out that George Clooney was going to be playing one of us, and the movie is very good — but it doesn’t reflect HR consulting as I know it,” said Sanjay Sathe, founder and CEO of RiseSmart, a Silicon Valley-based outplacement firm, which provides job-search help and career coaching to laid-off employees. “People who are laid off don’t want a generic pep talk from someone they don’t know. I can’t imagine that tactic being as effective in real life as it’s portrayed in the movie.”… [T]he film’s premise that people doing the firing are emotionally detached is not true, argued Mr. Sathe. “People go into human resources, as opposed to, say, finance or accounting, because they enjoy working with people, they genuinely like people and empathize with them … my experience is that layoffs are usually very difficult emotionally on HR people.” Still, as the economy limps along, will employees be seeing more strangers — handsome or not — come to bid them so long and have fun with that gourmet cooking gig? Despite recent growth in the outsourced human resources industry, most companies will continue to handle firings themselves — with consultants brought in to help plan the layoffs or, like his company, to help them find new jobs, Mr. Sathe said. And there’s one small detail in the film that cuts a little too close for comfort, he added. “I wish Clooney’s character were not called a transition consultant in the film because we call our employees transition specialists.” Just as Mr. Clooney delivers inspirational speeches to those he’s just fired, “We also give pep talks — not about building empires, but about how marketable they are based on a review of their backgrounds,” Mr. Sathe said. “We might say, ‘Hey, have you considered applying for a job in the health care sector? Because your experience is great and would transfer very well to that industry.’ But I guess that kind of pep talk would not sell many movie tickets, would it?” To follow up just a bit on the topic of empathy vs. detachment, I’ve recently read critiques of “Up in the Air” that argue that it’s not so much Clooney’s character, but the movie itself, that is detached and glib in dealing with corporate layoffs. As Salon’s critic puts its: What [director Jason] Reitman doesn’t seem to get is that [the film's] real-world testimonies are only a half-twist away from the slickster line of goods — “Losing your job is the best thing for you. Really!” — that Ryan’s character specializes in. When Ryan is spouting these prefab pearls of wisdom, they’re treacherous falsehoods; when real people use them to make the best of a bad situation, they’re enlightenment. Reitman can’t even see the condescension in that. By putting these faces in front of us — faces of people who have, most likely, suffered through some pretty rough times in real life — he isn’t making a grand statement about the precarious world we live in; he’s turning the misfortunes of others into a gimmick, a convenient hook on which to hang his movie. That makes him less honorable than his smooth-talking, high-flying antihero. At least Ryan Bingham knows he’s selling us a line of bull. Personally, I liked the film. But I suppose you could argue that if Reitman really gave a hoot about the fate of those laid off, he would have attempted to make a film like Time Out, which explores the pain of an executive who loses his job (but can’t bring himself to tell his family) in excruciating detail. At the very least, I’d put the empathy of HR folks up against that of Hollywood types any day of the week. N/A Bookmark and Share
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“Human resource-fulness”: how HR can help you and your team

handshake

Human Resources has core functions around the beginning and end of each employee’s job, but no one should overlook all that HR has to offer during one’s tenure.

HR professionals can assist individual workers and entire teams with training, benefits, job satisfaction, and more — and you have help to offer them in return. So let 2010 be the start of a more symbiotic relationship with HR!

As pointed out in the Work Awesome blog post “Using Human Resources as Your Resource,” HR is the only department that actually exists just to help you.

With current employment trends, there’s a good chance that downsizing or hiring freezes have left HR with less to do temporarily (do a little research to see how your HR department has been affected, of course). Naturally, allowing them to assist employees in transition is more time-sensitive and trumps your needs, but if they have time to help you develop your skills, teamwork, and satisfaction, take advantage of their expertise.

Here are Work Awesome’s top tips to utilize HR effectively:

  • Ask for their expertise on benefits: learn about flexible spending, 401(k) accounts, and more
  • Inquire about training: they may be able to help with core skills such as communication or time management, or college courses in your specialty
  • Offer to help them with employee satisfaction: by volunteering to help on a committee that measures worker satisfaction, you can make your own voice heard while helping the organization

It’s not just factual info that you can get from HR, either. You can cultivate a real partnership with someone in that department:

Today’s HR pros are business-focused. They help engineer ways to make the business better, and to do that they have to understand the business — and all its components. That means that someone in HR can offer you a lot more than just accurate information about the vacation plan. She could help you redesign jobs, create an incentive plan to drive up profits, or find an assessment tool to improve your hiring success.

That’s what the ABC News article, “How Human Resources Can Help You Get the Most Out of Your Team,” says — and it lists specific, actionable tips for you to begin bonding with HR and start working toward your mutual benefit.

First, they advise, figure out the structure of your HR department: who are the specialists, and who are the generalists? Try to bond with the person in the most appropriate role, as defined by your needs.

Then, after building up some trust and interest, offer to take them out to lunch specifically to teach them something about your sector of the business (HR likes to learn about different parts of the organization as much as you do).

Eventually, shift the relationship by asking them to teach you something about your company’s HR function: how are policies arrived at? What are company-wide priorities? Who are the decision makers? As the relationship develops, keep them in the loop about your department’s progress. The goal is to be equally looped into their policies and culture.

Perhaps the best tip I read in this article was the suggestion to volunteer to pilot new programs that HR is considering. If they want to try out flex time, job rotation, job sharing, or any other unconventional arrangement, people who have previously partnered with HR and offered helpful feedback are a natural fit for experiments. This is a great way to stay cutting-edge within the company and make sure that your opinions are heard.

Human Resources has a lot more to offer employees than simple hiring functions and lists of holidays, but many people never invest the time to build a mutually supportive relationship with HR. Try to see that the department is a resource for you, and respectfully use it to better your career, your team, and your entire organization.


“Human resource-fulness”: how HR can help you and your team Human Resources has core functions around the beginning and end of each employee’s job, but no one should overlook all that HR has to offer during one’s tenure. HR professionals can assist individual workers and entire teams with training, benefits, job satisfaction, and more — and you have help to offer them in return. So let 2010 be the start of a more symbiotic relationship with HR! As pointed out in the Work Awesome blog post “Using Human Resources as Your Resource,” HR is the only department that actually exists just to help you. With current employment trends, there’s a good chance that downsizing or hiring freezes have left HR with less to do temporarily (do a little research to see how your HR department has been affected, of course). Naturally, allowing them to assist employees in transition is more time-sensitive and trumps your needs, but if they have time to help you develop your skills, teamwork, and satisfaction, take advantage of their expertise. Here are Work Awesome’s top tips to utilize HR effectively: Ask for their expertise on benefits: learn about flexible spending, 401(k) accounts, and more Inquire about training: they may be able to help with core skills such as communication or time management, or college courses in your specialty Offer to help them with employee satisfaction: by volunteering to help on a committee that measures worker satisfaction, you can make your own voice heard while helping the organization It’s not just factual info that you can get from HR, either. You can cultivate a real partnership with someone in that department: Today’s HR pros are business-focused. They help engineer ways to make the business better, and to do that they have to understand the business — and all its components. That means that someone in HR can offer you a lot more than just accurate information about the vacation plan. She could help you redesign jobs, create an incentive plan to drive up profits, or find an assessment tool to improve your hiring success. That’s what the ABC News article, “How Human Resources Can Help You Get the Most Out of Your Team,” says — and it lists specific, actionable tips for you to begin bonding with HR and start working toward your mutual benefit. First, they advise, figure out the structure of your HR department: who are the specialists, and who are the generalists? Try to bond with the person in the most appropriate role, as defined by your needs. Then, after building up some trust and interest, offer to take them out to lunch specifically to teach them something about your sector of the business (HR likes to learn about different parts of the organization as much as you do). Eventually, shift the relationship by asking them to teach you something about your company’s HR function: how are policies arrived at? What are company-wide priorities? Who are the decision makers? As the relationship develops, keep them in the loop about your department’s progress. The goal is to be equally looped into their policies and culture. Perhaps the best tip I read in this article was the suggestion to volunteer to pilot new programs that HR is considering. If they want to try out flex time, job rotation, job sharing, or any other unconventional arrangement, people who have previously partnered with HR and offered helpful feedback are a natural fit for experiments. This is a great way to stay cutting-edge within the company and make sure that your opinions are heard. Human Resources has a lot more to offer employees than simple hiring functions and lists of holidays, but many people never invest the time to build a mutually supportive relationship with HR. Try to see that the department is a resource for you, and respectfully use it to better your career, your team, and your entire organization.
Coupon Code: “Human resource-fulness”: how HR can help you and your team Human Resources has core functions around the beginning and end of each employee’s job, but no one should overlook all that HR has to offer during one’s tenure. HR professionals can assist individual workers and entire teams with training, benefits, job satisfaction, and more — and you have help to offer them in return. So let 2010 be the start of a more symbiotic relationship with HR! As pointed out in the Work Awesome blog post “Using Human Resources as Your Resource,” HR is the only department that actually exists just to help you. With current employment trends, there’s a good chance that downsizing or hiring freezes have left HR with less to do temporarily (do a little research to see how your HR department has been affected, of course). Naturally, allowing them to assist employees in transition is more time-sensitive and trumps your needs, but if they have time to help you develop your skills, teamwork, and satisfaction, take advantage of their expertise. Here are Work Awesome’s top tips to utilize HR effectively: Ask for their expertise on benefits: learn about flexible spending, 401(k) accounts, and more Inquire about training: they may be able to help with core skills such as communication or time management, or college courses in your specialty Offer to help them with employee satisfaction: by volunteering to help on a committee that measures worker satisfaction, you can make your own voice heard while helping the organization It’s not just factual info that you can get from HR, either. You can cultivate a real partnership with someone in that department: Today’s HR pros are business-focused. They help engineer ways to make the business better, and to do that they have to understand the business — and all its components. That means that someone in HR can offer you a lot more than just accurate information about the vacation plan. She could help you redesign jobs, create an incentive plan to drive up profits, or find an assessment tool to improve your hiring success. That’s what the ABC News article, “How Human Resources Can Help You Get the Most Out of Your Team,” says — and it lists specific, actionable tips for you to begin bonding with HR and start working toward your mutual benefit. First, they advise, figure out the structure of your HR department: who are the specialists, and who are the generalists? Try to bond with the person in the most appropriate role, as defined by your needs. Then, after building up some trust and interest, offer to take them out to lunch specifically to teach them something about your sector of the business (HR likes to learn about different parts of the organization as much as you do). Eventually, shift the relationship by asking them to teach you something about your company’s HR function: how are policies arrived at? What are company-wide priorities? Who are the decision makers? As the relationship develops, keep them in the loop about your department’s progress. The goal is to be equally looped into their policies and culture. Perhaps the best tip I read in this article was the suggestion to volunteer to pilot new programs that HR is considering. If they want to try out flex time, job rotation, job sharing, or any other unconventional arrangement, people who have previously partnered with HR and offered helpful feedback are a natural fit for experiments. This is a great way to stay cutting-edge within the company and make sure that your opinions are heard. Human Resources has a lot more to offer employees than simple hiring functions and lists of holidays, but many people never invest the time to build a mutually supportive relationship with HR. Try to see that the department is a resource for you, and respectfully use it to better your career, your team, and your entire organization.
“Human resource-fulness”: how HR can help you and your team Human Resources has core functions around the beginning and end of each employee’s job, but no one should overlook all that HR has to offer during one’s tenure. HR professionals can assist individual workers and entire teams with training, benefits, job satisfaction, and more — and you have help to offer them in return. So let 2010 be the start of a more symbiotic relationship with HR! As pointed out in the Work Awesome blog post “Using Human Resources as Your Resource,” HR is the only department that actually exists just to help you. With current employment trends, there’s a good chance that downsizing or hiring freezes have left HR with less to do temporarily (do a little research to see how your HR department has been affected, of course). Naturally, allowing them to assist employees in transition is more time-sensitive and trumps your needs, but if they have time to help you develop your skills, teamwork, and satisfaction, take advantage of their expertise. Here are Work Awesome’s top tips to utilize HR effectively: Ask for their expertise on benefits: learn about flexible spending, 401(k) accounts, and more Inquire about training: they may be able to help with core skills such as communication or time management, or college courses in your specialty Offer to help them with employee satisfaction: by volunteering to help on a committee that measures worker satisfaction, you can make your own voice heard while helping the organization It’s not just factual info that you can get from HR, either. You can cultivate a real partnership with someone in that department: Today’s HR pros are business-focused. They help engineer ways to make the business better, and to do that they have to understand the business — and all its components. That means that someone in HR can offer you a lot more than just accurate information about the vacation plan. She could help you redesign jobs, create an incentive plan to drive up profits, or find an assessment tool to improve your hiring success. That’s what the ABC News article, “How Human Resources Can Help You Get the Most Out of Your Team,” says — and it lists specific, actionable tips for you to begin bonding with HR and start working toward your mutual benefit. First, they advise, figure out the structure of your HR department: who are the specialists, and who are the generalists? Try to bond with the person in the most appropriate role, as defined by your needs. Then, after building up some trust and interest, offer to take them out to lunch specifically to teach them something about your sector of the business (HR likes to learn about different parts of the organization as much as you do). Eventually, shift the relationship by asking them to teach you something about your company’s HR function: how are policies arrived at? What are company-wide priorities? Who are the decision makers? As the relationship develops, keep them in the loop about your department’s progress. The goal is to be equally looped into their policies and culture. Perhaps the best tip I read in this article was the suggestion to volunteer to pilot new programs that HR is considering. If they want to try out flex time, job rotation, job sharing, or any other unconventional arrangement, people who have previously partnered with HR and offered helpful feedback are a natural fit for experiments. This is a great way to stay cutting-edge within the company and make sure that your opinions are heard. Human Resources has a lot more to offer employees than simple hiring functions and lists of holidays, but many people never invest the time to build a mutually supportive relationship with HR. Try to see that the department is a resource for you, and respectfully use it to better your career, your team, and your entire organization. N/A Bookmark and Share
N/A
 
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Grow as a learning organization with a mentoring program

learning-org

If one of your business resolutions for 2010 is that your company should grow as a learning organization, developing a mentoring program should be high on your to-do list. Mentoring is useful and popular because it benefits the individual mentors and protégés alike, all while helping the larger organization. Whether you are focused on grooming existing talent or simply sharing organizational knowledge, mentoring can help your organization grow, thrive, and change.

A notable expert in the field of mentoring is Lois J. Zachary, Ed.D. Dr. Zachary is the author of the books The Mentor’s Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships, The Mentee’s Guide: Making Mentoring Work for You, and Creating a Mentoring Culture: The Organization’s Guide. She regularly blogs about mentoring at Lois Zachary’s Mentoring Expert Blog. She writes:

A mentoring culture is a vivid expression of an organization’s vitality. Its presence enables an organization to augment learning, maximize time and effort, and better utilize its resources. The relationship skills learned through mentoring benefit relationships throughout the organization. As these relationships deepen, people feel more connected to the organization. Ultimately, the learning that results creates value for the entire organization.

Her article on mentoring culture delves into the eight hallmarks of an organization that can support a successful mentoring program. The eight points are covered in depth here in Part 1 and Part 2 — and really deserve their own full reading, because they’re that good — but a quick look at what’s necessary is right here:

  • Accountability — Determine goals, responsibilities, desired outcomes and accomplishments
  • Alignment — Ensure a cultural fit within your organization
  • Communication — Use consistency in your message, but express it using multiple modalities
  • Value and Visibility — Employ branding, messaging, and rewards for your program
  • Demand — Use buzz about your program to create a “multiplier effect”
  • Multiple Mentoring Opportunities — Support multiple types of mentoring (both group and one-on-one, for instance) to appeal to a wide population
  • Education and Training — Integrate the program with other training opportunities while remaining flexible and diverse
  • Safety Nets — Anticipate challenges and provide pro-active support to participants to ensure success

This is just a short preview of Dr. Zachary’s wisdom; for elaboration on these themes, you’ll want to look into her books or her mentoring blog.

As you plan a program, you will undoubtedly find yourself asking: why do some mentoring programs thrive, while some fail? How can I ensure that I am doing what’s necessary for my fledgling mentoring program to thrive?

HR consultant and writer Judith Lindenberger tackled this question on Evan Carmichael’s blog in the thought-provoking post “Play ‘20 Questions’ to Develop a Successful Mentoring Program.” She recommends you ask yourself her 20 illuminating questions before you seriously embark on a mentoring program. Some of the questions are far-seeing and strategic, while others are extremely down-to-earth and practical. I guarantee that among the 20 questions, there are at least a few you haven’t considered yet. You’ll consider issues such as these:

  • What are our business reasons for developing a mentoring program?
  • How will we pair mentors and protégés?
  • What are our criteria for success?
  • How will we motivate our employees to participate?
  • What should we do to support long-distance mentoring?

…and 15 more. Launching a mentoring program can bring great value to your organization, but because it affects so many individuals, you’ll want to thoroughly research the issue first, identifying resources, goals, mechanisms, measurements, and more. If you use the mentoring culture resources we have provided here, you’ll be much better prepared to meet the challenges of introducing mentoring to your team and furthering your collective journey into becoming a true learning organization.

Any experience launching a mentoring program? Share your best tips in the comments!


Grow as a learning organization with a mentoring program If one of your business resolutions for 2010 is that your company should grow as a learning organization, developing a mentoring program should be high on your to-do list. Mentoring is useful and popular because it benefits the individual mentors and protégés alike, all while helping the larger organization. Whether you are focused on grooming existing talent or simply sharing organizational knowledge, mentoring can help your organization grow, thrive, and change. A notable expert in the field of mentoring is Lois J. Zachary, Ed.D. Dr. Zachary is the author of the books The Mentor’s Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships, The Mentee’s Guide: Making Mentoring Work for You, and Creating a Mentoring Culture: The Organization’s Guide. She regularly blogs about mentoring at Lois Zachary’s Mentoring Expert Blog. She writes: A mentoring culture is a vivid expression of an organization’s vitality. Its presence enables an organization to augment learning, maximize time and effort, and better utilize its resources. The relationship skills learned through mentoring benefit relationships throughout the organization. As these relationships deepen, people feel more connected to the organization. Ultimately, the learning that results creates value for the entire organization. Her article on mentoring culture delves into the eight hallmarks of an organization that can support a successful mentoring program. The eight points are covered in depth here in Part 1 and Part 2 — and really deserve their own full reading, because they’re that good — but a quick look at what’s necessary is right here: Accountability — Determine goals, responsibilities, desired outcomes and accomplishments Alignment — Ensure a cultural fit within your organization Communication — Use consistency in your message, but express it using multiple modalities Value and Visibility — Employ branding, messaging, and rewards for your program Demand — Use buzz about your program to create a “multiplier effect” Multiple Mentoring Opportunities — Support multiple types of mentoring (both group and one-on-one, for instance) to appeal to a wide population Education and Training — Integrate the program with other training opportunities while remaining flexible and diverse Safety Nets — Anticipate challenges and provide pro-active support to participants to ensure success This is just a short preview of Dr. Zachary’s wisdom; for elaboration on these themes, you’ll want to look into her books or her mentoring blog. As you plan a program, you will undoubtedly find yourself asking: why do some mentoring programs thrive, while some fail? How can I ensure that I am doing what’s necessary for my fledgling mentoring program to thrive? HR consultant and writer Judith Lindenberger tackled this question on Evan Carmichael’s blog in the thought-provoking post “Play ‘20 Questions’ to Develop a Successful Mentoring Program.” She recommends you ask yourself her 20 illuminating questions before you seriously embark on a mentoring program. Some of the questions are far-seeing and strategic, while others are extremely down-to-earth and practical. I guarantee that among the 20 questions, there are at least a few you haven’t considered yet. You’ll consider issues such as these: What are our business reasons for developing a mentoring program? How will we pair mentors and protégés? What are our criteria for success? How will we motivate our employees to participate? What should we do to support long-distance mentoring? …and 15 more. Launching a mentoring program can bring great value to your organization, but because it affects so many individuals, you’ll want to thoroughly research the issue first, identifying resources, goals, mechanisms, measurements, and more. If you use the mentoring culture resources we have provided here, you’ll be much better prepared to meet the challenges of introducing mentoring to your team and furthering your collective journey into becoming a true learning organization. Any experience launching a mentoring program? Share your best tips in the comments!
Coupon Code: Grow as a learning organization with a mentoring program If one of your business resolutions for 2010 is that your company should grow as a learning organization, developing a mentoring program should be high on your to-do list. Mentoring is useful and popular because it benefits the individual mentors and protégés alike, all while helping the larger organization. Whether you are focused on grooming existing talent or simply sharing organizational knowledge, mentoring can help your organization grow, thrive, and change. A notable expert in the field of mentoring is Lois J. Zachary, Ed.D. Dr. Zachary is the author of the books The Mentor’s Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships, The Mentee’s Guide: Making Mentoring Work for You, and Creating a Mentoring Culture: The Organization’s Guide. She regularly blogs about mentoring at Lois Zachary’s Mentoring Expert Blog. She writes: A mentoring culture is a vivid expression of an organization’s vitality. Its presence enables an organization to augment learning, maximize time and effort, and better utilize its resources. The relationship skills learned through mentoring benefit relationships throughout the organization. As these relationships deepen, people feel more connected to the organization. Ultimately, the learning that results creates value for the entire organization. Her article on mentoring culture delves into the eight hallmarks of an organization that can support a successful mentoring program. The eight points are covered in depth here in Part 1 and Part 2 — and really deserve their own full reading, because they’re that good — but a quick look at what’s necessary is right here: Accountability — Determine goals, responsibilities, desired outcomes and accomplishments Alignment — Ensure a cultural fit within your organization Communication — Use consistency in your message, but express it using multiple modalities Value and Visibility — Employ branding, messaging, and rewards for your program Demand — Use buzz about your program to create a “multiplier effect” Multiple Mentoring Opportunities — Support multiple types of mentoring (both group and one-on-one, for instance) to appeal to a wide population Education and Training — Integrate the program with other training opportunities while remaining flexible and diverse Safety Nets — Anticipate challenges and provide pro-active support to participants to ensure success This is just a short preview of Dr. Zachary’s wisdom; for elaboration on these themes, you’ll want to look into her books or her mentoring blog. As you plan a program, you will undoubtedly find yourself asking: why do some mentoring programs thrive, while some fail? How can I ensure that I am doing what’s necessary for my fledgling mentoring program to thrive? HR consultant and writer Judith Lindenberger tackled this question on Evan Carmichael’s blog in the thought-provoking post “Play ‘20 Questions’ to Develop a Successful Mentoring Program.” She recommends you ask yourself her 20 illuminating questions before you seriously embark on a mentoring program. Some of the questions are far-seeing and strategic, while others are extremely down-to-earth and practical. I guarantee that among the 20 questions, there are at least a few you haven’t considered yet. You’ll consider issues such as these: What are our business reasons for developing a mentoring program? How will we pair mentors and protégés? What are our criteria for success? How will we motivate our employees to participate? What should we do to support long-distance mentoring? …and 15 more. Launching a mentoring program can bring great value to your organization, but because it affects so many individuals, you’ll want to thoroughly research the issue first, identifying resources, goals, mechanisms, measurements, and more. If you use the mentoring culture resources we have provided here, you’ll be much better prepared to meet the challenges of introducing mentoring to your team and furthering your collective journey into becoming a true learning organization. Any experience launching a mentoring program? Share your best tips in the comments!
Grow as a learning organization with a mentoring program If one of your business resolutions for 2010 is that your company should grow as a learning organization, developing a mentoring program should be high on your to-do list. Mentoring is useful and popular because it benefits the individual mentors and protégés alike, all while helping the larger organization. Whether you are focused on grooming existing talent or simply sharing organizational knowledge, mentoring can help your organization grow, thrive, and change. A notable expert in the field of mentoring is Lois J. Zachary, Ed.D. Dr. Zachary is the author of the books The Mentor’s Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships, The Mentee’s Guide: Making Mentoring Work for You, and Creating a Mentoring Culture: The Organization’s Guide. She regularly blogs about mentoring at Lois Zachary’s Mentoring Expert Blog. She writes: A mentoring culture is a vivid expression of an organization’s vitality. Its presence enables an organization to augment learning, maximize time and effort, and better utilize its resources. The relationship skills learned through mentoring benefit relationships throughout the organization. As these relationships deepen, people feel more connected to the organization. Ultimately, the learning that results creates value for the entire organization. Her article on mentoring culture delves into the eight hallmarks of an organization that can support a successful mentoring program. The eight points are covered in depth here in Part 1 and Part 2 — and really deserve their own full reading, because they’re that good — but a quick look at what’s necessary is right here: Accountability — Determine goals, responsibilities, desired outcomes and accomplishments Alignment — Ensure a cultural fit within your organization Communication — Use consistency in your message, but express it using multiple modalities Value and Visibility — Employ branding, messaging, and rewards for your program Demand — Use buzz about your program to create a “multiplier effect” Multiple Mentoring Opportunities — Support multiple types of mentoring (both group and one-on-one, for instance) to appeal to a wide population Education and Training — Integrate the program with other training opportunities while remaining flexible and diverse Safety Nets — Anticipate challenges and provide pro-active support to participants to ensure success This is just a short preview of Dr. Zachary’s wisdom; for elaboration on these themes, you’ll want to look into her books or her mentoring blog. As you plan a program, you will undoubtedly find yourself asking: why do some mentoring programs thrive, while some fail? How can I ensure that I am doing what’s necessary for my fledgling mentoring program to thrive? HR consultant and writer Judith Lindenberger tackled this question on Evan Carmichael’s blog in the thought-provoking post “Play ‘20 Questions’ to Develop a Successful Mentoring Program.” She recommends you ask yourself her 20 illuminating questions before you seriously embark on a mentoring program. Some of the questions are far-seeing and strategic, while others are extremely down-to-earth and practical. I guarantee that among the 20 questions, there are at least a few you haven’t considered yet. You’ll consider issues such as these: What are our business reasons for developing a mentoring program? How will we pair mentors and protégés? What are our criteria for success? How will we motivate our employees to participate? What should we do to support long-distance mentoring? …and 15 more. Launching a mentoring program can bring great value to your organization, but because it affects so many individuals, you’ll want to thoroughly research the issue first, identifying resources, goals, mechanisms, measurements, and more. If you use the mentoring culture resources we have provided here, you’ll be much better prepared to meet the challenges of introducing mentoring to your team and furthering your collective journey into becoming a true learning organization. Any experience launching a mentoring program? Share your best tips in the comments! N/A Bookmark and Share
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Guiding your career transition in the direction of future growth

crystal-ball

“Career transition” is on a lot of minds these days. The U.S. has more than 15 million unemployed — and if you count the discouraged and underemployed, the number is more like 27 million. You may be one of these people seeking a new job, or you may be one of millions of others who are employed, but trying to strategize a major career change in a tough market. No matter the specifics, the economic downturn is probably affecting your career.

As you craft your long-term plans, you’ll want to consider where the jobs are — and where they are going. Consumption drives these patterns, but so does technology. Don’t forget to account for older generations retiring and leaving needed jobs open, either. All of these elements affect which jobs are available.

Then, to maximize your future demand, think about adapting your strategy — be it higher education, government re-training, or developing a new area of expertise — to a field that is projected to grow.

To help you with your planning, we peeked into our “crystal ball” (actually, government projections) to share the latest statistics for the industries growing the most, and the occupations that will be adding the largest amount of workers, now through 2018.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently published its 2010-11 edition of  the Occupational Outlook Handbook, a report on occupations and employment growth trends that is updated every two years. This particular update covers 2008-2018 — meaning it has data through the end of 2008, and projects out to 2018. This is notable because it does cover one full year of the downturn (2008), which began in December 2007. Nationwide, employment is projected to increase by 15.3 million (approximately 10%) over the decade between 2008 and 2018, and the OOH describes exactly where the growth will be. Here is the OOH’s list of the 20 “fastest-growing” professions through 2018, as measured by percentage of growth.

  1. Biomedical engineers: Slated to add 11,600 jobs, a 72% increase
  2. Network systems and data communication analysts: Will add 155,800 jobs, a 53% increase
  3. Home health aides: Set to add 460,900 jobs, an increase of 50%
  4. Personal and home care aides: Will grow by 375,800 openings, or 46%
  5. Financial examiners: Slated to add 11,100 jobs, an increase of 41%
  6. Medical scientists, except epidemiologists: 44,200 jobs will be added, a 40% growth rate
  7. Physician assistants: This field will add 29,200 jobs, growing by 39%
  8. Skin care specialists: Set to add 14,700 positions, growing by 38%
  9. Biochemists and biophysicists: Will grow by 8,700 positions, or 37%
  10. Athletic trainers: Set to add 6,000 jobs, a gain of 37%
  11. Physical therapist aides: 16,700 jobs will be added, a gain of 36%
  12. Dental hygienists: The workforce will add 62,900 jobs, an increase of 36%
  13. Veterinary technologists and technicians:  Slated to add 28,500 jobs, a 36% increase
  14. Dental assistants: Will be adding 105,600 jobs, growing by 36%
  15. Computer software engineers, applications: Set to add 175,100 jobs, a growth rate of 34%
  16. Medical assistants: Will grow by 163,900 personnel, an increase of 34%
  17. Physical therapist assistants: 21,200 jobs will be added, growing by 33%
  18. Veterinarians: Will add 19,700 jobs, an increase of 33%
  19. Self-enrichment education teachers: Slated to add 81,300 positions, an increase of 32%
  20. Compliance officers, except agriculture, construction, health and safety, and transportation: Will add 80,800 jobs, growing by 31%

The first thing to note about this list is that a smaller industry can show an explosive rate of growth, yet still add fewer jobs in total than a huge industry that is growing more slowly. This is shown by the top occupation, biomedical engineer, which is going up steeply (72%!), but in spite of this is still only adding one job for every 39 added of the #3 job, home health assistant.

Examining the above list, here are some big trends I observe in the fastest-growing industries:

Biological sciences: In the Top 20, we see a high demand for biomedical engineers (#1) and biochemists and biophysicists ( #9), which reflects medicine’s growing interest in genetic research and biologic drugs. If you are inclined toward the sciences, biology would be a strategic area to explore.

IT: Don’t overlook the second-fastest-growing job, network systems and data communication analysts, which is set to add more than 150,000 new jobs, while computer software engineers, applications, #15, is adding another 175,000. Together, this is 325,000 jobs, so people who can run networks and write software will definitely continue to be needed.

Health assistance: Home health aide is #3, while personal and home care aides are right behind at #4. It makes sense: our increasingly aging population has an independent spirit, values their health, and would like help with it at home rather than at an institution. Physician assistants (#7), dental hygienists (#12), dental assistants (#14) also reflect these demographics, plus increased access to and demand for medical and dental services. Could you grow a career around this?

Veterinary sciences: The pet is of ever-increasing importance in the U.S.: people devote more of their money to a pet’s needs than before, and rates of pet ownership are up. So it’s not surprising to see veterinarians at #18 and veterinary technologists and technicians at #13. If you love animals, veterinary medicine may be the path for you.

Those were the occupations with steep growth. If you’re more interested in which occupations will be adding the most jobs in terms of sheer numbers, the following list (also from the new edition of the Occupational Outlook Handbook) delivers that. Here are the 20 occupations that will be adding the most new jobs, in individual openings:

  1. Registered nurses (581,500)
  2. Home health aides (460,900)
  3. Customer service representatives (399,500)
  4. Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food (394,300)
  5. Personal and home care aides (375,800)
  6. Retail salespersons (374,700)
  7. Office clerks, general (358,700)
  8. Accountants and auditors (279,400)
  9. Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants (276,000)
  10. Postsecondary teachers (256,900)
  11. Construction laborers (255,900)
  12. Elementary school teachers, except special education (244,200)
  13. Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer (232,900)
  14. Landscaping and groundskeeping workers (217,100)
  15. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks (212,400)
  16. Executive secretaries and administrative assistants (204,400)
  17. Management analysts (178,300)
  18. Computer software engineers, applications (175,100)
  19. Receptionists and information clerks (172,900)
  20. Carpenters (165,400)

Observations on the list of occupations that are growing the most:

Healthcare: The need for registered nurses is #1. Although they didn’t make the Top 20, you should know that licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses came in at #24 on the list, and physicians and surgeons ranked #28. Being a doctor or nurse has always been an in-demand profession, and the demand will continue.

Services: The service sector is adding millions of jobs in the coming eight years. A large portion of them are adjacent to healthcare; home health aides are #2, while nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants is #9, and personal and home care aides is #5. Other growth areas in service are food preparation and landscaping.

Construction and carpentry: Good news! Building is projected to come back from its current slump, making construction laborer #11 on this list, and carpenter #20.

For more planning resources, be sure to visit the OOH website. There, you can read up on hundreds of jobs. For each job, you will find descriptions of the duties and working conditions, the skills and experience needed, projected earnings, and even information on the job in your region. It is a valuable resource for imagining, planning, and implementing your successful career transition.


Guiding your career transition in the direction of future growth “Career transition” is on a lot of minds these days. The U.S. has more than 15 million unemployed — and if you count the discouraged and underemployed, the number is more like 27 million. You may be one of these people seeking a new job, or you may be one of millions of others who are employed, but trying to strategize a major career change in a tough market. No matter the specifics, the economic downturn is probably affecting your career. As you craft your long-term plans, you’ll want to consider where the jobs are — and where they are going. Consumption drives these patterns, but so does technology. Don’t forget to account for older generations retiring and leaving needed jobs open, either. All of these elements affect which jobs are available. Then, to maximize your future demand, think about adapting your strategy — be it higher education, government re-training, or developing a new area of expertise — to a field that is projected to grow. To help you with your planning, we peeked into our “crystal ball” (actually, government projections) to share the latest statistics for the industries growing the most, and the occupations that will be adding the largest amount of workers, now through 2018. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently published its 2010-11 edition of  the Occupational Outlook Handbook, a report on occupations and employment growth trends that is updated every two years. This particular update covers 2008-2018 — meaning it has data through the end of 2008, and projects out to 2018. This is notable because it does cover one full year of the downturn (2008), which began in December 2007. Nationwide, employment is projected to increase by 15.3 million (approximately 10%) over the decade between 2008 and 2018, and the OOH describes exactly where the growth will be. Here is the OOH’s list of the 20 “fastest-growing” professions through 2018, as measured by percentage of growth. Biomedical engineers: Slated to add 11,600 jobs, a 72% increase Network systems and data communication analysts: Will add 155,800 jobs, a 53% increase Home health aides: Set to add 460,900 jobs, an increase of 50% Personal and home care aides: Will grow by 375,800 openings, or 46% Financial examiners: Slated to add 11,100 jobs, an increase of 41% Medical scientists, except epidemiologists: 44,200 jobs will be added, a 40% growth rate Physician assistants: This field will add 29,200 jobs, growing by 39% Skin care specialists: Set to add 14,700 positions, growing by 38% Biochemists and biophysicists: Will grow by 8,700 positions, or 37% Athletic trainers: Set to add 6,000 jobs, a gain of 37% Physical therapist aides: 16,700 jobs will be added, a gain of 36% Dental hygienists: The workforce will add 62,900 jobs, an increase of 36% Veterinary technologists and technicians:  Slated to add 28,500 jobs, a 36% increase Dental assistants: Will be adding 105,600 jobs, growing by 36% Computer software engineers, applications: Set to add 175,100 jobs, a growth rate of 34% Medical assistants: Will grow by 163,900 personnel, an increase of 34% Physical therapist assistants: 21,200 jobs will be added, growing by 33% Veterinarians: Will add 19,700 jobs, an increase of 33% Self-enrichment education teachers: Slated to add 81,300 positions, an increase of 32% Compliance officers, except agriculture, construction, health and safety, and transportation: Will add 80,800 jobs, growing by 31% The first thing to note about this list is that a smaller industry can show an explosive rate of growth, yet still add fewer jobs in total than a huge industry that is growing more slowly. This is shown by the top occupation, biomedical engineer, which is going up steeply (72%!), but in spite of this is still only adding one job for every 39 added of the #3 job, home health assistant. Examining the above list, here are some big trends I observe in the fastest-growing industries: Biological sciences: In the Top 20, we see a high demand for biomedical engineers (#1) and biochemists and biophysicists ( #9), which reflects medicine’s growing interest in genetic research and biologic drugs. If you are inclined toward the sciences, biology would be a strategic area to explore. IT: Don’t overlook the second-fastest-growing job, network systems and data communication analysts, which is set to add more than 150,000 new jobs, while computer software engineers, applications, #15, is adding another 175,000. Together, this is 325,000 jobs, so people who can run networks and write software will definitely continue to be needed. Health assistance: Home health aide is #3, while personal and home care aides are right behind at #4. It makes sense: our increasingly aging population has an independent spirit, values their health, and would like help with it at home rather than at an institution. Physician assistants (#7), dental hygienists (#12), dental assistants (#14) also reflect these demographics, plus increased access to and demand for medical and dental services. Could you grow a career around this? Veterinary sciences: The pet is of ever-increasing importance in the U.S.: people devote more of their money to a pet’s needs than before, and rates of pet ownership are up. So it’s not surprising to see veterinarians at #18 and veterinary technologists and technicians at #13. If you love animals, veterinary medicine may be the path for you. Those were the occupations with steep growth. If you’re more interested in which occupations will be adding the most jobs in terms of sheer numbers, the following list (also from the new edition of the Occupational Outlook Handbook) delivers that. Here are the 20 occupations that will be adding the most new jobs, in individual openings: Registered nurses (581,500) Home health aides (460,900) Customer service representatives (399,500) Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food (394,300) Personal and home care aides (375,800) Retail salespersons (374,700) Office clerks, general (358,700) Accountants and auditors (279,400) Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants (276,000) Postsecondary teachers (256,900) Construction laborers (255,900) Elementary school teachers, except special education (244,200) Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer (232,900) Landscaping and groundskeeping workers (217,100) Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks (212,400) Executive secretaries and administrative assistants (204,400) Management analysts (178,300) Computer software engineers, applications (175,100) Receptionists and information clerks (172,900) Carpenters (165,400) Observations on the list of occupations that are growing the most: Healthcare: The need for registered nurses is #1. Although they didn’t make the Top 20, you should know that licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses came in at #24 on the list, and physicians and surgeons ranked #28. Being a doctor or nurse has always been an in-demand profession, and the demand will continue. Services: The service sector is adding millions of jobs in the coming eight years. A large portion of them are adjacent to healthcare; home health aides are #2, while nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants is #9, and personal and home care aides is #5. Other growth areas in service are food preparation and landscaping. Construction and carpentry: Good news! Building is projected to come back from its current slump, making construction laborer #11 on this list, and carpenter #20. For more planning resources, be sure to visit the OOH website. There, you can read up on hundreds of jobs. For each job, you will find descriptions of the duties and working conditions, the skills and experience needed, projected earnings, and even information on the job in your region. It is a valuable resource for imagining, planning, and implementing your successful career transition.
Coupon Code: Guiding your career transition in the direction of future growth “Career transition” is on a lot of minds these days. The U.S. has more than 15 million unemployed — and if you count the discouraged and underemployed, the number is more like 27 million. You may be one of these people seeking a new job, or you may be one of millions of others who are employed, but trying to strategize a major career change in a tough market. No matter the specifics, the economic downturn is probably affecting your career. As you craft your long-term plans, you’ll want to consider where the jobs are — and where they are going. Consumption drives these patterns, but so does technology. Don’t forget to account for older generations retiring and leaving needed jobs open, either. All of these elements affect which jobs are available. Then, to maximize your future demand, think about adapting your strategy — be it higher education, government re-training, or developing a new area of expertise — to a field that is projected to grow. To help you with your planning, we peeked into our “crystal ball” (actually, government projections) to share the latest statistics for the industries growing the most, and the occupations that will be adding the largest amount of workers, now through 2018. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently published its 2010-11 edition of  the Occupational Outlook Handbook, a report on occupations and employment growth trends that is updated every two years. This particular update covers 2008-2018 — meaning it has data through the end of 2008, and projects out to 2018. This is notable because it does cover one full year of the downturn (2008), which began in December 2007. Nationwide, employment is projected to increase by 15.3 million (approximately 10%) over the decade between 2008 and 2018, and the OOH describes exactly where the growth will be. Here is the OOH’s list of the 20 “fastest-growing” professions through 2018, as measured by percentage of growth. Biomedical engineers: Slated to add 11,600 jobs, a 72% increase Network systems and data communication analysts: Will add 155,800 jobs, a 53% increase Home health aides: Set to add 460,900 jobs, an increase of 50% Personal and home care aides: Will grow by 375,800 openings, or 46% Financial examiners: Slated to add 11,100 jobs, an increase of 41% Medical scientists, except epidemiologists: 44,200 jobs will be added, a 40% growth rate Physician assistants: This field will add 29,200 jobs, growing by 39% Skin care specialists: Set to add 14,700 positions, growing by 38% Biochemists and biophysicists: Will grow by 8,700 positions, or 37% Athletic trainers: Set to add 6,000 jobs, a gain of 37% Physical therapist aides: 16,700 jobs will be added, a gain of 36% Dental hygienists: The workforce will add 62,900 jobs, an increase of 36% Veterinary technologists and technicians:  Slated to add 28,500 jobs, a 36% increase Dental assistants: Will be adding 105,600 jobs, growing by 36% Computer software engineers, applications: Set to add 175,100 jobs, a growth rate of 34% Medical assistants: Will grow by 163,900 personnel, an increase of 34% Physical therapist assistants: 21,200 jobs will be added, growing by 33% Veterinarians: Will add 19,700 jobs, an increase of 33% Self-enrichment education teachers: Slated to add 81,300 positions, an increase of 32% Compliance officers, except agriculture, construction, health and safety, and transportation: Will add 80,800 jobs, growing by 31% The first thing to note about this list is that a smaller industry can show an explosive rate of growth, yet still add fewer jobs in total than a huge industry that is growing more slowly. This is shown by the top occupation, biomedical engineer, which is going up steeply (72%!), but in spite of this is still only adding one job for every 39 added of the #3 job, home health assistant. Examining the above list, here are some big trends I observe in the fastest-growing industries: Biological sciences: In the Top 20, we see a high demand for biomedical engineers (#1) and biochemists and biophysicists ( #9), which reflects medicine’s growing interest in genetic research and biologic drugs. If you are inclined toward the sciences, biology would be a strategic area to explore. IT: Don’t overlook the second-fastest-growing job, network systems and data communication analysts, which is set to add more than 150,000 new jobs, while computer software engineers, applications, #15, is adding another 175,000. Together, this is 325,000 jobs, so people who can run networks and write software will definitely continue to be needed. Health assistance: Home health aide is #3, while personal and home care aides are right behind at #4. It makes sense: our increasingly aging population has an independent spirit, values their health, and would like help with it at home rather than at an institution. Physician assistants (#7), dental hygienists (#12), dental assistants (#14) also reflect these demographics, plus increased access to and demand for medical and dental services. Could you grow a career around this? Veterinary sciences: The pet is of ever-increasing importance in the U.S.: people devote more of their money to a pet’s needs than before, and rates of pet ownership are up. So it’s not surprising to see veterinarians at #18 and veterinary technologists and technicians at #13. If you love animals, veterinary medicine may be the path for you. Those were the occupations with steep growth. If you’re more interested in which occupations will be adding the most jobs in terms of sheer numbers, the following list (also from the new edition of the Occupational Outlook Handbook) delivers that. Here are the 20 occupations that will be adding the most new jobs, in individual openings: Registered nurses (581,500) Home health aides (460,900) Customer service representatives (399,500) Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food (394,300) Personal and home care aides (375,800) Retail salespersons (374,700) Office clerks, general (358,700) Accountants and auditors (279,400) Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants (276,000) Postsecondary teachers (256,900) Construction laborers (255,900) Elementary school teachers, except special education (244,200) Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer (232,900) Landscaping and groundskeeping workers (217,100) Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks (212,400) Executive secretaries and administrative assistants (204,400) Management analysts (178,300) Computer software engineers, applications (175,100) Receptionists and information clerks (172,900) Carpenters (165,400) Observations on the list of occupations that are growing the most: Healthcare: The need for registered nurses is #1. Although they didn’t make the Top 20, you should know that licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses came in at #24 on the list, and physicians and surgeons ranked #28. Being a doctor or nurse has always been an in-demand profession, and the demand will continue. Services: The service sector is adding millions of jobs in the coming eight years. A large portion of them are adjacent to healthcare; home health aides are #2, while nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants is #9, and personal and home care aides is #5. Other growth areas in service are food preparation and landscaping. Construction and carpentry: Good news! Building is projected to come back from its current slump, making construction laborer #11 on this list, and carpenter #20. For more planning resources, be sure to visit the OOH website. There, you can read up on hundreds of jobs. For each job, you will find descriptions of the duties and working conditions, the skills and experience needed, projected earnings, and even information on the job in your region. It is a valuable resource for imagining, planning, and implementing your successful career transition.
Guiding your career transition in the direction of future growth “Career transition” is on a lot of minds these days. The U.S. has more than 15 million unemployed — and if you count the discouraged and underemployed, the number is more like 27 million. You may be one of these people seeking a new job, or you may be one of millions of others who are employed, but trying to strategize a major career change in a tough market. No matter the specifics, the economic downturn is probably affecting your career. As you craft your long-term plans, you’ll want to consider where the jobs are — and where they are going. Consumption drives these patterns, but so does technology. Don’t forget to account for older generations retiring and leaving needed jobs open, either. All of these elements affect which jobs are available. Then, to maximize your future demand, think about adapting your strategy — be it higher education, government re-training, or developing a new area of expertise — to a field that is projected to grow. To help you with your planning, we peeked into our “crystal ball” (actually, government projections) to share the latest statistics for the industries growing the most, and the occupations that will be adding the largest amount of workers, now through 2018. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently published its 2010-11 edition of  the Occupational Outlook Handbook, a report on occupations and employment growth trends that is updated every two years. This particular update covers 2008-2018 — meaning it has data through the end of 2008, and projects out to 2018. This is notable because it does cover one full year of the downturn (2008), which began in December 2007. Nationwide, employment is projected to increase by 15.3 million (approximately 10%) over the decade between 2008 and 2018, and the OOH describes exactly where the growth will be. Here is the OOH’s list of the 20 “fastest-growing” professions through 2018, as measured by percentage of growth. Biomedical engineers: Slated to add 11,600 jobs, a 72% increase Network systems and data communication analysts: Will add 155,800 jobs, a 53% increase Home health aides: Set to add 460,900 jobs, an increase of 50% Personal and home care aides: Will grow by 375,800 openings, or 46% Financial examiners: Slated to add 11,100 jobs, an increase of 41% Medical scientists, except epidemiologists: 44,200 jobs will be added, a 40% growth rate Physician assistants: This field will add 29,200 jobs, growing by 39% Skin care specialists: Set to add 14,700 positions, growing by 38% Biochemists and biophysicists: Will grow by 8,700 positions, or 37% Athletic trainers: Set to add 6,000 jobs, a gain of 37% Physical therapist aides: 16,700 jobs will be added, a gain of 36% Dental hygienists: The workforce will add 62,900 jobs, an increase of 36% Veterinary technologists and technicians:  Slated to add 28,500 jobs, a 36% increase Dental assistants: Will be adding 105,600 jobs, growing by 36% Computer software engineers, applications: Set to add 175,100 jobs, a growth rate of 34% Medical assistants: Will grow by 163,900 personnel, an increase of 34% Physical therapist assistants: 21,200 jobs will be added, growing by 33% Veterinarians: Will add 19,700 jobs, an increase of 33% Self-enrichment education teachers: Slated to add 81,300 positions, an increase of 32% Compliance officers, except agriculture, construction, health and safety, and transportation: Will add 80,800 jobs, growing by 31% The first thing to note about this list is that a smaller industry can show an explosive rate of growth, yet still add fewer jobs in total than a huge industry that is growing more slowly. This is shown by the top occupation, biomedical engineer, which is going up steeply (72%!), but in spite of this is still only adding one job for every 39 added of the #3 job, home health assistant. Examining the above list, here are some big trends I observe in the fastest-growing industries: Biological sciences: In the Top 20, we see a high demand for biomedical engineers (#1) and biochemists and biophysicists ( #9), which reflects medicine’s growing interest in genetic research and biologic drugs. If you are inclined toward the sciences, biology would be a strategic area to explore. IT: Don’t overlook the second-fastest-growing job, network systems and data communication analysts, which is set to add more than 150,000 new jobs, while computer software engineers, applications, #15, is adding another 175,000. Together, this is 325,000 jobs, so people who can run networks and write software will definitely continue to be needed. Health assistance: Home health aide is #3, while personal and home care aides are right behind at #4. It makes sense: our increasingly aging population has an independent spirit, values their health, and would like help with it at home rather than at an institution. Physician assistants (#7), dental hygienists (#12), dental assistants (#14) also reflect these demographics, plus increased access to and demand for medical and dental services. Could you grow a career around this? Veterinary sciences: The pet is of ever-increasing importance in the U.S.: people devote more of their money to a pet’s needs than before, and rates of pet ownership are up. So it’s not surprising to see veterinarians at #18 and veterinary technologists and technicians at #13. If you love animals, veterinary medicine may be the path for you. Those were the occupations with steep growth. If you’re more interested in which occupations will be adding the most jobs in terms of sheer numbers, the following list (also from the new edition of the Occupational Outlook Handbook) delivers that. Here are the 20 occupations that will be adding the most new jobs, in individual openings: Registered nurses (581,500) Home health aides (460,900) Customer service representatives (399,500) Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food (394,300) Personal and home care aides (375,800) Retail salespersons (374,700) Office clerks, general (358,700) Accountants and auditors (279,400) Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants (276,000) Postsecondary teachers (256,900) Construction laborers (255,900) Elementary school teachers, except special education (244,200) Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer (232,900) Landscaping and groundskeeping workers (217,100) Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks (212,400) Executive secretaries and administrative assistants (204,400) Management analysts (178,300) Computer software engineers, applications (175,100) Receptionists and information clerks (172,900) Carpenters (165,400) Observations on the list of occupations that are growing the most: Healthcare: The need for registered nurses is #1. Although they didn’t make the Top 20, you should know that licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses came in at #24 on the list, and physicians and surgeons ranked #28. Being a doctor or nurse has always been an in-demand profession, and the demand will continue. Services: The service sector is adding millions of jobs in the coming eight years. A large portion of them are adjacent to healthcare; home health aides are #2, while nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants is #9, and personal and home care aides is #5. Other growth areas in service are food preparation and landscaping. Construction and carpentry: Good news! Building is projected to come back from its current slump, making construction laborer #11 on this list, and carpenter #20. For more planning resources, be sure to visit the OOH website. There, you can read up on hundreds of jobs. For each job, you will find descriptions of the duties and working conditions, the skills and experience needed, projected earnings, and even information on the job in your region. It is a valuable resource for imagining, planning, and implementing your successful career transition. N/A Bookmark and Share
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Consider the effect of social media throughout the employee lifecycle

lifecycleThe impact of social media cannot be denied. The 2009 word of the year was “tweet,” and the word of the decade was “google,” according to the American Dialect Society. Social media such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, and YouTube—which are defined by their user-generated content—have wiggled their way into most people’s working hours, and thus onto many workplace computers.

In the field of Human Resources, most talk of social media has to do with pre-employment: talent sourcing, advertising job openings, and performing background checks. But social media is now integrated with each stage of the employee lifecycle: before, during, and after. HR practitioners should study their proper use (and possible misuse), and learn what steps to take now to maximize their benefit while heading off potential legal problems.

An excellent article on this topic was just published in The National Law Journal. In “Social media permeate the employment life cycle: Employers must address their use and misuse before, during and after an employee’s tenure,” labor and employment attorney Renee M. Jackson writes about the simultaneous opportunities and risk presented by social media. Here are some of her top thoughts, as well as those of HR pros, on points you should consider at each stage of the employee lifecycle.

PRE-EMPLOYMENT

The networking power of social media is undeniably helping people find jobs, and helping companies find talent. If you’re ready to take full advantage of it, check out an article like Fistful of HR’s “5 Must-Use Social Media Tools For HR & Recruiting Professionals In 2009.”

Know this, though: because people now publicly disclose much more information than they did in the past, organizations must take care, writes Jackson in The National Law Journal:

… Applicants may reveal more information about themselves through social media than they normally would during the hiring process. In making hiring decisions, employers can lawfully use information relating to an applicant’s illegal drug use, poor work ethic, poor writing or communications skills, feelings about previous employers and racist or other discriminatory tendencies. Employers may also lawfully consider an applicant’s general poor judgment in maintenance of his or her public online persona.

Employers, however, may face liability under federal, state and local law for using any information learned from social media about an applicant’s protected class status — race, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, etc. — in a hiring decision. It may be hard for the employer to prove in later litigation that it only viewed, but didn’t actually use, the information obtained in a social medium when making its hiring decision.

Your organization must seriously consider whether you want to use social media in your talent searches at all. If you do, Jackson recommends that you follow these guidelines:

  • Conduct uniform searches that are just and consistent
  • Use a non-biased third party to perform social media research
  • Do not “friend” applicants to gain access to non-public information
  • And other important points

DURING EMPLOYMENT

One of the biggest issues caused by social media during an employee tenure is the simple theft of working time. There are also matters of privacy, nondisclosure, taboo topics and hostile work environment, brand protection, and many more. The good news is, this is the stage when you have the most control over the situation. Most organizations would benefit from a well-researched, clear, and fairly applied social media policy. To research the matter, I recommend  beginning with “10 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy” by Sharlyn Lauby, who you may know as The HR Bartender, or “How to Develop a Social Media Policy” from About.com. There are a wide range of policies, but one thing all the experts agree on is that a successful policy is not arbitrary, but is a genuine expression of the needs of an organization which has considered both the risks and rewards of this new media.

Some of Jackson’s top recommendations for points to include in a policy are:

  • A prohibition on disclosure of the employer’s confidential, trade secret or proprietary information
  • A request that employees keep company logos or trademarks off their blogs and profiles and not mention the company in commentary, unless for business purposes
  • An instruction that employees not post or blog during business hours, unless for business purposes
  • A request that employees bring work-related complaints to human resources before blogging or posting about such complaints
  • And others

AFTER EMPLOYMENT

Then, there are the former employees. Some will be nice, and some will be not-so-nice.

The best defense against nightmare scenarios like this and like this is a having had a good social media policy in the first place—one that lasts beyond employment, if at all possible. But if you are dealing with a situation that falls outside of that, you might want to read an article such as “Dealing with Disgruntled Ex-employees via Social Media.”

Another huge issue is recommendations. Increasingly, people are asking former colleagues to write them recommendations on social media such as LinkedIn. Is that the same as an official post-employment recommendation? Jackson says yes—although it’s difficult to define when people are speaking for themselves, and when they are speaking on behalf of the organization. It’s a good reason to have a solid policy in place.

The warmest and fuzziest scenario is positive relations through social media in the form of corporate alumni networks. In Computer World’s article, “The new word for tech’s ex-employees is ‘alum’” large, successful sites catering to groups of ex-employees are examined. Microsoft’s alumni network, for example, has 10,000 members—what an incredible opportunity for networking and goodwill!

THE TAKEAWAY

What HR should take away from this, writes Jackson, is that the risks of social media are too great to be ignored any longer.

First, employers must understand the myriad issues surrounding social media in the workplace in order to strike the appropriate balance in the eyes of their employees and the law. Then, employers must craft appropriate policies and procedures regarding social media that are consistent with their industry and firm culture, and apply such policies in a consistent, objective and nondiscriminatory way.

Workers are tweeting, googling, and friending, and they’re doing it at all stages of employment. We need to acknowledge this, and craft good policies in response.


Consider the effect of social media throughout the employee lifecycle The impact of social media cannot be denied. The 2009 word of the year was “tweet,” and the word of the decade was “google,” according to the American Dialect Society. Social media such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, and YouTube—which are defined by their user-generated content—have wiggled their way into most people’s working hours, and thus onto many workplace computers. In the field of Human Resources, most talk of social media has to do with pre-employment: talent sourcing, advertising job openings, and performing background checks. But social media is now integrated with each stage of the employee lifecycle: before, during, and after. HR practitioners should study their proper use (and possible misuse), and learn what steps to take now to maximize their benefit while heading off potential legal problems. An excellent article on this topic was just published in The National Law Journal. In “Social media permeate the employment life cycle: Employers must address their use and misuse before, during and after an employee’s tenure,” labor and employment attorney Renee M. Jackson writes about the simultaneous opportunities and risk presented by social media. Here are some of her top thoughts, as well as those of HR pros, on points you should consider at each stage of the employee lifecycle. PRE-EMPLOYMENT The networking power of social media is undeniably helping people find jobs, and helping companies find talent. If you’re ready to take full advantage of it, check out an article like Fistful of HR’s “5 Must-Use Social Media Tools For HR & Recruiting Professionals In 2009.” Know this, though: because people now publicly disclose much more information than they did in the past, organizations must take care, writes Jackson in The National Law Journal: … Applicants may reveal more information about themselves through social media than they normally would during the hiring process. In making hiring decisions, employers can lawfully use information relating to an applicant’s illegal drug use, poor work ethic, poor writing or communications skills, feelings about previous employers and racist or other discriminatory tendencies. Employers may also lawfully consider an applicant’s general poor judgment in maintenance of his or her public online persona. Employers, however, may face liability under federal, state and local law for using any information learned from social media about an applicant’s protected class status — race, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, etc. — in a hiring decision. It may be hard for the employer to prove in later litigation that it only viewed, but didn’t actually use, the information obtained in a social medium when making its hiring decision. Your organization must seriously consider whether you want to use social media in your talent searches at all. If you do, Jackson recommends that you follow these guidelines: Conduct uniform searches that are just and consistent Use a non-biased third party to perform social media research Do not “friend” applicants to gain access to non-public information And other important points DURING EMPLOYMENT One of the biggest issues caused by social media during an employee tenure is the simple theft of working time. There are also matters of privacy, nondisclosure, taboo topics and hostile work environment, brand protection, and many more. The good news is, this is the stage when you have the most control over the situation. Most organizations would benefit from a well-researched, clear, and fairly applied social media policy. To research the matter, I recommend  beginning with “10 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy” by Sharlyn Lauby, who you may know as The HR Bartender, or “How to Develop a Social Media Policy” from About.com. There are a wide range of policies, but one thing all the experts agree on is that a successful policy is not arbitrary, but is a genuine expression of the needs of an organization which has considered both the risks and rewards of this new media. Some of Jackson’s top recommendations for points to include in a policy are: A prohibition on disclosure of the employer’s confidential, trade secret or proprietary information A request that employees keep company logos or trademarks off their blogs and profiles and not mention the company in commentary, unless for business purposes An instruction that employees not post or blog during business hours, unless for business purposes A request that employees bring work-related complaints to human resources before blogging or posting about such complaints And others AFTER EMPLOYMENT Then, there are the former employees. Some will be nice, and some will be not-so-nice. The best defense against nightmare scenarios like this and like this is a having had a good social media policy in the first place—one that lasts beyond employment, if at all possible. But if you are dealing with a situation that falls outside of that, you might want to read an article such as “Dealing with Disgruntled Ex-employees via Social Media.” Another huge issue is recommendations. Increasingly, people are asking former colleagues to write them recommendations on social media such as LinkedIn. Is that the same as an official post-employment recommendation? Jackson says yes—although it’s difficult to define when people are speaking for themselves, and when they are speaking on behalf of the organization. It’s a good reason to have a solid policy in place. The warmest and fuzziest scenario is positive relations through social media in the form of corporate alumni networks. In Computer World’s article, “The new word for tech’s ex-employees is ‘alum’” large, successful sites catering to groups of ex-employees are examined. Microsoft’s alumni network, for example, has 10,000 members—what an incredible opportunity for networking and goodwill! THE TAKEAWAY What HR should take away from this, writes Jackson, is that the risks of social media are too great to be ignored any longer. First, employers must understand the myriad issues surrounding social media in the workplace in order to strike the appropriate balance in the eyes of their employees and the law. Then, employers must craft appropriate policies and procedures regarding social media that are consistent with their industry and firm culture, and apply such policies in a consistent, objective and nondiscriminatory way. Workers are tweeting, googling, and friending, and they’re doing it at all stages of employment. We need to acknowledge this, and craft good policies in response.
Coupon Code: Consider the effect of social media throughout the employee lifecycle The impact of social media cannot be denied. The 2009 word of the year was “tweet,” and the word of the decade was “google,” according to the American Dialect Society. Social media such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, and YouTube—which are defined by their user-generated content—have wiggled their way into most people’s working hours, and thus onto many workplace computers. In the field of Human Resources, most talk of social media has to do with pre-employment: talent sourcing, advertising job openings, and performing background checks. But social media is now integrated with each stage of the employee lifecycle: before, during, and after. HR practitioners should study their proper use (and possible misuse), and learn what steps to take now to maximize their benefit while heading off potential legal problems. An excellent article on this topic was just published in The National Law Journal. In “Social media permeate the employment life cycle: Employers must address their use and misuse before, during and after an employee’s tenure,” labor and employment attorney Renee M. Jackson writes about the simultaneous opportunities and risk presented by social media. Here are some of her top thoughts, as well as those of HR pros, on points you should consider at each stage of the employee lifecycle. PRE-EMPLOYMENT The networking power of social media is undeniably helping people find jobs, and helping companies find talent. If you’re ready to take full advantage of it, check out an article like Fistful of HR’s “5 Must-Use Social Media Tools For HR & Recruiting Professionals In 2009.” Know this, though: because people now publicly disclose much more information than they did in the past, organizations must take care, writes Jackson in The National Law Journal: … Applicants may reveal more information about themselves through social media than they normally would during the hiring process. In making hiring decisions, employers can lawfully use information relating to an applicant’s illegal drug use, poor work ethic, poor writing or communications skills, feelings about previous employers and racist or other discriminatory tendencies. Employers may also lawfully consider an applicant’s general poor judgment in maintenance of his or her public online persona. Employers, however, may face liability under federal, state and local law for using any information learned from social media about an applicant’s protected class status — race, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, etc. — in a hiring decision. It may be hard for the employer to prove in later litigation that it only viewed, but didn’t actually use, the information obtained in a social medium when making its hiring decision. Your organization must seriously consider whether you want to use social media in your talent searches at all. If you do, Jackson recommends that you follow these guidelines: Conduct uniform searches that are just and consistent Use a non-biased third party to perform social media research Do not “friend” applicants to gain access to non-public information And other important points DURING EMPLOYMENT One of the biggest issues caused by social media during an employee tenure is the simple theft of working time. There are also matters of privacy, nondisclosure, taboo topics and hostile work environment, brand protection, and many more. The good news is, this is the stage when you have the most control over the situation. Most organizations would benefit from a well-researched, clear, and fairly applied social media policy. To research the matter, I recommend  beginning with “10 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy” by Sharlyn Lauby, who you may know as The HR Bartender, or “How to Develop a Social Media Policy” from About.com. There are a wide range of policies, but one thing all the experts agree on is that a successful policy is not arbitrary, but is a genuine expression of the needs of an organization which has considered both the risks and rewards of this new media. Some of Jackson’s top recommendations for points to include in a policy are: A prohibition on disclosure of the employer’s confidential, trade secret or proprietary information A request that employees keep company logos or trademarks off their blogs and profiles and not mention the company in commentary, unless for business purposes An instruction that employees not post or blog during business hours, unless for business purposes A request that employees bring work-related complaints to human resources before blogging or posting about such complaints And others AFTER EMPLOYMENT Then, there are the former employees. Some will be nice, and some will be not-so-nice. The best defense against nightmare scenarios like this and like this is a having had a good social media policy in the first place—one that lasts beyond employment, if at all possible. But if you are dealing with a situation that falls outside of that, you might want to read an article such as “Dealing with Disgruntled Ex-employees via Social Media.” Another huge issue is recommendations. Increasingly, people are asking former colleagues to write them recommendations on social media such as LinkedIn. Is that the same as an official post-employment recommendation? Jackson says yes—although it’s difficult to define when people are speaking for themselves, and when they are speaking on behalf of the organization. It’s a good reason to have a solid policy in place. The warmest and fuzziest scenario is positive relations through social media in the form of corporate alumni networks. In Computer World’s article, “The new word for tech’s ex-employees is ‘alum’” large, successful sites catering to groups of ex-employees are examined. Microsoft’s alumni network, for example, has 10,000 members—what an incredible opportunity for networking and goodwill! THE TAKEAWAY What HR should take away from this, writes Jackson, is that the risks of social media are too great to be ignored any longer. First, employers must understand the myriad issues surrounding social media in the workplace in order to strike the appropriate balance in the eyes of their employees and the law. Then, employers must craft appropriate policies and procedures regarding social media that are consistent with their industry and firm culture, and apply such policies in a consistent, objective and nondiscriminatory way. Workers are tweeting, googling, and friending, and they’re doing it at all stages of employment. We need to acknowledge this, and craft good policies in response.
Consider the effect of social media throughout the employee lifecycle The impact of social media cannot be denied. The 2009 word of the year was “tweet,” and the word of the decade was “google,” according to the American Dialect Society. Social media such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, and YouTube—which are defined by their user-generated content—have wiggled their way into most people’s working hours, and thus onto many workplace computers. In the field of Human Resources, most talk of social media has to do with pre-employment: talent sourcing, advertising job openings, and performing background checks. But social media is now integrated with each stage of the employee lifecycle: before, during, and after. HR practitioners should study their proper use (and possible misuse), and learn what steps to take now to maximize their benefit while heading off potential legal problems. An excellent article on this topic was just published in The National Law Journal. In “Social media permeate the employment life cycle: Employers must address their use and misuse before, during and after an employee’s tenure,” labor and employment attorney Renee M. Jackson writes about the simultaneous opportunities and risk presented by social media. Here are some of her top thoughts, as well as those of HR pros, on points you should consider at each stage of the employee lifecycle. PRE-EMPLOYMENT The networking power of social media is undeniably helping people find jobs, and helping companies find talent. If you’re ready to take full advantage of it, check out an article like Fistful of HR’s “5 Must-Use Social Media Tools For HR & Recruiting Professionals In 2009.” Know this, though: because people now publicly disclose much more information than they did in the past, organizations must take care, writes Jackson in The National Law Journal: … Applicants may reveal more information about themselves through social media than they normally would during the hiring process. In making hiring decisions, employers can lawfully use information relating to an applicant’s illegal drug use, poor work ethic, poor writing or communications skills, feelings about previous employers and racist or other discriminatory tendencies. Employers may also lawfully consider an applicant’s general poor judgment in maintenance of his or her public online persona. Employers, however, may face liability under federal, state and local law for using any information learned from social media about an applicant’s protected class status — race, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, etc. — in a hiring decision. It may be hard for the employer to prove in later litigation that it only viewed, but didn’t actually use, the information obtained in a social medium when making its hiring decision. Your organization must seriously consider whether you want to use social media in your talent searches at all. If you do, Jackson recommends that you follow these guidelines: Conduct uniform searches that are just and consistent Use a non-biased third party to perform social media research Do not “friend” applicants to gain access to non-public information And other important points DURING EMPLOYMENT One of the biggest issues caused by social media during an employee tenure is the simple theft of working time. There are also matters of privacy, nondisclosure, taboo topics and hostile work environment, brand protection, and many more. The good news is, this is the stage when you have the most control over the situation. Most organizations would benefit from a well-researched, clear, and fairly applied social media policy. To research the matter, I recommend  beginning with “10 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy” by Sharlyn Lauby, who you may know as The HR Bartender, or “How to Develop a Social Media Policy” from About.com. There are a wide range of policies, but one thing all the experts agree on is that a successful policy is not arbitrary, but is a genuine expression of the needs of an organization which has considered both the risks and rewards of this new media. Some of Jackson’s top recommendations for points to include in a policy are: A prohibition on disclosure of the employer’s confidential, trade secret or proprietary information A request that employees keep company logos or trademarks off their blogs and profiles and not mention the company in commentary, unless for business purposes An instruction that employees not post or blog during business hours, unless for business purposes A request that employees bring work-related complaints to human resources before blogging or posting about such complaints And others AFTER EMPLOYMENT Then, there are the former employees. Some will be nice, and some will be not-so-nice. The best defense against nightmare scenarios like this and like this is a having had a good social media policy in the first place—one that lasts beyond employment, if at all possible. But if you are dealing with a situation that falls outside of that, you might want to read an article such as “Dealing with Disgruntled Ex-employees via Social Media.” Another huge issue is recommendations. Increasingly, people are asking former colleagues to write them recommendations on social media such as LinkedIn. Is that the same as an official post-employment recommendation? Jackson says yes—although it’s difficult to define when people are speaking for themselves, and when they are speaking on behalf of the organization. It’s a good reason to have a solid policy in place. The warmest and fuzziest scenario is positive relations through social media in the form of corporate alumni networks. In Computer World’s article, “The new word for tech’s ex-employees is ‘alum’” large, successful sites catering to groups of ex-employees are examined. Microsoft’s alumni network, for example, has 10,000 members—what an incredible opportunity for networking and goodwill! THE TAKEAWAY What HR should take away from this, writes Jackson, is that the risks of social media are too great to be ignored any longer. First, employers must understand the myriad issues surrounding social media in the workplace in order to strike the appropriate balance in the eyes of their employees and the law. Then, employers must craft appropriate policies and procedures regarding social media that are consistent with their industry and firm culture, and apply such policies in a consistent, objective and nondiscriminatory way. Workers are tweeting, googling, and friending, and they’re doing it at all stages of employment. We need to acknowledge this, and craft good policies in response. N/A Bookmark and Share
N/A
 
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ACS to offer RiseSmart outplacement services

Affiliated Computer Services, a Fortune 500 company and global leader in business process outsourcing and information technology services, has introduced a new service offering, ACS Transition Services - Powered by RiseSmart.

Said Mark Squiers, executive managing director of ACS Human Resources Outsourcing services, in the company’s press release:

This is a new model for transition services, one that is geared to providing strong returns for both employers and employees. By eliminating costly traditional services like office space and group seminars, which have been found to be of low value to employees, the focus is on aggressively helping workers find a new job. Valuable services such as professional resume writing and personalized support for individuals remain, while companies have the ability to quickly deploy the additional services without dealing with infrastructure issues.

We are delighted to partner with ACS as we continue to transform the way outplacement works, both for employees and employers.


ACS to offer RiseSmart outplacement services Affiliated Computer Services, a Fortune 500 company and global leader in business process outsourcing and information technology services, has introduced a new service offering, ACS Transition Services - Powered by RiseSmart. Said Mark Squiers, executive managing director of ACS Human Resources Outsourcing services, in the company’s press release: This is a new model for transition services, one that is geared to providing strong returns for both employers and employees. By eliminating costly traditional services like office space and group seminars, which have been found to be of low value to employees, the focus is on aggressively helping workers find a new job. Valuable services such as professional resume writing and personalized support for individuals remain, while companies have the ability to quickly deploy the additional services without dealing with infrastructure issues. We are delighted to partner with ACS as we continue to transform the way outplacement works, both for employees and employers.
Coupon Code: ACS to offer RiseSmart outplacement services Affiliated Computer Services, a Fortune 500 company and global leader in business process outsourcing and information technology services, has introduced a new service offering, ACS Transition Services - Powered by RiseSmart. Said Mark Squiers, executive managing director of ACS Human Resources Outsourcing services, in the company’s press release: This is a new model for transition services, one that is geared to providing strong returns for both employers and employees. By eliminating costly traditional services like office space and group seminars, which have been found to be of low value to employees, the focus is on aggressively helping workers find a new job. Valuable services such as professional resume writing and personalized support for individuals remain, while companies have the ability to quickly deploy the additional services without dealing with infrastructure issues. We are delighted to partner with ACS as we continue to transform the way outplacement works, both for employees and employers.
ACS to offer RiseSmart outplacement services Affiliated Computer Services, a Fortune 500 company and global leader in business process outsourcing and information technology services, has introduced a new service offering, ACS Transition Services - Powered by RiseSmart. Said Mark Squiers, executive managing director of ACS Human Resources Outsourcing services, in the company’s press release: This is a new model for transition services, one that is geared to providing strong returns for both employers and employees. By eliminating costly traditional services like office space and group seminars, which have been found to be of low value to employees, the focus is on aggressively helping workers find a new job. Valuable services such as professional resume writing and personalized support for individuals remain, while companies have the ability to quickly deploy the additional services without dealing with infrastructure issues. We are delighted to partner with ACS as we continue to transform the way outplacement works, both for employees and employers. N/A Bookmark and Share
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Five reasons you can’t afford to skip performance reviews — even in a bad economy

post-it-performance-review

There are just 45 days left in 2009, and for many managers, it’s time for employee reviews. (Searching for “performance reviews” on Twitter at this time of year leads you to countless people who are either busy writing them, or nervously waiting to receive one.) It may have crossed your mind to skip or postpone performance reviews this year – as the business landscape keeps changing, the goals you made 12 months ago may seem unrealistic, or perhaps your organization has a freeze on salary increases. But no matter how bad the economy is, you cannot afford to miss giving feedback to your people.

Here are five compelling reasons why.

  1. Simple legalities. You expect your employees to live by the handbook? Then so should management. If you have a written policy committing to an annual review, then provide the review. Skipping it means risking your reputation in court against a dismissed worker, who may portray the skipped review as a sign of poor management or bad communication.
  2. Retain top talent. In tough times, you need your best people more than ever. Instead of avoiding their review because of economic turmoil, make a point of meeting with them and letting them know how much you appreciate them, even if the salary and bonus situation is not what it once was.
  3. Put underperformers on warning. You can’t afford to have poor performers on board, so use the review as a chance to help them grow into a productive member of the team, or set the stage for their departure.
  4. Re-align employees with the big-picture goals. Reviews aren’t just for the employees; they’re also a great time to revisit the company’s larger goals and make certain that the work being done reflects them.
  5. Prepare for future difficulty or change. If the time should come in the future for a sale of the business, or a mass layoff, having recent, reliable documentation on hand will streamline the process. Same goes if new leadership is brought aboard.

No matter how rocky the economic outlook, your employees deserve to have a formal check-in on their progress. Plus, many aspects of the performance review directly benefit management (it’s not just handing out raises!). So don’t even consider skipping this important step, no matter how much you may be dreading performance review time in a bad economy. Evaluations can actually help you with your goals for the organization!

For more information:


Five reasons you can’t afford to skip performance reviews — even in a bad economy There are just 45 days left in 2009, and for many managers, it’s time for employee reviews. (Searching for “performance reviews” on Twitter at this time of year leads you to countless people who are either busy writing them, or nervously waiting to receive one.) It may have crossed your mind to skip or postpone performance reviews this year – as the business landscape keeps changing, the goals you made 12 months ago may seem unrealistic, or perhaps your organization has a freeze on salary increases. But no matter how bad the economy is, you cannot afford to miss giving feedback to your people. Here are five compelling reasons why. Simple legalities. You expect your employees to live by the handbook? Then so should management. If you have a written policy committing to an annual review, then provide the review. Skipping it means risking your reputation in court against a dismissed worker, who may portray the skipped review as a sign of poor management or bad communication. Retain top talent. In tough times, you need your best people more than ever. Instead of avoiding their review because of economic turmoil, make a point of meeting with them and letting them know how much you appreciate them, even if the salary and bonus situation is not what it once was. Put underperformers on warning. You can’t afford to have poor performers on board, so use the review as a chance to help them grow into a productive member of the team, or set the stage for their departure. Re-align employees with the big-picture goals. Reviews aren’t just for the employees; they’re also a great time to revisit the company’s larger goals and make certain that the work being done reflects them. Prepare for future difficulty or change. If the time should come in the future for a sale of the business, or a mass layoff, having recent, reliable documentation on hand will streamline the process. Same goes if new leadership is brought aboard. No matter how rocky the economic outlook, your employees deserve to have a formal check-in on their progress. Plus, many aspects of the performance review directly benefit management (it’s not just handing out raises!). So don’t even consider skipping this important step, no matter how much you may be dreading performance review time in a bad economy. Evaluations can actually help you with your goals for the organization! For more information: You can’t afford to skip reviews A well-argued case from Entrepreneur magazine. Should We Skip Performance Appraisals This Year? From 2008, but still very relevant to the issues we’re facing one year later. Don’t skip mid-year performance reviews Written about mid-year reviews, but this Wall St. Journal piece applies to year-end reviews equally well.
Coupon Code: Five reasons you can’t afford to skip performance reviews — even in a bad economy There are just 45 days left in 2009, and for many managers, it’s time for employee reviews. (Searching for “performance reviews” on Twitter at this time of year leads you to countless people who are either busy writing them, or nervously waiting to receive one.) It may have crossed your mind to skip or postpone performance reviews this year – as the business landscape keeps changing, the goals you made 12 months ago may seem unrealistic, or perhaps your organization has a freeze on salary increases. But no matter how bad the economy is, you cannot afford to miss giving feedback to your people. Here are five compelling reasons why. Simple legalities. You expect your employees to live by the handbook? Then so should management. If you have a written policy committing to an annual review, then provide the review. Skipping it means risking your reputation in court against a dismissed worker, who may portray the skipped review as a sign of poor management or bad communication. Retain top talent. In tough times, you need your best people more than ever. Instead of avoiding their review because of economic turmoil, make a point of meeting with them and letting them know how much you appreciate them, even if the salary and bonus situation is not what it once was. Put underperformers on warning. You can’t afford to have poor performers on board, so use the review as a chance to help them grow into a productive member of the team, or set the stage for their departure. Re-align employees with the big-picture goals. Reviews aren’t just for the employees; they’re also a great time to revisit the company’s larger goals and make certain that the work being done reflects them. Prepare for future difficulty or change. If the time should come in the future for a sale of the business, or a mass layoff, having recent, reliable documentation on hand will streamline the process. Same goes if new leadership is brought aboard. No matter how rocky the economic outlook, your employees deserve to have a formal check-in on their progress. Plus, many aspects of the performance review directly benefit management (it’s not just handing out raises!). So don’t even consider skipping this important step, no matter how much you may be dreading performance review time in a bad economy. Evaluations can actually help you with your goals for the organization! For more information: You can’t afford to skip reviews A well-argued case from Entrepreneur magazine. Should We Skip Performance Appraisals This Year? From 2008, but still very relevant to the issues we’re facing one year later. Don’t skip mid-year performance reviews Written about mid-year reviews, but this Wall St. Journal piece applies to year-end reviews equally well.
Five reasons you can’t afford to skip performance reviews — even in a bad economy There are just 45 days left in 2009, and for many managers, it’s time for employee reviews. (Searching for “performance reviews” on Twitter at this time of year leads you to countless people who are either busy writing them, or nervously waiting to receive one.) It may have crossed your mind to skip or postpone performance reviews this year – as the business landscape keeps changing, the goals you made 12 months ago may seem unrealistic, or perhaps your organization has a freeze on salary increases. But no matter how bad the economy is, you cannot afford to miss giving feedback to your people. Here are five compelling reasons why. Simple legalities. You expect your employees to live by the handbook? Then so should management. If you have a written policy committing to an annual review, then provide the review. Skipping it means risking your reputation in court against a dismissed worker, who may portray the skipped review as a sign of poor management or bad communication. Retain top talent. In tough times, you need your best people more than ever. Instead of avoiding their review because of economic turmoil, make a point of meeting with them and letting them know how much you appreciate them, even if the salary and bonus situation is not what it once was. Put underperformers on warning. You can’t afford to have poor performers on board, so use the review as a chance to help them grow into a productive member of the team, or set the stage for their departure. Re-align employees with the big-picture goals. Reviews aren’t just for the employees; they’re also a great time to revisit the company’s larger goals and make certain that the work being done reflects them. Prepare for future difficulty or change. If the time should come in the future for a sale of the business, or a mass layoff, having recent, reliable documentation on hand will streamline the process. Same goes if new leadership is brought aboard. No matter how rocky the economic outlook, your employees deserve to have a formal check-in on their progress. Plus, many aspects of the performance review directly benefit management (it’s not just handing out raises!). So don’t even consider skipping this important step, no matter how much you may be dreading performance review time in a bad economy. Evaluations can actually help you with your goals for the organization! For more information: You can’t afford to skip reviews A well-argued case from Entrepreneur magazine. Should We Skip Performance Appraisals This Year? From 2008, but still very relevant to the issues we’re facing one year later. Don’t skip mid-year performance reviews Written about mid-year reviews, but this Wall St. Journal piece applies to year-end reviews equally well. N/A Bookmark and Share
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Six ways to keep employees focused and happy during the holiday season

holiday

The months of November and December are traditionally spent preparing for, and enjoying, holidays such as Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year’s. People who work in offices are often overloaded as they try to combine personal goals such as shopping, traveling, and hosting family with work goals such as finishing all of their projects before their holiday break. It’s a well-documented fact that stress and depression levels soar at this time of year.

At the same time, it’s a crucial period for businesses trying to achieve certain goals by year’s end. The clash of these important issues can be enough to bring even the best performer down.

We recommend that HR managers recognize that employees are likely to be distracted, stressed, and unfocused around the holidays, and take pro-active steps to minimize their stress and help keep their eyes on the prize at this challenging time of year.

Keeping work-related focus during the holidays is a issue that comes up annually, so we turned to the very best articles on the subject, written over the past few years, to glean the best ideas in the business. Some are Santa-like, and some have a touch of Scrooge about them, but all of them have been recommended by bloggers we know and respect.

  • Set a good example as a manager. If “focus” is something you are asking of employees, don’t cheat by shopping online during working hours, and don’t skate out of the office early just because the in-laws are town. Take the high road, every time.
  • Watch out for signs of the “winter blues.” As a manager, be on the lookout for signs among your people of “Seasonal Affective Disorder,” abbreviated SAD, a condition whereby a lack of sunlight causes depression. The short days of the winter months, combined with work anxiety and the stress of the holidays, can quickly add up to a serious medical problem. Fortunately, if diagnosed, SAD can easily be treated with light therapy and/or antidepressants.
  • Celebrate together. It’s good for morale to acknowledge that it is a special season. Your celebration can be as simple as coffee and cake in the break room, or as elaborate as a holiday party in an upscale restaurant. Many workplaces enjoy a small gift exchange among employees, and employers who have had a good year often give out gift certificates or small tokens of appreciation.
  • If you give year-end bonuses, tie them to performance. Oftentimes, these bonuses are taken for granted. Work around this false perception by setting up a clear expectation that bonuses are tied to performance to keep people focused until they actually get the check.
  • Give the gift of time. Sometimes, a little free time in a busy season is even more precious than cash. Consider flexible scheduling at this time of year, or simply give everyone a certain afternoon off to do their cooking, cleaning, shopping, wrapping, and other holiday tasks. What it may cost you in a few hours’ wages is more than made up for by the goodwill it brings back.
  • Engage people’s giving spirit – outside the organization. People tend to forget any petty concerns and stress when they focus on something bigger and outside of themselves. Build on their holiday spirit and willingness to give back with an employer-sponsored toy drive, charity partnership, or volunteer time spent at a soup kitchen. It will do good, and bring your team together. Together, you can do much more than any of you could do alone.
These ideas on helping employees successfully navigate the holiday season were inspired by these excellent blog posts:


Six ways to keep employees focused and happy during the holiday season The months of November and December are traditionally spent preparing for, and enjoying, holidays such as Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year’s. People who work in offices are often overloaded as they try to combine personal goals such as shopping, traveling, and hosting family with work goals such as finishing all of their projects before their holiday break. It’s a well-documented fact that stress and depression levels soar at this time of year. At the same time, it’s a crucial period for businesses trying to achieve certain goals by year’s end. The clash of these important issues can be enough to bring even the best performer down. We recommend that HR managers recognize that employees are likely to be distracted, stressed, and unfocused around the holidays, and take pro-active steps to minimize their stress and help keep their eyes on the prize at this challenging time of year. Keeping work-related focus during the holidays is a issue that comes up annually, so we turned to the very best articles on the subject, written over the past few years, to glean the best ideas in the business. Some are Santa-like, and some have a touch of Scrooge about them, but all of them have been recommended by bloggers we know and respect. Set a good example as a manager. If “focus” is something you are asking of employees, don’t cheat by shopping online during working hours, and don’t skate out of the office early just because the in-laws are town. Take the high road, every time. Watch out for signs of the “winter blues.” As a manager, be on the lookout for signs among your people of “Seasonal Affective Disorder,” abbreviated SAD, a condition whereby a lack of sunlight causes depression. The short days of the winter months, combined with work anxiety and the stress of the holidays, can quickly add up to a serious medical problem. Fortunately, if diagnosed, SAD can easily be treated with light therapy and/or antidepressants. Celebrate together. It’s good for morale to acknowledge that it is a special season. Your celebration can be as simple as coffee and cake in the break room, or as elaborate as a holiday party in an upscale restaurant. Many workplaces enjoy a small gift exchange among employees, and employers who have had a good year often give out gift certificates or small tokens of appreciation. If you give year-end bonuses, tie them to performance. Oftentimes, these bonuses are taken for granted. Work around this false perception by setting up a clear expectation that bonuses are tied to performance to keep people focused until they actually get the check. Give the gift of time. Sometimes, a little free time in a busy season is even more precious than cash. Consider flexible scheduling at this time of year, or simply give everyone a certain afternoon off to do their cooking, cleaning, shopping, wrapping, and other holiday tasks. What it may cost you in a few hours’ wages is more than made up for by the goodwill it brings back. Engage people’s giving spirit – outside the organization. People tend to forget any petty concerns and stress when they focus on something bigger and outside of themselves. Build on their holiday spirit and willingness to give back with an employer-sponsored toy drive, charity partnership, or volunteer time spent at a soup kitchen. It will do good, and bring your team together. Together, you can do much more than any of you could do alone. These ideas on helping employees successfully navigate the holiday season were inspired by these excellent blog posts: 8 Simple Steps for Maintaining Employee Efficiency during the Holiday Season How to Stay Focused During the Holiday Season Holidaze: Beating the Holiday Blues and Stress Holiday Stress Hotspots: Manage Holiday Stress with Knowledge
Coupon Code: Six ways to keep employees focused and happy during the holiday season The months of November and December are traditionally spent preparing for, and enjoying, holidays such as Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year’s. People who work in offices are often overloaded as they try to combine personal goals such as shopping, traveling, and hosting family with work goals such as finishing all of their projects before their holiday break. It’s a well-documented fact that stress and depression levels soar at this time of year. At the same time, it’s a crucial period for businesses trying to achieve certain goals by year’s end. The clash of these important issues can be enough to bring even the best performer down. We recommend that HR managers recognize that employees are likely to be distracted, stressed, and unfocused around the holidays, and take pro-active steps to minimize their stress and help keep their eyes on the prize at this challenging time of year. Keeping work-related focus during the holidays is a issue that comes up annually, so we turned to the very best articles on the subject, written over the past few years, to glean the best ideas in the business. Some are Santa-like, and some have a touch of Scrooge about them, but all of them have been recommended by bloggers we know and respect. Set a good example as a manager. If “focus” is something you are asking of employees, don’t cheat by shopping online during working hours, and don’t skate out of the office early just because the in-laws are town. Take the high road, every time. Watch out for signs of the “winter blues.” As a manager, be on the lookout for signs among your people of “Seasonal Affective Disorder,” abbreviated SAD, a condition whereby a lack of sunlight causes depression. The short days of the winter months, combined with work anxiety and the stress of the holidays, can quickly add up to a serious medical problem. Fortunately, if diagnosed, SAD can easily be treated with light therapy and/or antidepressants. Celebrate together. It’s good for morale to acknowledge that it is a special season. Your celebration can be as simple as coffee and cake in the break room, or as elaborate as a holiday party in an upscale restaurant. Many workplaces enjoy a small gift exchange among employees, and employers who have had a good year often give out gift certificates or small tokens of appreciation. If you give year-end bonuses, tie them to performance. Oftentimes, these bonuses are taken for granted. Work around this false perception by setting up a clear expectation that bonuses are tied to performance to keep people focused until they actually get the check. Give the gift of time. Sometimes, a little free time in a busy season is even more precious than cash. Consider flexible scheduling at this time of year, or simply give everyone a certain afternoon off to do their cooking, cleaning, shopping, wrapping, and other holiday tasks. What it may cost you in a few hours’ wages is more than made up for by the goodwill it brings back. Engage people’s giving spirit – outside the organization. People tend to forget any petty concerns and stress when they focus on something bigger and outside of themselves. Build on their holiday spirit and willingness to give back with an employer-sponsored toy drive, charity partnership, or volunteer time spent at a soup kitchen. It will do good, and bring your team together. Together, you can do much more than any of you could do alone. These ideas on helping employees successfully navigate the holiday season were inspired by these excellent blog posts: 8 Simple Steps for Maintaining Employee Efficiency during the Holiday Season How to Stay Focused During the Holiday Season Holidaze: Beating the Holiday Blues and Stress Holiday Stress Hotspots: Manage Holiday Stress with Knowledge
Six ways to keep employees focused and happy during the holiday season The months of November and December are traditionally spent preparing for, and enjoying, holidays such as Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year’s. People who work in offices are often overloaded as they try to combine personal goals such as shopping, traveling, and hosting family with work goals such as finishing all of their projects before their holiday break. It’s a well-documented fact that stress and depression levels soar at this time of year. At the same time, it’s a crucial period for businesses trying to achieve certain goals by year’s end. The clash of these important issues can be enough to bring even the best performer down. We recommend that HR managers recognize that employees are likely to be distracted, stressed, and unfocused around the holidays, and take pro-active steps to minimize their stress and help keep their eyes on the prize at this challenging time of year. Keeping work-related focus during the holidays is a issue that comes up annually, so we turned to the very best articles on the subject, written over the past few years, to glean the best ideas in the business. Some are Santa-like, and some have a touch of Scrooge about them, but all of them have been recommended by bloggers we know and respect. Set a good example as a manager. If “focus” is something you are asking of employees, don’t cheat by shopping online during working hours, and don’t skate out of the office early just because the in-laws are town. Take the high road, every time. Watch out for signs of the “winter blues.” As a manager, be on the lookout for signs among your people of “Seasonal Affective Disorder,” abbreviated SAD, a condition whereby a lack of sunlight causes depression. The short days of the winter months, combined with work anxiety and the stress of the holidays, can quickly add up to a serious medical problem. Fortunately, if diagnosed, SAD can easily be treated with light therapy and/or antidepressants. Celebrate together. It’s good for morale to acknowledge that it is a special season. Your celebration can be as simple as coffee and cake in the break room, or as elaborate as a holiday party in an upscale restaurant. Many workplaces enjoy a small gift exchange among employees, and employers who have had a good year often give out gift certificates or small tokens of appreciation. If you give year-end bonuses, tie them to performance. Oftentimes, these bonuses are taken for granted. Work around this false perception by setting up a clear expectation that bonuses are tied to performance to keep people focused until they actually get the check. Give the gift of time. Sometimes, a little free time in a busy season is even more precious than cash. Consider flexible scheduling at this time of year, or simply give everyone a certain afternoon off to do their cooking, cleaning, shopping, wrapping, and other holiday tasks. What it may cost you in a few hours’ wages is more than made up for by the goodwill it brings back. Engage people’s giving spirit – outside the organization. People tend to forget any petty concerns and stress when they focus on something bigger and outside of themselves. Build on their holiday spirit and willingness to give back with an employer-sponsored toy drive, charity partnership, or volunteer time spent at a soup kitchen. It will do good, and bring your team together. Together, you can do much more than any of you could do alone. These ideas on helping employees successfully navigate the holiday season were inspired by these excellent blog posts: 8 Simple Steps for Maintaining Employee Efficiency during the Holiday Season How to Stay Focused During the Holiday Season Holidaze: Beating the Holiday Blues and Stress Holiday Stress Hotspots: Manage Holiday Stress with Knowledge N/A Bookmark and Share
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Co-workers donating PTO “gives me hope”

gives-me-hope

They say that time is the most precious gift you can give. And if that time is paid time off – and the recipient is truly in need – it is beyond precious.

This deeply meaningful gift is being given not by friends, not by family… but by co-workers. I’m talking about a trend in generosity that should be quite interesting to HR professionals: employees donating their Paid Time Off (PTO) to colleagues who need it to treat an illness or care for a family member who is chronically ill, or for employees who have gone through a major disaster.

I’ve known about catastrophic leave-sharing programs for some time, but I’ve come to appreciate this trend from reading a site called GivesMeHope which focuses on “life’s beautiful moments.” It’s a simple, text-based site, filled with short anecdotes submitted by users. Each story ends with a statement of what “gives me hope,” or, as they put it, “GMH.” Check out this story:

When my mom was dying of cancer, my dad had to keep working to keep his health insurance. His midsize company has a program by which employees can transfer paid time off to one another. A person in HR sent out an email explaining his situation. Within 3 hours, my father had 12 weeks of paid vacation. Strangers’ sacrifices GMH.

And this one:

A woman my mom works with has cancer and has been out of work for a long time. She recently found out she has to be out for longer but doesn’t have enough sick days left to cover it. Every nurse on my mom’s floor at the hospital is donating at least one of their paid sick days to her so she can finish her treatment – and get paid for it. GMH.

And finally, this one:

My girlfriend got the swine flu and was out of work for two weeks. Her paid time off wasn’t enough to cover the absence. When she got her first paycheck after returning, she found one of her coworkers had donated 8 hours of paid time off to her. Anonymously. She’s only been there 6 months. GMH.

If these stories warm your heart, consider starting a leave-sharing program for your employees. Most examples of leave-sharing come from universities – most notably the University of California system – but state and local governments also offer it, as well as some labor unions, non-profits, and private corporations. It may come with a bit of red tape, but leave-sharing programs are a low-cost, high-impact way to show thoughtful, flexible support to employees who fall upon tragic times. The show of altruism is wonderful for morale and can really bond a team.

Of course, transferring PTO between employees requires a solid policy – to describe what circumstances and family members qualify, and to determine how the program will be administered. It is best to address all this before a potentially emotional situation arises. Each situation must be researched carefully. There may be tax consequences, or state rules concerning what kind of hours can be donated (sick leave, holiday leave, or compensatory time may be treated differently.)

To explore this in more detail, we recommend An Employer’s Guide to Employee Leave-Sharing Programs as a start.

We’ve collected some examples of leave-sharing policies to get you started exploring the topic:

Do these stories give you hope? Do you have a story of altruistic leave-sharing that you would like to share with our readers?


Co-workers donating PTO “gives me hope” They say that time is the most precious gift you can give. And if that time is paid time off – and the recipient is truly in need – it is beyond precious. This deeply meaningful gift is being given not by friends, not by family… but by co-workers. I’m talking about a trend in generosity that should be quite interesting to HR professionals: employees donating their Paid Time Off (PTO) to colleagues who need it to treat an illness or care for a family member who is chronically ill, or for employees who have gone through a major disaster. I’ve known about catastrophic leave-sharing programs for some time, but I’ve come to appreciate this trend from reading a site called GivesMeHope which focuses on “life’s beautiful moments.” It’s a simple, text-based site, filled with short anecdotes submitted by users. Each story ends with a statement of what “gives me hope,” or, as they put it, “GMH.” Check out this story: When my mom was dying of cancer, my dad had to keep working to keep his health insurance. His midsize company has a program by which employees can transfer paid time off to one another. A person in HR sent out an email explaining his situation. Within 3 hours, my father had 12 weeks of paid vacation. Strangers’ sacrifices GMH. And this one: A woman my mom works with has cancer and has been out of work for a long time. She recently found out she has to be out for longer but doesn’t have enough sick days left to cover it. Every nurse on my mom’s floor at the hospital is donating at least one of their paid sick days to her so she can finish her treatment – and get paid for it. GMH. And finally, this one: My girlfriend got the swine flu and was out of work for two weeks. Her paid time off wasn’t enough to cover the absence. When she got her first paycheck after returning, she found one of her coworkers had donated 8 hours of paid time off to her. Anonymously. She’s only been there 6 months. GMH. If these stories warm your heart, consider starting a leave-sharing program for your employees. Most examples of leave-sharing come from universities – most notably the University of California system – but state and local governments also offer it, as well as some labor unions, non-profits, and private corporations. It may come with a bit of red tape, but leave-sharing programs are a low-cost, high-impact way to show thoughtful, flexible support to employees who fall upon tragic times. The show of altruism is wonderful for morale and can really bond a team. Of course, transferring PTO between employees requires a solid policy – to describe what circumstances and family members qualify, and to determine how the program will be administered. It is best to address all this before a potentially emotional situation arises. Each situation must be researched carefully. There may be tax consequences, or state rules concerning what kind of hours can be donated (sick leave, holiday leave, or compensatory time may be treated differently.) To explore this in more detail, we recommend An Employer’s Guide to Employee Leave-Sharing Programs as a start. We’ve collected some examples of leave-sharing policies to get you started exploring the topic: Catastrophic Leave Sharing  Program from the University of California at Davis Catastrophic Leave Sharing Program for the City of Salem, Oregon Advocate Health Care PTO Sharing / Donation Catastrophic Leave Sharing Bank for Coast Federation of Classified Employees Do these stories give you hope? Do you have a story of altruistic leave-sharing that you would like to share with our readers?
Coupon Code: Co-workers donating PTO “gives me hope” They say that time is the most precious gift you can give. And if that time is paid time off – and the recipient is truly in need – it is beyond precious. This deeply meaningful gift is being given not by friends, not by family… but by co-workers. I’m talking about a trend in generosity that should be quite interesting to HR professionals: employees donating their Paid Time Off (PTO) to colleagues who need it to treat an illness or care for a family member who is chronically ill, or for employees who have gone through a major disaster. I’ve known about catastrophic leave-sharing programs for some time, but I’ve come to appreciate this trend from reading a site called GivesMeHope which focuses on “life’s beautiful moments.” It’s a simple, text-based site, filled with short anecdotes submitted by users. Each story ends with a statement of what “gives me hope,” or, as they put it, “GMH.” Check out this story: When my mom was dying of cancer, my dad had to keep working to keep his health insurance. His midsize company has a program by which employees can transfer paid time off to one another. A person in HR sent out an email explaining his situation. Within 3 hours, my father had 12 weeks of paid vacation. Strangers’ sacrifices GMH. And this one: A woman my mom works with has cancer and has been out of work for a long time. She recently found out she has to be out for longer but doesn’t have enough sick days left to cover it. Every nurse on my mom’s floor at the hospital is donating at least one of their paid sick days to her so she can finish her treatment – and get paid for it. GMH. And finally, this one: My girlfriend got the swine flu and was out of work for two weeks. Her paid time off wasn’t enough to cover the absence. When she got her first paycheck after returning, she found one of her coworkers had donated 8 hours of paid time off to her. Anonymously. She’s only been there 6 months. GMH. If these stories warm your heart, consider starting a leave-sharing program for your employees. Most examples of leave-sharing come from universities – most notably the University of California system – but state and local governments also offer it, as well as some labor unions, non-profits, and private corporations. It may come with a bit of red tape, but leave-sharing programs are a low-cost, high-impact way to show thoughtful, flexible support to employees who fall upon tragic times. The show of altruism is wonderful for morale and can really bond a team. Of course, transferring PTO between employees requires a solid policy – to describe what circumstances and family members qualify, and to determine how the program will be administered. It is best to address all this before a potentially emotional situation arises. Each situation must be researched carefully. There may be tax consequences, or state rules concerning what kind of hours can be donated (sick leave, holiday leave, or compensatory time may be treated differently.) To explore this in more detail, we recommend An Employer’s Guide to Employee Leave-Sharing Programs as a start. We’ve collected some examples of leave-sharing policies to get you started exploring the topic: Catastrophic Leave Sharing  Program from the University of California at Davis Catastrophic Leave Sharing Program for the City of Salem, Oregon Advocate Health Care PTO Sharing / Donation Catastrophic Leave Sharing Bank for Coast Federation of Classified Employees Do these stories give you hope? Do you have a story of altruistic leave-sharing that you would like to share with our readers?
Co-workers donating PTO “gives me hope” They say that time is the most precious gift you can give. And if that time is paid time off – and the recipient is truly in need – it is beyond precious. This deeply meaningful gift is being given not by friends, not by family… but by co-workers. I’m talking about a trend in generosity that should be quite interesting to HR professionals: employees donating their Paid Time Off (PTO) to colleagues who need it to treat an illness or care for a family member who is chronically ill, or for employees who have gone through a major disaster. I’ve known about catastrophic leave-sharing programs for some time, but I’ve come to appreciate this trend from reading a site called GivesMeHope which focuses on “life’s beautiful moments.” It’s a simple, text-based site, filled with short anecdotes submitted by users. Each story ends with a statement of what “gives me hope,” or, as they put it, “GMH.” Check out this story: When my mom was dying of cancer, my dad had to keep working to keep his health insurance. His midsize company has a program by which employees can transfer paid time off to one another. A person in HR sent out an email explaining his situation. Within 3 hours, my father had 12 weeks of paid vacation. Strangers’ sacrifices GMH. And this one: A woman my mom works with has cancer and has been out of work for a long time. She recently found out she has to be out for longer but doesn’t have enough sick days left to cover it. Every nurse on my mom’s floor at the hospital is donating at least one of their paid sick days to her so she can finish her treatment – and get paid for it. GMH. And finally, this one: My girlfriend got the swine flu and was out of work for two weeks. Her paid time off wasn’t enough to cover the absence. When she got her first paycheck after returning, she found one of her coworkers had donated 8 hours of paid time off to her. Anonymously. She’s only been there 6 months. GMH. If these stories warm your heart, consider starting a leave-sharing program for your employees. Most examples of leave-sharing come from universities – most notably the University of California system – but state and local governments also offer it, as well as some labor unions, non-profits, and private corporations. It may come with a bit of red tape, but leave-sharing programs are a low-cost, high-impact way to show thoughtful, flexible support to employees who fall upon tragic times. The show of altruism is wonderful for morale and can really bond a team. Of course, transferring PTO between employees requires a solid policy – to describe what circumstances and family members qualify, and to determine how the program will be administered. It is best to address all this before a potentially emotional situation arises. Each situation must be researched carefully. There may be tax consequences, or state rules concerning what kind of hours can be donated (sick leave, holiday leave, or compensatory time may be treated differently.) To explore this in more detail, we recommend An Employer’s Guide to Employee Leave-Sharing Programs as a start. We’ve collected some examples of leave-sharing policies to get you started exploring the topic: Catastrophic Leave Sharing  Program from the University of California at Davis Catastrophic Leave Sharing Program for the City of Salem, Oregon Advocate Health Care PTO Sharing / Donation Catastrophic Leave Sharing Bank for Coast Federation of Classified Employees Do these stories give you hope? Do you have a story of altruistic leave-sharing that you would like to share with our readers? N/A Bookmark and Share
N/A
 
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Six holiday strategies for the unemployed: make merry, and maximize your job hunt, too!

snowflake-ornament

If you’re jobless this December –- and there are roughly 16 million Americans who are –- you know that being unemployed over the holiday season can make it feel like there is little to celebrate.

There are several types of stressors you may encounter over the holidays:

  1. You may worry what to tell friends and family at social gatherings;
  2. You may be facing a cash shortfall, yet still wish to provide gifts for your loved ones;
  3. You may be feeling depressed, angry, or less worthy than usual;
  4. You may be tempted to take a vacation from your job search.

Alone or combined, these situations can present a real challenge for downsized individuals. Fortunately, the holiday season also offers some special opportunities to rejuvenate your spirits and advance your job search. That’s why we’re providing six power tips on how to maximize the month of December and re-vamp your search for employment by January 1.

TIP 1: That “no one’s hiring in December” thing? That’s a myth. Keep trying.
It’s true that lots of offices slow down during the holidays, but plenty of recruitment goes on in this period! Some departments face “lose it or use it” provisions on their hiring budgets, so you may find they’re eager to seal a deal with you by December 31. On the other side of the coin, lots of projects come into brand-new funds as of Q1 2010, meaning your long wait may be over. Best of all, because so many people believe December is dead for hiring, there is greatly reduced competition for jobs. So don’t slow down on submitting online applications, and make sure your resume is front-and-center with your desired employers all through the last month of the year.

TIP 2: Manage your downtime intelligently.
The holidays are a special time to relax and enjoy family traditions and get-togethers. While you are entitled to enjoy this time, I urge you not to have the same vacation expectations as your friends who have been working full-time. Some of them will take off from December 18 through January 4, and you just can’t afford to neglect your job search for that long. Thoughtfully plan out your daily activities for the rest of the year using a calendar. Give yourself the “big days” off –- New Year’s Eve, for instance –- but schedule a few hours of job-search work for almost every other day… even if your “working friends” aren’t working at all. It’s a tough break, but you’ll feel better about yourself and your job hunt if you stick to a productive schedule throughout the holiday season.

TIP 3: Get ready to mingle, sip eggnog, and smile; you’re going to network at holiday parties.
Don’t hide at home, no matter how uncertain you may be feeling. There are increased social opportunities at the holidays, and these can really help with your personal feelings of satisfaction and support, as you re-connect with people who like you for you! Meeting new people is great, too: put on a nice sweater or sports jacket to network with rarely seen relatives and neighbors, and have a short speech ready stating what kind of professionals you’d like to chat with. It makes people happy to be able to make introductions or give advice. Accept this help gracefully and in the generous spirit that it is given.

TIP 4: Use this occasion to make over your family’s gifting traditions.
When your cash flow is compromised, you must be very careful with your resources. It is probably best not to succumb to the pressures of a consumer culture that urges materialistic expressions of your emotions. Your loved ones will understand and likely welcome the proposal of a low-cost gift exchange or a “handmade holiday.” Not only will they be happy to receive your gifts of love and time, but they will be relieved to see you not going into debt or suffering stress to provide a costly present. There are many creative, free gifts that you can put together easily.

TIP 5: While you’re doing that, take a critical look at your own wishlist.
If you’re unemployed, you’ve probably been “doing without” for quite some time, concentrating on must-haves such as rent, utilities, and groceries. If you have been asking your family for any kind of assistance with cash or food, then it is not appropriate to request luxurious or lifestyle items at the holidays. You should postpone these as rewards for yourself when you have a paycheck again. In the meantime, if you need items for your job hunt, let your family know. They will probably be happy to fulfill requests for job-search necessities such as office supplies (quality resume paper, or ink cartridges for your printer); personal accessories (a silk tie or an attractive briefcase); or even personal services (a resume consultation or a LinkedIn premium upgrade might be in order). Note to well-meaning gift-givers: These are only things that should be given if on a jobhunter’s wishlist: unsolicited career gifts to the unemployed can be seen as lacking tact.

TIP 6: Practice writing “2010″ and pull out some postage stamps!
Maybe you’re not entirely confident about sending holiday cards to people in your network… or maybe you’ve already waited too long for them to be delivered on time. Consider New Year’s cards as a professional, secular replacement. Now that most business mail is electronic, people have a re-discovered interest in physical mail. (Hang around any mailroom, and you’ll notice how eagerly people rip open packages.) The strategy is to get yourself noticed just as everyone comes back to work from the holidays, ready to apply themselves in the New Year. In their in-box, they’ll find a cheery New Year’s card wishing them a happy and prosperous new year, along with a printed copy of your resume and a business card attached. Congratulations: you’ve just achieved top-of-mind awareness in the mind of an employer – and aren’t you happy you worked on your job hunt over the holidays?

For more excellent advice on how unemployed professionals can best survive and thrive throughout the holiday season, check out:


Six holiday strategies for the unemployed: make merry, and maximize your job hunt, too! If you’re jobless this December –- and there are roughly 16 million Americans who are –- you know that being unemployed over the holiday season can make it feel like there is little to celebrate. There are several types of stressors you may encounter over the holidays: You may worry what to tell friends and family at social gatherings; You may be facing a cash shortfall, yet still wish to provide gifts for your loved ones; You may be feeling depressed, angry, or less worthy than usual; You may be tempted to take a vacation from your job search. Alone or combined, these situations can present a real challenge for downsized individuals. Fortunately, the holiday season also offers some special opportunities to rejuvenate your spirits and advance your job search. That’s why we’re providing six power tips on how to maximize the month of December and re-vamp your search for employment by January 1. TIP 1: That “no one’s hiring in December” thing? That’s a myth. Keep trying. It’s true that lots of offices slow down during the holidays, but plenty of recruitment goes on in this period! Some departments face “lose it or use it” provisions on their hiring budgets, so you may find they’re eager to seal a deal with you by December 31. On the other side of the coin, lots of projects come into brand-new funds as of Q1 2010, meaning your long wait may be over. Best of all, because so many people believe December is dead for hiring, there is greatly reduced competition for jobs. So don’t slow down on submitting online applications, and make sure your resume is front-and-center with your desired employers all through the last month of the year. TIP 2: Manage your downtime intelligently. The holidays are a special time to relax and enjoy family traditions and get-togethers. While you are entitled to enjoy this time, I urge you not to have the same vacation expectations as your friends who have been working full-time. Some of them will take off from December 18 through January 4, and you just can’t afford to neglect your job search for that long. Thoughtfully plan out your daily activities for the rest of the year using a calendar. Give yourself the “big days” off –- New Year’s Eve, for instance –- but schedule a few hours of job-search work for almost every other day… even if your “working friends” aren’t working at all. It’s a tough break, but you’ll feel better about yourself and your job hunt if you stick to a productive schedule throughout the holiday season. TIP 3: Get ready to mingle, sip eggnog, and smile; you’re going to network at holiday parties. Don’t hide at home, no matter how uncertain you may be feeling. There are increased social opportunities at the holidays, and these can really help with your personal feelings of satisfaction and support, as you re-connect with people who like you for you! Meeting new people is great, too: put on a nice sweater or sports jacket to network with rarely seen relatives and neighbors, and have a short speech ready stating what kind of professionals you’d like to chat with. It makes people happy to be able to make introductions or give advice. Accept this help gracefully and in the generous spirit that it is given. TIP 4: Use this occasion to make over your family’s gifting traditions. When your cash flow is compromised, you must be very careful with your resources. It is probably best not to succumb to the pressures of a consumer culture that urges materialistic expressions of your emotions. Your loved ones will understand and likely welcome the proposal of a low-cost gift exchange or a “handmade holiday.” Not only will they be happy to receive your gifts of love and time, but they will be relieved to see you not going into debt or suffering stress to provide a costly present. There are many creative, free gifts that you can put together easily. TIP 5: While you’re doing that, take a critical look at your own wishlist. If you’re unemployed, you’ve probably been “doing without” for quite some time, concentrating on must-haves such as rent, utilities, and groceries. If you have been asking your family for any kind of assistance with cash or food, then it is not appropriate to request luxurious or lifestyle items at the holidays. You should postpone these as rewards for yourself when you have a paycheck again. In the meantime, if you need items for your job hunt, let your family know. They will probably be happy to fulfill requests for job-search necessities such as office supplies (quality resume paper, or ink cartridges for your printer); personal accessories (a silk tie or an attractive briefcase); or even personal services (a resume consultation or a LinkedIn premium upgrade might be in order). Note to well-meaning gift-givers: These are only things that should be given if on a jobhunter’s wishlist: unsolicited career gifts to the unemployed can be seen as lacking tact. TIP 6: Practice writing “2010″ and pull out some postage stamps! Maybe you’re not entirely confident about sending holiday cards to people in your network… or maybe you’ve already waited too long for them to be delivered on time. Consider New Year’s cards as a professional, secular replacement. Now that most business mail is electronic, people have a re-discovered interest in physical mail. (Hang around any mailroom, and you’ll notice how eagerly people rip open packages.) The strategy is to get yourself noticed just as everyone comes back to work from the holidays, ready to apply themselves in the New Year. In their in-box, they’ll find a cheery New Year’s card wishing them a happy and prosperous new year, along with a printed copy of your resume and a business card attached. Congratulations: you’ve just achieved top-of-mind awareness in the mind of an employer – and aren’t you happy you worked on your job hunt over the holidays? For more excellent advice on how unemployed professionals can best survive and thrive throughout the holiday season, check out: Surviving Christmas spirit when unemployed: special holiday tips for the jobless Hope for those unemployed for the holidays Tips for the unemployed to stay sane during the next two weeks
Coupon Code: Six holiday strategies for the unemployed: make merry, and maximize your job hunt, too! If you’re jobless this December –- and there are roughly 16 million Americans who are –- you know that being unemployed over the holiday season can make it feel like there is little to celebrate. There are several types of stressors you may encounter over the holidays: You may worry what to tell friends and family at social gatherings; You may be facing a cash shortfall, yet still wish to provide gifts for your loved ones; You may be feeling depressed, angry, or less worthy than usual; You may be tempted to take a vacation from your job search. Alone or combined, these situations can present a real challenge for downsized individuals. Fortunately, the holiday season also offers some special opportunities to rejuvenate your spirits and advance your job search. That’s why we’re providing six power tips on how to maximize the month of December and re-vamp your search for employment by January 1. TIP 1: That “no one’s hiring in December” thing? That’s a myth. Keep trying. It’s true that lots of offices slow down during the holidays, but plenty of recruitment goes on in this period! Some departments face “lose it or use it” provisions on their hiring budgets, so you may find they’re eager to seal a deal with you by December 31. On the other side of the coin, lots of projects come into brand-new funds as of Q1 2010, meaning your long wait may be over. Best of all, because so many people believe December is dead for hiring, there is greatly reduced competition for jobs. So don’t slow down on submitting online applications, and make sure your resume is front-and-center with your desired employers all through the last month of the year. TIP 2: Manage your downtime intelligently. The holidays are a special time to relax and enjoy family traditions and get-togethers. While you are entitled to enjoy this time, I urge you not to have the same vacation expectations as your friends who have been working full-time. Some of them will take off from December 18 through January 4, and you just can’t afford to neglect your job search for that long. Thoughtfully plan out your daily activities for the rest of the year using a calendar. Give yourself the “big days” off –- New Year’s Eve, for instance –- but schedule a few hours of job-search work for almost every other day… even if your “working friends” aren’t working at all. It’s a tough break, but you’ll feel better about yourself and your job hunt if you stick to a productive schedule throughout the holiday season. TIP 3: Get ready to mingle, sip eggnog, and smile; you’re going to network at holiday parties. Don’t hide at home, no matter how uncertain you may be feeling. There are increased social opportunities at the holidays, and these can really help with your personal feelings of satisfaction and support, as you re-connect with people who like you for you! Meeting new people is great, too: put on a nice sweater or sports jacket to network with rarely seen relatives and neighbors, and have a short speech ready stating what kind of professionals you’d like to chat with. It makes people happy to be able to make introductions or give advice. Accept this help gracefully and in the generous spirit that it is given. TIP 4: Use this occasion to make over your family’s gifting traditions. When your cash flow is compromised, you must be very careful with your resources. It is probably best not to succumb to the pressures of a consumer culture that urges materialistic expressions of your emotions. Your loved ones will understand and likely welcome the proposal of a low-cost gift exchange or a “handmade holiday.” Not only will they be happy to receive your gifts of love and time, but they will be relieved to see you not going into debt or suffering stress to provide a costly present. There are many creative, free gifts that you can put together easily. TIP 5: While you’re doing that, take a critical look at your own wishlist. If you’re unemployed, you’ve probably been “doing without” for quite some time, concentrating on must-haves such as rent, utilities, and groceries. If you have been asking your family for any kind of assistance with cash or food, then it is not appropriate to request luxurious or lifestyle items at the holidays. You should postpone these as rewards for yourself when you have a paycheck again. In the meantime, if you need items for your job hunt, let your family know. They will probably be happy to fulfill requests for job-search necessities such as office supplies (quality resume paper, or ink cartridges for your printer); personal accessories (a silk tie or an attractive briefcase); or even personal services (a resume consultation or a LinkedIn premium upgrade might be in order). Note to well-meaning gift-givers: These are only things that should be given if on a jobhunter’s wishlist: unsolicited career gifts to the unemployed can be seen as lacking tact. TIP 6: Practice writing “2010″ and pull out some postage stamps! Maybe you’re not entirely confident about sending holiday cards to people in your network… or maybe you’ve already waited too long for them to be delivered on time. Consider New Year’s cards as a professional, secular replacement. Now that most business mail is electronic, people have a re-discovered interest in physical mail. (Hang around any mailroom, and you’ll notice how eagerly people rip open packages.) The strategy is to get yourself noticed just as everyone comes back to work from the holidays, ready to apply themselves in the New Year. In their in-box, they’ll find a cheery New Year’s card wishing them a happy and prosperous new year, along with a printed copy of your resume and a business card attached. Congratulations: you’ve just achieved top-of-mind awareness in the mind of an employer – and aren’t you happy you worked on your job hunt over the holidays? For more excellent advice on how unemployed professionals can best survive and thrive throughout the holiday season, check out: Surviving Christmas spirit when unemployed: special holiday tips for the jobless Hope for those unemployed for the holidays Tips for the unemployed to stay sane during the next two weeks
Six holiday strategies for the unemployed: make merry, and maximize your job hunt, too! If you’re jobless this December –- and there are roughly 16 million Americans who are –- you know that being unemployed over the holiday season can make it feel like there is little to celebrate. There are several types of stressors you may encounter over the holidays: You may worry what to tell friends and family at social gatherings; You may be facing a cash shortfall, yet still wish to provide gifts for your loved ones; You may be feeling depressed, angry, or less worthy than usual; You may be tempted to take a vacation from your job search. Alone or combined, these situations can present a real challenge for downsized individuals. Fortunately, the holiday season also offers some special opportunities to rejuvenate your spirits and advance your job search. That’s why we’re providing six power tips on how to maximize the month of December and re-vamp your search for employment by January 1. TIP 1: That “no one’s hiring in December” thing? That’s a myth. Keep trying. It’s true that lots of offices slow down during the holidays, but plenty of recruitment goes on in this period! Some departments face “lose it or use it” provisions on their hiring budgets, so you may find they’re eager to seal a deal with you by December 31. On the other side of the coin, lots of projects come into brand-new funds as of Q1 2010, meaning your long wait may be over. Best of all, because so many people believe December is dead for hiring, there is greatly reduced competition for jobs. So don’t slow down on submitting online applications, and make sure your resume is front-and-center with your desired employers all through the last month of the year. TIP 2: Manage your downtime intelligently. The holidays are a special time to relax and enjoy family traditions and get-togethers. While you are entitled to enjoy this time, I urge you not to have the same vacation expectations as your friends who have been working full-time. Some of them will take off from December 18 through January 4, and you just can’t afford to neglect your job search for that long. Thoughtfully plan out your daily activities for the rest of the year using a calendar. Give yourself the “big days” off –- New Year’s Eve, for instance –- but schedule a few hours of job-search work for almost every other day… even if your “working friends” aren’t working at all. It’s a tough break, but you’ll feel better about yourself and your job hunt if you stick to a productive schedule throughout the holiday season. TIP 3: Get ready to mingle, sip eggnog, and smile; you’re going to network at holiday parties. Don’t hide at home, no matter how uncertain you may be feeling. There are increased social opportunities at the holidays, and these can really help with your personal feelings of satisfaction and support, as you re-connect with people who like you for you! Meeting new people is great, too: put on a nice sweater or sports jacket to network with rarely seen relatives and neighbors, and have a short speech ready stating what kind of professionals you’d like to chat with. It makes people happy to be able to make introductions or give advice. Accept this help gracefully and in the generous spirit that it is given. TIP 4: Use this occasion to make over your family’s gifting traditions. When your cash flow is compromised, you must be very careful with your resources. It is probably best not to succumb to the pressures of a consumer culture that urges materialistic expressions of your emotions. Your loved ones will understand and likely welcome the proposal of a low-cost gift exchange or a “handmade holiday.” Not only will they be happy to receive your gifts of love and time, but they will be relieved to see you not going into debt or suffering stress to provide a costly present. There are many creative, free gifts that you can put together easily. TIP 5: While you’re doing that, take a critical look at your own wishlist. If you’re unemployed, you’ve probably been “doing without” for quite some time, concentrating on must-haves such as rent, utilities, and groceries. If you have been asking your family for any kind of assistance with cash or food, then it is not appropriate to request luxurious or lifestyle items at the holidays. You should postpone these as rewards for yourself when you have a paycheck again. In the meantime, if you need items for your job hunt, let your family know. They will probably be happy to fulfill requests for job-search necessities such as office supplies (quality resume paper, or ink cartridges for your printer); personal accessories (a silk tie or an attractive briefcase); or even personal services (a resume consultation or a LinkedIn premium upgrade might be in order). Note to well-meaning gift-givers: These are only things that should be given if on a jobhunter’s wishlist: unsolicited career gifts to the unemployed can be seen as lacking tact. TIP 6: Practice writing “2010″ and pull out some postage stamps! Maybe you’re not entirely confident about sending holiday cards to people in your network… or maybe you’ve already waited too long for them to be delivered on time. Consider New Year’s cards as a professional, secular replacement. Now that most business mail is electronic, people have a re-discovered interest in physical mail. (Hang around any mailroom, and you’ll notice how eagerly people rip open packages.) The strategy is to get yourself noticed just as everyone comes back to work from the holidays, ready to apply themselves in the New Year. In their in-box, they’ll find a cheery New Year’s card wishing them a happy and prosperous new year, along with a printed copy of your resume and a business card attached. Congratulations: you’ve just achieved top-of-mind awareness in the mind of an employer – and aren’t you happy you worked on your job hunt over the holidays? For more excellent advice on how unemployed professionals can best survive and thrive throughout the holiday season, check out: Surviving Christmas spirit when unemployed: special holiday tips for the jobless Hope for those unemployed for the holidays Tips for the unemployed to stay sane during the next two weeks N/A Bookmark and Share
N/A
 
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Coupon Code: Instant $10 off on all domestic international flights by using CheapOair Exclusive coupon HOLIDAY10 HOLIDAY10 Coupon Code Valid till 12/31/2009
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