According to the Washington Post, the pressure is going up in the cabins of Northwest Airlines as yet another airline is moving towards cutting jobs...an interesting non-strike idea is proposed there...one that, while may be considered less than a strike, and may never materialize, is an interesting one in today's economy, especially in the airlines: click here
Next from MarketWatch, a study from Careerbuilder.com that says that while most managers expect people to negotiate on salary, most candidates rarely do: click here
And one person's definition of what a "Cohert Human Resources Strategy" sounds like...is it anything like yours? click here
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
Wages, Wages, and More Wages
First an article form the New York Times that say that real wages are failing to meet a rise in productivity. With higher living costs and energy costs, this could become a huge problem in the US: click here
Next from the Washington Post an article about how women in top positions are pulling up the wages for all other women...an interesting half-dilemma: to have more women making less or for a few women to become pinacles of the industry...no reason there can't be the elimination of both many say: click here
And, as reported on MSNBC, a Forbes article about the 25 most generous companies: click here
Enjoy!
Next from the Washington Post an article about how women in top positions are pulling up the wages for all other women...an interesting half-dilemma: to have more women making less or for a few women to become pinacles of the industry...no reason there can't be the elimination of both many say: click here
And, as reported on MSNBC, a Forbes article about the 25 most generous companies: click here
Enjoy!
Two for Tuesday
Two HR articles from the New York Times to get you going this morning...
First advice you can give young workers about how to recover after screwing up a big presentation in front of the boss...good advice for all: click here
And a look at the unemployed who can't turn to their familes for help are now turning to each other: click here
Enjoy!
First advice you can give young workers about how to recover after screwing up a big presentation in front of the boss...good advice for all: click here
And a look at the unemployed who can't turn to their familes for help are now turning to each other: click here
Enjoy!
Sunday, August 27, 2006
We're back...
...And better than ever. After a brief hiatus, the Astron Solutions blog is back.
Here are some great human resource articles to get you going on your Monday morning:
Can your employees interact very well with their computers but have no clue what to do when they have to interact with real people? Amy Joyce talks about a class that may help that out in the Washington Post: click here
Also from the Washington Post, some career tips that you may want to follow to get ahead in today's tough job market: click here
The best advice I ever received is mentioned in this article. When I asked my boss why he would wear a suit even though he didn't have to he said: "You dress for the job you want, not the one you have." Great advice.
Lastly, an interesting article from the United States about Africa and why they don't train more nurses with such a nurse shortage: click here
Here are some great human resource articles to get you going on your Monday morning:
Can your employees interact very well with their computers but have no clue what to do when they have to interact with real people? Amy Joyce talks about a class that may help that out in the Washington Post: click here
Also from the Washington Post, some career tips that you may want to follow to get ahead in today's tough job market: click here
The best advice I ever received is mentioned in this article. When I asked my boss why he would wear a suit even though he didn't have to he said: "You dress for the job you want, not the one you have." Great advice.
Lastly, an interesting article from the United States about Africa and why they don't train more nurses with such a nurse shortage: click here
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
All Good Things Must Come to an End
As the summer winds down, we have a cornucopia of articles for the HR Professional
First comes from the New York Times and talks about resignation letters. They suggest not doing a Jerry Maguire, "Who's coming with me?"-type exit and talks about what should be in the resignation letter: click here
Next, from the Washington Post, an article which says that more time off can justify taking a lower salary for some workers: click here
From Reuters, a study by Mercer showed that Director pay growth slowed last year...but larger companies still pay more: click here
And lastly, from Monster.com, an article that techie's have a new job qualification in today's world...working well with others. No longer will Jimmy Fallon's SNL character Nick Burns survive in today's job market: click here
This will be my last blog of the summer...hope you enjoyed all the HR news...look for more exciting things to come on the Astron Solutions blog and subsequent issues of Astronology. This is Andrew Katz signing off. Good night, and good luck.
First comes from the New York Times and talks about resignation letters. They suggest not doing a Jerry Maguire, "Who's coming with me?"-type exit and talks about what should be in the resignation letter: click here
Next, from the Washington Post, an article which says that more time off can justify taking a lower salary for some workers: click here
From Reuters, a study by Mercer showed that Director pay growth slowed last year...but larger companies still pay more: click here
And lastly, from Monster.com, an article that techie's have a new job qualification in today's world...working well with others. No longer will Jimmy Fallon's SNL character Nick Burns survive in today's job market: click here
This will be my last blog of the summer...hope you enjoyed all the HR news...look for more exciting things to come on the Astron Solutions blog and subsequent issues of Astronology. This is Andrew Katz signing off. Good night, and good luck.
Monday, August 07, 2006
From Wall Street to India
Welcome to another week of Astron Solutions' blog...
First up, from the New York Times, an interesting article about Wall Street Women who face a fork in the road. On one side is a highly demanding career which has been dominated by men and on the other side is raising a family...a tough choice for many women. Also tough is business school and an interesting graphic below provides more details on that: click here
From the Washington Post, an article on the same lines that say that women are greatly underrepresented in top corporate leadership positions. The number of 16.4% of corporate leadership positions is a little scary for women who strive for the top positions in their organizations: click here
Also from the New York Times, an article about a potential pension overhaul that Congress never got passed due to too many escape clauses and problems with the bill: click here
And from SiliconIndia, an interesting article on the strategic role of Human Resources Management: click here
First up, from the New York Times, an interesting article about Wall Street Women who face a fork in the road. On one side is a highly demanding career which has been dominated by men and on the other side is raising a family...a tough choice for many women. Also tough is business school and an interesting graphic below provides more details on that: click here
From the Washington Post, an article on the same lines that say that women are greatly underrepresented in top corporate leadership positions. The number of 16.4% of corporate leadership positions is a little scary for women who strive for the top positions in their organizations: click here
Also from the New York Times, an article about a potential pension overhaul that Congress never got passed due to too many escape clauses and problems with the bill: click here
And from SiliconIndia, an interesting article on the strategic role of Human Resources Management: click here
Friday, August 04, 2006
TGIF
It's another Summer Friday and whle the temperatures are supposed to be cooling down across the country, we're just heating up...
From the New York Times (click here) and the Washington Post (click here) news of the Wage/Estate Tax bill being blocked in the Senate. This is going to be a hot-button issue for the upcoming midterm elections and you should prepare, as a Human Resource professional for the possibility an increase may come soon after.
Next an article from Yahoo! Finance on how commuting is a drag on the economy. If you take public transportation, you probably noticed a recent spike in the number of people using it with you. With energy prices conitnually rising, this is a trend bound to continue for some time: click here
And lastly, advice from Monster.com to get more training. Is this something a potential applicant should do before applying or is this something that employers should provide for its employees? That's where the big divide lies: click here
Enjoy and stay cool this weekend :)
From the New York Times (click here) and the Washington Post (click here) news of the Wage/Estate Tax bill being blocked in the Senate. This is going to be a hot-button issue for the upcoming midterm elections and you should prepare, as a Human Resource professional for the possibility an increase may come soon after.
Next an article from Yahoo! Finance on how commuting is a drag on the economy. If you take public transportation, you probably noticed a recent spike in the number of people using it with you. With energy prices conitnually rising, this is a trend bound to continue for some time: click here
And lastly, advice from Monster.com to get more training. Is this something a potential applicant should do before applying or is this something that employers should provide for its employees? That's where the big divide lies: click here
Enjoy and stay cool this weekend :)
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Hitting the Job Market
Want to position yourself for a great chance at getting a job? Well Astron Solutions has some advice for you on this Thursday...
From the Washington Post, we have Top Tips From the Hiring Squad, where career experts share proven approaches for applying to, interviewing for, landing and getting the most out of a new job: click here
One way you can position yourself is as a middle manager which the Dallas Morning News claims are being highly sought: click here
Next, 5 strategies from Monster.com of what to do when moving without a job: click here
Lastly, back to the Washington Post, we look at the labor gap that exists in the auto market between a few of the big car makers and the United Auto Workers union: click here
From the Washington Post, we have Top Tips From the Hiring Squad, where career experts share proven approaches for applying to, interviewing for, landing and getting the most out of a new job: click here
One way you can position yourself is as a middle manager which the Dallas Morning News claims are being highly sought: click here
Next, 5 strategies from Monster.com of what to do when moving without a job: click here
Lastly, back to the Washington Post, we look at the labor gap that exists in the auto market between a few of the big car makers and the United Auto Workers union: click here
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
And so does Astron Solutions on this Wednesday for its blog articles...
The first is the issue which could be one of the biggest ones for Republican incumbents in the upcoming election: minimum wage. One of the issues being debated in this is the issue of tips as described in this Washington Post article: click here
Now I think that a lot of the real reason this issue has become a big issue is misunderstood. It's not merely the fact that minimum wage hasn't changed in about a decade, but it's more the fact--as the graph below from the Economic Policy Institute shows--that the real value of the minimum wage has dropped over a dollar since the last hike.
That's a big problem, especially with rising gas prices, rising consumer costs, and growing inflation.
One place this issue should be addressed is in the Labor Dept.: click here
Stephen Barr believes that the Office of Personnel Management should recruit more Hispanics: click here
And one issued tied closely to that and the minimum wage and immigration and every hot-button issue of 2006 in the job market are Household Employees and according to this article, they're fighting for their own Bill of Rights: click here
The first is the issue which could be one of the biggest ones for Republican incumbents in the upcoming election: minimum wage. One of the issues being debated in this is the issue of tips as described in this Washington Post article: click here
Now I think that a lot of the real reason this issue has become a big issue is misunderstood. It's not merely the fact that minimum wage hasn't changed in about a decade, but it's more the fact--as the graph below from the Economic Policy Institute shows--that the real value of the minimum wage has dropped over a dollar since the last hike.
That's a big problem, especially with rising gas prices, rising consumer costs, and growing inflation.
One place this issue should be addressed is in the Labor Dept.: click here
Stephen Barr believes that the Office of Personnel Management should recruit more Hispanics: click here
And one issued tied closely to that and the minimum wage and immigration and every hot-button issue of 2006 in the job market are Household Employees and according to this article, they're fighting for their own Bill of Rights: click here
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
The Heat Is On
It's going to be 100 degrees here in the North East and the pennant races are heating up after the trade deadline, but we're just getting warmed up on Astronology day here at Astron Solutions.
Word from the Washington Post that FOX has agreed to settle their sexual harassment lawsuit in New York: click here
If you want to know more about the EEOC or the new EEO-1 guidelines (including what the heck those abbreviations mean), go to our website and check out the Astronology for the week.
From the Philadelphia Inquirer, an article about some who fear that employees who receive medical help at work will lose some of the privacy afforded to them: click here
The article includes this interesting graphic:
And lastly, from the Sydney Morning Herald, an interesting article from Australia about who Human Resources Professionals owe their allegience to: the company or the staff? The article says the company...let us know if you disagree: click here
Keep cool
Word from the Washington Post that FOX has agreed to settle their sexual harassment lawsuit in New York: click here
If you want to know more about the EEOC or the new EEO-1 guidelines (including what the heck those abbreviations mean), go to our website and check out the Astronology for the week.
From the Philadelphia Inquirer, an article about some who fear that employees who receive medical help at work will lose some of the privacy afforded to them: click here
The article includes this interesting graphic:
And lastly, from the Sydney Morning Herald, an interesting article from Australia about who Human Resources Professionals owe their allegience to: the company or the staff? The article says the company...let us know if you disagree: click here
Keep cool