Have a Great Memorial Day Weekend

The weather is getting warm so this is a weekend to get your barbecues out, your pools open, and your summer spirit in motion.

And while you're having fun marking the beginning of summer. Don't forget the spirit of the holiday and remember all the men and women in the Armed Forces who gave their lives so we can enjoy things like this.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend and we'll see you next week here at the new and improved Astron Blog!

-Andrew

Astron Blog and Personal Websites

We have a new website design here. For some reason our old one just went kaput when Blogger moved over to a new design system. Sorry about any problems you may have been having, but hopefully they're all fixed now. It should be clean and easy to navigate and, hopefully, easy to read as well. Let Jennifer or myself know if you're still having any issues.

Speaking of websites, they can be a great way, for a candidate of getting your name out there on the internet. Showing that you have designed a website (and maybe putting some of your interests on there) can be a living resume out there on the internet. When I Googled "Jennifer Loftus", one of the hits that came back was her website she made in 2006. One of my friends was able to build a website which is a very cool online portfolio of her work. When done right, a website can be a great tool for a job seeker and a great way to have a Google search come back with more than a Facebook or LinkedIn profile.

But done poorly, a website can be a bad thing for a candidate to have out there. Like Facebook, Twitter or MySpace profiles should not have compromising pictures or text, so shouldn't a personal website. I recently heard from a friend that they were in the middle of the interview process with a candidate when they decided to Google their name. The result returned a website. One section on the website was pictures full of the candidate partying. Another had "life goals", which, while sounding promising, had such lofty goals as "partying with P. Diddy" and "sleeping with a celebrity". Not exactly the type of information that gets you hired.

It can be a good idea to make a personal website, but as everything you put out there on the World Wide Web, make sure it's appropriate and professional. You never know who will see it someday.

Astronology - How to Deal:Office Disputes

Astronology Volume XI Issue 6   May 18, 2010 Dear Andrew, Astron Solutions provides high-quality, low-cost, innovative human resources consulting services to organizations like yours. Call us for advice, innovative program design, and user-friendly Web/PC based software.   Fact or Fiction There are only three words in the English language that end with the letters - mt. FACT! The words dreamt, adreamt, and undreamtare the only words that end with the letters -mt. Hopefully your organization's employees are working efficiently and effectively, leaving their dreaming for time at home!   How to Deal: Office Disputes One of the most feared days has come for you as a manager or human resource professional. A dispute has landed in your office. It's between two employees, or worse yet, between a manager and an employee. It's a natural inclination to want to solve the issue rather quickly, or to shoulder the mediating activities onto someone else. However, it is more practical to resolve the issue and simultaneously take preventative steps to assure that such disputes stay at a minimum in the future, if they happen at all. This week, Astronology continues our new How To Deal series with the topic of Office Disputes....more   Have a Question? If you have a topic you would like addressed in Astronology, or some feedback on a past article, don't hesitate to tell us!  Simply reply to this e-mail.  See your question answered, or comments addressed, in an upcoming issue of Astronology. Looking for a top-notch presenter for your human resource organization's meeting?  Both Jennifer Loftus and Michael Maciekowich present highly-rated sessions on a variety of compensation and employee retention issues.  For more information, send an e-mail to info@astronsolutions.com.   The Fine Print We hold your e-mail address in trust.  Astron Solutions promises never to share or rent your personal information.  We also promise never to send you frivolous e-mails and will allow you to leave our list, at your option, at any time. To remove yourself from this list, please follow your personalized subscriber link at the bottom of your Astronology alert e-mail. Copyright 2010, Astron Solutions, LLC ISSN Number 1549-0467 Quick Links Client List Meet the Astron Team Contact Us   World of HR Blog Bringing you Human Resource news from around the globe...compliments of Astron Solutions. More

 

Business Trip Layover

On the way to a conference, I figured it was a good time to post a blog post. As a young associate (and therefore a newbie when it comes to business trips) heading alone on a business trip, the rules of how to handle yourself are sometimes confusing. Freedom with an expense account is sometimes a freedom that needs to be reigned in.

How much can one spend on a meal? Is it ok to invite other associates out with you and pay for them? If one transportation option is more convenient but more expensive how do you handle that? If you are not given a company credit card, how much is too much money to say you don't feel comfortable putting it on your card? If they do not have a company blackberry, how often is appropriate/expected to check in via e-mail or phone? And what type of outside of business activities qualify as a business expense--and which ones are prohibited all together?

Human Resources and other groups within your organization should set rules to deal with this situation. No associate should feel uncomfortable because they feel they can't charge an expense to the company or they don't feel OK putting a charge on a personal card. Also, setting a clear, quick reimbursement process is necessary. It can be a fun, exciting, educational, and career growing experience to get to travel as a young associate, but an organization has the duty to make sure expectations are clearly set before an employee ever takes off.

-Andrew

Giving Back as a Company

One of the nicest things that my company does is a month of giving back to the community. They help build houses, paint a community center, provide food and other supplies to homeless and battered women shelters, and volunteer with kids. It's a company-organized month of events that begins with a kick-off event sponsored by the leadership team.

Part of the greatness of this month is the ability to give back to the community. It's an easy way to gain goodwill and brand recognition in the area and to give back. And part of the greatness certainly has to do with allowing employees time off to do activities like this. While most of the time, taking off a day to help build a house for Habitat for Humanity (or a similar group) would seem like an odd request of free time, this month allows employees to take off this time guilt free.

There are only two issues that arise from this that Human Resources needs to be aware of to make sure this is a great month for everyone involved. First, make sure that managers aren't going to make employees feel guilty for taking off the time. You cannot say that they are supposed to participate out of one mouth but then tell them they are missing too much work out of another. And second, you need to make sure the charities chosen are ones that make everyone comfortable contributing. Religiously affiliated groups or environments where it may be potentially dangerous for employees is not one you want to be mandating employees go to. And lastly you need to make sure that this volunteering is just that--voluntary. Employees should be encouraged to participate but cannot be punished or looked down upon if they choose not to (especially if the event has any monetary element).

If done right, this type of month can be one that not only allows the company and their employees to give back, but can boost employee morale quite a bit by allowing them to do something nice for others in the community. I'm certainly looking forward to it.


-Andrew

Happy Birthday to Jennifer

She may be absent from the blog for a while, but the reason this blog even exists is Jennifer and it's her birthday today. So join me in wishing her a very happy birthday! She puts a smile on all of our faces so hopefully today, she's all smiles as well. And she's a great boss. In her honor, we have 4 great links for you:

First, we head out of the United States for David Duarte's best Out of Office messages (H/T Wendy). Now by "best" I don't mean best for your employees to use at work...I mean best as in funniest. Let's hope that you've never e-mailed an employee and had any of these bounce back at you in your Outlook inbox.

FoundValue has 10 jobs that they promise are better than yours. Are they right in that assumption that these are dream jobs compared to the ones you currently hold?

Yahoo! hotjobs and Forbes have the worst words to say at work. I caught myself saying to someone "I'll try to get back to you sometime soon," and quickly reversed that course of action after reading that list.

Lastly, Yahoo! News has the story of how much people will pay...to work for free! On Monday, we'll look at an article from the New York Times which debates if that's legal or not (the working for free as part of a internship part...not the ridiculous auctioning)

Astronology - How to Deal:Difficult Leaders

Astronology Volume XI Issue 5   May 4, 2010 Dear Andrew, Astron Solutions provides high-quality, low-cost, innovative human resources consulting services to organizations like yours. Call us for advice, innovative program design, and user-friendly Web/PC based software.   Fact or Fiction The proper pronunciation of the last name Dr. Seuss is "S-OO-S".   FICTION! Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in Massachusetts to German immigrant parents. As such, he grew up pronouncing his German name "SOYCE."   Something to consider as we reflect on the diversity of names in our own workplaces!   The Astron Road Show   From May 10th - 12th, National Director Jennifer Loftus finds herself at the 2010 Cement Employers Association annual conference. Boston is the host city for this year's conference. Jennifer will present twice, speaking on Astron's work on this year's CEA compensation survey, and "Why Do I Want to Stay Here? Post-Recession Talent Management Challenges and Retention Strategies." Then, on May 14th, Jennifer guest lectures at the Pace University course Total Rewards: Compensation, Benefits, and Culture. Jennifer will present on trends in variable compensation. For more information on the class, which provides HRCI approved recertification credits, please visit Pace's website.   How to Deal: Difficult Leaders Office morale is low, and productivity is at a constant, sub par level. The atmosphere in the organization is that of sheer terror and dissatisfaction, not because of a near miss deadline, but because a supervisor has an overly authoritative approach to leading his team....more   Have a Question? If you have a topic you would like addressed in Astronology, or some feedback on a past article, don't hesitate to tell us!  Simply reply to this e-mail.  See your question answered, or comments addressed, in an upcoming issue of Astronology. Looking for a top-notch presenter for your human resource organization's meeting?  Both Jennifer Loftus and Michael Maciekowich present highly-rated sessions on a variety of compensation and employee retention issues.  For more information, send an e-mail to info@astronsolutions.com.   The Fine Print We hold your e-mail address in trust.  Astron Solutions promises never to share or rent your personal information.  We also promise never to send you frivolous e-mails and will allow you to leave our list, at your option, at any time. To remove yourself from this list, please follow your personalized subscriber link at the bottom of your Astronology alert e-mail. Copyright 2010, Astron Solutions, LLC ISSN Number 1549-0467 Quick Links Client List Meet the Astron Team Contact Us   World of HR Blog Bringing you Human Resource news from around the globe...compliments of Astron Solutions. More