Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Astronology - A Recap of The Road Show: What's New from the 2010 Human Resources Conferences

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Astronology
Volume XI
Issue 20
November 30, 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.

It's Coming...

Astron Solutions' new website, that is!  We've been working hard to create a new resource for you.  We will be unveiling our new website soon, so please stay tuned!

A Recap of The Road Show: What's New from the 2010 Human Resources Conferences
roadshow2010 was a very busy year for Astron Solutions as team members attended numerous national, regional, state, and local human resource conferences.  As we look back it is clear that there were recurring themes in the events, with respect to issues that are on the minds of human resource professionals.  Below is a summary of some of the most common themes from the events....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
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Bringing you Human Resource news from around the globe...compliments of Astron Solutions.

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Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here at the Astron blog, we have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving but most of all we want to thank all of you for coming to the blog and making us part of your daily Human Resources reading.

While you're busy shopping for presents between now and New Years, let us give you many presents as we provide great content here on the blog. Hope all of you have a great weekend of turkey (or tofurkey or turduken or turturkeykey) and football and family. Happy Thanksgiving!

-Andrew

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

What HR Can Learn From the Derek Jeter/Yankees Negotiations

Being played out in the New York media is a very public contract dispute between an employee and an employer. This isn't strange--especially not for sports--where the New York Jets' Darrelle Revis (who already had a contract, mind you) had a long contract dispute before it was finally settled in equally public fashion. But there have been few contract negotiations quite like this one--a legend who embodies an organization fighting on the back pages with a legendary organization that demands professionalism and results from its employees. In the end, the Yankees need Jeter and Jeter needs the Yankees...but in the meantime, they're left to squabble it out to sports writers.
HardballTalk

But that doesn't mean that similar things don't go on in your own company. How many employees do you currently manage who are unhappy with their salaries but their loss would sting your company more than the financial outlay? How many employers have employees that they can probably do without but have meant so much to an organization that added financial incentive to stay around (and maybe as a reward for past results) may be appropriate? How many times does this situation become contentious and lead to a standstill between the perceived value of the employee and the offering value of the company?

The problem is that it doesn't look good from either side, but the employer has to figure a way to solve it before the problem spreads to other employees. Can you imagine if all the Yankees free agents were involved in this much of a public spectacle over the contract negotiations? If the Yankees were actually playing right now (and corporate America rarely has an off-season like baseball does) imagine the distraction this would cause--is the proposed cost savings worth it? The lesson here is not to pay employees just because they become disgruntled or to reward bad behavior, but sometimes a little extra pay (or other types of incentives) goes a long way to making sure a dispute does not get out of hand. As many people would find it weird to see Derek Jeter in anything other than Pinstripes, so you should find it weird to imagine your best employees working for one of your competitors.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Hiring or Not for 2010?

Since it is a week before Thanksgiving, many would think that hiring for 2010 would be, for the most part, done. And with an economy bouncing up and down, many companies would seem to be wise to halt hiring for the time being. But judging by the amount of new job postings floating around the interwebs, it would seem that the opposite may be the case. More and more companies are listing for positions and looking to hire "immediately". So where is the disconnect here?

Well it seems that while many companies are posting for jobs, and some are even interviewing candidates, very few are actually hiring. Some companies are just using this as a "feeling out" period, trying to figure out what type of candidate pool they have to choose from and about how much it would cost them if they wanted to actually hire the candidates. Other companies want to get candidates in the door so they can have their names and their interviews taken care of so when the 2011 budget dollars get released, they can go ahead and spend.

But there is yet another class of companies that just seem to be interviewing for the sake of interviewing. I have spoken to more than one person who said their company has instituted a hiring freeze, but still continue to list jobs online and even bring in people to interview knowing full well they can't hire them.

One of the questions hiring managers, human resources, and even the candidate being interviewed need to ask is: when is this job for? Is it really immediate hire or is the budget there for sometime in 2011--or is this just a fishing expedition? An understanding between all parties in this process will make for a much more effective and trustworthy hiring process.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Astronology - Affirmative Action Compliance Essential in Stimulus Era

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Astronology

Volume XI

Issue 19

November 16, 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 majority of workers come in to work sick.

FACT!

A 2009
Monster.com poll stated that 38% of those polled come in to work sick due to their workloads. Another 33% come into work sick due to fear of losing their jobs.

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers at the ready!  With cold and flu season upon us, it's important to remind your employees about your organization's policy on using sick time, as well as the value of staying home when ill. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

All of us at Astron Solutions wish you and those dear to you a wonderful Thanksgiving and start to the 2010 holiday season!  Laugh, eat, enjoy, and treasure the special times.

 

Affirmative Action Compliance Essential in Stimulus Era

lawWhen I typed the words "job creation" in Google's news search engine recently, more than 12,000 hits appeared.  No surprise. The phrase has become all the rage, especially in context of economic stimulus efforts such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In the middle of all the rhetoric lies a very important message for recipients of stimulus money, as well as for all organizations that fall under the laws of affirmative action.  It goes something like this....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


 

World of HR Blog

Bringing you Human Resource news from around the globe...compliments of Astron Solutions.

More

 

Join Our Mailing List

 

Friday, November 12, 2010

Performance Review Time

Yes ladies and gentlemen, it's that time of year again. It's time to give and receive performance reviews. But while most people dread that time--and since it's usually tied to bonuses and raises, that's totally understandable--it should be a time where an employee can reflect on their progress from the previous year and managers and Human Resources can access an employee's year-to-year performance AND development.

The development aspect of it can be the most important part of the process. It is important to look at what happened in the past year but other than compensation or layoff purposes, it's all information of what's already happened. What can be just as important--or more important in many cases--are the development growth planned to build on the the current year's performances for next year and beyond. Since the goal is to retain most of your employees and make sure they perform to the highest capabilities, the development plan for the future--and employees goals being aligned with that plan--is vital to make sure that you meeting your overall corporate goals.

And that's why goal planning should always be tied into the performance review. That isn't to say that there needs to be punishment for not meeting goals or great rewards for exceeding them, but it is important to make sure everyone is rowing in the same direction. That way, when the actual performance review takes place, the employees next-year development plan can be ironed out more easily. Employees would go from fearing reprimand to wondering what they needed to incorporate into their own planning for the next year. In the end, if their goals are tied to the company's goals, then they can actually feel like they're making a difference--which makes performance reviews just a little more palatable.

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Fake Companies Are All Over the Place

When I was finishing up my Masters studies, I scoured Monster.com, Careerbuilder and Craigslist to see who would hire me. I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do (I still don't know), but at the time I was just looking for something that sounded fun and exciting. So when I saw an advertisement for a sports marketing firm that was hiring for an executive training program, I was very excited. I was even more excited when I got a call about setting up an interview at the office in New Jersey. I had no clue what I was in store for, though.

I completed my 45 minute commute to the company's offices in an office park and since I was early, I camped out for a little while in my car and read up on what I knew about the company. From their website they seemed to be a large sports marketing company that worked with the New York Yankees--among other accounts. As I was sitting in the car, I saw many young people leaving the building in suits and thought that this seemed like a cool work environment.

I decided to enter the office 15 minutes early and was surprised to find that the area I was ushered into seemed to be a single office. In the waiting room were a ton of other young people like me in suits and looked much like the people I'd seen leaving the building. I checked in and sat in the large waiting area. Someone came out of the office and a name was called and they went in to interview. Seeing about 10 people in front of me, I wondered how I was going to get interviewed any time soon.

My answer came when the door opened 5 minutes later and the person in there left. I thought this was odd, but figured maybe the interview didn't go well and they were just cutting it short. Except the next person had the same time limit--and the next person as well.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Astronology - Giving Constructive Criticism

Astron Website Top

Astronology

Volume XI

Issue 18

November 2, 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 most productive day in the workweek is Tuesday.

FACT!

According to research conducted by Accountemps, employees are able to best focus on day-to-day responsibilities on Tuesdays.  In contrast, Mondays tend to be heavy on meetings, giving the day a hectic feeling.

What's your most productive day of the week and why?  We look forward to hearing from you, and may share your feedback in an upcoming issue of Astronology!

 

Readers Write

In our last issue of Astronology, we learned that American car horns beep in the tone of F.   Long-time reader Bob Meehan of Arizona wrote us, noting that "F is also the stock ticker symbol for Ford."  Do we sense a theme here?

Thanks for writing, Bob, and thanks for reading Astronology!

 

Remember to Vote!

Today is Election Day!  Please don't forget to vote in the elections that are happening in your city, county, and / or state.  Many of the races are close and critical, and every vote counts!

 

Giving Constructive Criticism

interviewIt's a fact of life we can't avoid. Whether it's working in a professional environment, learning in the educational realm, or interacting with friends or family, at some point in time we all have to face criticism. How we may perceive that criticism depends on whether we are on the giving or receiving end. When done right, constructive criticism is not meant to hurt or humiliate a person. Rather, constructive criticism is meant to build a person and push them to reach the next level of success. Learning how to give constructive criticism makes a difference in regards to how others view an individual and also how he or she demonstrates leadership. This issue of Astronology takes a deeper look into how to give constructive criticism in the workplace....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

 

World of HR Blog

Bringing you Human Resource news from around the globe...compliments of Astron Solutions.

More

 

Join Our Mailing List

 

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