Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Astronology - Holidaze: Beating the Holiday Blues & Stress

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Astronology

Volume XI

Issue 22

December 28, 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...

 

Wednesday has the lowest absenteeism rate in America.

FICTION


Tuesday has the lowest absenteeism rate in America - 11%.  We're glad most everyone is present to read today's Astronology!

 

Happy Holidays!

From all of us at Astron Solutions, happy holidays to you and those dear to you!  We wish you all the best this holiday season, and a healthy, productive, and prosperous 2011.

 

Holidaze: Beating the Holiday Blues & Stress

stressThe months of November to January signal a busy time for holiday celebrations, family time, and other happy moments. It is also the time for what some call the "Holiday Blues" and high stress levels. For those who work in an office setting, trying to meet pressing deadlines before vacation time and simultaneously preparing for holiday family and office events can become a major contributing factor to this seasonal anxiety....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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Saturday, December 25, 2010

Happy Holidays!

I wanted to wish all the readers of Astron a very happy holidays. We had a great year here at the blog and we thank you for reading and following along. Plenty more to come this next week and so much more in the New Year. Hope 2010 has been a good one for you and your family from everyone here at Astron Solutions!

-Andrew

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Do Something Nice for the Holidays

In this tough economic environment many companies are cutting budgets and tightening their belts. But one time they should be relaxing this is during the holidays. Although this is hard because of budget and time constraints before the end of the year, a little effort can go a long way to employee happiness in the New Year.

It doesn't have to be a large bonus or a lavish holiday party either. Do a dinner at a local restaurant or a happy hour at a local bar. Instead of counting days off until the end of the year, tell everyone they can either take a day between Christmas and New Years...or carry a roving holiday into next year. If you have employees out of town, help them to get to their families by buying their bus ticket or letting them leave earlier to make it on time.

And the good things you do don't have to be monetary in nature. Have everyone volunteer in a soup kitchen or do a bakeoff in the office with the donations going to charity. Surprise employees by shutting the office for an extra hour during lunchtime and putting on a movie in the conference room.

Trust me, little gestures will go a long way to employee satisfaction in 2011.

-Andrew

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Job Growth and Job Loss

Yesterday President Barack Obama pushed 20 CEOs to "start investing in job creating enterprises." According to the Wall Street Journal, though, "nearly half of the executives [in a quarterly survey by the Business Roundtable]—45%—expected to hire within the next six months, compared with 31% who said that last quarter." As the article says, US businesses are sitting on $2 trillion in cash. Although slack demand is adding to their reluctance, hopefully a new year means new jobs appearing in the market.

In good news this morning, Bloomberg is reporting that jobless claims in the US unexpectedly fell to 420,000 last week. The bad news, though: "the total number of people receiving unemployment insurance and those getting extended payments rose." So what does that mean for hiring in the new year? "Fewer firings signal employers may be gearing up to add to their payrolls and help reduce a jobless rate hovering near a 26-year high. While the economy is gaining momentum heading into 2011, Federal Reserve policy makers said this week it isn’t strong enough to reduce unemployment."

And if you decide to look for one of those jobs in the new year, Simply Hired Blog has the best 50 careers of 2011 (H/T Wendy).

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Astronology - Bridging Generational Gaps Starts with RESPECT

Astron Website Top

Astronology

Volume XI

Issue 21

December 14, 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 average corporate e-mail receives about 99 emails per day.

Fact!

The Radicati Group researched and found that the average corporate e-mail user sends about 34 e-mails per day...and receives about 99 e-mails. Do your find yourself sending and receiving this average amount of e-mails in your office?

Those figures seem low to us on the Astron Solutions team.  What's your count for the most legitimate e-mails you've received in one day?  Not including spam, or if the e-mail server went haywire, but genuine e-mails that required your response.  Please write us, and we may feature your story in a future issue of Astronology!

 

Happy Holidays!

From all of us at Astron Solutions, happy holidays to you and those dear to you!  We wish you all the best this holiday season, and a healthy, productive, and prosperous new year.

 

Bridging Generational Gaps Starts with RESPECT

difficultBy Stacey Jerrold, MBA, SPHR, CBC & Mary-Anne Walsh, Ed.D.

In today's competitive workplace, four generations bringing different expectations, attitudes, and values sit side by side.  Your organization's success depends upon how well these groups collaborate.  We are learning that the gaps created when their paths cross are significant.  The way these differences are managed will have consequences for all of us.....
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

 

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Friday, December 10, 2010

Encourage Employees to Talk About Themslves

I was speaking with a former co-worker this past week and she happened to tell me about some good personal news that she recently found out about. When I loudly gave my congratulations she shushed me and told me not to spread the news because she didn't want her company to find out. This wasn't something that would effect the company or a new job opportunity or anything of the sort and while I was confused I understood her predicament.

There is a very fine line between too much information at work and being personable and sharing. Most of us work collaboratively while at our jobs but very few of us know that much about the people we work with. Some of that is intentional with employees failing to share the good or the bad when it could really help foster better communication with others. An employer should know when something bad is going on in an employee's life so they can maybe give them some extra time to deal with a sick parent or allow them to get out a little early on a Tuesday so they can go to physical therapy for that ailing back. And an employer should know when good things are happening with their employees so they can share in their joy of a birth of a new child or an engagement.

The problem is that the workplace isn't always an atmosphere conducive to sharing. Health issues aren't supposed to be talked about with certain people and employees may worry that revealing bad health may open them up to discrimination. A new child or a spouse could mean higher healthcare costs and make employees think that employers will hold that against them. Employees usually don't have incentive to share and that is what employers need to work to change. Reward and announce good news--even if it is personal. Allow employees to stretch vacation times if a loved one is dying or give them a holiday present of a new chair if they have a chronic bad back. When employees feel like they all know each other better, collaboration occurs even more.

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Jobs are a'Opening

The Wall Street Journal reported today that job openings increased in October to the highest level since before the 2008 financial crisis. "But," cautions the article, "the increase in job openings in October didn't translate into increased hiring. Companies hired 4.20 million people during the month, down slightly from September's 4.21 million. That could be a sign that companies are struggling to find workers with the necessary skills to fill the positions they have open."

Also from The Journal, a question whether the tax freeze for the wealthy will create jobs (answer: probably not). This will certainly be an issue debated for the next two years until they have to talk about this issue once again.

Lastly, USA Today talks about Baby Boomers who are going back to work after they turn 65, mostly because of the increased age at which you can file for Social Security. But about 25% of these workers are unable to physically work at that age anyway, says the article, which, ironically, means that they will have to file for disability which would increase the imbalances of Social Security. With 25% of Boomers equaling about the population of New York State, this is not a small issue.

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Disappearing Jobs, Fiancial Advice and King James

Want to know if your job is being eliminated? Well, the first place to look is to see if the industry you work in is disappearing. To help with that, Yahoo! Finance and CBS Money Watch have put together a list of high-paying jobs that are disappearing (H/T Wendy). Let's just say that if you were planning to work in sports journalism, you may want to rethink that decision.

Want to know why you can't treat your employees better than their manager? Well, look at the situation going on in Miami with the Heat, their star player, LeBron James, and their head coach, Erik Spoelstra as told by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. This one passage should make most managers and Human Resources professionals cringe: "The fundamental problem for Spoelstra isn’t that James doesn’t respect coaches – he doesn’t respect people. Give LeBron this, though: He’s learned to live one way with the television light on, and another with it off. He treats everyone like a servant, because that’s what the system taught him as a teenage prodigy. To James, the coach isn’t there to mold him into the team dynamic. He’s there to serve him." Eek.

Most people don't want to invest their own pensions, 401(K)s or IRAs, but if you do, there may be a book by two former Wall Street honchos you may want to pick up. As told by the New York Times: "when Mr. Murray, a former bond salesman for Goldman Sachs who rose to the managing director level at both Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse First Boston, decided to cease all treatment five months ago for his glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer, his first impulse was not to mourn what he couldn’t do anymore or to buy an island or to move to Paris. Instead, he hunkered down in his tiny home office here and channeled whatever remaining energy he could muster into a slim paperback. It’s called “The Investment Answer,” and he wrote it with his friend and financial adviser Daniel Goldie to explain investing in a handful of simple steps."

Happy Hanukkah to fall my fellow Jews out there. May your nights be full of light and your bellies be full of oily foods. Even without the presents, it's probably my favorite holiday.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

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

Astron Website Top

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
Quick Links

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

Join Our Mailing List

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

Astron Website Top

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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