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.

Jobs in the Financial World

With Warren Buffet coming out today (via Telegraph) and saying that next time the financial world goes bust, the chief executives of those banks and their wives should go broke too, I figured it was a good time to delve back into the job market in the financial world.

Within the same article came this ominous forecast: "Despite the difference in the fortunes of those on Wall Street and many Americans in other industries, analysts have said that banks may decide to cut jobs in coming months as trading revenues decline. Meredith Whitney, for example, has forecast that up to 80,000 finance jobs could go over the next 18 months." Eek

More specifically, Morgan Stanley came out last week and said they were going to freeze investment bank hiring in 2010 according to Bloomberg (H/T Wendy).

For those looking for a job in this market, FINS has some advice for college graduates about how to find a job in the financial world (one of the pieces of advice "Take on Internships" is a good one).

Also from FINS, a different type of sheriff is coming to town: the IRS is hiring special agents for their Criminal Investigation Division, one of its prime divisions.

Lastly, Corporate Compliance Insights has two Dilberts that hopefully don't hit too close to home for many compliance professionals.

Saturday in the Park

Not exactly in the park, but it is a beautiful Saturday to be there and if you want some great links while you're lounging in the sun.

From ben's blog, some advice about the right way to lay off an employee. The steps? Get your head right, don't delay, be clear in your own mind about why you are laying people off, train your managers, be visible and be present. "After seeing their friends laid off, employees were no longer willing to make the requisite sacrifices needed to build a company. He said that although it was possible to survive an isolated layoff, it was hugely unlikely that a company would experience great success."

From ESPN New York, an interesting conflict between the New York Jets and a female reporter. The interesting part of this story has been the response from other female journalists who have been less than supportive of Ines Sainz, the woman who filed the complaint of discrimination and harassment.

Interview Tips has 20 ways to nail an interview with some hilarious videos of people who didn't come close to doing so (H/T Wendy). Number 16 may be the worst.

There are job reports out there, but finally there is The Hidden Job Report.

And lastly, some advice about what a company blog should look like from The New York Enterprise Report (H/T Jennifer)

Here's to a Great 2010

Happy New Year to you from everyone here at Astron Solutions. Let's hope 2010 is a great one. 2009 has seem some rough times in the economy and especially with Human Resources, but hopefully better things are on the horizon for the new year. A few articles to send out the year:

-Since one of our themes this past year has been layoffs, let's take a look at the way the Washington Times is saying goodbye to people they're letting go from the Washington City Paper:

...the individuals hustled with great dread to a couple of tables where lots of letters were waiting. People walked away carrying word of their fate. Those that are getting laid off are being asked to finish up their shift tomorrow and then depart. The letters come with a list of open positions at the paper, just in case the departed want to try their luck with a different department.

Ouch. Does not sound like a good way to do this. Especially over a holiday weekend. The blog article quips "Is the paper going to raise those individuals on their cell phones and say, Hey, come back from Vail and pick up your letter to find out whether you've been sacked or saved?". Not the best idea by management. Many companies need to meet personnel numbers by year end but this isn't the best way to do it.

-Another big theme in 2009 was the use of social networking for job searches--especially the ever-growing Twitter. Well Career Solvers has some great advice as we close out 2009 about how you can use Twitter in your job search as they interview someone who has written a book about it.

-Lastly, looking ahead to 2010, Yahoo! HotJobs has a list of the most secure jobs in 2010.

Wishing a Happy and Healthy New Year to you and your loved ones from all of us here at Astron Solutions!

Recession and the Job Market

The recession has taken its hits on the job market and we've covered a lot of it on the blog. But no one (at least in the Mainstream Media) seems to write more currently about it than the Wall Street Journal's Careers section. Here are a few recent articles:

I happen to catch a glimpse of the WSJ while in a meeting in a co-worker's office the other day and one of the titles on the front page was "Life on Severance: Comfort, Then Crisis" (picture on right from article). I think it was a very interesting article, but I wonder if the severance package that was described in the opening paragraph was one that was supposed to get people's emotions stirred up. There are people who are a few years out of college, stuck with tons of student loans, and making $35,000 a year who maybe got a month of severance. Then there is the $200,000-a-year CEO who they describe in the article who got a year's worth of pay as severance and has $100,000 in savings. I don't think many people are crying for that guy.

But the point of the article is an interesting one: there is a growing severance economy of unemployed Americans who use severance pay and savings to keep up their lifestyles. The 405 Club asks if severance pay is the new welfare? I don't think that's the case, but for many, it's providing that slowly eroding bridge until the next job offer. How much severance does you company give? Do you think it's enough or would you, if you made the decisions give more? It's an interesting dilemma for companies who then have to worry about keeping happy those who are left behind.

Two more good articles:

• From today's WSJ, word that workers returning from layoffs have struggled to recoup the earnings power as wage erosion threatens to slow the economy's recovery.
• Lastly, this article is supposedly from tomorrow's WSJ (I told you we're ahead of the curve), and says that women now hold half of all U.S. jobs because of the large hits in layoffs to male-dominated industries. This has upended roles about which spouse stays at home finding more women heading back into the workforce to support the family as a single-earner. Very interesting indeed.
  

Yankees Parade Picture, Boeing and AOL

Wanted to post a picture from the New York Yankees victory parade down the Canyon of Heroes. This is one of the many pictures I snapped that day showing Jorge Posada telling us all the Yankees are, in fact, #1. I've put some more pictures over at my sports blog, No, You're a Towel. I don't believe that any work actually got done in the financial district that day as employees hung their heads out of windows.

Unfortunately, according to MLB.com, some of those employees hanging their heads out the window got a little "overzealous" and threw private data out the window including unshredded personal financial documents that included Social Security numbers and other personal information (including whole pay stubs). The person standing next to me was actually hit with an entire blueprint from an arcitecture firm. There was also, according to The Star-Ledger, "medical records listing names, addresses, insurance information, medical diagnoses, and other private information."

That's a big oops and Human Resources should have cautioned employees about what documents to throw out. You would think with a half-ton of paper handed out that employees would have had enough to throw, but while more sensible employees threw toilet paper (and quite a bit of it), less sensible ones decided to throw out documents that could be extremely damaging for an organization.

A few other articles:

• Boeing, long-since linked to Washington state, moved their corporate offices to Chicago and now are moving some of their production of the 787 Dreamliner to South Carolina. Wired starts to explain why and some of it definitely has to do with the workers and the environment.

• Lastly, AOL is about to start another massive layoff round today and The Business Insider has a lot of details. One thing that seems like a smart move: a voluntary buyout program to ease the sting of a "mass firing". Although it achieves the same effect, it looks a lot better if people are let go on their own terms with a nice package, especially in this economy.
  

Some Office Faux Pas

CNNMoney did a great job going over 10 office faux pas that you should avoid to keep yourself off the potential-layoff list (H/T Sarah). I'll list those here and add a comment of my own after each one

1. Don't! Be the Office Downer- This does not mean "don't be serious". It just means that you should be amenable to your co-workers. When your name gets floated around as a potential cut, you want someone going to bat for you.
   
2. Don't! Microwave Fish in the Office- Also, don't pop popcorn unless you're going to share it with everyone. I hate when someone pops a big bag for themselves and it smells throughout the entire office. It's selfish.
   
3. Don't! Go Barefoot- I'm a big fan of kicking off the shoes under the desk. Just make sure if you do, that you have a pair you can quickly slip on. There's nothing wrong with having a pair of shoes to walk to the office and another pair to wear around the office. Just don't be caught as a Shoeless Joe.
   
4. Don't! Set Your Ring Tone to the Jonas Brothers - "Keep your phone on vibrate" is great advice. Recently they handed out new Blackberrys at our office because we switched providers. Everyone wanted to get a new ringtone so they could differentiate their rings when they were away from the desk. One woman decided to go with this one ring that sounds like an alarm is going off. Everyone thinks the fire alarm is going off when her phone rings. It's awful and inconsiderate...especially when she takes a long lunch and forgets her Blackberry!
   
5. Do! Save Smiley Faces for Mom- Leave smiley faces out of e-mails, IMs, and any other form of communication unless you are very comfortable with the person. Even then, leave it out. It can't be a good thing. Save it for AIM/Gtalk/MSN
   
6. Don't! Be the Boss' New BFF- Kissing ass is always a problem, but this may not be the worst thing to be in this new environment. Your co-workers usually don't vote to have you laid off--it's the boss' decision. But don't go over the top. You don't want to come off as a kiss ass...even if you are a kiss ass.
   
7. Don't! Read Your Emails Out Loud- Great advice. I had a co-worker who would conduct conference calls at his desk on speakerphone with the volume all the way up. This was his "protest" against not getting an office. Once layoffs came, he didn't have a desk at all.
   
8. Don't! Give Yourself a Mani/Pedi- There's also the time spent giving yourself a mani/pedi as well as the noise. There's no business reason to be doing this at work. I'm sure your co-workers would be a lot happier if you ate lunch while getting a mani/pedi at a local shop for 30 minutes than you spending 30 minutes doing it to yourself at the office. They may even chip in just to get you to leave.
   
9. Don't! Steal Food- Someone was stealing my food for a while. I never caught who it was (though I was tempted to put some eye drops in my food and wait by the bathroom for the culprit). But I took a bite out of my sandwich every morning to deter that person and they never did it again. And one person who caught someone stealing their lunch wasn't so kind--they told management about what they saw and the person was given a warning. They weren't around after the first round of layoffs.
   
10. Don't! Crank the Russian Folk Music - This is an important one. If you're going to have music at work, just put on headphones. And don't sing out loud. You may need some noise to help you out, but your co-workers certainly don't. And the people they're speaking with on the phone don't want it either. I also think if you're going to put on headphones, it shouldn't be for the whole day. No one wants a worker that ignores everyone for their Russian Folk Music (going back to #1).

Some good advice from CNNMoney. Any faux pas you want to add?

Vault's Layoff Tracker

Wanted to pass this along, but Vault has been keep track of all the big layoffs that have occurred. Definitely worth checking out.

Also from Vault's blog "Pink Slipped", advice on how to make being laid off, pay off.

Sad Baseball Night In New York

A sad baseball night in New York as the Yankees and Mets both lose one-run games against their arch-rivals. So how about some great HR articles instead?

-CNN has a great article up on how significant others should react when their men get laid off -- but they still have a job. Some great advice there.

-24 Hours Vancouver is next with some advice not to lie on your resume because it'll come back to haunt you.

-Next, the Zanesville Times Recorder writes about mandated sick leave. It may not have passed in Ohio, but it is has a chance of becoming a national law.

-You have some questions for HR? Well the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an "Ask HR"

-Lastly, Business Management Daily says that while HR salaries weaken, comp and benefit pays have grown.

Let's hope tomorrow is a better night for New York baseball...

HR's Value, Cutting Salary and FMLA Changes

-We start out on this Wednesday with Human Resource Executive Online with some advice on how to understand Human Resources value

-Next is Market Mixup which says that instead of cutting jobs, think about cutting salaries

-Lastly, the Zanesville Times Recorder says that now that you have figured out the FMLA regulation, there may be more changes coming down the pipeline

Hiring Slowly Improving But Those Who Haven't Been Laid Off Suffer

-The South Florida Business Journal starts us up with a Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) survey which says that hiring is slowly improving and the Central Valley Business Times has some more information on that

-CNNMoney says that after layoffs, layoff survivors are now stuck with more responsibilities and more stress but aren't getting any more money.

-Lastly, after we just quoted a few surveys from employees...word from the Associated Press (AP) that companies are turning away from employee surveys

Hiring and Firing

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution starts us off with an article about whether you should dress business casual for an interview: click here

A Human Resource Management Solutions article following up on a HR World article for our next entry on five quick hiring tips: click here

The Houston Business Daily has next for us a Human Resources Guide to employment issues resulting from Hurricane Ike: click here

The Gazette of Colorado Springs says that everyone, especially the employer, benefits by handling layoffs fairly and honestly: click here

Lastly, the Orlando Business Journal cites a study that says that most workers are puzzled about their benefits: click here

The Financial World and the Job Market

It'll be interesting to see the fallout in the job market from the current financial crisis, but some effects are already seen...

The first article is from the New Jersey Law Journal and probably won't work for most of you...but the important part is just to read the title and then find a way to get your hands on the article: Pru Appeals in Suit Charging it Paid Off Plaintiffs' Lawyers: click here

Next, an interesting lesson from Yahoo! News via the AP on what can happen with mergers/takeovers and job layoffs as HP surprises Wall Street in this article: click here

(H/T to Wendy for those)

The Wall Street Journal (with a nice, new look) continues with an article sure to cause a little head scratching to most of America...the Executive job market is still healthy: click here and a video here

Next from the Journal is a very interesting article about trying to get Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's employees to stay as the mortgage giants go through some difficult times: click here

Going quickly to the Boston Globe's, Boston.com Monster.com HiringHub HR Center HR Blog, word that this isn't your father's job fairs--something new is in the air: click here

Lastly, in an article form the Journal, we learn that GMAT scores are being canceled...a lesson to employers that sometimes test scores aren't really all that reliable: click here

We've also added a great new feed from the WSJ on our right: click here

Wall Street to Main Street

Riding the train this morning I happened to peek at a fellow passenger's Wall Street Journal and spied upon some great articles...

First, a front page article on layoffs...if you hear rumors they may be coming, here's some advice on what to do: click here

And with this advice, some thoughts should emerge for HR professionals on how to handle those types of situations. One of my friends worked for a large fashion company that had been rumored to be on the brink of bankruptcy. One of the actions taken by the company's management--that shocked him and others--was to fire one employee whose only misstep was talking about the rumors going around about the company. They said he was a poison to the company and got rid of him. A few days later, the company filed for bankruptcy and a lot more employees went. But if the company had not filed, that sole decision would have been viewed as a warning (whether right or wrong) to other employees who would think about discussing the rumors among themselves at work...

The Career Journal then gives some advice for those pushed to part-time work--make the most of it: click here

Next, a topic we've talked about in the past on this blog, workplace bullying takes center stage again as they reference a recent United States court case: click here

Lastly, an interesting article about summer jobs--selling knives--positioned with a great title: click here


Enjoy!

The Complaint Department

Somebody's got a case of the Mondays!

Here's a list of seven employee complaints for this Monday:

1) Your employer is watching over you...even as you work at home (an article about telecommuting surveillance from the Wall Street Journal's Career Journal): click here

2) Your former employer is delighting in your layoff (well this Workforce Management article says that if they do, they're going to hell -- Management hell): click here

3) Your former employer is suing you (this may turn out really, really poorly according to the Laconic Law Blog): click here

4) My employer is making me copy on both sides of the paper among other money-saving operations (Fistful of Talent talks about Budweiser's integration into InBev...a good article also about combining cultures in company's and HR's responsibility in that): click here

5) The superstar employee on my team is getting $20-$25 million in severance (while this is probably not your company, this article is an interesting view on the Brett Favre situation in Green Bay from the HR Capitalist and how they blow the term "Golden Parachute" totally out of the water): click here

6) My young co-workers are hopping from job to job and making more money than me (Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 has an article confirming job hopping among Gen Y/The Millenials): click here

7) I just have lots of complaints (well About.com's Human Resources blog compiled a list of the top ten employee complaints): click here

What I’m Hearing…Farewell, Turkey O’Toole

In somewhat uncharacteristic fashion for me, today I’m writing about something not related to HR at all.

Last night’s newscast brought some very sad news. Bennigan’s, the nationwide casual dining chain, is closing its doors. Soon.

For most people, this is a non-event. For the thousands of people losing their jobs, it’s another story. (Aha – everything does relate to HR!) And for me, it’s a farewell to my favorite sandwich – Turkey O’Toole.

There’s nothing fancy about Turkey O’Toole. It’s thin sliced turkey, with melted Swiss and honey mustard sauce, on a pretzel bun. The pretzel bun makes the sandwich a small bit of heaven here on earth. Pair the sandwich with a Coke and a side of hot cinnamon apples…yum! Add sticky toffee pudding for dessert and you’re good to go.

In time, I’ll find another taste temptation, but you never forget your first love. Turkey O’Toole will always live fondly in my memory. Sláinte!

Layoff Instructions

With massive layoffs hitting all around the financial world (with Wachovia the latest victim yesterday) and trickling down through the rest of the economy, the Wall Street Journal provided instructions on how to deal with being laid off: click here

The New York Daily News provides some instructions on saving your job when your company is bought out: click here

Next, an old article from HR.com says beware of provisions in stock options because laying someone off may vest them: click here

From the Six-Figure Learnings blog, the "Worse Than Enron Sweepstakes": click here

And lastly, from the Recruiter Review, a title that has a lot of people getting scared about their jobs and the job market "More Job Losses": click here