Astronology - The Importance of Whistle Blowing

Astronology Volume XI Issue 9   June 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 Cell phones were invented in the 70's. Fiction! The very first mobile telephone system was released in 1956. Astron's own National Director Michael Maciekowich owned one of the first car-based cell phones, which required its own suitcase-like carrying case! How times have changed. Now cell phones the size of the palm of your hand can do so many things - all at the same time!   Readers Write... In response to our microwave oven story from the June 15th issue of Astronology, reader Shari Marston of Milford, NH shared this gem: Years ago, an employee was microwaving one of those heating pads - not the kind with corn kernels or rice, but the gel kind - and it burned! We had to evacuate the building due to the stench! This was before Febreeze came on the market, so we had to use fans - and maybe Lysol spray - to get rid of the smell. You know, there really IS a worse smell than burnt popcorn!! Thanks for the chuckle, Shari!   The Importance of Whistle Blowing Whistle blowing. While some may view it as "snitching," others may view it as an action of bravery and stemming from a dedication to ethics. In this issue of Astronology, we take a look at the important role whistle blowing plays, along with its positive and negative considerations....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

 

The Resume and the Interview

Some good links on a HOT Wednesday for the resume and the interview:

The New York Times from back in February had some advice on writing a resume that shouts "hire me". Good advice at a time when so many resumes are being received--and they all look the same.

AOL's Barbara Safani (also of Career Solvers) wants to know if you're lying on your resume saying "it is critical that all information reported on the document is accurate and something you can back up with facts if questioned."

We go back to AOL and Safani for the toughest job interview question out there (what is your weakness?) as well as a few other tough questions and the best ways to answer them

The Staffing Advisor asks how you got all that from reading a resume and tells the story of a church committee rejecting Jesus Christ as a candidate

Lastly, FINS has some advice on making a good first impression and nailing your finance interview

Moving Up and Moving Out

A few links for your humpday:

The New York Times provides a toolkit for women seeking a raise and an opportunity to move up within their company.

The New York Times also provides a toolkit for making yourself indispensable regardless of your gender in this Career Couch Q&A

The Associated Press via Yahoo! News says that more employees are jumping ship as a sign the economy is improving (H/T Wendy)

And, lastly, from EW, who says you can't be promoted in The Office?

Astronology - Supervisor Training

Astronology Volume XI Issue 8   June 15, 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.   The Astron Road Show If you're attending the SHRM 62nd Annual Conference and Exhibition, please be sure to stop by the Astron booth, #1445.  The exhibition runs from Sunday, June 27th through Tuesday, June 29th.  Members of the Astron team, including National Directors Jennifer Loftus and Michael Maciekowich, Technology Supervisor Brendan Williams, and Lead Technology Architect John Sazaklis will be present to share with you our latest Flare™ modules and cutting edge trends in total rewards.  We'll also be unveiling our exciting new exhibit booth!  Please look for Astron in booth #1445, across from the ever-fun awards and incentives aisle!   Fact or Fiction The microwave oven was invented when a scientist's chocolate bar melted in his pocket.   Fact!   Percy Spencer, an American engineer was standing in front of a high-powered vacuum tube called a magnetron, when he noticed the candy bar in his pocket had melted. He then tested popcorn in front of the magnetron. After subsequent tests and investigations, in 1947 the very first commercial microwave was introduced, patented by Mr. Spencer.   Today, the microwave is an office pantry staple.  Have any humorous stories to share regarding your office's microwave?  Please e-mail them to Jennifer Loftus, and we may feature you in an upcoming issue of Astronology!   Supervisor Training The time has come within your organization to identify a leader for a new project or to supervise a new expansion. What recognizable traits are there to help you identify a potential successful supervisor among your employees? How do you train this new leader to effectively guide in such a way that proves successful? In this issue of Astronology, we share some helpful tips for identifying and properly training potential supervisors....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

 

Internal Candidates

Sometimes companies spend a tremendous amount of money on trying to find great employees when the best candidates for the job may already be employed by your company. Hiring internal candidates provide some of the best ways to drive down costs, cut down new employees adjustment times, and also to promote company loyalty and commitment.

But the right culture needs to be in place to make sure that the process goes smoothly. Employees need to feel comfortable talking to other managers about potential openings without fear of reprecussions. There also needs to be a fair process of making sure every internal candidate has an equal shot at the open positions. The last thing you want is to make the internal hiring process a way to show favoritism to only a select few.

Done well, an internal hiring process can provide many benefits for a company and help move up good employees--and keep them happy and employed at your organization.

-Andrew

Astronology - How to Deal: Performance Reviews

Astronology Volume XI Issue 7   June 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.   The Astron Road Show On Friday, June 11th, National Director Mike Maciekowich will present to the Maine ASHHRA chapter on Human Resource Return on Investment. The meeting will be held in Augusta. For information on registering, please contact Mike. On Monday, June 14th, National Director Jennifer Loftus will present a webinar, in partnership with SHRM, on Building an Effective Organizational Pay Structure. The webinar is free for SHRM Learning System students and instructors. Interested in attending? Please e-mail Jennifer. The 2010 Annual SHRM Conference and Exposition is almost here! If you would like to visit the exhibit hall, Astron Solutions has a limited number of free passes available. Please e-mail Jennifer today to receive yours! We'll see you on the road!   Fact or Fiction Maine has over 5,000 miles of coastline, more than California. Fact! Maine's amazing coastline is another reason to see National Director Mike Maciekowich in action next week!   How to Deal: Performance Reviews From both sides of the conference table, performance reviews often are considered one of the least liked and often feared parts of working within an organization. The employer or manager may not have kept accurate records of an employee's progress, is unable to highlight performance highs and lows, and is not sure how to encourage the employee to set new goals based on the performance review. Employees may feel they did not receive the performance review they truly deserve, perhaps viewing their managers as overly critical. How does an organization get past these issues and make performance reviews enjoyable? Astronology investigates the concerns associated with performance reviews in this installment of How to Deal....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

 

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