Equal Pay and Palin

Ryan Johnson's WorldAtWork blog says that equal pay will get even more play now with the Sarah Palin nomination as VP: click here

And indeed, Barack Obama's first shot at Palin came about because of this: click here

This is not the only issue for Human Resources that's at stake here...

Questions are floating around about whether she was picked because she was a woman and where she should be at this point in her life considering her special needs toddler and her pregnant teenage daughter. Whether you fall on one side of the issue or the other, these are legitimate questions to ponder...and to relate to as a Human Resource professional.

Are there double standards here? Would a male in the same position be examined in the same spotlight? Do you/others do this at your company? And how far do you think the Democrats can go in pursuing this line of thinking? Sexism has been a hot topic of the presidential race from Hillary Clinton to Sarah Palin and the issue is far from going away. This may be a good time to think about if it exists in your own company and how to combat that. And while politics don't always reflect real life, it'll be interesting to hear all the stories that come out in support or against Palin based on personal experiences people have had with this in the workplace.

UPDATE 10:45 AM EST: Politico has caught on and is saying the Senate Democrats are going to force McCain to vote on the issue of equal pay: click here

15,000 and counting

Thanks for continuing to make our blog popular! 15,000 visitors and counting...

We start off with the Wall Street Journal's Career Journal with an article about finding a position as a mature job hunter (and conversely, HR professionals should think about how to seek out these candidates): click here

Also from the Journal we have an article on a consultant beefing up his resume (click here ) and a CEO's recipe for fresh ideas: click here

Lastly, GM is offering employees early retirement to cut salaried jobs by 15% as told by the Baltimore Sun: click here

(another post coming up a bit later...)

The HR Executive and the Election

We start off on this Wednesday smack in the middle of the convention cycle and with an article from Human Resource Executive Online saying to brace yourselves for whoever is elected president: click here

Human Resource Executive Online also wants to talk about where HR stands today and who Human Resources Executives want as president and why: click here

Next, the Business Ledger tells HR professionals how sloppy Human Resources adds to employers' benefit costs: click here

Human Resource Management Solutions by People Wise then asks when does a small business need an Employee Handbook: click here

The Courier Post Online follows up by saying that you should take time to think if job is lost: click here

The Hartford Courant ends our post with an article that tells us that sometimes, following your heart works: click here

Astronology At Its Best

So many times in this blog I've harped on the merits of subscribing to Astron's bi-weekly newsletter, Astronology. It's really, really simple to sign up (I'll even give you the link again here), it's a great resource, we won't spam you, and sometimes you get to read about really awesome stuff (plus I penned a few back in the day if you check out the archives here)...

And while the latest issue has some great stuff (click here)...nothing compares to this amazing interview with yours truly:


Mini-Interview
The next Astron Solutions team member to let it all hang loose is our Blogmaster, Andrew Katz. Also, this won’t be the last mini-interview of our series! Stay tuned to our website for big news! Now, without further adieu:

1) What is your position in Astron Solutions, and how long have you had this position?

I guess you could call me the official Blogmaster. I've done this since snagging an internship with Astron back in the Summer of 2006. I wanted to stay active with Astron once I went back to school and this gave me a great opportunity to do so.

2) What convinced you to do HR consulting?

The interview with Jennifer. HR consulting was FAR from anything I had ever thought of doing but one Human Resources lesson to learn is that while the candidate is trying to woo the interviewer, a company can attract good employees through a great interview. Hearing about what Astron did and stood for and seeing how happy the employees were really went a long way into convincing me to join the Astron family.

3) What do you do when you are not consulting?

I work double duties...I also work at Genworth Financial in Stamford, CT. But blogging has become a passion of mine and I love doing it. Having to keep my readers up-to-date on what's going on in the world of HR also keeps me up-to-date and I'm always plugged into the latest news. I'm also an avid sports fan so I'm always watching games and talking sports with my friends.

4) What is your favorite place to travel to and why?

I spent a semester studying abroad in Copenhagen. Although 90% of people I know can't pick it out on a map, it really is an amazing place. When most people think of visiting Europe they think of London and Paris and Italy...but Copenhagen is one of those treasures that I think has to be part of any European travel. The people are amazingly nice, the city is so much fun, and it has been named the "Happiest Place on Earth" the past two years. And bonus: everyone speaks English so you won't need to carry around a dictionary!

5) Where do you see Astron Solutions this day next year?

It's amazing to see Astron continuing to grow. I think that as Astron continues to attract new and diverse customers through word-of-mouth referrals from happy customers, you'll see Astron out there more and more with the big names in the market. Genworth is a "People Driven" company very involved in the local community and I see Astron continuing to follow those same ideals.

iShuffle

As we continue our trek through getting to know the Astron Solutions team better, we find ourselves with the iShuffle yet again. Again, Blogmaster Andrew Katz has helped us out with this! We thank Andrew for both his blogging skills, and his time for this. Enjoy the list, and the questions!

Kanye West - Through the Wire
Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static
Fallout Boy (feat. John Mayer) - Beat It
Madonna and Justin Timberlake (feat. Timbaland) - 4 Minutes
Rick Ross (feat. T-Pain) - The Boss
Lupe Fiasco - Hip-Hop Saved My Life
Journey - Don't Stop Believin'
Counting Crows - Rain King (Live from Soho)
N.E.R.D. - Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing on the Line...)
Dave Matthews (feat. Tim Reynolds) - Lie In Our Graves (Live at Radio City)

Favorite - Everybody Nose. The song gets you pumped, smiling, and is just overall fun. You know a song is good when you get into it in the first 15 seconds you hear the song for the first time.

Least Favorite - 4 Minutes. There's nothing wrong with the song at all. Actually I like it. But it's repetitive and you get sick of it too quickly. When a song comes on and I start reaching for the ipod, it's a BAD sign.

Seen Live - Kanye, Lupe Fiasco, Counting Crows, N.E.R.D., and Dave Matthews I have all seen live this summer (and I saw John Mayer in the past). Dave is my favorite live act. Some people have great songs. Some sing really well. But very few combine both these and put on a great, entertaining SHOW. Dave does this. I went to a Dave Matthews Band concert after my Junior year of high school and I really was not a big fan at the time. He put on such a great show that I'm not only a huge fan, I've been to his concert every summer since (at least once).

Executive Pay Gone Awry

The Charlotte Observer has an interesting article about when executive pay goes awry: click here

Banning Social Networking?

If you're thinking of banning social networking from your company, you may be making a very costly mistake according to employee evolution: click here

If you're thinking of skipping those MBA recruiting sessions, you should read this Wall Street Journal article about more and more people who are doing just that: click here

If you're getting ready to retire, you should read this Journal article about planning your exit strategy: click here

If you're worried about whether you need to have a required lunch break, read this Q&A from the Human Resource blog: click here

If you're wondering the best way to leveraging talent into your company's competitive advantage, read this book review from the HR Practitioner: click here

If you're trying to figure out what the role of Human Resources should be in employer branding, read this PUREcommunications article: click here

And if you're looking for an HR job, who are we to ignore social networking after we talked about it's importance, so here's a LiveJournal entry on a website for HR jobs: click here

Dilbert Tuesday

Just because...

Doing the iPod Shuffle

One of our new segments on our bi-weekly newsletter, Astronology (see sign-up on the right) is the ishuffle. Although I won't give away which are my favorite, I will tell you the 10 songs that came up last on my iPod (actually an iPod Touch) as I was taking the train on Friday:

Kanye West - Through the Wire

Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static

Fallout Boy (feat. John Mayer) - Beat It

Madonna and Justin Timberlake (feat. Timbaland) - 4 Minutes

Rick Ross (feat. T-Pain) - The Boss

Lupe Fiasco - Hip-Hop Saved My Life

Journey - Don't Stop Believin'

Counting Crows - Rain King (Live from Soho)

N.E.R.D. - Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing on the Line...)

Dave Matthews (feat. Tim Reynolds) - Lie In Our Graves (Live at Radio City)

Stay tuned to Astronology for my reviews on these songs as well as the other picks from Astron employees...but figured it was a good way to "shuffle" things up a bit :)

When Employers Just Can't Keep Up

You know when an interviewee calls up and asks why they haven't gotten a call back? Well maybe it's tell them that your Human Resource staff just can't keep up...and you wouldn't be alone according to the Kansas City Star: click here

The Ventura County Star talks about a bias bill that is being opposed by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM): click here

Red Orbit says that wired staffs are a good thing...despite some other opinions: click here

The Wall Street Journal follows up with this article about companies' efforts to extend researchers' productivity: click here

Lastly, the Start4all Human Resources weblog has six "A-HA's" in building a successful Human Resources career: click here

Facebook, Google, and the People

Greetings from Richmond, VA...

Livemint.com (from the Wall Street Journal) tells us what Facebook has to do with Human Resources: click here

HR Marketer Blog has some information on how Google rocks and the rolling of HR professionals and suppliers into one community: click here

Lastly, this Human Resources blog says that no matter what media is out there, Human Resources is about the people: click here

Staycation

It's certainly a buzzword according to the New York Times (click here) and, well, the Washington Post has been using it since 2005 (click here)...but what does it mean?

The Washington Times has some answers here (click here), but the Orlando Business Journal just reported that fewer than 1 in 10 Americans actually plan staycations (click here)

It's one way of offsetting the high gas prices, and the Arizona Republic has some other ways that employers can help in that process: click here

And, lastly, Thomson Reuters came out with some job data today which says that the job market is softening like the polar ice caps (they left out the part about the polar ice caps, however): click here

:)

Senior Job/Junior Pay and the Relocation Blue

We got some great articles today from the Wall Street Journal as we again go from Wall Street to Main Street

First, an article about a new type of downsizing occurring, further obscuring the precarious job hunt--either by the combination of junior and senior positions in a job description and giving it a junior pay or by hiring new senior level employees but also giving them the work that was once done by their subordinates: click here

This is a tricky tightrope for Human Resources to walk...you don't want to be seen as "tricking" someone (as the article seems to suggest).

Next, the Relocation Blues from the Journal's "90 Days" column tells you how to cope with forced relocation (or, as HR, a nice way you can provide suggestions and work along your employees when this occurs for them): click here

Also from the Journal's Career Journal column "Pay Grade", tackling sustainability-related projects: click here

Lastly, from the Johns Hopkins University Gazette, rethinking the future of HR: click here

"When Facial Hair Was as Rare as a Triple Play"

This New York Times baseball blog title was so good, we decided to use it as our own ;)

If you haven't read the Astronology or our post on facial hair in the workplace, you should: click here

We made a reference to the Yankees, and this article from the Times is a great little history of facial hair in baseball. The Yankees have had a policy under principal owner George Steinbrenner that has prohibited long hair of facial hair (besides a cleanly shaved mustache on the upper lip). Some other teams have also taken variations on it. If you incorporate a facial hair policy and meet resistance, you can tell your employee that you're just being like the Yankees!

More Job Data...

This info from WorldAtWork, when taken in tandem, doesn't look all that great...

Average annual medical premium costs increased 6% this past year: click here

Pay increases on a national level are going to be 3.9% for this year: click here

(Doesn't seem to be a very good combination...)

Here are the results of the survey on a state/province level...

TABLE 1. Average Salary Budget Increases by Major Metropolitan Area (U.S.)

	Actual 2008	Projected 2009
NATIONAL	3.9%	3.9%
Atlanta	3.8%	3.8%
Baltimore	3.8%	3.8%
Boston	3.9%	3.9%
Chicago	3.8%	3.8%
Cincinnati	3.7%	3.8%
Cleveland	3.8%	3.8%
Dallas	3.8%	3.8%
Denver	3.9%	3.9%
Detroit	3.7%	3.8%
Houston	3.9%	3.9%
Los Angeles	3.8%	3.9%
Miami	3.8%	3.8%
Minneapolis	3.7%	3.7%
New York	3.8%	3.8%
Philadelphia	3.8%	3.9%
Phoenix	3.8%	3.8%
Pittsburgh	3.7%	3.8%
Portland	3.8%	3.8%
San Diego	3.8%	3.9%
San Francisco	3.9%	3.9%
San Jose	3.8%	3.8%
Seattle	3.8%	3.8%
St. Louis	3.7%	3.8%
Tampa	3.8%	3.8%
Washington, D.C.	4.0%	3.9%

TABLE 2. Average Salary Budget Increases by State (U.S.)

	Actual 2008	Projected 2009
NATIONAL	3.9%	3.9%
Alabama	3.8%	3.8%
Alaska	3.7%	3.8%
Arizona	3.8%	3.9%
Arkansas	3.7%	3.7%
California	3.9%	3.9%
Colorado	3.9%	3.9%
Connecticut	3.9%	3.9%
Delaware	3.7%	3.8%
Florida	3.8%	3.8%
Georgia	3.8%	3.8%
Hawaii	3.8%	3.8%
Idaho	3.7%	3.8%
Illinois	3.8%	3.8%
Indiana	3.6%	3.7%
Iowa	3.8%	3.9%
Kansas	3.8%	3.8%
Kentucky	3.7%	3.8%
Louisiana	3.9%	3.9%
Maine	3.8%	3.9%
Maryland	3.8%	3.8%
Massachusetts	3.8%	3.9%
Michigan	3.7%	3.8%
Minnesota	3.7%	3.8%
Mississippi	3.8%	3.8%
Missouri	3.8%	3.8%
Montana	3.7%	3.8%
Nebraska	3.8%	3.8%
Nevada	3.8%	3.8%
New Hampshire	3.7%	3.8%
New Jersey	3.8%	3.8%
New Mexico	3.9%	3.9%
New York	3.9%	3.8%
North Carolina	3.7%	3.7%
North Dakota	3.9%	4.0%
Ohio	3.8%	3.8%
Oklahoma	3.8%	3.8%
Oregon	3.8%	3.8%
Pennsylvania	3.8%	3.9%
Rhode Island	3.7%	3.8%
South Carolina	3.7%	3.7%
South Dakota	3.8%	3.9%
Tennessee	3.7%	3.7%
Texas	3.9%	4.0%
Utah	3.8%	3.8%
Vermont	3.8%	3.8%
Virginia	3.8%	3.9%
Washington	3.8%	3.9%
Washington, D.C.	4.0%	3.9%
West Virginia	3.7%	3.8%
Wisconsin	3.8%	3.8%
Wyoming	3.9%	3.9%

TABLE 3. Average Salary Budget Increases by Major Metropolitan Area (Canada)

	Actual 2008	Projected 2009
Calgary	4.0%	3.9%
Edmonton	4.0%	3.9%
Hamilton	3.8%	3.9%
Montreal	3.6%	3.6%
Ottawa	3.8%	3.8%
Quebec	3.6%	3.5%
Toronto	3.7%	3.7%
Vancouver	3.8%	3.8%
Winnipeg	3.9%	3.8%

HR on the South Pole

Seriously...and you thought the weather was bad in New York...: click here

Courtesy of the Boston Globe's Monster.com Hiring Hub HR Center HR Blog...

Lastest Job Numbers

Let's just say it doesn't look good...click here

But We're Not the Yankees...

If you haven't checked it out yet, there's an interesting debate in the current Astronology about Facial Hair: click here

If you're not subscribed to Astronology, Astron Solutions bi-weekly newsletter, you're missing out...you can sign up by clicking on the link on the right side of the page...

You want to quit? Well, here’s $1,000 bonus.

So, here I am. My very first blog post! I hope it goes well. Drumroll please...

Internet retail giant Zappos has an amazing policy called “The Offer.” This policy is basically a tool the company uses to weed out any potential employees who aren’t 100% committed to the company. Zappos has extensive training courses for all employees that runs four weeks long. After the first week is when “The Offer” is, well, offered. An employee is given two options:

1) Stay

2) Get paid for their first week here (these trainees receive full salaries) PLUS $1,000 bonus to quit.

Yes, you get bought out to QUIT. This is definitely a unique tool to use, but also a very effective one. The company has grown exponentially the past five years, and shows no signs of stopping. This kind of growth must be, at least in some part, related to the company retaining only the best of the best (and the most loyal of the best). You can check out a full article about Zappos’ organizational culture 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

How Much Is It Worth?

So the Washington Post gave us the idea that the value of a college degree was declining: click here

But the Wall Street Journal says that if that college degree is covered with Ivy, then the value goes up, especially for the starting salaries: click here

In other news...from the Baltimore Sun word about state funds that are being used to boost the YouthWorks program: click here

And the Wall Street Journal has an article today on record jobless claims data that came out: click here

Michael Scott's Rules For Management

Amazing...I can't believe I haven't seen this before...

For those who love the Office...

From Harvard Business School: click here

Also from US News and World Report, what to do with a boss like Michael Scott (hint: career coach): click here

And USA Today has lessons from the world's greatest inept boss: 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!

Craigslist and The Rest of the List

Among the social networking and various online websites designed to attract job seekers and job posters alike, Craigslist, a website that is more well-know for selling tickets or finding apartments has become a go-to source according to the Wall Street Journal: click here

Personally, I think Craigslist has some advantages and some limitations for both job seekers and job posters, but it is an excellent site to use for posting an open position. It may not be as aesthetically pleasing as Monster or have the name of Careerbuilder or have the social networking opportunities of a Facebook or provide easy searchability like the New York Times jobs website...but with its growing audience and ease of use, it may be the place to be for Human Resource professionals and people looking for jobs in this difficult job market...

From the Boston Globe's Boston.com Monster.com Hiring Hub HR Center HR Blog (seriously, we like to give credit to the articles we post, but can they make this a little simpler?), despite a title that may seem to indicate a different subject, the New York Times admits that women don't just opt out for children: click here

Lastly, an interesting article from the Baltimore Sun on one jail's pre-professional/apprenticeship program: click here

What I’m Hearing…The Latest from Washington, D.C.

I’ll admit it. The legislative aspects of HR aren’t my favorite. But sometimes, we can’t ignore actions in our nation’s capital. In the last week, 3 items have come to the surface that impact compensation.

First, the Department of Labor is considering updating the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Portal-to-Portal Act to reflect new laws and court decisions. Items under consideration include excluding stock options from regular rate of pay calculations, tip wage credits, compensatory time off, and calculating overtime using the fluctuating workweek method. Want to voice your opinion on these changes? The public comment period runs through September 11th. Share your thoughts now!

In other news, the Paycheck Fairness Act is proposed legislation that warrants a second look. The goal of the proposed law is to end gender-based pay disparities between men and women performing comparable jobs. Experts expect the bill to soon win House approval. Of particular concern? The law would amend the Equal Pay Act to allow unlimited compensatory and punitive damages even for unintentional pay disparities. Experts do not expect the bill to fare well in the Senate. However, don’t leave pending legislation to chance. SHRM has asked its membership to urge their elected officials to vote “no” on the bill.

Lastly, there’s a new federal minimum wage - $6.55 per hour effective July 24th. Make sure your posters and payroll systems are up to date, and you don’t pay your employees below that amount!

Girls Gone Wild

A title sure to get some people's attention...

But we start off with an article from Fistful of Talent which has the author's worst interviews of all time including a story about a girl who went a little wild...and told about it: click here

Also from Fistful of Talent, an interesting article about Brett Favre wrecking a succession plan in Green Bay: click here

Next, Employee Evolution asks if it's worth it to blog about Generation Y? click here

McArthur's Rant rants about how to deal with Negative Nancies as Managers: click here

And an interesting Yahoo! Hotjobs Q&A about whether it's OK to lie on a job resume: click here

(Credit to Jim Stroud and Industry Radar for some of these fine Humpday links)

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

Declining Value of a College Degree

Think that your $160,000 private school degree is setting you light years apart from others? Think again says the Washington Post who say that the value of a college degree is declining: click here

From the RecruitingCenter Blog, an entry stating that all we really have is our reputation: click here

Eccentric Employment is a site worth checking out if you're looking to get away from the boring 9-5 (including taking care of a monkey): click here

Word from TalentSpring that and amazing 39% of employees wanted to quit if their employers blocked Facebook: click here

Lastly, the Recruiter Guy gives a list of 100 Niche Job boards: click here

What I’m Hearing…Benefits from the Economic Downturn

Listen to the news today, and you’ll undoubtedly become very nervous and / or depressed after just a few minutes. Based on the reports, it sounds like we’re headed for another Great Depression at any minute.

Taking a positive spin on things, The Omnia Group recently conducted a survey asking “What has been the best "hidden" benefit to the recent economic turndown to your business?” The results?

•Refocusing business priorities - 37%
•Reinforcing existing client relationships - 24.7%
•Finding and cutting unnecessary costs - 19.8%
•Overdue company reorganization - 8.6%
•Refinement/adding additional products and services - 6.2%
•Other - 3.7%

What can your organization do to take advantage of our current economy to come out even stronger? How about in your own department? We don’t have to take the poor economic reports as gospel. We can use them to our advantage, to excel and be ahead of our competition when times change for the better.

What I’m Hearing…Desk Rage

I’ve heard of Road Rage and ‘Roid Rage. Today I learned about “Desk Rage.”

Desk Rage happens when employees are short-tempered, insulting to others, and nasty (at best). At its worst, Desk Rage spills into workplace violence. It makes you long for the days when employee ennui was the worst you’d have to deal with.

Search on “office rage” on YouTube and 232 videos appear. Desk rage has a smaller results page, but videos are there.

Experts claim that Desk Rage will be on the rise as employees worry about the economy, gas prices, credit card debt, mortgages, and job uncertainty.

As HR professionals, more responsibility will fall to us to mitigate the Desk Rage that creeps in our workplaces. What can we do to prevent such incidents from happening? Honest communication on organizational policies, practices, and business results should help. Reminders about key parts of the benefits program, including the EAP, should also be included. Don’t forget time for fun! We all feel stressed at work sometimes. A pizza party, ice cream break, or other fun event can help to diffuse the tensions that build and make sure Desk Rage doesn’t become a commonplace part of your organization.

Update from Andrew: This is one of my "favorites" in this category...not sure if it's staged. But it's quite an amazing video regardless: click here

TXT MSG Monitoring

Fredrikson & Byron P.A. starts us off on All-Star Tuesday with an article about the employers right to monitor text messaging and e-mail being as strong as ever: click here

Following that note, Workforce Management says that Human Resources technology spending is still growing according to the recent studies of Towers Perrin and AMR Research: click here

In other news, the Staffscapes blog reports that the Federal Minimum Wage will increase July 24th: click here

The HR Capitalist talks about employees who hate employers but refer them anyways: click here

And Recruiting Trends asks if passive candidates can leverage superior job security terms: click here

More recruiting articles...

We're not ready to call it a weekend just yet...

Rosie left us a comment on the last post with two great website links: click here and here

Work blogging has everything from cyberslacking to an upgrade for the Steelworker union: click here

Recruiting Nevada gives readers a little bit of everything as well from resumes on job boards to using Google: click here

The Windmill has alternatives to salary negotiations and advice on how to get hired by the Best companies: click here

How about some tips from/for the top recruiters? click here

And, lastly (and most importantly) go to our main website at Astron Solutions and find out more about what we do and who we are: http://astronsolutions.com

Bloggerific Recruiting

Taking you around the world of HR on this Summer Friday with some great Human Resources articles/blogs, mostly having to do with recruiting (with some props given to Jim Stroud of the Recruiters Lounge--click here--where we found a bunch of these)

First we start with "Invested, innovative, brilliant: Improving the recruiting experience" blog with articles on Gen Y and Facebook among other topics: click here

Riveting Rosie also has some ideas on reaching Gen Y'ers: click here

Personnel Today has an article on Video Game developers bring in HR to help with recruiting problems: click here

The Boston Herald has new on the in demand job perk that is helping to ease commuting pains and recruit more employees: click here

HR Files has a little bit of everything: click here

Recruiting Trends does also: click here

Lastly, ESPN.com has five new trends in recruiting...for top high school football candidates: click here

Have a great weekend and we'll be giving you more and more HR recruiting resources real soon

Another “Support The ‘Stache” update

Vote!

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2008/07/08/another-support-the-stache-update/
-Andrew

Supporting NY and the 'Stache

We find it hard to disguise our love of baseball here on the Astron Blog and with both Mets and Yankees fans on the team, we decided to give some extra help to those teams. We've added on the right side of the blog, a voting widget so you can vote for whoever you want (or Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees and David Wright of the New York Mets). We're located in New York, but won't give away who we're voting for (Giambi and Wright).

Amazingly, the Yankees and the American Mustache Institute (not even remotely kidding) have endorsed Jason Giambi as the AL candidate: click here

Giambi's mustache has gotten so popular it's become an icon at the stadium: click here

And it even has it's own blog: click here

David Wright hasn't resorted to the 'Stache [yet], but we'll give him the nod, as well--for John.

It has nothing to do with HR...but we urge you to support New York...

What I’m Hearing…Apex Awards for Publication Excellence

We couldn’t keep the good news from you...

Today’s mail delivery brought us a wonderful surprise. Amid the bills and flyers was notification that our blog received a 2008 Apex Award for Publication Excellence! Thank you to our readers for contributing to our success. We’ll be sure to keep building on our past achievements to make the blog even more useful, fun, and interesting for you!

Update (from Andrew): Just wanted to post the link to the Awards List (click here) so that you can see our fearless leader, Jennifer's, name in lights (or at least in print). I would also like to extend my thanks to our readers and we hope you continue to read, pass it on to your friends, and check out all the things that Astron Solutions (click here) has to offer your company!

Summer Interns

We were all at one point (or are now...or will be) summer interns and so we know the ups and downs of the trade. You come in feeling a little nervous, but excited about the summer that lies ahead. You get to meet some people and go out to happy hours and get wined and dined at times, but you soon learn you're the bottom of the food chain. There are certain things that flow downhill and you--much like Jack and Jill--have tumbled down to the bottom. But there is solace in the fact that it's for the resume/the wallet/college credits/just for fun. But alas, for better or worse, the summer is soon over and then it's back to school. You've made some contacts and done some networking, but you realize it's not enough. You go back to school and put it on the resume and hope that some of it sticks with you the rest of life.

How about some advice on those internships?

The Boston Globe (via Boston.com, Monster.com, the Hiring Hub, the HR Center, and the HR Blog) says that if you get a Google internship, fame will follow: click here

I tried for that elusive Google internship and failed in the pursuit...but judging by the experience one of my friends is having working there now, I truly missed out...

The Wall Street Journal (via CareerJournal, and "90 Days") has some tips on making the most of your summer internship: click here

And two more articles...

Back to the Journal which has an article on going back to school for career advice: click here

And back to the Globe for some advice on how that leadership experience in Fraternities and Sororities in college looks like: click here

What I'm Hearing...Caught on Camera

At SHRM last week, we captured this interesting pose from our colleage John Sazaklis. We wonder what his expression means! Here's where you can help...let us know what he's thinking. New Yorker magazine - watch out!

What I’m Hearing…Professional Dating

On a recent flight to Chicago, I read Continental Airline’s in-flight magazine (www.continental.com/magazine). The magazine had an ad for a service called It’s Just Lunch. According to the ad, “It’s Just Lunch is the dating service designed for the busy professional.” The service matches you up with other compatible individuals with whom you meet for a low pressure lunch to see if the relationship is worth pursuing.

The ad contains several facts to build the case for needing their services. Although the referenced studies aren’t cited by name, the “facts” are as follows:

1. Americans work the longest hours among industrialized countries.
2. Half of white-collar workers log fifty or more hours a week.
3. Americans take more than 405,000,000 business trips each year.
4. 42% of Americans work more hours now than they did 5 years ago.
5. Meeting someone special can be a full-time job.

The upshot? Time is precious and it’s never coming back. Waste a few hours on a bad date and your weekend is shot.

This got me thinking. First, if people are this busy, do they genuinely have the time to invest in a meaningful relationship? Or does the name truly say it all – it’s just lunch?

Second, why are we working this much? Do we work this hard because “we’re supposed to,” or do we work this hard because our work positively contributes to our lives and well-being, as well as the lives of those we impact?

Third, when did dating become a job? Isn’t it supposed to be fun? I never considered meeting someone special to be a business.

Perhaps if we took a little more time to enjoy a positive work/life balance, dating wouldn’t be as high risk an activity as the ad makes it out to be.