The End of "The Wall Street Underdog" and a Happy New Year

There are great stories in the business world of people who overcame adversity and worked their way into great positions of power. Bill Gates and his college record, the Google founders starting in a garage, and many other stories fill people's hopes and dreams as they yearn to do great things in the business world. Nowhere was this more true than in the financial world where, despite the appearance of needing a certain pedigree, people have always emerged from various socioeconomic levels and circumstances to become titans of the industry.

That seems like it will soon be changing according to Business Insider (H/T Wendy). A string of incidents in which hard-working back-office employees were promoted to traders, and alter committed fraud have had some financial institutions second-guessing decisions to promote just anyone to positions of power. But Business Insider cautions what I would caution all financial institutions:

This is not to say that all back-office employees have intentions to defraud their employers.  However, employers need to do whatever it takes to reduce this risk.  Many include criminal background checks.  Some employers even require credit checks, as poor credit is sometimes associated with those likely to commit white collar crime.

This certainly will stop certain people in the population from getting positions of power at certain organizations and it may seem intrusive to some, but the truth of the matter is that in lieu of just rejecting anyone who doesn't come from Harvard or Yale, these types of measures will allow banks to feel more secure with handing over the keys to those they may have worried about otherwise.
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I wanted to take this opportunity to wish a very Happy New Year (a Shana Tova) to all our Jewish readers who will be celebrating this weekend. To our readers of all religions, we hope you have a very prosperous and happy new year.

Astronology - The ROI of Employee Engagement

Astronology Volume XII Issue 13 September 20, 2011 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.   Astron Road Show Summer is winding down, but the Astron Road Show is still going non-stop!  Our team will be on the road quite a bit this Fall.  Where will we see you in the next two weeks?   Our first stop this fall finds National Director Jennifer Loftus presenting at the 2011 Cement Employers Association Annual Meeting.  Jennifer will present twice: 2011 CEA Compensation Survey Overview and Compensation and Benefit Trends for 2012.  The meeting will be held September 19 - 22 in Scottsdale, AZ.   Next up on the Road Show is the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) Human Resources Seminar, October 4 - 6 in St. Petersburg, FL.  Jennifer will be participating in the seminar's new Ask the Expert feature!   We look forward to seeing you on the road!       The ROI of Employee Engagement Over the years there have been recent talks on how to keep employees engaged. The engagement challenge is especially pertinent in this economy, where organizations are feeling pressure to keep their talented employees.  Consumers still expect the best from the organizations they patronize, and the only way to produce such results is with talented employees. An employee's attitude about the organization shows in his / her productivity and quality of work. In order to keep such employees stimulated, organizations have to keep their employees engaged..... 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 2011, 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

 

Astronology - Preserving the Dignity of our Workforce

Astronology Volume XII Issue 12 September 6, 2011 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.   Labor Day Astron Solutions hopes that you had a fun and relaxing Labor Day weekend, and a great end to your summer.     Fact or Fiction? Scholars found the 2009 economic downturn worse than the 1930's Great Depression.   FACT!   According to a PBS segment, "Measurements and Myths of the Great Depression" Ben Wattenberg mentioned that the 2009 economic downturn  was particularly frightful because "debt in 2009 includes not only stocks but also millions of homes, property, local governments, and entire nations. Also, in contrast to the 1930s, the U.S. is now a debtor nation and more households in the U.S. are in far greater debt."      Preserving the Dignity of our Workforce By Richard L. Virgilio, SPHR We Americans celebrate Labor Day each September as a reminder of how those who toil daily are important to their families and to the country.  I might offer to you that the first Monday in September is also Employers' Day, for without employers, there are no employees.  We in the human resource profession find ourselves in a no-man's land as both an advocate for our employees and an instrument of our employers..... 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 2011, 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

 

Missing Work Because of Hurricane Irene

New York City is shutdown. Subways, buses, commuter trains, and many bridges and tunnels are all not open for business. Because of this, many businesses are the same, closing their doors yesterday and today in anticipation of the storm so they can get their employees back to their families. But some businesses will stay open today and tomorrow and according to Employment Matters, their employees are therefore responsible to come in:

If you decide to stay open for business, whether on Sunday when New York and Massachusetts expect Hurricane Irene (or some other significant tropical storm) to hit, and/or on Monday, when most will be surveying the damage, you may lawfully deduct a full-day’s absence from the salary of any exempt employee for each day he or she chooses not to show up to work, even if the conditions make it physically impossible to come in. However, if the employee works for some of the day, then you cannot make any deduction to his or her salary for that day. At the same time, if you have the appropriate leave policy in place, you can require your employees to utilize their paid vacation or other leave to account for the absence from work. 

But if you decide to close?

Astronology - New Approaches for Annual Pay Raises

Astronology Volume XII Issue 11 August 23, 2011 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 word Karaoke is a loanword from Japan. FACT!   The work Karaoke is a Japanese word literally meaning Empty Orchestra.  Grab your mic and sing your heart out without an orchestra!   Has your organization held a Karaoke event as a fun team-building activity or reward for a job well done?  We'd love to hear your story - and about your favorite Karaoke songs!      New Approaches for Annual Pay Raises Although the economy is somewhat better, for some organizations and small businesses the idea of providing a low or no pay raise is a daunting one. Organizations are caught between trying to keep their best employees and the fact that the organization may not be able to give employees exactly what they would like to. What are some low cost solutions to this broad issue?.... 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 2011, 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

 

When Sports and HR Meet

I read a lot of articles about sports and I'm always interested when sports and human resources meet. Well that happened today as I was reading a baseball notebook in the Boston Globe:

"Jim Crane, prospective Astros buyer - Major league owners are wading through a lot of personal stuff on Crane before approving him. And he has some baggage, including complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission because of his position on hiring blacks, Hispanics, and women. He paid $9 million in damages to workers at his Eagle USA Airfreight company in part over remarks he made to an associate to the effect that you should never hire blacks because you can’t fire them. He was also involved in a very messy divorce. So this is not a slam dunk."

The gory details can be found in this 2000 piece from the Houston Chronicle. That's not even it on Crane as Forbes continues, describing breaches of fiduciary agreements and profiteering from the war in Iraq (!?!).

People like Crane are why Major League Baseball and other organizations should vet their executives and other potential employees before hiring them. It actually seems like Crane will be allowed to buy the Astros despite all of this turmoil surrounding his name--but the problem is that once he's in, you can't fire him because he actually is an owner. That may be the biggest issue of all for Major League Baseball should some of the issues re-arise.

Revisiting An Old Story

Back in October of 2009, we linked to a New York Times article about twin girls who were struggling to make it in a tough New York job world. It was an interesting article and I commented at the time that it wasn't unlike stories of people that I knew...

...well--funny story--it ends up I do know the twins. We play in the same softball league together. Last night, while celebrating my softball championship win (woo!) with some members of the other team, one of our team members heard the story about these same twin girls who got written about in the New York Times.

And we got an update on the status of the twins: they now both write for ESPN.com about alternative sports. So while the job market is bad--and really bad for those in that 21-29 range trying to find traction in their post-college years--it sometimes perks up and people who seemed lost in the recession find jobs.

Astronology - 6 Months on Capitol Hill

Astronology Volume XII Issue 10 August 9, 2011 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? Capitol Hill contains a tomb where our first president, George Washington, is buried.   Fiction!   Although there is a tomb area in the US Capitol, our first president was not buried there.  His will expressed his desire to be buried at his home, Mount Vernon.    6 Months on Capitol Hill Every year Astronology examines legislation coming from Capitol Hill, and how these changes influence Human Resource practices. Two major developments in the first half of 2011 affecting Human Resources are the possible adjustments to Healthcare reform, such as the CLASS Act, and the Legal Workforce Act of 2011.  What challenges should we expect as a result of these pieces of legislation?.... 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 2011, 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

An Odd Way to Increase Productivity

It's not often that we find an article for this blog from Gawker, but we were forwarded this article with the title "Your Angry, Sarcastic Boss Is Actually Helping Your Productivity". I had to say I was at least a little bit intrigued.

Well the article wasn't exactly by Gawker, it was quoting an interesting article in the Journal of Applied Psychology. It showed that people who were exposed to anger and sarcasm worked harder and smarter than people in a neutral environment:

"The test was done with engineering students who all listened to an interaction between a customer and a customer service rep. Those who listened to the calls where the customer was angry ended up working harder and faster on a subsequent problem than their peers who listened to a nice call. Those who listened to a sarcastic interaction worked as hard and quickly as those exposed to anger, but also had more accurate and creative results."

It's an interesting conclusion, but there are not many lessons that can be learned here. You don't want your managers being angry or sarcastic--even if it does help productivity. One thing it does prove though, is that just because a group is productive, it doesn't mean their manager isn't a jerk to work for.

Astronology - 2011 SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition Recap

Astronology Volume XII Issue 9 July 26, 2011 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.   Astron Solutions Awarded Contract with Premier, Inc. Last month, Premier, Inc. awarded Astron Solutions a three-year contract to provide our consulting services and Flare™ modules at discounted rates to Premier members.  Premier is the leading purchasing group for healthcare organizations in the United States and Puerto Rico.  "The entire Astron team is excited and honored by this development.  Partnering with Premier confirms our commitment to the healthcare market," stated National Director Michael Maciekowich.    We will be sending out more information regarding the Premier arrangement shortly.  Please stay tuned to learn how you may benefit from this new arrangement!....more      Astron Solutions Wins 2011 Apex Awards Astron Solutions was recently honored with three Apex Awards for Publication Excellence.  Our blog, Welcome to the World of HR, and our corporate website, www.astronsolutions.net, received honors for 2011.  In addition, our recruitment website, www.astronsolutions.jobs, won a Grand Award, the highest level of recognition, in the for profit small office website category.  Congratulations to Director Brendan Williams and Blogmaster Andrew Katz for their hard work and creativity!     Employee Promotions Astron Solutions team members Brendan Williams and John Sazaklis were recently promoted to Director.  "We are thrilled to have both John and Brendan as long-standing members of our team, and are glad to recognize their hard work and efforts with these promotions," stated National Director Jennifer Loftus.  Congratulations, Brendan and John!     2011 SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition Recap It was hot hot hot in Las Vegas last month, as thousands of HR professionals from around the globe gathered for the SHRM 2011 Annual Conference and Exposition. Although temperatures were at or above 100 degrees each day, the weather wasn't the only hot topic of conversation.  The conference provided four outstanding days of continuous learning experiences and good times.... 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 2011, 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

 

Maybe You Should Quit Your Job

I hope you had a great weekend. We start you off on this Monday with an article from the Ottawa Citizen which says that you should probably quit your job. Once in a while, frustrated people at their jobs finally boil over the edge and decide they need to quit to do something else. According to the article "This happened to Kai Nagata [two weeks ago]. Kai was a Canadian TV reporter who suddenly resigned because he realized he could be doing more if he was doing something else. In his words: 'I quit my job because the idea burrowed into my mind that, on the long list of things I could be doing, television news is not the best use of my short life.'" Kai's story resonated with many people and this was picked up by media outlets outside of Canada.

Sometimes, though, it is better to find ways to make the job you are currently in better, or more fulfilling. Doing charity work outside of the work day (or with your fellow co-workers), can make you feel like you're giving back a bit more. Speak to your manager or your human resources representative and see if you can find something that works with your work schedule whether that is tutoring or mentoring local kids, doing Habitat for Humanities, or just helping clean up a neighborhood area which has gotten overrun. Sometimes the things you most want to do with your life, you can fit into your work-life as well. Then you don't have to be like Kai and quit.

Beat the Heat and Don't Take a Counter-Offer

If you live in in the Northeast and haven't yet been outside today, I'm going to preempt the weatherman and tell you it's hot...like REALLY hot. Like "wow" hot. And the stock market isn't even open yet. That's how you know it's going to be a hot day. If you are at work today, try some things to stay away from going outside such as getting a group of co-workers together and ordering food delivered or maybe waiting until the end of the day to run all your outdoor errands if they can wait. You need to find ways to beat this heat.

Today's article is a really interesting one from Forbes which says that if you receive a counter-offer from a company you're about to leave, turn it down. Of course, not every counter-offer is a bad one (although the author seems to have a lot of bad experiences with them), but the premise is correct: don't try to overreach in your job and if you already planned to leave a company, it's probably a sign that you should continue to do so. Playing one company against another can really harm your reputation and even get you blacklisted from some hiring firms. Not worth the trouble. Instead, the author suggestions, have a conversation with your boss and express your frustrations--before you accept another offer. As he says:

"Down the road, such a conversation will be far more valuable if you choose not to force your boss into a buyback offer. You will retain your reputation for honesty, and, in my experience, this will serves you far better than a single raise or promotion ever could."

That's some good advice on a very, very hot day here in New York