HR Water Cooler

Final Post

2010-03-31T08:28:00.002-04:00

HR Water Cooler is signing off. I hope that some of my postings were helpful to my readers. I have enjoyed my "blogging experience".

I wish each one of you Godspeed!

Life Lessons

2010-03-01T19:42:00.002-05:00

Why not write down all (9) "Life Lessons" on a sheet of paper and leave it near your computer. Re-read it once every week-then the lessons will help you because you will have saved them in "the computer between your ears!"

Life Lessons

2010-02-24T19:20:00.001-05:00

10) YOU WILL FORGET ALL OF THIS.....or will you?!

2010-02-22T16:35:00.002-05:00

8) What you make of your life is your choice-you have access to all of the tools and resources that you need.

9) The answers to your challenges are available-all you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

Life Lessons

2010-02-18T20:39:00.002-05:00

7) Other people are only mirrors of you. You simply cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.....

Life Lessons

2010-02-15T16:44:00.002-05:00

5) Learning does not end. There is no part of your life that does not contain lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

6) "There" is no better than "here". When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply obtain a "there" that will look better to you than your present "here".....

Life Lessons

2010-02-11T19:16:00.002-05:00

3) There are no mistakes, only lessons. Your growth is a process of experimentation, a series of trials, errors, and occasional victories. The failed experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that work.

4) A lesson is repeated until learned. Lessons will be repeated to you in various forms until you have learned them. When you have finally learned them, you can go on to the next lesson.

More to come.....

Life Lessons

2010-02-08T20:22:00.003-05:00

1) You will receive a body. You may love it or hate it, but it will be yours for the duration of your
life on Planet Earth.

2) You will be presented with lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called "life."
Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn several lessons. You may like the
lessons or hate them.

To be continued.....

(Source: "If Life Is a game, These Are the Rules"-author Cherie Carter-Scott)

Encouraging Others

2010-02-04T19:23:00.002-05:00

They all turned around and went to help him. All nine of the contestants, including the little boy who had fallen, linked arms and crossed the finish line together. This same belief holds true in the workplace-what really matters is helping the other members of your work team win, even if it means slowing down and changing your own course.

Thanks for reading.

Encouraging Others

2010-02-01T18:01:00.002-05:00

Whether we are dealing with other people inside or outside of the workplace, we can all learn a lot from this true story:

At a Special Olympics track and field event, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, gathered at the starting line for the 100 yard dash. At the gun, they all started out, except one little boy. He stumbled on the asphalt, fell a couple of times, then stopped trying and began to cry.

The other runners heard the boy crying, slowed down, and looked back at the boy.....

Leadership

2010-01-28T15:31:00.004-05:00

For the next (5) days, make a deliberate effort to pay more attention to this "under-performing" employee. Go out of your way to find the good in this person. Compliment him/her on his/her work, make helpful suggestions, include this employee in a project that you would normally exclude him/her from participation-you get the idea.

Make sure your actions are sincere, and watch for positive results.....too bad most of you won't take on this assignment. Oh well.

Leadership

2010-01-25T16:22:00.003-05:00

Why not test the "Pygmalion Theory" for yourself? Pick a fellow employee that you "assume" does not have much unused potential. In other words, in your opinion, this person is doing about as much as he/she is capable of doing for your organization.

Now, in my next post I am going to give my readers an additional assignment-and most of you either won't even begin the assignment, much less complete it.....

Leadership

2010-01-21T17:12:00.004-05:00

Back to Rosenthal and Jacobson-does the self-fulfilling prophecy exist in the workplace? You know the answer-of course it does! As managers, we have all been guilty of the same thing-assuming a fellow employee does not have some terrific ideas that would help our company because of the following incorrect assumptions on our part- examples: 1) "She is just the receptionist; therefore, she is not very creative." 2) "He is a young guy and is new to the company; therefore, he won't have any bright ideas to make us more money." 3) "He is just a mechanic out in the plant-why ask him for his ideas about how to produce our product more efficiently?"

Give me a break-how "blind" are we?.....

Haiti

2010-01-19T08:35:00.002-05:00

I have been blogging about how leaders (teachers) can influence students behavior and performance in the classroom-this of course also applies in the workplace. And there is another type of leadership-Divine Leadership.

My wife and I are members of The United Methodist Church. Our local District is made up of 92 Churches. We gathered at a local high school yesterday to pack meals for the Haitian people. The goal was to pack 100,000 meals.

In about 5 hours, 3,000 people packed 210,000 meals!!! When Christians are inspired by Jesus Christ, our personal Lord and Savior, our accomplishments are awesome. They glorify Him. Talk about leadership!

Please consider giving money through a reputable charity to help the Haitian people. Thanks.

Leadership

2010-01-14T20:27:00.005-05:00

Rosenthal and Jacobson discovered that a self-fulfilling prophesy was at work at this school. The teachers had subtly and unconsciously encouraged the performance that they expected to see from these "special" students. The teachers spent more time with them. In addition, they were more enthusiastic about teaching these students. They also unintentionally exhibited more warmth toward them. As a result , these "special" students felt smarter and more capable than their fellow students.

Does the self-fulfilling prophecy exist in the workplace?.....

Leadership

2010-01-11T19:47:00.003-05:00

The students that Rosenthal and Jacobson randomly picked at the beginning of the school year turned out to be the same students that scored the highest on the tests that were actually scored at the end of the school year!

How could that be? What happened?

Leadership

2009-12-28T14:21:00.002-05:00

At the end of the same school year, a second intelligence test was given to the same group of students. This time the tests were actually scored by Rosenthal and Jacobson.

What do you think the results turned out to be?

Leadership

2009-12-21T13:38:00.003-05:00

Rosenthal and Jacobson randomly picked several of the students names and gave this list to the teachers-this list was not based upon the students' actual performance on the IQ tests. But the teachers did not know this-they thought these selected students were the smartest ones in their class based upon actual test results.....

Source: "Sociologists at Work"-David Newman and Rebecca Smith

Leadership

2009-12-17T16:33:00.002-05:00

Back in 1968, Dr. Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobsen published their findings regarding the self-fulfilling prophecy-"Pygmalion in the classroom". These two educators had become very concerned that teachers' expectations about lower-class and minority children were contributing to the high rates of failure among these students. They decided to test their theory-their experiment took place in a elementary school that was located in a lower-class but not impoverished community.

At the beginning of the school year, these educators administered an intelligence test to a group of students at this particular elementary school. They told the teachers that this test not only measured the students' IQ-it would also identify the students who would make rapid, above average intellectual progress during the coming school year, whether or not they were currently "good" students.

Within a few days, Rosenthal and Jacobsen gave the teachers the names of those students who, based upon the test results, could be expected to perform well in the classroom during the coming academic year.

However, there was a secret about those students' names that Rosenthal and Jacobsen deliberately kept from the teachers.....

Leadership

2009-12-14T18:02:00.002-05:00

An employee does as well as his boss thinks he can.

This can be effectively illustrated using "The Pygmalion Effect" concept.

This idea is also known as “the self-fulfilling prophecy”. When you believe that another person will perform well, in some strange, magical way he does. And similarly, when you believe he won’t perform well, he won’t.

There is enough experimental data to suggest that the self-fulfilling prophecy is in fact true.

Let's take a look at this fascinating subject and see how it applies in the workplace...

Habits-Attitudes-Beliefs-Expectations

2009-12-11T00:15:00.002-05:00

opportunityisnowhere

What did you see when you read this string of letters? Did you see "opportunity is nowhere"...or did you see "opportunity is now here." Which phrase describes your mindset as 2010 approaches-the first or the second? Let us all focus on the second phrase!

Human Resources-Employee Relations

2009-12-07T18:49:00.003-05:00

Lets say that you have an employee that works for you and quits after (8) months with your company. Many experts state that the cost of replacing that employee will be equal to his annual salary.....sound too high? I don't think so-when you add up all of the training costs that go out the door with the former employee and the costs associated with finding and training his replacement-then add the administrative costs. The $ add up quickly. If Mike starts his new employees at $10.00 an hour-that is about $20,000 a year. Think for a minute about the significant amount of money that Mike's Carwash saved when they reduced turnover by 25%.

By the way, what is your annual turnover %? When an employee leaves your company, how much $ does it cost your company to replace him?

Human Resources-Employee Relations

2009-12-03T17:53:00.002-05:00

After full implementation of this intensive management training, turnover at Mike's Carwash decreased by 25%. Next time let's see how this turnover reduction translated into more $ for Mike's. This is a textbook example of how treating employees with respect by developing their potential is not only the right thing to do-it also makes money for the employer.

Human Resources-Employee Relations

2009-11-30T14:02:00.002-05:00

Mike's Carwash pulls it off through better management of employees that in turn makes these employees more productive and less likely to leave. And where did this process start? It started with management training. Exit interviews and other resources showed that their managers needed help in the areas of applicant screening, interviewing, and hiring practices. And so Mike's Carwash started to provide intensive management training that includes follow-up training at the workplace.

And the results? Stay tuned.

Human Resources-Employee Relations

2009-11-23T08:34:00.003-05:00

"And one of the worst of those has always been car washes, jobs where, as Bruce Springsteen put it, all it ever does is rain, where workers quit as soon as they find something better."

But hold on a minute-what about Mike's Carwash, headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana? This company has more than 200 full time employees, 37 locations, and generates more than $50 million dollars in annual revenue. Annual turnover at Mike's is about 10 percent and average tenure is 8 years Half of the vacancies are filled from within. Hourly employees are provided with healthcare benefits, tuition reimbursement, paid vacation, a profit sharing plan, and a 401(k) retirement plan.

Entry level employees receive up to 90 hours of training and individualized employee-development plans to prepare them for promotion opportunities. They also receive financial education so that they can understand the company's financial statements, which are open to all employees.

So how does Mike's pull this off?! Stay tuned.....the answers may surprise you.

Human Resources-Employee Relations

2009-11-17T08:58:00.002-05:00

"Better hiring practices and employee management can make significant differences in turnover, retention and engagement--even in industries that have historically been seen as offering low-wage, high-turnover, dead-end jobs." (Source:Human Resource Executive Online)

Can all of this be true at one of the worst places to work in the United States? Stay tuned.....

Encouraging Quotes

2009-11-12T13:50:00.001-05:00

"Fall seven times, stand up eight."

Japanese Proverb

Encouraging Others

2009-11-09T17:51:00.004-05:00

John stands on a chair-Bill and Michael grab John's left arm and right arm respectively-it is easy for them to pull John off of the chair. Now, let's say that Bill decides to try to lift John back onto the chair-much harder to do-moral of this example? It is easy to pull someone down-in other words, it is easy to criticize another person, it is easy to put that individual down, it is easy to make fun of him.

It is harder to lift him up-it may take a little more effort to encourage another person, but the world is screaming for more people out there to do this "heavy lifting."

How about making a commitment to to become a RELENTLESS ENCOURAGER!

Thanks for reading. I appreciate my readers!

Habits-Attitudes-Beliefs-Expectations

2009-11-04T19:38:00.002-05:00

When you interact with your family members and your co-workers, do you act like Lee's brother or do you act like the hockey coach? Do you encourage them, do you cheer them on, or do you hold them back by telling them all of the "reasons" why they can't do something?

Habits-Attitudes-Beliefs-Expectations

2009-11-02T20:19:00.003-05:00

Every reader of my blog (including me) has a "hockey coach" in his/her life-someone who has told us what we can't do-someone who has told us that we are not smart enough to succeed in school, we are too old to go back to school, we are not qualified to accept that promotion, we are not capable of starting our own company, etc. ad nauseum. However, each of of us also has someone who, like Lee's brother, encourages us-they cheer us on, they help us study for that exam, they encourage us to go for that promotion, etc. ...so, who do we listen to? Are we listening to the right person, just like Lee did all of those years ago?

2009-10-29T20:14:00.003-04:00

The hockey coach said that Lee couldn't play hockey because Lee couldn't skate. However, Lee's brother suggested that Lee could play goalie on the hockey team-he could wear snowmobile boots that would help to stabilize Lee when he stood in front of the goal. Also, goalies by definition don't have to skate much, if at all. So Lee gave it a try.....and it worked. Lee played the position of goalie for 8 years of Junior Hockey in Canada without having to skate.

Playing hockey in spite of his cerebral palsy gave Lee the confidence to live a productive and useful life-he went on to get married and he and his wife Pat had 2 daughters. Lee traveled all over the United States to speak as an advocate for people with disabilities. He touched a lot of lives while he was among us.

But there is more.....

Habits-Attitudes-Beliefs-Expectations

2009-10-26T16:34:00.002-04:00

Lee was one of the first students in Canada with cerebral palsy that was "mainstreamed"-he attended public school along with students that were not disabled. He did his school work using a typewriter, since he could not write with a pen because his CP caused him to shake too much.

Like all Canadian boys, Lee wanted to play hockey. Hockey in Canada is as popular there as football is in the United States. But there was a problem-once again, CP prevented Lee from doing something he wanted to do-it prevented him from skating, which you have to be able to do in order to play hockey. But then Lee's older brother stepped in and changed Lee's life.....

Habits-Attitudes-Beliefs-Expectations

2009-10-22T08:46:00.002-04:00

Lee was from Canada. He died 10 years ago this month in Seattle, Washington. Lee developed a severe infection that raced through his body and killed him before the doctors could do anything about it. Lee left behind a wife and two daughters. I think about Lee often because every month I tell the following story to my students in my job search/career development training classes.

Lee had cerebral palsy. Although this disability did not cause Lee's death, it definitely presented him with challenges during his entire life."Cerebral palsy, also known as CP, is a term used to describe a group of chronic conditions affecting body movement and coordination..... It is caused by damage to one or more specific areas of the brain, usually occurring during fetal development.....faulty development or damage to motor areas in the brain disrupts the brain's ability to adequately control movement and posture." (Source-United Cerebral Palsy website)

The true story of Lee's life is one of victory and triumph in spite of his disability. It will help you examine your beliefs about yourself and about the people you work with and manage........

Habits-Attitudes-Beliefs-Expectations

2009-10-19T20:13:00.002-04:00

The workplace is made up of people that have a whole bunch of habits, attitudes, beliefs, and expectations-most of them positive. But what about the negative ones? Do these negative/bad habits, etc. "infect" your employees and your culture in unhealthy ways? Do they prevent your employees from using more of their incredible potential? Absolutely!

To illustrate my point, I want to tell you a true story about a friend of mine-Lee Bussard-from Canada.....

Employee Productivity

2009-10-16T08:30:00.002-04:00

Why did you miss seeing the 3 "Fs"? Say the word "OF" out loud-it sounds like "OV", doesn't it?
Your eyes see "OF", but your mind tells you it is "OV". Blind spots are interesting, aren't they?

Back to the other "blind spots exercise". The next time you have a managers' meeting, ask everyone to look for red cars on the way home that day. When you get together again,ask them for the results and then teach them about blind spots.

It will help your managers realize, among other facts, that they have blind spots about the potential of their own employees.

Maybe the most important thing about blind spots is knowing that we have them. Most people think they are seeing the truth-the truth is that they are only seeing part of the truth...and how much $$$$ is that fact costing your company, day after day?!

Employee Productivity

2009-10-12T16:57:00.003-04:00

Most people only see 2 or 3 "Fs" in the sentence-they are actually 6 "Fs". A lot of folks miss the "F" in the word OF-there are 3 of them. This is called a "blind spot"-just like missing the red cars. A blind spot is something right in front of you that you don't see. So.....if you miss seeing unimportant things like the red cars and 3 of the "Fs", what important information are you and your managers missing that is staring you right in the face?! Information that could make your employees more productive and your company more $!

Employee Productivity

2009-10-08T14:57:00.003-04:00

When I conduct seminars and use the "red cars exercise", I always get positive reactions from my students. One of my blog readers liked it enough to forward it to some of the employees at that reader's organization.

Time for one more exercise-read the following sentence QUICKLY, then pause-then read it one more time and QUICKLY count how many times you see the letter "F" in the sentence:

"FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF MANY YEARS."

How many letter "F"s did you see?

Employee Productivity

2009-10-05T20:16:00.002-04:00

Are your managers being as productive as they could be? Probably not. That is the bad news-the good news is that you can easily teach them to be more productive, to use more of their potential. Here is a fun exercise for you to try on the way home from work tonight that will help you understand my point: as you drive home, count the number of red cars you see, then write that number down on a piece of paper. Now, if I had NOT told you to look for red cars on the way home, would you have seen them? The answer is-No. However, would the red cars have been there? Yes! You didn't see them because you had not set a goal to look for them-you were "blind" to the existence of the red cars. So..... if you did not see the red cars, what really important pieces of information are you not seeing? More next time...

Quotes

2009-10-01T09:13:00.002-04:00

Continued from Monday's post:"Everybody thought anybody could do it, but nobody realized that everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that everybody blamed somebody when nobody did what anybody could have done!"

Quotes

2009-09-28T16:35:00.002-04:00

"This is a story about four people named everybody, somebody, anybody, and nobody. There was an important job to be done and everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure that somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but nobody did it. Somebody got angry with that, because it was everybody's job.".....to be continued.

HR Humor

2009-09-10T08:51:00.003-04:00

A bit more humor before we return to "serious topics":

Actual questions that candidates asked during interviews:

"What is your company's policy on Monday absences?"

"If I get an offer, how long do I have before I have to take a drug test?"

"When you do background checks on candidates, do things like public drunkenness arrests come up?"

Source: CareerBuilder.com

HR Humor

2009-09-08T08:30:00.003-04:00

OK-most of us are back to work after (3) days off, so it is time for some humor to start the week off on a positive note:

Actual responses to questions asked during job interviews:

"Why should we hire you?"....."I would be a great asset to the events team because I party all the time."

"Do you have any questions?"....."Cross-dressing isn't a problem is it?"

"What are your weaknesses?"....."I get angry easily and I went to jail for domestic violence. But I won't get mad at you."

Source: CareerBuilder.com

Change

2009-09-03T21:49:00.002-04:00

It has been estimated that 4 exabytes (4.0 x 10 ^19) of unique information will be generated during 2009.

That is more than the previous 5,000 years!

Change

2009-08-31T15:00:00.002-04:00

Worldwide, there were only 1,000 Internet devices in 1984.

There were 1,000,000 Internet devices in 1992.

Whoa!!! - there were 1,000,000,000 Internet devices in 2008.

Change

2009-08-27T08:27:00.003-04:00

Number of Years it took to reach a market audience of 50 million people:

Radio- 38 years
Television- 13 years
Internet- 4 years
iPod- 3 years
Facebook- 2 years

Change keeps happening-at a faster and faster clip-.....so, what will your workplace look like in (12) months?! Are you preparing for change?

Change

2009-08-24T16:29:00.002-04:00

During 2006, there were 2.7 billion searches conducted each month using Google.

Currently, there are 31 billion searches conducted each month using Google.

The first commercial text message was sent in December of 1992.

Today over 6 billion text messages are sent/received each month.

Leadership

2009-08-13T08:40:00.002-04:00

10) Encourages feedback-an effective leader welcomes opinions and constructive criticism from his management team and other co-workers. He should keep his ego in check by realizing that he does not have all of the answers. He will make mistakes, and he needs to have thick enough skin to listen to advice from others. He is paid to make tough decisions.....with good information that is sometimes provided by others.

Leadership

2009-08-10T17:39:00.002-04:00

9) Ethical-there has never been a time in our nation's history when this leadership trait has been more important. It is great to see how employees respond in positive ways to a leader who they admire because of his/her principle-based leadership. In spite of all of the leaders who fail us in this area, there are many who do not fail us...and thus inspire us.

Leadership

2009-08-06T10:25:00.004-04:00

8) Decisive-a good leader is pro-active. As soon as he has enough information, he makes a decision. It is important to note that the leader may not have 100% of the information available-however, he has the confidence to act without waiting to receive every single bit of data. He knows that if he waits, it may be too late to produce a successful outcome.

Leadership

2009-08-03T20:11:00.003-04:00

7) Likeable-employees are more willing to follow someone they like and respect than someone they loathe and fear. (Some readers may disagree, but in my career I have found this to be true). An employee is motivated to be productive in order to please someone that will show his/her appreciation to that employee for a job well done. Nice guys ( and gals) do often finish first, not last.

Leadership

2009-07-30T17:37:00.003-04:00

6) Persuasive-an effective leader does not have to be a salesperson to be able to "rally the troops" regarding the company's mission and goals. And he/she does not have to intimidate employees either. The leader can persuade, rather coerce. People will follow someone that they trust, and a good leader gains that trust by using logic, reason, and..... speaking from his/her heart.

Leadership

2009-07-27T16:11:00.003-04:00

4) Tactical-effective leaders pay constant attention to their companies' financial results. They also make sure that their financial staff members are doing the same and are providing sound advice regarding their companies' P&L and balance sheets.

5) Focused- good leaders set priorities based upon the vision and mission of their organizations and the organizations' current position/performance in the industries in which they operate. Successful leaders stick with these priorities until they are done-they avoid getting sidetracked by new initiatives.

Leadership

2009-07-23T09:01:00.003-04:00

3) Strategic-successful leaders focus on conducting a "SWOT" analysis"*. This acronym stands for "strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats". Once each of these is identified, the leader should make sure that the organization thoroughly analyses each one and formulates a detailed plan to capitalize on the strengths and opportunities, and deal effectively with any weaknesses and threats.

*Society for Human Resource Management

Leadership

2009-07-20T20:58:00.003-04:00

Effective leaders need to be passionate about the company's vision, and they should demonstrate this enthusiasm whenever they have the chance. Their enthusiasm should extend to employees, suppliers, customers, the board of directors, and investors. Leaders should demonstrate their commitment to the vision through their words and their actions.....and this should be an on-going commitment, not just for the first 30 days after the vision is established.

Leadership

2009-07-16T16:24:00.005-04:00

2) Inspirational-once the company's vision is established, effective leaders need to inspire employees regarding the vision. Now we have all heard what I just wrote many times before (this is not "brain surgery"). The problem is that once the vision is written down and finalized for all to read, many leaders are not passionate enough about the vision and quickly abandon any sincere attempt to "motivate the troops" about the company's vision. These particular leaders think....."OK, we have done the "vision thing", now let's move on to something else.....WRONG DECISION!.....more next time.....

The source for some of this material is an article by William S. Frank.

Leadership

2009-07-13T14:31:00.004-04:00

What is a good description of a successful, effective 21st century leader? Over the next several posts, we will briefly review (10) traits that a successful leader should possess:

1) Visionary-good leaders create a vision with the help of many employees from their
organization. To create a vision that motivates your team, you need lots of ideas... so don't try to
do it all by yourself. This is important to remember-people tend to support what they help to
create.

Leadership

2009-07-02T09:03:00.002-04:00

Thanks go out to one of my readers for his/her comments concerning my last post: "If I worked at Avon I believe this would be a great approach. But I don't-the more an employer gives today's new generation of workers the more they want for nothing. When the US produced we were a world power. Today's leaders print money, go deeper in debt and tell us to do the exact opposite. Leaders need to lead and be an example. Not wimp out to the wishes of those that work for them."

So, let us talk some more about what a 21st century leader should be doing in these difficult economic times, whether they work in the private sector or in the public sector.....

(Comments from my readers regarding this important subject are welcomed and encouraged).

Thanks for reading. Have a safe and enjoyable 4th of July weekend!

And please take a moment to remember those who fought and died to preserve our freedom. During World War II alone, 250,000 brave US soldiers, sailors, and pilots died fighting for our freedom.

Leadership

2009-06-30T08:16:00.002-04:00

"In difficult times, communication is key to maintaining employee morale."

"Leaders must reinvent themselves regularly. Fire yourself on Friday and come in on Monday as if it were Day 1."

"Prepare for a fundamental shift in consumer spending, and an economy that may not grow for years."

Advice from Andrea Jung, CEO, Avon Products

Change

2009-06-25T08:49:00.002-04:00

In the United States, the top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004.

The US Department of Labor estimates that today's student will have 10-14 jobs by the time they reach 38 years old.

1 in 4 workers in the United States have been with their employer for less than a year.

Change

2009-06-22T16:43:00.003-04:00

"If you always do what you have always did, you will always get what you have always got."

Jackie "Moms" Mabley, American Comedian

Encouraging Quotes for Tough Times

2009-06-18T08:04:00.002-04:00

How many times have we witnessed people (and ourselves) facing challenges who" throw up their hands" and decide to do nothing. It happens all of the time-whether it is the challenge of losing weight, starting and continuing an exercise program, dealing with a difficult child, or for that matter dealing with a difficult employee. We do nothing and that guarantees that nothing will change, nothing good will happen.

Yet..... we have all seen people who HAVE tried over and over again to solve a problem, and they continue to fail. However, sometimes the door finally opens...and it opens because they/you kept knocking.

Thanks for reading.

Encouraging Quotes for Tough Times

2009-06-15T17:44:00.002-04:00

"People who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who do nothing and
succeed."
Anonymous

Why is this true?.....

HR Humor-The Baloonist-Part 2

2009-06-11T14:27:00.003-04:00

"Well," said the woman, "You don't know where you are or where you are going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."

Need I say more?

HR Humor

2009-06-09T13:48:00.003-04:00

A man in a hot air balloon realized that he was lost. He reduced his altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help? I promised a friend that I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The woman below replied, "You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude." "You must be an engineer," said the balloonist. "I am," replied the woman. "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "Everything you have told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost. Frankly, you have not been much help so far."

The woman below responded, "You must be in management." "I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

Stay tuned..... :0)

Employee Recognition

2009-06-04T20:10:00.002-04:00

The CEO of Advance Auto Parts recently gave away his $3,000,000 bonus to employees who had been nominated for superior job performance. Talk about employee recognition!

Recession Fatigue

2009-06-01T21:33:00.002-04:00

"What positive effects has the recession had on your job? Seventy-seven percent of workers said that the recession has had at least one positive effect on their jobs. Top effects:

New projects-53%

More responsibility-52%

More challenging work-52%

More interactions with management-44%"

Note:Multiple responses allowed
Source:Accountemps poll of 457 workers 18 and older as shown in USA TODAY

So it takes a recession to get managers to interact more with their employees####?!

Employee Recognition

2009-05-28T15:14:00.003-04:00

Ninety (90) percent of US companies have formal recognition programs. And in spite of the recession, 9 out of 10 of them will keep these programs in place during 2009. The cost of not recognizing your employees can be quite high. One example of this is turnover. A recent survey revealed that if employees are not shown appreciation on a regular basis, 81 percent will seriously consider looking for another job, compared to only 25 percent of employees who are complimented on a consistent basis.*

*(Source for statistical information: Recent article in the Blue Ridge Business Journal)

Employee Recognition

2009-05-26T09:16:00.004-04:00

Recession or no recession, if employees believe that they are not being treated fairly, they will be unhappy with their current employer. The top (3) reasons cited by employees who were looking for other jobs were 1) not being paid enough 2) lack of career development opportunities 3) insufficient recognition.*

*(Source for statistics: recent article in the Blue Ridge Business Journal)

Employee Recognition

2009-05-14T14:47:00.003-04:00

The economy will turn around-we just don't know when that will happen. So....in the meantime, how do your current employees feel about working for your company? A recent survey stated that over 50% of workers under 35 have "neutral" loyalty to their current employer. Even with the national unemployment rate close to 9%, a recent salary.com survey found that 65 percent of employees were looking for other jobs.* Huh?! What kind of sense does that make?!.....

*(Statistics come from recent article in Blue Ridge Business Journal).

Employee Recognition

2009-05-11T15:38:00.002-04:00

According to the US Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, over the next several years employers in the United States will face significant shortages in positions that require college-level training. As an example, information technology talent shortfalls are predicted to be as high as 20 percent by 2010. *

Based on our current economic situation, these statistics are hard to believe...or are they? Stay tuned.

*Source: Article in Blue Ridge Business Journal

Recession Fatigue

2009-05-07T10:01:00.002-04:00

If one of your employees asks a question during the group meetings that leadership can't answer, make sure that someone follows up with that employee with an answer after the meeting. This builds trust among your employees. If an employee seems distressed during the meeting, spend some time with that employee after the meeting. Maybe he/she just needs some individual attention to talk about the future of your organization.

Recession Fatigue

2009-05-04T20:43:00.003-04:00

If you normally do not have regularly scheduled group meetings with your employees, start them now. Strongly encourage your CEO/President/General Manager/Whatever his or her title is to talk openly and honestly with your employees during these meetings. Tell them "the good, the bad, and the ugly" about your sales volume, current backlog of orders, the general state of your particular industry, etc. Respect your employees enough to know that they can successfully handle good news as well as bad news.

Recession Fatigue

2009-04-30T13:20:00.002-04:00

There has never been a better time to "spend more time with the troops." Leaders and human resource professionals need to walk away from their laptops, turn off their cell phones, BlackBerries and other mobile devices and talk with their employees. What is more important-Facebook, Twitter, and ESPN or the mental health of your employees? Talk to some human beings face-to-face for a change.

Recession Fatigue

2009-04-27T13:26:00.002-04:00

"Recession fatigue" is a term being used by the media these days. It certainly describes how a lot of us feel. How do we combat it? How do we "rest up"? Stay tuned for some ideas.....

Change

2009-04-23T13:27:00.003-04:00

Soon after the teenagers arrived at the airport and began walking through the terminal, all of them became extremely agitated and upset. Instead of seeing the airport on television, actually being there with all of the people, the noise of the airplanes, and all of the other activities totally "freaked them out". The tour group had to leave the airport immediately.

I've never forgotten this story because it is a powerful and memorable example of how upsetting change can be to some folks.....that is, if they are not prepared for the change.

How well do you prepare your employees for change?

Thanks for reading.

Change

2009-04-20T17:14:00.002-04:00

A group of "inner city teenagers" from Chicago were taken on a field trip to O'Hare International Airport. They had seen airports on television-however, they had never actually been in an airport. After a short time at O'Hare, the adult chaperons had to dramatically change their schedule.

What happened? Stay tuned.....

Change

2009-04-16T08:44:00.002-04:00

The President talked a lot about the need for change during his campaign. There is much debate about whether the changes we are seeing take place in Washington are good or bad, or some of both.

In the private sector, positive, constructive change can be hard to achieve-companies struggle with enacting and managing change all of the time-however, ignoring the need to change is not an option for organizations these days.

Stay tuned for a true story that shows how powerful change can be.

Employee Productivity

2009-04-13T16:31:00.002-04:00

Does your company have a mission statement? If it does, have your supervisors taken the time to discuss it with their direct reports in order to show them how their work serves the company's mission?

Employee Productivity

2009-04-09T08:48:00.002-04:00

Do the supervisors at your company take the time to encourage their direct reports' professional development? Employees tend to produce more when they know that their supervisors want them to be able to use more of their potential.

HR Humor-Real Resume Quotes

2009-04-02T13:34:00.004-04:00

"It's best for employer that I not work with people."

"I have become completely paranoid, trusting completely no one and absolutely nothing."

"Reason for leaving last job:They insisted that all employees get to work by 8:45 am every
morning. I couldn't work under those conditions."

Source: Fortune Magazine

Encouraging Quotes

2009-03-31T08:34:00.002-04:00

"When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place."

Author Unknown

Human Resources-Employee Relations

2009-03-26T08:37:00.002-04:00

How well do you know the individuals that work for you? Some of them are not interested in sharing any of their personal lives with you.....but some do want to share. Spend some time with the second group-learn about their families, hobbies, etc. And don't do this in a manipulative way-get to know them better because you really are interested in them as individual human beings.

HR Humor

2009-03-19T14:18:00.002-04:00

"HR Speak":

Profit-Sharing Plan-"Once it's shared between the higher ups, there won't be a profit."

Competitive Salary-"We remain competitive by paying less than our competitors."

Self Motivated-"Management won't answer questions."

Source: The Freeman Institute

Low Cost Ways to Motivate Your Employees

2009-03-16T14:22:00.003-04:00

The news media is overwhelming us with "doom and gloom". (As my wife says, they are really at it). We can successfully counteract this in the workplace . One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is in meetings. If you conduct a weekly staff meeting, start out the with something positive-it can be professional or personal i.e. "we just landed a new account, John's son made Eagle Scout, Marshall is a new grandfather". And finish the meeting on a positive note too. What have you got to lose by trying this approach? The results may surprise you.

Thanks for reading.

Low Cost Ways to Motivate Your Employees

2009-03-12T15:18:00.002-04:00

Invite a local speaker to present to your employees on useful and timely subjects such as better personal financial management, improving family relationships, or successfully managing stress. This is an effective way to show your employees that you really care about each of them as individuals.

Low Cost Ways to Motivate Your Employees

2009-03-09T21:11:00.002-04:00

Include a thank-you note in an employee's paycheck highlighting something great the employee did during the prior week. Make this an on-going, weekly habit-"spread the appreciation around" to other employees.

Employees love to be recognized!!!

Low Cost Ways to Motivate Your Employees

2009-03-05T21:35:00.002-05:00

You are a manager at your organization, and you have employees who are doing extra work because of a recent "reduction-in-force" ("RIF"). Offer to help one of them who is under pressure to meet a deadline. Stuff envelopes, answer the phone, match up accounts payable invoices with corresponding back-up-whatever it takes to show her and others that you've "got their back."

Employee Productivity

2009-03-02T16:25:00.003-05:00

Do each of your employees really understand what all of their job responsibilities entail? Could some of your employees be doing more, especially if you have downsized recently? What exactly motivates your employees to do more? Stay tuned.....

HR Humor

2009-02-26T18:15:00.003-05:00

Since we are in a recession, resumes are pouring into e-mail "Inboxes". Think twice before hiring anyone who puts statements such as the following on their resumes:

" Wholly responsible for two (2) failed financial institutions."

"Am a perfectionist and rarely if if ever forget details."

"Note: Please don't misconstrue my 14 jobs as 'job-hopping'. I have never quit a job."

"References: none. I've left a path of destruction behind me."

Source:The Freeman Institute

HR Humor

2009-02-23T15:51:00.002-05:00

"Put several prospective employees into a room with only a table and two chairs. Leave them
without any instruction and check back on them in two hours:

The ones that are sleeping.... they are management material.
The ones that do not notice when you walk in.... place them in security.
The ones that have left early.... put them in sales.
And the ones that are talking to the chairs.... assign them to human resources."

Source:The Freeman Institute

Leadership

2009-02-19T08:43:00.003-05:00

"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it." Theodore Roosevelt

Encouraging Quotes

2009-02-17T08:03:00.002-05:00

"It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words:"And this, too, shall pass away."" Abraham Lincoln

Human Resources-Employee Relations

2009-02-13T08:07:00.002-05:00

If there was ever a critical time to consistently communicate with your employees and to offer them on-going encouragement, that time is now. Please get up from your desk, find a fellow employee who needs to hear some positive words, and speak those words to that person.

Encouraging Quotes

2009-02-11T09:10:00.001-05:00

"What worries you masters you." Haddon W. Robinson

Quotes

2009-02-05T17:53:00.002-05:00

"Reflect on your present blessings, of which every man has many, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some." Charles Dickens

Coming soon...great info. to use for the purpose of engaging, motivating, and recognizing your employees

The Economy

2009-02-03T11:29:00.002-05:00

OK, time for me to get on my soapbox- humor me.

Please write to your (2) US Senators TODAY and tell them-do not, do not, do not vote for the $850 billion dollar stimulus bill until ALL of the "pork" is removed. We need funding for legitimate projects that will create jobs. We also need tax cuts that will encourage the private sector to invest in capital equipment and buildings for their companies that will create jobs.

Free enterprise is the only way out of this recession, NOT reckless, stupid, irresponsible government spending!!!

Thanks for reading.

Quotes

2009-01-29T15:41:00.002-05:00

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times;it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness;it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity;it was the season of Light, it was the season of darkness;it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair;we had everything before us, we had nothing before us;we were all going to Heaven, we were all going the other way." Charles Dickens

When I think of life in the United States inside and outside of the workplace in early 2009, this quote often pops into my head.

Change

2008-12-30T09:08:00.002-05:00

Something to ponder as we approach 2009:

Do you know what the definition of insanity is? It is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results!

Happy New year to all of my readers. I wish each of you Godspeed during 2009.

Attitudes in the Workplace

2008-12-16T07:47:00.002-05:00

Considering the challenges we are facing these days, this is a good quote to remember:

"Things work out best for those who make the best out of the way things work out". (Author Unknown)

Performance Reviews

2008-12-12T08:13:00.002-05:00

As a manager, do everything you can to make the performance review a positive, constructive experience for your employees. Remember, if you dread conducting the reviews, your employees will dread being reviewed. A properly conducted performance review can make your employees feel valued, and thus more productive.

Thanks for reading.