Human Resources

July 31, 2013 by Amy Shanks Leave a Comment

QUITTING YOUR JOB WITH STYLE

Quitters never win and winners never quit – Hmm not exactly, but quitting your job is one of the most difficult life decisions you ever make and should involve a great deal of soul searching and planning.

BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO

The next best thing to quitting your job is fantasying about quitting your job. I have never met anyone who at some point in his or her career has not quit a job or explored the possibilities of doing so – not surprising since our business is the task of finding and attracting the top talent to our clients. If everyone was perfectly satisfied with their job, we wouldn’t have one!

Some tips before making this hugely important decision: Make sure it is really what you want to do. Weigh the options of a new job (and we absolutely recommend you have one before you quit), with your current one. Warning: if you have no new job on the horizon, you will mostly likely have a lengthier search. It is true that is easier to find a job when you have one. Consider flexibility, salary and benefits, responsibilities, opportunities to advance and not just salary when evaluating a new opportunity.

Once you have made sure that resigning from your job is really what you want to do, do it the right way with class and professionalism. Sure part of the job leaving fantasy involves telling off an obnoxious boss, going for the dramatic exit (You won’t have me to kick around anymore you arrogant, incompetent, airhead, bastard/biddy, bonehead, ding dong, jerk, zilch, zero, windbag. Oh man, the names you could use but DON’T DO IT.

Getting it off your chest feels so good in your fantasy, but again, DON’T DO IT. Have the fun of thinking it, and then consider the necessary steps to leaving your current job in a professional manner that will insure you receive a positive recommendation and leave bosses and coworkers alike thinking you are a “class act.”

Todd Defren, CEO of SHIFT Communications writes an open letter to workers who are planning to quit a job. Defren thinks that a graceful exit from the workplace is a lost art, particularly among millennials. His suggestions include making a plan to be positive. Try to put yourself in your employer’s shoes when choosing timing. Give appropriate notice. For most positions a two week notice is customary. The only exception to that typical two week notice would be for those leaving C-level positions or those where a longer expectation for separation is spelled out in the employment contract. A hasty departure can be seen as a lack of integrity and it can come back to haunt you. Do not spend your last days on the job complaining. Leave a full account of your projects with a memo of “to dos.” Lastly, Defren recommends that a person stay in touch –really. Consider your soon to be previous boss to be part of an extended professional network. Remember that your last impression can be as important as your first.

Consider the necessary steps to leaving your current job the right way. In addition to offering appropriate notice, for your position and write a formal resignation letter. About Dot Com has a good resource with advice and sample resignation letters. Remember to not say too much and to emphasize the positive as well as your gratitude for the opportunity and how the company benefitted you. Depending on your situation, you can offer to help during the transition caused by your resignation.

BEFORE YOU PUT ANY OF THE RESIGNATION STEPS INTO MOTION make the decision to leave when you are not acting in the grip of emotion and reacting on adrenaline. It can be a smart move to discuss your plans to resign with a close friend, family member or therapist, and/or a colleague if you are certain you can trust him or her completely.

The thing to remember is that sometimes a company will fire an employee and sometimes an employee will fire their employer. If you think it is time to give your employer the boot, involve a recruiter. He or she can offer good advice from years of experience advising people who are transitioning to the next step in their career. The team at Strategic Recruitment Solutions is always ready to assist and guide you to opportunities that will take YOUR career to the next level.

June 19, 2013 by Amy Shanks Leave a Comment

BOSS OR LEADER – WHICH ARE YOU?

WHICH ONE DO YOU WANT TO WORK FOR?

“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” Ronald Reagan

“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart” Eleanor Roosevelt

“In most cases being a good boss means hiring talented people and then getting out of their way.” (Tina Fey, Bossypants) Of all places, I found some excellent ideas on leadership/bossing from Tiny Fey’s book, Bossypants. Tiny Fey was executive producer of 30 Rock, wrote the movie Mean Girls, and was a head writer and cast member of Saturday Night Live (remember her channeling Sarah Palin?)

Tina Fey is, of course, playing it for laughs in her book, but she does give the reader some things to ponder regarding leadership in the workplace and hiring people who can be developed by a leader, not just someone who bosses.

Let’s ponder a few of her quotes:

“Bossypants Lesson #183: You Can’t Boss People Around If They Don’t Really Care.”

Never hire anyone you wouldn’t want to run into in the hallway at three in the morning.

If they are too talkative or needy or angry to deal with in the middle of the night by the printer, steer clear.

Never tell a crazy person, he’s crazy.

Moving on to Managerial Techniques – “hire the most talented of the people who are the least likely to throw a punch in the workplace.”

We do know from experience that managing personnel; that is being an effective boss, does have a great deal to do with smart hiring. But what exactly does it mean to be the boss? An average boss makes sure employees are on task and working and at worst will treat employees like lowly servants. At their worst, bosses who will never be leaders, have no interest in bettering their employees and do not encourage them to take training courses or improve themselves. On the other hand, a leader motivates, leads by example, and perceives employees as respected parts of a team. Leaders want their staff to feel involved so they can buy into their corporate goals. True leaders share credit with those who contributed and receive loyalty and commitment in return.

Qualities of the Remarkable Boss*

Remarkable bosses are truly leaders and they share similar qualities. They develop all employees – first by identifying what employees can achieve. It is the remarkable boss who can help employees achieve goals and targets by training, mentoring and developing their skills.

Remarkable bosses deal with problems immediately. Employees lose respect for a boss who ignores a problem. Problems are distracting and even small problems can fester and grow getting in the way of morale.

Remarkable bosses rescue their worst employee. It may seem easy to just remove the weak link from the chain, but working with the employee by reassuring him and stepping up the mentoring and coaching is a trait of a boss who leads. Will it always work? We know that not all employees can be saved but such a boss can make a tremendous impact on the struggling employee and the team as a whole. If the individual is valued, the team and the mission are valued.

Remarkable bosses serve others, not themselves. Glory should be reflected, never direct. Employees should not be asked to do something that a boss would not do. When bosses take this approach everyone knows how truly important they are.

Remarkable bosses always remember where they came from. Bosses who are true leaders take every chance to inspire, reassure and motivate. They are not too busy to take time for an employee – especially a new employee. http://business.time.com/2012/0409/the- five- qualities-of-remarkable-bosses

*The Five Qualities of Remarkable Bosses/Time.com

Remember – “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

April 30, 2013 by Amy Shanks Leave a Comment

BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE

“If you’re horrible to me, I’m going to write a song about it, and you won’t like it. That’s how I operate.”

Taylor Swift –“Why You Got To Be So Mean?”

You probably aren’t a songwriter or a singer but I’ll bet you can identify with being in the position of being bullied Schools are usually the site most people associate with bullying, but the workplace sadly can also be a fertile environment for bullying. I suppose those school yard bullies have to go somewhere when they grow up.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reports that 25% of participating companies reported some degree of bullying had occurred in the preceding year. Bullying occurs at every level, can be hard to identify and even harder to manage. Unnoticed it can have devastating consequences resulting in errors, poor client satisfaction, increased costs and high turnover rates (crisisprevention.com) feeding into the War on Talent I blogged on recently. Companies should be proactive in addressing this issue and realize that is a type of civil rights violation. The Workplace Bullying Institute (yes, there is such a place) notes that during good times abused workers tend to leave positions in which they feel bullied but in a down economy, many feel that they have to stay because their options are limited. (Libertymutual.com/responsibility)

Twelve states currently have 17 active bills which target an “abusive work environment and abusive conduct” in the workplace Louisiana currently does not have such a bill but the initiative is there for all states to join in. These Healthy Workplace Bills give four classes of abusive conduct that are actionable: “1.verbal abuse, 2.conduct that is threatening, intimidating or humiliating, 3. work interference, 4. exploitation of known vulnerability, physical or psychological.”

**Ronald Riggio in February 2010 “Psychology Today” identifies some typical, unacceptable workplace behaviors that are types of bullying: Threats such as docking an employees pay; The Silent Treatment – stopping talking when the victim enters the room or lowering voices and giggling; Rumors –spreading information to tarnish someone’s reputation; Sabotaging work –altering the victim’s work to make it unacceptable. Riggio recommends visiting the site kickbully.com to identify causes and consequences and ways to fight back.

Marilyn Astin Tarlton Partner/Catalyst at Attorney at Work gives some advice on confronting a bully in the work place which can be difficult since the bully is often in a position of power. Some dos and don’ts : Do keep a record /journal of things said or done that you consider to be bullying, choose a time when you can be unemotional and meet face to face. And explain what you want to change. It is less threatening to use “I” language such as “I would appreciate it if you would ____, or I feel ___________ when you ___________. Do be aggressive. Call the bully out but stay calm

Don’t expect colleagues to support you. It would be great to have others express their dissatisfaction but not everyone is prepared to face the possible consequences. Don’t back down and don’t be surprised if a confrontation does not go smoothly and produce immediate and tidy results.

And finally, DO be prepared for consequences that may force you to find another job.

Tom Field in Success Unlimited makes some good points to ponder.

“IT IS THE LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF, OR THE UNWILLINGNESS TO RECOGNIZE OR THE DELIBERATE DENIAL OF THE EXISTENCE OF THE SERIAL BULLY WHICH IS THE MOST COMMON REASON FOR AN UNSATISFACTORY OUTCOME FOR BOTH EMPLOYEE AND EMPLOYERS.

AND

“BULLIES THRIVE WHEREVER AUTHORITY IS WEAK.”

March 29, 2013 by Amy Shanks Leave a Comment

REMEMBER IN BUSINESS – YOU CAN’T RAPE THE WILLING

Malcolm Ford once said that, “only a handful of companies understand that successful business operations come down to 3 basic principles: People – Product – Profit. Without top people you can not do much with the others.”

In a capitalist or free market economy, companies often retain the services of search firms to bring talented people to their door. Recruiters, also known as headhunters, often take the blame or are viewed as evil when employers lose their extremely valuable human capital. Headhunting, also referred to derogatively as poaching, refers to a recruiter approaching a target candidate who is gainfully employed. The recruiter approaches the potential mover and questions him or her to see if he or she would be interested in working for another company or would be interested in hearing about positions that may represent better opportunities in their career. Poaching implies that people are prey and it is the recruiter’s goal to take them against their will…. Nonsense!

The cold hard truth is that in business, YOU CAN’T RAPE THE WILLING. Usually, the recruiter has been approached by a client to find a candidate with a specific skill set and then searches for candidates who work in companies employing people with these skills – i.e. prospective candidates.

Some might question whether it is ethical for companies to headhunt from their competitors? Since the days of indentured servitude are far behind us – companies do not own employees and the choice of where we work is fundamental in a free society. The U.S. Justice Department in September 2010 “settled with Google, Apple, Intel, Adobe, Intuit and Pixar over claims they colluded to not “poach” from each other.” THE U.S. GOVERNMENT RULED THAT IT WAS ANTI-COMPETITIVE FOR THE LABOR MARKET TO MAKE AGREEMENTS SUCH AS THESE!!! If a company is taking good care of its employees, why would it fear them entertaining other offers?

No one leaves a company because she or he had his or her arm twisted by a smooth talking recruiter. Almost every single Fortune 500 company engages senior level headhunters to find its A team. The simple answer to prevent loss of talent is to create the best possible work environment. We talked about this in a previously published article entitled “Karma is a B*TCH when it comes to retention” but many of these points are worth repeating.

Treat each employee the way you would want to be treated if you were in their position and as professionals.
Demonstrate respect.
Offer attractive, competitive benefits packages.
Provide opportunities for people to share their knowledge through training sessions and mentoring.
Offer performance feedback and praise good work.
Make work fun.
Enable employees to balance work and life by providing flex time.
Involve them in decisions whenever possible.
Recognize excellent performance and link it to pay.
Offer bonus potential on personal and company success.
Celebrate success.
Staff adequately.
Stand for something bigger than yourself.
Establish and nurture organizational traditions such as food drives during the holidays and community involvement.
Provide opportunities for career progression.
Promote personal and career growth through training.
Establish common goals and responsibilities so that they feel they belong.

Frasier Hill at the January ERE Recruiting Conference recommends starting with the candidate experience. Specifically, train hiring managers how to interview and best represent your company. *Structure an end to end interview process without using too many people who cannot make a decision. * Have a clear feedback policy for candidates. *Have a “first class onboarding process with adequate feedback channels” so it can be determined that newly hired candidates are satisfied. *Maintain accurate and up to date competitor salary and benefits information.

If employees are taken care of, companies have no need to fear the HEADHUNTER.

January 31, 2013 by Amy Shanks 3 Comments

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE JOB INTERVIEW

Newsflash from SRS –

No one will pay you for being JUST book smart!!! Let’s talk about Emotional Intelligence.

There is, in fact, a kind of smart which can pay off in the job market, and it has nothing to do with IQ (a measure of a person’s ability to learn which – stays the same throughout life). That kind of smart is called Emotional Intelligence (a flexible skill set which can be improved with practice). The whole of a person is made up of Intelligence Quotient, Emotional Intelligence and personality. Which of these is the strongest predictor of performance in the work world? Emotional Intelligence or E I, many psychologists say, is responsible for 58% of success. It is seen as the strongest driver of leadership and personal excellence. In fact, a high degree of E I is reported to be responsible for a person earning an average of $29,000/year more than those with a low E I. This is true of all industries, at all levels, and in all parts of the country.

Emotional intelligence is an intangible that affects how we manage behavior, navigate social complexities, and make personal decisions in such a way as to achieve positive results. It falls into two primary competencies personal and social. Skills within the personal category are self-awareness and self-management. Is a person able to perceive his/her emotions and keep an awareness of them? Can this awareness be used to keep a person flexible and positive?

Within the Social Competency are the skills of social awareness and relationship management. Is the person able to understand other people’s moods, and behaviors and in doing so improve the quality of relationships? Can he/she manage interactions with coworkers?

This is no news to recruiters and HR professionals!

The interview process is designed to meet the person behind the resume’. In other words, it gives the interviewer an opportunity to separate the achievements on the resume which are largely a product of IQ from Emotional I Q which is difficult to quantify and list. For example, a candidate can have terrific accounting skills and great grades but yet be arrogant, have trouble working with others and be a person who blames others when things go wrong. When competing for the same job a more desirable candidate might have slightly lower grades and a more narrow skill set, yet he/she is polite, works well with others, stays focused and has leadership potential. She/he has the ability to manage emotions, relates well to others, adapts to the work environment, takes criticism and is eager to learn. Who will get the job? Who would you want to work with? It is much harder to train someone to manage his emotions than it is to strengthen his skills and train him for a particular job. Compared to IQ and expertise, emotional intelligence matters twice as much as IQ according to psychologist Daniel Goleman.

Given the huge pool of talent that most companies have to choose from in this competitive job market, doesn’t it make sense that employers will spend time in attempting to hire employees that are emotionally fit?

Job postings increasingly use terms such as mature and resilient as employers are more discerning in what they are looking for beyond skills and accomplishments on the resume’. The online shoe retailer Zappos.com weeds out candidates who don’t have their emotions in check. Christa Foley, senior HR manager at Zappos says “We ask a lot of questions to make sure they’re humble.” Arrogance has no place when talking to potential customers so an often asked question is, “Can you tell me a common perception people have of you?” Answers like, “I always have an opinion on something,” can be a red flag that a person can be arrogant.

Given a choice most employers would prefer to hire someone with limited technical skills (which can be improved) and a high emotional intelligence.

Before an interview, consider possible emotional intelligence interview questions – those that attempt to get information about your personal and social skills, i.e. self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. Remember the interviewer is attempting to see the real you – particularly your E I apart from the resume’.

Consider your answer to the following questions:

Tell me about a time when you felt confident in your abilities. What was the situation? Why did you feel confident? How did you know? What was the result?
Think of a situation you faced where you felt angry or frustrated at work (whether you showed it or not). How did you know that you were feeling this way? Why were you frustrated? What did you say or do? What was the impact you had on the other people who were involved?
Everyone is better at some things than others. What is an example of something that isn’t one of your strengths? What have you done in your professional life to accommodate for this?
How would your current or previous co-workers, supervisor and staff describe your communication and interpersonal style? Give me an example or two.
Describe a difficult conversation you faced at work. What was it? What did you do? What was the result?

SPEND SOME TIME REALLY THINKING ABOUT ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS LIKE THESE. PRACTICE A RESPONSE THAT SHOWS YOU HAVE STRONG EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. ENGAGE SOMEONE TO LISTEN TO THE QUESTION AND YOUR RESPONSE – YOUR RECRUITER IS AN EXCELLENT SOURCE/SOUNDING BOARD FOR YOUR POSSIBLE ANSWERS TO THESE AND SIMILAR QUESTIONS – USE THEM.

Remember in the interview to thoughtfully answer all questions. You are not being timed. Thinking through a question and asking for clarification if necessary demonstrates important characteristics of those with a high E I, which are self-awareness and the ability to manage behavior and social interaction.

“Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.”
Ann Landers

Good luck and remember that luck comes in abundance to those that prepare!

“The harder I work, the luckier I get.” Samuel Goldwyn