How To Increase Your Value In A Down Economy

As the economy continues to lag, it is more important than ever for individuals who are still working to keep their skills current and focus on improving their businesses. Since businesses are still making very tough downsizing decisions, you would want to be sure that you have made every effort to be a “keeper” for the job. Here are a few suggestions that I believe will not only increase your value to the company but to yourself as well:
• Dependability
Are you one who is frequently absent from work, or is punctuality an issue? Does the boss frequently need to have conversations with you regarding you not being at your workstation? If your answer to either question is yes, then you must recommit yourself to your job. Now more than ever, businesses are looking for those individuals who come to work each day, on time, ready to get the job done. It is you who wants to be known as the one that is reliable and can be counted upon to get the job done on a daily basis. A business makes every effort to keep those employees that they can depend on.
• Flexibility
Do you have experience in more than one position with the company or have you been doing the job your whole career? If your current position is eliminated do you have the skill set and experience to be able to do another job with your company? Do you have the ability to be cross-trained? In today’s work environment, those individuals who only have one skill set are the most vulnerable to downsizing as their skill may become obsolete, or the position is no longer needed and there is no other position that they can fill. Gaining experience in multiple positions not only makes you flexible; it may also improve your chances for promotion. Learning new functions and gaining new skills makes it more difficult for the business to downsize you.


• Education & Training
How current is your skill set? When was the last time you took a course or went to a seminar to improve your current skills or to gain new knowledge? Be aware that in times likes these, one of the first budget items to be cut is training. Yet, it is also times like these that we may have to make the sacrifice to pay for education or seminars ourselves if the business will not in order to improve one’s abilities. Remember “learning never stops” and it is critical for each individual to push himself or herself to keep their skills current. Reading business journals, The Wall Street Journal or the business section of your local newspaper will also give you insight in today’s business climate.
Dependability, flexibility, keeping current on skill sets or learning new skills will not only make us more valuable to our current businesses, but will also make you a hot commodity for the future.

Should Bad Credit Keep You from Getting Hired

Though many of our businesses have long examined the credit histories of job applicants along with resumes for our job openings, I would submit that in today’s highly-stressed economy that we should NOT use any credit history in making hiring decisions. Currently 1 out of 10 workers are unemployed with most being out of work at least six months or more. Many do not have the means to pay creditors.
Nationwide unemployment is currently is more than 9% and projected to reach double digits before the end of 2009; many qualified workers will lose out on employment opportunities if credit checks play a significant role in the hiring decision process.
While I support exceptions being granted for those positions that involve money or require National Security clearances, since we also know that 33% of all credit reports contain serious errors that could also penalize potential employees, it is all the more reason that we should suspend this practice at least until the National economy stabilizes.
Currently, Congress is taking a look at blocking employer access to most credit report data, though there is no current timeline as to when a bill may be passed. We should take the first step at our businesses to stop this process and give the unemployed worker one less thing to worry about.

Employment Law Changes May Impact Your Benefits Plans

Employment Law Changes May Impact Your Benefit Plans

Changes in Employment law both on the Federal side and the State level may have an impact on your current HR policies. Since the laws are relatively new there has not been many court cases both on the federal and state level so our employment lawyers do not have many court rulings to make a decision by. Here are two examples one for Federal law and one for the state of Nevada (which is where I currently live) that will have impact.

ADAAA (ADA Amendment Act)
The EEOC is currently looking to revise that portion of its current regulation that defines the term “substantially limits” as “significantly restricted” to be consistent with this act including all amendments made by this Act. The EEOC is taking a position that certain conditions constitute a Disability (i.e. Cancer, Epilepsy, MS & Diabetes). Medications, medical supplies, equipment or appliances, low vision devices (except for glasses and Contacts), prosthetics and mobility devices may not consider as mitigating measures. The agency states that individuals should be analyzed without regard to “surgical interventions; this will cause concern for all our businesses for something as simple as routine stitches may qualify consequently creating a record of disability for an employee. One positive note, the EEOC still takes the position that a condition must last several months to be sufficiently classified as long term. Businesses trying to comply with the new Amendment will be asking themselves should they just assume that an employee is disabled? The current answer is “maybe”, if the accommodations are not too burdensome the companies may decide to make them, however if it is a burdensome effort, companies may decide not too.
A new law that just went into effect August 15, 2009 entitled the Nevada Parental Leave Law, allows employees of companies with 50 or more employees to take up to 4 hours of unpaid leave to attend school function for their child. If an employee has more than one child the law states this benefit is per child. It applies for parents who children are in public or private school. The law covers the following:
• School related activities during regular school hours
• Parent – Teacher conferences
• Volunteer or be involved at the school
• School sponsored event
The unpaid leave must be taken in increments of at least one hour. The law prohibits termination, demotion, suspension or discrimination. Violation by a business will be considered a misdemeanor. Employees can file claim with the Nevada Labor Commission- school must provide the form. Employee may recover lost wages and benefits and reinstatement.
Finally like our legal department it is becoming more and more apparent that we as HR professionals must also stay on top of the changes in Employment Law for the impact that it has on our businesses.

Is a Resume Enough

Though the economy maybe close to “bottoming out” the forecast for employment remains bleak for the rest of this year and at a minimum thru the first quarter of 2010. Many career counselors and coaches are telling us that a top notch resume alone will get “notice” and potentially that interview that may put you back into the job market. I on the other hand, do not believe that the resume alone is enough!
I am not saying that the Resume is not a critical tool in your employment toolbox, it just cannot be the only tool you have. The resume should still be meticulous, without typos, spelling mistakes, or poorly written. It should still be concise and detailed, focusing on the impact of key accomplishments from the different positions listed but it should also be specific to the position posted. I just take issue with the philosophy that this should be your only tool, and my reason is at least 5 out of the 10 applicants who apply will also have a meticulous, specific, focused resume with a skill set just like yours.
In the book “Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters” by Jay Conrad Levinson & David E. Perry the authors point out that you must have a strong web presence including your personal website, your Blog, and that you must drive traffic to your expertise website using Social Networks including LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter. Why tools like this you ask, because it allows Recruiters as well as executive level decision makers see you an industry thought leader and get to know YOU beyond what you have done for employers in the past.
Websites such as www.Visual CV.com allows you to describe who you, post your resume, videos, employer and employee recommendations and show examples of projects or case studies of select achievements in more detail than a resume will allow. Your Blog is a great place to establish yourself as a thought leader and allow you to express your opinions on business and industry issues as a Subject Matter Expert. It also tells employers that you are doing research and keeping abreast of current business trends. Though most users are using the communication tools of Facebook and Twitter as primarily for Social communication, these tools along with LinkedIn are very valuable business tools for you to use to send perspective Recruiters and employers to your Visual CV, your Blog and your resume. They are also great networking tools to find former friends and colleagues that maybe able to help you in your job search as well as it allows employers to also find you. Lori Beth Dalton, Career Coach (www.loribethdalton.com) says that the Resume tells your history of what you have accomplished at the prior companies you have worked for, tools like Visual CV & Blogs allows you to tell perspective Employers what you maybe able to do for them. In today Employer’s market you really do want more than just a resume in your employment toolbox.

Today's HR Executive

Today’s Human Resources Executive

The HR Executive of today has to be an individual that not only knows how to run the department, but they must be one who is passionate about driving the business into being #1 in their market. They must be driven to drive cost out of the business. The executive should be constantly be reviewing all HR processes and remove wasteful steps to make them as efficient as possible. The status quo or “we always have done it this way” should never be accepted.
They must also be passionate about delivering to its primary customers, the employees. Employees request should be handled quickly, and efficiently at all times. There is nothing worst for a business than to have employees make a request that either is handled incorrectly or not at all. When the telephone rings it should be answered, if it goes to voicemail ensure that calls are return within 24 hours at the latest. The executive should be one who is very visible within the business, walking the floor interacting with employees, getting to know them not only as individuals, but also knowing and understanding their job functions are.
They must be an individual who not only can identify issues in the organizations, but also have recommended solutions for resolving them. Ensuring that key HR processes such as Succession Planning & Workforce Planning are critical elements for the business that must be seen as useful tools to the business, and not as another HR burden. Identifying and assessing the business talent skills and development needs and ensuring plans are in place to respond to the needs assessment is critical.
They must be one who cannot only source top talent for the organization, but also be able to retain them. Implementing a reward and recognition system, as well as a performance management process, are essential for retention. In today’s tough business environment one must have a strategy for keeping top talent.
They must be a coach to managers and a mentor to employees. It is truly their responsibility to be consultants to the management team regarding issues in the work place, as well a counselor/ mentor to the employee base. They must be seen as one with unquestionable integrity. If employees do not feel that they can discuss issues with Human Resources leader in confidence they will stop coming and the leader’s effectiveness will be dramatically diminished.
The executive must also be one that is committed to driving business results. HR managers must ensure that they understand the issues of the business, the direction the business is headed, and the tools that managers and employees need.
An effective Human Resources Executive is one whose vision and leadership is demonstrated in tangible ways and they are embraced as a full strategic business partner.

The Essentials of Talent Management

It is my belief that the Human Resources function of any organization has the lead role in the business Talent Management Process. The process should have two components: Workforce Plan & a Succession Plan.
Workforce Plan:
The Workforce plan is a process that would include identification elements of the whole workforce. Key elements of the plan would be:
* Age – What are the ages of all personnel? How many are of retirement age? What positions to individuals hold who are of retirement age? Are these positions critical to the organization?
* Years of Service – How many years of service with the company? In their current position?
* Education – High school, college, technical
* Training – OJT, seminars, On-line classes, in-house classes
The outcome from this process will help the organization to identify the following:
* Potential Retirees – Individuals with age and years of services who are eligible to retire
* Education – What is the education level of our workforce across the organization, and what is the appropriate education level for each position?
* Transfer of knowledge – When does an organization begin the sourcing and training of backfill candidates for any position within the organization?
Completion of the process will not only give the organization insight into when to recruit and what positions to recruit for, it can also be a valuable tool for the Succession Planning process.
Succession Plan:
This process should only encompass the top two or three levels within an organization. Key elements of the plan would be:
* Identifying the Key and /or critical senior level positions within the organization. Though all senior level positions may be important, they are not all key to managing the business.
* Identifying the Key and / or critical senior talent within the organization. Are they in the right chairs? Have we identified the developmental needs they may have.
* Identifying bench strength and backfills for key positions. If a position has no backfills identified, what is the sourcing strategy to fill position, and when should it be executed?
* Blockers in key positions – Individuals in key positions who have reached their vertical potential, may still bring value to the organization, even if in another role. How do you handle them?
* Hi-Potentials – Individuals with upward mobility, needing the opportunity perform in key or critical positions. What are their developmental needs? How do they get an opportunity to advance? How do you retain them and keep them motivated?
* Identify other Senior Level positions which are important but not necessarily key – What positions; Who are the incumbents? Who are the backfills? Is training needed for these position (s)?
* Identify key Women & Minorities, if there are none in Senior Positions, who are candidates as backfills.
It is my belief that having these selection mechanisms in place will not only allow the organization to have a talent process which is a living document. It will also demonstrate to the business that HR is a valued business partner.