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| Volume 7, Issue 3 |
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In This Issue:
 Recruiting stars [at Google]: Top ten for recruiting great candidates
[Google’s] Top ten ways to show appreciation
Performance management strategies
Talent-on-the-bubble: Addressing human behavior at work
10 Workplace idea’s for Earth Day
 Talent management at the best workplaces
Corporate culture: The ultimate competitive advantage
The ROI of HR
 Partnering for better immigrant hiring practices
 Secrets of an HR superstar
The best and worst corporate practices
Where are all the workers?
Fear of firing
Your body the negotiator
 The hottest salaries
 Recruiting the top 1 percent
Growing your own
 What makes employees loyal
The coming crises in employee turnover
Are you an A$&*@^?
How to hold a great meeting
Best workplace stress relievers
10 Cool summer cocktails
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Recruiting Stars [at Google]: Top Ten for Recruiting Great Candidates
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I'm on a Google roll this week. In writing yesterday's blog, I came across an article that describes how Google hires an employee.
Long known for hiring the brightest grads from major universities, Google pays equivalent attention to whether an employee "fits" the corporate culture. If a candidate for a job makes it as far as interviews, the candidate can expect to talk
with the position's supervisor, coworkers, and reporting staff, if a managerial role. Candidates take tests that were developed by asking current successful Google employees a series of questions. Then, Google figured out what answers separated the successful
candidate from the three thousand other resumes they receive a day. As an example, they found that, "Do you own a dog?" was not a successful question to determine a cultural
fit. Questions like, "Have you ever started your own business, even a lemonade stand?" made the cut. Another surprise, but kind of neat: "After the final interview, but
before an offer is extended, every Google hire, all 10,000-plus through 2006, is approved by one of Google's founders, Sergey Brin or Michigan native and U-M graduate
Larry Page." (From the Detroit News: "Noogler? Zany Google can make you one.") They definitely understand their roles as keepers of the
culture. My material on hiring includes all sorts of opportunities to adapt, revise, and make the process your own. You might want to start by taking the free email class: Recruit and Hire the Best. Then, move on to use the
Hiring Checklist to systematize your hiring practice for legal, ethical hiring, and to make sure you don't miss that potential great employee. Finally, take a look at
Recruiting Stars: Top Ten Ideas for Recruiting Great Candidates...
Read the article. Back to top
[Google s] Top Ten Ways to Show Appreciation
Attending an ad club event last week, I listened to a Google manager, Grady Burnett, describe his company and their corporate culture.
Sure, you've read about the free food, the fact that developers are enabled to spend twenty percent of their time on projects of their choice - many hallmarks of a
successful company that is making money. But he gave us ideas for simple employee motivation and
team building factors, too...
Read the article. Back to top
Performance Management Strategies
Do you have responsibility for supervising the work of others? If so, you know that employees don't always do what you want them to do.
On the one hand, they act as if they are competent professionals. On the other, they procrastinate, miss deadlines, and wait for instructions. So, what's a supervisor to
do? Performance management is your answer. You must begin by finding out why the employee is not meeting your expectations.
This checklist for diagnosing employee performance management issues will help. Take a look at my newest article...
Read the article. Back to top
Talent On-the-Bubble: Addressing Human Behavior at Work
One of the great lessons from Talent IQ is that the performance of talent gone awry is very seriously under-addressed in organizational life. Called “Talent
On-the-Bubble,” a pattern of human behavior was identified that can take any organization and its leadership team down if left untended.
Talent On-the-Bubble can make a mockery of organizational values, sap creative energy
and drive highly talented top performers out. To the extent that positive energies from
high achievers create a magnet of hope and achievement, talent on-the-bubble behavior constitutes an anchor of negativism, irresponsibility and contempt. While leaders want
to get to the positive side of the performance equation, to the extent they avoid taking responsibility to address the talent on-the-bubble challenge, they drop an
anchor on progress and an evidentiary path of their own on-the-bubble behavior. Here’s what human behavior on-the-bubble is and how to correct it...
Read the article. Back to top
Ten Workplace Ideas for Earth Day
I have expanded this blog into a full article with twenty tips to get your green team started.
Check out: Form a Green Team to Improve Your Work Environment. In honor of this year's celebration
of Earth Day, form a green team at work. While debate exists about recycling and other aspects of environmentalism, a green team is
motivational for employees who want to make a difference in their work environment. And, the team may even save energy and time, keep trash out of landfills, opt for reuseable
dishes, share books in a library, and more. A team is a great way to brainstorm and develop ideas. In addition, here are ten ideas your
green team can start out with as they brainstorm and implement their own ideas: ...
Read the article. Back to top
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Talent Management at the Best Workplaces
Talent management has not been on the corporate radar long enough to be substantiated by decades of longitudinal studies or massive research
initiatives that clearly prove its positive effect on the ability to create a compelling, productive, valued enterprise for all stakeholders — employees, customers,
partners and investors. So, to evaluate what talent management at the best workplaces looks like, we need to focus on specific indicators that have been examined enough to
show they can be instrumental in creating a high-performance organization and a great place to work...
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Corporate Culture: The Ultimate Competitive Advantage
Across nearly every industry, competition to attract the best and brightest has intensified, with the global market creating even more opportunities for organizations and job seekers.
Attracting the key talent you need is half the battle, but getting your employees motivated and fully engaged in organizational success is just as critical. Several
industry studies reveal...
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The ROI of HR
“The people component of a business” is a popular phrase in today’s organizational lexicon. But to what extent do an organization’s people contribute to its success?
What is it about people that matters? For many years, business leaders have recognized that the human capital of an organization is a vital competitive advantage. But just
how the people contribution is analyzed, quantified and used to achieve business goals varies substantially from one company to the next. Studying the specific steps
companies take to understand human capital provides guidance for any organization that seeks to maximize its return on the talent in its ranks. Recently, global employee
research and consulting firm ISR surveyed 100 senior executives, managers and human resource professionals. Ninety-one percent of respondents said...
Read the article. Back to top
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Partnering for Better Immigrant Hiring Practices
Chicago-based Staffing Management is the first staffing company to be part of a pilot program aimed at improving workforce compliance with immigration laws. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials hope other staffing companies will follow
suit.
They had been invited in to review contingent worker hiring practices at the Chicago-based staffing company. Staffing Management passed the test, and recently became the first staffing company to be part of a new pilot program aimed at improving
workforce compliance with immigration laws. Under the voluntary program, called IMAGE, companies agree to an audit of their hiring practices by the Department of Homeland
Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. If they pass, they are certified by the government and help shape best practices for compliance with
immigration hiring rules...
Read the article. Back to top
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Secrets of an HR Superstar
On the eve of retiring, GE's Bill Conaty offers tips on nurturing leaders in your organization.
General Electric Co.'s (GE ) legendary reputation in talent management owes much to one man: William J. Conaty. In his 40 years at GE, including 13 as head of human resources,
he helped to shape the modern face of HR. "The guy is spectacular," says former Chief Executive and Businessweek columnist Jack Welch. "He has enormous trust at every level.
The union guys respect him as much as the senior managers." Conaty took a department that's often treated as a support function and turned it into a high-level business
partner, fostering a deep bench of talent and focusing attention on the need for continuous leadership development. Among other things, he helped manage the seamless
transition from Welch to Jeffrey R. Immelt in 2001 and was critical in shaping a new vision of global leadership that emphasizes such traits as imagination and
inclusiveness. At 61, Conaty is now easing into retirement, having passed the top job over to longtime HR colleague John Lynch earlier this year while agreeing to stay on to
handle GE's labor union negotiations this summer. As he winds up affairs at GE, Conaty shared his advice for nurturing leaders...
Read the article. Back to top
The Best and Worst Corporate Practices
Thumbs up for employee-referral bonuses and matching contributions, but no-moonlighting policies and "love contracts" are for the birds.
Some people collect snow globes or miniature spoons in their travels. I collect HR and management practices. I'm always on the hunt for the latest workplace policies and
programs. Why? Well, for one thing, I need to keep on top of HR practices in general. But also I find these new programs and policies fascinating in their own right. They
speak to employers' values and beliefs. They also often tellingly illustrate employers' fears about their employees and their own limitations as managers. For example, I'm a
big fan of employee referral bonus programs. Once in a while, an idea comes along that makes so much sense, it's thrilling (at least to an HR nerd like me). Employee referral
bonuses fill that bill. They're terrific because of the message they send: "Bring us your friends and colleagues, people you know well who can fill jobs at our company and
do great work. We'll save money on search fees and pay you." What could be more sensible?...
Read the article. Back to top
Where Are All The Workers?
Companies worldwide are suddenly scrambling to manage a labor crunch.
Employers in some unlikely places say they're having trouble filling jobs. Factory managers in Ho Chi Minh City report many of their $62-a-month workers went home for the Tet holiday in February and never came back. In Bulgaria, computer experts are in such
demand they can't be bothered to answer the want ads of a Los Angeles movie studio. And in Peoria, Caterpillar Inc. (CAT ) is struggling to train enough service technicians.
The problem in each case: not enough people who are both able and willing to do the work for the posted pay. "We've got a global problem...and it's only going to continue
to get worse," says Stephen Hitch, a human resources manager at Caterpillar. A global labor crunch, already being felt by some employers, appears to have intensified in
recent months. That's in spite of widely publicized layoffs, including Citigroup's (C ) plans to shed as many as 15,000 staffers. In fact, U.S. unemployment remains low--just
4.5% in February--and even companies in countries with higher jobless rates are feeling pinched. "It's not just a U.S. phenomenon," says Jeffrey A. Joerres, CEO of Manpower
Inc., the staffing agency. On Mar. 29, Manpower was to release the results of a survey of nearly 37,000 employers in 27 countries. The study found that...
Read the article. Back to top
Fear Of Firing
How the threat of litigation is making companies skittish about axing problem workers.
Would you have dared fire Hemant K. Mody? In February, 2003, the longtime engineer had returned to work at a General Electric Co. (GE ) facility in Plainville, Conn., after a
two-month medical leave. He was a very unhappy man. For much of the prior year, he and his superiors had been sparring over his performance and promotion prospects. According
to court documents, Mody's bosses claimed he spoke disparagingly of his co-workers, refused an assignment as being beneath him, and was abruptly taking days off and coming
to work late. But Mody was also 49, Indian born, and even after returning from leave continued to suffer a major disability: chronic kidney failure that required him to
receive daily dialysis. The run-ins resumed with his managers, whom he had accused flat out of discriminating against him because of his race and age. It doesn't take an
advanced degree in human resources to recognize that the situation was a ticking time bomb. But Mody's bosses were fed up. They axed him in April, 2003.The bomb exploded
last July. Following a six-day trial, a federal court jury in Bridgeport, Conn., found GE's termination of Mody to be improper and awarded him $11.1 million, including $10
million in punitive damages. But the award wasn't for discrimination. The judge found those claims so weak that Mody wasn't allowed to present them. Instead, jurors
concluded that Mody had been fired in retaliation for complaining about bias...
Read the article. Back to top
Your Body, the Negotiator
Negotiating for pay and perks requires you to sell yourself as a brand.
How you walk, talk, and look reflects on that brand. Do you come across as inspiring, confident, and competent, or blah, boring, and bored? Not sure how you come across?...
Read the article. Back to top
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Recruiting the Top 1 Percent
There's a better way to find and hire the very best employees.
I keep hearing people say that they only hire the top 1 percent of job seekers. At my company, Fog Creek Software, I want to hire the top 1 percent, too. We're doubling in
size each year, and we're always in the market for great software developers. In our field, the top 1 percent of the work force can easily be 10 times as productive as the
average developer. The best developers invent new products, figure out shortcuts that save months of work, and, when there are no shortcuts, plow through coding tasks like a
monster truck at a tea party. From a recruiting perspective, the problem is that the people I consider to be in the top 1 percent in my field barely ever apply for jobs at
all. That's because they already have jobs. Stimulating jobs. Jobs where their employers pay them lots of money and do whatever it takes to keep them happy. If these
pros switch jobs, chances are the offer came through networking, not because they submitted a resumé somewhere or trolled a job site like Monster (NASDAQ:MNST). Many of
the best developers I know took a summer internship on a whim and then stayed on. They have applied for only one or two jobs in their lives. A lot of companies think they're
hiring the top 1 percent because they get 100 resumés for every open position. They're kidding themselves. When you fill an opening, think about what happens to the 99 people
you turn away. They don't give up and go into plumbing. They apply for another job. There's a floating population of applicants in your industry that apply for nearly
every opening posted online, even though many of them are qualified for virtually none of these positions. So if the top 1 percent never apply for jobs, how can you recruit
them? My theory is that the best way is to find them before they realize there is a job market--back when they're still in college...
Read the article. Back to top
Growing Your Own
The next generation of leaders may be right under your nose.
The Wharton School. Harvard Business School. The Yale School of Management. CIK Enterprises.CIK Enterprises? The Indianapolis-based holding company, which operates three marketing firms and a business networking group, may seem out of place among
these storied institutions of business education. But it makes sense to founders Scott Hill and Andy Medley. The two men not only want to run a successful company, they also
want to develop business leaders. No ivy clings to CIK's bright, high-ceilinged headquarters, but there's a campuslike feel to the activities within. A manager's book
group meets weekly to discuss the theories of Jim Collins, Jack Stack, and other business thinkers. A monthly business literacy course taught by Hill and other
executives demystifies every line of the company's profit and loss statements. Colorful graphics explaining terms like EBITDA adorn the office walls. Salespeople receive
outside training and meet with supervisors for an hour each week to practice their pitches. Executive development, of course, is a core competency at many large
companies, which spend years--sometimes decades--nurturing nascent leaders before popping them into top slots. Corporations such as General Electric (NYSE:GE) and
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) identify so-called "high potentials" while they are still damp behind the ears and circulate them through assignments carefully chosen to nurture
that potential. The process forges leaders who are intimately familiar with the company's workings and deeply rooted in its culture. Small companies generally lack the
time and resources for such considered gestation of talent. As a result, they often are forced to look outside as they build out their executive teams. But for CIK, that
prospect was unappealing...
Read the article. Back to top
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What Makes Employees Loyal
There are lots of reasons why people end up quitting their jobs.
For some, the decision is the result of a bitter fight with a boss. Others win the lottery, get a better job offer or leave because a spouse is transferred to another
city. But a recent review of 15 years of research on employee job satisfaction and voluntary job turnover shows that employers might be better at retaining workers if
they focus less on what makes people quit and more on what makes them want to stay. Thomas Lee, professor of management at the University of Washington and president-elect
of the Academy of Management at Pace University in New York, says leaders should realize people may be leaving their positions for reasons that have nothing to do with
being unhappy. But focusing on building a social network that makes people feel like they fit in can prevent them from quitting and potentially save the company the
expensive loss of institutional knowledge. "Most companies should very seriously think about the value of creating a community," says Lee, who, with UW professor Terrence
Mitchell, conducted the review, the results of which appeared in the February issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science...
Read the article. Back to top
The Coming Crisis In Employee Turnover
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Most companies take it as an article of faith that they've done right by their employees.
Each year performance reviews are given, promotions granted and, in a number of cases, raises and bonuses are handed out. No need, then, for managers to worry about their
staffing plan, much less about which leaders and employees will stay, which will leave and what you should do about both scenarios. They're covered. Right?In today's
competitive work environment, managers should think again. Such complacency is based on an illusion, making it unwarranted. Leaders and managers are fielding increased
recruiter calls, and employees are seeing a swell in help wanted ads. Employees at all levels are taking note of the job market. According to comScore Media Metric, a Reston, Va.-based service that measures Internet usage, almost one-third of all American
Internet users visited a career services site last January, with job searches on Web sites for Monster, Career Builder and Yahoo growing by an average of 32% over the
previous year. So beware of the turning tides. I predict, based on my experience in the staffing and recruiting industry, that the "quit rate"--employees leaving jobs without
being fired, laid off or otherwise forced out--will soar this year, especially with the U.S. economy robust and unemployment at its lowest since 2001. In my view, employee
turnover is already threatening to mushroom into a national workplace crisis. And all levels of employees are vulnerable. [Make retention a top priority – Here’s How]...
Read the article. Back to top
Are You An A$&*@^?
There's usually one or two in every office. And the word "jerk" or "idiot" doesn't suffice. No, this type of person has a very specific attitude that evokes such dislike,
disdain and meanness that he or she brings the place down. This person is nasty and cruel in a way that jerk doesn't connote.
No, the word for them starts with an "a" and ends with, well, you know, and now someone with a Ph.D. has actually studied these folks in the workplace. Robert Sutton, a
professor at Stanford University and co-director of the Center for Work, Technology, and Organization there, looks at how to identify and cope with them in his new book The
No A------- Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't.Sutton didn't intend to write the book. In fact, it was born from a wacky pitch to the Harvard
Business Review that he didn't think would get accepted. Not only was it accepted and published in 2003, Sutton received loads of e-mails from readers who agreed that
workplaces are crawling with a-------. He realized there was much more research to be done. He recently spoke with Forbes.com about how to identify them, deal with them and
perhaps even rid your office of them...
Read the article. Back to top
How To Hold A Great Meeting
Ask most people to describe meetings at work, and the adjectives they might use include "boring," "long" and "worthless."
"Hardly anyone does them well, and nobody thinks about how to improve them," says Jennifer Goodrich, president of Benchmark Leadership Training, a management training
firm just outside of Chattanooga, Tenn. But becoming a meeting master isn't the equivalent of searching for the fountain of youth. Just remember a few guidelines...
Read the article. Back to top
Best Workplace Stress Relievers
While a great motivator, stress isn't so great for your health.
When under stress, people don't turn to granola for comfort. Instead, they skip the gym, head for a double cheeseburger and fries at the nearest fast food joint and have a
smoke, according to a 2006 random national survey of more than 2,000 people conducted by the American Psychological Association. Of those questioned, 59% said work was a
leading source of stress and 47% said they were concerned about stress in their lives. It's also not great for the bottom line, often resulting in absenteeism, lowered
productivity, turnover and health claims. Research has shown that people who are stressed out are more likely to experience hypertension, anxiety or depression and
obesity...
Read the article. Back to top
Ten Cool Summer Cocktails
Thirsty? Good. There's lots here to keep you hydrated.
But if you think this list is going to be made up of gin and tonics, watermelon punch and seabreezes, think again.Try a Caiparinha De Ipanema, Tab with Champagne and a Pimm Pomm...
Read the article. Back to top
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