Filed under: Executive, General, Legal, Professional, Recent Graduates, Uncategorized | Tags: crisis management HR, Ft. Hood, Katrina, workplace violence
The tragedy at Ft. Hood yesterday reminded me of a situation a psychologist friend worked on – it was a shooting in an office building in San Francisco and it was the first time I’d heard the term ‘workplace violence.’
How do we handle such situations?
There is care and compassion for those who have been injured, for their families, friends, neighbors and for our communities – because when this kind of violence occurs, it happens to all of us.
At some point, it will be time to think about a crisis HR plan for your organization.
A crisis plan, or critical incident management plan, is important so that the HR team is aware of the issue and works actively to prevent workplace violence. It’s also critical to have a plan for response – so that everyone in an organization knows what to do if the worst happens.
There is a huge difference between the Enron or Madoff economic crises, a natural catastrophe such as Hurricane Katrina and the mass shootings at Ft. Hood. Articles on crisis management and HR often focus on proactive planning and preventative preparation. The best HR crisis managment encourages the team to ‘think about the unthinkable’ and build alternatives based on worst-case scenarios.
We can do several things about workplace violence, even though it presents a unique set of challenges. A USDA handbook stipulates five ways to prevent workplace violence:
1. Pre-employment screening
2. Security
3. Alternative Dispute Resolution
4. A Threat Assessment Team
5. Employee Assistance Programs
Additional resources are listed at the end of this post.
Perhaps most important in prevention is keeping in touch and maintaining relationships with people.
Know when a group is under more than the usual amount of stress. Be aware of potential reactions to a merger, performance reviews or the closing of a business location. Initiate ad hoc discussions and ask how things are going – then listen carefully.
Establish training for supervisors and managers. Add it to their annual review. Make it measurable.
Don’t let employees ‘go solo.’ Try to find ways to connect people to their work community.
RESOURCES
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health – Videos and transcript on workplace violence
OSHA - Workplace Violence Awareness and Prevention
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health – Occupational Violence
University of Iowa - Report on Workplace Violence
U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Dealing With Workplace Violence
Filed under: General, Uncategorized | Tags: Financial Times, Madoff, trust, verify
An article in the Financial Times caught my eye, not just because it was about Bernard Madoff. Turns out he was waiting to be caught – and several times thought his goose was cooked.
The auditors had a preconceived notion as to where a problem would be found. Because their concept blinded them, they didn’t take the simple steps needed to uncover the huge losses that now make up the largest-ever Ponzi scheme.
You can read the entire piece here.
Verification is not optional – it has to be part of an ongoing methodology. It is impersonal and never eliminated because you ‘trust’ an employee. A friend in banking did that and found her most trusted employee walked out of the branch in handcuffs by the FBI after years of careful embezzling from two elderly brothers.
Verification doesn’t mean we don’t trust. It means we trust the process, not the person.
Filed under: Executive, General, Legal, Professional, Recent Graduates | Tags: background, HR, reference
Sometimes we get confused about the difference between reference checks and background checks.
For employers and candidates alike, it’s important to be clear about each.
REFERENCE CHECKS
References given to a potential employer by a candidate are expected by both groups to provide positive feedback. Sometimes it doesn’t work out that way, though.
Candidates: don’t assume that your references will say nice things. Always ask what your reference will say about their experience with you. Unless you hear it, you won’t know what they’ll say. Also, be certain that your reference ‘hits the target’ for the potential employer by telling brief stories that relate to the job they need to fill. Help your former supervisor, VP or peer by bringing them into the process and sharing how you’ve related prior experience to the requirements the company needs.
If you’re a candidate and you worked at ACME, Inc., be aware the employer will often try to connect with people they know at ACME to get an unvarnished version of your contributions there. This cross-checking is solid HR practice and, if favorable, adds to a decision in your favor. It’s also another reason to stick to the truth.
Employers: during reference checks listen intently for red flags. If you hear one, note it and probe further or find a way to get clarification from one of the interviewers or from another reference. Review the constraints ahead of time and ask only what your legal department approves.
Understand the kinds of responses that eliminate a candidate, abide by those boundaries and move on to the next candidate or go fish to build the pool. It’s a waste of time and money to perform background checks on candidates that don’t even pass the internal vetting process or whose references are lukewarm.
BACKGROUND CHECKS
Candidates: if you tell people who are interviewing you that you’re detail oriented and their background check reveals that you forgot to pay your taxes for the past five years, you’re wasting your time and theirs. Make it easy on yourself and on them. Not many will agree with me, but I say self-disclose up front anything that could become an issue. Did you make a youthful indiscretion? Many of us have – some got caught, others didn’t.
If you know that you’ve got outstanding issues, begin to clean them up today. In this kind of market there are too many people job hunting that don’t carry baggage. Clear away the wreckage of the past so you don’t trip yourself.
Employers: do the background check, do the background check, do the background check. Let me say it once more: Do the background check!
Follow your protocol. If you don’t have a process, create one. Check diplomas. Yes, I know it’s irritating when the registrar’s office at UCLA puts you on hold. Get over it. Check all diplomas. Do a criminal background check. Do a DMV check if it’s appropriate. Do a credit check if needed. If you need to get a private investigator involved, do it. If you’re a governmental or military agency, you’ll already have specific procedures depending on the position classification. The higher up the ladder the position, the more important the background check can be.
Am I being too strict? Recently at a nationally-known brand coffee shop, I ran into someone who has been working for the probation department. He commented to me, “Employers have no idea how many people leave the fact that they’ve done time and are on parole off of their job application – in fact, there’s one behind the counter right over there.”
Beyond making sure that your organization is protected, HR people who make sure that background checks are complete and accurate are protecting the company’s most valuable asset – people.
Filed under: Executive, General, Legal, Professional | Tags: HR, hiring, year end
When I worked writing resumes for Don Asher in San Francisco, I once asked him about the best months for snagging a job. Of course he laughed. What I found at Resume Righters was that November and December are great months for job seekers. Sound counterintuitive? Keep reading…
Once again, I have to hand it to Laurie R. over at Punk Rock HR, who knows what she’s talking about when she says, “It’s a myth that no one hires in November & December.” Her take is worth a look.
So here’s why I know there are jobs to be had in the next two months…
When I worked in retail, needless to say November and December were our biggest – and most profitable – months. But a lot – and I mean A LOT – of companies that I bought merchandise from used the last two months of the year to aggressively close deals, prep new biz for the coming year and set themselves up for a quick start.
Thinking about the New Year doesn’t just start when the champagne and noisemakers are hauled out at 11:59 p.m. on December 31st. Smart hiring managers don’t have to be squeezed to solve their problems and get staff in place – they’re doing it NOW!
Let everyone else think that the year end is slow – pick up the pace and make more contacts. This is the time to get yourself prepped for 2010 – and find the hiring managers and recruiters that are doing the same.
Filed under: Executive, General, Legal, Professional, Recent Graduates | Tags: Asperger's, autism, diversity, Laurie Ruettimann, Nilofer Merchant, No More Corporate Dodgeball, Penelope Trunk
Do our workplaces really welcome people who are different?
Laurie Ruettimann recently commented on this over at Punk Rock HR. Her post on autism, Asperger’s and neurodiversity made me think.
People with Asperger’s can be very high-functioning in terms of actual work produced, yet may have difficulty with social interactions. So team environments can present a challenge.
Penelope Trunk writes about this on her blog Brazen Careerist. She said, “People with Asperger Syndrome don’t want to stand out or be the center of attention. They just want to get along with people and have things run smoothly.” Trunk knows – she has Asperger’s.
Ruettimann’s post brings up a number of questions, but I’m particularly interested in how we’ll solve the social aspect because collaboration is so important.
In her recent manifesto, No More Corporate Dodgeball, Nilofer Merchant, author of The New How, envisions co-creation, cooperation and collaboration as critical requirements for a company to become a real force in business. Which, Merchant says, means we’ll have to discuss problems openly – especially ones that are difficult, political or unpleasant. No more avoidance.
The kind of openness demonstrated by Laurie, Penelope and Nilofer helps me add new smarts to my ‘relating to others’ toolkit.
The more honesty we can encourage in the workplace, the more diversity we can really have in our workforce. In addition to great work, we’ll also gain understanding, compassion and fairness.
Filed under: General
Barbara Kiviat gets it – a year ago many of us viewed jobs as something we worked at while we waited for that killer idea we’d sell to venture capitalists. No longer.
Your 401K has cratered, the house is ‘under water,’ your diamonds and gold don’t appear to be holding their value and it’s been a long while since you’ve fed your insatiable appetite for a trip to Hawaii. Welcome to the recession.
Oh, by the way – you just might want to get serious about your job. Whaaaaaaat? You heard me – your job. That’s j-o-b.
With all the typical asset classes dropping in value, look to your employer as your most valuable asset.
Stop that screaming – I can hear it all the way over here on the Left Coast. Get serious and snuggle up to your job. The day of double digit returns on investments has disappeared like the buggy whip. Who knows when it may return.
Meanwhile, your surest source of riches? Let me repeat: it’s your job.
Now you can be smug about paying attention to Mrs. Chapin in 6th grade English class. In Kiviat’s article in the 3/23/2009 issue of Time, she quotes experts who compare the income stream from a job to the interest income you might receive from a bond. And education, flexibility, problem-solving ability and smarts coupled with social skills will pay you big dividends starting now. In short, it’s nice to be nice. And smart. A prior post on CEOs Mulcahy and Merchant makes the point.
With people now saving 5% of their paychecks, you don’t have to be a genius to figure out that there’s more than just the lure of a paycheck to a job. Not even considering the benefit side, a steady income also allows the recipient to provide their own private version of stimulus checks within their community in the form of buying groceries, clothing, gas, paying for dry cleaning and signing the monthly child care check.
If you need food for thought, consider this from brilliant career coach Jane Genova’s Career Transitions blog – of the 300 applicants for a cook’s job paying $25K recently, 9 applicants had a Ph.D. Jobs are a very valuable commodity.
Read Kiviat’s entire piece here and change your view of employment. You just gained an important asset – one that’s well worth protecting.
The folks at your state unemployment office could be your new best friends.
OK, they’re not like that. Or at least they’re not wearing togas.
Make sure applying for unemployment is one of the first things you do after being laid-off. Pay attention to the rules – this is one part of the government that has very definite requirements. Read the web site, read the documents you’re required to fill out. Then take the time to read them through one more time before you complete your application.
Don’t press the button before you’re sure that you’ve done everything they’ve required. Know how often you have to report. Keep records. And make sure you track where and when you’ve sent your resume or applied for jobs. This is more important than ever since many applications will be done online.
My prior post about a New York Times video about Boomers at a job fair in New York makes that point – most of them were told to go to the company’s web site even though they’d gone to the fair to speak with recruiters in person. Frustrating, I’m sure.
When you start getting your checks, make sure the amount is correct (based on the salary you received at your last job) and deposit or cash the check immediately. Read any forms you receive. Do what they ask.
Keep it simple. Remember: every time you speak with the unemployment office, there’s a chance your benefits may be delayed or denied. Just follow the rules. Submit the forms on time, exactly as specified.
Want more on this? See Eve’s great post on unemployment over at Career Diva – she gets it!
Filed under: General
We’d never have seen this article 9 months ago. And from the New York Times, even!
In the time it takes to have a child, the world has changed considerably. Many who commented on this article were outraged that the public desires the suffering of investment bankers. Reminds me of the crowds attending Marie Antoinette’s execution.
Part of the emotion is a desire for justice. Another is punishing those who fell from grace. The tone of this piece is sarcastic humor.
Even people who have lost big time can recover, though. I’ve known a few investment bankers. The best of the bunch weren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouth. They went to schools like the University of Oregon. Not exactly Harvard or Dartmouth. One client I’m thinking of in particular was smart and a hard worker. A very kind man. Not a shark.
Anyone for polishing up their Tom Wolfe? Perhaps it’s time for a rereading of The Bonfire of the Vanities.
My take? I don’t like lies. And I’m not going to be in the mob throwing stones.
Filed under: General | Tags: fair pay, Gail Collins, New York Times, Obama
The first bill signed into law by President Obama is about fair pay.
Pay equity has been an issue for decades – and it became even more important as women became a key part of the workforce.
By this point, most of us have heard of Lilly Ledbetter who worked at a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama and found out that her male colleagues were much higher on the pay scale – yet she was doing the same work they were.
This is important legislation for women and children. It also impacts our country, culture and communities in a positive way. I hope many job seekers receive benefit from it.
Now equal pay for equal work is the law of the land. Here’s the story.
Gail Collins has a great column on it here.
With the Super Bowl coming up soon, you might wonder if there’s value in a pre-interview snack of tail gate leftovers before that interview.
The NYT published a recipe I can only call ‘bacolicious’ – and definitely just for those who are struggling to keep their fat intake flying off the charts.
Call your cardiologist before attempting this….click here for the entire story.
I’ve never imagined weaving bacon into a meat mat that wraps around sausage before – thanks to Jason Day and Aaron Chronister for their genius. Please guys – don’t share the recipe with President Obama, we need to keep him on the job.
The 411 on pre-interview snacks?
No sugary foods, no fatty foods. Sorry, eating the Bacon Explosion before you interview is likely to have paramedics carting you out of the VP’s office on a gurney or nodding off into dreamland as all the fat hits your system.
Stick with protein and keep it light. A snack of almonds and some water about 30 minutes before your appointment will probably be optimal.
