When are we going to get the message?

Robert Half  just released the results of its Finance and Accounting Survey in which 36 percent of the CFO's who responded said that the number one reason that new hires don not work out is  poor skills. I would suspect that if you talked to operational executives you would get the same feedback. So, if this country is so great why do we get this type of response to such surveys?

NBC is in the process of conducting its 2011 rendition of Education Nation and they have pointed out that despite the presence of  No Child Left Behind, our level of proficiency of students in school is dismissal as a whole. Granted there are exceptions across the country. But the results are still there.

As human resource professionals and citizens of this country,we need to take the time to speak out and tell our elected federal, state and local officials that it is time that eduction not be the sacrificial lamb it has turned into. I spent 6 years of my work career in the classroom and I can tell you from first hand experience we have forgotten how to challenge our students so that they have the necessary critical thinking skills to survive in the workplace.When I have an educational professional tell me that if he taught today's children the way he taught when he started teaching 25 years ago he would have to fail every student, there is something wrong with the picture. I taught middle school science and I can tell you  that the majority of the exercises that we gave the students, today would not be tolerated. Never mind that I had students for the first time in the history of those schools went on to state and regional science fairs with projects which were mor complex then building a volcano.

We are confronted with talent without the appropriate skills for the workplace because we teach to tests. We are confronted with talent without the appropriate skills for the workplace because Gen X parents have pushed for placating the students. No homework, it might hinder their social development. No pushing the envelope on in classroom activities because it might push against the grain due to narrow views of the world. Never mind that diverse opinions is what makes this country great.

If we want to regain the status in the world, we claim we want, then we need to return the educational experience back to the systems of the 1960's where as students we were challenged everyday to think and critically explore the issues that were real to the world. We were challenged by the material not by what test we were going to take at the end of the year. Other countries in the world are turning out larger numbers of students who can critically look at the fast changing world in which we live. Are we going to regain that status or continue with this failed view that when budgets are tight that we cut programs that benefit the students over managerial programs and salaries.

We have the ability to push our agenda to return the US to greatness in the innovation arena, but not when the first thing we cut is the very programs that will get us there. Not when we tell students through our actions that education does not mean anything. Not when we teach to tests that have no real bearing on the workplace of tomorrow or even today. So unless you are willing to take up the challenge and change legislative minds, do not complain that you can not find talent with the proper workplace skills.

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What is Your Business Environment?

At the recent HR Florida Conference, the Keynote speaker Dan Pink suggested to the audience that they should read The Progress Principle by Teresa Amberlie.As I write this post I have read the first 160 pages of her book and it has made me think about some of the situations I have been in during my work career.

Back in the late 1970's we worked in the recruiting industry in which a manager told the recruiters in the firm that if they had any business ethics they were working for the wrong firm. For many of the recruiters it did not seem to think anything was wrong with the view.

In the 1980's we worked for a real estate broker who had the operating philosophy that the firm's managers were supposed to serve at the needs of the agents rather than the firm's clients.

In the early 2000's we worked in the retail field as an area corporate sales manager with no reports. If we had a client request we used to have to funnel it through a local store. On several different occasions the store felt that the corporate orders took a back seat to the other business. The regional sales manager rode rough shod over the area sales managers who were managers in name only. They had no one reporting to them per se. To add to this the regional managers expected a whole team conference call for an hour every Monday and an hour one on one call every Friday. We also were required to submit a weekly call log of everything we had done during the week.

I am not trying to give you a mini resume, but rather to point out that what we as managers do has a direct return on the productivity of our organization. Give them the impression that it is my way or no way and you imbed the belief that there is no reason for the employee to go out of their way to improve the business. Give them the impression that their ideas are of no value and we lose engage employees. Give them the belief that the voice of the customer is secondary in nature and we develop employees who do not believe in excellent customer service.

As human resource professionals and managers we are the organizational canary. We are the ones, who in our daily dealings with the rank and file, can observe managers who do not recognize the value of the organization's ran and file. We are the ones who can help the organization develop engaged employees who are working in a business environment that excels and exceeds everyone's expectations.

Your organization's business environment is predicted on how the inner work life is for your employees. Do we respect their contribution or do we feel they are there to take up space and go through the basics of running the organization. You decide what environment is present for your human capital assets.

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L'Shana Tovah

Daniel Bloom & Associates, Inc. will be closed September 28-30 in observance of the Jewish New Year. Best wishes for the New Year to our Jewish clients and friends.

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Dawn of Economic Diversity

Those of you who have followed this blog since its inception in 2006 know that I very rarely if ever use someoneelses material for the blog entries. However I got up this morning to read my morning mail and found this post from Sharlyn Lauby and the HR Bartender. It really hit home so I chose to share it with you.

There’s this thought floating around in my head and I’d like to share it with you.  It involves all the recent media coverage about the shrinking middle class and the rise in poverty.  Regardless of your political persuasion, the stats seem to suggest the wealth gap is widening.

As a society, we’re generally not too comfortable talking about money.  Our parents told us not to talk about how much money we have or don’t have.  We only talk about our salary with people “in the know” – our boss, human resources,  family, etc. However, at some point, we have to get real and discuss the fact that 1 in 6 Americans live in poverty.

Think about that the next time you’re at a conference, in a work meeting, attending worship services, etc. 1 in every 6 people around you could be living in poverty.  That means maybe you can afford a Starbucks every morning, trendy shoes or a big fancy vacation, but not everyone in the room can.

Now let’s apply this idea to the workplace.  1 in 6 employees might be living in poverty.  Companies and managers need to understand it’s unacceptable to judge people based upon their economic status.  For instance:

Clothing:  I know, I know.  The whole dress code thing again.  I promise not to get on my soapbox, but when we advise colleagues to ditch the 80’s fashion or not wear their engagement ring to an interview aren’t we in essence pointing out just how superficial we are?  That your attire trumps your abilities?  And the real question is, what happens to those employees who are brilliant but can’t afford the latest trend in sneakers?

Internet:  Fran Melmed at Free Range Communications shared some information about internet access across America not being equal.  It’s really fascinating.  But it raises the question: do companies make the assumption that all of their employees have computers with high-speed internet at home?  So they can take work home to finish? If I have to choose between feeding my family and DSL, which do you think will win out?

Cell phones and equipment: I’ve been hearing about this new trend in business called “BYO” – bring your own equipment.  Obviously, this is great if you have better equipment than the company is willing to pay for.  I can’t help but think about the reverse.  What if I don’t have the best and fastest computer technology?  Does this mean I don’t get the job?  Or if I do get the job that I’m doomed to fail because I can’t possibly perform at a high level because I can’t afford the equipment the company won’t pay for?

Training and professional development:  The trend today is for employees to contribute in some way to their professional development.  And I have to say I support this trend.  But I’m starting to struggle with what “contribute” looks like.  I know of many companies that will give an employee time off to attend a conference but the conference expense is the employee’s. What happens if an employee’s personal budget won’t allow for it?  Are they becoming disadvantaged in some way due to lack of professional development?

I’m sure there are more examples but this gives you an idea of what we face if we don’t embrace economic diversity.  If it isn’t happening already, I wonder how many managers are offering career advice like:

You need to look the part to be taken seriously in meetings.  Go buy some new clothes.

Whatever you do, don’t tell the vice president you live with your parents. He’ll think you’re a loser.

Even if an employee wants to attend the conference, would love to buy new clothes and give anything not to live with mom and dad, the reality may be they just can’t afford to change the situation.   Businesses and their leaders need to sensitize themselves to the fact that smart, hard-working people who can deliver big results for their companies not only have  different genders, skin colors, and religions but different sized bank accounts.

When you get to the office this week, stop and think what impact your policies might have on your employees.

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New HR Related group

As part of our two day class, Driving the HR 500, we expose the participants to a great tool called the Business Model Canvas. We have created a specific group on the Business Model Hub group specifically for those who either use the canvas or would like to learn more about it. It will require a FREE registration. The group can be found at http://businessmodelhub.com/forum/topics/hr-business-models

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Driving HR 500: Achieving HR Excellence through Six Sigma course comes to Lakeland, FL Nov 7 & 9

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Daniel Bloom & Associates, Inc. has introduced a proprietary course for anyone dealing with the management of Human Capital. It is entitled Driving the Human Resource 500: Achieving HR Excellence through Six Sigma.  It is designed to show HR professionals how to utilize continuous process improvement to enhance their human resource processes and explain HR in terms of organizational strategy. The class lasts for two days and has been pre-approved for 13  strategic continuing education by the Human Resource Certification Institute.

 

For more information contact David Woodward  863-669-2329

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Communication and Engagement: What message are you sending?

I have been recently asked to repeat our presentation to a local university's MBA leadership class on the role of human capital in the global workplace. Except this time the instructor has asked me to touch on the role of conflict and conflict resolution during the presentation

When I began to think about this, I was returned to the recent HR Florida Conference and the presentation of Dan Pink who brought up some interesting points in this area. I believe that we would almost all agree that the nature of our ob requirements have changed over the past decade or so. The vast majority of our work involves cognitive skills rather than purely manual labor This change has brought about a fundamental change in the way we deliver our messages

Management can no longer afford to take the role of the overbearing parent. Governess by edict no longer has a viable place in the workplace. Instead this means we need to move to a more collaborative message to the organizations we are involved in. So what has changed in the method?

We are working in a new world which demands new resources It no longer is a viable plan of action to turn to our human capital assets and say that the organization is making some changes and this is the way we will do it. We can no longer ask them to arrive at a new way to deliver a process and tell them thanks but management has made the decision to go off in another direction. As managers we need to change our focus to one of turning to these same assets and representing the requests - not from how we are going to do something but rather to one of explaining to them not only how but why we are doing it. We are in an age of transparency. We are in world where we value what employees think and dream. Give them the courtesy of giving them the information they need to understand a) what the problem is? b) what caused the problem? and c) to correct the problem we have had to make some changes and what you expect the outcomes will be because you implemented the changes.

As managers you have a direct influence on the level of engagement of your employees within your organization. Your communication message will determine whether you achieve the level of engagement that you seek for your organization. Explain the reason behind the How and you will have a better organization.

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Have You Considered.......?

Several months ago, I started the practice of calling each individual who either requested a connection or viewed our profile on LinkedIn. In one such call last week I was talking with a fellow HR Consultant and she asked me whether I considered adding executive search to my service package. My IMMEDIATE response was that I am not a recruiter. I have been there, done that and have the T-shirt. I have to tell you I responded without any thought whatsoever.

After I got off the phone call I started to think about how I responded to the question. I heard the voice of a potential customer and I immediately had a response. Now let's turn that around for a moment. You are a member of management and a stakeholder within your organization (internal or external) comes to you with a suggestion or a comment, do you equally have an immediate response for the or do you take sometime to consider the request.

The key to success in our organizations in the global workplace is to listen to what our customers are expressing as to what they want. If we immediately dismiss what they are saying we are not helping either the organization or the cutomer.

Listen I fully realize that the tendency is to respond quickly and decisively on items as they come across your desk, but just sometimes fast is not the best response to the customers who are responsible for our organizational success.

Side note: The new connection then asked me to tell her why I was so quick to respond. In this case I related an situation that happened during my recruiting days which was less than ethical on the part of the firm I was working for. Can you likewise provide an INSTANT response as to why you responded immediately to their request.

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Daniel Bloom & Associates, Inc. has introduced a proprietary course for anyone dealing with the management of Human Capital. It is entitled Driving the Human Resource 500: Achieving HR Excellence through Six Sigma. It is designed to show HR professionals how to utilize continuous process improvement to enhance their human resource processes and explain HR in terms of organizational strategy. The class lasts for two days and has been pre-approved for 13 strategic continuing education by the Human Resource Certification Institute.
For information or to register call (352) 395-5269

Driving HR 500: Achieving HR Excellence through Six Sigma course comes to Gainesville, FL Oct 12-13

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Daniel Bloom & Associates, Inc. has introduced a proprietary course for anyone dealing with the management of Human Capital. It is entitled Driving the Human Resource 500: Achieving HR Excellence through Six Sigma.  It is designed to show HR professionals how to utilize continuous process improvement to enhance their human resource processes and explain HR in terms of organizational strategy. The class lasts for two days and has been pre-approved for 13 strategic continuing education by the Human Resource Certification Institute.

For information or to register call (352) 395-5269

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

The Perfect Storm is Coming- Are You Complacent or Proactive?

I went through an ordeal with my 91 year father recently as Irene bore down on the New York metropolitan area. He said he had lived through hurricanes before and this should not be any different. He told me they had plenty of food in the house.

His attitude made me think of some of the members of management in and outside HR that I have crossed path with lately. The corporate world faces a pending storm that in the back of our heads we know is coming. Every survey completed recently have said that as much as 60% of our human capital are preparing to jump ship as the economic picture turns around. Politics aside it will turn around, just not sure how soon.

On August 31 I attended the final day of the HR Florida State Convention and had the pleasure of listening to a friend and a member of my LinkedIn Network, Dan Pink. Dan in his keynote presentation made the exact same point. He suggests that there are two tracks we can go down. The first is the attitude of my Dad, we know the storm is coming but we have lived through this before. There is absolutely no reason to change our way of managing.

On the other side of the coin, are those organizations who have decided that they can lessen the impact by taking proactive steps to change the work environment. Here are just some of the suggestions made by Dan in his presentation:

1. When we ask an employee to change the way we do things we need to explain not only the how of the change. We need to also explain why we are making the change. What circumstances in the organization made us introduce this new way to do things.
2. Learn to be flexible. Dan made reference to Netflix whose corporate vacation policy is they don't have one. Management have told the employees take as much time as you need as long as the work gets done.
3. Realize that you are presenting a mixed message to your employees when you try to do things the way you have always done. Dan posted to the assembled group how many of us had problems with Millenials. Almost every hand went up. Dan pointed out that one of the characteristics of the Gen Y is that they want to constantly be able to determine how they are performing. We then tell them that they can find out the answer to this question once a year in a 45 min session which neither management or the employee like or enjoy.
4. There are many examples of research has shown that when we ask our employees to perform rudimentary constructive skills money is not the answer. Just raising the monetary level will not increase the motivation to complete the responsibilities of the positions we have trusted to them.

So on this Labor Day eve are you representative of my father thinking everything will continue as it has and risk massive knowledge drain from your organization? Or are you ready to be proactive and prepare the organization to lessen the impact of the pending Perfect Storm?

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Is Your Company The Target Of An Ice I-9 Inspection? Strategies That Can Get You Through It

Today's Post is from our partner Jon Velie:

Have you received a letter from Immigration Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) that your company must produce its I-9 forms for inspection? If so, you are not alone. The Government initiated a new round of immigration investigations on June 14, 2011 targeting 1,000 companies across the country.

The companies will be facing government audits of I-9 forms and documents filed by employees indicating legal working status in the United States.

“The inspections will touch on employers of all sizes and in every state in the nation, with an emphasis on businesses related to critical infrastructure and key resources,” ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said in a statement.

The names of the companies were not released, however, ICE stated they include large and small businesses in 17 sectors, including agriculture and food, financial services, commercial nuclear reactors, drinking water and water treatment, postal and shipping, health care and transportation.

“Ultimately, our focus on businesses related to critical infrastructure and key resources aligns with our priority as an agency to first and foremost minimize threats to national security and public safety,” Christensen said.

The Obama administration has made workplace investigations a key part of its efforts to enforce immigration laws, unlike the Bush administration, which relied more on high-profile raids and worker arrests.

In all, ICE has initiated more than 2,300 employer audits since the start of the federal fiscal year in October. It conducted 2,196 audits during the 2010 fiscal year, leading to the criminal arrests of 196 employers and 119 convictions.

Questions employers face when audited are:

Are the I-9’s filled out correctly? Typical errors in filling out I-9 forms include:

Leaving fields blank. If there is no answer, such as no middle name or maiden name for a man, fill in with N/A.

Listing more that either the List A documents, ie US passport, permanent residency card or work authorization or List B and C documents, ie Drivers license and Social Security card. An employer should not request all the documents. It is a violation of the employees rights.

Executing the signatures of the employer and employee on different dates. While the documents can be signed up to 3 days apart, the issue is whether the employer viewed the documents when the employee signed the form.

2. Are we maintaining our I-9’s correctly? I-9’s should not be kept in the personnel files of the employee but in separate binders. One binder for current employees and a second binder for employees terminated within three years of their hire date or one year after termination, whichever is longer. Employers should not keep I-9s after the period allocated. Employers should develop a regular purging process. However, it is probably not a good idea to destroy any documents after receiving an ICE inspection notice.

If an employer is being audited, one of the best things it can do, is hire an outside group to audit the forms and related documents immediately. We spent last week auditing forms and documents, training employees, interviewing employees for a company who received one of the thousand letters. We discovered technical errors with virtually all of them.

However, we reached out to ICE and informed them we were conducting an audit. We requested some additional time and corrected all the technical errors. We included audit notes and met with the Inspector to identify our issues. It was very well received. Our client would have surely received a lengthy report from ICE indicating non-compliance with virtually all employees. We discovered in our interview process a discrepancy that resulted in termination of an employee. We divulged the issue and solution to ICE at the initiation of the process.

The company officials decided to join IMAGE, an initiative that requires an ICE audit and outside audits going forward. But for my client they were being audited anyway and we were performing the outside audit. Additional requirements are joining E-verify among others. Taking these actions are good faith or mitigating steps that may save the Company massive fines, potential criminal prosecution or shutting down operations.

The passage of IMMACT unwillingly deputized US employers to take reasonable steps to determine whether employees are lawfully permitted to work. The consequences can be civil fines ranging from $110 to $1,100 per violation or criminal liability.

The Government has shifted a wholly civil fine philosophy to include criminal liability today. ICE may refer cases of numerous crimes such as knowingly employing an illegal alien, harboring an illegal alien, RICO violations, money laundering and numerous others to a US attorney. The number of crimes have been initiated against US employers have sky rocket in recent years.

ICE is a very well funded agency, and crimes prosecuting illegal aliens is now the top body of crime in the country surpassing drug crimes and terrorism. Hispanically Speaking, reported on June 21, 2011, that the top two crimes in the United States are immigration crimes. One, illegally re-entry will comprise approximately 50% of all crimes prosecuted in the United States in 2011. The current administration will prosecute approximately 37,000 individuals on illegal re-entry. This is a massive upswing from George Bush II’s administration that prosecuted approximately 20,000 in 2008. Bill Clinton’s highest total was in 2000, with approximately 7,500. While, George Bush I only prosecuted approximately 1,000 in both 1991 and 1992.

We are seeing an upswing in deportation as well. In FY 2009 ICE deported more than 135,000 “criminal aliens,”—a 19% increase over FY 2008.

The heightened prosecutions and deportations are indicative of the Government’s hard line policy against illegal immigration and focus on enforcement. The ICE inspection initiative is the largest ever of its kind and clearly shows that the Government will hold US employers responsible if they hire illegal workers. I-9 compliance is a requirement for all employers in the US, it is imperative that you understand whether you are compliant before ICE knocks on your door on gives you a letter with only a few days to comply. But if they do, call an Immigration Attorney with experience in compliance immediately.

My contact information is 405-310-4333, office 405-821-5959, mobile, e-mail me at jon@velielaw.com or visit our website at www.onlinevisas.com.

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