Mirror, MIrror Who Am I?

I received in my daily barrage of emails one that perked my interest. I apologize upfront because it got deleted by accident and I could not find it again.

The email was from a HR related blog and it began with a scenario in which the employees of a said organization received and email at their desk computers. In essence the message stated that management was informing the employee body that they no longer had to worry about their fellow employee who was holding up the organization because they were no longer with the company. It further announced that there would be a memorial for this person at 3pm in the company cafeteria. The scenario said that when the employees showed up for the memorial there was an open casket waiting for them. As the employees went up to the casket to see who had passed away, they found themselves looking in a mirror.

So here is my question to you. If you received the identical message and you saw yourself in the mirror what is your reaction as to whether you are holding up the organization's objectives. Are you so stuck in your silo that you are not able too see how you fit into the bigger picture? Are you so set in the philosophy that we do not need to change, things are fine just the way they are?

Our global marketplace is changing each and every day and it is incumbent on each of us to play a vital role in that change. Times require new approaches and new methods of problem solving. As HR professionals we need to be at the forefront of the change process not part of the problem.

So the next time you ask the mirror who am I, be prepared to provide the answer that will expand bot the organization and your futures by changing with the times. Find the path to work effectively and efficiently with cross functions within your organization. Be prepared to recognize the value of others view of the mirror as far as HR is concerned. Work around the problems and make the workplace a better place to be.

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Reminder

OSHA Injru and Death Summary Report is due February 1, 2012

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A New Generation is Coming, Are You Ready?

We have all seen the vast number of articles regarding the interactions between the different generations in the workplace. We all have our personal views regarding the roles of the Baby Boomers, Gen X , Gen Y or the traditionalists. But we are talking about an entirely different generational mix then we are used to hearing about.

For the past 15 years, I have religiously read one business magazine cover to cover each and every month. When you book marked it on your PC or Mac it cam up as the Handbook for the Revolution. The February issues discussed a new generation called Generation Flux.

Based in Chaos Theory it suggests that you as HR professionals need to change your perspectives. The idea of creating  precise long term business model or expecting that your human capital assets are going to remain part of your organization is dwindling. So what does this mean for our organizations?

The total organization, including HR, must learn to work in small segments. The article contains references from individuals who are part of this new generation which represent all ages. They look at the business world from the view of what is going to happen in the next several hours not fie or ten years down the road. This means that HR needs to embrace change and realize that our future as an organization is directly attributable to how well we adapt the organization to this state of flux. Consider these options for your organization:

1. Employees with a constant pressure to learn new things
2. Adaptation to changing environments that can happen in hours not years
3. Short-term careers
4. No guarantee that talent will stay in your industry
5. Human Capital resumes are a collection of roads that have no clear path of direction. Revising the resume opens new paths.

What this means is that nostalgia is a thing of the past. The future means we have to be ready at the drop of a dime to change our focus. We need to shift our focus towards hiring as the moment requires and understand when the need drops, the talent is going to move. It will play havoc on our hiring plans. It will have an adverse effort on succession planning. We can not rely on our HIPE employees being there when the C-Suite retires.  We can not rely on the department staffing needs to be placed on a plateau where we know who is going to fill the needs of the future.

The generation flux is going to be the indicator of the strength of our organization short term because that is way we need to look. Command and control and management expecting to have a strong presence in the wave of the future is winding fast.

In our presentations on Six Sigma and HR, we focus on an analogy of the fork in the road as the determining factor n the health of the HR function.  With the introduction of the generation flux, this even more true then before. We have a choice of staying the path of " hey this is the way we have always done it, and it works," or taking the path of moving with the flow which will cause us to review where we are, where we are going and how we are going to get there--hourly. It means we need to be able to assist the human capital assets to better prepared for the new world. Forget this attitude that we are not going to train them because they will just leave.They are going to leave anyway. Help them solidify the next skill set that goes in their backpack. These skills may be helpful in the next person you hire.

Stop, take a moment to smell the roses and prepare for the turbulent ride as we enter the world of Generation Flux. I highly recommend that you click on the link and read about what Generation Flux could mean to your organization. Contribute to the discussion. Get involved in laying out the future of your organizations.

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What is your Brand telling the world?

Let me set the playing field, this is NOT about marketing of an organization. This is about the message you as an organization send to two different stakeholders for your organization. The first is your customer base and the second are your current and potential employees.

Consider this scenario. I recently had to send some critical legal documents from my home in Florida to an attorney in NY. I decided the "safest" way was to send them next day early delivery by one of the largest service providers. The letter went from Florida to Philadelphia and then by some fluke it ended up in London. Before they could return it to the US it went to Germany.

When I called customer service I was told they were sorry about the delay but mistakes happen. I will give them that. But when asked how this could happen no one from executive offices to the customer service representative could explain the results.

So here is my question to you. What does your brand say, when the organization makes a mistake? Is your response that mistakes happen or do you work to try and a) find the reason for the mistake or b) make changes in your processes so that it does not happen again?

Your brand response to these matters of nature have a vital impact on your brand as an organization.Today's human capital assets seek organizations that care for their stakeholders. I am not suggesting that you need to be in love with them. What we are suggesting is that your organization as part of your culture need to strive to show the world that you at least care about their role in the success of your business.

Jim Collins in Good to Great suggests that the way for your organization to thrive is to have the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus and the right people in the right seats. If your management does not see the value in your employees and stakeholders then you do not have the right person on the bus. Management is the face of the brand you and if they are sending a message that these investors inn your organization are just a drag your brand is going to tell the world just that message.

Put yourselves for a minute in the role of the employee or stakeholder and you were confronted with a brand which tells you that we want your business but it has to be on our terms and if you don't like it go elsewhere. Would your tendency be to stay with that organization or find one that cared about your needs and issues?

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How Do You View the World?

To begin with on this first day of a brand new yea, may I wish you and yours a great new year.

I was reading the local newspaper this morning and a column by Bill Maxwell caught my attention. The column was entitled "White doubt reserved for black professional and it dealt with an effort of the local school district to enhance the number of black teachers that are hired.One of the members of the school board who is white is quoted as saying after the effort was announced who said the effort should be to hire quality over numbers.  The reason why this caught my eye was it gave me a moment to consider this from a broader perspective.

No one will deny that we have a large unemployment issue in this country. But how large would the problem be if we removed our preconceived notions from the staffing process. Over the past several years I have seen in the social media realm various posts which suggest that we are rejecting applicants because of these notions. Consider these examples:

• One recruiter posted that if she knew a candidate had grey hair she would automatically reject them from the candidate pool.
• Individuals who call themselves professional recruiters who really believe that those with disabilities do not belong in the workplace and should be relegated to a home or family residence.
• Disregard your political views for a moment and be true to yourselves and ask how many of you thought the President was not able to do the job because he was African-American? Be honest.
• How many of you believe that just because a fellow professional does not come from the same background as you they automatically are inferior in their abilities to perform the responsibilities of the position?

Maxwell in concluding his article asked what it will take for so many whites to stop automatically questioning the qualifications of black professionals who are not entertainers or jocks. I would carry this further and ask what will it take for corporate America to recognize the worth of EVERY employee regardless of their origin. In his book on the Toyota Culture, Liker states that the hiring managers at Toyota look at the skills the person has, even if they are not from the same industry. They discuss people who were managers in the grocery store industry who moved to the production floor as a lead person because of her skills. We all need to take the same attitude going into this new year. Many corporations are reporting that they are having a hard time finding the right talent for their operations. Could this view be hindering the hiring effort?

Thin about it for a moment seriously. Lets talk about how to change the hiring perspective to remove these illogical notions. We are not suggesting that you should hire anyone off the street That is equally illogical. We are suggesting that looking at the candidate pool with the eye that we will eliminate someone because they are not mirror images of the hiring manager is equally wrong.

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What is your legacy?

On December 12 my father passed away at the age of 92 after a career that took him to the level of  Vice Chairman of the Board of a Fortune 500 corporation. In thinking back over the time we had together I was presented with a picture with two sides to it. If you listen to his friends and neighbors they talked about how involved he as in the community and the business world. I can't dispute that in any fashion. Over my life he had been involved in local politics including serving on the town commission. He was greatly involved ,along with my mother, in the UN Association.In his business environment he traveled over to Europe on many occasions.

If I flip the coin ,if you were, to the father side I get an entirely different picture. I remember very few events in school that he attended because work always came first. He overly pushed us to achieve based on his educational record. So why write this piece?

I am not looking for sympathy. Rather I am suggesting that there may be a large number of parents out there who fall into the same track. whether it is by choice or the culture of the organization they worked for, families were left for second place. The result is are we  leaving a legacy as a great business person or a great parent?  Or even more important have we found a way to meld the two. Is the legacy we leave behind that we have helped the world be a better place through demonstrations of compassion for all aspects of their lives.

The impetus to achieve this goal is as much the responsibility of the organization and HR as it is on the individual. We seek to get our talent engaged within our organizations,but we can't accomplish that without a balance between work and outside life. we do not prepare our children for a future in the workplace when the model they have is that the primary expectations is work. Work at the expense of the rest of our lives.

So take a moment, as I have over the past several weeks and consider what legacy you are leaving behind. Think of ways how you can be of benefit to the organization and to your families at the same time. Think of ways to present the kind of model that considers the needs of the organization in balance with the needs of your offspring. The world will be a better place if you do.

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Driving the HR 500: Achieving HR Excellence through Six Sigma 2012 Dates

Daniel Bloom & Associates, Inc. will be presenting its look at six sigma for the HR space at the following locations at this time during 2012 with more dates coming:

February 7-8  Pensacola State College Pensacola, FL

February 22-23    Santa Fe College Gainesville, FL

March 22-23      Human Resource Association of Cental Ohio    Columbus, OH

                    This class is half full at this time

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Help possibly on the way

Associated Press reported this afternoon

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN | The Associated Press
Published: December 15, 2011
Updated: December 15, 2011 - 4:41 PM

» 10 Comments | Post a Comment

NEW ORLEANS --

A Chinese drywall manufacturer has agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to resolve court claims by thousands of Gulf Coast property owners who say the product corroded pipes and wires and otherwise wrecked their homes, the largest settlement of its kind so far.

The deal announced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon calls for Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. to create an uncapped fund to pay for repairing roughly 4,500 properties, mostly in Florida and Louisiana, but also Alabama and Mississippi. A separate fund capped at $30 million will pay for other types of losses, including those by people who blame drywall for health problems.

Russ Herman, a lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said the settlement is worth between $800 million and $1 billion, although an attorney for the Chinese company disputed that estimate.

"We're very thankful for our clients," Herman said. "What we've given them, hopefully, is a happy holiday season."

Knauf attorney Kerry Miller said the company "decided to step up and settle these claims and do the right thing."

"They want to get this unfortunate incident behind them so they can focus on manufacturing first-class building products," he said.

Herman said around 55 percent of the people who would benefit from the settlement live in Florida, while roughly 35 percent live in Louisiana. The deal would resolve cases filed in both state and federal court.

Chinese drywall was used in the construction of thousands of homes, mainly in the South, after a series of destructive hurricanes in 2005 and before the housing bubble burst. The problems it has caused range from a foul odor to corrosion of pipes and wiring.

Steven Roberts, a plaintiff who built a home in Boynton Beach in 2005 with Knauf drywall, said the first sign of trouble was a foul odor that smelled like "bitter sulfur." His family didn't suspect a more serious problem until electrical appliances started failing and corrosion formed on mirrors and bathroom fixtures.

Roberts, 37, a veterinarian, said he can't afford to repair all the damage or move his wife and daughter out, so he hopes the settlement can finally end their ordeal.

"It would be a huge weight lifted off our shoulders," he said. "It's been extremely challenging for my wife, very stressful. It's definitely a relief to potentially have the end in sight."

Virginia homeowners also filed many claims over drywall damage, but Herman said few of them would benefit from the deal because most received their drywall from other Chinese companies that haven't responded to lawsuits.

"They're the victims, innocent victims, of corporate malfeasance," Herman said. "To them we pledge, `Keep the faith.' Our journey does not end here."

Fallon must sign off on the settlement before any money is distributed. Although the judge could give his preliminary approval to the deal in January, it will likely take several more months for money to reach homeowners.

Knauf agreed to initially deposit $200 million in the repairs fund, which would be replenished as needed. Greg Wallance, an attorney for the company, said Herman's estimate that the deal could be worth up to $1 billion is "pure speculation."

"It isn't going to be anything approaching that," he said.

Attorneys' fees and costs paid by Knauf are capped at $160 million and will not be deducted from homeowners' shares of the settlement money.

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton was one of the plaintiffs in the Knauf litigation. His attorney, Daniel Becnel Jr., said Payton already has fixed the suburban New Orleans home his family had to vacate. Knauf reimbursed him for the repairs.

Fallon presides over more than 10,000 claims involving Chinese drywall. The cases were consolidated in the New Orleans federal court in 2009.

Thursday's settlement isn't the first, but it offers the most to homeowners, so far. In June, plaintiffs reached a $55 million settlement with Banner Supply Co. — a Miami-based supplier of Chinese drywall — along with several related companies and Banner's insurers.

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IRS releases 2012 Mileage Rates

For business use of an automobile remains at 55½ cents per mile. For medical or moving expenses, it is 23 cents per mile (a half-cent decrease from the second half of 2011). For services to charitable organizations, the rate (which is set by statute) is 14 cents per mile.

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Back to the Future

I opened the paper today and read where several organizations announced that they were cutting staff in order to control costs. In the same time span I saw several posting in the social media space which stated that C-suite office holders are saying that their greatest challenge in 2012 is going to be centered around talent issues especially talent retention. I must be missing something here. We can not state that we are concerned with retaining the talent e have at the same time discharge them in order to maintain costs.

Jeff Cox in his book Velocity tells us that unless the organization is on the verge of bankruptcy or closing its doors then there is no excuse for cutting headcount. Part of the dichotomy here is how the organization views its human capital.The majority of American corporations treat their employees a a commodity. When you are considered in this track, then the natural assumption is that  employees can be cut or hired based on the economics of the time However if you consider your employees to be valuable assets like Toyota does, then the solution to freeing up funds for headcount is not to cut heads but rather to deep dive your operations with the goal to remove as much non-value added activities as is possible. This in turn we will free up revenue that can be used to maintain headcount.

Jim Collins tells us in his book Good to Great that the key is to get the right people on the bus. I don't argue that point at all. What I  do argue is that all too often we get rid of the wrong people in trying to reach where we think we want to be. As a result we either eliminate people or screen candidates out because we are still working off of an ancient formula for assessing talent.

Think you have a talent problem going into 2012? Learn to think out of the box. I recently heard of a local car dealer who could not identify quality technicians for his dealership. Reach out to the training institutes in the area that are training mechanics and see what talent you can grow. I also heard of law firm that posted a position for a paralegal and out of 100 applicants could find only three that fit their mold. How about talking to the local Universities that have Communication programs. Get somebody who knows how to write and teach them the legal parts after they come onboard.

Talent is what you make of them. If you show them that you care and respect their input you will have a vibrant organization. If you show them that they are just an inconvenience then you get what you paid for.

We have been there before when talent was a luxury. It is plainly not prudent to in this knowledge/service age to approach your talent needs by cutting heads when there are better ways to control costs. Look at what you  do not have to do to meet client demands. The answers are right in front of you. They are hidden from your perspective because in many cases you have been too hesitate to look.

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Expectations vs. Real World

I just returned from a hurried flight to New York due to a family medical emergency. I flew out of Tampa on Delta on a typical plane leaving the airport non-stop. Coming back we flew on US Airways and expected the same type of aircraft. When I arrived at the airport yesterday morning I found that the first leg of the trip to Florida was on a plane run by Air Wisconsin. It was a plane with four seats across and 14 rows and the typical carry on luggage did not fit in the overhead racks. The last leg was on a "normal" plane.

So here is my question to you, do you as an organization set up the environment for expectations on the part of your current and new hires as to what they think they are going to receive from your organization? In reality does the expectation meet what really happens?

We continually hear corporate management talking about the lack of commitment from the talent they hire. Have they stopped to consider that the message sent to the employees is I know what you expect but this is what really is going to happen.

Dictionary. com tells us that the word expectation can be defined as the act or the state of expecting, or the act or state of looking forward or anticipating or a mental attitude. So here is what happens, We interview that great candidate and essentially sell them a bill of goods and then they join the organization. One of the first things likely to happen is that some current employee gets into a casual conversation with your new hire and they talk about the workplace environment and the current employee tells the new hire that the promises made to them in the hiring process are just that promises with no teeth. So how does that new hire feel. I would bet pretty much like my thoughts when I boarded that puddle jumper" at 8:30 am yesterday.

We look at the average length of employment of the Generation Y and it runs somewhere around 18 months. The primary reason is that what they were told by the organization is not what they find when they start. It is imperative that the organizations begin to identify the discourse between the two messages. We need organizations that are comprised of dedicated human capital to achieve the things our organizations need and just as important what the talent needs. The lack of achievement is what brings about the many internal human capital problems we see.

I am currently reading Liker's Toyota Culture in which he stresses the involvement of the entire organization to encompass every employee and put them on an even playing field with every other employee including management. They talk about the Kentucky plant where there s no corner office or executive dining room. The workplace is organized around cross-functional teams which are designed to problem solve. The solutions are shared with the entire organization. There is no such thing as departmental competition.

As a consultant if I was hired to advise your management team on how to improve the workplace environment, my message would be simple and precise. It is one thing to try and tell a potential candidate how great your organization is. It is a totally different thing to tell the employee that this is the organizational world in such terms as to raise their expectations to a level where they are designed to fail. Unless you as an organization are determined to not create incorrect expectations on the role of the human capital assets within the business. Make the decision which road you are going to take before you begin the interview process.

Remember that the employee's view of the world is to them reality. Are you going to meet their view or continue to provide false promises? Your call. Your decision. Define the state of your workplace.

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Circle the Wagons, the Indians are Coming!!!!

President Obama at a press conference in Hawaii referring to a question about the scandal at Penn State made the observation that protecting the innocent was more important than shielding institutions or organizations. I took in the premise and then looked at the daily RSS feed I receive from the EEOC and began to question the strategic moves many corporations are making in the marketplace.

I totally understand that as an organization you have a brand that you need to protect but when your managers are making stupid mistakes and are circling the wagons instead of taking the right path to resolve issues in the marketplace, you begin to wonder why organizations can complain about the lack of engagement and then provide the proof in their actions.

Since August 26, 2011 the EEOC RRS feed is reporting nearly 200 settled complaints or new actions regarding situations where an employee has a legal right to complain about working conditions and the organizational response is how difficult can we make their lives to the point of having them leave the company. Maintain the brand at all costs and the heck with supporting the individual who is being harassed or discriminated against.

Consider the case of  an acute care facility in California who will pay $530,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging the sexual harassment of its staff.  According to the federal agency, several of the female targets of the harassment were either retaliated against or compelled to quit after their complaints were ignored by hospital management.Is the brand that important that you tolerate a workplace where you demean the employee base.  That is an attitude from an era way gone from reasonable in today's workplace.

Look at your list of the best places to work or the companies founded on the principles of the Toyota Production System and they recognize the worth of employees to the organization. Look at the organizations being hit by the EEOC and you see organizations with the attitudes that we are doing the employee a favor by allowing them to work here and they need to take what ever conditions we want to expose them to.

In the 21st Century this is not how we encourage engagement. This is not how we encourage employee loyalty. This how we tell our employees that they are chattel, not valuable parts of our organization. So if you must circle the wagons, do so around the worth of all parties. Protect the organizational brand by telling the world that you value the employee and their contributions to the brand.

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we have met the enemy and they are us!!

Many of you who are old enough to remember this quote, will remember that it came out at the time of the first Earth Day. It was a call for improvement in the world we lived in at the time. I bring it up for you and a newer generation because I fear that we have met a new enemy and it is not environmental quality.

Read the newspaper or watch the evening news and you can't escape the circus centered around Herman Cain and his circumstances surrounding sexual harassment in the workplace while he was with the National Restaurant Association. Many of the local SHRM chapters hold an annual diversity and inclusion meeting and management calls for more employee engagement.

So tell me how do you preach diversity and inclusion when your walk says that we accept employees to be less then people? How do we send the message that there a certain levels of behavior that corporate policy condemns and then we let management, co-workers and suppliers openly violate the stated corporate policy.

To get an eye-opener, subscribe to the RSS feed from the EEOC and see the barage of charges that are behind the complaints. They clearly show a pattern with in our organizations for treating employees as less than the individuals they are. Some of the charges spank of a long go workplace environment where employees were treated as property rather than human capita assets.

Consider theses examples:

• well known medical company decided that a pregnant worker did not belong working for the company as an area leader because it did not fit their image.
• Sears just got fined for age, sex, and race discrimination of a 40 yr old African-American employee.
• Companies who got rid of the trouble maker who reported sexual harassment but left the employee who who took the actions in place despite the problems.

To make matters worse in many cases the person who made the complaint has shortly there after been dismissed from their jobs because of making the complaints. we conduct a seminar entitled "Who Am I- The Role of Human Capital in the Global Workplace" in which we talk about the new paradigms that come out of the work environment when employees are considered assets and not expenses.

One of those paradigms suggests that our human capital assets expect that they will work in an environment that is free from both harassment and violence. They expect that they will be treated as valuable part of the organization they represent. As a member of management you have the responsibility to ensure that the workplace is free of circumstances that could be considered harassment in nature whether they are brought about by management, supervisors, fellow employees or outside vendors and customers. It is your duty to route out these behaviors when you see them.

If you need a real picture of the aftermath consider hat could happen to Joe Paterno over the charges that someone who worked for him was guilty of harassment against children who were under his supervision. Paterno reported it but it still could come back to haunt his career.

So the next time you hear about a complaint of harassment in your workplace be sure you take the following strategic efforts:

1. Don't automatically dismiss the complaint under the believe that the person who the complaint is about would not do something like that.
2. Completely investigate the complaint, talking to all parties involved and any witnesses.
3. Document your findings without judging the outcomes.
4. If the complaint is substantiated, take concrete steps to find a solution which will make it less likely that this kind of behavior will continue.
5. Provide comprehensive training to both management and the rank and file as to what constitutes harassment in the workplace.

You have the tools in your hands to decide whether your organization is one of the best places to work or is considered a place where people go to just for the pay. You decide whether the workplace is one that is conducive to professional collaboration devoid of pressure to do a job based on what you are willing to tolerate. In this hard economic climate we are in, employees who feel that they are less than valuable assets will not be inclined to stay as part of your organization.

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CRP 2012 Boot Camp Dates Announced

Daniel Bloom & Associates, Inc. will present it's 22nd Annual Review Seminar for Certified Relocation Professional examination facilitated by the worldwide ERC.This 3 day review seminar will be presented May 6-8, 2012 in San Antonio.
More information can be found at http://www.dbaiconsulting.com/pages/crpreview.php or by emailing us at crp@dbaiconsulting.com

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What is My Generations Impact on Business?

This past week I had been invited back to a MBA Leadership class to discuss the topic "Who Am I: The Role of Human Capital within the Global Workplace.I spent about 40 minutes discussing the new roles of human capital within our organizations and then asked if their were any comments. One student in her 20's, asked me how realistic was it to think that employees would in essence no longer be considered just a number (i.e. an expense item). She had a valid point and our response was that you need to continue to present evidence to the workplace that you bring skills beyond the number on a balance sheet. The second question that struck was a more direct one, I guess.

I had a student, probably in his mid-20's, who asked me what I thought the contribution to the business world would be of his generation. I had to stop and think about it for a moment but the response came fairly quickly. I believe that when you take their contribution down to its bare essence, their contribution is going to be one of truly defining what collaboration means.

We all play the collaboration game. Whether you are a traditionalist, a Boomer or a Gen X'er we all say we want to consider other idea and views in our organizations. But if you look at the proof in the pudding so to speak, we are fine with new ideas and views as long as they do not rock the boat. When I was looking for a full time HR position I heard more often then not that the reason I was not considered was that the likelihood that I would fall into the meld, and go with the flow was slight because I worked as a consultant. As a whole we don't like surprises.

My response to the student was that I believe that Gen Y will teach corporations what the true meaning of collaboration is. They know. They have been involved in collaboration their whole lives. Need an answer to a problem, they will ask the world. Need some supporting data for a project, they know where to find it. Hey, I admit that is not the way the other generations were brought up, but it is the new reality. The only way for our organizations to survive in the new business word is through innovation. Innovation only come about by collaborating with everyone (management, fellow employees, vendors, internal and external stakeholders) to find new solutions to existing problems. This comes from an influx of new ideas as how to do things, how to resolve conflicts within the business world.

So what is their impact? Gen Y will lead the business community into a new world. One that is based on rocking the boat where it needs to be. Saving the boat when it is fine. But with some changes within the organization, they will show us the path to greater operational results going forward. They are truly corporate assets, we just need to adjust ourselves to the new reality. The old processes such as annual performance reviews are from the era of Authority and Control not this new environment. Every employee should be able to have a clear picture of how they are contributing to the organization on a 24/7 basis not once a year. They will change us.We just have to determine whether we are going along for the ride or are going to try and say hey your ideas are nice, but that is not the way we do things here or you have not earned your dues as yet?

Your choice, Your future.

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Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street and Your Organization

There are two topics that I never discuss in public- religion and politics. However there are some lessons to be learned for our organizations. Each of the two uprising movements were centered around actual or perceived inequities within the appropriate systems at that point in time and at that place.

Look at the most recent surveys about the workplace and you see numbers bantered around from 60-75 percent of our human capital talent assets are ready to jump ship. So the question needs to be posed what is the underlying conditions that brought around these events. Further we need to understand that we can not just brush them off thinking they will go away.

Arab Spring - The citizens of the Arab Countries rose up because they were tired of being oppressed by leaders who said in no uncertain words that it was a time for the employees to do it this way or take the road. They were tired of not being able to sustain a standard of life for their families.

Occupy Wall Street - Like the Arab Spring they were and are tired of the way we operate in this country and around the globe. They see the leadership totally ineffective based on the involvement of other influences. Their slogan insists that for the most part they are neither seen nor heard in the workplace.

Your Organization -If you are still operating under the business model of I am the manager and this is what you will do because I said so, then you are laying the groundwork for your very own Arab Spring or Occupy Wall Street to occur within your organization. The business model that is succeeding today is one where the worth of every employee is recognized and cherished. I am not taking about worth based on the dollar signs on an expense report.We are taking about being respected for their contribution to the success of the organization. Look at your organization and tell me why survey after survey tell us that 60-75% of our talent assets are ready to jump ship. I know you despise the hiring process but there is a better way by changing the way we treat the citizenry.

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Reminder: Driving the HR 500: Achieving HR Excellence through Six Sigma Seminar coming to Tampa Bay in November

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.
 
Nov 7 & 9 at Polk State College Lakeland, FL For more information call 863-669-2326
 
Nov 14 -15 at St Petersburg College Clearwater, FL For information or to register click on the link
http://spcollege.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&...
 
Hope to see you at one off the sessions

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I Got the Message: An Educational Manifesto

Over the past couple of weeks we have posted and received a wide variety of responses to our post about "When Are You Going to Get the Message." Some have contended that the educational system was never designed to prepare students to function in the workplace. In response this post will propose a manifesto for improvement of the educational system in this country. We are not going to propose some quick fix but rather some common sense suggestions.

So I have heard the reports that managers can not find talent with the right skills to increase their hiring so here is what we need to do, starting tomorrow not at some indeterminate time in the future.

Manifesto #1: The educational system needs to halt the emphasis on the only way for schools to remain competitive is to raise the level of research. The Parsons Plan showed the fact that if teachers/professors are there to teach they will have an equal affect on the student population. Need more proof - Google the Parsons Plan and find out how really effective a different educational model can be.

Manifesto #2: Remove the politics from the situation. The reliance on the old boy club by he various accreditation boards are not directed toward improvement of the skills o the future workforce but rather to maintain the status quo. Make the standing of educational institutions base don how ell they are preparing the workforce.

Manifesto #3: Change the curriculum to lower the reliance on test results but rather focus on guiding students on how to effectively use their cognitive skills. We will never remain the land of innovation when we allow our future workers to believe that everything should be just handed to them.

Manifesto #4: If we want to have a workforce with an increased level of skills we need to expose them to a greater view of the skills they need, increase their exposure through apprenticeship type activities. We believe this should be for all areas not just building trades or the like.

Manifesto # 5: A number of corporations have learned that amazing things happen when we let the minds run free. Allow our students to do the same thing with the classroom. There is not a single educator who can predict who is going to be the next Steve Jobs. Give them the chance to show what they can do within the frame work of the subject fields. When I taught science and gave them the opportunity to work on science projects with minimum guidelines we received some lofty responses, some of those went on to win regional firs. We are not talking bout the Volcano types, we are talking about sincere high level science inquiries.

It is as a collaborative we can improve the educational efforts which will prepare our students for the future.But only when we strive to meet skill needs not test needs.

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Relocation Announcement

Caliber Collision Centers will relocate its corporate headquarters from Irvine, Calif., to Lewisville, Texas next month.

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Health Care Coverge and Older Workers- The Challenge

Wolters Kleuwer in their weekly HR psoting discussed the problems with cancelling health care coverage for those reaching 65 years of older. See below:

A recently released U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) informal discussion letter reminds employers that the regulatory exemption from the ADEA that permits coordination of retiree health benefits with Medicare eligibility does not apply to current employees. The question of whether the age-based action may be justified by spending more on another benefit for older workers turns on the employer’s ability to satisfy the ADEA’s “equal benefit or equal cost” defense. However, notwithstanding the ADEA, such actions may be precluded by Medicare rules, according to the letter.

The EEOC letter, dated August 2, 2011, notes that the EEOC’s ADEA exemption for coordination with Medicare applies only to retiree benefits, not to the benefits of current employees.

The question of whether the ADEA would otherwise permit an employer to terminate a current employee’s eligibility for group health insurance based on Medicare eligibility depends on the circumstances, the letter advises. “Since workers typically become eligible for Medicare at age 65, eliminating group health eligibility for current employees when they become Medicare-eligible is an age-based action. As such, it would violate the ADEA unless it satisfies the statute’s ‘equal benefit or equal cost’ defense,” the letter states.

Equal benefits. The defense, outlined in the Commission’s regulation at 29 CFR Sec. 1625.10, is set forth in the EEOC’s letter with respect to the equal benefits prong:

(e) Benefits provided by the Government. An employer does not violate the Act by permitting certain benefits to be provided by the Government, even though the availability of such benefits may be based on age. For example, it is not necessary for an employer to provide health benefits which are otherwise provided to certain employees by Medicare. However, the availability of benefits from the government will not justify a reduction in employer-provided benefits if the result is that, taking the employer-provided and Government-provided benefits together, an older employee is entitled to a lesser benefit of any type (including coverage for family and/or dependents) than a similarly situated younger employee. For example, the availability of certain benefits to an older employee under Medicare will not justify denying an older employee a benefit which is provided to younger employees and is not provided to the older employee by Medicare. (EEOC’s emphasis)

Equal cost. However, the letter points out, an employer that cannot satisfy the equal benefits prong may still avoid ADEA liability by satisfying the equal cost prong of the defense. “Equal cost” is usually calculated in one of two ways – on a “benefit-by-benefit” basis or a “benefit package” basis.

Under the benefit-by-benefit approach, according to the letter, an employer “most likely cannot prove that it expends an equal amount on health insurance for both younger and Medicare-covered workers where it eliminates the health benefits available to Medicare-eligible employees.”

As for the benefit package approach, the letter explains that Section 1625.10(f)(2)(iii) precludes justifying the elimination of a health benefit by spending more on “another benefit” for older workers as an alternative to the benefit-by-benefit analysis for purposes of eliminating health benefits based on age:

(iii) A benefit package approach shall not be used to justify reductions in health benefits greater than would be justified under a benefit-by-benefit approach. Such benefits appear to be of particular importance to older workers in meeting “problems arising from the impact of age” and were of particular concern to Congress. Therefore, the “benefit package” approach may not be used to reduce health insurance benefits by more than is warranted by the increase in the cost to the employer of those benefits alone. Any greater reduction would be a subterfuge to evade the purpose of the [ADEA].

Medicare rules. The Commission’s letter also questions whether terminating the benefits of Medicare-eligible current employees “would comport with Medicare rules.” The EEOC understands the Medicare program to require that employers “offer current employees who are at or over the age of Medicare eligibility the same health benefits, under the same conditions, as offered to younger current employees.” If this continues to be true, Medicare laws may prohibit employers from eliminating health coverage for Medicare-eligible current employees, irrespective of the ADEA, the letter observes.

The EEOC letter is merely informal advice pursuant to 29 CFR Sec. 1626.20(c) and may not be relied upon by an employer within the meaning of section 10 of the Portal to Portal Act of 1947, incorporated into the ADEA.

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