Never say "I Can't"

This is my motto, you will never hear me say that "I Can't" do something.  There is always a solution to every problem (or puzzle as the case may be).  In Human Resources, we are faced with complex situations that have a variety of issues involved with them.  These situations are not generally as easy as 1+1=2, but there is ALWAYS a solution.  So here is how I face each challenge:

• Identify the core problem.
• Research any applicable laws
• Ask a lot of questions
• LISTEN to the answers
• Don't make assumptions
• Be compassionate and actively listen to all involved
• Don't jump to a solution

I CAN... and so can you.  Just keep telling yourself that EVERY PROBLEM HAS A SOLUTION.  It may not always be a solution that we like, but there always is one.

BLOW OUT THE STATUS QUO

I have been in Human Resources for just about 10 years, in a variety of positions.  One thing that I have come to learn from some of my mentors is "What got you here, won't keep you here".  So what does that actually mean?  It means that we can not continue to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result (I believe this is actually the definition of insanity).  Whether we are recruiting, managing talent, handing employee relations issues, facilitating classes, etc.. we have to continuously improve our knowledge as Human Resources Professionals. 

The explosion of social media has drastically affected how we handle every aspect of Human Resources.  It affects recruitment, employment branding, confidentiality, employee relations, just about everything we are involved in.  Human Resources Professionals can not ignore this phenomenon any more.  Recently, I have had the opportunity to interact with many other HR professionals at various stages in their career, and it absolutely astounds me that they have yet to embrace the Web 2.0 technologies and understand how to effectively use them.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Blogs
• Instant Messaging (Google Talk, Yahoo, etc..)

All of these are tools that, if used, correctly can significantly increase the speed and efficiency our our daily interactions with colleagues, potential employees, current employees and other professionals that we can learn from.  So please, if you are in Human Resources, or pretty much any field, GET ON THE BUS and learn how to utilize these tools to help you affect change. :)  I am happy to answer any questions, or provide ideas if you aren't quite sure where to start.  I will now step down off of my soap box. :)

Tips For People in the Job Market

With the economy today there are an increasing amount of individuals looking for employment.  I wanted to provide some straight forward tips for candidates that, hopefully, will help them be successful in that search.  There are many things that Recruiters come across that may be interesting to the Job Seeker…

1.       Resumes/Applications

a.       Resumes should include ALL of your related experience for the position you are applying for.  Many companies base their offers for employment on the candidates previous applicable work experience.  Also, you should customize your resume for the position you are applying for.  Now I am not saying to fib on the resume, only structure it so that the recruiter can easily see your applicable experience and/or education.

b.      When filling out an application, YES YOU SHOULD FILL OUT YOUR EMPLOYMENT HISTORY, don’t just write “Refer to Resume”, as many employers use this section during the background screening process. 

c.       When beginning your job search, you should make sure that you have a professional looking email address. J  There are several sites where these can be obtained for free.  I have received 100’s of resumes for candidates with just completely ridiculous email addresses, and it does affect hiring manager’s opinion of the person they are interviewing… especially when it is for a professional level role!

2.       Phone Interview

a.       When applying for several jobs, make sure to keep a list of what positions you applied for… this should include the Name of the Company, Job Title, specific details of the position from the job posting.  It comes off very unprofessional when a candidate doesn’t remember applying for a position.  It also means the person hasn’t really researched the company and isn’t committed and/or interested in the position.

b.      If a recruiter calls you and asks if you have a few minutes, don’t say yes if you don’t.  Ask the recruiter if there is a good time to return their call.  It’s extremely distracting when there are dogs barking in the background, overhead announcements when at a store, or if the candidate is whispering because they are at their current job. J

3.       In-Person Interview

a.       No matter what the position is that you are interviewing for, whether a painter position or a vice president position it is extremely important to come to the interview professionally dressed.  This doesn’t mean that you have to wear a suit if it is not a higher level position,  but wear pressed pants and shirt, a tie, and shoes that don’t look like you just walked through a mud puddle.  Yes, please do tuck in the shirt, comb your hair and come with copies of your resume. J

b.      If you haven’t been through a Behavioral Based Interview before, it would be a good idea to research what this is online.  You can also find sample questions online to give you an idea of what to expect with many companies.

4.       Post Interview

a.       It is always a good idea to follow up with the person you interviewed with via email or maybe a handwritten note.  A few days later, a follow up phone call is always a good idea as well.  One important thing to remember is not to stalk the person. Calling them 10 times in a week isn't likely to make them more likely to choose you as the best candidate.

I hope some of these tips will help you in your job search!!!  It’s a tough market out there, but there are jobs available.  It just takes a little bit of work, good follow up and dedication. J  Please feel free to leave a comment if you have questions or would like suggestions on your employment search.

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Paperless HR

Can HR truly have a “Paperless” workplace?

From what I have read the answer is YES!! (Please correct me if you know differently)  As long as you have a good document management system (SharePoint actually works quite well for this), and have the ability for employees/managers to either digitally sign documents, or have scanning capability then you should be all set.  Quite often, HR Law Practitioners will prefer to have certain documents in hardcopy with the original signature, going paperless is possible.  The MOST important aspect is to be able to ensure that there is complete confidentiality, so that only authorized individuals may review confidential documents. 

Now, let me be clear, when I say “paperless”, I don’t mean to infer that there will never be times when you will need to print documents, because there will be.  We all know that if you receive a request for information from the courts, or other sources you generally need to provide it in hardcopy.

I am about 85% paperless in my daily work.  My goal is of course to be 100% paperless, but it is not a goal I am expecting to meet within the next few years.  My company would need to be completely paperless in order for that to happen, and we’re not quite there yet. 

There are a variety of HRIS systems that can also help in this pursuit. 

·         Ultimate Software’s Ultipro

·         Software Techniques HR Complete HRIS Management System

·         Payroll Office of America HR Management System

So to review, the most important things to consider when trying to move towards a paperless HR environment are:

·         Limited Access to Confidential Information

·         Well Organized Documented Document System & Structure

·         Having a good way to track destroy dates, as well as new document information

·         Having a well developed HRIS system

·         Checks & Balances to ensure that all of the above are being done correctly.

If I find additional information and/or solutions I will blog again about going paperless!!

Good luck in your pursuit of a paper free life, LET’S SAVE THOSE TREES! J

PHR Prep

I have decided to finally take my PHR exam in May.  I am a bit nervous.  It's not that I don't know the information, just sitting for a 225 question exam where 25 of the questions do not count is a bit nerve racking, and of course it is timed so I will have a total of 4 hours to complete the exam.


So I will blog about my experiences studying for the exam and what I plan to study.  Over the next seven days I will be laying out my study plan and completing the HRCI practice test.  I will share my initial scores once i have completed it. :)  


If you have never heard of the PHR or SPHR it is a certification for Human Resources Professionals through the HR Certificate Institute.  "To become certified, you must meet strict professional experience and educational requirements before taking the exam.  To remain certified, you must re certify every three years to make sure that you stay current in the HR profession." www.hrci.org


The PHR or Professional in Human Resources certification is designed for the HR professional who:

• focuses on program implementation
• has tactical/logistical orientation

The PHR exam is divided into six functional areas:

1. Strategic Management (12%)
2. Workforce Planning and Employment (26%)
3. Human Resources Development (17%)
4. Total Rewards (16%)
5. Employee and Labor Relations (22%)
6. Risk Management (7%)

They often say that only about 50% or so of individuals that take the exam actually pass. No pressure or anything. :)

Next weeks plan is to begin studying Strategic Management.  More to follow!

Employee Engagement... Cont...

I love this cartoon!!  I think it's a perfect addition to my previous blog about Pulse Surveys and how they affect Employee Engagement!!!

There is a great eBook that I have just come across called "All together now! a guide to employee engagement". It's available free on Ben Eubank's website UpstartHR.  More to come soon about employee engagement!

How To Recruit With YouTube

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:
(This was shared with me by Anna Carncross, a wonderful HR professional at ASE)

How To Recruit With YouTube

View more presentations from Jim Stroud.

EOS (Employee Opinon Survey) Only beneficial if done right!

I want to focus mainly on "Pulse Surveys"; these are Employee Opinion Surveys that are done usually annually that focus on a particular area of the company that may need improvement. Example focus areas for this type of Pulse Survey are Employee Development, Organizational Communication Effectiveness, maybe their opinion on a specific department, etc...



This type of survey allows you to truly understand how your employees feel on any given topic. From my experience, they are generally pretty honest when it is an anonymous survey completed through such services as Survey Monkey.

It's important to have questions that allow your employee's to rate your effectiveness, for example... Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree or don’t know. This allows you to gage how passionate they are about their answer. If they have answered neutral for a significant amount of their survey, they are likely not an "engaged employee". Employee Engagement in generally is a topic for another post, but has significance as it relates to Pulse Surveys.


The one key element that I am passionate about, as it relates to this blog post, is if you create action plans based on the results of the survey… ACT ON THEM!!! I have witnessed to many companies previously (not the one I am with currently) just take the results and not do anything with them. If employees state that they feel they do not have the necessary training to be successful in their positions, provide the training. If they do not feel that their supervisor communicates organizational goals and/or changes with them on a regular basis, then put a plan in place to fix it.

Pulse Surveys can give you a wonderful look into what your employee’s want, and help you to truly have an impact on improving your employee engagement, which will in turn lower turnover. Reducing turnover will lower recruitment and training costs as well as allow you to increase bench strength within your organization. It may seem like a basic concept, but if not done well it can be devastating for an organization! Here is some sample Pulse Survey Questions:


1. How many years have you worked for “Company Name”?


a. Less than a year
b. 1-2 years

c. 2-3 years

d. 3-5 years

e. 5+ years



2. Have you ever thought of resigning your position?


a. Yes

b. No



3. How would you rate your relationship with your supervisor?


a. Wonderful

b. Okay

c. Needs Improvement

d. Not great



4. Are you confident in “Company’s Name” senior leadership team’s leadership?


a. Very Confident

b. Confident

c. Not Sure

d. Somewhat Confident

e. Not Confident



5. Do you have a good understanding of “Company’s Name” developmental opportunities?


a. Yes

b. No

These are just a few examples; a good pulse survey should have around 15 or so questions to make the results useful.
There are other types of employee surveys to keep in mind that might also be good tools when trying to identify potential areas for improvement: (www.toolpack.com)

• Tactical Surveys – The tactical survey is designed to answer a specific question, for example: Is this a good policy? Do people understand this process? Is this process working for our customers? Did the change effort get rolled out properly? The tactical survey should be very short and to the point, sent out and collected quickly. Using tactical surveys to follow through on change efforts can help to find where change has and has not gone well, so that the change agents can learn from the best and help the rest.


• Focused omnibus surveys (Strategic Surveys) – Gathering information on a large number of issues is the focused omnibus, or strategic survey. This covers issues related to an organization’s key goals and strategies, so it is considerably larger than a tactical survey, but still relatively focused. These surveys can be used as part of a strategic measurement system, or as a general diagnostic and motivation-for-change tool.


• General omnibus surveys – Less common now are relatively unfocused surveys which cover a large number of topics. While these topics may be directly relevant to the organization, these surveys are generally “off the shelf” and only a few questions are customized. They can also be a good diagnostic tool, but are often too long to be time and cost effective. Respondents may also get careless on a longer survey, and make mistakes or rate many attributes the same way to finish without wasting too much time.

More to come on Employee Engagement!!!