Career Partners International

Saddened ex-ATA staff struggling to move on

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:45:00 GMT

Lisa Underwood was a flight attendant with ATA Airlines for 22 years. It's where she met her husband, a pilot with the Indianapolis airline for 25 years.

But last week, Underwood was busy applying for a job at Starbucks. When ATA announced April 3 it was shutting its doors for good, the news was a double whammy for the couple.

"I'm going to take anything I can just to make ends meet," she said.

The decision by parent company Global Aero to liquidate the 2,300-employee airline followed ATA's struggles to return to profitability. The carrier reported losses of $75 million last year.

Two weeks after ATA's announcement, its 560 Indianapolis employees are finding different ways to cope with their change in circumstances.

Several ex-employees have filed lawsuits, claiming ATA violated federal law by failing to provide at least 60 days' notice of pending layoffs.

Some are taking time off before seeking new employment to deal with what they call "a grieving process."

Many others, like the Underwoods, are scrambling for jobs to help pay the bills.

About 140 former ATA employees have sought help from WorkOne employment centers in Marion County, which are managed by the Indianapolis Private Industry Council, a worker training and support agency.

Tailored services

IPIC has assembled a special-response team for the ex-ATA workers. Services include one-on-one career counseling, resume-writing and interviewing workshops, and assistance with applying for unemployment benefits and health insurance.

"We're hearing these heartbreaking stories of people who were loyal for many years and now have nothing," said Mary Dieter, director of policy and communications. "We're doing everything we can to help them get back on their feet."

WorkOne offices also have been flooded with calls from companies seeking to hire former ATA workers, including Clarian Health Partners, WellPoint and St. Vincent Health. The requests prompted WorkOne to begin planning a job fair for next month.

The agency's efforts were hindered, however, because ATA did not provide a list of employees' contact information until Wednesday, Dieter said.

Employees also reported they were unable to access the company's Intranet site, which housed their employment records, until labor union representatives complained about the problem last week.

ATA spokeswoman Kimberly Kriger said the site is in operation and is updated frequently to tell about job opportunities and unemployment services.

If employees had problems accessing the Web site, "it was nothing intentional in any way," she said.

ATA mailed packets, which arrived several days after the layoff announcement and included information about health, retirement and unemployment benefits.

Unions step in

Airline industry labor unions also are providing the former ATA workers with assistance.

The Air Line Pilots Association is conducting job seminars and hosting aviation recruiters. It also voted to offer laid-off pilots one-year membership to AIR, a pilot recruiter.

That includes negotiating preferential hiring arrangements with the union's 42 member companies in the U.S. and Canada and arranging free airfare for pilots traveling to job interviews.

In the past two weeks, about 1,000 of the union's pilots have been laid off. Pilots with the now-bankrupt Aloha Airlines and Champion Air also were members of the ALPA.

The airline industry fills about 2,000 pilot vacancies each year, said Rusty Ayers, union spokesman for the ATA pilots. But many of those jobs are with smaller regional carriers, and veteran pilots may face lower pay and a loss of seniority.

"It will be difficult for (former ATA pilots), at least in the short term, to find jobs that pay as well as the ones they held at ATA," Ayers said.

Flight attendants face similar difficulties. The Association of Flight Attendants conducted job seminars last week and dedicated part of its Web site to address members' questions. It is negotiating with ATA to compensate workers for unused vacation time and 401(k) matching contributions.

But many flight attendants, including Underwood, hold little hope of finding new jobs in the industry.

"It's very competitive right now," she said. "I've been on a couple of interviews already trying to get myself back up, but it's difficult."

Former flight attendant Cindy Crafton said she isn't planning to accept a new job right away. Instead, she's taking time to mourn what she said is the end of an era in her life.

Crafton was one of ATA's original flight attendants, starting in April 1975. At that time, the company owned one airplane and the flight attendants sewed their own uniforms during a training class.

Crafton learned about the layoffs on the morning news April 3, shortly after returning from a military charter flight to Kuwait City. She said she received no personal communication from her supervisor or any other company representative.

"There was no closure. We didn't get to say our goodbyes," she said. "This is like somebody died in an accident."

Familiar reaction

Workers hit by unexpected layoffs usually go through a grieving process, said Mark McNulty, president of HR Dimensions, an Indianapolis consulting company.

The sooner workers can get through the five stages of grief -- denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance -- the sooner they can focus on the future and start their job hunts, he said.

"People do come out on the other side. They do survive this," McNulty said.

For employees like Crafton, that final stage of acceptance may be a long time coming. Many had stood beside ATA through its previous 16-month bankruptcy, from which it emerged in 2006.

"ATA was a family," Crafton said. "If they would have said, 'Guys, we're having trouble. We've only got 60 days left,' it would have been hard, but at least we would have known it was coming.

"I love ATA -- or maybe I should say I loved the old ATA."

_____

How to get help

Some places where former ATA Airlines employees can find help:

Work One centers

WorkOne West: 805 Beachway Drive, Suite 110. Call: (317) 246-5428.

WorkOne Express at College Park: 8910 Purdue Road, Suite 320.

Call: (317) 228-0682.

Web site: www.workoneindy.com.

*There are five WorkOne employment centers in Marion County, but the sites above have special teams set up to assist former ATA workers.

Governmental agencies

Indiana Department of Insurance Consumer Services Division.

Contact: (317) 232-2395.

Web site: www.in.gov/idoi.

Indiana Department of Labor.

Contact: (317) 232-2655.

Web site: www.in.gov/dol.

Other sources

Connect2Help, formerly called the Information & Referral Network. The free and confidential service is open 24 hours a day.

Contact: (317) 926-4357.

Web site: www.connect2help.org.

Employee unions, such as the Air Line Pilots Association and the Association of Flight Attendants.

23-Jul-08 8:45 AM

PITCHING IN FOR GAS

noemail@cpiworld.com — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMT

With $4-a-gallon gasoline high on the minds of commuters, employers are beginning to take steps to help out.

Some are offering telecommuting options and flexible workweeks. Others are rewarding employees with gas cards or cold hard cash -- all in an effort to avoid losing talent because the work site is too far from home.

"The companies that address this issue will be the ones who retain their employees during these difficult times," said Mark T. McNulty, president of HR Dimensions in Indianapolis, a human resources consultancy. "(Gas prices) are clearly on the minds of employees."

The concept is just beginning to catch on in Indianapolis. But make no mistake: Employees are watching the odometer and looking for employers who are willing to do something about it.

A May survey by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a global outplacement consultancy, found that 7.4 percent of employees have left their companies because of higher transportation costs. Another 34.3 percent of potential job candidates have turned down offers to work at a company for the same reason.

Shari Garrett quickly took advantage of research done by her company, Senex Services Corp., to try to match employees who could carpool together.

Last month, Garrett and co-worker Tiffany McGregor began carpooling from Downtown Indianapolis to their office on the Northwestside. Garrett, who drives a Ford Taurus, said she saves about $30 a week because of her company's forward-thinking research.

Senex also allows employees to work four 10-hour days. And at the company picnic in August, it will give $25 gas cards as door prizes.

At Mays Chemical Co., high gas prices have brought about major change. Under certain circumstances, employees now are allowed to work flexible schedules and telecommute.

"I had been thinking about this for quite a while, how to balance the personal and professional lives of our employees," said Jeanette Lackey, director of human resources at Mays. "But the high gas prices were my springboard."

Lackey urged upper management to do something to alleviate the burden on employees. In addition to schedule changes, the company is rewarding employees who go above and beyond the call of duty with $25 and $50 gas cards.

"I believe when employees are happy personally and financially, they tend to be happy at work as well," she said.

Bonnie Mack is a testament to that. The senior purchasing representative at Mays works one day a week from home. Her commute is 64 miles a day. Even with her Honda hybrid, she still saves about $6 a week, as well as two hours of commute time.

"It is forward thinking and a fabulous idea," she said. "Of course it helps morale. Did I mention it saves me two hours a day? Everyone involved really loves this idea."

Julie Brown, who also telecommutes one day a week, said it shows the company cares.

"They are demonstrating concern for the well-being of me and my family," she said. "In return, my employer benefits from an employee who is content and more productive."

Telecommuting is one of the best ways companies can remain productive and help employees, according to independent researchers Kate Lister and Tom Harnish. Yet 40 percent of Americans have jobs that can be done remotely and only 4 percent of the work force works from home. If all of these workers telecommuted, they conclude it would annually save 625 million barrels of oil, reduce greenhouse gas pollution by 107 million tons of carbon dioxide, and save consumers almost $43 billion.

OneAmerica in Indianapolis is encouraging workers to do their part to conserve gasoline. It has brought in representatives from IndyGo to talk with employees about discounted bus passes, car pooling and van pooling. The company's internal newsletter also advertises bus passes and offers gas saving tips.

Greg Vance, a vice president of operations and systems management, began taking the bus to work in March from Carmel through IndyGo's ICE route. He says his first motivation was to save money. But he's found other benefits.

"It is better for the environment and just makes sense," he said.

TEST

6-Jul-08 0:00 AM

Recruiting's inside track

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Nicholas Oschman, a junior in engineering at Purdue University, hasn't determined his career goals. But he is confident a summer internship at the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator is pointing him in the right direction.

"I wanted to get a feel for what a real electrical engineer does, and I felt like Midwest ISO was the best place to do that," Oschman said.

As it turns out, interns like Oschman, 21, Mooresville, also may be pointing their employers in the right direction. As the baby boom generation begins to retire, companies are ramping up their internship programs as a tool to recruit the next generation of workers and fill critical skill gaps.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that about 43 percent of U.S. workers will be eligible to retire within 10 years.

In response, many companies are increasing the number of interns they hire and offering more of those interns full-time positions after graduation.

A survey on internships conducted in March by the National Association of Colleges and Employers showed a 3.7 percent increase in the number of interns companies expected to hire this year. Companies in the survey also said they extended full-time job offers to 70 percent of their interns last year, up from 57 percent in 2001.

"It's a way for you to test them and for them to test you without making a huge commitment on either side," said Mark McNulty, president of Indianapolis-based HR Dimensions, a human-resources consultancy.

Carmel-based Midwest ISO, which oversees the electric grid in 15 Midwestern states and Manitoba, Canada, hired 41 interns this summer -- about twice the number it hired in 2005, the first year it had a formal internship program.

So far, the company has placed 27 former interns, or about 20 percent, in full-time positions, said Mike Begley, manager of recruitment and work force planning.

Thanks to the internship program and a lucrative employee referral program, only about 5 percent of Midwest ISO employees are eligible for retirement in the next five to 10 years, Begley said.

Midwest ISO isn't the only Indiana company using its internship program as a recruitment tool.

Job postings on Indiana INTERNnet, a Web site advertising internship opportunities that is operated by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, doubled from 2006 to 2007, said Pam Norman, the program's executive director.

"Employers recognize that one of the best ways to address a retiring work force is to 'grow their own' through internship programs," Norman said.

Plugging gaps from retirees

Dow AgroSciences, on Indianapolis' Northwestside, also is using its internship program to address the looming wave of retirements. The research-and- development department for the manufacturer of agricultural chemicals, bioengineered seeds and other products hired 36 interns this summer, and it has spent the past five years strengthening its program.

"The number one purpose of the program is to find future employees," said Beth Blakeslee, senior chemist, who helps oversee the program. "We're looking to hire 100 or 150 people in R&D by 2010, and to be able to do that, we need to use this internship program."

In addition to preparing for baby boomers' retirements, companies are using internship programs strategically to recruit workers for hard-to-fill technical positions.

At Midwest ISO, recruiters struggle to fill specialized positions in the control room, where certification and industry experience are required.

To meet the challenge, several former interns have been invited to join the company's Next Steps program, which offers intensive on-the-job training to help workers earn their certifications.

One graduate of the Next Steps program, Nathan Sutake, 31, recently accepted a full-time position as an emergency management systems applications engineer at Midwest ISO.

"I was blown away by the things that went on here," he said. "I had no idea how many things went into flipping a switch at my house."

As an intern, Sutake, a Purdue graduate and native of Osage, Iowa, developed several tracking and assessment tools the company still uses.

Similarly, Oschman and several other interns are spending this summer developing a tool to calculate and display the amount of wind-generated power that is available for distribution.

Giving interns meaningful work does more than just help them learn, Begley said. It also helps the company get real work done.

Another benefit, Dow AgroSciences' Blakeslee said, is that internship programs can generate good word-of-mouth about the company as an employer.

"If we give these students a positive experience, they're going to go back and tell other students what a great time they're having not only at Dow AgroSciences but also in Indianapolis," she said.

Internships: Making them Work for you

Could your company benefit from a new or improved internship program? Local business leaders offered the following tips to help you get started:

Get the support of company leadership. Also identify a specific person to be in charge of the program.

Give your interns meaningful work. No copying, no filing, no making coffee. "It should be a developmental opportunity and one where they are able to really see what their chosen field is all about," said Mark McNulty, president of HR Dimensions.

Provide appropriate compensation. You expect interns to do real work, so compensate them accordingly. The National Association of Colleges and Employers says undergraduate interns earn an average of $16.33 per hour, and master's-level interns can earn about $25 an hour.

Incorporate some perks. Midwest ISO offers a housing subsidy, social activities, and "real life" learning sessions on topics such as insurance and investments. Can't afford that? Instead, help interns get connected in the industry by taking them to networking events.

6-Jun-08 0:00 AM

Do weird questions in job interviews really bear fruit?

noemail@cpiworld.com — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:00:00 GMT

If I were a fruit, I'd be a banana. Nice thick skin on the outside, but peel into me and there is a softer side.

Or maybe a grape. I work great in groups. Or a lemon. Tart and feisty.

Come to think of it, that question is pretty easy. But maybe not if it came during a job interview. You think I'm kidding? Human resource guru Mark McNulty says you should think again.

As he sat at Starbucks last week, he says, he couldn't help but overhear a young man being interviewed for a job. Question: If you were a fruit, what kind would you be and why?

"I couldn't believe my ears," says McNulty, president of HR Dimensions in Indianapolis. "I actually looked around the room to see if there was a hidden camera filming this for a TV reality show."

The man answered: watermelon. McNulty strained his ears to hear why, but try as he might, he just couldn't hear.

"I didn't want to be too conspicuous," he says.

Silly, outrageous interview questions. There are plenty out there. Forget the usual "Where do you want to be in 10 years?" or "How do you work in teams?" or "What is your best quality?"

Interviewers are getting trickier and more, well, goofy. After asking friends and colleagues, I found some whacked questions are circulating out there.

"What movie star do you think would make the best employee?" "What color describes your personality and why?" "Which character on 'Seinfeld' are you most like?"

And my favorite: "Are you more like a placid pool of water or a running horse?"

This one was posed to the brother of William Butch Fennema, an associate professor of business at the University of Indianapolis.

"The people who ask these types of questions believe themselves to be experienced psychologists or worse," he says. "They believe that by asking a few questions completely out of context they can do a good psychological profile of an interviewee."

Kevin Fosso has plenty of stories of crazy interviews.

During one, he says, he wasn't asked a single question but instead listened to the interviewer put down subordinates. At a lunch interview, one boss showed up 15 minutes late wearing mismatched shorts and T-shirt and no socks. His excuse: He had been at a garage sale.

In a recent column, I suggested job candidates' behavior had gotten out of hand. But Fosso believes employers need some rehabilitation themselves.

At times, "the interviewers simply behaved like jerks," he says. But Fosso did appreciate my heads-up on the fruit question.

"I would be a star fruit, because I am such a star performer," he says. "Thanks. Now I'm ready for that one."

14-May-08 0:00 AM

Five that revive

noemail@cpiworld.com — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Spring-cleaning isn't just for the house.

Careers can use a good scrubbing down every now and then. They can be refreshed, spruced up and put back in order.

It's not that you want to change careers. Or even find a new job. You like the job. You like the company. You're just burned out and need a little revitalization. But how?

"If you're not feeling fulfilled where you are, if you feel like you need to re-energize yourself, take time to reassess," says Elizabeth Stahl, with E.J. Stahl and Associates, an Indianapolis business-consulting firm that focuses on work-force strategies. "Take a look at your skills. Now discover your strengths."

Once you do that, you not only will know what you have to offer, but what you lack -- or could stand to improve.

Now move forward and try these five ways to refresh your career.

Tell The Boss.

No. You won't get demoted. It likely isn't going to hurt your professional reputation to let the boss know you need a bit of refreshing. Most managers don't want to lose their high performers and are more than happy to accommodate. The key, however, is not to go in whining.

Before you approach the boss, look around the organization at projects or committees you could get involved with that might put you outside of your comfort zone. That way, you'll have more to say than just, "I'm burned out."

"Go in prepared with your own ideas," says Stahl. "Don't expect the boss to have the epiphany for you."Look inside

the company.

If you haven't looked, you may not realize all the opportunities that abound right inside your company's doors. Perhaps a diversity committee is getting started. Ask to serve on it. Maybe the company needs someone to organize this summer's picnic.

If you want to go more extreme, Gary Daugenti, president of JustSTAFF, an executive search firm in Los Altos, Calif., suggests looking for a related job in the company. "Move from manufacturing to distribution or from finance to intelligence," he says.

Or go for an overseas assignment that takes you away for a few months.

Education.

Make a commitment to broaden and update your skills through external seminars, taking a night class, even working on a master of business administration degree.

Seminars not only expose you to the most up-to-date practices in your industry but also allow for a lot of networking, says Mark McNulty, president of HR Dimensions in Indianapolis.

Taking a night class in business or management -- or even something like sign language -- gives you a chance to put your toe in the water.

"It's a good chance to explore something without taking the big leap," says Stahl.Volunteer away

from the office.

Nonprofits are desperate for professionals with business knowledge to serve on boards, work on committees and do odd jobs for their organizations.

"You can be rejuvenated by doing a volunteer project," says Stahl.

Offer to help with fundraising for the local symphony. Volunteer to organize the bake sale at your child's school. Do budget management at your church. Become a board member of a museum.

"Sometimes when we get outside of ourselves and focus on others and their needs, we gain new insights into our own lives and careers," says McNulty.Read more.

Establish and commit to a business reading list, says McNulty. This can take the form of a list of business books that you commit to read in the next year.

To stay on top of that, consider doing a brief book review to send to peers, subordinates and senior managers.

They will appreciate the recommendation or insights on the books, and it also says something about you.

"This sends all the right messages about your initiative and identifies you as a thought leader," he says.

He also suggests subscribing to different business periodicals.

28-Mar-08 0:00 AM

Using perks to lure good staff: It's a wash A dryer, too. And it's amenities that they appreciate.

noemail@cpiworld.com — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Briefcase? Check. Lunch? Check. BlackBerry? Check. Laundry and detergent? Check and double-check.

Greenfield-based eTapestry actually wants its employees to bring their dirty clothes to work.

The tech company has a full-service laundry room -- an unusual perk, like catered lunches and convenience stores that many companies washed their hands of when the economy tanked in 2000.

"Our Midwestern sensibilities removed a lot of the foosball tables that haven't come back," said Karl Ahlrichs, senior human-resources consultant for Professional Staff Management in Carmel.

But slowly, experts say, a number of companies in Indiana are resurrecting some perks. Unlike the perks of years past, though, these are more for the sake of productivity than whimsy. They also are designed to attract younger workers who tend to value their time as much as their jobs.

That's certainly the case at eTapestry. Of the company's 83 employees, most are ages 28 to 34.

"I think it makes them happier with the overall company they're with, and I think it's going to make them harder to lure away," said Jay Love, CEO of eTapestry, which makes fundraising software for nonprofit groups and churches.

"If you count what it costs you to lose one employee and go through the process of replacing them and training them, it's pretty much equal to an entire year's salary. If we can reduce our employee turnover by just a little bit, and it's already pretty good right now, it pays for all of this pretty easily."

The company, which has had an on-site kitchen and gym with a ping-pong table for years, added the laundry room when it moved into a new office in May.

Originally, Love said he thought employees would use the washer and dryer to clean their clothes after working out. Instead, employees regularly bring in clothes from home.

The laundry room is in use 80 percent of the time during eTapestry's business hours, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

"We never dreamed how many of the working moms and dads would take advantage of it," he said.

One employee, Love recalled, walked up to him with a basket full of clean laundry and said: "Do you realize, on certain evenings, you've given me back two to three hours with my family?"

It's time that really matters to employees, especially young employees, said Mark McNulty, president of HR Dimensions in Indianapolis. Experts like him call it "work/life balance."

Employees, when they start work, don't forget they have to wash clothes, or run to CVS, or pick up their kids from day care. So adding a washer and dryer, or a convenience store, or an on-site day care means employees will worry less about other responsibilities.

"The benefit to employees is to reduce the stress of how their home life impinges on their work life. This is a way to address that equation by taking the stress away," McNulty said. "I'm not going to get to the dry cleaner, so we'll bring the dry cleaner here."

Employees at Eli Lilly and Co.'s Downtown headquarters have access to dry-cleaning and shoe-repair services, a gift shop, a bank, a gym, and medical and physical-therapy facilities.

"These are things that help employees do their job and take away some of the day-to-day stress," spokeswoman Joan Todd said. "This is a smart business decision on the part of the company, as well as being a psychological boost for employees."

Of course, some may see a laundry room or a gym as an excuse to keep employees in the office longer. Ahlrichs said at some companies there has even been a backlash.

"You're making it easier for me to move in here and stay," he said.

That's one reason some perks may not work in the long run. At first, employees will see them as motivators and then entitlements. "Then," Ahlrichs said, "if you have an expensive benefit that doesn't motivate, what have you got?"

Lilly, for one, doesn't take perks away, Todd said. "People would be very cranky."

______

Employee perks

Other local employers that offer employees some unusual perks and services:

Ernst & Young

Concierge services.

Backup child- and adult-care services.

Holiday conferencing: Employees can use company videoconferencing facilities to communicate with out-of-town relatives.

Eli Lilly and Co.

On-site credit union and postal center.

Convenience store that also develops photos and rents DVDs.

On-site dry cleaning, shoe repair and alteration services.

Nursing-mother stations.

Fitness center.

16-Jan-08 8:00 AM

Make executive search a success that will last

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 06:00:00 GMT

If a company's idea of management-applicant screening begins and ends with a two-martini lunch, Rick Kinsley would like to offer his services.

"Employers think that they can take a candidate to lunch and have a 30-minute talk to peer into their soul and see what makes them tick. All too often that's the common practice," Kinsley said.

Sure, maybe that candidate ends up being a great hire and a longtime leader. But maybe that candidate turns into an Enron-like failure, the kind whose fallout spreads far beyond the top-floor office.

Situations like the latter have made enough news in recent years to cause some companies to re-evaluate their hiring practices, which is where human-resource professionals like Kinsley, president of Indianapolis-based The Kinsley Group, and others are becoming handy. They're adding some science to the art of hiring.

"Our view is that there are a number of specific steps companies can do to make a successful hire," Kinsley said, noting that industry studies show that 40 percent of executive placements fail within two years, either from the new hire moving to a better job or just not working out.

The Kinsley Group practices a three-pronged approach to evaluating management talent: a four-hour interview, psychometric profiling and "360-degree" reference checks. The profiling occurs via Internet surveys that ask candidates to describe themselves in certain circumstances, while the reference checks can include contacts with up to 20 people who have known the applicant during his or her career.

The target result is placing the perfect candidate with the right job. It's just not always as easy as it sounds, when some companies struggle with defining the right roles for the positions they look to fill.

"Probably the No. 1 mistake is that many organizations don't do a good job in really understanding what they need in a particular role," Kinsley said.

"Organizations aren't always on the same page," he said. "It's not at all unusual for us to meet with several members of a management team or board, conduct those conversations and come up with multiple, different pictures of what the ideal candidate looks like. That's not good discipline in planning for making a good hire."

With some companies, more discipline is necessary -- even if there's not an opening yet.

"Companies who are just bad at this whole selection process, you will see a pattern. They don't just have one mistake, they will have a series of these that will get repeated over and over again," said Mark McNulty, president and founding partner of Indianapolis-based HR Dimensions.

"They make poor hiring decisions, but the people stay. That's probably the worst of all worlds, when you have a poor fit and the person is underperforming and the company doesn't do anything about it," McNulty said.

"Just because a company isn't having turnover in their management team doesn't mean they're successfully navigating this hiring process."

By doing the right homework, however, a company of any size can greatly improve its odds of finding the right fit for top positions -- the kind of executives whose staying power is longer than a business lunch.

______

Boardroom resolutions

Mark McNulty of HR Dimensions offers three tips for top executives to heed in 2007:

Recognize when you don't have all the answers yourself.

"It's lonely at the top, but it doesn't have to be," he said. "A major mistake a lot of CEOs make is thinking that they have to have all the answers, when some of the best answers come from the people who are doing the work at the lowest levels in the organization."

Stay in tune with today's work force.

"I often hear executives who are baby boomers struggle with the work ethic and the mind-set of Generation X and Y people in their organization," he said. "They set themselves up almost in a combative way. . . . To be successful, they're going to have to understand them, what accommodates them and respond to them."

Don't be out of touch.

"Top executives can get themselves so isolated, and that's where some of the decisions that they make come under so much fire. They have made those decisions outside of the context of understanding what the needs of their stakeholders are."

3-Jan-08 0:00 AM

Readers sound off: The good, the bad and the catty

noemail@cpiworld.com — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Ever been at work minding your own business -- and actually kind of enjoying it as you hum a little tune -- when a pessimist bursts your bubble?

Maybe they inform you of a nasty rumor being spread about you. Maybe they rip on your $100 shoes you thought were so chic. Or maybe they tell you that you're a loser with no talent who shouldn't be earning a paycheck in your job.

It happened to me. And trust me, it's more depressing than finding your first gray hair.

I can only assume that Stephen Beck woke up on the wrong side of the bed, poured spoiled milk into his Cheerios and then got a flat tire on the way to work. Because he, I can assure you, was not in a good mood when he wrote me.

For this, he earns my reader feedback award for:

Chilliest welcome: "For a while I thought you had disappeared. No such luck," Beck wrote, referring to my recent three-month maternity leave during which (evidently, much to his pleasure) I wasn't around to write. "Your selection of topics and your writing, frankly, are weak. I am amazed that you are able to make a living at what you do. (Your writing is) sophomoric hogwash."

Nicest feedback: Lucky for my sanity and ego, after hearing from Beck, there was a tie in this category.

"The paper was missing something big-time with you gone," wrote Jordan Ellis. "You give a fresh and unique view of the workplace that I can't find anywhere else."

And from Maureen Pinnick: "I just wanted to drop you a line to tell you how much I enjoy reading your articles. Keep up the good work."

Best question: A woman, whose name I won't reveal to save her from more aloofness from co-workers, wrote with a question I assume touches many office workers: Cliques in the workplace.

"Any advice out there on how to handle things when you're the odd woman out of a small clique (two of the women are sisters-in-laws) and your male boss is oblivious to the situation?"

This is called cattiness. And since I am no expert on the affliction, I turned to Mark McNulty, president of HR Dimensions in Indianapolis.

First, he said, don't be a tattletale and go to the boss. Instead, ask the women to meet in a neutral environment, perhaps a dinner after work.

"She should tell them how she is feeling and what her perceptions are and that she is not feeling included," he says. "They may not be aware of the situation that they have created. Even if they are, this will get it on the table and will force them to deal with it more overtly."

Most candid: From John Seitz.

"Work sucks. Why are you wasting your talents writing about something no one really wants to do?" he asked.

Because we all have to work and maybe, just maybe, talking about all the craziness in the office will make that 40-hour week a little easier.

15-Aug-07 0:00 AM

Helping hires fit in can curb job-hopping

Wed, 16 May 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Finding the right person for a job requires a hefty investment of time and money. But once the new hire is on the clock, it's no time for an employer to relax.

About one-third of companies reported losing up to 25 percent of new hires within the first 12 months, according to a survey released in March by Novations Group, a global consulting firm.

Another study of 840,000 workers in multinational companies conducted in February by Kenexa, a talent-management company, noticed a marked drop in satisfaction the longer an employee is on the job.

Early on, nearly three-quarters of hires are generally excited and engaged about their work, Kenexa's survey showed. From the sixth to 18th months, however, satisfaction levels begin to decline sharply, and by the end of the second year, many employees are seeking new jobs.

"Every person who leaves costs the company money in some form. But the greatest waste, certainly, are the people that you've just hired," said Tim Vigue, executive consultant for Novations.

"You've put some costs up front in recruiting and interviewing and making the hiring decision, and, of course, they vary from a few thousand dollars for junior, non- exec positions to hundreds of thousands of dollars (for top-level leaders). . . .

"It's like throwing a bunch of money into a stock that crashes three weeks after you bought (in)."

It's not just entry- or junior-level workers who are jumping ship.

"The dirty secret in the executive-recruiting world is about 40 percent of executive placements fail," said Richard J. Kinsley, owner of The Kinsley Group in Indianapolis.

Why do recent additions get the "six-month itch" and bail so soon? It starts with a concept that Mark McNulty, president and founding partner of Indianapolis-based HR Dimensions, calls "job fit."

"It's not just: Does this person feel like they're going to fit in our environment?" McNulty explained. "It has to do with: Do they have the cognitive abilities to do this particular job? Do they have the interest to do it, and do they have the kind of behaviors that are going to be successful?"

Too often, McNulty said, companies rely solely on a selection interview to determine a prospective employee's suitability. A better approach, he said, is to spend some time up front for a more in-depth assessment of a candidate.

A variety of companies offer software and other tools designed to assist with the task, he said. Other companies are profiling their best employee performances at jobs and creating a baseline to measure job candidates against.

McNulty recommends behavioral interviewing, in which a candidate is asked to identify a challenging situation he or she has faced, detail the action he/she took and describe the result of that action.

"That has been shown to much better predict whether a person is going to be successful, because past success predicts future success," McNulty said.

It's also important for the human-resources rep, manager and others involved in the selection process to be open about what the prospective hire will face.

Unrealistic expectations about the job and/or the organization is the No. 1 reason why new hires derail, Vigue said.

Workers who don't get such information may find themselves in a job where they are trying to "force-fit" themselves into the position, Kinsley cautioned.

Hiring the right person for the job is only half of the equation, however, add the experts. Making sure that an individual gets the proper on-site orientation, training, tools and connections -- a process known as onboarding -- is vital to protecting the new-hire investment.

"It goes beyond just pointing out where the restrooms are and having somebody take them to lunch on the first day," says Kinsley.

A "failure to grasp how things get done around the organization" is the second-most-cited reason for new hires to leave a job in the first year, the Novations study reported.

McNulty suggests companies assign a mentor to each new hire, someone who "has some sort of formal responsibility to teach them about the culture: How do we get things done around here?"

It's also helpful to provide a road map for success, Vigue points out, one that clearly defines expectations for the new person and offers a timeline for meeting those goals.

"In other words, we want you to be dependent and ask a lot of good questions up front. And then we're going to expect you at some point to transition into independence and contributing at a full level. And this is about how long that should take, and these are the steps you need to do in order to get there."

___________________

How job seekers can ensure compatibility

Tips on how to make a smooth transition in a new job:

Don't force a fit. If something about the new position gives you pause, trust those instincts and explore the situation further before signing on, said Tim Vigue, executive consultant for Boston- based Novations Group.

Ask questions wisely. Ask good questions and learn from them, especially during the first three to six months in a job. Your priority is to "learn the ropes," Vigue said.

Be proactive. If you feel you're floundering, don't be shy in seeking the help you need, whether it's a more in-depth orientation, introductions to the right people or the assistance of a mentor.

"Really step up and say, 'I want to be successful. I came here to have a big impact.' If it isn't happening for you, do it for yourself," said Richard J. Kinsley, owner of The Kinsley Group in Indianapolis.

16-May-07 0:00 AM

Open communication can avoid ugly firings

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 05:00:00 GMT

The whispers spread like wildfire through an office. Once word gets out someone is about to lose a job, it seems as if everyone knows it.

Except, perhaps, the employee who is moments away from being terminated.

That's a major misstep in firing protocol, say human-resources professionals and consultants. It's never an enviable or enjoyable task to hand out a pink slip, but for managers the task of firing is often just as important as hiring.

When handled properly, both the employer and terminated employee should be able to walk away and continue with their professional lives. When handled incorrectly . . . well, perhaps you've heard of such a horror story at your workplace.

"All of a sudden (an employer) has this mind-set that the employee is someone they never met before, that overnight they no longer can be trusted and they no longer have an obligation to treat them with respect. Then there's the forced march to the door, boxes in hand, in front of peers and friends," said Rick Kinsley, owner of The Kinsley Group, a local executive recruitment and evaluation consultant. "In most situations, that is inappropriate."

That's an extreme example, to be sure, but more standard terminations require attention to detail. If a clean break isn't made, it can get dirty later.

For employers, due diligence is required to make sure a termination is proper, said James Masur, an attorney at Locke Reynolds, who is an expert on employment law.

Analyzing a situation to make sure there is no potential for a discrimination claim based on race, disability, sex or age is crucial, he said. He added that it's also important to confirm that a firing was not vindictive, particularly if the terminated employee was raising a valid (or even invalid) complaint over discrimination or harassment.

It's also crucial for an employer to make sure a fired employee has received all wages owed him or her, including overtime pay, Masur said. He or she also should be given leave under the Family Leave and Medical Act.

"That is part of the way to make sure when it's over, it's over, so you don't have to revisit these issues in a lawsuit context," Masur said. "By minimizing the lawsuit potential, employers can save themselves $10,000 in litigation expenses alone, and employees can dedicate themselves to more productive pursuits than the turmoil a lawsuit takes out of people."

Employers also are advised to keep detailed records of dealings with an employee well before a firing. Performance reviews that don't note a pattern of underachieving can be confusing.

"That's the biggest single deficiency we see, where managers have given positive or tepid kinds of reviews for people who are seriously underperforming in order to avoid conflict," said Mark McNulty, president of HR Dimensions, an Indianapolis-based human-resources consulting firm. "That's where the rub comes, letting an employee go who is in one of the protected classes of people, and you haven't got the paper trail to support it.

"We always say when you're getting ready to terminate, it shouldn't be a surprise to that person if you've done a good job of managing and giving feedback."

A termination also doesn't have to include a walk of shame through the office. In addition to paper trails and legal obligations, there are simply matters of good taste when it comes to firing someone.

Masur advises that two management representatives handle a termination interview, since that tends to reduce the potential for conflict. Managers also should consider how employees remaining with the company will view a co-worker's termination.

"The overreaction to the risk that's represented by the firing, if it's overmanaged, is as important if not more important than the firing itself," Kinsley said.

"What are employees thinking about? 'What if that was me?' It can have a damaging effect on overall (employer-employee) relationships."

__________________

Firing protocol

Here's some advice for handling employees before a termination:

Make sure the employee understands what the job's duties are, what functions aren't being performed correctly and that ample time is being provided to allow for improvement.

Keep records of conversations with the employee and place notes in his or her file.

Continue to offer training opportunities, even to employees facing possible termination. They can learn valuable skills to take to another position.

If the need to fire does arise, have the courage to do it and do it in a quiet setting -- preferably at the end of the day so as not to create unnecessary drama. Also, make sure to tell other employees personally about the firing.

Ruth Haag, author of "Hiring and Firing"

25-Apr-07 0:00 AM