How To Not Get the Job
8 Nov 2012 | No Comments | posted by Jane Mangat | in Commentary, Hiring
I am not an English teacher, I am not a professional proof reader, I am however someone who cannot abide typo’s, incorrect grammar or simple sloppiness in a professional document. Whether you are writing your resume, your website, your blog or an e-mail, whatever you write is a representation of you.
If you are an HR professional, a hiring manager or a recruiter, how many times have you automatically discounted a resume because of typo’s? Have you ever checked out a website and after catching a spelling error you decided not to do business with that company?
I want to be seen as a professional, as a subject matter expert and as someone who others will seek out for business information and advice. When I write, I am a representative of my Company. I am pretty sure that the majority of people reading this blog would feel the same. Why then are so many professional missives written and sent without the simple step of proofreading?
It’s not hard to proofread. With the wonderful spell check option that the majority of word processing programs utilize and even the grammar option available you too can have an error free document. So, why are people ignoring this simple exercise?
Take the time. Have someone else review your document, hire a professional, or simply re-read what you have written. You might not immediately recognize how your accuracy has improved your message, helped you get the job or brought new business to your company, but be sure, that by providing an error free message, you are improving your professional image and not damaging your prospects.
What Happens When Your Top Performers Don’t Share and Play Well With Others?
27 Feb 2012 | 2 Comments | posted by Michelle Ventrella | in Commentary
The top performers in a workforce are typically a breed apart. They’re relentless learners, intrinsically motivated, and focused on achieving their very high standards – and then raising the bar.
Doubtless, you know who these high performers are in your workplace. And while you certainly appreciate their skill and the results they produce, there may be things you’re less enthusiastic about.
That’s because some top performers – especially those who are highly skilled and have a specialized knowledge base that can take many years to cultivate – don’t always share and play well with others.
Or, in more grown-up terms, they’re often not great at interacting with or leading colleagues.
Frankly, this doesn’t have to be a problem – not when your top performers are fine doing their own thing.
But what happens when you ask them to leave their high performance island and join the group? What happens when these virtuosos are suddenly asked to join the rest of the orchestra and play in harmony?
Unfortunately, the result can be anything but an encore performance.
Instead of cohesion, there’s friction. Instead of working together, there’s conflict. And instead of mentoring and support, there’s bullying and intimidation.
And that’s the crux: what do you do when your top performer(s) are too valuable to let go, but too toxic to keep?
The Death of Common Sense
16 Oct 2011 | No Comments | posted by HR Team | in Commentary
We’re sure that at one point or another many of us have come across The Death of Common Sense email forward or read it somewhere online. Many bloggers and writers from different countries, backgrounds and experiences have written their own versions of Common Sense’s obituary. After the email forward made it around our inboxes, we couldn’t help it but to chime-in and contribute our thoughts to the obituary.
Common sense does not exist when people feel entitled. Life, including work life, does not owe anyone a living. Few are successful without focusing on their job, developing positive relationships with co-workers and clients and recognizing that to get ahead they need to be accountable and productive.
Common sense allowed ego to take over and think that success included being ‘above the law’. Even the most senior executive of highly successful global corporations must respect that all employees’ have rights guaranteed by law. Treatment of employees including termination must adhere to local employment standards and common law precedence.
Common sense died when managers and corporations forgot the importance of on boarding and training new hires. The tendency to focus on profits and productivity often overshadows what it takes to achieve success in those areas. With the lack of proper on boarding and training, staff turnover rates have increased dramatically and existing employees are getting burnt out from the constant stream of new employees they have to train while keeping their own levels of productivity high. The end result is a downward spiral of productivity and profits and because common sense has died no one seems to understand why.
Common sense died when we stopped providing education to our children on what it takes to make it in the real world. The youth of today have a poor set of tools at their disposal with the lack of understanding on how to write a simple resume, prepare for an interview, and the skills needed to be successful in the workplace.
Common sense died when organizations gave up on performance management. Addressing performance issues only as the first step in the termination process, when you’ve already given up, is a waste of all the capital dollars you’ve put in. The waste is staggering. It’s as nonsensical as calling up your competition and saying “hey, I’ve invested the dollars but I’d like you to yield the results”. It just doesn’t make any sense.
Common sense died when people starting risking their (and sometimes their loved ones) lives in order to accept a meeting request while driving.
There’s No Such Thing as a Company Without HR
30 Sep 2011 | 1 Comment | posted by Michelle Ventrella | in Business Strategy, Commentary, Employee Engagement
Brian Kreissl’s recent article “When non-HR professionals do HR work“ published on HRReporter.com is an insightful and timely look at a very old, but not widely-known, organizational truth: there’s no such thing as a company without HR.
HR is not the output of a department called HR, nor is it the product of people who have job titles that say HR in them. Rather, HR is at the foundation of an organization. It doesn’t disappear because it lacks a label. In other words: while organizations can have “no HR people,” and “no HR department,” they cannot have “no HR.”
Kreissl and I agree: cutting costs by bleeding HR budgets is simply bad strategy. Why? Because, again, HR isn’t a department or a person. It’s built into the organization itself. And so the tasks and responsibilities of HR don’t go away when HR budgets are cut. They’re merely shoveled off to people who almost without exception don’t know how to do it, don’t want to do it, and do a bad job of it when the finally forced to face it.
And the consequence? Unproductive, disengaged employees who end up costing an organization instead of moving it ahead. And we’re not just talking about one bad apple here. We’re talking the entire organizational workforce. So it’s more like a bad apple orchard.
Krissel’s bottom line is one that I echo as well: if non-HR professional are going to be tasked with performing HR functions, then it’s essential that they get the support and training they need from outside the organization. Not just for their sake or their employees’. But for the success of the organization as a whole.
Webinars – Time Wasters or a Great Learning Tool?
23 Nov 2012 | No Comments | posted by Jane Mangat | in Business, Commentary
How many webinars have you attended? I have to admit that I haven’t attended many. I have participated in one as the moderator but typically I have found that the majority are really trying to sell me something.
How do you know if the webinar that you are signing up for isn’t just a ploy to get you to purchase the next book, or a series of very pricey business coaching sessions. Its hard to decipher what will be good and what won’t.
Consider following these suggestions;
If the webinar is being held during the typical “lunch” hour 12:00 – 1:00 or 1:00 – 2:00 then it could be good time spent. At least you aren’t taking an hour or more out of your productive time during the day.
Is the webinar providing you with current and complete information that you or your company can use? When Pivotal’s temp staffing division hosts a webinar, we provide experts from the industry (eg; our WSIB Risk Management Consultant specifically answers your questions and offers up-to-date WSIB, NEER and Ministry of Labour (MOL) specific information. This information allows you to update your current Health and Safety initiative, assisting your company with MOL/WSIB compliance and even offers complimentary one-on-one consultations.
Is the webinar being presented from a source that you trust? Pivotal Staffing is a sponsor of NEW – Network for Executive Women CPG and Retail and NEW provides a free yearly subscription for coaching sessions for their membership. These coaching sessions are from a variety of executive women in many different corporations who offer their personal experience in business in a variety of subjects. This would be a trusted source as Pivotal sponsors the Canadian Association and recognizes that they provide excellent information for their membership. Perhaps you too belong to a variety of associations that also provide webinars that do not offer some information as a bait to get you to purchase more.
Either way, webinar’s can be a great way to learn more about a specific subject or they can be a waste of time. Remember to ask yourself, does watching this webinar for an hour during my day ultimately make me more productive or is it giving me another reason to procrastinate.
And on that note, be sure to watch for our next webinar in early 2013 about WSIB Claims Management. We will keep you posted as to where and when to tune in and we promise not to waste your time.