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Take Charge of Economic Uncertainty'); document.write('
You can reduce the impact of an uncertain economy on your career and life.

But, look first at the uncertain economy fueling your need to take action. Consider the current economic uncertainty as it impacts your employment, and the people in your life who are affected by your stable employment and earnings, too.

401k withdrawals and loans are at a record high, retiring workers are taking full social security at age 62 in record numbers, and the accounted for unemployment rate is at 9.6%. Don\'t forget that these are the people that the statistics account for - the real unemployment rate is likely closer to a number that ranges between 18-23%, depending on the source and on what the source counts as unemployed.

Various statistics fail to take into account: people no longer looking for work, the chronically unemployed, people employed part time who want full time jobs, and other groups that governmental records don’t count. The Bureau of Labor statistics are misleading in that millions of these unemployed Americans are classified as \"not in the labor force.\"

Economic uncertainty compels even mainstream personal improvement gurus, such as Anthony Robbins, to add their voices to the mix about the economy. No matter whether you agree with his analysis of the current economic situation, although it is true that consumers are not buying, the fact that his words are reaching mainstream America sends a powerful message.

The economic news that currently dominates the mainstream media is disheartening and sometimes - scary. My purpose is not to add to the bad news but to provide some positive ideas about what you may be able to do proactively in your own life and in your human resource planning at work to avoid some of the economic chaos.

You can take charge of economic uncertainty. Here\'s how.

_{Image Copyright Andresr}

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Take Charge of Economic Uncertainty originally appeared on About.com Human Resources on Thursday, September 9th, 2010 at 09:00:20.
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Families That Play Together...'); document.write('
Our company teams moved into several new buildings and consolidated work spaces over the past year.

So the highlight of the summer was an open house event that employees and their families attended.

_{Image Copyright Greg Smith}

The best part for me, in any company sponsored family event, is informally communicating with our valued staff members. Seeing all of the new babies and our staff members and their families get to know each other is special, too. This year, nearly 300 adults and over 100 kids were signed up to attend.

I have had so much fun seeing and listening to the event and its aftermath on Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter. Several employees overdosed on cotton candy and even an employee who went home sick stopped in for a snow cone first. The pictures of kids, and our employees as big kids, on the slide, are priceless.

I imagine that many of our employees have become friends outside of work, too. The workplace is a wonderful melting pot in which people who share interests, educational backgrounds, and life stages, can get to know one another. And, the reach is broad enough among the generations of employees, that they interact with and get to know employees of different ages and life stages in these informal settings.

_{Image Copyright Catherine Yeulet}

An HR manager said to me about one of her company teams recently: \"They haven\'t quite coalesced because they don\'t know and care about each other yet.\" Company team building events help people coalesce at work as well as outside of work. This summer, our company has also held family night at the local professional ballpark, a bus run to see the Tigers play in Detroit, a night golf outing, and more.

Not all events are sponsored by the company either, although usually we help out. Tiger night happens because a pie loving employee also loves the Tigers. Weekly walk/runs happen because a disciplined sales staff member organizes walk/runs for anyone interested. Employees organize every sports team imaginable and they have now branched into areas such as weight watchers, yoga, and chess.

You can\'t pay employees to organize, attend, and bring these interests and energies to work. You depend on their enjoyment of each other, their quest to do things as a family group, their desire to have companions to share their interests, and their willingness to expend their discretionary energy at work, or in the interests of work.

In your workplace, creating team norms can help a team come together more quickly to productively accomplish goals, too. So can the use of ice breakers during team meetings. Company sponsored events and team meeting interaction help employees know and care about each other, and that\'s one of the formulas for a successful workplace. If you haven\'t yet, do consider adding company sponsored events, outside of the work day, to build a team work culture that overflows among your employees, both into and out of your workplace.

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Families That Play Together... originally appeared on About.com Human Resources on Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 at 09:00:25.
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Your Top Five Faves'); document.write('
Online stats are wonderful because they\'re a lot like a mini needs assessment in my email every day.

You may be interested to know which blog posts received the most readers so far this year. That\'s got to make them worth reading, right?

Bad bosses seem to perennially haunt these lists; so do performance improvement plans. The others vary and you\'ll want to see...

Here are your top five faves from 2010, in Dave Letterman\'s top ten reverse order format:
- 5. What Makes a Manager a Bad Boss?: Bad bosses are a perennially popular topic on this site.
- 4. Welcome New Employees With a Letter: Enhance your relationship before the new employee even starts work.
- 3. Ten Best Tips to Deal With Difficult People at Work: Do your coworkers drive you crazy sometimes?
- 2. Email a New Employee Introduction: This introduction letter continues the tradition of civility, warmth, and grace with which you want to welcome new employees.
- 1. Performance Improvement Plans: Are you looking for a format that\'s a winner when you want to help an underperforming employee succeed?
And, the top runner up because it scored so similarly to #5 - Bad Bosses: Applicant Rejection Letters. Enjoy.

_{Image Copyright Christopher Robbins / Getty Images}

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Your Top Five Faves originally appeared on About.com Human Resources on Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 at 09:00:17.
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Celebrate Labor Day With a Day Off'); document.write('
Let\'s celebrate Labor Day week and dedicate it to all people who work. Please share what you do for a living.

I spend time on long holiday weekends thinking about my next goals. For this fall, I am writing a book, providing management and employee development training at my company, and dealing with my arthritis. How about you? Consider sharing your most important current goals, too.

Please take the time to vote in my poll. Different than my usual polls, this poll is a survey to determine your job title or responsibilities so I can write for the right audience. Also, aren\'t you just a bit curious, too?

In my effort to create a site that meets the needs of my audience and site visitors, I need to know who you are. Will you please take a moment and respond to my poll? The job title may not match yours exactly (I only have ten choices to provide) so please select the answer that most closely describes your current job or role in the workplace.

Determining who my site visitors are is a constant challenge. Consequently, knowing what topics will interest you is also a challenge. About.com provides statistics about how many people visit each page, but these stats don\'t tell me who you are and what you do. Especially, they don\'t tell me what you most want from the site going forward.

I\'d appreciate your participation in today\'s quick survey. Your emailed questions, comments, and requests are also helpful. For a quick response, you can always post in the Forum.
Prior polls.

Related to Labor Day
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Celebrate Labor Day With a Day Off originally appeared on About.com Human Resources on Monday, September 6th, 2010 at 09:00:55.
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Unions Have Lost (Found?) Their Way'); document.write('
With all due respect to hard working labor union members in the United States, this Labor Day marks a landmark event. A shift in labor union membership, that ought to concern every business owner who is expected to compete for sales in the marketplace, has occurred in 2010. In fact, the shift in labor union membership ought to concern every taxpayer in the United States.

According to the Heritage Foundation, this Labor Day marks the year in which public sector (government) union members surpassed private sector union members. Public sector union members now stand at 52% of the union population.

The New York Times weighed in with: \"Notwithstanding the recession, government employment grew last year, inching up 16,000, to 22,516,000, according to the bureau [BLS].\" The article, \"Most U.S. Union Members Are Working for the Government, New Data Shows,\" went on to say that \"the rate of private-sector unionization fell because two sectors where unions are especially strong -- manufacturing and construction -- suffered especially large job losses\", during this recession.

Why should this be a concern to employers? First, you do not compete on a level playing field. Government paid for or subsidized employment and products are not subject to the ebbs and flows of the competitive market place. Public sector labor union salaries are not dependent on competition for business or sales.

The numbers also indicate a decline in America\'s industrial base. In some industries, to use electronics as an example, it is impossible to find a product that is made in America. My new Lenovo ThinkPad was made in and shipped to me from China, for example. Flat screen televisions are another.

Who Pays Union Members?

Compensation paid to organized workers is provided by American taxpayers in a marketplace that provides few checks and balances. Furthermore, a portion of every dollar paid to many union members funds political action committees (PACs) that make direct contributions to election campaigns and support political causes. Not a problem? Think about it. Your tax dollars fund political causes that you may or may not support.

(This is one of my periodic columns that highlight economic numbers - see here and here - that should interest employers.)

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Unions Have Lost (Found?) Their Way originally appeared on About.com Human Resources on Monday, September 6th, 2010 at 08:00:24.
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Use Mentoring to Develop Employees'); document.write('
Effective relationships and learning are the mainstays of organizational success today. Organizations that find meaningful ways for their employees to connect are more likely to realize greater productivity, enhanced career growth, freely flowing innovation and overall improvement in employee performance. Mentoring serves both purposes.

One-on-one mentoring, with a mentor who exhibits the mentoring characteristics needed by people who become successful mentors, is one of the key methods you can use to develop employees. Group mentoring is a value-added tool for connecting employees and advancing learning within your organization. Whether singly or in groups, employees benefit from learning and exchanges with more experienced employees.

My Mentoring

I\'ve had several mentoring experiences over the years. Dave Schmidt, my first senior HR Director boss, helped me figure out the hierarchy and the way the world worked at General Motors. Ron Carr, the skilled tradesman who took me on weekly plant walks so I could learn the manufacturing environment without ever having worked in it, paved my path to acceptance as their training coordinator by the tool and die guys. (Quite a feat at the time...)

A beloved friend who spent many hours with me when I was starting my business, Leslie Charles is especially memorable because she even took the chance of subcontracting training work to a neophyte consultant. And, we\'re still friends and confidants twenty some years later. I consider myself blessed and lucky. If you seek, you can find mentoring, too.

Your Mentoring

Organizations can assist employees by developing a culture that supports mentoring. They can provide mentoring training. They can factor mentoring into job descriptions, performance development planning, and their recognition systems. Every new employee should receive mentoring from a current employee. Company stories that employees tell should reinforce the importance of mentoring.

Managers, senior employees, and talented contributors can provide mentoring to others by committing themselves to mentoring, developing a mentoring relationship, meeting regularly, and sharing knowledge.

Believe me, I haven\'t spent twenty plus years in a successful consulting and writing career without plenty of mentoring and help from others. It\'s the same in your workplace. The more your organization supports mentoring, the more mentoring help you have from others to help you learn, grow, and practice, the more successful you and your workplace will be.

_{Image Copyright Jacob Wackerhausen}

More Mentoring Resources
- Creating a Mentoring Culture
- Mentoring and Baby Boomers
- Build a Mentoring Culture
- Make the Most of Your Millennials'); document.write('
  Having a company with many young employees means that an employee or an employee\'s spouse is almost always pregnant. Indeed, there are usually multiple babies on their way.
  
  We have even hired obviously pregnant applicants, knowing that the new employee would soon take time off for the birth. I think of all of these babies as the next generation talent pool. Occasionally, though, upon completion of the 12 week FMLA leave time, a valued employee decides that work is not a current option and that staying home with the baby is most important.
  
  We support whatever choices our employees make, although we\'d like to be in on the decision as soon as possible for planning and work coverage. Lifestyle choices are important to millennial employees in your company. Even many gen-X employees seek flexibility that the Baby Boomer generation never dreamed of demanding.
  
  Here are tips for managing these valued millennial employees and some thoughts about not putting millennial employees in a one-size-fits-all box. Myths abound about millennial employees; don\'t get sidetracked and miss the best the millennials have to offer in your workplace. It\'s a lot.
  
  In fact, I ran across a great example of millennial employees successfully contributing to a workplace. Donna Fenn, a respected small business guru, posted on Facebook that the CEO of Tasty Catering in Chicago helped his business grow by handing the reins to millennial employees.
  
  Interesting to me, too, is the company\'s habit of hiring the best possible employees they can find as interns during high school. Many stay through college and on into their career. Worth your time to hear more, too, about balancing generations in a workplace.
  
  _{Image Copyright Pando Hall / Getty Images}
  
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  Make the Most of Your Millennials originally appeared on About.com Human Resources on Saturday, September 4th, 2010 at 09:30:25.
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- Are Employee Handbooks Required?'); document.write('
  Is having an employee handbook the law, asked another reader recently. Not something I have ever really thought about in the past. Here is my response. What do you think?
  
  Good question. I don\'t know of a law that mandates employee handbooks; some laws, depending on where you live, mandate certain policies or procedures. These may or may not be in an employee handbook.
  
  That said, an employee handbook is in the best interests of both the company and the employees. It provides a set of guidelines for how things will be handled in your company.
  
  This protects you from such issues as favoritism and discrimination charges. Employees feel that they are treated equally when the procedure is written in the handbook, and the procedure is followed and fairly applied.
  
  Managers are not forced to decide certain issues, such as time off, on a case by case basis, and employees know what to do if something untoward occurs such as sexual harassment. Employees and HR staff are on the same page as to how legal mandates such as FMLA are handled in the company.
  
  Employers use the policies in an employee handbook to protect themselves from lawsuits, such as harassment claims, wrongful employment termination claims, and discrimination claims. Employee handbooks generally contain a code of conduct for employees that establish expectations for appropriate behavior in the workplace.
  
  Progressive discipline and procedures for making a complaint are also in most employee handbooks. In locations where at-will employment exists, the at-will employment statement is in the employee handbook. Since employees sign off on employee handbooks, the employer has a record that the employee read and understood the contents of the employee handbook, so he or she knows the rules.
  
  The employee handbook has positive components as well. Employees are able to learn the story of your company, its history, its culture, and the rights and responsibilities of employees. Benefits, compensation, and other aspects of an employee-friendly workplace are shared. Positive components of employment at your company are highlighted, too, such as company teams, PTO policies, and flexible work schedule guidelines.
  
  In this day and age, handbooks and codes of conduct are your best friends. They are essential components of a well-managed, orderly, fair workplace. Here\'s my work-in-progress, recommended table of contents for an employee handbook.
  
  As an end note, I also believe that employers should create as few policies as necessary. Not everything needs a policy, especially when the policy is created to change the behavior of just a few people. If only a couple of employees exhibit problems with attendance, for example, an attendance policy that makes every employee use a time clock is unwarranted. It unnecessarily imposes an inconvenient daily task on employees and telegraphs a lack of trust on the part of the employer. Deal with the culprits as individuals. Don\'t subject the entire team to unneeded shackles.
  
  _{Image Copyright Pali Rao}
  
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  Are Employee Handbooks Required? originally appeared on About.com Human Resources on Friday, September 3rd, 2010 at 09:30:16.
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