HRCleanUp

HR Student's Point-of-View

By:  Anonymous

Wellness at Work

I don’t think that enough companies today really take their employees health and well being into consideration.  Sure, they may say they care but what are they really doing to show they care? 

In a recent conversation that I had with a couple of friends, they were surprised to hear that my company has a 24 hour gym onsite.  Not only that, but they offer daily classes and a wide variety of other programs to encourage employees to stay fit and healthy; mentally as well as psychically.  Walking programs, healthy eating seminars, health screenings, chair massages, and stress management courses are all part of our wellness program and employees take advantage of many of these opportunities.  It’s not always work, work, work.  Managers encourage employees to join these programs or go to the gym or for a walk in the afternoon.

Having all of these programs onsite costs the company a nice bundle of money but they obviously feel as though the benefits outweigh the costs.  I think that having healthy employees and caring about their well being really reflects in the work they put back into the company.  People are more relaxed because they can get up and go for run and relieve some stress or go for a chair massage when they are offered.  It really creates a nice work life balance. 

More companies should really invest in their employee’s health.  They might be surprised to see what kind of employee they have as a result of doing so.

HRCleanUp Note:  Employee wellness will save you money in the long run...think about what a healthier population would do for your insurance cost, reduced absenteeism, and physical energy level in your organization.

HR Student's Point-of-View

By Anonymous

We Can’t Fix Everything

A few months ago, a co-worker and I were tasked with putting an under performing employee on corrective action. The meeting itself was one of the most gut wrenching experiences of my life.  In less than ten minutes, I watched this person go from a completely together, driven, professional young business person, to an unstable wreck.  And in the meetings that followed over the next couple of months, we learned that this individual’s life, both inside and outside of work, had quickly begun to crumble. 

I couldn’t help but wonder, did we do something wrong?  Were we not sympathetic enough during that initial meeting?  Had we come off too harsh?  I had sat in with this same co-worker on numerous occasions to deliver similar messages to employees, all of whom were able to keep it together.

In my experience thus far, I have seen employees go in one of two directions after being put on corrective action.  They either become extremely defensive and shortly give their resignation, or they make a conscious decision to do everything in their power to improve their performance (I always hope for the latter).  But this reaction was new to me. 

For the first time I realized that it isn’t all about how we handle the situation.  We can’t predict how an employee will react to bad news.  And often times, there may be things going on in the person’s life outside of the job that will influence how they take the news.  No matter how prepared we are, or how good we are at our jobs, we can’t always guide difficult conversations and situations in the direction that we want them to go.  And as much as you want to help someone succeed and move in the right direction, sometimes they might be beyond help. 

It was a learning experience, but I kind of wish it was a lesson I didn’t have to learn. 

HR Student's Point-of-View

By Kerri Jensen

You CAN Learn Technology

Ever sit in on a meeting and feel like you have a large cartoon question mark floating over your head?  That’s how I felt every Tuesday from 7:15-9:50 sitting in Jay Hargis’s HRIS class at Suffolk University - well at least for the first few weeks of the semester.  I was the outsider for sure, I am not sure if it was my blue scrubs or my blank expression that made me stand out the first couple of classes.  As we rounded the classroom doing introductions, the standard name, program, and occupation, it became clear I was one of the few students in the room who was not currently working in HR.

When Jay first started talking – I mean just the basics here folks – my head started spinning and I started to question to myself what I had gotten myself into and how the heck I was going to make it through this class.  Yet as the weeks passed and Jay talked more and more it started to become clearer and clearer. 

While I am not by any means an HR or HRIS expert, I feel I have gained a wealth of knowledge in a relatively short amount of time.  In September I couldn’t have told you what Brass Ring was, what ASP stood for, or explained the importance of HRI systems.  Yet less then a week ago, I participated in a group presentation (and wrote part of a group paper) that gave an executive presentation on a business case and implementation on purchasing a performance management system (for the record we chose Ultipro) and I actually knew what we were talking about!

I feel I took Jay’s HRIS class at the perfect time, while my classmates might have the edge on already being knee deep in the HR field; I have the advantage of entering the field with up to date knowledge on a subject that is crucial to growth and advancement in the field.  I have learned from Jay, I have learned from my classmates, and I have the vocabulary now to make an IT employee’s head spin!

 

HR Student's Point-of-View

By Sharon Woodward

Gaps in Employment

All HR professionals know that gaps in employment can be a big red flag.  Article after article warns us to look out for resumes in which employment has been inconsistent.  The premise is that there is something inherently wrong with the individual and hiring this person may cause trouble for the organization down the road.

But consider this thought…many gaps in employment are actually positive.

Someone who takes time off to care for a loved one demonstrates responsibility, reliability, and often courage.

Someone who takes time off to travel indicates an adventurous, intellectual, and open-minded being.

Someone who takes time off to pursue a lifelong goal, such as writing a book, is likely goal-oriented, determined, and a risk-taker.

To recruiters and hiring managers: next time you come across a qualified applicant with a gap in employment, don’t dismiss the resume solely due to the break in employment.  Passing up the person may be passing up an employee who not only has positive character traits, but who is also eager, rested, relaxed and can offer fresh perspectives for the company.  Don’t dismiss him/her and drive him/her right into the arms of your competitors!

But don’t forget to ask about the employment gap at the interview!

HR Student's Point of View

Geeta Pathak
The Caste Reservation System in India and its impact on the Country’s Recruiting System

This is an excerpt I did for a research paper in one of my classes last year as part of the MS program. It is an interesting read and I thought I would share.

This is an issue close to every Indian’s heart and has been the bane of a lot of controversy in India’s social, political and economic circles for years. Reservation in Indian law is a term used to describe the governmental policy of reserving a percentage of seats in the Parliament of India, State Legislative Assemblies, Central and State Civil Services, Public Sector Units, Central and State Governmental Departments and in all Public and Private Educational Institutions for the socially and educationally backward classes of citizens who are perceived by the Government to be inadequately represented. Just to give you a quick brief India has been practicing the Caste System for the last 2000 years. Hindu India was divided into 4 castes. Brahmins were the highest caste, considered the priestly caste. Then came the Kshatriyas (warriors), followed by the Vaishyas (traders), and lastly the Sudras (menials). A fifth group known as “the untouchables” (which is what they were addressed as); numbering 200 million now lay outside the caste system. In Ancient India, the untouchables were not allowed to enter the temples. Their touch was considered a sin and it made a caste Hindu impure. Shockingly, even their shadows were considered impure. This discrimination, unlike Apartheid is not based on the color of your skin or your race, but on the caste into which one is born. Brahmins, (the priestly class) were considered supreme and were respected by the other castes as a superior entity.

As awareness grew and people begun to realize the enormity of the injustice – the deprived classes began to revolt. This sparked huge communal wars all over India in the eighties, thousands of people lost their lives. Families were rendered homeless; there were protests all over the country. India was in the throes of destruction. In a frantic move, the Government stepped in and introduced the reservation policy. However little did they know that this quota system would further divide an already hurting India. Over the next few years the government raised the percentage of reservations in most public and private sectors covering almost all verticals. Educational institutions were hit the hardest, some of the premier league schools were forced to introduce such a high percentage of reservation, that it became almost impossible for a deserving candidate of a higher caste to secure admission based on his merit!

A study done by the IITs (India’s premier technology institute) shows that 50 per cent of the IIT seats reserved for the backward classes remain vacant. And for those who get admitted, 25 per cent are forced to quit, as they cannot keep up to the high academic standards required of the students there. In April of 2006 the Government opened a Pandora's Box by asking businesses to "voluntarily" commit to greater diversity in their work force by including more backward classes. The captains of industry were spooked, seeing in the apparently gentle appeal a precursor to caste-based reservations of jobs. Indian businessmen in the private sector began revolting against this move - on the grounds that introducing factors other than "merit" in the hiring process will hurt their competitiveness just when they are beginning to make a mark on a global scale. Those who support reservations felt vindicated by all the support their people were now receiving. 

A “caste headcount” by HR has been launched among the national workforce of the larger public companies in order to gauge how the various castes are represented companywide. A move most HR pundits think outrageous! They are of the view that for companies that are in the service business and are competing globally, caste quotas in hiring employees is a bad idea. Pointing to the fact that success in the service business is dependent on the quality of people employed, Azim Premji, chairman of the information-technology (IT) giant WIPRO, has ruled out caste quotas in his company. Last year, Infosys Technologies chairman Narayan Murthy rejected the demand of linguistic groups in Bangalore, who demanded quotas for the local population in IT companies. HR managers are arguing that they need to hire the best and brightest, not adopt caste criteria to determine recruitment. They believe that hiring less than the best will erode their quality standards. Jagadish Ramamurthy, chief executive officer and co-founder of Chennai-based Allsec Technologies, believes that if Indian companies don't meet quality standards, "then there is a chance of work being shifted to other destinations". There is fear too that caste quotas will reenergize the “brain drain”, a term that was often used in India earlier to describe movement of skilled and competent labor to countries like the US and UK for better opportunities.

And so the battle rages on…there still exists a huge divide between the supporters and opponents of this system. There are those who think that this policy is a vindication of all the years of injustice that they have been put through and then there are those who see no sense in basing hiring decisions on caste quotas. I am a strong believer of the fact that if India is to get the complete benefit of its large population and big market, then upliftment of the economically backward classes is essential. But that development should be independent of any caste considerations, a fact that seems far away from the reality surrounding this situation currently.

 

HR Student's Point-of-View

By Anonymous

Performance Reviews

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal the other day talking about performance reviews and how useless they are.  I want to give an HR perspective to performance reviews. 

The intent behind the review process is to provide feedback to the employee on how they performed during the past year.  You might say, “Why does this have to be done once, at the end of the year – shouldn’t it be an on-going conversation between the manager and the employee?”  I say YES!  That would be lovely if that happened, but 99 times out of 100, managers are not that responsible, diligent, organized, etc.  If HR didn’t enforce the annual evaluations, most employees would have absolutely no idea how they were doing in their managers’ eyes.  They may feel that no news is good news, but that is very often not the case. 

All too often, managers come to HR to complain about an employee who has been a problem for months – although nothing was ever said to the employee.  They have decided that want this person fired.  Well, without documentation showing the poor performance was communicated to the employee and the employee was given a chance to improve, this can’t happen.  If an evaluation process had been followed during the past evaluation cycle, there would now be the beginnings of a paper trail and it will be easier to put this individual on a performance plan.  Should the employee file a claim for wrongful termination, we are much better suited to defend that claim.

And also, giving an employee feedback is just the right thing to do.  An employee deserves to know where he or she excels, where improvements can be made, what needs to be done to move to the next level, etc.  If there are performance issues, an employee has a right to know what those are and be given an opportunity to correct them.

So, I understand the hatred towards the evaluations, but managers need to understand, they are critical for two reasons.  1) To give the feedback to the employee that he or she truly deserves (good and bad), and 2) to start a paper trail on a poor performer (which can keep us out of litigation).

So stop whining, and start evaluating!

HR Student's Point-of-View

By Carrissa Wallace

Is $1 base salary really $1?

On December 2, 2008 the Big 3 automaker’s CEO’s agreed to accept, though reluctantly, $1 salaries should Congress grant them the billions of dollars they so desire.  They claim to need the $25B in loans to keep their companies afloat, except Ford that believes it can return to profitability without the money, but would like it anyway, just in case. 

Despite the reasons the companies are in the positions they are in (personally, I am siding with the people who think that they have fundamental business flaws and should not be rescued), they are not in a position to be disappointed with this $1 base salary.  In addition to the obvious reasons of being held accountable for their companies’ failures resulting in millions of jobs lost, the $1 base salary is much less meaningful in light of their total compensation packages.  Because they make no claims that they will not receive equity compensation (stock options, restricted shares, etc.), which comprises approximately 90% of their annual pay, this $1 pay stunt is potentially just smoke in mirrors. 

While this equity is not immediately liquid and does not equate exactly to a cash value, we must also consider the amount of equity from years past that is at their disposal, not to mention all the physical assets such as homes, cars, etc.  It’s not that I don’t appreciate the gesture, but I think it is important for the general public not to be duped by this stunt.  In fact, some CEO’s, such as Steve Jobs, receive $1 base salaries every year… and Apple is not asking Congress for money. 

Other companies’ executives are making similar gestures to show that their executives are sharing in everyone’s troubles and making sacrifices in difficult economic times, but a sacrifice of 10% of your annual pay when it is in the 8 digits hardly seems like much of a sacrifice.  But who knows… it must really be hard to live without a corporate jet, right?

HR Student's Point-of-View

By Fatou Diagne

My life as a MSHR student

I am remembering back 18 months, receiving my undergraduate diploma and thinking about starting right away my Master in Human Resources. After pleasant undergraduate studies, I thought that I would be able to graduate quickly taking 5 classes at a time. What a mistake I realized, right into the second week of class, where I had to drop one class already, and struggle to keep up my grades high.

We, coming from undergrad, have a belief that it will be as easy as it was before but I definitely realized that I was now in the big ones stable, not playing around anymore and waiting for last minute to study.

People have been talking about how different graduate studies will be. They were all about case studies, and real life example, but was it really that. What I remember the most from being an MSHR student was passion. I was lucky I loved what I was doing and it makes it easy to go through. Is it difficult? It is definitely. Is it impossible? Oh no!!! I did not like being a student at all, but I like being a MSHR student. It gave me the opportunity to broaden my horizons but also a lot of hope. With a master in hand you feel more ready to go out there and do something meaningful for your company. Today, I am having a lot of hope and ideas. I am hoping that all the knowledge I gained through all those classes, papers and exams, will help me make a difference in an underdeveloped country where we need people knowing what they do and want to do it. 

I may not have had the correct description of what going into the MSHR would mean, and may not have been satisfied with it when I first started the program, but today I realize that it was worth going through. This is more important for us HR professional, as almost no one considers us as being very important for the success of the business. We need to prove that we deserve our chair on the table, and the first stop is getting the diploma that is as valid as any business degree whether in finance, accounting or management.

Two weeks before graduating and the end of my MSHR journey, I do not think it was that easy. Going into graduate study, you have to be on a mind set of making sacrifices, especially in Human Resources where you have so many concepts to learn and master in such a short time. There will be struggles, classes that you will definitely hate, others that you will like so much that you will work your guts off to ace them, but when you are reaching the final point when you know all of it is over, you are starting to build some pride and you realize that all the fears you had were nothing and did not matter at all.

HR Student's Point-of-View

By...Anonymous

My name is… and I am a perfectionist. It is true; I admit it. To others it might seem like a perfect world but for me, it is a struggle. Also, I understand that working with me on a project or in a group might not be so much fun. So I wanted to tell you what goes through a perfectionist’s mind on an everyday basis and then let you know how to deal with us.

There are three major areas that a perfectionist will always be concerned about. At all times, these areas need to be taken care of, because if not, the whole world collapses. First, a perfectionist can not, will not, and should not fail. Failing is failing. No one can say or do anything to fix it. When failure happens the perfectionist’s world is diminished. The thoughts after a failure are devastating and do-over is prayed for. Example… I went back to school to get my Master’s because after getting a job in human resources I needed to make sure I was perfect at what I was doing so I am spending lots of my money to be perfect at my job, and I do not even know if human resources is something I want to do for the rest of my life. 

Second, mistakes are like a horror movie; you either live through it or you do not. There is a state of panic and anxiety that stays with us for a long time. After several sleepless nights, we get through it. I have done it. Third, showing flaws is not acceptable. Perfectionists want to and need to be loved and revealing our flaws will make others look at us differently. Example… I work in an office with five other women, I have seen all of them cry at some point, but not me, I have never cried anywhere near that office. These characteristics about us are never going to change, so it is only fair that I let everyone know how to work with a perfectionist.

First, thank you for understanding. If you think you can handle a perfectionist, then do it. Be the support and guidance. Know when to say stop to correcting and updating that presentation or paper. But if you can not work with a perfectionist and decide to switch teams, do it delicately so we do not know it was because of us, because to us, it represents failure. The simplest advice I can give is to let us be. Give us a part of the project and we will work on it day and night until it is perfect in our eyes. The rest is yours. A perfectionist will never change so thank you for understanding and working with us.

My name is… and I am a perfectionist.  

HR Student's Point-of-View

By Anonymous

What do you do with the abrasive, awkward, and out of control Boss: 

As Christmas time approaches and I am on the committee to plan this years Holiday party I am reminded of a previous holiday party before I was in HR that turned out to be a disaster.
 
The classic HR nightmare.  You have to answer to Captain Inappropriate or Queen of Social Awkwardness, and there's not on thing you can do about it.  Or can you?  We've all seen it before, the big boss that doesn't have a filter, a moral gage or this little thing called tact.  They offend employees left and right, speak well before they even formed a thought, and walk about the office, humming, without a care in the world.  President Train wreck, a human resource nightmare.  Here's a story about an old boss that will capture a truly inappropriate and oblivious employer. 
 
At an office Holiday party a few years ago, all of the employees voted to play a boisterous, interactive game called "Two truths and a lie."  Each employee comes up with three facts about themselves--one lie and two truths.  When it's your turn, you stand up and tell your coworkers all three "facts".  Everyone guesses the lie, laughter erupts, people learn little known facts, and the party is a success....that is unless you have Mr. Closet Racist as your boss. 
 
The game was moving along delightfully and the room was filled with laughter and holiday cheer when Mr. Closet Racist stood up to recite his three personal "facts".  Here is what we all heard him boast joyfully over wine and cheese and angels singing Christmas carols in the background.
 
1.  In college, my clocked time in competitive swimming was good enough to make the Olympic Trials in 1974.
2.  My secret passion is baking.
3.  My father was an important part of Hitler's youth in Germany. 
 
Ummmmm....WHAT?  All of the angelic Christmas carols in the background went silent.  Someone dropped their glass. I wanted to stand up and pick everyone's mouth off the floor.  The two Jewish women in the corner who had been comparing the Yankee swap gifts shot him a look of death.  My African American coworker calmly said, “No, he didn't”, and slowly stood up to walk at him, and I assume she was going to physically assault him.  I didn't know whether to sit back and watch this tragic event, call the cops before the fight broke out, file a HR report, or yell "Who needs a refill?" so I just jumped in as fast as I could with,
 
"Um, number three.  Your Dad is soooo nice.  YOU FIBBER."  Then I laughed like a hyena, praying to some higher power, please, please don't make him the craziest, most insensitive, most awkward and inappropriate person on the face of this earth.  And then it happened. 
 
"No, number TWO.  I haaaaaaaate baking!  You lose!  You lose!  Who wins the prize.  Me, me?" He was a giddy as a kid in the candy store.   My boss was crazy and if I knew what was good for me, I'd sue now and find myself a new gig on Craigslist.

Everyone in the room did what they thought was the best thing to do, which was to just ignore it and pretend it never happened.  What do you do about that?  How does one handle someone who is inappropriate without even realizing they are being inappropriate?  How do you reprimand the President of your company?