1 in 4 Lost Job During Recession

New (rather startling data) out of Pew Research Center: Just over a quarter of the country’s workers were unemployed during the recent (Great) Recession. Re-employed workers were most likely to see themselves overqualified for their current jobs, and six in ten had changed careers or thought seriously about doing so once out of work. Read more about how the recession as impacted life in the U.S. by clicking here.

2010.09.07 / no responses / Category: In the News

Impt OSHA Policy re Worksite Safety Responsibility

Contractors take heed… an important policy from OSHA, as detailed here.

“The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has upheld OSHA’s multi-employer citation policy in a reversal of a decision the Commission made during the previous administration. Under the policy, OSHA inspectors may cite employers on multi-employer worksites for violations that do not expose their own workers to occupational hazards. For example, a general contractor who controls the worksite may be responsible for violations created by a subcontractor whose workers are exposed to safety or health hazards. In reaching its Aug. 19 decision,* the Commission agreed with an earlier decision by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had rejected the Commission’s previous contrary view that employers are only legally responsible for protecting the safety and health of their own workers. The case under consideration involved Summit Contractors Inc., a general contractor constructing an apartment complex in Lebanon, Pa., in 2005. An OSHA compliance officer cited Summit for a safety violation after observing workers of a subcontractor using electrical equipment that lacked ground fault circuit interrupters and which had been brought onto the worksite by Summit.”

2010.09.06 / no responses / Category: Safety

10 Tips for Entrepreneurs

1. Look for opportunities to do something better than just about everyone else.
2. Accept risk as a necessary evil. It makes for much less competition.
3. Act responsibly to customers, employees and vendors.
4. Goals aren’t enough. You need a plan. You need to execute the plan.
5. You need to fix the plan as you go. Learn from your mistakes. Most people don’t.
6. Do not reinvent the wheel. Learn from others — join a business group.
7. Make sure the math works. I know plenty of people who work hard and follow their passion but the math doesn’t work. If the math doesn’t work, neither does the business.
8. Make sure that every employee understands and works toward the mission.
9. There are going to difficult times and you need to be resilient; whining is a waste of time.
10. There will be sacrifices. Work to find a balance so that you don’t become a financially successful loser. It’s not about the income, it’s about the outcome.

Read the full You’re the Boss blog posting here.

2010.09.05 / no responses / Category: Helpful Tips

Consumer Spending Behavior Changes Closer to Payday

How close or far away someone is from payday (money hitting the pocket) influences their buying/spending behavior. Research conducted at the University of Utah and the University of Iowa revealed “it is not the size of the paycheck received, but the time that has gone by since the last paycheck, that can sway consumer conduct. The proximity to payday makes consumers more aware of how much they have in the bank and how much products or services cost. ‘Our findings are surprising, because previous research has always considered preferences to be relatively stable, not changing much over time,’ said Himanshu Mishra, one of the two Utah researchers. ‘We find that not only do preferences change during such a short duration — paycheck to paycheck — but also that they fluctuate between a promotion- and a prevention-focus.’ Read more here.

2010.09.03 / no responses / Category: Human Resources, In the News

Switch Jobs, Take Paycut

Some new labor data analysis showing “middle-skill, middle-wage” – defined as entry-level white-collar positions, such as office and administrative support work, as well as certain blue-collar jobs (e.g., line workers, machine operator) – may be taking the hardest hit as to employment. Read more here.

2010.09.02 / no responses / Category: In the News

3 Qs to Ask When Evaluating a Business

Taken from here and excerpted below:

1. Does the target company produce positive cash flow?

2. Does the company cover its costs?

3. Can it be diversified?

“We have found that in making deals over the years, our chances of success are much higher when we have positive answers to these three questions. When we explored the Lexington deal, for instance, we liked the answers we got, so we moved ahead.

But I think this exercise can be useful even if you’re not looking at a potential acquisition. I believe that all business owners should be asking these three questions about their own businesses.”

2010.09.01 / no responses / Category: Helpful Tips, In the News

Workplace Deaths at Lowest Since 1992

As written about recently in the USA Today, “the 4,340 workplace fatalities recorded in 2009 is the smallest total since the Bureau of Labor Statistics first began tracking the data in 1992. It’s the second straight year that fatal work injuries have reached a historic low, following a 10% drop in 2008.

High unemployment and layoffs in more dangerous industries like construction played a major role in the decrease, the agency said. The construction unemployment rate is 17.3%, nearly double the overall jobless rate of 9.5%.

Workers on average logged 6% fewer hours last year than in 2008. Employees in construction worked 17% fewer hours in 2009 than the previous year.”

For more detailed statistics, visit the BLS website.

2010.08.30 / no responses / Category: Safety

Confused by 20-Somethings? Others are too…

Why are so many people in their 20s taking so long to grow up?

That is the question posed by this informative (and lengthy) piece that ran in a recent Sunday New York Times Magazine… groups of youths often labeled as “failure to launch” and “boomerang” kids.

2010.08.28 / no responses / Category: In the News

Hire Writers

An interesting post from hrcapitalist.com on why writers might make for great hires.

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When In Doubt: Hire the Best Writing Skills…

Why does hiring the best writer make sense?  Let me count the ways:

1. People talk like they write and vice versa.  If someone has trouble putting a good, topical sentence together, you can bet that they’re going to have trouble talking to folks verbally at times.Home school

2. Have you heard of this thing called email?  Apparently it’s a somewhat important business tool based almost entirely on the ability to write.

3. Apparently when used incorrectly or without context provided by effective writing skills, email can piss people off faster than Rush Limbaugh at the Democratic National Convention.  Advantage: Writing skills with a sprinkle of judgment.

4. The ability to use the written word to share ideas, motivate and gain acceptance makes any employee more valuable to your organization.  Writing skills can influence almost anyone – customers, fellow employees, media outlets and competitors to name a few – and we don’t pay enough attention to the value it provides in the hiring process.

When I say hire someone with writing skills, I’m not talking about someone who can write term papers, because let’s face it, no one reads those. I’m talking about the ability to write down some thoughts in an engaging, personable, influencing manner.  You know it when you see it. The problem is you probably don’t see it in the interview process.  So you need to create a way to engage the candidate in a writing exercise that doesn’t even feel like an exercise.

My favorite way – pick something you didn’t talk about in person on the candidate’s resume.  Drop them a note and ask a detailed question about the school or company you’re referring to.  Make sure the question is detailed enough to warrant a 3-4 paragraph response, and make sure you ask for some opinion as well to get the level of detail you need.

Example Email to generate writing sample: “Rick, have an interview coming up with a kid who was in the Forestry program like you at (you guessed it readers) Wake Forest.  Based on this guy’s limited experience and the fact he’s applying for an entry level role, can you drop me some notes today to help me understand the top three things a kid coming out of that program should have competency in and maybe your thoughts on the transferability of that degree to an entry-level customer service role?  You’d help me a bunch with the notes you provide.  Thanks in advance, KD”

I’m not asking you to lie.  I really did have a Forestry grad that interviewed for a support role.  As far as you know. Keep it truthful, but find a reason to ask for the detail related to something.  And make sure you make it clear that you want it in a response to the email. Then take what comes in and judge accordingly.  Add it to the overall profile of your candidate (save the email, you folks who say I’ll get sued, blah, blah, blah…) and make your hiring decision accordingly.

And hire the best writer when all other things are relatively the same.

2010.08.27 / no responses / Category: Helpful Tips, Human Resources

More Coupon News…

Read on, from Business Week… about how bigger companies like AT&T are starting to get on the deals and discounts bandwagon.

2010.08.25 / no responses / Category: In the News