We recently received a comment on one of our blog posts from a frustrated job seeker, someone whose applications had fallen into the proverbial “black hole.” Keith (not his real name) applied for jobs that aligned perfectly with his experience and skills—yet, no replies. When he did receive a response, it was a generic message such as “Thank you for applying. While your experience and skills are impressive, they do not match what we’re looking for right now.” If you have looked for work, you’ve likely had similar experiences.

I’ve been on both sides of the resume, as a recruiter/hiring manager and as a job seeker, and there are opportunities to improve for all parties involved. In this blog post, I’ll focus on HR’s role in creating a valuable experience for job seekers, one that can impact your ability to hire the most qualified candidates.

1. Know the job. Understand not only the duties that are essential, but also the behaviors that will best fit with the organization and the department. 
2. Use limited pre-employment questions and make them targeted so you can learn what you really need to know. Nothing is more frustrating to an applicant than rehashing the information on their resume into open-ended comment boxes.
3. Use an objective scoring system. Also, specific measurables will help you determine which candidates best align with the requirements for the job—don’t just go with your gut.
4. Respond to everyone who applies.
5. Create a wonderful experience from start to finish. View applicants as your customers—because they are customers. 

From the application process to the interview to the timely follow-up, your ability to provide a positive experience will go a long way toward your future recruiting efforts, your organization’s image, and your role as an HR professional.

Linda Dausend is a consultant at FlashPoint. She consults with clients on talent management, helping to align their human resources programs with organizational strategies.

This post currently has 2 responses.

One of the challenges that some learning and development (L&D) professionals deal with is getting executive attention and resources. Many senior leaders will tell you that one reason for this is a communication gap. Often, L&D professionals “come to the table” speaking the language of learning and development—not the language of the senior leader. It’s not a lack of ability, but rather a lack of experience in that environment. I believe more senior leaders would be open to funding learning and development initiatives if someone clearly articulated the value that the investment would bring to the organization.

What we need is better business acumen and experience making senior level decisions. That’s why the Central Indiana chapter of the American Society of Training and Development (CIASTD) is bringing BTS, a global leader in strategy alignment and execution, to Indianapolis! I’m excited that they’ll conduct a full-day simulation focused on seeing the business through the eyes of the leader. Participants will work in groups and run their own fictitious company to experience the thought process that senior leaders use. BTS has worked with companies such as Coca-Cola, Sony, AT&T, GE, GlaxoSmithKline, Proctor and Gamble, and Toyota.

If you have a role in your organization where you could benefit from thinking more like a senior leader, you cannot miss this session. If you’re wondering if you should attend and wondering how you could afford a day away from the office, I captured my thoughts on video to provide more insight. View the video here.

If you’re interested in learning more or registering, visit the CIASTD website. I hope to see you for this great learning opportunity, “Through the Eyes of a Leader: Strengthening Your Business Partnership Skills” on Friday, November 4, 2011.

Jennifer Rufatto is a consultant at FlashPoint. She focuses her consulting in the areas of workplace learning, leadership development, and strategic planning.

This post currently has no responses.

In part one, I shared that I often meet frustrated employees who wonder when normalcy will return to the post-recession workplace. My reply is simple: Cuts your company made to stay in business won’t be restored. This is the new reality. I tell them that it’s ultimately up to them to get things moving.

If we viewed our careers as the baton in a relay race, passing through many hands, we would work hard to cultivate relationships—to ensure that the baton doesn’t drop and that we have strong hands to carry us forward. Here’s an idea on how to put the relay back in your career.

List your top 50 relationships. Rank the depth of each relationship on a scale of one to five and do three tasks: 

1. Identify five people with whom you want to deepen your relationship—how will you do this?
2. Identify who is not on the list but should be as you consider your next career steps.
3. Determine if there are negative relationships on your list and decrease the time you spend with these individuals.

The next time you complain about your company, stop. Instead, spend that time cultivating your key relationships. By spending your energy on building your relay team, you’ll advance farther and faster than if you focus your attention on the company you work for and what it can or cannot do for you.

I don’t absolve employers of their responsibility to foster a great culture. To achieve excellence, companies must build systems and programs that connect their people, customers, and community. At FlashPoint I emphasize that organizations can build systems that foster communication, heighten performance, and much more. Balance can be achieved when employees work hard to build strong relationships and when companies do the same.

Krista Skidmore is cofounder and principal of FlashPoint.

This post currently has 2 responses.

Recent economic challenges have caused many employers to make tough decisions regarding wage cuts, hiring freezes, cost-sharing in employee benefits, and more. As I help organizations make post-recession tweaks to compensation and performance systems, I meet frustrated employees who wonder when normalcy will return. My reply is simple: Cuts your company made to stay in business won’t be restored. This is the new reality.

These experiences have led me to ponder the employer-employee relationship—and, in particular, what professionals should expect of their employers. I’ve decided that people put too much emphasis on their employers and not enough time on their co-workers.

How many times have we heard our friends and family (and maybe even ourselves) lament about how much they dislike their company? A company is nothing more than an inanimate legal shell, so why do we spend so much energy on it, instead of focusing on the relationships we can build? The reason is because it’s easier to focus on the corporation or the boss than it is to focus on what we can control.

When I look at my career, I see that all my successes and opportunities have grown from the relationships I’ve developed. What if we viewed our careers as the baton in a relay race? Our careers pass through many hands. In order to ensure the baton doesn’t drop, we need to cultivate our relationships—to be sure we have strong hands to carry us forward. It’s about the people with whom we surround ourselves.

In part two, I’ll share three thought-provoking tasks to help cultivate relationships. I’ll also share what role the employer must play in creating a culture where talented people want to work.

Meanwhile, what do you think about placing emphasis on your relationships versus on your company?

Krista Skidmore is cofounder and principal of FlashPoint.

This post currently has no responses.

A few weeks ago my colleague, Joellyn, and I attended the Healthiest Employers^® breakfast presented by the Indianapolis Business Journal. Over breakfast I learned three great lessons, all before 9 a.m.! First, I’m not a fan of turkey bacon. But I really appreciated Healthiest Employers and the IBJ serving us a healthy breakfast. Second, there are many ways employers and human resources professionals can help their employees become healthier through innovative and simple programming. Third, there are many decision points I have during the day to make healthier choices.

Employers Helping Employees

During the presentation we heard about employers who set up a meditation room, offered healthy snacks, brought in fitness instructors once a month, and hosted a biggest loser competition. Others offered land for gardening or brought in mobile farmers’ markets during the work week with fresh fruits and vegetables.

Some companies are offering onsite health clinics, onsite workout facilities, and incentives for drinking enough water, packing a healthy lunch, and working out. These projects ranged from virtually zero dollars to the cost of staff members’ annual salaries. Angie’s List purchased their gym equipment from Craigslist, savings thousands of dollars.

One of our clients, Brightpoint, was a winner in the 1,500 to 4,000 employee category. They sponsor and participate in a variety of walks and runs. The company has set up an on-site fitness center with a full-time wellness coordinator and fitness trainer. They offer group fitness and one-on-one coaching. Way to go, BrightPoint!

The healthy employers that I learned about have chosen to invest in the health of their employees. In turn, employees have taken the challenge and responded in life-changing ways.

Me Helping Myself

I struggle to stay physically active because my schedule is already packed with other important things: work, volunteering, teaching, visiting and celebrating with friends. However I also know that I am much more productive when I exercise and eat right. I’m happier, less stressed, and more present with my  everyday work.

To achieve my desired fitness and wellness levels, I need to make choices.

• Do I watch 30 minutes of television or walk my dog?
• Do I allow the stress of the day to weigh me down or go for a bike ride to clear my mind?
• Can I prepare my snacks for the week ahead of time or grab some chips later?

Today I chose a glass of water over a second afternoon snack. Tonight I will walk over to my friends’ house instead of driving the four blocks. What is one thing you did today to improve your health?

Stefanie Anderson is the business development associate at FlashPoint.

Image: Stock Xchange

This post currently has no responses.

Having recently attended the Annual SHRM Conference in Las Vegas, we quickly recognized the benefits of the sessions, the networking with other HR professionals, and the resources that are available to improve our knowledge and skills. As the old saying goes, what you put into something is what you’ll get out of. You can attend a conference, or you can engage in a conference, and truly maximize your experience. Building from our experience as conference attendees, we are sharing our top five tips to help you as you attend future conferences, including the upcoming Indiana State HR Conference, August 29-31, in Indianapolis.

1. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Whether you’re attending by yourself or as part of a team, clearly identify what you want to gain from your attendance. Check out specific tips on preparation in Andrea Moore’s recent blog post, Ready for My Learning Vacation. Ask yourself these questions: Am I going to enhance my skills in a particular body of knowledge? Do I want to find out the newest trends in my area of specialty? Do I want to learn what resources will help me in my current role? Write out your objectives. Meet with your attending team members to divide and conquer. Then, study the event schedule to determine how you can maximize your time. This leads us to the next tip:
2. Never judge a session by its title. There are many sessions with clever titles that may not deliver on the PIZAZZ that they promise. We attended one session at the national conference that had something like “pizzazz” or “kapow” in the title…and it just fizzled. Check out the credentials of the speaker. Listen to what other conference attendees are saying about the speakers. Look at the objectives of the session. If available, review the slides online and check out the content. There are so many good sessions available, you want to make sure you are attending the ones that mean the most to you and your objectives. You don’t want to be sitting in a session thinking “this is not doing it for me” when there could be another session out there that could! If you need some help with that, think about this:
3. If you’re not tweeting…start. Tweeting is an opportunity to maximize your level of engagement in the conference. It’s a way to peak behind the curtain and get into the minds of fellow attendees. You don’t have to be an avid tweeter; just give it a try! We found a huge benefit to following others throughout the conference. Find the hash tag (for the upcoming Indiana State HR Conference it is #INSHRM11) and see what your fellow tweeters are saying about conference speakers, topics, and events. You can also follow us (@FlashPointHR, @abundantempower, and @ldausend), as we’ll be tweeting throughout the conference. At the Annual SHRM Conference, we were able to see how others felt about a speaker and—when they felt great—we could find out when that speaker was presenting again so we could attend (assuming, of course, that it was aligned with our objectives). We also tweeted valuable statements from presenters so that all our followers back home could receive the benefit of insightful remarks. We loved the quote from Michael J. Fox: “The only thing in my life that I don’t have a choice about is whether or not to have Parkinsons; everything else is in my court.” If you’re a tweeter, here’s another benefit:
4. Attend the networking events. At the Indiana State HR Conference, there is a tweet-up on Monday night, August 29, that you won’t want to miss. You’ll want to attend even if you’re not a tweeter. Networking events are great opportunities to meet others and have fun, but view it more strategically. As yourself: What connections do I want to make that align with my objectives for the conference? Don’t hang out with people you know…meet new people by introducing yourself. Have a 30-second personal commercial and ask lots of questions from others. Walk away with new connections and follow-up with them within a week of the conference. Expanding your network creates additional value for you, your company, and the HR profession.
5. Get “stuff”…but, more importantly, get information. The Vendor Expo is awesome—we love the giveaways. But look at the event as an opportunity to gain even further knowledge. There is so much new information, new trends, new technology, and new practices that vendors share with us. Listen and you will be impressed and amazed. Ask questions and let the vendors know about your challenges so they can be better for you. Look for those vendors that align with your objectives. 

Attending a conference is an opportunity to improve your skills and knowledge. Return from the conference and review the objectives that you set. Did you meet them? Do you have actions you can now take? Have you indentified even more development opportunities for you and your organization? Answering yes to these questions is a sure sign that you have maximized your conference experience.

Linda Dausend is a consultant at FlashPoint. She consults with clients on talent management, helping to align their human resources programs with organizational strategies.

Andrea Moore is Senior Consulting Manager at FlashPoint; Andrea focuses on leadership development, training and performance improvement solutions, and one-on-one coaching.

This post currently has no responses.

I am about to experience the most dramatic life change I have gone through so far. My wife and I are expecting our first child in September.  The excitement and anticipation are beyond what I thought they would be. My wife and I are in our thirties and we meticulously charted our course to parenthood.  As we make our final preparations for Emmett’s arrival we have crossed many taskes off our checklist: nursery—check, leave plans—check, day care—check, birthing classes—check, baby showers—check, mother/mother-in-law visitation schedule—check, work schedule to accommodate our little guy—uh oh!

I have always approached work with the attitude that I can make up for my weaknesses by simply working harder.  Friends and family tire of hearing, “I have a work thing.” A typical week consists of three to five coffees (before 8:00), one or more board meetings (often in the evening), five business lunches, two or three dinners or evening events, and catch-up work on the weekend.  I think a lot of you are in this boat.  Fifty hours is now largely considered the regular work week and few will even blink when you say you worked sixty hours in a week.

As I prepare to take on my most important role in life, I have tackled this task in the same way that FlashPoint would recommend to a management and leadership development client.

1. Know yourself —I know that I can’t “spread out” things and need definite breaks to focus on one or the other. I also know that if I do not have a minimum of 30 minutes of “down time” before I try to sleep I will not sleep.
2. Prioritize commitments—What things am I willing to give up in order to be more effective with my other commitments?
3. Learn to say “no”—This is hard for me as I am motivated by helping others. Again, it is about prioritizing commitments.
4. Plan personal events as you would professional events—Spontaneity is great and should always be a part of life, but it doesn’t hurt to do a little planning. After all, we plan for the things we think are important.
5. Use your work calendar to block off your personal commitments—I learned this trick from a team member who does a great job keeping her personal and professional commitments. When personal commitments are on your calendar it provides you with a more realistic preview of all of your commitments.

 While professional jobs may require more “time” to get all of the work done, many organizations (like FlashPoint) have flexible scheduling which makes it easier to integrate work and life commitments. It seems that the key is taking some time to prioritize and organize.  For me, the test starts around September 19th—check back with me in October to see how I am doing.

Jeremy King is the Business Development Manager at FlashPoint.

This post currently has no responses.

I am often asked for guidance from clients, friends, and colleagues about how best to manage their increasingly heavy workloads. While I certainly don’t have “the answer” to this ongoing challenge, I do have one simple strategy and a mindset that has served me well over the last couple of years in managing all of the activities of my life.

First of all, my philosophy around time management is at the heart of this strategy; my belief is that it’s not the “stuff” of life that creates stress and frustration. It’s how you approach it that creates the feeling of challenge. The “stuff” of life is always neutral; it’s your attitude about it that makes it what it is.

This mindset is incredibly empowering, as it gives you a feeling of control over your life experiences. The reverse is that you allow your calendar and activities to have control which causes a feeling of perpetual frustration and spinning your wheels.

So, what can you do to create a feeling of control? Begin your day in a way that sets a positive tone. By starting the day in a rushed, hurried manner, focused on activities (the news, emails, packing lunches, etc.), you perpetuate the challenge of feeling out of control.

Consider this . . . upon waking, you make your way to a comfortable place in your home. In this comfortable place, you give yourself the gift of silence—allowing thoughts to rise and fall without judgment, paying attention to your breathing, basking in the quiet presence of the morning. In these few minutes (yes, just a few minutes) of quiet reflection, you are renewed and much more prepared to react to the events of your day in a positive way.

What if you did this for just a few minutes each morning before you jumped into the activities? I suspect your results would be similar to mine. By consciously starting my day in a reflective way, I have experienced the following results:

• I have little to no stress in my life and much less worry
• I feel prepared to handle whatever life has to offer
• I am confident about my ability to act in a way that represents my values
• I am less reactive and much more thoughtful about the choices I make
• I step into the day with a clear mind and an open heart
• I carry a relaxed, peaceful feeling with me

You are in the driver’s seat. Between sleep and action, give yourself time to transition and leverage the quiet of the morning as a time for renewal. You and those you influence throughout the day deserve it.

Andrea Moore is a Senior Consulting Manager at FlashPoint; Andrea focuses on leadership development, training and performance improvement solutions, and one-on-one coaching.

Image: Paul

This post currently has 2 responses.

Recently my coworker Tam asked me if I had heard about the clerk who got fired from Harrods, the high-end department store in London. Harrods, Tam explained, has a strict dress code that requires female clerks to wear makeup. The woman refused and was let go.

I googled to learn more and found this article  on Inc. magazine’s website. It turns out the clerk, Melanie Stark, wasn’t actually fired but instead resigned. She says that though she had worked several incident-free years at the store without lipstick, blush, or eyeliner, last year managers began pressuring her to start making herself up. She refused to apply and, she says, started paying the consequences. Managers sent her home, hid her in the stockroom, and transferred her. Finally she quit, “exhausted, stressed, and upset.”

For its part, Harrods claims that employees receive the strict dress code (all 13 pages’ worth) before they sign on, and that though managers did talk to Stark about her appearance and lack of adherence to the code, she was the one who chose to end her employment, not Harrods. Regardless, the incident has raised eyebrows worldwide.

At FlashPoint we work with clients to develop policies, many of which pertain to employee behavior and end up in the handbook. The company dress code is often one of the stickiest areas, especially when it comes to professional or service-oriented environments, where the organization needs to portray a certain image to customers. It’s often hard to define just exactly what the “image” is, and if the company keeps things too general, employees often end up confused. Go to the other extreme, and the company can run into situations like the one at Harrods.

In this case, it appears that Harrods took a sensible approach, at least from an HR perspective. The company developed a very detailed dress code policy and gave it to employees up front so they knew what they were agreeing to. When Stark didn’t follow the policy, managers discussed it with her (though it seems they didn’t do so immediately, which they should have done; it might have prevented the situation from escalating). When she continued to shun makeup, they pulled her from the floor and assigned her other duties. For the most part, it appears they consistently played things by the book.

Yet something about this still seems wrong—that Harrods was being boorish. The reason, I suppose, lies in the 13-page dress code itself, and the fact that the department store tells women that they must paint their faces in order to be attractive and presentable to customers. While many people who shop at Harrods no doubt agree, others surely find this to be offensive (and even discriminatory) in the 21st century.

It is the right and responsibility of a business to know its customers and provide them with the service they want and expect—and this includes regulating how employees dress. But as society’s standards change, companies must always reassess and update their policies to stay current. Was Harrods being reasonable in this case? Or was it trying to force an employee to fit into an old-fashioned sense of beauty?

We know you have thoughts, so please share.

George Hanlin is a consultant at FlashPoint.

Image: Louisa Stokes

This post currently has 3 responses.

For a number of years, FlashPoint has supported the WTHR Employment Opportunity Fair at the Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration. This year, we’ll again consult with job seekers on building and/or improving their resumes. 

In preparation for the event on July 14, FlashPoint’s Andrea Moore will appear on WTHR channel 13, the Indianapolis NBC affiliate, to provide tips for attendess of the employment fair. Andrea will be interviewed today by Angela Cain at about 12:50 p.m.

Here are the top tips that Andrea will share about how job fair attendees can make a great first impression on potential employers.

1. Get Your Resume and Cover Letter in Order

• Do your resume and cover letter represent you well?
• Is your resume clear, concise, and focused?
• Does your resume emphasize the right skills based on the job you’re seeking?
• Is your resume accurate in terms of spelling, grammar, and punctuation?

2. Be Confident

• What are your key strengths?
• What are your limitations/areas for development and how do they impact your effectiveness?
• Smile and feel good about what you have to offer prospective employers.

3. Develop a 30-second Commercial about YOU

• Who are you, and why should a prospective employer consider you as a candidate?

The WTHR Employment Opportunity Fair is Thursday, July 14 at the Indiana Convention Center 500 Ballroom from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. To view the list of participating employers and find more information, visit WTHR’s website.

This post currently has no responses.