employemnt

America’s Return to Financial Greatness-some straight talk

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Ford Motor company in the early 80’s came up with the slogan “Quality is job one.” This statement really evolved out of its production manual called total quality management. It was implemented to combat the foreign car invasion of America as American’s were increasingly put off by the poor quality and highly plasticized cars coming out of Detroit in that time period.

In my last article, I reviewed Stanley C. Allyns extraordinary booklet about his life in Dayton and work career at NCR, rising to be president and CEO. In his booklet, Allyn gave his 4 big jobs for management teams. I would like to look at point number three: Earn the enthusiastic support of all employees. Sounds good right, but the problem is that many companies today have fallen victim to employing Temporaries, Contractors, Casual Hires, and Short term hires, and then expecting that they are gong to get the same attention to quality as the company would receive from an employee. This is pure fantasy!

Let me define each of the categories: Temporary (or temp) a person who comes in to substitute for a permanent employee. These people usually work 8-12 weeks, but some times as much as 6 months. Usually they do grunt work (although many these days are highly skilled and impressively experienced). A casual hire is much like a temp except he or she works directly for the company. A casual hire is not offered benefits or company perks and usually does routine work. Sometimes retirees fill out their income as casual hires. A short term employee does not usually know that they are what they are. These people are fully benefited and work for the company, but the company management knows that they are hired to work a certain project and then layed off or terminated. Sometimes working conditions become so bad that they leave of their own accord (and this is fine with the company). Contractor’s either can work for themselves or a contracting company (you will find Contractors in engineering and accounting very often).

The problem with this group is that they probably are being under paid and looking for the minimum they can do and then go home. The second is that these people are looking for another, better full time gig. If they figure out that this greener pasture is not with your firm, then you only have this employee’s partial attention, and they might leave at ANY time, some times not giving any or little notice. Some temporary agencies, try to tell temps that this job is “temp to perm” but experienced temps know that this is generally “the agency sales pitch to do a good jab and maybe you will get hired (but is rarely true).” Finally some companies still in down sizing mode (or their ridiculous term “right sizing”) even encourage employees to search on monster job or some related site! You will never have what Mr. Allyn states as point three: earn the enthusiastic support of all employees!

If in your small business, quality is job one, then you can not populate your work force with Temps, Casual Hires, Contractors, and short term hires. What you need from your employees is that they do everything that is both explicit and intrinsic to “doing a good job!” Your small business needs people who want to work for your success (and their own).

Looking for a GeoVison Security Camera System to help secure your small or medium business? Call www.CameraSecurityNow.com today at 877-422-1907 for a free phone consultation. Ask about the new Hybrid DVR/NVR surveillance solutions.

Under the Gun: You’ve been written up twice or been told-you’re next-what do you do?

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It is truly something that most of us do not want to think about; “you’re not cutting it here and we are giving you fair warning.” I know three people that were in this situation in the last few years, and I was in this situation early in my career. What do you do?

Case one) a professor has been told that his contract will not be renewed. This person has taught at the same place for very many years and is just three years from retirement. A new chairperson (who is not returning) has decided that this person has got to go.

This entire situation is insane from both perspectives. The professor is shell shocked, is over 40, and has taught at this particular school for over 20 years. His evaluations have been very sketchy and not well followed up on by the new chairperson; in fact, the chairman has only visited his class room once! This situation cries out for an unjust firing/age discrimination suit. The school is extremely exposed! On the other hand, the professor has been in denial. He has not sought out legal representation nor has he asked for a job reference (this is a negotiation tool). He has asked for another assignment but that request has been denied twice.

Case two) a long time employee (purchasing agent) is being pressured and has received a second warning about job performance. This person is most meticulous and cares deeply about giving excellent service, yet this person is experiencing extreme pressure from his boss and HR.

Case three) a very average customer service agent has been told that his job performance over the last few years has been lacking (and he has had confrontations with sales staff), and his supervisor has decided that if another reduction in force (staff reduction) should happen, that he will be the first person laid off (and will not be eligible to be rehired-in the very unlikely event this might happen). This does not exempt him from being terminated for cause if his performance should drop any further, but if it remains the same, he is advised that he will be first in line to go.

Let’s face the facts; it does not get any worse than this. Frankly all situations are similar in that none of these situations are salvageable. One might say couldn’t the person in the second example save his job with superior performance? Again sadly the answer is no.

Let review what might be done:

In situation one, the person has the beginnings of an age discrimination suit. He is over 40, and the school has done very shoddy due diligence. At this point in time and in all the situations, you need to start negotiations for what you can salvage, and face the fact that none of these negotiable items are your current job! In situation one this person definitely needs to consult with a legal professional! What should he go for: A good work reference and maybe his last 3 years salary as a payout with full benefits? He might also threaten to take the suit “public” as most schools hate bad publicity.

Situation two differs) the organization has dotted its “I” ‘s and crossed its “T” ‘s. Earlier I stated the employee is very professional (I have worked with this person before), and this does not describe her work. Frankly, this situation does not seem to be about job performance although job performance is being cited. There is something about this person her boss does not like, and frankly she will probably never know what truly was the problem. She has very smartly re-done her resume, contacted recruiters, and started to network both socially and professionally. The last thing she should do is gain some references from people inside the company who are allies, and should do this at the appropriate time.

Situation three) this person has been found wanting by his boss, not enough to be terminated but enough to be expendable. The company is contracting and another reduction in force will come at some point. If this person was well regarded in this company he might try to transfer departments, but he is not well liked and has had confrontations with other departments, nor will his boss recommend him for another post inside the company; further, many of his old allied have left the company for various reasons. This person really has no choice, he must depart the company. What he does have is time; time to look for a new start or maybe continue his education at the current company’s expense. If the company is paying for his education, he might prove to be an unappealing target if the company has sunk $20,000.00 into his education and bought his masters! Will this save him, probably not, but it does make him a more unappealing target at least to high level personnel people!

So if you find yourself under the gun, here are some positive ways to handle the situation: if you are immediately in danger of losing your job and you think its unfair at least speak with a labor attorney. If you are well thought of inside your company consider a lateral move if you are eligible. If you are not able to move inside the company, recruit allies (you can trust) and get references. Become an unappealing target, have the company start buying your education, a masters, or an appealing professional certificate. Mostly importantly plan your next move, keep your resume up to date, network both socially and professionally, and contact recruiters.

Most of all good luck!
(situations have been altered to protect the parties involved)

Looking for a GeoVison Security Camera System to help secure your small or medium business? Call www.CameraSecurityNow.com today at 877-422-1907 for a free phone consultation. Ask about the new Hybrid DVR/NVR surveillance solutions.

If you live in Cincinnati Vote no on Issue ONE!

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Yes, yes, it all sounds so good and it cites the old and really true principle that in order to make money you have to spend money-all correct! But one interesting and disturbing fact remains-south west Ohio particularly the Cincinnati area lags very far behind in awards for this program. Don’t believe me? Take a look at this publication issued by the state of Ohio:

http://ohiothirdfrontier.com/Documents/RecentPublications/Third_Frontier_Annual_Report2009.pdf

Let me direct your attention to page 22 where the distribution by county is laid out in pie chart form. The Cincinnati area is woefully under represented in this important area. Frankly we should all get on the phone with our local state representative and he or she needs a good chewing out session. Aren’t these people supposed to work in our best interests? Frankly from these results it seems that either they are lazy or inept-neither is acceptable for a public servant!

Here is where you can contact your state representative to register your angst:

http://www.house.state.oh.us/index.php?option=com_displaymembers

I emailed mine today letting him know I am demanding a few more wins in this area or I will work to find someone who can bring back some dollars to our area, I implore you to do the same.

As for Issue 1, I can’t vote for it because of the funding inequity by county, and the simple fact that it addresses nothing for millions of Ohioans from ages 25-65 who remain unemployed or underemployed.

As for the driving point of this blog, I think we all need to make some chamber of commerce meetings and town hall events as small business people. The state swears up and down that taxes will not increase, and I am sure we all believe that one, right?

As for me, I can say with a lot of heart –Show me some money!!!

Looking for a GeoVison Security Camera System to help secure your small or medium business? Call www.CameraSecurityNow.com today at 877-422-1907 for a free phone consultation. Ask about the new Hybrid DVR/NVR surveillance solutions.

Smart Business Guys-What Goes Around

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Smart Business Guys-What Goes Around

I have used the same auto-mechanics since 1986 when my wife and I arrived in Cincinnati. The two men, I‘ll call Dan & Dave are famous for giving courteous, excellent, and honest service. Furthermore, they don’t “go looking” for problems, but point out any need for maintenance, but you as the customer always feel in control. I was bragging about them to a friend who was telling me about his excellent auto mechanics, and we found out we were talking about the same place!

These guys know more than just about cars. They know a good deal about business. I found this out when my son total my Toyota Echo, and I started looking for a car with the settlement money. Wow, what a nightmare dealing with used car lots, and I am not talking about the large auto-mall type dealer, I am talking a couple of tiers down. I finally blurted out to Dan and Dave do you guys have anything? They said, “actually we do.” We take cars from time to time and fix them up to sell, but we’re not really looking to make much money off them. What we are really doing is keeping the guys in our shop working during some slow times. That way they keep their hours (and pay) up, and we don’t have them out looking for a new employer. It costs a lot to recruit, test out, and retain a good employee. If that guy walks for a better deal, it hurts our shop. Plus it keeps good customers coming back to us when they know we’ve serviced a certain car for years.

This is pure HR-PR genius! By treating everyone right: their customer, their employees, and themselves, Dan & Dave have created a win-win-win scenario! They balanced HR with PR. There’s an old saying, “what goes around comes around.” I truly believe in business this is a basic fundamental truth. Dan & Dave have been doing it right for a long time, and it is no coincidence that their lot is always full of cars and their office full of satisfied customers.

Looking for a GeoVison Security Camera System to help secure your small or medium business? Call www.CameraSecurityNow.com today at 877-422-1907 for a free phone consultation. Ask about the new Hybrid DVR/NVR surveillance solutions.

SMBs are Hiring

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Are SMBs Hiring

New data suggests the smallest businesses in the country are beginning to add new jobs and some experts say that’s a great sign for bigger companies. This info comes despite a March 5th report from the Labor Department that suggests the United States is still losing jobs.

Intuit released some information on March 1st that suggests companies with less than 20 employees have been adding new jobs since June 2009. That’s based on the 50,000 customers using their online payroll service. Also, after two years of decline, the average paycheck amount for someone working for a company of less than 100 employees is beginning to stabilize over the last three months, and in some cases, is increasing. This includes data from salary, hourly, and contract workers. That information came out on March 3rd from a company called SurePayroll.

The numbers look like this: since June, employment at small businesses as been growing at 1.1% annual rate. With that information, Intuit suggests 150,000 jobs have been created by companies with fewer than 20 employees since June. That includes 40,000 last month alone. Granted that’s a long way from re-employing the 8.4 million who have lost jobs since December 2007, but it’s still a start and it’s left some people pretty hopeful.

Brian Headd, an economist at the Small Business Administration says this is a potentially good sign. He says that in 2002, recovery began when small businesses began hiring before larger companies did and in some cases when larger companies were still losing jobs. According to census data from 2006, companies of 20 or less employees make up 89% of all businesses and 18% of the private workforce.

Meanwhile, Congress is working on a number of different bills in an effort to put people back to work and one way they’re trying to do that is tax incentives. Last week, the House passed a bill that gives employers who hire people who have been out of work for two months a year free from paying the Social Security payroll tax. John Bishop of Cornell University has proposed a hiring tax credit that he says could will encourage about two million jobs in the next year. But a lot small businesses don’t wait on the government to pass bills before they hire and don’t sit around, waiting for incentives.

For example, Michael McKean, the CEO of the Knowland Group in McLean, VA told Business Week he has already hired ten people this year and hopes to hire about six more. The company makes sales, marketing, and lead generation products to help hotels attract conferences and events. He says he believes the industry is due to pick up soon and knows he can increase his credit line

Official data from the Labor Department about hiring won’t be available for several months, but if history is any indication, this data is good news. Companies with less than 500 employees have made up 64% of new jobs created between 1993 and 2008 and it looks like that trend will continue.

Looking for a GeoVison Security Camera System to help secure your small or medium business? Call www.CameraSecurityNow.com today at 877-422-1907 for a free phone consultation. Ask about the new Hybrid DVR/NVR surveillance solutions.