May 2011 Archives

One of the best way I know to build rapport on a team or to strengthen your personal and professional relationships is to get out of the office and "break bread" with others. An even better way to reward others is by taking them out to an event that allows everyone to totally escape the day-to-day activities of the office.

For me, "going on tour" this summer with The Goo Goo Dolls and Michelle Branch by taking business associates, friends and clients to a great night of music is going to be a great way to give back to those who mean the most to me. I'm taking some of my clients to the show in Saratoga Springs, and also treated some of my interns and business associates to a couple other shows in the Northeast.

Given the nature of the concert, there will be little or no talk about business; only enjoyment of great shows and great times. With the variety of locales that the concert series is playing, I am able to reach out to a variety of people without having to book meeting space, overnight accommodations, or have excessive overhead for these incentive events.

Next time you take a look at your incentive programs or meeting plans, see how you can work a concert into your meeting strategy. Many venues (like SPAC in Saratoga) offer convenient places to meet up and convenient offers for small to large groups.

Once again, I travel back to one of my favorite roles, and that being scheduling manager for both retail at Gap and Apple and in hospitality at Disney. The holiday schedule always made for an interesting battle of wits, but inevitably we always had enough adequate coverage to ensure that staffing was effective and people were able to spend time with their families as well.

One of the caveats no matter where I did labor scheduling was to ensure that we covered our shifts first, and then worried about time off next. I never have believed in allowing a scheduled day off on Memorial Day unless that happened to be a day that someone regularly was off.

To minimize the appearance of favoritism, the least senior employees were scheduled on Memorial Day, and where possible, those who did regularly work on that day were given a shorter shift to accommodate holiday get togethers.

One thing I've noticed over the years is that many companies neglect to consider the days around the holiday and put an overabundance of staff on the holiday itself; this is a mistake that can cost you sales, productivity, and cause gaps in customer service.

Contact me for a consultation on labor scheduling. Later this summer, I will begin offering webinars covering labor scheduling tips.

What is your job page like on your website? Do you create an atmosphere where people feel like they are valued, even if positions aren't readily available?

It may be time to rethink your employment or jobs page. I've visited many sites in my time that are so complicated or convoluted that it can turn off potential applicants.

Some of the things to think to ask yourself when creating a job page for your company are as follows:

1. Can I create a simple, easy to use application system or partner with a company that already uses one?

2. How can I use a tool like Albany.com/jobs to cross-post the latest openings for positions?

3. How I can I create a backfill pool of talent when no jobs are currently available with my company?

4. How can we create a central contact and system for resume submission?

5. Do we use LinkedIn or another social media platform to support our recruitment efforts?

Wilton, NY is going to have a job expo on Thursday May 26th from 1 to 4:30pm. Employers such as Ace Hardware, Adirondack Trust, Global Foundries, Saratoga Casino and Raceway and the Town of Wilton will be present for this free event.

Job Fairs are a great way to prepare for a future job move even if you aren't currently looking or seeking work. In my career, I have found that attending these events has given me a great opportunity to meet potential future employers or colleagues.

Dress for success and attend the job fair this Thursday. For more information, call 518-584-9455 ext 201.

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An excerpt from Elevated HR Solutions' pdf of alternate solutions to traditional HR:

It's Time To Give Management Back To Managers!

While it's important for an organization to have parameters and inform employees of their responsibilities within those parameters, it's equally important to be flexible. not all situations can be addressed with a one-size-fits-all solution. more importantly, a human resources department is there to be a guide, not the final resolution. a good business case, such as the examples provided, should be able to trump any policy or procedure the company has originally agreed to set....

To read the full PDF, download your complimentary copy of "The Beginning of the End for The Traditional HR Department"

"I'd rather entertain and hope that people learn, than teach and hope that people are entertained."
Walt Disney, one of the inspirations for Braathe Online Education

Exceptional Human Resources is an 8 week online class with real-time elements that will teach you how to schedule your staff, recruit effectively, delegate and motivate, as well as develop effective internship programs.  Best practices learned during Mr. Braathe's time as a manager with Disney, Apple and Gap will be shared. The real-time elements are in the form of webinars (or face to face sessions if you are within proximity of Saratoga Springs, NY)

If you are interested in this course, or others like it, contact us at info@saratogacollege.org or visit http://www.braatheenterprises.com

I am headed to Tampa today for two days of baseball, and am enjoying the ability to travel without a computer with me. Nonetheless, I have learned to take advantage of the downtime while on the plane by prepping ahead of time for the flight ahead.

Since airline Wi-Fi isn't yet standard on all flights, I rented The Kings Speech and downloaded four episodes of The League to my iPad. I also downloaded some work for review offline and downloaded all the email available before I got onboard.

It's nice to be able to keep occupied on the flight; even though there isn't WiFi on board, the iPad proves to be a handy tool for business.

While in college, I often would take a drive around areas that I potentially would want to work and see names of companies that I never had heard of before. I'd then go to the library (or dial up on Prodigy and later AOL) and see what I could find out about the company or location.

Today, it's so much easier to just rely on the internet for job searches. I challenge you to take a drive through a business park, visit an office building, or walk through a downtown area to find local companies that you may not have heard of. I call this method searching the outer-net.

Even with the internet, many companies will not post jobs nor much information about themselves, especially if they are a local company. You may miss out on getting to know about a company that may have a job offer if you stick to just the internet for your search.

I had a great lunch today with one of my longtime colleagues. We had a great conversation about what employers are looking for today. One of the great stories he had to share with me was about the attitude and attendance that employers are looking for.

In his years of teaching, he has only had one employer come to his classes and mention GPA as one of the deciding factors; in fact, this particular employer told him that he wasn't going to hire anyone with a GPA over 3.0! This employer stated that anyone with over a 3.0 GPA should be spending time doing research and not working.

Two recurring themes came up in our lunch today - the importance of attitude and attendance (and not necessarily in that order, as he pointed out). A great attitude combined with being present, whether it be in a classroom or a work setting, can far outweigh a GPA, no matter how good (or bad) it may appear to be.

Successful leaders become that way by being effective communicators. How often do you hear about a leader that was effective that was uncommunicative to their supporting staff or team?

Greg Savage outlined some of the golden rules of communication for leaders, a couple of which I will share my thoughts on.

5. Use informal and formal channels

Great leaders will know how to get the point across both directly and indirectly. Whether an official meeting takes place or an informal meeting over coffee and drinks, great leaders can communicate in any setting, no matter the level of formality

8. When possible speak, don't email

People who hide behind email as a way to get a point across don't have the courage or integrity to do or say the right thing, in many cases. If you see a person regularly, make it a point to share really good (or really bad) news face to face or via phone.

Be an effective leader by working on improving your communication today.

Q: I have a former boss who is a real (expeletive deleted). Over and over again, I keep hearing from my former coworkers that this person is saying negative things about me, even though I left with a clean track record. I've moved on, but this person clearly hasn't, what do I do? Concerned in Concord

A: Dear Concerned,

I think many people can empathize with your situation. After looking over the resume you sent me to review, I can tell that you have had a great career and this one person speaking poorly of you will not (and should not) affect your outlook on life or your future prospects.

As I told someone this morning, "the bigger the moron or challenge that comes your way, the greater the opportunity that lies ahead when you move on." You'll be fine; let them continue to be that way and realize how good you have it now.

As Roger Clemens reached the end of his career, he returned to the Astros (and later the Yankees) later in the season to contribute to the team in a full-time role for about 2/3 of the season. Similarly, Pedro Martinez did the same thing for a couple months with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Was it injury that made these players opt to do this? No, it was opportunity and teams willing to work with their needs. Clemens wanted to spend more time with family. Pedro wanted to contribute.

With past experience and precedent as a guide, I think we will see Andy Pettitte return to baseball mid-season. He retired to spend more time with family, but he still had some life left in baseball. The Yankees have a need with injuries and reliability issues, and there could be an appropriate match for both the Yankees and Pettitte to come to an agreement for a June or July return.

In business, many companies will overlook someone because they are only available part of the year, part-time, or for a limited role. Baseball's situations above remind us that if there is a need and a talent to meet that need, reasonable accommodations can be made to enable both parties to benefit.

In baseball, teams spend a great deal of money on starting pitching. Many teams can't afford to risk another multi-million dollar contract on someone who may not perform. However, teams need to often have a 6th, 7th, or 8th starter in their minor leagues who is ready to come up in the event of an injury.

With the Yankees, Kevin Millwood was one of the players at AAA who the Yankees signed to a minor league deal with the option to be released from his commitment in the event he was not called up by May 1st. With this setup, both the Yankees and Millwood had options on May 1st. If Millwood performed well, he would be brought up to the Yankees, and if he didn't perform well, he could be let go and the Yankees free of commitment (unless he decided to stay after May 1st).

Millwood did not perform well, and decided to take his release and try to find work elsewhere. It will be interesting to see if another team gives him a chance, given that the Yankees were willing to let him continue to work with their minor league team.

Use this strategy similarly in your workplace; don't overcommit to someone too early, as it may prevent you from a commitment to someone who is a wrong fit. From the employee perspective, it is smart to try to find opportunities to prove yourself, as you are willing to take a risk that you aren't a right fit. However, by giving a company a chance to see what you are about through an unpaid internship, part-time work, or other non full-time options, you demonstrate whether or not you can handle or deserve a full-time opportunity. Make the most of it!