Author: Site Staff

When you’re looking for excellentemployees, it helps to know where to find them. To find older workers for yourcompany, try some of these sources:

1. Green Thumb is the leading employment and training program for mature and disadvantaged Americans. Working with them is like working with any good employment agency. They probably have an office near you.
2. Professional societies for your area of business or the skill you need are great places to look for retired talent that is ready and raring to come back. 
3. Senior centers have many members who could be interested in filling your temporary or seasonal jobs that do not require specific professional skills.
4. Advertising in local or regional senior lifestyle magazines may also attract active older workers who are looking for temporary or seasonal opportunities.
5. Check with some of your recent retirees who may be interested in coming back as consultants or contract workers. They have the advantage of already knowing the company processes and procedures.

Workforce, February 2001, Vol80, No 2, p. 60  Subscribe Now!

QDearWorkforce:

   Whoshould own the service delivery of benefits when the delivery has beenoutsourced to a vendor? Our benefits department is struggling to assignaccountability of “service delivery” for our benefit programs. Whilewe have outsourced our benefits administration to various vendors, we clearlyneed to maintain an internal structure to measure and review our vendors’success. 

   Should this be done by the benefit program designers/policy makers or aseparate administrative organization that solely handles service delivery? Isthere value in having a separate entity measuring the service delivery?

-Struggling business process analyst in Northern California

ADearStruggling:

   Thereare a few factors that contribute to the answer to this question: 1) The scopeof the outsourcing, 2) The size of organization, and 3) The organization’sphilosophy – if any – on managing outsourcing arrangements.

   ”Typically”the benefit manager is responsible for plan design and all outsourcingarrangements. This occurs for two reasons – 1) The benefit manager will hearfrom the customer” – the employee – if there are performance issues, and2) benefit knowledge is a unique capability and it’s often hard fornon-benefit people to oversee benefit outsourcing arrangements.

SOURCE:Charlie McCarthy, The Segal Company, December 8, 2000.

E-mailyour DearWorkforce questions to Online Editor Todd Raphael at raphaelt@workforce.com,along with your name, title, organization and location. Unless you stateotherwise, your identifying information maybe used on Workforce.comand in Workforcemagazine. We can’t guarantee we’ll be able to answer every question.

Metro Detroit’s 101Best and Brightest Companies To Work For is an annual effort to identify andhonor Metropolitan Detroit’s most desirable employers, those which excel inHuman Resources practices such as:

compensation and benefits health & safety recruitment & retention training & education diversity work/family initiatives employee communications

    The search for the101 Best & Brightest Companies will prove to be another shot of adrenalineto the already rising faith in the renaissance of Detroit. The selection,recognition and awarding of the Metropolitan Detroit Best & BrightestCompanies To Work For will allow business to showcase their best practices anddemonstrate why each of them would be an ideal place for employees to work.

    This effort connotesa bold effort for members of the Detroit Community area to honor organizationsthat demonstrate constructive business practices. In turn, these practices leadto an overall enjoyable workplace for employees and significant improvedfinancial results. It is a program with global reach, but a local perspective.

    The inauguralprogram will be held on Tuesday, March 27, 2001, at the Hilton Northfield inTroy. Dave Ulrich, author, Human Resources Champions: The Next Agenda for AddingValue and Delivering Results is the keynote speaker. Presented by Linwick &Associates, Wayne State University in cooperation with the Regional DetroitChamber. Major sponsors include Ford Motor Company, Delta Dental Plan ofMichigan, Focus:HOPE, Deloitte and Touche. Publication sponsors include: DetroitFree Press, Detroiter, WORKFORCE Real HR. Real Impact.

    To register for theAwards Luncheon and Workforce Symposium go to www.101detroitbest.com

QDearWorkforce: 

 

   We are recruiting heavily in the sales and service areas. This involves people whoare on the road 4-5 days of the week. As we grow in this area, where should I belooking for concerns? What should I be looking out for? We are presently using acouple of recruiters for this; therefore my involvement has been minimal. 

   Themanager is basically meeting with the applicant first and then I get them afterthey have passed their okay. What pitfalls should I watch out for inestablishing policies/procedures for outside sales people. Which ones should Ilook into first? 

   Also,do you require your employees toget a cell phone for company business or do you let them use their personal cellphone for business purposes and thenreimburse them?  

   Finally,are monthly expensereports really appropriate or should it be a “bank” of money they canpull from and then when that’s gone they have to submit expense reports. 

 -Denise 

ADear Denise: 

Recruiting:
    Thefirst question a manager should always ask is, ‘Why are you looking to leaveyour current position?’  Many goodsales people are motivated to leave because their current compensation plan isnot adequate, the products are not top notch, or they may want to switch to adifferent industry. 

   Havethe manager ask the applicant what has attracted them to your company and whatthey know about your products. If the applicant has not done their homework onyour company, then that is a major red flag (especially for a sales candidate).Also probe deeply into the applicant’s knowledge of your company’s industry(competitors, market, etc.)  Thisshould show the applicant’s preparation skills, which they will have to exhibitto your customers. 

   Anotherimportant question is whether they’ll travel, since your job requires a lot oftravel. You need to dig deep here to make sure that the applicant understandsyour job requirements. 

   Haveyour managers ask the applicant to describe an example of one of theirsuccessful sales. Also then give an example of one of the failures. 

   Oneof the biggest pitfalls with sales personnel is the compensation plan. Make surethat you have a well-defined plan and that all parties understand it. Your salescandidates will also want to know about a draw, car allowance or company car,etc. You need to have solid policies in these areas. Since you may have remotesales personnel, you need to have a strong policy on home offices and remotecommunications. 

Cellphones:
   Thiscan be handled either way. First, I believe that your sales people do need acell phone. My suggestion is to have the company issue the cell phone (bettercost control) and reimburse the employee for all business related calls. Cellphone would be the property of the company and would be required to be turned inat termination. 

   Thepolicies on cell phone use while driving are very hot today. It is very wise for a company to ban cell phone use except with ahands-free unit. In fact, it is law in manyareas already. 

Expenses:
   Monthlyexpense reports are the way to go (with receipts required). This way costs canbe controlled better and you will only reimburse legitimate business expenses.You may want to set the policy that receipts are required for expenses over $25(i.e. business lunches) only.

 

SOURCE:Mike Sweeny, T. Williams Consulting, Collegeville, PA. 

E-mailyour Dear Workforce questions toOnline Editor Todd Raphael at raphaelt@workforce.com,along with your name, title, organization and location. Unless you stateotherwise, your identifying information  maybe used on Workforce.com and in Workforcemagazine. We can’t guarantee we’ll be able to answer every question.

QDearWorkforce:

   Ihave been asked to submit ideas on how to improve and develop communicationsand working relationships between department heads. Our city manager reallywants problems in the city solved (i.e. crime, rundown properties, juveniledelinquency, traffic congestion, accident rates, etc) by using allresources and experiences of his management staff.

   However,many of us are separated by distance and job functionssuch as being in different buildings, little day-to-daycontact and working together. As a result, we do not communicateor work well together. In my opinion, after we got voice mailand e-mail, the communication got worse and professionalrelationships ceased. 

    The City Manager is looking to bring his entiremanagement staff together so that we can accomplish projects and services moreeffectively and efficiently. Any ideas you may have would begreatly appreciated.

-Deborah, New York

A Dear Deborah:

   To be truly effective and lasting, any possiblesolution will need to contain both change management and strategic communicationcomponents.

ChangeManagement:
   The management teammust first be convinced that working together is the only way to achieve thegoals set by the City Manager. This could be achieved by conducting teambuildingmeetings to build respect and camaraderie, targeted focus groups to determinetheir exact concerns (compared to the City Manager’s perceptions) andbrainstorming sessions to elicit suggestions from the team.

    Of course, if distance is truly a concern,Webcasting is a viable alternative to in-person meetings. It has been Unifi’sexperience that if employees are involved in a decision process from thebeginning, they are more likely to adopt the solution as their own. In addition,the City Manager may want to consider adding communications as a measurement inthe management team’s performance reviews.

    Another approach is to involve all members ofthe management team in a “SWAT team,” which could be called upon to addressimmediate concerns. By rotating the membership, each member of the managementteam will have direct interaction with the other – building rapport and sharingresources and experiences.

StrategicCommunications: 
    The CityManager’s Office may want to implement a technical solution in the form of anon-line “global workplace” or “team room.” Similar to a chat room, ateam room enables all participants to share ideas in real time and to provideinput to each other. Many companies and municipalities use this technology toovercome the restraints of distance and to create a resource for “bestpractices.”

    The City Manager could also coordinate withother cities to share similar information via this on-line vehicle. Whilebuilding and implementing a full-blown intranet site might also be a solution, ateam room is simpler to create and maintain and it is more accessible to thosewho are not fully comfortable with this sort of e-communication solution.

SOURCE:Joe Donner, director, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Unifi Network communicationspractice, Teaneck, NJ.

E-mailyour Dear Workforce questions toOnline Editor Todd Raphael at raphaelt@workforce.com,along with your name, title, organization and location. Unless you stateotherwise, your identifying information maybe used on Workforce.com and in Workforcemagazine. We can’t guarantee we’ll be able to answer every question.

QDearWorkforce: 

   Isthe Human Resources occupation going to develop in the next 10 years?

–Chanvibol 

A Dear Chanvibol: 

   Thehuman resources profession will grow in size and importance throughout the nextten years. HR leaders will sit at the corporate strategic table, taking anincreasingly important role in planning, design, and direction of wherecompanies are going and how they’ll get there. 

   Competency-basedstaffing and workforce stability will become critical competitive advantagessought by savvy employers. The field will need more generalists, but alsospecialists. One specialty area will be employee retention, a vital aspect ofHR. The Workforce Stability Institute (www.employee.org)anticipates an emerging position of Employee Retention Specialist. HR willbecome more accountable and tuned-in to corporate profitability. 

SOURCE:Roger Herman, CEO of the Herman Group and author of “KeepingGood People,” “Lean& Meaningful,” and “Howto Become an Employer of Choice.” 

E-mailyour Dear Workforce questions toOnline Editor Todd Raphael at raphaelt@workforceonline.com,along with your name, title, organization and location. Unless you stateotherwise, your identifying information  maybe used on Workforce.com and in Workforcemagazine. We can’t guarantee we’ll be able to answer every question.

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For more information on DBM services, visit www.drakebeammorin.com or contact Shari Chrichtley at scritchl@dbm.com 

QDearWorkforce: 

I’m the Personnel Officer for a smalllocal government. Although this isn’t my only responsibility, (I also amthe Chief Administrative Officer), I do feel that dealing with aless-than-satisfied unionized workforce takes a large percentage of my time,and gives me the most concern for the overall health of our organization.  

My quandary is that our board is quiteresponsive to employee concerns with their compensation and other day-to-dayissues. In fact, we have recently given one of our high-skill areadepartments quite a substantial raise do to retention problems. Thesepeople still complain and bicker about things!!   

Additionally, our workers seem allpredisposed to discuss their issues and concerns with “outsiders” orboard members before sitting down with their supervisor or myself to addresstheir problems. When this happens, managers get resentful and subsequentlyless interested in dealing with some of their concerns. 

Finally, some of our managers seem soworkforce-oriented that other managers get quite resentful. Some managersdon’t allow their employees to follow policies and procedures or are just more”relaxed” about protocol than others. This causes dissentionamongst and between managers of each department because no cohesive method ofmanagement can be adhered to and followed. We’re always putting out firesrather than planning and then following the plan.  

It’s not that we don’t educate ourmanagers either. We’ve spent a lot of money on supervisory trainingetc…and although our managers know what to do…they don’t do it because theydon’t want to look unpopular to their employees. 

–Vincent Luce 

A Dear Vincent,

Firstof all, any solution provided is likely to be somewhat simplistic to what isclearly a complex problem. Having said that, my long-distance take on the issueis that there are four separate, albeit related, issues:

• Employeedissatisfaction and complaining
• Thetendency of employees to go to the board and other outsiders
• Theresponse of the board to employee complaints
• Consistencyamong managers

 

Hereare some thoughts on each of these issues:

 

Complaining:Employees (and people in general, for that matter) appear to spend unproductiveenergy complaining when there isn’t a productive outlet for theirdissatisfaction. The key here is to create vehicles (labor managementcommittees, for example) where real issues over which the organization hascontrol can be raised and positive action accomplished toward some resolution.The key is to channel the energy into solving problems, rather than justcomplaining about them.

 

Goingto outsiders:Similarly, complainers need to address their issues to an appropriate audience.Here, I would suggest that you investigate why people are unwilling to discusstheir issues and concerns with the “right people.” Do they think thatthese individuals don’t have the authority or power? Have these individualsindicated, perhaps in some subtle ways, that they’re not interested?

 

Boardresponse:While you do not have control over all of the “outsiders,” you do havesome impact on organizational components such as your board. The board’sresponse needs to be a consistent message that problems should be resolved atthe lowest, most appropriate level. Do not do what one of my clients did whenmembers of a particular department were complaining to the board. The boardpassed a resolution forbidding employees to speak to the board. What theemployees did in response was to send their spouses as their emissaries!

 

Consistency:Finally, the issue of managerial consistency is an organizational leadershipissue. The chief administrative officer and the leadership team need to makesure they are “on the same page” in terms of policies and procedures.This is an integral part of managerial accountability. Managers need to answerto the chief administrative officer and each other. If, on the other hand, thereare policies or procedures that are unnecessary or unhelpful, then this is thegroup to change them.

 

Ihope you find some merit in these suggestions. These are based on an underlyingbelief that people want to do a good job and that there is greater satisfactionin providing solutions than complaining about problems. The key is to engagepeople in the solutions.  

SOURCE: Harry Brull, senior vice president, public sector services, forMinneapolis, MN-based Personnel Decisions International. 

E-mailyour Dear Workforce questions toOnline Editor Todd Raphael at raphaelt@workforceonline.com,along with your name, title, organization and location. Unless you stateotherwise, your identifying information  maybe used on Workforce.com and in Workforcemagazine. We can’t guarantee we’ll be able to answer every question.