Is The WARN Act Changing?

Recently-introduced legislation would require employers to provide Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices to employees in the event of mass layoffs that occur at more than one worksite, and would double the penalties for violations.

The Alert Laid off Employees in Reasonable Time (ALERT) Act (H.R. 2077), introduced by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill) and co-sponsored by four others, expands the current WARN requirement that employers provide 60 days’ notice of an impending mass layoff affecting either 500 employees or 33 percent of the workforce impacting at least 50 employees at one particular worksite.

The ALERT Act would amend the definition of “mass layoff” to cover an employment loss of this size not just at a single site, but for a single employer at more than one worksite. The bill also increases penalties for employers that order a plant closing or mass layoff in violation of the WARN Act by providing for double back pay for each day of violation.


Specifically, the ALERT Act would amend the WARN Act by including as a definition of “mass layoff” a reduction in force which:

(C) results in an employment loss for a single employer at more than 1 site of employment during any 30-day period for--

(i)(I) at least 33 percent of the employees of the employer (excluding any part-time employees); and
(II) at least 50 employees (excluding any part-time employees); or
(ii) at least 500 employees (excluding any part-time employees).
Additionally, the new bill would require employers to award employees double the amount of back pay as a penalty for violating the provisions of the WARN Act.

DETAIL:

2009-2010
Alert Laid off Employees in Reasonable Time Act 4/23/2009--Introduced.

To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to require notifications under that Act for mass layoffs that occur at more than one site of an employer and to increase penalties for violation of the Act.

H.R. 2077: 111th Congress

This is a bill in the U.S. Congress originating in the House of Representatives ("H.R."). A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate and then be signed by the President before it becomes law.

Bill numbers restart from 1 every two years. Each two-year cycle is called a session of Congress. This bill was created in the 111th Congress, in 2009-2010.

The titles of bills are written by the bill's sponsor and are a part of the legislation itself.


Alert Laid Off Employees in Reasonable Time Act - Amends the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN ACT) to require an employer to give 60-day written notice to employees and to appropriate state and local government officials before ordering a mass layoff that results in an employment loss for a single employer at more than one site of employment during a 30-day period for: (1) at least 33% of the employees (excluding part-time employees); and (2) at least 50 or 500 employees (excluding part-time employees).

Makes an employer who violates such notice requirements liable to each aggrieved employee for double the back pay (under current law, only the back pay) for each day of the violation for up to 60 days.

The bill has been referred to the House Education and Labor Committee

Alert Laid off Employees in Reasonable Time Act (Introduced in House)

HR 2077 IH
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2077

To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to require notifications under that Act for mass layoffs that occur at more than one site of an employer and to increase penalties for violation of the Act.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 23, 2009

Mr. GUTIERREZ (for himself, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

A BILL
To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to require notifications under that Act for mass layoffs that occur at more than one site of an employer and to increase penalties for violation of the Act.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1.
SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Alert Laid off Employees in Reasonable Time Act'.
SEC. 2. MASS LAYOFFS OF A SINGLE EMPLOYER AT MULTIPLE SITES.

• (a) In General- Section 2(a)(3) of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101(a)(3)) is amended--
  (1) in subparagraph (B)(ii) by inserting `or' after the semicolon; and
  (2) by adding at the end the following:
  `(C) results in an employment loss for a single employer at more than 1 site of employment during any 30-day period for--
  `(i)(I) at least 33 percent of the employees of the employer (excluding any part-time employees); and
  `(II) at least 50 employees (excluding any part-time employees); or
  `(ii) at least 500 employees (excluding any part-time employees);'.
  (b) Conforming Amendment- Section 3(a)(2) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2102(a)(2)) is amended by striking `to the State' and inserting `in the case of a plant closing or mass layoff described in section 2(a)(3)(B), to the State'.

SEC. 3. INCREASED PENALTIES.

• Section 5(a)(1)(A) of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2104(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking `back pay' and inserting `two times the amount of back pay'.

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez [D-IL]

Cosponsors [as of 2009-05-07]
Rep. Grace Napolitano [D-CA]
Rep. Jim Costa [D-CA]
Rep. Raul Grijalva [D-AZ]
Rep. Daniel Lipinski [D-IL]
Rep. Rosa DeLauro [D-CT]
Rep. Steven Rothman [D-NJ]
Rep. Janice Schakowsky [D-IL]
Rep. Marcy Kaptur [D-OH]
Rep. Betty Sutton [D-OH]

Behavioral Interviewing - Practice, Practice, Practice

Recently, in working with corporate-sponsored outplacement candidates to prep them for various interviews, we focused on the subject of Behavioral Interviewing, its importance, and how to prepare.

Behavioral interviewing is a style of interviewing that was developed in the 1970's by industrial psychologists. Behavioral interviewing asserts that "the most accurate predictor of future performance is past performance in a similar situation." Currently, most organizations are using behavioral interviewing to some degree.

Unlike traditional interviews, which include such questions as:
Tell me about yourself.
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Why are you interested in working for us?

Behavioral Interviewing poses questions like these:
Tell me about a time you disappointed a client or your supervisor.
Tell me about a situation you really exceeded expectations.
Tell me about a work environment that you didn’t enjoy.

Behavioral interviewing emphasizes past performance and behaviors. As a consequence, candidates unprepared for behavioral interviewing will not fare well; simply practicing the list of common interview questions no longer works.

To start in the reverse and address Preparation is appropriate here. We put our clients through a good deal of brain work; from the very first conversation, we use a variety of methods suitable to the individual candidate to pull information from them regarding how they did their jobs in their unique fashion, always working to establish articulate, quantifiable contribution in every instance.

I contacted an expert or two, and together we present the following, with 7 specific areas to practice at the end:

Many interviewers typically start with a behavioral question, like “Tell me about a time you had conflicting priorities. How did you handle that situation?” If a candidate says they never have them, that’s a red flag. Even someone who is perfectly organized will have personal conflicts that come up during their time at work.

Once a candidate tells the interviewer the situation and explains how they handled it, there will be a follow up question or two, such as:

“Were all the people involved completely happy with how you ended up prioritizing your work?”
“If you could do it again, would you prioritize those items the same way?”

How do you answer the question "Give me an example of a time you've failed?"

This is always a tough question for interviewees. The first time you reflect on this, on anything, should not be in the high-stress environment of an interview. Think about this and all possible questions beforehand, write down your answers, but don't get too rigid to adhering to your script. For this question specifically, remember you don't have to immediately relate the last most devastating failure in your life - don't aggravate a fresh wound. Rather, go to an instance you've had time to reflect upon.

One expert we consulted advises:"First, if you tell me you've never failed, I know that's not true. Sometimes you have to fail, so tell the story of what you learned. Tell the recruiter what you would have done differently in order to avoid that situation in the future. Be honest, and know that some employers want people who take risks. Those people do fail from time to time, and often learn the most highly valued skills and lessons.

What are the examples of behavioral based sales questions?

While your resume may list that you achieved your former employer's "President's Club" six times, you do have to explain the "how" of it.

Here are examples of questions we gathered for Sales Interviews, and in preparation for a Sales interview, be ready for drill down, follow-up questions like:

The Recruiter may ask “Tell me about a time you really exceeded your client’s expectations and closed a great deal”

The follow up questions will likely be:
How long did it take you to close this deal?
How long is your average sales cycle?

Another hot button topic most sales people avoid: “Do you get your sales reports done on time?” Recruiters know it’s an area that most sales people procrastinate, so they ask!

Can you be Over Prepared?

We encourage our candidates to remember that an interview is a conversation between two professionals about a common interest, subject, and passion. I recently had a candidate get thrown by the question "Give us two instances of success you've experienced." The candidate has many, many instances, all outlined clearly on his resume, however, he only practiced one aloud to that specific question. He was both over- and under-prepared. You're going to go "off-script" so know who you are, take a deep breath, relax and tell your story.

Do your homework, but be genuine.

"Just tell the truth," states one expert, "I'll get to it one way or another through follow-up questions, but being prepared is key. I know it’s not comfortable, but ask a friend to interview you. Or find questions on the internet and answer them out loud, then scratch that answer and give another. Be prepared for the detailed follow up questions. I remind candidates that they are an expert in what they are discussing – themselves! It’s easier to think of it that way and can often ease nervousness.

How much research on your potential employer is enough - or too much?

Recruiters value that you have done your research and have a true interest and passion for the role, citing that you know the recruiter loves dogs or the color green is just plain creepy.

"Don't stalk the recruiter or "over-share". It comes off as disingenuous. Talk about what interests you based upon your research, but keep it relevant to the position and your potential for contribution. Although there is a plethora of information about your Recruiter and Hiring Manager on the internet, be careful what you reference during your conversation. Not everyone is prepared to discuss personal information to a candidate, so take their lead. If they keep it strictly professional, you should as well. What would be appropriate is to ask why they chose to work for that organization and what they like and dislike about it.

Just one piece of advice?

Ask questions! Sounds simple – but you would be surprised how many candidates don’t. Even if you ask everyone you speak with at the same company the identical 4 questions, its great information. You can evaluate how each person’s answer differs and if there are any concerns that you might have from their answers. And for you sales people out there – are you asking for the job or closing?

We further provide the below list of 7 key Behavioral Interview question areas for you to review. Good luck, and remember: be yourself, be honest, and be prepared!

1: Decision Making and Problem Solving

Give me an example of a time when you had to keep from speaking or making a decision because you did not have enough information.
Give me an example of a time when you had to be quick in coming to a decision.

2: Leadership

Tell me about a time you had to work with a group or client that was challenging. How did you overcome it?
Tell me about a time you had difficulty getting others to accept your ideas? What was your approach? Did it work?

3: Motivation

Give me an example of a time when you went above and beyond the call of duty.
Describe a specific situation when you were able to have a positive influence on the action of others.

4: Communication

Tell me about a situation when you had to speak up (be assertive) in order to get a point across that was important to you.
Have you ever had to "sell" an idea to your co-workers or group? How did you do it? Did they "buy" it?

5: Interpersonal Skills

What have you done in the past to contribute toward a teamwork environment?
Describe a recent unpopular decision you made and what the result was.

6: Planning and Organization

Tell me about a time you had conflicting priorities. How did you manage them?
What do you do when your schedule is suddenly interrupted? Give an example.

7: Other Behavioral Questions

Give a specific example of a policy you conformed to with which you did not agree.
Give me an example of an important goal which you had set in the past and tell me about your success in reaching it.
Describe an instance when you had to think on your feet to extricate yourself from a difficult situation.

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Using Social Media Webinar - Success

I was thrilled to partner with VisualCV to conduct a webinar on Using Social Media in Job Search, and April’s webinar was exceptionally well-received. Here are some comments and a link to the presentation:

"...wanted to tell you how EXCELLENT I thought the webinar was yesterday. It was my first one and SO valuable. I was and am thrilled over the amount of valuable information. I wrote pages full of notes."

"After viewing the CV all I can say is WOW! What a difference a VisualCV can make.

This technology makes a paper resume obsolete. I have seenmany resumes in my past when I had to do recruiting and this type of resume would clearly give a candidate who uses this a serious advantage. Again, Thank You for your help and VisualCV has a new fan."

"I took your webinar last Tuesday and thoroughly enjoyed it. I cannot begin to tell you how much I learned, especially about Visual CV and Twitter. I am going through a career transition and so these tools are very important to me in my job search. Thank you for the presentation last Tuesday."

"Just had a chance to listen to VisualCV webinar. Outstanding info thanks for sharing!"

"You were absolutely wonderful! I really enjoyed it and I'm working on my VisualCV right now! "

"I just wanted to take another minute and thank you for the help you gave me. Not many people in your position would reach out to a college student the way you did. This may be something you do regularly, but I'm not used to it so it's refreshing to see the professionals of today doing what they can to groom the professionals of tomorrow....Once again, thank you for everything, I promise to pay it forward."

"Thanks to Pierce (from VisualCV) for hosting and Karen Masullo for delivering an insightful webinar with VisualCV earlier today "

"I just finished listening to an awesome presentation by Karen Masullo and I'm working on my SEO, VisualCV and Twitter."

"The session was best hour I've spend in a long, long time. Pure 100% value."

VIEW WEBINAR HERE

Another Reason to love VisualCV

I'm tellin' ya folks, this is the right tool at the right time:

Jabil Makes a Bold Apology to Transitioning Employees

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Form I-9 and E-Verify Services from The Facet Group, a First Sun Partner

Effective 5/21/2009, employers are required by law to verify employment eligibility of all federal contractor and sub-contractor employees. Some states also require participation in certain situations. All other public & private employers are encouraged to use E-Verify voluntarily

Electronic Form I-9 and E-Verify Services

First Sun Partner, The Facet Group, is pleased to announce the offering of Electronic Form I-9 and E-Verify Services through alliance partner, Form I-9 Compliance.

What is E-Verify?

E-Verify is a Web-based system that electronically verifies the employment eligibility of newly hired employees through Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security databases. Effective May 21, 2009, federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to begin using the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ E-Verify system to verify their employees’ eligibility to legally work in the United States.

Who may use E-Verify?
Federal contractors and sub-contractors are required to use E-verify. In addition, more than a dozen states also require or strongly encourage E-Verify on certain employees. All other public and private sector employers may use the system voluntarily. The Facet Group recommends that you use E-verify on ALL newly hired employees to keep your hiring process consistent and compliant.

Employers who currently employ federal contractors or sub-contractors are required to verify all of those existing contract employees, as well as all newly hired contract employees going forward. All other employers may verify newly hired employees only; you cannot use E-Verify on existing employees unless they are federal contractors or sub-contractors.

What is included in your E-Verify service?
Our check uses the federal E-Verify program to electronically query DHS and SSA databases and verify new employees’ U.S. work eligibility. The query result confirms whether the social security number submitted belongs to an individual who is legally permitted to work in the U.S. Enhanced capabilities include email alerts and reports that help track and monitor tentative non-confirmations.
What are the benefits of the E-verify service?

• Significantly reduce your potential risks of non-compliance which would result in exposure to financial penalties and consequent negative publicity.


• For employers who knowingly hire or knowingly continue to employ unauthorized workers, civil penalties range from $250 to $11,000 per violation


• For employers engaging in a pattern or practice of knowingly hiring or continuing to employ unauthorized workers, criminal penalties can be a much as $3,000 per unauthorized employee and/or 6 months imprisonment


• Help ensure workforce stability and assist in eliminating the potential for disruptive and costly turnover created by the mandatory removal of legally unauthorized employees.
  
• Minimize the potential for attracting legally unauthorized candidates by acknowledging your participation in E-Verify.


• Seamlessly integrates with our existing ordering system; process background checks, Electronic I-9 forms and e-Verify through one portal


• Employee information will be carried over to the E-Verify screen to reduce data entry.

How do I begin using these services?
Contact Phil Brattin, at the Facet Group, or simply fill out the required Registration Form & User Agreement as well as the Memorandum of Understanding with our Alliance Partner. You must also display the required E-Verify and Right to Work notices where employment applicants can see them. (The Facet Group will provide you with these notices.) Please see: http://facetgroup.com/background.html

How do I order these services on a newly hired employee?
Upon the posting of a completed report to our online ordering system, you will be provided with an option to utilize the E-Verify service directly from the ‘Results’ screen. Simply click the ‘EVP’ button and it will take you directly to the E-Verify site. The employee’s information (name, SSN, etc) will be pre-populated into the E-Verify screen to save time and reduce data entry. (You must receive completed background verification reports through our online system in order to use this service.)

What is the cost for these services?
-- For newly hired employees, the cost to use E-Verify is $5.00 per person.
-- For existing employees (federal contractors and sub-contractors), please contact our office for information & pricing.
-- To set up additional client locations: 0-5 locations: no charge; 6+ locations: $50 per location.

What is Electronic Form I-9?
This service provides a comprehensive error-detecting electronic Form I-9 solution that virtually eliminates processing errors and simplifies the document completion process.

What is included in your Electronic Form I-9 service?

• Secure, paperless Form I-9 storage, with 24/7 access for updating, re-verification and governmental inspection.
• The ability to e-sign the I-9 form, utilizing a high-security, DHS-compliant click-to-sign solution.
• “Add eDocuments” feature, which allows you to electronically attach related I-9 documents to employees’ I-9 Forms.
• 90, 60, and 30-day e-mail alerts to be forwarded to you prior to the expiration of work authorization documents.
• The ability to run reports by client location.

What are the benefits of the Electronic Form I-9 service?

• Simplify and improve the efficiency of your Form I-9 process.
• Substantially decrease human errors in completing I-9 Forms through the use of our error-detecting functionality and built in user guidance.
• Save time and increase security by utilizing our proprietary 2048-bit encrypted, electronic signature solution to electronically sign the eForm I-9. (Compliant with the E-SIGN Act and Department of Homeland Security regulations).
• Reduce storage, retrieval and labor costs associated with maintaining hard copies of I-9 Forms. Scan and index your current paper I-9 Forms into our database, thereby creating a totally paperless process.
• Avoid federal civil penalties: For employers who fail to properly complete, retain, or make I-9 Forms available for inspection, fines range from $100 to $1,100 per individual I-9
• Automated Email Alerts enable your employees to renew work authorizations and continue to work without interruption.
• Cost effectively reduces your exposure to government audits, financial penalties and negative publicity resulting from non-compliance.
• Seamlessly integrates with our existing ordering system; process background checks, Electronic I-9 forms and e-Verify through one portal
• Employee information will be carried over to the E-Verify screen to reduce data entry.

How do I begin using these services?
Simply fill out the required Registration Form & User Agreement.

How do I order these services on a newly hired employee?
Contact Phil Brattin, at the Facet Group.

Upon the posting of a completed report to the online ordering system, you will be provided with an option to utilize the Electronic Form I-9 service directly from the ‘Results’ screen. Simply click the ‘I-9’ button and it will take you directly to the Electronic Form I-9 site. The employee’s information (name, SSN, etc) will be pre-populated into the I-9 to save time and reduce data entry. (You must receive completed background verification reports through our online system in order to use this service.)

What is the cost for these services?
-- The cost to use Electronic Form I-9 is $5.00 per person.
-- To have your existing I-9 forms and supporting documents scanned and stored in our system, please contact our office for pricing information.
-- To set up additional client locations: 0-5 locations: no charge; 6+ locations: $50 per location

PLEASE NOTE: The above is presented as general educational information. It is not legal advice, either express or implied. Consultation with legal counsel is recommended for all employment law matters. This information is subject to change without notice.

Upcoming Webinar - Co-Hosting with VisualCV: Incorporating Social Media in Your Job Search

Upcoming Webinar: Incorporating Social Media in Your Job Search

Please join us for a webinar April 14th at 12pm EST to learn how to leverage social media in your job search.

Mark your calendar and register now for the April 14th webinar today!

April’s webinar will teach you how to get more out of online social media in your job search. You will learn how to make good use of your time when using LinkedIn, VisualCV, Twitter and more.

The webinar will cover:

• Web 2.0 and the job search
• Presenting your strengths in a VisualCV
• Social media resources for the job search
• An efficient use of social media in the job search
• Social media job search success stories

Karen Masullo, career transition and corporate outplacement expert, and VisualCV's Nathen Harvey will lead the webinar.

Please register here today! We look forward to you joining us for the second webinar in our series on building a VisualCV.

Your First Day of Work

Your first day of work for your next employer is your last day of work for your former employer.

Everything you do from the point of separation forward becomes an example of your work product to your next employer. You HAVE to get this.

I was recently contacted by someone I did not know via LinkedIn.com. I visited the gentleman’s profile, and found four typos in the first 10 lines. There were other challenges with his profile, so I did what I generally do in this situation; I wrote back asking if he was open to a couple of suggestions. He was.

I first verified that English was his first language, and took time with my response, pointed out the typos, explained the theory behind my primary suggestions, and kept it short and to the point. I also spell-checked my response.

The gentleman wrote me back and sounded enthusiastic regarding the changes he made based upon my suggestions, so I re-visited. The four typos were corrected; however, there were now 3 new ones. That’s where I stopped.

And that’s a shame.

How can anyone possibly recommend you to their network if the first example of a work product you present is half-hearted?

This applies to everything you do – from telephone conversations to your web presence to your demeanor on the golf course or at the supermarket; you are your Brand! Preserve it, build it, and make it better.

And for goodness sake, copy any text into Word or whatever program you use and spell-check it, and then have someone objective review it.

Please.

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The Evolution of Dance Part 2

Just for laughs;)

Part Two: The Layoff will be Twittered

Following the previous post, important points to cover during a Reduction-in-Force project:

Keep Layoff Plans Offline: avoid emailing, creating, and communicating Reduction in Force (RIF) plans through company systems. I consulted after-the-fact to a company that found that a key and trusted email administrator was both reading, saving, and re-distributing – both internally and externally – all communication regarding layoff plans. Many employees fled the company prior to the formal WARN announcement due to this leak – employees that otherwise would not have been effected by the RIF. The loss of intellectual capital and the damage to the entire project was significant.

Never use Instant or Text Messaging to Discuss ANY aspect of a Restructuring Project: Transcripts of messages are saved, archived and may be reviewed. Just don’t do it, no matter how innocent you feel the message may be.

Allow Key Reorganization Team Members to Meet and Work Offsite as needed: Given the challenges associated with using internal technology to plan a restructuring project, teams need a “safe” environment to discuss and plan. Allocate resources accordingly.

Involve your CIO/CTO from the start: Prevent enterprise data leaks at the source. Oftentimes, technology teams are the last to be alerted of a project they already know is in progress, especially if you’ve been using internal technology systems to communicate planning. Your IT groups are the ones who cancel intranet portal access, email access, etc. for those departing employees. “Dumping” a time-critical task on them last minute creates resentment, and further exacerbates leaks – the longer you wait to formally communicate to key IT team members, the greater the resentment. Bring a trusted, key technology leader in to the process early.

Outplacement Consultants: When you work with us as your Outplacement Team, make sure you are providing your departing workforce with transition programs commensurate to their experience and length of tenure, are treating them with dignity and respect, and make sure you are alerted to trends regarding the mention of your company’s name and Brand – both positive and negative – quickly. The manner in which you deliver the message to transitioning workers is critically important; we will participate in all departing employee notification meetings to quickly give your transitioning workforce positive, next step guidelines that are in their best interest.

Need more information? Call us at 866-214-5445

Read Part I

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Let's NOT Give 'Em Somethin' to Talk About

"In the age of transparency, the layoff will be blogged." Quote from: NY Times, November 4, 2008

Recently while reviewing company name mentions on Twitter, I came across a website, Telonu, specifically for employees to voice their reactions regarding how their layoff was handled.

This on the tail of a tale related by Pulitzer Prize winning Photo Journalist Jim MacMillan (formerly of the Philadelphia Daily News and Associated Press among others). Jim was describing a group of messages he was reading on Twitter, happening as the senders were in a newsroom meeting regarding re-organization plans at the Philadelphia Daily News. Read Jim's story here: (uncensored tweets).

To modify the opening quote then: "The layoff will be Twittered."

There's nothing new in protecting a Company's image during restructuring - we've always cautioned and assisted our corporate clients to monitor emails, messages, subsequent "hate" domains and their brand carefully during a restructuring - but Telonu, driven by the power of Twitter, was quickly gaining legs.

The site, Telonu's tag line? "Rave, Rant, Rate™ your Workplace, the People there and lots of other stuff... Anonymously. Tell-on-you, get it?"

There are positive comments, there are some resources, but the below is not unusual (I have hidden the company name):


This also from their site, and while they list a variety of "uses" for the site, #1 is troubling to me:

"On Telonu you can:
Praise or bury your company or school
Add and prop up companies, schools and people for other Telonu members' comments and opinions
Follow anything or anyone in real time
Mingle with old friends and make new ones
Use the Ask section to quiz the Telonu community about anything"

In the past, these types of sites generally died out as the great community that is the web SEO'd them to the back-burner of over-cooked, under-updated sites. Twitter however, keeps the rant fresh. Twitter has become an important SEO and marketing message tool, and these types of sites don't fade away as quickly as before.

So, when you work with an Outplacement provider (you ARE using us, right?), make sure you are providing your departing workforce with transition programs commensurate to their experience and length of tenure, are treating them with dignity and respect, and are kept alerted to trends regarding the mention of your company's name and Brand - both positive and negative - quickly.

What's that you say? Your Outplacement provider doesn't do that? We do.

Call us and we'll tell you how.
Toll-Free: 866-214-5445

Read Part II


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MARCH HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW ON LAYOFFS with Lincolnshire Partner Dr. Larry Stybel

HBR COMMENTARY CASE STUDY
The Layoff
by Bronwyn Fryer

What’s the best strategy for Astrigo? Four commentators offer expert advice.

The entire article may be found here, and we are pleased to present it for our Colleague and Lincolnshire Partner, Dr. Larry Stybel from Boston's Stybel Peabody.

Dr. Laurence J. Stybel (lstybel@suffolk.edu) and Maryanne Peabody (peabody@stybelpeabody.com) are cofounders of Stybel Peabody Lincolnshire, an executive career management and board advisory firm based in Boston.

Dr. Stybel is also an executive in residence at the Sawyer Business School at Suffolk University in Boston.

Case Commentary by Laurence J. Stybel and Maryanne Peabody - What’s the best strategy for Astrigo?

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From TED: Elizabeth Gilbert: A different way to think about creative genius

About this talk

Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius. It's a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.

About Elizabeth Gilbert

The author of Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert has thought long and hard about some large topics. Her next fascination: genius, and how we ruin it.

The talk runs 20 minutes, but of course you can always bookmark and comeback. Enjoy! We did.

For more information on TED: http://www.ted.com

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Avoiding Star Trek Walk-on Guest Syndrome (aka The "Petersen" Syndrome), when Working with Recruiters

Avoiding Star Trek Walk-on Guest Syndrome (aka The "Petersen" Syndrome), when Working with Recruiters

You remember it: whenever Captain Kirk or Jean-Luc Picard took an unknown crew member on the Away Team, that person died pretty soon after stepping foot out of the transporter. I don’t recall anyone ever saying “Gee, it’s too bad Petersen just got eaten by that Rock Monster” either.

He served his purpose to heighten suspense, got his SAG card, and he was outta’ there.

Sometimes, not all but sometimes, working with a contingent recruiter may be much the same, with you sadly, playing the all too short-lived role of Petersen.

Before every recruiter on the web writes me mad-mail, let me preface by saying I have been a recruiter in the Permanent Placement Industry (also in the Temporary Placement industry, but that’s a story for another day). I am now in the Outplacement business. Different thing but there are similarities.

Let’s go to Wikipedia for the definitions:

Executive search (informally headhunting) is the process of recruiting individuals to fill executive positions in organizations. Executive search may be performed by an organization's board of directors, by executives in the organization, or by an outside executive search organization.

The executive search profession has two distinct fields, retained executive search and contingency search. Retained search firms are paid a retainer fee regardless of whether a successful placement is made. Contingency firms are paid only if a candidate is found, and generally, the candidate must stay in the position for X weeks or months for payment to be made and the contract fulfilled.

OUTplacement is a term used to describe the efforts made by a Company Fee-paid downsizing firm to help the redundant employees through the career transition process, and help them re-orientate to the job market. An Outplacement firm may refer a candidate to retained executive search or contingency search firm to assist in the transition process.

In the current employment market, there is a glut of talent in the available pool – a buyer’s market as it were, at a time when there’s not a lot of buying going on. If you’re searching for a new position, there’s a huge, talented competition pool out there with you.

For a Contingency Executive Search professional, it is critical that they respond quickly to an organization’s request for a specific talent-set in a potential employee. The Executive Search Professional may have 3 or 4 candidates basically suited to fill the open position; however, one of those is the favorite, the perfect fit. The search professional must send a handful of people to the interviewing company to give them options, but they may be selling one specific candidate a bit more aggressively than the others.

In other words, one of those candidates is Spock. The others are Petersen 1, Petersen 2, and so on.

It’s up to you, the Job Seeker, to figure out which you are, and to effectively manage the process in partnership with the search professional, not at the bidding of.

A great search professional is your partner in this process. They can be an invaluable asset. A really great one will work with you throughout your career if you have demonstrated in-turn that you are a prepared, articulate, employable professional.

An Executive client of ours recently mentioned to me, that a third-party recruiter he was working with kept sending him to interviews that didn’t seem to fit for him. I asked him why he kept accepting interviews from this particular Placement representative. He said “Well, I don’t want to make them angry, so I figure I’d better go.”

You can’t have that folks. This is not a time to be wasting time.

Shop around, network, talk to others in your field that have a relationship with a Search Professional or firm and request an introduction. Be very prepared for the subsequent telephone or face-to-face interview.

Find a search professional that thinks you’re Spock. Anything else would be illogical.

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Great Resource Article "10 Tips for Pinging the Recruiter" by Tony Reynes of Tesar-Reynes

An Executive, a Contact, and a Cover Letter, How NOT to get a job interview, from The Blog of David Harkleroad

David Harkleroad, CMO - Managing Director, Global Marketing at Hay Group has a wonderful Blog, and recently posted this gem, How NOT to get a job interview, related to a recent experience he had regarding an Executive, a Contact, and a Cover Letter.

I let David know I'd be pointing to it, and I've also added David's Blog to our Blog Roll. You must read it.

Hay Group is a global management consulting firm that works with leaders to transform strategy into reality. They develop talent, organize people to be more effective and motivate them to perform at their best. Their focus is on making change happen and helping people and organizations realize their potential.

Hay Group has over 2,600 employees working in 86 offices in 47 countries. Hay Group clients come from the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, across every major industry and represent diverse business challenges. For over 60 years, they have been renowned for the quality of their research and the intellectual rigor of their work.

Visit The Hay Group

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How Pixar Hires

Learning and Working in the Collaborative Age: A New Model for the Workplace

Pixar University's Randy Nelson explains what schools must do to prepare students for jobs in new media.

From Edutopia, A George Lucas Foundation

What Hasn’t Changed about Career Transition

We all know we’re in an interesting economic climate. With hundreds of thousands of jobs being eliminated (and not being back-filled), I’m in a unique position to do what I do best – assist people through involuntary career transition.

I’ve been doing this for more than twenty years, and of course, a lot has changed.

(Note to all of you really smart people – please stop changing things until I catch up. Thank you.)

What has not changed however is the need for a person to clearly articulate work accomplishments that give them a sense of pride and satisfaction, and why the work contributes to the overall goals of their employer.

This you must still do.

People struggle with this. I struggle with them struggling.

We struggle our little hearts out, because most people can come up with one or two instances of times when they felt they achieved a superior result, and can quantify that result. It is when I ask for fifteen to twenty examples that the struggle begins.

I worked with a terrific group of folks today, who are being transitioned from a good company under new ownership. They are some of the aforementioned smart people – Molecular Biologists. (I’ll link this blog to their Resumes as they complete them).

As we introduced ourselves, one member of the group reminded another that said other also served as Site Safety Lead for the facility.

As we really started to work, I asked the person who had been Site Safety Lead to talk about her accomplishments in that area. She said what so very many people say at this point: “I don’t know, I just did my job.”

As it turns out, she did her job very well. Through asking her questions and probing a bit deeper, she was able to articulate that she attended and completed OSHA Certification, implemented a Site Safety plan, assured understanding of policies, procedures and processes, and maintained not only 100% OSHA compliance, but an accident-free work site as well. Next, we’ll figure out the average cost for an accident and other costs related to safety violations, and she’ll be able to clearly state how much she saved her employer by “just doing her job.”

That’s important, and she feels good about it. She will not refer to it as an “oh by the way.”

When discussing in an interview she’ll sit forward in her chair; her body language will show engagement; she will enjoy discussing the subject. That makes for a much more powerful interview.
So think about what you’ve done, what you’re proud of, what gave you a deep sense of satisfaction, and write the story of it.

Start by identifying:

• The Challenge you faced
• The Action you took
• The Result

Think of the above as a CAR - moving forward (you’ll also see this expressed as STARS, PARS, etc.). Then, flip the CAR upside-down and add an “S” for Statement and edit your story down to 14 to 25 words, beginning with the Result expressed by a strong Action Verb.

Here’s an example:

Achieved more than $5 million in annual savings through complete implementation of SAP software system and communications infrastructure for all Asia-Pacific Facilities.

And another:

Saved more than $250,000 in re-keying labor hours by identifying an inconsistency in CRM application, alerting IT department to issue, assisting in troubleshooting error, and collaborating on fix testing and resolution implementation.

Once you’ve written your accomplishment statements, you'll use these:

• In Cover letters
• In Your “Elevator Speech”
• In Telephone Interviews
• In the Main Body of the Resume
• In Networking
• In Interviewing
• In your Blog/FriendFeed/Plurk/Twitter conversations/VisualCVs and every other social media tool you use

Review the statements to spot patterns of your Traits, Skills, Knowledge and Abilities. This will assist you in writing the Summary Statement which heads the resume, and also will assist you in developing your “Elevator Speech” response to the question, “Tell me a little about yourself.”

This is the foundation exercise for any career transition.

The real bottom-line here is don't wait until you are unemployed to go through this exercise.

This is something you should do once a quarter, every quarter for the rest of your work life. Come up with 3 or 4 quarterly accomplisment statements, and by the end of the year, you'll have a solid history of your work year.

Doing so creates greater engagement conversations no matter your employment status.

If you bump into the CEO in the hall, and he or she asks you “So what have you been doing?” wouldn’t it be great to say “well, I just collaborated on a team that revised our benefits processes and saved the company more than $250,000 a year,” instead of, “Oh you know, same old same old?”

Make this a habit. Go on, do it now.

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No Buts About It

Eliminate the word "but" from your vocabulary for 24 hours. Stop back here and let me know what you observe.

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HRGuru.com and Karen Masullo

I'm thrilled to be on the Featured Writers page at HRGuru.com, and if you're not familiar with the wonderful HR community they're building, you should be.

HRGuru, is an independently run hub for the HR community.

Theye’re not simply an anonymous job board, not an index of HR agencies and contact information, but something new and different: a place where your lifelong career needs come home to roost.

Whether you’re considering a career in HR for the first time, or a veteran employee, the aim of HRGuru is to serve you. Uniquely. There’s no other place that brings together the tools, information, and community you need to take action on your career aspirations.

ODesk Releases Top Growth Trends from 2008 Analysis

oDesk Fastest Growing Skills Of 2008 - Wordpress, SEO, Linux, Drupal, Joomla ...Visit the oDesk website for more information on their services

Since oDesk is a job board for freelance and contract technical jobs, the numbers here may vary from permanent placement job data. There are definitely other skills that are in more demand as noted here and here but these skills represent the greatest increase by percentage in 2008.