Where the Jobs Are for Top Execs
By Eric Reyes Friday Jun 11, 2010The best jobs for executives. Check out ExecuNet's latest research on fastest-growing industries in the coming year: they include health care, green technology, high tech, biotech, energy, manufacturing, government or non-profit educational ventures, and financial services.
Why Your Employment Test May Not Be Legal
By Ira Wolfe Thursday Jun 10, 2010Every employer wants employees who have a positive attitude and will stay on the job so they often follow the hire-for-attitude, train-for-skills approach to staffing. To identify candidates with the right fit, many employers administer employment tests — including ones they've designed themselves. Unfortunately, the design-it-yourself path is laden with legal landmines.
Employee Theft Hits $2.9 Trillion — Are You a Victim?
By Eric Reyes Thursday Jun 10, 2010Can you really trust your workers? Employees are stealing $2.9 trillion a year from companies, according to a report from the Association of Certified Fraud Executives. Believe it or not, some employees are robbing their bosses of $1 million — and getting away with it. They typically do it over longer periods, about 18 months before they stop or are caught. The most vulnerable businesses are banks, financial services and manufacturing.
Your People Are Your Profits — Know Their Passions
By Jay Forte Thursday Jun 10, 2010I am fascinated by the connection between performance and our brain biology. By understanding our personal hardwiring — our intrinsic talents, passions and strengths — we are introduced to our greatest performance areas, our areas of what I call “maximpact.”
Hiring Mistake #5: Lots of Experience = Success
By Barry Deutsch Thursday Jun 10, 2010Suppose you need emergency heart surgery to open a blocked artery, and you have a choice of two surgeons. The first surgeon has 20 years’ of experience and has performed more than 1,000 open-heart procedures. The second is only in his third year of practice and has less than 50 procedures under his belt.
Turn Employees into IT Helpers, not Hackers
By Kevin Beaver Thursday Jun 10, 2010We always hear about "disgruntled workers" wreaking havoc on computer systems and sensitive information. Interestingly we never hear about what I'll call "gruntled" workers and how they can — and do — help improve IT and information security.
How PowerPoint Can Kill Your Career
By Jay Forte Wednesday Jun 9, 2010I recently guest-hosted an MBA class for a PhD colleague of mine. Though the focus of the class was global human resources, each class starts with one or two teams of students presenting an overview of the critical concepts in particular chapters in their text. The first team presented slide after slide of small text and, as most novice presenters do, read the content of the PowerPoint slides to the class. One by one every head in the class nodded off. No learning was happening. I had to stop the mental massacre.
Why Obama Should Never Be Allowed to Fire People
By Eric Reyes Wednesday Jun 9, 2010Can BP's chief executive? Not so fast. A lot of bloggers are trying to draw management lessons from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The latest comes from Kevin Eikenberry at Leadership Learning, who criticizes the way President Obama recently said he would fire the oil giant's CEO if he could.
Hiring Mistake #4: Snap Judgments
By Barry Deutsch Tuesday Jun 8, 2010It’s a familiar hiring scenario: The candidate walks in sharply dressed and looking good. He’s got a winning smile and a firm handshake. He exudes confidence and assertiveness. He loves to play golf, just as you do. And, it turns out, he even graduated from the same college. The candidate makes such a good first impression that you can’t help but like the guy. But as you go through the interview, you discover he doesn’t quite have the job skills and aptitude you’re looking for. Nevertheless, you decide to “go with your gut” and extend the candidate an offer.
Free Agents: A Cheaper, Better Way to Staff
By Jay Forte Tuesday Jun 8, 2010My clients keep me tightly connected to the attitudes and challenges in the workplace. And though some clients are rigidly and inexplicably connected to outdated systems and approaches, more are open to new ideas so long as the discussion remains about performance and results (as it always should).