How to Organize and Optimize Your Blog

Got a Company or Personal Blog? Four Tools to Organize and Optimize...

If you're trying to figure out how to make that company blog more than just a chore--check out this article and these tools suggested by business author, Janine Popick:

"At my e-mail marketing company, VerticalResponse, we've got a very active marketing blog that my content team writes, edits and manages. We've got a dozen internal folks and a handful of guest writers, plus a few freelancers contributing content. We post daily and, sometimes, even two to three times a day.
With all that content to manage, I asked our content marketing director how she keeps it all together and consistently delivers quality results. Here are some of her team's favorite tools that your business can start using today:

WordPress, WordPress Editorial Calendar Plugin

About a year ago we did a massive redesign and moved our blog from TypePad to WordPress. (You can choose between WordPress.com which is hosted for you, or WordPress.org which you need to self host or find a third party to host for you.) Ever since we've been lovin' WordPress for its ease of use, cool themes and the massive amount of plugins that allow you to do just about anything you can think of.

Speaking of plugins, because the team has to keep track of daily posts, they recently installed the WordPress Editorial Calendar Plugin.The editorial calendar gives you an overview of your blog and when each post will be published. You can drag and drop to move posts, edit posts right in the calendar, and manage your entire blog.

Cost: Starts at free for WordPress.com and WordPress.org is free without hosting fees.

Evernote

Evernote is an uber, power-packed note-taking app and I wanted to know how my content team was putting it to use. Turns out, they often use Evernote when they're away at conferences and blogging from the event. They use it to write their blog post outlines while listening to speakers, and then later they go back to fill in the details. What's great is that they can quickly copy their post right into WordPress and hit publish.

They also are big fans of the Evernote Web Clipper, which allows you to save anything you see online--including text, links and images--into your Evernote account with a single click. This is really useful when you are gathering ideas, research or curating content.

Cost: Free, or $5 per month for Evernote Premium

Yoast

Every good online marketer and blogger knows that in order to get your content found you need to optimize it for search engines and easy reading by humans. Yoast is a handy WordPress plugin that allows you to do just that. According to their website, "It incorporates everything from a snippet preview and page analysis functionality that helps you optimize your pages content, images titles, meta descriptions and more to XML sitemaps, and loads of optimization options in between."

Don't worry if that's a bunch of lingo you don't quite understand; Yoast will tell you exactly what those terms mean and what to do. You and your team can use the tool to optimize the heck out of your posts to make sure they are found by the search engines. My content team loves Yoast because in just a few seconds they can fill in the fields and see any changes they need to make. Simple and super effective.

Cost: Free

Scribe

Scribe (from the good folks at Copyblogger) helps you deliver the trifecta of content, search and social. According to their website, "Scribe makes content marketing effective and efficient with three essential actionable functions: Research, optimize, and connect."

The first function, research, allows you to do keyword research to see what terms are most popular, as well as how competitive they are. It also lets you optimize your content for sharing. This is really useful for the team to see what conversations are happening around topics they are creating content for, and ensure that what we're producing is shareable. Scribe's optimize and connect features help you build your site authority and Google PageRank, and connects you with other sites that have authority so you can establish relationships with them. It's good stuff when you are trying to get your content to stand out from the masses.

Cost: Ranges from $27-$97 per month based on plan."
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JANINE POPICK is the CEO and founder of VerticalResponse, a leading provider of self-service email and event marketing, online surveys, social media, and direct mail solutions. The company was ranked No. 2,802 on the 2012 Inc. 5000.
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MITTONMedia provides consultation for employee recruitment programs that lower costs and get results. Contact John Mitton for more information.

Use "Doughnut Engagement" for More Effective Recruitment Messaging

How a box of doughnuts can help you recruit higher quality candidates...

One of the ways we help our recruitment clients get better results in a hurry is to remind them to use the strategy of  "Doughnut Engagement." Employers sometimes spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for a corporate branding program. Which is helpful for getting everyone on the same page but can also inadvertently lead to sabotaging recruitment efforts.

Why? 

As a result of gathering up all that employer branding research, subsequent recruitment messages often end up spitting out talking point after talking point focused solely on providing information about the employer.

What's missing?

"Doughnut Engagement"

Someone once wrote, "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." In other words when quality candidates are looking for a change of scenery, one of the most important questions to be answered is "What's In This for Me and My Family?" How will their lives be improved by going to work for you and your company?

Here's where the "Doughnut Engagement" strategy comes in handy. We all have different tastes, right? When you go out to buy a dozen doughnuts, what's most important to you? Knowing everything possible about the bakery or knowing that the bakery will have your favorite flavors of doughnuts in the display case, ready to be consumed?

At MITTONMedia we use in-house surveys to help employers identify which of their  "flavors" seem to be attracting the highest number of quality candidates. The resulting hiring messages then focus almost exclusively on showcasing this "What's In It for Me" information.

Our in-house surveys also check out "flavors" that might be inhibiting results for the recruitment program and try to remove them from the menu as quickly as possible.

When it's time to create your next round of hiring messages, remember to blend employer-of-choice branding information with the strategy of "Doughnut Engagement." Or call in MITTONMedia. We'll bring the coffee.
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MITTONMedia provides consultative services for a number of HR-related areas, including how to design recruitment programs that lower costs and get results. For more information, send an email to MITTONMedia President, John Mitton, at jmitton@mittonmedia.com.

At MITTONMedia, we do the work. You get the results...and quite possibly a promotion!

What is MITTONMedia? See what a recuiter said after seeing results they'd never seen before from a firm like ours

See the results of a self-reflection exercise done my MITTONMedia staffers in Houston after receiving a "Thank You" note from an employer that blew them away:

http://www.mittonmedia.com/mittonmedia-how-employer-client-describeds-mittonmedia

What is MITTONMedia? A recruiter chimes in...

What is MITTONMedia? See the results of a self-reflection exercise by our Houston office after receiving a "Thank You" note that blew us away:

http://www.mittonmedia.com/mittonmedia-how-employer-client-describeds-mittonmedia

Why It's Tough Finding Summer Jobs for Teenagers

Dwindling Summer Jobs for Teenagers 

What kinds of summer jobs did you have as a teenager?  As my own Teen knocked on door after door this summer, I thought back to the jobs I worked as a teenager:

·         Paint & Carpet store

·         Sporting Goods store

·         Working the scale at a gravel pit

·         Paving highways

·         Counter guy at A&W

·         Working the "Pelican Scoop" on board cargo ships at grain elevators in Superior, Wisconsin.(Yes, the same port made famous by Gordon Lightfoot in his song about the doomed Edmund Fitzgerald. Memorable because President Carter had just lifted the Russian grain embargo. I helped load the first Russian freighters. Russian sailors were nice enough but those guys walking around with machine guns were a little intimidating.)

·         Brick layer helper. (Mixed the mud, toted the bricks, and built/tore down the scaffolding.)

Our teen eventually found a job washing dishes, 4p-1a, five days a week at a very popular restaurant in the area. Don't laugh. You should see his paychecks! Was washing dishes his "Dream Job?" No, of course not.

Was washing dishes his "Dream Job?" No, it wasn't. But he quickly realized if he wanted to work then he would have to adjust and downgrade his expectations.

What about the growing number of teenagers who are not as fortunate in landing a summer job? For example, did you know the June, 2013 unemployment for 16-19 year old's was at 26.6 percent. That rate is rivaled only by the worst years of the recent recession. And the number of 16-19 year old's actively looking for work has plummeted during the past ten years, dropping from 44.5% to the current 34.3%

In his article, New Rite of Passage for Teens: Summer Unemployment, author John Zappe writes about what is driving the unemployment numbers for teenagers:

·         Fewer jobs: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report for last month’s employment said 779,000 teens got jobs in June. That’s the second strongest June gain since the recession began in December 2007. But, it is far below the 1.114 million of June 2007.

·         Increased competition from non-traditional sources: At least since the recession, competition for jobs — any job, including those traditionally taken by teenagers — has become more intense. They find themselves being edged out by recent college graduates, retirees needing to supplement their diminished 401(k)s, and by older workers, unemployed by layoffs and mergers.

·         Decline of the American mall: John Challenger, CEO of global research firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, also blames the rise of Internet retailing. “Another trend,” he says that is hurting teen employment, “is the decline of the American mall, which has long been a traditional employer of teenaged summer job seekers. As more and more Americans flock to the internet for their shopping needs, traditional brick and mortar stores are seeing traffic decline along with the need for extra summer employees.”

(Posted by John Zappe, July 10, 2013, on www.ere.net)

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MITTONMedia has taken the employee recruitment industry and changed the dynamics of its hiring and retention programs. Our basic philosophy is to create a dynamic presence for a corporation which reaches and engages fully qualified employed, top shelf employees. MITTONMedia uses multiple forms of media, traditional routes like public and private Career Fairs, and social networks to recruit and staff job opportunities for major corporations.

In addition, our innovative approach has proven to be a great cost-cutter, lowering the price of staff acquisition while raising the quality of candidates.

For more information contact MITTONMedia President, John Mitton, at jmitton@mittonmedia.com. Or call John directly at 832.969.5627.

When does "Employer Branding" get in the way of success?

A corporate employer spends hundreds of thousand of dollars creating a brand message that positions the company as an "Employer of Choice." Do they now get to stand back and enjoy a sharp increase in applicant flow? Not necessarily.

To many HR professionals, "Employer Branding" suggests company-focused messaging:

• "We are the leading provider of widgets for the past 100 years." 
• "We are the giant in our industry. Feel fortunate we invited you to move your career here."
• "We have been named a 'Top 100 Employer' for the past five years running."

What quality candidates are looking for, however, is candidate-focused messaging. They want employer's to answer, "What's In It for Me?" How will life become better if the candidate chooses to move their career to the new employer?

To begin enjoying an increase in your applicant flow, be sure to address some or all of these areas in your hiring messages:

• Work/Life Balance
• Points of Difference. Show candidates things you offer that they cannot get with other employers in the area.
• Commitment to personal and professional growth. Share examples.
• Show me the money! If you are not a top salary provider then share examples of how the company compensates in other ways, like flexible scheduling, enhanced benefits package, or rapid advancement.

 You don't always need hundreds of thousands of dollars to engage quality candidates. Just show them how much you care.

What's Wrong With Kids Today?!

medialifemagazine.com

Rachel speaks!


Rachel, what's wrong with kids today?


By Rachel Mar 5, 2010 - 1:03:28 AM


Dear Rachel,

Maybe I’m over-reacting because I haven’t done this for a while, but what is wrong with today’s kids? Over the past couple of months I’ve been called to talk to young people applying for jobs in media at our agency because the person who usually does this is out on maternity leave. Some of the young people I meet are impressive but too many are on the moon. They don’t come prepared for the interview, and they don’t really seem to care what sort of impression they make. It’s as if they are doing me a favor by showing up. Some are downright arrogant. I wouldn’t hire any of them. What gives? Sign me, Beaned in Boston

Dear Beaned,

I will jump to their defense, if briefly.

These days I don’t think young people have the work experience behind them that kids of earlier generations had, like summer jobs and part-time work in college. So I think when they go looking for that first job they suffer from a lot of misconceptions about how they should present themselves.

They think they must come across as self-assured, and too often the result is to appear arrogant.

But I think another problem is that many have come out of college media programs where they think they learned everything there is to know about media. When they get to the interview they want you to know just what they know. So they chatter on, and you have to listen.

In their defense, I think they’re probably pretty good kids beneath the bluster.

How do you handle them in the interview?

I think you should be polite but very firm about what the agency expects of people it hires. See if they’re listening. If they are, it’s a good sign.

I also think you need to take control of the conversation. Don’t let them talk on.

Ultimately, your goal is to filter out the ringers to get to those who would make good hires for your agency. As soon as you realize the person you are talking to is not going to make the cut, move to end the interview with a few polite comments along the lines of we’ll call if we have something that’s right for you.

You may go through dozens of such interviews before you find your person, which might seem like a lot of time better spent doing more worthwhile things. But it’s a good investment of time if the person you settle on is a good hire.

If you don’t find that person after dozens of interviews, you may want to widen your net.
The one mistake you do not want to make it is to hire that person who’s the best of a bad lot, the least annoying of a not very promising set of candidates. If you have doubts about that person in your first meeting, you need to trust your gut and take a pass.

You can’t hire weak candidates and shape them into good workers. It doesn’t happen. Trust me. I know.



© 2010 Media Life

How To Become A SUCCESSFUL Corporate Recruiter!

How do you go from being a corporate recruiter to a SUCCESSFUL corporate recruiter?

You have to break the rules! Lou Adler says you have to break the rules because the old rules don’t work anymore.

Some of Lou’s thoughts:

1. Stop using traditional job descriptions when taking an assignment from a hiring manager. Instead find out what the person needs to do to ace the performance review. These are the same performance objectives  provided to new hires during the onboarding process, so it makes sense to use the same approach when defining the new job. Also, by clarifying job objectives up- front you get buy-in from the hiring manager, the interviewing team, and the candidates before the person is hired. This list of performance objectives is called a performance profile.

2. Don't allow candidates to decide if they’re interested in the job. Instead you determine if you're interested in them. To pull this off, you need to be a bit vague about the job, move a bit slower, and get the candidate to describe his or her background first. If you determine the job represents a real career move, you can then reel the person in. If not, you can get some great referrals by asking the person about some of their LinkedIn connections.

3. Dump traditional behavioral event interviewing since, according to Lou, it doesn't help hire better people or more accurately assess the candidate’s ability to ace the performance review. To replace it, try these two foolproof questions that will enable you  to defend your candidates from managers who are superficial interviewers, including those who still use behavioral event interviewing.

Lou says, "One of the questions involves getting a very detailed example for each of the performance objectives listed on the performance profile. This generally takes 15-20 minutes each and we assign each interviewer a few to dig into. We then share this evidence in a formal debriefing session when evaluating the candidate. This process naturally eliminates the superficial thumbs-up or down voting process, by going narrow and deep rather than broad and shallow when conducting the interview."

4. Don't use KSAs (knowledge, skills, and abilities) and competency models when screening candidates. Part of the problem here is hiring the supposedly “well-qualified” person who doesn’t want to do the work required, or doesn’t fit too well with the hiring manager, team or company culture. The other problem is eliminating great people with a slightly different mix of KSAs who are demonstrated top performers. Many of these are vets and diverse candidates who have non-traditional backgrounds, so this opens up a new pool of top performers for us.

For an example of how this works, just consider all of your best employees who get promoted internally or transferred to bigger jobs. They all have less of the K and S, and more of the A, M (motivation to do the work listed on the performance profile) and T (ability to work with and influence comparable team members). During the phone screen have the candidates describe their most significant accomplishment. I then look at what KSAs, behaviors, and competencies they used to accomplish these results. Surprisingly, some of the best people have far less experience than would have been expected given their performance. These are the high performers you present to your clients.

5. Don't sell candidates on the job; have them sell you. During the screening and interviewing process, look for career gaps and voids between the candidate’s major accomplishments and the performance objectives listed on the performance profile (e.g., scope, span of control, budget, impact). Ask candidates to tell you about comparable accomplishments they’ve handled that required them to stretch themselves. You learn a great deal about a candidate this way, and in the process of convincing you that their qualified, they’re also convincing themselves that this job offers a real career move. This not only makes the compensation less important, but it also allows the candidate to convince his or her friends and family that your position offers the most upside potential among other competing opportunities.

So there you have it. Be prepared to break the rules and, in the process, you'll hire more great people than ever before. If you want more ideas from a fresh perspective send us an email at info@mittonmedia.com.

Obama Regulates Away Jobs

To read the article, just click on the title.

Then share your thoughts, opinions and comments.

It's Time To Elevate Entrepreneurs

Given recent shock waves heard around the nation, thanks to a Special Election in the Northeast, we are sharing a few articles with opinions about creating jobs and reducing unemployment.

To read the article, simply click on the title. Your comments and suggestions are welcome.

Top 10 Phone Sourcing Rules

 By Maureen Sharib, January 13, 2010

People would rather focus on phone sourcing’s sister cousin, Internet sourcing, than telephone sourcing. Phone sourcing still seems scary to most; after all, a keyboard and computer screen don’t talk back to you and stymie you in your efforts at seeking information. This reluctance is becoming today a not-so-subtle avoidance issue and hiring managers are noticing and demanding more.

With that in mind, I’m in the process of finishing a Telephone Names Sourcing Rule Book. So far I have 46 rules. The following that are the 10 rules that, so far, I see as the “top.” Feel free to add yours!

Rule #1: Say hello and state your name.

When the Receptionist Gatekeeper answers, she usually says her name. Make that your cue to say your own.
“Hello, Anne, this is Maureen Sharib. Can you…”

Rule #2: Repeat her name back to her.

“Hello, Anne, this is Maureen Sharib. Can you please transfer me…?”
It’s said that a person’s name is the most beautiful sound (to that person) in a person’s language. It’s also the beginning of the knowledge exchange and capture.

Rule #3: Ask for one thing at a time.

Do not overwhelm her. Keep it simple.
“Hello, Anne, this is Maureen Sharib. Can you please transfer me to the Director of Risk Management?” asks one question and is easy to cope with. Think of her as a child and give her one instruction at a time.
Asking several questions/giving her too much information in one hurried onslaught will turn her off, sending up her defenses and more than likely cause her to turn you away.

Rule #4: Don’t lie.

“Hello, Anne, this is Maureen Sharib. My boss is on a deadline and he talked to your Director of Risk Management last week about a possible project but I’ve lost his name and I need to address correspondence today or I’m going to lose my job and I don’t want to lose my job! “Who is your Director of Risk Management?” does little more than open you up to something cold from Anne like this:
“We don’t have a Director of Risk Management and haven’t for a long time.”

You want to go there? This takes us to the next rule:

Rule #5: Listen and hear what’s in the Gatekeeper’s voice.

You have a few seconds to decide your tack when she answers. A Gatekeeper’s voice will tell you many things if you’re listening. Many times it will reveal if she’s young, middle-aged, or older. This information can speak to her level of maturity and experience on the phone. You can hear frustration, resentment, and hastiness in a person’s voice as well as happiness, patience and serenity. Having her speak first when she answers is a monumental advantage in phone sourcing that gives you a superior couple-second position to choose your approach.

“ABC Corporation. It’s cold, icy, and snowy here in Minneapolis today, Anne speaking — may I help you?” exclaimed chirpily might tell you Anne is a young and energetic Gatekeeper who doesn’t mind repeating all that yadda-yadda each and every time she answers the phone, but at some point, you have to think it gets old. It could be presenting an “ice-breaking” opportunity though:

“Hi Anne, this is Maureen. Wow, that’s a mouthful. I hope you’re staying warm!”
Anne: “Oh I am! It was really cold though when I came in this morning — they turned the heat down over the weekend — can you imagine?”
Maureen: “I had a boss that did that once. Nobody wanted to be first in the office in the morning. Consequently nobody came in before 10. He got the message.”
Anne: “I guess there’s more than one way to skin a cat!”

That above is pretty close to an actual conversation I had in the past, and afforded an opportunity to move to the next phase of my call as if we were old girlfriends with no secrets between us. I forget what was obtained out of her on that call, but rest assured it was probably pretty powerful and fruitful information!

It can go the other way though:
“ABC Corporation. It’s cold, icy, and snowy here in Minneapolis today, Anne speaking — may I help you?” said listlessly might say Anne is older and weary of repeating that mantra each and every time she answers the phone. That too, can be worked to an advantage:

“Hi Anne, this is Maureen. Wow, that’s a mouthful. You have to say all that each and every time you answer?”
Anne: “Yeah, can you believe it? It gets old but they insist…”
Maureen: “Anne, I’m trying to reach the Director of Risk Management — can you direct me?”
Anne: “Yeah! He’s onea’ the ones who insists I say all that! Don’t tell him I said anything!”
Maureen: “You’d think he’d know better! Don’t worry, Anne, I won’t say a word!”

That too comes close to a conversation (or two/change the locale/weather conditions) that I’ve had with Gatekeepers. Once again the manner in which I interacted with her set the tone for the level of cooperation she gave me. Remember, a Gatekeeper’s reality may not be what you think it is or anywhere aligned at all to your own.

There’s another not-so-pleasing way it can go as well:

“ABC Corporation. It’s cold, icy, and snowy here in Minneapolis today, Anne speaking — may I help you?” repeated tonelessly can indicate hostility and an uncooperative Gatekeeper. It’s usually best to just get down to business:
“Hello, Anne, this is Maureen Sharib. Can you please transfer me to the Director of Risk Management?”
Anne: “No.”
Maureen: “No?”
Anne: “We have a no-names policy here. I don’t have titles here at the front desk — you need a name to be transferred. Do you have a name?”
Maureen: “Well, yes, Anne, I do have a name. Can you please transfer me to Jim Maloney?”
Anne: “He’s not the Director of Risk Management.”
(And she said she only had names at the front desk? Be aware that most Gatekeepers lie as one of their job functions. It’s a shame really. Most of them don’t like it and as a result resent having to do it.)
Maureen: “I know, but I thought maybe he could help me. Can you transfer me please?”
Anne: “What is it you need?”

Now at this point handling Anne gets tricky. I know I probably have an angry/resistant/hostile/burned-out Gatekeeper on my hands and I have a few choices here. I can either strong-arm her by insisting she send me on to Jim without stating my business, but that’s probably not going to work.

I can also excuse myself from the conversation and say something akin to: “Maybe I have the wrong information — let me check my notes and get back to you,” and quickly hang up the phone before she has a chance to say anything and this isn’t a bad tack to take with hostile or resistant Gatekeepers because if she is like this, chances are you’re not going to get a lot further anyway.

This high-risk/low-return scenario doesn’t appeal to me (usually) but if I got up on the wrong side of the bed that day I might pressingly say: “Anne, are you going to transfer me or not?” which is probably going to be met with the “not” ultimatum and is the main reason I rarely challenge Gatekeepers. Sometimes harsh, gruff words precede surrender in life but it takes a lot of emotional stamina to play that psychological guilt game with her.

I look for low-risk/high-return situations, so in most of these unpleasant situations I just get off the phone as quickly and painlessly as possible. When I first started names sourcing I was told the following and startling truth:
“It’s just a phone. If you freak out, Maureen, just hang up!”

And it’s usually what I do, though I try to do it with some grace. Some phone sourcers just hang up. That’s not very nice and might close off further chances of communication with her on a day she may be feeling better. I try not to burn bridges. I prefer to save my strength for opportunities when they present themselves. They always do if I’m patient and persevere.

This rule is so long because it’s very important. It leads us into the next rule, which is:

Rule #6: Never, ever, ever argue with the Gatekeeper.

It’s almost a 100% bet you’re not going to change her mind, so allow her to have her way with you. After she’s done this a couple times and you’ve obediently followed her “suggestions” she’ll feel an investment (of her time) in your progress. Because she is investing her time she is likely to become more, if not very, helpful at some point allowing you to begin directing her actions. This is when you gain the upper hand.

Rule #7: Understand that phone sourcing may not, and very well might not, be your cup of tea.

Phone sourcing, in general, calls for a personality type that:
• Is in tune with their senses — uses internal feelings to deal with the outside world
• Is likely to be quiet and reserved — difficult to know well but may appear warm and sensitive — an enigma
• Has an interest in contributing to other’s sense of well-being and happiness — are service-oriented
• Grasps intuitively information that belongs or doesn’t belong
• Are attuned to underlying meanings
• Is not easily led or controlled
• Requires personal space — are independent and original
• Can work with subtle differences in the personalities of others
• Are usually penetratingly accurate in assessments of other’s personalities
• Are action-oriented “doers” easily bored with theory unless it holds practical application
• Make value judgments based on strong, subjective beliefs
• May be harsh, self-judging perfectionists
• Is spontaneous/impulsive and can lose selves in action — acting soberly and intensely in the here and now sometimes with little to no planning or preparation appearing to be caught in a whirlwind driven by some inner compass
• Is gentle toward others, showing consideration through action rather than words
• Do not often express themselves verbally, allowing their body of work to speak for them; this seems odd in light of the work but when you observe a good phone sourcer in action you are impressed with how little he says
• Are competitive
• Learn through enjoyable experiences
• Is optimistic

Rule #8: Lose the stinkin’ thinkin’.

Anticipate reactions and prepare your own but don’t expect defeat. Be decisive. Be bold. If you can’t lose the negativity, seek professional help. There’s medicine available.

Rule #9: Be humble.

It’s one of the main lessons in life for being successful. I learned this one the hard way! Embrace your foibles. They’re what make you human. Laugh at yourself often and at others never.

Rule #10: Give back.

Take the time to help others who want to learn. You’ll come across them and they will teach you far more than what you can ever teach them. Believe me.

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7 Things You Should Communicate

One of the biggest elephants in the room is that once hiring starts to pick up again, experts predict there is going to be massive turnover. There are several factors contributing to the turnover including employees who, despite holding on to their jobs during the recession, feeling that they were/are overworked, under paid and under appreciated.

From personal observation, what is striking to me is that many hiring managers, HR Directors and even presidents of companies do not yet seem to feel the urgency to deal with the pending turnover crisis NOW. To believe that your current employees will remain loyal because they kept their jobs is, well it's crazy to think that way because it's not true. You need to be taking immediate steps to put a retention plan in place that will help you hang on to your best employees as well as attract good employees from other companies once the "jumping" begins.

How do you take the first step in putting a solid retention plan in place?  Call MITTONMedia at 281-242-4473. Or send me an email at jmitton@mittonmedia.com. We'll do the work. You'll get the credit.

Here is a great "thought-starter" article posted today by Stephen Balzac:

"It’s not enough to say that if you want to keep the best people when the economy improves, you just need to communicate more. It matters what you say and how and when you say it. Communication occurs in the context that you’ve created over time, and how your communications will be received will depend a great deal on that context. If you want to keep your best people, then you need to do your homework. (Or, conversely, if you want to recruit someone else’s key people, find companies that did not do the homework suggested in this article.)

Fortunately, it isn’t terribly difficult to communicate better. It does, however, require recognizing that emotion, not logic, is the driving force, and it requires starting now — not next week, next month, or next year. If you wait until people are leaving, it’s too late.

So how do you highlight someone’s contributions? I offer more, detailed suggestions in the Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership, but for now, I suggest the following in brief.

Take the opportunity to praise them in public. Note that this does not mean comparing them to others on the team; that only creates resentment and embarrassment for all concerned. Talk about the importance of the effort they’ve put in, and find small ways of demonstrating your appreciation. It doesn’t have to be fancy, especially in a time of tight budgets. Honest appreciation goes a long way.

The next step in keeping people is to make sure that their contributions are not just recognized, but are also important. Visible contributions that are not valued by the company are not going to be very compelling. Likewise, contributions that someone does not perceive as important will not serve to keep them at the company.

A cousin of mine worked for NASA in the early 1970s. He was part of the team designing the space shuttle. Due to security issues, he and his team had no idea what part of the shuttle they were working on; it was the quintessential “clean room” project, where they would be given instructions and specifications, but no context. When the day of the grand unveiling arrived, he found out that he had been designing the door lock. He walked out of the unveiling and out of NASA.

If you want to keep someone, make sure you frequently highlight how their work fits into the long-term vision of the company. Help them see that their work matters to the team and the company. Build a sense of partnership and status. They’re not a hired mercenary; they’re a trained professional providing valuable services. Again, demonstrate appreciation whenever possible. Find ways to reward people for their efforts, but don’t make the rewards the point of the work.

Make people feel competent and appreciated. No one likes being reminded of embarrassing incidents, of failures, of things that didn’t work out well. On the flip side, practically everyone loves to be reminded of successes. As the old saying goes: nothing succeeds like success. As the lesser-known corollary goes, nothing keeps people at your company from leaving like the feeling that they’re in an environment where they’ll be successful.

Although the corollary lacks the pithy ring of the original saying, it is nonetheless valid. Create an environment where people can see their own competence and measure their own success toward creating something larger than themselves, and you’ve gone a long way toward keeping them at your company. And, of course, providing opportunities for growth also helps build that feeling of competence and further increases the attractiveness of staying. An additional side effect is that the more competent people feel, the more secure they feel. The more secure they feel, the harder it is for someone else to pry them away.

So yes, in the end it really is all about communications, provided that you are communicating the right things.

Think about how you are communicating the following things:
• Your recognition of the contributions of your employees
• Your appreciation for their contributions and the personal sacrifices they are making
• Your own enthusiasm, excitement, and positive vision of the company and its future
• The goals of the company and how each employee fits into bringing those goals to life
• The common ground and ideals that will unify your team
• The information your employees need to work and grow most effectively
• The feedback that will make your employees feel successful

If you can address those seven points, odds are you’ll keep your top people as the economy improves."
________________________________________
Source: December 30, 2009 http://www.ere.net

Federal Employees Make 30% More Than Private Sector

Just for Fun: A Test of Your "Morals"

You are driving down the road in your 2-seater sports car on a wild,
stormy night, when you pass by a bus stop and see three people waiting for the bus:


1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.


2. An old friend who once saved your life.


3. The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.


Which one would you choose to offer a ride to knowing that there could
only be one passenger in your car?


Think before you continue reading...


This is a moral/ethical dilemma that was once actually used as part of a
job application.

You could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus you
should save her first.

Or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and
this would be the perfect chance to pay him back.

However, you may never be able to find your perfect mate again.


YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS....................


The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble coming
up with his answer.

He simply answered: 'I would give the car keys to my old friend and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the partner of my dreams.'

Sometimes, we gain more if we are able to give up our stubborn thought
limitations.

Never forget to, "Think Outside of the Box."

Who Creates Jobs?

Who Creates Jobs?
By John Stossel, December 3, 2009

Today, the White House holds its “Jobs Summit” stunt. It’s typical Washington-think: Assemble interest groups and concoct special tax credits and handouts to the politically connected. What conceit. The political class think that economies revolve around them, that Washington makes things happen, that politicians are the most important players.

Today’s Washington Post [1] suggests that the way to create jobs is public spending by the federal government:

Obama's options are limited, as the administration already has signaled that it is unwilling to make any investments that would add significantly to the nation's ballooning deficit.

At least the Administration talks about the private sector:

"We want to make sure it is not just the public sector doing this in a vacuum," said Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama. "It's important we engage the private sector as well." Administration officials, however, have excluded major trade associations from the summit... .

Some of those groups privately complain that their job creation ideas, including enactment of stalled free trade deals that they say would boost exports, are opposed by labor unions, which will be heavily represented at the forum.

The White House, which has clashed with some of the business groups over their opposition to health-care reform and other initiatives, says it has met repeatedly with those organizations and wants to hear fresh ideas.

Yes. I am sure those "fresh ideas" will come from the trade unions whom the White House just hasn't heard from much over the past year. At the summit they will also hear from environmental groups “Green for All” and “Coalition for the Green Bank.” I’m sure they’ll have great ideas for job creation.

Will at least some free-market economists get to speak? No. The White House will hear from Paul Krugman, Joe Stiglitz, and Jeffrey Sachs. "Fresh ideas" won’t be heard from these folks.

They and the political class can’t imagine a decentralized world where good things happen…without them. But in the real world, that’s exactly how good things happen, and how jobs are created.

When government sets simple rules that everyone understands and then gets out of the way, free people create jobs.

Hong Kong demonstrates this. Last century, Hong Kong was third world poor. 50 years ago, its citizens’ average income was under $700 [2] (in today’s dollars) per year. Today, it’s $43,800 [3]. Hong Kong got rich because Hong Kong’s rulers, stuffy British bureaucrats, practiced what I’ll call “benign neglect”: they enforced rule of law—kept people from stealing from each other, or killing each other--- but then sat around and drank tea. They left people alone, and free people, left alone, created prosperity.

America’s founders did the same thing. The Constitution announced that American would be a country of limited government. That provided the simple and understandable rules that allowed America to grow into the richest country ever.

Today’s political class thinks that they can improve on that, but they can’t. Their micromanagement kills jobs. When Washington threatens to drastically change the rules of the game with health care mandates, cap and trade, financial regulation, a second stimulus, and (of course) a "jobs bill", the private sector can't make investments with any confidence. At least the Post quoted one businessman who said Washington should stop fiddling:

Peter Y. Solmssen, interim U.S. chief executive of Siemens Corp., a German conglomerate, said fixed policies would help businesses, large and small. "We both need a certain amount of certainty, which gives us the opportunity and capability to plan."

(Editor's Note: What do you think? Who should create the jobs and how should they be created?)

WH Job Summit

How do you feel about a Job Summit with 130 CEOs, local politicians, and academics?  Not one Small Business person in the group, yet Small Businesses create most of the jobs in this country.

What do you think?

What Job Seekers Can Expect in 2010

By LIZ WOLGEMUTH (U.S. News & World Report)
Posted: November 11, 2009

President Obama summed up the precarious nature of today's economy and job market in a recent interview with ABC's Jake Tapper. "Now that we've rescued the economy and the economy is growing," Obama said, "businesses aren't yet hiring." Indeed, it's strange to see a "rescued" economy in which nearly 16 million unemployed face a paltry 2.5 million openings each month. Employers have not stopped cutting jobs, and the unemployment rate soared to 10.2 percent last month.

With 2010 just around the corner, everyone is crossing their fingers for a better year. Here are a few things you can expect:

Washington will keep trying to create jobs:

The gross domestic product climbed 3.5 percent in the third quarter, while payrolls continued to fall. This is no doubt proof of the rule that employment is a lagging indicator. But some economists see it as particularly lagging at this point. The Conference Board's employment trends index, which takes into account eight labor market indicators, rose in October. It was the second consecutive month of growth. (September's rise had been the first since January 2008.) The index numbers suggest job losses would end by early next year, and "that's a very optimistic statement compared to the consensus at this point," says Gad Levanon, senior economist at the Conference Board.

When the private sector isn't creating jobs, government tends to step in by lowering taxes, creating incentives, or spending to spur hiring. President Obama signed a bill providing another federally funded unemployment extension Friday and said he would likely do more: "My economic team is looking at ideas such as additional investments in our aging roads and bridges, incentives to encourage families and businesses to make buildings more energy-efficient, additional tax cuts for businesses to create jobs, additional steps to increase the flow of credit to small businesses, and an aggressive agenda to promote exports and help American manufacturers sell their products around the world." The White House has stopped short of calling these tools "stimulus." On Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told colleagues Tuesday that Senate Democrats would take up a bill aimed at job creation, but did not elaborate on its details, according to the Hill.

The deficit will begin to weigh on Washington's efforts to create jobs:

While the president laid out a lengthy menu of possible job-creation tools, he is receiving no small amount of pressure to begin tackling the deficit. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is the most powerful voice among many pushing Obama in that direction. The president says that he is beginning to look at the fiscal 2011 budget and that he understands the nation's long-term debt is a problem. While unemployment is clearly a nearer-term problem, deficit concerns will weigh on each decision. Countries that buy American debt could begin to demand higher returns. To pay higher yields on debt, the government would be forced to raise interest rates, a situation that could endanger the fledgling recovery.

Unemployment will peak next year:

By and large, economists do not believe the unemployment rate will tick downward in November or December. Instead, they expect a peak sometime next year. Even the Congressional Budget Office is anticipating an average unemployment rate of 10.2 percent in 2010 and about a percentage point lower in 2011.

Unemployment will likely fall by the end of next year—or even toward the middle of next year—but even the most bullish economists do not anticipate major drops in the unemployment rate. Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein of First Trust Advisors are expecting a drop of a full percentage point. The Conference Board's Levanon says he expects the unemployment rate to remain elevated over the next several years.

Productivity will, eventually, help boost employment:

Productivity grew at a 9.5 percent annual rate last quarter. Americans were working hard. Labor productivity is measured by dividing output by hours worked. In the third quarter, output rose by 4 percent while the number of hours worked fell by 5 percent. This can make people nervous, because employers are doing more with less and would seem to have no incentive to increase their payrolls. But productivity numbers during downturns "do all sorts of strange things," says Dean Baker, codirector of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. And they can look very good after employers cut payrolls.

A longer purview shows productivity to be a very positive thing for employment. Productivity allows more to be produced with less capital. "The increased productivity of capital raises the supply of other kinds of capital that contributes to a growth in the earnings of workers," says Gary Becker, an economist at the University of Chicago. "In the very short run, productivity improvements are associated with rising unemployment and reduced employment, but in the somewhat longer run it will raise the demand for workers and earnings."

(Editor's Note: Let us hear your opinion. Should we be dependent on the government creating jobs for people or should steps be taken that will allow the private sector to create the jobs?)

California Was Among States With Record Unemployment

By Courtney Schlisserman, Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) --

California, Delaware, South Carolina and Florida registered record rates of unemployment in October as weakness in the labor market stretches from coast to coast and limits the economic recovery.

Joblessness rose in 29 U.S. states last month compared with 22 in September, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Michigan had the highest jobless rate at 15.1 percent, followed by Nevada at 13 percent and Rhode Island at 12.9 percent.

The national rate last month reached a 26-year high of 10.2 percent, weighing on consumer spending that accounts for about 70 percent of the economy. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Nov. 17 that joblessness “likely will decline only slowly,” a reason policy makers will keep interest rates near zero to ensure growth is sustained.

“We’ve had a surprisingly sharp jump in the jobless rate,” said Richard DeKaser, president of Woodley Park Research in Washington. “Businesses have truly been doing an extraordinary job of wringing out productivity from the labor force.”

Stocks fell for a third day, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declining 0.3 percent to 1,091.38 at 4:03 p.m. in New York. Dell Inc., the third-largest maker of personal computers, dropped 10 percent after reporting a 54 percent drop in profit.
Declines in 13 States

The unemployment rate fell in 13 states, including Massachusetts, where it declined to 8.9 percent from 9.3 percent; New Hampshire, with a drop to 6.8 percent from 7.2 percent; and West Virginia, which fell to 8.5 percent from 8.9 percent.

The number of states with at least 10 percent unemployment held at 14 last month, the Labor Department’s report showed. The states reporting a record jobless rate were California at 12.5 percent, South Carolina at 12.1 percent, Florida at 11.2 percent and Delaware at 8.7 percent. The District of Columbia also set a high with an 11.9 percent rate.

“Virtually every sector aside from the health-care sector is losing jobs,” said Sean Snaith, University of Central Florida economist in Orlando. “Housing has been central to Florida’s economic story throughout the entire cycle. Unfortunately, it has spread well beyond the sectors directly involved in the housing market.”

President Barack Obama on Nov. 6 signed into law a plan to extend jobless benefits, expand a tax credit for first-time homebuyers and provide tax refunds to money-losing companies. The measure gives jobless people as many as 20 additional weeks of unemployment assistance.

The president has also announced plans to convene a jobs summit at the White House next month.

State Payrolls

Payrolls declined last month in 21 states, today’s report showed. New York showed the biggest drop, with a loss of 15,300. Florida had 8,500 job losses, followed by Georgia with 7,500 and Virginia with 7,100.

“When you apply for a job, because there are so many other people looking for jobs, you have to be the absolute perfect candidate and lucky, or be someone’s brother-in-law, to get a job,” said Mary Kough of Tellico Plains, Tennessee. “In this economy there are very few jobs for which to even apply.”

Kough has been looking for work for four months, applying for as many as 25 positions. She’s been interviewed once. The 47-year-old said she has about 20 years of experience, including jobs as a customer service manager, supervisor and purchasing agent. Tennessee’s unemployment rate held at 10.5 percent in October, the Labor Department’s report showed.

Taking Comfort

“I try not to get discouraged,” Kough said. “I know that you will get a certain percentage of what you apply for, and since there are less jobs to apply for, I know it will just take a little longer. I take comfort in knowing that. I have faith.”

Applied Materials Inc. is among companies still planning to cut jobs. The world’s biggest maker of chip equipment, based in Santa Clara, California, said Nov. 11 it plans to eliminate as many as 1,500 positions within 18 months.

Over the last year, California showed the biggest loss of jobs, with payrolls falling by 687,700 workers, today’s report showed.

Nationally, payrolls fell by 190,000 in October, the Labor Department said Nov. 6. The U.S. has lost 7.3 million jobs since the start of the recession in December 2007, the most of any downturn since the Great Depression.

Other measures corroborate that while firms are firing fewer workers, it is harder for the unemployed to find work. The number of people getting extended payments jumped in the week ended Oct. 31 even as the number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits held at a 10-month low last week, according to government data released yesterday.

8 Lessons from Real-Life Career Switchers

by Kerry Hannon | Nov 11, 2009 |

When Lisa Eaves decided to make a mid-career switch from working as a tech specialist for Fannie Mae to opening her own acupuncture practice five years ago, it was a risky move, but not a rash one.

During treatment for melanoma several years earlier, Eaves, 51, had become fascinated with Chinese medicine. And she also began realizing that technology work, while financially rewarding, was not something she was passionate about. “I felt it was time to explore other lines of work, and my health scare gave me that push,” Eaves says. So she enrolled in night and weekend classes while she worked and eventually got a Master's degree in acupuncture before starting her practice part-time.

Eaves had time on her side, and ideally, so will you. But if a layoff or a shrinking industry has left you little choice but to find another line of work, there’s still plenty you can do to prepare and make that transition as smooth and successful as possible. According to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey, one-third of American workers are interested in changing careers right now. Here are eight rules for doing it right.

1. Dig Inside for an Honest Appraisal

While it’s obviously crucial to match your next job or career to your interests,that can be easier said than done. You may have been working in the same field for years — or even decades — making it hard to get a good idea of what else you’re suited for.

To help you get started, check out free self-assessment quizzes at Careerpath.com and Monster.com. You can find more detailed personality tests — such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Strong Interest Inventory, and the Work-Personality Index — for a fee at What’s Next.

Beverly Jones, a 53-year-old corporate lawyer and vice president of external affairs and policy at Consolidated Natural Gas, accepted a modest early-retirement package. Her second-act plan was to get involved in landscape design, since gardening was one of her passions.

But she soon found that it didn’t make sense as a career choice. As a hobby, gardening was the perfect antidote to a busy career, but the solitary nature of the work made it a lousy full-time gig. She thrived on social contact. The good news: Jones had another skill — mentoring — that met all her requirements for a rewarding second career.

While remaining loosely associated with a law firm and lobbying for a nonprofit, she studied and obtained a Leadership Coaching Certificate from Georgetown University. She also attended career workshops, hired her own career coach, and read extensively about the field. Roughly six months later, she launched her own coaching/consulting practice in Washington. “In time, I began to find my own voice as a coach and felt confident I was doing what I was meant to do,” Jones says.

2. Get the Skills You Need Before You Leave Your Job

If at all possible, keep your current job while you add the education you need for your new pursuit so that you can reduce your financial burden. Under federal law, employers can offer up to $5,250 a year in tax-free education-assistance benefits for undergraduate or graduate courses. You don’t even need to be working toward a degree. Your employer, however, may require you to receive a minimum grade or to complete a program to be eligible for reimbursement. You may also need to stay employed by your company for a period of time after completing the course of study. And some employers even offer these benefits to laid-off former employees.

When mortgage banker Cliff Stevenson, 55, decided to become a high-school social-studies teacher a few years ago, he took night courses for two years to get a master’s degree in education before he resigned from his firm. Since he had an undergraduate degree in history, all he needed were seven additional courses in education to be certified as a social-studies teacher in Pennsylvania. “I started planning years before I switched careers,” Stevenson says. “My wife and I thought carefully about the financial aspects, and I set a target date that I would leave the mortgage-banking business, which allowed me to go to school and stuff away as much money as I could.” Unplanned bonus: He got out of mortgage banking just before the industry fell off a cliff.

3. Take Advantage of Education Tax Breaks

If you need to ramp up your skills with a degree or additional classwork, the tuition tab can be onerous. Stevenson’s total cost for a master’s degree in education, for instance, was $35,000. Depending on your income, though, you might qualify for various tax credits, such as the lifetime learning credit, worth up to $2,000 each year for an unlimited number of years that can be used for tuition and fees. The credit has an income phaseout for 2009 incomes from $50,000 to $60,000 (single filer) or $100,000 to $120,000 (married filing jointly). These phaseouts are indexed for inflation.

4. Apply for Student Aid

Financial aid isn’t just for undergrads — anyone can get low-cost student loans from the government, even if you’re only attending part-time. Acupuncturist Eaves was able to borrow $10,500 to help with her $26,000 tuition using low-interest Stafford loans, the main federal loan for students. Graduate Stafford loans currently charge a fixed rate of 6.8 percent, compared with about 8 percent for a home-equity loan.

The good news is that the federal aid formulas that determine how much you can borrow don’t take into account your home-equity or retirement accounts. Also, a certain amount of your savings — about $20,000 to over $60,000, depending on your age and marital status — are not calculated into your aid formula. And your student-loan interest may even be tax deductible, depending on your income level. You can get more information on what’s deductible from IRS Publication 970, as well as from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators’ Tax Benefits Guide.

In addition, there are a number of research scholarships and grants available specifically for older students that are offered by different associations and foundations. Check out sites such as FastWeb and FinAid to find what’s available.

5. Consider Moving to Reduce Costs

The reality is that you will probably have to take a salary cut when you move into a new career, so it might make sense to look for work in an area where the cost of living is lower.

Tim Sheerer, 48, moved from an expensive northern New Jersey suburb, where he had commuted to work on Wall Street as an investment banker, to Pittsburgh, when he decided to enter the restaurant business and open an Italian bistro. The cost of living there — about one-third lower — allowed him the cushion to get his restaurant up and running without undue financial pressure.

Of course, that sort of uprooting is a little more complicated if you have a family to consider. For Sheerer, he couldn’t have done it without getting the green light from his wife, Colleen, and four children, who all pitch in at the restaurant.

6. Train While You Work

When Seattle human resources pro Arlene Carter lost her job, a friend told her about an executive fundraising job at a local assisted-living community. The job duties combined fundraising, public relations, and marketing. Carter figured she didn’t have quite the right skills for the job, but she went for the interview anyway. As it turned out, the hiring manager for the nonprofit foundation liked her and offered to shell out a few grand to help her to earn a certificate in fundraising from Indiana University-Purdue University.

It may be hard to believe, but there are some fields, particularly in the health care sector, where there’s a shortage of workers, so employers are willing to help train employees who have the overall skill set and personality to do a job but need to bone up on the nuts and bolts. “The kind of work I did in human resources and what you do in public relations is actually pretty close,” says Carter. “And because it was a hybrid job, it was a little easier to make the stretch.”

Fields such as nursing, eldercare, and home health services are particularly amenable to on-the-job training, says Ellen Freudenheim, author of The Boomers’ Guide to Good Work.

7. Downsize Your Lifestyle

When you’re new to a profession, you usually can’t expect to pull in the big bucks until you ramp up your skills and gain experience. So get a clear handle on your finances, and start to look for places to cut spending. Ask what luxuries you can do without, from dining out to dry cleaning. And set aside a cushion of up to six months of living expenses to ease transition costs, as well as for unexpected emergencies. Before she left Fannie Mae, Eaves, for instance, refinanced her condo to lower her monthly mortgage payment and paid off her car loan.

Arlene Carter had to take a 15 percent pay cut for her new position, but she’s taken it in stride. For starters, she now commutes just one mile to work as opposed to 30 minutes to her ex-employer’s office, which helps her save on gas and wear and tear on her car. She and her husband also found ways to trim monthly expenses by cutting channel options for their cable-TV service and reducing the number of minutes available on their cell phones. They make a habit of opting for home-cooked meals, and her new work environment’s casual dress policy means lower wardrobe bills. “I don’t even notice the pay cut,” Carter says.

8. Get Your Foot in the Door

It’s critical to soak up as much as you can about the businesses that appeal to you before you make the plunge. So do informational interviews with people who work in those fields, apply for internships or fellowships, and consider volunteering or moonlighting to get a sense of what the job entails. A potential employer can get a chance to see what you have to offer, and you get a peek inside to see if the job suits you.

Before Steve Brooks, a veteran TV producer based in Atlanta, opened his boutique winery in Walla Walla, Wash., he worked as an apprentice to top-drawer winemakers in the region, in addition to taking classes. “I made a lot of contacts in the business and connected with winemakers who were willing to mentor me,” Brooks says. “I was a cellar rat for three years, and it was the best education I could imagine.”

(Kerry Hannon is the author of the upcoming book, What’s Next: How to Follow Your Passions to a Fantastic and Fulfilling New Career (Chronicle Books).)

Informal Survey: Do you think we need to have a Job Summit at the White House in December to get the ball rolling?  Or are there other things that could be done now to get jobs created in the Private Sector?  Anxious to hear your opinions...