HR article for HB’s Quarterly Newsletter

So, remember a few posts back when I said I was entrusted with writing the department’s article for the company newsletter? Well, after a couple crazy-packed weeks of recruiting duties (and much more…think tax season…W-2s…being in HR during tax season is a nightmare, let’s just say). Anyways, I managed to squeeze in a chunk of time to finish the article. What I produced I’m pretty pleased with. And so did my boss (thankfully!).

So, I decided to share it with all of you as well…

Happy reading.

“The most valuable aspects of jobs are now…in intellectual capital, ‘the most essentially human tasks: sensing judging, creating, and building relationships.’ This means that a great deal of a company’s value lies ‘between the ears of its employees.’ And this means that when someone leaves a company, he takes his value with him” (First, Break All the Rules, 23).

                In August of last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that over half of job separations in the past year were results of individuals voluntarily quitting their job. This suggests that more and more employees are being lured away either by other employers or that they are confident enough in their prospects that they can leave before securing a new position.

                This presents a challenge to human resource professionals everywhere. They can’t fill positions fast enough. They have trouble keeping workers. After being hired and trained, many employees leave as soon as another better or higher-paying job comes along. Even with some employees earning top pay, HR professionals recognize they can’t keep workers for long without adequate and competitive market adjustments in compensation, benefits packages, and other incentives. Knowing who that talent is and how to keep it is one of HR’s number one priorities. The success of the company depends on its assets, and the most crucial assets are its people.                

                 2013 witnessed the largest growth in headcount that HB has ever seen. The company has not only grown by thirty percent, but turnover has been reduced from triple digits to an estimated twenty percent for permanent 200-grade employees. Salaried turnover remains in the single digits.

                The HR department has promoted several initiatives to support the increase in headcount, including onsite job fairs, pre-employment training with WRTP/Triada, the employee referral program, and partnerships with local high schools.

                As a workforce mediator, WRTP/BIG STEP works to develop resources and programs for their member companies to expand employment opportunities by recruiting, training and placing community residents in jobs to meet their need for new workers. The partnership between WRTP and Triada (the temp agency branch of WRTP) with HB has aided in the development of hands-on, personalized pre-employment training programs. These programs have produced individuals with a high level of skill, work ethic and reliability that HB has had the opportunity to utilize over the past year and a half. We look forward to a strong and continued partnership with WRTP/Triada in the future.

                In a similar, yet distinctive capacity, another staffing agency, ABR, has been providing outstanding service and employees to HB over the past year. ABR has hosted on-site job fairs here at HB, as well as continue to assist in ongoing staffing needs throughout the year.

                The HB Employee Referral Program has also taken off during the past year. After advertising the bonus payouts that current employees can receive for referring a friend or family member, referrals came pouring in. Since the revival of this program, we have hired over 15 employees from union referrals, as well as several from salaried employees. We would like to extend a special thank you to the trainers, supervisors, and employees who have assisted in the development and success of this expansion. As HB continues to grow in headcount, we see a positive future for the company and its members.

– Courtney Hendricks, January 2014

 

 

So we’re in our twenties…how are we spending our hard-earned dollars?

So we’re in our twenties…how are we spending our hard-earned dollars?

Social Media and Changing the Faces of Beauty

When we think of Hollywood we often think of glamorous women but the film industry actually has a bit of a women problem.

Earlier this month San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film released its annual Celluloid Ceiling Report and the results were pretty startling. This year’s study found that the percentage of women holding positions on the top 250 domestic grossing films of 2013 was less than in 1998 when the first Celluloid Ceiling Report was compiled. On the top 250 pics of the year, women made up 16% of Executive Producers, producers, directors, writers, DPs and editors in 2013. This is also a decrease since 1998. Of the directors for those 250 films women made up just 6%, which is down from 9% in 2012.

“The financing structure of Hollywood films is also part of the problem,” said panelist Valerie Veatch, the director/producer of the HBO Docs film Love Child, at the Sundance Film Festival’s annual Women In Film panel. “Women not playing nine rounds of golf stops us from having access to the money, to the hedge funds and the other financing,” she added.

Actress Rose McGowan, who just directed her first short film “Dawn” also said at Sundance, ”It’s a commentary on how women treat other women. Women don’t help other women in this industry; it sucks because men don’t help women either.”

But there is some good news. Sundance is working very hard to support women filmmakers.  The Sundance Institute and Women in Film created a mentorship program for female directors that pairs them with established filmmakers and has held workshops to help women gain access to film

A study commissioned by the Sundance Institute and Women in Film Los Angeles finds that female filmmakers who participate in the institute’s feature and documentary development labs succeed in equal numbers to men.

“Labs level the gender playing field,” said lead researcher Stacy L. Smith of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California.

After all, it is Sundance that ”Selfie,” a short film by Oscar-winning documentarian Cynthia Wade, which explores how social media is changing notions of beauty, premiered. The film was sponsored by Dove, which is supporting the Sundance Institute and Women in Film mentorship program. Dove has had a tremendous year when it comes to empowering women through media and advertising as part of their decade-long Campaign for Real Beauty, which included last year’s viral ad, Real Beauty Sketches. Dove has actually had a tremendous decade and Selfie marks the 10 year anniversary of Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty,” 

“Selfie” follows a group of teenage girls from Massachusetts and their mothers who were asked to take selfies of the features of themselves they disliked the most.  The mother-daughter duos then attend an event where their self-portraits are blown up and posted in a “#BeautyIs selfie photo gallery.”

“The way women are defining beauty today is changing dramatically, and social media has much to do with the change,” Wade said. “Now, we have the ability to photograph the beauty we see in our friends and ourselves. When we share these diverse images on our social networks, we are taking personal ownership and truly redefining beauty.” Watch the film below.

So this morning I got up bright and early (5 AM…that’s obscenely early for this sleep baby, let me tell you…) and drove to Brookfield for an HR seminar. This is the first of several seminars I’m scheduled to attend this year. The audience was composed of both men and women, which was a bit surprising to me because you really don’t come across men in HR that often. It’s known to be one of the “softer” and more “personable” departments, which is why everyone expects women to be the frontrunners.

Anyways, before I get on that tangent too far, I just wanted to note a couple of the takeaways from the session:

1. People don’t leave jobs, they leave managers. (Hmm, this sounds familiar. Almost identical wording from the book I mentioned a few posts back, First, Break All the Rules)

2. We talked ALOT about the ACA (Affordable Care Act) and how that’s impacting HR professionals and their employees. The seminar speaker emphasized how important it is to have a solid relationship with your insurance broker because 2014-2015 will be big years of change in the health care industry and your company needs a reliable and knowledgeable support system. I had to laugh and shake my head when she said that, because it’s a running joke in our department how crappy our broker is. When we had open enrollment in 2012 and 2013, it was a complete disaster. We ended up doing the majority of the work, when the broker is supposed to be the one doing it (that’s what we pay them for!). The only problem with our situation is that our broker has a personal relationship with the company CEO, so I don’t think we’ll be parting ways with them any time soon. Unfortunately.

There were many other great topics we went over throughout the session, much of what I already knew. But it was really beneficial to hear those things from an objective point of view because most of what I know in HR I’ve learned on the job, and with that comes the influence and expertise (or lack of) from the people I work with. I absolutely love my bosses, but sometimes it’s good to learn things and pick up those concepts from an outside source–it’s unbiased, and it also helps reaffirm what I was already learning and doing at my job.

All in all, it was a good day. I’m looking forward to more of these seminars. Not only does it help me invest in my own career and skill set, but hey–it gets me out of the office for awhile 🙂

Oh, and p.s. I’m almost done with the newsletter article, so I’ll be posting that soon. I’ve got some good material in it, so I’m pretty excited about that.

The hardest job…

The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any. – Fred Astaire

A Letter to ‘Future Me’ from (nearly) 25-year-old me

A Letter to ‘Future Me’ from (nearly) 25-year-old me

Just Do It

11 People Who Helped Us Love Our Bodies More in 2013

11 Body Image Heroes Of 2013

The Huffington Post  | By Nina Bahadur

“I am a big girl. A voluptuous, curvy, dress-wearing lesbian. I love my body; it’s the only one I’ll ever have.”

The above statement from “Same Love” singer Mary Lambert shouldn’t sound so extraordinarily brave — but it is. Despite the fact that the media floods us with images of supposed “female perfection” on a daily basis, and things sometimes seem like they’re not getting better at all, an increasing number of people have spoken out during 2013 about how we treat women’s bodies — and why standard beauty ideals are failing us.

We want to recognize the people who weren’t afraid to use their voices to bring attention to these issues. Here are 11 of our body image heroes from the past year:

1. Jennie Runk

Runk is the star of a May 2013 H&M swimwear campaign that gained widespread media attention for not relegating the gorgeous size 12 model to the “plus-size” pages of their website. In an interview with activist group SPARK, Runk told a young blogger: “I remember often feeling like I should be unhappy with my body, but it was confusing, because I never thought there was anything wrong with it until people started talking about it.”

In a piece for the BBC, Runk wrote of her newfound media attention: “This is exactly the kind of thing I’ve always wanted to accomplish, showing women that it’s OK to be confident even if you’re not the popular notion of ‘perfect.’… There’s no need to glamorise one body type and slam another.”

2. Jennifer Lawrence

The famously outspoken “Hunger Games” star has been extremely vocal about resisting diet culture and pressure to be unnaturally thin. “If anybody even tries to whisper the word ‘diet,’ I’m like, ‘You can go f*ck yourself,'” Lawrence said in an interview for the November 2013 UK issue of Harper’s Bazaar. She also hit the nail on the head during a Nov. 7 Q&A with Yahoo! employees.

“The world has this idea that if you don’t look like an airbrushed perfect model,” she said in conversation with Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer. “You have to see past it. You look how you look, you have to be comfortable. What are you going to do? Be hungry every single day to make other people happy? That’s just dumb.”

3. Lily Myers

Myers’ slam poem about body image and disordered eating was awarded Best Love Poem at the 2013 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational. Her incredible piece speaks for itself.

4. Mary Lambert

The “She Keeps Me Warm” singer’s Sep. 3 message to her Facebook followers is a must-read.

5. Nickolay Lamm

Lamm, an artist who works for MyDeals.com, used CDC measurements of an average 19-year-old woman to create a 3-D model which he then Photoshopped to look like a Barbie doll. His images of “normal” Barbie next to the doll sold in stores is truly worrying.

“If we criticize skinny models, we should at least be open to the possibility that Barbie may negatively influence young girls as well,” Lamm told the Huffington Post in an email. “Furthermore, a realistically proportioned Barbie actually looks pretty good.”

It’s awesome to see a man take a stance on these issues, especially considering that many men experience their own body struggles — often in silence.

6. Trina Hall

Hall, a Dallas-based yoga instructor, abandoned all dietary restrictions between March and July of this year in order to see how her body changed when she wasn’t actively limiting her eating habits — and how people in her life reacted to her changing shape. The results of her project were not what she expected:

The people who didn’t know, who were just with me in my life — there was no difference that I could tell in the way that they treated me. The difference came in my own perceptions of myself, and I began to treat myself differently. I was very judgmental, and I would look in the mirror and critique myself… I would pick apart my body. Instead of looking at the whole of my body, I would look at different parts and analyze what’s wrong with them.

“My most shocking discovery through the process is that I’m afraid of not being loved,” Hall wrote in a Jul. 30 blog post. “I noticed the self-talk was that my beauty is only on the surface.”

The experience moved Hall to better understand the dialogue happening inside her own head, and inspired her to help other people suffering from poor body image. “I want to empower people to love their bodies… if it’s going to start somewhere, it has to start within,” she wrote.

7. Shailene Woodley

Woodley, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in “The Descendants,” told Flavorwire in July:

I saw somebody — what I thought was me — in a magazine once, and I had big red lips that definitely did not belong on my face. I had boobs about three times the size they are in real life. My stomach was completely flat. My skin was also flawless. But the reality is that I do not have those lips and my skin is not flawless and I do have a little bit of a stomach. It was not a proper representation of who I am. I realized that, growing up and looking at magazines, I was comparing myself to images like that — and most of it isn’t real.

Because of her discomfort with how women are constantly Photoshopped and edited on-screen, Woodley doesn’t wear makeup to events. What a badass.

8. Elena Raouna

Raouna, who was crowned Miss British Beauty Curve 2013, told the Daily Mail: “you don’t have to be size zero to be a model, and you can be pretty and plus size at the same time.”

The beauty queen hopes to use her platform to inspire young women to be comfortable in their own bodies, regardless of their weight. “My confidence has grown over the years and hopefully I can inspire other plus-size girls to be confident in their own skin,” she said.

9. Kelsey Miller

The Refinery29 staff writer turned to intuitive eating, a practice where you learn to listen to your body’s signals and eat accordingly, to help manage her body demons — and is chronicling her journey on the Internet via the Anti-Diet Project.

“The goal here is not fast weight loss,” Miller told the Huffington Post in an email. “It’s about creating a healthy, neutralized relationship with food and learning how to be fit and active every day — but still have a life.”

10. Sheila Pree Bright

Pree Bright’s photo series “Plastic Bodies” examines how beauty ideals affect women, especially women of color. Her striking images combine doll parts with segments of human bodies, and the discord between the two is startling. She told HuffPost in an email:

American concepts of the “perfect female body” are clearly exemplified through commercialism, portraying “image as everything” and introducing trends that many spend hundreds of dollars to imitate. It is more common than ever that women are enlarging breasts with silicone, making short hair longer with synthetic hair weaves, covering natural nails with acrylic fill-ins, or perhaps replacing natural eyes with contacts.

Even on magazine covers, graphic artists are airbrushing and manipulating photographs in software programs, making the image of a small waist and clear skin flawless. As a result, the female body becomes a replica of a doll, and the essence of natural beauty in popular American culture is replaced by fantasy.

11. Golda Poretsky

If you’ve ever doubted that fat can be beautiful too, watch this health coach and fat acceptance activist‘s video response to a comment on her blog. Poretsky’s advice on such a delicate subject is both warm and practical: “One way to see the beauty in more and more people is to literally look for it.”

Who are your 2013 body image heroes? Comment below or Tweet @HuffPostWomen using #BodyImageHeroes.

Let’s talk about my bosses…

I don’t know how many people rave about their bosses, but I’m going to take a few minutes to do so for mine.

I have the unique and, I believe, rare, privilege of having not just one, but two incredible women whom I report to at work. They are not simply amazing leaders and managers, but very close friends who I have had the blessing of knowing for the past year and a half.

This situation is a distinctive one, and one of my bosses tells me this on a regular basis.

“You’ll never have it this good, just so you know…” And I laugh and say, I know, I know. Because it’s probably true. Having a boss (or two, in my case) that you can claim as one of your closest friends, is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime scenario. The fact that this is my first professional job in the corporate world has also made this situation even more special. Up until now, I always had the typical Hollywood image of what an ‘office job’ was like–suits and ties, professional, cold, full of executive political drama, etc.

Maybe it’s because this is a smaller company, but I feel so lucky to have had this experience as my first taste of the work world. I’ve been able to get my fingers into so many aspects of the business and much of that is thanks to my bosses. They have given me room to run and grow and take on responsibility (even as an intern!) and that is HUGE. Knowing that someone relies on you and believes in your ability makes you rise to the challenge more than you’d believe. Having someone say “thank you” and “good job” are worth more than you can imagine. It makes doing your job more than just doing your job.

I’m reading this book right now called First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. It’s about all the things that the world’s greatest managers do differently which make them succeed as managers. The first couple chapters caught my attention with this:

“…the most valuable aspects of jobs are now…in intellectual capital, “the most essentially human tasks: sensing, judging, creating, and building relationships.” This means that a great deal of a company’s value now lies “between the ears of its employees.” And this means that when someone leaves a company, he takes his value with him–more often than not, straight to the competition.” (23)

Being in human resources, this rings very true with me. In our department, we do a lot of recruiting, hiring and firing the company’s talent. Know who and how to keep that talent is our job, and it’s an important one. The success of the company depends on its assets, and the most crucial assets are its people.

Another point the book made was that more often than not, in regard to employee satisfaction, managers trump the company. You spend the most time with your immediate manager. You receive the most feedback (whether that’s positive or negative) from that person. Your manager defines and pervades your work environment. If she sets clear expectations, knows you, trusts you, and invests in you, then you can forgive the company for its shortcomings. But if your relationship with your boss is fractured, no amount of bonus-giving or profit-sharing company initiatives will persuade you to stay and perform. (34)

My bosses have been there for my through my long weeks and months of school, my crazy schedules and the ups and downs of navigating this experience. They are both in their forties; they’ve been doing this for a long time. Yet I can talk to them as if they were my age. We text constantly, share stupid pictures, talk about our lives and the things that frustrate us. We care about each other immensely. When one of us is having a bad day at work, it affects us all. Maybe that’s discouraged in the professional world, but for me, it’s a part of my job that is invaluable. I’d rather have people I love to work with than make six figures and have no friends at work.

They are my friends, my confidantes, my support system, and the two greatest cheerleaders I could ever ask for.

Act Like a Leader Before You Are One

Some words of advice from Amy Gallo of the Harvard Business Review Blog Network–

If you want to become a leader, don’t wait for the fancy title or the corner office. You can begin to act, think, and communicate like a leader long before that promotion. Even if you’re still several levels down and someone else is calling all the shots, there are numerous ways to demonstrate your potential and carve your path to the role you want.

What the Experts Say “It’s never foolish to begin preparing for a transition no matter how many years away it is or where you are in your career,” says Muriel Maignan Wilkins, coauthor of Own the Room: Discover Your Signature Voice to Master Your Leadership Presence. Michael Watkins, the chairman of Genesis Advisers and author of The First 90 Days and Your Next Move, agrees. Not only does the planning help you develop the necessary skills and leadership presence, it also increases your chances of getting the promotion because people will already recognize you as a leader. The key is to take on opportunities now, regardless of your tenure or role. “You can demonstrate leadership at any time no matter what your title is,” says Amy Jen Su, coauthor of Own the Room. Here are several ways to start laying the groundwork.

Knock your responsibilities out of the park No matter how big your ambitions, don’t let them distract you from excelling in your current role. Focus on the present as much as — or more than — the future. “You still have to deliver results in your day job,” says Jen Su. Adds Maignan Wilkins: “You always need to take care of today’s business so that nobody — peers, direct reports, or those above you — questions your performance.” That’s the first step to getting ahead.

Help your boss succeed “You have to execute on your boss’s priorities too,” says Watkins. “Show her that you’re willing to pick up the baton on important projects.” Maignan Wilkins also suggests you “lean more towards yes than no” whenever your boss asks you to help with something new. Find out what keeps your manager up at night and propose solutions to those problems.

Seize leadership opportunities, no matter how small Make sure your “let me take that on” attitude extends beyond your relationship with your boss. Raise your hand for new initiatives, especially ones that might be visible to those outside your unit. “This will give others a taste of what you’ll be like in a more senior role,” says Maignan Wilkins. It doesn’t have to be an intense, months-long project. It might be something as simple as facilitating a meeting, offering to help with recruiting events, or stepping in to negotiate a conflict between peers. You might find opportunities outside of work, too. You can sit on the board of a local nonprofit or organize your community’s volunteer day. “These activities send the signal that you aspire to leadership potential,” Watkins says.

Look for the white space Another way to prove your potential is to take on projects in the “white space.” These are problems that others aren’t willing to tackle or don’t even know exist. “Every organization has needs that nobody is paying attention to, or people are actively ignoring,” Maignan Wilkins says. For example, you might be able to identify a customer need that isn’t being met by your company’s current product line, and propose a new one. Or you could do a quick analysis of how much a specific change would save the company. When you take on a task that no one else is willing to do, you make yourself stand out.

Don’t be a jerk There’s a fine line between being ambitious and acting like you’re too big for your britches. “Don’t try to exert authority when you don’t have it,” says Watkins. Practice what he calls “steward leadership”: focus on what your team wants to accomplish instead of putting yourself first. Jen Su recommends “humble confidence,” showing appropriate modesty in your role, while having the self-assurance to know that you will rise to the next level.

Be cautious when sharing your ambitions It’s appropriate to raise your ambitions with your manager if you have a trusting, solid relationship, but frame them in a way that focuses on what’s best for the company. Jen Su suggests you lay out your accomplishments for the past year and then ask something like, “As we look further out, where do you see me continuing to make a contribution?” Watkins warns that these conversations shouldn’t come off as being all about you. Instead, engage in a two-way conversation with your boss. If you have the kind of boss who may feel threatened by your aspirations, it’s better to keep your ambitions quiet and prove your potential.

Find role models Look for people who have the roles you want and study what they do — how they act, communicate, and dress. “Pick someone at the next level, someone similar to you, and find a way to work with them,” says Watkins. Volunteer for a committee they’re spearheading or offer to help with one of their pet projects. Identify behaviors that you can emulate while being true to yourself. “You don’t want to fake it,” says Maignan Wilkins. It might also help to study people who are stuck in their careers as examples of what not to do, Watkins says. Are they clumsy politically? Do they disrespect the lines of authority? Do they fail to make connections between departments?

Build relationships There’s an old adage, “It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.” When you’re evaluated for a promotion, it’s unlikely your boss will sit in a room alone and contemplate your potential. She’ll rely on others to assess your ability, which means you need supporters across the organization — people who are aware of the work you’re doing. “If you find yourself walking down the hall with the most senior person at your company, be prepared to answer the question, ‘So what are you up to?’” Maignan Wilkins says, “Don’t take lightly any interactions that may seem informal. Treat every situation as an opportunity to demonstrate the value you bring to the organization and your knowledge of the business.”

Principles to Remember

Do:

• Look for every opportunity to demonstrate your leadership potential, at work and outside the office
• Support your boss in reaching her goals
• Find people in positions you aspire to and study what makes them successful

Don’t:

• Let your ambitions distract you from doing your current job well
• Exert authority where you don’t have any — use influence to prove your leadership chops
• Openly discuss your ambitions — it’s safer to take a “show, don’t tell” approach

http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/05/act-like-a-leader-before-you-a/