Workforce Development - A Good Investment?

Workers fired for surfing the Web

A new survey I came across has found that more than a quarter of employers have fired workers for misusing e-mail and one third have fired workers for misusing the Internet on the job.

The 2007 Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey, conducted by the American Management Association (AMA) and the ePolicy Institute, polled 304 companies of all sizes in the United States. The vast majority of bosses who fired workers for Internet misuse (84 percent) said the employee was accessing porn or other inappropriate content.

While looking at inappropriate content is an obvious no-no on company time, simply surfing the Web led to a surprising number of firings. As much as 34 percent of managers in the study said they let go of workers for excessive personal use of the Internet, according to the survey.

Here's my question... 

Are organizations keeping up and changing their policies with the many evolving ways that the internet is being used today?

Today, people use the internet is quite different ways than they did, even three years ago.  For example, as What constitutes "excessive use" today?  Is it legitimate use of sites that might have been considered "personal" in the past?  With the explosion of Web 2.0 technology, savvy users have discovered that new technologies provide easy ways to "stitch together" business solutions from technology currently available in the Web 2.0 world.

A report I was reading conducted in late 2007 by the Pew Institute, entitled "How People use the Internet, Libraries, and Government Agencies to Find Help", delves into the many different ways that people use the web today.  It illustrates how dramatically different web usage patterns are among different classes of internet users.

The ePolicy Institute also provides assistance to organizations trying to help organizations keep up with the rapidly changing profile of how people use the internet more effectively.  Their website has a free 13-page guide you can order on how to do effective e-mail management entitled "How to Implement Strategic E-Mail Rules & Policies"

Likewise, RedVector has an excellent and well-respected course on "Business Writing: E-Mail techniques" that goes a step further by helping users of email make the most of this popular communications tool.

Question to readers...  How do you see your use and colleagues use of the internet today different from 2-3 years ago?  Would today's use according to the standards and definitions of "appropriate use" be considered illegitimate?

Why the Top 10 Workplace Stresses and Irritations Aren't Likely to Go Away

Author David R. Butcher published an earlier article via ThomasNet on the "Top 10 Workplace Stresses and Irritations" that lists the top causes of such work-related stress and irritation and also discusses the Top 10 Colleague Irritations.

 Top 10 Work Stresses listed include:
1) Workload
2) Feeling undervalued
3) Deadlines
4) Type of work people have to do
5) Having to take on other people’s work
6) Lack of job satisfaction
7) Lack of control over the working day
8) Having to work long hours
9) Frustration with the working environment
10) Targets

Top 10 Colleague Irritations listed include:
1) Seeing others not pulling their weight
2) Managers changing their minds about what they want to be done
3) Lack of support from managers
4) Pressure from managers
5) Feeling put-upon by managers
6) Interruptions by colleagues
7) Interruptions by managers
8) Bullying behavior by managers
9) Lack of support from colleagues
10) Bullying behavior by colleagues

While the above information is interesting, what I really liked was the article's reference to some common questions asked by managers with respect to "managing their bosses,”

The article provides a link to the article "10 rules to manage your boss" produced by Jacques Horovitz, a Professor of Service Strategy, Service Marketing & Service Management at IMD, considered one of the world's leading business schools

Engaged Employees = Whistleblowers?

A costly scandal at a bank recently has observers wondering why workers didn't report suspicious activity. Some are saying the scandal highlights one of the most important challenges employers face today: poor employee engagement.  Now, these other employees didn't necessarily do anything wrong, but they also didn't go beyond what was expected of them may point to a larger issue of employee engagement.

This article discusses impact of engagement and how engagement varies widely across different global cultures.  A must read

read more | digg story

What Role Do Ethics and Social Responsibility Have in the Workforce - Unfinished Business

The increasingly regulated and Global nature of business operations greatly increase the possibility that our managers will face an ethical dilemma.

Many firms today provide ethics training for their professional employees.  It's not just a sound "risk management" decision, its sound business practice.

• Different cultures have different notions of right and wrong.  This is a complex issue but here are some guiding thoughts
  
  • There are certain universal basics that govern "moral" business behavior (honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, avoiding unnecessary harm, respecting the environment), that seem on the surface to be common
  • However, even within this context, variations often exist in what societies generally agree to be right and wrong in the conduct of business activities.
  • There are also many factors affecting cross-cultural variability.  These include regional religious beliefs, historic traditions, social customs, and prevailing political and economic doctrines.  Cross-country variations also exist in the degree to which certain behaviors are considered unethical
• U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (1977) which has two main components:
  • Anti-bribery Provisions: prohibits bribes (or offers to bribe) made to foreign officials, political parties, candidates for public office whether made directly or through a third party
  • Accounting Provisions: requires accurate books and records and adequate accounting and financial controls
  • Violations of the act can result in both criminal and civil penalties including imprisonment, fines, loss of export licenses and suspension from competing on government contracts
• Many firms and industry groups have developed their own codes of conduct for foreign operations.
  • for example, "Ethical Decision Making for Engineers", a program written by Kelly Montalto, a RedVector course designer, addresses the common ethical questions faced by people in the engineering profession such as:
    • What actions would you take if faced with
      • a conflict of interest,
        
      • a request to associate with a firm that is not authorized to practice,
        
      • a questionable request for a reference, or
        
      • duty to report a violation of a copyright licensing agreement in your own office?
        
    • Do you know how you would handle issues of this sort if faced with them?
      

Do We Understand How to Get to the Truth?

So many significant decisions are made in the workplace based on majority opinion or by the highest ranking person in the room.  Does this mean that the decisions are correct, or that the arguments presented are based on fact, or truth?

For that matter, where does one turn for education or guidance on how ethical decisions can be arrived at?

I recently reviewed, "The Fallibility Principle" author by T. Edward Damer, (the author of an earlier work entitled "Attacking Faulty Reasoning: A Practical Guide to Fallacy-free Arguments").

It is a relatively new  publication that seems to provide this type of guidance.   This book is written in such a way to give the reader the knowledge and insight to put forth good arguments as well as point out how to identify flaws in others.

Of particular interest is the author's focus on the quest for the truth, or as he puts it the most defensible position. While the techniques laid out in this book can be used to 'win' arguments, the focus in primarily on helping stakeholders find the truth.

Some leading education firms, like RedVector, specializing in the education needs of the Design and Construction industry, obviously think this is important.  They have several courses in their online catalog that stresses the importance of finding the truth and arriving at ethical business decisions:

• Ethics for Professional Architects Part I and II
• Ethical Decision Making for Engineers (3 part program)
• Ethics for Surveyors and Mappers
• 15 Hour Petroleum Engineer Package #1
• 15 Hour Mechanical Engineer Package #1
• 15 Hour Highway Engineering Package with Ethics
• 30 hour Business and Professional Development Package
• 8 hour Bridge Design Package with Ethics
• 15 Hour Civil Engineering Package with Ethics
• 15 Hour Structural Engineering Package with Ethics

I feel that in today's world, the truth of the matter is too often overshadowed by necessity or convenience.  Readers, what do you think?  Is additional education in ethical decision making a priority for you?

Professors take the long course in poverty

The American Association of University Professors, states 68% percent of all jobs in higher education are part-time, temporary, or both, and are often paid no more than $1,600 to $2,400 a course, without benefits of any sort, much less contracts extending beyond the current term. 

At a time when serious questions exist about the quality of education in the U.S. you'll find this article a painful insight how the university "system" is putting finances ahead of quality education. 

Do we really expect to turn out top talent from our schools, when we are shortchanging the teaching staff?

read more | digg story

Shouldn't that Christmas Feeling Last the Entire Year?

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY LOYAL READERS!

PEACE TO YOU AT THIS SPECIAL TIME OF YEAR, and throughout the year

Wouldn't it be nice if the feelings of appreciation that are expressed between friends and colleagues continued throughout the year?

That is the genesis of the question that our friends over at AZCentral.com raises in their recent article entitled "Show worker appreciation every day"

This timely article discusses the benefits of "showing the love" to the people that are important to us - every day.

Because isn't it a good feeling to know you're appreciated?

Not All Jobs Are Created Equal

I recently read an interesting report entitled: "Top 200: The Rise of Corporate Global Power" that illustrates some dimensions of todays workforce that you may find interesting in understanding the complex dynamics of today's global workforce.

While the sales of the Top 200 corporations are the equivalent of 27.5% of world economic activity, these firms employ only a tiny fraction of the world's workers. In 1999, they employed a combined total of 22,682,166 workers, which is 0.78% of the world's workforce.

Between 1983 and 1999, the number of people employed by Top 200  firms grew 14.4%, an increase that is dwarfed by the firms' 362.4% profit growth over this period.

Corporate analysts may see the dramatic increase in the ratio between profits and employees as a positive sign of increased efficiency. The growing gap between profits and payrolls is at least partly the result of technological changes that has allowed firms to produce more with less people. Automation is not always a negative development, especially in the case of jobs that are dangerous or otherwise undesirable.

However, another factor is the trend towards outsourcing, particularly among large industrial firms, but also increasingly evident in other skilled areas including engineering. By shifting more and more of their production to contractors, companies can distance themselves from potential charges of labor rights abuses and other illegal behavior and keep labor costs low by forcing contractors to compete for business with an ever smaller number of giant purchasers.

The giant firms also have more freedom to hire and fire contractors to meet shifting demand. U.S. corporations have been at the forefront of this trend.  Add this to domestic "at will employment" policies in many states, employees feel justifiably uneasy about their long-term stability.

Chrysler (formerly known as DaimlerChrsyler since the merger with Daimler Benz), for example, purchases almost all of its parts, from brakes to seats, from suppliers. Hewlett-Packard relies on 10 different contractors and IBM relies on 8 to make their products.

In recent years, Japanese electronics firms, including Mitsubishi, NEC, Fujitsu, and Sony, have also begun to outsource. Still, Americans may be less concerned about the growing gap between profits and employees because of the country's record low unemployment rate.

What is often ignored in the mainstream media is the fact that unemployment problems remain prevalent elsewhere in the world, including in many countries where the Top 200 firms are enjoying strong profits.

In the European Union, the 1999 unemployment rate was 10 percent, compared to 4.2 percent in the United States.  The International Labor Organization estimates that one billion people worldwide are unemployed or underemployed.

Joblessness around the world hurts the United States because it reduces the capacity of consumers in other countries to purchase U.S. products and can lead to social instability that has international ramifications.

It is also harder to draw a bead on how the top firms are structuring their workforces.  There is much information that U.S. firms are not required to reveal to the American public:

• a breakdown of their employees by country

• locations of overseas facilities or contractors

• wage rates paid at overseas facilities

• layoffs and the reasons for layoffs

A full 5 percent of the Top 200s' combined workforce is comprised of Wal-Mart employees. The discount retail giant's workforce has skyrocketed from 62,000 in 1983 to 1,140,000 in 1999, making it the largest private employer in the world.

The next largest, DaimlerChrysler, has a workforce of 466,938 (less than half the size of Wal-Mart's).  Think about how any change in these statistics affects the jobs reports that come out of Washington.

Although Wal-Mart is indeed providing many new jobs, the company is notorious for its strategy of employing armies of workers on a part-time basis to avoid paying benefits.

The firm is also adamantly anti-union. In March, Wal-Mart announced it was closing the meat department in 180 stores two weeks after the meat cutters at one Texas store voted to form a union the first successful organizing drive at an American Wal-Mart.

At a time when workers are increasingly uneasy about job stability and coming to the realization that often the fate of the American worker is not considered in corporate decisions, it has to make you wonder if it is a surprise that young workers coming into the workforce are exceedingly skeptical about a long-term commitment to any employer.

Can't we do better?

Does Workplace Loyalty Cut Both Ways?

I suspect that one of the main reasons why so many people put up with long hours, constant demands to increase output, and even Hamburger Management is simply loyalty: loyalty to colleagues and friends, loyalty to a workplace, even corporate loyalty.

Not familiar with Hamburger Management? A relatively new term, coined by the folks over at Slow Leadership, refers to the process of doing everything as quickly and cheaply as possible. When everything has to be done yesterday, there can be no time for debate or questioning. Blind obedience is required because that is the only response that fits the constant demands for going faster and doing more with fewer and fewer resources. Blaming others? Hamburger Management is like every other type of cheap, shoddy goods. It doesn’t work very well. So those who use it must constantly find excuses to avoid the truth being seen: that they are incompetent because of the methods they are using.

I recently was introduced to an excellent piece entitled: Workplace Loyalty Cuts Both Ways, authored by Carmine Coyote. a brand of Adrian Savage a noted marketing guru, Englishman and a retired business executive who lives in Tucson, Arizona. You can read his serious thoughts most days at Slow Leadership, the site for anyone who wants to bring back the taste, zest and satisfaction to leadership; and his crazier ones at The Coyote Within..   It's really a good article.

The trouble is that organizations don’t appear to have the same sense of loyalty in return. That puts a huge strain on employees. Do you pitch in and help out your colleagues, who are struggling with the latest batch of unreasoning demands from on high? Or do you start polishing your resume and get ready to walk out the door as quickly as possible? Do you stay with your belief that the job you’re doing is both worthwhile and valuable—even if it’s poorly paid, as so many jobs in teaching, nursing, and other public services tend to be?

Or do you decide to follow the money into a different career—or even consider leaving to work overseas—and let go of your loyalty to an ideal?

You owe it to yourself to read Workplace Loyalty Cuts Both Ways
check it out for the full coverage.

We All Want To Work for A Company That Supports Us, Don't We?

I wanted to share this with you my readers.  I received this message from a close friend of ours, who also like myself is a vet.

My cousin sent this to me and I thought you all would like to know about it.  Happy holiday shopping!
Shannon

I know I needed this reminder since Sears isn't always my first choice. Amazing when you think of how long the war has lasted and they haven't withdrawn from their commitment. Could we each buy at least one thing at Sears this year? How does Sears treat its employees who are called up for military duty? By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up.

Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years. I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be recognized for its contribution.

I suggest we all shop at Sears, and be sure to find a manager to tell them why we are there so the company gets the positive reinforcement it well deserves. Pass it on.

Decided to check this before I sent it forward. So I sent the following e-mail to the Sears Customer Service Department: I received this e-mail and I would like to know if it is true. If it is, th e Internet may have just become one very good source of advertisement for your company. I know I would go out of my way to buy products from Sears instead of another store for a like item, even if it's cheaper at that store.

This is their answer to my e-mail:
Dear Customer: Thank you for contacting Sears.The information is factual. We appreciate your positive feedback. Sears regards service to our country as one of greatest sacrifices our young men and women can make. We are happy to do our part to lessen the burden they bear at this time.
Bill Thorn
Sears Customer Care
webcenter@sears.com
1-800-349-4358

Please pass this on to all your friends. Sears needs to be recognized for this outstanding contribution and we need to show them as Americans, we do appreciate what they are doing for our military!!!

It's Verified ! By Snopes.com at: http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/sears.asp (shows the entire article)
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/sears.htm

Is CEO pay an issue for the workforce?

I'd like to begin this post with an article on CEO compensation that came out in late August

Americans Pay a Staggering Cost for Corporate Leadership

(Washington, D.C.) With leading Presidential candidates turning up the heat on overpaid CEOs, a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy documents for the first time the extreme pay gaps that have opened up not just between U.S. business leaders and American workers, but between U.S. business leaders and leaders elsewhere in American — and European — society.

Download the complete report “Executive Excess 2007” at www.faireconomy.org/reports/2007/ExecutiveExcess2007.pdf (PDF, 1 MB).

KEY FINDINGS:

CEO-WORKER PAY GAP: CEOs of large U.S. companies last year averaged $10.8 million in total compensation, over 364 times the pay of the average U.S. worker, a calculation based on data from an Associated Press survey of 386 Fortune 500 companies.

The top 20 private equity and hedge fund managers, pocketed an average $657.5 million, Forbes magazine estimates. That’s 22,255 times the pay of an average U.S. worker.

Workers on the bottom rung of the economy have just received their first federal minimum wage increase in a decade. But the inflation-adjusted value of the new minimum, despite the hike, stands 7 percent below the minimum wage level a decade ago. CEO pay, in that decade, has increased over inflation by roughly 45 percent.

“The CEO-worker pay gap is finally getting some high-profile attention from Presidential candidates,” says report co-author Sarah Anderson of the Institute for Policy Studies. “But lawmakers still aren’t doing nearly enough to tackle the gap.”

PENSION AND PERK GAPS: CEOs at major U.S. corporations enjoyed, on average, $1.3 million in pension gains last year. By contrast, only 58.5 percent of American households led by a 45-to-54-year-old even had a retirement account in 2004. Between 2001 and 2004, the retirement accounts of these households gained an average of only $3,775 in value per year.

CEOs of S&P 500 companies retire with an average $10.1 million in their special Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans, accounts not open to average workers. By contrast, only 36.3 percent of American households headed by an individual 65 or older held any type of retirement account in 2004. The accounts that did exist averaged only $173,552 per household.

The top 386 CEOs took in perks worth an average of $438,342 in 2006. A minimum wage worker would need to work 36 years to earn as much as CEOs obtained just in perks last year.

THE LEADERSHIP PAY GAP: Compensation for American business leaders now wildly dwarfs the pay that goes to leaders in other sectors of American society. The 20 highest-paid individuals at publicly traded corporations last year took home, on average, $36.4 million. That’s 38 times more than the 20 highest-paid leaders in the nonprofit sector and 204 times more than the 20 highest-paid generals in the U.S. military.

The 20 highest-paid figures in the private equity and hedge fund industry collected 3,315 times more in average annual compensation in 2006 than the top 20 officials of the federal government’s executive branch, a group that includes the President of the United States.

“Today’s soaring pay gap between business executives and elected leaders in government essentially makes corruption inevitable,” notes Sam Pizzigati, an Institute for Policy Studies associate fellow. “With such huge windfalls at stake, business leaders have a powerful incentive to manipulate the political decisions that affect corporate earnings.”

IS CEO PAY REALLY THE ISSUE?

Before we tackle the answer to this question, I'd like to share with you comments from reader Rex Stormont, a former employee of Coca-Cola.

For 17 years the world’s most recognisable brand, Coca-Cola, was lead by CEO Roberto Goizueta. During his period in this role he managed to increase share price growth on average by 20% year on year compounded. He was arguably the most successful large corporate CEO of all time.

There are many Coca-Cola millionaires who have Mr Goizueta to thank for their financial stability which very often was achieved with their minimum investment.

For the last 10 years of his tenure, he was shadowed by Mr Douglas Ivestor who was the corporation’s COO. Mr Goizueta was grooming him to become the next CEO upon his own retirement. The stock markets, who universally loved the company and its CEO, were very comfortable with with the heir apparent and Mr Ivestor had their full backing.

Mr Goizueta achieved his tremendous success with his exceptional character, people skills, incredibly shrewd business acumen, ability to build strong teams and develop a strong corporate cultural identity. Everyone who worked for the company (it seemed) loved this man.

There was an almost tactile relationship with him for most employees, most of whom had never even met him. Belief in his vision and objectives was wholeheartedly embraced en masse by them. They felt they had a very real and personal connection with him.

Then suddenly, in 1997, Mr Goizueta was diagnosed with cancer and very sadly succumbed to the condition 2 weeks later.

On the day his death was announced, Coke’s share price grew, a clear indication of the stock markets’ faith in Mr Ivestor. This was a totally unexpected response for the corporation, who thoroughly expected the share price to remain static (if not slightly decline) until his protegee had proven himself.

The honeymoon period continued, until after a relatively short period, product quality issues were discovered in Europe resulting in certain markets totally withdrawing Coca-Cola products from the supermarket shelves.

Mr Ivestor made no public announcements for 2 weeks. The share price halved overnight. He was subsequently sacked by Mr Warren Buffet, Coke’s largest shareholder.

Today, Coca-Cola has still not recovered its share value, some 10 years on….. But what was the impact on the corporation?

From being ‘THE’ FMCG corporation to work for, they quickly became 2nd division players. Morale within plummetted. And worse huge numbers of employees at all levels of seniority were made redundant across the globe.

How do I know this? I was one of the many employees who lost his job as a consequence of an incompetent CEO.

The CEO’s of sucessful corporations are a very rare breed. They have something about them that the vast majority of good businessmen do not possess. It is rather like drawing a comparison between the Peles of this world and an average Premier League soccer player.

Are CEO’s salaries very high? Have they mushroomed as the chart shows above? Yes.

But rather like the big clubs building teams of professional soccer players at the top of their game, the boards of executive directors who appoint the CEOs know full well that they recruit in a competitive job market, where good performers are rewarded with astonishing packages.

Ultimately, the CEO can quite easily make or break these giant corporations. The CEO knows he and his performance as well as that of the people under him are answerable to the stock market.

Whether a company’s stock growth is 1% or 100% frankly it is irrelevant. What counts is if the city analysts and shareholders are content with it.

In other words, in a competitive CEO recruitment market, provided the CEO ensures his company meets performance expectations, he is worth what the market is prepared to pay him.

Rex makes a great point folks - really good CEOs create stability, growth and equity creation that benefit everyone - employees, vendors, shareholders.  What's that worth?  Well, what % of the equity created did the CEO end up pocketing as compensation?  Is that excessive or reasonable?  What do you think?

Do you Understand Older Workers Priorities & Work Life Balance Concerns?

Older workers are one of the keys to the "War for Talent", but many employers do not understand these workers.   There are many different types of workers in this age group, and each one requires a different key to unlocking their potential.

Older members of the workforce who have extensive experience and skill, also have a significantly different "point of view" when it comes to what is important to them.  Firms and organizations alike need to recognize these  personal priorities, which include the important "work-life balance" element

Consider the many varied "situations" you'll discover when you examine a "cross-section" of these workers in almost every business and organization:

1. Those that are stable and settled:
   (and may have no further career aspirations)
   
2. The workers who are motivated by reputation,
   (they're seeking status and have a need for achievement that is still growing)
3. Workers who feel vulnerability
   (may feel that their "value" is diminished through reduced capability or feel that their skills are no longer up to date)
4. Those who are more engaged or feel their work more is important than in past periods of intermittent or part-time working. 
   (many women re-entering the workforce with grown families fit into this category)
5. People who are more confident, and ready for new challenges
   (ready for anything new, or are ready to try self employment)
6. and workers who are anxious about being displaced by younger colleagues

As you can see, each of these "categories" of workers are looking at employment from quite different points of view.  Keep checking back, as I'll be expanding on some ideas that you'll find useful in reaching out to each.

Is Fraud or Incompetence Now a Skillset?

I am an avid reader of CFO magazine, an award-winning Economist Group publication, dedicated to providing relevant insights to senior financial executives around the world. Reaching an international audience of over one million corporate decision makers each month through specialized events, conferences and research, it is a highly credible "microscope" into the complex world of corporate finance.

Just for grins, I went back into the first three (3) weeks of headlines for September 2007 and discovered the following:

• Apple's Jobs Was Subpoenaed, Report Says
• Ex-CFO Says He Won't Be the "Fall Guy"
• Del. Court Slaps Staples on Backdating
• Retiree Miscount Leads to Restatement
• Quest's Quest for More Backdating Errors
• German conglomerate, embroiled in scandal
• Wachovia Sued over Drink Company's Spill
• Dynegy Settles Charges with Pensioners
• UTStarcom to Redo China Revenue Report
• Mentor to Fraud? Two Former Execs Settle
• SEC Charges Hedge Fund Head over PIPEs
• SEC Aims to Clean Up Grocery Spill
• Dried Dough: Krispy Kreme's Woes
• Fairchild Dumps KPMG
• CTRL-ALT-DELETE: Dell Frozen, Restarting
• Former HealthSouth CFO Back in Court
• Grand Theft Auto, for Real
• The Morality Play
• Shareholders Cry Foul in Calpine Plan
• Former CFO of a high-end car dealer is accused of embezzlement
• Ex-Controller Settles Fraud Case
• Unregistered Auditors Busted by SEC
• SEC Takes Aim at Ex-Nortel Finance Execs
• CFOs' Optimism Plummets to Six-Year Low
• CSC Tax Review Uncovers Years of Errors
• Wireless Company's CFO Takes a Leap
• Ace Discovers $154M Inventory Error
• Finite-risk Probe Halts Assurant Buyback
• Couple Guilty in "Pillow-talk" Case
• Top Exec Steps Down from FASB Parent
• Macau Gambling Plan Loses $1B in Loans
• Saks Settles SEC Vendor-Allowance Suit
• Motive Inc. Restates, Looks for Auditor
• Did Fake Purchase Orders Oust CFO?
• Overhill Farms CFO Goes over the Fence
• Internal Probe Stalls Retailer's Filings
• CEO Put on Leave Following Audit
• Uncollectibles Force SEC Settlement
• Internal Probe Stalls Children's Place Filings

I couldn't believe it - almost 40 headlines IN 21 DAYS showcasing matters relating to corporate fraud or incompetence (or both).

Makes me wonder?  Is fraud or mismanagement of company assets becoming a "corporate value?"  The headlines over three weeks would seem to indicate that is the case?  Has greed overtaken "core values" as being more desirable for workers than working hard, protecting company assets and keeping the customer satisfied?

Is the "I got mine" mentality, where managers and executives put their own self interest ahead of the employees, customers and shareholders leading to higher levels of frustration in the business world resulting in the attitude of "what the hell, everybody else is doing it?"

If this phenomenon is occurring on an increasingly widespread basis, what effect does this have on Workforce Development?  Do frustrated competent and honest workers leave for places they perceive as better or more ethical?  Does it become harder to attract and recruit top talent, when a cloud (either publicized or not) hangs over the business/organization?  Or do the "opportunists" flock to the firms being investigated in the hopes that they can profit from the "birds of a feather" mentality?

Readers - what do you say?

Stopping the Evaporation of Graduate Women Engineers

There's a wealth of information and resources that are available to facilitate young women that are seeking to enter the engineering discipline.

The following is a partial list of sources you may wish to investigate:


    Women in Engineering Programs and Advocates Network (WEPAN):

The mission of WEPAN is to be a “catalyst, advocate, and leading resource for institutional and national change that will result in the full participation of women in engineering”.

Society of Women Engineers (SWE): 

The mission of SWE is to “stimulate women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity.”

Yearly women in engineering literature reviews available

Assessing Women and Men in Engineering

Excellent annotated bibliographies, literature overviews

American Society for Engineering Education

Publishes Journal of Engineering Education, Prism Magazine, Engineering Colleges Profiles and Statistics, ASEE conference proceedings

Frontiers in Education conference proceedings

MentorNet: national electronic mentoring program

I've personally interacted with most of these organizations and can vouch for their passion and understanding of how to get more graduate engineers out of the "engineer pipeline"

Check them out!

Women in Engineering - still a "Boys Club"

From "The Herman Trend Alert," by the Herman Group, a new alert, discussing Women in Engineering.  Like all of the excellent work The Herman Group does, it is an exceptional piece addressing a critical issue in the skilled workforce.

A recent study demonstrates clearly that the field of engineering is still primarily a "Boys Club". Only 20 percent of engineering degrees in the United States are earned by women; only 9% of American engineers are women.

Though a study by the Families and Work Institute showed that young men are taking a much more active role in their children’s lives, in the US and Europe, the majority of people still expect that most of the burden of housekeeping, childcare, school interface, looking after aging parents, and similar family duties are handled by the woman.

In many industries, an engineering career frequently demands long hours and lots of travel---difficult for a man, even harder for a woman. It is challenging to take care of a family when the job sometimes requires an emergency plant visit at 2am, or worse, weeks or months on assignment overseas.

When it comes to advancing in the corporate hierarchy, women engineers experience the most problems. There is a "systemic pressure," far more difficult than any "overt discrimination," that makes matters even more challenging for women engineers.

Nancy Bartels, Managing Editor for "Control" Magazine, interviewed a number of women engineers. Here’s what they want:

• Treated with respect, as professionals, just like other engineers
• Given the chance to prove themselves—just like other engineers.
• Respected for their ideas and have their thinking processes accepted.
• Included---in all conversations, casual and otherwise and to be treated as peers and valued team members
• Mentored and encouraged by experienced seniors.
• Considered for promotion.

There is no doubt that engineering will benefit from having more women who bring their unique perspectives and innovative ideas to the industry. They also possess intuitive skills and can provide different ways to solve many complex problems, problems that may be approached better through their distinctive points of view. Hundreds of colleges, organizations, and businesses have created programs, workshops, and conferences to increase the number of women in engineering. And if your organization is looking for engineers, don’t overlook The National GEM Consortium, a non-profit headquartered in Washington, DC.

JIM's NOTE: Also, check out the Society of Women Engineers (SWE)

How Safe Is Your Job?

In a recent edition published by Parade magazine, an article entitled "How Safe Is Your Job?"  examines a very real issue for management and affects workers too: 
U.S. workers are increasingly disengaged, and that foreign workers have appear to have a higher level of focus and commitment.

The article cites :
Beyond the cheaper cost of labor, U.S. employers say that many workers abroad simply have a better attitude toward work. “American employees must be punctual, dress appropriately and have good personal hygiene,” says Chao. “They need anger-management and conflict-resolution skills, and they have to be able to accept direction. Too many young people bristle when a supervisor asks them to do something.”

Thus, when developing today's workforce, attention needs to be paid to the "soft skills" that are essential for career and workplace success.  Providing development in just the technical skill areas is simply not enough.

There are plenty of good traditional classroom training and online training resources available to help develop these skillsets.  For busy people, who want or need to take courses on their own time schedule, online training providers RedVector and Skillsoft provide excellent "competency-based" education programs to help you or your team to increase their skills in these important areas,

The Fastest Growing Top 10 Middle Class Jobs

As a person about to enter the workforce or someone who is simply trying to hang onto your job, the middle class has become a worrisome place for many. If you aren’t laid off you might soon become outdated.

If you are going to work you might as well work for the most money you can. You might not be aware of the highest paying middle class jobs and

read more | digg story

Before you give orders, you need experience taking orders

Many years ago, when I was aspiring my first supervisory role, my mentor asked me what experience I had in "taking orders", by which he meant, did I have any experience being directed what to do, and being held accountable for the result?

As it happens I had multiple such experiences - by directive parents, teachers, and early employment situations, and time served in the armed forces - all of which gave me perspective about examples of leadership - some were great leaders - some were awful.

This is a critical skillset to master, even if you're only a crew chief of a two person crew.

From these experiences however, I learned a couple of important things:

• giving orders is not as easy as it seems - properly done, there is a good deal of work that precedes the order.  It is not just "passing the buck" for someone to do something that the supervisor doesn't want to (or won't) do themselves.
• taking orders and getting them done requires good listening, and attention to detail, and especially important - finishing the assigned task
• It is not just about "assignment of work" and intimidation ("because I'm telling you to"), as much as it is facilitating the completion of the work to be done.  The "baby boomer" generation would take orders without question - increasingly, people want to know "why" and "why is this important" - you need to be prepared as a leader to answer these questions directly.

When I encounter someone who has not experienced first hand "taking orders", who wants to accede to supervision or management, it makes me wonder what kind of orders they will give, and what kinds of results they will see.

Seems like the "veterans" who have been the most successful, can relate to their own personal experiences and draw upon not just theory of management, but actual emotions that help them give orders that important, are appropriate to the person and address the situation at hand.

How do you acquire the ability to direct others if you've never had to do it yourself?

Blog :Global Labor Strategies

Global Labor Strategies an advocacy blog containing both accepted as well as highly controversial discussion of ideas and resources for the global labor movement caught my attention recently.  It is an excellent resource on what's happening in the organized labor community, and provides good insights on policies and activities of "players" in the global labor marketplace.  Stuff that we all need to stay on top of.

The authors include Tim Costello who has over 40 years of work and union experience in the area. He helped organize and served as Coordinator of the Boston based North American Alliance for Fair Employment, Brendan Smith is a legal expert (J.D. Cornell University Law School) specializing in national and international labor law and policy.  He is currently co-director of the UCLA Law School Globalization and Labor Standards Project, Jeremy Brecher a leading labor historian, writer, and documentary script writer who has for more than two decades collaborated with Costello in research and publishing numerous books about labor and globalization, and Claudia Torrelli of Montevideo, Uruguay. who handles GLS’s Latin American network, an activist the in labor—community based Hemispheric Social Alliance, and in other social movement organizations in Latin America.

In this blog, you will find insights not readily available elsewhere.  For example, a recent article "Why Labor Can and Should Lead a Reassessment of Approaches to China"  examines the role of the U.S. labor movement in the reassessment of approaches to China.

Great blog and excellent overall resource on this important aspect of todays global workforce.

Employers fail to sell work-life balance

While it seems many Canadians would prefer their kitchen table over the boardroom table any day, most don't feel their employer cares about work-life balance.  So says Holly Lake the gifted reporter who writes for Sun Media, entitled Employers fail to sell work-life balance.

A study published yesterday by Desjardins Financial Security found that while 25 per cent of Canadians are assured their organization "walks the talk" around work-life balance, only 29 per cent feel their employer truly cares about them having it in their lives.

Released in advance of the Canadian Mental Health Association's National Mental Health Week (May 7-13), the survey found while many companies are implementing programs to promote balance, 65 per cent of Canadians feel the values in their workplace and personal values are not in tune.

When asked what they valued, 54 per cent of respondents listed family first. Work topped the list for only 10 per cent.

In a release, Toronto psychiatrist Dr. Irvin Wolkoff called the gap in values a "warning sign" to employers.

"If employees do not feel that they can balance their work and their personal priorities such as their families, not only are we going to see the number of Canadians struggling with mental health issues increase, but we are also going to face an employee base who are resentful, disengaged and stressed," he said.

Glenn Thompson, chief executive officer of the Canadian Mental Health Association said often both partners in a family are working, raising kids and trying to care for an elderly loved one.

Combined with job stress, it can lead to depression, burnout and anxiety disorders.

With the war for talent escalating, employers can't afford to ignore employees' needs, said Alain Thauvette, Desjardins' senior vice-principal of group and business insurance.

New Workforce Model facing Opposition

Recently I was referred to the Thoughts of an Average Woman blog, an excellent production that is dedicated to targeting issues and policies harmful to women and working families.

The article I was referred to was in the "Working Families" section entitled Band Together does a critical examination of the efforts of the General Accounting Office (GAO) to organize and implement a new Pay for Performance program.  There have been many efforts to establish new workforce models in Govenrment and this initiative looks like one that could work well.

However, being Government, there are always political and structural issues on both sides.  This is an excellent blog and a great article.  I invite you to weigh in on this important issue.

8 Work Perks You Wish You Had...

At a few companies on the leading edge, you can arrange extra time off, set your own hours or even get a cheaper mortgage. Plus, see what the majority of us can expect.

read more | digg story

Short Circuited - Has Common Sense left the Building?

The good folks over at Opportunity at Work, have a great reputation for providing well thought through  and clearly presented information about today's workplace based upon the conviction that economic and productivity growth fairly shared is essential to our Nation's continued progress.  They are a division of the Center for Law and Social Policy is a national nonprofit that works to improve the lives of low-income people.  Unfortunately in our society there are people that are skilled and unskilled that fall into this category, as the costs of being in the workforce increase beyond that of wage growth.  And it looks like a few thousand more are being added to the list.

A post this week entitled Circuit City Chooses the Low Road describes a situation that unfortunately is not uncommon.  You may have read this widely publicized article about how Circuit City has chosen massive layoffs that will in effect result in displacing knowledgable skilled workers with lesser skilled or unskilled labor.  In the piece cited, "Circuit City announced yesterday" that it is laying off approximately 3,400 store associates. According to the company, the layoffs are targeted at employees who “were paid well above the market-based salary range for their role.” Based on reports from workers, it appears that they simply established a cut-off wage for each department and are laying off anyone who earned above it. This means that they are getting rid of their most experienced workers and those who have received performance-based wage increases in the past.

Does anybody join me in seeing the apparent insanity of this move?  Do you want to go to any business where you will be shelling out hundreds to thousands of dollars for a purchase, and have to deal with someone who is not knowledgeable, articulate and able to comprehend the increasingly complex sets of requirements and choices that must be considered.  If the company representative cannot answer these types of questions, why would you buy from an operation like this when there are firms who recognize that a knowledgeable person is worth their weight in gold.

I know of many large Fortune sized firms and smaller firms that have taken this approach, and saw their businesses suffer, and saw their market share decrease.  Has "common sense" left the building?

Do we still live in the Dark Ages here in America?

If you haven't recently been over to CR4, the GlobalSpec discussion group, there's a lot happening lately.

One of the more interesting discussions is regarding the issue of gender inequality in the engineering discipline.  A recent article "Bias Continuing Issue for Women in Science Careers", that cites a  Reuters piece via CNN.com, "Women trying to make it as scientists face bias, hostility and a lack of respect that all combine to hold them back....These barriers both frighten women away from scientific careers and block the women who try to succeed," as reported by the most recent issue of the Journal of Science.

We cannot afford this type of bias today, as the ranks of engineers continues to dwindle, and an estimated 50% of the engineer ranks are looking at retirement in the next decade.

The Society of Women Engineers is working hard to change this, but this is a specialization wide issue that must be dealt with in a much broader sense.  In case you weren't aware, SWE is the driving force that establishes engineering as a highly desirable career aspiration for women. SWE empowers women to succeed and advance in those aspirations and be recognized for their life-changing contributions and achievements as engineers and leaders.  It is important to set the expectation that women are needed in engineering as they ponder career choices.  It is even more important to ensure that once they enter the engineering discipline that they are given the opportunity to grow and prosper.

Today’s Women Workers : Shut Out of Yesterday’s Unemployment Insurance System

The Unemployment Insurance (UI) system in the U.S. was designed to provide temporary income assistance to workers who become unemployed through no fault of their own.

Benefits are not distributed equitably to all those who work, however; women, low-wage, and part-time workers are less likely than men, higher-wage, and full-time workers to qualify for and receive UI benefits. While 35 percent of unemployed men are supported by the UI system, only 23 percent of unemployed women are

A fact sheet Download women_and_unemployment_benefits.pdf produced and published by the Institute of Womens Policy Research discusses two key aspects of the UI system that prevent many women from receiving the UI benefits they have earned.

UI is Important to Women and Their Families.  One of the biggest changes in American society in the last 100 years has been the growth of women in the labor force, and especially in mothers’ employment.

Starting at about 20 percent in 1930, women’s rate of labor force activity doubled by 970 and tripled by 1999, to 60 percent. Mothers are even more likely than women overall to be in the labor force: In 1999, 70 ercent of married mothers and 73 percent of single mothers were employed outside the home.

Along with this increased employment activity has come increasing responsibility for family economic security. On average, women in the workforce—including employed mothers— bring in around one-third of their families’ total income.

There are forces working to make a difference.  One of these champions, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, the first woman elected to the Senate from Washington state, she has been a champion for women and families.  She has spearheaded efforts to close the pay gap, protect women in retirement, and increase access to child care. Murray helped write and pass the historic Violence Against Women Act of 1994 and helped reauthorize it in 2000 and 2005.

When women are prevented from UI benefits we all lose.  Todays workplace requires the skills and experience that women from all backgrounds and levels to actively participate in the labor market.  When UI disparities occur, it further discourages the very talent that our economy depends upon for survival.  When our laws create situations that create a bias against women who want to work but aren't treated equal to their male counterparts - it costs us all

Workforce Employment Trends - A New Look

Agora Financial produces an excellent newsletter that I read religiously called "Whiskey and Gunpowder". One of their recent articles covered Employment Trends and contains loads of information and graphs that will put the dynamics of todays complex labor market and economy into clearer perspective.

I highly recommend it.  Let me know what you think...

More Men Report Sexual Harassment at Work

Defying assumptions about sexual harassment in the workplace, a record number of men reported being harassed by male colleagues last year, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. citing cases filed by men at 15.4 percent of the 12,025 sexual harassment charges in fiscal year 2006, increasing from about 11 percent a decade ago

read more | digg story

When “anything goes” in today’s workplace

Is the workplace becoming increasingly dishonest - with everyone?

From the secretarial lie about whether the boss is “in,” to the misrepresentation or reallocation of profits or revenues, to bringing legal pads home for personal use, individuals are challenged to apply the lessons of right and wrong that they may hear in Church on Sunday to their everyday work lives.

Does the need to make a profit outweigh the need to reward employees fairly? Should you tell your staff why you fired someone and risk being sued for defamation? Is it more important to make payroll or pay your vendors? Business professionals face ethical decisions like these every day.

That's the position advanced by Kevin Axe, who writes extensively and publishes a blog called the Living Faith Foundation that helps people deal with the issues that impact them in their "real" lives which includes Healing & Recovery, Raising Kids & Teens, Married Life, Single Living, Relating to Parents, and Divorced & Separated

He also cites a book that can be helpful to sort out this complex workplace  morality / honesty issue:
The Good, the Bad, and Your Business: Choosing Right When Ethical Dilemmas Pull You Apart, by Jeffrey Seglin and Norman Augustine

If these issues are working in you, here's a resource that may be helpful.