If you work in human resources, you are dealing with email, often a lot of it. Like everyone else in business, you are probably trying to figure out how to get control over it.

In fact, email has become such a big issue at some places that they have threatened to ban it entirely. But experts in this area caution against taking such extreme measures, because it remains an important tool. It is becoming harder and harder to reach people any other way these days. To get a handle on it, experts say what you need to do is look at the causes of your email problem, and then follow some guidelines for getting control of it.

The experts say that email overload is actually the result of other shortcomings. For example, if a company does not have a clear decision-making process, and people are left with questions about business operations, they will resort to email to get their questions answered. As more email floods the system, a feedback loop begins as recipients get bogged down trying to reply to all the missives.

If meetings are effective at giving people what they need to know, they won’t have to resort to email to get information they need. Email used effectively reduces the need for meetings, and meetings used effectively reduce the need for email, according to business consultant David Allen.

You can also get a handle on email by reducing the inflow of messages. Don’t sign up for e-newsletters. Turn off notices from Twitter and Facebook. Tell colleagues not to copy you on every action item. Don’t send emails with messages such as “Thanks.”

Empty your inbox as soon as possible. Then, as new messages come in, delete those you don’t need to read or keep immediately. If you can respond to a message right away, do it. Then file the others in folders. Then choose a limited number of times during the day when you look at your email.

The experts also say it’s impractical to come up with sweeping company-wide rules on email use because everyone uses email differently. Try, they say, instead to come up with some email guidelines that apply to smaller groups or departments.

When you’re flooded with requests to fill positions at your New York City company, shoot an e-mail to one of the recruiters at Winston Resources. We can help you find great workers for your temporary and direct-hire needs. We look forward to hearing from you!

As just about everyone in today’s workforce knows, pension plans are going the way of the dinosaur, being replaced by employee contribution plans such as 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts. But with the recent severe downturn in the economy, it has become evident that these retirement accounts leave a lot to be desired. Moreover, an additional problem is that many employees are not putting enough money into the plans.

Because of these problems, many human resource departments are attempting to help employees through the maze of retirement options to help ensure that they have resources after retiring, according to Rita Pyrillis of Workforce Management.

Employers and workers today are taking an intense look into retirement plans and what types work the best. With the recession, the amount of money in employee retirement plans took a big hit, in turn prompting them to delay retirement – which also affects their employers.

Companies are looking at combination plans, for example, that bring together a 401(k) component with some type of guaranteed benefit, such as a cash-balance plan, Pyrillis says. These kinds of plans are among the fastest growing, jumping about 20 percent since 2001.

Because many workers have not even been enrolling in the plans, employers are now taking action to do it automatically. Companies also are offering employees time with financial advisors, according to Pyrillis. Part of the reason for this is that when employees cannot retire, there is less opportunity for growth and advancement for younger workers, which in turn affects employee morale. If the regular cycle of employees retiring and new ones coming on board is disrupted, the company is faced with an aging group of increasingly disengaged workers simply hanging onto their jobs because they cannot afford to do otherwise.

Some business analysts say that the shift in responsibility for retirement from the employer to the employee has led to a big erosion of trust between workers and employers. As a result, in order to attract and retain good workers, employers are increasingly feeling pressure to take a more active role in retirement plans.

Two of the most prevalent trends right now, according to experts, are measures employers are taking to automatically enroll employees in retirement programs, and the increased use of target-date funds, which rebalance an investment portfolio toward less risky assets as a person’s retirement date approaches.

Winston Resources has been helping Manhattan-area companies find great temporary and direct-hire workers since 1967. We’d love to do the same for your firm. Contact us today!

Many employees often undertake big, long-term projects at work. It may be a project with no definite deadline, or with a deadline that is several months away.

These are the projects that often create the most anxiety, says business consultant Peter Bregman. Sometimes they lead to procrastination, until the deadline looms before you. Often, you may not even know what you need to do to get started, and when you do start, you find that you don’t know everything you need to know or have the skills you need to finish it, Bregman says. And, other more urgent things keep popping up, so we lay the long-term project aside.

The standard advice to getting a big project done is to break it up into smaller parts, concentrate on the next step to move ahead, and set incremental deadlines along the way. It’s good advice, Bregman says, but it’s not enough.

It’s not enough because it doesn’t address the real culprit behind our procrastination – our fear of failure. We are afraid that we will fail, Bregman says, that we will spend all of our time on it, neglecting other things, and in the end it won’t be very good anyway.
So how do we handle this fear – the elephant in the room?

Don’t pretend it’s not there, Bregman says, acknowledge that you are afraid. Don’t try to downplay it, because that is just another form of denial – denying the reality of the situation. It’s a natural feeling. Moreover, Bregman says, by trying to ignore it, we stoke that fear even more, because it’s always there in the background gnawing at us.

But by admitting to your fear, you also are admitting that you may not be able to meet your expectations, Bregman says. By doing this, you are acknowledging that your effort is not going to be perfect.  This will help you get started, because it is that desire for perfection, or something close to it, that often prevents us from moving ahead.

Also, by accepting your fear, you also are accepting the fact that you don’t have everything you need to get your project done, and this in turn will spur you to seek out the information, skills or other support you need, Bregman says.

After you have confronted and accepted your fear, make the project a priority. In fact, Bregman says, make it one of your top five priorities. To do this, you may have to figure out what you are going to bump off your priority list in order to make room for the project.

Then, he says, you can go back to the standard advice of breaking it up into parts focusing on those parts and setting deadlines in your calendar.

When you need great people for either temporary or direct-hire assignments at your Manhattan-based company, call upon the recruiters at Winston Resources to find you skilled and reliable professionals. Contact us today!

In business, the situation with technology sometimes resembles a person stranded on a deserted island, surrounded by water, but none to drink.

We have more ways to communicate than ever before, according to Stephen Paskoff, a human resources specialist, but despite that, all the advances in communication technology have done little to help us understand each other better. In fact, the plethora of communication modes may be adding to the problem. This becomes something that human resources specialists need to keep in mind, given the fact that workplace harassment and other communications problems and conflicts  usually end up in their area.

The fact is that when we write something, we have a particular meaning in mind, but the message often is interpreted in a different way by the recipient. When this happens, there can be misunderstandings and conflict.

Part of the problem stems from our relationships with others, Paskoff says. When we get a message from someone we like, we interpret the message in a positive way. We are generally willing to accept statements at face value, and assume a sincere intent. But when the message comes from someone we have a more ambiguous or contentious relationship with, we automatically adopt a certain stance toward the message, becoming more guarded, more suspicious of meaning and motives.

Take for example, Paskoff says, the message, “Great seeing you. That was some presentation you made. I couldn’t believe you did that.” Then think about the different ways you would interpret that message coming from a friend or an enemy, Paskoff says.

Texting, because the messages are so brief, can sometimes create even more misunderstandings, even though they are more convenient. Misunderstandings are likely to escalate, with globalization increasingly bringing together people of diverse ages, nationalities, cultures, and idioms.

While Paskoff says he has no clear solution to the problem, he recommends using tools such as email and texting more for just informational purposes, rather than messages of a more nuanced nature.

Let there be no doubt as you read this message: When you’re looking for great professionals for your New York City-based company, come to Winston Resources. We can help you find reliable and skilled workers for your temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire assignments. Contact us today!

The concept of corporate culture can be a somewhat nebulous thing. It is not something where you can look at facts and figures. It has to do with the attitude and morale of workers, their engagement with their work and their productivity.

But, although culture is not easy to quantify, human resources specialist Andy Porter says there are definite tell-tale signs that show when your corporate culture is in trouble. They are signs that human resources staff members need to be aware of and take action on when they see them.

One sign is when a manager accepts the fact that an employee is not performing the way he or she should, and rationalizes the acceptance with the attitude that something is better than nothing. What this means, Porter says, is that the performance standards in the company have really taken a nose dive. This is something that will really hurt the morale in a company. If employees know that a manager is allowing someone to get away with less than satisfactory performance, they see a double standard, and they may believe they have to do more to make up for the other person’s lower performance. Plus, it also calls into question the assessment that the manager gives to other employees, and how much that can be trusted.

Another sign that things are not right is when a hiring manager settles for a job applicant who may not be exactly what he or she is looking for, taking the attitude that you have to accept what is available. This could mean that the manager really doesn’t know how to evaluate candidates properly for the skill set needed, or that the manager is really just looking out for himself and is not in tune with the culture of the company, Porter says. Human resource workers need to put the brakes on this kind of thinking and remedy the problem.

Finally, another sign your culture is really slipping badly is when you hear someone say, “It’s not my responsibility.” This shows a person who is concerned only about him- or herself and not the good of the company as a whole. Porter says there is no easy answer for handling this problem. It involves reviewing the mission of your company with your employees and trying to reconnect your employees to it and letting go of people who can’t or won’t buy into it.

If you’re looking for skilled and reliable professionals for your Manhattan company, call upon the recruiters at Winston Resources. We’ll find terrific workers for your temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire assignments quickly. Contact us today!

Bringing new people onboard is an important process, and should be done with care and planning. New workers should be brought up to speed, given the tools they need to be successful, and made to feel welcomed by the company.

What you should avoid, however, if you are in human resources, is a very long and very boring orientation session, something, for example, that usually runs for more than three hours. If it goes longer than that, says human resources specialist Meredith Soleau, you are going to fall victim to the law of diminishing returns. Some HR orientations run long because they show videos, some covering areas that may not even be all that important.

In fact, showing videos may signal to your employees that you don’t think their time is that important, especially if the videos are some generic, bland and boring production. More effective would be a presentation made by someone in human resources about the pertinent issues, presentations that have been well thought out, that are simple, clear, and direct, telling the employees what they need to know and why they need to know it.

An effective and efficient presentation would focus on a company’s major policies first – things such as accepted norms of behavior, harassment issues, professionalism, and performance goals. Covering the benefits package should not take hours either. If it does, it is probably too complicated.

For those employees who work on a shop floor, obviously safety is a primary concern, and there should be a safety manual to go over with the employees.

For job duties employees will perform in their departments, those should be left to the managers to introduce.

This emphasis on streamlining the process is meant to increase efficiency, not to downplay the importance of the onboarding process, which for the most part does not get enough attention from employers. But a lot of the onboarding process should be done by managers – things such as bringing the new hire up to speed on the job’s duties and what is expected of on the job, making the new hire feel welcome and an important part of the team.

If you’d like help with your orientation process, contact Winston Resources. We can help your Manhattan company look its procedures and suggest ways to make them more efficient. Contact us today!

Leadership has acquired even more emphasis in the current business climate, as it appears more and more that leaders are putting their own self-interest ahead of the organizations for which they are responsible.

What can you do to upgrade your leadership skills? Here are a few tips from business analysts John Coleman and Bill George.

One thing you can do is find a good mentor, Coleman and George say. This is very important for developing skills as a leader. A recent study showed that people who had mentors were more likely to succeed and to be happier in their careers than people who did not have mentors. When looking for a mentor, try to find someone with whom you get along well and who has your best interest at heart. And recognize that the character and values of your mentor are just as important as his or her success.

Another strategy for developing leadership skills is to form a leadership development group. This is a group of generally six to eight people who get together on a routine basis to talk about their challenges and what is important to them. It gives members of the group an opportunity to think exclusively about leadership, what defines a good leader, how good leaders face the difficulties that confront them and how good leaders have a long-term impact on their organizations.

Volunteering for a civic or service organization is another way to develop leadership skills. It gives you an opportunity to take a leadership role and to get in touch with people in the community, broadening your perspective and experience. It gives you experiences you cannot get just from work alone.

Travel also is a way to gain leadership skills, according to Coleman and George. In the age of globalization, being able to deal with people of diverse cultures has become almost a requirement of good leaders. A survey of top MBA candidates revealed that most of them had worked in at least four countries before they enrolled in graduate school, and they expected to work in several countries after they graduated.

Finally, if you want to develop your ability as a leader, you need to keep an open mind and a curiosity about the world. It’s not always about having the right answers, but in the age of information overload, about knowing what the right questions are

If you have managerial experience and want to move into a more important leadership position, contact a recruiter at Winston Resources. We can present your qualifications to some of Manhattan’s finest employers. We look forward to helping you take your career to the next level.

When the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) went into effect in 2003, most employers that had self-insured health plans took steps to make sure they were in compliance. But with the passage of time, compliance standards at a number of organizations have fallen off some, and human resource departments need to take another look at HIPAA and healthcare privacy, according to Workforce Management, a human resources communications company.

One problem that has arisen is the failure of businesses to comply with the HIPAA security rules.

Many businesses still have not completed their plans and procedures for maintaining security of electronic healthcare information, stipulated in the HIPAA guidelines. Others have not updated their security arrangements, specifically arrangements they need to have with business associates, spelling out exactly who can and cannot have access to healthcare information, and how to protect that information. This is something human resource departments may want to prioritize since the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has recently begun HIPAA compliance audits.

Businesses often fail to train new workers who have access to protected healthcare information about HIPAA guidelines, and to retrain workers when there are changes to the company’s healthcare arrangements, such as new wellness programs. This training is required. Companies should also should have periodic refresher courses for employees to remind them of what the privacy guidelines are for health information.

Another problem is that employers have not taken the time to familiarize themselves with state privacy laws. HIPAA does not preempt these laws, so if they are stricter than the HIPAA guidelines, both state law and HIPAA regulations must be followed.

Also, if a company makes changes to the way it administers its health plan that affects privacy policies, or adds new kinds of health plan coverage, or adds a wellness program, the company needs to make changes to its HIPAA compliance regulations and send notice of these changes within 60 days. This often is not being done.

Another problem is that companies often do not have procedures in place for dealing with privacy complaints. HIPAA does not require a company to have a written policy for resolving complaints, but having one could prevent a lot of headaches later on. The company could be assessed penalties by Health and Human Resources if a complaint is filed with the agency and the complaint is determined to be valid.

When you need help finding great employees for your NYC-area company, call upon the expertise of Winston Resources. We look forward to hearing more about your staffing requirements!

A representative from human resources needs to be on any performance improvement team that is worth the name, according to business analyst Brad Power.

In addition to people who know how things work, and people who know how to make them work better, Power says that there also should be on the team people who know how to get workers to accept and work with the new policies and procedures. These are people who know about how incentives work, how best to incorporate training programs, who know how best to communicate, and who know how to work within the corporate culture. These are all the people skills in which human resource workers specialize.

Studies have shown that efforts to make change happen in companies fail almost three-fourths of the time. The reason, Power says, is not because the new procedures were bad, but because the workers didn’t want to change the way they worked.

While Power says it is crucial to have human resources on any performance improvement team, few companies do. Part of the problem is with human resources itself. If it is to get involved in process improvement, human resources needs to change the way it operates.

It must change its standard defense for keeping things the way they are. This is a natural reaction for human resources – the department’s job is to maintain the policies and procedures of the company by making sure it complies with all the laws and regulations. But this is a role where human resources works against change, where it has to watch out for risks and threats. So if the company makes major changes in its operations and processes, a whole new set of risks and threats arises to which human resources needs to attend. It involves changes in job descriptions, terminations, training and development, etc.

But any performance improvement team needs members who are human resource professionals, who know about the behavior of employees both individually and as an organization. They know what is important to employees. They can be of immense help to the team in assisting them to fit the needs and interests of employees into the needs of a new system that is more effective and efficient.

Let Winston Resources “be of immense help” to your New York City firm when it comes to sourcing, vetting and placing qualified and reliable workers for your company. We look forward to hearing from you!

Recent signs are showing that companies that develop a culture where coaching is encouraged and practiced well by everyone have better bottom lines. This may be something for human resources departments to think about and to get involved in creating such an atmosphere.

A recent study by the California-based advisory firm Bersin and Associates showed that companies where managers made efforts to frequently coach others had business results that were 21 percent better than those companies that did not. And companies that developed a corporate culture where coaching was encouraged had a bottom line 13 percent better than those that did not, as well as significantly better engagement, productivity and customer service among employees.

The study, surveying almost 200 companies, also revealed that nearly three-fourths those surveyed now do coaching in place of conventional performance reviews. However, the authors also noted that coaching effectively is not a skill that many managers have.

According to the study’s authors, coaching is a major challenge for businesses trying to improve performance, yet they don’t know how to get the support needed for it. To ensure that coaching becomes an integral part of a company’s culture, senior executives need to get involved in coaching. But this is a problem in itself as only about 10 percent of executives believe in the value of coaching to improve performance.

To reverse the problem, business leaders need to get involved and personally bang the drum for coaching, especially by starting up coaching programs in their companies, according to the report. The report also says that human resource departments also need to get involved to help create an atmosphere that supports and measures the effectiveness of coaching.

Good performance management centers around coaching, experts say. Performance reviews focus on the past, while coaching looks toward the future and how to improve. To coach effectively, managers need to be good listeners, help to reinforce the behavior they want to see, and also ask open ended questions.

If you’re Manhattan-area company is on the search for improved results in 2010, partner with Winston Resources. We can help you source and place great employees, help you with your payroll, help you with drug testing, and more. Contact us today!