With the job market as tight as it is, it may come as little surprise that there has been an appreciable increase in false statements made on resumes, according to hiring managers. It has become more of a widespread problem.

Job candidates tell outright falsehoods, or they will leave out important facts about their background or employment history. The most common falsehood is extending dates of employment to cover up gaps in work history.

Job candidates also will include on resumes or applications degrees or certifications they have not earned, list a college or university they have not attended, list particular technical skills they do not have or exaggerate, or lie about other accomplishments.

To head off these problems, employers need to include disclaimers about making false statements or omissions and that these fraudulent statements will automatically disqualify a candidate from consideration, according to Russell Thomas, an attorney specializing in employment law. Employers also should not neglect doing background checks. Naturally, the higher level the position, the more you want to do a thorough background check on the applicant.

Another way to verify statements made by applicants is to simply look at what’s in the public record, Thomas says. With all the social media that now exist, there are plenty of places to go to do this. You can check out MySpace, Facebook or YouTube for information. These sites can confirm what is on a person’s resume, or reveal false statements a person has made on a resume.

The interview also is a key place to look for discrepancies or misleading statements and try to verify statements, Thomas says. That is why good interviewing skills are important. The best thing to do is ask the applicant questions that he or she will not expect. The interview should be set up so that the applicant is the one doing most of the talking, while the interviewer is spending most of the time listening and observing.

Whatever you do as an employer, Thomas says, avoid the urge to overlook misrepresentations on an applicant’s resume. These misleading statements could be a sign of some deeper character flaw that may affect the person’s ability to do the job.

In this tough job market, employers need to be especially vigilant about fraudulent resumes, Thomas says.

Let Winston Resources source and vet candidates for positions at your Manhattan-area company. We can perform preliminary interviews and conduct background checks to verify statements regarding skills, education and job history. Contact us today!

When managers give performance reviews, they sometimes praise, but they usually offer criticism, looking more often at the things that employees did wrong, or where they fell short.

That is only natural – it’s something we all do.  And many believe that criticism leads to better performance than praise.  After a critical review, an employee’s work seems to improve; while after getting praise, his or her work appears to be as good.  So, that would naturally lead a manager to conclude that criticism works better than praise.

But research has shown that what is going on here isn’t what we might think.  The causes and effects aren’t what we often think they are.  It’s true that performance improves after criticism, but it probably wasn’t the criticism that made the difference.

What is going on here is what statisticians call regression to the mean.  The work people do isn’t uniform.  It varies each day.  This is certainly not a profound observation; people aren’t at their best or their worst every day.  That’s why, for example, when we judge the quality of an athlete, we don’t look at just one or two games.  We look at a whole season, and even a whole career.  We look at his or her average play over a certain time, which statisticians call the mean performance.

Those who have studied this issue of mean performance have found that a superior performance usually is followed by one that is sub-par.  And it goes the other way too.  If someone turns in a less-than-stellar performance, it is usually followed by one that is better than average.  This is not intentional.  It’s just part of the range of performance of which we are all capable.  Our performance tends to cluster around a mean, or average.

So, knowing this, it becomes easier to see why criticism appears to work better than praise.  When we evaluate someone, we tend to look at his or her most recent work, as opposed to the employee’s performance over a long period of time.  So, if someone has just turned in a poor performance, we offer criticism, and his or her performance usually improves.  But this improvement is the result of the regression to the mean – a  poor performance is more likely to be followed by a good one, and vice versa.  And so this leads to more criticism than praise.

But more research is showing that positive reinforcement – developing a person’s strengths — has more of an effect on a person’s work than criticism.

When you need skilled professionals for your Manhattan-area company quickly, contact Winston Resources. We’ll help source, conduct background checks and place reliable workers in temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire assignments. We look forward to hearing from you!

A survey conducted earlier this year found that employees feel they don’t receive enough communication on an ongoing basis regarding their job performance. A small pool of people– about 100 workers — were surveyed and only about 45 percent of them felt that their managers consistently told them how well — or not — they were doing on the job. Employees also said they felt they didn’t receive enough feedback about their job performance between yearly annual reviews.

Forty-four percent of respondents said their supervisors didn’t even complete their performance reviews on time (probably because the manager is most likely inundated with projects).

Yet as the country slowly recovers from a very weak economy, employers should work to keep employees engaged and happy to work at their company, otherwise businesses may find their top workers leave their employ when the job market recovers.

One way to do this is by having consistent communication about their performance.

Researchers said they found that conducting productive employee reviews, coupled with keeping communication about their performance goes a long way to helping a firm’s employees reach their goals — and achieve measurable business results as a consequence.

Web-based performance management systems can help firms follow up with their workers before, during and after an annual review. Many Web-based tools allow 360-degree feedback tools, the opportunity for “unlimited” reviews, and a means for employees and managers to stay in touch regarding performance benchmarks via online journal entries. Such tools make it easier for firms to align their employees’ tasks, projects and responsibilities with clear goals. The tools also help track performance on a year-round, on-going basis.

When you need to tap into the “hidden talent market,” come to Winston  Resources. We have many excellent contract professionals available to serve at your firm on a temporary, temp-to-hire or direct-hire basis. We look forward to hearing from you.

It’s a headache for any manager – how do you handle an employee who isn’t performing up to par?  One way that has produced results is called the performance improvement plan.

This process is set up to enable better communication between a manager and the staff member and also to make clear to the employee exactly what is expected of him or her.  The plan is put in place when a worker needs to improve his or her performance.  The supervisor develops the plan, with ideas and feedback from the employee.  The purpose of the plan is to help the employee reach an expected level of performance.

It is also suggested that another manager as well as the human resources department review the plan to make sure it is being implemented in a consistent manner.  The supervisor then observes the employee and offers feedback relating to how the employee is fulfilling the performance objectives set out in the plan.

There are several issues that the supervisor should go over with the employee when setting up the plan.  The first relates to the performance that needs to be improved.  This should be clearly and specifically spelled out, and the supervisor should give examples of what the expected performance entails.  The supervisor also needs to spell out the level of performance that is expected, and that the level is expected to be consistent.

A manager also needs to explain what support or resources are available to the employee to help him or her achieve the performance objectives.  A supervisor also needs to spell out how feedback will be given to the employee on how he or she is doing.  For example, if periodic meetings will be set up, the employee needs to know when and how often these will be held.  Managers also need to develop a measurement procedure they will use to evaluate an employee’s progress.  The employee also needs to be told the consequences for not reaching the agreed-upon goals.

If the employee is not making acceptable progress, it may be necessary to move to a progressive discipline process.  This program is not to be interpreted as punishment, but, as with the performance improvement plan, to help the employee meet job expectations.  The goal is to get the employee performing at an acceptable level and if that doesn’t occur, the discipline process allows the firm to terminate fairly the employment of workers who are not performing and who will not or cannot improve.

If the employee still does not improve, a manager should meet with the employee again to find out if he or she truly understands what is required and whether there are any problems that the supervisor does not know about that might be preventing the employee from performing at an acceptable level. If there is still no improvement, a verbal reprimand would then be given,  followed by a written one. These would be followed by an increasing number of days suspended from work, and then termination if there is no improvement.

When you need help in finding high-level performers for your Manhattan-area company, contact Winston Resources. We can help you find skilled, reliable star employees for temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire assignments. Contact us today!

If you want your business to grow, you want to get the most from your employees because it’s their productivity that will lead to growth.

What stands in the way of generating greater productivity, and what can you do about it?

Employee productivity can be tied to one thing – motivation.  What motivates your employees to work their hardest and work their best?  It’s not the same for everyone.

Each employee is different and may have different barriers to productivity.  For some, their skills may not match the job. Some may be dissatisfied with their job for some reason, while others,  may have difficulty with a manager.  So, clearly, what you must do is identify the cause of the behavior that is affecting productivity.

You need to find what motivates your workers, what gives them satisfaction from their work.  Some are motivated by performance-based bonuses, some by the chance of getting a promotion, some by flexible working conditions, others by additional time off.

Having rewards for productivity will go a long way toward improving performance.  Challenging employees to achieve a certain task with a reward attached will get the best from your workers.  And rewards don’t have to be extravagant – even small rewards will spur motivation.

One way of learning more about your employees is through assessments.  Employee assessments can help you determine what motivates your employees.  These assessments can also be used to better match people with the type of work they do.  By determining what the important factors are that make the difference between success and failure in a certain job, you can make sure you get the right person into the job.

Another productivity killer is not having clear expectations in the first place.  Often without clear goals and targets to shoot for, employees aim for the minimum.

Also, when looking for ways to spur productivity, don’t forget about your training programs.  It has been shown that the better, more thorough the training programs, the higher chance of retaining employees, and of enhancing employee satisfaction and morale.

Ongoing training is important for two reasons – first, it allows you to keep your employees up to date on trends in the industry, and second, it enables you to work in better internal work processes.  These training programs should be done on a quarterly or twice yearly basis and last no longer than two or three days.

If you’re a New York City area business and you need help with your assessing your employees’ skills, contact Winston Resources. We can offer you skills assessment services so that you’ll be able to place the right employee with the right skills in the right job.

As managers, we intuitively know that giving and getting honest feedback is essential to grow and develop, and to build successful organizations.  So why is it that many of us put off giving feedback to our employees?  Maybe it’s because there are so many ways to mess it up.

Here are some common feedback mistakes:

• Speaking out only when things are wrong.
• Providing generic praise without specifics or an honest underpinning.
• Waiting until performance or behavior is substantially below expectations before acting on it.
• Giving negative feedback in public.
• Criticizing performance without giving suggestions for improvement.
• Not conducting regular performance reviews.

Clearly, giving and receiving constructive feedback is a skill that must be honed.

Developing proficiency in this area is essential to building good relationships with, and motivating peak performance from, your team.  To help get you started, here are four tips for providing feedback the right way:

1. Be proactive. Nip issues in the bud and avoid messy interpersonal tangles that result from neglected communication.  If you meet with employees regularly to give feedback, it conveys, “Your success is important to me, so I want to be accessible to you.”
2. Be specific. Although it’s not easy to provide negative feedback, it’s important to be as clear as possible by giving specific examples that illustrate your point.  Instead of saying, “Your attitude is bad,” say, “When you miss deadlines, then cross your arms and look away when I discuss it with you, it gives me the impression that you don’t care about the quality of your work.  Can you help me understand this behavior better?”
3. Develop a progress plan. Be clear about the specific changes in behavior that you expect in a specific period of time, and follow up as scheduled.
4. Link employees’ performance to organizational goals. Reinforce the value of your employees’ contributions by giving specific examples of how their work and positive behaviors serve the organization and its customers.

At Winston Resources, we’re continually looking for feedback from our clients.  Please contact our offices today to share your most recent experience.