Tomorrow Achievant will be exhibiting in the HR Marketplace of the 2008 Indiana SHRM Conference (http://www.indianashrm.org/INSHRMconference.htm) and announcing a very exciting partnership with HR Dimensions (www.hrdimensions.com).  Together we are giving away the grand prize - a Dell laptop.  

What a wonderful opportunity to speak with over 1000 HR executives about the issues they face on a daily basis.  On the flip side - what a great opportunity for them to listen to a number of excellent speakers, network with their peers and peruse the latest in HRIS software. Which brings up an interesting question - do you always give your best effort when away at conferences like this or do you take a mental break? 

With how fast everyone is moving it's easy to attend events with no real plans to network or stroll the exhibit hall.  Don't be tempted.  Take full advantage of your peers - introduce yourself to 10 new contacts.  Take full advantage of the exhibit hall - find out what's new in marketplace even if you're not in the buying mode. 

Finally, regardless of whether or not you have a need for help with performance management, applicant tracking, time and attendance or HRIS please stop by and say hello.  Don't worry, we won't bite.

Yesterday, one of our smartest employees did one of the dumbest things ever.  She opened an e-greeting card from someone she didn't know.  Within seconds she knew she had a problem.  It could have been the anti-virus warning that popped up or the freaky image that suddenly became her desktop background.  Either way, the first thing she did was raise the alarm.

You may be asking yourself what a virus outbreak and HRIS Software have in common.  To me, the commonality is in the quality of the response.  Anyone can sell you a talent management system.  In fact, any two pieces of HRIS Software are likely to be very similar.

What's not going to be similar are the people behind the product.  When the virus hit that one user the first thing we did was isolate her from the network (well, isolate her computer, we didn't really do anything to her). 

Then, to make sure there would be no further spread of the virus we took all of our computers off the network.  We did this by simply unplugging the switch that handles all computer traffic.  We left the switch that handles all VOIP up and running.  In short, we had a good plan and were well prepared.  Within minutes we new the extent of the problem, had it isolated and were on our way to better times.

The same can be said of how we provide service.  Maybe you use our employee time and attendance module or our performance assessment module.From the day you kick off your implementation and everyday thereafter the achievant team is ready to answer questions, address issue and help you make the most of the tool you purchased.

Any two pieces of software Human Resources Software are going to be more or less the same.  But the people who support them, who make you successful are not.

August 25 – 27th will be the 2008 Indiana State Human Resources Conference.  This year’s conference is being held at the Westin Hotel in Indianapolis.  Achievant is excited to be an exhibitor at the event as well as partnering with HR Dimensions to provide the prize for the Grand Prize Drawing.

I can’t wait to meet and mingle with over 1,000 HR professionals from all over the state as well as visit the booths of the other hundred exhibitors.  If you are attending I hope you will stop by our tradeshow booth in order to see a demo of our products for the first time, meet with a sales rep, ask questions, or just to say hello to me in one of the sessions.

If you’d like to attend the conference but haven’t registered yet or you’d like to learn more about the conference, here is a link - http://www.indianashrm.org/INSHRMconferencegrid.htm.  Personally I am looking forward to hearing several of the speakers including the session on Updating Your Compensation Programs by Debi Mueller, Vice President-Consulting at HR Dimensions. This session addresses best practices in compensation and explores the links to business strategies that will be needed to ensure alignment to productivity and pay for performance. I plan to pick up a couple more recertification credits to complete my SPHR renewal.

Simon Bailey will be the keynote speaker on Tuesday.  His topic will be Releasing Brilliance and will inspire us to take charge of and transform our lives from the inside out.  Clint Swindall will be doing the closing keynote on Engaged Leadership and will focus on leadership enhancement.

It should be a great conference with rich content and ample time to visit the trade show floor.

See you there!

In recent weeks, much focus has been placed on the classification (or misclassification) of workers as “independent contractors" versus “employees”.   The federal government is working to ensure that you are not trying to avoid overtime pay, unemployment compensation, payroll taxes and employment-related rights and benefits by claiming they are independent contractors.

Even individual states are taking action.  California (gee… who out there is surprised that CA would be one of the first states to jump on the band-wagon) has recently sent "employment relationship" questionnaires to "independent contractors" to ensure that those individuals should not be classified as employees.

In May 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Employee Misclassification Prevention Act (H.R. 6111). As its name suggests, this legislation targets employers who misclassify their employees as "independent contractors."  If passed, this legislation would make the misclassification of employees a prohibited act under the Fair Labor Standards Act and increase penalties under the FLSA. The legislation would also require employers to keep records regarding their classification of workers, notify workers of their classification, and allow them to challenge that classification. In addition, the proposed legislation would require state unemployment insurance agencies to conduct audits to determine which employers are misclassifying their employees.  It would also authorize the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Internal Revenue Service to share information on instances of misclassification, and mandate that the DOL perform audits focusing on industries that frequently misclassify employees.

In light of the increased scrutiny on independent contractor relationships, employers should conduct internal audits to ensure they have properly classified their independent contractors and to effectively address any misclassifications.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released an opinion letter on July 29, 2008 clarifying that an employer is required to compensate an employee for all the hours worked, even if that includes time worked in violation of company policy such as through a required meal break.  The company at the heart of this issue had a Break and Meal Policy which stated that “All employees working six or more hours in a shift must receive a 30-minute, uninterrupted, and unpaid meal period. The meal period requirements cannot be waived by the employee nor substituted for any other time.”

The policy also provided that “there may be instances when, because of staffing or workloads, a meal period may not be available to all staff members. If any nonexempt employee does not take a meal period as required by the New York State Department of Labor, that employee should notify his or her manager and note this on the time card so he or she will be compensated for the time.”

The employer asked the DOL for its opinion on whether additional straight time (i.e., not overtime) would be due when an employee violates company policy by skipping a meal break and failing to notify the manager that the break was missed. The employer also asked the DOL to assume that the worker had worked less than 40 hours in the workweek and that the minimum wage still would be received, even if the employer did not pay additional straight time.

The DOL stated that the employer “must compensate the employee for all hours worked, including the time worked during the missed meal period,” though it went on to note that if an employee receives at least the minimum wage for all hours worked, including the time worked because of a missed meal period, no additional compensation is due under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). But the DOL reminded that FLSA regulations require accurate recordkeeping of hours worked each workday, as well as total hours worked each workweek for covered and nonexempt employees.

And, the DOL added, the time worked through the missed meal period would be hours worked for purposes of determining any overtime compensation. “Before an employee can be said to be paid statutory overtime compensation due, the employee must first be paid all straight time wages due for all hours worked under any express or implied contract or under an applicable statute,” the DOL stated.

The employer also asked the DOL to suppose an employee instead violates a policy prohibiting all forms of off-the-clock work. Even though the employee is scheduled to work 35 hours per week, the worker begins work early or works after the regular finishing time. Would additional straight time be due then?

The employee must be paid for all hours worked at the agreed rate in addition to any overtime for all hours over 40, the DOL answered.

What if the employer advised the employee in writing not to ever work any unrecorded work hours and the employee who violated this policy was subject to disciplinary action, the employer inquired. Would the DOL’s answer be different then?

The DOL said it did not have enough information to answer this question, but referred to FLSA regulations to remind the employer that “it is the duty of the management to exercise its control and see that the work is not performed if it does not want it to be performed. It cannot sit back and accept the benefits without compensating for them. The mere promulgation of a rule against such work is not enough”.

I was recently helping a friend sort through resumes responding to an ad she had placed and came upon a realization.  No one …. ok very few people….. do cover letters anymore.  I must admit that I have a prejudice toward candidate who take the time to write a cover letter.

I find them valuable for several reasons.  They provide an opportunity to assess:

• grammar proficiency
• writing style
• attention to detail, are there typos?
• ability to formulate thoughts into words in a coherent fashion.

In a recent Office Team survey, 86 percent of hiring managers say cover letters provide valuable insight when evaluating candidates.   However, the prevalence of online job sites has job seekers responding to email addresses with a few sentences of introduction.  I think that job seekers would do well to include an old-fashioned cover letter, personalized to the extent possible.

Candidates should make sure that their cover letter is devoid of the typical errors –

• Addressing the letter Dear Sir -  As a female hiring manager I have received far too many Dear Sir letters.
• Referencing the incorrect job – When recruiting for multiple jobs, if you don’t know what job you are applying for then how should I?
• Failing to include an attachment – If you are asked to provide salary history, cover letter, salary expectations, resume, etc.  Do it!  It is not a suggestion, it can eliminate you from consideration.  If you can’t follow instructions during the hiring process I am not optimistic that you will follow instructions as an employee. 
• Cute email addresses – Don’t list “cute” emails on your resume.  PartyGirl, BabyFace, Loverboy, may be great for friends, but not for obtaining employment. 
• Providing unnecessary personal information – I want to hire you, not be friends with you.  I do not care what your hobbies are and certainly don’t tell me about your children, their ages, what your spouse does for a living, etc.

The job market is tough, use every opportunity to tell why you are the ideal candidate and differentiate yourself from the hundreds of other people applying for the job.

As the use of web based programs grows, becomes more common and is more widely accepted we've begun to have clients ask to add 3rd aprty widgets (like their own stock ticker) to our online human resource software.

I get why clients want this... it's a perk for their users and can enhance employee self-service.  Widgets, when embedded together in a single page, can offer a kind of one stop shop for employee self-service.  if your learning management softwware offers this widget and your performance management solution overs that widget and you embed them all in your core HRIS software then everything has coalesced into one easy to use piece of software.

As a general web surfer I think widgets are great.  I use several of them and like to look at sites like google to see what new gadgets are available.  Almost all of my favorite sites offer some sort of plugin or another.

As the head of IT for a company I hate widgets.  Everyone wants to install them on their desktop, include them in their home page so they're there every time they open their borwser.  My problem with them is that they are frequently authored by random people and aren't subject to oversite so they are potneitally riddled with spyware, malware, virus and whatever other icky stuff someone can dream up.

Two news articles this week point this out.  One, a blog post from TechCrunch, talks about a worm spreadhing on Facebook.  Another points out theat google gadgets are now the focus of hackers.

Employee training and development is the number one way to prevent these kinds of tools from becoming a danger to your information security.  You can't alway control where people go, or even sometimes, what they install while at work.

So, it is clearly obvious that we have all been yelled at here at Achievant for not blogging enough if at all.  Like so many times in life we are being punished for the actions of a few.  Well!  I am that few, or at least a member of a very small group (like no more than 2).  Big picture, I sort of get the blog idea but I am one of those individuals that if I can't see some pretty immediate and measurable gain I am less likely to move it up on my priority list.  Being brutally honest, everythng seems to be a priority!  This is not a new phenomena but one that always intrigues me. I think we would all agree that not everything is a priority and if it is then we better settle for a heavy dose of status quo and mediocre results.

Same holds true for the many organizations we talk to on a daily basis.  We/They get so stuck in the tactical day to day that you can never get out in front of things that are the "supposed" priorities.  Examples would include but not be limited to conversations that should sound very familiar and and usually start out something like; "My top priority is...", "The top project we need to deliver on is...", "The results of our 4 column process (strategy session) reveals we need...",  now insert the priority:

....to improve and automate Applicant Tracking
....to streamline our HRIS System
....to create a consistent Learning Management approach
....to train leadership on the essence of Performance Management
....to automate Time and Attendance 
 

I think you get the picture!  If we continue through the conversation and go out several weeks if not months I would submit that very few of these priorities would actually still qualify or would not be that much farther down the path of completion.  The biggest obstacle is nothing went on the back burner or yielded to the priority.  Sound familiar?  

Speaking of looking out several weeks or months, I am expected (priority) to deliver several more blogs, as in one a week.  Let's see if I can break the cycle.  Wish me luck! 
  

I had the best of intentions.  We purchased the coolest blog service from Compendium Blogware (www.compendiumblogware.com) and I was going to blog once a week and let the world know what my thoughts were on life, business, HR and brag a little about Achievant's success.  Well....it's 8 months later and I've written 5 blog entries.  I've fallen 27 entries short of my goal of once per week. Pathetic.

I feel like some of the organizations we're talking to about applicant tracking, HRIS and performance management. They bought some software with great hopes and expectations.  They were going to load their employee data, track time & attendance, do on-line benefits enrollment and automate their performance management review process all at the same time. Somewhere along the way their "day job" got in the way. We both needed more than just software - we both needed a partner invested in our success.

That's what makes Achievant so different from the rest.  We invest in our clients by ensuring they utilize our platform.  We invest in our clients by taking responsibility for getting the application up and running - loading employee data, configuring workflows, defining reports, training the organization and ensuring after the 90-120 day implementation period they can be proud of the decision they made.

I will have to say the Compendium has held us accountable to our initial promise and have been on-site recently to ensure a good kick in the pants.  They know how to partner and so does Achievant.....our clients will testify!

  

Learning management software is a beast unto itself.  It can be a very simple piece of human resource software or it can be a giant, full-blown module.

In my career I have worked on Online Employee Training software that has covered the entirety of the possible range of robustness and complexity.

Because learning management modules can spider their way into so many other aspects of HRIS they can be an integral and important part of any talent management system. Learning management naturally flows into performance management, succession management and even applicant tracking depending on what your on-boarding process is like.


This week Achievant rolled out some new enhancements to its LMS.  Our module for learning management started off life as a lightweight module that though flexible and fairly robust had room for growth.

We've added over 17 new features some of which included:

·         proctoring features for trainers who need more detailed class planning and tracking

·         more robust class rosters and session results

·         the ability to track education credits for both internal and external classes

·         automated notifications for minimum class size not being met

Our goal, as is almost always our goal (and philosophy), as we build out our web HRIS software is to grow it incrementally.  Each time we work within the app we look for areas where we can add new features.  We listen to our current clients, our future clients and our industry to see what needs and wants are out there and we take the opportunity to add them whenever we can.

For us, such a successive refinement approach to all of our modules is not unlike learning management itself: with continuous work and grooming people (or applications) can get better at their jobs.

I live in a house full of guys and it seems like we live sports 24/7.  In that light, I find myself using those teachable moments to point out to them that the “sports world” is not like the “real world”.  I mean where else can you make an incredible salary, not be held accountable for your actions, and be uneducated and successful all at the same time.  But from time to time there is a sports story that mimics life for the rest of us.

Currently that is the Bret Favre story.  I think this story is fascinating to watch from an HR perspective.  Here you have a nice guy working for your company for a very long time.  He’s a great employee and you’ve got an employment agreement to keep him with you.  For several years he has been openly talking about retiring in the near future.  Finally he decides that this is the time to make that change.  You hate to see him go, but you understand and are even happy for him.  So, you send him off with a great good-bye party.

Then as an organization you set about rolling out the succession plan that you’ve had in place.  So, you replace him and move on as an organization.  Then, he decides that he misses working for you and wants to come back to his old job.  You tell him that you’ve already replaced the top spot, but he can have the number two position.  He is not content with that and asks to be released from his employment agreement so he can go work for your direct competitor.  He doesn’t like that and goes to the local paper or industry trade magazine and gives an interview saying that he doesn’t feel welcome back at his old company and that because of his years of service, he should simply be released.

 What do you do?

Favre is a legend.  The Packer's management is taking a beating in the media about its handling of his request to return.  It's a talent management nightmare.  At this point, it seems the Packers have chosen to take the do nothing approach.  They don’t seem to be in any hurry to release or trade Favre.  In the meantime, they seem set to continue the process of rolling out the succession plan they have in place.

What's your position?  Should the Packers take him back as the starting quarterback?  Should the Packers continue the succession plan they began when Favre retired a few months ago?

I'm siding with the Packers in moving on, here are my reasons why:

    1. Football is a business – There is no disputing that both the Packer fans and up until this point the management absolutely love Favre.  But that being said, we must remember that football is a business.  So, it would be a poor business decision to release him to a competitor without getting something in return. Remember, along with the benefits of being a contracted employee, there are also some down-sides (i.e., management decides when you play, where, and if you will play). He in essence has a non-compete.

   2. Once you cross that bridge – My experience has been that counter-offers and allowing employees to rescind their resignation are only temporary fixes.  Typically whatever factor made them vulnerable in the first place is still there and in the not too distant future will reappear.  As a side note, no one wants to continually hear that you are thinking about leaving the organization.  Keep it to yourself until you are ready to make the move.    

   3. Don’t make it public - When the Packers didn't rush to reinstate Favre, he went negative.  Going negative against an organization in the media is pretty much going to the point of no return.   Even if you end of getting what you want, it can be a pretty ugly place to be.

   4. It’s all about me – When an individual makes the situation all about them and not about the organization, they typically fall out of favor with their coworkers.  Favre has seemed like a great teammate through the years, a good citizen and a role model for youth.  But, if you listen closely to him over the last few weeks he seems to be talking more about himself and less about coming back to help the organization or his teammates.  

The Packers have done the right thing from an organizational development or succession management perspective.  They knew he was going, they put a succession plan in place for a number of years (i.e., Aaron Rogers), then when they got notification that he was leaving, they started it in motion.

What would you do? 

I just got back from my first prospective college visit to Florida with my oldest son, Michael (because of course why would he want to attend a college with in-state tuition!).  I’ve also been traveling a lot lately for new and perspective clients so I’m becoming quite the airline connoisseur.  Frankly as airfare has sky-rocketed I tend to book whoever is cheapest or works with my schedule, but I do have my favorites.

This most recent trip had me on Southwest Airlines.  Now I’ll admit that as an HR leader I have followed this company for several years.  Southwest is one of the few profitable airlines and has been in the black for 33 consecutive years and has paid a small dividend for 127 consecutive quarters. While its competitors are reducing the number of flights offered and grounding hundreds of aircraft, Southwest will add a few flights daily, will take delivery of another dozen aircraft next year and still plans to grow by 2 percent to 3 percent.  Southwest now carries more passengers annually than any other U.S. carrier.

So, my down time in the airport yesterday had me pondering...how has Southwest been successful?  I think it is based on a few guiding principles –

    * Keep things simple
    * Keep it consistent
    * Manage costs and maximize productive assets, and
    * Manage customer expectations.

These are business strategies that can be applied to most businesses.

Keep It Simple

While Southwest’s competition operates numerous types of planes, Southwest flies just one plane type.  This saves millions in maintenance costs, employee training, parts, etc.

Business Application – Do one thing and do it well

In the technology world, Human Resources software providers are trying to be all things to all people.  At Achievant, we have determined what we do is provide HRIS software solutions to small and mid-sized companies.  Achievant is not a payroll company, but we work with your payroll company to manage your employe data.  We have seen numerous companies try to meet all needs by bolting together the components of a human capital management system (i.e., HRIS system, time and attendance tracking, learning management, performance management, applicant tracking, and succession management) together with a payroll system and try to pass it off as integrated.  As a result these providers are adequate at many things, but not really good at anything.  Don’t get caught up in a feature/function comparison….who has the prettiest screen, bell, or whistle.  You should evaluate the entire package.

Keep It Consistent

I have to admit that I have not always been a fan of Southwest's approach to assigning seats.  Which is…..there are no assigned seats. You just line up according to an assigned number and you choose an open seat as you board the plane.  As someone who is slightly a control-freak (ok, maybe a little more than slightly), this was initially unsettling to not have a seat assigned specifically to me.  But, as I have flown with them more I have come to appreciate the control of choosing my seat...the one that is not next to the crying child or the chatty person, and have relished the opportunity to get a seat with extra leg room or no one sitting next to me.  Best of all, they still provide beverages and snacks for free!

Business Application – Manage the brand experience

At Achievant we work very hard to manage the experience our clients have with us and our Human Resources software solution.  Every time they contact us we want to respond to them in a friendly way, on a timely basis, and in a way that is relevant to them.  

No fees, no frills

As other carriers have removed perks and added fees, Southwest has kept its customer proposition streamlined and unchanged. The airline only sells in a few price "buckets" which allows it customers to understand the fare structure and believe they are getting value for their money. Prices are all-inclusive too, no fees for fuel surcharges, ticket changes, or luggage.  They have looked for out-of-the-box solutions to things like the clunky beverage cart.

Business Application – If customers can’t understand the pricing structure, they can’t understand the value you offer

Most HRIS systems, learning management systems, time and attendance solutions, and payroll providers utilize an ala carte menu for the services they provide.  In addition to the monthly or annual subscription, anything additional you’d like (e.g., a system change, new report) is charged by the hour or project.  This can make it very difficult to manage your costs.  I have spoken with numerous potential clients who when questioned how much they pay their current system provider, respond that they won’t know until the end of the year.

At Achievant, we have adopted a modular pricing model that is very simple to understand and is inclusive.  You are not charged for new version releases, minor system changes, client support, etc.

Management, Happy Workforce

Herb Kelleher finally stepped away from Southest earlier this year after leading it for more than a generation.  Although he was a very colorful leader, the airline avoided fads, shied away from anything that increased costs or complicated the basic travel proposition. Management ranks are lean, but most importantly, productive.

Southwest has embraced a culture of making their work (and consequently our travel) more fun.  They sing, dress in casual uniforms, and allow employees to go “off-script”.  In return, they have employees who are friendlier, seem to enjoy their jobs, and don't strike.

Business Application – If your workers aren’t happy, your customers aren’t happy

It is important to note that there are many intangibles that contribute to how much employees enjoy their job.  Take time to focus on these and you will be repaid for your efforts in higher levels of customer satisfaction.  360 degree feedback can be a great tool for this.

These are important business applications that I think will apply to any industry, not just HRIS software and talent management providers like Achievant.  In the meantime, I will continue to watch the progress of Southwest. 

On June 6th, President Bush signed an amendment to Executive Order 12989 requiring all federal government contractors to use E-Verify to confirm the employment authorization of new hires.

 

E-Verify is the Internet-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration to electronically verify employment eligibility of newly hired employees.  This is done by comparing information electronically from Form I-9, the employee eligibility document used for new hires, against more than 425 million records in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) database and, for noncitizens, against more than 60 million records in the DHS immigration database.  Some officials believe the system should be mandatory nationwide.

 

The amended Executive Order requires all federal agencies and departments that enter into contracts to require, as a condition of each contract, that the contractor agree to use an electronic employment eligibility verification system (E-Verify).  This applies to: (1) all persons hired during the contract term by the contractor to perform employment duties within the United States; and (2) all persons assigned by the contractor to perform work within the United States on the federal contract.

The amended Executive Order directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue rules and regulations to implement the requirements.  According to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, the implementing rule is being sent to the Federal Register for publication.  This will be followed by a 60-day public comment period.  Secretary Chertoff indicates the new system could be up and running later this year.

The original Executive Order 12989 provided for debarment of federal contractors whenever the Attorney General made a determination that a contractor had violated the Immigration and Nationality Act's employment verification provisions.  The regulations implementing the amended Executive Order will be updated and will presumably make the debarment penalty applicable to federal contractors that fail to use E-Verify.  Secretary Chertoff declined to comment on whether subcontractors will also be required to use E-Verify, but it is likely that such a requirement will be specified in the forthcoming regulations.

What are your vacation plans this summer?  Are you taking time off from work?  

I was reading a survey by Yahoo HotJobs which found that of 1,100 workers, 51 percent plan to skip summer vacations this year. 

Why? 

Well, many are fearful of a possible recession and/or are burdened by too heavy a workload.

• 44 percent of workers say they shoulder greater workloads than they did a year ago, yet most of them (35 percent) can’t escape mounting pressure to boost their job performance.
• 25 percent of workers are looking around for new jobs or are updating their résumé in anticipation of doing so.
• 57 percent of workers cite employee burnout —this is up from 49 percent a year ago.

Having an opportunity to get away from work on a regular basis is beneficial to both the employee and the organization.  Employees with no escape tend to burn out much more quickly.  Vacations provide employees with a new perspective on their work and allow them to return refreshed.  Also, many organizations such as financial institutions require employees to be away for 5 consecutive days as a security check. 

 

 

According to a variety of sources, there are anywhere from 2 million to as many as 40 million workers who telecommute for at least part of their work week.  Telecommuting, or using computer technology to work from home, became a buzzword in the 1990s, but as the nation struggles with soaring gas prices, air pollution and traffic congestion, telecommuting is again appealing to many workers and employers.

At different times in my career I have been fortunate to be allowed to telecommute.  I’ve had great bosses who didn’t have to see me every day. I was evaluated on what I accomplished, not where I accomplished it at.  The office environment can get very hectic and the quietness of being at home for one to two days a week helps to work uninterrupted on big projects. 

Currently we are seeing a resurgence of telecommuting because of fuel prices.  In the mid '90s, you saw it in companies where employers were trying to keep the talent they had. There hasn’t been a decrease in telecommuting, because where it's worked, it's typically worked well.

Companies offer telecommuting for numerous reasons –

·         Reduces vehicle emissions

·         Reduces commuting cost, employees can save money in fuel costs

·         Employees can put in more hours by working during times they would ordinarily be commuting

·         Increased worker productivity with fewer interruptions

·         Improves work-life balance

·         Reduces absenteeism

·         Allow employers to keep valuable employees

In 2007 the Society for Human Resource Management conducted a study to determine how many U.S. companies offered telecommuting as a benefit to employees.  The results were eye-opening.    

Telecommuting Trends

·         56% of those polled indicated their company offered some form of telecommuting

·         33% offered telecommuting on a part-time basis

·         21% provided telecommuting on a full-time basis

Trends by Industy

Industry	Percentage
Finance	47% part-time & 22% full-time
Services (Profit)	37% part-time & 23% full-time

Since many companies are either experiencing layoffs or keeping reducing expenses in this economy, it’s harder for managers to argue against telecommuting as they see their employees and themselves hammered by escalating fuel prices.  And it seems employers are becoming more receptive to the idea.

In fact, last month the House Speaker of the state of Georgia told state employees to start working from home one day a week as a way to fight high prices at the pump.  By telecommuting one day a week, employees can save 20 percent on their gas bill. Gas prices hit a new record last week, closing in on $4 a gallon.

Two years ago the Telework Consortium provided this analysis:

When gas is priced at $3 per gallon, it would take an employee earning $65,000 per year who commutes 40 miles roundtrip per day more than two months to pay for commuting. That is nine weeks and three days of his/her take-home pay, just to pay for a daily commute.

Quite an effective illustration, I think — even more so now that gas at $3 a gallon would have people lined up down the street.  The bottom line is, telecommuting can provide big payoffs for both the employee and the employer.

A bill that would ban employment discrimination based on a person’s genetic makeup received overwhelming approval (414 to 1) by the House of Representatives on Thursday, May 1, sending it on to the White House.  President Bush is likely to sign it into law.

This bill prohibits employers from linking hiring, compensation or other personnel decisions to an employee’s genetic predisposition to a disease.  It also prevents health insurers from using genetic information to deny coverage or charge higher premiums.

Although generally in support of the spirit of the bill, businesses are concerned about the day to day ramifications of the bill.  The bill has been criticized for not including language giving it authority to supersede state genetics laws, for allowing punitive and compensatory damages and for potentially holding employers liable for information they gather through common HR practices like processing leave requests.

This will be one more area of regulation that will have to have the details worked out through litigation and legislation.

More and more companies are hiring a CBO (that’s Chief Blogging Officer for those of you who missed that latest acronym). 

At Achievant we don’t have a CBO but rather our entire senior team shares the responsibility to blog.  We each focus our blog on our areas of expertise.  Mine typically focuses on HR topics, system capabilities and our HR consulting services.  Others on our team focus on technology (http://blog.achievant.com/blog/hris-software-technology) and sales. 

The number of companies which are blogging is growing rapidly.  Today, more than 11 percent of Fortune 500 companies have corporate blogs according to SocialText, this is up from 4 percent in 2005.  At first it was more of a fad and everyone was jumping on the bandwagon saying ‘this is really cool, we should do it too’ without approaching it thoughtfully with a plan.  It is really like any other marketing strategy and now finally companies are evaluating blogs as tools. 

For us, our blogs are to:

1. Communicate with potential clients about the technology and services we offer
2. Provide existing client yet another connection with us
3. Convey to potential employees the culture of the organization. 
4. Share the brand experience of working with our company

I like that we don’t have a corporate blog, but rather individual contributors, as it would be difficult for any one person to completely convey what it is like to do business with us.  However, I can certainly see the need for the position as it is really hard work to blog regularly (although it is a great creative outlet).  

We regularly track statics of visitors (new and returning), page views, and RSS feeds using Compendium Blogware (http://www.compendiumblogware.com).  If you don’t already, I encourage you to subscribe to my blog via a RSS feed. 

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a way for content publishers to make news, blogs, and other content available to subscribers.  You can add your favorite RSS Feeds (such as my blog) as subscriptions in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.  The benefit of RSS is that it aggregates of all content from multiple Web sources in one place. You no longer have to visit different Web sites for news, weather, blogs, and other information. With RSS, summaries of content are delivered to you, and then you decide which specific articles you want to read by clicking a link. 

You can add an RSS Feed through the Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 Account Settings dialog box as outlined below:

1.     On the Tools menu, click Account Settings.

2.     On the RSS Feeds tab, click New.

3.     In the New RSS Feed dialog box, type or press CTRL+V to paste the URL of the RSS Feed. For mine,  http://blog.achievant.com/blog/hris-software-services.  

4.     Click Add.

5.     Click OK.

Yes, of course a blogger benefits when you subscribe to their blog.  But even better, you benefit. “Home” delivery (for free) of blogs is perhaps the greatest bargain on the Internet. You can get my blog by email every day setting up the RSS feed.  

I spent my morning with a potential partner going over key aspects of their business model for which we will be adding support in our application.  It was a very typical software requirements meeting: it started out with a group of people looking across the table at each other wondering how to start.

I suggested we start with four or five goals and work our way into the details of each in succession.  Pretty soon we were drawing like cavemen on whiteboards, talking compensation matrices and other minutiae of the HR world.

Some of the items we indentified would be tough to implement and at one point the statement was made that “maybe this isn’t a solvable problem”.  Huh uh.  No way.  Not going to happen.  All problems can be solved.  Sometimes the cost or the time or the effort required exceed our means, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.  It just has to be rethought.  We left the meeting with scads of notes, a number of great ideas and the general feeling that we’d had a productive morning.

When I got back to the office I found a news article about Time Magazine’s Top 100 Influential People in the world.  It was an interesting read.  One story in particular reverberated with me after the morning’s meeting:  if Mary Lou Jespen can bring a computer to children around the world who don’t even have physical classrooms I can create an enhanced performance management and  compensation management tool that can morph and evolve to meet almost any client’s needs.

Challenges arise, problems happen and all too often I see people give up.  I hate that attitude.  With creative thinking, some strategic compromises and hard work a lot can be done with a little.

My hope is that after each such meeting, whether with a client, a potential partner, or our own staff people leave with the feeling that by working together, by pursuing the goal we can get to wherever it is we want to go.

 

I was interested to read about a new program launched by Wachovia Bank that allows employees to take an unpaid leave of absence for up to three years to care for loved ones.  It does not grant job protection and once on extended leave, individuals are considered inactive employees and their benefits are put on hold. 

However, the program does provide a formal way for employees to maintain a presence with the bank.  They retain access to some of Wachovia’s web-based tools, stay in contact with managers and receive employee communication materials.  They are also given regular listings of job openings within the company. When they return, benefits kick in immediately—such as 401(k) plans and vacation days—as though they had never been away.

This initiative is noteworthy for several reasons.  Obviously it highlights Wachovia’s willingness to be a flexible employer which will enable it to differentiate itself in recruiting.  Aside from being a recruiting tool, I think Wachovia will also see it as a key tool for retaining good talent as employees comparison shop, it is difficult to assign a dollar value to flexibility.  Flex programs are relatively inexpensive to create and generate employee appreciation.

Wachovia’s program is generous not only with the time employees can spend away from the workplace, but also with the definition of who is eligible for the extended leave - spouses, children, parents, domestic partners, grandparents, siblings, grandchildren, and in-laws.

It will be interesting to watch if other large employers follow Wachovia’s lead. 

A few years ago when gas prices started to cross the $3.00 mark I had a number of employees come to me and ask about working remotely.  Their rational was that gas was getting expensive and their long commutes were hurting their budgets.  Some wanted extra compensation to set off the rise in gas prices or the flexibility to work from home a few days a week and some just wanted to work from home.

My answer then was a firm “no”.  I am not a fan of working remotely.  On the most part I simply don’t trust human nature.  It’s the rare person who will work as hard sitting in his den as he does sitting in his cube.  Add to that the associated challenges with communication, lack of team building and the security/insurance risks of having a telecommuting workforce and I have really never found the idea a promising one.

This week I had an employee come to me with the prospect of a three week trip to Egypt two of which would be telecommuting and one of which would be vacation.

So I did what any good manager does and said I’d get back to him, delaying the uncomfortable confrontation when I’d have to tell him no.   So while I pondered the easiest way to tell him he couldn’t go I also pondered my reaction to the request and came to realize that one of my biggest knocks against telecommuting was simply that I am an old dog and this is a pretty new trick.

I’ve come to realize that if telecommuting doesn’t work it’s the company’s fault and not the workers'.  If you don’t have the right policies, checks and balances and employees to succeed with a distributed workforce you probably don’t have the right policies, checks and balances and employees to succeed period.

Let’s start with the people.  If you have someone cheating the proverbial clock while working from home you can generally rest assured that they’re cheating that same clock one way or another at work.  And if you can’t trust your employees to work while the boss isn’t looking you need to examine your hiring process… somewhere along the way you’re hiring the wrong people.

As for productivity, if you can’t manage it when someone is working from home (or wherever) you probably aren’t tracking it appropriately to start with. 

Communication can be a challenge, but technology has pretty much bridged that gap: web cams, instant messaging, VOIP, video conferencing and a plethora of other mainstream technologies make keeping in touch pretty easy.

So in the next month we’ll be having our first trial run at supporting a virtual office of one as one of our team takes his VOIP phone, air card and laptop partway around the world and works from the land of the pharaohs.