ART OF GAUGING STAFF SENTIMENTS CAN BE TOUGH

TALENT TRACK  -  ELICITING IT RIGHT ART OF GAUGING STAFF SENTIMENTS CAN BE TOUGH
HR MANAGERS often fail to see the pitfalls of conducting 360-degree employee satisfaction (E-SAT) surveys. Sometimes, they do see the shortcomings of their methodology, but fail to see a way out. Many HR managers tend to conduct the survey through an online portal or an external agency. However, many of them fail to realize that if the program is poorly designed, it is not going to help the organization in any way. Here are the top 5 mistakes that HR managers of most companies make:

    E-SAT surveys are done by the HR department. E-SAT surveys should be done by a separate task force. I know this sounds contra-intuitive, but it is the truth. HR departments tend to treat E-SAT more as an activity which has to be completed mandatory. The HR should work towards getting the co-operation of business managers and leaders to conduct the survey as a team, regardless of whether you do it internally or through an external agency.

Do not have well-defined objectives for the survey: You cannot conduct the survey without any objectives. Work as a team to finalize the key objectives for the survey. For all you know, your exit interview results can help as one of the sources to understand major pain areas. For example, if employee-manager relationship is a key issue, your survey results will help you quantify the problem and give you the direction to plan appropriate HR initiatives. You may not want to add an evident problem as an objective, like, for example, salary satisfaction.

Selection of questions is misguided: This is like going to a chemist and asking him for medicine to cure your cold. What does the chemist know about your medical record to recommend the right medication? Nothing. He just wants to make money and so suggests the most expensive medication. You need a doctor who understands the cause and treats. You cannot do an internet search for questions and create a survey questionnaire. Involve business managers in the questionnaire design. Business managers are the ones who work very closely with people and their involvement in the area of questionnaire design and target output are vital for the success of the program. Do not have too many redundant questions; limit it to 20 to 25, with 5 choice answers.

Not adequate employee participation: I’ve often observed low participation for such surveys. Even accounting for those on leave and those who may have missed the communication on the survey, you should have more than 60% of the organization responding to the survey. Any less and you are undertaking a useless exercise. Different companies find different ways to increase employee participation — find one that works best for you.

Implementation task force too high-profile: A task force comprising only of senior managers to implement the action items as a result of the survey will not help. The end result may not be as desired. Instead, a few people who have responded to the survey need to be made part of the team in addition to the HR & business managers. This helps in smooth implementation and a wider reach. Otherwise, the same problems will crop up in the next survey. A team, well-defined objectives, appropriate questionnaire, good participation and a right task force will make this program a success. Do not forget to tell people in a periodic manner on what you are doing with the survey results.

Rajkumar D, senior manager , (HR), Microland

rajdraj@yahoo.co.in    http://www.linkedin.com/in/rajdraj

8 ways to recession proof your job! (Fortune)

As promised I will be posting great articles as I come across them in my readings. I have recently read the following article from Fortune (2/1/08) about how to stay on top of your game in the work place.  Now that we (USA) are headed into a recession, I found the info in this article to be great information and worth a read.Please enjoy! ____

(Fortune) — First, let’s not panic. True, payrolls shrunk by 17,000 in January. But at the same time, the Labor Department adjusted December’s numbers upward, reporting that 82,000 new jobs were created that month – a far larger figure than the government’s initial estimate of 18,000. Unemployment, now at 4.9%, is just 0.9% higher than the 4% level that economists consider “full employment” (meaning that everyone who wants a job has one).

Still, with the ripple effect of the mortgage mess still spreading, consumer spending in a sulk, and companies like Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) and Sprint Nextel (S, Fortune 500) announcing big layoffs, you’d be smart to start thinking about recession-proofing your job – or, failing that – devising a plan for landing on your feet somewhere else. Here’s how:

Think of ways to generate revenues or cut costs. That brilliant idea you had that would open whole new markets for the company, but require substantial spending to get started? Scrap it for now. Concentrate instead on finding places to pinch pennies, or identifying cheap new sources of revenue. Or both.

Be visible. “This isn’t the moment to take an extended vacation. Your position could be eliminated while you’re gone,” says Dale Winston, CEO of New York City-based executive recruiters Battalia Winston (www.battaliawinston.com). “It’s also not the time to come rolling in at ten o’clock.” If you possibly can, figure out a way to stand out and distinguish yourself. She adds: “If you’re in sales, get your numbers up. Nobody will be laying off star salespeople.”

Talk up your contributions. “Make sure you’re adding value at work by going above and beyond your basic job responsibilities,” says Christine Price, principal at staffing firm Ready to Hire (www.readytohire.com) “Then make sure your boss knows it, without being obnoxious.”

Keep a broad perspective. “Don’t get a reputation as someone who only does what he or she is told to do,” advises Richard Bayer, chief operating officer of career counseling network The Five O’Clock Club (www.fiveoclockclub.com). “Pick your head up, look around, and get in on the action. Volunteer for crucial responsibilities, including tasks for which your boss is responsible.”

Just doing your job well isn’t enough. “The question is,” says Bayer, “when your organization is making a list of who has crucial skills, will you be on it?” If you suspect not, now’s the time to hustle.

Get your skills up to date. “Companies get rid of people whose skills are obsolete and replace them with people who are already trained,” Bayer says. “Take classes, join trade organizations, and prove you’re plugged in.” Christine Price adds: “Consider going back to school, to show your employer you’re serious about your career and your performance.”

No whining allowed. Attitude does count – a lot. “Management wants people who can boost morale during tough times,” observes Dale Winston. Not only that, says Christine Price, but happy workers are less likely to get laid off than people who seem to dislike what they do. After all, the reasoning goes, if you grumble about your job all the time, then maybe giving you the sack would really be doing you a favor. Gulp.

Never stop networking. Of course, the day you get a pink slip is not the day you want to start calling old colleagues, asking former bosses out to lunch, and getting in touch to say hello to all the interesting people you’ve known over the years. No, the time to start doing that is now. Whether or not you move seamlessly (and relatively painlessly) into a new job after a layoff often depends on how consistently you’ve contacted – and maybe even helped – lots of people when you didn’t need them.

Update your resume, return headhunters’ phone calls, and start picturing where else you might like to work – just in case. If you’re mentally prepared for a move, you’ll make a wiser one than if you wait until you’re desperate (read canned).

One more thought: If we really are in, or headed for, a recession – and economists can’t even agree on whether or not we are – it may not be so bad. Every downturn is different. So who knows? If you’re not a mortgage banker or a home builder, maybe your current position is perfectly “safe.” But think about it for a while and you may find yourself wondering: Is “safe” good enough? Maybe it’s time to change jobs anyway — and heed the immortal words of Keith Richards, “I’m gonna leave while it’s still fun/ I’m gonna walk before they make me run.”

Top 40 Financial Firms 2008

Each year, many groups perform market research in order to place the top 50 or financial firms across the States.  Recently Vault released their study based on industry experts feedback and polling.

As you take a look through the list most firms are repeats, but you may notice some new names that rounded out the top 40 for 2008.  Do with it what you’d like, but I wanted to post this info for others in the LIRN community.

Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment on this or any other article contributed to the LIRN Blog.  If you would like to contribute an article feel free to contact me at ryan.leary@kenexa.com.

2008 Top 40 financial Firms across the United States

	Featured Employers
RANK		FIRM	SCORE	PREV. RANK*	HEADQUARTERS
1		PricewaterhouseCoopers	7.616	2	New York, NY
2		Ernst & Young	7.415	1	New York, NY
3		Deloitte & Touche USA	7.035	3	New York, NY
4		KPMG	6.447	4	New York, NY
5		Grant Thornton	6.009	5	Chicago, IL
6		BDO Seidman	5.72	6	Chicago, IL
7		McGladrey & Pullen	5.708	14	Bloomington, MN
8		Moss Adams	5.534	7	Seattle, WA
9		J.H. Cohn	5.375	8	Roseland, NJ
10		Eisner	5.341	15	New York, NY
11		Plante & Moran	5.045	10	Southfield, MI
12		Crowe Chizek and Co.	4.93	9	South Bend, IN
13		BKD	4.853	NR	Springfield, MO
14		Beers & Cutler	4.806	13	Vienna, VA
15		Clifton Gunderson	4.733	35	Peoria, IL
16		Dixon Hughes	4.677	17	High Point, NC
17		Rothstein, Kass & Co.	4.607	12	Roseland, NJ
18		Cherry, Bekaert & Holland	4.45	17	Richmond, VA
19		Virchow, Krause & Co.	4.435	25	Madison, WI
20		Anchin, Block & Anchin	4.242	26	New York, NY
21		LarsonAllen	4.18	16	Minneapolis, MN
22		Weiser	4.18	21	New York, NY
23		CBIZ/Mayer Hoffman McCann	4.069	NR	Clevland, OH
24		Amper Politziner & Mattia	4.018	24	Edison, NJ
25		Elliott Davis	3.948	31	Greenville, SC
26		Reznick Group	3.931	20	Bethesda, MD
27		Wipfli	3.765	29	Madison, WI
28		bmc (Beard Miller Company	3.667	28	Wyomissing, PA
29		Kaufman, Rossin & Co.	3.648	NR	Miami, FL
30		WithumSmith+Brown	3.615	23	Princeton, NJ
31		Smart & Associates	3.6	NR	Devon, PA
32		Mahoney Cohen & Company	3.575	32	New York, NY
33		Parente Randolph	3.558	18	Philadelphia, PA
34		Frank, Rimerman & Co.	3.531	40	Palo Alto, CA
35		Berdon	3.477	33	New York, NY
36		UHY Advisors	3.465	NR	Chicago, IL
37		Horne CPA Group	3.429	NR	Jackson, MS
38		Goodman & Co.	3.425	39	Norfolk, VA
39		Vitale Caturano & Company	3.35	19	Boston, MA
40		Aronson & Company	3.35	NR	Rockville, MD

*Previous rankings refer to the rankings published in the 2007 Edition of the Vault Guide to the Top Accounting Firms, published in June 2006.