Ageism: Is it True or is it You? Part II

Guest post by Lexy Martin, Principal Research and Customer Value, Visier.  You can find Part I of this article, which includes statistics on ageism and debunks several myths, here.

The Value of Including Older Tech Workers

As the Tech Sage Age finding shows, companies are missing out if they don’t consider the age composition of specific teams, departments, and business units and how managers can build diversity and take advantage of the maturity and experience of older workers.

Legal issues aside, designing a recruitment strategy around younger generations can be shortsighted from a business perspective. Older workers tend to be more loyal, and an over-representation of millennials in the workforce can impact retention. A 2016 Gallup report reveals that “21% of millennials say they’ve changed jobs within the past year, which is more than three times the number of non-millennials who report the same.” ^[1]

A workforce of job-hoppers can have a big impact on the bottom line. As HR expert Josh Bersin writes in this post^[2], “The total cost of losing an employee can range from tens of thousands of dollars to 1.5 – 2 X annual salary.”

Studies have also found that diverse teams are more innovative, which is critical in an era when competitive threats loom large. Hiring people “who do not look, talk, or think like you, can allow you to dodge the costly pitfalls of conformity, which discourages innovative thinking,” write the experts in this HBR post^[3].

What Businesses Can Do?

There are some important activities you can do to root out the risk of ageism in your workforce and ensure you acquire, develop, and retain the best and brightest talent available, regardless of age:

●       Review your workforce data to understand the current state of age equity within your organization to find any signs of potential bias in hiring, promotions, salary levels, turnover, and performance ratings. If you work in People Analytics, you can play a role in warning of incipient ageism in your organization and support your own organization to outperform your competition. You can uncover and root out intentional and unintentional bias in your hiring practices that might be limiting the Gen X and older workers or potential hires.

●       Set objectives and develop a plan with manageable steps (and a way to monitor your progress) that helps your organization achieve an inclusive work environment.

●       Keep in mind that, as with ethnic and gender equity, age equity is a cultural issue — if pockets of ageism exist within your organization, you will need to devise plans to address them not only via better HR practice and policy rollouts, but through culture change.

●       Consider implementing a version of the Rooney Rule^[4] for age, specifically for teams or roles where the workforce is less diverse in age: for every position you have open to fill, consider one or more older candidates (or candidates that will help create a more diverse team, in general).

●       Develop hiring practices that reduce the potential for intentional or unintentional bias in the screening out of older applicants.

●       Develop hiring practices that specifically do not screen out candidates based on the length of their unemployment — while this report focused on systemic ageism, many individual stories suggest older unemployed workers struggle to get hired, and studies indicate recruiters screen out candidates that have been unemployed for longer periods of time.

The Bottom Line – Attitude, Passion, and People Analytics Successfully Combat Ageism

What can you do? For individuals, it’s about maintaining self-confidence in your competence and passion for your activities. If you don’t love your job, perhaps you should consider another. But if you do, show it, and, if I’m any indication, you can continue to work for as long as you want.

For organizations, if you have not already deployed people analytics, the capabilities will help you identify if ageism exists today or will in the future. And you can assess where in your hiring, developing, and retention of your talent you need to improve to maintain your competitive advantages into the future.

What one organization is doing about ageism

SAP is employing all five generations in its workforce – Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y (Millennials) and now Gen Z. While ageism, unconscious bias and pre-conceived expectations can often deter individuals and companies from seeing the value add of a single generation, companies also underestimate the benefit of generations working together to achieve common goals. 

To address bias, SAP advocates for inclusion for all and actively seeks to bring people together to support different life stages while improving cross-generational collaboration. We encourage learning between generations by raising awareness about unique working styles, strengths, and attributes of employees across generations through our Focus on Insight training, as well as virtual and face to face training sessions. We also offer a popular cross-generational mentoring program which allows employees to learn from one another and reduce bias.

In addition, SAP supports education from the top down by teaching senior leaders to celebrate multiple generations. We encourage our leaders to help new employees integrate with other members of the team – for example, by conducting open and appreciative communication within teams, aligning on goals and reserving time for knowledge transfer. By addressing challenges, surfacing unconscious bias, seeking communication and awareness and creating a community of trust and respect – leaders can play a large part in cultivating an inclusive culture. 

The beauty of cross generational intelligence is understanding what is most appealing to the other generation; the way we communicate and respect each other for our uniqueness and differences. Embracing commonalities and similarities to build camaraderie while respecting generational differences creates an inclusive environment that fosters innovation and creativity in the workplace to continue building a culture of inclusivity, teamwork and respect.

Lexy Martin is a respected thought leader and researcher on HR technology adoption and their value to organizations and workers alike. Known as the originator of the Sierra-Cedar HR Systems Survey, she now works at Visier continuing her research efforts, now on people analytics, and working closely with customers to support them in their HR transformation to become data-driven organizations. Lexy is Principal, Research and Customer Value at Visier. Connect with Lexy at lexy.martin@visier.com or personally at lexymartin1@gmail.com.

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^[1] How Millennials Want to Work and Live, Gallup, May, 2016.  http://news.gallup.com/reports/189830/e.aspx?utm_source=gbj&utm_medium=copy&utm_campaign=20160512-gbj

^[2] Employee Retention Now a Big Issue: Why the Tide has Turned, Josh Bersin, August, 2013, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20130816200159-131079-employee-retention-now-a-big-issue-why-the-tide-has-turned/

^[3] Why Diverse Teams Are Smarter, David Rock and Heidi Grant, Harvard Business Review, November, 2016. https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-smarter

^[4] Rooney Rule, Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooney_Rule

Ageism: Is it True or is it You? Part I

Source: ASA

Guest post by Lexy Martin, Principal Research and Customer Value, Visier 

If you want or need to work, no matter your age, you should be able to. It’s up to you. 

Organizations also have a responsibility to do something about ageism, which is blamed as the culprit for older workers not finding jobs -- I’ll cover what organizations need to do later.  It’s my point of view, though, that it’s up to you to go after the job you want and get it! 

It’s about having an attitude that you are damn good, a passion for your field or the field you want to break into, constantly learning, and applying new skills. Getting and keeping a job, whether you are 40, 70, or even 25, is about manifesting those four aspects.

I’m 73 and still working because I want to. I’ve not had trouble getting or keeping a job – oh maybe a few times when I was younger before I developed and manifested attitude, passion, and perseverance. If you are blaming your age, the company, the industry, or the younger recruiter that isn’t hiring you, you may be a bit of the problem.

OK. I admit it’s not always easy to be the oldest worker in an organization peopled by workers a third my age. I have to combat my own fears of mental and physical decline more than I like, especially after breaking my ankle a few months ago. I feel I have to spend extra time learning new skills – maybe a new area in my field or a new program. I have to force myself to set goals and meet them. 

I can be my own worst enemy, especially when I let fear that I’m not good enough get in the way of being positive, learning, and performing. For that, I exercise, practice meditation, and have my own personal affirmations. And sometimes, even those don’t help and so I crab to my husband.   But I persevere and maybe that’s my one big piece of advice – keep on being the best you can be despite all that “stuff.''

Now let me cover the reality that ageism does exist, particularly in the Tech industry based on research. At Visier, a people analytics product company, delivered as a cloud solution, we have the opportunity to analyze people data from most of our 100+ customers who represent multiple industries^[1]. 

Over the past few years we’ve seen numerous articles about ageism in the Tech industry, and so mined this data and uncovered some truths and also some myths about ageism. Not only is there anecdotal evidence of ageism but also data-based evidence of systemic ageism. But still – don’t let that get you down. Go for the job you want, because you are great!

Many Tech professionals over age 50 (and even a number over age 40)^[2] believe ageism exists because of their own personal difficulties finding work later in their careers. Certainly, there have been numerous class-action lawsuits about ageism against Silicon Valley giants, even more than about racial or gender bias.

Situational ageism–prejudice or discrimination on the basis of a person’s age–is an important issue organizations across industries should be aware of and take steps to monitor and improve. Not just because of fairness or to reduce the risk of age discrimination litigation, but also because of upcoming retirements and the resulting skills shortages. In the past 50 years, the size of the US workforce has grown an average of 1.7% annually. In the next 50 years, the US workforce size will grow by only 0.3% annually^[3].

Does Ageism Exist in Tech?

In short, yes. A Visier Insights Report on ageism in the Tech industry ^[4] found that Tech does hire a higher proportion of younger workers and a smaller proportion of older workers than in other industries.

Is this disparity in hiring due to systemic ageism in Tech? To investigate this, we first strove to determine if the disparity is related to the availability of talent versus an intentional bias towards hiring younger workers. We found that hiring decisions in Tech do indeed favor younger candidates, hiring Millennials over Gen X candidates at a higher rate than in non-Tech industries.

This answer has traditionally been difficult to get: While leading Tech companies publicize their organizational ethnic and gender composition data, little data has been shared about the age makeup of the Tech workforce⁵.

We began our research into ageism by looking at the breakdown of the workforce by age, comparing the Tech industry to non-Tech industries. Using the Visier Insights database—an aggregation of anonymized and standardized workforce databases that for this report included 330,000 employees from 43 large US enterprises (those with at least two years of verified and validated high-quality data)—we were able to examine the role of age in the workforce like never before.

Debunking Myths about Ageism

Our research showed that the average Tech worker is 38 years old, compared to 43 years old for non-Tech workers. The average manager in the Tech industry is 42 years old, compared to 47 for non-Tech industries.

It comes as no surprise that Tech workers are younger on average, but our research clarified some key misconceptions related to the salary lifecycle, resignation rates, and perceived value of older workers. 

Here are four common ageism myths we debunked with the data:

Myth #1: Older Tech workers are less valued

While the average Tech worker is five years younger than the average worker, it is a misconception that older workers are less valued in Tech. From age 40 onwards, non-manager workers in Tech enter the “Tech Sage Age” and are increasingly likely to receive a top performer rating as they age, mature, and gain experience. Conversely, the proportion of top performers decreases with age in non-Tech industries. This finding suggests that maturity and experience are more important drivers of high performance in Tech than in Non-Tech industries.

Myth #2: Older Tech workers experience a drop in salary

Older Tech workers as a group do not experience a reduction in average salary that is any different from non-Tech industries. Rather, workers in Tech experience the same salary lifecycle as their counterparts in non-Tech.

Myth #3: Newly hired older Tech workers are not paid equitably

Older Tech workers that are newly hired do not — on average — experience a lower wage. Rather, newly hired workers are paid the same average salary as more tenured workers, across all age groups.

Myth #4: Older workers in Tech resign at higher rates

The average resignation rates by age for Tech and non-Tech workforces show that older Tech workers — from age 40 onwards — have the same first-year resignation rate as their non-Tech age counterparts: approximately 10%.

This concludes Part I of Ageism: Is it True or is it You?  Stay tuned for Part II, which will take a closer look at what organizations can do to combat ageism.

Lexy Martin is a respected thought leader and researcher on HR technology adoption and their value to organizations and workers alike. Known as the originator of the Sierra-Cedar HR Systems Survey, she now works at Visier continuing her research efforts, now on people analytics, and working closely with customers to support them in their HR transformation to become data-driven organizations. Lexy is Principal, Research and Customer Value at Visier. Connect with Lexy at lexy.martin@visier.com or personally at lexymartin1@gmail.com.

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^[1] The Tech companies included in our research represent the diverse fields within the Tech industry from Software Development, Hosting, Data Processing, Telecommunications, Computer Systems Design and Scientific Services.

^[2] It’s Tough Being Over 40 in Silicon Valley, Carol Hymowitz and Robert Burnson, September 8, 2016, Bloomberg Businessweek. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-08/silicon-valley-s-job-hungry-say-we-re-not-to-old-for-this

^[3] Global Growth: Can Productivity Save the Day in an Aging World? McKinsey Global Institute, January 2015. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Global%20Themes/Employment%20and%20Growth/Can%20long%20term%20global%20growth%20be%20saved/MGI%20Global%20growth_Executive%20summary_January%202015.ashx

^[4] Visier Insights Report: The Truth About Ageism in the Tech Industry, September, 2017. https://www.visier.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Visier-Insights-AgeismInTech-Sept2017.pdf

⁵ Hacking the Diversity Problem with Big Data Analytics, John Schwartz, Data Informed, February, 2015.

Work Experience Design: Interview with Karen Jaw-Madson

Soon after writing The HR Journey from Productivity to Purpose, I came across an article written by work experience design expert Karen Jaw-Madson and realized I'd discovered a kindred spirit.  Several emails and high energy conversations later, I'm very excited to publish a guest post with Karen.

With a fresh perspective on the hot topics of company culture and employee engagement, Karen combines deep insight with a pragmatic approach to creating meaningful work experiences.  Somewhat atypically within a corporate landscape that tends to view culture as something top down, she uses design thinking principles to ensure that employees play a key role in co-creating their own work culture.  

Read what she has to say in this exclusive interview.

1. Why does work experience design matter for HR?

We know from the study of the human mind that people’s memories are coded by way of experiences. It’s how we frame our thinking and remember things. Whether or not it is consciously acknowledged, experience design matters to HR because it matters to people.  Experience must be a cornerstone if we are to ensure the “human” in HR. Those that understand the importance of employee experience have an opportunity to differentiate themselves above others in the war for talent. That’s because intentionally designing experience aligned with company values and culture increases the chances of intended, positive outcomes. Check out an article I recently published in HR Professional magazine, “What HR Should Know About Employee Experience.”

2. Who owns / should own work experience design, if not HR? 

I’m chuckling because of how much we think alike. Over the summer I wrote an article for People + Strategy Journal, “It’s More Than a Job Title: The Role of HR When It Comes to Organizational Culture.” It won’t be released until November, but let me summarize and note that the same goes for work experience design: because culture and the outcomes of work experience design are shared, no one can realistically “own” them—they are communal. That being said, HR has several roles to play, as educator, evangelist, sponsor, and connector. Advisor is not on the list because that would support the misperception of ownership and creates an emotional distance from being an equal partner within the culture.  

3. Can you briefly explain your methodology and how you developed it?

Design of Work Experience (DOWE) percolated for years, but was catalyzed with the introduction of design and design thinking into its development. The other big influences on this work are appreciative inquiry, positive psychology, and values-based leadership. A concept, methodology, and framework rolled into one, DOWE “partners employees with their employers to co-create customized and meaningful work experiences that set the conditions for people and business to thrive.” The model is comprised of four main components: the combination of DESIGN and CHANGE processes enabled by leveraging and building CAPABILITY and ENGAGEMENT throughout.

The process is segmented into 5 phases: UNDERSTAND, CREATE & LEARN, DECIDE, PLAN, and IMPLEMENT. These in turn are organized as a series of iterative learning loops, each with its own specific set of activities that break down complex culture work into digestible, focused, exploration spaces.

Ultimately, the practice of DOWE yields an in-depth understanding of the current state, a design for the future state, and a roadmap with action plans for how to get there. This can be applied to a variety of opportunity spaces in organizations, from business strategy to the employment life cycle, to interactions, and capability development.

4. How did you end up writing and publishing a book on this topic?

The book was written as a humble contribution to the study of company culture, but born out of a frustration with how often culture is blamed for failures in companies after the fact. We know that many corporate scandals blamed on culture are quite preventable. There’s a lot of content out there around “best practices” and “how we did it,” but I wanted to offer a step-by-step “how to” for intentionally creating culture on the front end that is specific to the intended context—your organization.

5. Do you have any advice for people who want to develop expertise in this area?

In a word, learn. Learning is demonstrated by changed behavior and because of that, it is transformative. You should learn in all 3 ways: experientially, inwardly, and externally—continually and simultaneously. Building culture--particularly with Design of Work Experience (DOWE)--is best learned by doing. The first phase of the process, UNDERSTAND, will identify your organization’s highest priorities, develops an unprecedented level of organizational self-awareness, and requires practitioners to do a lot of self-learning and examination. The CREATE & LEARN phase has a learning loop dedicated to building knowledge and inspiration by hunting and gathering anything that could inform perspective. By seeking external stimulus, we are able to build our “knowledge banks” and incorporate them as new learning. Expertise isn’t built over night, but with persistence and an open mind.

6. What is next for you?

I try to follow the same I advice offer to those I coach. Rather than chasing plans (which sometimes adds rigidity, blinds us to other opportunities, and doesn’t always go our way) I’m aiming for aspirational outcomes: meaningfulness in work, a positive impact, a well-balanced life. If design thinking has taught me anything, it’s that one can always iterate and allow the possibilities to reveal themselves. I have a lot of different projects on the plate, potential partnerships with others, and am always seeking to learn new things. I look forward to discovering where all this leads me. 

  

Organizational expert Karen Jaw-Madson enjoyed success as a corporate executive before pursuing a ‘portfolio career’ comprised of research, writing, consulting, teaching/speaking, and creative pursuits. As a versatile leader across multiple industries, Karen developed, led, and implemented numerous organizational initiatives around the globe. Today, this East Coast transplant to Silicon Valley (via Ireland and the Midwest) is principal of Co.-Design of Work Experience, where she enables organizations with innovative approaches and customized solutions for intimidating challenges. Focus areas include culture, organizational change, and people strategies. Her book, Culture Your Culture: Innovating Experiences @Work (Emerald Group Publishing) was released in June, 2018. She has a BA in Ethnic and Cultural Studies from Bryn Mawr College and a MA in Social-Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. Visit her website at www.designofworkexperience.com.

Website: www.designofworkexperience.com

Twitter: @karenjaw

Facebook: /designofworkexperience

Instagram:co.designofworkexp

LinkedIn: /company/co--/

Dave Ryan's Leadership Post

The following post was written by Dave Ryan, author of the HR Official blog.

Usually when we speak of the terms 'Leaders' or 'Leadership', it is used in a positive context to describe an endearing quality that an individual posses.  More often than not that is the proper context, but we also need to be wary because leaders are not always good, in fact history has taught us that very charismatic leaders appear to be wonderful, only for the masses to find out later of their sheer evil.

I have come to know this as a nearly life-long resident of the State of Illinois.  We have had some really bad leadership in this state.  Now I have become cynical almost to the point of being jaded.

For the record Illinois has had more than our fair share of bad apples.  But my point is this, look past the leader and what they say. If more people would question leaders about what they say and what they do some of these poor folks would not stray so far off course.  I don‘t know what happens to  folks when they attain power and influence.   It seems to overwhelm their moral compass and they lose sight of right and wrong, and they can rationalize anything in the name of greed.

Fortunately many if not most (at least outside Illinois) leader are honest, moral,  God-fearing people who do the right thing and are guided by that do-the-right-thing attitude.

When I ponder leaders I often think about the past and President Regan talking to Mikhail Gobachev,  they were leaders learning to try to trust each other.



R squared  was just saying check it out. That’s what I am talking about. We can run down the list.  If more folks had questioned Hitler, well,,,.    If some folks, in South Africa would have said “Hey Jim, what’s really in the Kool Aid” perhaps that might have turned out differently.    And not nearly enough folks questioned Ken Lay at Enron, had they, we would not have had the situation that we did there. Those folks were good leaders but they led – the wrong way.

So what you need to know about leadership is this – question it, make sure you are headed in the right direction with your Company, your group, your family.  You don’ t have to be disrespectful or rude in doing so, but always be wary.  You never know what a leader’s true motives are… especially if you live in Illinois.

HR: Ready to Relocate?

Guest post by Kim Urban, MSHR

In 2005, a company that had been located 38 years in the small town of El Cajon, California, made a decision to move out of state.

The company was the famous Buck Knives, known worldwide as one of the finest manufacturers of knives.  Besides employing over 250 employees, Buck Knives was the type of company a small town like El Cajon could use to lure other business into town.

No one guessed at the time that the Buck Knives departure would be just the start of an exodus, a trickle that turned into a flood of businesses leaving California. In fact, the year Buck Knives packed its bags, the Public Policy Institute of California issued a calming and reassuring report stating that business relocations cost California less than a tenth of 1 percent of all the state’s jobs.

But each year since 2005, the number of businesses leaving California has grown exponentionally. Today, a recent report by Joseph Vranich, an Irvine-based business relocation expert, indicates the exodus is 5 times greater than it was just two years ago.*

So what does this mean for a California HR professional? Well, it means, at the very least, you need to be aware there is a very real possibility your company might be considering a major move. And at the most, assuming you’re in the loop (and let’s hope you are), you need to start the huge process of transferring a company’s biggest asset—its people—to another state.

Each company will present its own unique challenges, of course, but it helps to look at what another company did, in this case Buck Knives, and perhaps get an idea of what could be involved.

Buck Knives had at the time of the move over 250 employees but only 58 employees - about 20% - actually ended up relocating. The remaining employees were laid off. When Buck Knives set up again in Idaho, it filled over 200 jobs from local applicants.

Naturally, one has to wonder about this. Only 58 employees relocated and the rest were laid off? What exactly happened here?

From what I gathered, Buck Knives was offering buy-outs and early retirement to the senior, long-term employees who didn’t fancy the idea of moving at this stage of their careers. Other employees, who worked part-time and sometimes had a second job that anchored them locally, simply could not afford to move. Some employees, married to a spouse who perhaps had a higher-paying job locally, refused to go; others didn’t want to leave the San Diego area or agree to a pay adjustment.

Local incentives may have also played a role in the decision process. Idaho, as part of its program to convince Buck Knives to locate there, offered to give Buck Knives $690,000 to train new workers. I have to assume that Buck Knives considered this when it accepted the money and that this played at least some part in the layoffs in El Cajon.

All in all, a challenging time for HR.  There was the relocation selection process, the layoffs before the actual move, the recruiting and hiring process that took place once the company arrived at its new home, not to mention all the training that needed to be done.

If I were to face a relocation task, I suppose I’d break things down this way:

1. Find out if there is a limit of employees who will be allowed to relocate.
2. Determine which employees simply cannot or will not relocate
3. Of the employees willing to relocate, determine which of those will be allowed to go.
4. Conduct the layoffs at the old location.
5. Pack my bags and grab one last fish taco.
6. Recruit and hire at the new location.
7. Put in place any training plans needed for the new hires.

Having never undertaken such a project, I’m sure my list is woeful and incomplete but I’d love to hear from any HR professionals who’ve actually handled a company relocation project. What were your biggest challenges? What went right? What went wrong? What advice would you give?

*Besides my conversations with Buck Knives employees, I relied on Anne Krueger’s article, “Buck Knives enjoying a better business life in Idaho than El Cajon,” dated March 26, 2006, for the San Diego Union-Tribune; and also Tami Luhby’s article, “California companies fleeing the Golden State,” dated July 12, 2011, for CNNMoney at http://money.cnn.com.

Employees, Aging Parents and You

Guest post by Susan Avello

If you are responsible for taking care of an elderly relative or friend, it will likely impact your health and your employer’s bottom line.  Employees in the U.S. who are caring for an older relative are more likely to report health problems like depression, diabetes, hypertension or heart disease, costing employers an estimated average additional health care cost of 8% per year, or $13.4 billion annually, according to the MetLife Study of Working Caregivers and Employer Health Care Cost.

These family caregivers are juggling their responsibilities to their own families and to their parents and have now been labeled “The Sandwich Generation.” They are trying to juggle children, parents and work and are experiencing considerable health issues as a result of their focus on caring for others. The need for flexibility in the workplace and in policies that would benefit working caregivers is likely to increase in importance as more working caregivers continue to remain in the workplace and put off retirement.

As the percentage of employees who are caregivers continues to grow, there will be greater demand on employers for help and support. Caring for family while trying to fit it into an already stressful work situation can be challenging and negatively impact physical health and workplace productivity. Although most employers offer family medical leave of absence they are also starting to see the need to incorporate strategies for flex-time and are looking for a creative approach in helping their employees with the myriad of life changes they are currently facing.

Who Can Help?

Aging Info USA has been working closely with corporations and employees in the workplace since inception and closely monitoring these issues to provide the best in education and training both for employee caregivers and for executive management. Our goal is to partner with employers, evaluate the cost of employee care giving to their specific situations and create solutions to increase productivity, employee engagement, reduction of health care costs and increased revenue.

More Help On the Way

In Fall 2011 we will launch CaregiverLife.com, an interactive online 'one-stop shop' to help employee caregivers navigate the continuum of aging care through educational videos, blogs, webinars, interactive discussion boards, Skype conferencing and podcasts centering on care giving and work/life challenges. CaregiverLife.com will also be an interactive training portal for HR and management to stay ahead of the game in the area of work/life issues associated with eldercare and all aspects of care giving.  In addition to providing training and education in the form of webinars, videos, podcasts and virtual events, CaregiverLife.com will offer continuing education certification through our partnership with Human Resource Certification Institute.

We are excited about the launch of CaregiverLife coming in the Fall of 2011 and helping employees and employers alike navigate these critical life changes.

Susan Avello is Vice President and Partner of Aging Info USA and is based in Chicago, IL. Aging Info USA directly supports employee caregivers, HR and Executive Management by implementing creative approaches in education, resources and training in regard to eldercare and family caregiving and work/life challenges. She is the author of two books as well as The Working Caregiver and HR Virtual Cafe blogs. You can connect with her on Twitter @susanavello.

Work / Life Balance, Graphic Design, Blogging and HR... Oh, My!

Guest post by Lyn Hoyt

Laura Schroeder, my new Project Social partner, is fascinated by work-life balance and was curious about how I manage it all. I wonder sometimes myself. Is work balance all about “bringing home the bacon and frying it up in a pan?” 

I have 3 kids, a husband/business partner, I participate in social media, volunteer for my kids school, volunteer for my local SHRM chapter and design awards for corporate recognition as well as manage, market and assist in operations for my small ecommerce / manufacturing business. It's a lot on my plate.

In fact writing this out in black and white kinda freaks me. I’m no super woman. We were late for art camp this AM.

My work-life balance is heavily reliant on time management and support from my husband. We are well matched with complimentary competencies, the numbers/MBA guy and the creative/marketing gal. Goal oriented, VERY flexible, love what we do, terribly independent. I'm trained as a graphic designer but Human Resources responsibilities fall on me as well as understanding the industry we sell in. My husband and I share everything, from home to warehouse.

It is all about running a business and raising a family.

If I had to sum it all up in one word it'd be FLEXIBILITY. You have to be ready to change course suddenly and laser focus on the task at hand. When I return a call or set a meeting, I work to make that time valuable to the people I engage. When hanging with my kids I want that time valuable as well. Compartmentalizing tasks, whether it is employee reviews, changing stock on a website, designing donor recognition awards, writing a blog post or doing laundry, I try to carve the time and give my best.

I have a home office, a staff of awesome craft-minded employees and some contracted web help. And I organize my time to chauffeur kids or be at our warehouse if necessary. Summer changes this dynamic remarkably with kids’ camps, and wifi at the pool, which sounds ideal but does not always work out as well as it sounds.

Take last Friday. I had some recognition event deadline that had to be attended to. It was the first week of the summer and we had yet to make it to the pool because “mommy is working.” Proof approvals had to be in by 1PM so the warehouse would have time to build and ship but I knew I could manage everything else pool-side if I needed to. Everyone was excited. I mixed some margarita, packed some snacks and we were off. Only to arrive and find the pool closed for 24 hours because some kid took a dump in the pool. Talk about a party pooper!

Maybe being real is the other component of work/life balance? It is sometimes beautifully ideal, other times terribly awkward when wanting to be available for my family. Technology makes it possible to keep long professional office hours for my nationally based customers and it's sometimes hard to unplug. But, when I do it is a conscious effort. When I make mistakes I own them and learn from them. When we miss attending a friend’s birthday party because of a deadline I try to make that up.

I am NO housekeeper. And I hate to file. In fact, to many on the outside, things might seem chaotic. But, I am charged by the variety, my kid’s constant curiosity, my husband’s sense of adventure and our ever-dynamic work situation, my HR community and the customers I serve. And when I loose balance I pick up and try again, cooking bacon while standing on one leg.

Thanks Laura for allowing me to share my story. I look forward to more of your Project Social inspiration and your terrific writing.

Lyn Hoyt is a graphic designer, entrepreneur, mom of three, techie and HR professional from Nashille, TN.  You can read more from Lyn at the Bacon Hut or follow her on twitter @designtwit.

Lead 'Em or Lose 'Em: How social recruiting raises the game for leaders

Guest post by Pam Fox Rollin

You plan to keep your best employees, right? You know it's going to be tough as more companies return to hiring. But, hey, you do a decent job of creating a good place to work, and your people aren't looking for jobs.

Check that.

Even if by some chance your employees aren't looking, other companies are looking for them. And, they are very likely to find your high-demand talent more easily than ever.

This week at the ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit at LinkedIn headquarters in Mountain View I saw many shiny new tools for poaching your people, and recruiters eager to use them. For example, recruiters may sign up to be pinged whenever an engineer at your company connects with more people than usual on LinkedIn.

As ace-recruiter Craig Fisher @Fishdogs quipped, "recruiters really aren't looking for the perfect candidate." Recruiters are just looking for that one person they can easily find who has "close enough" experience to get hired. And, with social media tools, it's easier than ever to find your people and build relationships. Craig sets up his FourSquare account to connect with people who frequent the coffee shop across the street from targeted groups.

How can you "protect" your team members from being contacted by recruiters?

You can't.

In the past, companies have blocked known recruiter numbers from their voicemail system. Of course, recruiters can just call from their cell phone. Or connect on Facebook. Or message them on LinkedIn. Or find them at Starbucks at just the time they know they'll be there. Their friends can text them from their mobile phones with job recommendations from apps that scour their friends' Facebook pages to suggest jobs for friends who aren't even looking, yet. Company-as-walled-city is over.

What you can do is make your side of the equation more compelling. And that takes leadership. We used to think that retention is primarily a function of the quality of the employee's immediate supervisor, as well as pay.

With globalization and ever shorter product life cycles, many employees know that their supervisor today may be heading up a new initiative next quarter. Supervisors are ephemeral. Corporate leadership isn't. Corporate culture isn't.

Nilofer Merchant @Nilofer, in her inspiring and challenging conference keynote, described corporate culture as "dark matter" - we can't see it, but it shapes our universe more profoundly than anything we can see.

Recruiters know this. Employer branding experts circulated through the ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit, promising to "tell the story" of companies through frequently-refreshed videos on Facebook Careers pages.

Will recruiters tell a better story about your competitors than your employees can tell about you?

Leaders, telling the story of your company is your job. Contributing to a culture that engages your team members over the long haul is your job. Making meaning as well as numbers is your job. Hiring supervisors who can lead their teams, and the next, and the next - that's your job, too.

Your leadership becomes ever more crucial as recruiters use social media to engage and entice your people.

Now is the time to raise your game. Help your managers become better leaders. Create better experiences and opportunities for your team. That's the best protection you'll ever have.

Pam Fox Rollin helps Silicon Valley executives make their strongest start. Her company, IdeaShape, helps leadership teams function well together and make the most of new talent. Clients hire Pam for individual coaching, leadership offsites, teambuilding with Myers-Briggs, and keynotes. Visit, "like", and learn at Pam's facebook page for 42 Rules for Your New Leadership Role: http://www.facebook.com/LeadStartBook . Or connect on Twitter @PamFR.

Directing Our Own Futures

Guest post by Jaana Eubanks

In May, a whole new chapter in my life starts as I graduate as an MBA from the University of Nevada, Reno, and move back to Finland after living in the United States for almost seven years. Exciting as well as absolutely terrifying times!

For the past seven years, I’ve been living the academic life style and also played collegiate sports during my undergrad studies. Before coming to the United States, sports played a major role in my life, and most of my youth was devoted to training and competing.

Even though my sports career didn’t workout the way I had hoped, it gave me so much: the opportunities to travel the world, make life long friendships, a scholarship to study abroad and it also instilled in me the values that make me who I am today. The journey has been an amazing adventure and something that I’m truly grateful for.

I’m excited to go back home and start my career, with a great confidence and vigor to find something that I’ll actually enjoy doing (don’t we all?). Since I’m very into the “human side” of business I’ve focused my search on marketing and consulting jobs. The job hunt has by no means been easy. For the past months, I’ve applied to several positions online, most of which seem to end up in this mysterious “black hole”… Some of the applications, I’ve received calls for.

But I’m not letting myself feel discouraged. Things don’t happen over night.

What has been important to me in finding the right kind of career path is to look for opportunities where I can grow and develop as an employee and a person as well as being part of an environment that is challenging. I believe that there is no reason for me (or anyone for that matter) to “just get a position, somewhere”, but to look for a career that would be rewarding and a good match.  That is the reason why we work so hard in life and school, right?

My future career to me looks like something that I can be enthusiastic and energized about, waking up every morning being happy to go to work and provide value. I strongly believe that one can have both in life, a wonderful life and a career one is happy with. At the end, I’ll make my life the way I wanted it to be. So can you.

My advice to you, fellow young professionals, is to remember that you are in charge of your own career (not your parents, your degree or your boss) and no one else is going to reach your goals for you. So get proactive, confident and brave. Network. Read. Remember your worth.

Be kind to others, good things happen to good people.

Go after it!

…And wish me luck!

Jaana Eubanks is a Finnish MBA student seeking opportunities to develop herself and her career while connecting with others.  You can read more from Jaana on her blog Jaana Eubank's Journey or follow her on Twitter @JaanaEubanks.

Congratulations, You Have the Job!

Guest Post by Jay R. Kuhns

Wow!  My first management gig!  I'm actually going to supervise people.  I'm going to be the one they look up to...ask for guidance....seek out my sage advice...draw upon my years...err....months of experience.  This is going to be great!

"What do you mean my employees are as old as my parents?  Wait a minute....what?"

 I Was Young

At 27, I was fortunate to move into a formal management role as the Training and Development Manager for a Hospital.  I was so excited I could barely wait to hear about the team I was going to lead.  (Lesson #1 here - I didn't even know anything about the people I was going to supervise before I accepted the job!  Nice research, eh?) Why didn't I know?  Truth be told, I'd never had a leadership mentor in a work setting who could advise me along my journey.  Yes, I'd had good supervisors prior to getting the job, but they were not focused on my development as a future leader.  

There is a big difference between supervisors and mentors!  One person can absolutely serve in both capacities, but simply assuming that because you have a "nice boss" does not mean they are preparing you for the quantum leap forward known as your first management position.

I Was Motivated

Early on in my tenure my entire team was in conflict.  Well, since I was only supervising two employees and they were mad at each other, it's safe to say the entire team was in an uproar.  So I came up with a brilliant idea...all on my own...to put the issue behind us once and for all.  I decided to block off several hours on my calendar, bring in the two employees, and sit them across from each other while we worked things out.  I told them, in a supportive way, that I had cleared my calendar so we could take all the time we needed to make things right again.  (Boy, I was good!)  

OMG, I can't believe I actually did that!  How embarrassing.

Did I really understand the individual styles of my employees well enough to take such a confrontational stance with the situation?  (Lesson #2 - know your employees, and know how such a confrontational tactic could easily backfire.)  Did I actually believe that everything would be "OK" after my little torture session?

And to think I took pride in that approach.....OMG.

How About You

Getting your first big promotion to a leadership position is very exciting.  Being effective in that role is something very difficult however.  Here are three things to keep in mind as you stumble, fall, and most importantly get back up and keep improving:

1. Accept the fact that you don't know it all yet.  Push yourself hard to learn.
2. Seek out a mentor.  Now.
3. Remember that you're in the job.  Act like you deserve to be there.  The organization hired you, not to be a wuss, but to step up, lead, grow, and lead some more.

So tell me, how are things going for you?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

Jay R. Kuhns is the Vice President of Human Resources for All Children's Hospital and Health System at Johns Hopkins Medicine.  You can read more from Jay at his blog No Excuses HR or follow him on Twitter @jrkuhns.

Modern Workforce: Reflections of a Single Working Dad

Guest Post by Jim Webber

While I was at the local coffee shop this week, I noticed a young father typing away on his computer as his baby napped in his lap.  The thing that caught my attention was that no one else paid any attention.  He was just another guy doing some work while enjoying his latte.  

It made me happy.

It was very different twenty years ago when my two daughters were toddlers and I was a newly single dad.  Back then, most of our treks out into the real world made me think that I could be a viable candidate for “Father of the Year”.  Total strangers praised me for being a great parent because I was handling them “without help”.     

Before any moms start sending hate mail my way, I get it.  I was only doing what moms have been doing since time began -- taking care of the kids.  I don’t consider myself to be a trail-blazer, but back then I was an oddity.  We simply did not see too many fathers going about their business with the kids in tow and a mom nowhere in sight.  (For the record, there is and was a great mom in the picture.  After she and I separated, we shared custody and remain on very good terms).  

Today, it seems that dads (married or single) are much more involved in raising their kids.  That’s a great thing.  I have done extensive research – about five minutes on-line – and realized that there is not much useful advice for the new working dads.  I emphasize the word “useful”.  There are lots of tips telling you to  “spend more quality time with your children” and  “do not take them into biker bars”.  Dads could have figured those types of things on their own.  What today’s dads need is the voice of experience about what matters most.

That voice has arrived:

1. Develop a sense of humor.  You’ll need it and it may keep you from having a major stroke before your time.   An elderly woman who I had never met before passed these words of wisdom on to me when my daughters were 3 and 2 years old.  She was standing near my girls and me as I was about to take a photo of them in their new dresses.  The photo was going to be a great one – I had them posed in front of a beautiful fountain.  As I was focusing the camera, my youngest flashed an evil grin.  (Wherever does she get it?).    Before I could intervene, she turned and shoved my older daughter into the water.  Based on her expression of utter joy, it was the best moment of her life up until that day.  She was clapping and laughing, her sister was splashing and sputtering and I could feel the veins in my head about to explode.  That’s when the silver-haired, well-dressed woman walked up to me.  She patted me on the shoulder and, in a tone of voice usually reserved for talking crazy people down from tall building ledges, told me that this would be really funny some day.  “I can tell you’re a great dad,” she said, “and your girls have a lot of spirit.  That’s so much better than boring, don’t you think?” She laughed, I laughed and I have remembered her wise words many times.   They have not always made me laugh, but they have kept me off the ledge.
2. Always carry a towel and change of clothes.  See above.
3. Be prepared for odd fashion moments.  As a father of babies or kids, you need to be ready to look ridiculous from time to time.   They will beg you to wear the Mickey Mouse ears at Disneyland or the crazy tie they picked out because they love Spongebob Squarepants.  They might want to paint your toe-nails hot pink.  Just go for it.   My oddest fashion moment came when I was appearing in court for a client and the judge asked about my baby.   My pride deflated as I thanked the judge for asking and noticed he was tapping his shoulder.  I heard some muffled laughs from the people waiting for the next case to start and then looked down at my own shoulder – and saw the burp cloth draped over it.  The drape cloth I had used earlier that morning to protect my suit as I gave the baby a good bye hug.  (She tended to urp up on me on a regular basis, especially if I was in my nice clothes).  I’d managed to wear the diaper on my shoulder as I rode the bus downtown, walked to the courthouse, rode the elevator and then sat with a crowd of other attorneys and parties waiting for the court calendar to start.  No one said a word until the judge.   (To this day, I am thankful that the cloth was clean that time.)
4. Beware of cameras.  Your kids will probably be able to talk you into doing crazy things.  Go ahead and do them, just try not to end up on YouTube or Facebook doing them.  This was easier for me – there was no social media in the 1990s.  When my youngest talked me into wearing a giant cookie costume to help her sell Thin Mints and Samoas in front of the grocery store, the experience did not go viral.  Neither did the time I dressed up as Big Bird or had my toe nails painted.
5. Be prepared to be embarrassed.  This next cautionary tale is based on an experience that happened when my  “baby” had just learned to walk and my oldest was a talkative two-year old with an advanced vocabulary.  It was a Saturday morning and my daughters invaded the bathroom to ask about breakfast as I was drying off after a shower.  I covered myself with the towel, but not soon enough.  “What’s that?” the oldest asked, pointing you-know-where.  “My towel,” I replied, hoping for the best.  My daughter rejected that response and asked again, this time with her tiny hands on her hips and a rather stern expression on her face.  I had not expected such questions to start so soon, or when I was naked and dripping wet.  I was stuck.  The girls’ mom and I had agreed that we would be candid and honest when the girls started to ask anatomical questions.  I held on to my towel, took a deep breath and told her that it was my p--.  I quickly explained that only boys have one and let out a sigh of relief when this seemed to be no big deal to her.  Getting caught in the shower was not the embarrassing part.  Several days later, when I took the girls into the office for a quick visit after a doctor appointment, my oldest walked up to my secretary and said, “Did you know that my daddy has a p--?” I survived and so can you.
6. Work can usually wait.  Your job is important.  Making a living is not an option for those of us without trust funds.  I know there will be times when you can’t get away from work, but you need to be organized so you can block out a morning for the school play or the afternoon when the students display their best art.  These are big events to your kids and it means the world to them when you show up.  It’s good for you, too. 
7. Time is your enemy.   My daughters are basically grown up.  My oldest is a college junior and my “baby” is about to graduate from culinary school.  (As a bonus, neither of them has been to prison and the tattoos are tasteful).  Here’s the thing – I have no idea how we got to this point so quickly.  They were babies and now they’re not.  Find a way to spend as much time with them as you can when they are little and – as much as they say they hate it – continue to find ways to be together when they are teenagers.  You do not have as much time as you think.   Road trips worked for me.  We covered most of the United States on one of them --  here’s proof:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgphEd5cT7E. 

You are going to do a lot of things in your life, but if you are a dad – nothing is more important.  You can survive and thrive through all of it.  Really.

Jim Webber is the author of Evil Skippy at Work (www.evilskippyatwork.com) and a human resources trainer/consultant/investigator based in Seattle.  In a past life, he was an employment lawyer.   You can follow Evil Skippy on Twitter (@EvilSkippySays) and also be a fan on Facebook.