Human resources is a people business. You have to deal with employees in a number of different ways, from dealing with routine administrative activities to performance issues. As a result, knowing how to communicate effectively is important. And finding out what is really going on in a situation is critical.

Sometimes that becomes difficult, because no matter how much companies stress the value of employee integrity and ethical considerations, people can be less than truthful. So, having some understanding regarding why workers might want to shade the truth would certainly be helpful in more effective communication and problem resolution, says business consultant Ron Ashkenas.

We all have different criteria about what is truthful. And it is these differing perspectives that often lead to breakdowns. What might lead an employee to be less than truthful?

One instance that is easily understandable is when a person does not want to be seen in a negative way. So, if he has made a mistake, he might create excuses and rationalizations about it, rather than admitting the real cause. For example, Ashkenas relates the story of a manager who was behind schedule on a big project. The delay was due mostly to his lack of discipline, but his reason for the delay was a snowstorm.

Another reason for shading the truth is the unwillingness to subject others to criticism. This was the case with a manager who refused to criticize her workers during performance reviews. Her excuse was that it was better to offer support for good practices, rather than highlight weaknesses. Yet, without telling them their weaknesses, there was no way they could make improvements.

People also shade the truth when it might have a negative impact on the bottom line of the business. This might occur when a salesman doesn’t mention supply problems in making a sale to a customer, or when a CEO fudges on the problems of integrating an acquisition. Letting people know what is really going on could hurt reputations and obviously even cause the failure of the project or sale. So, many opt to give only a portion of the truth and then try to determine how to handle the problems later.

Ashkenas says it’s easy to make judgments about these behaviors and demand that people be utterly truthful always. But that is not in our nature, and it is not in the nature of businesses either. The best course, he says, is to try to become more alert as to why people might be less than honest.

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Human resource professionals who work to reduce employee turnover know that an employee’s manager is a key piece of the retention puzzle. Although keeping employees at a company ultimately involves more than just one person or incentive, managers have a big effect on whether workers stay or go.

It has been said that employees quit their bosses, not their jobs, and that quote has a lot of truth to it. Despite the rough economy, many workers are still leaving their jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There are no statistics on exactly why these people left their jobs, but Richard Finnegan of the Retention Institute suspects that bad managers had more than a little to do with it. The relationship that a manager creates with his workers is the prime factor in whether a worker will leave or stay, Finnegan says. Moreover, the people leaving were probably some of the best workers in the companies they left, Finnegan says. A recent survey has shown that 25 percent of top workers were looking for work last year, compared to just 15 percent in 2005.

Finnegan says that when companies have problems with retention, they usually go to their human resources department to develop some new policy or incentive to help tackle the problem. But these kinds of things are of little help when, instead, the companies should be getting their managers involved in the process.

To keep employees, there are no magic bullets, no simple solutions, according to human resource professionals. It takes an effort by many different people, and changing the culture of the organization. For example, at one retirement community, there was a problem retaining nursing staff. So, the human resources director, Jane Holda, conducted interviews to find out what factors were contributing to the turnover.

Then, the organization began a training program that focused on building trust among its managers and directors. The managers were held accountable for building trust with their workers, and this activity was incorporated into their performance review, Holda says. In addition, managers were asked to evaluate their own ethics and integrity, while workers were asked about managers’ approachability, how interested they were in employees’ problems, and whether they followed up on inquiries.

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Before getting to the list, let’s cover a few basics. First, the best time to screw up a project is right in the beginning. Second, there is really only three ways to screw up: failure to plan, failure to communicate and failure to execute. But never fear—that still gives you plenty of opportunities.

Without further ado, here are the top five ways to screw up a project:

1. Avoid putting things in writing. It just irritates everyone and makes them nervous. This includes NDAs, Statement of Works and other agreements.

2. Never tell the client “no”. This allows you to avoid unpleasant conversations such as “we can’t deliver this campaign within your budget” or “we need another two weeks for production.” After all, we want the client to be our friend, right?

3. Don’t bother prioritizing your organization’s overall project load. After all, if there’s a free-for-all approach to your overall program management (i.e., “survival of the fittest”), then the projects that survive will be those that were destined to survive. And don’t trouble yourself aligning projects with strategic goals or facing the logical imperative that people simply cannot have 12 number one priorities!

4. Halfway through the project, when most of the deliverables have begun to take shape, add a whole bunch of previously unnamed stakeholders and ask them for their opinions about the project and its deliverables.

5. Make sure project managers have lots of responsibilities and deadlines, but no authority whatsoever to acquire or remove people from the project; to get enough money, materials, or facilities; or insist on timely participation of SMEs and key reviewers.

Oh, there are many more ways to screw up a project—avoiding client contact, encouraging the sponsor to approve deliverables verbally, setting up numerous committees and enforcing frequent meetings—but this handful of tips should get you off to a good start. And if you want your project to go well? Ignore these tips!

On the other hand, if you want to run a project successfully, feel free to learn from these mistakes!

When interviewing someone for a position, there is a lot riding on the decision. If you choose the right person, it can be a big boost for the company in productivity and revenue. Make the wrong decision, however, and you can have an even bigger headache, dealing with productivity problems, lost time and effort trying to get the person up to speed, and so on. If you terminate the person, there is the process of again looking for someone new and the time and expense for that.

Considering all that is riding on an interview, it is surprising that many interviewers still treat it as more of an art than a science, often relying on their “gut instinct,” their intuition about a candidate. Given that this is not an unusual practice, the natural question to ask is, how effective is it?

The answer, when you look at all of the psychological pitfalls involved, is: not very. There are a lot of things that can sway our “gut feeling” about a person, that don’t really directly tell whether the person will do the job or not.

One of the big things that can influence our opinion about someone is what is known as the halo effect. If you are interviewing someone who is very similar to you – for example, similar in age, in likes and dislikes, in what he or she does as a pastime, in opinions, in background – you are more likely to form a favorable impression of that person. She’s like you, so why wouldn’t you like her? But how much does this tell you about whether she’s capable of doing the job or not?

Another thing that influences our opinion — our “gut feel” — is how the person is dressed. Someone who is well dressed naturally will make a more favorable impression, but the question is, how well does this relate to her ability to do a job?

What can happen is that your “intuition” may end up giving an unfair advantage to a candidate because of psychological factors that might not even be directly related to the job.

What really counts is having a structured, organized job interview, one that is consistent with all candidates, and rates them all on the same scale, a scale that measures those criteria that are directly related to the ability to do the job.

If you need help sourcing and even interviewing great candidates for positions in your San Francisco-area company, give Bayside Solutions a call. We can help you find candidates, we can conduct preliminary interview, we’ll do all the necessary background checks, and more. Contact us today!

Temporary workers are a big help to a company most of the time. Sometimes there are problems, however, and when there are, they usually fall into one of three areas.

The first is when the manager does not clearly spell out the worker’s status, which causes the worker to believe he or she may end up with a permanent position, when that is not the case.

The second is when the contingent worker starts to become more attached to the contracting company than the staffing firm and he or she becomes frustrated when not treated like a regular employee.

The third is when the duties of the assignment change from what was originally expected, and the worker feels as if he or she is being taken advantage of.

These pitfalls can be avoided, however, if the proper precautions are taken.

To avoid the misapprehension of permanent employment, both the staffing service and the client company need to be very clear up front about what the relationship is between the worker and the client. Both the staffing firm and client company need to deliver the same message.

Most staffing services have orientation booklets that spell out the duties and responsibilities of the worker, the service and the client company. This can help to head off problems before they arise, and also establish some guidelines for the worker as to what he or she can expect. Staffing officials recommend that the employment arrangements be put in writing to avoid any confusion.

Also, the client company’s human resources department needs to get involved and communicate to managers so that they are aware of the company’s policies and practices relating to hiring and temporary employees.

To avoid confusion about who the temporary staffer is working for, you need to keep in mind that the staffing service needs to address the concerns of the worker, not your managers.

When the worker is at his or her new location within your firm, it is important that you work to make sure connections between the worker and the staffing service are not disturbed. Sometimes, after the worker has started the assignment, he or she no longer hears from the service, and then begins to treat your company as the employer. To help maintain the connection between the staffing service and the temporary worker, make sure your company uses services that make it a point to maintain close ties with their workers.

To avoid a situation where job duties change unexpectedly, leaving the worker frustrated, it is important that you continually reevaluate the worker’s situation and what he or she is doing.

If your firm is looking for reliable and skilled workers in the construction, manufacturing, green scientific, high tech, and managed services arena in the San Francisco area, contact us, Bayside Solutions. We know where to find these tough-to-source professionals. Contact us today?.

Researchers have found that the more temporary workers are brought on board to a company, the less happy the regular workers are. To counteract this situation, they recommend integrating the contingent workforce as much as possible into the social and cultural network of the company, not looking at them as a completely separate workforce.

Regular workers become dissatisfied for a number of reasons. One is that they often are tasked with training the temporary workers and introducing them to the corporate culture. So, when there are more temporary workers at a company, the job of the full-time employees becomes more involved, because they are then constantly engaged in the training of new people. Regular employees also can become frustrated because they see the time they spend helpin contingent workers as time that is being taken away from their own work.

Another problem arises when the temporary worker is doing the same job as the regular employee. The full-time person looks at this as a lessening of his or her own status.
This feeling is more pronounced at the lower levels of a company, where there may not be a lot of difference between the two types of workers.

Managers, however, can help make the situation better for everyone if they handle things properly. They should try to foster social exchange among all workers. The temporary workers should be part of all company functions, such as departmental lunches, holiday parties, and other gatherings, researchers said.

Forming these social connections is the key to forming an efficient and effective workforce, they added.

Research also showed that temporary workers who came to company with the knowledge that they had a chance to become a regular, full-time employee if they performed well in their temporary assignment, were more satisfied and performed better than contingent workers who did not have such an opportunity.

The researchers said that temporary workers want to work hard and fit in, especially if they see an opportunity to become a full-time worker at a company. As a result, a temp-to-hire arrangement can be a good method for companies to use to find skilled and reliable workers.

If you need great employees on a temporary basis, give Bayside Solutions a call. We can provide talented and reliable temporary workers for your San Francisco-area company. Contact us today!

If there’s one thing that companies with successful retention rates for IT talent know, it’s that you have to make sure your IT employees feel like they’re part of the larger organization. Too often, the IT department is treated as a separate entity, and it’s crucial that they feel part of the business.

You should also make sure they understand how their efforts impact the bottom line and improve the profitability of the company. In other words, show your appreciation!

If you can create an inclusive, supportive environment, you will get both engagement and innovation from your IT staff. By differentiating your work environment, you will make your IT employees think twice about leaving and joining a more typical work environment – even if it offers a little more pay.

One great way to make your IT employees feel important to the company is to create incentives. These incentives aren’t necessarily monetary. They can be professional rewards.

• Organizations can improve retention rates and employee performance by making it easier for IT personnel to find new opportunities within the company.
• Some companies empower IT employees by giving them the opportunity to work on diverse, limited-term assignments, rather than in one department or function. Some organizations develop a talent exchange. This connects employees and other resources with appropriate projects, roles, and positions across the company.
• Companies that provide intensive training to promote skill building convey the message that professional development is important – and it is especially important to IT personnel, who work in a field that develops and changes rapidly.

Some incentive plans can be quickly implemented and will yield positive results almost immediately if executed well: project bonuses or other project-related incentives (which can be non-cash, like restaurant vouchers or gift cards); awards for outstanding performance; or public recognition of achievement through corporate communications outlets like newsletters and intranets.

IT employees tend to value family-oriented or quality-of-life rewards, such as extra paid time off or a paid family vacation as compensation for their efforts.

Of course, you can always use cash incentives such as stock options and annual bonuses. A recent survey found that more than 90% of companies provide some form of cash bonus or incentive plan for IT workers.

However, research also suggests that what matters most is not always how much money or how many perks are offered, but the way in which incentive programs are structured. An incentive must be attainable, relevant, and meaningful to impact performance and behavior. Giving the employee an opportunity to have input into the reward system he will be attempting is important in developing commitment. Employees who have been given some say in the design of their incentive programs will be more committed to seeing the program through to reap the rewards.

If you would like to learn more about the ins and outs of hiring IT talent, contact Bayside Solutions today.

The National Electrical Contractors Association, which bills itself as “the voice of the electrical construction industry,” works to advance the industry through advocacy, education, research, and standards development. As part of their educational offerings, they provide courses that will help electrical contractors estimate projects profitably.

Their catalog of courses includes:

Basic Estimating of Electrical Construction
Recommended Pre-requisite: NECA’s one-hour online course, Introduction to the NECA Manual of Labor Units, is now required for all Basic Estimating class participants before they take this course. The intro course provides clear instruction on the proper application of the NECA Manual of Labor Units when estimating electrical construction projects.

This course is for those with little or no experience in estimating and seasoned estimators looking to hone their skills. It is a must for those who find themselves frustrated by the current bid market and continue to question their efforts in compiling a “competitive” bid. The principles taught will help you eliminate careless mistakes, which can cost your company its very existence.

Materials include a textbook, reference books, sample drawings, and specification and work sheets for each student. Through this course, contractors and estimators will learn how to properly apply the labor unit data to a specific material installation. It contains helpful information about the origin of the labor units, the proper application of the data and how one can use these labor units to competitively bid electrical construction projects.

Topics covered: labor factoring for job conditions, basics of material takeoff/expanded material takeoff, labor units applied to material takeoffs, bid documents, organizing an estimate for control, and more.

Advanced Estimating of Electrical Construction
Recommended Pre-requisite: Basic Estimating of Electrical Construction or permission of instructor

This course is designed to assist the student in all phases of the estimating process, beginning with identifying desirable bid opportunities in conjunction with analyzing the company’s capabilities to insure profitable results. It covers all phases of preparing a competitive bid, including the many-times-ignored hidden costs in the bid documents.

The course material includes NECA’s Productivity Studies. These recently revised studies quantify the impact of adverse working conditions on electrical constructors and will be used during the course to solve real life case studies.

The course concludes with an overview of the estimator’s role at the pre-construction meeting. The long-term goal is to increase the estimator’s confidence and efficiency while improving the company’s profitability.

Avoid Killer Jobs-Improve Estimation Accuracy [NEW]
Recommended Pre-requisite: Basic Estimating of Electrical Construction
Estimation accuracy is vital to a contractor’s survival. One wrong estimate could lead into a major “Killer Job,” which can erode the entire company’s profits. Hit ratios and accuracy of estimation can be improved by application of unique data-mining method and statistical process control. Using the historical data from accounting, estimation and job tracking, the contractor’s owners and estimators can improve their estimation accuracy cost code by cost code and increase the predictability of their estimated labor units per job.

Participants will learn how to mine the existing database to identify the company’s overall productivity performance, then use data analysis to improve estimation accuracy. The following topics will be covered:

• Data analysis of estimation, accounting and job tracking
• Applied statistics for contractors
• Methodology for interpretation of data

The participants will be introduced to:

• Data mining technologies
• Application of statistics to estimation data
• Creation of: bar, box and run charts for analysis
• Interpretation of data graphs

Managers and executive level employees are more likely to go for long weekends when they take time off, rather than a several-week vacation.  Employees below the management level, on the other hand, tend to take their full vacation time all at once.
That was the finding from a recent survey of more than 600 human resource workers and almost 500 employees.

Managers and executives value their time off as well, but also feel the need to keep in touch with their companies when they are away from work, which may influence the planning of their vacation time.  Taking too much time off at once may cut them off from developments at work, which is moving at an ever-faster pace, and jeopardize their opportunity for advancement, according to some business experts.

But the business experts also cautioned that even managers need to take some extended time off occasionally to avoid the possibility of burnout.

The survey also revealed that employees who had worked less than two years at a company tend to use sick days or personal days as vacation days, while those who have been at a company for an extended period of time – 16 years or longer – avoided this practice.  The survey also showed that more than two-thirds of the employees at the executive level who had worked less than a year at their company were given more than two weeks of vacation.  This contrasted with only half of the mid-level management and a third of the people below management level.

Many human resource people as well as other employees  also said that workers were taking the long weekends so they wouldn’t be away from work for an extended period of time.  They also said employees often will take vacation time while on a business trip.
One-third of the employees surveyed said they bring work along with them on vacation.  Many also feel the need to stay in touch with their workplace during vacations, they said, even though hardly any companies require that they do.

With the advances in technology, it’s easier than ever for employees to stay in touch with their workplace.  Many companies even provide them with the equipment they need to keep the lines of communication open, such as cell phones/Smartphones, pagers and laptops.

When your employees take the time for a well-deserved break, do you have the staff in place to cover for them? If not, give Bayside Solutions a call. We have many skilled professionals available for short-term, temporary assignments at Bay Area firms. Contact us today.

When it comes to corporate planning, establishing corporate goals and strategies, and maintaining employee morale, initiatives that focus on new employees – hiring and orientation programs – get little attention, according to a recent study.  The study looked at 50 large businesses in the United States.

Business experts said companies need to improve in this area.  One of the most essential elements of the long-range performance of a company is introducing employees to the corporate culture and to the outlook of the company.  Many companies look at this process as more of a chore than anything else, but they should look at it as an opportunity, according to business experts.  It is an opportunity to help new employees hit the ground running, to prepare them for their work at the company, and to inform them about the ways they can help the company reach its goals.

Companies that established effective hiring and orientation procedures had better employee morale and outperformed others financially, according to the study.  The study showed that 65 percent of the firms that had motivated employees provided training to their managers in interviewing techniques.  Companies with more motivated employees also spent more time getting the workers ready for their new jobs.  These firms spent an average of 35 weeks on such preparations, compared to only 15 weeks for companies that had employees with lower morale.

Other studies have also shown that helping to motivate employees and putting effective recruiting procedures in place also helped businesses financially.  These studies established a strong correlation between the financial situation of a company and the morale of its employees.  In a large corporation, a sizeable change in employee morale resulted in an increase of about $95 million in earnings.  Studies also showed that companies that filled positions more quickly – within one month – had a much better financial situation than those who took longer.

Business experts argue that having effective hiring and orientation programs is cost effective.  In order to implement these programs, no big changes are required.  It is mostly a matter of improving the channels of communication between managers and employees.
One very potent technique for improving employee morale, interest and involvement in their jobs is to tell them why they were hired.  More than half the firms that achieved outstanding financial results gave an explanation to employees of why they were hired.  In contrast, almost three-fourths of firms with poor financial results did not talk to employees about the reasons for their employment with the company.

Providing such an explanation establishes a bond between the new employee and the company and gives them a better idea of what the company is looking for from them and how they can use their skills, according to business experts.

If you’d like more strategies on how to best “onboard” your new employees for your Bay Area firm, contact Bayside Solutions. We can offer solutions that have worked for other companies and we can help you source, vet and place qualified and reliable workers for your temporary, contract and direct-hire assignments. We look forward to hearing from you.