Workplace 101: A Profiles Global Business Blog

As we move into a new era of recruiting, the age of the resume may be drawing to a close. Social media is becoming increasingly popular as a way for recruiters to find the best possible candidates for open positions. According to a recent survey by Jobvite, 92 percent of recruiters are using social media to find new talent in 2012. The survey reports, “Social recruiting has become an essential resource in the war for talent as competition is fiercer than ever.”

Think quick: what are your company’s core values? Does your company have a mission statement? What is it? Odds are, it probably has a lot of nice-sounding words in it like “integrity,” “respect,” “communication,” or “excellence.” That’s great, but do those words accurately reflect your company’s values? Does your company hire people who reflect them?

President and Chief Executive Officer of Profiles International, Bud Haney, was honored to contribute a chapter to the new publication Essays on Governance by Andrew J. Sherman. A must-read for modern business and organizational leaders, the book provides 36 critical essays to drive shareholder value and business growth.
Here are some segments from Mr. Haney's contribution:

In today’s society it is not uncommon to hear someone say “you have to get out and network”, or “it’s all about networking.” So, what exactly do they mean when they use the term ‘networking’? In the business world, networking means leveraging your professional and personal connections to grow your business and bring in new clients. Although it may sound fairly simple, business networking is actually a complex process. It is all about building relationships!

Guest post by Deiric McCann

In the largest study ever undertaken into what makes some leaders particular inspiring (400,000 employees rated their 40,000 managers on their ability to inspire) we found that formally polling people for their input on a regular basis was one of the most impactful habits a leader can build. Here’s how to do it.

In a recent article by Vanity Fair, Microsoft’s recent failures were linked to a destructive management technique called stack ranking.

At some point in our career, we have, or will, all witness a moment when a leader behaves in a way that is counterproductive and self-imploding. He or she goes drastically off track and derails from what should be a promising career. In many ways it is similar to watching a train crash in slow motion; you know it’s going to happen, but there is absolutely nothing you can do to prevent it.

Guest post by Deiric McCann

Common courtesy is so uncommon that it’s actually charismatic!

In the research for ‘Leadership Charisma’ we surveyed almost 400,000 employees worldwide to see what charismatic leaders did that engaged those who worked for them to be so much more productive.  There were lots of factors – one of those was common courtesy.What’s clear from our research is that one of the easiest ways to cultivate a charismatic impact upon your people, and to engage them effectively, is simply to practice basic good manners.

Contributing Author:
Susan Young, Get in Front Communications.
7 leadership lessons from Stephen Covey

Dr. Stephen Covey, who wrote the 1989 best-seller, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", passed away on Monday. In addition to being an author, Dr. Covey was also co-founder of Utah-based professional services company FranklinCovey, and his message of success won him millions of followers worldwide. Dr. Covey was a well-known motivational speaker and had an enormous impact on both the corporate world and the personal lives of millions.

The term “interview” can evoke several emotions in a person; some positive and some negative. Although a candidate may be excited about the job opportunity, a great deal of time is often required to properly prepare for an interview.

Employee utilization seems to be one of those over-used business terms that poorly describes one of the most important elements in productivity. America’s Most Productive Companies know that successful employee utilization is an active ingredient for overall success.

What will your business look like in five years? Will your products and services be the same? Will you be serving the same customer base in the same markets? What type of employees will you need to fulfill your goals? The foundation of your success depends upon an effective talent management program that strongly values succession planning.

Take a moment to think about a few of your most challenging goals. How confident would you feel if you had achieved all of those goals? How would it impact your self-confidence if everything you tried worked out positively, and every day brought about another success? Stop for a moment and try to imagine what that would feel like.

How do you feel about the economy? Well, the average U.S. economic confidence rate from Gallup increased 3 points in May to -17, which is the highest monthly average we’ve seen in over four years! Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index is based on how Americans rate the current economic state and their perception of whether it’s improving or getting worse. So what does an improved confidence rating mean? Consumers are more hopeful, which is good news for the retail industry.

Relationship building is an art, but not every manager is a natural relationship artist.

We have recently covered many solutions to managing difficult employees, but just as often as employees can act up, so can the boss. Ineffective managers can contribute to the decline of productivity in the workplace. Organizational leaders who pay attention to detail should act quickly if they detect any symptoms of incompetence.

Incompetent Managers:

It’s inevitable, if you put a group of people in close proximity for 40 hours a week, there’s a high possibility that there's going to be some conflict. Some disagreement at work is a good thing. It shows that there is healthy and open discussion, and that employees are not afraid to voice their concerns and problems. However, while conflicts about work issues may be healthy, conflicts about personality and work styles are not.

Is there a skills gap in your organization? Do you have vacant positions, which require high-level skills that are hard to find? According to a recent study from CareerBuilder, 38 percent of employers cannot find qualified candidates to fill a position. The study found that the top five areas most difficult to recruit for are:

What is the vacation/time off policy in your organization? Do you work a 9 to 5? Many organizations today have become quite creative and trusting when developing their vacation policies. Netflix, IBM and Hubspot are just some of the well-known names that boast an unlimited vacation policy.

Anyone seeking the best possible levels of productivity from their people knows the importance of employee engagement, and most organizations have some type of program in place to drive employee engagement levels higher to achieve better results. 

The 4^th of July is a day for us in America to remember our founding fathers and the fundamental ideas that transformed our country into the great nation it is today. In honor of Independence day, here are quotes from the founding fathers along with some of our more popular blog posts for some vacation day reading.                                              

JC Penney has been making headlines, and not in a positive light. An article from The Washington Post shares the company's latest news. First there was the brand’s makeover “disaster” which resulted in confused customers, angry employees and an 18.9 percent drop in same-store sales. Most recently, the company’s president, Michael Francis, has resigned after eight months.

If you are a parent or a pet owner then you know that when your child or pet misbehaves, you have to act immediately or the corrective action is pointless. You cannot wait a day, a month, or a year to address a problem; by then the child or pet has completely forgotten what they did that was wrong.