Practical Concepts in Leadership & Management | Weekly Recap

You have a large project or report due soon, so you get to work—busying yourself with unrelated, smaller tasks. It's the familiar story of using work to avoid other work. The productive procrastination trap is one most of us have fallen into as a response to an overwhelming task. We don't...Read More

The U.S. unemployment rate has stagnated at 8 percent. Companies across the nation are eliminating jobs and entire departments. But one industry has actually seen a steep increase in the number of available jobs – the manufacturing industry . Boston Consulting Group estimates that more...Read More

Make sure to share with us in the comment section, your favorite news story this week or what you think is 'Hot in HR' right now!

• What do you think is the number 1 workplace trend this year? You may be surprised! We just cover part 2 or download the full report, check it out here.
• Have you ever called in sick? What is the craziest excuse you've been given by employees? Read: Craziest excuses for calling in sick
• Stay out of the politics! Be careful discussing politics at work! Here's 6 Do's and Don'ts.
• A job description recently got 57 tweets, 20 likes, and 3,797 views. How? Read: 5 Easy Steps to Make Your Job Descriptions Go Viral

 

Find us at:

The Franchise & Business Opportunities Expo

10/20/12 – 10/21/12 – Atlanta, Georgia @ The Cobb Galleria Center - Booth #125

Come visit Profiles International at booth #125! First 150 entrants on each day will receive the book 40 Strategies for Winning in Business! The Franchise and Business Opportunities Expo invites consumers wanting to start their own business to attend this exciting, upcoming two-day event! This event is perfect for exploring the option of self-employment.

 

Upcoming Complimentary Webinars

October 16 -- Leadership Charisma: Engaging Leadership.

This webinar was so popular, we are doing it again! Learn the 6 keys to becoming a more productive and charismatic leader who can engage your employees. Register Today! – October 16, 2012 @ 10:00 am CDT.

October 18 -- Leadership Culture: What do You Have, What do You Want, and How to Get it.

This session includes an examination of the attributes that comprise leadership culture, the methodology for evaluating existing culture, and the process for transforming that culture to meet business direction. Register Today! – October 18, 2012 @ 11:00 am CDT.

October 25 -- You Just Spent 50K on Your Company's Competency Model, NOW WHAT?

This session will explain how to effectively integrate competency models into an organization. The emphasis will be placed on the importance of measuring job fit as a means of accelerating competency mastery! Register Today! – October 25, 2012 @ 11:00 am CDT

Also check out all these on-demand webinars

• New! Taking The Guesswork out of Associate Selection and Performance
• New! Succession Planning: 3 Things You May Not Have Considered
• New! Emotional Intelligence
• Leadership Stress: An In-depth Look at How Stress Can Impact Leaders and Organizations
• A Realistic and Practical Approach to Implementing Competencies
• Aligning Sales and Leadership for Success in Your Organization
• Talent Management in Healthcare: Taking a New Look
• Best Practices for Improving Workplace Productivity and Organizational Performance
• Develop and Motivate a Winning Sales Team

What trending stories did we miss? Let us know in the comment section below or on Facebook and Twitter. #HotinHR

Guest post by Lisa Sperow. Throughout the Profiles family, we talk a great deal about job fit. We know that when the right people are in the right jobs at the right companies… magic can happen....Read More

The unemployment rate in New York City is 10.2 percent. The unemployment rate in Dallas is 7.9 percent. In Los Angeles, it is 13.1 percent. The once most attractive American cities to live in have...Read More

Guest post by Greg Stewart. Many of us loved the movie The Matrix . There were so many analogies and metaphors that resonated with how we experience life. One of my favorite lines came from...Read More

Do you always love your job? If this question makes you pause, then maybe you have been misled by what Fast Company called “the passion hypothesis.” This is the standard career advice of our...Read More

You see it all around you, don’t you? Don’t avoid the role Emotional Intelligence plays in your organization. REGISTER now to learn more about Emotional Intelligence! Many of us wish...Read More

This is a new addition to our blog! Every week, we will recap the most popular stories in HR and inform you on upcoming events! Make sure to share with us in the comment section, your favorite news story this week or what you think is ‘Hot in HR’ right now!

• Sodexo released “2012 Workplace Trends” report. Here is part one of our summary, but if you want to download the full report, check it out here.
• Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post covered the Jobs Crisis on a LinkedIn blog article this week. Read: The Jobs Crisis: Putting the Spotlight on What’s Working
• Can you believe it has been a year since the infamous Steve Jobs passed? Read: Steve Jobs Tribute: A Model For Working With Passion and Purpose.
• Maureen Sharib explains 9 Ways to Restore the Human Recruiting Experience, arguing that technology is weakening our communications skills.
• U.S. Jobless Rate Declines to 7.8%; 114,000 Jobs Added

HR Technology Conference and Expo

10/8/12 – 10/10/12 – Chicago, Illinois @ McCormick Place

We are exhibiting at HR Technology Conference and Expo this week. Make sure and stop by booth 451 to see us! Tweet with @Profilesintl and #HRTechConf
This year marks an inflection point in HR technology, maybe even the end of one era and the beginning of another.

NRF Human Resources Executives Summit

10/9/12 – 10/11/12 – Dallas, Texas @ The W Hotel

Al Rainaldi, Executive Vice President, Chief Learning Officer, and Chief Sales Officer will be presenting on October 10th with Greg Goforth from Floor & Décor. They will be discussing how Floor & Décor has leveraged their people as key assets for long-term success.

Evanta HR Leadership Summit

10/10/12 – Houston, Texas @ The Houstonian Hotel

We are very excited to be a sponsor at the Evanta HR Leadership Summit coming up in Houston. Bud Haney, President and CEO, Kelly Painter, Executive Vice President Enterprise Solutions, and Jaylyn Schumpert, Vice President Enterprise Solutions, will be in attendance!

Taking the Guesswork out of Associate Selection & Productivity

Have you ever made a hiring decision you immediately regretted? Employees are what determine a company’s overall success. You will learn the methodology for selection and development, as well as, how to leverage your resources for the greatest impact! Register Today! – October 9, 2012 @ 10:00 am CDT.

A Realistic and Practical Approach to Competency Development

Can you explain how your competencies link to business results? If not, this webinar will show you how! Learn the building blocks of performance, how to build a competency model, and the key factors that lead to successful integration of competency-based management systems, PLUS MORE! Register Today! – October 11, 2012 @ 11:00 am CDT.

Leadership Culture: What do You Have, What do You Want, and How to Get it.

This session includes an examination of the attributes that comprise leadership culture, the methodology for evaluating existing culture, and the process for transforming that culture to meet business direction. Register Today! – October 18, 2012 @ 11:00 am CDT

At first glance, there seems to be no positive outcome from hearing that an employee wants to quit, especially if he or she was a vital member of your team. It is also a hard pill to swallow if you had no idea his or her resignation was coming. As devastating as this event can be, most companies will face it at some point. Luckily, there is one aspect of a resignation employers can look forward...Read More

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. Unfortunately, too often the focus of such programs is on coworkers, the work environment, and the ‘deal’ and so on. What’s too often forgotten...Read More

As the saying goes, ‘age is just a number’ and Mark Zuckerberg has certainly set a new record. Facebook’s recent move to a publicly traded company made 28-year-old Zuckerberg the youngest CEO at a Fortune 1000 company. Many more men and women have helped establish a new trend of running giant corporations before they hit their 40 th birthdays. Andrew Mason, 30, founded Groupon...Read More

4 ways to make a great impression hub.am/QwiQs4

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) September 17, 2012

Get smart! Ask this one question... hub.am/OFw3m9

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) September 20, 2012

What We Can Learn About #CustomerService From #Apple Training Manual hub.am/Ovp1Az

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) September 17, 2012

86% of employees are leaving their jobs due to a lack of career development hub.am/QelCEU

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) September 17, 2012

Are you reading this at work? hub.am/PKOktD A look at how #socialmedia and #digital tools can help us like our jobs more

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) September 20, 2012

As a manager, it can be easy to complain and report to the executive team that your employees are not working effectively and meeting goals. How often do we ask ourselves, “am I enabling my people to be the best that they can be?” You may be hindering your own team's effectiveness and productivity ! The word effective is defined as “producing a desired result, or ready for service or...Read More

Today, many companies face pressure to retain their very best, high performing employees. However, some of these employees can be ‘difficult’ at times or as we have suitably named this report, “Jerks, Prima Donnas, Divas, and Hotheads .” We wanted to discover how companies today are rising to the challenges of managing difficult high performers. Especially when times are tough,...Read More

Guest post by Greg Stewart. Why does productivity fluctuate among employees? If we take out the anomalies such as extenuating life circumstances, we can still see that an employee’s productivity changes. The May 2004 edition of Harvard Business Review featured an article on how it is risky to hire stars from other companies. They advised that we are better off growing our own stars...Read More

How smart leaders get more out of the people that work for them hub.am/NDns38

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 21, 2012

2 little words to close more #sales hub.am/N6i96n

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 18, 2012

How do you do it? Managing Jerks, Divas and Hotheads in the #Workplace hub.am/PEJi2o

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 23, 2012

Why listening to complainers is just bad for your brain! hub.am/O1MRlf #workplace

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 23, 2012

Why you need to think slow in a fast world! hub.am/P2Zmu7

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 19, 2012

Register for the webinar Hiring should never be as complicated as crime scene investigating. So when the largest owner of an Applebee's franchise reduced management turnover and saved $345,000, the HR director was pleased to see another sudden benefit: simplicity. “It’s not CSI – it’s ABC,” says Frank Romano about the ProfileXT®. Romano is the Executive Director of HR at Concord...Read More

Contributing author: Deiric McCann. I guarantee that this is the most important article you’ll ever read. Here you’ll discover new ideas that have been proven to save time and energy – oh, and make money. What you’ll love about these proven new ideas is that they are so easy to understand and safe to apply that you’ll get results that will improve the health of your business immediately! ...Read More

Job satisfaction can highly depend on the type of person and how well they match a position. Count yourself lucky if you are one of those people that genuinely loves your job. Although all jobs can be stressful and trying at times, there are many things that can increase stress levels. Difficult hours, low pay and lack of room for promotion can all act as stress factors and contribute to...Read More

Why your company wants you to resign hub.am/PeKATj

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 15, 2012

Ooops 7 Stupid Hiring Mistakes hub.am/P7BmsD

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 14, 2012

Best companies for work-life balance in 2012 hub.am/TCfUfL

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 14, 2012

Money Doesn't Buy Happiness: 2012's Happiest and Unhappiest Jobs hub.am/P7trf5

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 13, 2012

Would You Hire Someone With a Criminal Record? hub.am/RQhhHT #HR

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 16, 2012

Why you should actually only carry one business card to networking events hub.am/N6fWYE

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 16, 2012

You have heard it through the grapevine- there is going to be a merger . It is often a situation saturated with fear, worry, mystery, and confusion. Do you know what to do when the company you work for plans to merge with another company? How or will your role within the organization change once the merger has taken place? Mergers can be a scary time for everyone involved. Employees fear...Read More

Complex sales can require salespeople to have a systematic plan for effectively managing the selling and buying process. There are many benefits to having a disciplined approach to your sales process, specifically it allows your organization to prioritize resources and strategically grow important accounts. Any effective salesperson knows that his or her focus should not only be on the...Read More

As daunting as being interviewed is, the hiring process can be quite an intimidating experience for the interviewer as well. For the interviewee, there are only two possible outcomes, either you get the job or you don’t. For the interviewer, there’s the chance of selecting and hiring the wrong person, costing your organization thousands of dollars and putting your professional...Read More

10 Ways You Should Never Describe Yourself hub.am/OG27Sn

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 5, 2012

Best Way to Motivate Employees: Ask This One Question hub.am/NXPmDy

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 5, 2012

Bad bosses can be bad for your health hub.am/OFEWXZ

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 6, 2012

10 smart things to learn from people who never went to college hub.am/MsechR

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 8, 2012

Death of Success: 6 Damaging Behaviors Salespeople Should Avoid hub.am/NlsYmQ

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 9, 2012

Employee turnover is a challenge that every organization faces at one time or another. As mentioned in the previous article, It's Not Me, It's You... , it is uncommon in today’s world for an employee to remain at the same company for more than five years. Sometimes an employee leaving may be the result of a managerial decision and other times it may be voluntary on the...Read More

The 2012 Summer Olympics , officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad, began this past Friday and will continue for the next two weeks. Between July 27th and August 12th an estimated 10,500 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees will compete for the chance to win an Olympic Medal. The Olympic athletes can teach us a great deal and many of their lessons can apply to the...Read More

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...Read More

8 Email Mistakes to Avoid hub.am/MXzArC

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) July 31, 2012

9 Rules for Better Meetings hub.am/MBfjr2

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 3, 2012

You Are (Probably) Wrong About You hub.am/PscpnH

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 1, 2012

5 Secrets to Hiring Employees Who Last hub.am/OGTFUS

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) July 31, 2012

Getting Extraordinary Results from Ordinary People hub.am/OLsMPx

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) August 2, 2012

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: "Sound...Read More

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. You don’t know what your people are...Read More

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....Read More

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...Read More

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. When human capital planning is at the top of a company's priorities, they are sure to achieve their goals despite a...Read More

Best Way to Motivate Employees: Ask This One Question hub.am/NORjAs

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) July 23, 2012

8 Email Mistakes to Avoid hub.am/N27p8e

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) July 25, 2012

10 Leadership Tips For First-Time Managers hub.am/OaaOr9

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) July 26, 2012

7 Habits of Extraordinary Teamshub.am/OaaGYX

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) July 26, 2012

Millennials and mentors: Forge a positive bond hub.am/LLEs0o

— Profiles Intl (@ProfilesIntl) July 25, 2012

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...Read More

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. Interview preparation usually includes: researching the company, studying the job description, practicing interview questions, and creating...Read More

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 . If you can’t identify what products or...Read More

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...Read More

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,...Read More