Here's another TED video. In this one, Dan Pink discusses intrinsic motivation and its value in future workplaces.
Dan argues that intrinsic motivation is made up of "autonomy, mastery, and purpose." He also says that this form of motivation will be necessary as work moves from simple and repetitive tasks to complex and creative thinking tasks (knowledge/information economies). According to behavioral psychology research he references, traditional incentives such as bonuses are not effective for jobs of the near future.
Last month, I saw a job posting for an employment specialist that advertised $50.00 bonuses per placement as part of the compensation. According to Dan's talk, it should be better to build the bonuses into the salary and offer a higher base pay. Job placements require so many different factors to come together that it's hard to feel a direct connection between placing a job seeker and receiving an extra $50.00 weeks after the job begins. Also, placing someone already feels rewarding; the emotional experience can outshine the monetary reward.
See this post for another view on intrinsic motivation. It identifies autonomy, competence, and relatedness as factors for intrinsic motivation...2 out of 3 factors in agreement (autonomy, competence/mastery).
Showing posts with label Case Management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Case Management. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
MI:SE
Last week, I attended a training by Jon Larsen on Motivational Interviewing (MI) within Supported Employment programs.
Jon argued the case for MI (assessing interest and readiness for employment, identifying strengths and barriers) and provided practice on techniques and tools for putting it all into practice.
Some points:
Actively listen: Jon asked us to role play a dialogue where the Employment Specialist was only allowed 2o words. The challenge was to keep the conversation going as long as possible up to the 20 word limit.
Be patient as a problem-solver: This refers back to the listening point. Use MI to gather information, to guide a customer in thinking through a decision, or explore setbacks.
Ask permission: If you must absolutely interrupt and offer an opinion or suggestion during MI, ask permission first. Leadership Through People Skills offers a similar tactic for managers: gauge for reciptivity before beginning a discussion.
The training had good information and Jon was an excellent presenter. He had frontline knowledge from his own work and mixed in entertaining stories. My only recommendation is that Jon include more practice in the session.
Jon argued the case for MI (assessing interest and readiness for employment, identifying strengths and barriers) and provided practice on techniques and tools for putting it all into practice.
Some points:
Actively listen: Jon asked us to role play a dialogue where the Employment Specialist was only allowed 2o words. The challenge was to keep the conversation going as long as possible up to the 20 word limit.
Be patient as a problem-solver: This refers back to the listening point. Use MI to gather information, to guide a customer in thinking through a decision, or explore setbacks.
Ask permission: If you must absolutely interrupt and offer an opinion or suggestion during MI, ask permission first. Leadership Through People Skills offers a similar tactic for managers: gauge for reciptivity before beginning a discussion.
The training had good information and Jon was an excellent presenter. He had frontline knowledge from his own work and mixed in entertaining stories. My only recommendation is that Jon include more practice in the session.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
A Hamburger Today...or Two on Tuesday?
I'm catching up on the July posts that I promised! If you're having trouble waiting, there is bad news in store. Self-control and delayed gratification may be connected to success in life, according to a long-term study described in this New Yorker article by Jonah Lehrer.
In May, I accompanied a job seeker on a job hunting trip. We picked some employers in a nearby neighborhood and hit the sidewalk with resumes in hand. She was dressed nicely, business casual with a spring flair, and she had taken the time to fix her hair and makeup. It was a noticeable effort that I complimented. Then, she said, "And I can't smoke, right?"
That's right!
The next hour and a half was a battle over an extreme example of self-control: resisting nicotine addiction. She made it to 7 businesses before I let her have her cigarette reward. At that point, she looked through her purse and found that she had lost her last one.
Along the way on our trip, she found a twenty dollar bill on the sidewalk. That made the lost cigarette a minor disappointment.
While cigarette cravings are not the type of impulse referenced in the New Yorker article, the situation helped me link the study with employment services. What kind of impact, I wondered, could an inability to delay gratification have on a job seeker?
Some ideas:
1. Unrealistic expectation of a short job search; frustration grows as time goes on.
2. A lack of long-term planning; no investment in training, education, or working oneself up from entry-level.
3. Disassociation between the effort necessary to apply and the reward of being hired; there may be too large a gap between the action (targeted resume and cover letter, fully completed application, follow-up calls or visits, interviewing) and the result (job offer).
This is where an employment plan with short-term goals -make a big deal about checking them off- can pay off.
In May, I accompanied a job seeker on a job hunting trip. We picked some employers in a nearby neighborhood and hit the sidewalk with resumes in hand. She was dressed nicely, business casual with a spring flair, and she had taken the time to fix her hair and makeup. It was a noticeable effort that I complimented. Then, she said, "And I can't smoke, right?"
That's right!
The next hour and a half was a battle over an extreme example of self-control: resisting nicotine addiction. She made it to 7 businesses before I let her have her cigarette reward. At that point, she looked through her purse and found that she had lost her last one.
Along the way on our trip, she found a twenty dollar bill on the sidewalk. That made the lost cigarette a minor disappointment.
While cigarette cravings are not the type of impulse referenced in the New Yorker article, the situation helped me link the study with employment services. What kind of impact, I wondered, could an inability to delay gratification have on a job seeker?
Some ideas:
1. Unrealistic expectation of a short job search; frustration grows as time goes on.
2. A lack of long-term planning; no investment in training, education, or working oneself up from entry-level.
3. Disassociation between the effort necessary to apply and the reward of being hired; there may be too large a gap between the action (targeted resume and cover letter, fully completed application, follow-up calls or visits, interviewing) and the result (job offer).
This is where an employment plan with short-term goals -make a big deal about checking them off- can pay off.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Employment specialist, unplugged
The New Yorker is emerging as my main source for ideas that can be adapted to workforce development. It's fitting since I love Malcolm Gladwell.
This article by John Colapinto (also good), "Brain Games, The Marco Polo of neuroscience," is a fun look into contemporary research on autism, atemnophilia (a compulsion to amputate healthy limbs), and other conditions. The research is described as evidence of the brilliance of Dr. Vilayanur S. Ramachandran. He is certainly smart. The details of how he works are the most interesting part:
"Ramachandran listened closely as Jamieson talked about his condition. In a specialty that today relies chiefly on the power of multimillion-dollar imaging machines to peer deep inside the brain, Ramachandran is known for his low-tech method, which often involves little more than interviews with patients and a few hands-on tests -an approach that he traces to his medical education in India, in the nineteen-seventies, when expensive diagnostic machines were scarce. 'The lack of technology actually forces you to be ingenious," he told me. 'You have to rely on your clinical acumen. You have to use your Sherlock Holmes-like deductive abilities to figure things out."
Job seekers need computers: resumes and cover letters, craigslist, indeed, employer websites, email contact, linkedin, etc.
Employment specialists need computers: tracking databases, matching job seekers to openings, skills assessments, reading blogs, etc.
But can we get by without them?
Now that I'm working in Supported Employment, I'm encouraged/required to get out of the office and work with customers in other settings: meet with employers, going out to submit applications together, onsite job coaching. It's still hard to get away from the computer, and I realize there are things that I do in my cubicle that don't have to be done there.
Employment plans, reviewing job leads, resume reviews, mock interviews, counseling... Really, if a jobseeker is computer literate (word processing and internet), all employment specialist-job seeker interaction can take place without a computer nearby. The exception would be assisting individuals who cannot edit their own resumes or submit online applications (even then there are other options for applying). The only currently essential task that requires computers is data entry for internal program reasons, not for direct services.
By interacting with the jobseeker free of the computer distractions, one of Ramachandran's techniques pops up: you can listen more closely.
Getting away from the computer also prevents one of my professional fears: that my role as an employment specialist becomes simply a middle-man for craigslist posts and support services.
Something else came to mind as I reread the piece for this post. Ramachandran frequently uses mirrors to manipulate how a subject perceives him or herself. I wonder how having mirrors present would affect discussions about the proper way to dress for job searching and interviewing. Mirrors may also have an impact in building self-awareness and hopefully self-esteem.
This article by John Colapinto (also good), "Brain Games, The Marco Polo of neuroscience," is a fun look into contemporary research on autism, atemnophilia (a compulsion to amputate healthy limbs), and other conditions. The research is described as evidence of the brilliance of Dr. Vilayanur S. Ramachandran. He is certainly smart. The details of how he works are the most interesting part:
"Ramachandran listened closely as Jamieson talked about his condition. In a specialty that today relies chiefly on the power of multimillion-dollar imaging machines to peer deep inside the brain, Ramachandran is known for his low-tech method, which often involves little more than interviews with patients and a few hands-on tests -an approach that he traces to his medical education in India, in the nineteen-seventies, when expensive diagnostic machines were scarce. 'The lack of technology actually forces you to be ingenious," he told me. 'You have to rely on your clinical acumen. You have to use your Sherlock Holmes-like deductive abilities to figure things out."
Job seekers need computers: resumes and cover letters, craigslist, indeed, employer websites, email contact, linkedin, etc.
Employment specialists need computers: tracking databases, matching job seekers to openings, skills assessments, reading blogs, etc.
But can we get by without them?
Now that I'm working in Supported Employment, I'm encouraged/required to get out of the office and work with customers in other settings: meet with employers, going out to submit applications together, onsite job coaching. It's still hard to get away from the computer, and I realize there are things that I do in my cubicle that don't have to be done there.
Employment plans, reviewing job leads, resume reviews, mock interviews, counseling... Really, if a jobseeker is computer literate (word processing and internet), all employment specialist-job seeker interaction can take place without a computer nearby. The exception would be assisting individuals who cannot edit their own resumes or submit online applications (even then there are other options for applying). The only currently essential task that requires computers is data entry for internal program reasons, not for direct services.
By interacting with the jobseeker free of the computer distractions, one of Ramachandran's techniques pops up: you can listen more closely.
Getting away from the computer also prevents one of my professional fears: that my role as an employment specialist becomes simply a middle-man for craigslist posts and support services.
Something else came to mind as I reread the piece for this post. Ramachandran frequently uses mirrors to manipulate how a subject perceives him or herself. I wonder how having mirrors present would affect discussions about the proper way to dress for job searching and interviewing. Mirrors may also have an impact in building self-awareness and hopefully self-esteem.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Rags to Riches in 15 days!
I recently read Get Hired Fast: Tap the Hidden Job Market in 15 Days by Brian Graham, which I acquired as an impulse buy at FedEx Office. I bought it after skimming through and seeing that it focused on cold calling, which is a common deficiency in job searches. It is taxing to make enough cold calls to get good at it, and people generally stay away from doing things they are not good at, which leads to few cold calls.
According to Get Hired Fast, it is a mistake to shy away from cold calls, and I agree. The book's strong suit is its support for cold calling as the focus of a job search strategy, from researching employers to developing a script for calls. It's all part of a regiment that prescribes a short (3 weeks) but concentrated (150 calls) calling campaign.
There are 2 things I've started to tell job seekers lately. The first is that job search is what they do outside of my cubicle (meaning that they need to be active outside of our visits). The second is that of all the job seekers who have found jobs while in our program over the last year, only 1 has gotten a job from online-only sources. All the others have used personal contacts (including job developed by employment specialists), walk-in visits (including in-person visits to employers advertising online), or cold-calls to find open positions that they've applied for and gotten.
Get Hired Fast corroborates this position that job seekers need to get away from the computer as much as possible. Unfortunately, cold calling is only the subject of half the book. The rest of the pages are repeats of standard job seeking advice about interviewing and responding to job offers. This highlights the difficulty with cold-calling; even a book about cold-calling needs a little sugar to help the medicine go down. Instead of this generic advice, I wish it would have included more about script writing and more about dealing with rejection. It honestly states that there will be a lot of rejection.
Get Hired Fast is also like a guide to losing 10 pounds or quitting smoking. It tells you what to do and it tells you how to do it. It doesn't make it easy or fun, though, and the hard work is up to you. If you're advocating for job seekers to make cold calls, I recommend checking it out from a library; it is not essential to have it permanently on your bookshelf.
As a bonus, it can help with job development, where cold calling skills are useful.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Horrible service, with a smile
In recent weeks, I've been in situations as a customer where cheerful and chatty individuals did a poor job of getting me what I needed. The first instance was an inconsequential visit to a deli that had closed its grill, but didn't have a sign saying so and still had its order slips out. Only after I filled out an order did the friendly guy behind the counter happily tell me that the grill was closed. No big deal now that I look back on it, except that it has made me start to recognize similar instances: supermarket cashiers who try to find out what I'm making for dinner, while slowly making an awkward pile of my groceries; low-pressure auto service mechanics who commend our small fuel-efficient sedan, and offer to sell us spark plug wires for a car that doesn't use any.
It's made me paranoid about the quality of service I'm giving, and how it balances with my friendliness. Long-term case management is built upon strong relationships. On one hand, it's important to be warm and engaging. More importantly, though, it's necessary to provide a product that the customer will value. In this case the product is competent advice, practical steps to job search, adequate support services, and accessible, demand-driven training. Job seekers need to trust that they are receiving something that will help them, and that there is a benefit to working with an employment specialist.
Why should someone make regular visits, stay in contact, and follow the instructions of someone who is not helping them, or someone who is telling them things they already know?
By providing quality employment services, an employment specialist can also maintain a relationship when providing feedback that is not obviously "friendly customer service." Sometimes, you need to tell a job seeker something that they do not want to hear. It's easier to take such advice from someone with a track record of providing wise guidance.
How I work towards good service:
1. Complete a tangible activity/provide a meaningful resource during each meeting with a job seeker.
2. Don't get lazy and allow job seekers to use cover letters, resumes, applications that are not perfect. If they resist making edits, try different suggestions.
3. Get job seekers as prepared as possible for talking to employers/interviewing.
4. Give job seekers worthwhile action steps to take following each meeting.
5. Keep seeking out new ideas, techniques, and trainings
It's made me paranoid about the quality of service I'm giving, and how it balances with my friendliness. Long-term case management is built upon strong relationships. On one hand, it's important to be warm and engaging. More importantly, though, it's necessary to provide a product that the customer will value. In this case the product is competent advice, practical steps to job search, adequate support services, and accessible, demand-driven training. Job seekers need to trust that they are receiving something that will help them, and that there is a benefit to working with an employment specialist.
Why should someone make regular visits, stay in contact, and follow the instructions of someone who is not helping them, or someone who is telling them things they already know?
By providing quality employment services, an employment specialist can also maintain a relationship when providing feedback that is not obviously "friendly customer service." Sometimes, you need to tell a job seeker something that they do not want to hear. It's easier to take such advice from someone with a track record of providing wise guidance.
How I work towards good service:
1. Complete a tangible activity/provide a meaningful resource during each meeting with a job seeker.
2. Don't get lazy and allow job seekers to use cover letters, resumes, applications that are not perfect. If they resist making edits, try different suggestions.
3. Get job seekers as prepared as possible for talking to employers/interviewing.
4. Give job seekers worthwhile action steps to take following each meeting.
5. Keep seeking out new ideas, techniques, and trainings
Monday, May 4, 2009
All other duties as assigned
There are certain skills and scopes of knowledge that should be expected as an Employment Specialist, including: resume & cover letter writing, job search, job development, labor market information, application procedures, professional dress, and interviewing.
Then, there are those unexpected things that we learn along the way. Here are 4 big ones:
1. Public transportation: I commute by bus or bike, but what has really taught me the local bus system is Google mapping employer sites for job seekers, complete with public transportation directions. Here in Portland, I also have the luxury of using the regional transit's trip planner.
2. Criminal justice system: Working with post-prison reintegration job seekers has taught me about parole/probation reporting requirements, diversion, restitution, and other aspects of the justice system. Also, when I lose contact with someone and hear a rumor about an arrest, I can confirm it through the Victim's Notification Network. In Portland, I can also get information on recent arrests from the Multnomah County Sherrif's Office.
3. Trade/Vocational Education: I can have educated conversations about and provide accurate job search counseling regarding phlebotomy, welding, flagging, bank telling, and other trades that I have no experience in due to what I've learned from placing individuals in vocational training programs. Each job seeker is an opportunity to learn about a new field.
4. Driver's License/ID, Social Security card, Birth Certificates: In addition to the classic employment conundrum, "You need experience to get a job; You need a job to get experience," there is this problem: Lose all your identifying documents. Try to get an ID without a social security card, or a social security card without an ID.
Other things learned:
5. identify theft prevention
6. motivational psychology
7. free email (for job seekers)
8. frugal shopping (support services)
9. background/criminal history checks
Then, there are those unexpected things that we learn along the way. Here are 4 big ones:
1. Public transportation: I commute by bus or bike, but what has really taught me the local bus system is Google mapping employer sites for job seekers, complete with public transportation directions. Here in Portland, I also have the luxury of using the regional transit's trip planner.
2. Criminal justice system: Working with post-prison reintegration job seekers has taught me about parole/probation reporting requirements, diversion, restitution, and other aspects of the justice system. Also, when I lose contact with someone and hear a rumor about an arrest, I can confirm it through the Victim's Notification Network. In Portland, I can also get information on recent arrests from the Multnomah County Sherrif's Office.
3. Trade/Vocational Education: I can have educated conversations about and provide accurate job search counseling regarding phlebotomy, welding, flagging, bank telling, and other trades that I have no experience in due to what I've learned from placing individuals in vocational training programs. Each job seeker is an opportunity to learn about a new field.
4. Driver's License/ID, Social Security card, Birth Certificates: In addition to the classic employment conundrum, "You need experience to get a job; You need a job to get experience," there is this problem: Lose all your identifying documents. Try to get an ID without a social security card, or a social security card without an ID.
Other things learned:
5. identify theft prevention
6. motivational psychology
7. free email (for job seekers)
8. frugal shopping (support services)
9. background/criminal history checks
Monday, April 20, 2009
Full Speed Ahead
Here are some visual aids to remind job seekers to conduct a full job search. They are meant to help those who:
1. Stay within a comfort zone (usually too much internet and newspaper...passive job search)
2. Take too many days off and miss good opportunities
This week is off to a great start. It's sunny, one of my customer's started a new job today, a friend announced a FOURTH Urban Design/Landscape Architecture graduate school acceptance (UPenn, Harvard, U-Washington, and U-British Columbia!), and a college classmate won a Pulitzer! This is the kind of day that keeps me keeping on.
1. Stay within a comfort zone (usually too much internet and newspaper...passive job search)
2. Take too many days off and miss good opportunities
This week is off to a great start. It's sunny, one of my customer's started a new job today, a friend announced a FOURTH Urban Design/Landscape Architecture graduate school acceptance (UPenn, Harvard, U-Washington, and U-British Columbia!), and a college classmate won a Pulitzer! This is the kind of day that keeps me keeping on.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Rick Wagoner, Call Michigan Works!
This New York Times article over the weekend got me thinking about a couple of things. First, it raised an employment specialist crisis of faith. These happen occasionally when I read about millionaires who are younger than me or professionals who dropped everything to become rafting guides or, in this case, private career coaches who work with CEO's. One CEO's severance package included $40,000 towards job placement services. He could hire an employment specialist for a year at that price.
At first hearing, it sounds like an easy task: find work for someone who has years of prior success.
Thinking further, though, I looked at it from optimistic and pessimistic views in relation to working with "universal customers."
Quick brainstorming:
What CEO's bring that can help:
1. Networking contacts and references
2. Verifiable experience
3. Advanced education/training
What CEO's bring that can hurt:
1. High expectations (title, responsibility, salary, success)
2. Pride
3. Fewer options (narrow career fields, fewer openings)
In fact, the article argues, “The higher up you are,” said Dr. Madaus, whose company employs 6,000, “the longer it takes to find a new job.”
I also thought about what onestops would have to offer a CEO. The article mentions benefits to CEO's from their job search firms that sound very similar to the onestop benefits in last week's MSNBC article on Worksource Portland Metro East:
1. Social connections
2. Ongoing motivation
3. Sense of normalcy
4. Coaching
Workforce development serves a variety of populations that seem unique but frequently overlap and ultimately share attributes and needs: youth, adults, homeless, dislocated, transitioning, offenders, migrants, veterans, seniors, immigrants, etc.
Finally, contemplating how I would work with a CEO recalls a case management exercise I've used informally, Celebrity Job Search. Name a celebrity or fictional character and then complete an assessment and employment plan based on their known strengths and weaknesses.
At first hearing, it sounds like an easy task: find work for someone who has years of prior success.
Thinking further, though, I looked at it from optimistic and pessimistic views in relation to working with "universal customers."
Quick brainstorming:
What CEO's bring that can help:
1. Networking contacts and references
2. Verifiable experience
3. Advanced education/training
What CEO's bring that can hurt:
1. High expectations (title, responsibility, salary, success)
2. Pride
3. Fewer options (narrow career fields, fewer openings)
In fact, the article argues, “The higher up you are,” said Dr. Madaus, whose company employs 6,000, “the longer it takes to find a new job.”
I also thought about what onestops would have to offer a CEO. The article mentions benefits to CEO's from their job search firms that sound very similar to the onestop benefits in last week's MSNBC article on Worksource Portland Metro East:
1. Social connections
2. Ongoing motivation
3. Sense of normalcy
4. Coaching
Workforce development serves a variety of populations that seem unique but frequently overlap and ultimately share attributes and needs: youth, adults, homeless, dislocated, transitioning, offenders, migrants, veterans, seniors, immigrants, etc.
Finally, contemplating how I would work with a CEO recalls a case management exercise I've used informally, Celebrity Job Search. Name a celebrity or fictional character and then complete an assessment and employment plan based on their known strengths and weaknesses.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Mystery shopping, emphasis on "mystery"
In a real world follow-up to this post on job search scams, a job seeker reported today that he has received two money orders (totalling $1500) from a mystery shopping job offer he replied to on craigslist.
Though he was suspicious of the checks' legitimacy, he had a small hope that it was a real opportunity. The job seeker gave me copies of the emails, and it appears to be a check-cashing scheme operating under the cover of mystery shopping. It was even being done under the name of a legitimate mystery/secret shopping company. The instructions were to cash the money orders, spend some of the money on shopping assignments, keep $150 per assignment, and wire the remainder back to an individual in another state while emailing scanned copies of the receipts and a report on the shopping assignment.
Suspicious elements that I pointed out to the job seeker:
1. He had never been interviewed or screened for the job. His only communication with the company was his email response via craigslist. Legitimate companies don't send $1500 to a stranger.
2. Reputable mystery shopper organizations frequently offer reimbursements on expenses as opposed to paying those costs upfront.
3. The "employer" was doing business through a free gmail account.
4. The company address was in Washington state, but instructions were to wire money to an individual in North Carolina
4. There was unusual pressure being applied as the "employer" stressed that the assignment needed to be completed within 24 hours.
5. The "employer" was asking for funds to be transferred to a name other than his own.
Basic safeguards I warn job seekers of:
1. Stay away from offers that charge a fee.
2. Stay away from offers that involve transferring money.
The prevalence of scams in the current job market is an opportunity for a onestop workshop topic: protecting oneself from identity theft and employment scams during a job search. Jobseekers who are new to the internet need to know what information should not be divulged and how to spot legitimate recruiters.
Mystery shopping resources:
Federal Trade Commission mystery shopping page
National Shopping Services Network (includes a section for scam alerts)
Though he was suspicious of the checks' legitimacy, he had a small hope that it was a real opportunity. The job seeker gave me copies of the emails, and it appears to be a check-cashing scheme operating under the cover of mystery shopping. It was even being done under the name of a legitimate mystery/secret shopping company. The instructions were to cash the money orders, spend some of the money on shopping assignments, keep $150 per assignment, and wire the remainder back to an individual in another state while emailing scanned copies of the receipts and a report on the shopping assignment.
Suspicious elements that I pointed out to the job seeker:
1. He had never been interviewed or screened for the job. His only communication with the company was his email response via craigslist. Legitimate companies don't send $1500 to a stranger.
2. Reputable mystery shopper organizations frequently offer reimbursements on expenses as opposed to paying those costs upfront.
3. The "employer" was doing business through a free gmail account.
4. The company address was in Washington state, but instructions were to wire money to an individual in North Carolina
4. There was unusual pressure being applied as the "employer" stressed that the assignment needed to be completed within 24 hours.
5. The "employer" was asking for funds to be transferred to a name other than his own.
Basic safeguards I warn job seekers of:
1. Stay away from offers that charge a fee.
2. Stay away from offers that involve transferring money.
The prevalence of scams in the current job market is an opportunity for a onestop workshop topic: protecting oneself from identity theft and employment scams during a job search. Jobseekers who are new to the internet need to know what information should not be divulged and how to spot legitimate recruiters.
Mystery shopping resources:
Federal Trade Commission mystery shopping page
National Shopping Services Network (includes a section for scam alerts)
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Pssst...wanna buy a job...it's cheap?
I found a news article from the Enid News and Eagle (Enid, OK) warning of a scam targeting clients of Oklahoma's unemployment services. The perpetrators attempt to charge a fee for providing services that are free through the Oklahoma Unemployment Commission or Workforce Oklahoma.
Identifying scams and educating job seekers of them part of the hidden job duties of employment specialists.
Other scams to watch out for, most of which I've seen firsthand with jobseekers I serve:
Fake job postings, especially on free craigslist sites, that are either tools for spam, avenues to gain access to personal information, or are looking for participants in fraudulent schemes.
Spam job search sites, which require an extensive registration process that goes through many opt-out advertising offers and includes sensitive information such as social security numbers.
Re-mailing and fund transferring schemes.
A classic that happened in a onestop system I worked in: individuals posing as recruiters took advantage of onestop center conference rooms available to employers in order to receive applications and conduct interviews for imaginary jobs, which was a method of gaining personal information from dozens of jobseekers. Organizational policies changed to require verification of all employers conducting business through the onestop.
Work-at-home or buy-a-business scams seem to be lower risks to me because they require high upfront payments which the jobseekers I have worked with are not willing or able to pay.
Identifying scams and educating job seekers of them part of the hidden job duties of employment specialists.
Other scams to watch out for, most of which I've seen firsthand with jobseekers I serve:
Fake job postings, especially on free craigslist sites, that are either tools for spam, avenues to gain access to personal information, or are looking for participants in fraudulent schemes.
Spam job search sites, which require an extensive registration process that goes through many opt-out advertising offers and includes sensitive information such as social security numbers.
Re-mailing and fund transferring schemes.
A classic that happened in a onestop system I worked in: individuals posing as recruiters took advantage of onestop center conference rooms available to employers in order to receive applications and conduct interviews for imaginary jobs, which was a method of gaining personal information from dozens of jobseekers. Organizational policies changed to require verification of all employers conducting business through the onestop.
Work-at-home or buy-a-business scams seem to be lower risks to me because they require high upfront payments which the jobseekers I have worked with are not willing or able to pay.
Monday, March 23, 2009
And we're back: Self-Motivation and Employment Services
While on vacation and reading through old magazines, I found an article in a 2008 Men's Health about motivation that can be applied to onestop customers.
The article, The Psychology of Motivation, compares the techniques of a successful college football coach with self-determination theory first articulated and later refined by psychologists at the University of Rochester.
The article highlights three factors of self-determination theory that can be applied to program planning and case management:
1. Autonomy: "the choice to do it was made by you, not somebody else." Self-motivated individuals will do better than those who are simply serving a parole/probation officer, case manager, or fulfilling other requirements imposed on them by others. Part of assessment should be to gauge what motivates a customer. Is it external or internal, or a combination of both? Program language, materials, and activities should emphasize the personal benefits of employment and training.
2. Competence: "you know what you're doing, or at least are becoming better at it." Job-search is a challenging activity with many opportunities for feeling like a failure, such as rejection letters and tough interviews. Customers need to feel prepared for the challenge, and need practice that will build confidence. Verbal praise, achievable short-term goals, and other confidence boosters will help customers stay motivated.
3. Relatedness: "the activity connects you in some way to the other people." Unemployment and job-search are isolating activities. Self-directed work in a onestop can continue that feeling of being on one's own. Tools to combat this by providing interconnectedness include case management (with a consistent relationship between staff and customer) and group activities: workshops, networking, training, etc. Jobseekers who are part of a group will push each other to work harder and can create rewarding relationships that bring another motivation to continue in the group.
Another interesting item from self-determination theory is the idea that outside influences can undermine intrinsic motivation. Incentives and support services need to be carefully distributed in order to hold their value as tools for jobseeking.
Also, a major point of the article is that a person is more likely to do something if they consider it fun than if they find it to be a chore (makes sense, doesn't it?). The challenge for employment specialists is to turn job search into something fun.
The article, The Psychology of Motivation, compares the techniques of a successful college football coach with self-determination theory first articulated and later refined by psychologists at the University of Rochester.
The article highlights three factors of self-determination theory that can be applied to program planning and case management:
1. Autonomy: "the choice to do it was made by you, not somebody else." Self-motivated individuals will do better than those who are simply serving a parole/probation officer, case manager, or fulfilling other requirements imposed on them by others. Part of assessment should be to gauge what motivates a customer. Is it external or internal, or a combination of both? Program language, materials, and activities should emphasize the personal benefits of employment and training.
2. Competence: "you know what you're doing, or at least are becoming better at it." Job-search is a challenging activity with many opportunities for feeling like a failure, such as rejection letters and tough interviews. Customers need to feel prepared for the challenge, and need practice that will build confidence. Verbal praise, achievable short-term goals, and other confidence boosters will help customers stay motivated.
3. Relatedness: "the activity connects you in some way to the other people." Unemployment and job-search are isolating activities. Self-directed work in a onestop can continue that feeling of being on one's own. Tools to combat this by providing interconnectedness include case management (with a consistent relationship between staff and customer) and group activities: workshops, networking, training, etc. Jobseekers who are part of a group will push each other to work harder and can create rewarding relationships that bring another motivation to continue in the group.
Another interesting item from self-determination theory is the idea that outside influences can undermine intrinsic motivation. Incentives and support services need to be carefully distributed in order to hold their value as tools for jobseeking.
Also, a major point of the article is that a person is more likely to do something if they consider it fun than if they find it to be a chore (makes sense, doesn't it?). The challenge for employment specialists is to turn job search into something fun.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Keep on truckin'
The current job market and poor economy overall will equal stressful times for Employment Specialists working directly with frustrated job seekers. In addition to the hard work of motivating and counseling job seekers as the job search stretches onward, Employment Specialists face the burden of feeling like their efforts are not yielding results. All of these factors put Employment Specialists at risk of burning out.
I did some searching and found information on burnout in jobs such as human services, teaching, and counseling. I also found tips for avoiding burnout.
The Addiction Technology Transfer Center (established by SAMHSA in 1993) dedicates part of their website to Burnout and Compassion Fatigue, including definitions, signs/symptoms, and self-care. The site also provides management tips for keeping staff content and productive.
Social Work Burnout provides an overview and links to resources provided by an MSW with firsthand and research knowledge of burnout.
Fried Social Worker is less formal in design but has serious content. It also has lots of self care, humor, and relaxation content.
There is also an interesting journal article (and likely many more) from the Journal of Counseling & Development. Here is the abstract:
The Relationship of Work Environment and Client Contact to Burnout in Mental Health Professionals.
Explored the relationship of the work environment and client contact to scores of mental health professionals on the Emotional Exhaustion, Personal Accomplishment, and Depersonalization subscales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Work environments associated with low levels of general burnout were those in which workers were strongly committed to work, coworker relationships were encouraged, and supervisory relationships were supportive.
Journal access is required to read the article. I went through the ERIC database via my Multnomah County Library membership. Haven't visited a library in a while? In addition to saving money vs. buying books, many now provide services such as online journal access and streaming movies and audio.
The findings in this article about commitment to work, coworker relationships and supervisory relationships remind me of an organizational assessment from Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman in Breaking All the Rules.
Questions they ask are:
1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
3. At work do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have I recieved recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
I did some searching and found information on burnout in jobs such as human services, teaching, and counseling. I also found tips for avoiding burnout.
The Addiction Technology Transfer Center (established by SAMHSA in 1993) dedicates part of their website to Burnout and Compassion Fatigue, including definitions, signs/symptoms, and self-care. The site also provides management tips for keeping staff content and productive.
Social Work Burnout provides an overview and links to resources provided by an MSW with firsthand and research knowledge of burnout.
Fried Social Worker is less formal in design but has serious content. It also has lots of self care, humor, and relaxation content.
There is also an interesting journal article (and likely many more) from the Journal of Counseling & Development. Here is the abstract:
The Relationship of Work Environment and Client Contact to Burnout in Mental Health Professionals.
Explored the relationship of the work environment and client contact to scores of mental health professionals on the Emotional Exhaustion, Personal Accomplishment, and Depersonalization subscales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Work environments associated with low levels of general burnout were those in which workers were strongly committed to work, coworker relationships were encouraged, and supervisory relationships were supportive.
Journal access is required to read the article. I went through the ERIC database via my Multnomah County Library membership. Haven't visited a library in a while? In addition to saving money vs. buying books, many now provide services such as online journal access and streaming movies and audio.
The findings in this article about commitment to work, coworker relationships and supervisory relationships remind me of an organizational assessment from Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman in Breaking All the Rules.
Questions they ask are:
1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
3. At work do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have I recieved recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Senior Class '09
Here's a Wall Street Journal article on the growing ranks of unemployed senior citizens, which coincides with more older people staying in the workforce.
The article mentions the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) and service providers Experience Works and Senior Employment Center (Cleveland).
Writer Clare Anberry reports on the difficulties that seniors have in finding employment, mentioning that seniors have a hard time convincing others that they can work, but she also focuses on physical ailments that limit the abilities of those workers featured in the article. Readers may judge that these seniors aren't working because they aren't capable of fulfilling their job duties. Also, while the article states that the SCSEP only has enough funding to serve 1% of the citizens who may be eligible, there is a larger focus on workers who have spent years in SCSEP programs without progressing to unsubsidized employment.
Older workers are part of the changing workforce, but workforce initiatives such as retraining, IT jobs, and green jobs don't always include objectives for serving the oldest workers.
The article mentions the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) and service providers Experience Works and Senior Employment Center (Cleveland).
Writer Clare Anberry reports on the difficulties that seniors have in finding employment, mentioning that seniors have a hard time convincing others that they can work, but she also focuses on physical ailments that limit the abilities of those workers featured in the article. Readers may judge that these seniors aren't working because they aren't capable of fulfilling their job duties. Also, while the article states that the SCSEP only has enough funding to serve 1% of the citizens who may be eligible, there is a larger focus on workers who have spent years in SCSEP programs without progressing to unsubsidized employment.
Older workers are part of the changing workforce, but workforce initiatives such as retraining, IT jobs, and green jobs don't always include objectives for serving the oldest workers.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Check, please.
A stack of clipped articles on my dresser includes The Checklist by Atul Gawande, a New Yorker article from December 2007 about the lives saved in hospitals that implemented checklists to follow for routine procedures.
It is a process similar to pilots' pre-flight checklists which have existed since the 1930's according to the article. The checklist did not start its jump to acceptance in hospital ICU's, however, until 2001, when Peter Provonost started a checklist to tackle a specific infection at Johns Hopkins. Buoyed by strong results (meaning lives saved), Peter has become a champion of checklists. In essence, they work because if you make sure to do all the little steps correctly, the larger goal is completed. Skip one step in a series, however minor, and the project is in jeopardy. Gawande writes:
"...you have a desperately sick patient, and in order to have a chance of saving him you have to make sure that a hundred and seventy-eight daily tasks are done right—despite some monitor’s alarm going off for God knows what reason, despite the patient in the next bed crashing, despite a nurse poking his head around the curtain to ask whether someone could help “get this lady’s chest open.”"
I kept the article for several reasons.
1. A case management checklist can ensure that staff complete their tasks while having the freedom to work without a supervisor looking over their shoulders. Think you can expect staff to do everything they need to with all their customers every time? In his first study, Provonost asked nurses to record doctors' actions in the ICU. They reported that "in more than a third of patients, they skipped at least one [step]."
2. Consistent case management is part of great customer service, and customers should receive equal access to services. Individualized service should be based on the needs and goals determined through standardized assessments and procedures.
3. Workforce development has high stakes. Onestops, community colleges, basic education programs, and other partners can make life-changing impacts on job seekers, employers, and communities.
It is a process similar to pilots' pre-flight checklists which have existed since the 1930's according to the article. The checklist did not start its jump to acceptance in hospital ICU's, however, until 2001, when Peter Provonost started a checklist to tackle a specific infection at Johns Hopkins. Buoyed by strong results (meaning lives saved), Peter has become a champion of checklists. In essence, they work because if you make sure to do all the little steps correctly, the larger goal is completed. Skip one step in a series, however minor, and the project is in jeopardy. Gawande writes:
"...you have a desperately sick patient, and in order to have a chance of saving him you have to make sure that a hundred and seventy-eight daily tasks are done right—despite some monitor’s alarm going off for God knows what reason, despite the patient in the next bed crashing, despite a nurse poking his head around the curtain to ask whether someone could help “get this lady’s chest open.”"
I kept the article for several reasons.
1. A case management checklist can ensure that staff complete their tasks while having the freedom to work without a supervisor looking over their shoulders. Think you can expect staff to do everything they need to with all their customers every time? In his first study, Provonost asked nurses to record doctors' actions in the ICU. They reported that "in more than a third of patients, they skipped at least one [step]."
2. Consistent case management is part of great customer service, and customers should receive equal access to services. Individualized service should be based on the needs and goals determined through standardized assessments and procedures.
3. Workforce development has high stakes. Onestops, community colleges, basic education programs, and other partners can make life-changing impacts on job seekers, employers, and communities.
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