As the workforce shrinks, it's interesting to see the difference between the media reports of mass layoffs and the actual ways that individuals are losing their jobs. Job seekers can easily interpret the poor economy and continuing layoffs as signs that no one is hiring, but job openings happen every day as new positions are created or as workers in critical positions leave or get fired. Here's a list of how jobseekers I work with have left their employers in the last 8 months:
1. Quit due to not getting along with supervisor
2. Fired for not making it to work (within first 2 weeks)
3. Laid off in order to make room for the owner's daughter-in-law
4. Fired for disagreements with customers
5. Quit due to not getting along with supervisor
6. Laid off for not calling in for on-call work
7. Resigned due to health complications
Of these 7, only 2 appear to have been unavoidable (#3 and #7). The others were the result of poor soft skills such as teamwork, responsibility, following procedure, punctuality and attendance. Soft-skill job coaching is clearly important for maintaining employment.
Of the 2 terminations that were unavoidable, the economy was definitely a factor in #3, which was a residential housekeeping position, a field that is losing demand in these tough times.
I know some of these positions were refilled, but I don't think they all were. Several employers have stated over the last year that they are not actively laying people off but are reducing their staff by not filling positions when individuals resign or are fired. Instead, duties and hours are being spread among the remaining employees.
While large layoffs do occur, they target specific locations and industries, which do not seem to directly include the individuals I serve in Portland. 2o minutes away (Intel, Nike, Columbia Sportswear and others), the story is different.
Showing posts with label Job Coaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Job Coaching. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
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, March 2, 2009
Temp to perm: becoming indispensable
One of the surprises I encountered in job developing is the number of businesses that hire exclusively through temporary/placement agencies, including surprises such as retailers. In the office, I've heard many complaints from colleagues and customers that follow two general paths:
1. Staffing firms get paid X amount of dollars and only pay you half of it.
2. Staffing firms have it easy, because they can pick and choose their customers
These attitudes reflect mixed feelings about how staffing firms relate to government and non-profit employment programs. Many of us think that they are competitors. Others, including myself on objective and optimistic days, think they are a resource that is essentially the same as any other employer. They have the potential to be even better than a direct-hire employer, because they also have an incentive to make sure job seekers are hired.
These podcasts on employment retention from Express Employment Professionals demonstrate that staffing firms are also committed to making sure that job seekers find job security. Staffing firms need their employees to succeed, because they are part of the product being sold to clients.
Now we're back to the rivalry confusion. Staffing firms are selling their talent. As workforce development agencies, we are selling our talent. The difference is that we can sell our talent to the staffing firms. There is a relationship similar to wholesale and retail, or manufacturer and distributor. Staffing firms benefit from our talent due to the development we have already invested in them as job seekers: training, support services, career counseling and they deserve those benefits as all employers do.
1. Staffing firms get paid X amount of dollars and only pay you half of it.
2. Staffing firms have it easy, because they can pick and choose their customers
These attitudes reflect mixed feelings about how staffing firms relate to government and non-profit employment programs. Many of us think that they are competitors. Others, including myself on objective and optimistic days, think they are a resource that is essentially the same as any other employer. They have the potential to be even better than a direct-hire employer, because they also have an incentive to make sure job seekers are hired.
These podcasts on employment retention from Express Employment Professionals demonstrate that staffing firms are also committed to making sure that job seekers find job security. Staffing firms need their employees to succeed, because they are part of the product being sold to clients.
Now we're back to the rivalry confusion. Staffing firms are selling their talent. As workforce development agencies, we are selling our talent. The difference is that we can sell our talent to the staffing firms. There is a relationship similar to wholesale and retail, or manufacturer and distributor. Staffing firms benefit from our talent due to the development we have already invested in them as job seekers: training, support services, career counseling and they deserve those benefits as all employers do.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Better working through chemistry
Someone recently told me about an interview she conducted where the candidate gave many intimate details of her life and was horrifyingly candid about her past employer. The candidate was eliminated due to the performance, but the Program Manager conducting the interview was so concerned about the candidate's frankness that she contacted the candidate afterwards to advise her never to do that in an interview again.
Last fall, a job seeker reported to a colleague after an interview that the hiring manager told him on the way out that he shouldn't be so nervous and shy in the future.
Both applicants were lucky to get feedback, because most employers disappear like a bad date.
"I'll call you."
"Don't call us, we'll call you."
"You should hear something in the next week or two."
Susan Kreimer explores the dating metaphor in an article on interview chemistry.
It touches on being personable without being too personal, as well as the focus for "getting the right fit" when hiring.
In this job market, and when working with populations with severe barriers to employment, we need to be generous when determining the right fit: it includes complementary work styles and backgrounds and doesn't mean that all staff are from the same mold.
Last fall, a job seeker reported to a colleague after an interview that the hiring manager told him on the way out that he shouldn't be so nervous and shy in the future.
Both applicants were lucky to get feedback, because most employers disappear like a bad date.
"I'll call you."
"Don't call us, we'll call you."
"You should hear something in the next week or two."
Susan Kreimer explores the dating metaphor in an article on interview chemistry.
It touches on being personable without being too personal, as well as the focus for "getting the right fit" when hiring.
In this job market, and when working with populations with severe barriers to employment, we need to be generous when determining the right fit: it includes complementary work styles and backgrounds and doesn't mean that all staff are from the same mold.
All you really need to know pt. 2
I don't believe that this means that programs such as job training and GED preparation are useless. I agree though that they will not work without instilling fundamental social and behavioral skills in participants.
One challenge I have encountered as an Employment Specialist concerns resume development with job seekers who have erratic work histories. While exploring their experiences, common threads include a lack of lasting relationships with supervisor and coworkers, an indifference to details such as dates and addresses, and an inability to articulate job duties and accomplishments.
Where resume advice states to highlight outstanding achievements, these job seekers draw blanks.
If they bother to list references on applications, they only have personal ones to choose from.
As a tactic to pull out more information, give them an informal job interview. Rather than a mock interview, lead a conversation that asks questions such as "what were you proudest of at your last job?" or "what was hard about that position?" and follow-up until you get an answer that can be translated into an application, resume, and cover letter.
Inc.com has some good questions in their Top Job Interview Questions slideshow. My favorites:
How have you handled the last few difficult customers you've come across?
What is the most significant presentation you've given to clients?
With some tweaking, they can be directed at most job descriptions, and they give your customer the chance to talk about good things they've done.
By casually working through these kinds of questions, you will also begin preparing customers for interviews in a non-threatening manner. Customers should become comfortable speaking about their past jobs and sell themselves without trying to.
It is also important to review soft skills, such as showing up early, saying please and thank you, and writing thank you notes during the application process. For job retention, work on willingness to try new things and take direction, as well as building professional relationships.
Finally, I recognize some overlap between the traits Heckman finds important and the traits that Pixar looks for in their staff.
One challenge I have encountered as an Employment Specialist concerns resume development with job seekers who have erratic work histories. While exploring their experiences, common threads include a lack of lasting relationships with supervisor and coworkers, an indifference to details such as dates and addresses, and an inability to articulate job duties and accomplishments.
Where resume advice states to highlight outstanding achievements, these job seekers draw blanks.
If they bother to list references on applications, they only have personal ones to choose from.
As a tactic to pull out more information, give them an informal job interview. Rather than a mock interview, lead a conversation that asks questions such as "what were you proudest of at your last job?" or "what was hard about that position?" and follow-up until you get an answer that can be translated into an application, resume, and cover letter.
Inc.com has some good questions in their Top Job Interview Questions slideshow. My favorites:
How have you handled the last few difficult customers you've come across?
What is the most significant presentation you've given to clients?
With some tweaking, they can be directed at most job descriptions, and they give your customer the chance to talk about good things they've done.
By casually working through these kinds of questions, you will also begin preparing customers for interviews in a non-threatening manner. Customers should become comfortable speaking about their past jobs and sell themselves without trying to.
It is also important to review soft skills, such as showing up early, saying please and thank you, and writing thank you notes during the application process. For job retention, work on willingness to try new things and take direction, as well as building professional relationships.
Finally, I recognize some overlap between the traits Heckman finds important and the traits that Pixar looks for in their staff.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
All you really need to know pt. 1
James J. Heckman is a Nobel Prizewinning economist at the University of Chicago.
From his bio: "His recent research deals with such issues as evaluation of social programs, econometric models of discrete choice and longitudinal data, the economics of the labor market, and alternative models of the distribution of income."
Heckman is featured in a This American Life episode, "Going Big", in reference to a social program in New York City that is trying to solve urban poverty through early childhood intervention.
Heckman's work is cited in "Going Big" for his finding that traditional approaches to poverty such as job training are ineffective. Correspondent Paul Tough states:
"The premise behind job training is that young people who can't find a good job are just missing one particular skill or body of knowledge; teach them that and they'll be fine. What Heckman found is that the people in these programs had a much bigger problem. There were some very basic skills and abilities that they had never learned. And it was hard for them to absorb anything new without those skills."
Heckman reports that the missing skills included "the ability to communicate, to solve simple mathematical puzzles, to understand how to even read the newspaper, as well as the non-cognitive: self control, motivation, the ability to get out of bed, to show up at work on time, to engage and be open to ideas. These traits were in very serious short supply for individuals that I was looking at."
From his bio: "His recent research deals with such issues as evaluation of social programs, econometric models of discrete choice and longitudinal data, the economics of the labor market, and alternative models of the distribution of income."
Heckman is featured in a This American Life episode, "Going Big", in reference to a social program in New York City that is trying to solve urban poverty through early childhood intervention.
Heckman's work is cited in "Going Big" for his finding that traditional approaches to poverty such as job training are ineffective. Correspondent Paul Tough states:
"The premise behind job training is that young people who can't find a good job are just missing one particular skill or body of knowledge; teach them that and they'll be fine. What Heckman found is that the people in these programs had a much bigger problem. There were some very basic skills and abilities that they had never learned. And it was hard for them to absorb anything new without those skills."
Heckman reports that the missing skills included "the ability to communicate, to solve simple mathematical puzzles, to understand how to even read the newspaper, as well as the non-cognitive: self control, motivation, the ability to get out of bed, to show up at work on time, to engage and be open to ideas. These traits were in very serious short supply for individuals that I was looking at."
Friday, February 20, 2009
Job Story - The Value of Soft Skills
FastCompany.com features an Edutopia.org video of Randy Nelson, Dean of Pixar University speaking about his company's HR values.
First, Pixar follows 2 core principles of improv that build teamwork and increase productivity:
1. Accept every offer. (a virtue also mentioned in Malcolm Gladwell's Blink)
2. Make your partner look good.
When hiring, Pixar looks for:
A. People who are good at something.--->mastery in anything is a good predictor of performance
B. People who had failed and recovered - haven't avoided failure.
C. Breadth- "people who are more interested than they are interesting": "no one trick ponies."
D. Collaboration: whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Have you overlooked the importance of soft skills in your customers? They are a complement to education and experience.
The bulk of many direct services budgets go towards training to meet what Randy calls "depth-based" and "resume-based" hiring. These expenditures are frequently critiqued by pointing out that someone with the technical skills to do a job may find it difficult to get a job or keep it due to poor people skills: not being able to sell oneself in an interview, not cooperating, displaying a bad attitude, etc. Consider also that highly skilled individuals are competing against peers and possibly superiors. Even they need an edge to set themselves apart.
Your customers can prepare for Pixar-style HR screening by:
1. Identify and develop a strength.
1A. Relate the strength to work.
2. Establish coping strategies and support systems for dealing with failure.
2A. Build a track record of perseverance.
3. Move beyond comfort zones.
3A. Provide challenges and set high expectations.
4. Exercise teamwork, communication, conflict resolution, diversity, etc. as much as possible.
4A. Use mentoring, job coaching, group therapy, ROPES, and similar activities.
First, Pixar follows 2 core principles of improv that build teamwork and increase productivity:
1. Accept every offer. (a virtue also mentioned in Malcolm Gladwell's Blink)
2. Make your partner look good.
When hiring, Pixar looks for:
A. People who are good at something.--->mastery in anything is a good predictor of performance
B. People who had failed and recovered - haven't avoided failure.
C. Breadth- "people who are more interested than they are interesting": "no one trick ponies."
D. Collaboration: whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Have you overlooked the importance of soft skills in your customers? They are a complement to education and experience.
The bulk of many direct services budgets go towards training to meet what Randy calls "depth-based" and "resume-based" hiring. These expenditures are frequently critiqued by pointing out that someone with the technical skills to do a job may find it difficult to get a job or keep it due to poor people skills: not being able to sell oneself in an interview, not cooperating, displaying a bad attitude, etc. Consider also that highly skilled individuals are competing against peers and possibly superiors. Even they need an edge to set themselves apart.
Your customers can prepare for Pixar-style HR screening by:
1. Identify and develop a strength.
1A. Relate the strength to work.
2. Establish coping strategies and support systems for dealing with failure.
2A. Build a track record of perseverance.
3. Move beyond comfort zones.
3A. Provide challenges and set high expectations.
4. Exercise teamwork, communication, conflict resolution, diversity, etc. as much as possible.
4A. Use mentoring, job coaching, group therapy, ROPES, and similar activities.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Who's the Boss?
In the last decade, managers have been responding to the challenges of Generation X employees and preparing for Generation Y.
One of the overlooked changes in the labor market is that youth is now less of an obstacle to becoming a manager.
The Wall Street Journal looks at four strategies for young workers in management for the first time.
It also mentions one of the causes: companies firing high-wage veterans to promote lower-wage star achievers.
Other possibilities?
With job security and employee loyalty diminishing overall in the job market, there is also a decrease in tenured staff across industries.
Due to results based management, talent and performance have risen in value to employers while age and experience are losing value.
This trend is both a benefit to your young job seekers and a threat to older ones.
One of the overlooked changes in the labor market is that youth is now less of an obstacle to becoming a manager.
The Wall Street Journal looks at four strategies for young workers in management for the first time.
It also mentions one of the causes: companies firing high-wage veterans to promote lower-wage star achievers.
Other possibilities?
With job security and employee loyalty diminishing overall in the job market, there is also a decrease in tenured staff across industries.
Due to results based management, talent and performance have risen in value to employers while age and experience are losing value.
This trend is both a benefit to your young job seekers and a threat to older ones.
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