It is in a company’s best interest to implement a plan to ensure business continuity during this influenza pandemic season. Companies must take a multi level approach, rather than just one or two simple solutions when planning for this flu season.
The first step is to identify the work related risks to the employees and then educate them on those health risks. Create policies around protecting the employees from reprisal for missing work. All jobs need to be secure for the flu season; no one should be fired for missing work due to illness.
Companies should look at options for flexibility, like working from home while sick or working staggered shifts to care for ill family members. Of course these type of flex options are not always appropriate, but perhaps all companies can look at various options for doing business off site, or differently.
Companies need to look at which jobs are essential and which ones can be cross trained, in order to protect the company and its jobs. Companies should look at including a physical distance policy, where suppliers, customers, and co-workers can work at a physical distance needed to protect them from the virus spreading.
Keep the soap flowing, wash often, cough into your sleeve, and use antibacterial wipes on keyboards and phones. Some companies have already suspended non-mandatory travel, and are choosing to Skype or similar instead.
Finally, the most important key for businesses to survive this flu season is to communicate. Create forums for staff to talk about getting sick, or if they are sick, making them feel comfortable in letting others know.
Bosses need to plan for employees taking sick days, planning for others to cover these positions for the short term, and keeping the working staff healthy. No one wants to lose their jobs, and no one wants to get sick. So, keep the communication lines open between all levels and all people. Check on each other and keep people informed.
These steps should get us through this difficult flu season.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
How to stand out in today's competitive job market
How does a job seeker stand out from the pack, stack, or inbox in today’s competitive world?
I don’t mean submitting your resume on fluorescent orange paper, or emailing your resume in some exclusive font that most companies do not have. But let’s face it, with thousands of applicants going after the same top jobs, what will an employer really care about, what will they take the time to read, and how will they eventually decide who to interview?
It seems that many job seekers are desperately seeking work, so they are blanketing their resumes out to every possible job opening. Tip number one: apply for appropriate jobs that are suited to you; don’t just blast your resume out to every job posting out there. I see many resumes, thousands in fact, and most of them via email, and the ones I look at first have a message in the subject line. Words like “referred”, or job posting #?”, or “flexible and available”, all jump out of the subject line. Once I am attracted to the subject, I will then go on to read the resume.
One way to stand out – the wrong way – is to having spelling or grammatical errors. When I see such errors, it’s an instant toss or delete. I would suggest having someone else, a friend or family member, look over the resume before submitting it to double check spelling and grammar.
When I review resumes, I look for actual important information in the resume. I don’t need fluff; I need to know whether the candidate can do the job or not. I need facts, including past work experience and job duties, accomplishments, education, and interests! The reason I want interests is because it gives me an idea as to whether or not this person will be a fit with the team, but also, what kind of person this is, and would they love doing this job or not.
Next, make sure to personalize the cover letter or email to the person doing the hiring. Not only is it flattering and proper business etiquette to write to the right person, but it will also set you apart from the group of applicants who are too lazy to find out the correct person to send it to.
I must confess that I do not always read cover letters; I usually just skim them as I am only interested in a couple key points and I want to read these points in the first few lines! Why are you looking for a job and why do you want this one? The rest is whipping cream but cutting out the fat is better. I
n summary: go after the jobs you really want and which are most suited to you, personalize your application to the person doing the hiring, keep your cover letter and resume simple and to the point, make sure to explain why you are the best person for the job, and watch out for spelling or grammar errors! Cut the sugar, cut the fat!
I don’t mean submitting your resume on fluorescent orange paper, or emailing your resume in some exclusive font that most companies do not have. But let’s face it, with thousands of applicants going after the same top jobs, what will an employer really care about, what will they take the time to read, and how will they eventually decide who to interview?
It seems that many job seekers are desperately seeking work, so they are blanketing their resumes out to every possible job opening. Tip number one: apply for appropriate jobs that are suited to you; don’t just blast your resume out to every job posting out there. I see many resumes, thousands in fact, and most of them via email, and the ones I look at first have a message in the subject line. Words like “referred”, or job posting #?”, or “flexible and available”, all jump out of the subject line. Once I am attracted to the subject, I will then go on to read the resume.
One way to stand out – the wrong way – is to having spelling or grammatical errors. When I see such errors, it’s an instant toss or delete. I would suggest having someone else, a friend or family member, look over the resume before submitting it to double check spelling and grammar.
When I review resumes, I look for actual important information in the resume. I don’t need fluff; I need to know whether the candidate can do the job or not. I need facts, including past work experience and job duties, accomplishments, education, and interests! The reason I want interests is because it gives me an idea as to whether or not this person will be a fit with the team, but also, what kind of person this is, and would they love doing this job or not.
Next, make sure to personalize the cover letter or email to the person doing the hiring. Not only is it flattering and proper business etiquette to write to the right person, but it will also set you apart from the group of applicants who are too lazy to find out the correct person to send it to.
I must confess that I do not always read cover letters; I usually just skim them as I am only interested in a couple key points and I want to read these points in the first few lines! Why are you looking for a job and why do you want this one? The rest is whipping cream but cutting out the fat is better. I
n summary: go after the jobs you really want and which are most suited to you, personalize your application to the person doing the hiring, keep your cover letter and resume simple and to the point, make sure to explain why you are the best person for the job, and watch out for spelling or grammar errors! Cut the sugar, cut the fat!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Pandemic wreaking havoc on business
This flu pandemic is really wreaking havoc on businesses. I am not sure which is worse, the fear of getting sick, or getting sick.
Many businesses have had to create health and safety plans around employees getting sick, covering for every position for up to two weeks, and having up to 25 percent of the workforce not being able to work. I read recently that this type of pandemic has not occurred for 35 years, but is normally expected every 25 years. We should count our blessings for the past 10 years I guess.
Companies have also had to plan for employees taking substantial time off to get the vaccinations, care for loved ones who are getting sick, and for those who are just too scared to go into work!
Many companies have created healthy environment plans, including having alcohol wipes on all desks, cleaning all handles, hard surfaces, and keyboards daily, and putting up “wash your hands” posters.
Should a company pay an employee for not working? Some companies are paying employees full wages for staying home sick but that hurts businesses financially, as they still need the work done, and someone else has to be paid to do it. Some companies are not paying at all, while others are paying staff partial wages when calling in sick. Some have maximum sick days allowed per year, which can all be used up during this flu season. Some companies will pay their sick employees, with the condition that the employees owes back the time to the company, by way of overtime, or some other additional hours option.
No one wants the flu, and no one wants to be around sick people. But, this H1N1 is very scary, especially when the media keeps tallying up its death toll. A pandemic means most of the population will be affected by it in some way. Businesses will suffer, employees will suffer, and families will suffer. Prevention will certainly help, but everyone needs to be aware of how to avoid getting sick and what to do if you think you have contracted the virus.
The one thing everyone seems to agree on is that if an employee is sick, they need to stay home. Stay away from the workplace at any cost!
Many businesses have had to create health and safety plans around employees getting sick, covering for every position for up to two weeks, and having up to 25 percent of the workforce not being able to work. I read recently that this type of pandemic has not occurred for 35 years, but is normally expected every 25 years. We should count our blessings for the past 10 years I guess.
Companies have also had to plan for employees taking substantial time off to get the vaccinations, care for loved ones who are getting sick, and for those who are just too scared to go into work!
Many companies have created healthy environment plans, including having alcohol wipes on all desks, cleaning all handles, hard surfaces, and keyboards daily, and putting up “wash your hands” posters.
Should a company pay an employee for not working? Some companies are paying employees full wages for staying home sick but that hurts businesses financially, as they still need the work done, and someone else has to be paid to do it. Some companies are not paying at all, while others are paying staff partial wages when calling in sick. Some have maximum sick days allowed per year, which can all be used up during this flu season. Some companies will pay their sick employees, with the condition that the employees owes back the time to the company, by way of overtime, or some other additional hours option.
No one wants the flu, and no one wants to be around sick people. But, this H1N1 is very scary, especially when the media keeps tallying up its death toll. A pandemic means most of the population will be affected by it in some way. Businesses will suffer, employees will suffer, and families will suffer. Prevention will certainly help, but everyone needs to be aware of how to avoid getting sick and what to do if you think you have contracted the virus.
The one thing everyone seems to agree on is that if an employee is sick, they need to stay home. Stay away from the workplace at any cost!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day lands on a Wednesday next week. We used to focus on a moment, a minute of silence, to remember those who served our country, and lost their lives protecting our freedoms.
I assume the idea behind making November 11th a holiday was to plan to take the family to Remembrance Day celebrations, watch the Veteran parades or honorary functions in our community. Certainly, some people do take the time to attend these important events and remember those who made us who we are today.
Many of the workforce I spoke to are still working this Wednesday, and taking a day off in lieu at Christmas. A longer paid holiday lumped in with Santa is seemingly more important than those who fought and lost, for the good of the nation.
We tend to complain a lot in North America, too much really, and about everything! We complain about our jobs, about working too much, or too little. We complain about our clients, our co-workers, and our bosses. We complain about the price of everything and how we don’t make enough money to pay for stuff we don’t need. Our war heroes don’t complain much though. They don’t complain about the conditions they chose to work in; that is right, chose! They are saddened by losing their co-workers, not because of lay-offs, but because of death!
Next Wednesday, we should remember how great we have it here at home, whether we are working or not. We should still take the minute of silence regardless of what we are doing that day. We should wear our poppies with pride and attend the events that are created for remembrance! We should take one day, holiday or not, to be thankful for those who have chosen the difficult jobs overseas, to ensure our freedom. We should take the day to not complain about one thing, because we all have choices, and most of ours are safe and comfortable.
I assume the idea behind making November 11th a holiday was to plan to take the family to Remembrance Day celebrations, watch the Veteran parades or honorary functions in our community. Certainly, some people do take the time to attend these important events and remember those who made us who we are today.
Many of the workforce I spoke to are still working this Wednesday, and taking a day off in lieu at Christmas. A longer paid holiday lumped in with Santa is seemingly more important than those who fought and lost, for the good of the nation.
We tend to complain a lot in North America, too much really, and about everything! We complain about our jobs, about working too much, or too little. We complain about our clients, our co-workers, and our bosses. We complain about the price of everything and how we don’t make enough money to pay for stuff we don’t need. Our war heroes don’t complain much though. They don’t complain about the conditions they chose to work in; that is right, chose! They are saddened by losing their co-workers, not because of lay-offs, but because of death!
Next Wednesday, we should remember how great we have it here at home, whether we are working or not. We should still take the minute of silence regardless of what we are doing that day. We should wear our poppies with pride and attend the events that are created for remembrance! We should take one day, holiday or not, to be thankful for those who have chosen the difficult jobs overseas, to ensure our freedom. We should take the day to not complain about one thing, because we all have choices, and most of ours are safe and comfortable.
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