1. Start the process early – prevent damage control and be proactive.
2. Apply proper structure – credibility of produced work will increase and be efficient and effective.
3. Customize the approach – adapt and customize to your own situation.
4. Engage employees – ensure both the voice and face of change is accomplished.

Start the Process Early

• Begins at the initiation of project.
• Be proactive to initiate employee buy-in.
• Creates enthusiasm and engagement from employees.
• Recognize issues beforehand to create better solutions.

Apply Proper Structure

• Ensures key steps are not missed.
• More efficient and effective.
• Draw on the experience of others, learn from previous mistakes.
• More structure and formal process builds “credibility” in change management.

Customize the Approach

• “One-size-DOES NOT-fit-all”, customize change management.
• Requires situational awareness for who it will impact and what this change means.
• Allows change management to be focused and create the “correct” structure for change.

Engage Employees

• Educate employees about the reason for change and why it’s occurring.
• What risks may occur if change does not take place.
• Discuss the effects of each individual and how their managers will communicate and treat them.
• Focus on the people within the company who are adopting change to help catalyze the process.
• Ensure the individual is competent and successful bringing value to the company.

Overall change in an organization is a challenging yet exciting phase and if an organization does not have the proper tools, strong structure, understand the needs of the organization and employee engagement the transition can be stressful and unsuccessful.  Using these tools will help in the change management process allowing for a successful completion of the transition and ultimately creating a more effective working environment.

The online start-up, internsushi.com, recognized the shortcomings of the paper resume.  The site allows candidates to upload video profiles, and provide substantive work samples for potential employers to view.  The goal behind intern sushi is simple: allow the candidate to tell their full story.  Employers can peruse intern profiles, and witness a candidate’s tangible skill set.  It is not to say that this platform justifies the complete abandonment of the paper resume, but, rather, it offers a tool to be used in conjunction with traditional hiring approaches.

The digital interface allows young candidates to get their foot in the door.  Instead of filling their resumes with cliche action verbs, young candidates now have an opportunity to display their true strengths.   The skills acquired in educational settings do not easily translate to a one page resume.  However, those same skills can translate to a successful intern.  Internsushi.com offers a bridge for candidates to showcase the applicable knowledge they obtained during their educational careers.

Techniques such as situational interview questions and realistic job previews have attempted to close the gap between a candidate’s ability and the actual duties of a position.  Unfortunately, these techniques require increasingly skilled interviewers, and are often too expensive to implement.  Internsushi.com offers a fast, inexpensive, and simple method for employers to obtain a comprehensive view of a candidate’s abilities as they relate to the demands of the position.

The innovative hiring approach employed at internsushi.com does pose new questions for potential employers. Specifically, what does a resume really say about a candidate?  After reviewing a candidate’s online profile, a hiring officer may realize that the resume does not say enough.

The article can be found here:

http://www.fastcompany.com/1822643/fast-talk-how-intern-sushi-wants-to-skewer-the-resume

- Stewart B. Johnson (British artist known for his figurative work)

Now hiring managers are more interested in the type of work you have successfully completed, including major projects and how they were executed rather than questioning your ability to work.  The new language for this is “projeclications” or “applijects”.  Talent will be measured on testing a candidate’s ability to add real value in both team and independent environments.  The workforce today is action-oriented, results driven and bottom-line focused.  If an applicant can display promise through their projects it can ensure employers that the individual is capable of completing the work.

Organizations have grown into the virtual age.  By conducting Skype interviews, web-based interviews, quizzes and questionnaires they will also start using new tactics of project-based hiring with human capital portfolios.  It seems as though hiring based on projects and abilities will be the new hiring mechanism and is showing to be more effective and efficient for companies to gain a true measure of the candidates.

So now you must ask yourself, should the next applicant you hire have a killer interview and references or blow you away with their commendable project?

If you want to read more here is the link:

http://blogs.hbr.org/schrage/2012/05/projects-are-the-new-job-inter.html

Orwell highlights two staggering statistics regarding today’s job outlook.  First, a baby boomer is retiring every 8 seconds.  Many Generation X employees sustained the financial downturn, and are financially prepared to retire immediately.  To make matters more complicated, Orwell has found that only 7% of today’s millennial generation is employed by a Fortune 500 company.  The staggering reality of these two statistics makes it apparent that a vast majority of Fortune 500 companies will be eliminated if they do not fill the vacancies left by the Baby Boomer generation.  Still, the question remains, why are Millennials not attracted to Fortune 500 companies?

It appears that Millennials favor the independence and responsibility offered by start-up companies as opposed to the bureaucratic structures in place at large corporations. Further, Generation Y job hunters are attempting to circumvent the labor some hiring processes in place at large firms.  Simply put, Millennials want to feel they are impacting an organization, and they want to do it immediately.

Manager’s at large firms cannot escape the fact that Generation Y employees will eventually be dominating the future job industry.  My advice is to begin preparing for the transition immediately.  Make it clear to young employees that their work is valued, and it has a direct effect on the success of the organization as a whole.  It is important to mentor generation Y employees, but it is also important to grant them autonomy.  Unfortunately, the alternative to attracting, motivating, training, and retaining Millennial talent is the eventual demise of many Fortune 500 companies.

Check out Lisa Orwell’s Millennial Blog at:

http://www.theorrellgroup.com/blog/

An engaging article, titled Break Through the “I’m not Creative” Barrier, illuminates the simple blockades to creativity, and shows how breaking through them may be easier than we believe.  The author’s research suggests that a simple two-step process can transform the “not creative” type into an innovative problem solver.

• Change your Mindset: Believe you have the ability to be creative in the workplace
  • The author’s research suggests that employees who believe they are creative tend to engage in more innovative behaviors.

• Cultivate your innovative skills on a daily basis
  • How do we do this? It’s easy, be proactive!  Surround yourself with creative thinkers, ask probing questions in meetings, debate with co-workers who hold differing views, and experiment with new ideas.

The result of becoming a more innovative and creative thinker can lead to substantial benefits in your professional life.  Taking the time to cultivate your creative skills can offer you an edge over competition, help you develop a new product, or even arm you with the audacity to launch your own successful start-up.   However, it is crucial to remember that if you don’t think you have the ability to change, you won’t.

I urge you to respond to the short creativity questionnaire presented by the authors.  The link to the article can be found at the bottom of the page.  If you don’t  see yourself as the creative type then change your mindset today, and if you truly believe you are creative then start putting your skills to work immediately.

The link to, Break Through the “I’m not Creative Barrier” can be found here:

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/05/crush_the_im_not_creative_barr.html

Perhaps you’ve seen the news: Yahoo’s freshly minted CEO is under fire for claiming to have a degree in computer science, when he actually majored in accounting. Call me crazy, but I find that quite a stretch. Even more surprising is that people fluff their resume/past experiences very frequently. Check out these other examples:

• Former Veritas CFO Kenneth Lonchar claimed to have an accounting degree from Arizona State and an MBA from Stanford, when all he had was a BA from Idaho State.
• Former RadioShack boss David Edmondson claimed he had degrees in theology and psychology when he actually had dropped out after two semesters.
• Laura Callahan, a senior director in the CIO office at the Department of Homeland Security, claimed a trifecta of degrees including a doctorate. The problem? Hamilton U was nothing more than a diploma mill based in a converted motel in Wyoming, offering degrees with little or no coursework for a fee.
• Jeff Papows, former CEO of Lotus claimed to have been a war hero fighter pilot (actually an air traffic controller) with a doctorate from Pepperdine (actually from a diploma mill).
• Ronald Zarella, CEO at Bausch & Lomb from 2001 to 2008, claimed an MBA he never actually earned.

All those scenarios are pretty frightening! It’s hard to imagine such big lies could live for so long. What’s the lesson here? Employers and recruiters should beware of the tactics that some candidates use to embellish or even falsify their resumes. Here are the top five lies named by Monster:

1. Exaggerating dates of past employment – According to HireRight, roughly a third of all applications include discrepancies on past experience and education.
2. Falsifying the degree or credential earned – A candidate will sometimes claim that they earned a particular degree, when he or she actually only took some relevant classes, or their resume might exaggerate an academic major so they appear more qualified for the job.
3. Inflating salary or title – Companies should contact previous employers to verify positions held by the candidate or refer to tax/legal statements after hiring.
4. Concealing a criminal record – Candidates who are trying to hide a criminal conviction on their record are likely to be attracted to small companies as they assume that the company will not conduct background checks. Such applicants often try to avoid detection by not disclosing criminal convictions or by changing minor details on their applications, such as the spelling of their name or date of birth.
5. Hiding a drug habit – Employers should be aware of the tactics that some candidates employ in order to hide a drug habit. Some drug users go to great lengths in attempt to beat these tests.

Hopefully by being in tune with these current issues your organization can bypass dealing with the resulting problems. Unfortunately, the job market and economy seems to show job candidates that their best option is to falsify or embellish their pasts. However, knowing this should remind organizations to not cut corners in the hiring process.

I recently read an article discussing what role organizational culture plays when choosing a job.  In the article, an individual applied for a Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and was offered the job.  The position was new to the company and the new hire was concerned with how the position would fit into the culture of the company.  After he accepted the position his next steps were to ask questions of the current employees and gain a better understanding of the company’s culture.  He quickly learned the position was not a good fit for the company declined the offer and dodged a bullet.  Better to know these things up front rather than after the fact.  It may be uncomfortable initially, but it can save you from making a big mistake.

Some key points to take away from understanding culture:

• Know what the culture is before accepting a position.
• Learn the organization’s purpose – purpose leads to how decisions are made, operations, importance of performance, and quality of people, communication and ethical issues.
• Read the vision statement and discuss the culture with employees in the company.
• Discuss the experiences of customers, suppliers, former employees and ask about situations which can paint a picture of the culture in action.
• Discuss culture in the job interview it can help shine a light on the company.

When applying for my internship I definitely asked the question of “What is the culture like in your company?”  It helped me understand how the company functions, why it is so successful and discussed working environments with current employees.  After joining my internship my impressions were confirmed and feel I found an organization that is a great fit for me.  Culture can make or break your experience at a company and if it doesn’t gel with the type of person you are it can be the deciding factor of whether you stay, leave, accept or decline a job.

You can check out the article here:

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/05/when_choosing_a_job_culture_ma.html

- Maya Angelou
An American poet, memoirist, and actress

My name is Colin Finn, and I just joined the Monar Consulting, Inc. team.  My first week has been excellent, and we are already diving into some great projects.  To provide a little background, I was born and raised in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, and am an avid Chicago sports fan.  I have two older brothers, and a younger sister.  My family is a huge part of my life, and we regularly get together to just hang out.  I began studying Psychology at St. Norbert College, in De Pere, Wisconsin.  I quickly became engulfed by the study of Psychology, and decided to continue my education by pursuing an M.A. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.  I just finished my first year, and am looking forward to applying what I learned to my internship.

Fun Facts:

1.     What was your childhood nickname and why?

• My nickname growing up was “Linny”.  My older brothers gave me the nickname years ago, and it just stuck.

2.     What do you like to munch on at the movie theater?

• I always get a package of Milkduds when I go to the theaters.

3.     What did you want to be when you grew up?

• As a child I was convinced I would be a professional hockey player in the NHL.

4.     Who has inspired you the most in your life, and why?

• My Father and Grandfather were both very dedicated men, and have always influenced and encouraged me to pursue my career goals.

5.     If you were an animal, what would you be?

• I would be a Tiger because they are intelligent, athletic, and loyal.

6.     Random fact about yourself.

• I played hockey my whole life, and still play in recreational leagues.