Hiring Managers Seeing More Lies on Resumes

Editor's Note: In a survey of 3,500 employees by HireRight, it was reported that 88% of those tested had lied on their resume compared with 70% five years ago. In this article in Fortune, Anne Fisher interviews Mary O’Loughlin, HireRight’s vice president of global customer experience, to find out why people are exaggerating on their resumes.

Yet another reason for inventing whole chunks of a CV: Embarrassment about having lost a job to the recession. “Candidates think there is a huge stigma attached to unemployment,” notes O’Loughlin. “So they make up things to fill that gap in their work history.”

She notes that it is a far worse stigma to be dishonest than to lose a job! Click here to read more.

Why Employers Should Hire Older Workers

Can you handle the truth? If you think you can, let me test you. The last time you interviewed an employee over age 50, were you concerned that he or she would not be able to be as productive as a 20 or 30-year-old employee?

Were you worried that the older employee might have memory or health problems, not be familiar with or be able to be trained to use new technology, or might retire before he or she completes training? Myths, myths, and more myths suddenly develop in the minds of employers when they interview an older worker (50 to 64 years of age).

The first myth that comes to mind to an employer is that an older worker might have health problems; therefore, an older worker will cost the company too much money in terms of health care premiums. It is true that older male employees do utilize more health care dollars than younger male employees; on the other hand, older male employees generally do not carry as many dependents on their health policy as younger male employees do. Therefore, any increases in health care costs older workers might generate, are likely to be offset by having fewer dependents. In regards to older female employees over age 50, they generally use less health care dollars than younger female employees because they are past childbearing age.

If absenteeism rates determine health, then older workers should be healthier than younger workers. Research has shown that absenteeism rates are lower for employees' 50 to 65 years of age than employees between 33 to 44 years of age.

Another health care problem that employers are concern about is that older workers have memory problems. The latest research shows that people do lose some of their memory ability in their working and secondary memories as they age; however, only 10 percent of people over age 65 show any significant memory impairment. Therefore, when people are at risk for memory impairment, they are usually well into their retirement years.

The second myth that comes to mind to an employer is that an older worker will not be familiar with technology or will be too difficult to train. Did you know that the fastest growing groups of new users to the Internet are those over age 40? Okay, your great grandmother may have had trouble using a computer, but research has shown that employees over age 50 are able to learn to operate a computer as well as younger employees. In terms of training, any extra training costs, such as additional one to one training, which an older worker might require, are usually offset by reduced turnover rates among older workers.
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10 Tips for Giving Feedback as an Employer

One of the most critical issues in the employer-employee relationship is feedback. The employee wants to know how they are doing, what they can improve on, and what the employer's expectations are. So take some time now and read this article to discover 10 fantastic tips on giving feedback as an employer!

1. Agree a ‘contract’ between yourself and the recipient so that they are prepared and receptive for feedback.

2. Check for wellbeing and also for capacity. Back off when capacity reached. You can always agree to talk again at a future date.

3. Take your time to explain things, checking for understanding. If what you are trying to say is difficult to explain say so up front and perhaps try saying it a couple of ways. If working across cultures and languages ask the individual for help to ‘get the meaning right’.

4. Where possible illustrate with real examples but if your examples are weak or inappropriate be open about this. Do not fall into the trap of giving feedback through giving an example, having it refuted, finding another, having it refuted, and so on.

5. Do not treat questions and challenge as further ‘evidence’ [‘I said that you did not listen, and here you are, not listening] or unwillingness to listen and learn. Some people absorb feedback best through asking questions.

6. Allow space for the recipient to reflect, check, challenge, etc

7. Ask the individual if they can think of examples that illustrate what you are saying

8. Engage the individual in generating ideas for development actions. Allow individuals to come up with their own ideas. Present options and ideas for improvement and development – not solutions

9. Allow time for the positives. See if you can harness positives and strengths towards addressing development areas

10. Remember that perception is reality but also that intentions are important and where there is a disconnect the person to whom you are giving feedback needs to focus on how to better realise their intentions and figure out what is coming between their intention and their impact

. . . . . And, don’t forget to ask for feedback in exchange . . . . .

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Lisette Howlett, Top 10 tips for giving feedback
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How to Motivate Survivors of a Downsizing

Following a layoff, supervisors must be aware that employees need to be motivated differently during a downsizing period versus a growth or hiring period. A supervisor who attempts to motivate his/her employees, during a downsizing, as if the company where in a growth (hiring) phase will only deteriorate their employees already poor morale.

Survivors of a layoff are frequently left with as many negative emotions and beliefs as those who were laid-off. However, many supervisors have the mistaken belief that surviving employees should feel grateful that they didn't lose their jobs; in reality, just the opposite emotions occur in most surviving employees. Surviving employees usually transition through a number of negative emotions and negative beliefs about work, management, and the company overall. Some of the negative emotions that can develop in surviving employees include confusion, anxiety, stress, victimization, grief, mistrust, apathy, and hostility. The resulting negative beliefs that can develop following a downsizing include, employees believing that their jobs are not secure, that the company has lost its direction and vision, and that the organization does not care about its employees.

Imagine how you would feel following a downsizing if you questioned whether your employer was telling you the whole truth about their future plans. Most likely you will not be very motivated as you go through the motions of work, and what once motivated you in the past, at work, will not likely continue to be effective as a motivator following the downsizing.

In order to motivate surviving employees, supervisors need to grasp the understanding that a period of rebuilding will need to occur before past motivators will work again to motivate employees. Following a downsizing, supervisors should spend time focusing on rebuilding their employees' attitudes and emotions back to where they were during the last growth (hiring) phase in the organization.

1.) The best way to correct negative beliefs, resulting from a downsizing, is to provide employees with frequent, truthful, and direct communication. Prior to a corporate downsizing, communications within an organization are usually secretive, restrictive, and minimal. The resulting secretive communication leads to employees developing beliefs that are suspicious of future communications. Therefore, after a downsizing has occurred, company communication should become more frequent and direct in order to help employees recover from their suspicious beliefs and mistrustful emotions. If future layoffs may occur, it's best to be honest and tell the employees about it directly versus through the rumor mill.

2.) The best way to correct negative emotions, resulting from a downsizing, is with empathy and positive emotions. During the first two to three weeks following a downsizing, a supervisor should focus on being empathetic with his/her employees' emotions. (Empathy: the ability to understand another's emotions, without attempting to stop or alter those emotions.) After two to three weeks of displaying empathy, it's time for the supervisor to start countering negative emotions with positive emotions and negative beliefs with truthful and hopeful beliefs.

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Do's & Don'ts of Firing an Employee

Having to fire an employee is one of the most difficult and traumatic decisions that a business owner can make. Letting an employee go is hard not only on the employee, but also on the employer, and the other employees in your company. It is a decision that should never be undertaken lightly.

Common reasons for firing an employee include:

* Performance-related issues
* Poor personality fit or attitude fit with company
* Attendance issues
* Violating company policies
* Lack of work
* Company reorganization

We've put together some quick tips on the do's and don'ts of terminating an employee:

What to Do:

1. Make the firing decision carefully, but once made, act quickly - Firing an employee is one of the most difficult decisions an employer can make, regardless of the reason for the termination. Make sure the decision is well-reasoned and thought out, and then if the decision is made to terminate, act quickly so that it does not continue to negatively affect you or other employees.

2. If firing due to performance-related reasons, ensure that multiple meetings have been held with the employee prior to making the firing decision to address and correct the performance issue.

3. Be respectful and discreet when having the termination meeting. The meeting should preserve the dignity of the employee.

4. Ensure that your severance or notice arrangements meet legal requirements. Consult an employment lawyer if necessary.

5. Ensure that you have a written termination letter and release which documents the terms and conditions of the termination.

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5 Tips to Improve Employee Morale

Increased turnovers, costly decreases in productivity and overall employee dissatisfaction are all ramifications of low morale in the workplace. Moral is a vital component of any organization or business for it to thrive and achieve success.

Here are five ways to improve workplace morale easily and inexpensively that will boost your team's performance and lower levels of tension and stress.


Install a Humor Board

Most every office has several memo boards for important work-related information, some pleasant, some not so pleasant. Install a memo board in a neutral location that is specifically for people to post jokes, cartoons, funny pictures or amusing anecdotes. This way everyone can get a little laugh after arriving for work on a dreary Monday morning.

Adopt Flextime Schedules

If possible, work out a way for employees to have more flexibility in their schedules. You may be surprised at the amount of stress that can be alleviated by this one thing. With daycares and households with two working parents, and possibly only one vehicle, this small move can be monumental to some people. Work out a schedule or system for employees to leave an hour early or come in an hour late on certain days. Alternate days and times so that everyone gets an opportunity to benefit if needed.

Get Away From It All

Hold meetings and conferences at a location away from the office if at all possible. A restaurant or local park would be a welcome alternative to a stuffy boardroom on a clear, spring day. People may be more alert and more receptive to the specifics of the meeting in another less stifling environment.

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How to Improve Teamwork in the Workplace

by Jacinth Klee

For an organization to succeed and sustain commendable results in current economic times, it is imperative to develop and maintain a culture of teamwork within the whole organization. Teamwork comprises of co-operation and integration of efforts in order to achieve better results and higher job satisfaction among workers, rather than individual focus and unhealthy competition, which causes suspicion and hostility within the company. Moreover, working in teams promotes creation of ideas, improves performance through sharing while reducing unnecessary duplication of efforts.

To develop teamwork culture within an organization, the management must first understand the essential components of teamwork, the characteristics of a successful team, the factors that motivate the members (or workers) to work together towards achieving common goals and the mechanics of achieving teamwork within a company, before they can communicate their expectations to the rest of the company.

STEPS TOWARDS BUILDING A TEAMWORK CULTURE:

Clear Goals
To build a teamwork culture, the workers in an organization must know and understand the goals of the company. It would be very unproductive if the goals are unclear, and you will have a situation where individuals have their own interpretation of the company goals, and thus work towards totally different objectives.
The organizational goals and objectives must be clearly and distinctly communicated to the workers or team. In order for them to be committed to the results, they have to know what they are expected to accomplish and understand how they will work together to achieve these goals.

Mutual Trust
The general willingness to trust differs with each individual, depending on their personality types, academic and social backgrounds. There will be people who are at extreme ends of the spectrum the gullible and the suspicious. Building trust is therefore very important; employees or team members have to believe in the character and ability of each other. However, the organizational culture will also affect the climate of trust. An organization that values openness, empowerment and honesty is more likely to create trusting cultures.

Integrated commitment
This means intense loyalty and dedication to the company. The employees identify with their organization and possess a feeling of pride and belonging. They are willing to expend energy, time and resources to achieve the organizational goals.

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10 Tips for Team-Building

Positive office dynamics add great strength to a business, while strained ones create strife. As a manager, you simply can't afford to leave such an important aspect of the company to chance.

There are many ways for managers to bring a team together and foster its ability to work together as a whole. These 10 tips can help unite even the most disparate group of people.

1. Communicate goals clearly. Employees look to management for basic company goals. When those goals are not clear, disagreements will erupt as employees try to define goals themselves. By clearly laying out goals, everyone begins in the same place and understands where the business is going.

2. Define responsibilities. Offices run best when everyone clearly understands their responsibilities. Provide each employee with a distinct definition of his or her own responsibilities, both individually and as it relates to group projects. This eliminates confusion over who is accountable for what, and allows employees to relate without struggling over responsibilities.

3. Provide equal training. Make sure that each member of your staff is trained and equipped to complete the tasks at hand; divisions surface when one member is unable to perform necessary duties. Provide ongoing training — if additional time is needed, pair two employees to learn from each other. Make sure, though, that it's an equal teaching relationship, where both employees are gaining new skills.

4. Encourage relationships. Most offices are busy places with many demanding deadlines. But allowing employees an occasional extended lunch to go out together and relax outside of the work environment can build understanding that will transfer back into the office and improve working relationships.

5. Empower. Give decision-making power to the people working on the project. Give them the authority necessary to get their jobs done, but observe the process to make sure they're rising to the challenge. Trusted employees can make decisions without fearing consequences, and good employees will value that trust and seek to make the best decisions.

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10 Ways to Reward Employee Excellence

In a hectic work day, it is often easy to overlook the accomplishments of hard-working employees. These are the people who perform their job duties day after day, year after year, without complaint, which is one reason they tend to be overlooked.

Another type of deserving employee is the one who goes above and beyond his or her usual duties to provide additional effort or support to the company or co-workers. Sometimes we come to depend so much on this type of person that it is easy to take such an employee for granted.

That is why it is important to recognize and reward quality job performance from both quantity and quality perspectives. Here are the top ten tips for honoring your premiere employees:

1. Sponsor a special awards ceremony. This can be a monthly, bi-annual, or annual event. Some companies celebrate employees' success over an office luncheon while others include awards after an evening dinner. Send invitations to spouses and children, if possible, and have everyone dress up a little bit to commemorate the occasion.

2. Distribute certificates that can become a part of the employee's permanent record. Have them signed by the company president and consider framing the most significant ones, such as longevity awards for ten years or more of service, etc.

3. Develop an incentive program and promote it throughout the organization. You can make it competitive or available to as many contenders as possible who meet the criteria. Decide which characteristics your company values most, from attendance to performance to co-worker support.

Then ask for nominations of employees (by other employees or supervisors) who qualify for candidacy during the eligibility period. The "winner(s)" will be honored in one of several designated ways.

4. Create a recognition process that employees will appreciate. Posting the person's photograph and quote or a short biography, along with the specific credentials that led to the recognition, can be a tremendous honor. Mention the award at company-wide meetings, in the newsletter, and on the Web site. You may want to establish an organizational "hall of fame" for employees who have provided outstanding service.

5. Confer rewards or honors that make the employee feel valued. These can range from a "dinner for two" restaurant certificate to an end-of-year bonus, expenses-paid vacation, or a tangible memento such as a clock, expensive pen set, or other office equipment item that has been inscribed with the employee's name and dates of exceptional service.

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Why Employers Should Hire Older Workers (2)

The third myth that frequently develops in the mind of an employer when interviewing an older worker is retirement. The baby boomer generation, according to research, will stay longer in the workforce than their parents' generation. Baby boomers do not want a "rocking chair" retirement. Most baby boomers (8 of every 10) plan to work at least part-time following retirement. Some even plan to start their own business, start another full-time job, and many plan to engage in volunteerism. The message is clear; baby boomers enjoy activity and generally gain a lot of that activity by staying involved at work.

10 Reasons to Hire Older Workers

1.) Older workers have lower absenteeism rates than younger employees.

2.) Older workers have lower turnover rates than younger employees.

3.) Older employees are generally more loyal employees.

4.) Older employees have less job injuries than younger employees.

5.) Older employees are less likely to steal from your company.

6.) Older employees bring a wealth of experience with them to work.

7.) Older employees generally have a strong work ethic.

8.) Older workers generally find satisfaction with and enjoy their work.

9.) Older workers want to work, at least part-time, even after they retire.

10.) You will one day be an older worker.

What's your opinion on this? Do you agree with the 10 reasons to hire older workers? Are the myths true in any nature?

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Happy Working,

Gary Vikesland, MA LP CEAP
Employer-Employee.com
Source: http://www.employer-employee.com/september2001tips.html#Web

5 Tips & Tools for Recruiting with Social Media

More and more headhunters and companies are tapping social media channels to recruit jobseekers. Especially in a recession, companies know their ultimate success depends on the quality of human capital they can reel into their organization. Leveraging social media plays an increasingly key role in making sure your company finds its widest array of candidate choices.

1. Start with the usual suspects.

Candidates have been given the secrets to pass the social media recruitment test. Since recruiters tend to check an applicant’s personal blog, Facebook profile, Twitter feed, LinkedIn recommendations, Flickr portfolio, SlideShare presentations or even YouTube resume, establish the same transparency for your company with these tools. Creating your firm’s online character attracts the best pool of applicants and indicates to potentials how they stack up to your ideals, culture and caliber.

To keep costs down, companies should start by posting their own creative job description on a company site or blog and then use email, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to pass around the URL. Nine times out of 10, the best candidates are already in your employees’ networks.

2. Avoid CraigsList, Monster, CareerBuilder, HotJobs and other major database sites for one of two reasons.

If you’re looking to fill a professional position these sites do not filter resumes enough to make the search worth the time. “Employers” on these sites are often temp or placement agencies or even spammers — not actual employers — and good applicants know this. As a real employer, know that talent is available in excess, but your ideal applicants generally try to target their job search by looking at sites catered to their specific industry and skill set. They’re not spending much time on the large database sites.

Second, the cost of posting jobs on these sites can grow very quickly based on the number of people you’re looking to hire. If you’re a small firm, there’s no reason to pay hundreds to thousands of dollars to recruit a few people. If you’re a large organization, your own infrastructure is more suitable for recruiting internally on your own site. Google does this especially well.

3. Recognize that paying for recruitment services is almost always a poor decision.

In recruitment, your fixed costs of recruiter salary is a given, so your end goal should be to eliminate all other variable costs like job posting fees. Again, big sites are not the way to go.

CareerBuilder starts at $419 to post for one month for one job position. A bevy of emails and socially networked messages might not get you as many responses in volume, but rest assured candidates who do respond will on average be more qualified, know more about your specific company and industry, and will possess more genuine interest in being an asset to your firm. In this game Quality: 1, Quantity: 0.

The exception to this rule is niche recruitment. From healthcare to tech, smaller job sites are generally cheaper and viewed by a more industry-savvy audience, so bets are if you’re going open the purse strings, smaller sites are a smarter move in your recruitment strategy. Mashable, for instance, offers a gamut of social media positions. For recruiters using Mashable, the $50 price tag is justified by the hours your HR manager won’t have to spend combing through unqualified candidates who‘ve been spamming their resumes around.

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How to Write an Effective Memo for Your Employees

As an employer you must know how to correctly write a memo. To write a memo to employees, include a title that represents the topic of the memo, write a short description of the change taking place, and outline the news clearly. Pass around a memo to all employees affected with help from a management teacher in this free video on business. To understand how this is done properly, please watch the video:





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5 Tips to Improve Employee Morale (2)

Share the Wealth

Offer employees incentives to "coach" their co-workers on their lunch or break times. Incentives could come in the form of paid time off, gift certificates to stores or restaurants, movie tickets or even small, simple mementos to show appreciation. This is a morale booster in a few ways; firstly, new or confused employees can glean valuable information from their more experienced colleagues and secondly, it may make the "coach" feel better about their job, themselves and their performance.

Offer Contests and Awards

Special days such as "Ugliest Outfit Day" or "Best Disguise Day" or "Funniest Story Day" can be a way to lighten the mood for a bit and encourage communication between employees. Offer "awards" which can be simple prizes and certificates given to the winners to display.

Boosting employee morale doesn't have to be expensive or involved. Even contagious cheerfulness on a regular basis can mean the difference between a dour workplace and a welcoming, productive one. Ask the employees for their ideas and listen to their thoughts. Work out a viable plan that will motivate them and make them more productive and happier at the same time.

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How to Improve Teamwork in the Workplace (3)

Management Support
There should be proper training for all levels of employees at all levels of the organization. A reward system to recognize and reward team activities will help to reinforce teamwork. However, the reward system should look into rewarding individuals as well; there could be workers or team members who take a free ride on their team success, while making minimum or no contribution to support the team.

CONCLUSION
The success of developing and supporting a teamwork culture depends very much on the people in the organization. It is the effort and commitment of everyone in the organization to ensure that this works; a culture where people redefine themselves to be part of the organization, and are willing to expend time and energy to work together towards achieving the company goals.

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Source: http://www.helium.com/items/1262223-how-to-encourage-teamwork-in-the-workplace
Learn more about this author, Jacinth Klee.
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How to Improve Teamwork in the Workplace (2)

Effective Communication
Messages, information and instructions
must be conveyed in a form that is easily and clearly understood. There must be regular and constructive feedback from the managers or management - to provide directions and advice; guidance to resolve conflicts and correct misunderstandings. Communication should be two-way. There must be an appropriate channel of communication with team members or workers to provide updates, feedback and opinions as well as check on the progress status of tasks and projects.

Appropriate leadership
It is imperative to have effective leadership within the organization to ensure that plans are properly implemented and monitored. Workers may require motivation to follow through the tasks and be constantly reminded of the company's vision and objectives. An effective leader will guide and support the workers, help increase their self-confidence and realize their potential more fully. There must be a system for the workers to measure their work, and check against company goals. Without measurement and answerability, some workers will either lose focus of their goals or waste time and efforts on unproductive tasks.

Managing Resistance
Teamwork must be promoted throughout the organization, and driven by the top management. There will be minions at all levels of the organization who will treat this with skeptism, resistance or outright hostility. The management must be observant and open to deal with these staff or managers, before they hamper the entire process with their negative attitudes or disbelief.

Encourage Team Activities
To ensure that team spirit endures and permeates through all levels of the organization, the theme should be team.
All activities and projects should be organized or assigned on team-basis. Members and workers should be given every opportunity and encourage to work as a team. Besides work, the management should look into organizing activities for workers to bond, like company outings, lunches, even fun contests that emphasize teamwork.

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How to Motivate Survivors of a Downsizing (2)

The positive emotions that a supervisor should start to role model include optimism, hopefulness, and a trust in the organization. The supervisors and the other leaders within the organization should display these positive emotions while at work. When an employee is encountered who is negative, it is time to share with that employee why you are feeling positive. Do not allow an employee to share with you why he/she has negative emotions. Since you have already done this during the empathy stage, it is not necessary to allow the employee to re-share why he/she has negative emotions.

For example, an employee is encountered who says, "Why work hard when I will probably be next to be laid-off?" A supervisor can correct this employee's emotion of hopelessness, and his negative belief about future layoffs by simply stating why he or she feels and is thinking positive. The supervisor would say, "I believe that the company is not planning additional layoffs because I heard it directly from the CEO himself." "I am feeling hopeful that with the last round of layoffs the company will be able to meet its goals, and when the company meets its goals my goals should be met as well."

3.) Other factors to focus on during the rebuilding stage, following a downsizing, include rejuvenating teams, developing a fair system to redistribute work, and identify new leaders within your organization who can be mentored.

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Gary Vikesland, MA LP CEAP
Employer-Employee.com
Source: http://www.employer-employee.com/april2001tips.html

10 Tips for Team-Building (2)

6. Provide feedback. Don’t make a group second-guess your opinion of its work. Be clear not only in your initial expectations and assignments, but also in your opinion of the work. Open and frequent communication, where employees are clear on where they stand, will help them feel more secure and willing to work together.
Reward. Provide rewards to the office as a group. Whether it's an award, a luncheon, or some other treat, providing the whole office with an encouraging reward for hard work will build team spirit and bring your employees back in with renewed enthusiasm for their jobs.

7. Set reasonable deadlines. Reasonable deadlines are often subjective, and timelines vary based on need. But you can build a spirit of teamwork by dividing assignments equally, providing compensation to employees who are working additional hours, and reworking less important deadlines to allow for a little more time.

8. Meet regularly. The best way to understand your employees and to let them know they're not alone is to meet regularly with them. Whether it’s a monthly lunch meeting or an organized meeting with specific agenda items, it's critical to keep the lines of communication open. This allows you to gauge not only their needs and productivity, but will also help you assess any team-building concerns that need to be addressed.

9. Discourage “backdoor” reports. Inevitably, there will be at least one employee who will attempt to report to you after every meeting — giving a play-by-play slanted in his or her favor. Don't encourage this behavior, and resist the temptation to use this employee as a fly on the wall. Backdoor tactics can severely undermine an otherwise positive office environment.

10. Building a team means creating a noncompetitive and encouraging work environment — the kind of environment that fosters positive working relationships. When employees feel valued and know that they don't have to vie against one another for recognition, they will be comfortable and confident in working together to achieve their common goal.

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Do's & Don'ts of Firing an Employee (2)

What Not to Do:

1. Don't get personal. The reason for firing the employee should be business-related or due to performance issues, not due to personal, subjective or emotional opinions about the employee.

2. Don't make a decision to terminate for cause without conducting a proper investigation. The decision should be based on an objective series of facts, not one or two individual opinions or stories.

3. Don't hold the termination meeting in a public place. The meeting should be held in a private location, free from disruptions.

4. Don't go into a termination meeting unprepared. Prepare the written letter, rehearse what you will say, how you will say it, and in what sequence.

5. Don't get defensive or debate the merits of the firing decision with the employee. Allow the employee to react and raise questions, be understanding and sympathetic, but reinforce that the firing decision is definite and final.

Firing an employee is never easy. Make the decision thoughtfully and with care, and then act.

When in doubt, seek the advice of an employment lawyer or human resources expert prior to making to the decision to let the employee go.

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Cissy Pau
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10 Ways to Reward Employee Excellence (2)

6. Determine what your award criteria and emphasis will be. One major company pays year-end bonuses to employees with perfect attendance that year. Others recognize staff who work a certain number of hours' overtime without pay. Award winning ideas or projects that attract substantial customers may pay big dividends too.

7. A merit system may be helpful in evaluating each employee during the year. Even a simple checklist of basic and advanced skills, perhaps with point values, can help pinpoint those who consistently perform above expectations.

8. If you implement a nomination process, be sure that everyone understands the criteria to be met. These should be distributed in writing so employees know what to do and supervisors or administrators know how to assess award criteria.

9. Adjust criteria to match company growth. If you began by rewarding employee attendance when your company was founded, you may decide now, ten years later, to emphasize productivity over attendance. Clarify the shift in priorities to all employees so they can adjust their roles and performances. It is hard to hit a moving target, and staff may become disgruntled if they learn after the fact that the company rewards a new range of skills.

10. Don't forget the human touch. Get administrators involved in making awards, offering congratulations and offering thanks, writing personal notes, and shaking hands. A thoughtful expression of appreciation means more when it comes from a high-ranking officer in the company.

Loyal employees deserve to be noticed and commended. Take time to honor hard-working staff in one or more of these suggested ways.

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"Top 10 tips for rewarding employee excellence"

5 Tips & Tools for Recruiting with Social Media (2)

4. Use Smart Tools

Doostang is a smart tool.

Back in 2005, Doostang was created by Mareza Larizadeh as an online career advancement website that connects elite professionals with top jobs. The platform is designed like a social network, which makes leveraging connections easier, but the biggest pull for recruiters is that Doostang is free. We’re talking no fees to post jobs. And since Doostang was started with affiliations to Stanford, Harvard and MIT, many of the applicants on the site come from top-notch university networks.

Just this week, Larizadeh told me their level of “executive recruitment pushes the company out ahead of its competitors.” By my calculations, it’s a winner when it comes to keeping recruitment expenses to a minimum.

5. Use Tools with an Edge

SnapTalent is a tool with an edge.

SnapTalent is a recruitment platform that uses social media to profile and match employers to potential hires. I give them five stars for creating an interface that comprehensively (and easily) profiles companies all for the low price of $0. Jamie Quint, SnapTalent COO, spoke to me about the company’s vision: “We let companies build rich media recruitment pages that tell the full story of their company in a way the ‘connected’ generation understands.”

With the SnapTalent interface, posting information about your company, your employees, your corporate blog and your YouTube video of the office Christmas party happens all in one place. This approach gives candidates the best sense of who your company is and who might fit in with you. Since its start in late 2007, SnapTalent has adopted a tiered pricing plan (like LinkedIn) that’s based on the number of successful contacts it makes for you, but even if you don’t purchase resumes, you still get all the same exposure for a price that can’t be beat.

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Jasmine Teer