Group items tagged

I am a Disney fan but now knowing a person who works there and seeing their on boarding process (via this website) it is no wonder that they are such a huge and successful company.   The website goes through, what looks like, everything a person would need to know in getting started at Disney.   I could see how helpful a website such as this would be to almost any profession.  Disney obviously has enough money to produce this website and keep it current, but I do not think that would be too hard or expensive for a school district, police agency, banking industry, military, or many other professions to implement.

My niece just completed an intership this summer with Disney. She was pleasantly surprised by how comprehensive the website and training was for interns. Eventhough she was scheduled to intern for six months, everything about the training and experience won her over to want to be a lifetime employee of Disney. Many companies could learn from this model.

I heard that the first two days of employee orientation is strictly story telling. They use the 'cast' members to acclimate employees to the Disney culture using stories. I feel like this is really in sync with Disney culture and would also be a very effective way to get employee excited about their role in the bigger Disney 'story'.

By now, we've all heard about how employers scope out the Tweets and Facebook profiles of job seekers to winnow down the field of applicants. But job seekers may be surprised to hear just how many recruiters now use social media throughout the hiring process.

Ah, the joys of social media! It truly does expand the meaning that "big brother" is watching. I've found myself pulling back on Facebook posts by trying to stick to only positive things. LinkedIn, I feel I need a to hire a PR rep to make sure everything is in order there. Twitter, I'm not a fan of it period. But from the sounds of the article, I better learn to like and use it. Thanks for the link to the article, very good information.

I always enjoy this dynamic. It is a double edged sword and not every organization should want the use of social media in their candidates. I have conducted surveillance in law enforcement, research on teachers while working in the education field, and pre-screened inbound young Officers in the military. Its important to see what you are getting. It has become suspicious if someone doesn't have a linked in account. If a person has too many accomplishments on their linked in account however while simultaneously not having an active personal social media account as senior management I find it suspicious. We are all aware that if you want to know who a person truly is, the last place to look is linked in.

Should we or shouldn't we? 

I found this to be a thought provoking article which seems to perfectly illustrate everything that can go bad with a performance review. I liked the practical approach to encourage open relationship which can provide the honest feedback we each need to address our self-improvement barriers.

The use of multiple forms of gaming, can produce excellent talent, and improve worklife.

Bob, My organization uses gaming to engage the public to help them understand financial concepts that many find too complex or difficult to understand. We also recently implemented gaming as part of our on-boarding process to educate and engage new employees to learn more about the functions and responsibilities of the organization. The public has embraced the concept of gaming, while its use as an on-boarding tool is receiving mixed reviews. The younger generations loves it, while many of the long-term employees don't see the value and feel it is a waste of people's time and the organization's money. It will be interesting to see if gaming is a fad or not.

My company outsourced to well being company to help employees become more engaged in lifestyle choices. Never dawned on me that the challenges or gamification was being done. I'll be forwarding this article on to others outside our group, very interesting read and informative.

Here are several examples of how companies conduct onboarding.

Interesting info on the Do's and Don'ts as the title of this article indicates.  Sometimes just need the reminder.   Kind of interesting how we (all businesses, organizations and agencies) seem to understand how bad these things are but just keep doing them (wrong) anyway

I found the pay for performance interesting as often time an employee needs to meet certain "basic" expectations in a review to get a raise. If they don't get the review they want and are in a union then it can be grieved. I wonder if this is why most managers of union employees don't bother to give accurate reviews because it creates more paper work and documentation of a job they don't want to do anyway (performance reviews)

The pay for performance seems to the norm in the past three organizations I have worked for. The mistake pointed out in this part is accurate, small difference in percentages between performers only goes to promote an imbalance between team members.

With so many avenues for social media, it is important to have good "branding" for your organization. Something that represents the company and attracts potential candidates.

I agree that good branding is a critical aspect for all organizations to consider in recruiting. It is also important to make sure the brand aligns with the actions of the organization and its employees; otherwise it has the potential to damage the reputation of the organization.

I know many of organizations that utilize this type of branding as a means to re-enforce their product. Their superior talent is supposed to coincide with their product. Its interesting though that many individuals are passed over because they did not necessarily embody the branded traits help by the organization. I wonder who is to blame when the company goes into a nose dive economically?

Succession planning is perhaps the most important job of corporate boards. Without a strong succession-planning program, companies are not prepared to fill openings created by retirements or unexpected departures, nor are they able to meet demands of the organization.

To me the importance of succession and cross-training within departments is very crucial. Yet I think still many times today people view these things as a loss of job security. Many time individuals may feel a false sense of security if they are the only person that knows how to do 'x'.

I could not agree more with your comments. I hear it on a daily basis, if I am the only one who knows this information; the organization has to keep me. Much of the fear comes from massive layoffs and reorganization-if they need the knowledge they will need me.

To summarize Walt's leadership lesson: In order to "know what the people want," get out there, be willing to listen, and then institutionalize learning and continuous improvement on behalf of your customers.

I love this - but I worry customer service is losing it's appeal. Now a days many large companies feel if they have a strong product customer service is less than important. I immediately think about Walmart. I rarely have a good customer service experience at Walmart - but that has not stopped me from buying products there....

I agree on the customer service part...I also feel a lot of companies are moving towards "self service" which brings back to less customer service.

Managers, not HR, must lead the charge to engage employees. Senior Management touts the value of employee engagement so why is the responsibility often delegate to the HR department?

Succession planning is a means for an organization to ensure its continued effective performance through leadership continuity. For an organization to plan for the replacement of key leaders, potential leaders must first be identified and prepared to take on those roles. It is not enough to select people in the organization who seem "right" for the job.

The involvement of the Board of Directors is critical when creating succession plans for C-suite roles. The Board has a responsibility to make sure the organization has an employee who is ready and have had time to experience or "shadow" those who are in the roles one might succeed.

Not sure about who MacKenzie Jones is but one thing that was written was interesting regarding your performance being tired to the person you work for. Not sure I agree but I think a good boss can help make employees better or vise versa. It is up to the employee to not fall into any temptations of "behaving badly" when their boss may act badly or poorly on a regular basis.

As I read this I was drawn to section on cognitive constructs. I found it very interesting and the openness of which the author references the need for future research makes me wonder if we are getting closer to understanding the cognitive sciences or just beginning to grasp how big this issue could be.

I like number 3 the best....it takes more than just the HR department to develop a successful succession plan.

All 5 are important but number 2 stands out to me because often some of the best talent is not recognized but leaders.

I think 3 and 5 go hand-in-hand. Good basic information.

On the SHRM website they have great information for all sorts of HR topics. Click on the "download your free report" as this is a great tool for onboarding. They discuss the Four C's (Compliance, Clarification, Culture, Connection).

The SHRM website is a great website to visit on a lot of HR related topics. I would recommend it as a useful website.

Looks like we all like this website. Solid practical advice given in the article.

Ten years after publishing its research on the War for Talent, McKinsey produced follow-on work reemphasizing the need to make talent a strategic priority. Despite launching expensive programs to attract and retain talented employees, many senior executives remain frustrated with the results and admit their own failure

Good solid basic principles of walking the walk and talking the talk to create a culture of development.

You only get one chance to onboard a person so make it the best you got!

First impressions last a lifetime.

People remember all of their "first" experiences, so it is surprising that so many companies do not focus on an employees "first" with them. This may leave an impression that causes an employee not to reach their "first" anniversary with the company.

Engaged workers stand apart from their not-engaged and actively disengaged counterparts because of the discretionary effort they consistently bring to their roles. These employees willingly go the extra mile, work with passion, and feel a profound connection to their company. They are the people who will drive innovation and move your business forward.

Right now, there's no hotter topic within the talent management community than workforce planning. The reasons are simple: with the current economy driving revenues down dramatically, many senior executives are examining how to plan ahead in order to increase their firms' capabilities, reduce costs, and survive the economic chaos likely to continue for some time.

Couldn't agree more! Our company is majorly making moves to being more mindful and data driven when it comes to how we operate even in HR.

Speaking of "war for talent"….here is a good article about some "out-of-box" recruiting strategies.

Eric, I would agree…but an organization needs to be careful. I sat on an interview panel one time with 11 people on it; it was so difficult to make a decision with 11 people giving "their opinion". I agree with you, "at least on a small scale".

Oh my, a group of 11 people, I would have been a nervous wreck. I feel that around 3-5 people is a good number, easier to find a nice pace for the interview process to flow and provide the needed information for both sides.