Immigration not just a US Problem

As an HR company, we discuss and inform about issues of immigration and laws pertaining to it on a regular basis, but we must remember that immigration has never been uniquely American. As a global traveler, I have witnessed first hand the extreme effects that immigration has on European residents. When I was living in Spain, a woman was beaten on the metro for even being a legal immigrant for not appearing Spanish enough. Nationalism among residents intensified as riots and protests swarmed all over my neighborhood, and the law makers struggled with the details of the attack.

An article was just released last week by the Associated Press about the immigration issues occurring all over Europe. Last Wednesday, legislators in the EU parliament passed new laws to toughen up on expelling illegals from Europe. The article goes into explaining that because of a slowing global economy, the richer countries in the EU are facing pressures globally to become stricter on immigration which includes increasing detention periods for illegals. The majority of these immigrants are coming from parts of Africa and former Soviet countries. It has been estimated that in 2006 twenty four thousand sub-Saharan Africans tried to reach Spain, many of them dying a long the way. In the US there are currently 11 million illegals as opposed to Europe which has about 8 million in their 27 nations. Countries such as Italy, France, and Spain are all open to raising their laws to try and cope with the problem including increased detention times and denial of future re-entry.

It is important to know that other nations are dealing with this issue and I don’t believe that there are any easy answers for either nation’s destiny. Staying educated is just one sure way that we can become part of this movement. Please visit our site for up to date information on immigration compliance in the United States at and to read further on this article.

Posted June 27th, 2008 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in Human Resources, Immigration | | 0 Comments

I can’t let him go, but I don’t have a choice… or do I?!

With these slow times, many business owners find themselves in quite a predicament… 

“I need to cut cost” and “we do not have enough work to justify our current workforce so naturally, I should let some people go…”   

Here is where it gets tricky: many of these companies’ employee highly skilled workers with specialized training.  Some of these employees have also been trained at the company’s expense for certifications, etc.  Not to mention the fact that some of these skilled workers are actually good employees.  They are honest, show up on time, adhere to policies, etc. 

If a company lays-off these employees, what happens when that big contract comes in and you need to hire again?  Are you setting yourself up to have the same problem we all have in an economic upswing- attracting good people? 

So how can we hold on to our good people during these tough times?  Any thoughts? 

I will throw some out to start: 

• Develop a relationship with a staffing company to allow your employee to work part time for other companies (project basis) but without the option of having those companies hire them.  Would require buy-in from the employee, of course. 
• Find other tasks for those key employees to help with mission critical items like process improvement, contract review, etc. 
• Fire a less important employee to free up funds to keep those hard to find employees.

Posted June 24th, 2008 by Harry Glazer - Posted in Human Resources, Recruiting | | 0 Comments

Being Green Can Help you in a Recessionary Economy

Being Green While Making Green

We are jumping on the “green bandwagon”, explaining a few very simple ideas for office employees to turn their office into a more eco friendly place. Any HR department can try and implement these ten tips!

I picked my favorite ten tips that I think are the easiest and that people can start today.

1. Recycle-offices produce a lot of waste including paper, soda cans, and cardboard shipping boxes. Set up a simple recycling program in your office so it is easy for your employees to do the right thing. Also use recycled products such as printing paper on a regular basis. In addition, recycle batteries and ink cartridges. Staples will even pay you for them!
2. Turn off lights-whenever you leave for lunch, the day, or even a meeting next door, turn off your light when you don’t need it. It will save a lot of energy.
3. Coffee and Water- If your office doesn’t already have a water cooler or make its own coffee everyday try and encourage it. In addition, bring your own coffee cup and water bottle in so you are not wasting Styrofoam or plastic.
4. Screensavers-Many people don’t know but leaving a screensaver on will waste energy, it is better to not have one or better yet turn your computer completely off when your not using it.
5. Real Plants- Even though fake plants always look nice and are less maintenance, real plants produce more oxygen for all of us and the environment.
6. The Thermostat- I know where we are in Arizona it’s almost impossible for us to turn up our thermostat to a warmer temperature, but try doing it a few degrees. It will make a big difference. In addition, definitely turn the air conditioning off at night when no one is in the office.
7. Telecommuting- some businesses find a lot of challenges with this system, but instead of converting to it completely find certain times where you can do it, for particular employees. This will cut down on usage of gas for your employees.
8. “Go virtual” with meetings-If you can save money on a plane ticket to an out of state meeting then do it. If you don’t have to drive across town for a meeting then try not to. There is a lot of new technologies out there that make there no need to commute.
9. Do you really need to print that? If you can just as easily read something on your computer and save it in a digital folder then you don’t need to print it. Doing this will save a lot of paper over the course of a year.
10.  Use staple-less staples. – The “staple-less” staple seems to be a new trend emerging today, as it can save a lot of steel.  They are available online and at most office supply stores. According to gogreenintown.com “we would save 120 tons of steel if every office worker used one less staple a day for a year (that’s about the equivalent of 25 SUV’s!”

Just imagine the impact we could have if just one person from every business in the US followed these simple steps…

Posted June 19th, 2008 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in Human Resources | | 0 Comments

Make your marketing department proud

Do you ever find yourself talking to someone about your company outside the office on multiple occasions? In reality, every employee is a member of the marketing department and should take this role very seriously, especially in today’s current climate of “shameless plugs”.  As opposed to the traditional act of defining the four P’s of marketing (product, price, place, and promotion) direct mail ads, and email blasts, word of mouth marketing has become a new age phenomena over the past few years. Whether you are at the doctor’s office waiting room or in line at the grocery store, any time is a good time for marketing your company. WOMMA would probably agree. The Word of Mouth Marketing Association which houses members such as the Walt Disney Company and General Mills provides ethical and professional word of mouth tools to formalize and make the world of word of mouth marketing a whole lot better. WOMMA offers its multiple members with tips and tools to better their word of mouth skills, and in the end market their company in a more professional way. They define their five basic elements as “Educating people about your products and services, identifying people most likely to share their opinions, providing tools that make it easier to share information, studying how, where, and when opinions are being shared, and by listening and responding to supporters, detractors, and neutrals.” Without even being a member everyone in the workplace can learn from these simple tactics. There are many different types of word of mouth marketing according to WOMMA, including evangelist marketing, cause marketing, viral marketing, and viral marketing. It even includes blogging as a form of word of mouth marketing! Even outside of human resources where people and customer service are your specialty, anyone can follow these principles. So the next time someone’s asks you to explain what you do for a living, don’t be embarrassed to make your marketing department proud, and speak up in a more creative and professional way about your company. Visit their website at http://www.womma.org/ for more concrete ways on how to put these principles into action.

Posted June 9th, 2008 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in Human Resources | | 0 Comments