A recent article in the Professional Association of Resume Writers' newsletter highlighted a key ethical concern for employers, recruiters, and human resources personnel everywhere: dishonesty in resumes. With growing discussion and concern around possible 'embellishment' and outright lies in candidate resumes, this topic is more than timely. It is critical to both the reputation and honor of those in the industry, and to the hopes of companies who hire people in good faith. It also highlights the challenges faced by the modern-day job seeker.

The questions raised by resume fraud do not revolve around whether employment professionals should condone dishonesty in resumes. Nor do they revolve around whether job seekers actually do lie in their resumes - statistics have already shown that many do. Instead, we are forced to ask why people feel they need to lie when pursuing new employment opportunities and what the responsibility is of those professing to help them.

More precisely formulated, the question is:

How can and should employment professionals guide clients in constructing realistic job search strategies such that they have no need to lie?

Most Job Seekers Are Not Opportunists

Few people enjoy the process of being unemployed or the stressful, humbling experience of a job hunt, and most fervently hope it will be a long time before they need to experience it again. Most job seekers are concerned about more than just getting a job, however. Most are concerned about getting a job they can do well in and keep for a long time. Most want a job that not only will pay the bills, but will provide opportunities to achieve, contribute, grow, and be proud of themselves. They are looking for a successful chapter upon which they can either start or continue to build a successful and fulfilling career.

If Most Job Seekers are Good People, Why Are So Many of Them Lying?

In his December article, Jay Block cited staggering statistics of willingness to commit fraud, suspected fraud, and actual fraud in resumes. What do these statistics mean? If it is that widespread, resume embellishment and even outright lying on a resume is obviously not behavior restricted to a few bad apples. It is also unlikely that job seekers – a group that at one time or another includes the majority of the population - are by nature more dishonest than anyone else. It is more likely that people are more apt to be dishonest or bend corners when they become a jobseeker. Why?

There are several compelling reasons for people to lie when they become a job seeker. First, being unemployed, underemployed, going for a higher position, or changing careers is a scary prospect, regardless of your current level of success. The bottom line is that you could fail. There are no guarantees that you will get what you want or that you will get anything at all, regardless of the tactics you use. Second, the competition is increasingly fierce. Especially with the advent of the internet and the growth of employment sites such as Monster.com, employers can search virtually anywhere for candidates and are exposed to more resumes than ever before. Third, many employers are as apprehensive about the selection process as are applicants. Employers also run the risk of failure – failure to hire the right candidate. This can cost them in money, time, company morale, customer retention, and so forth. This threat of failure can lead employers to work hard at developing intimidating job descriptions and lists of qualifications designed to weed out all but the most overqualified candidates. Finally, job seekers frequently have ‘deficiencies’. These deficiencies, in fact, are so common that they form a fairly well known and easily recognizable list:  

• Gaps in employment history
• Frequent job changes / too little longevity in any one position
• Too little experience
• Too much experience
• Too little education or the wrong education
• Criminal background

For better or worse, job seekers are human beings – human beings with real lives, families, and pasts, and with real ages, educational backgrounds, and employment histories. Every single job seeker is necessarily going to be deficient for many job postings. The truth is that what might be a deficiency in one scenario, such as an applicant’s age, may well be an asset in another scenario. Looking for a job or seeking advancement is thus not an exact science. What it requires is true insight into what experiences a job seeker has accrued, what skills and abilities those translate into, and how those attributes position them for success and growth in the job market. Once armed with that insight, the task is to articulate it clearly enough for a prospective employer to recognize that individual as a potential asset to his or her company.

What is To Be Done, and Who Should Do It?

So, what is to be done about this growing trend of resume fraud, and whose responsibility is it? Truthfully, outside of stricter screening policies and more thorough background checks, not much can be done about those sitting by themselves in front of a computer screen doctoring up their resumes. No one can stop them from lying or twisting the truth. However, much can be done when job seekers reach out for help in looking for jobs, and it is the responsibility of those to whom they reach out to do it.

Those available to assist people in securing work and developing career strategies include recruiters, resume writers, job search coaches, and career coaches. These four categories of service providers are in an excellent position to help people face the scary and often lonely task of looking for a new job. They are also in an excellent position to help people move forward in their careers without needing to lie. In fact, this is exactly what these service providers are supposed to do. The hope is that they themselves are honest, are good at their professions, and are cognizant of what job seekers really want: A long-term opportunity to succeed and contribute based upon their actual skills, not a short-term opportunity in which their chances of failure are greater than their chances of success because it is won on the basis of lies.

Letting Go of Parlor Tricks

If you look online, you will see many sites selling resumes or similar services offering ‘bandaid’ advice and techniques to job seekers for overcoming their various ‘deficiencies’. Frequently, that advice centers on camouflaging or de-emphasizing whatever the detracting factors may be. This includes such things as using a functional resume format, using years instead of a month-year format when listing employment dates, changing the order of employment and educational listings, and so forth. These methods have been proven to help prevent resumes from being quickly eliminated, and many people use them. But - do they really address the issue at hand, and do they do either the job seeker or the employer justice?

Many job seekers will eagerly grab onto these ‘parlor tricks’, particularly at the suggestion of an employment professional, simply because they don’t know what else to do. But how many job seekers would need to reach for them – or for lies - if someone were guiding them through a process that helped them recognize not only their weaknesses, but also those aspects of their history they didn’t know would be viewed as valid or interesting?

Frankly, many people simply don’t know what they have done, what they are capable of, or how to articulate either. Think of the assistant who has actually been doing project management for the past three years, but no one told her because they didn’t want to increase her pay. Think of the stay-at-home mom who has actually been a high-powered volunteer and helped conduct political campaigns for years, but has no paid job history. Think of the laid off machinist who gave up on re-employment, but has been touring local schools to lecture on the technical trades. Not knowing that these ‘other’, less formally recognized activities are actually valuable aspects of their history, all three of these job seekers will be tempted to camouflage dates, manipulate emphasis, or even lie. With the proper help and guidance, however, these people need use neither parlor tricks nor distortions of the truth.

The True Role of the Employment Professional

The role of the employment professional is to help the job seeker develop a clear and realistic understanding of what they have to offer at this stage of their career and how that relates to both their goals and the current job market. This means that employment professionals must undertake the large and challenging task of helping their clients take a true inventory of their accrued knowledge, skills, and personal attributes. They should be helping job seekers to identify – not create, but identify, understand, and then articulate how their myriad experiences and achievements are of value to potential employers. This also means being courageous enough to help clients understand their current ‘deficiencies’, identifying true deficiencies versus signals that a different career path might be more fitting, and helping clients understand how their weaknesses and strengths together define the most feasible and beneficial next steps in a successful career.

When employment professionals take this aggressive, well-rounded approach, the need for job seekers to lie dissipates. Truth in resumes, career documents, and job search strategies not only increases the chances of long-term success for the candidate, but also for the employer who, armed with better, fuller, and more accurate information can more accurately determine which seat on the bus a candidate can fill effectively. The bottom line is that when employment professionals truly use all of their skills to help job seekers, using an in-depth approach, it is a win-win situation all around.

© 2007 Anneli Olila

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As the World Wide Web matures, our ideas of good website design are maturing with it. We have learned the importance of such elements as easy navigation, ample use of 'white space', and a minimum of distracting bells and whistles. With the small window of time we have to capture a viewer's attention, our choices in design must be pleasing, purposeful, and digestible rather than overwhelming. 

Even the best site design can fail to capture viewers, however, if the content it houses is not equally effective. No matter how attractive your design is, there's simply no sense in putting lipstick on a pig. A site's text will quickly turn viewers off if it is too dense, repetitive, irrelevant, or grammatically poor.

Using Simple Language

In online documentation - particularly in the era of information overload - the goal is to convey ideas as clearly as possible to the reader. This means using 'normal', direct language and eliminating jargon, extra words, and redundancies. Many people, for example, think that writing well means sounding like an 18th century philosopher. However, not only are lofty, 'ponderous' words and fancy constructions pretentious, they often create unnecessarily complicated text and lead to embarrassing errors. Unless you are a poet or a novelist (and even then you may want to reconsider), it is best to keep it simple.

Organizing Your Text Visually

It also helps to organize your text visually to maximize quick comprehension and give the reader 'breathing room'. Nothing makes a reader lose interest more quickly than having to wade through long, dense paragraphs. Combining short paragraphs with bulleted lists, tables, and graphs can be very effective in presenting large amounts of information efficiently. Please remember, however, that if you refer readers to a table or graph, it is helpful if the table or graph is actually there and clearly marked!

Relevance of the Text to the Page

In addition to language and spacing considerations, it is important that the text be relevant to the core concept of the page on which it appears. For example, the Services page probably should be about Services, rather than about both Services and the CEO's dog. If you have the right text on each page, you can also avoid the annoying habit of repeating text on several pages. Most readers 'get it' if you tell them once, and if you need to repeat text as filler, you may want to reconsider how much you really have to say and how many pages that requires.

Proofreading

Once you have streamlined your language, made efficient use of your space, and eliminated all redundancies, do not forget to proofread! Nothing undermines credibility faster than grammatical and punctuation errors in text displayed to the world as a finished product. There's no sense in going to the trouble and expense of creating a dynamite site and then failing at the finish line by looking sloppy or ignorant.

Effective site design and effective text go hand in hand, and neither is sufficient alone to create a positive impact. Truly great websites are elegantly simple and put together flawlessly - in navigation, appearance, and text. Don't just put lipstick on your pig. Instead, make sure your text matches your design in both concept and composition.

© 2007 Anneli Olila

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September 15, 2007

Construction Safety - Whose Job is it Anyway?

While construction only employs 7% of the nation's workforce, it accounts for 21.5% of all job-related fatalities, and has a risk of injury rate that is 36% higher than all private industry sectors (BLS, 2005). Ensuring the health and safety of construction workers is therefore a top priority, and typically viewed as a responsibility shared by the government, the contractor, and by construction personnel on site. This article discusses the role of each of these parties in ensuring safe construction. It also discusses the less often considered role of owners.

The Role of the Government

The government's role, through the Occupational Safety and Health Organization (OSHA), is largely to set and enforce standards; to provide training, outreach, and education; and to encourage continual improvement in workplace safety and health. Frequently, a contractor's safety record is reflected in OSHA's Recordable Incident frequency rates, tracking three criteria: OSHA Recordable Rates (number of recorded injuries), Lost Work Day Case Rates, and the Lost Work Day Rate.

It is undeniable that OSHA has a tremendous arsenal of effective outreach and training programs. However, the effectiveness of OSHA as an enforcement agency has been questioned by some due to the relatively few physical inspections the agency conducts as compared to the vast number of construction projects at any one time. Its role in enforcement is further questioned because its measurements, such as those listed above, are largely reactive rather than proactive. Nonetheless, OSHA plays a critical role in researching and setting critical safety standards for construction in the United States.

The Role of the Contractor

The contractor's responsibility is to establish and implement a comprehensive safety program that includes at least the following elements:

• Management Commitment and Employee Involvement, achieved through establishment of clear communication channels regarding safety and effective emergency response systems, visible and ongoing top management involvement, active encouragement of employee involvement, and clear assignment of safety-related responsibilities and tasks
• Worksite Analysis, implemented through both baseline surveys of worksites and periodic and ongoing surveys to ensure awareness of all existing and new hazards
• Hazard Prevention and Control, including establishment and enforcement of safe procedures and practices, site redesign when necessary, provision of safety gear, and limiting exposure of workers to identified hazards
• Provision of Safety and Health Training for both supervisors and employees

The contractor should also work actively to implement a safety culture, in which employees are encouraged to incorporate safety into every aspect of their jobs. They can do this through systems of rewards and penalties, through tying safety to compensation and advancement, and through holding comprehensive Pre-Project Planning meetings and Pre-Task Planning meetings. Solid and thorough planning in which safety considerations play a significant role can greatly reduce the chances of on-the-spot and poorly thought out decisions that lead to accidents during the course of the job.

The Role of the Construction Employee

The construction worker's role, no less critical, is to undergo all required training, to comply with all safety regulations, and to continuously be alert and alert others to unsafe conditions on the jobsite. Ideally, any worker onsite should be empowered to halt all operations if they become aware of unaddressed safety hazards, although this is not always the case. In order for construction employees to effectively carry out their safety responsibilities, it is necessary for the contractor to communicate and provide explicit support for employee actions in this arena.

The Role of the Owner

Less frequently discussed is the role of owners in construction safety. However, owners have a vested interest in maintaining safe operations on their job sites - and not only to prevent injury and loss of life. Accidents and injuries can cause significant cost overruns on a project that affect both contractor and owner. Direct costs include such things as doctors, ambulances, and indemnity. Hidden costs can be much greater, and can include employee replacement, OSHA citations, increased insurance costs, damage to the jobsite, and much more.

Owners can play a direct role in encouraging and enforcing safety through selecting contractors with strong safety records - even if their bids are slightly higher - and through making effective safety programs a requirement in their construction documents. Owners can also participate heavily during Pre-Project Planning meetings, where safety of both workers and the surrounding community are discussed. This type of owner involvement, in fact, can be of tremendous help in the area of enforcement, where OSHA is less effective.

While non-fatal injury rates on construction job sites have declined over the past years, fatal injuries have not. All parties stand to gain from increasing safety on the nation's job sites: construction workers, contractors, owners, and the government. With each consciously and diligently carrying out their responsibilities, the rate of fatal injuries can be reduced, and projects can be completed safely, on time, and on budget.

© 2007 Anneli Olila

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August 15, 2007

New Hampshire's Economic Growth Patterns

Ross Gittell, forecast manager for the New England Economic Partnership (NEEP), recently gave a rosy forecast for New Hampshire's economic growth into 2011 in comparison to other New England states. Both state-issued job growth projections and a study of recent venture capital flows into New Hampshire confirm his prediction.

NEEP is a 25-year old non-profit organization whose membership and board includes economists and a broad array of business and industry leaders from each New England state. Twice per year, the organization releases their widely publicized New England Economic Outlook, a macro-economic report on the state of the region.

While their recently released report indicates that, as a whole, the New England economy is likely to remain below the national average through 2011, there is good news for New Hampshire. The Granite State is expected to experience employment growth above the national average, and to meet or exceed the national average for overall growth.

According to NEEP, New England's fastest growing economic sectors are education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and professional and business services. New Hampshire's projected job growth patterns clearly reflect these trends. According to a report issued in late 2006 by the State of New Hampshire, the greatest job growth between now and 2014 will occur in the following sectors and sub-sectors:

• Ambulatory Care (health practitioner offices, home health care services, and outpatient facilities): 11,400 jobs
• Elementary and Secondary Education: 9,549 jobs
• Food and Drink Establishments: 7,000 jobs

The state's report also shows an expectation of high job growth rates in the following sub-sectors of professional and business services:

• Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services: 53.5%
• Financial Investment and Related Activities: 44.3%

While not listed as leading sectors of the region, New Hampshire's high-tech and information services industries were highlighted by Gittell as showing promise for continued strong growth. A look at the recent flow of venture capital into New Hampshire certainly lends credence to this prediction. Venture capital flow can be a good indicator of future growth, particularly when investors are providing funds to entrepreneurs in the latter stages of achieving successful operations.

Between 2005 and 2006, New Hampshire attracted the lion's share (77.3%) of venture capital flowing into northern New England, and over 80% of these funds were provided to entrepreneurs in the latter stages of expansion and growth. In line with Gittell's forecast, the majority of these entrepreneurs are in the semiconductor and software industries.

NEEP and the state appear to agree: there's good news for New Hampshire. With projected strong growth in a variety of economic sectors and sub-sectors, and with our ability to attract large amounts of venture capital for key industries, New Hampshire's outlook is one of a continuously strengthening economy.

© 2007 Anneli Olila

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June 23, 2007

Organic Farming and Sustainable Agriculture in New Hampshire

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, there are roughly 3,400 dairy and crop farms in New Hampshire. Currently, only 101 of these are certified organic farms. However, with growing concern over the environment, increased awareness of health dangers posed by chemical and genetic manipulation of the human food supply, and proof of organic farming's profitability, this number is likely to increase significantly in the coming years.

The rise in popularity of organic products is attributable to our ever-growing body
of knowledge regarding the harmful effects of commercial, non-organic farming to both human and environmental health. However, 'organics' is not a modern-day fad just now catching hold. Until the 20th century, farming organically was the only way we knew how to farm. In America, the use of chemical agents and genetically manipulated seeds and livestock did not begin to spread until the early 1900's when. With the centrality of , due to the centrality of farming to the US economy becoming increasingly evident, the US Department of Agriculture began more aggressive research into advancing farming techniques. Congress simultaneously established a specific outreach program to actively encourage their use on farms everywhere.

Since that time, synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilizers, growth hormones, irradiation, high levels of antibiotics, and new ways of genetically engineering plants and animals have all become routine in human and animal food production. The benefits of mass-production farming, such as larger, more visually 'perfect' produce and a more predictable food supply, have tended to obscure the real and potential harm the use of these methods can cause - to ourselves, to the environment, and to the possibilities for future generations.

Today, our awareness is at an all time high. Those that do farm organically are struggling to keep up with the demand. According to New Hampshire Agriculture Commissioner Steve Taylor, sales of organic produce in New Hampshire increased six-fold between 2002 and 2006. This points to the fact that many informed consumers are eager to reduce the dangers posed to their health, and many are learning that healthier soil, less soil erosion, less water pollution, and increased biodiversity are important to ensure a stable and healthy food supply for future generations. Further, the compelling nature of these arguments not only leads consumers to demand more organic products, but to pay more for them as well. These factors, combined with the comparative cost-effectiveness of organic farming, have made it lucrative for small local farmers to make the transition.

The small farm is integral to New Hampshire's heritage and plays a significant role in our rural economies. We can help to preserve this heritage, as well as, encourage a sustainable approach to agriculture by supporting local and organic farms.

The following organizations provide links to New Hampshire farms pursuing organic and sustainable agriculture, to local farms that limit their use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and to producers of organic seeds.

Northeast Organic Farming Association NH

Local Harvest

OMRI Organic Seeds

© 2007 Anneli Olila

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May 31, 2007

The Corporate Citizenship of Small Companies

Documentation regarding corporate citizenship has typically centered on large companies. The research that does consider smaller companies has found that, even though small companies believe in the reasons for and the benefits of corporate citizenship, they tend to pursue it less vigorously than large companies do. They are less likely to incorporate corporate citizenship into their overall business strategy, and less likely to be involved in social and environmental issues. However, as corporate citizenship becomes more clearly defined and broadens into a requisite for doing business, small companies may need to look more closely at how they can meet the benchmarks.

If we understand corporate citizenship to be a company's responsibility for understanding and managing its influence on society and all of its stakeholders, small companies cannot fairly be exempted. Regardless of size, every company by definition has at least some of the following stakeholders: shareholders, customers, employees, investors, business partners (vendors and suppliers), the community, government, and the environment.

Further, while individual small companies have a correspondingly small footprint on society and the environment, the aggregate footprint of small- and micro-businesses is naturally quite a bit larger. According to US Census Bureau data released in 2006, for example, 75.5% of all US businesses are owner-operated with no paid employees. The companies that comprise this 75.5% necessarily affect society and the environment through who they select as suppliers, how 'green' their day-to-day operations are, how they interact with their local communities, and how ethically and legally they conduct business.

Small companies shouldn't cringe at the added responsibility of corporate citizenship. Fulfilling these societal and environmental obligations brings with it significant benefits. The positive reputation good corporate citizenship helps to cultivate has proven to lead to greater attraction of investors, improved market positioning, and longer periods of above average financial performance. Given the well-known failure rates of small businesses within their first year or few years of existence, pursuing corporate citizenship could be a critical and effective way of ensuring survival.

While the more limited resources of small companies may affect their reach as corporate citizens, there is much they can do, the following being just a few examples:

• Select vendors that themselves strive to be good corporate citizens
• Employ environmentally sound practices and strive for operational efficiency, regardless of how large or small their operations are
• Treat employees fairly, if they have any
• Follow sound, legal, and ethical business practices
• Develop strong ties to the community through donations of labor, products, or financial gifts
• Buy local

If small- and micro-businesses everywhere built just these six elements of corporate citizenship into their mission statements and business planning, their cumulative contribution to our changing corporate culture would be significant indeed.

© 2007 Anneli C. Olila

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May 23, 2007

What is Corporate Citizenship?

Since the beginnings of corporate citizenship's surge in popularity over a decade ago, the most consistent trend has been for companies to pursue it through philanthropic giving and community involvement. Philanthropy and community involvement have seemingly been the most obvious and logical way for companies to do the right thing. Popular press, management theory literature, and corporate PR materials have touted - and justifiably - numerous examples of company contributions to charities and sponsorship of community events.

In today's business climate, the definition of corporate citizenship has considerably broadened. Citing singular philanthropic acts or periodic gestures toward community is no longer sufficient. Given increasing acceptance of both the recognition and scrutiny of corporate impacts across environmental, economic, and social arenas, companies are being pushed - through both competition and public pressure - to make sustainable efforts in all of these areas. To do this, companies need to build the concept of corporate citizenship into their mission statements and into the very fabric of their organizational structure. Corporate governance; fair employee treatment; ˜green" ways of thinking, doing, and being; and structured, ongoing giving have all become the fundamental underpinnings of sound and profitable corporate citizenship.

Despite the heavier burden this new definition places on companies, corporate citizenship does not appear to be on its way out of public favor. Further, corporations are increasingly experiencing the tangible financial and competitive benefits of doing the right thing on a broader scale. Being a good corporate citizen may now very well be a requisite for modern-day company survival and success.

© 2007 Anneli C. Olila

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