- UID
- 930550
- 在线时间
- 小时
- 注册时间
- 2013-8-30
- 最后登录
- 1970-1-1
- 主题
- 帖子
- 性别
- 保密
|
楼主 |
发表于 2014-9-25 22:19:32
|
显示全部楼层
Part II: Speed
Ask the Headhunter: How to avoid bait-and-switch job offers
By Nick Corcodilos | September 16, 2014
[Time 2]
Question: I was hired as an executive assistant at an established company, with some 10,000 employees globally. When I was hired, the recruiter (who worked for the company) ensured me verbally that the benefits were very good, “comparable to any big company,” and insisted that they were on par with any other organization I’ve worked with.
Turns out, they aren’t. I pay 50 percent of my health insurance (approximately $750/month), my vacation is mandated in December because of annual office closure, no overtime is offered, I work one scheduled weekend per month unpaid, and my significant other was not covered under benefits (though a same-sex partner would have been) until we are married.
The recruiter quit her job two weeks after I was hired. I have not brought up my issues with the company, and have been there 10 months. The culture is very much that one should not complain because you should be happy you have a job.
I took a 25 percent pay cut for this gig. Do I have any legal recourse? I fear that the legal costs would outweigh the benefit. In the meantime, I’m looking for a new role outside of the company but have found that my “new” salary requirements have me in a different bracket.
Nick Corcodilos: I doubt you have any legal recourse, but I’m not a lawyer and this isn’t legal advice. You could start by talking with your state’s department of labor and employment — they may be able to advise you, and they may have other complaints on record about this employer.
It’s pretty clear the recruiter baited you. See “Why do companies hide the benefits?” Too often, job applicants trust what is stated orally in an interview without insisting that the commitment be reproduced in writing in the job offer. It amazes me that an applicant will read an offer letter carefully — but never ask for the written benefits. The benefits are part of the offer. I urge you and all of our readers: Read all components of the offer carefully.
You must state your position to an employer clearly.
[351 words]
[Time 3]
How to Say It: “I’m impressed with your company, and I’m eager to come to work with you. However, I cannot accept this offer without knowing all the terms of employment, including the benefits. I could no more sign an employment agreement without knowing all the terms than your company could sign a business contract without knowing what it was committing to. I’m sure you understand. Could you please provide me with your employee manual, benefits package, and any other documents that would bind me after I start the job? Once I have these, I will promptly respond. I look forward to accepting your offer, and to making a significant contribution to your business. I hope I can count on your help so we can all get to work.”
What a recruiter tells you is akin to what a salesman tells you — it’s intended to close the deal. Good luck collecting on the oral promises later.
I agree that your most important next action is to start a very active job search. The solution to getting stuck applying for jobs with lower salaries is not to disclose your salary – apply for jobs that can pay you what you’re worth, and politely but firmly decline to disclose your salary history. Employers have no right to it. You must also be ready to demonstrate why you’re worth more than your current job pays. Two of my PDF books cover these topics: “Keep Your Salary Under Wraps” and “How Can I Change Careers?”
Start with your state’s labor office. Get their advice on the details of your situation. But I think that, unfortunately, when you accepted this job you accepted terms you did not understand clearly — because the employer misrepresented them. Please check this article for tips about how to avoid a lower salary at your next job: “How do I prove I deserve a higher job offer?”
I wish you the best. This kind of slimy behavior by employers is indefensible.
[329 words]
Source: Public Broadcasting Service
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/ask-the-headhunter-how-to-avoid-bait-and-switch-job-offers/
Education, baristas and employee turnover
By Duane Dike | September 8, 2014
[Time 4]
That Howard Schultz guy is one smart cookie with his impressive decision to offer financial assistance to employees for online courses at Arizona State University. Even if employees don't take up his offer, I'd wager morale and workmanship will improve.
But first, some context. Work in the fast-food industry is mostly part time with few educational or pre-existing skills needed. The proportion of workers in the fast-food industry who are under age 20 is six times the rate for all workers. The work is considered unskilled, although specific training on food preparation, sanitation, and cash handling is taught after hire. (Incidentally, Starbucks considers its employees a step up from fast-food, and they might be, but I’d venture to say the source demographics are roughly the same.)
Fast-food work is generally considered to be front-line, meaning workers are in view of or have direct contact with customers. Fast-food restaurant owners look for potential employees who are neat and can exhibit natural rapport with customers. Room for advancement in the industry is typically limited to those workers with college degrees. Employment outlook is good, with a projection of 10% growth by 2018.
Training costs for fast-food workers in the U.S. are upwards of $10 billion per year (that's a lot of hamburgers). Top that with turnover rates of over 80% and sometimes over 100% and business leaders are hot, hot, hot, for change. But, most don't do anything. They plod along, developing more systems and training programs, ultimately giving employees one option: "I can quit this crummy job for another crummy job."
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
The stay/quit decision among workforce employees is a complicated, dissonant mix of factors. Often, the happiest day of a young worker's life is that very first job. However, something weird happens in a matter of months, sometimes days, changing those bright outlooks to dark stormy moods. The blame: boss behavior.
[317 words]
[Time 5]
But, the mix of moods and morale is more complicated than whether the boss is nice or mean. Some of the blame goes to corporate policy and the message it sends to front line employees. In a place like Starbucks, corporate bosses know that quality service by front line employees is everything to success. Grouchy employees make for bad business.
Therefore, keeping employees happy is a pretty darn important goal. The objective of any service oriented company (I'd argue any company) is to create cultures that are friendly, supportive, collaborative, and productive. Sounds simple enough, but is it? I've written before that consistently positive behavior by bosses is all important. But what about changes far away in corporate offices, like the Starbucks decision to offer educational assistance?
An Optimality? Is it Possible?
The Starbucks decision is genius. It solves or prevents a number of problems. One, the mere offer alone is hope for a way out. The fast-food model isn't built around life-long servitude of workers plodding full time with overtime at $10/hour. In a perfect world, work in the fast food industry would be transitional (from one phase of life to another) with workers learning a future trade, studying for a degree, or returning from another career for extra spending money. To keep the workforce fresh and bright, the best operating model for fast-food consists of the right proportion of sustainability and turnover.
My contention, and I'm sure my opinion foes are loading up counter arguments now, optimal turnover for unskilled, front line, low pay jobs is about 25%. That means newly hired employees will stick around for roughly three to four years. With 25% turnover and assuming workers move on to trades and professional careers (not other fast-food outlets), the workforce stays fresh and relatively well trained. These types of unskilled jobs are perfect breeding grounds for workers to improve their plight, to learn skilled trades or earn college degrees.
[322 words]
[Time 6]
Besides Hope, What Else Is There?
Starbucks’ education decision accomplishes three things besides hope for a better future. One, by offering educational reimbursement, they give workers a reason to stay employed while in school. And, it just so happens, a typical undergraduate degree takes about 4-5 years to complete. Voila, a turnover rate of roughly 25% magically appears.
The second benefit is a more educated, bright, enthusiastic, enlightened, thinking workforce. There's something different about those associates at Starbucks. They're friendly, seem to have some empowerment to make decisions, and know the product well. Howard is doing a lot of things right, like good training programs, benefits packages, and positive cultures.
Finally, if Starbucks gets a reputation for sending bright employees into professional and trade fields elsewhere, the incoming flow of new applicants will be that much more with-it than what might normally be seen without this program. Starbucks recruiters can choose from the best and brightest, partly because they prepare employees for life after Starbucks.
Why Education?
I’m guessing Howard and his advisors know the real truth of education and its relationship to business. Most majors really have nothing to do with coffee production and counter service businesses. I didn’t pop out of the University of California knowing much of anything about the entertainment industry. I was a psychology major, studying behavior and relationships. Sure, some obvious connections between my major and the entertainment industry exist. For example, understanding behavior is important to the art of leading others.
However, possibly more importantly, I learned to think critically, manipulate complicated systems, and manage bureaucracies. I learned intangible life/business skills through adding and dropping classes, knowing the best places to park my car, and sensing which professors to avoid. Possibly most important for business, I knew that to succeed I had to change my learning style to meet the demands of roughly 30-40 professors, those humans with a lot of power.
All these non-subject matter skills are what help me meander through this thing called business. Businesses today need thinking workers, those who know how to think critically and understand there are multiple paths to getting things done.
(And, how, you ask, do I know all this inside stuff about Starbucks? Well, my daughter worked there for a year until she packed up to study overseas. That's how I know, because I had my own undercover agent.)
“The challenge of the retail business is the human condition” [Howard Schultz]
[408 words]
Source: Management-Issues
http://www.management-issues.com/opinion/6955/education-baristas-and-employee-turnover/
|
本帖子中包含更多资源
您需要 登录 才可以下载或查看,没有帐号?立即注册
x
|