Looking for reasons to cut out early this Friday afternoon? Tell your boss that working long hours causes brain damage ... and you have the research to prove it. New research from University College London and the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health suggests long working hours may raise the risk of mental decline and possibly dementia.
As part of the largest study of its kind, researchers analyzed 2,214 middle-aged UK civil servants using cognitive tests in 1997-99 and again in 2002-04.
The first set of tests were administered to two groups of people, one group of employees who worked more than 55 hours a week and the other group worked 35 to 40 hours a week.
The first group performed significantly worse in vocabulary tests than those employees who worked less hours. Follow-up tests mirrored the original findings in that employees who worked more than 55 hours a week performed worse on vocabulary tests and cognitive reasoning.
“The effects were cumulative, the longer the working week, the worse the test results. Employees with long working hours also had shorter sleeping hours, reported more symptoms of depression and used more alcohol than those with normal working hours.”
So when you’re skipping out of the office early today, just let your boss know that it’s for your health. Have a happy Friday!
You may have to throw out any previous notions you may have on the differences between workforce generations, because a new study is showing that employees of all age groups are more alike than we may have thought.
The study revealed that respect is the top rated job attribute across all ages in the workplace and that there are “considerably more” similarities among workforce generations than we know. The new research challenges findings released last year that suggested generations differ greatly in their workplace values and what they want at work.
The study analyzed responses from more than 500 international participants from Generation Y (29 years old and younger) to Traditionalists (64 years old and older). It provided insight to common workplace questions, including:
Do employees want to be treated differently regardless of their age?
Do regional differences affect how employees want to be treated in the workplace?
Do project assignments involving people of different ages hinder job performance?
Is an employee's workplace behavior and attitude influenced by age?
The findings, which buck conventional wisdom, reveal that there is little sensitivity to age differences and multigenerational teams. Additionally, there is an overall ambivalence to suggestions that age influences the way people behave in the workplace.
The similarities among generations are further demonstrated by questions that asked employees to rate the most valued attributes of a job: In all but one generation, respect was singled out as the most valued attribute.
"As workforces become leaner in our current economy, managers would do well to focus on developing employees' personal skills and fostering an environment of collaboration," says [AchieveGlobal CEO Sharon] Daniels. "Inherent in multigenerational workforces is a diversity of experiences and expertise. Now is the time to encourage employees to value each others distinct talents and uses similarities and difference to build opportunities in the future."
If you’ve been searching for new employee incentive ideas to get your employees motivated, maybe what you really need to do is listen to Aretha Franklin. Hand out a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T around the office and watch what happens.
Throughout the day many of us get stuck in periods of inaction. Whether you’re procrastinating, completing small tasks to avoid the important ones or too distracted to get started on anything, the fact is, we’ve all been there.
So, what's the best way to get yourself out of a state of inaction?
Well, you can start by training yourself to become a “task ninja.”
I recently came across the idea in a post by Leo Babauta at his blog, Zen Habits. He’s also the author of The Power of Less, an insightful new book on personal productivity.
Here are Leo's five quick steps to help you get started:
1. Figure out your key actions. Focusing on the right actions is just as important as the doing. Don’t spend a lot of time in this step — just quickly decide your Top 3 actions for today.
2. Pick one key action, and visualize the outcome. How will it look when you’re done? Again, don’t spend a lot of time here — just form a quick picture in your mind.
3. Just start. Tell yourself, “Do it now!” Make it a mantra. Don’t mess around with tools, with distractions, with anything that will get in the way of doing this task. Strip away everything but the task, and get going!
4. Focus on the moment. Just be in this task, don’t worry about the future or what mistakes you might make or might have made before. Just focus on doing this task, as best you can. Immerse yourself in it.
5. Get to done. Complete the task. Feel good about it! Pat yourself on the back!
After you’ve gone through all of the steps, repeat the process with your next habit. Like any habit, it will get easier with practice.
Improve your success rate by eliminating some common barriers to the Action Habit:
Perfection isn’t necessary. Just focus on completing the task now. You can go back and improve it later.
Don’t worry about the unnecessary. If you’re writing for example, don’t worry about the font or format of your document, just write.
Eliminate distractions. Turn off instant messaging, Twitter, and let your phone calls go to voice mail. If you can’t concentrate in the office, get up and move to another location such as a quite conference room or cafe down the street.
Break it up. If you’re intimidated by the size of the task, break it up into manageable pieces.
Training yourself to get more done is possible, but only if you know where to start. Zen Habits is a great blog to read if you’re looking for ways to new ways to improve your personal productivity on a daily basis.
You can also check out a few of our past posts on training yourself to be more productive:
The two psychologists wanted to see if they could motivate a group of 20-year-old college students to exercise regularly. All of the students were given a set of instructions for a regular exercise routine.
Some students in the group received a set of instructions printed in Arial typeface, an easy-to read plain font. Other students received instructions printed in Brush typeface, a font that resembles hand-written script with a Japanese paintbrush, something that was unfamiliar and harder to read.
After the students had a chance to read over the instructions, the psychologists asked them a series of questions regarding the exercise routine: how long would it take, would it be boring or exciting, how likely would they be to make the exercise plan a part of their daily routine, and so on.
The findings
The psychologists found that the students who received the easy-to-read instructions were much more open to the idea of fitting the exercise routine into their daily schedule. They thought the regimen wouldn’t take up much of their time and would feel easy.
Those who had to read through the unfamiliar Japanese brushstrokes wanted nothing to do with the gym. Trying to decipher what was said in the instructions was enough exercise for one day.
To double-check their findings, the psychologists set up another experiment where a group of people were asked to prepare food. Again, some were given the easy-to-read instructions and others were given the difficult set.
The second experiment backed-up their findings from the first study. People who read the “more digestible” instructions were more likely to attempt preparing Japanese sushi. Those who read the harder to read instructions did not want to try it themselves.
Keep it simple
Whether you’re training employees on the correct way to wear personal protective equipment or how to put together a sales report, explaining the process in a simple format will increase the likelihood that they’ll want to try it.
Employee motivation tip of the day: Don’t make something sound or look harder than it is. Keep it short, sweet and simple.
“By an almost two-to-one margin (134 to 76), more employers had lower overall employee engagement scores in the fall of 2008 than in the fall of 2007. This result is out of the ordinary from our trends for the last five years, and strongly suggests that external circumstances regarding the economy may well be influencing employees' attitudes about their jobs and workplaces," said Greg Harris, president of Quantum Workplace.
The survey measured employee engagement by “the ability and willingness of individuals to exert extra effort for the benefit of the company, their tendency to speak highly of the organization and their intent to stay," according to Harris.
Engaged employees won’t make the recession disappear, but they are one of your most effective tools for pulling through it with more success than you would otherwise.
Workplace studies continually show that engaged employees perform significantly higher than those not engaged in their work. Businesses with an engaged workforce will typically have increased service and customer loyalty, better individual employee performance and reduced costs including safety, absenteeism and lost productivity.
Whether it’s due to the economy, a child’s health issue or dealing with a bully in the workplace, managers need to know how to spot when an employee is in trouble and what they should do to help.
It starts with a conversation
Training managers and supervisors on how to address a sudden drop in employee performance in a previously high-performing staff member starts with a lesson in communication.
Rather than making assumptions or taking an accusatory stance, supervisors should start with a conversation. Explain to the employee that you’ve noticed a drop in their performance and ask if it’s because of something that is going on at the office or at home.
Once you get down to the root of it, you’ll be in a better position to help the employee with their problem and eventually improve their performance. With that knowledge, supervisors can then help employees find the support they need.
In honor of Monday's President’s Day holiday, we have a fun question for you:
If you could choose a boss similar to a U.S. president, who would you pick?
It turns out that most employees wish their boss was more like Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan, according to a recent survey by Randstad US, with 28 and 24% of the votes, respectively.
However, many described their real boss as a “Dominator,” someone who tends to be bossy, demanding and domineering, personality traits similar to Richard Nixon or Lyndon Johnson.
When asked if they would “re-elect” their boss if given the opportunity, 66% of respondents said they would. More than one quarter (27%) of respondents said their boss’ personality traits were worthy of impeachment proceedings.
Almost two-thirds of those who have a boss and have an opinion on the subject (63%) agreed that their boss handles stress and adversity well, while over half (51%) believe that their boss’ management style brings out the best in their work.
President Barack Obama was not included in the survey taken in late January, though almost a fifth of Gen Y employees chose an Abraham Lincoln boss, a choice that Randstad notes as a possible Obama connection.
We would like to know - If you could choose a boss similar to a U.S. president, who would you pick?
Social media and networking sites expand daily, connecting users of every age group from across the globe and in every professional industry. Corporate trainers are also harnessing the power of social media to connect with those they instruct, and aid in their own personal learning and development.
Twitter is one social network connecting millions of people by asking one simple question: “What are you doing?”
In 2008, Twitter recorded over two million unique visitors, marking a 422% increase from the year before. There are Twitter users from every age group, nationality and profession using the tool to answer one simple question: “What are you doing?”
If you’re still unfamiliar - Twitter is the free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (or tweets), which are text messages of a maximum of 140 characters.
When you first sign up for a Twitter account, you may be asking yourself some questions - Why did I sign up for this? What am I doing here? How is this thing supposed to be useful?
Before you get frustrated and quit, just stop and take a deep breath. Not everyone uses Twitter for the same purpose and it may take some experimenting to find what works for you. Try it out for about a month and then ask yourself again if you still think it is useful.
If you’re still struggling to find meaning in the social networking site, read over these 8 ways trainers can use Twitter:
Connect with experts. Twitter gives you the ability to connect in a conversational way with top experts in your industry from around the world. Through those conversations you can learn new processes, training tips and advice on how to improve your courses and seminars.
Discover new information. As you start following more people on Twitter, you’ll find that it’s a great place to find new studies, data and interesting articles to expand your knowledge.
Research new ideas. Having trouble finding information on a certain topic? Ask your Twitter followers to help. Whatever your question may be, Twitter users are generally happy to help. It’s a great platform for brainstorming that leaves a trail of every shared idea.
Connect with trainees. In the past, trainers would finish their course and send trainees on their way, rarely hearing from them again. Today, trainers can give trainees their Twitter username to follow to stay in contact after the course is complete. Trainers can share extra information, upcoming events and helpful tips on how to utilize information from the course.
Keep the discussion going. After you have connected with attendees, you can keep the conversations from the classroom going on Twitter. Attendees who may have felt uncomfortable speaking up in the classroom can get their point across online.
Get feedback. Students from your training course or seminar can give you helpful and almost immediate feedback on what they thought of the course. You can use their comments and critiques to improve your next course.
Facilitate collaborative learning. By connecting with you, trainees will also be able to connect with each other on Twitter and learn together. Attendees can send direct messages to find out if other classmates are experiencing the same hardships and share advice with one another on how to work through it.
Monitor the learning process. As trainees put what they learned in the classroom into action, they’ll probably have some questions for you along the way. Students can tweet and retweet about new things they learned, difficulties implementing new techniques, personal tips and new resources they found that help facilitation.
How do you use Twitter to add value to your training? Have any more ideas to add to our list on how trainers can use Twitter? Please leave a comment and let us know.
There’s a ton of great information out there this week, so much that breaking it up and discussing it all separately would take months. Instead, we’ll just direct you strait to the sources of all it. Here’s some of the best HR and training related information posted on the Web this week:
Try to give hugs to more people at work. After just four sips of wine, read how Brazen Careerist Penelope Trunk made an amazing discovery - hugging in the workplace can make you happier. If President Barack Obama can bring hugging into the White House, you can find a way to bring it into your workplace.
While we’re talking about Obama, he just signed the $787 billion stimulus package that included some important HR action items. The team at G.Neil’s HR Forum put together a quick overview of how the stimulus plan will impact HR and U.S. businesses.
Obama signed the billion dollar stimulus package yesterday and now is the time for the Leadership Development Economic Stimulus Package, according to Dan McCarthy at Great Leadership. The total cost of Dan’s plan is only a fraction of that Obama signed, but the impact on business leadership would be huge.
Put yourself in their shoes. Knowing your audience will put you on the road to success when designing your next training program. Take some advice from Chris Morgan at Learn2Develop, put yourself in the shoes of your trainees and look at your training from a new perspective.
Is the traditional training course dead? If so, technology is the killer. Technology gives us the power to learn what we need to know, when we need to know it and most of what we learn is through informal methods. Learn more about the potential death of the instructor-led training course by reading this Training Zone article by Vaughan Waller.
You can train for a marathon, you can train employees to follow safety rules at work, but is it possible to train yourself to be happy at work?
Karl Staib, author of Work Happy Now!, believes that by eliminating complaining out of your day it can force a positive change in your life and at work.
Karl recently signed himself up for a personal “No Complaining” 30-day challenge and discovered how putting situations in a positive light had the power to change attitudes of people around him, as well as his own attitude.
He explains how it basically comes down to how you phrase things:
“I might say, “I don’t feel like going to work today. I’m tired. My job doesn’t give me any incentive to work hard.” This is just whining. If I rephrase it and say, “I’ve been working really hard on this project and I need a break.” Then we start to turn the complaining into something more positive. If I rephrase it again and say, “Going to work is probably not the best choice for me right now, but I need to work on this important project.” Then we get into more of a “sharing complaining” territory.
You could say in a boisterous voice, “I’m going to work today and even though I’m tired, I’m going to accomplish great work.” It doesn’t sound so much like complaining, but reinforcing a positive state of mind. We all know it’s still complaining, but it’s a lot easier to handle for the people who have to listen.”
He followed two methods to reduce complaining:
1. If you complain about something, redirect your thoughts to something positive.
Instead of saying, “Arrgh, why do I have to do this report over? I wish they would make up their minds.”
Say, “Okay, they might not be right, but I don’t know all the reasons behind their decisions. I’ll redo this report and also take mental notes on how I would handle this situation. When I become an owner/manager I won’t make the same mistakes.”
Understand that the experience, whether positive or not, can be used to improve our skills. Looking at it in a positive light makes you feel like you have control over the situation where you may have felt powerless before.
2. Rephrase the complaint before you say it.
You’re thinking, “Arrgh, why do I have to do this report over?”
Rephrase that thought by saying, “Hmm, it’s interesting that they want me to do this report over.”
Flipping the complaint into a positive statement or rephrasing it can mean the difference between having a horrible day or a great one. Finding a way to enjoy the situation, even if it’s not how you originally intended it to turn out, will help you have a better day and be happier at work.
Here’s how Karl sums up his 30-day “No Complaining” challenge:
“No Complaining” for thirty days made me aware of many areas of my thoughts and emotions that were invisible before this challenge. This month has given me the most personal improvement I’ve seen all year. It helps to take a microscope to your inner thoughts. I’ve taken my work happiness to a whole new level.
Read more about Karl’s “No Complaining” challenge at Work Happy Now!
So, do you think you can train yourself to be happy at work? Do you think it’s a worthwhile experiment to try?
These days, employees are taking on more responsibility and working harder than ever. You want to recognize your staff for all of their efforts, but your budget doesn’t seem to have any room for new ideas.
The good news? Most workers don’t need a high-priced award to feel appreciated. A January 2007 survey by Accountemps found that “frequent recognition of accomplishments” is the most effective form of non-monetary compensation named by full- and part-time office workers.
Even if you don’t have a lot of money to go around right now, there are still ways to treat your employees right and show them that you appreciate the extra effort they’ve been putting in recently.
Use a few ideas from this list of 10 low-cost employee incentives to show employees you care without breaking the bank:
Hold an event for no reason. Come up with a themed event each month, even if there isn’t a holiday to celebrate. Some examples: Crazy Hat Day, Favorite Sports Team T-Shirt Day. Have employees bring in some snacks from home and treat them to a few pizzas on the company’s tab.
Allow employees to take family days. For those days when kids may be off school, but parents may not be off of work, allow employees to work from home. Whether it’s a school half day or snow day, let employees skip the commute and spend more time with their kids, while getting work done.
Create a contest. Hold a contest that everyone can get involved in - post a trivia question on the company intranet or fill a jar full of thumbtacks and place it on the receptionist’s desk. Let employees guess the answer and give a small prize to the person who guessed the closest.
Celebrate small achievements. Reward employee achievements with small tokens of appreciation. Give a set of movie tickets to someone who went over their sales goals this month or present a small gift card for coffee to an employee who went above and beyond to help out a colleague.
Give a discount on what you do. Give employees a small discount on the products or services you sell. Encourage employees to pass the offer along to friends and family. It’s a partnership that benefits everyone involved.
Free food. Hold a pizza party on a Friday afternoon or bring in a few dozen bagels one morning. It’s a small gesture that everyone will enjoy and a simple, low-cost way to show your appreciation.
Have employees recognize each other. Ask coworkers to write something they admire about an employee on a small piece of paper. Frame their message along with a photo of the employee and hang them along the hallways.
Create a VIP parking spot. Reserve one of the best spots in the parking lot for employees who have done something outstanding. Give a new employee VIP parking privileges each month.
Turn the break room into a game room. Stock the break room with some classic board games - Chutes and Ladders, Sorry!, Operation, even checkers. The games don’t cost very much and provide some entertainment for employees when they take their break.
Say “thank you.” Leave a handwritten note at an employee’s desk telling them ‘thank you’ for a job well done. They’re two small words that can deliver the highest ROI when it comes to employee incentives.
Improve the productivity of your staff by showing them some well-deserved appreciation from time to time. Even the most simple employee incentive ideas can be just as effective as other high-priced options when you want to show how much you care.
Many of us have found ways to go green at home, from carrying groceries in reusable shopping bags, to eco-friendly light bulbs and buying produce from local markets, but not as many are doing much to go green at work.
Going green at work involves many of the same decisions you've made to become more environmentally friendly at home. With more offices jumping on the green bandwagon, creating a green workspace has become easier than ever before.
Here are eight tips to make greening your workspace even easier:
Buy a plant. Plants improve the quality of the air by removing pollutants like carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in the atmosphere. Putting a plant on your desk is an efficient way to improve the air quality in your office.
Print less. Think twice when you go to hit that print button - Do you really need a hard copy? Could you print double-sided?
Print with soy-based ink. When you have to use the printer, print your documents using eco-friendly, soy-based ink.
Buy recycled. From printer paper to the labor law posters on the wall, buy products and office supplies that are made from recycled materials
Turn off the lights. Turn off the lights in your office or meeting room when you're not there. Also think about replacing the light bulbs with an energy saving bulb.
Turn off your computer. When you leave the office at the end of the day, completely turn off your computer rather than leaving it powered all night. Shut off all the other appliances in your office while you're at it.
Use real silverware. When it's time for lunch, use your own plates and silverware from home, rather than going through dozens of plastic utensils and plates each week.
Avoid the vending machine. Instead of buying a new bottle of water from the vending machine everyday, buy a reusable water bottle that you can wash and refill without creating waste.
Going green at the office can be an easier process than you once may have thought. Implement a few of these tips for making your workspace eco-friendly and encourage your coworkers to do the same.
Last week, New York city mayor Michael Bloomberg called for a federal crackdown on fraudulent construction safety programs after a New York Daily News investigation exposed some dangerous practices.
Undercover Daily News reporters found that trainers were teaching 10-hour federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) courses in two hours. During breaks, some students allegedly drank beers at the bar below the training classroom.
"It's very worrisome. We depend on OSHA to train the workers here so that you're safe when you walk by a construction site, so that the people who work on that site are safe," Bloomberg said.
In a recent MSNBC article, “Would You Like a Beer with That OSHA Training?” the author chronicled how New York has been “dangerously negligent” in carrying out the mandatory safety training.
“Cheating is rampant. I hear lots of stories about guys getting OSHA cards in the back of a bar,” Martin Daly, head of training for the District Council of Carpenters told The News.
The $125 safety course was designed to prevent the types of construction accidents that have killed 19 people and injured 181 others last year alone.
But The News reporter found that instead of fostering, discussing and outlining procedures to deal with live electricity or prevent falls the course trainer simply showed the class a few videos and slideshows.
This attitude toward workplace safety isn’t an isolated occurrence. Studies show that negligence and cutting corners on safety training is a growing national problem.
According to a December survey of workers in the mechanical, electrical, facilities, utilities and plumbing (MEP) fields, almost half of respondents said their employer did not have a budget for training in 2009. One in four workers could not remember or had not been trained yet in a work-related safety procedure or process.
As a result of the recession, businesses have been cutting training and important safety initiatives out of the budget. It’s a decision that puts employees in danger of serious injuries and has businesses risking serious OSHA fines.
Despite deep budge cuts, many companies have found a way to refocus during the downturn and are reexamining their employee training programs.
Right now many employers are focusing their efforts on leadership development to grow strong managers, in order to not be caught empty handed when the economy turns around, according to a Wall Street Journal article from earlier this week.
Identifying and grooming leaders is important in good times, says Bret Furio, senior vice president of consumer lifestyle for Philips Electronics North America. "In times of crisis when the economy is struggling," he adds, "it's imperative."
Companies spent 11% less on training per employee last year and more than twice as many corporate and government training professionals expect training budget decreases rather than increases in 2009, according to recent research.
Philips Electronics NV is part of that group of businesses cutting back on training this year. Instead of eliminating anything, the company found ways to save on their annual leadership development program, called Inspire, and still deliver the same quality training.
In a nod to the tough times, Philips trimmed the budget for Inspire, eliminating one tutor and tapping more employees, rather than outsiders, as trainers. It's holding the program near Seattle and Boston, where Philips has many employees, saving the company transportation costs.
Another big name, Estee Lauder Cos., is also continuing its leadership development programs even after reporting lower sales and profits last quarter and the announcement that the company will be cutting 2,000 jobs over the next two years.
During better times, the company would send 120 executives to a two- or three-week summer college program. This year, it will be sending 60 and only for one week. All of its leadership programs are emphasizing “innovation and managing change in volatile business conditions.”
With training, employees can will save their employers more money by making less mistakes, being more productive and being able to take on more work. Along with saving money, training improves engagement, loyalty and an employee’s confidence in their work.
Training doesn’t have to be expensive in order for it to be effective. Consider these cost-saving training options:
Video training. Instead of sending a group of employees to outside courses that incur expensive travel costs and lost hours, find a comparable video training program to bring in house. For the cost of one ticket to an expensive seminar, you can train an entire room full of people.
Online training. Similar to video programs, online employee training or e-learning allows you to train many for the cost of a few and eliminates travel costs. It also gives employees the ability to work at their own pace and complete courses as they go.
Smart shopping. Tools like TrainingTime.com can help you find and compare employee training programs that will fit in your budget. Shop smart and know you’re getting the best deal for your business.
When you think of compliance training, it’s pretty rare that words like “entertaining” and “fun” would come to mind.
Even though it may still be one of the “least glamorous” topics in corporate training, someone has found a poetic way to make it a little more interesting.
Yehuda Berlinger, an internet professional and game designer from Israel, has rewritten US and Canadian copyright laws as poetry. By putting them in verse form, Yehuda has made intellectual laws memorable and fun to learn.
Yehuda links each verse to the actual copyright law. It’s a brilliant exercise in creative summation and would make great learning activities.
For example, here’s a line from US law § 114. Scope of exclusive rights in sound recordings:
(a) The exclusive rights of the owner of copyright in a sound recording are limited to the rights specified by clauses (1), (2), (3) and (6) of section 106, and do not include any right of performance under section 106(4).
And Yehuda’s verse:
Sound recordings, but not music Can be re-performed As long as it’s attributed And not grossly malformed
Yehuda has rewritten US Copyright Law, US Patent Code, US Trademark Code, Canadian Copyright Code and UK Copyright Law. All of it is posted on his blog.
Whether you’re looking for a new employee learning activity or wanting to improve training retention, try mixing a little rhyme or two into your lesson.
As the instructor, you could turn an otherwise dry piece of information into a memorable moment by rewriting it in verse form. Or, turn the poetry into an activity where trainees take the information they learn and write a poem to summarize the main ideas.
What do you think? Have you ever used poetry or rhyme to make a learning activity more enjoyable? Could you think of any other ways poetry could be used in the learning process?
We talked last week about the lengths some organizations will go to train employees to avoid phishing scams. Before you start sending test scams to everyone in your network, you should have the right computer safety policy in place for employees to follow.
In a recent Business Week tip, security evangelist Ryan Naraine shared some helpful information on setting up computer security policies. The information came out of a conversation with a friend who was in the process of establishing an online printing business and looking for ways to keep his business safe from online intruders.
“The nature of Web-based threats, drive-by malware downloads, and clever social engineering attacks make it nearly impossible to be fully secure,” wrote Naraine.
After acknowledging that fact, there are six “must-do” tasks that can help strengthen your defense:
Invest in security software and make sure signature databases are current. When you’re exploring security options, ask the vendor about approaches to “whitelisting” (application control), “behavior blocking,” and the use of “herd-intelligence.”
Stay on top of the latest patches for Web server and desktop software programs. Set limitations as to what employees are installing on their computers and avoid programs that lack auto-update mechanisms. Keep an eye on patching known vulnerabilities in applications that are constant hacker targets, including applications like Adobe PDF, Adobe Flash Player, Apple QuickTime, RealPlayer and WinZip.
Make it a policy for employees to use the safest Web browser for certain sensitive transactions. Avoid using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for high-value transactions since it is a popular target for hackers.
Establish strong password policies. A strong password should be between 8 and 20 characters, have a mix of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers and symbols. The longer and more complex a password is, the harder it is to crack.
Block access to unnecessary network services and social networking sites. Hackers prey on the trusted nature of sites like Facebook and MySpace to trick users into installing malware on their computers. If an employee doesn’t require Internet access to do their job, don’t give it to them.
Have a system in place to deal with accounts of former employees. Make sure that e-mail accounts and access to sensitive parts of the network are shut off as soon as they lave the company.
Remember that your first line of defense against an online attack is your employees. Employees who are trained on the threats of online dangers are your best asset.
Keep employees trained on the latest online threats and give them the necessary tools to protect their computers and you’ll be taking two big steps to improving the security of your company. Ensure your network remains safe by periodically retraining employees to keep up with hakers’ evolving tactics.
As part of their “Up Close and Personnel Tour,” the award-winning* musical duo of Slimon and Carbunkle created the following video - a musical tribute to the pain and joy of working in human resources.
WARNING: If you take your 70’s - era folk music seriously, this video may give you a facial tick. All, others, please refrain from eating or drinking anything while viewing so as not to ruin your company’s computer equipment…
*Award received for finishing 12th place in this year’s Skankleton County Bratwurst Festival Karaoke Contest.
The question - What can I do to make your job more rewarding, interesting, and satisfying?
The point is that you should never take any employee for granted—particularly the ones you need the most. And to let these folks know that you appreciate them, value them, care about them, and want to keep them happy at work, there’s one question you absolutely must ask them. It may seem simple. It may seem obvious. But how often have you asked this question (or had it asked of you)?
Before asking the question, there are a few rules you need to follow:
Regardless of the employee’s answer, take it seriously and show interest in what they say.
Discuss the answer with the employee and tell them honestly what you can and can’t do.
Let them know what you would like to do and when you think it could happen.
After asking the question and taking a sincere interest in their answer, do it all over again three months from now.
Why?
Employees who know that their feelings and opinions are valued by the company will show it in their work. When bosses listen, it improves employee morale and makes employees want to work harder because they know they are valued.
So, ask the question, ask it often and let employees know you care.
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, the February issue of Training Trends is full of valuable training news and tips on how to show your employees how much you appreciate them for all their hard work.
This month’s issue hitting inboxes today, covers topics including tips for employee recognition and advice on how to handle romantic relationships among coworkers and more.
Each month, the experts at TrainingTime.com share all of the latest and greatest tips, trends and buzz from across the training industry. If you’re not on our mailing list, please take a few seconds and sign up for Training Trends.
Relationships that got their start in the break room, board room or business trip are happening more often and having successful outcomes. Unlike the 10% success rate found with online dating, workplace relationships result in a long-term commitment or marriage 50% of the time. But when the relationship is unsuccessful, it can cause serious problems for employers ... (full article)
Your employees are your greatest asset. Heighten their sense of worth and make them feel that they are an important part of your organization with frequent and meaningful recognition. It doesn’t have to be expensive or lavish. The following actions can go a long way in recognizing employees and provide a positive ROI ... (full article)
Do you go through the day feeling like what you planned to do never got done? The answer to getting more done isn’t adding another planner or system of checkmarks, it’s because you’re doing and planning to do the wrong stuff. Use these tips to make sure that what you’re doing is in line with what you value and where you want your life to go ... (full article)
Take a minute to sign up for Training Trends and you’ll be all set to receive the best training information each month. If you’re a training expert or HR professional and are interested in writing content for Training Trends or TrainingTime.com’s learning library, visit our “Write for Us” page for instructions on how to contribute.
Could your employees spot a phishing scam if they saw one? Would they know what to do if a suspicious email landed in their inbox?
Why not try what the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently put together to train their employees? Send them a test.
To train their employees on the danger of phishing scams, the DOJ designed a scam of their own and recently sent it out as a test for employees.
Michael Santo, Editor-in-Chief of RealTechNews, covered the internal scam in a recent blog post, stressing the importance of employee training to guard your company against online scams.
The DOJ's fake phishing email was written in regards to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), a retirement savings plan, that many civilians employed by the U.S. government and uniformed service members use. The savings plan has recently fallen victim to the economic downturn.
The email directed employees to visit a fake phishing site and asked them to enter their account information by the end of the month.
Some employees spotted the scam right away, some were warned by other employees, but it created enough worry that the TSP actually put a warning message up on their website.
Last week, Ted Shelkey, assistant director for information systems security, sent the worried employees a memo explaining that the savings plan email was a hoax and that the email was just a test.
Everyone and every business is vulnerable to a phishing attack "simply because we humans are naturally programmed to respond to things that are perceived as important to us," according to Linda Musthaler at Nework World.
If a phishing scam were to hit your company, it could cause serious damage to your bottom line including financial loss, customer data breaches, and even intellectual property theft. Because of such risk, every corporate security program should include thorough user awareness training.
“Although we have shown that we can teach people to protect themselves from phishers, even those educated users must remain vigilant and may require periodic retraining to keep up with phishers' evolving tactics,” wrote Lorrie Faith Cranor, director of the Carnegie Mellon University CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory, in the article How to Foil “Phishing” Scams.
We’ve covered the dangers of phishing scams and how employee security training is your first line of defense in an April 2008 post. As a review, here are some tips to avoid being snared by a phishing scam at the office and at home:
If a message lands in your inbox asking for personal or financial information, do not reply or click on any links.
Don’t trust phone numbers either. Some scams involve calling a phone number to update account information. It may seem legitimate, but it’s just a part of the scam.
Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software, along with a firewall. Make sure they are updated regularly.
Never email personal or financial information.
Closely watch credit card and bank statements for any unauthorized purchases.
Call your HR department or whoever is responsible for your company’s online security at the first sign of a phishing scam and report it immediately.
Courtesy of the creative team at Common Craft, here’s a short guide to recognizing and avoiding phishing scams:
A new I-9 form was scheduled to take effect today, but in a surprise move, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) retracted the mandatory changes late on Friday, January 30, pending further comment and review.
I hope you remember where you put your old I-9s, because DHS says we must continue using them until April 3, 2009. The good version of the Form I-9 should have the “(Rev. 06/05/07) N” date on the bottom right-hand corner of the form.
Last Friday, DHS extended another 30-day comment period for the new Employment Verification rules and pushed back the scheduled update by two months, instructing businesses to go back to using the previous guidelines and I-9 forms.
In preparation for the new I-9 forms, many hiring managers and HR departments across the country discarded the previous forms, believing them to be outdated. The retraction and re-instatement of the old forms has some employers scrambling to respond and replace the forms they threw out last week.
Ashley Kaplan, Labor Law Compliance Attorney for G.Neil, received the DHS announcement Friday evening and immediately recognized the potential challenges.
“We worked overtime last week to ship out the updated forms to our customers to begin using on February 2, and now need to get back to them with new instructions,” Kaplan explains. “We’re providing a free pdf of the previous I-9 Form and instructions to our customers who purchased the updated forms. We’ll also closely monitor the extended review period in case further changes occur before the April 3rd deadline.”
If there was ever a time when procrastinating on compliance deadlines could work in your favor - this was it. You now have more time to get the right forms in order and finish up that Form I-9 training.
Still confused and need more information? Read G.Neil's new Form I-9 Q & A.
