Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Career Development

Beyond Work is our line of resources for people and community leaders looking for something new and innovative, be it a new job, career change, or personal development outside of work. Read this category specifically for Career Development.

  • The Conundrum of Incentive Pay

    The Conundrum of Incentive Pay

    I know of two people who have left their job in the last year because they felt like they were slighted when it came to how their company handled incentive pay.  Both of them- one working for a global behemoth of a company and one working for a family start-up- were promised things when it came to incentive compensation and then the rules were changed on them in the middle of the game, thus slighting them in pay they felt they were entitled to.

    And I can think of one company owner who is a friend that has tried and tried to come up with an incentive plan for her business development people that works, only to come out with frustrating results in that the intent didn’t drive the desired outcome.  In some cases, it drove the exact opposite.

    Incentive compensation is tough.  It’s why many companies avoid it all together. But I can’t give up on the fact that tying at least part of pay to outcomes and results that contribute to a company’s bottom-line, and the hard workers pocket all at once, aren’t a good thing.

    Here are some things that stand in order to do incentive pay well:

    1. Align any incentive plan with your company values that drive everyday behaviors. This should dictate that an incentive to perform is not an incentive to cheat. Be like Southwest Airlines, not Wells Fargo.
    2. Combine incentives programs with overall social recognition that includes monetary and non-monetary rewards for a job well done. As a Globoforce blog post states:

    In 2012, Aberdeen surveyed more than 300 sales organizations to understand how best-in-class organizations motivate their sales staff. Recognition for a ‘job well done’ scored higher than any other non-cash incentives, including competitions, learning & development, and team-based financial compensation. Further, Aberdeen found that best-in-class companies are more likely to indicate that internal recognition for positive performance results is a vital motivator for sales success.

                            And this-

    “Just remember that your sales people are human, too, and crave recognition and appreciation beyond the basic comp plan.”

    1. DWYSYWD- Do what you say you will do. This means if you say you are going to pay x amount out for doing or achieving y, then do it.  If you screwed up and didn’t figure out beforehand how this affects your bottom-line, its your fault not your employees’.  Of course, this should be tempered with stating that incentive compensation structures are not indefinite in nature, because markets and situations change.  However, when you communicate a plan to your employees you should let them know when this structure “expires” so to speak or is subject to review and changes (most likely on an annual basis) to be clear on expectations of payouts.

    Like this post?  You may also like:

    Corporate Recruitment Incentive Programs from Fistful of Talent

    Meaningless Core Values – A Dangerous Liability

  • 4 Reasons Why Job Hopping is a Good Thing

    4 Reasons Why Job Hopping is a Good Thing

    In my first gig out of college as a corporate recruiter, I had responsibility for the grind of hiring classes of customer service reps. Volume recruiting at its finest.   When I was trained by a co-worker on the company’s process for screening applicants, my fellow team member told me that the process used to include screening people out who were “job hoppers”- those that shown through their resume- couldn’t seem to stay at one job for more than a year or two at a time.

    Then the lawyers got involved and told us we couldn’t screen people out for that.  I understood both sides.  On the view of screening those job hoppers out, the company invested a substantial amount of time in training quality customer service reps. If someone had been shown to not stay with a place for longer than a year or two through their past behavior, (and past behavior predicts future performance had been drilled into my head from an interviewing and screening perspective) the company was making bad decisions hiring those that might not even stay through the entire training period.   And, although rule follower I am not, I could see why the lawyers told us not to.  Whisper potential adverse impact and you cut it out.

    But now I see another reason why screening people based on their “job hopping” isn’t a best practice.   In today’s workplace, average length of service is declining, hovering at less than five years for all workers. People change jobs quite often, and often for advancement and career growth reasons.

    Now when I look at someone’s resume and see they have been in the same job for more than 8-10 years, I am more inclined to think, what is wrong with you?  Why have you moved up, done more, gained more experience?

    A quote I saw on LinkedIn a couple of days ago said something along the lines of,  “What we used to call job hopping is now called career experimentation.”

    Whether you think the wording is all bull or not, there some potential advantages to hiring a job hopper:

    1. Diversity of experiences, which could lead to an ability to innovate and to contribute in a way that the company may not have thought of before.
    2. Indication of motivation and drive. Because many people job hop in order to advance in pay and/or responsibility, job hopping could show a greater level of drive than someone who is content to stay in one role at one company.
    3. Ability to find cultural fit. Because job hoppers have seen different work environments, they are better able to compare and contrast environments to know what environments are the best fit for them and seek out those environments and opportunities.
    4. A social capital advantage. People who have worked at a variety of places are bound to know more people.  And as social capital replaces human capital (who you know and what they collectively know as opposed to just what you know) as the biggest asset an employee can provide, having those who are well networked on your team can lead to better outcomes.

    As an employer, you’ve got to weigh your opportunity cost as to what a job hopper may bring to your table.   Considering the amount of time and training it takes for them to be a contributing member of your team, not to mention recruitment/replacement costs for particular roles, verses the above advantages is worth the analysis.

    Do you love or hate job hoppers?

     

    Like this post? You may also like:

    Millennials Stop Apologizing for your Job Hopping

  • How Neuroscience Is and Will Revolutionize HR

    How Neuroscience Is and Will Revolutionize HR

     

    In December of 2014, my then four-year-old son started having seizures. After three of them occurred in a short period of time, we went to see a pediatric neurologist who first did an electroencephalogram (EEG) to begin to identify the cause of the seizures so we could determine a course of treatment.

    Utilizing this technology as well as other techniques, she put our son on a medicine that has controlled his seizures. He hasn’t had one in over a year, and we are thankful for the doctors, the scientific discoveries and the technology that made this a reality.

    Neuroscience has long been connected to understanding neurological disorders like seizures. It is also frequently used for explaining behavior, specifically behaviors tied to clinical diagnosis. However, neuroscience is beginning to infiltrate the workplace giving us the ability to use brain science for talent assessment. The EEG used to understand my son’s seizures is now being utilized to understand a variety of talent management questions, as Dario Nardi points on in his article “Your Brain at Work” in HR Magazine.

    As we move forward into the future of behavioral assessment in the workplace, I believe neurological assessment will begin to gain ground to complement, and maybe even take the place of what is most commonly used now- the self-report assessment.

    Why? Well, because it’s more honest. Self-reports are just that- self-reported. Monitoring brain activity points to a more objective approach to understand who we are and why we behave the way we do. Because of this, brain based assessments can help:

    • Create self- awareness in employees to aid in the understanding of who we are (personality) and why we behave the way we do.
    • Improve team building & talent placement by helping individuals and companies understand how to better work together.  This will help companies answer the question, is there enough cognitive diversity on our team?
    • Build better training programs through customized learning. Neuroscience can help us understand how individuals learn best and cater training and development to personalized needs.

    Whereas brain science and the technology related to it is exciting to see in the talent assessment industry for the same reasons it is valuable in medicine- it aids in diagnosis which aids in better decision making- my family’s example also points to the need for caution in utilizing the technology.

    When we went back last month with our son for his yearly EEG, the results still showed a “discharge”, as the doctor referred to it, in the left hemisphere of his brain. She explained to us that it was happening very infrequently, but because it was still present, there is a likelihood that if he were taken off the medicine, the seizures would begin to reoccur. Knowing that this area of the brain is tied to language, I asked her if we should be concerned about any issues in his language development. She said no. Given the amount of frequency seen, she said, it would have to be occurring 20-30% more than it is in order for there to be concerns about his language development.

    This example points to why I’d be hesitant to utilize the technology (and you see I did not list it above) in selection because of the potential discrimination issues.  It could lead to discrimination in hiring against individuals (like my son, who does have a diagnosis of epilepsy) based on factors that are not tied to an individual’s ability to perform the essential functions of the job. I would hate for someone who isn’t as knowledgeable in the science to see “discharge” on someone like my son’s EEG and assume has language issues, when he in fact does not.   However, given a multiple-hurdles approach to assessment, EEGs could one day be a valuable selection tool as well, just as they are used as one technique among many to determine the best course of medical action.

    So for all you talent development professionals out there or those aspiring to be, take more science classes. No field, even HR, is immune to the need for a strong STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education.

    How do you see neuroscience shaping human resources? Does it excite you or scare you?

    Like this post? You may also like:

    The Psychology Behind Why People Support Certain Presidential Candidates

    and

    Use Your Brain- Both Sides

  • Career Assessments – The Key to Your Career

    Career Assessments – The Key to Your Career

    Career assessments are a great tool for determining your career path. Assessments can help build self-awareness and then link you with career options based on your talents, passions and values.Whether you are taking your first leap into the workforce, contemplating a college major or making a mid-career change, assessments are certainly a resource you should consider.

    If you do any research on career assessments, you will find there are a vast number ofoptions. There are formal ones that must be administeredby a professional as well as informal onesthat can be done by others or even self-administered.

    So, how do you know where to begin? Here is just a few types of assessments that are offered to individuals considering assessments:

    • Interest Inventories
    • Work Values Inventories
    • Personality Inventories

    Taking a combination of these types of assessments, along with consulting with someone skilled in career development,can help you create a clear picture for career direction.

    A couple of well-knownformalassessments you might have heard ofincludeMBTI and the STRONG Interest Inventory.

    Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality type inventory.”The purpose of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) personality inventory is to make the theory of psychological types described by C. G. Jung understandable and useful in people’s lives. The essence of the theory is that much seemingly random variation in the behavior is actually quite orderly and consistent, being due to basic differences in the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and judgment.
    Checkout this link to find your MBTI.

    STRONG Interest Inventory “The Strong Interest Inventory® assessment is one of the world’s most widely respected and frequently used career planning tools. It has helped both academic and business organizations develop the brightest talent and has guided thousands of individuals—from high school and college students to midcareer workers seeking a change—in their search for a rich and fulfilling career.”
    Click here to visit the website.

    Here are some of our favorite informal assessments that can be self-administered:

    • Who Do U Want 2B? – Great for high school students just beginning exploration
    • My Next Move – Ideal for high school, college or adults who are interested in making a career change
    • Values Card Sort – Ideal for individuals interested in determining what work values are priorities

    If you would like a more in-depth assessment administered by a professional, please contact us at Horizon Point Consulting for more information! We would love to assist you in navigating the next step in your career.

  • CAREER SPOTLIGHT: DIAGNOSTIC MEDICAL SONOGRAPHY

    CAREER SPOTLIGHT: DIAGNOSTIC MEDICAL SONOGRAPHY

    Do you enjoy physics? Do you think medicine and dentistry are interesting? Are you an active listener who enjoys working with people?

    If any of these things describe you, then Diagnostic Medical Sonography may be the career field that would make you tick.

    What do you need to be a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer?

    Education:  Required: Associate’s Degree or Post-secondary Certificate

    If you are a high school student, make sure you are focused on taking sciences including physics and biology.

    Skills:

    Diagnostic Medical Sonographers know how to:

    • Think critically
    • Communicate with others
    • Analyze test data or images to inform diagnosis or treatment

    Is the field growing?

    State and National Trends

    United States Employment Percent
    Change    		 Projected
    Annual Job Openings     1
    2012 2022
    Diagnostic Medical Sonographers 58,800 85,900 +46% 3,530
    Alabama Employment Percent
    Change    		 Projected
    Annual Job Openings     1
    2012 2022
    Diagnostic Medical Sonographers 1,130 1,630 +45% 70

    Source: O*NET

    What’s the Holland Code* for a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer?

    Interest code: ISR- Investigative, Social and Realistic

    • Investigative — Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
    • Social — Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
    • Realistic — Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others

    Source: http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/29-2032.00

    If you are interested in learning more about Diagnostic Medical Sonography, check out:

    US NEWS

    BLS

    Explore Health Careers

    Would you want to be a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer? Why or why not?

    *Holland Codes are a way to classify a person based on their skills and interests as well as jobs based on the nature of the work.  If you have an interest in knowing what your Holland Code is in order to match yourself to careers to pursue, you can read more about our assessment process.