Day: March 28, 2020

WHY APPLICANT TRACKING SYSTEMS NEED A HUMAN TOUCH

Thank you for submitting your application. If your qualifications meet our needs, we’ll contact you. Otherwise, we’ll keep your resume on file for 12 months.”
If your company has an online application system, every applicant receives an email like the above. Likewise, when someone applies to a specific job you’re sourcing, you get a notice. In theory, online application systems are great — the candidate is notified when her resume is received and your human resources team doesn’t have to engage with the candidate unless you want to conduct an actual interview. Applicant tracking systems allow HR professionals to keep on top of numerous requisitions, sort through stacks of resumes without touching a single sheet of paper and run reports to understand the level of interest in any job posting. 
But if these systems make the entire hiring process easier, why do job candidates hate them so much? Because they take the “human” out of the process.

The Danger of Asking Questions Without Context

The questions on a standard application form are often intrusive and provide no room for context: Have you applied for a job lately? Have you applied for another job at your company? What was your salary at your last job? The system demands a number, and gives no opportunity for a candidate to explain if a role was part-time at 30 hours a week. As a result, if the recruiter runs a query on salary, some worthy candidates may not show up at all.
Many online applications also require candidates to list references in order to continue. While gathering this information saves time for the recruiter later on, the question can also make applicants nervous, wondering “Are you going to call my reference before an interview?” or “If I mark off ‘Please don’t contact’ next to my current employer, does that take me out of the running?” Applicants don’t want to bug their references for a job they have no shot at getting, and they certainly don’t want unexpected calls to their current boss. 
Here’s the problem: As recruiters, hiring managers and HR generalists, we want to know as much as possible about candidates before offering an interview. But in return, we provide candidates with as little information as possible. We communicate when we need to know something, but not when they need to know something. We’ll contact a candidate to set up an interview, but we’ll rarely contact a candidate to say, “We’re not interested.” 

How to Look Beyond the Checkbox

Since the online application system masks the actual humans behind the process, we easily reduce job seekers to checkboxes. Instead of thinking, “The person who submitted this resume is really interested in this job and holding out hope that we’ll give her an interview,” we think, “Only three years of experience, a degree in business and no statistical skills. Reject!”
Don’t get me wrong, it’s critical to consider skills and qualifications. It’s important to know when a candidate isn’t a good fit. We want to use everyone’s time – our time, the hiring manager’s time, the candidate’s time – strategically. But when we reduce people to checkboxes and keyword searches, we often skip over people who can do the job, but may not have every checkbox filled in.
Consider the value of a college degree. Degrees are awesome. I have a BA and an MA. I love education. But someone with 20 years of experience and no degree isn’t necessarily less qualified than someone with two years of experience and a degree. It’s important to question why you are looking for someone with a degree in the first place — it’s probably not because they need a piece of paper to hang on the wall. It’s because having a degree shows you can stick through something difficult and perform. Five years of work experience shows the same thing.
Additionally, when we rely on computers to screen our applicants, we may accidentally reject qualified people just because the keywords are so specific. For example, I recently received an email from a woman who applied for a job as an “undergraduate advisor.” The job posting required 3 years of experience. She had 5 years of experience as a “graduate student advisor.” She was certainly qualified, but the recruiter didn’t pull up her resume because she was looking for something specific. When the candidate reached out to the hiring manager and shared her qualifications in person, the manager quickly pulled her resume out of the system, interviewed her and hired her. But the computer? The computer rejected her.
Applicant tracking systems are efficient, but they can also cause you to miss out on the unique experiences that define a great applicant. It’s important to remember to keep the “human” in human resources – use the ATS as a tool, not as the final decision-maker.

THE SECURITY DEVELOPMENT LIFECYCLE: WHERE PROACTIVE CONTROLS SAVE THE DAY

The connected world of HR technology is exploding, and more and more companies are trusting employee and company information in the hands of cloud software companies. The problem? Complex, public-facing cloud systems are hard to secure. That’s just a fact. So, what can providers do about it?
The answer is simple: Detect and minimize security risks and threats in your product before they are released. But to do that, you need a well-defined strategic framework—a Security Development Lifecycle (SDL)—to guide product development and help ensure that security is baked in by various teams.  This is a cross-functional effort with the Product, Development, QA, Security and Release teams acting together for the common good.
The SDL concept is not new, but growing pressure on software developers to adopt a formal framework is—especially when it comes to protecting critical and private employee information. Recent high-profile data breaches involving major retailers, financial institutions and government agencies have customers asking vendors more questions about security. They want assurance that developers are doing all they can to reduce risk and make safer products.
Instilling greater confidence in your customers is an important reason to adopt an SDL process, of course, but there are other benefits. Reducing the need for firefighting is a primary one. Think of the resources you need to deploy to respond to a security incident after your product has been released—the time and cost involved can be significant.
In fact, as Microsoft notes on its website about the “Benefits of SDL,” the National Institute of Standards and Technology estimates that code fixes performed after release can result in 30 times the cost of fixes performed during the design phase. So, the bottom line is that it can be far more cost-effective to ask questions about security and address risks in the earliest stages of product development. Here’s what you need to know about creating an SDL at your company.

Tailor the SDL Framework to Your Needs

SDL frameworks provide inspiration and tools for reducing software security risk, but you have to make sure you implement a framework unique to your organization’s processes and culture. You will need to tailor your own blend of best practices to create a relevant and effective framework. Technical controls typically require particular customization and tuning based on internal process, technology and capability.
Process-based preventative controls include verifying that project-based security activities occur prior to release, while technical controls include static analysis and dynamic analysis security testing.  Technical controls often require a security toolbox including tools like SIEM (Splunk), static source code analysis (Checkmarx), static binary analysis (Fortify), and dynamic analysis security testing (WhiteHat Sentinel, Burp Suite, ZAP).  We also build custom scripts and have meaningful manual processes for verifying that new features are free of severe and common kinds of security defects, including SQL injection, command injection, cross-site scripting, and authorization issues.
That’s what we’ve done at our company. Cornerstone’s SDL framework is actually a hybrid of leading frameworks like the Microsoft SDL and the Building Security in Maturity Model (BSIMM). We’ve also added a core element that is a reflection of what Cornerstone is—a learning company. Continuous learning is the cornerstone of our SDL, with product security training forming the hub of our SDL “wheel”:

Educate Your Team

Our goal is to make learning fun.  We believe that education and training is the best proactive security control. For example, we have developed an application security game that is part of the mandatory curriculum for all of our technology personnel. It’s multiple choice, but it’s tough—and we can chart the progress of every developer as they move through that curriculum.
What we are doing at Cornerstone is advanced for the talent management space. And it’s enabling us to confidently answer three vital questions customers ask in security RFPs and audits:
  • Do you have a strategic framework for secure product development?
  • Have you implemented some level of control that indicates maturity across those practices?
  • Do you conduct role-based application security training and measure the results?
We leverage our internal implementation of the Cornerstone LMS to deliver annual training on security policies and guidelines for all employees, and provide focused, role-based application security training for Dev, QA, and the technical personnel responsible for delivering code-shipping products.  Additionally, we provide specialized training on SIEM, static analysis, and dynamic analysis security testing tools.
Further, Cornerstone is proud to be a member of Cloud Security Alliance, and frequently hosts monthly gathering in the Los Angeles area at Cornerstone’s Santa Monica headquarters.  This educational forum helps keep Cornerstone ahead of the curve when it comes to cloud security.

Proactive Product Security

More importantly, our SDL framework allows us to confirm that we have done everything we could to build security into a product before we release it, answering key questions like:
  • Did we specify secure design requirements? Were they met/satisfied/followed?
  • Did we conduct secure code review? What did we find?
  • Did we perform dynamic security testing? What was the result?
  • Did we ensure new features were covered in per-release penetration testing? What was the outcome?
  • Is the product security incident response team aware of the new attack surface, and do they know who to contact in the event issues are found?
The whole concept of the SDL is to build proactive controls that reduce risk and the reactive need for firefighting. You developed a more secure product by bringing together all stakeholders at the outset—the product designer, the development lead, the quality assurance team, and others—to ask and answer, “What are we building? What are the risks? And what can we do to prevent them?”
What’s the conclusion?  The program and process has to be ongoing since technology changes and employees take on new challenges.  Updating the programs frequently is critically important. The process is iterative and meant to support a “Maturity Model” mindset.

ESCAPE THE MULTITASKING MADNESS: 6 WAYS TO STAY FOCUSED

Like it or not, multitasking has become de facto for workers. Bouncing between answering emails, checking text messages, reading news headlines and attending meetings, employees are more inundated with data and distractions than ever before.
Millennials are especially prone to flitting between screens, browser tabs and actions. At the same time, research about multitasking’s harmful effects continues to emerge. A McKinsey study found that only 9 percent of executives are “very satisfied” with how employees’ time was allocated.
How can managers encourage these overly wired team members to stay focused?
  • Give employees creative tasks that provide incentive enough to focus. “Make sure they grasp the point of what they’re doing. Many switch-taskers say they don’t care how productive they are because their work is ‘just dumb,’” says Neil Howe, author of Milliennials in the Workplace.
  • Streamline meeting schedules. Ineffective meetings are among the top time wasters in the work week. Make sure that every meeting has a clear purpose, or else employees might be forced to involuntarily multitask for lack of time.
  • Make the ability to focus part of company culture. Management can lead by example, refraining from texting during meetings, for instance, and voicing the merits of concentrating on one task at a time.
For employees susceptible to multitasking (who isn’t?), here are some ways to stay focused:
  • Schedule time to “unitask.” When employees have a memo to write or a deck to prepare, they should block off a set time on their calendars to devote all of their attention to that one item.
  • Unitask for a specific amount of time. It might not be feasible to focus on one agenda item for hours on end, but employees can set aside say, 10 minutes, to answer an email, and follow through.
  • Use tools to turn off distractions. RescueTime provide users with data about how much time they spend on different activities. It also let employees block distracting websites for certain periods of time. AwayFind re-prioritizes users’ emails based on important senders and topics, decreasing the need to check the inbox every few minutes. Coffee Break lets employees schedule a break, and turns their screens dark when it’s time to step away for a minute.
What do you think managers can do to limit multitasking and help employees focus?

Bryant & Stratton College On Campus Childcare is a Gamechanger for Students

She had moved to a new city with her 3-year-old son. There was no family nearby who could help watch him while she went back to school. Her son had speech impediments and needed to be in a daycare she could trust to work with his special needs.
And, there was little extra money to pay for daycare while she worked and attended classes.
When she applied to Bryant & Stratton College in Hampton, Va., the flexible schedule and personal service were not the only perk. Her campus also offered on campus childcare.
“My son loves it. He really loves it,” she said. “I can be at home and tell him to get ready and he won’t move. Then I say we are going to class and he jumps up.”
Porter earned her counseling associate degree and is now working at the child care center on campus helping other working parents achieve their goals.
“People come in the middle of the semester when their other childcare plans fall through,” she said. “People come and say, ‘if this wasn’t here, I wouldn’t be able to go to class. It’s a lifesaver.’”
It is a sentiment that the staff at the children centers on several Bryant & Stratton College campuses hear on a daily basis.
“I’ve heard quite a few of my parents say, ‘Thank God we have children’s college. We have nowhere for our children to go. This is a lifesaving place for a lot of people,” said Denisetrica Lankford, Children’s Center Coordinator at the Richmond, Va. campus.
The centers are not curriculum-based preschools but are more than simple babysitting. Lankford said children who attend in the morning do follow a schedule and work on pre-kindergarten skills. Children who attend in the afterschool and evening hours receive homework help and can play educational games on the center’s computers.
Many of the centers are open as late as 10:30 p.m. After dinner, children are treated to a movie and given time to wind down while they wait for their parents to finish class. The majority of the centers are open five days a week and available to part-time and full-time students. The stipulation is that parents must remain on campus while their child is in the center.
Cost is roughly $4 an hour, depending on the location; students can use their financial aid dollars to pay should they qualify. To find out more about using financial aid for childcare, visit your campus financial aid office or childcare center.
Lankford said she loves working at the center and making a better life possible for working parents and their children.
“They are learning and growing, that is the best part,” she said. “You know you made a difference in a child’s life.”
Want to go back to college but are struggling with how to manage daycare? Check out the degrees available at colleges with daycare like Bryant & Stratton College.

LEARNING CORNER WITH JEFF PFEFFER: HOW TO GET MORE BENEFIT FROM HEALTH BENEFITS

Some years ago, after a particularly bad experience, I asked our associate vice president of benefits how much we were paying the person who helps us decide which health benefits to offer to employees. When he replied, I told him that I was sure I could provide at least as much aggravation for substantially less cost.
My story is all too common.
In my opinion, there are some important truths about health benefits that employers should consider in order to maximize the dollars they spend on them: First, it’s imperative to remember that benefits are a vitally important way to attract and retain employees—so the better the benefits, the higher probability of retention. Second, most large health benefits administrators have low net promoter scores because they aren’t doing a great job interacting with a company’s employees—wasting employees’ time and increasing costs. And third, it’s critical to choose benefits administrators that take advantage of new, technology-enabled, customer-focused health providers in the marketplace. All of this means that there are significant opportunities for companies to get many more benefits from their health benefits spending.
Health Benefits: The Hard Truth
Let’s examine these ideas one at a time.
Benefits matter to employees. A 2016 Aflac survey reported that 60% of employees were likely to take a job with lower pay but better benefits. The same survey noted that 42% of people said that improving benefits is the one thing employers could do to keep them in their job. Sixteen percent of respondents said they had left a job or turned down an offer in the preceding 12 months because of the benefits offered. Another survey found that 55% of the respondents said that health insurance was the single most important benefit affecting their job satisfaction. Health benefits matter for attracting and retaining workers, particularly in tight labor markets and for crucial jobs—and data show this is true even for younger workers.
But health benefits are costly. The 2018 Kaiser Family Foundation survey noted that average family premiums were $19,616. With employees contributing $5,547 toward coverage, the average employer spends $14,069 per employee. For an employer with 2,500 employees, that’s $35 million per year.
Unfortunately, that money is not doing what it could, because too many employers are using the wrong health insurance administrators and not holding them accountable. Many of the companies administering health benefits are failing in their fundamental task of serving companies—and their employees. PeopleMetrics’ 2013 Most Engaging Customer Experiences study noted that “across seven different B2C verticals, health insurance had the lowest net promoter score” with “few customers trusting their insurance providers to do what’s in their best interest.” The average NPS score in that survey was -20. 
What’s more, employees waste time interacting with their health insurance providers. At my urging, Gallup recently asked a random sample of people how much time they spent in the prior week both on and off the job dealing with health insurance issues. Dan Witters, Gallup’s research director for the National Health and Well-Being Index, told me he estimated more than $14 billion in lost productivity to non-farm employers from time spent hassling with health insurance companies. And that cost does not include the psychological consequences of people’s attitudes toward the employers who choose plan administrators and benefits providers. 
This level of bad service is not inevitable. Technology, increasingly implemented by start-ups in the healthcare space, can now predict and manage health care costs while providing a more employee-friendly service. The health insurance industry is ripe for disruption and is attracting enormous outside investment. One recent article noted that “between 2010 and 2017, the value of investments in digital health increased by 858 percent” with more than $40 billion invested this decade. 
Even now, employers can find vendors (both health insurance administrators and providers) that will do better, if they are willing to use newer and more innovative organizations. As healthcare has moved from a B2B to a B2C model, a number of providers focusing more on customer engagement have emerged and their net promoter scores are showing the true benefits of a new, customer-first approach: one benchmarking study found that Collective Health (on whose advisory board I sit) had a net promoter score of 70, Plansource 74, and Kaiser-Permanente 40.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Here are some straightforward but important things companies can do to fix their approach to benefits. First, and most fundamentally, companies should change their decision criteria for benefits to focus on things besides cost. That will require expanding the range of measures substantially, because what gets measured receives management attention.
For example, measure employee satisfaction with health benefits administrators and use that information to find administrators that aren’t wasting employees’ time and creating dissatisfaction. Measure how much time your people are spending, at work and off the job, on administrative work related to healthcare and see if, just as in other parts of your operations, you can eliminate a lot of this waste. The hassle factor of dealing with health insurance admins and providers is one of the most enormous and largely unnoticed costs of the current way of administering health care.
As another measure, consider the fact that health insurance is, believe it or not, presumably designed to promote health. So why not use health indicators as outcome measures? Things such as work days lost to sickness, people’s self-reported health, measures of health behaviors, biomarkers related to health status. In the narrow fixation on the costs of health claims and benefits administration, companies are not seeing the whole picture. A 2017 article noted that too few analyses of the costs of illness included productivity loss estimates in their economic evaluations. A study of more than 51,000 employees working for 10 employers found that health-related productivity costs were almost 2.5 times larger than direct medical and pharmacy costs.
Having seen all of this at close range in my years on a Stanford committee overseeing our health insurance benefits, I have come to one conclusion that will fix a lot. If outside “experts” recommend suppliers with net promoter scores that are negative or in the single digits, maybe it’s time to get some new experts, people who will help your organization get greater value from your important expenditures on the benefits that are crucial to the well-being of your employees—and your company.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

A NEW POSEIDON ADVENTURE: FLIPPING SUCCESSION PLANNING UPSIDE DOWN

Organizations make significant investments in efforts to hire the right candidates – the people who have the right experience and cultural fit. By carefully managing the performance and potential of these people over time, the organization can grow its leadership pipeline, keep a steady inventory of needed skills and competencies and remain nimble in the face of change (which we have plenty of all around us these day) – all of which can have serious impact on the bottom line.
However, much of this pie-in-the-sky stuff relies on being able to locate and cultivate high-potential and high-performing talent across the board.  Without an integrated succession management solution, recognizing and developing talent can be an ever-elusive process.
The questions we are seeing asked today include: does the traditional top-down approach to succession management still make enough of a difference?  Does managing succession for a slim strata of senior executives take full advantage of the kinds of talent data we now have at our fingertips?
It doesn’t have to be so. Succession management can be an interactive process between senior leadership, managers and employees at all levels of the organization.  And, if we trust them, we can actually let employees become active participants in their own career development. (Shudder.)

Career Management (Succession Planning Flipped Upside Down)

This “bottom-up” approach is gaining momentum because who better to tell us about employee career path preferences than employees themselves. Organizations actually have talent management and other HR systems in place that allow for collecting and analyzing a whole slew of data around:
  • Career history
  • Career preferences
  • Mobility preferences
  • Professional and special skills
  • Education achieved
  • Competency ratings
  • Performance scores
  • Goal achievement
  • Training and certifications
  • Etc.
In short, pretty much everything we’d want to know to make well-informed succession planning and talent pooling decisions.
For some, the leap is simply putting some power into the employee’s hands.  The talent management system of 2011 is capable of displaying a clear internal career path for employees and then, on the basis of all that data bulleted out above, showing a “Readiness Gap” – what do you need to do to make the step to the next level?  And if your talent management environment comes armed with a real Learning Management System, you can take it to the next level with a dynamically generated development plan that gets the employee on the right path to actually closing those gaps.  Faster development, faster mobility.
Organizations that seriously favor internal mobility don’t just make employees stick on pre-defined career paths – they can search for ANY job in the company and check their Readiness levels.  I might be in accounting today, but what I really want to do is move to marketing. Giving employees the chance to explore various career avenues within the organization helps assure that “water finds its level” – that is, that the right people with the right skills and the right levels of motivation and engagement find the right job roles internally.
Employee participation is key, but make no mistake – managers play an important role in this interactive process.  They must be prepared to provide career coaching, identify development opportunities and recommend employees for job openings.  The candid discussions require that employees have open access to information so they can best understand the criteria necessary to move to the next level.

A Two-Way Street

Employee-driven career management is just one tool.  The more traditional top-down approach to succession management remains indispensable.  But organizations that value talent mobility and the ability to be able to shift and mobilize talent resources quickly will find that attention to career pathing can be vital.
For employees, of course, the impacts are immediate and include boosted levels of engagement, higher retention, increased productivity and more.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

Women’s Soccer Starts 2016 on the Right Foot

The Bryant & Stratton College women’s soccer team took a win and a hard-fought draw from two NCAA DIII opponents this past weekend. Senior Kai Jacobs scored a pair of goals in BSC’s 2-0 win over Cazenovia College while senior goalkeeper Megan Hagadorn made 13 saves the following day against SUNY Poly.

THE NO. 1 BEST PLACE TO WORK FOR MILLENNIALS?

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, 80 percent of Millennials want — expect, actually — to work abroad during their careers. It\’s not clear if that figure is unique to a generation known for a grass-is-greener approach to life or a reflection of the itinerant ways of young adults throughout the history of mankind. But this much is certain: technology paired with more flexible company cultures means Millennials (there are 40 million of them and counting, according to TIME) are far more likely to get their wish than their Gen X or Baby Boomer predecessors.
“International experience is an essential requirement for future leaders and as such should be cultivated from the very beginning of a graduate’s career,” according to the PwC report, which surveyed some 4,300 graduates around the world about their career expectations.
So does this mean waves of Millennials are on the verge of buying a one-way ticket to Shanghai? Hardly. There are ways hiring managers can feed (or even fulfill) those nomadic urges — and still hold onto their 20-something talent.

Accomodate Flexible Hours

The 9-to-5 schedule is headed for obsolescence. In the age of mobility, employees increasingly are working when they want and where they want. This newfound freedom requires some company parameters (e.g., workers must notify HR when working remotely and email teams when they\’re out of the office at specific hours during the day), but blurring the line between work and life goes a long way toward satisfying Millennials\’ peripatetic instincts. It also gives them the confidence to make the jump to work abroad one day, either with their current company (in a physical or virtual office) or someplace else.

Eliminate – Or Shrink – Hierarchies

Companies that embrace \”open\” offices, where summer interns sit next to the CEO, or shy away from titles tend to create cultures where morale is high and Millennials feel comfortable interacting with older generations. These \”flat\” structures, as they\’re called, encourage employees to ask for what they want, including living and working abroad.

Invest in Technology

PwC reports that Millennials routinely make use of their own technology at work and three-quarters believe that access to technology makes them more effective at work. However, technology is often a catalyst for intergenerational conflict in the workplace and many Millennials also express feeling held back by rigid rules around technology. Invest in collaborative programs that will help bridge this gap. It\’s important to emphasize that technology isn\’t a shortcut, but an aid for teamwork in an era when people are constantly on the go — or, in the case of Millennials, looking abroad.
None of these measures is easy to implement, said Lauren Rikleen, head of the workplace consultancy Rikleen Institute for Strategic Leadership, in Forbes. \”The difficulty is that these take time and effort on the part of the employer to implement successfully. But there is no doubt that the end results of such efforts are a more engaged workforce.\”
The best place for any company to at least start the conversation about working abroad — and even, perhaps, satisfy the craving without a single bag getting packed — is at home.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

Prevent the Flu: It’s Not Too Late to Get Your Flu Shot

By Jan K. Carney, MD, MPH, Associate Dean for Public Health, Professor of Medicine, UVM College of Medicine
Influenza (the flu) is a contagious viral disease and spreads by tiny droplets created when people infected with the flu cough or sneeze. Someone with flu can spread it to other people from as far as six feet away. People can spread the flu one day before they complain of flu symptoms and up to a week (sometimes longer in children) after becoming ill. Flu symptoms may include fever, chills, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, stuffy nose, headache or fatigue, but not everyone gets all the symptoms. Sometimes people wonder if it is a cold or the flu, and the National Institutes of Health publishes some helpful distinctions.

What’s the worry? It’s only the flu, right?

Although some people may think “It’s just the flu,” more than 200,000 people are hospitalized in the U.S. each year with flu-related complications. These may include pneumonia, sinus or ear infections, or the flu contributing to worsening health in people with chronic conditions such as certain heart conditions or asthma. Some people are at higher risk of flu complications: people over age 65 or with chronic health conditions, pregnant women, and young children. And people do die from the flu: over the past 30 years, annual flu deaths have ranged from 3,000 to 49,000.

Types of Influenza viruses

There are two major types, A and B, causing seasonal flu epidemics in humans. Influenza A viruses have different strains, such as A (H1N1) and A (H3N2) and different subtypes based on hemagglutinin (H) neuraminidase (N) proteins on their surface. Influenza B viruses have different strains (called lineages) – B/Yamagata and B/Victoria.
How do we know when the flu is here?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracks influenza in the United States and updates a publicly available map each week. Like more detail? (Or want to become a disease detective?) Check out the CDC’s Key Flu Indicators and weekly Flu View report. Regular updates are available in Vermont through the Department of Health’s website.

Why should I get a vaccine each year to prevent the flu?

Flu viruses change, sometimes in a minor way, called “antigenic drift,” and other times through major changes called “antigenic shift.” Because flu viruses are always changing, each year vaccine components are reviewed and updated as needed. In addition, people’s immunity may decrease over time, so for both of these reasons, an annual flu vaccine is recommended. Flu vaccination works by helping the body to make antibodies against the specific vaccine components, and usually takes about two weeks. Different types of vaccines are available.
It takes about 4-6 months to make an influenza vaccine in preparation for each year’s flu season, so decisions about what to include are made the previous winter, when experts study what types of flu viruses are causing disease and how well the vaccine actually protects against the flu. How well the vaccine works depends on both the age and health of the person receiving it, as well as the “match” between the types of flu virus circulating and what’s in the vaccine.
Who should get a flu vaccine?
The short answer is everyone 6 months of age and older, with a few exceptions. People should talk with their primary care provider if they have questions.
Benefits of flu vaccine include preventing influenza, especially in those with higher risk of complications; it may prevent more severe illness and lower the risk of being hospitalized, even if you do get the flu. Many studies demonstrate these benefits among people of all ages, older adults, people with chronic illness, and pregnant women and their infants.
Can I get the flu from the flu shot? No. Injectable flu vaccines are made from an “inactivated” virus or without virus (called recombinant vaccine). The flu nasal spray is made from a weakened virus, and cannot cause the flu.

Isn’t it too late to get a flu shot this year?

No. CDC reports low levels of flu across the United States, increasing in some locations, and it is still not too late to get a flu shot. Most illness occurs between December and February, but can start as early as October and last until May. Flu peaks are often seen sometime in December, so getting a flu shot now, if you haven’t already, is a good idea.

I also hear this year’s flu vaccine isn’t a great match, so should I bother?

Yes, get a flu shot if you haven’t already. The CDC reported on December 3 that about half of the influenza A (H3N2) viruses from October to November of this year were a good match to the vaccine, while about half were not, as a result of virus “drifting.” The H3N2 strains have also been associated with more severe flu seasons in previous years and more hospitalizations. So in addition to the glass half-full vs. half-empty perspective, the current vaccine may still provide some level of protection, even when not a perfect match, reducing more serious complications and deaths. This year’s vaccine also protects against other flu strains – H1N1 flu and B strains. See Vaccine Match for a detailed description of these benefits.
flu_infographic

The flu is familiar, but familiar doesn’t mean harmless, even in healthy people. CDC reminds us that “The most important thing is for all people 6 months and older to get a flu vaccine every year.”
National Influenza Vaccination Week is December 7-13, 2014. Need to find a flu vaccine? Check with your primary care office or see the Flu Vaccine Finder at www.flu.gov. Put in your zip code and you will see a list of nearby locations offering flu vaccine.
carney
Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., is associate dean for public health at the University of Vermont.

TALENT ACQUISITION PROFESSIONALS: TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING YOUR JOB—AND THAT’S A GOOD THING

According to research from McKinsey, 50 percent of work activities are automatable using currently available technology—including a lot of tasks we talent acquisition professionals perform.
On first read, this might sound a lot like the “robots are coming for your job” rhetoric that is all too common today, but the reality is more aspirational. We can finally say goodbye to the countless hours we spend scheduling interviews, sorting resumes and working on many of the other rote mundane tasks that have monopolized our time for too long.
The rise of automation in our role has come at a critical moment. The unemployment rate is one pf the lowest it has been in the last decade (4.0 percent), meaning as talent acquisition professionals, we have to be more strategic in our approach to sourcing, recruiting and enticing talent if we want to stand a chance of filling one of the nearly 6.6 million open positions in the U.S. alone (that doesn’t even include the rest of the globe!).
With some extra time in our days…hopefully, we have the rare opportunity to rethink and rewrite what we do, how we do it and focus on the most critical aspects of our work that fills positions with top tier talent. Looking in my talent acquisition crystal ball I see three ways our roles will evolve to not only increase our impact across the entire organization (by filling roles faster, retaining talent longer, matching candidates to open positions and enhancing candidate experiences), but also ensuring we fulfill our role as strategic leaders.

1) Get to Know Your Data

Our jobs are changing thanks to technology, and so is the traditional resume—all for the better. The resume of the future will make all kinds of candidate data available to recruiters. Instead of a one-page resume filled with past job titles, recruiters will have a whole aggregated Dropbox-like digital portfolio of each candidate’s technical abilities, certifications, accomplishments, skills, social profiles and personality assessments. But what good will that do if we don’t know how to draw insights from the data about whether or not a candidate is a good fit for our organizations? Or what role they will be most successful in? It will be our job, to utilize A.I. to look at historical hires and use algorithms to figure out which qualities (soft skills, hard skills, credentials, certifications, performance) determine success in a role and which candidates have matching skills and experiences.
This will be even more important in the future because candidates won’t apply for a specific job. Rather, recruiters will be responsible for matching candidates of the gig economy to roles, projects, internships and apprenticeships they are the best fit for within the organization. As effective recruiters and strategists this includes forecasting which jobs are likely to open, based on historical data, growth and company goals, throughout the year at your organization and proactively building relationships and pipelining talent for those future roles.

2) Create Your Own Talent Pipeline

Candidates today don’t have the skills they need for the future. A recent McKinsey report found that around 14 percent of the global workforce will have to reskill as digitization, automation and advances in artificial intelligence (AI) disrupt the world of work. Not to mention, according to Manpower Group’s 2016-2017 U.S. Talent Shortage Survey, 46 percent of employers have difficulty filling jobs. How are we supposed to find qualified talent if they don’t exist?
Enter: collaboration with training and development. We will have to work strategically with our organization’s training and development team to create our own talent pipeline rather than waiting for the right talent to find us. Candidates might not come equipped with all the skills they need to be successful at a job, but it doesn’t mean they won’t have the potential to learn them. Talent acquisition will be responsible for identifying which critical skills promising candidates are missing using data from their resume. We will then work with the learning and development team to create customized training plans that ensure candidates get up to speed either before they are hired or right after they start. Developing a sophisticated upskilling training program and funneling the right candidates into it in a timely fashion will help ease talent shortages due to the skills gap.

3) Create Online Communities to Build a Talent Reserve

Recruiters are so busy right now they typically only have time to pursue candidates that fit roles they are actively working to fill. On average, each open corporate position receives 250 job applicants. But as technology and automation become more sophisticated we will be able to move from reactive to proactive recruiting. This means instead of starting outreach when it’s mission critical, we will be able to expand our ability to build relationships with candidates for predicted future open positions. With our focus over the past years on recruitment marketing we have become experts at connecting with people on Facebook, LinkedIn,Twitter and Instagram who display shared interests or relevant experiences. Instead of immediately marketing job opportunities, the focus will shift to building up relationships over time. By maintaining a community of engaged potential candidates on social media and within our community network, you will have a talent pool to tap into when the need arises and be able to fill positions faster.
As automation and new technology take over many of the tasks that used to be considered a necessary part of the talent acquisition role, we have the rare opportunity to decide for ourselves how we want to evolve and revolutionize our roles. By finding new and meaningful ways to use data, upskill talent and build communities we set ourselves and our organizations up for success in a challenging talent market.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. What aspects of talent acquisition would you would change if automation saved you a few hours each day? Together we can figure out how to make our work more thoughtful, strategic and impactful.

Why We Love Church Street Marketplace

Church Street in the heart of Burlington is one of the most popular destinations in Vermont. Visitors to the city’s brick and cobblestone pedestrian marketplace will find dozens of locally-owned restaurants, food cart vendors, shops, and cafes, as well as a variety of outdoor entertainment.
A perfect place to visit anytime of year, Church Street has something for everyone. Whether you’re a foodie, shopping enthusiast, fan of architecture or music lover, Church Street is a place worth visiting.
What makes Church Street so unique is its universal popularity among locals, students, and visitors.  Established in 1981, Church Street draws 3 million visitors a year to shop, dine, and stroll.

Here are just a few of our favorite spots in the Church Street Marketplace:

Leunig’s Bistro & Café

115 Church Street
One of the oldest continually operating restaurants in downtown Burlington, Leunig’s offers ambiance, delicious local food, Vermont cheeses and more. Serving lunch, brunch and dinner.  Visit leunigsbistro.com

Uncommon Grounds

42 Church Street
A comfortable place to enjoy coffee, tea and conversation, Uncommon Grounds is Vermont’s answer to Starbucks. Visit ugvermont.com.

Sweet Lady Jane

40 Church Street
Looking for high fashion in a rural state? Sweet Lady Jane offers stylish women’s clothing and accessories. Visit sweetladyjane.biz.

Ben & Jerry’s

36 Church Street
When you’re in Vermont, indulging on some Ben & Jerry’s is a must. Who can resist Cherry Garcia, Chocolate Therapy or Phish Food? So good. Visit benandjerry.com.
Eat well, shop, wander, and enjoy!

Developing Organizational Skills to Help You Land Your Dream Job

Many of the skills you learn and practice through your degree program at Bryant & Stratton College are designed to carry over to your professional life as well. Read about how organizational skills on your resume can help set you up for your dream job.
Did you know the same organizational skills you used to obtain your degree are equally helpful when it comes to landing your dream job? Reading and following directions, paying attention to detail, and time management are all examples of traits prospective employers are looking for. Your penchant for organization will be visible before you are ever hired. It is evidenced by a fabulous resume, a perfectly executed job application, a detailed business plan, and thoughtful responses to interview questions. In fact, your organizational skills will come into play repeatedly as you begin to apply and interview for future jobs. Here’s how:
Creating Your Resume
Your resume is often the first glimpse a future employer has of your abilities. This is especially true in an era when jobs are often applied for online, without any human contact. Each company is going to be looking for something a little different. It’s your job to tailor each resume in a manner that reflects how you are the exact person they’re seeking. Your organizational skills will allow you to keep track of what companies are looking for, the types of credentials and/or information they’re requesting from applicants, as well noting the company’s brand. Pay attention to the tone of a company’s website, and how they word their job descriptions. This will help you craft a resume more in sync with their business’ personality. Resumes that are more company- and industry-specific will grab HR’s attention.
Managing your time
There is a good chance your time management skills have already been put to the test in order for you to be successful at juggling work and family responsibilities while getting your online degree. Now, these skills can pay off as you start your job hunt. Once you have applied for jobs and submitted your resume, human resources departments who are interested in what you have to offer will contact you. Your calendar must be up-to-date so you can schedule interviews at a moment’s notice. In a competitive market, you must be clear about your availability, and you want to make sure you are always on time to every initial interview as well as callback interviews.
Being Prepared for the Interview
In addition to specific education, training, and skills required for a particular job, employers are also looking for three general skill sets. These include basic skills such as reading and writing, critical thinking skills, and personal qualities and abilities. Organizational skills fall under the subset of critical thinking. A list of organizational skills includes:
  • Your ability to think on your feet.
  • Knowing what responses to prioritize.
  • Being able to recall real-life scenarios demonstrating your abilities.
These skills can be the icing on the cake for an interested employer. When you sit in front of an interview panel and provide thoughtful, organized responses, it is noted. If you are asked to give an example of how you would deal with a particular situation and you reach into your portfolio to share a specific project or report from your internship experience and tie it into their questions, your organizational skills shine.
Bryant and Stratton can help you put the finishing touches on your organizational skills as you begin your future job searches. Our Career Services center will help you gain the skills you need to land your dream job. Not a student yet? Contact the Admissions office for information on how you can add new skills to your resume.

Career Ideas for Criminal Justice Studies majors

A Criminal Justice Studies degree can open the door to a number of career possibilities. Explore some of the career paths that can be pursued after earning a Criminal Justice Studies degree.
A passion for order and the legal system may pull you toward earning a degree in Criminal Justice Studies. Luckily there are many career paths that fit your love of the law. If you are considering going back to school and exploring the idea of majoring in Criminal Justice Studies, take a look these possible career paths.
Corrections Officer (Supervisor) – Being the first-line supervisor of correctional officers requires you to directly supervise and coordinate activities of correctional officers and jailers. Daily tasks could include enforcing institutional policies, responding to emergencies (e.g. escapes), resolving problems between inmates, and/or completing administrative paperwork, among other responsibilities. Most positions will require at minimum an associates degree. In addition to the right educational background having soft skills like being an active listener, social perceptiveness, being a good communicator and negotiator and reading comprehension will help you be successful.
Loss Prevention – As a Loss Prevention Specialist you may implement procedures and systems to prevent merchandise loss, conduct audits and investigations of employee activity, or assist in developing policies, procedures, and systems for safeguarding assets. When it comes to daily tasks you could be called upon to identify merchandise shortages, perform covert surveillance of areas susceptible to loss and/or investigate suspected internal or external theft. Individuals who work well on their own, are enterprising and understand the importance of following set rules and procedures will do well in this career.
Police Officer (patrol) – As a patrol officer you are assigned an area to enforce laws and ordinances, regulate traffic, control crowds, prevent crime and arrest violators. You may be required to render aid to accident victims, photograph or draw diagrams of crime or accident scenes, interview eyewitnesses, pursue suspects and perpetrators, and/or testify in court to present evidence or act as witness in cases. You will be dealing and interacting with the public often so skills like good communication, active listening, critical thinking, negotiation, and persuasion are important. Additionally, service oriented people who actively look for ways to help others may find police work satisfying. An associate degree can be helpful in increasing your ability to get hired but is not required.
Security Manager – Security managers direct an organization\’s security functions, including physical security and safety of employees, facilities and assets. As a security manager you may be required to respond to medical emergencies, bomb threats, fire alarms or intrusion alarms. Additionally, you will train subordinate security professionals, communicate security updates and resolve breaches. Many companies require a four-year degree for these types of positions. On top of a degree qualified candidates communicate effectively in writing and verbally, exhibit critical thinking skills, are quick thinkers and are apt at decision-making. Earning an associate degree in Criminal Justice Studies at Bryant & Stratton College will prepare you to enter the criminal justice field in one of these positions. If you are interested in learning about any of the online degree programs at Bryant & Stratton College, please call 1.888.447.3528 to speak with an admissions representative.
*Salary information from O*Net Online
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

THE KEY TO MANAGING PEOPLE YOU DON\’T LIKE

When you get promoted to a managerial position, you don\’t automatically gain managerial skills that allow you to easily treat people fairly. You\’re still the same person you were the day before, and let\’s face that—that probably means you don\’t like everyone equally.
In fact, you may have direct reports that you really can\’t stand. How are you supposed to treat those people fairly when everything they do makes you cringe? How can you ensure you aren\’t playing favorites because you really do like other people better? It\’s not easy, but there is one key thing to do: Take a step back.
Personalities can often get in the way of evaluating someone purely based on talent. It\’s in our nature to think someone with whom you have a great rapport is doing a better job than someone who grates on you. But stepping back will help you to avoid this problem.

Make Evaluations Based on Results

When you step back, you make evaluations based on results instead of face-to-face interactions. Look at the numbers. Did Bob really handle clients better than Steve? Who has gotten more sales? Who has resolved more issues? It may mean asking someone else to look at work products to help you evaluate your employees\’ abilities more objectively.
Doing these things can help you take the personality out of your assessments, and assign work fairly. If someone complains that you are treating some people better than others, take it seriously. You may be. This person may be a whiner and a slacker but they might not be, and you need to evaluate that. Stepping back from the situation can help you determine that.

Get to the Root of Your Feelings

One thing that can help you clear your head is figuring out why you dislike this person. It could be strictly a personality thing, and it could be that your subconscious is picking up on habits that will negatively affect their career. So, take the time to sit down and figure out what bothers you.
If it\’s that you don\’t care for their sense of humor, but they aren\’t necessarily rude or inappropriate, then you need just to let it go. But if you don\’t care for their humor because the jokes actually are inappropriate, that\’s something you should address. \”Bob, your jokes push the limit of appropriateness for the office. I need you to stop telling race or gender-based jokes. Can you do that for me?\”
If it\’s that the person seems bossy, what makes the person seem that way? Is it that Sally cuts people off in meetings? Takes credit for things she didn\’t do? Again, if you figure out that\’s what causing your unkind feelings, you can address that with her.

Consider That You May Be the Problem

But, here\’s a caution: The problem may be you. You may not like Sally because she\’s smarter than you are. Don\’t punish her for that. You may not like Bob because he\’s a conservative and you\’re a liberal. As long as you\’re not an office manager for a senator, that doesn\’t matter. Just focus on the work.
Remember, your goal at work isn\’t to make friends, but to accomplish things. Step back from your own emotions, and you\’ll find that to be easier than you once thought.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

THE KEY TO MANAGING PEOPLE YOU DON\’T LIKE

When you get promoted to a managerial position, you don\’t automatically gain managerial skills that allow you to easily treat people fairly. You\’re still the same person you were the day before, and let\’s face that—that probably means you don\’t like everyone equally.
In fact, you may have direct reports that you really can\’t stand. How are you supposed to treat those people fairly when everything they do makes you cringe? How can you ensure you aren\’t playing favorites because you really do like other people better? It\’s not easy, but there is one key thing to do: Take a step back.
Personalities can often get in the way of evaluating someone purely based on talent. It\’s in our nature to think someone with whom you have a great rapport is doing a better job than someone who grates on you. But stepping back will help you to avoid this problem.

Make Evaluations Based on Results

When you step back, you make evaluations based on results instead of face-to-face interactions. Look at the numbers. Did Bob really handle clients better than Steve? Who has gotten more sales? Who has resolved more issues? It may mean asking someone else to look at work products to help you evaluate your employees\’ abilities more objectively.
Doing these things can help you take the personality out of your assessments, and assign work fairly. If someone complains that you are treating some people better than others, take it seriously. You may be. This person may be a whiner and a slacker but they might not be, and you need to evaluate that. Stepping back from the situation can help you determine that.

Get to the Root of Your Feelings

One thing that can help you clear your head is figuring out why you dislike this person. It could be strictly a personality thing, and it could be that your subconscious is picking up on habits that will negatively affect their career. So, take the time to sit down and figure out what bothers you.
If it\’s that you don\’t care for their sense of humor, but they aren\’t necessarily rude or inappropriate, then you need just to let it go. But if you don\’t care for their humor because the jokes actually are inappropriate, that\’s something you should address. \”Bob, your jokes push the limit of appropriateness for the office. I need you to stop telling race or gender-based jokes. Can you do that for me?\”
If it\’s that the person seems bossy, what makes the person seem that way? Is it that Sally cuts people off in meetings? Takes credit for things she didn\’t do? Again, if you figure out that\’s what causing your unkind feelings, you can address that with her.

Consider That You May Be the Problem

But, here\’s a caution: The problem may be you. You may not like Sally because she\’s smarter than you are. Don\’t punish her for that. You may not like Bob because he\’s a conservative and you\’re a liberal. As long as you\’re not an office manager for a senator, that doesn\’t matter. Just focus on the work.
Remember, your goal at work isn\’t to make friends, but to accomplish things. Step back from your own emotions, and you\’ll find that to be easier than you once thought.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1