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YOUR EMPLOYEES’ LAST TWO WEEKS MATTER JUST AS MUCH AS THEIR FIRST

Every hiring manager and HR person knows that the first few weeks of employment are critical to the success of the employees. But what about the last two weeks?
We know the last two weeks matter from an employee’s perspective: This is the time to secure references for the future, train people to take over their role and influence how their coworkers remember them. Almost every employee knows they should work diligently and efficiently during their last two weeks on a job, even if they’re counting down the minutes until they head out the door.
But the last two weeks should be equally important to you as an employer. The way you react and treat departing employees is reflective of your culture as a whole. Here are five reasons why you should make sure the last two weeks are a positive experience for employees:

1) You want at least 2 weeks notice

When you get angry because someone gave notice during the busy season, it gives a bad impression to the remaining staff and makes them wary of announcing their own departure in the future. While two weeks is the cultural standard, you’ll likely find that reacting angrily might result in people giving less notice — whereas if you are supportive when someone resigns, you may find people giving you additional notice (which will make replacing them a lot easier).

2) You need top performance

Sure, the temptation for “lame duck” employees may be to slack off — after all, they’re focused on their new job or new adventure ahead. You, however, need them to be on their A-game. It’s nearly impossible to hire a replacement before the current employee leaves, so it’s in your best interest to encourage the departing employee to leave things organized and easy to transition. If you treat employees with respect and congratulate them on their next opportunity, they are more likely to leave things in good shape for you.

3) You’ll have company ambassadors

Employees may go, but they certainly don’t forget. I belong to a Facebook group for former employees of a company I worked for and it’s a resoundingly positive group (although, granted, people who hated it aren’t likely to join). I worked there for nine years in the HR department, and the company’s effort to treat people well shows in how their former employees feel.However, I also receive stories from readers on my blog about horrific final weeks at work.
The last thing you want is for your former employee to discourage quality people from applying to your company. If you treat them poorly, they won’t refer people from their network. But if someone’s last interaction with your company is with a friendly and respectful HR person, they will likely remember things more fondly and speak about the company positively.

4) You may connect with them again

Lots of employees boomerang back to old employers. This is not a bad thing at all — most companies cannot provide all the developmental opportunities someone needs or wants. In particular, smaller companies don’t generally have lots of middle levels where people can gain experience—they are either the worker bee or the boss, and there’s nothing in between. So, a star employee may leave to gain experience elsewhere and want to come back. These employees come with not only general experience, but also company-specific experience, and you want them to come back.

5) Your tone influences the remaining staff

If you are positive and polite about the departure, your remaining staff will remain positive and polite. You don’t have to throw a going away party, but a simple “We’ll miss you, Jane!” cake is a nice gesture. If you start moaning, “Oh no, it will take six weeks to replace Jane, and we’ll die under the workload,” the rest of your staff will think that this six week period will be intolerable. Instead stay positive: “Okay everyone, give me your best ideas on how to manage without Jane until we can get a replacement on board!”
There’s no doubt that it’s hard to lose an employee. But it’s even harder when people react poorly. Treat your departing employees with respect, speak positively about them after they goes and be supportive of your remaining staff — in the end, the transition will be much easier.

Instructor’s Blog: Final Exam Tips from an Instructor’s Perspective

Many students are stressed about final exams, and I’d like to offer some strategies to alleviate some of that stress. 
The first step for succeeding at a final exam is to find out what you can about your final exam. There is usually a brief description of the final exam located in the tracking calendar (which is your best friend!). Also, many final exams are not timed, which means you can open the activity and submit it at a later date. Here are a few more final exam tips to remember this semester and beyond:
Final exams are not mysteries
Final exams are not meant as a torture device, testing students on random, obscure knowledge. Your final exam will address course outcomes (which are also in the tracking calendar) and content presented throughout the course. Preparing for a final exam, even before you can view it, should involve reviewing lectures, textbook reading and especially past assignments. Look closely at the feedback from your instructor. Identify areas where you struggle and focus on those. Studies have shown that cramming for an exam is ineffective. The week before a final exam is not the time to learn an entire coursework of material. Studying for short periods of time each week ensures that you can actually absorb the information. Even during a final review, losing sleep to study is counterproductive.  Read more about study strategies here.
Taking the exam
When you are able to look at the exam, spend time looking at the requirements. If there is a rubric, pay close attention to each category of the rubric. Email your instructor if you are unsure of any part of the directions. Also, many final exams include reflection questions. This is because reflection is so essential to learning. I have seen many students forget this part of an exam. If the exam is untimed, take advantage of the opportunity to present your best work. Begin the exam on Friday, but don’t submit it until the next day at least. Looking at your work with fresh eyes and checking the requirements again is a critical step. There is little advantage to submitting a final exam early.  Your instructor may still be grading assignments from the previous week. A final exam waiting to be graded is a missed opportunity for revision and thoroughness.
After the exam
To learn the most, look over your exam after it is graded. How did you do? Do you understand the feedback or why you were marked down?  What could you do differently in the future? Reflecting on past experiences is a great way to learn in the classroom and in your career!

FROM THE EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION DESK: FIVE SPRING-CLEANING TIPS FOR YOUR GOAL SETTING PLAN

Springtime signifies new beginnings:  hard weather subsides, giving way to greenery and blossoms. People clean out their houses and prepare for the upcoming warmer months. In other words, time for a fresh start.  
From the employee motivation desk, now is as good a time as any to clean your clutter, fix your house, plant some seeds or any other analogy that works for you. Bottom line, if you haven’t started setting goals yet, it is time to get busy.

The Case for Goal Setting

There is abundant research about how important goal setting is to performance. It goes far beyond merely understanding what SMART goals are (not to discount the importance of those). Goals are the essential building blocks that drive employee motivation. They provide structure and create focus. They align manager with employee; organization with department; and they glocalize virtual teams.
While many people set their own goals, many goals (probably most goals) are “forced” – that is, they are set by others. If your organization leverages goals, they are most likely a core part of the performance review process, which is a great start.

Making Sure Goals Impact Motivation

There are a few core points (by no means is this the exhaustive manifesto on goal setting) to consider when understanding how to leverage goals to drive employee motivation:
  • Involve employees in the goal setting process. Managers that unilaterally assign goals can often drive performance and performance is critical. However, performance that is more closely tied to organizational culture can have deeper impacts on both employee performance and retention.
  • Specific, challenging goals lead to enhanced performance. This is the crux of the work of Locke and Latham, the seminal authors on goal-setting research. When goals are established that are focused and challenging, you see significant performance increase when compared to goals that are vague or simple.
  • Break goals into meaningful chunks. Often times, employees get demotivated when a project is massive. Coach employees to break huge projects into manageable chunks with accountable timelines that are, in fact, realistic.
  • Get commitment on goals. Managers that want to build increased motivation need to ensure that the employee is vested in the outcome of the goal. Do they see the value of the work? Do they understand that the outcome will have a positive impact on business results? Do they understand the “why” behind the goal or is the objective a “do it because I told you to do it” delivery?
  • Provide regular and constructive feedback. When I work with managers and leaders, I try to coach them to not only ask for feedback but demand it. Building a motivated team means having employees that feel both safe and responsible to drive business forward. Giving honest, and appropriate, feedback is essential. That said, managers really need to create the environment where feedback is both encouraged and expected.
Goals do several critical things, including providing direction and getting us motivated. And as such, goals are critical in the managerial coaching process. When managers set specific, meaningful goals collaboratively, and coach to those goals to drive employee performance, that is a clear and consequential investment in the team. Employees feel empowered and motivated and the research certainly shows that managers that leverage these skills have more productive, self-directed employees. Who doesn’t want that?
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Misconceptions of Online Education at Bryant & Stratton College

My husband is a self-professed, non-reader. He was never terribly fond of school, or writing or homework. But, he knew if he was going to advance in his career he had to earn a degree. His buddies convinced him that an online college would be easier. There would be less work, less reading, less writing, they claimed. And, no traffic to travel to class! They were right about the traffic. It seems there are a lot of misconceptions about online degree programs.
“People think it is going to be easier than traditional campus classes,” says Ricky Braun, Admissions Manager for Bryant & Stratton College Online Education. “But the curriculum is identical to our other 19 campuses.
“People may think they are going to come and glide through but that’s definitely not the case,” he says.
So, why the confusion? People make a lot of assumptions. Here are the facts for Online Education at Bryant & Stratton College
Tests: While they are often not proctored, and are open book, they are not easy. Generally, exams consist of essay questions, not multiple-choice questions.
Class participation: While there may not be any public speaking, students at online schools are often expected to participate in discussion forums. Students aren’t graded not just on how often they log in but also by the depth and understanding they demonstrate in their posts. At Bryant & Stratton College, student’s attendance in class is tracked through their activity and participation in the discussion board in their classes.
Lectures: Every instructor at Bryant & Stratton College will post a text-based lecture to their classroom. This means you don’t need to be in front of your computer at any specific time and there’s no worry about having to rewind to get proper notes written time and time again. Like with book reading, some additional assets and supplemental study materials may be video or audio assets, but that varies on a class-to-class and week-to-week basis, just like a traditional classroom.
Books: Bryant & Stratton College uses real, physical textbooks which are mailed to students for each semester. Often, supplemental reading will be provided via e-mail or other electronic means, giving students the information right at their fingertips through the online classroom.
Professor office hours: There are a number of ways to contact instructors at Bryant & Stratton College. Every instructor will provide students with an email address and each classroom also features a questions forum, which instructors monitor regularly and are required to reply to when questions are posted. Additional contact methods will vary by instructor but will include options such as Skype or other instant messaging services. Those methods typically are used for office hours each week. So, while there are differences in terms of traditional methods of communication, online classes at Bryant & Stratton College are very similar to attending class in a traditional class setting. But that doesn’t mean the program is without its perks.
Benefits of Online Education
Flexible class times: Most adult students work during the day or have responsibilities like caring for their family. Most traditional universities don’t offer the same variety of classes at night that daytime students enjoy. Online students go to school when they can, no matter what time the clock reads and have access to the same variety of subjects and classes. Each class at Bryant & Stratton College Online runs from Sunday to Saturday and students have 24/7 access to their courses. This means you can log in and access your classes at any point during the week.
Well-planned assignments: At Bryant & Stratton, students generally have a week to complete homework. Some work is assigned on the first day of the class week while others will come up in the middle of the week. However, students will have a course calendar that illustrates every assignment, reading, test and quiz that will make up the program. Still worried about the workload at an online college? Bryant & Stratton College administers placement tests to every student before they enroll in classes so they are not placed in a math or English class that is above their current level. The placement tests set students up to succeed in classes that allow them to progress. Additional support through our academic advising team and career services is available to all students, ensuring success in the classroom and beyond.
Student Support
Student Services: New students are each assigned a personal academic Success Coach for their first semester to help reinforce positive academic practices for new students. After their first semester students will begin to work with a new academic advisor for the remainder of their degree.
Career help: Upon graduation, you don’t have to road trip back to your alma mater for help building career connections. Bryant & Stratton College’s career services help graduates fine tune their interview skills, resume, portfolio and cover letter, even for students in remote locations. For students like my husband, what this all means is that there is no easy road to earning a degree. For students at Bryant & Stratton, however, that road is a little less bumpy.
“A lot of our students are working full-time and have children. Gas prices are high. Once you put the kids to bed, it’s a great time to get class work done. That’s why online school is so popular,” Braun says. “It is so flexible.  We’ve eliminated the commute, the stress and the childcare.”

The Importance of Outdoor Leadership: An Inside Look

Looking for adventure in the great outdoors? Let John Abbott be your go-to guide.
A faculty member in the UVM Environmental Studies and the Parks, Recreation and Tourism programs, Abbott has traveled with UVM students to explore the backcountry in the Adirondack and White Mountains, and in Peru and Ecuador.
abbott-uvm

John Abbott
For Abbott, who began his wilderness leadership work in 1988 as an instructor and course director at the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School in Maine, wilderness leadership development is all about taking risks to expand our learning and achieve things that we never thought were possible.
He teaches several outdoor and recreation courses to UVM students, including Introduction to Mountaineering in Peru, Winter Leadership Skills & Mountaineering in the White Mountains in New Hampshire, Wilderness Education & Leadership in the Adirondack Mountains, and Backcountry Ski and Avalanche Education in Idaho. Abbott is also UVM’s Outdoor Program Coordinator.
We talked to him about the importance of learning in the outdoors.

How did you get introduced to outdoor leadership courses?

My first exposure to the structured outdoor leadership course was when I worked as a field instructor at the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School in Maine, soon after leaving college.

What do you enjoy most about teaching your wilderness courses?

Field-based courses provide the opportunity to immediately apply theory and learning to practice. By definition, field-based group experience requires teamwork that allows us to experience interconnection and mutual accountability for learning outcomes. Oh yes…and of course each of these areas offer stunning scenery and cultural experiences as a contextual backdrop.

How are your courses similar? How are they different?

I usually answer this question by explaining that all my courses are a variation on a theme. While each is rooted in specific skill sets and traveling in different environments, they are unified by their focus on personal and group expedition behavior, peer-to-peer skill teaching and use of situational leadership role plays.

What are the most important elements/skills that students gain from outdoor leadership experience?

I think students develop a healthy sense of capability, confidence, flexible leadership style and self-efficacy. There is something unique about wilderness experience that creates a primitive sense of well-being and accomplishment. The Director of HIOBS Land Programs in Bethel, Maine, Andy Bartleet, likes to say that we return from extended expeditions “feeling 10 feet tall and bulletproof,” meaning you feel ready to rise to the challenges of the world. Important to me is that UVM students translate this feeling to other dimensions of their lives as students.

If a student is considering one of your courses but can’t decide which course to take, how would you advise them?

I tell them to find the course that interests them and pull the trigger! There are always going to be other students with more skill and experience than you…wilderness leadership development is predicated on the fundamental notion that taking risk has the ability to expand our learning and the ability to achieve things that may have never seemed possible.

What can students expect from your courses: Where do they sleep? What do they eat? What’s the group dynamic like?

Ahhh, the details! We sleep in tents or shelters, eat lots of great pasta and rice-based meals (never dehydrated food; they are expensive and taste processed) and the team dynamic is very cooperative and supportive. Wilderness skill development draws out the best in everyone. The process requires that you take risk, lead with your heart, be a good listener and communicator, be an effective problem-solver and generally be the best person you can be.

What is something that you always pack / would not leave home without?

Extra headlamp batteries, Leatherman tool, hand sanitizer and a pair of dry socks, and double zip-locked are crucial. And I never leave home without pictures of my family. I miss them when I’m away!

Can you describe a scenario you were unprepared to address and what skills did you utilize to deal with it?

May favorite MacGyver moment was on my Backcountry Ski & Avalanche Ed. Course a few years back. We has skied and rode deep snow all day long in amazing open terrain. We decided to do one last drop into a gladed bowl. At the bottom one of the snowboarders discovered she’d lost the pin that connects her binding to the board mount. The rest of the group went back to the hut, we hiked up about 1,000 feet looking everywhere, and I had to zip-tie the binding to the board. Later in the hut when considering radioing to friends to have them snow-mobile a new pin in, I was able to create an effective pin with a heavy gauge nail and a clip from a telemarking retainer strap! It worked great!

What kind of wildlife have you encountered?

That’s what I love about my job; I bring the wildlife with me! Does it get any wilder than eager, inquisitive, impassioned UVM students? I think not!

Why is Leadership Development Important?

By Rocki-Lee DeWitt
Vermont is home to hundreds of business and social entrepreneurs looking to create or expand start-ups. Our state also hosts a number of established growth companies and family-run businesses that have built excellent reputations and contributed to local economies for decades.
But what happens once a company that employed five or 10 people suddenly ends up with a staff of 35? How does a company finance an expansion? What do you do when your small business is no longer that small, bringing in several million dollars in revenues?
If you lead a business that is experiencing rapid growth — or you would like to be in that category – then you need the knowledge and skills to make sound business decisions in what has become a much more competitive environment. If you don’t take the time to educate yourself about the ramifications of your growing success, you could lose customers and employees and, even worse, see all your hard work go out the window when your business fails.
With your pressing business needs and growing pains, now may not be the time to sign up for a two-year MBA program. But you might be able to carve out the time to network with and learn from other business leaders, join online communities that support entrepreneurs and business owners or pursue continuing education and corporate training programs in leadership development.
When exploring continuing education and corporate training programs for you and your employees, you need to understand why leadership development is so important in the first place. Leadership development is crucial to your business’ next stage of growth because it helps you and other emerging leaders in your company:
  • Develop strategies that give your business a competitive edge.
  • Figure out how your company can become more flexible, enabling you to prepare for and quickly adapt to changes in the marketplace.
  • Re-examine your business’ priorities, allowing you to pursue new opportunities and drop any efforts that aren’t worth the time or money.
  • More effectively manage your finances and growing profits, improving your business’ financial performance.
  • Implement sales and marketing strategies that help you carve out a niche in the marketplace.
  • Attract, motivate and retain employees who will be deeply engaged in supporting your goals and vision.
With your head down and focused on your day-to-day business needs, it’s not always easy to think about devoting time to leadership development. But in the long run, it will be time well spent and could keep your business on track for success

From a Cult to the Courtroom

Aaron Penn spent his childhood in a cult.
The religious sect, of which his parents were prominent members, taught followers to believe the world was ending. He remembers when his 7-year-old cousin was diagnosed with leukemia and denied a blood transfusion because of his family’s beliefs. The boy died soon after. The traumatic experience left Aaron asking questions.
When he was excommunicated he walked away from that life, with answers.
“I couldn’t care less if the adults don’t want to take blood transfusions, but the children, they can’t do that to the children,” he said.
Now, he’s working toward becoming a lawyer, so he can give children like his cousin a voice.
As a student in Bryant & Stratton University’s Criminal Justice program, he has taken those first steps. He chose the school based on the recommendation of his wife, who also attended. 
In the criminal justice program, Aaron said he tackled criminal procedure classes and other basics that will help him have a solid foundation for law school.
But, Bryant & Stratton University gave him more than a working knowledge of terms and ideas.
The instructors and staff, he said, gave him a reason to work harder.
“The main thing I can tell you, the instructors there, they really care. The program director, Christine Stymus, reached out to me and helped,” he said. “I was always told growing up the world was going to end before I had a chance to go to college. I said to myself, ‘I am getting out of this cult. I am going to be a lawyer’. I worked my whole life to be in this position where I can focus on my education.”
Stymus also urged Aaron to submit his writings to the local paper. He was soon featured as a guest editorial writer, as he outlined his reasons why more prisons are not the answer.
His hard work has already paid dividends. Recently, he was the first non-law student to work as an intern in the U.S. Federal Public Defender’s office in Cleveland.
The unpaid, fulltime stint took Aaron to the capital habias unit where every client is sitting on death row. There, he had the chance to interview them, study their cases and understand what only a person who witnessed something firsthand can tell you.
Most importantly, Aaron said as part of his duties there, he was sworn in to protect the Constitution. The ideals of which are dear to his heart.
“When you meet people who are on death row for 36 years, wrongly convicted, that is propelling,” he said.  “People say, ‘Oh, you want to go criminal defense, you want to get people off? But it’s not that simple. You want people like me look over bad police work. I got to investigate files, I got to crack issues that they didn’t have the resources for. This was the real deal.”
Now, headed to law school, his experience at Bryant & Stratton and with the public defender’s office has left Aaron is even more driven.
“ I can’t wait to give back,” he said.

Use Social Media to Build Your Network

You’ve probably heard that social media can be a great resource in your job search. We’ve even recommended it a time or two on this blog as a way to improve employability skills.
Social media can be a way to research companies, create a personal brand and stay on top of industry trends. It can also be an excellent way to build your professional network with people you otherwise might not meet. Navigating relationship building on social media can present some challenges though. At a networking event you might go up to someone and simply introduce yourself. But online, reaching out for that first “handshake” can prove more difficult. Bryant & Stratton College Online hosted an Employability Summit in 2013 featuring HR and hiring experts from CareerBuilder, Enterprise, Humana, Marriott International and Microsoft. During that event, Jessica Lee, Director of Digital Talent for Marriott International shared several ways to use social media to grow your network.
Don’t Scream “I’m here, connect with me!” Social media is “bit of an organic process,” said Ms. Lee. Just like you wouldn’t go in to a cocktail party and demand to connect with someone, you can’t force a social media relationship. “You have a little bit of banter, go back and forth, and over time, I think that\’s where things can grow and flourish,” said Ms. Lee.
Be an active participant There are many opportunities, however, to start a conversation on social media. On Twitter, for example, if you see that someone has shared an article or video you like, you can simply compliment the person or let the poster know you agree with what the post is about, said Ms. Lee. Another idea is to regularly share ideas about the industry or job field you want to enter. Social media is designed to be a two-way street so actively sharing your thoughts is a great way career management strategy and provides an opportunity to engage in a dialogue with others. Just be sure to do it often since you’re only as good as your last post!
Continue relationships IRL Social media is a powerful platform, but don’t forget about in-person networking. If you’re connected with someone on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook and know they are going to the same community or industry event as you, be sure to make plans to meet in person (please be sure to do this in a safe, public environment!). Making the effort to connect in person, even if it doesn’t work out, could be valuable to making a stronger connection. The most important thing to remember about growing your network through social media is to apply the same principles you would if you were meeting someone in person. Be polite, be engaging, offer your opinion when you can, and share ideas and thoughts that add value to a conversation. The big advantage online is that people may be more receptive to starting a conversation than in person.
“People have their guards down a bit when it comes to social media and using it from a professional perspective,” said Ms. Lee. “So you have this huge potential to just begin building relationships and seeing where it might lead.”
Bryant & Stratton College Online is dedicated to helping students improve their employability skills and become job ready. Through outcomes-based education and career training, Bryant & Stratton College Online helps students learn the technical skills as well as the soft skills they’ll need to be successful in a career.
If you are interested in learning more about the online degree programs at Bryant & Stratton College Online, please call 1.888.447.3528 to speak with an admissions representative.
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DEAR REWORKER: HANDLING SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE?

Dear ReWorker,
We recently had a sexual harassment complaint about an employee. Out of curiosity, I Googled this person and found several websites that list his name and include details about his inappropriate sexual activities and relationships.
Aside from the internal complaint of sexual harassment in the workplace, the internet posts bother me very much. The situation certainly does not make the company look good and it tells me a lot about the employee\’s moral and ethical standards. Can I fire him for the complaint as well as what I found out on the Internet?
Sincerely,
Tempted to Terminate
___________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Tempted to Terminate,
You are making this more difficult than it needs to be. If his offense at work was serious enough for termination, you fire him, regardless of his internet persona. It doesn\’t matter what he does outside of work or what he posts online—he misbehaved at work and should be punished.
Now, this does become more complicated if his offense isn\’t necessarily fireable. Let\’s say someone complained that he made one dirty joke. That wouldn\’t (generally) be enough for a termination. If that\’s the case, here are a few other questions to consider.
Is His Online Behavior Just Icky, or Is It Illegal?
This is important because in some states or cities, you can\’t terminate someone for doing something controversial outside of work if it\’s legal. So, if you find his behavior objectionable but happen to live in one of these jurisdictions, you can\’t terminate him for that behavior.
If you live outside these areas, employees don\’t have the right to do icky things and brag about them on the internet, even if it\’s outside of the workplace. There\’s no free speech in the workplace, and as long as his questionable behavior didn\’t include him starting a union, you can terminate him for outside activities.
Are You Discriminating Based on Gender or Sexual Orientation?
If a woman were saying the same things online as the employee in question, would you be okay with it? If your answer is yes, then you\’re discriminating illegally. If he were a different sexual orientation, would you be okay with it? If so, then you need to be extra cautious. The courts have reached mixed verdicts on whether you can legally discriminate against someone based on sexual orientation, but the reality is, even if your bias falls within the law, you shouldn\’t act on it. You should be judging people based on their work.
Does the Behavior Reflect Badly on the Company?
Assuming that his behavior at work wasn\’t serious enough for a termination, and assuming that it\’s not illegal to terminate him, should you still do it? Generally, managers should stay out of their employees\’ online lives. You wouldn\’t invite yourself over to dinner at their house, so why should you invite yourself onto their Facebook pages?
With that said, you should take action if the employee\’s behavior reflects badly on the company. If there\’s nothing online linking him to your company, you should probably let it go. If it\’s easy to link him to your company, however, that\’s another story.
Regardless of your decision you need to do two things: consult with your employment attorney and enforce the same standard across the board, regardless of age, gender, position or tenure.
Your ReWorker,
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Career Overview: Medical Reimbursement and Coding

It is not about billing customers.
That is what professors in Bryant & Stratton’s Medical Reimbursement and Coding degree program say many new students think of when they think medical coding.
But crunching numbers is not how graduates in this field will spend their days.
Medical Coding and Billing Job Description
Reimbursement and coding specialists immerse themselves in understanding biology and medical terminology. They have to understand how the body works, what diagnosis is linked to that body part and then learn to correctly code those using the appropriate medical reimbursement codes so that insurance companies can accurately pay each claim.
People often ask if medical coding is hard to learn. In most cases, students are able to learn the basic concepts quickly and easily as long as they put in the effort. Students will pick one of two tracks to study: hospital (inpatient) or physician’s office (outpatient) that reflect the two areas of concentration for most medical records and health information technicians.
Once the claims are coded, the billing side of the operation submits the claims. Depending on the size of the employer, there may be a separate department for each step in the process, meaning employees may only code or only bill. In a smaller physician’s office, a much smaller staff may be tasked with the entire process.
This field also offers a huge ability to work from home and potentially work for yourself, completing coding assignments for different physicians. However, that requires experience and becoming well-known in medical circles.
Basic facts for Medical Records and Health Information Technicians, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (for 2014, the last available data)
Median Pay: $34,160 per year ($17.84 per hour)
Number of jobs, nationwide: 188,600
Rate of job growth: 15 percent per year
What will you study: physiology, biology, HIPPA laws
Growth Opportunities: Some doctors will hire experienced employees without credentials, if you have any dreams of moving up in the industry, or working from home as a contractor, you have to become credentialed and work toward earning more certifications to add to your degree.
Professional Resources: To learn more about careers as a medical reimbursement and coding specialist, check out these professional associations related to the field. Each of these organizations can help you find information, connect with mentors and research job opportunities.
The Professional Association of Healthcare Coding Specialists, http://www.pahcs.org/
For more information on healthcare degrees at Bryant & Stratton College, contact the Admissions office.
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Why is Leadership Development Important?

By Rocki-Lee DeWitt
Vermont is home to hundreds of business and social entrepreneurs looking to create or expand start-ups. Our state also hosts a number of established growth companies and family-run businesses that have built excellent reputations and contributed to local economies for decades.
But what happens once a company that employed five or 10 people suddenly ends up with a staff of 35? How does a company finance an expansion? What do you do when your small business is no longer that small, bringing in several million dollars in revenues?
If you lead a business that is experiencing rapid growth — or you would like to be in that category – then you need the knowledge and skills to make sound business decisions in what has become a much more competitive environment. If you don’t take the time to educate yourself about the ramifications of your growing success, you could lose customers and employees and, even worse, see all your hard work go out the window when your business fails.
With your pressing business needs and growing pains, now may not be the time to sign up for a two-year MBA program. But you might be able to carve out the time to network with and learn from other business leaders, join online communities that support entrepreneurs and business owners or pursue continuing education and corporate training programs in leadership development.
When exploring continuing education and corporate training programs for you and your employees, you need to understand why leadership development is so important in the first place. Leadership development is crucial to your business’ next stage of growth because it helps you and other emerging leaders in your company:
  • Develop strategies that give your business a competitive edge.
  • Figure out how your company can become more flexible, enabling you to prepare for and quickly adapt to changes in the marketplace.
  • Re-examine your business’ priorities, allowing you to pursue new opportunities and drop any efforts that aren’t worth the time or money.
  • More effectively manage your finances and growing profits, improving your business’ financial performance.
  • Implement sales and marketing strategies that help you carve out a niche in the marketplace.
  • Attract, motivate and retain employees who will be deeply engaged in supporting your goals and vision.
With your head down and focused on your day-to-day business needs, it’s not always easy to think about devoting time to leadership development. But in the long run, it will be time well spent and could keep your business on track for success
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WHY HIRING IS (MUCH) HARDER THAN IT LOOKS

Have you ever wondered why the hiring process is so freakishly slow? It should be easy—at the moment a manager has a vacancy (or knows there will be one), a recruiter should jump in and screen candidates, the manager should schedule interviews with a few promising applicants and, collectively, they should make a final offer to the best one.
That’s how it should go. From the outside, it may look like this process is happening in your organization. But here’s the catch: even if you’re following these steps, you’re likely following them at a glacial pace, and running into obstacles at every turn.
Why is hiring so much harder than it seems? Let’s take a look behind the scenes of the hiring process to understand the common hold-ups, and how to address them.

Step 1: Manager Has a Vacancy

First, ask why a vacancy occurred: Did someone quit? Was someone promoted? Has the workload increased and the team just needs a new hire? Second, evaluate your resources to actually fill this vacancy: What’s the budget? If the vacancy is due to someone quitting (or being promoted), is the current budgeted salary competitive enough to hire from the outside? Does the current job description still work?
As you can probably see, even the very first step in the hiring process is far more complicated than it looks. If you don’t have solid answers to the above questions, it will throw a wrench into the rest of the process.

Step 2: Advertise the Opportunity

For many jobs, putting up a job description and gathering applications is the easiest part of hiring. But what if it’s a position with a very specific skill set? Sometimes, the recruiter has to go out and hunt for someone with the right qualifications. These “head hunters” spend a lot of time and energy on this part of the hiring process, since they have to proactively find—and then convince—people to apply.
Alternatively, while an entry-level or general job should receive an influx of applications, it’s important to carefully define the job in step 1. Two weeks into the live job application, you don’t want the hiring manager to call up the recruiter and say, “I know we said we needed someone with X, but actually we need someone with Y.” Unless a good portion of the X applicants can also do Y (unlikely), you’ll have to start the process all over.

Step 3: Screen Candidates

Your relationship and communication with the recruiter will determine whether this step is productive or not. While some recruiters are well-versed in the role or department and know the right questions to ask, many others are general recruiters who are sourcing candidates across four or more skill sets. They may accidentally exclude someone who would be awesome in a position because they don’t fit the job description to a “T”.
Make sure to provide as many details as possible, and offer various examples of candidates that would make a great fit.

Step 4: Interview the Applicants

Most people don’t do a ton of hiring, and conducting interviews is not an easy feat—it’s one that takes a lot of practice, intuition and patience. That’s obstacle number one.
Second, people who apply for new jobs are typically applying for more than one. Scheduling by itself can take forever—especially if your leadership team prefers to have multiple people interview each candidate.
So, make sure you’re taking into account the candidate experience in this step—remember, not only is the hiring manager picking a candidate, but the candidate is picking a job. Your interviewer should be well-prepared, communication should be prompt and the process itself should run smoothly.

Step 5: Make the Job Offer (and Hopefully, Celebrate!)

There’s no guarantee that your offer will be accepted, or that you will be able to meet the candidate’s negotiation asks.
The key to this step is preparing for wiggle room—don’t post the job at the highest salary you can offer, and expect some pushback on things like flexible working hours or vacation time. If the candidate is employed, it’s likely their current company will come back with a counter-offer—and you need to be prepared to meet it.
If you’re able to meet the various challenges that crop up throughout the hiring process, you’ll be much more likely to find and hire the right candidate faster. When it comes to hiring, the secret is to never underestimate the collective power of details, communication and flexibility.

Instructor Sit Down: A Q&A with Tamryn Spruill

Tamryn Spruill was standing in a cranberry field, on an island off the coast of Finland, and thinking. She had headed to Europe as a reprieve after the economic collapse in 2007 forced her out of her job at a Manhattan law firm where she worked as a finance editor. She had climbed the corporate ladder there after beginning her professional life by earning a journalism degree at the University of South Carolina.
Now, with Wall Street in ruins, Tamryn stepped back and realized that this was her new beginning. And she embraced it.
“It became clear that when I returned to the U.S. I would get out of the rat race of New York City to pursue something that excited me creatively, intellectually, and spiritually. Like many who endured the hardship of layoff but found it to be a blessing in disguise,” she said.
Tamryn left New York City and headed to Vermont where she was accepted to the acclaimed MFA program at Goddard College. Never one to shy away from risk, or stray from her goal, Tamryn sent one application, to one school, Goddard. And it paid off. She was accepted and in her third semester taught fiction during a teaching practicum to local students in a charter school for the arts.
“I had sought creative, intellectual, and spiritual excitement and I found it – both in my graduate studies and in classrooms filled with talented young people,” she said.
Now as a faculty administrator, and English and literature Instructor for Bryant & Stratton College, Tamryn teaches two classes each session and supervises a group of about 20 adjunct instructors. Get to know Tamryn with our quick Q&A
  1. Which classes do you teach?
ENGL101: Research & Writing I, a foundational English course which helps students to build the types of researching and writing skills that will help them to succeed not only in future courses but in the workplace as well.
ENGL250: Research & Writing II, a course devoted to workplace-specific writing which affords students the opportunities to draft common workplace documents like memos, professional letters, and proposals, and to sharpen their research and information literary skills which also are critical to the competitive workforce.
ENGL350: Research & Writing III, a course which fosters and challenges critical thinking as students create a primary research study related to a subject in their degree field, and includes a thorough research design (sample, data collection, and data analysis methods) and survey for collecting data.
LITR320: World Literature, a survey course of twentieth century literature from around the world that focuses on critical analysis of short stories and poems, development of cultural awareness through the act of reading literature, and application of cultural concepts to life, community, and career.
  1. Do you continue to work in your career field outside the classroom?
I absolutely love my job! And I appreciate the ability to learn something new each session, with the goal of continual improvement. But all of this is to say that I do work in my career field outside of the classroom, as much as I can. But given the demands of my position with the college, I try to concentrate this work during breaks between sessions because I am a person who needs at least eight hours of sleep each night! In 2012, I founded an indie press that publishes poetry and hybrid/cross-genre or experimental literature. So far, seven titles have been published with another four set for release in 2016! I take great pride in sending highly imaginative and thoughtful literature out into the world, and I feel honored to work with so many talented writers.
  1. What do you wish students understood about their time in college?
More than anything, I wish students understood and embraced that education is a precious opportunity. Of course, it is a means to an end; for example, it is a path toward gaining better employment in the future. But embracing the journey of education as a precious opportunity – rather than as something to be endured to achieve an end result – will allow students to get all they can from the experience. Instead of holding an attitude of doing as little as possible to pass a course, I would love to see more students seek to learn as much as they can. To treat a course like a milkshake and suck very hard on the straw to taste every last drop and not leave anything in the cup!
I realize this can be difficult because many students work and/or have families. These are real life demands that do not leave much time in the day for completing textbook readings and writing papers. But I know from personal experience that it is possible to immerse fully in learning despite these challenges. Often, a measure of sacrifice is required along with good organization and solid time management.
I encourage students to be introspective and consider: What are you willing to do to pass the course and earn the degree that will lead you to the employment you desire? For example, are you willing to give up watching TV for 7.5 weeks while you complete the course? (With Hulu and Netflix, students can binge watch the shows they missed during the session – as a reward for doing well in class!) For students who are very concerned with grades, my advice always is to instruct them to immerse themselves more fully in what they are learning. If they do this, they will gain the knowledge that will lead to the end result of good grades. If students focus on learning as much as they can – completing all assigned readings, listening to lectures and so forth – the grades will take care of themselves.

WHY COMMUNAL LEARNING (AND CAKE POPS) ARE THE FUTURE OF L&D

Just as the tradition of annual performance reviews is on the wane, the concept of one-and-done training sessions is becoming increasingly outdated. The pace of technology continues to accelerate each year, and HR professionals can no longer expect to train people once a year (or even once a quarter) to keep up to speed—instead, employees need opportunities to constantly learn and improve their knowledge.
But it\’s also clear that HR can\’t serve as the only source of this knowledge. According to a recent study from Deloitte, the gap between the importance of L&D and the ability to act on it grew by 211 percent over the past year. In order to bridge this gap, learning not only needs to be continuous, it also needs to be communal.

Source Knowledge from Inside the Company

For years, I\’ve been an advocate for a learning model that I informally refer to as “inside-out\” development. It takes \”build\” in the \”build vs. buy\” argument to another level: If you want to build a custom training program for your employees, do it by leveraging the skills, talents and expertise of those same employees. Don\’t limit your construction team to HR if you want a truly valuable and comprehensive learning program.
At Cornerstone, putting the \”inside-out\” model to practice has proved invaluable. Here, the L&D function isn’t necessarily defined by the number of employees officially on the “L&D team.”  Our L&D team, with inside-out training, has a team of about 1,500 – that is, everyone in the company is in learning now.
And it shows: Cornerstone employees have completed 8,500 training hours in just a year and a half—all employee-generated, employee-designed and employee-delivered.
How can you apply the \”inside-out\” approach to your learning program? Here, four key lessons I\’ve learned about cultivating a community-led learning environment.

1. Focus on Culture First

While I wouldn\’t consider myself a traditionally creative person, I\’ve learned how to foster an environment where creative people thrive—and that\’s the key to inside-out development. You need to establish a company culture where trying new ideas is celebrated.
By empowering employees (regardless of title) to come forth and share their knowledge with coworkers, you\’ll create a more intimate organization where internal teaching will begin to occur naturally.

2. Identify Your Learning Champions

In order to make employee-led training work, you need employee advocates. Find people throughout the organization who are excited about the idea and willing to support you!
To start, conduct a basic needs assessment of your organization and identify the core opportunities for learning. Then, seek out potential presenters who excel in these areas and offer to help them develop a session or training course. You can coach them on presentation skills, ensure the content is relevant and accessible, and help them market the session—all of which are critical employee skills, regardless of department.

3. Embrace the Unexpected

If you want your learning program to be user-generated, it\’s going to be unique and unexpected. Remember: it\’s all about embracing new ideas.
The first time I sent around a survey asking people what they would be interested in teaching, I received more than a few outside-the-box responses: from a cooking lesson on cake pops to teaching people how to ride a bike. So, on our first \”Development Day,\” one of the sessions we had was on cake pops—it filled up almost instantly and was a great team-building experience. The cyclist also gave a great session on bike safety and commuting to work.
Don\’t let your expectations of what learning should look like get in the way of a new idea. Hosting the above sessions alongside lessons on coding, remote working and stress management rounded out our entire program.

4. Always Be Iterating

Finally, think about how you can continue to impress and surprise people. Don\’t do something just because it worked before—think of new things to try and new ways to curate and present information.
For instance, how can you embrace new technologies to increase engagement? How can you continue to update existing sessions and identify new ideas? It\’s important to take full advantage of the knowledge offered, and find ways to create ongoing conversations—whether that\’s through virtual communities or ongoing courses.
As you continue to experiment with inside-out development, you\’ll find that your company strength, trust and cohesion will be positively influenced—and all by finding great people within your organization and helping them shine.
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Job-Seeking? Identify What Problem You Will Solve

One of the challenges of rethinking our careers these days is how to most effectively position ourselves with a potential employer for maximum opportunity (okay, first to get hired, then for maximum opportunity!). In other words, you and your outstanding skills are the solution to the problem or challenge they face.
Whether you’re writing a cover letter, tailoring a resume, or preparing for a job interview, think about how to demonstrate and document your problem-solving track record.career change arrow street sign The problem or pain point could be as simple as “we need someone reliable who can learn our system quickly and replace the employee we just promoted.” Or it might be “we need someone who knows how to turn our print content into interactive media for our website.” Or perhaps it’s “we need someone who not only understands how healthcare clinics work but also speaks Spanish to help us effectively support the healthcare needs of our growing number of Latino patients.”
Your job is to learn, from the job posting and doing as much research on the organization as possible, what problem, challenge, or opportunity the organization is trying to address through the posted position, and then focus entirely on the value you bring that will help them successfully do so. Basically, your communications should showcase four things:
You have the skills, expertise, and track record necessary to fix the problem This can include education, credentials, work experience, and/or volunteer projects that relate to the challenge the company needs to address. Whether in your resume, cover letter, or interview, your communications need to be about the professional value you bring that lets you help the company resolve its “pain points.”
You deliver results:  Prospective employers pay attention when you can point to quantifiable results from work you did (solutions you provided). Being able to say that you increased customer retention by 15% or contributed to a project that came in 20% under budget or achieved some other measurable positive result means that you have a track record of delivering actual results. How to frame this? Companies generally focus on three bottom-line benefits: an increase in revenue, a decrease in costs, or an increase in satisfied customers. If you’re able to point to achievable results in any of those areas, make sure potential employers know it. And if you’re a student without any applicable job history to point to, then be ready to discuss how you would become their solution based on the knowledge and insights you’re gaining in your program.
You learn fast  Almost any new job is going to involve a learning curve where you’re trained on existing systems, processes, and practices. The faster you can master these and actually start producing value (that is, being the solution), the happier the company. So be sure to highlight any experiences that demonstrate how you quickly mastered new information and were able to apply that knowledge in previous situations. And if you’re a student, talk about what you’ve learned about how you learn in your classes that will enable you to “learn on demand.”
You’re easy to work with and will fit in with – rather than disrupt – their team  In terms of being that great solution, think “seamless transition.” Make it clear that your great people and team skills have helped drive successful solutions in the past, and will do so now as well. So, what problems do your skills and expertise solve?