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DEAR REWORKER: MY EMPLOYEE’S HUSBAND WAS ARRESTED, SHOULD I TELL THE EXECUTIVE TEAM?

Dear ReWorker,
We have an employee that has been an above-average employee. Yesterday, I learned that her husband was arrested by the FBI as a member of a large drug trafficking ring and money laundering. Our employee (“Jane”) works in a position that allows her access to medical patient’s financial records (credit cards, bank accounts, etc.). I am struggling with my obligation as it relates to Jane and her privacy and my responsibility to our clients.
Jane has not been charged with any wrongdoing. However, the info to which she accesses every day is highly sensitive. If I tell the executive leadership team about what has recently transpired in Jane’s life, experience has shown me that they will suspend/terminate her employment as a ‘knee jerk reaction’ to her personal situation.
I am torn.
Do I tell the executive team and risk Jane’s employment? Do I monitor the situation until something occurs that causes me to be suspicious of Jane’s activities? Is it too late then?
Sincerely,
Guilty by Association
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Guilty by Association,
Let me ask a question: When you do background checks on new employees, do you run background checks on their spouses?
I didn’t think so.
So, if Jane was a job candidate, not an employee, and she didn’t happen to mention that her husband had been arrested, you would never know about it, and you’d give her the job. Why would you not treat her, an established employee with a great track record, the same way?
I know why not. It’s scary. If he was doing this (and remember, it’s alleged right now anyway), how could she not know about it? Well, people who are dishonest are also dishonest with their spouses.
So, what to do here? Talk with Jane. Offer her sympathy. Can you imagine what a nightmare this is for her? One day, everything is fine. The next, her husband is being hauled off in handcuffs, and the whole town is looking at her like she’s a criminal. Jane needs support right now. She may need some extra time off to handle things. You’re certainly not required, by law, to give someone time off to deal with her husband’s arrest, but it would be the nice thing to do. Remember, Jane is a top performer, and you’d like to keep her.
That said, you shouldn’t be completely naive. There’s a good chance Jane is 100 percent innocent—after all the FBI investigated and didn’t arrest Jane, even though she’s married to their target. But, there’s a tiny chance she, herself, has some issues. And, add to that, she’s now got huge money problems. Defending yourself from criminal charges is expensive, and since this is Jane’s husband, the cost will hit Jane.
That does put Jane at a higher risk of giving into temptation. (And why many companies like to run credit checks on people who have access to financial information.) So, run an audit, and have Jane’s boss keep an extra eye on things, but otherwise, be supportive.
What do you tell senior management? Precisely what I’ve said here: We don’t run background checks on spouses, so her husband’s arrest is irrelevant. We have audits in place, and we ran an extra one on Jane’s accounts to make sure everything is going well. And, most importantly, Jane needs our support. Let’s ask her what we can do to make her life easier.
Don’t give into the temptation to blame her for her husband’s mistakes. She’s already suffering. If you give her a supportive environment, you lessen the chances of anything bad happening at your company. You want good employees to stick around, so make it a place that supports good employees, regardless of their personal lives.
Your ReWorker,

YOUR EMPLOYEES’ INABILITY TO SPEAK UP IS COSTING YOUR BUSINESS BIG MONEY

Open door policies are pretty ubiquitous, but simply having the policy doesn’t mean people will actually speak their minds. Your employees aren’t telling you everything they should and it’s costing you—$7,500 per conversation failure and seven work days—according to a new study led by best-selling authors Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield.
That’s what the lack of open communication costs you, and here’s why:
  • One in three employee say their culture does not promote or support holding crucial conversations.
  • Only 1 percent report feeling extremely confident voicing their concerns in crucial moments.
  • 40 percent estimate they waste 2 weeks or more ruminating about the problem
Stop and think about these numbers. If only 1 percent feel “confident in voicing their concerns in crucial moments” that means 99 percent of your employees do not feel confident.

The Power of Communication

Sometimes, that can literally be the difference between life and death. Malcom Gladwell found that a lack of confidence in challenging your superiors led to Korean Air having numerous crashes. He writes:

Korean Air had more plane crashes than almost any other airline in the world for a period at the end of the 1990s. When we think of airline crashes, we think, Oh, they must have had old planes. They must have had badly trained pilots. No. What they were struggling with was a cultural legacy, that Korean culture is hierarchical. You are obliged to be deferential toward your elders and superiors in a way that would be unimaginable in the U.S.

Because the co-pilots were culturally mandated to defer to their captains, they didn’t speak up and the results were literally deadly. Once Korean Air found out, they were able to address it and solve the problem.
Do you have this same problem in your business? What happens when someone challenges senior management? Are the immediately shut down and pushed to the side? Is questioning the VP a career death sentence?
You may think that it’s not a problem, but the next time you’re in a meeting with several layers of staff pay attention. Who is doing all the talking? Is it the senior people? Are the junior people just nodding along and taking notes?
If so, you’ve got a problem. If a junior person dares speak up, are his or her ideas dismissed? If so, you’ve got an even bigger problem.
Yes, it’s true that the newbie straight out of grad school will think she knows what she’s talking about and doesn’t, but if you get in the habit of just shutting everyone down, you’ll miss out on ideas and train everyone to keep quiet.

Welcome Ideas from Everyone

The last thing any business needs is to dismiss ideas that could help a company grow and develop. You want ideas. You can look at them and dismiss them later if they don’t pan out.
Additionally, communication is stifled when people don’t treat each other respectfully. We sometimes call this lack of respect “bullying,” although it doesn’t have to reach that level to cause havoc in your company. Just having a peer not doing his or her work can cause problems within a department. While you don’t want to encourage your team to become a bunch of tattle-tales, if someone comes to you and says, “Jane is not doing her work and it’s impacting my ability to do my work,” you need to listen.
Treat people with respect. Listen to what they have to say. Address problems when they come up and you’ll save your company time, money and perhaps come up with some great new ideas.

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS EVERY HR DEPARTMENT SHOULD MAKE

Just because most people fail at their New Year’s Resolutions doesn’t mean your HR department shouldn’t make a few in the form of policy changes and new practices. HR policies and practices can have a huge impact on the success of the business. Sure, HR doesn’t design products or develop marketing plans, but what we do impacts the morale of the organization, and that affects everything else. Here are five resolutions every HR department should make.

1) Make Sure Pay Is Equitable and Market Rate

It’s time for a pay audit. Are there any differences in pay across gender, racial or age lines that can’t be explained by a logical, legal and fair reason? Don’t neglect this one. If you find discrepancies, give pay bumps today. Don’t wait until the next raise cycle. Get this taken care of immediately.
It’s not just equity for protected classes that you should look into; it’s market rates as well. Do you want to lose your best people because you’re paying below market rate?

2) Eliminate a Policy

I don’t know which one, but I guarantee you have a bad one on your books. Maybe it’s no raises above 10 percent. Perhaps it’s requiring in-depth reference checks on job candidates, but only confirm titles and dates of service for your former staff. There’s even a chance it’s docking PTO for exempt employees ever time they step out of the office? Whatever it is, figure out your worst policy and eliminate it.

3) Remind All Employees About ADA and FMLA

If you have more than 15 employees, the Americans with Disabilities Act applies and if you have 50, the Family Medical Leave Act is in play. People don’t understand what these mean, and it can open up the company to liability. If an employee tells a manager she needs an accommodation and the manager has no clue he or she has to provide that (assuming it’s a true disability and the requested accommodation is within reason), the company can suffer, and it’s unfair to the employee. Whenever possible, educate your teams on these laws.

4) Get Development Plans In Place

Managers are concerned about the here and now. You need to be concerned about the company’s future. Most people aren’t interested in staying in the same job for eternity, so you better make plans for developing people, or you’ll lose them to your competitors.
This doesn’t have to be a labor intensive endeavor in HR. You can ask employees to consider where they want to go and then help them figure out how the company can help them achieve their goals. Just make sure you don’t put a huge burden on management and staff in getting this together.

5) Put Some People on Performance Improvement Plans

This sounds harsh—getting people placed on Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs). The thing is, it’s not mean. It’s nice. Why? Because you have low performers and their managers are ignoring them, hoping that they’ll just go away. Unfortunately, what is more likely to happen is the good employees will get fed up with their slacker co-workers and leave first.
You want to identify the low performers and help their managers develop plans for improvement. A good person who is struggling will benefit from direct instruction on what he needs to do to improve. An inveterate slacker will continue to slack, but you’ll have the documentation needed to terminate, and replace him or her with someone who cares about performance. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
So, before you reject the hype around New Year’s Resolutions, look around your department and company and think about what changes you’d like to see. No reason you can’t start today.

DEAR REWORKER: I HAVEN’T HAD A RAISE IN FIVE YEARS

Dear ReWorker,
My husband has been working for the same company for over 25 years. None of the employees, including my husband, have received a raise in the last five years. The owner of the company keeps telling the workers the company isn’t making any money; however, the employees have watched this same owner drive up in a brand new pickup truck, towing a brand new boat that he boasted about paying for with cash. This is the same owner who continually questions the morale of the company.
What can my husband do in this situation? And, what type of advice would you have for this employer?
Sincerely,
Getting Impatient
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Getting Impatient,
Your husband should brush up his resume, find a new job and quit. In that order. An owner that hasn’t offered a raise in five years, complains about a lack of money while showing off his expensive purchases and can’t see that his actions are causing low morale isn’t likely to change.
Now, of course, I should ask if your husband has asked for a raise in the past five years. If he hasn’t, he should ask. The exception to this is if your husband is at the top of the pay scale for his profession and wouldn’t be able to make more money anywhere else. Salaries should be based on market rates, and if you’re already at the top of the market, you aren’t going anywhere.
The owner of this business sees himself as doing a favor to the employees—isn’t it great that I gave you a job out of the goodness of my heart? Now, I’m all for small business owners, and I understand that they take risks, but they aren’t doing it out of “goodness.” They do it because it’s the best way to be profitable. Your husband’s boss wouldn’t have his new truck and new boat without his employees. Yes, he provides them with jobs, but they help his company prosper.
It might be scary to go out and look for a new job—after all, he’s been there 25 years, and the devil you know is often better than the devil you don’t. But, most companies are happy to have good workers and want to reward them. Looking won’t cost him anything and if he doesn’t find anything better, he should stay.
As for advice for the owner—he’s not writing me, but I’m always happy to give advice. I’d tell the owner to make sure to give his employees raises—there’s little doubt that salaries should have been bumped up at least for cost of living over the past five years. The second thing I’d tell him to do is have his finances evaluated by a professional. Now, maybe he has a wife who paid for the new truck and boat and the business is struggling, but if he is paying for that with money the business earns, he needs an expert to take a look at his books.
Why? By not investing in his employees, he’s not investing in his business. Your husband probably isn’t the only person considering leaving after being treated like that. Turnover is incredibly expensive—probably more expensive than his fancy new boat. It’s not going to be so cheap to replace someone with 25 years of experience.
Overall, he’s making bad decisions based on short-term pleasure, and that’s going to come back to bite him.
Your ReWorker,
Suzanne Lucas, Evil HR Lady

Bobcats Shine at USCAA National Invitational

The Bryant & Stratton College track & field team finished the 2016 season with an impressive performance at the USCAA National Invitational.
The Bobcats had 17 runners place in the top-10 of their respective events while four other Bobcats placed in the top-three. Tevin Coleman placed fourth and second in the 1500m and 800m, respectively, while Lavar Sealey, Fatemah El-Hindi and Nicole Pearson also picked up top-five finishes. Freshman Cole Clemons and Njamile Charles each grabbed respective top-three finishes in the shotput and javelin.However, all of those impressive performances were eclipsed by Levar Sealey’s victory in the men’s 400m dash, crowning him as the USCAA National Invitational Champion in the 400.
“The meet marked the end of a very successful season for the Bobcats. I am exceptionally proud of our athletes,” head coach Ryan Johnson said. “As our program continues to grow, I am confident that we will continue to build and see a great deal of success.”
The team and individual success enjoyed by the Bobcats at the USCAA National Invitational rounded out an impressive year that saw a number of promising athletes rise to the level set early on by Bobcats standout Tevin Coleman. Bryant & Stratton College enters the offseason with a tremendous foundation built for the future and their sights set on becoming an even greater driving force in the USCAA.

5 Tips to Help Women in Business with Career Management

Though there has been significant progress concerning gender equality in the workforce, women are still lagging behind men when it comes to executive positions in business. According to career information at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Center for Women in Business, women are particularly underrepresented in the C-suite and on corporate boards. The center’s data finds that women currently hold just 4.2% of CEO positions in Fortune 1000 companies.
Sheryl Sandburg, chief operating officer at Facebook and a high profile woman in business, recently asked women to “lean in” to their careers. Her book of the same title has sparked conversations across the country on how to empower women to reach their full potential.
Follow these five career management tips to help you stand out and assert yourself as woman in business.
  1. Know your stuff
Before your next meeting, take some time to get up to speed about what will be discussed. Review the meeting agenda, if one is provided, or ask the individual who scheduled the meeting about what might be covered. Do background research on the topic so that you go into the meeting understanding the issue at hand and ready to discuss your thoughts.
  1. Share your ideas
Coming to the meeting prepared is a great step towards taking charge of your career, but it is most effective if you share those thoughts and ideas with the group. It can be overwhelming to speak up in front of so many people, however if you’ve done your research beforehand you can be confident that what you have to share is well informed. Not every idea will be a success but sharing shows initiative and, with the group’s collaboration, might even spark something bigger and better.
  1. Toot your own horn
Women often underplay their achievements at work for fear of sounding egotistical or self-centered.  Men, on the other hand, see the value in sharing their successes because it presents them as capable and accomplished. Women should follow this lead and toot their own horn to share their wins with others. Try to also cheer others on and wish them well when they share successes with you to foster a supportive environment for all.
  1. Admit when you need help
It isn’t always easy to admit when you’re stumped or need help. Remember, asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, but rather a sign that you are open to different ideas or perspectives. It also shows that you have realistic expectations for yourself. If you know you won’t be able to finish something by the deadline, asking for assistance can help progress the project so that it can be completed on time, which may benefit the whole team or company. 
  1. Seek mentorship
Many successful women often offer anecdotes about how their mentors helped them in their professional career. Seek out someone in your field whom you admire, whose career you would like to emulate and ask if they would serve as a mentor to you. A mentor can offer advice, guidance and assistance from their experience in the field, which can be helpful as you learn the ropes.
If you are interested in a career in business, consider enrolling in the Bryant & Stratton College Online business administration degree. You can learn more by calling 1.888.447.3528 and speaking with an admissions representative.

Redefining Progress in the Genuine Economy

A genuine economy creates more benefits than costs. Benefits are relatively easy to count. Just add up all the stuff that people buy and sell every day. But what do economists miss when they only count goods and services bought and sold in the marketplace? What’s missed when the only value of our time is what we get paid to work? What about the myriad of costs that never get charged, such as the costs from depleting and polluting the environment? And how are both costs and benefits from an economy distributed among its citizens? Enter: the Genuine Progress Indicator.

All growth is not created equal

Before the 1940s, there were no economy-wide indicators to help guide economic policy. Policy makers in the U.S. and around the world were flying blind during the Great Depression. The economic advisers to President Franklin Roosevelt literally counted freight cars to answer the question: Is the economy growing or shrinking? With nations gearing up for the second world war, they also needed an economic gauge to transition in and out of military production. The Gross Domestic Product was created to answer these basic questions about the size, transitions, ups and downs of an economy.
World leaders today are almost singularly obsessed with GDP as a gauge of standard of living. Is it growing? How fast? How much GDP is there per person? But more and more people are asking: What kind of growth, and for whom? Even one of the chief architects of the GDP, Nobel Prize–winning economist Simon Kuznets, warned in 1962: “Distinctions must be kept in mind between quantity and quality of growth, between its costs and return, and between the short and the long term. Goals for more growth should specify more growth of what and for what.”
In 1968, Senator Robert Kennedy popularized the critique and laid out a road map for new indicators. In a speech at the University of Kansas, he lamented that the GDP “does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.”

Towards a more genuine indicator of progress

Soon thereafter, in 1972, Yale economists William Nordhaus and James Tobin introduced the Measure of Economic Welfare to ask: If an economy grows by depleting assets, is that true growth? In the 1980s, World Bank–economist Herman Daly and theologian John Cobb developed the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare, a composite index that further expanded the scope of social and environmental factors, and broadened the question to: If the benefits of growth don’t outweigh the costs, is the economy delivering sustainable well-being? And through an interdisciplinary effort led by the think tank Redefining Progress in the 1990s, the Genuine Progress Indicator was born.
The GPI of today takes into account income inequality and non-market benefits such as spending time volunteering or parenting one’s kids. It also deducts negative effects, including depletion of natural assets such as forests and wetlands, and pollution of our air, land and water. While the GDP per person in the U.S. has grown many times over since Kuznet’s warning and Kennedy’s critique, the U.S. GPI peaked in the late 1970s and has been flat ever since.
redefining-progress
US GPI Graph (from Redefining Progress)

States Lead the Way on GPI

The aftermath of the Great Recession has brought a renewed interest in alternative indicators of economic and broader well-being. While the U.S. and other nations have seen steady GDP growth since the financial crisis of 2007–2008, more and more people have been left behind. U.S. income inequality has hit levels not seen since the 1920s, and the growing costs of climate change, water pollution and fossil-fuel dependence have renewed Kennedy’s prophetic call for new metrics of progress.
While one can hope for congressional leadership on new metrics of progress, a growing number of states have decided not to wait. Maryland was the first state to adopt the GPI in 2010, when Governor Martin O’Malley launched an initiative to present the state’s GPI through an online tool. And in 2012, the State of Vermont passed GPI into law. In 2013 O’Malley hosted a GPI summit, which was attended by representatives from 20 states, and now Oregon and Washington are moving in this direction. In 2014, the University of Vermont held a practitioners’ summit, where analysts from across the country came to learn the best practices for measuring GPI.
And why stop with just dollars and cents? While the GPI was designed to put all values into economic terms and compare with the GDP, there are even broader indicators that address quality of life. The World Values Survey, for example, asks people more generally about their life satisfaction, and more specifically about their needs, wants and aspirations. What these metrics strive for in the broadest sense is to understand how the economy contributes to quality of life, and what trade-offs exist between material well-being and the interconnected health of our communities, societies and environment. These broader indicators of “happiness” also show a leveling off in recent decades, again, in spite of a growing economy.
American homes are bigger than ever, we have more luxuries and conveniences than any generation in history, we have witnessed the fullness of a consumer society. But who has been left behind? Has consumption translated to well-being? What would the future hold in a post-consumer society

Want a Career in Public Health? Northern New England is the Place for Public Health.

Some of the fastest growing public health careers in the United States include biostaticians and epidemiologists. Many of those careers are experiencing growth rates of up to 27 percent over the next decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Not bad, considering that overall employment is projected to increase by 14 percent.
But what about northern New England? If you want to live and work in Vermont, New Hampshire or Maine, what is the outlook for jobs in public health?
The health care and social assistance sector – which includes jobs in public health – is growing faster than other industries in northern New England, the BLS notes.
VermontSimilar to the rest of the region and the country, Vermont is expected to see a surge in health care jobs over the next decade. The health care and social assistance sector is expected to grow 15 percent, compared to 8.2 percent for all jobs in the Green Mountain State.
The job growth rate projected for public health careers includes:
  • Health educators, 21.3 percent
  • Health care social workers, 19.3 percent
  • Environmental scientists and specialists, including health, 11 percent
  • Social and community service managers, 10 percent
  • Medical and health services managers, 10 percent
  • Community and social service specialists, 9.3 percent
  • Statisticians, 5 percent
  • Occupational health and safety specialists, 3 percent
New HampshireThe Granite State is expected to see a 24 percent jump in the number of health care and social assistance jobs over the next decade, compared to 10.4 percent growth for total employment. Put into perspective: The health care industry will account for nearly 30 percent of all new jobs in New Hampshire over the next decade.
The field of public health will see tremendous job growth compared to other fields:
  • Health educators, 37.2 percent
  • Medical and public health social workers, 28.3 percent
  • Social and community service managers, 22.3 percent
  • Community and social service specialists, 20.1 percent
  • Medical and health services managers, 18.9 percent
  • Environmental scientists and specialists, including health, 17.9 percent
  • Statisticians, 9.4 percent
  • Occupational health and safety specialists, 8.2 percent
MaineAs Mainers age, the state will experience numerous job openings. The health and social assistance sector – where approximately a quarter of the workforce is over age 55 – faces the most retirements. Couple that with the fact that Maine is the “oldest” state in the nation – with numerous health care needs for its aging population – and you can understand why the state is concerned about finding more health care workers.
Jobs in the health and social assistance sector are expected to grow nearly 16 percent, the highest of any industry in the state. That compares to a 5.5 percent increase for total employment.
Most of the careers in public health will follow this growth trend. Among them:
  • Health educators, 24.2 percent
  • Medical and public health social workers, 18.5 percent
  • Medical and health services managers, 15.9 percent
  • Epidemiologists, 15.2 percent
  • Statisticians, 4.8 percent
  • Social and community service managers, 4.3 percent
  • Community and social service specialists, 3.6 percent
  • Environmental scientists and specialists, including health, 1.9 percent
If you are planning on working in Public Health, Northern New England is following the national trend of seeing an increase in jobs in health care and social assistance sector, which will create 28 percent of new jobs over the next decade in the United States

5 Reasons to Take an Online Course This Fall

As the summer continues, your mind may begin to return to more academic topics. After all, the fall semester will be here before you know it. Chances are that you have already selected all or most of your fall courses, but perhaps you are now reconsidering your class schedule—whether by choice, or because circumstances demand it. As you ponder your schedule, consider adding an online course to the mix. Why? Here are five reasons to take an online course this fall:
  1. An online class can offer you flexibility
Registering for multiple preferred courses during a single semester can often be near-impossible. Luckily, online classes offer scheduling flexibility that traditional courses simply cannot rival. For instance, certain online classes allow you to complete work on your own time. This flexibility can enable you to squeeze another course into your schedule, or to balance school with full-time work.
  1. Your options may be broader
In addition to offering scheduling flexibility, online class catalogues may have a wider reach than in-person class catalogues—in other words, they may boast a larger variety of courses. This may even allow you to sign up for a class that is not offered on campus at your school. Such a course may be essential to your career path and major/minor, or it may be in a subject of personal interest.Bryant & Stratton College Online Student
  1. An online class may save you money
Online courses are often less expensive than traditional in-person classes (though this is not always the case). Given the cost of college tuition and the likely possibility of graduating with debt, this can be a very appealing quality of online courses. Set aside time to compare costs, and if you believe that it will save you a significant amount of money, consider at least one online class this fall.
  1. You may earn needed credit
You may be taking an online course to supplement your existing class schedule, or it may be a task that you are completing while you work full-time or embark on a gap year. Whatever your situation, the credits you acquire may be transferable to multiple colleges and universities. Just ensure that the course you select is offered by an accredited program.
  1. You will strengthen key academic skills
Because online classes do not meet in a physical classroom, you may be nervous about the lack of structure. However, online courses can build crucial skills that you will require for almost any job. Since classes are conducted electronically, there is perhaps a greater need for communication than in a traditional class. You will learn the best ways to communicate with peers and professors, and working digitally will also boost your technology skills—which are becoming increasingly important in nearly every industry. If you are still uncertain about online courses, speak with someone who has taken one, and ask for his or her feedback. Even if you have some hesitation, why not register for one online class this fall? You never know what you may learn about yourself as a student.

Catherine Martin is a contributing writer for UniversityTutor.com, the world’s largest global marketplace for finding independent tutors.

Important Factors for Choosing the Right Online College

There are many factors to consider in selecting a school in order to make sure you will be able to thrive personally and academically. While online college is not right for everyone, it can be a great opportunity for people who like self-paced learning, need to balance school with a busy schedule or need a flexible schedule to meet family obligations. But, before you enroll, taking the time to think about some of the questions below will help you feel good about making an investment in your education and help you get to graduation.
Where to look? We probably don’t have to tell you the internet is a great resource. Today colleges have websites, social media profiles, blogs, webinars and other resources that can help you see what the school has to offer. There are also lots of sites that offer reviews of online degree programs where you can read what real students and alumni have to say. Looking at some of these resources will help you at least narrow your list of prospective schools.
Can I take a tour? Of course with an online college taking a physical tour isn’t possible, but talk to the college admissions representatives at your top schools about taking a virtual tour. Find out about the technology that is used, what resources are available to students and how classes are delivered. Learning more about the school’s offerings will help you judge the quality of the college and get a better understanding of online education.
Who can I talk to? During your virtual tour, make sure you’re able to speak with a variety of people at the college. Want to know what a class will be like? Set up time to speak or chat online with an instructor. Ask if there are students or alumni you can speak with or if the college can share what student have said about the school. Also, talk to the financial aid office to find out what kind of scholarships or grants might be available. You can also find a college’s social media profiles to see what students are saying or post a question and get their feedback directly.
What career help is offered? More than likely you are going to school to change or advance your career. As you gather information about a school, make sure you consider its career services offerings. You want to be sure the school you choose is focused on giving you the right skills to manage your career. Talk to the career services counselors about what resources are available to students and look online for information about job placement rates.
Finding a school that is just as invested in your employability as you are can be important to your future success. You want to make a good decision when selecting an online college. So, it’s time to start researching and asking questions. Good luck in your search!
Interested in learning more about the online degree programs offered by Bryant & Stratton College Online? Call 1.888.447.3528 to speak with an admissions representative.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

DEAR REWORKER: CAN YOU FIRE AN EMPLOYEE FOR CALLING IN SICK TOO OFTEN?

Dear ReWorker,
We hired an employee at the beginning of this year to work the front desk of our medical office. She worked for 10 days, but has been out sick sporadically (with doctors notes) since then.
When she has been in the office, she hasn\’t performed very well and we see that she is not a good candidate for this position. She uses her cell phone, works very slowly and shows no initiative. It\’s all very discouraging.
My other employees are working harder than usual to pull her weight. I want to hire a replacement ASAP, but don\’t want to break any medical leave laws. What should I do? Is it legal to fire an employee for calling in sick too often?
Sincerely,
Needing a New Employee
___________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Needing,
My first question for you is: do you have an absentee policy? Every business needs a policy that dictates how many days employees can miss due to illness, what procedures to follow and when to bring a doctor\’s note.
Legally, an employee—even one that\’s stricken by some horrible disease—isn\’t covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) until they\’ve worked for a company for at least a year, so you\’re not obligated to hold her position open while she takes care of her medical issues.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), though, is a different story. If your company has more than 15 employees, all workers are eligible for protection on day one. If your new employee has a serious disability that results in these absences, you\’re required to make a \”reasonable accommodation\” for her.
What is reasonable? That depends on the job. For instance, it\’s reasonable for an accountant with migraines to work in a quiet, dim area or have a special computer screen. It\’s not reasonable for a bartender in a dance club to work in a quiet, dim area.
Absences can sometimes be considered reasonable, but most likely not for the employee you\’ve described. As a front desk worker, being on site is a core function of her job, so excessive absenteeism wouldn\’t be considered a reasonable accommodation.
With that said, unless you live in Montana, you\’re in at at-will state, so you can let your employee go whenever you choose to do so. It\’s rare to do this without warning, however, so here\’s what I recommend instead.
Focus on her behavior at work, not the absences. Even though it\’s unlikely that she\’s covered by any legal protection, there\’s a chance that the reason she is calling in sick so often is because she has suddenly developed a serious illness—it\’s certainly not her fault, and we should attempt compassion.
Sit her down and say, \”Jane, you\’re on your cell phone often. You show no initiative. Other people have to work harder to make up for your work ethic. We are going to put you on a performance improvement plan (PIP).\”
Present her with a formal document that states the areas she needs to improve and ask her what training or help she might need. Then, make it clear that she has 30 days to change her ways and meet all of the conditions of the PIP. Warn her that if you don\’t notice a difference, you\’ll terminate her.
If she starts complaining about her health, say that you understand, but explain that she still has to meet these conditions within 30 days, ill or not.
And, in the meantime, put together an absentee policy and follow it strictly. When rules are clearly laid out, it makes it easier for employees to separate right from wrong behaviors, and gives employers the right to dole out consequences when rules are not followed.
Sincerely,
Your ReWorker
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5 Tips for Negotiating Like a Boss

What should you do when you nail the interview, get the job and your potential employer asks: “What are your salary expectations?”
Tell her!
A recent poll by the Society of Human Resources Management and careerjournal.com found that most job seekers are not comfortable negotiating employment terms, especially money.  In fact, 78 percent of those polled stated that they did not like talking about money. If you are among this group, try following these tips to successfully negotiate your fist ‘real’ salary.

1. Don’t be intimidated. Be informed.

Do your research. There is no way you can be in the ballpark of an acceptable salary if you have no idea of the going rate. For some jobs, there may be little chance to negotiate your salary, like positions that have established pay scales, especially those that are published online. These would  include federal, state and local government jobs, military jobs and jobs at public schools. For most other jobs, you can determine the general pay ranges by browsing the websites, Salary.com, Payscale.com and careeronestop.org.

2. Understand the job and the employer needs.

\”It is a myth that companies try to pay as little as they can to get good talent. Now they may be frugal and, to a certain extent, pay the relative market salary, but the vast majority of companies know that they get what they pay for,\” said Tony Beshara, president and owner of Babich &  Associates recruitment firm.
At every opportunity during the job search process be specific about the impact your accomplishments made in the past and be sure to talk about accomplishments that demonstrate the skill set the employer needs. Don\’t hesitate to ask the employer about the challenges, goals and upcoming projects. Then, draw the connection of how you can contribute to them, without being overly confident.
\”Take your ego out of the deal. Money is usually going to take care of itself, if and only if you have presented your prospective employer with value,\” Beshara said

 3. Figure out what you need out of the deal.

Successful negotiating requires knowing how much you need to live comfortably. Draw up a budget or use a worksheet like ______ to figure out the high end and low end of what you can feasibly accept. Then, go a little bit higher, just in case you have to \”give up a little\” in the negotiation process.
Know that money isn\’t everything, either. Do you need access to medical, dental or vision insurance? Will the company eventually pay for continued formal education, training or licensing? Does the company have a telework policy? These benefits cost the company money and are considered a part of your compensation package. Many times they are a more than worthy tradeoff for a few extra dollars. Finally, having a job you love and opportunity for development that will help you meet your short-term goals is priceless.

4. Point out the win-win situation.

“When a company and candidate are trying to work out an equitable arrangement, it has to be a win-win for everyone,” Beshara said. “Put yourself in their shoes. See it from both your point-of-view and theirs, and then work with him or her to come to reasonable terms.”

5. Need an example of the type of email you can write to begin salary negotiations?

“Mr. or Ms. Hiring Authority, I’m really excited about this job offer. Based on my research, the salary range for this type of position is _______________. Through our discussions, it sounds like we are a perfect match for at least three reasons: First, in general, my background exceeds the stated requirements of the job; second, my ________________ skills/experience will help meet the goals/challenges you mentioned during the interview (name them); and third, your company has the resources for highly self-motivated employees like myself to engage in various professional development opportunities that will benefit both of us. This is definitely a win-win situation and I am confident we can come to an agreement.\”
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Want a Career in Public Health? Northern New England is the Place for Public Health.

Some of the fastest growing public health careers in the United States include biostaticians and epidemiologists. Many of those careers are experiencing growth rates of up to 27 percent over the next decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Not bad, considering that overall employment is projected to increase by 14 percent.
But what about northern New England? If you want to live and work in Vermont, New Hampshire or Maine, what is the outlook for jobs in public health?
The health care and social assistance sector – which includes jobs in public health – is growing faster than other industries in northern New England, the BLS notes.
VermontSimilar to the rest of the region and the country, Vermont is expected to see a surge in health care jobs over the next decade. The health care and social assistance sector is expected to grow 15 percent, compared to 8.2 percent for all jobs in the Green Mountain State.
The job growth rate projected for public health careers includes:
  • Health educators, 21.3 percent
  • Health care social workers, 19.3 percent
  • Environmental scientists and specialists, including health, 11 percent
  • Social and community service managers, 10 percent
  • Medical and health services managers, 10 percent
  • Community and social service specialists, 9.3 percent
  • Statisticians, 5 percent
  • Occupational health and safety specialists, 3 percent
New HampshireThe Granite State is expected to see a 24 percent jump in the number of health care and social assistance jobs over the next decade, compared to 10.4 percent growth for total employment. Put into perspective: The health care industry will account for nearly 30 percent of all new jobs in New Hampshire over the next decade.
The field of public health will see tremendous job growth compared to other fields:
  • Health educators, 37.2 percent
  • Medical and public health social workers, 28.3 percent
  • Social and community service managers, 22.3 percent
  • Community and social service specialists, 20.1 percent
  • Medical and health services managers, 18.9 percent
  • Environmental scientists and specialists, including health, 17.9 percent
  • Statisticians, 9.4 percent
  • Occupational health and safety specialists, 8.2 percent
MaineAs Mainers age, the state will experience numerous job openings. The health and social assistance sector – where approximately a quarter of the workforce is over age 55 – faces the most retirements. Couple that with the fact that Maine is the “oldest” state in the nation – with numerous health care needs for its aging population – and you can understand why the state is concerned about finding more health care workers.
Jobs in the health and social assistance sector are expected to grow nearly 16 percent, the highest of any industry in the state. That compares to a 5.5 percent increase for total employment.
Most of the careers in public health will follow this growth trend. Among them:
  • Health educators, 24.2 percent
  • Medical and public health social workers, 18.5 percent
  • Medical and health services managers, 15.9 percent
  • Epidemiologists, 15.2 percent
  • Statisticians, 4.8 percent
  • Social and community service managers, 4.3 percent
  • Community and social service specialists, 3.6 percent
  • Environmental scientists and specialists, including health, 1.9 percent
If you are planning on working in Public Health, Northern New England is following the national trend of seeing an increase in jobs in health care and social assistance sector, which will create 28 percent of new jobs over the next decade in the United States
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IT Online Training Courses – Become a Leader on Your Own Terms

If you’re one of those lucky young people who knows exactly what you want to do with your life, then congratulations. However, these days, by the time people enter the collegiate realm, put themselves through school, or get a job to begin supporting their family – the career vision can evolve multiple times. Successful IT online training courses can transform a basic skill set or a general knowledge/interest into more specific and marketable abilities.
Keep Ahead of the Game
In a competitive job market, you want to be able to demonstrate that you have the best training, and are well versed in the most up and coming technological trends. IT is so much more than fixing computers and developing software. You need to be thinking in terms of mobile application development, IT management opportunities, and IT security, so you can market yourself appropriately to a wide range of prospective employers.
Diversify Your Skill Set
So, you think you want to become a computer programmer? Exposure to the right training can help you to diversify your skill sets so that you become a programmer with a credible knowledge of software development for applications or system software. Your computer networking classes can help you to develop various niche skills, such as computer systems analysis or network and computer systems administration. Exposure to these microcosms of the IT umbrella will provide more well-rounded skills and abilities.
Hone Your Skills
Don’t get too comfortable once you have completed your program. Check back with your college and take advantage of new classes and training which will continue to enhance and enrich your technical abilities. The flexibility offered by your online college will make it easy to take a class here and there – at your convenience – to keep in touch with the latest technology trends, and/or to add to your current degree.
The right IT online training courses will keep your technical abilities sharp, and give you the competitive edge in the applicant pool.

4 Reasons to Contact your Dream Company Today

The job market continues to be competitive and job seekers looking for career information may find this tidbit helpful: do not wait for your dream company to contact you. If you wait for a company to contact you or post a job opening, you may be losing key opportunities. Still not sure that proactively reaching out to a company is in your best interest? Below are four reasons why it could help your job search efforts.
Demonstrates You’re A Self-Starter
Companies are looking for employees who seek out challenges and don’t need a manager to push them. By reaching out a company on your own, you’re demonstrating the work ethic you will bring to their team and that will help you stand out among other job seekers.
Proves You Are Passionate
Employers often complain about the template cover letters and communications they receive from job seekers. Companies want to know that you care about the mission and values of the organization, because invested employees are better at their job and contribute more to company goals. When you proactively reach out you are effectively saying, “out of all the companies out there, I want work for you.”
Quality Over Quantity
Reaching out to employers on your own also supports a healthy quality over quantity approach to job seeking. It can be tempting to simply blast out your resume and hope a company responds. But, career information experts often advise that job seekers should be more selective in their approach. By narrowing your job search you are more likely to end up in a career where you’re challenged and happy, rather than just a job.
Creates An Opportunity For An Informational Interview
Even if a company is not hiring, if you want to work for them you should contact them. Much of landing a job is networking and who better to network with then the people you want to hire you. Asking for an informational interview can be a great foot in the door as well as a way to learn about an industry. You can ask for resume help, their best career advice or talk about trends in the industry. Whatever you do, don’t flat out ask to be hired. Keep in mind that this is an informational interview and you don’t want the person you’re meeting with to feel like your after something more.
Being proactive in your job search will take more effort but you’ll experience a lot of benefits from that work. In terms of career management, you’ll be thankful that you put forth the extra time! If you’re looking for a career change or to advance your current career, check out the degrees offered by Bryant & Stratton College Online by calling 1.888.447.3528 to speak with an admissions representative.