HUMAN CAPITALIST: WHEN PERFORMANCE IS THE PROBLEM, TRAINING ISN\’T THE ANSWER

Just about any time an issue arises in the workplace, the first thing managers ask HR for is more training. Sales teams not reaching their goals? Let\’s add some training modules. Call center employees not efficiently embracing the new software platform? Perhaps they need some extra training. But as learning and development author and consultant Bill Cushard explains this week on Cornerstone OnDemand\’s Human Capitalist blog, job performance is often at the root of the problem. Says Cushard: \”Training is often — and mistakenly — assumed to be the silver bullet that can solve performance issues, and training managers are usually the ones charged with delivering the solution.\”

But, Cushard points out, training sometimes isn\’t the answer, and training managers can do their employers a valuable service by taking a step back and assessing whether it\’s training, or some other approach, that will solve the problem at hand.

What Factors Most Into Job Performance?

According to Thomas Gilbert\’s Behavioral Engineer Model, Cushard adds, five key factors in addition to training (or knowledge) weigh into overall job performance:

Data
Instruments
Incentives
Capacity
Motives

So it\’s not always necessarily the case that employees don\’t know how to do the task at hand, sometimes they just don\’t know what\’s expected of them, or they\’re not motivated to do it, or they aren\’t given the tools to properly execute the job.

Rather than training, sometimes it\’s a matter of providing resources more readily or adjusting IT to meet the practical needs of employees that will do the trick. By assessing the true nature of the problem, and the elements that will fix it, training managers can provide their companies with a whole new level of service.

HUMAN CAPITALIST: WHEN PERFORMANCE IS THE PROBLEM, TRAINING ISN\’T THE ANSWER

What Factors Most Into Job Performance?

According to Thomas Gilbert\’s Behavioral Engineer Model, Cushard adds, five key factors in addition to training (or knowledge) weigh into overall job performance:

Data
Instruments
Incentives
Capacity
Motives

What Your Career Path Says About Your Ambitions

By Rachel DiGiammarino

You love your job and enjoy a fulfilling career. But what if you’re not interested in becoming a manager? Does that mean you lack motivation or a desire to truly succeed?

There are important milestones in your professional development that will arise as you strive to accelerate and accentuate your leadership competencies (see my recent post on self leadership). I am using the term leadership in a very generic sense, not implying any formal role, title or authority, but rather an elevated presence highlighted by intelligence, actions and behavior that inspires others to seek you out.

Essentially, at various times in your career you will come to a crossroads, and whether by intention, guidance, or luck, you might choose to go in one direction over another.

To me this feels a lot like the popular board game Life by Milton Bradley – with all the different paths to follow:

You might go to college to get a degree or choose a more experiential form of education.
You might work for an established company in a stable industry versus a start-up in an emerging market.
You may or may not get promoted to management.
Or, you might retire early if you develop an idea that gets sold to Google for $1 billion.

Let’s focus on what’s behind door number 3. Imagine if instead of viewing the choice between management and non-management as the difference between the yellow brick road versus a dead end, we shifted our mindset to view both options as being on parallel tracks with similar opportunity, interest, and value (to self and to employer)? And what if there was no wrong choice, so long as you picked the path that best suited your skills and motivators?

Before we cross that bridge, let’s answer this question candidly: “Do you consider yourself to be ambitious – having or showing a strong desire and determination to succeed?” Let’s take that a step further: “Do you believe being ambitious also implies, in the professional arena, that the best way to demonstrate your ambition is to propel yourself ahead of others and become part of a managerial hierarchy that requires you to oversee the work of others?” Conversely, “do you believe that those who don’t go into management might be any less ambitious?”

To me, this way of thinking distorts the virtuous side of ambition. Let’s dispel the notion that ambition is merely an outward form of expression that proves to others that you have arrived. Instead, let’s focus on the idea that when ambition is tied to one’s personal drive, and not merely external motivators, then the correlation between the career path you choose and the degree of ambition that signifies is up to you.

Author Daniel Pink, in his highly acclaimed book, “Drive,” speaks about these intrinsic motivating factors as autonomy, mastery, and purpose. In a nutshell, if you have the opportunity to explore, develop, and hone your skills and feel valued for your contributions, then external motivators like money and title alone mean less. It boils down to what you do.

I believe that many of us have opportunities to work in a field that truly interests us. It then becomes a matter of what your specific role is that allows you to align what truly motivates you with your professional goals. As an ambitious professional, once you have developed a respectable level of competence in your work, you are likely ready for a new challenge.

However, in many companies, going into management is promoted as the only viable option as there are no formal alternatives to management. Assuming you meet the criteria, your coronation to management reduces or eliminates the responsibility of doing the work and replaces it with the requirement for overseeing others who do the work. This path makes a big assumption: those who oversee, won’t miss doing.

What if your career ambitions don’t include management?

A promotion to management isn’t necessarily viewed by everyone as the golden parachute to getting out of doing the work. Many enjoy building, coding, testing, writing, selling, operating, and so on. (By the same token, there are people who enjoy the administrative, operational, and personnel aspects of management.)

Going the management route should be your individual decision (assuming you meet the criteria) and not a foregone conclusion that it’s the only way to progress your career and validate your ambitions. HR, in conjunction with executive leadership and senior management, should be developing and promoting the management and the non-management tracks with clearly-defined competencies and responsibilities at various levels, as well as providing coaching and reinforcement. Both paths are essential for the success of the company. Quite frankly, there isn’t a need for everyone to be a manager from a strictly numbers standpoint, and companies need to think strategically about how to retain their top talent.

I remember when I first got married. Everyone assumed our obvious (and immediate) next step would be to start a family. I believe that attitude is analogous to how people view management as the logical next phase after serving as an individual contributor. To overcome this attitude, which is pervasive in our corporate culture, that links ambition with management, we need you – individual contributors, peers, and management – to transform your mindset and endorse the path that is right for you.

For some, management will be a valid option and you will succeed and be satisfied. Others may not succeed and, hopefully, a growing number of others may opt for a different path that affirms your interests, drive, and purpose. It takes a self-assured individual to not succumb to the pressures and judgments of others who might say you lack ambition if you don’t go for management. It takes an emotionally intelligent person to discern what drives them. You need to know yourself, your options, and alternatives.

Rachel DiGiammarino is a learning and development professional and serves on the UVM Continuing and Distance Education Advisory Board. She is director of business development at Accordence, Inc., a global training company helping employees enhance their professional skills.

WHY DON’T WE “JUST DO IT”?

In a 2012 report, the weight loss industry clocked in at $20 billion dollars a year. This includes books, drugs and weight loss surgeries. At any given time, there are about 108 million dieters in the US, a third of the country. Yet, the US Department of Health and Human services reports that more than 2 out of 3 adults are at some level of obesity.

In the manufacturing world, since the 1980s, the garment industry agreed that the modular way (team approach) of producing clothing is preferred, yet in 1992, 80% of all garments produced were still using a bundling method (individually done).

In a recent study conducted in September of this year, 188 learning and development professionals were asked if they thought collaborative learning would help job performance in their respective organization. Ninety-six percent responded either “Strongly Agree” or “Agree.” When asked whether they have implemented collaborative learning in their organization, 85% responded “No.”

What’s the Deal?

Okay, so what’s the deal with everybody knowing what to do and doing nothing about it? This is exactly the central question that Pfeffer and Sutton (2000) challenge. They call it the knowing-doing gap, the space between organizations understanding what is required to happen and the lack of action to make it happen. This is an important topic for us in the talent management space since there is a lot of money spent training with arguably little impact shown. To understand the magnitude of what is spent, ASTD reported that in 2011, $156.2 billion was spent on learning and development in the US. It is imperative that we understand the causes and solutions to solve the knowing-doing gap.

Pfeffer and Sutton give us several reasons why these gaps exists, and I am hopeful to share those with you in a later blog post; however, there is one that is germane to this discussion, lack of learning. The reason that the knowing-doing gap continues to exist is that active learning requires making mistakes, and organizations are usually not accepting of mistakes. Thus, for an organization to close the knowing-doing gap, it must establish itself as a forgiving organization.

Forgive me please, but…

The connection from learning to forgiveness is that forgiveness gives us the opportunity to make mistakes, have flaws and breakdowns to spark wisdom and new capabilities. Webster’s New World College Dictionary states that forgiveness is to give up resentment and the desire to punish – it is a choice. Therefore, to achieve a forgiving organization there must be the ability to support employees, restore relationship and ongoing training that reinforces these principles. What can you do to be more forgiving?

There are two objections you need to get past to be able to forgive someone, the feeling of accepting what they did as being ‘fine’ and the personal protection that comes from being angry towards someone’s actions.

Put yourself in their shoes, how would you want to be treated? This eliminates any tendency to want to see the sinister side of their actions.
When you did forgive someone in the past, how did you do it? Put those behaviors to work for you every time to feel angry towards another’s actions
Understand that we all are trying to do the best we can with the resources we have, just like you.

Tom Watson, IBM founder, was faced with a situation in which an employee had made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. When asked if he was going to fire the employee, Watson replied, “Why should I do that, I just spent $600,000 training him.”

Are you ready to close the knowing-doing gap?

The Benefits of Studying Abroad

We asked Amanda Chin, an Environmental Studies major at UVM, about what she learned from her study abroad experience in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Exploring the Benefits of Studying Abroad:

Why were you drawn to study abroad?

The opportunity to travel and learn about a new culture sounded pretty appealing. A semester isn’t a terribly long time but it is enough to get a good sense of a place.

What made you decide to study abroad in Oaxaca, Mexico?

Primarily, I wanted to be in a Spanish-speaking country. Oaxaca is one of the most biodiverse and ethnically diverse states in Mexico, which was a draw for me given my interests in environment and culture. Since the United States shares a border with Mexico, it made sense to start there as I try to increase my global awareness.

How did you prepare for your cultural experience?

The main thing I did to prepare was take Spanish classes. It was hard, of course, to get a sense of what my experience would be like from research. What made the trip finally feel real was finding my host families’ house on Google Maps shortly before my trip. Additionally, talking to my friend who went on the program the previous year helped to get me excited. She knew my host family and told me that they owned a little shop, made their own chocolate, and had a dog named Toby.

Did you experience culture shock? Also, please describe your return to home culture.

There were things I missed about home while in Oaxaca, like hot showers, but nothing was completely jarring. Returning back was pretty strange and I felt afraid in my house. It’s not on a major road and has fewer people under the same roof, so it seemed really quiet. For some reason, the cleanliness of the streets in the United States still shocks me. And despite the fact that I missed food from home while in Oaxaca, I had a difficult time adjusting back.

What have you learned? How has travel abroad changed your perspective?

I learned some of the impacts of the United States on Mexico, especially relating to agriculture. For example, I learned that even though maize is native to Mexico from its ancestor teosinte, Mexico imports 90 percent of the corn they eat because small Mexican farmers can’t compete with the prices of subsidized transgenic corn in the United States. This is one of the many contributors of essentially forced migration because of the economic dependence the United States puts on Mexico.

What would you tell someone who is considering taking a UVM travel study course?

Definitely go abroad if you have the chance. It’s a huge privilege to be able to travel and you will learn so much. I would also say to integrate yourself as much as you can.

Amanda Chin is majoring in Environmental Studies with a concentration in nature, culture, Justice and a minor in food systems

Guide to Becoming a Successful Administrative Assistant

Did you know that successful Executive Administrative Assistants work in nearly every industry, from agriculture and manufacturing, to education and Fortune 500 companies. Administrative assistants often make the first impression on prospective clients, and they provide critical administrative support so fellow employees and upper-level management can do their jobs effectively.

The administrative assistant goals you have set now can help you enjoy a successful lifetime career. Here are some administrative assistant goals you can work toward to land a job at your dream company.

Goals and Objectives for Administrative Assistants

Get an education. There was a time where a high school diploma or GED was enough to get a job as a secretary and work your way up to an administrative assistant position. This is no longer the case in a competitive job market and a society in which going to college is becoming the norm, rather than the exception. According to O*Net Online, more than 50% of administrative assistants employed in the U.S. have some type of college education, and that figure is as high as 67% for executive-level secretaries and administrative assistants.

Bryant & Stratton College offers an AAS in Office Management that will show employers you have what it takes to set goals and accomplish them. Your diploma will also demonstrate your proficiency with modern office technology. After taking our administrative assistant classes, you will be eligible to take the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Certification exams for Word®, PowerPoint®, Excel®, Outlook®, and Access®.

Look for an entry-level position. If you are currently in high school, or have the flexibility to get a new job, try to obtain an entry-level receptionist or secretary position at a local company. In addition to determining whether or not an administrative assistant position is right for you, you will also be gaining valuable work experience that will prepare you for your future career. In addition, the positive impression you make in an entry-level position will gain favorable referrals and recommendations that will help you get that next great job.

Some employers will help to finance your education if they are happy with your work and want to support your professional development. If you aren’t able to make a job change right now, that’s fine too. Our online degree program is flexible and fits around your current work schedule.

Be flexible. Speaking of being flexible, flexibility is another administrative assistant goal that should not be taken lightly. Modern innovation is such that the technology you learn and use today might be considered outdated within just a few years. Your ability to adapt to new technology and work theories, and your willingness to continue your training and education will be invaluable to your employers.

Also, the demands placed on an administrative assistant can be overwhelming at times. More than almost any other position in the company, your day-to-day work responsibilities can be incredibly varied. From greeting new customers and top-level clientele, to making last minute coffee or lunch runs, there is almost no task too big or too small for an administrative assistant. Your flexibility will allow you to handle each task with grace.

Contact the Admissions Office at Bryant & Stratton College if you are interested in pursuing a career as an administrative assistant. Our friendly admissions counselors will work closely with you to help you attain your administrative assistant goals.

Promotions – Time to Start Asking For It

Wondering why you didn’t receive that promotion you’ve been working so hard for, or that raise you so richly deserve? The answer might be as simple as…you didn’t ask for it

That’s the assertion made by two must-read books by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever, Women Don’t Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation – and Positive Strategies for Change (2007) and its follow-up, Ask for It: How Women Can Use the Power of Negotiation to Get What They Really Want (2009). (Despite their titles, both books can be equally useful to men who feel their negotiating skills could use some strengthening.)

According to the authors:

In surveys, 2.5 times more women than men said they feel “a great deal of apprehension” about negotiating.
Men initiate negotiations about four times as often as women.
When asked to pick metaphors for the process of negotiating, men picked “winning a ballgame” and a “wrestling match,” while women picked “going to the dentist.”
Women will pay as much as $1,353 to avoid negotiating the price of a car, which may help explain why 63 percent of Saturn car buyers are women.
Women are more pessimistic about the how much is available when they do negotiate and so they typically ask for and get less when they do negotiate—on average, 30 percent less than men.
20 percent of adult women (22 million people) say they never negotiate at all, even though they often recognize negotiation as appropriate and even necessary.
By not negotiating a first salary, an individual stands to lose more than $500,000 by age 60—and men are more than four times as likely as women to negotiate a first salary.
In one study, eight times as many men as women graduating with master’s degrees from Carnegie Mellon negotiated their salaries. The men who negotiated were able to increase their starting salaries by an average of 7.4 percent, or about $4,000. In the same study, men’s starting salaries were about $4,000 higher than the women’s on average, suggesting that the gender gap between men and women might have been closed if more of the women had negotiated their starting salaries.
Women who consistently negotiate their salary increases earn at least $1 million more during their careers than women who don’t.

In addition, the studies undertaken or reported by Babcock and Laschever indicate that age makes no difference when it comes to women’s avoidance of any and all negotiating situations – younger women struggle just as much as their older peers.

Whereas Women Don’t Ask lays out the reasons that women tend to avoid negotiating in their own best interests, Ask For It focus on how to improve your negotiating chops. Organized into four sections (Everything is Negotiable, Lay the Groundwork, Get Ready, and Put It All Together), this practical handbook lays out what you need to know, how to gather that information, and how to use it in a negotiation. (No surprise, one of their key admonitions is “Practice, Practice, Practice!”) Invaluable career advice for anyone who’s ever felt awkward, embarrassed, or incompetent in a job-negotiation situation.

Women Don’t Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation – and Positive Strategies for Change. Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever, Bantam, 2007. 272p. ISBN 0553383876.

Ask for It: How Women Can Use the Power of Negotiation to Get What They Really Want. Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever, Bantam, 2009. 336p. ISBN 0553384554.

For more career resources, check out our Career Services section. Getting a promotion is easier if you have the right education. Bryant & Stratton College offers professional skill development courses that can help you snag that raise or promotion.

336p. ISBN 0553384554.

DEAR REWORKER: I DON\’T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR EMPLOYEE RAISES

Dear ReWorker,

I\’m a small business owner, and like most small business owners, I\’m not rich. I put every penny into my business and only draw a reasonable salary myself. I don\’t have any extra money for employee raises, but when a valuable employee has another job offer, I\’ll make a counter offer to keep them. I realize this probably isn\’t the best practice, but I really don\’t have the extra cash to provide raises. If I do give a raise to keep someone, it comes out of my pocket—I literally have to cut my pay to give someone a raise. Is there a way out of this cycle?

Sincerely,

Vicious Cycle

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Vicious Cycle,

Yes, there is a way out of this cycle, but it\’s going to involve two painful things. So, take a breath and keep reading.

Step One: Give Everyone Who Deserves a Raise a Raise

Yes, this takes money out of your pocket, the very thing you\’re trying to avoid, so why am I advising this? Because you can\’t keep your best employees if you are paying them below market rates. You need to take a really hard look at everyone\’s salaries and make sure you\’re paying them the market rate.

That can be a bit difficult in a small business—after all, almost every employee wears many hats. Salary.com doesn\’t have an average pay for someone who takes care of IT, Marketing and ordering office supplies, but you may well have someone who has that exact job description.

So, if you can\’t turn to traditional sources for salary information, where do you turn? This is where networking comes into play. Networking is helpful for more than hiring talent and finding customers. The people you want to talk to are people in your geographic area who have similarly sized businesses. It\’s not critical that they are your direct competitor—in fact, your non-competitors are more likely to speak up.

Figure out who you are underpaying and bring them up to an appropriate wage. Of course, a superstar should make more than similarly situated people at other businesses and a slacker should make less.

Step Two: When Someone Quits, Say, \”We\’ll Miss You\”

Yes, that lump you feel in your throat and the sense of panic are normal. Just how are you going to meet your deadlines if Jane leaves? Well, I don\’t know, but you have to say this—because you\’ve made a counter offer more than once, your employees know getting another job is the way to get a raise. You can\’t do it anymore. So, the next time someone says they are resigning, say, \”We\’ll miss you and I wish you well in your new career. Let\’s make a transition plan for your last two weeks.\”

These two things will stop your problem. You\’ll keep your employees as long as they are happy. This doesn\’t mean that everyone will stay for ever—small businesses can\’t offer the growth and opportunities big companies can so people have to leave for new opportunities—but it will stop people from jumping ship just for more money.

If you can change this dynamic, you\’ll likely see an uptick in your business as your employees recognize that they are treated well, which might end up fixing your cash flow problem and fattening your own paycheck.

Your ReWorker,

DEAR REWORKER: I DON\’T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR EMPLOYEE RAISES

Dear ReWorker,

Sincerely,

Vicious Cycle

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Vicious Cycle,

Yes, there is a way out of this cycle, but it\’s going to involve two painful things. So, take a breath and keep reading.

Step One: Give Everyone Who Deserves a Raise a Raise

Figure out who you are underpaying and bring them up to an appropriate wage. Of course, a superstar should make more than similarly situated people at other businesses and a slacker should make less.

Step Two: When Someone Quits, Say, \”We\’ll Miss You\”

Your ReWorker,

DEAR REWORKER: I DON\’T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR EMPLOYEE RAISES

Dear ReWorker,

Sincerely,

Vicious Cycle

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Vicious Cycle,

Yes, there is a way out of this cycle, but it\’s going to involve two painful things. So, take a breath and keep reading.

Step One: Give Everyone Who Deserves a Raise a Raise

Figure out who you are underpaying and bring them up to an appropriate wage. Of course, a superstar should make more than similarly situated people at other businesses and a slacker should make less.

Step Two: When Someone Quits, Say, \”We\’ll Miss You\”

Your ReWorker,

How a Hospitality Degree Makes a Successful Restaurant

For those who love food, and have dreamed of opening a restaurant, obtaining a restaurant management degree should be a priority. Culinary experience and/or a wonderful idea for a restaurant are not enough to guarantee success. Many prospective restaurant owners are trained chefs, who graduated from culinary schools and/or have an impressive culinary resume. Others have business acumen and/or experience, and an idea for a restaurant niche they feel has yet to be tapped.

In either scenario, a sound education and training in hospitality management can be the key to learning about this unique industry, and will enhance a restaurant owner’s chances of success.

Three Ways a Restaurant Management Degree Will Increase Your Chance of Success

Envision the Big Picture. The restaurant industry is known for being a challenging business in which to succeed. One in four restaurants close within the first year (PDF), and not all of these are due to financial failure. A hospitality degree program will provide the “big picture” as to what it means to be a successful restaurant owner, in terms of both personal and professional demands. The program’s comprehensive course listings will provide a strong foundation in :
- Employment law
- Accounting and Bookkeeping
- The hospitality industry
- General management
- Management specific to the hospitality industry
- Ethics in hospitality

Courses that focus on restaurant management will allow chefs, food lovers, and/or business experts alike, to hone skills specifically tailored to the food and hospitality industries.

Learn to Impress the Banks. Banks are notoriously reluctant to lend money to new restaurant owners. Combine this with the fact that a lack of capital is one of the main reasons that restaurants fail, and it becomes a conundrum. One of the secrets to getting the loan approval(s) required to open a restaurant is to have a solid, professional, and realistic business plan. Accounting and bookkeeping courses, included in a hospitality management program, will enable students to have an in-depth understanding of the overhead costs required to run a successful restaurant. This will allow them to draft business plans with realistic projections and figures. Realistic business plans help prospective lenders to determine whether or not the client is a viable loan candidate.
General Management Versus Hospitality Management. Even experienced business managers, or individuals with general business management degrees, can find it difficult to be successful in the restaurant business. This is because hospitality-based companies work much more closely with and for the public, in addition to their traditional business management obligations. A restaurant management degree prepares prospective owners for the complexities that arise in an industry where one is managing both kitchen and food preparation staff, front house food service, bar, and host staff, as well as meeting the needs of each unique customer that enters the establishment.

Ready to open your own restaurant? Contact the Admissions Office at Bryant & Stratton College. We offer restaurant management training designed to prepare future, successful restaurant entrepreneurs.

Meet Ed Dennis; Military and Corporate Relations Manager for Bryant & Stratton College Online

Ed Dennis joined Bryant & Stratton College Online in June 2010 to lead the Military Relations Department at Bryant & Stratton College Online. Prior to this, he served for 21 years in the United States Army, starting as a Private and retiring as a Major. Throughout his career he used the Army Continuing Education System to continuously develop himself personally and professionally. His extensive knowledge and first-hand experience with the armed forces brings invaluable expertise to Bryant & Stratton College to support the needs of active duty , veteran and military spouse students.Tell us about your military background.

ED: I entered the Army as an enlisted military policeman in 1989, and served in four different units before attending OCS (Officer Candidate School). Upon completion of OCS, I was commissioned as an Ordnance Officer and served as a maintenance officer for four years before attending EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) training. I spent the remaining 9 years of my career as an EOD Officer both overseas and in the United States until I retired in 2010. In that time, I served in leadership positions from team leader to Commander, with three years as an Instructor/TAC (Trainer Advisor Counselor) for LT’s and CPT’s in the Ordnance Corps. I found joy in teaching others, and now continue utilizing that passion as an Adjunct Professor for Bryant & Stratton College Online. Upon retirement from the Army, I wanted to enter a career that assisted fellow veterans and provided a sense of fulfillment. I had already served 21 years in the Army, and respect the work that is done by the Department of Defense Civilians, but wanted to apply my skills in the private sector. Throughout the job search process, I had to choose which path I wanted to take. My interview with Bryant & Stratton College Online really impressed me and the following dialogue with senior managers reassured me that this was the direction that I wanted to pursue.

Tell us about your work in the Military Relations Department at Bryant & Stratton College Online.

ED: Bryant & Stratton College Online understands that military servicemen and women have unique lifestyles and that they need personalized attention. They looked to me for guidance on how to help meet those needs. I approached this with three goals in mind: continuously improve our internal procedures, provide staff education and training, and form strong relationships with ESO’s (Education Service Officers). Since I served for more than two decades in the military, I know first-hand that career and education are two important (and often challenging) issues for military students and their families. I first took a look at the internal procedures and policies currently in place and how it related to the process military members use to request tuition assistance, in order to make that process as military friendly as possible for them. In addition, I looked at the policies for withdrawal, deployment, and any other unique circumstances service members could face. I then worked with the senior leaders at Bryant & Stratton College Online, to update the policies to benefit service members, family members, and Veterans. Based on the new changes, classes were developed and staff training began. My goal was to not only inform the staff of the new changes, but also give them a lesson in Military 101. Finally, once our internal procedures were in place and the staff informed about military affiliated students, I started to work on building relationships with the ESO’s by attending service level education events to meet with Education Service Officers and share with them the opportunities for service members and families at Bryant & Stratton College Online.

How can you help not only military service members but also their families in their education journey?

ED:With the high OPTEMPO (Operational Tempo), the military focuses much more on families than they did when I started in 1989. This is because it is not only the service member, but the family that endures the hardships of deployment. There is a very valid concern among spouses that they may need to enter the workforce at some point due to family support issues, or they desire to enter the workforce for personal and family goals. I think that in many cases it is harder for spouses during deployments, so I treat them the same as I would a service member or veteran when providing assistance.

Why is Bryant & Stratton College Online perfect for military families?

ED: Bryant & Stratton College Online provides a high level of support to all students and strongly believes in personalized education. This fits well with military families because there is accountability at every level. Students are not referred to a bank of “Academic Advisors,” but instead they are given an assigned Academic Advisor who focuses on guiding that student in achieving their personal career and educational goals while they are enrolled with Bryant & Stratton College Online. In addition, we are a career college that focuses on high academic standards. For students this translates into being better prepared for the career field they want to enter, and a higher degree of success. Finally, we offer several portable degrees that adapt well to the constant moves that military families face every couple of years.

The Benefits of Studying Abroad

We asked Amanda Chin, an Environmental Studies major at UVM, about what she learned from her study abroad experience in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Exploring the Benefits of Studying Abroad:

Why were you drawn to study abroad?

The opportunity to travel and learn about a new culture sounded pretty appealing. A semester isn’t a terribly long time but it is enough to get a good sense of a place.

What made you decide to study abroad in Oaxaca, Mexico?

How did you prepare for your cultural experience?

Did you experience culture shock? Also, please describe your return to home culture.

What have you learned? How has travel abroad changed your perspective?

What would you tell someone who is considering taking a UVM travel study course?

Definitely go abroad if you have the chance. It’s a huge privilege to be able to travel and you will learn so much. I would also say to integrate yourself as much as you can.

Amanda Chin is majoring in Environmental Studies with a concentration in nature, culture, Justice and a minor in food systems

DEAR REWORKER: WHEN SALARIED EMPLOYEES TAKE TIME OFF FOR MEDICAL REASONS, WHAT HAPPENS TO THEIR PAY?

Dear ReWorker,

I have a new (two-months-employed) salaried exempt employee that has been taking between three and six hours a week to go to doctor’s appointments. He says that this will not continue forever and should soon stabilize to a monthly appointment. He has expressed to me multiple times in writing that he does not expect to be paid for the hours that he is taking off. Can you shed some light on any laws that I should know about for salaried employees and taking time off?

Sincerely,

Stumped About Sick Time

________________________________________________________________________

Dear Stumped About Sick Time,

First of all, your new employee sounds incredibly thoughtful. He recognized that his medical appointments impact the business and volunteered to forgo pay.

Second, you have to turn down his generous offer.

Being paid on a salary basis means he receives a predetermined amount of compensation that must stay the same every pay period, according to the Fair Labor Standards Act. This is true regardless of how many days or hours he puts in, as long as he has completed some work, with very few exceptions. You can dock his paid time off (PTO) for the missed time, but you can’t dock his pay.

You can only dock an exempt employee’s pay for absences in strict circumstances—for instance, if these absences were covered by the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which guarantees certain employees of companies with 50 or more workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave each year (with no threat of job loss) to care for a new child or seriously ill family member, or to recover from an illness themselves. In this case, however, because he’s a new employee, he does not qualify for FMLA, which requires individuals to have been employed for at least 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours over that time.

Other exceptions would include if he takes a full day off work for something other than illness or if he’s exhausted all his PTO and needs a full day off for medical reasons. But neither of those applies here.

If you have 15 or more employees, you’re subject to the Americans With Disabilities Act. Unlike FMLA, which requires an employee to have worked for a set period of time to access coverage, there’s no eligibility period for this protection. The ADA requires that you make a reasonable accommodation for any qualified employee. I’d assume that his condition qualifies (though that’s just a guess, since I don’t know the specifics), but you should ask him to fill out paperwork regardless. In most jobs, taking three to six hours off per week for a relatively short period would be seen as a reasonable accommodation.

You could, of course, require him to make up the time, which he may be anxious to do anyway. But here’s what I would do if I were you. I’d have him fill out the ADA paperwork and agree to this accommodation based on the doctor’s timeline (since he’s indicated this a temporary situation). Then I’d help him in any way that you can.

Why? Because not only is this good for the employee, it’s also good for your whole office. Workers now know that if they get sick, you’re going to back them up and give them the support they need. Turnover is insanely expensive—in fact, it costs employers 33% of a worker’s annual salary to hire a replacement if they leave—so giving someone flexibility when they need it saves you a fortune in the long run.

A company that supports people through medical problems is the type of place people like to stay. When you allow exempt employees to truly take care of themselves, that will come back to you through improved performance at work. As long as this guy isn’t an entitled jerk (and since he volunteered to take the time unpaid, I’m guessing he’s not), he’ll appreciate the kindness you showed to him. And that’s worth whatever sacrifices you have to make in the short run.

Sincerely,

Your ReWorker

WHAT CAN HR DO TO HELP PREVENT BURNOUT?

Have you ever felt just… done? Overwhelmed, utterly exhausted and detached or unmotivated at work? If that feeling persists for longer than a day or two, you may well be suffering from burnout as a result of chronic stress (often tied to your job).

In fact, the World Health Organization recently categorized burnout as an official health condition — and it’s not one to be taken lightly. In a systematic review of studies, burnout was found to be a significant predictor of numerous health problems including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, fatigue, respiratory issues, insomnia and depressive symptoms, among others. And companies with burned-out employees don’t fare well, either. According to a Gallup study, employees suffering from burnout are 2.6 times as likely to be actively seeking a different job, 63% more likely to take a sick day and 23% more likely to visit the emergency room. That’s in addition to the expected nose dive in productivity and engagement.

But there are many things businesses can do to help reduce burnout. (They cannot, of course, always prevent it. Family stress, financial problems or illness can all contribute to burnout, even if your job is fantastic.)

The Mayo Clinic identified these six causes of workplace burnout, and proper management and good HR can improve all of them:

Lack of control (over workload, schedule, assignments, etc…)
Unclear job expectations
Dysfunctional workplace dynamics
Extremes of activity
Lack of social support
Work-life imbalance

Let’s take a look and see what we can do to make it likely in your office.

Employees need control over their responsibilities. My kids have to do the dishes after dinner every night, and the goal is clean dishes. I don’t dictate whether they clear off the plates or the cups first. I don’t even care how things are arranged in the dishwasher as long as they get clean. There are some places where I, as the manager/mom, step in. Yes, you must scrape the dishes. That’s non-negotiable and will be corrected.

Employees often have managers who focus on the order of plates versus cups, and it makes them feel out of control. If you couple this with a dysfunctional workplace, it can be a disaster. Can you imagine being the child with a mom who yells at you if you clear the cups first, but a dad who flips his lid if you start with the plates? Managers need to be crystal clear about what’s expected of their direct reports (including their priorities) and avoid micromanaging; trust employees to get their work done without unnecessarily picking apart the process.

Both dull jobs and chaotic ones can lead to burnout. If certain work is more monotonous, allow employees to listen to music or podcasts to help break it up, if possible. Other jobs are just hectic by nature—for instance, a trauma surgeon will never have a perfectly scheduled day. But you can work with your employees to come up with suggestions for making things better in both cases. Listen when they tell you that it’s too stressful and examine ways to reallocate—or possibly eliminate—tasks to help ease the burden.

Make sure your employees have a good work-life balance and the chance to build a social support system outside of work. If they’re putting in 12-hour days, they can’t possibly have a life outside of the office. All the perks that the big tech companies have—free meals, onsite gyms, onsite haircuts and everything else under the sun—sound amazing. But they trap employees to a degree. If those individuals aren’t encouraged to walk out the door, they can’t develop the strong support system needed to keep them grounded and happy.

Burnout isn’t entirely preventable, but well-managed offices will see less of it, and making a concerted effort can provide a massive difference to your employees.

What Factors Most Into Job Performance?

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Exploring the Benefits of Studying Abroad:

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Exploring the Benefits of Studying Abroad:

Why were you drawn to study abroad?

What made you decide to study abroad in Oaxaca, Mexico?

How did you prepare for your cultural experience?

Did you experience culture shock? Also, please describe your return to home culture.

What have you learned? How has travel abroad changed your perspective?

What would you tell someone who is considering taking a UVM travel study course?

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