(more…)

ShareThis

(more…)

ShareThis

(more…)

ShareThis

(more…)

ShareThis

(more…)

ShareThis

(more…)

ShareThis

One of my first projects that I am heading up is the re-design of Dirty South Radio. The site is getting tons of traffic and is not even optimized. Its current success is on popularity alone, and we plan on taking full advantage of this traffic to make money off of it. We are also in the process of creating a new blog and a separate store front to sell his t-shirts.

My personal web site will remain as the main marketing vehicle to promote American Biz products and services. Stay tuned for more updates.

ShareThis

- A review of 2007 Recruiting Conferences:
  http://jobmachine.net/node/451

- Do you blog? Here are some valuable resources:
  http://jobmachine.net/bloggresources

- Get the most out of LinkedIn:
  http://jobmachine.net/sourcer/communities/linkedin

- Sourcing News:
  http://jobmachine.net/sourcer/sourcing_intelligence

- International Staffing Perspectives:
  http://jobmachine.net/sourcer/global_staffing

- Webinars and articles you can download at no cost:
  http://jobmachine.net/press

- Sourcing tip of the day:
  http://jobmachine.net/taxonomy/term/2
  (It has an RSS feed http://jobmachine.net/taxonomy/term/2/0/feed)

- Major recruiting conferences and associations:
  http://jobmachine.net/sourcer/recruiting_industry_resources 
  (if you have one you want me to add please drop me a note!)

UPCOMING EVENT

Jamsession and Master Class http://jobmachine.net/jamsession-03-05-2008 On March 5th in Sunnyvale, CA, Shally will be conducting a “first of its kind” Jam Session and Masterclass where he will reveal many of my best kept sourcing secrets. What is that all about you ask? Well, forget about complex searches that take months to master and days to execute. He’ll will attempt to demystify the Boolean search techniques and break them down for you with clear and simple explanations so you can utilize search engine commands to get instant results. During this master-level class you will learn techniques that allow you to unlock traditional sources so you can get deeper and faster results than ever before.

RECENT WEBINAR RECORDINGS

Super Sourcing Search Strings
http://jobmachine.net/broadlookdiverwebinar
Shally believes this is the best webinar he has done so far! Check it out. You can get the event with full video and audio on DVD, along with all the search strings. He goes through, step-by-step how to construct a great search string, fine tune it, and plug it all into Diver to instantly export all your results to a spreadsheet.

Guru’s Guide to Sourcing on LinkedIn
http://jobmachine.net/linkedinwebinar
Out highly acclaimed advanced LinkedIn class was also recorded in full audio/video. They covered in-depth search techniques and hacks to get the most from your LinkedIn sourcing and work around some of LinkedIn’s built in limitations.

ShareThis

Check Braingle.com for the answer.

ShareThis

1. Is your name Grace, because your irresistable.
2. Why yes. I’ve written 4 of the 5 love languages
3. Is this pew taken?
4. I just don’t feel called to celebacy
5. For you I would slay two Goliath’s
6. You are so unblemished I would sacrifice you
7. I didn’t believe in pre-destination until tonight.
8. I believe you have one of my ribs
9. Are we on the mound of transfiguration, because your glowing
10. I have a job
11. Would you like to join me, I have standing reservations at the rot
12. Solomon had 700 wives because he never met you
13. You put the qute in persecution
14. How would you like to join my purpose driven life
15. Before I come any closer, let me take my sandles off because you are holy ground
16. Why yes, I do play the guitar. (only freshman girls would fall for this one)
17. Yeah, I have a bible verse tatoo. It’s in Greek.
18. I would lead 99 sheep to come find you
19. Dwayne Carson said we’re a perfect pair

If you are a guy, here are five that are guaranteed to get you slapped

1. All I’m looking for is a Godly woman, it doesn’t matter that you’re not attractive
2. Have you died before, because that’s a resurrection body
3. You make the Queen of Sheeba look like a crack ho
4. Do you need a prayer because I’m certainly willing to lay my hands on you
5. Not even worth mentioning because it involves two doves. seriously.

ShareThis

In the book of Genesis, God created a woman out one of Adam’s ribs. However, this was after he created another woman before Eve, whom was called Lilith. Watching a History Channel program one day about banned from the Bible is when I learned about the real first woman God created.

“When the Almighty created the first, solitary man, He said: It is not good for man to be alone. And He fashioned for man a woman from the earth, like him (Adam), and called her Lilith.” Soon, they began to quarrel with each other. She said to him: I will not lie underneath, and he said: I will not lie underneath but above, for you are meant to lie underneath and I to lie above. She said to him: We are both equal, because we are both created from the earth. But they did not listen to each other. Lilith was the woman that was responsible for all of this sexual immorality that we are living with today. The bible’s teachings soon were incorporated into legal sanctions, which is why we have enacted stiff criminal penalties for sexual molestation and rape. The other wide variety of sexual acts that were non-procreative (including homosexual behavior), occurred outside of marriage (e.g., sex between a man and woman who were not married), or violated traditions (e.g., sex between husband and wife with the woman on top) were just considered immoral and you will not be accepted into the Kingdom of God unless you repent.

Homosexuality as a Disease

The first attempts to classify homosexuality as a disease were made by the fledgling European sexologist movement in the late nineteenth century. Havelock Ellis first theorized on the origins of homosexuality, proposing that homosexuals, or ‘inverts’, were the product of a combination of upbringing and biological factors and that those not predisposed to homosexuality could become so if they had ‘weak characters’ and were so influenced. With this in mind, children who are adopted by gay couples will be more inclined to be influenced that homosexuality is alright, thus becoming a homosexual themselves. If a gay couple adopts a baby and that baby grows up, what will happen when that child asks the question that all children asks. Where do babies come from? How will a gay couple be able to explain this to a child? At this young age, they are easily influenced one way or another. This can be one possible explanation as to why gay advocates are pushing for gay adoption, so that they can influence the younger generation into becoming more tolerant of this disease, this sexual immorality.

Homosexuality is a disease, a chemical imbalance in the brain. However, we need to think laterally if we want to consider it at all, and I don’t see a reason why most people need to know why aside from anthropological curiosity. Let’s think about the spheres of influence and possibility. How young people can be influenced by the sight of two gay people kissing and holding hands. This is not natural. This is not what God intended.  In Leviticus 18:22, under Unlawful Sexual Relations, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” 

There have been studies that do indeed show a higher chemical proportion in the brain of homosexual men than in heterosexual men, which is not genetic but occurs in development of the fetus. But this alone does not determine homosexuality. It is the degree of chemical imbalance, social factors and other variables that are still unknown that add up to the “choice.” With that said, it should be viewed as a choice that can be curable with unconditional love, agape love.

Most psychologists do conclude that homosexuality is a curable condition even though they all agree that it is a choice. In fact, in the article The Seeds That Grew, the cure is unconditional love, or agape love. God loves each and every one of us unconditionally. Just like that older couple that took Melissa under their wing with open arms. It allowed Melissa to bring God into her heart and to accept what God was telling her. God was able to tell her why homosexuality was so wrong. As she was growing up, she could not understand why she did not like boys? She could not understand why God let her go down this road if it was so wrong. The fact of the matter is that God created each and everyone of us to have free will. We all have to be responsible for the choices we make. Homosexuality may be a choice, but it is condemn by God and you must allow God into your heart and repent. Otherwise, you will not be allowed into the Kingdom of God.

Related Article: The Seeds That Grew

ShareThis

How do dreams start? Do dreams start in our brains? A dream is a form of perception stimulated by some particular sensation. If our eyes are closed and our body’s are shut down, where is the sensation coming from? Can dreams be a form of extrasensory perception (ESP)?

Two main theorists that were prominent in the study of dreams. First there was Sigmund Freud. He believed that dreams were a way to preserve sleep. He was widely contradicted. Carl Jung, an early follower of Freud, later broke away to form his own thinking on a variety of psychological topics. He believed that dreams were a way of helping to develop a persons personality that remained undeveloped while awake. If one was shy when awake, they will be shy while in our dreams. This contradicts Freud’s ID and Ego theory. The Ego, our conscious state, is the control factor that has the ID, inner desires, under control. The ego suppresses the inner desires so that the only way for it to be released is while dreaming. If our inner desires are so suppressed, our dreams could take on a life of their own.

For example, a successful business person is always busy and on the go. Deep in the mind, they have certain desires, such as being in a biker bar, shooting pool and having a beer with friends. An interesting place to dream about. For those successful business people that their inner desires are so suppressed that their dreams take on a life of their own almost like astral projection, projecting oneself to a place that they really want to be. It is like being in two places at the same time.

Another school of thought that I happen to believe in is that dreams have a sought of problem solving function. By dreaming we work through our issues that we were having trouble with during the day. This probably explains why so many great ideas come about when one was sleeping. One wake up and immediate go turn on the computer and start writing down their newfound thoughts. If we can’t dream, our problems go unresolved, and our stress levels begin to rise which could then lead to self-destruction.

ShareThis

ShareThis

It is very easy to find yourself criticizing an outcome after it already happened. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, commentators mentioned about why the victims in the second tower did not evacuate after the first plane hit. Whether it is the dot com bubble bursting, a recession looming about, a terrorist attack, or even hiring your next employee, we are all subject to being a Monday morning quarterback, also known as hindsight bias.

ShareThis

One can acquire the tools needed for researching the topic of paranormal, such as thermal imaging cameras or digital electronic recorders to gather evidence. If something was captured on camera, the researcher would experiment to try and recreate the phenomena. If the phenomena cannot be recreated, you have solid evidence to report that there is something paranormal in the research environment you are investigating.

When dealing with topics such as the paranormal, there will be skeptics. Skeptics can turn into believers if they have a first hand experience. Such crazy sounding ideas do find support when subjected to a scientific attitude. Other researchers can further experiment with the time of day. For example, some researchers in this field believe that most spirits manifest during the early morning hours.

To test this, researchers can use a concept called dead time to try and communicate with a spirit. Dead time is where you turn off all electronic devices and electricity such as lights. The environment should be completely dark and quiet.

ShareThis

Shally will be sharing his wealth of knowledge about my favorite social network, Linkedin!

Register today for Shally’s “Guru’s Guide to Sourcing on LinkedIn.” The Price is Only $89 USD - a bargain given the direct resource benefit to your bottom-line staffing needs! 2 ways To register:  Click HERE to order now!  You can also Try HERE to Register.

WHEN: Thursday, January 17, 2008
(Order deadline 3PM US EDT Tuesday, January 15th)

What Shally will cover:

• Why LinkedIn is a good tool for recruiters
• LinkedIn hacks for recruiters
• Tips and tricks for recruiters
• Special commands to easily find passive talent on LinkedIn via search engines

Here’s how it works…Go to http://jobmachine.net/node/453 and register

This will be a 60+ minute event hosted by NPA Worldwide You’ll get the opportunity to post your questions and get real-time responses. Once you order and pay for this program through www.npaworldwide.com, they will send you a confirming email a few days before the event with a link to the site and the meeting numbers. These numbers are required to enter the site for the visual presentation and the same meeting numbers will allow you to join the event via a toll-call phone hook-up for audio.

About NPA

NPA is a worldwide network of professional recruiters working together to facilitate split-fee placements. The network enables members to better serve their clients through extended geographic reach, greater access to industry specialization, and improved operating efficiencies. In the process, NPA members benefit from increased profitability and a stronger competitive position. In 2007, the average member experienced a 750% ROI on their annual cost of membership. NPA is governed by a board of directors consisting of elected NPA members and supported by a professional staff headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan (USA). Learn more at www.npaworldwide.com.

Thursday, January 17, 2008 - Session Time:

4:00PM - US Eastern Standard Time
3:00PM - US Central Standard Time
2:00PM - US Mountain Standard Time
1:00PM - US Pacific Standard Time
9:00PM - UK London (GMT)
10:00PM - Netherlands, Amsterdam (UTC+1 hour CET)
5:00AM - Hong Kong (Friday, January 18th)
8:00AM - Sydney/Melbourne (Friday, January 18th)
10:00AM - Auckland (Friday, January 18th)

ShareThis

ShareThis

ShareThis

While I have declined the invitation on the premise that I have other plans, I think this is a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen. In addition, I have worked so hard to have a professional image at work that I cannot imagine either seeing my subordinates, co-workers, and boss in swimming “attire” or having them see me in such a personal state of undress. (Yes, I am modest, but have my share of swimming suits that I wear around friends and family ). How can I assist those staff who are feeling pressured to attend a function they feel is inappropriate or makes them uncomfortable?

Less Allen, of BusinessPerformance.com, a business performance improvement software company, says “there are no easy answers with this one. On the values side, I have always valued the forming of personal (not intimate) bonds between employees and between employees and managers.” A number of employee engagement studies have shown that one factor in getting more discretionary effort from employees is satisfying their need for social belonging. Yes, you could say that this can be satisfied during work time, however, I cannot se any reason per se to limiting it to working hours.

How this can play out successfully in a company depends on the culture of that company. And in your case I can see how there can be a clash between the company culture and the culture of individuals and sub-cultures within the company. As to how to assist those staffs that feel the same way as you do, I would think that there are two options:

1. If they are comfortable in being assertive (not aggressive), then to just decline the invitation explaining truthfully the reason for their discomfort, OR

2. Respond as you did with a “polite” excuse.

These comments are assuming that you are not the HR Manager or similar. If you are, then you have the wider consideration of how you are seen to support or not support the organization’s cultural values and cultural events. In this case, if you cannot support the director’s position, then you will need to either:

1. remain as an undercover opposer of his position, OR

2. confront him frankly with you views, OR

3. start looking for a job with another company that has a better cultural fit

Which of these is the best option for you will require a lot more teasing out of your circumstances and your values. Even if you are not the HR manager, this trilemma may still strike you as you need to be seen to be supporting the company’s values in front of your direct and indirect reports. These comments are my preliminary thoughts, so I am very keen to hear how others feel.

Sexual harrassment waiting to happen, under the very watchful eyes of the doc’s wives? Doubtful. You are overreactng. SH is probably more likely to happen at the office. Anyway, it would be inappropriate and not well-accepted for you to voice your objection about this.

In my experience a “pool party” refers more to the setting than to the activity of swimming. Very few people actually swim at the pool parties I have attended. I believe it is possible to attend a social event such as a pool party and still maintain the professional reputation I have at the office. Social settings such as a pool party can actually strengthen the business relationships we develop at the office.

ShareThis

Bullying in the workplace is a hidden form of workplace violence that needs to be addressed by organizations at the top. It is particulary insidious when done by executives to their management subordinates. There are two reasons for this: 1) Many subordinate directors and managers, as a survival technique, begin to adopt the negative behavior and it is then perpetuated throughout the organization. 2)These executives are smart enough to know that yelling and hitting are quite visible, they also pride themselves in how cleaverly they can (or think they can) belittle and humiliate the victim without others realizing what they’re doing. 3) They don’t target weak individuals, as most authors claim. They target competent and capable individuals. They generally pursue one victim (for the most part) at a time, until they fire the individual or the individual quits. They will then move on to the next target. Bullying is a set of behaviors that stem from fear and feelings of inadequacy. Bullies seek control over others and will try to discredit or humiliate those who intimidate them or who they perceive as a threat(are more competent/more well-liked/etc.)

Most people you talk to will tell the employee to find another job. If there is no one in the organization with authority and willingess to remedy the situation, this is the best answer. But what is the advice to organizations? If you don’t want your fearful and inadequate executive to chase away all your best people (and he/she will eventually do so as well as render them powerless to do their jobs) you must address this. These individuals are hurting your organization in more ways than I can possibly describe here.

Some solutions are 1) release the bullying executive from employment. This is the easiest route and probably your only viable choice. 2) Provide executive coaching with (and only with) accountability measures in place. If you take this route, you must also take steps to rebuild damaged relationships and, again build in accountability steps.

I believe workplace bullying is the greatest threat to organizational effectiveness today. Any organization that wants to be optimally effective will take steps to create an environment where bullying and bullies cannot thrive.

The only solution is to purge the managers who have caused the intentional infliction of emotinal distress. One small company did what was the most honest and truthful response. The bully diregard company policies and their employment contract. Attempted to hold back the employee’s bonus. Ignored the employee’s problems and complaint. Played favortism and fratinized with like origin employees only. Provoked the employee. Now the employee has all his ducks in a row. The problem lays upon the managers whom disregards company policies.

I think it can be difficult to know when to define nasty behavior as bullying, and people need some explicit guidelines to help them identify when that line has been crossed, as bullying is more common than one might think. I had an experience where I was not treated well, and I’m still not sure if it would have qualified as bullying or not. The beahvior was very subtle, and sometimes I think it’s just me that was too sensitive. My boss left and was replaced by someone with no management experience. At first she just seemed cold, emotionless and uncaring, which unfortunately aren’t unusual behaviors in the corporate world. When she began to rip everything I had to say to shreds, I still just thought we had different, conflicting styles. Other people began to notice that she treated me and another co-worker differently than the rest of the team. Her tone of voice would get really mean and nasty and she would just shoot down everything we had to offer, even in staff meetings. When it came to handing out work assignments she would nicely ask the people she liked what they wanted to work on, and then she’d turn to me and in a very nasty, cold tone of voice dictate to me what I would work on. Some of the experiences characterized here as bullying are comparable to how I was treated, but I don’t understand how to tell the difference between bullying, and using a mean critical tone of voice and shredding and rejecting someone else’s ideas and efforts. Is that bullying? Does this really qualify as workplace violence?

Yes, because bullying can lead to mental ditress…but moreover, it sounds like there’s something more to it than that…why would someone start bullying you without a reason? Have you been working there long and hence she feeels threatened by you?

There was an employee who had no management experience, no background experience in HR, and no formal education in the subject. She was promoted to this position because she would do exactly what the CEO wanted her to do. He was the biggest bully and the others began to adopt his behavior. 

One co-worker would meet with her and try to provide support. They would leave the meeting thinking that they were on the right track only to find that she would complain to others of how difficult it was to work with the co-worker. There was nothing she could do. Is this a form of bullying? Absolutely! This situation is all to common in workplaces around the country.  The victimized employee has no control, she would try using all her skills, and was still being cut out of conversations that affected her work. The CEO had the nerve to tell her that it was her job to make herself a leader and if she didn’t become one it was her fault.

After having left the position and put a year away from the place she recognized exactly that this was bullying. The sad part was that these people are still there, doing lots of destruction to the organization’s enviroment and culture, and have turned a once vibrant organization into one in which people have gone underground and are frightened to open their mouths. So why aren’t they removed? Because the council (this is a municipal government) don’t have the strength or wherewithall to do anything. Meanwhile the citizens have now removed themselves from any type of work with the city. Go figure! It sounds alot like the loony left that we have in this country. They claim that they want free speech by promoting it, then turn around and try to silence people that don’t agree with them. Having people like this in your organization makes for a disfunctional team.

Another employee work had an encounter with a bully when she was working for the city manager of a municipal government. When she was let go on some trumped up charges (ie: they said she didn’t ask for quotes from two sources for a $1500 purchase order (which by the way was never used) she called the mayor. The purchase order was for him by the way to complete a project. He said she knew what was happening, however, two days later she received a notice in the mail that they never had the guts to tell her to her face.  She was on a week’s sick leave because it eventually was making her so ill.

To date the manager is still there, the community hates him and wants him gone but the council is so weak they keep protecting him. Meanwhile three other long term employees have been either let go or laid off. The rest of the senior management have taken on the persona of the bully and absenteeism, and stress leave are off the wall. So while we say get rid of the bully it is not that easy - especially when it is the person at the top. This situation sounds like a scene from the movie Pleasantville.

Meanwhile it has taken me a year to get over my feelings of inadequacy. This from a very confident and competent person. I am fearful of entering another organization and feelings of “what could I have done differently” remain. I have restarted my consulting company and I have decided to work for myself focusing on team dynamics in the workplace.

Related links: The Workplace Bullying Institute. Education and research to stop bullying in the workplace.

ShareThis