The highest paying jobs for women caught my attention this morning. Reporting at Forbes.com, Jenna Goudreau says that Human Resources, a field in which two out of every three employees are women, pays the eighth best salaries. Women Human Resources Managers' median earnings were $59,124 per year which is just 67.9% of what their male counterparts make.

Based on a U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau 2008 analysis, women make about 80% of what men make across occupations. What other jobs made the best paid list for women? Pharmacist, computer engineer, computer science and system analyst, physician, management analyst, lawyer, chief executive, and more. Women need to stay out of female-dominated professions like administrative assistant and elementary teaching if a woman wants to make money.

Yes, I know that many women value non-monetary items such as flexible work schedules. I also recognize that women tend to move in and out of the workforce for family-related reasons. What's obvious here, even when you take these kinds of issues into consideration, is that women are paid less than their male counterparts - shockingly so in Human Resources.

And, it's time to do something about it. Who but you is better prepared to understand the job market and know what others in the field are making? Take time to do your homework. Make your job measurable and make where you spend your time matter to your company's business success. Make your success visible. Come to meetings with recommendations and a plan. Speak up for yourself and prepare to negotiate. No, with that discrepancy, 4% isn't going to cut it. Are you riled yet? Here's the best advice for women I have on the site.

_{Image Copyright Peter Chen}

How Women Can Make More Money

• How to Make More Money.
• How to Ask for a Pay Raise.
• Tips for a Successful Salary Negotiation.
• How Real Women Get Ahead.

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When you’re interviewing potential employees, their responses to interview questions and the questions they ask during the interview, are crucial bits of information. A potential employee who asks you about two week’s notice, because they’ve been fired from every job they’ve ever had, sets your red flags flying – and rightly so. Asking whether you will pick her up for work when it’s raining so she doesn’t have to walk, is another prime example of an interview red flag.

I am fascinated by the questions potential employees ask when they are concerned about the information the employer’s background check will yield. Aren't I the last person they should want to answer their question? One applicant asked me, as he filled out the application, if he had to reveal a felony conviction from nine years earlier or had the conviction expired.

Another asked, I am a recovering alcoholic. Will that affect whether you hire me? (Ummm, no – but the fact that I asked you one question and you talked for thirty straight minutes might affect whether I want to hire you for a customer-centric sales position.) If you tell me you can’t get up in the morning and so are often late to work, why would I hire you over an applicant with a stellar attendance record?

Candidates do say the darndest things and they ask the darndest questions, too. Over at Jobs.AOL Rachel Zupek has collected: 43 Things Actually Said in Job Interviews. Read them and weep.

Then, come back over here to share the funniest, saddest, most hysterical, off-putting, right on target, and weirdest candidate remarks and questions you've heard over the years. If you've ever done interviews, you've probably heard it all. Share your favorite job interview answers and questions.

_{Image Copyright Phil Date}

More Related to Job Interview Answers and Questions From Applicants

• Sample Job Interview Questions for Employers.
• Illegal Job Interview Questions.
• Believe What You See: Nonverbals in Hiring.
• Your Favorite Interview Questions: Reader Responses.

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Have you dreamed about a flexible schedule which allows you to miss that rough commute to work? Have you wished for a compressed work week that allows you to work four days instead of five? Or, luxury of luxuries, have you thought about teleworking from home – even if only part time? If you share these dreams, don’t wait, get ready to negotiate. You can negotiate a flexible work schedule.

Organizations increasingly support a flexible work schedule for employees. Not like the former 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. required office hours, a flexible schedule allows you to come early or stay late, work fewer days or telecommute. Have you negotiated a flexible work schedule for your own work-life balance? Or, does your company offer all employees a flexible work schedule?

What sort of flexible work schedule do you follow? Any tips or experiences you can offer about negotiating a flex schedule or how you are making the flexible work schedule a success for you and your employer are appreciated.

_{Image Copyright John Howard / Getty Images}

More About Work Life Balance

• Work With a Flexible Schedule.
• Advantages and Disadvantages of a Flexible Work Schedule.
• Life and Family Challenges With Flexible Work Schedules?

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The biggest news in the HR world in the past week, other than the annual SHRM Conference, is the merger of Towers Perrin Forster & Crosby Inc. and Watson Wyatt Worldwide Inc. in an all-stock deal that creates a new entity called Towers Watson & Co.

The details of the merger are available in the mainstream press, but the fact of the merger caught my attention. Sales are declining in a recession-based downturn for consulting firms. The merger will create serious job loss for employees and potential changes in consulting areas and approaches for the two firms.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the combined company will have sales of $3.2 billion and 14,000 employees. The merger produces the world’s largest benefits consulting company. I suspect that the merger will also create turmoil for many employees who lose their jobs or are recruited into unfamiliar consulting areas. The merger reflects the consulting industry’s challenges to add value and relevance in a severe economic downturn.

The Wall Street Journal also reports that, “Both firms, and rivals, are facing pressure as companies cut back on spending for consultants. Watson Wyatt and Towers Perrin often handle routine tasks for employers such as health-insurance claims. The firms typically are paid based on the number of transactions or workers, but layoffs and cuts in discretionary projects such as talent management are crimping revenue.”

More About Employee Benefits and Downsizing

• Employee Paycheck Details.
• Are You Getting the Best Benefit From Your Benefits?
• Best Practices in Layoffs.

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In 2008, the IRS mileage reimbursement rate changed twice because of the rising gas prices. During the first half of 2008, the IRS business mileage reimbursement rate was 50.5 cents and 58.5 cents in the second half. The medical and moving rate was 19 cents in the first half and 27 cents in the second half. Although 2009’s IRS mileage reimbursement rate demonstrates higher costs than earlier rates, it was adjusted down to 55 cents from the second half of 2008 to reflect lower gas costs.

This is a standard benefit employers offer to employees who must drive their car on work-related business. Take a look at additional non-standard benefits you may want to think about during this economic downturn. You don’t want to be an employer who loses your best people when the economy begins to recover.

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I am a serious, unrepentant fireworks fan and I look forward to the 4th of July for the fireworks. But, July 4th is more than a holiday celebrated with fun, food, friends, family, and fireworks. It is a celebration of the founding of the United States of America.

Tuck this idea away for next year, but a company I know sponsors a cookie cook-off for the 4th of July. Entrants must feature red, white, and blue. Lots of people make flags, but they don't necessarily win.

Remembering Independence Day Roots

I'd like to take a moment today to remember the events that created this annual celebration. I like time off from work spent with friends and family as much as you do, but this day, its historical importance, and its profound impact for the future of all humanity must be recognized.

The United States may vacillate between focusing on internal or external politics and policies, but we are truly a leading and exemplary citizen of the world. Our Independence Day gives hope to people who lack basic freedoms. You'll want to take a look at Robert Longley's History of the Declaration of Independence. It's a concise view and timeline of the events leading to the celebration we hold today.

It starts with, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." -- The Declaration of Independence. We strive to live these beliefs in our workplace. Do you?

With this in mind, I wish you a happy July 4th weekend. Never forget, however, the importance of Independence Day in our history as a nation, the importance of Independence Day to our future as a nation, and the importance of Independence Day in providing hope to the non-free world.

And, yup, I like having the day off from work, too. Oh, and did I mention fireworks - and parades and grilling?

_{Image © Michael Smith}

More Related to Holidays, Vacations and Work

• Ten Tips to Prevent Vacation Downtime.
• Paid Time Off Policy.
• Holiday Pay Practices: Do You Know What Your Legal Requirements Are?

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I remember the days when I purchased every ice breaker book on the market. I spent hours looking for an ice breaker that would fit the needs of my upcoming training or team building session. The books had good ideas that I could adapt for my groups, but I rarely found an ice breaker that I could use "as is."

One I remember using with great success involved craft popsicle sticks. I asked participants to build the highest free-standing object with a base that they could using just these carved popsicle sticks. Well-received and hilarious, groups loved this ice breaker. What's today's equivalent?

Ice Breaker Time Passes

As time passed and I became more experienced, I gradually began developing my own ice breakers from scratch. I never looked back.

I've shared ice breaker ideas with you on this site in the past, but for the first time, I've collected my thoughts about how to develop an ice breaker for a training session, team building session, or meeting. I've shared them in today's new article. I can see this piece growing over time as my readers and I add ideas. And, really, it's time for me to go back and check the ice breaker books and cruise a bit online to see what's new in the ice breaker world.

I'm afraid ice breakers are a lot like novels, though. I remember reading that there are only 30-some basic plots in fiction. The rest are variations on the common themes.

Have you read, used or participated in any effective ice breakers recently? I'd really like to hear about a good ice breaker. (Comment.)

_{Image Copyright Bobbieo}

More Related to How to Develop an Ice Breaker

• Everything Ice Breakers.
• Meet and Greet Meeting Ice Breakers.
• My Favorite Team Building Icebreaker.

Interested in what's happening at the the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) conference this week? I confess, I haven’t attended an HR conference in a few years although I used to attend frequently, and even presented at many of them, on occasion. This year, the SHRM conference visited a hot, humid New Orleans. I’ve been enjoying the commentary about SHRM and the conference in the blogosphere.

Read Punk Rock Laurie Ruettimann’s, often wry and hilarious commentary about the conference on her Punk Rock HR blog. Ever wonder what a Tweet Up is? They did an HR Tweet Up, a meet and greet session, for HR Twitter people in New Orleans. Heck, people are doing Tweet Ups in my local community, and probably yours, if you want to meet with people interested in networking and collaborating who hang out on Twitter - go.

Laurie says everyone at New Orleans is old. This matches my young colleagues’ assessment of SHRM conferences: many old people, old ideas, still catering to the traditional, but saying they’re not... What’s your take? I hear good, generous vendors.

Mary Ellen Slater on Workforce also blogged the conference. You’ll need to scroll, but I especially liked her comments about Jack Welch’s keynote and her roundup of blog posts from the HR community online.

Michael VanDervoort at Human Racehorses has another interesting take on SHRM and some of the pain people in HR are experiencing currently. Check it out.

Read any good or insightful SHRM conference coverage? Comment and share.

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I’ve promised an article about how to transition into the field of Human Resource Management for a long time. In fact, questions about how to get into HR are among the most frequently asked questions from site visitors.

It dawned on me that I have some ideas about how to transition to an HR career – because I made the transition myself – but, my readers and site visitors have many more ideas and stories to tell from their own experience.

So, I asked the question at LinkedIn Answers awhile back and was gratified at the number of thoughtful responses I received. I’ve shared my thoughts and these many reader stories about their career transitions in: Transition to a Career in Human Resource Management.

I also created a format so you can share your story about how you transitioned into the field of HR Management. As time goes by, I’ll add additional themes I find in reader answers to the original article. Please do share your story.

_{Image Copyright Andres Rodriguez}

More About Transitioning to HR Management

• How to Break Into a Career in HR Management.
• HR Management: Job Prospects and Earnings.
• All About Careers in HR Management.

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The Human Resources winners at The 7th Annual American Business Awards are:

• Human Resources Team of the Year: Air National Guard Recruiting and Retention Program (Arlington, VA)
• Human Resources Executive of the Year: Russell J. Campanello, Phase Forward, Inc. (Waltham, MA)
• Human Resources Department of the Year: King's Daughters Medical Center (Ashland, KY)

The American Business Awards are the only national, all-encompassing awards program honoring great performances in business. For a complete list of the 2009 American Business Award honorees in all categories, visit the: Stevie Awards website.

More than 2,600 entries were submitted for The 2009 American Business Awards. More than 200 executives nationwide participated in judging to determine this year’s Finalists and Stevie Award winners. Over 100,000 votes were received for Favorite New Product.

Winners of multiple awards include Accenture, Apple, Constant Contact, High Performance Technologies, John Hancock, LifeLock, Makovsky + Company, RCN Corporation, and Sirtris a GSK Company.

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According to research* by Harris Interactive on behalf of the Adecco Group, the most serious threat to organizations in this recession may be the recession's end. A company’s most important asset is its employees, and Adecco's latest Workplace Insights Survey indicates that most employers will see a high level of employee turnover when the job market rebounds.

These survey results demonstrate that employees are willing to make sacrifices to keep their jobs, but employers who have used the recession to mistreat their workforce will pay dearly in employee turnover when the recession ends.

Survey results demonstrate:

• More than half (54%) of employed Americans report that they are likely to look for new jobs once the economy turns around.
• Your youngest employees, who bring new ideas and skills to the workplace, are knocking on your competitor's door. Of the employees surveyed, 71% between the ages of 18 and 29 are likely to look for new jobs once the upturn begins.
• More than half (55%) of employees who are willing to accept a pay cut to keep their job, will accept a 10% salary decrease or more. But, recognize that financial difficulties lead quickly to a job search.
• Less than 1 in 10 of the Generation Y employees surveyed are willing to accept a pay cut to keep their jobs compared to 1 in 5 workers from the other generations (Baby Boomers, Gen X).
• 44% of employees over age 60 have been forced to delay their retirement plans.
• Only 22% of employees are saving money in anticipation of a potential layoff.
• 40% of American workers believe the recession will last another full year, and potentially into the third quarter of 2011.

You can reduce this potential employee turnover by the nature of the total work environment you offer for employees. These twenty recommendations about reducing employee turnover are common-sense, basic and incredibly hard to find in organizations today. Do you do these right things right? See Recession-Planning for Employees.

_{Image Copyright Jack Hollingsworth / Getty Images}

More About Employee Turnover

• Keep Your Best: Reduce Employee Turnover.
• Top Ten Ways to Retain Your Great Employees.
• Solve Employee Complaints: Reduce Employee Turnover.

_{*All data collection was done online within the United States between June 12 and 16, 2009 among 2,274 adults ages 18 and older, of whom 1,268 are employed full time and/or part time.}

Results were weighted as needed to reflect the composition of the U.S. adult population ages 18+ using targets for region, age within gender, education, household income, and race/ethnicity. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Anthony.guerrieri@adeccona.com.

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With the economic downturn we are experiencing and the high unemployment rates, it’s easy to begin thinking that no one is hiring employees. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Employers are hiring employees and, with the number of people available, it is even more important that employers follow their tested and true policies and procedures for hiring employees.

More potential employees available – no offense intended if you are unemployed – does not mean that the superior employees you want to hire are any easier to find. But, you control your standards for hiring employees. In my world view, and following years of experience, hiring the right employees is the most critical job of management and Human Resources.

Hiring the wrong employee creates months of effort and heartbreak while you try to coach the employee to succeed. Failing that, the employment termination process takes time and energy and is emotionally draining for all parties.

These two tools will assist you in hiring employees who will contribute to your organization’s success for a long time:

• Checklist for Success in Hiring Employees.
• Plan Your Recruiting to Ensure Success in Hiring Employees.

_{Image Copyright Jacob Wackerhausen}

More About Hiring Employees

• Hiring Employees Is Challenging.
• Forms to Use for Hiring Employees.

Have you ever wondered what differentiates all the job search sites and job search engines from each other? How can an employer figure out which options are the best for your company? Help is here. Today, I’m highlighting the second profile in a new series on the site for my members and readers.

With this proliferation of job sites online, it’s difficult to differentiate their services and cost for employers. Using the online world to find employees is a given these days and you want to select job sites that will provide you with the best possible pool of candidates.

As I looked into job sites, and emailed with executives and marketing employees at various job sites, it struck me that I would do my audience a favor if I wrote profiles about the sites.

Today’s lead article is my second profile in the series. It features a powerful job search engine called Simply Hired which offers employers 21 million candidates a month and a pay-per-click program. I will write and publish profiles in the order in which job search sites return my questionnaire.

I’d appreciate feedback from readers about whether you find these new profiles useful. If you do, I’ll write more of them.

See my initial profile of Indeed.com.

More About How to Find Employees Online

• Use the Web for Recruiting.
• Top Ten Recruiting Tips.
• Recruiting Stars: Top Ten Ideas for Recruiting.

_{Image Copyright Simply Hired}

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Today’s new article recognizes the most significant component of our June celebration of Professional Wellness Month: work-life balance. This topic has consumed my writing for several weeks because it is a major recruiting and retention factor for younger employees.

No longer willing to dedicate their lives to work, as many perceive their parents did, professional wellness has taken on a new meaning that encompasses time for all of life’s activities for these, especially Gen Y or millennial employees. Products of structured lives, every minute of which was filled with scheduled activities, these employees will only thrive when work balances life.

Employers will ignore this at their peril. In one major computer company, 55% of employees telecommute from home offices. Increasing numbers of employers allow flexible work schedules. With the right policies and expectations in place, these work relationships are successful. They promote success for employers and employees. I’ll continue to explore these options with you. Their importance is increasing and creates a tidal wave of new expectations for employers.

_{Image Copyright John Howard / Getty Images}

More About Work-Life Balance

• Work-Life Balance Books: read any good books lately? Comment.
• Work-Life Strategies for Optimal Performance and Life Balance: what's your strategy?
• Life and Family Challenges With Flexible Work Schedules?

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Every organization that is committed to continuous improvement will periodically reorganize functions and departments to better serve customers. These reorganizations can radically change the company organization chart, reporting relationships, and even the content of employees’ jobs.

If companies reach the goal of the reorganization, which often includes increasing empowerment, responsibility, and accountability of existing staff and functions, more sales and improved profitability should follow.

In an effective reorganization, the purpose and motivation are expressed and broadly disseminated, goals are clearly defined, and new accountabilities are spelled out with the understanding that they may change as the organization members learn and understand their new roles. But, the bottom line is always to better serve customers when reorganizations succeed.

I don’t know, as an example, how the U.S. Army’s Human Resources Command Center for Human Resources Excellence in Fort Knox, KY will work out, but I assume the concept was carefully studied. I do know that the Human Resources Command was created to better serve the total career needs of their customers: active duty military, reservists, and retired military personnel.

The stated goal of the reorganization? To enable soldiers to manage their entire career from basic training until retirement and later through one office. Now, that’s a thought for HR departments. We reorganize to serve customers, not just to cut costs and better align responsibilities. But, those will follow when customers are well-served.

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Some of your favorite content on the site involves samples and forms that you can use in your workplace. Here are some of the forms, definitions, and samples you may find useful.

I'm always looking for samples, ideas, policies, checklists and forms that you have developed for use on the site. Share your Human Resources samples with other readers. More convenient? Email them to me: humanresources.guide@about dot com.

• How to Develop a Policy.
• Sample Policies, Checklists, and Forms.
• Human Resources Glossary.
• Free Email Classes and Career Success Tips.

Quote of the Week - More Quotes

A task I enjoy is cooking. Consequently, this is a quote that is dear to me. In her New York Times Book Update review of Laura Shapiro’s “Julia Child," Dorothy Kalins says that Shapiro:

"...skillfully reduces the sauce of Julia’s cooking ethic into a rich demiglace: 'Use all your senses, all the time. ... Take pains with the work; do it carefully. Relish the details. Enjoy your hunger. And remember why you’re there.' That could be a recipe for life."

I agree and it's not just the hobby cook in me replying either.

_{Image Copyright Tom McNemar}

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Having a company with young employees means that an employee or an employee's spouse is almost always pregnant. Indeed, there are usually multiple babies on the way. We have even hired obviously pregnant applicants. I think of all of these babies as the next generation talent pool.

Occasionally, though, upon completion of the 12 week FMLA leave time, a valued employee decides that work is not a current option and that staying home with the baby is most important.

Recently, an employee decided to stay home and be a mom to her child. We support her decision. Lifestyle choices are a key requirement of the generation Y or millennial employees in your company. Even many gen-X employees seek flexibility that the Baby Boomer generation never dreamed of having.

Here are tips for managing these valued millennial employees - the ones who continue to work, that is.

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The Girl Scouts of the USA contacted me awhile back to ask about using some of the concepts I developed in my approach to the meaning of traditional SMART goals.

First of all, I was complimented that they find the material useful and that it will be used in their leadership curriculum for the girls. Second, I was so pleased to hear that there is a curriculum and that it includes leadership and goal setting.

I am a serious advocate for both goal setting and leadership. In a performance management system, every employee develops goals quarterly with the assistance of their supervisor. The goals cascade through the organization which links all employees together and keeps them moving in the same direction.

I'm also a serious advocate for developing a personal vision statement and setting goals for your career and life. So, I'm happy the girls will learn early. (And, while you're visiting, check out some of the personal visions that readers have shared for their lives. Inspirational.)

Every employee has the potential to be a leader. My leadership success series talks about the major components of leadership. Leadership comes from both natural abilities, learning in seminars, classes, and online, and being mentored by more senior employees.

And, the Girl Scouts program is a fine example of a mentoring program for girls. Hopefully, their new leadership development curriculum will lead the girls and young women into a habit of lifelong self-development.

_{Image © Bobbieo}

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Management development is one of the critical tasks organizations face and management training claases are one option. Not everyone has the luxury of a local consultant who knows your staff and your business and can customize management training for your group.

You can develop such a relationship and then, provide management training that targets individual needs, in my favorite approach to management development.

You can also send managers to management training classes offsite. You take some chances with quality and content, but often, for small and mid-sized companies this management training is a viable option.

I’ve also worked at a major corporation with thousands and thousands of employees. We had training departments at the local, regional, and national level. Their job was developing and customizing training for the whole corporation. They also ran the apprenticeship programs for skilled trades, assessment centers to evaluate management potential, and hired national consultants to train managers in topics such as Situational Leadership and listening.

With all three company sizes in mind, I’ve put together a recommended management training curriculum. Take a look and then, notice the opportunity to add what you believe is important to develop managers and help them succeed. Both management training course ideas and other thoughts about developing managers are welcome.

Tips for Management Training Transfer to the Workplace

• Ten Tips to Make Training Work: before management training.
• Training Can Make a Difference: during management training.
• Everyone Wins: More Tips for Training Transfer: after management training.

_{Image Copyright Lisa Gagne}

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Recently, I’ve watched a lot of fantasy on television. Penelope (compare prices), was born with a pig’s snout instead of a nose, conquered the curse that malformed her, and ended up with the young man who loved her when she had the pig’s snout. She prevailed over her problem.

In Stardust (compare prices), Tristan Thorn crosses into Stormhold to find a star to bring to the woman whom he thinks he loves. Turns out, she is a shallow person, but the woman who is the star, Yvaine, is his true love. He triumphs over the wicked witches who need the heart of the star to transform themselves into youthful beauties, and several other challenges.

It’s a bonus that he saves his mother from a curse that has bound her for many years and inherits the throne because the other claimants kill each other. (Neil Gaiman is a delightful adult author, too. His novel, Anansi Boys (compare prices), was one of the most perfect fiction books I have ever read.)

Catch the themes here? After long journeys, many adventures, and overcoming fierce opponents, the hero and heroine prevail, fall in love, and live happily ever after. Is it any wonder that I love fantasy and science fiction?

Wish life were this easy at work. Employees solve problems, improve processes, and fight enemies that entail all aspects of work from their own personal bad habits to legitimate competitors who might derail progress. Does the hero or heroine always win?

Not necessarily, although at our company, a number of our young employees are falling in love and getting married. But, happy ever after is not necessarily the watchword for your employees or your company. You need more than luck and stardust.

You need a strategic framework and goals so all employees are clear about what is expected from them. You need managers who guide wisely and empower staff to make decisions. You need communication up and down the organization and data to tell you how your processes are performing. You need developmental opportunities so your employees continue to grow professionally and contribute at the top of their game. Finally, you need a reward system that helps your achievers and contributors feel recognized for their contributions.

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On Thursday, June 11, the World Health Organization raised the worldwide pandemic alert to Phase 6 in reaction to the spread of swine flu (Influenza A virus, H1N1). Swine flu is now found in 70 countries which means that a global pandemic is underway.

Vince Iannelli M.D., who writes About.com's Pediatrics site, notes that this does not mean that the disease has become more serious, just that it has spread more.

Employers have a legal obligation to provide a safe, disease-free workplace for employees. Consequently, you need to take proactive steps to prevent the potential spread of any contagious disease, including Swine Flu H1N1, in your workplace. Employers also need to address business continuity in the event that a Swine Flu H1N1 outbreak affects the ability of your employees to come to work.

Even if swine flu never reaches your workplace, a workplace plan for employee health and safety and business continuity, in the event of any disaster or contagious disease, makes good business sense.

More About Employee Health and Safety

• Laughing Your Way to Organizational Health.
• Develop a Drug-free Workplace.
• Understanding Stress and Workplace Stress.

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The Carnival of Human Resources is online at Rowan Manahan's Fortify Your Oasis. (Rowan brings us whit and wimsey from Dublin, Ireland.)

A Carnival, in case you are unfamiliar with the term, is an amalgamation of the posts of many different bloggers to which links are posted on one blogger's site. What's important about a Carnival is that this combination of posts by various people is an easy way to check out whether you might enjoy reading the writing of different bloggers.

And, the best aspect of a Carnival is that the posts were either turned in by the writer or selected by the Carnival host as a particularly good or meaty post. So, take a look. You may find some additional writers and fellow professionals to enjoy reading going forward.

_{Image Copyright Rtyree}

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With unemployment levels high, more and more people are eligible to sign up for COBRA. However, a study by Spencer’s Benefits Reports, a research service for employee benefits plan administrators that is produced by Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, a smaller percentage of them are signing up due to cost.

In the companies studied, 16.8% of the employees became eligible for COBRA in the 2008 plan year. But, only 9.69% of the people eligible for COBRA signed up for coverage.

Beginning in 1989, this is the 16th survey Spencer’s has conducted since the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) became law in 1986. According to Stephen A. Huth, managing editor, this is the highest number of people becoming eligible and the lowest percentage electing coverage in the history of the survey.

This survey also took place during a major economic downturn and before the implementation of the temporary 65% COBRA payment subsidy in the Recovery and Reinvestment Act took effect.

According to Wolters Kluwer’s Neil Allen, “COBRA costs in the 2009 survey averaged $10,988 per year per participant for employers, about 32 percent higher than five years ago when it was $8,353.

"The $10,988 compared to an average annual cost for active employees of $7,190, making coverage for COBRA 54 percent more costly than that for active employees."

Employers cited cost as the most significant deterrent to COBRA election, for both employers and employees. The cost to the employees is high and since the healthiest employees feel they can skip the coverage, the unhealthiest people are in the covered pool. This raises costs for employers.

"'Because COBRA beneficiaries must pay for the high cost of COBRA coverage, the trend of sicker beneficiaries choosing the coverage is not surprising,’ Huth said. 'In addition, although we talk about average costs, the costs actually vary wildly from one company to the next for all but the largest employers. In part, this is because the low incidence of COBRA elections in any one company makes COBRA operate more like individual health insurance rather than like group insurance. Thus, providing COBRA coverage for most employers is much like rolling dice.'"

Huth estimates that 4.8 million people receive coverage through COBRA for which they may not have been eligible otherwise. COBRA election is usually an unemployed person’s best option but other insurance options should also be considered.

Spencer’s will explore the affect of the COBRA subsidy, which currently runs from September 1, 2008 until December 31, 2009, on the affordability of COBRA. The average COBRA premium with the subsidy (35 percent of $10,988) is $320.50 per month, or $3,845.80 per year.

_{Image Copyright Kelly Young}

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When you talk about work and life balance, one of the most popular employee benefits is a flexible work schedule. Employees appreciate the opportunity to more effectively manage their life balance with their work responsibilities. Employers also understand the benefit to the business of employees who experience life balance despite working full-time.

Several questions come up regularly when employers discuss flexible work schedules including telecommuting. I have begun answering these questions in a FAQ. If you have questions I haven’t covered, now is a good time to ask; email me and I will answer your questions in the FAQ. But, start with these questions and answers about work and life balance and how to make flexible schedules work.

I’d like to tap you as a resource. In response to sending this article out in my weekend newsletter, I received several notes from readers who told me they were among the many trying to achieve work and life balance. They are looking for ideas about balancing work and life so neither is neglected. You are the source of ideas for readers since you've experienced this challenge, too.

What’s your best tip for obtaining work and life balance?

_{Image Copyright ULTRA.F / Getty Images}

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I'm a proponent of behavioral interview questions because they elicit information about how your potential employee has behaved in like situations in the past. These questions are stronger and less reminiscent of crystal ball gazing than questions that ask the candidate to predict how he or she might behave in the described situation in the future.

At the same time, unusual interview questions can identify what's important to the candidate and whether he or she will fit the culture of your organization. Over time, anyone who interviews potential employees finds that certain interview questions help you select successful employees. Patterns of responses give you an historical perspective about how successful employees responded.

At the same time, take care with the questions you select. I used to ask potential employees what book they had read recently. This gave me insight into whether the candidate practiced ongoing self development. It was my favorite interview question for years.

Then, a spate of candidates replied in ways I had not anticipated. One said, he read the bible every day. Another couple of candidates said they hadn't had time to read recently unless I counted reading Harry Potter or Goodnight Moon with their children as reading.

I realized my question had begun to border on illegal because of the information I was receiving - don't ask me why the question worked for years before these recent occurrences. I amended the interview question now to ask what the candidate has done recently to assure their ongoing professional development.

I am curious about your experience with interview questions. We all have favorites, usually because the interview questions worked to elicit information useful in our selection decisions. What's your favorite interview question?

_{Image Copyright Andres Rodriguez}

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About.com’s Alison Doyle asked a question at her job search site that intrigued me. Turns out that young people don’t wear hose or panty hose – ever.

Some young people have never even owned a pair and they don’t wear them in the winter or with dresses or skirted suits. They have no intention of purchasing them for a job search.

To be honest, it’s not a question I‘ve spent a lot of time pondering – I turned to pants suits years ago and you couldn’t drag me kicking and screaming to a nylon store. It has everything to do with comfort and says nothing at all about whether I’m old-fashioned, though.

I’ve also noticed a trend in recent years; job candidates wear pantsuits instead of skirted suits or dresses.

I never thought about the possibility that the trend may represent the desire of candidates to avoid wearing hose and possibly, popular pointy-toed, narrow shoes. Fashion maven, I am not.

Alison links a Wall Street Journal article that asks similar questions about hose, so it's not just us wondering.

I’m curious what you think. Should job candidates wear hose when they show up for your interviews? Or, do you care? How about your office dress code? Does it still specify that women must wear hose?

What else has changed in recent years about your candidates' attire or your office dress code expectations?

More About Dress Codes

• Business Casual Dress Code.
• Business Casual Photo Gallery.
• Formal Dress Code.
• Formal Dress Code Photo Gallery.
• Casual Dress Code.
• Casual Dress Code Photo Gallery.

Recently, I talked about the importance of employees understanding the overall goals of the company. Today, I’d like to highlight another factor that is critical to company success.

You need to build a team work environment in which employees have each made the commitment to play well with others. Employees who like each other, work well together, and support each other serve customers well and deliver market worthy products.

This is why you never want to allow an employee squabble to get out of hand. Employees need conflict resolution skills and managers need to know how to moderate conflicts in ways that preserve relationships.

In one of my client settings, two women work in the same office and have barely spoken to each other for twenty years. Fortunately, they don’t have to work together, but can you imagine how uncomfortable that work environment must be for coworkers? And, I’d hazard a guess that neither of them remembers what caused the breach in the first place anymore.

So, solving bad employee conflicts is a priority. At the same time, you want to enable healthy conflict over ideas, product features, and direction. Balancing the two kinds of conflict adds up to a healthy work environment.

What's your conflict resolution style?

_{Image ©Monika Wisniewska}

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Advantages for employers and employees exist when the employer allows employees to work flexible schedules.

Advantages of Flexible Work Schedules for Employees

With flexible work schedules, employees experience these benefits:

• Flexibility to meet family needs, personal obligations, and life responsibilities conveniently.
• Reduced consumption of employee commuting time and fuel costs.
• Avoids traffic and the stresses of commuting during rush hours.
• Increased feeling of personal control over schedule and work environment.
• Reduces employee burnout due to overload.
• Allows people to work when they accomplish most, feel freshest, and enjoy working. (eg. morning person vs. night person).
• Depending on the flexible work schedule chosen, may decrease external childcare hours and costs.

Advantages of Flexible Work Schedules for Employers

With flexible work schedules, employers experience these benefits:

• Increased employee morale, engagement, and commitment to the organization.
• Reduced absenteeism and tardiness.
• Increased ability to recruit outstanding employees.
• Reduced turnover of valued staff.
• Allows people to work when they accomplish most, feel freshest, and enjoy working. (eg. morning person vs. night person).
• Extended hours of operation for departments such as customer service.
• Develops image as an employer of choice with family friendly flexible work schedules.

_{Image Copyright Pando Hall / Getty Images}

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Readers periodically ask questions that have universal applicability. Please respond to this reader in "comments" below.

Reader Question:

"Hello Susan,

"I have been receiving e-mails from your site for quite a few months now. I really enjoy the info I receive. I have been doing HR for the last 9 years. I have hit a point in my career where I am no longer happy. At this point in time I don’t have the time nor the means to go back to school and start all over again. I kind of fell into HR. I consider myself a Generalist, although my title is HR Manager.

"I am not happy where I am, but because of the state of the economy and the fact that my pay and the flexibility are pretty good, I am sticking it out.

"I work in a food plant where everyone, from the GM (General Manager) to line supervisors, does whatever they want and don’t heed any advice that comes from HR. It is very frustrating. About 80% of every day consists of damage control. What can I do to get the attention of the guys and get them to start complying?"

What would you advise this HR Manager so she enables herself to contribute and gains more skill in influencing managers and supervisors within her work environment?

_{Image Copyright Dieter Spears}

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Today and tomorrow, I am participating in strategic planning for our company. This is a particularly challenging year and environment for business. I cannot emphasize this enough. The current business climate that is anti-business because of the anticipation of higher taxes and more regulation, and the potential for a national health care system that taxes employees who receive health care insurance from their employer, has arrived.

We spent today talking about the current environment. Discussions revolved around finances, decision making, staffing, employee morale and engagement, communication, revenue generation, product growth and sales, and, most importantly, customers and their needs.

We also talked about the role of economics and the government and the need to factor these into our planning for employees and the company. Tomorrow will become more plan oriented as we discuss ways to achieve improvement goals in each of these areas.

More About Strategic Planning

• Build a Strategic Framework: Mission Statement, Vision, Values ...
• How to Implement Strategic Planning.
• Strategic Planning Pitfalls - to Avoid.

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During a time when employers are hesitant to hire except for critical positions, training and developing the employees you have becomes even more important. No matter the economic times, you cannot afford to lose the competitive advantage that skilled people who continue to develop and play at the top of their game give your organization.

I have written about one of my preferred methods for providing training that makes a real difference in how people manage their work environment. Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood expand this idea and recommend how to create the best training and learning environment for adults. I have also discussed the expectation you need to have that employees, who have participated in a training or conference event, share their new knowledge and experience with coworkers. These methods maximize the bang you get for the bucks you spend on training.

Conferences and training events and seminars are not your only opportunity to train employees. Think creatively and you will identify a myriad of alternatives. I have listed ways in which organizations can pursue training and development opportunities for their employees.

These opportunities for training exist both internally and externally. Advances in technology are making customized training easier and more accessible. Factors in your work environment such as the expectation for and the appreciation of learning matter, too.

Benefits such as tuition assistance and a flexible schedule may make all the difference in an employee's ability to afford college.

What Training Opportunity Have I Missed?

I have shared some of my ideas about how to make training a vital facet of your culture. I have also shared several ideas about environmental dynamics that will promote learning in your organization. What do you do in your organization - or wish that you did - that I missed? Please share these opportunities in "comments" below.

_{Image Copyright Lise Gagne}

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Many of you have noticed and responded in our new Reader Response opportunities. They’re a great way to share what you know and learn from others. They are making my site more interactive with my readers, and frankly, I’m thrilled – even when you disagree with me, and each other. All points of view are welcome. Here are some of the recent opportunities to respond.

• Share your recruitment strategies.
• How do you cope with a difficult boss?
• How do you cope with the loss of coworkers in layoffs?
• Favorite interview questions?
• What makes a bad boss - bad?

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Today's newsletter prompted my thoughts about employee empowerment, a strategy and value that I support. I've sought ideas for effective implementation my entire consulting career. In my core beliefs, when managers and employees experience the power of employee empowerment, they want to live that way, too. The challenge is in the details.

Many companies talk about employee empowerment as their desired relationship with their employees. But employee empowerment is much harder to carry out in the daily work environment. Not every employee can contribute to every decision and there is always a manager or director you report to who may have a different vision for a program or project.

Overall company decisions may influence your work area and even your daily tasks. The current economic situation may also infringe upon your feelings of empowerment as company leaders make decisions with which you disagree - or worse, without you - for the good of the overall company. It's a wonder to me sometimes, how any company gets empowerment right. These are some of the factors that make empowerment difficult:

• Managers need to release power to employees. This is hard when you're still responsible for the results - or maybe you just like being in charge and making all of the decisions. Some managers feel safer in charge.
• Employees miss deadlines, plan and work on pet projects and neglect the contribution you most need from them. Excuses and "not my faults" can drive you crazy.
• Boundaries of decision making are the biggest challenge. Where does my decision making leave off and yours begin? Unfortunately, rather than addressing this persistent issue in empowerment, most organizations navigate this problem hit-or-miss. This leaves employees unwilling to make decisions, unempowered when their decisions are over-ridden, and managers who ask, "Why won't the people who report to me act empowered?" Right.

Okay, those are some of my thoughts about employee empowerment. What is your experience of employee empowerment from a managerial or employee point of view? Is employee empowerment worth the commitment and trust?

_{Image Copyright Rasmus Rasmussen}

More About Employee Empowerment

• Top Ten Ways to Make Employee Empowerment Fail.
• Top 10 Principles of Employee Empowerment.

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Work dress code and image collection galleries are popular on the site, so I've added another to the collection. The newest photo gallery shows appropriate attire for a casual work setting. In a casual work setting, the dress code allows just about any choice of outfit as long as it is appropriate for work.

Clothing employees would wear to the beach, a dance club, to change the oil in their car, or to exercise won't cut it, even in a casual workplace. But most jeans, casual tops, sneakers, athletic shoes, and sweaters are appropriate. The goal, in a workplace with a casual dress code, is employee comfort.

Casual dress code environments are most frequently found in high tech workplaces and in organizations that rarely have clients or customers visit such as those that sell online like Zappos.

In our company, a business casual dress code was in place for a number of years because clients did visit and several employees dressed more like they were going to the beach than to work. So, guidelines were needed. But, over the next years, the company gradually transitioned into product development and customers rarely visit.

One day, an employee asked why we had a business casual dress code. We could no longer think of a reason, so casual became the new dress code. The attire of the executives and managers models appropriate casual workplace dress for employees and helps set the direction for a casual workplace environment.

It's difficult to imagine that workplaces with formal dress codes still exist, but I imagine that a large number of site visitors still wear suits to work every day. I am so sorry.

_{Image Copyright Christopher Robbins / Getty Images}

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If you have ideas for this reader, please reply in "comments" below.

Reader Question:

Dear Susan,

I work for a small business owner. The owner is going through a divorce and frankly has undiagnosed ADHD. His stress level is high, his behavior is more than unacceptable, but for now, I need a job to pay bills. Well, I've decided I definitely want a new job. However, I can't give this one up until I have a new one, because I need some kind of money coming in.

I've accomplished more in this work, than anyone else has, and have created a beginning ops manual and solved some long standing problems. I'm not trained, nothing is explained. If I do something "wrong," because I don't know either what the procedure is or how my boss likes something done, he screams at me and calls me "a f***ing idiot." In fact, he calls me that so often, were I a different person, I could start believing it was my name.

Eager to do something on the computer this week, he tried to shove me off my chair, to get at the computer. I had to explain, that all he needed to do was to ask me to move politely, and I would. He opened a file door in a hurry and slammed it into my knee. But yesterday was the worst.

I went for my lunch hour walk. (I do love walking the Groton Banks and I'm up to a mile and a half now!) I came back to the office to hear screaming. He'd lost a file and the home office didn't have a piece of the contract. Since the file had been done months before I started working for him, I shouldn't be held accountable for someone else's work. He ran around screaming and the whole office went searching everywhere for the lost file that was never found.

I figured out the piece we need, called the client and nonchalently asked the appropriate questions that needed to be answered and since our fax wasn't working ran downstairs and faxed from a realty office.

The offending part of this horrible fire drill was when I said I never had that file on my desk and he turned around to me and screamed - I do mean rattle the windows screamed, "I'll f***ing slam your head through the wall if you say that. I had the file last night working at your desk and then I had it in my office."

I'm going to be revamping my resume and sending it anywhere I can. I feel badly for the man. There are severe problems, that could be addressed in his company to make lots of money, and he's going through a nasty divorce, but that is uncalled for. However on the bright side... I do like the actual "tasks," when my life isn't in danger from his unawareness of other people around him, or his threats. I did tell him that kind of behavior was unacceptable, btw. Not that it did anything more than have him scream more.

Any suggestions? (Please reply in "comments" below.)

_{Image Copyright Dieter Spears}

Resources About How to Deal With a Bad Boss

• Bad to the Bone: Dealing With a Bad Boss or Bad Managers.
• Poll: How Do You Deal With a Bad Boss?
• What Makes a Bad Boss - Bad?
• Forum: How to Screen for a Potential Bad Boss During Interviews?

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