GSK Settlement

I read the recent news of GSK's $3 Billion settlement due to improper marketing. The civil and criminal fraud cases that totaled the largest settlement for fraud in health care. For the full story you can go here. I wonder how this will change things both for the pharmaceutical companies and the marketing/advertising agency they work with. Now that GSK will be under more scrutiny than ever, will their strategy change? I also wonder if the different agencies they work with will react differently.

Although $3 Billion is just 7% of their 2011 revenue, it is still a sizable chunk of change. It seems to me that, while no one wants to be micro-managed, someone needs to keep an eye on things. I would think that some poor sole inside GSK will be tasked with going through all materials with a fine tooth comb, again and again. I have no idea how this will change future sales of GSK products but I have a feeling they will live to fight another day.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

Keeping Things Positive

Reading this article today seems perfect for the occasion. http://bit.ly/Mrx50Y 

Thanks to Inc.com and my morning LinkedIn updates, I remembered a conversation I had with a mentor at my last job. We discussed time and time again that negative thinking and the belief that someone else determines your destiny is no way to live a productive life. Rereading these five beliefs the morning of a job interview is a great pep talk of sorts. I know that all of my education, experiences and prep will pay off. As my aunt says, "Any company would be lucky to have you!" Biased source? Probably. Still true? I think so.

New Content

Check out my new content under Documents. My resume plus different projects I completed while at the Kutztown University Small Business Development Center are up. I learned some cool tricks in Excel while I was there. Feel free to take a look and let me know what you think. More details and other changes to come so check back soon!

My Review of HRM

One of the most interesting and useful topics that I was able to take away from this class was the job analysis that was conducted. This gave me the opportunity to understand what goes into the creation of a job description. I feel that while it was specific to the jobs that we described, the task is very transferable. I also think that the intern orientation guide that was created could be put to good use in a company that is interested in starting or refining an internship program. This project, working with Ian, was a great way to build communication and organization skills.

Classes, especially electives, are great ways to find new areas of interest. They can broaden ones eyes to new topics and resources. I enjoyed being exposed to many new resources, such as the Wiki. I was also exposed to areas that taught me that I don't want to be doing them for the rest of my life, such as blogging.

Labor Relations

I found this interesting article about unions and where the author feels the unions are headed. The author of the article titled "The Future of Labor Relations: It's Not About the Unions", thinks that unions may not be completely on the way out but they seem to be working that way. He thinks that the unions are not looking like they are ready to change enough to move with the times. It is interesting to see that there are others that think there is more being done on the side of the unions. This is evident by some of the comments made after the article was posted. 

It is obvious that there will always be a pro union side and a non union side. I believe that while unions can definitely serve a great purpose, as with all groups, they can become to powerful. When any one individual or group holds to much power in an organization it can become a large issue. This goes back to the reason why our founding fathers created the concept of checks and balances to try and avoid this type of issue from becoming a huge problem.

Benefits for Entrepreneurs

There are nearly an infinite number of benefits packages that can be put together. This can create a very daunting task for an entrepreneur looking to start hiring employees for the first time. An article in Forbes does a great job of breaking down the different areas of benefits that are critical for an entrepreneur. The article discusses the need for health insurance, the recommendation for retirement packages and the option of specialty benefits. The article is adamant about making sure that entrepreneurs do not try to get all benefits out there. This is because it is a waste of company money that could be put back into the company. Finally, a broker should be consulted to ensure all details are taken care of.

What to look for in:

Health insurance plans- The author says that entrepreneurs should look for higher deductable plans to save the company money. The key is to talk with employees about the plan and why a higher deductable is being chosen.

Retirement plans- There are pensions and 401(k)s to consider. A company can decide if they want to take more of the risk and be in charge of paying a retired employee a certain amount or leave it up to the employee.

Specialty benefits- These include disability, dental and life insurance. While they are not as important they can help an entrepreneur pull in new talent.

Team Based Incentive Pay Plans

I read an article on The Advantages of Team-Based Incentive Pay Plans. While I agree with some of the comments made in this article I feel that it lacks the realistic disadvantages. Obviously this article is to promote this practice. I feel that one of the big disadvantages includes the slackers within groups. There are always the dead weights that are able to get by on everyone else. I admit that many people are guilty of doing this at different points but let’s face it. Everyone knows that one person in the group that just loves to do absolutely nothing to help the group. The balance to this is to make sure that the group confronts this person early on. Unfortunately I feel like it is better to many times to just let them get away with it. My mentality is that they will eventually find themselves in a position that they must do the work. If they can't do it then they will be fired. If they are able to never reach this point than they deserve it to some degree.

I do agree with the last comment which talks about loyalty to the company when the employee is receiving a perceived acceptable incentive pay. If an employee is being compensated fairly then there is less of a reason to leave. However, this cannot be the only thing to keep an employee. Money, after all, is not the only thing to keep people at their jobs. 

Employee Training

The following video is a humorous representation of a training video for a men's clothing store. It depicts a sales manager teaching a new sales associate on how to take care of employees. As corny as the video is, with the nerdy boss wearing lensless glasses, it does convey some good points. It promotes a friendly attitude towards customers and to be as helpful as possible in order to provide them with the best experience possible. This will hopefully encourage them to come back to the store.

It is crucial for a company to have cheerful and engaging sales associates and employees, especially in the retail industry. Customer service is the best way for a company to improve their reputation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7WIJW0bBIY&feature=youtu.be

For everyone's pleasure I have added both parts of the "Wendy's Grill Skill" training video from 1989. This is a flash back to a time well before I remember, but it definitely applies to the training guides necessary to work at a place like Wendy's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUKDspx0LZ0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2mWxFAndxg&feature=related

Is the HR department doing more harm than good?

In recent months I have been reading more and more articles from Fast Company. I really like how they discuss all sorts of companies and the focus on innovation. So, when we were asked to talk about any topic in HR, I started looking through Fast Company to find something relevant. That is when I came across this article: Why We Hate HR.

Original Cover from the Fast Company Print

Please read it for yourself to see if you agree. The one problem, or point I should make is that this article is from 2005. As such, many things have changed since this article was written, but I think the author still makes several valuable points. Please leave your feedback.

Recruiting and Hiring

I have read about a concept that there are only three essential questions that will be asked in an interview. Although these questions may come up multiple times in multiple ways they boil down to these three:

• Can they do the job?
• Will they do the job?
• Will they fit the culture of the organization?

This article goes into a better explanation on these questions. Since this article is from Entrepreneur.com it takes the perspective of an entrepreneur doing the hiring. Entrepreneurs face an added difficulty or barrier to hiring because most of them are hiring for positions they know nothing about, hence why they need to hire someone.

As I have posted and mentioned on other blogs and and discussion boards, I feel that Culture is critical. The culture of a company, whether its a company of two to a company of 2000. I feel that if an employee can fit into the culture most everything else can be built from there.

SHRM's Template for a Social Networking Policy

While I was reading through articles for the basis of this blog I came across the Society of Human Resource Management's "Social Networking Policy." This policy allows a company to input their company name into the text. The policy goes through every aspect that a social media policy at work should cover. Some of the key points include the connection a personal blog, such as mine, can have when talking about my employer and encouraging employees to use this media. The reason that SHRM promotes the use of social media and blogging is because "The goal of authorized social networking and blogging is to become a part of the industry conversation and promote web-based sharing of ideas and exchange of information." This is something that I think all companies should promote in order to build a better company."

Workplace Flexibility

I just read an article about workplace flexibility. It discusses research done by professors at the University of Minnesota and the University of Delaware. They talk about how it is healthier for employees to have a more flexible work schedule because they are more likely to go to the doctor when needed and get the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep that your body needs. This research is discussed in conjunction with research that was conducted at Wake Forest University of Medicine that also talks about workplace flexibility and healthier lifestyles. Workplace flexibility deals with societal environmental factors because the way in which people are most productive has changed over the years. These changes have come about because families are trying to spend more time together and less time in the confines of a cubicle.

From personal experience I find that having a flexible work schedule helps to not only keep me healthy physically but it also helps mentally. Which I think is even more important. Being able to go to work a few hours later or being able to work from home make me more likely to stay late in the office if I really need to in order to get a project done on time. These flexible policies produce a loyalty to the company. 

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New Look Coming Soon

My website is new and under constant revitalization. Click around to find pictures of my first car and a video of the business plan competition that I ran. Check back soon for new information.