About Human Resources: Need to Deal With Difficult People?

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Human Resources Human Resources Employ People Manage People Succeed at Work From Susan M. Heathfield, your Guide to Human Resources Vol. 12 No. 135 - ISSN: 1533-3698 October 13, 2011 Dear People: Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) have a bad name because of the way many employers use them. In most companies, from reader input over the years, a PIP is usually the first step in the employment termination process. This makes me sad because I have seen PIPs work in powerfully positive ways with some employees. At the same time, they do cover an employer. You can demonstrate that you tried to help the employee improve, that you clearly communicated expectations and provided performance feedback, and that the employee improved - or the employee did not. I use PIPs in a narrow set of circumstances and only when the manager has faith that the employee can actually improve. Anything else is torture for the employee and a needless expenditure of the organization's time. I understand why some employers use a PIP for every under-performing employee, but it's not a practice I'd recommend. Is a PIP the first step in firing an employee? Do you know that I write a new blog post every day? Check out the blog in the center column on my home page. Comments, questions, suggestions? Email Me. Please forward this newsletter, in its entirety, to your colleagues, coworkers and friends, because you want to add value to their work and lives. Regards and wishing you and yours the best this weekend, Susan Need to Deal With Difficult People? Do your coworkers drive you crazy sometimes? We all have coworkers who occasionally, or frequently, drive us up a wall. But, effectively dealing with the difficult behaviors of coworkers heralds your maturity and competence as a valued, contributing employee at work. And, who wouldn't want to have this powerfully positive reputation? Read more... Tips for Working With People at Work Readers Describe Their Coworkers From Hell See More About:  workplace negativity  dealing with difficult people  coworkers from hell What Causes Employee Negativity? Recently, I received an IM from a friend. He has found a new job and was ushered out of his former workplace when he gave his two week's notice. He wanted to tell me just how bad his workplace had been. And, I was truly amazed. The workplace he described took every article on this website and did the exact opposite. Employees were required to account for every minute of their time and a doctor's note was required if they missed one day of work. Find out more about employee negativity. The Five Causes of Employee Negativity How to Deal With a Negative Coworker See More About:  workplace negativity  employee motivation  employee retention Top Ten Ways to Be Happy at Work Happiness is largely a choice. I can hear many of you arguing with me, but it's true. You can choose to be happy at work. Sound simple? Yes. But, simplicity is often profoundly difficult to put into action. I wish all of you had the best employer in the world, but, face it, you may not. So, think positively about your work. Dwell on the aspects of your work you like... Read more. What Brings You Joy in the Workplace? The Power of Positive Employee Recognition See More About:  employee satisfaction  employee motivation  working with people Open Door Policy Gone Awry? Need help to establish an open door policy or need ideas to make your current one work? When organizations understand how an open door policy ought to work, it can effectively serve your organization. Open door policies and actual behavior in regard to company guidelines are a challenge. On the one hand, you want employees to feel comfortable talking with managers at any level in your organization. You want employees to feel and believe that they have options, but... How to Develop a Policy Dress for Work Success: A Business Casual Dress Code See More About:  open door policies  organizational structure  human resources policies Human Resources Ads Human Resources Employee Relations HR Employee Handbook Employee Deal Deal Depression Featured Articles What Makes Your Good Boss - Good? How to Create Team Norms Applied for New Job, Then Laid Off. Wonders What to Say? Fun With Halloween in the Office Is HR Strategic - Or Not? Sample HR Letters   More from About.com Food and Mood Indulging a sweet tooth can cause weight gain, guilt and even worsen depression. Here are a few expert tips to help you resist. More> Carb Cravings Ever wondered why you crave carbs (or chocolate and sugar) when you're depressed? Some scientists say it may be chemical. More> This newsletter is written by: Susan M. Heathfield Human Resources Guide Email Me | My Blog | My Forum   Sign up for more free newsletters on your favorite topics You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to the About Human Resources newsletter. If you wish to change your email address or unsubscribe, please click here. About respects your privacy: Our Privacy Policy Contact Information: 249 West 17th Street New York, NY, 10011 © 2011 About.com   Must Reads Human Resources Basics, Careers, Jobs Free Human Resources Policies, Samples Human Resources: Job Interview Tips Human Resources Job Descriptions Top 10 Human Resources Tough Questions Advertisement

The Big Picture

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• 10 Thursday PM Reads
• What Does It Take to Get a Job at Google?
• QOTD: Too Few Arthur Andersons
• Infographics: Where Data Meets Design
• 30 yr auction solid, some left with no other choice
• Earnings Estimates & Valuation Drivers, Q4 2011
• Obama’s Rating Soar After Punching Wall St Exec in Face
• 10 Thursday AM Reads
• European problems still come down to Italy and Spain
• Dividend Investing

10 Thursday PM Reads Posted: 13 Oct 2011 01:30 PM PDT Today’s afternoon train reading : • U.S. Incomes Seen Stagnant Through 2021 (WSJ) see also Growing Income Gap May Leave U.S. Vulnerable (Bloomberg) • Tips from a top stock market contrarian ? (Market Watch) • Little Banks vs. Big Banks (Slate) see also Florida says more work needed in foreclosure talks (Reuters) • In a Down Economy, Fewer Birth (Pew Social Trends) • The book-cooking index (Economist) see also Benford’s Law and the Decreasing Reliability of Accounting Data for US Firms (Studies in Everyday Life) • Pogue: A Look at Apple's iCloud  (Pogues Post) • NY Tops Massachusetts in U.S. Venture Deals for 1st Time (Bloomberg) see also Web Start-Ups Hit Cash Crunch (WSJ) • 12 Extremely Disappointing Facts About Popular Music (Buzz Feed) • The GOP ties itself up in knots (Washington Post) see also Supply-Sider Investment Advice (The Mess That Greenspan Made) • New Tumblr: (Shit That Siri Says) see also Could an Apple iTV really succeed? (Digital Trends) What are you reading? > Occupy Wall Street Comes to Boston

What Does It Take to Get a Job at Google? Posted: 13 Oct 2011 11:30 AM PDT Via Jobvine: > Infographic by Jobvine Recruitment Network

QOTD: Too Few Arthur Andersons Posted: 13 Oct 2011 11:00 AM PDT Quote of the day: “I’ll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one.” -Seen at Occupy Wall Street rally.

Infographics: Where Data Meets Design Posted: 13 Oct 2011 10:30 AM PDT The Value of Data Visualization from Column Five on Vimeo.

30 yr auction solid, some left with no other choice Posted: 13 Oct 2011 10:01 AM PDT In contrast to the weak 10 yr auction yesterday, the 30 yr auction was solid as the yield was 4 bps below the when issued and the bid to cover of 2.94 was well above the 12 month avg of 2.61 and the best since March. Also, direct and indirect bidders took the most since April ’10. Bottom line, if you’re a pension fund or an insurance company and the Fed tells you that short term rates are staying near zero for another two years and that they will do all they can to keep long term interest rates low, you buy as many 30 yr bonds as you can, irrespective of the pathetic yields. It’s because you are left with little choice. It’s another example of how artificially manipulated interest rates leads to poor investment decisions and a misallocation of capital.

Earnings Estimates & Valuation Drivers, Q4 2011 Posted: 13 Oct 2011 08:36 AM PDT Great chart from JPM showing the state of earnings heading into Q4 2011: > click for ginormous chart Source: S&P, Compustat, Factset, JPM Asset Management All data as of September 30, 2011

Obama’s Rating Soar After Punching Wall St Exec in Face Posted: 13 Oct 2011 06:44 AM PDT I think that is supposed to be Anthony Scaramucci: President’s Approval Rating Soars After Punching Wall Street Banker in Face

10 Thursday AM Reads Posted: 13 Oct 2011 06:30 AM PDT Here is what I am reading this morning: • Good news: Wall Street's in a bad mood (Market Watch) • At Ports, a Sobering Omen for Holiday Sales (WSJ) see also China Export Growth Dwindles to Slowest Pace in Seven Months as Yuan Gains (Bloomberg) • Jesse Eisinger: Between the Lines, Wall St. Banks Face a Deficit of Trust (DealBook) • Doug Kass 10 Questions: …..-for the Bears (Street.com) …..-for the Bulls (Street.com) • 'Buffett Rule' May Be Broken by 25% of Millionaire Taxpayers, Study Finds (Bloomberg) see also Buffett Builds His Tax-the-Rich Case (WSJ) • Florida AG Pam Bondi Pressured By Targets Of Investigations To Soften Approach, Critics Say (Huff Post) • Chanos, Gross Understand Wall Street Protest Paulson Rejects (Businessweek) see also Buffett's Son Defends Occupy Wall Street (Bloomberg) • Romney Victory, Looks Presidential and Human (Bloomberg) • Take Our Free Money, Please! (Slate) • Steve Jobs leaves questions behind (Japan Times) What are you reading? > Oh, and we’re also gonna raise your bank fees…

European problems still come down to Italy and Spain Posted: 13 Oct 2011 05:38 AM PDT While we’ve been discussing the extent of another restructuring of Greek debt and how the EU will deal with the collateral damage to its banking system, the real goal of a resolution in Europe is to keep the debt crisis from further inflaming Spain and Italy. But, because of the nature and large size of both of their economies, their destiny is in their own hands if they choose to seize it. Italy’s 10 yr bond yield is rising to 5.80%, a 10 week high after they sold 6.2b euros of debt with various maturities stretching out as far as 2025, below the 6.5b euros hoped for. It comes right before Berlusconi’s political fate may be sealed tomorrow in a confidence vote. Mario Draghi, the soon to be Italian head of the ECB, who continues to buy Italian debt, has put Italy on notice that the deficit cutting plan they recently enacted is not big enough. In Asia, China reported less than expected export and import growth. Due to the nature of their economy, many imports are in turn built into future exports. Specifically, export growth to their largest trading partner, Europe, rose 9.8%, down sharply from a 22.3% rise in Aug. Stocks in Shanghai did rise though after initiatives announced to help small and medium sized businesses that are losing access to credit. The Hang Seng rose too and is up 15% in 6 trading days. For the 2nd day in 3, the yuan fell sharply in the face of US Congressional desires to punish China’s currency policy, ignoring what our Federal Reserve has done to the US$ for many, many years. Australia reported Sept job gains twice expectations. AAII: Bulls 39.8 v 35.2 Bears 36.4 v 45.7

Dividend Investing Posted: 13 Oct 2011 05:30 AM PDT Seeking Alpha – Why Dividends Matter In A Changing Market Lately, it seems that dividend investing has become all the rage. Articles are being written at just about every financial site, talking about dividends. When you look at Money Watch, MSN Money, Kiplinger, Money Magazine, Forbes, Smart Money, and even here at SA, there is no shortage of dividend investing commentary…Mark Hulbert has written an article that I think you might find interesting. He says: Believe it or not, the stock and bond markets are behaving in a way that, with only one exception at the depths of the 2008-2009 credit crisis, they have not since 1958—53 years ago: The stock market's dividend yield is now above the interest rate on the 10-year Treasury note. With dividend yields outpacing the 10 year Treasuries, perhaps we are beginning to see a paradigm shift back to that pre-1958 market model. Investors can now find companies that have a history of paying dividends, companies that are increasing those dividends annually, and companies that have the earnings power to continue making those dividend payments. Dividend investing may very well become the norm moving forward. Comment In our current uncertain and volatile environment, investors are seeking safety.  So, it should come as no surprise that dividend stocks have gained in popularity especially since many blue-chip stocks pay higher dividend yields? However, any case for a new era of dividend investing may be a bit overstated.  Dividend stocks should simply be viewed as a slightly less risky form of stock investing.  As such, we should expect dividend-paying stocks to outperform during bear markets and underperform during bull markets. By comparing the S&P Dividends Aristocrats Total Return Index and the S&P Equal Weight Total Return Index, we can see this is indeed the case.  The S&P Dividends Aristocrats Index measures the performance of stocks in the S&P 500 that have consistently increased dividends for at least 25 consecutive years.  The index is equally weighted, so we compare its total return to that of the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index. During the bear market from October 11, 2007 to March 6, 2009, dividend-paying stocks outperformed the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index by 11.6%.  On an annualized basis, dividend stocks returned -35.74% versus -46.10% for the S&P Equal Weight Index. . . During the bull market from March 6, 2009 to May 2, 2011, dividend-paying stocks underperformed the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index by 42.4%.  On an annualized basis, dividend stocks returned 44.38% versus 56.64% for the S&P Equal Weight Index. . . Finally, during the bear market from May 2, 2011 through last Thursday's close, dividend-paying stocks outperformed the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index by 8.19%.  On an annualized basis, dividend stocks returned -18.34% versus -34.30% for the S&P Equal Weight Index. . To be sure that these past few bull/bear markets were the rule and not the exception, we also compared total returns of these two indices on all days when the S&P Total Return Index was up versus all days when the S&P Total Return Index was down. With data going back to the beginning of 1990, dividend-paying stocks returned an average of 66 basis points per day on days the stock market was up.  The S&P Equal Weight Index returned an average of 77 basis points per day on those same days.  On days the stock market was down, dividend-paying stocks returned an average of -67 basis points per day.  The S&P Equal Weight Index returned an average of -80 basis points per day. Rather than being concerned with reaching for yield, the charts and data above suggest dividend stocks outperform during bear markets and underperform during bull markets.  However, if investors are savvy enough to know which way the market was heading in general, why even bother distinguishing between dividend-paying stocks and non-dividend-paying stocks? Source: Bianco Research, LLC. October 10, 2011

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