It's Almost Time for the AAAED National Conference

What's in Store at the 41st AAAED National Conference?

Aside from being in beautiful New Orleans, Louisiana, AAAED will provide in-depth opportunities for HR professionals to provide equal opportunities for all employees. Topics such as OFCCP compliance, diversity hiring, and employee inclusion are just a few items on the conference agenda. More specifically, AAAED plans to credit and appreciate Executive Order 11246, the 50th anniversary of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and how these landmarks affect us today. This is surely a conference you won't want to miss.

Come See SourceCast in New Orleans

SourceCast is excited to be exhibiting at the 41st AAAED conference! If you're coming to the conference, stop by booth #8.At the booth, SourceCast will have a number of giveaways going on with chances to win the grand prize on Thursday, June 4. A member of the SourceCast team would love to meet you and fill you in on exciting SourceCast news, enter you to win in our giveaway drawing, or to just say hi and meet you. We look forward to another great turnout at AAAED, and we can't wait to see everyone there!

Thank You, DEAM15!

Another year, another great DEAM!

Once again, DirectEmployers put on another amazing conference filled with informative sessions, motivating speakers, and many good, lasting connections made. They sure know how to put on a good conference! This year, the topics revolved a good deal around recruitment and compliance and how the two can and should be interrelated. During the sessions, we observed great focus, connection, and understanding between the speakers and attendees. You can’t ask for anything better than to see people having their “aha” moment during these presentations and networking events, involving key topics affecting HR today.

Last chance to say hello to the Olaf guys

If you haven’t had a chance to stop by and see our NEW Olaf USB drives, please come by, say hello, and snag the last remaining Olaf flash drives.  We couldn’t be happier to be at DEAM15 and help underwrite this amazing event. As always, Indianapolis and DirectEmployers treated us very well. So, thank you DEAM15 attendees and DirectEmployers for the fun AND productive sessions and networking events.

Minion Madness Visits the SHRM Employment Law & Legislative Conference

SHRM Employment Law & Legislative Proud Sponsor

What better way to start off the week then helping sponsor the incredible 2015 SHRM Employment Law and Legislative Conference. We’re honored to support SHRM, an organization that greatly believes in the power of knowledge and the power of disseminating that knowledge to as many people as possible. We look forward to becoming even more equipped with information affecting our nation’s capitol and the impact that has on our HR community.

Headlines Heard 'Round SHRM

Currently posted between different session ballrooms, we relentlessly hear laughter, inquisitive minds asking questions, and spiked intrigue from the attendees within those rooms. From healthcare to disability employment, HR is here together in Washington, D.C., to uncover answers to questions that we’re all quietly contemplating. As we hear the headlines that have closely affected D.C., we continue to realize the importance that these decisions have on our daily HR routines. With ever-changing regulations, the power of knowledge becomes crystal-clear. Thanks to SHRM Employment Law & Legislative Conference for answering the questions, instilling awareness, and bringing the HR community together for an incredible networking event.

Give Thanks; Give Back - 5 Veteran Hiring Companies

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During the holidays, our emotional, appreciative side tends to make its grand entrance. We become nostalgic, say "thank you" like it's a seasonal fad, and we eat, boy do we eat. However, this season, a new tradition has started that isn't merely trending or posing to be seasonal. This holiday season, we've seen a huge investment in veteran hiring. Many companies are coming out of the woodwork with plans and programs designated to hire and thank our veterans. In honor of these companies giving back to our courageous veterans, SourceCast would like to give an honorable salute to these inspiring companies.

According to Fortune Magazine, here are the top 5 Fortune 500 companies making a difference with veteran hiring:

1. JP Morgan Chase: Back in 2011, JP Morgan and a number of other companies initiated the 100,000 Jobs Mission. Already, 117,000 vets have been hired through the program. Now, JP Morgan is increasing the goal to 200,000 veterans. We salute you, JP Morgan!
2. Disney: In March of 2012, Disney started their program, "Heroes Work Here." The goal was to hire 1,000 veterans by 2015. That goal was met in the program's first year. Now, their goal is 2,000 vets by 2015. We salute you, Disney!
3. Starbucks: With a CEO dedicated to the veteran cause, Starbucks has made a commitment to hire at least 10,000 veterans and current military spouses by 2018. Talk about one hot cup of dedication. Starbucks, we salute you!
4. Capital One Financial: Capital One launched its program “Hiring 500,000 Heroes” and donated $4.5 million to fund the initiative. The program is dedicated to matching qualified veterans and military spouses with local small business opportunities. We salute you, Capital One!
5. Booz Allen Hamilton: Booz Allen has long celebrated veterans. Currently, an estimated 1/3 of the Booz Allen workforce consists of veterans. Booz Allen provides a multitude of veteran accommodations such as: the ability to work remotely, leave and return strategies for reserve soldiers, support groups for spouses, and disability accommodations. Booz Allen, we salute you!

Whether you're a large or small company, have billions in revenue or nothing at your disposal, let's all find our holiday spirit and help those who have unselfishly helped us in ways we cannot imagine. Veteran hiring is so crucial, and not because it's right or we have regulations to uphold, but this talent pool is more apt to the job than many even realize. This holiday season let's all give thanks; and give back.

Source: Fortune

It's Performance Review Time!

It's that dreaded time again, and no we're not talking about taxes or anything, we're talking about employee performance reviews! Right about now, we start to see employees fidget, maybe up the productivity ante, or simply drag their feet on hitting that performance “submit” button. Generally, there's a negative aura encapsulating the tried and true performance reviews, but why? There seems to be a lack of transference as to why we do performance reviews and the good that can only come through these exercises.

Performance Review Is Communication

For example, an unbiased and effective performance review should open conversation and communication flow between you and your employees. During the quarter, things can get hectic, time is limited, and communication can be disjointed. Performance reviews are designed to tear down those barriers, allowing honest opinions, suggestions, and comments to increase employee engagement. We all want to feel like our time is valued or that our needs our met on both ends of the table, whether you're an employer or employee. This review gives both sides a chance to openly discuss how to improve this mutual gratification in the workplace.

Performance Review Stirs Competitive Nature

Deep down, we all (maybe secretly or further down than others) crave some competition. We want to feel valuable or successful in whatever we do. In the workplace, the same stands true. Constructive criticism and praise is key to keeping that positive, competitive flame burning. We all strive to better ourselves, but how can we do that without feedback and potential criticism? Performance reviews are the perfect way to ignite your employees' natural competitive nature. Not only are you helping to align your employees' performance with your vision, but you're creating this drive to surpass prior performance.

Encourage your managers and employees to see performance reviews as a mutually beneficial process. Employees get a chance to air out frustrations or to ring praise towards the organization, and employers and managers can better align performance and goals, while strengthening the relational infrastructure. It's not meant to put anyone in the “hot seat” or create tension, but performance reviews should motivate and encourage employees while unifying the goals and initiative between managers and their employees. Perhaps they should rename performance reviews to pep talks, but then the stress relief market would probably sue us for their lack of sales. Oh well, until next time, HR community!

Arizona ILG Has Been a Blast

For those of you who didn't know, SourceCast has had the incredible opportunity to help sponsor the current Arizona ILG conference.

Arizona ILG Proud Sponsor

We have to tell you, it's been an honor to be able to sponsor a conference such as this. It's incredible to be able to participate in what this organization is trying to do, as well as take part in the greater role of promoting affirmative action and good hiring practices.

Arizona ILG Proud Presenter

Our very own Lilly gave a presentation earlier today on compliance best practices which was also a huge honor for us. Sure, we sell compliance solutions, but it was a truly unique experience to be able to publicly do what we do best: advise companies on not only how to comply, but how to make their compliance efforts work for them in recruitment and hiring. So, for all who were there, we hope you enjoyed the presentation!

Now to everyone, whether you're in Arizona at the Arizona ILG conference or not, we hope you have a terrific weekend! Until next week!

Veterans Day: There's More Work to Be Done

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We got a little excited when we learned, leading up to this past Veterans Day, the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that the past year had seen a decline in the unemployment rate of veterans from 7 to 6.5%. Unfortunately, this is still noticeably higher than the national unemployment rate of 5.8%. Therefore, as the holiday season is just on the horizon, sparking in us a generosity to towards humanity, may we not ignore a deep gratitude toward our veterans. What do we mean? Allow the meaning of this past Veterans Day to resonate with you as you're heavily focused on end of the year recruitment. Veterans are the perfect hires for so many more reasons than you may realize.

We've been in the business of distributing jobs for veterans for quite some time now. So, we tend to hear through the grapevine about the success our customers have had. Constantly, we hear how their new veteran recruits:

• Take initiative: Under high pressure constantly, vets understand the need to start and complete tasks with the least amount of collateral interference.
• Are excellent contributors: Vets are keenly aware of the concept of teamwork and how important that is to complete tasks at hand.
• Maintain excellent attendance: Veterans are trained to perform in any condition and circumstance, and excuses for absence or poor performance are unusual for this group.
• Are technologically savvy: Vets are trusted with some of the most cutting edge technology in the world, with many fields interrelated, training is easier with this group.
• Learn and adapt quickly: In combat situations, there's no time to waste. Veterans are quick learners, light on their feet, and quite flexible to adjust to their environments.

This feedback provides a glimpse into workforces that hire veterans. Our veterans have been unwaveringly deployed into battle for us, so let’s have some faith and show our gratitude by continuing to lower the veteran unemployment rate, and allowing our vets to show us even more of what they're made of in our workplaces.

Source: TLNT

Hiring for Fit and Your Company Culture

As we mentioned last week, there's a lot of talk on the "right" way to recruit. As we also said, there's always going to be a debate, because nobody is the same and we all have opinions based on subjectivity. This next controversial hiring tip follows the same beat. What if we hired based on pure skill level and leadership potential? That is to say, what if we threw "hiring for the right fit," right out the window? Now that's an interesting concept.

Hiring for Fit: Wrong Approach?

Laurie Ruettimann has been known for her controversial standings on HR issues. Her latest opinion criticizes hiring for fit. Personally, we here at SourceCast find this quite intriguing. For an organization to continue functioning, can we completely throw out the notion of finding an employee that can fit into a well-greased machine of a company? The concept seems somewhat flawed, doesn't it?

If We're Not Hiring for Fit...

Suffice it to say, we're not sure what we believe. On one hand, no leader was ever born as a mere follower, someone acknowledging and accepting ideas and truths without question. There's something to be said with employing the "thinkers," those who are always thinking about new ideas, ways to critique and strengthen current practices, and those who seem to just shake things up. However, hiring an entire workforce with their own unique mentalities could cause friction, allowing nothing to get done without painful amounts of idea gridlocks. In our minds, there has to be a single direction, a line of focus to a goal. That means hiring people who mesh into the organization's culture (i.e., the CEO's vision) but also hiring those that have their own vision, who can enhance the company's goals or vision and take leadership to get you there.

Instead of hiring for fit, HR, as Ms. Ruettimann says, "[has] an obligation to advocate on behalf of the cranky, grouchy, unlikeable employees who question everything and don't go along with the flow." HR also has the obligation to advocate on behalf of those passionate, obedient, and loveable employees who also act like worker bees, coercing together beautifully to accomplish goals. Our workforces need both these types of employees. This calls for a shout out to the surge of non-discrimination laws: we don't discriminate in hiring practices or towards those who do or don't follow a company's "culture or fit."

Source: TLNT