Welcome to the Human Resources and Management Blog

As one of Halogen Software’s leading business partners, Dresser & Associates is proud to announce that Halogen Software has been ranked as one of the market leaders for performance management systems.

Halogen made the announcement October 16^th, as it was placed as the market leader in the new The Essential Guide to Performance Management Systems study. The study, conducted by Bersin & Associates, crowned Halogen #1 due to its vertical offering, outstanding customer service and its highly configurable capabilities. These are just a few of the reasons why Dresser & Associates provides Halogen’s software programs to our clients.

“Halogen is a market leader and appears on most of the short lists included this report,” said Leighanne Levensaler, director of talent management research for Bersin & Associates. “Halogen demonstrates a flexible, customer-driven approach to talent management with outstanding customer service and support and a unique understanding of mid-market enterprise needs. The company augments these strengths with strong vertical expertise in industry segments such as healthcare, finance and professional services.”

In our recent newsletter there was a spotlight on online recruiting that I found to be very interesting. Many people know that one of the best ways to attract candidates for an open position is via the web. But, many companies believe that it is through advertising these positions via major job boards such as monster.com, CareerBuilder or Yahoo Hotjobs, which a recent study says isn’t always the case.

A study that was completed in 2005 by CareerXroads and the Wall Street Journal Web site CareerJournal, stated 85 percent of people that visit a web site for reasons other than a job search, end up looking at what jobs are available if posted on their site. The more interesting fact is that 64 percent of these people that are randomly searching applied for jobs discovered that way. This should loudly convey the message to every employer and company that a career page is extremely valuable to your website and a must.

So, what are the top techniques and best practices you should apply when designing your company’s career site? Read all about them in our latest newsletter.

Sage Abra HRMS Version 8.4, and Sage Abra Suite Version 7.7 are scheduled for release this summer. Both include enhancements, primarily to the Payroll, HR, Attendance, Link, and Workforce Connections modules.

The release incorporates 47 specific enhancements. Check out some of the highlighted enhancements in
our most recent newsletter. Also, sign up for a webcast on the updated versions by visiting our Free Webcasts page.

Make sure and check out the newest addition to our website, the Knowledge Center! After months and months of hard work and collaboration with our web designers our newest resource section has gone live.

In the Knowledge Center you will find anything and everything having to do with HR, Payroll, Recruiting, Taxes, State and Federal information, reports, forms, calculators, performance management, and much more. We have created this site as a tool for our customers and all HR and Payroll professionals, to use as their one stop shop for information. Make sure you bookmark the spot as one of your favorites so you may always check back for needed information.

The site is designed for ease of use and so you can quickly find the information you are looking for. We will constantly be adding new information and resources to this site, and encourage you to provide us feedback and recommend any resources that we may have missed.

Keep an eye out for any articles, websites, or calculators that you would like to see added and if we add them we will reward you with a $5 gift card to Dunkin Donuts as a thanks.

Last week you may have seen our press release regarding Dresser and Medcom’s new formed business relationship. Medcom is a benefit administration solutions provider. We feel that this partnership will benefit not only our current clients but future clients as well. While we are strong in HRMS, Payroll technology and product, Medcom brings the experience in benefits administration that allows us to be a total solution provider for our customers. Read the full press release.

All customers expect certain things when they call, or when they come to your business. These expectations are the basis of all good support or customer service by making the customer experience pleasant and hassle free. This is often the difference you have over your competitors.

The first thing customers want is the service you are providing to be timely. I purposely did not use the words fast or quick. Customers want the service to be provided in a quick fashion, but not at the expense of quality. Quality should never be measured by time. Quality should be measured in call resolution. Support and customer service reps should never feel they are on a stop watch. If the rep feels they have to shorten their call even when they may not have provided a resolution to the customer’s issue, this results in higher call volumes because customers have to call back to get a satisfactory resolution to their issue.

Now that is not to say that call duration should not be monitored. And when you see a pattern of long calls forming, you should coach the rep in ending calls instead of dragging them out. There are techniques to getting a satisfactory solution formulated in a timely manner. Coaching the reps in controlling the call is one of the most important skills you can teach.

The second thing customers expect is the easy access to the support or customer service reps. If they are put on hold, they do not want to listen to endless commercials for the product or service that is not working for them. They would love to have all the benefits promised in the on-hold commercials. This type of service only makes the customer more upset. The best on-hold experience is easy listening instrumental music.

Remember my purpose in writing this article is to define what customers expect when they call for support, or customer service. The above does not hold true with prospective customers, sales call or marketing. On-hold commercials are welcomed in this instance and actually provide needed information the customer may not otherwise know. For example, a customer wants a product or service. While they or on-hold they find out you also provide a related product they did not know about.

Customers expect an experience that is personal, as if they where your only customer. They want to speak to someone that is polite, calm and knowledgeable. They want to be treated with respect. If they had the knowledge in the first place they would not be calling you. The same holds true for the customer. They should not expect you to be able to answer every question every time. If you do not know the answer, tell them you will need to do some research, give them a time that you will return the call, and keep that promise, even if you do not have the answer yet. This shows the customer that they can count on you to keep your word.

Positive customer experience is the driving force behind all your future business. Meeting the customer’s expectations for a pleasant, timely, calm and knowledge-filled meeting, while on the phone or in person, will help to generate future sales and have a well satisfied customer base.

We announced our New England Abra Users Conference this week. This year’s conference will be on August 6th at the Atkinson Resort & Country Club in Atkinson, NH. This will be our biggest Users Conference Yet! We have two speakers this year, plenty of learning sessions, vendors and mini-sessions and the venue is amazing. We will be holding a golf scramble the day before that is open to all attendees. This will be a best ball format and we encourage you to join us and spend some time with Sage Executives, Dresser personnel and other Sage Abra Users. Check out the press release to learn more information about the day.

The HR Carnival #32 is up at the rainmaker group, go visit and see 27 of the greatest HR related blog posts you’ll find anywhere online.

Employee behavior is quite often a reflection of the guidance they receive from their superiors. So if managers are unmotivated, employees will be unmotivated. Thus, it’s very important to recognize that managers must establish a Motivational atmosphere by setting a positive example through the utilization of good leadership practices and attitude. Why is it so hard to motivate employees?

You Cannot Motivate People
People motivate themselves. Motivation has to come from within. The something that motivates employees and people in general is very different from one person to the other. There is no outside force that can motivate someone. The motivation that is sustainable is an internal motivation.

Money is Not a Good Motivator!
Money as great as it may be, is an external motivator. In fact, research demonstrates that after a pay raise, employees’ performance only improves for two weeks before returning to baseline. Any external motivator is usually fleeting.

What Motivates One Employee Does Not Motivate Another.
One of the key goals as an employer is learning exactly what makes your employees tick. It is absolutely different for everyone. Is it time with family, recognition, a job well done, service, learning etc. It could be a combination of things. But, the truth is just because something motivates you does not mean it will motivate someone else.

So, if you can’t motivate an employee, How do you provide a motivational atmosphere?

1. Motivating Employees Starts With Motivating Yourself.
You need to lead by example. Employees watch what you do and inevitably you will create a bunch of “mini-mes”. It’s amazing how, if you hate your job, it seems like everyone else does, too. Attitudes are contagious, you have to make sure yours is worth catching. Also, if you are enthusiastic about your job, it’s easier for others to be as well. Taking care of yourself first and making sure your duties are taken care of, will free you to see more clearly how others are doing in theirs, and allow you to help.

2. Align Goals of the Organization with Goals of the Employees.
Know what you want from your employee and make it very clear to them as well. Work with the employee set attainable goals that will benefit the company and motivate the employee. These goals should be measurable and when attained should be recognized and rewarded with something that will motivate the employee.

3. Understand What Motivates Each Individual Employee.
Your first step in providing a motivational atmosphere should be learning what motivates your employees. There are various ways to do this, but the most straight forward way is simply asking them. Have your employees jot down a few things on a piece of paper that motivate them and try to incorporate this into their job role. If your employee is motivated by time with family, reward them with time off. If your employee is motivated by travel create a contest to win a trip. Others may be motivated by learning, make sure you are getting those employees the training and challenges that they need. Knowing what motivates your employees allows you to redesign their roles slightly to make them more fulfilling.

4. Recognize that Supporting Employee Motivation is a Process.
No organization has the ability to change overnight. Creating a motivational atmosphere is a process. Once you have recognized what motivates your employees, you have what you need to start building a plan to incorporate it into their job. Finding what works for your company and what doesn’t will take time.

5. Support employee motivation by making it measurable.
Establish compensation systems, employee performance systems, organizational policies and procedures, etc., to support employee motivation. Once you have found the motivational systems that work for your organization establish goals. Make the goals specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic, timely, extending of capabilities and rewarding to those involved. Employees feel strong fulfillment when they know they have reached a goal and that they are making a difference within the organization.

When a company has motivated employees with clearly outlined goals, that feel as though they are contributing to the organization, and are gaining satisfaction from their position rather than just a paycheck, you will have an organization that attracts and keeps the best!

Come one, come all! It’s the Carnival of HR, Edition #31, boasting 24 entries that reflect a wide range of HR topics and bloggers. What a great opportunity to boost your knowledge on a variety of human capital topics!

Special thanks to Ann Bares at Compensation Force for hosting this edition.

Check out Dresser’s contribution! It’s last but not least.

Go Visit NOW!