San Diego Jobing Community Blogs

Certainly, your organization has changed along with these economic times.

To stay current with this ever-changing world, you must ask questions such as:

How do you approach restructuring strategically so that your current workforce remains positive and productive and focuses on the future?

How do you promote trust with your customers?

How do you build a genuine and open environment in a climate of trust?

SDSU’s College of Extended Studies will help answer these questions – and others – during a "How to Rebuild Trust after Downsizing" training & development exchange Friday, December 11, 8:30-10:30 am , in the SDSU Extended Studies Center .

This workshop will help you create a strategy for (re-)building trust in your organization, as well as help you define important questions you must ask and steps you must take to ensure that employees and customers can have confidence in the organization and where it is headed.

 Key takeaways will include learning how trust is a strategic issue in an organization by:

Analyzing behaviors that impact the workplace and cause lack of trust

Learning how to establish a common language to address issues precipitated by downsizing

Identifying personal strategies and methods to increase trust in your organization

Evaluating how trust impacts customer reactions and ultimately results

Presenters include:

Cynthia Olmstead, the CEO of TrustWorks Group, Inc., who has more than 30 years of organizational development and training experience. She helped develop TrustWorks to assist leaders and teams by teaching them proactive ways to manage conflict, improve communications skills – and ultimately build a culture of trust.

Rose Avila, Ph.D., RMA Consulting, who has more than 20 years of experience and success in helping people become top performers and achieve quality results. Her clients work in all sizes of businesses in a cross section of industries, from start-ups to billion dollar corporations, as well as public and private companies and non-profits and municipalities.

For more information, call (619) 594-1138, email traindeve-CES@sdsu.edu or visit www.neverstoplearning.net/TD

It’s a great way to spend Friday morning!

For the past couple of months, I have been getting more and more inquires in how to get started in re-careering and re-educating. 

The re-educating question means going back to school.  So as I researched this question, the answer was basically that a lot of people didn’t even know -- that there were colleges located right in their own back yard.

In order to help my clients as well as possibly help you, I compiled a list of websites for our local colleges.  Please review these links and then review the questions at the end of this blog.

Hopefully you can use them to get started back in school.

CSU San Marcos = http://www.csusm.edu/

Cuyamaca College = http://www.cuyamaca.edu/

Grossmont College = http://www.grossmont.edu/

MiraCosta College = http://www.miracosta.edu/

Miramar College = http://www.sdmiramar.edu/

Palomar College http://www.palomar.edu/

San Diego City College = http://www.sdcity.edu/

San Diego Mesa College = http://www.sdmesa.sdccd.cc.ca.us/

Southwestern College = http://www.swccd.edu/

San Diego State = http://www.sdsu.edu/

University of San Diego (USD) =  http://www.sandiego.edu/

UC San Diego (UCSD) = http://www.ucsd.edu/

NOTE:  National University, Phoenix University, Alliant, and other Private College are on line as well.

Do you need or want to go back to school?  If your answer is yes to one of the following questions, then it’s time to get signed up.

I NEED COLLEGE FOR;

Re-Career

Re-Train

Finish my A/A Degree

Finish my B/A (or ) B/S Degree

Become better on the Computer

Take a fun class like Art, or Swimming

Get my Motorcycle License

Become a Notary

Become a School Teacher

Get my Masters Degree

If I can help you get started, please let me know!!! 

Coach Eddie 

Visit www.twellow.com and register (if you are new to Twellow) by clicking on the Register for Free link (in the upper right of your screen) and inputting your Twitter screen name, password, and email address. Otherwise, just log in.

In the search field (at the top center of the screen) type the name of a targeted company. Let’s assume that Southwest Airlines is one of my 20 targeted companies. Likewise, I typed Southwest Airlines in the search field.

Next view the results. In my case, there were 44 matches including the official Twitter account for Southwest Airlines, profiles of employees including corporate recruiters, profile of the former CEO, and so on.

Click on the profiles of interest and click the follow button to add these individuals and/or companies to your group of followers on Twitter.

In my case, I clicked on the official Twitter profile of Southwest Airlines and on the Click here to visit this user’s Twitter page link under the profile.

Next I viewed some of the company’s tweets and viewed the Twitter list (located under the Lists area of the company’s profile) created for the company’s employees.

Most importantly, when you conduct a basic search for other companies like Pepsi, there will be thousands of matches or Twitter profiles for both employees and non-employees. Viewing all of these matches to locate company insiders is not efficient.

Likewise, you need to conduct an advanced search on Twellow. To accomplish this: go back to www.twellow.com, click the Search tab in the top center of the page, and view the search tips.

Now let’s assume I wanted to locate Pepsi employees who work in marketing. Likewise, I typed @(bio,extended_bio), Pepsi, marketing in the search field. Afterwards, I located the profiles for a marketing manager, international marketing director, and VP of marketing at Pepsi. These are three individuals I can follow and contact to ultimately generate referrals to other individuals of interest including hiring managers.

Next, I wanted to locate all the marketing and product managers on Twitter located in Dallas Texas. Likewise, I typed (”Dallas”) “marketing manager” | “product manager” in the search field. I retrieved one match.

In conclusion you now know how to locate advertised jobs, targeted companies, and individuals of interest on Twitter. Next week, I will discuss how to use both LinkedIn and Twitter to be introduced to hiring managers for both advertised and potential hidden opportunities.

I admit, I have a personal bias against Wal-Mart, and won’t shop there.  Why?  Because of their employment practices. 

By RODRIQUE NGOWI, Associated Press Writer Rodrique Ngowi, Associated Press Writer – Wed Dec 2, 8:22 pm ET

BOSTON – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to pay $40 million to 87,500 Massachusetts employees who claimed the retailer denied them rest and meals breaks, manipulated time cards and refused to pay overtime, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

The settlement — believed to be one of the largest of its kind in the state — seeks to resolve a class-action lawsuit filed in 2001. It comes less than three months after the world's largest retailer reached a deal with state prosecutors to pay $3 million to settle complaints that it didn't give its Massachusetts workers proper meal breaks.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091203/ap_on_bi_ge/us_wal_mart_wage_settlement

Wal-Mart continues to defy good employment practices and apparently doesn’t care about the money it has to spend to resolve these issues.  Is this the kind of company you want to promote?  Are the savings worth the cost?

I believe in being flexible when times call for it, it is obvious that Wal-Mart has a consistent practice in place and feels it is entitled to disregard employment law as long as the profits are rolling in.

As times get tougher, employment best practices often take a back seat to expediency and employees are less likely to speak up or take any legal action.  This goes back to the “be lucky you have a job” management philosophy.  And if an employee doesn’t like the practice, he/she risks a job; possible denial of Unemployment if fired for cause or the first to be on the lay-off list.

If other companies start following Wal-Mart’s lead in fear-based employment practices, as employees we have lost a great deal of power; earning power, and personal power over our working life.  De-motivated employees do not seek additional responsibilities, or challenge themselves to do the best job possible.  They wait for the first opportunity to leave.

So, this holiday season, think of where you shop and what the company stands for.  We can regain some self-respect by following our own value systems and promoting companies that treat their employees as assets to the company. 

Happy Holidays!