February Stories

I was going to be poetic and affectionate with my February story this month.  However, two things happen on the way: 1) I had no time with work and networking, and 2) I’m a realist, not a poet and I’m not that graceful.  So, I called an old friend to do these stories.  The stories (or haikus in this case) are from Shad Ewart.  These three haikus are about the month of February.  Please enjoy:

For the people who believe in love:

A stolen glance, then

Fumbled conversations, then

The heart skips a beat…

 

For the weather geeks:

Brutal whipping winds

Don’t mess with Mother Nature.

March could be much worse.

 

For Puxatony Phil:

Poor past predictions

And the market keeps falling…

Phil needs a bailout.

 

Shad Ewart (or Shad in DC) is a professor at Anne Arundel Community College and the haikuist for the Tony Kornheiser Show (if it comes back).

 

Quick Update

*If you’re on Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media site, you will notice that my profile picture turn to pitch black in a couple of sites.  If you’re wondering, this is copying from Stephen Fry ( @stevenfry), who blackout his profile for several weeks to protest New Zealand’s internet copyright laws.  It won’t have the same effect, but I want to blackout because it’s Lent Season and I don’t feel a picture of me would be appropriate during this season.  If you want to know what I look like before today, go into my Facebook page and take a look at my previous profile pictures.  I will keep my profile picture on Linkedin and the other business social networking sites because I need to have a picture for business people to see, but I’m warning some that the picture is outdated.  The whole blackout will end after Lent Season, then I’ll post the result on Saturday after Good Friday.

Just to warn people that I’m going to network and do business deals in the next several weeks…I won’t bite, I’m not going to scare you, and I’m not going to be like Joaquin Phoenix.  Just think of me as a Teddy Bear with glasses, but with a serious demeanor of getting business done (if that helps) . 

*Following up on the Selectology post, I mention my friend, Chris Dobbertean has his bracketology website, Bracketdobber.com.  Well, the site will close in a couple weeks because Dobber will be handling bracketology for SBNation.com.  Go to Dobber’s Twitter and website for more details, and I want to congratulate Dobber of stepping up from amateur to a professional bracketologist.  You earned it.

*Just recently added: My brother Thanh (TK for the American folks) just got engaged.  Now, I have to get a tux within a year.  NERTZ (w/love).

If I Was Running A Company…Selectology

If you’re wondering about the title, selectology it is a total knockoff of the word bracketology, which is a study of the NCAA Tournament brackets and which go in the tournament and which teams were snubbed.  There are only two people I know who have mastered bracketology: Joe Lunardi from ESPN and Chris Dobbertean of Bracketdobber.net (he’s also on Twitter @bracketdobber).  This post is in honor of bracketologists everywhere and how would it apply to business (plus to help my friend Dobber get more publicity).

If you don’t understand how the NCAA Basketball Selection Committee selects the teams, seeds them, and where they play, here’s a quick summary.  The selection committee consists of 10 people from different regions who are athletic directors and conference commissioners.  There are 5 who are from the BCS schools (the top 6 conferences) and 5 from small to mid-major schools.  The NCAA has 31 automatic bids for each conference tournament winner and 34 at-large openings for the best 34 teams available that did not win their conference tournament. 

To select the 34 at-large teams, the selection committee watches every game of significance.  The whole process is half visual and half statistics.  In the visual aspect, the committee can take a look if a team is hot down the stretch before the big dance starts, lukewarm, or limping.  In looking at statistics, the committee has a list of criteria of getting down to 34:

• Polls
• Win-loss record
• Road record
• Neutral Court record
• Ratings Percentage Index (RPI)
• Injury report
• Strength of schedule
• Key wins
• Key losses

The selection committee looks at everything and can’t never miss a game.  Then the committee does a ballot of each team.  The team must receive 8 of 10 votes to move on.  If the committee member is associated with the team coming up, the person must step outside and the team must have 7 of  9 votes with the remaining committe members.  The committee will do this for a month until Selection Sunday when they have the final 65 teams.

Seeding is a little tricky as each bracket is divided by region.  You could easily rank them from 1-65, but the NCAA has restrictions of repeat conference matchups and travel.  For more information on how the whole process works, read this article by Pat Forde from ESPN two years ago.

So what should businesses learn about the selection committee?  One, the selection committee is the fairest method of all the methods for the NCAA (I’m looking at you BCS).  The only difference is businesses have to select one person, not 34.  There will be some obvious selections depending on research and interviewing.  However, what if there’s two choices you could not decide?  If you have co-workers in your department, give them a blind resume of the two candidates and let them decide who they want.  They can help you out why they like this person and what type of co-workers they want.  Another example is the company Board of Directors selecting their President and Vice President by vote, and shocker, politics do play some role in the vote, similar to selecting the 34 teams (I call it the Billy Packer Factor). 

So when you think of recruiters and hiring managers for your company, think of them as the selection committee for the NCAA.  They do the research and do the interviews and they can only select one (or two if you’re lucky) person for the position(s) available out of hundreds of applications.  It’s tedious, not pretty, and people will get snubbed and be angry at the company, but there’s a difference between business and sport: in business, there’s always next week.

If I Was Running A Company…Salary

Salary is a very delicate issue during these times because some want to keep their salary, some cheat to get their wage, some want to take a pay cut, and some want an another option.  In any case, it depends on the situation;  if you like the company and the people, ask your boss to take a pay cut to help out.  If you want to keep your salary, you hope the axe does not swing your direction.  Just remember: business is always fickle. 

This leads to the main part of the conversation, which are the new employees going into a job.  It all starts out for people applying to an open job.  Next in the process is the prescreen and if you’re lucky, an interview with the employer.  In the interview and/or prescreening, someone will ask for salary requirements.  I understand why employers want to ask that question because they want to see the applicant’s asking price is in the range of the employer’s target.  I hate asking the salary question for two reasons.  One is the interview should be about skills of the person and they understand the job responsibilities.  The other reason is the person should have done the research of the position and knew what they are getting into.  If they do not know, then everyone is screwed and you’re wasting company time.

What salary should be in play for a new employee is if employer offers you the job.  This is where the fun begins.  The representative of the employer must negotiate and hammer out the details of the offer and both the potential employee and employer have a small window to negotiate and get a deal done as soon as possible.  If you cannot get a deal done, time to move on to the next person.  At times, both sides have to swallow their pride to get a deal done if either want to collaborate.

The reason I’m mention this because I had several people say the asking salary for companies is too low for DC standards and it won’t pay for their family.   For that point, don’t mention your family income situation or you’re having hard times;  everyone is suffering the same as you.  Describe yourself that you can do the job, if you can fit within the organization, and then we can talk money at the table, but never ever bring up your cost of living or family situation onto the negotiation table, unless you have to relocate.  Also, if you want a good analysis of what your job pays, look in Salary.com, Payscale.com, Indeed.com, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Check the size, city, state, industry, and others to get a close estimate of what the position pays.  This is what most HR professionals use to get their salary ranges for the position.

What I’m trying to say is in any other time, the job seeker has the advantage because of their talent and the employer’s resources are very deep.  During these rough economic times, it’s the employer who has the advantage because they have to select the right person for the job.  The employers know what they have to budget themselves for the year, so if the applicant can do the research of where they applied to and understand what industry and region they are applying, negotiations should not be a problem.   Of course, the main wildcard will always be the applicant, so be prepared what they’re asking and have your data with you.

Tracy’s Random Thoughts: February 2009 Edition

I’m back on writing mode for the Random Thoughts and also want to add that I have extended the blogroll.  If you have a website that you want me to add to the blogroll, you can submit it to my Twitter, Facebook, or my email  and I’ll check it out.  Now then:

1.  Barack Obama

Now that he’s been office for several weeks, let’s break this down in sub-topics:

The Stimulus Package

On the bipartisan issue, Obama made a serious effort of making a bipartisan bill.  In DC, that would be a bad strategic move since if your party has control of Congress and the White House, you do everything to pass an assortment of bills.  The Republicans never cooperated except for the Maine Senators and Arlen Spector.  I really think Obama wanted to show unity, but Rahm Emanuel told Obamato stop with the bipartisan and go out on tour of America and give details to the stimulus bill to the public.  This is where Obama picked up the pace and started to become more presidential.  As for the bill itself;  I wish the bill was more 80% spending on infrastructure and others and 20% on tax cuts.  Look at these charts:

The government needed to spend to help the economy, hence the word stimulus.  The stimulus would of help the government get more from infrastructure and food stamps than any other method, including tax cuts.  I do think Obama realizes the $787 Billion Stimulus is not what he’s looking for, but with a stagnant opposition party trying to “take a stand,” Obama did his best and also beat the deadline before the Presidents’ Day holiday.  This is an efficient President who looks like he’s getting the job done and also shows the GOP hoping for bad fate to hit in the next year.

The Bank Bailout

This is where Obama’s staff drop the ball.  The markets were expecting a definitive answer from the Secretary of Treasury, Tim Geithner.  Instead, Geithner just read it from the sheet and never gave details on how to use the second part of TARP.  The markets panic and now Geithner is back from square one.  TARP is a very complicated matter and it will take time and process, but I think the administration rushed Geithner very quickly on this.

Others

It does look like Obama is comfortable being the President and it is showing from all departments from the military to the cabinet.  Of course, there’s some differences, but Obamaat least is listening to the problems, not ignoring them.  The cabinet issues with their taxes and philosophy has been holding Obama back, but at least he admits that he made the mistakes, plus he still keeps the high standard to get these positions.  So far, I think our President is doing a decent job.

2. Michael Phelps, ctd.

Just to continue on the Michael Phelps story, now the South Carolina police arrested 8 people from the party Phelps attended and discovered the owner of the bong was trying to sell it for $100K.  Two things:  One, this proves Michael Phelps is not the sharpest knife on the drawer and now I question about the Rosetta Stone ad that if he knew that language.  Second, the people in the party are bigger idiots of selling the story to a British tabloid (TMZ’s offer was too cheap?) and try to make a profit out of a dumb star.   I’m glad all the people who participating it are getting their punishment, which includes Phelps.

3. A Salary Cap in Baseball

For people who are asking for a salary cap in baseball, it ain’t going to happen and it won’t work in baseball.  Baseball is good for records, while the NBA and NHL depend on stars, and the NFL is dependent on gambling.  Baseball needs the historic teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Cubs to compete to get more revenue for the league.  I would blame baseball became more reliant on records than teams because of the strike in 1994 and the steroids issue.  What do you remember in 1998?  Everyone remembers the home run chase, but no one remembers the Yankees won 114 games and dominated the playoffs and won a record 125 games (including playoffs).  However, from the ratings, the nation will only like to see Yankees, Red Sox, and Cubs. 

The smart teams like the Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays are relying more on scouts to find talent with a shoestring budget.  This is where most of the teams should go to build up the team and not complain about blowing another $10 million on a washed up player.  If you want to build a team from scratch, get scouts, evaluate, develop, keep the player for 4-5 years and see how your team reacts.  So, if you’re a major league team struggling (I’m talking to you Nationals), get some great scouts.  Hey, recruiters are like scouts.  Jim Bowden, if you finish praying your player’s butts, hire me as a scout. 

Just to add, do you want to deal with a big budget, like the Yankees, that have steroid users, media attention 24/7, and opening a new stadium with huge expectations?

4. Nonprofit Newspapers

There was a fascinating op-ed piece in the New York Times about how to save the newspaper and one of the options is turning newspapers into a nonprofit.  It mentions that the current business model for newspapers will not survive in the age of technology.  What the op-ed proposes is have a trust or a big endowment to the newspapers to relieve the financial pressures and focus on the news.  Steve Coll makes an argument for it, Karin Dryhurst is against it and asks the government to bailout the newspaper industry.  However, this article from the Christian Science Monitor sums up of the future of newspapers.

I think there are philanthropists and donors who are willing to save the big newspapers from either Bill Gates or Warren Buffet (who is a Director at the Washington Post).  Advertising will be at a minimum since it will cover overhead and releases the burden of companies paying tons of money.  Although salary might decrease since it’s a nonprofit, you will get a more dedicated staff who want to get the news and tell great stories.  The social media will be a benefit for them since they’re free to use any resource. 

The downside is the conflict of interest with the donors since they are donating to the company.  Another downside is covered by Felix Salmon where families who owns the big newspapers could have little to no value if transferred to a nonprofit and that newspapers will lose their influence in legislation.

By looking at the pros and cons, I think it’s time for newspapers head to the nonprofit route, where currently, newspapers are focusing too much of making dollars than investigating the news.  The internet has become a place of undiscovered talent and social networks made it tough for journalists to get the story as soon as possible.  In addition, there are tons of opinions in blogs, it dilutes most of the columnists.  NPR is successful because they don’t do the breaking news business;  they analyze and tell stories behind the current events, although they were hit by the recession recently.  Newspapers need to recapture quality news and not quantity of money.  The families should not consider a move yet because of the economy, but review the situation again in 6-12 months if newspapers needs saving.  I do agree a nonprofit newspaper is intriguing and if you’re lucky, you get an arena name after the paper (The St. Petersburg Times Forum where the Tampa Bay Lightning play).  I think we’re 2-3 years away for a national newspaper being a nonprofit.

5. The Octoplet Woman

Boring.  She only has 14 children and she’s cheating by using fertility drugs.  That is like taking steroids for mothers.  Wake me up when someone genuinely gives birth 69 times like the Russian peasant did in the 18th century, where she only had ham, bread, and wine.

That is all, now go on with your lives.  Of note, I have lost my jokes about having 5 people reading my blog.  Now I have between 30-40 readers a day.  Thanks a lot guys , thanks a ton.

25 Things

If you are new to my blog, here are 25 Things to know about me from the Facebook Notes.  If you see this on Facebook, this is a duplicate and this one goes out to a wider audience.  Here we go:

1. I’m started this list on Friday the 13th and originally posted on Valentine’s Day. This is intentional.

2. I had a drowning accident at summer camp after Kindergarten. I stayed at the hospital for 2 days because I wanted to go to the big kids pool with a child’s party. Most of it was sad and terrifying. I laughed a little when I still remember it because it was the first time I tried to be macho.

3. I have a birthmark under my left elbow.

4. McDreamy and I have something in common…we both live in a trailer.

5. The first concert I ever attended…Pat Benetar. I walked in to that…literally.

6. At around 12-13, somebody in our house accidently dialed the wrong number for a pay-per-view event and instead, the whole household got 5 minutes of porn. The scene was in a dungeon and a bunch of moaning. The cinematography was bad. I haven’t watch XXX porn since, but with television standards blurring and dance clubs, that’s going to be tough.

7. If you Google my name today, it would be a bunch of my profiles and my blog (and the guy from Dallas). If you Google my name 5-6 years ago…porn galore. One time in computer class, my teacher told us to type our name on Yahoo! The first 10 results were all porn and I told my teacher that I only typed my name. Hence, you get a lot of porn jokes on my status. Just to add, if you search my name, I wouldn’t go past 4 pages; that’s where the fun begins.

8. I get a lot of flack with my name: from teachers, friends, AARP, receptionists, Tony Kornheiser. The best story about my name was last week when I was doing my presentation on social media, two people came by: one man, one woman, with their own respective families. They got the email about the presentation, but their spouses saw the email as well. The wife of the man said in a demeaning tone, “Who’s Tracy Tran?!”, and the husband of the woman said in a demeaning tone “Who’s Tracy Tran?!” The job seekers had to tell them who I am. Their spouses were a bit unsettling, but trusted their loved ones. I wonder this is how Shirley Povich feels?

9. I won the school Geography Bee in the 5th grade and I thought I was going to compete in the county Georgraphy Bee. No one told me there was a written test before that. I failed the test, there for I didn’t advance to the next stage. I’ve always said that if I knew there was a test, I would past it and everything changes. Except being a recruiter, I would of been a traveler and world culture geek. We would never know.

10. I got my drivers license at 23. I hate driving and I’m a public commuter through and through. If it’s a long way and there are no bus rides, I’ll walk…really. I’ve done it with a business suit in the pouring rain before and I don’t mind it.

11. If you meet me in person for the first time, I’m a very shy person because I don’t know what to expect from you. Suddenly with social media, I’m becoming more open. Case in point: the DC Twestival I attended. It was really the first time I wasn’t shy because I knew some of the people from Twitter and the first time I could carry a conversation.

12. I do not take praise very well. I don’t mind you praising me, but I don’t want it because I don’t want to get a big ego. I do get complacent from time to time. So I motivate myself with hard rock and with me saying myself “I suck” and “I suck balls.” Reverse psychology in motion.

13. I’m a t-shirt and jeans/shorts person. I hate wearing a suit and tie unless it necessary like a business meeting or a wedding. Also, I prefer going to bars to watch sports and news than go to a nightclub. I’m down to earth guy, so to speak.

14. I’m very reflective. I do take a lot of photos and do a lot of thinking about many things through my iPod Touch and let my walk be the soundtrack of what I’m reflecting.

15. I’m an early-bird guy. I get that from my parents, where they arrive to the location 1 hour before the scheduled appointment/meeting. I wish I was an on-time guy most of the time. *sigh*

16. I prefer very cold temperatures and don’t mind wearing just a t-shirt and pants in the cold. I really can’t stand the heat (and humidity).

17. I mock myself a lot because it just reminds me that I’m human and I notice my flaws but at the same time, I love who I am and what I have.

18. I believe in God and fate (sorry if I offend any athiests). I believe God has a reason for us to be here and gives us signs on what to do next. God just doesn’t tell us, we have to find it.

19. I’m a pro-life liberal. For some, people are scratching their heads. It’s not that complicated, people. People have different points of view, and no, I’m not an advocate.

20. If all else fails in my recruiting business or I can’t get a job, I would love to start an online novelty store. It started in college where I won a free Washington Post Express yellow t-shirt. I wore it one day and a few people came up and liked it. The novelty stuff really kicked in when I watch an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants called “One Krab’s Trash“. What solidfy it was Dan Levy’s  Mr. Tony section of his online store and CNN starting to make t-shirts out of headlines. I need to pull the trigger on this.

21. I wanted to start a Twitter for Yogi and Puffy. I was denied. If you want to know why, don’t ask me, ask the people who are tagged who have the same last name as mine. Although, I want my ultimate pet to be a monkey and call it Buster.

22. Fantasy – I would like to have my wife to be a Washington DC Sports fanatic (I can live if she’s not a Wizards fan), realistic yet optimistic, wears glasses (thanks Tina Fey and Lisa Loeb), cultured on all aspects, reads current events, would challenge me to be better, Catholic, liberal, independent, and we both can raise a bunch of our healthy kids.

23. Reality – The fantasy person is very microscopic and I know it ain’t going to happen, but I do want someone who gets me and is trustworthy, loyal, and independent. Also, the chemistry has to be right. Although, there are two rules: she can’t be a Dallas Cowboys fan and she can’t be a neoconservative (Mom and Pops conservatives are acceptable). I want to have kids, but I don’t want my kids to be THAT messed up. It’s all in the genes and raising them.

24. I’m a recruiter so I’m in the lookout for people looking for a job. Remember, your profile is a blessing and a curse. I like to learn more about the applicant if they are detailed and have a blog. It could be a curse if I see a lot of booty call pics and a lame attempt at humor. So, think of me as a double agent.

25. I’m a very inclusive person, hence the diverse people I tagged.  Again, this is intentional. I want my HR Blogger friends to know my family; I want my family to know the Mr. Tony littles; I want the littles to know my former co-workers; I want the co-workers to know my long-time friends, I want my firends to know about my celebrity friends.  And when I get married, whenever that maybe, you’ll already know each other and the only shock in you eyes is if trip myself up. Don’t you love social networking?!

Twitter Love

Normally, I would do a shout out of all my Twitter followers on Friday for #followfriday.  However, two things: 1) I would of send a lot of tweets on to who follow on Friday and decided that a nice post will do the trick and 2) yesterday was Friday the 13th, so I use that for everyone to follow my friend @TheBopper since he bashed Twitter of being anti-social, but yet he’s on it. 

Anyway, I’m going to use Valentine’s Day to say thank you to the people who I saw at the DC Twestival (plus that I’m single and have no one to hold to *sigh*).  The Twestival was a very unique event in that everyone had their cell phones out twittering to their friends of the scene and yet carry a conversation at the same time.  It was kind of surreal in the first hour, but I hopped on the bandwagon and started doing it as well.  The event went very well and it was one of the better events I attended in long time.

If I have one slight complaint, I saw the silent auction on my Caps tickets since I was one of the sponsors

(Wait, I got to stop here.  Your company was one of the sponsors? Who the hell did you sleep with by getting this sponsorship?)

No, I donated my Caps tickets to the event to raise awareness on water and the people who need it.  Back to the topic, I was amazed that the Philadelphia Flyers tickets was bidhigher than the Pittsburgh Penguins tickets.  I guess DC loves people fighting, but if that were the case, ummm…Malkin and Crosby vs. Ovechkin?  Who wants to see that fight? I was a little thrown back, but it could be everyone still remembers last year in Game 7 between the Caps and Flyers, which still haunts me as a fan.

Back at hand, I want to give thanks to the people who setup the event in less than a month.  These people worked so hard of finding a location, planning out the event, get a couple of guests and djs, threw out the dress code (very important in my case) and promote it heavily on Twitter and the other sites.  Thank (and/or follow) these people:

• Peter LaMotte, who was the mastermind of setting up the DC Twestival / @peterlamotte
• Susan Strayer, who recognize me for the t-shirt from the poll I did the past week/ @susandstrayer / @DailyCareerTips
• Nicole Stipp /@nicolestipp
• Jem Bahaijoub /@jembelly
• Kaitlyn Soligan

Here are the other tweeple I met, in no particular order:

• Mauricio / @wtFrak /@petoveritas
• Kevin L. / @kasrael
• Shannon Evans / @sevan7
• Steven Asher / @StevenAsher
• Sandra Giarde / @sgiarde
• Maia / @MaiaKG
• Marcel / @marcelh
• KiKi L’Italien / @kikilitalien
• Lindsey Mastis / @LindseyMastis
• Lindy Dreyer / @lindydreyer
• Meg Gleason / @megleason
• Maddie Grant / @maddiegrant
• Qui Diaz / @beautifulthangs
• Glennette / @glennette
• Joe Zuccaro / @WebConsigliere
• Tom Dawkins / @tomjd
• Thinklynsen / @thinklynsen
• Jared Goralnick / @technotheory
• Aaron Brazell / @technosailor
• Rob Pegoraro / @robpegoraro
• Paul Hyland / @paulhyland
• Patrick McGary / @patrickmcgary
• Patrick OBrien / @obrienmedia
• Nakeva / @nakeva
• Maggie / @maggielmcg
• Darius Roberts / @jdar
• ohappy / @ohappy
• Peter Corbett / @corbett3000
• LauraLee Dooley / @lauraleedooley
• Adam Shake of Twilight Earth / @TwilightEarth
• Noah Wolfe / @NoahWolfe
• Danielle Brigida / @starfocus
• Kristin Johnson / @ksuzj
• Elisa Ortiz / @emortiz
• Washington Capitals (the official Twitter site and none that I know of it made it, but thank them as the only DC team that doesn’t suck) /@washcaps

And for the people who I met, but do not or I forgot to write down their Twitter usernames:

• John Blair, fellow George Mason Alum (School of Management ot be exact)
• April, who has a picture of me with a drink on one hand and the cellphone of the other.
• Beth
• Emily Troutman

As I do with every Valentine’s Day on Facebook and my blog (it was the only source I had before a few months ago), I’ll play the quintessential Valentine’s Day Song:

If I forgot anyone who I met…please forgive me and bash me either on Twitter and your blog, and then I’ll follow you and beg for mercy.

Finally, Happy ))<>((‘s Day (I love that logo so much, it’s the official Valentine’s Day logo to me).

My DC Twestival Photos

Poll: What Should I Wear for the DC Twestival?

The Big Ego:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Big Headline:

 

 

 

 

The Big Pinkie:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Big Question:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Big Monkey:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Voting ends on Wednesday at Midnight

If I Was Running A Company…Trust

This is a little early to about this but I must address after what happen today.  This past few weeks, President Obama passed The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and The Employee Free Choice Act.  There are a lot of discussions about it, so I just want to summarize my feelings.

I do not mind the LLFPA because I think there needs to be reasons why some are getting high salaries and some are not.  The problem is each employee is a case-by-case based on industry, geography, and other factors and I understand there might be some discrepancy.  However, I do think it’s necessary to have it on record.

I understand the EFCA is coming from because of the distrust among businesses with the economy tanking and workers need to unite themselves to fight.  However, the bill is too much in favor of the union and the bill suggests the prisoners are running the asylum.  Also in this current climate, companies are aware of the challenges and are willing to be fair.

I agree with many of my HR bloggers that the only way to combat these issues is to be proactive and upgrade your policies and efficiency.  Also, earn the trust from employees that you’re making an attempt at a better workplace.

The last part is the main reason I’m writing this post.  If you already know, Alex Rodriguez was tested positive for steroids in 2003.  This was a survey test and would not subject of any punishment.  The deal is not about A-Rod tests positive for steroids; the bigger issue is how this came about. 

A little history of this; between 1970-1995, there were four strikes in that time with 1994 been the biggest impact since that strike season cancelled the World Series.  In all 4 occasions, the owners wanted a salary cap to stray off a terrible baseball economy.  The players wanted a big pool of money.  In all instances, the owners use the good ol’ boy politics and the players’ union were always truthful (albeit arrogant) about these negotiations.  Then in 2002 when steroids surface, the players knew this had to be dealt with and at the same time, did not want another strike. So Executive Director of the MLBPA, Donald Fehr, and COO, Gene Orza, agreed to add steroid testing in the CBA. 

When the CBA included steroid testing, the union did survey tests, MLB and the players union agreed when the survey tests are done, burn it and be done with.  It was shady, but that was agreed upon both sides.  However, the federal government stepped in to to seize the reports because it involved ten people in the BALCO case.  The documents were suppose to kept secret but the people mention that A-Rod was 0ne of 104 players tested positive.  The bigger issue is when the Mitchell Report came out, it mention that in 2004, Orza tipped someone that a random test is coming up.  From the reports today, it looked like Orza tipped A-Rod since he was the highest-payed player in baseball.

With the possible revelation that Orza tipped A-Rod of upcoming tests, Orza not only violated the terms of the CBA, but has now cause a rift among the players who are making a lot less than A-Rod and the other superstars in the league.  It was a long struggle for the players to get what they want and that is all credit to the Fehr and Orza (and Marvin Miller if you want to include him).  Now Fehr and Orza are playing favorites of who should get the most money?  Their act swings back the momentum to the owners, who will argue that the union took advantage of the CBA and the players must now have the onions to confront Fehr and Orza of what they did.

Overall, the A-Rod situation can be a lesson to companies and unions that:

1. Be proactive
2. Be prepared if one does not go through
3. Be respectful to each other
4. Collaborate
5. Finally the most important thing: live up to your end of the deal and be accountable

In baseball (and politics if you want to go that route), no one took accountability of all the actions and that’s pathetic of a game that was adapting to the 21st Century.  Instead, it’s politics as usual.

The A-Rod story also brought up two things:  Jose Canseco is a very reliable source and;

HENRY “HANK” AARON IS STILL THE UNDISPUTED HOME RUN KING!

If I Was Running A Company…Social Media

I usually do this segment on Monday, but I was doing a presentation on this same topic with job seekers today and I was amazed by the responses.  Most of the job seekers are Linkedin users, which is fine since this was a job seekers group.  I was stunned that a few have used Facebook and one has use Twitter.  This signals one thing…the company needs to open up. 

Since we have a President who will admit that he screwed up, companies need to develop a personna that would attract to customers, vendors, and potential employees and social media is one of them.  I would have talking points (the Curb Your Enthusiasm version, not the GOP version) and then have your employee spin it however they want.  I understand there are some consequences of having an open company, but I think it’s great there’s a healthy internal debate.  It makes the company more humanizing and that is all I want for business is that companies are humans, not drones. 

I want employees to spend at least one hour of social networking  for new businesses, contacts, employees, anything.   I want employees to attend at least one networking event a year (not involving their own employees), and I want them to open up about our business.   The overall point of social media is engagement and I want to keep continuing that message.

Finally, I want my company to be ahead of the game.  We have passed three phases of the web.  Here’s the next phase: