HR Shield

Many companies focus on community engagement and corporate service programs for specific societal issues, whether that be education, health, culture, environment or poverty. Utilizing your own company’s resources and talent can be a great way to give back to the society that you live, work and play in. Giving back as a company requires direct action and collaboration and can be great for team building and instilling value, pride, social responsibility, leadership and empowerment in your employees.

HR Professionals and HR Departments are often responsible for organizing such efforts, especially if a company is not large enough to have its own designated community outreach coordinator. The fastest way to decide which organizations or causes you want to support, is to ask your employees. Find out what they’re passionate about, what they participate in outside of work, or what they’ve been personally touched by. Whether you have one or several groups in mind, there are many ways to give back this holiday season that are cost-effective for your organization and can get every employee involved. See the following for ideas!

Gifts for Families or Organizations in Need: Host an internal company gift drive for those in need. If each employee brings in something small, and you have multiple employees involved, you can touch a number of lives this holiday season. Team building activities can involve organizing, wrapping, and even hand delivering the gifts. Designate certain employees for leadership roles and if you have a lot of employees, consider making teams with different responsibilities.

Holiday Packages for Soldiers: Many soldiers are away from their homes and families this holiday season.Giving back can extend far beyond your immediate surroundings. Host a holiday-package making party for soldiers in your place of employment. This can be easily accomplished by putting different employees in charge of different things such as supplies, donations, card making, and more.

Stomp out Hunger: Many companies host internal food drives, which is a great way to collect a lot of food for those in need. If your company has the resources, or enough time, consider hosting an actual lunch or dinner for the hungry. Designate certain employees for leadership roles such as collecting the food and donations, organizing the event day, inviting people in need, and even cooking. It’s a great way for everyone to work together towards one rewarding day, and interact directly with your community.

Speaking Engagements: Does your company have valuable information and expertise you could be sharing with the community? Perhaps speaking to high school students about the importance of college? What about speaking to the unemployed about resume building? Sharing your best financial practices? Sometimes help doesn’t need to be an actual item or monetary gift, it can be as simple as delivering knowledge that helps people in your community move forward with their lives.

Fundraising: Have a cause you’d like to support, but not enough time or employees to directly engage with the organization? Monetary gifts are ALWAYS greatly appreciated and allow organizations or people in need to purchase the things they need most. Instead of asking each employee to directly contribute, create a fundraising plan, in which employees can collect donations and raise funds. Making teams creates fun internal competition and can increase the amount of funds your company is able to collect. If you have multiple locations or offices, consider having them compete against one another.

Service Hours: Many organizations within your community are in need of service hours and volunteers. Taking a day off from work to volunteer as a company is a great experience, and allows your employees to work on Team Building activities, interact outside of the office, get to know one another, and have fun.

For more corporate holiday giving ideas, contact HR Shield. Our team will gladly provide feedback for those looking to make a difference in their community this holiday season!

Article originally posted on the HR Shield blog

Need some tips for writing a great online job board advertisement? Before you begin writing your company’s recruitment advertisement, first consider how much money is available for recruitment and the timeframe in which the position needs to be filled. Based on this information, you then can determine the most appropriate media and availability with regards to cost and deadlines. Online job board advertisements allow more room for copy, contrary to print advertising which typically charges advertisers for each and every line of copy.

If you plan on placing more than one ad, or will have several openings, developing a brand and consistency in the ads will deliver a good impression to the candidates. Logos, pictures and colors generate greater interest. You want to draw people to your ad and sometimes by simply bolding the position title, more people will be attracted.

Here is a recommended outline with tips for online recruitment advertising:

1. Title of position:  Be sure the title is clear and concise. If your job title differs than the norm, perhaps consider using an alternate job title that clearly explains the role. Often online recruitment ads will only list the job title; make sure yours stands out amongst the other listings.
2. Job Summary:  Online job boards will show a brief job summary, generally the title and one or two sentences, from which interested applicants can click through to see the full posting . This job summary is the most important part of your ad. If it doesn’t grab attention and compel the reader to click through to your full ad, then you could be missing out on some great candidates. Your job title should be clear, and the first couple sentences of your posting should grab the reader’s attention.
3. Company:  What does your company do, where it is located, what industry are you in? Make the overview compelling.
4. The Job Description:  Include main functions of the role, key skills, previous experience desired, relevant qualifications, and bullet point the position’s key tasks.
5. Core Competencies:  Which personal attributes are required to be effective in the role i.e. innovation, motivation, organization.  Describe what the successful candidate will be like. Talk about team fit and the culture of your organization.
6. Prospects & Job Benefits:  What does your company have to offer? Is there career progression, privileges, benefits, vacation time, etc?
7. Contact:  Recruiter’s name, phone number and email address – Make sure they know what times you’re available too!
8. Specific Requirements :  If you have specific requirements such as salary restraints, minimum education or experience, be sure and list these clearly in your ad copy.

For specific questions or concerns about hiring (or terminating), contact HR Shield.

Story originally posted at HR Shield

According to an article in the New York Times and other recent media coverage, reviews of job vacancy postings on popular sites like Monster.com,CareerBuilder.com and Craigslist.com have revealed hundreds of instances where employers would only consider (or at least “strongly prefer”) applicants who are employed or just recently laid off.

Does your company reject the unemployed simply because they are unemployed? If you do, be careful. You’re walking a thin line between what’s considered a fair recruitment practice and what’s considered discrimination, and your job posting could result in a complaint from the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

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Sexual harassment includes a vast range of behavior from mild annoyances to actual sexual abuse or violence. As an employer, sexual harassment in the workplace is not as obvious as you may think. You may not even realize it’s happening, especially if the victim does not bring it to your attention or report it.

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