Take the case of P. Stephen Potter.  Stephen, who is a lawyer by trade, moonlighted for thirty six years as the “Hot Dog Man” for the University of Nebraska.  What is a hot dog man exactly?  Well, Mr. Potter would dress rather eclectically and wander around the stadium on game day throwing hot dogs as high up in the stands as he could.  People then wrapped their money in the hot dog wrapper and threw it back to Mr. Potter.

After so many years and becoming an icon at the stadium with the Nebraska fans, he was told his services were no longer needed.  Some think it was because he had asked to bring his granddaughter on his back, without a ticket.  But some think it was because of….The Beaner Slinger.

From the Daily Nebraskan News

About four years ago, another hot dog man showed up with The Beaner Slinger, an air gun (of sorts) for shooting hot dogs farther and higher into the stands.

Call it technology or maybe declining performance of the man throwing hot dogs manually.  Either way, Mr. Potter lost his job.  So, the next time you are going about your daily routine, remember the hot dog man.  Are you doing all you can to keep up with technology and bring new and innovative delivery to your job?  Maybe you should.

One of the most accepted social platforms from a business standpoint is LinkedIn.  If you’re new to social or not familiar with LinkedIn, here are a few facts from the site:

• The site officially launched on May 5, 2003. At the end of the first month in operation, LinkedIn had a total of 4,500 members in the network.
• As of March 31, 2012, LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with 161 million members in over 200 countries and territories.
• As of March 31, 2012 (the end of the first quarter), professionals are signing up to join LinkedIn at a rate of approximately two new members per second.
• The company is publicly held and has a diversified business model with revenues coming from hiring solutions, marketing solutions and premium subscriptions.

Having a tool that has free and low-cost options for businesses that also has the reach of LinkedIn makes it a platform that your HR team should seriously consider using.  Many people I talk to think LinkedIn is primarily for job seekers or recruiters but there are so many other ways to use the site.  I use it to search for information and articles, I do research on companies, I find information about people I am networking with and I also use the Groups feature to stay in close contact with other professionals with similar interests.  One of these interests is staying in contact with colleagues from my former employers.  This brings me to today’s tip:

Create a LinkedIn Alumni group

 A LinkedIn alumni group is a way to drive interaction.  As HR professionals we know that boomerang employees are on the rise because as people leave organizations they find that they may miss the culture of the organization they left and decide to return in just a few short years.  Having an Alumni group where they can come back regularly and receive company news updates, hear about new client projects, connect with their former colleagues, see your job openings and be given access to special perks and discounts your company may offer are just a few ways to keep them connected.  They can also easily engage in conversation on the alumni group site.

How To Create An Alumni Group on LinkedIn

• First, watch the video on LinkedIn to learn how to Start a Conversation In A LinkedIn Group.
• From the LinkedIn home page, click the Groups tab
• Click Create a Group
• Fill in all information about the company including a logo, link to the website, information about your company
• Who will be allowed to access the group

Be sure to link the group to the company Twitter account as well.  Now you’re ready to get started sharing information.  You may be the person responsible for maintaining the alumni group or you may assign it to someone on your team.  Either way, make sure that you encourage and ALL members of your team as well as current employees to participate in the discussions on the alumni group.

The last, and most important piece of advice is to invite employees who are leaving your organizaiton to join the group.  This will reinforce that leaving a company does not have to be a bad experience.  You send an important message that they are part of the culture and will remain a welcome part of the company.  You never know when they will return, when they will steer future business your way or will refer friends to you.

I’m hearing from more and more people who are examining their career future.  I’ve heard from those that wonder if they should stay in their current position or current company.  I hear from those who have been part of a recent layoff and are now deciding whether to stick with their career choice or try something new.  I also hear from people who were ready to retire but are rethinking that decision and wondering how to proceed.  And of course, the recent college graduates who are finding it difficult to find work in the major they chose.  They too are examining career options for the future.

What is the right approach to identify the next step in your career path? The best way to see where you’re going is to look back where you’ve been.  I know I personally run at 100 m.p.h. most of the time and it is rare that I slow down and appreciate where I’ve been and how far I’ve come.

Think back to when you first chose your career.  How did you decide what you wanted to do with your life?  Many people chose something they could be passionate about.  Even though it’s just a job, a means to an end, it’s was much more meaningful if you chose a career you were excited about.  As you look to the future, you should examine the steps you walked and what you learned so that you can use that knowledge to guide you to a new career.

• Roles- What were the first roles you had in your career? Whether you were an intern, an apprentice, a generalist, a support staff, etc. the lessons learned during the early days of your career were very valuable.  It taught you how to interact with others.  It taught you about managing up.  About learning what the expectations were and how to exceed them.  It taught you about getting along with colleagues and how to fit in to the culture.  You were most likely a “do’er” during this time.  Absorbing everything new like a sponge.  As you explore career options, try to capture the enthusiasm of your youth when learning about the new career.  Be willing to be a “do’er” again.  Ask as many questions as you can.
• Key influencers- Who were the people you looked up to when you first chose your career path? Were they instructors?  Neighbors?  Maybe a family member.  Bottom line is you found people you respected and decided you wanted to emulate them.  What steps did they take to pursue that particular career?  What special skills or education were needed to get the job?  Look around.  Who can help and influence you in your new career?  Use social media to meet professionals in your new field or industry.  Reach out.  Be open.  Learn from the “experts”.
• Take aways- So what does this mean to you now? Is there a career you’ve always dreamed of having?  What are the steps you will need to take to embark on that career?  Is it an achievable goal?  Will you need more education?  A certification?  Will you need experience?

Deciding to journey down a new career path is a daunting decision; however, it can be even more rewarding than can be imagined. Have you ever taken a major turn in your career path?  What steps did you take that helped you select that career and get acclimated?  Share with us in the comments.

According to the most recent statistics from January 2010 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in Missouri, unemployment is at 9.5% (up 1.4% from last year) and Illinois is at 11.3% (up 3.2% from last year).  At the same time, I’m hearing that many people finding themselves out of work are not only trying to find one job, but two.

Reasons people are people working multiple jobs:

• They are recently out of work and finding they have to work multiple jobs to try to maintain their standard of living
• They still have one job but fear of losing it makes them proactively take a second or third job as “security”
• They can’t make ends meet on current salary so taking multiple jobs to achieve that
• They can’t find work in their field at their level, so taking multiple lower-paying jobs to remain in the field and continue to gain experience

So, how are things in your state?  What trends are you seeing and hearing related to unemployment and people trying to find multiple jobs?  What other trends are happening where you live? Check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics table on Over-the-Year Changes in Unemployment by State, then share with us in the comments.

It’s probably obvious that I was not reading the latest copy of Vogue or one of the tabloids.  I actually came across the 1936 book ‘The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money‘ by John Meynard Keynes.  In his time, his economic theories were quite controversial.  But, after the Great Depression, Keynesian economics began to gain favor and had prominence up into the 1970′s.  The book itself it quite fascinating to read if you’d like a look at marco-economics.  It puts forth the idea that unemployment rates can be lessened if you stimulate the economy with increased government spending.  With the Obama administration in place, it is again a source of guidance for digging out of our current economic situation.

As I was reading, I focused on one particular chapter regarding the marginal efficiency of capital.  To oversimplify this aspect of this particular theory, the marginal efficiency of capital is the relationship between the prospective yield of  a capital asset and the replacement cost.  So in terms of applying this to human resources, it is the relationship between the work you personally can perform and the benefit you provide compared to the cost of the employer to replace you.

I’m wondering how the current economy is affecting this relationship.  It could go a couple different ways:

• The cost to replace you could be less because with unemployment so high, there are more available candidates to fill your role.
• The cost to replace you could be more because even though there are an overabundance of candidates, employers are finding they are not candidates with the right skills.

So, what do you think?  Are you seeing that replacement cost for workers who leave has increased because there are few candidates with the right skills?  Or are you finding the opposite, that there are plenty of candidates who can fill the openings, so the replacement cost is relatively low because people are willing to work for less?  Let me know in the comments.