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Q: Do you have any special tips to help me (an executive) succeed in my first 90 days? A: Appoint a personal board of directors. Many executives feel they should be self-sufficient and succeed completely on their own. However, the wisest individuals achieve success by benefiting from the advice of others. Your own personal board of directors can give you a huge boost in succeeding in your first 90 days on a new job and beyond.

Have the bad economy and the associated belt-tightening, layoffs, and furloughs totally distracted you from the impending crisis you were thinking about a couple of years ago? How will your company fare if and when the economy recovers and an avalanche of baby boomer retirements occurs? Do you have any idea whether you can really count on them staying longer because of the damage done to retirement portfolios? Will you need them to stay longer?

Brad Nelson thought he had landed well when he accepted a position as Senior HR Generalist with a major company in the financial services industry. He was the last of several additions to the HR staff, and much of his role was focused on recruitment. Things took a major turn in the opposite direction, though, when the layoffs began. For Nelson, each one exacted a personal toll. He participated in more than 400 employees being laid off before the ax fell his way.

The bad financial results have been indicating a downsizing for quite a while, and now you’ve gone ahead and done it. All of the weeks and months of planning and agonizing over executing a RIF (reduction in force) are over. So the question is: How can we avoid having to clean up our own mess once our remaining employees see other options becoming available to them?

The vanguard of the baby boom turned 60 last year, generating speculation about how such retirements will affect the U.S. economy. For corporate America, however, the most significant impact may be internal. As baby boomers vacate jobs in middle management and the executive suite, they will leave a leadership vacuum younger workers aren't ready to fill. According to the 2007 Aging U.S. Workforce Survey, released last month by Ernst & Young, 68 percent of Fortune 1000 companies consider ...

Organizations are caught in a dilemma. The recent global economic meltdown has required many companies to cut back drastically and tighten belts wherever possible – including cutting their commitment and resources dedicated to leadership development. At the same time, a majority of CEOs across industries and geographies view maximizing the productivity of their current leaders and developing the next generation of leaders as mission critical. A 2008 Aon Consulting survey found that 56% of ...

In today's tight economy, it's unusual if you don't know someone who is out of work and looking for a job -- and the upcoming holidays make the situation even more difficult. To brighten the holidays for these friends or family members, there are seven special gifts you can give, and they don't cost you a dime, according to Maria Persico, president of Career Management Consultants. "This year has been incredibly difficult for those in the job market - we hear stories of individuals ...

Lisa Underwood was a flight attendant with ATA Airlines for 22 years. It's where she met her husband, a pilot with the Indianapolis airline for 25 years. But last week, Underwood was busy applying for a job at Starbucks. When ATA announced April 3 it was shutting its doors for good, the news was a double whammy for the couple. "I'm going to take anything I can just to make ends meet," she said. The decision by parent company Global Aero to liquidate the 2,300-employee airline followed ...

With $4-a-gallon gasoline high on the minds of commuters, employers are beginning to take steps to help out. Some are offering telecommuting options and flexible workweeks. Others are rewarding employees with gas cards or cold hard cash -- all in an effort to avoid losing talent because the work site is too far from home. "The companies that address this issue will be the ones who retain their employees during these difficult times," said Mark T. McNulty, president of HR Dimensions ...

Nicholas Oschman, a junior in engineering at Purdue University, hasn't determined his career goals. But he is confident a summer internship at the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator is pointing him in the right direction. "I wanted to get a feel for what a real electrical engineer does, and I felt like Midwest ISO was the best place to do that," Oschman said. As it turns out, interns like Oschman, 21, Mooresville, also may be pointing their employers in the right ...

If I were a fruit, I would be a banana; nice thick skin on the outside, but peel into me and there is a softer side. Or maybe I would be a grape, I work great in groups; or a lemon, tart and feisty. Come to think of it, that question is pretty easy. But maybe not if it came during a job interview. You think I am kidding? Human resource guru Mark McNulty says you should think again. As he sat at Starbucks last week, he says, he couldn't help but overhear a young man being interviewed for ...

Spring-cleaning isn't just for the house. Careers can use a good scrubbing down every now and then. They can be refreshed, spruced up and put back in order. It's not that you want to change careers. Or even find a new job. You like the job. You like the company. You're just burned out and need a little revitalization. But how? "If you're not feeling fulfilled where you are, if you feel like you need to re-energize yourself, take time to reassess," says Elizabeth Stahl, with E.J. Stahl and ...

Briefcase? Check. Lunch? Check. BlackBerry? Check. Laundry and detergent? Check and double-check. Greenfield-based eTapestry actually wants its employees to bring their dirty clothes to work. The tech company has a full-service laundry room -- an unusual perk, like catered lunches and convenience stores that many companies washed their hands of when the economy tanked in 2000. "Our Midwestern sensibilities removed a lot of the foosball tables that haven't come back," said ...

If a company's idea of management-applicant screening begins and ends with a two-martini lunch, Rick Kinsley would like to offer his services. "Employers think that they can take a candidate to lunch and have a 30-minute talk to peer into their soul and see what makes them tick. All too often that's the common practice," Kinsley said. Sure, maybe that candidate ends up being a great hire and a longtime leader. But maybe that candidate turns into an Enron-like failure, the kind ...

Ever been at work minding your own business -- and actually kind of enjoying it as you hum a little tune -- when a pessimist bursts your bubble? Maybe they inform you of a nasty rumor being spread about you. Maybe they rip on your $100 shoes you thought were so chic. Or maybe they tell you that you're a loser with no talent who shouldn't be earning a paycheck in your job. It happened to me. And trust me, it's more depressing than finding your first gray hair. I can only ...

Finding the right person for a job requires a hefty investment of time and money. But once the new hire is on the clock, it's no time for an employer to relax. About one-third of companies reported losing up to 25 percent of new hires within the first 12 months, according to a survey released in March by Novations Group, a global consulting firm. Another study of 840,000 workers in multinational companies conducted in February by Kenexa, a talent-management company, noticed a ...

The whispers spread like wildfire through an office. Once word gets out someone is about to lose a job, it seems as if everyone knows it. Except, perhaps, the employee who is moments away from being terminated. That's a major misstep in firing protocol, say human-resources professionals and consultants. It's never an enviable or enjoyable task to hand out a pink slip, but for managers the task of firing is often just as important as hiring. When handled properly, both the ...

Does your organization view outplacement as an unnecessary cost? If so, it's time to re-arm yourself for the talent war by redefining your talent transition process before your competitors win the battle for top talent. The talent supply-and-demand equation has changed the way companies view the talent life cycle and talent management process from sourcing to transitioning employees. It is also transforming the way companies treat departing employees. Gone are the days of viewing ...

Welcome to the new workplace. A typical workplace today can consist of four generations: the Elders (either nearing retirement or returning to work), the Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y (born between 1979 and 1994). While Generation X (born between 1965 to 1977) represents only 20 percent of our population, these 52 million individuals are challenging traditional work ethics and management techniques. They know the job-for-life model no longer exists. In fact, the ...