Corra Daily Planet

Corporate Climbing Can Be Your Next Big Hire

MOVING UP THE CORPORATE LADDER

Ready for the next step in your career?

The best way to be known as a super star in your organization is to assume more responsibility.

This is best done once you have mastered your current position.

Communicate your interest and intention to your managers. No on can read your mind and know your desire for future advancement.

Look at the workload of your direct manager. Are there any projects that you can take on? By taking over your manager’s work, you free your manager to move on to more strategic projects.

By assuming more responsibility and extra work, you gain confidence in your ability to take on challenges and continue to prove your worth and interest in the organization.

In small steps you naturally grow into the next position.

From Tech Exec Partners

Corra knows that for any business to expand you need the go-getters. You need those ambitious types that won’t take no for an answer and thrive on the added responsibility you give them.

You ambitious types should well heed Diane’s advice about moving up the ladder. When Corra conducts employment verification and personal reference checks, we note the candidates the HR people can’t wait to hire are the candidates who take on more responsibility, work well with others, and show up on time.

As part of any preemployment screening program, Corra suggests you run these searches along with the necessary criminal searches. Who knows? You might get yourself a real go-getter.

Check them out before you hire.

Small Business Can Put More Fun in the Work Place

That’s Chief Entertainment Officer

Smaller companies do fun better. We got that straight from the skating matador and dozens of his CEO colleagues.

From: Inc. Magazine, | By: Leigh Buchanan

George Kase’s 2007 new year’s resolution sounded self-indulgent, like giving up dieting for Lent. “I will have more fun with my employees,” pledged Kase, president of CCFC Advertising, a $20 million Chicago company. (That’s him to the left, with the bird, surrounded by some of the people who work for him.)He wasn’t being frivolous. Kase, who co-founded CCFC 20 years ago, assumed the top slot in 2005 when one of his partners moved into strategic planning. The previous leader, who Kase describes as “a very business-by-the-book guy,” had presided over a work-hard-play-hardly culture. Kase worried that employees were keeping late hours, rarely glancing up from their computer screens.First things first: He enlisted freelance help and insisted the overburdened talk to him about getting relief. Second things second: He made serious plans to inject good times into the job. “I thought, we have to put fun on the agenda,” says Kase. “I can’t leave it to happen organically because it won’t.”So Kase brought in some rubber chickens and a bag of plastic dinosaurs. He took the staff to a racetrack, held a winetasting and a potluck with exotic foreign dishes and chili dogs. He started asking everyone: What should we do? Where should we go? “I am thinking we might institute a duty roster where folks get to create and execute the fun on a rotating basis,” says Kase. “Requirements would be that everybody gets to have the fun, it can’t cost a lot, and it cannot impair the senses–too much–or be illegal.”

Kase is not the only leader trying to reverse a fun deficit. Many companies start out fun, but the carefree ethos is tough to sustain through growth, hard times, and the constant flux of personalities. Too often, fun becomes something employees have everywhere but here. When once a year the leader pops out of her office and hollers “Frisbee toss!” the effort feels forced.

For the entire article go to Inc.com

Corra is a small business. We know small businesses can be fun. But when you have small businesses you need certain types of people–non-corporate types. Who enjoy the fun.

You also need people who are highly competent and versatile, because in a small business each employee has to cover a lot of ground and be responsible for many things. A good employee has a greater impact on a small business. A talent can enhance a small business. On the other hand a problem employee can drag down the business.

You should always be running a criminal search, and the education verification, can help verify certain qualifications. Employment verification is also important.

Check them out before you hire.

It Is Coming Big Time, The Undocumented Worker Crackdown

llegal-immigrant crackdown looms

By Nicole Gaouette
Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — With the failure of immigration legislation in Congress this year, federal officials are planning a new crackdown on illegal immigrants that would force businesses to fire them or face stiff penalties. But the effort also could cause serious headaches for millions of U.S. citizens.

In the coming days, the Department of Homeland Security is expected to issue a rule outlining how businesses must respond when they receive notice that there are discrepancies in a worker’s tax records.

Many businesses simply ignore such notices now. Under the new rules, employees would have a limited time to contact the Social Security Administration to correct the information, or face termination.

The rule would transfer more responsibility for enforcement to companies — part of a Homeland Security effort to break through the complacency that some officials say the corporate world has about illegal workers.

The initiative follows warnings by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that his department would toughen enforcement if efforts to overhaul the flawed immigration system failed. The discrepancies detected in Social Security employment records can sometimes flag illegal workers on the job.

However, the planned crackdown has provoked concern because many of the errors are benign: misspellings or incorrect birthdates in records of citizens or legal immigrants. There are errors in the records of an estimated 12.7 million U.S. citizens alone, and workers rushing to correct these discrepancies could swamp Social Security offices, much as new travel regulations have paralyzed government passport facilities this year.

And businesses are complaining about bearing the burden of enforcing a flawed immigration system.

For the entire article go to www.latimes.com

Corra has been warning its clients for sometime that a crackdown on undocumented or illegal workers is imminent, and now it looks like its time has come. While Corra takes no stance, one way or the other, on the prickly immigration issue, you can rest assured that hiring undocumented workers is about to get a whole lot more expensive.

Companies of all sizes will whine and groan, but at the end of the day the law is the law and the different agencies will enforce it as they so choose. Stricter enforcement will certainly yield harsher penalties, and businesses who hire undocumented workers will find themselves facing finds, suspensions and even the prospect of having their business licenses revoked.

If you haven’t conducted background searches on your workers, Corra suggests that now is the time to do so. We suggest a Social Security Trace, which will help validate the number and determine if it legally belongs to your candidate. The criminal search is a must, and if they drive for you a Motor vehicle Driver’s report is necessary. Some of Corra’s clients also request a wants and warrants search, for fear your prospect may be picked up the day he shows for work.

So do yourself a favor. You will be saving money in the short and long run by running background checks. Check them out before you hire.

Stealing Sensitive Data–It’s Easy

Computer Security Problems Found at IRS

By JIM ABRAMS
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - IRS employees ignored security rules and turned over sensitive computer information to a caller posing as a technical support person, according to a government study.

Sixty-one of the 102 people who got the test calls, including managers and a contractor, complied with a request that the employee provide his or her user name and temporarily change his or her password to one the caller suggested, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, an office that does oversight of Internal Revenue Service.

The caller asked for assistance to correct a computer problem.

The report said that by failing to question the identity of the caller the employees were putting the IRS at risk of providing unauthorized people access to taxpayer data that could be used for identity theft and other fraudulent schemes.

“This is especially disturbing because the IRS has taken many steps to raise employee awareness of the importance of protecting their computers and passwords,” said Inspector General J. Russell George.

For the entire story go to Breitbart.com

Corra has seen enough to say identity theft has become a major problem. Perhaps even that is an understatement. Identity issues permeate many aspects of the work place as well as private life. Too much information has led to information overload, and that has caused the proverbial security dams to overflow.

When hiring someone it is important to make sure that person is who he really says he is. The Social Security Trace will help as will a background check of criminal records. The Drivers License Report will also help in establishing a candidate’s true identity as well as show the candidate’s actual record.

If the IRS can release sensitive information, imagine what a corrupt employee can do to your business. Check them out before you hire.

Young Entrepreneurs: Experience Preferred

sRisky Business: The Downside of Starting Young

Many young entrepreneurs like cutting corners and hate playing by the rules — and that’s often why they’re successful. But experts warn that those same qualities can also doom a fledgling business.

From: Inc.com By: Angus Loten

While preparing to pitch his social networking site to a group of venture capitalists, 27-year-old Geoff Cook accidentally knocked over a full glass of water on the boardroom table, soaking himself and his presentation materials.”It’s hard enough being taken seriously at these meetings when you’re a little younger,” says Cook, a co-founder of myYearbook.com, a New Hope, Pa.-based social networking site for teens. “Luckily, I was able to dry off before we got going.”

Getting bankers, investors, and others to take them seriously is just one of many challenges younger entrepreneurs face that their older counterparts are often spared. Yet, most of these can be overcome by following a few simple rules, business coaches and mentors say.

Consider that most would-be teenage business owners can’t even enter into contracts or take out loans without their parents or an agent co-signing the agreement, says Hank Kopcial, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business’s Young Entrepreneur Foundation. “They’re simply not of legal age,” he says. “It’s an extra step older entrepreneurs don’t have to take.”

Other typical problems include weak or no credit history, few peer-to-peer mentors, and even fewer corporate connections. And don’t forget time-management issues. (Should I analyze market research or study for tomorrow’s history test?

For the entire article go to Inc.com

Corra can see how flying by the seat of one’s proverbial pants can lead to amazing innovation in business as well as colossal flops. Some entrepreneurs are barely experienced drivers, yet along business people. So it is small wonder that many will eventually hit that speed bump that they cannot surmount.

Nothing is a substitute for experience. Except for maybe innovation. At least when innovation works it is a good substitute for experience. Up to a point. And then maybe the lessons young entrepreneurs learn the hard way will serve them well in either their next venture or in the broader workplace.

Not matter what, there should be some qualifiers. A good pre-employment screening package may have its limitations when the focus is younger people. Chances are it is tough or impossible to obtain business credit reports on their fledgling businesses. But education can sure matter, as can their criminal records. So, if you are lending them money, or becoming involved, as a savvy and experienced business person, check them out before you hire.

Is Hiring Workers a Waste of Time?

Average Employee Wastes Two Hours of Every Workday

Twentysomethings slack off more than older workers, according to a new survey.

From: Inc.com By: Liz Webber

The average employee wastes about 20 percent of the workday, with young people the most likely to be slacking off, according to a new survey.The 2007 Wasting Time Survey by Salary.com, which asked 2,000 employees across all job levels about how they spend their working hours, found employees waste an average of 1.7 hours of an 8.5-hour workday. This represents a decline from last year, when workers reported wasting an average of 1.89 hours each day.In this year’s survey, 20- to 29-year-olds said they waste an average of 2.1 hours per day. The amount of idle time drops off as employees grow older, with the 30-39 age group reporting 1.9 hours of the day wasted and 40- to 49-year-olds reporting 1.4 hours.”Older employees tend to have a very strong work ethic,” said Bill Coleman, Salary.com’s chief compensation officer. Coleman added that more seasoned workers understand certain humdrum office tasks, like all-day meetings, have value that may not be readily apparent.

for the entire article go to Inc.com

Corra realizes that the fact that so many workers waste away so much valuable working time is hardly news. The only thing you really need to do to pick up on this information is to walk around the work place. We all know about the now iconic water cooler, but let’s face it more employees are screwing around on the Internet than they are gabbing at the water cooler.

Maybe it is just the way things are and the fact that employees are working long hours, under great stress and with less job security has something to do with it. Besides, don’t most of us have something better to do than work? Just kidding. But that is the attitude in a good many places.

When running preemployment screening on your job candidates, it is wise to conduct employment verifications to help better qualify your new people. A credit report will help determine your candidate’s sense of personal responsibility.

Check them out before you hire.

Entrepreneurs Need Good Help, Too

The Making of an Entrepreneurial Generation

How new technologies, a proliferation of resources, and a disenchantment with the corporate world are making Generation Y the most entrepreneurial in history.

From: Inc.com By: Donna Fenn

What better measure of a generation than its approach to entrepreneurship? Generation Y, born between 1977 and 1994, may well be on its way to becoming the most entrepreneurial generation in our nation’s history — and for very good reasons. They took their baby steps during our first true entrepreneurial decade, the 1980s; watched their parents “restructured” out of what were once lifetime corporate jobs; saw barriers to entry collapse as technology democratized the business start-up process; enrolled in newly-minted college entrepreneurship programs, which have increased seven-fold in the past six years.No wonder that a recent study by The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor shows that 18- to 24-year-olds in the United States are starting businesses at a faster rate than 35- to 44-year-olds. The college campus is now a fertile breeding ground for company builders. “Forty percent or more of students who come into our undergraduate entrepreneurship program as freshmen already have a business,” says Jeff Cornwall, the Massey Chair in Entrepreneurship at Belmont University in Nashville. “It’s a whole new world.”

The rising stars on this year’s 30 Under 30 list would most certainly agree. We’ve got a few high school start-ups, and several more college dorm room launches. Some are already racking up revenues in the tens of millions, while others are just experiencing the first blush of success. But we think that all of them are worth watching, not just for the companies they’re running today, but for the ones they’ve yet to conceive of but will most surely start in the future. Because here’s the thing about Gen Y entrepreneurs: they’re lifers, or so they say: the majority plan to start more than one company in their lifetimes.

For the entire article go to Inc.com

It seems that the two mos entrepreneurial groups in America are the Boomers who downsized or tired of corporate life are opening their own business, and the twenty-something Gen Y’ers who are not comfortable working int he corporate world.

Corra has conducted background searches for both groups. While years apart, they show common ground in looking for adventurous and talented individuals who can help them get their businesses off the ground. In qualifying candidates, Corra recommends the criminal check, of course, education verification and a credit report, as well as other searches. It is important for fledgling companies to at least have a strong professional foundation.

So don’t just think you know someone, rely on your instincts, or merely hope for the best. Be smart, and check them out before you hire.

Are Pedophiles Working For You?

Parents’ Ire Grows at Pedophile’s Unabashed Blog

LOS ANGELES — The search for the self-described pedophile in the large-brimmed black hat commences nearly every day here, with findings posted on chat rooms frequented by mothers.

He was spotted at a fair in Santa Clarita. He recently emerged from the Social Security office on Olympic Boulevard. He tapped away on a computer at the library in Mar Vista. Warnings have gone out. Signs have been posted.

And yet unlike convicted sex offenders, who are required to stay away from places that cater to children, in this case the police can do next to nothing, because this man, Jack McClellan, who has had Web sites detailing how and where he likes to troll for children, appears to be doing nothing illegal.

But his mere presence in Los Angeles — coupled with Mr. McClellan’s commitment to exhibitionistic blogging about his thoughts on little girls — has set parents on edge. One group of mothers, whose members by and large have never met before, will soon band together in a coffee shop to hammer out plans to push lawmakers in Sacramento to legislate Mr. McClellan out of business.

“Just the idea that this person could get away with what he was doing and no one could press charges has made me angry,” said Jane Thompson, a stay-at-home mother in East Los Angeles who recently read Mr. McClellan’s comments about a festival in her neighborhood in which he seemed to be describing her child.

For the entire article go to NYTimes.com

Pedophiles have been on the national radar with increasing frequency. The recent news story in Los Angeles had parents both horrified and up in arms over the child predator who described on the Internet his approach and tactics. Initially, the law enforcement authorities said there wasn’t much they could do to limit this man since he hadn’t really done anything yet. He wasn’t a registered sex offender.

Maybe in his case he wasn’t, but many are. They are listed nationally and on state sites. Corra includes in its state and nationwide criminal database searches the sexual offenders registry in all fifty states. Corra realizes how disruptive a sexual offender can be to the workplace. Most people will hate him, few, if any, with sympathize, and the employee morale can suffer.

In the case of McClellan, the predator in the story, a bond was issued mandating that he stay at least fifteen yards away from any child.

Check them out before you hire.