The National Retail Federation just released a report that organized retail crime (ORC) has jumped by 8%. This increase is attributable in large part to economic pressures on retailers who've had to cut back their staffing and loss prevention efforts.

ORC often involves collusion with retail employees. In fact, according to the University of Florida's National Retail Security Survey, almost half of all retail shrink (loss of products between manufacture and point-of-sale), is related to employee theft. This is the single largest source of shrink.

Imperative is one of the three founding members of ConcernedCRAs, a group of  background screening firms collaborating in an effort to raise the marketplace's awareness of consumer protection issues .  In less that six months and with no advertising other than word of mouth, the group has to over 60 members! We released the following press release today.

Entre Nax Karage is one of the many wrongfully convicted murder defendants in Texas proven innocent by DNA testing and the Innocence Project. Although he was pardoned by Governor Rick Perry (the actual perpetrator was identified with DNA testing) and his criminal conviction was erased from Dallas County's records, he has continued to pay the price of his wrongful conviction.

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In many organizations, few training topics suck the air out of the room faster than diversity training. However, succesful companies are finding that diverse workforces provide new depths of innovation, customer service, and brand recognition... in essence, making them more competitive in the marketplace. So how do we get past the basics of counting people in certain categories and move into an area where the company can really draw on the diversity of experience and background in its workforce?

Our guest today on the Imperative Podcast is Scott Airitam of Leadership Systems. Scott is a consultant, trainer, and co-author of Ethics for Everyone, The Handbook for Integrity-Based Business Practices. Scott will be the luncheon speaker at the North Texas SHRM's March 24th luncheon meeting.

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Despite all the talk of HR's "seat at the table," in many organizations, HR is still a paper-pushing function. In others, we're the equivalent of Dr. No. Is it any wonder that HR is still not seen as a partner in many companies?

In this much-delayed edition of The Imperative Podcast, I interview Lisa Autry. Lisa is an employment law attorney and consultant who was actually in HR before she sold out and went to law school. She's got some great things to say about how HR has contributed to the sometimes negative perceptions opertions managers have toward us and how we can change them - especially when economic times are tough.

Lisa will be the speaker at the April 1st Mid-Cities HR Association Meeting.

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Every day, we all face problems that cry out for creative solutions. And, if you’re like me, you’ve worked with people who can look at a seemingly complex problem and say, “Oh, here’s what you need to do” and then proceed to outline an elegant solution that solves the problem.

Man, I hate those people… but their creativity is invaluable to an organization’s survival in this economy.

Our guest on this edition of the Imperative Podcast says that we all have a creative genius hidden away inside of us. Stephen Thomas King is a “personal creativity coach” who consults with organizations of all sizes to help bring out the personal genius of their employees, from the C-suite to the shop floor. Stephen is author of The Creativity Code and the brains behind geniusforrent.com.

Stephen King will be the speaker at the North Texas SHRM Chapter’s February 24th luncheon meeting. You can register for that event by visiting www.northtexasshrm.org.

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Like every other department, human resources managers are being asked to measure the effectiveness of their activities and report their impact on the organization's bottom line.

Most HR professionals are familiar with measurements like cost per hire and HR expense as percentage of company revenue. But do those kinds of measurements really reflect HR's contribution? How do you really measure HR - particularly as HR moves from a strictly transactional function to a consultative business partner?

Our guest today on The Imperative Podcast is Dr. George Benson. Dr. Benson is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of Texas at Arlington. He is also an affiliated researcher with the Center for Effective Organizations at USC. Dr. Benson has a Masters in Public Policy from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from USC. Dr. Benson's research and writing has focused on a variety of HR issues.

One would be hard-pressed to find someone unaware that the government is currently trying to pass a stimulus bill to help jump start our economy.  However, finding someone fully aware of the specific details outlined in both versions of the bill (i.e. House and Senate versions) might prove more difficult. 

The New York Times reported that the two versions of the stimulus overlap on "90-plus percent" of the issues.  But after the Senate passes their version today, a conference committee will begin drafting a final version of the bill, making the necessary compromises on the other 10 percent of the issues. 

It is in this 10 percent where employers and HR professionals can find a signicant difference between the two bills.  The House version of the stimulus plan included the following stipulation:

SEC. 1114.  REQUIRED PARTICIPATION IN E-VERIFY PROGRAM.
None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to enter into a contract with an entity that does not participate in the E-Verify program described in section 401(b) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note).

This provision was removed from the Senate version of the bill, but it could be reinstated as compromises are discussed later this week.

E-Verify is the federal government's program for verifying online new hires' authorization to work in the US. President Obama has put on hold until May a Bush Administration Executive Order that would required all federal contractors to utilize the system.

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In this episode of The Imperative Podcast, Mike interviews Dr. Lon Roberts on the subject of his February 19th presentation to the Fort Worth Human Resources Management Association. The title of his presentation is "Mastering the Art of Multitasting." As Lon points out, multitasking is on the rise in our never-ending quest to "do more with less." While acknowledging that multitasking is here to stay, Lon makes it clear that there is a sane and "insane" way of going about it.

Lon is a Principal Partner with the Texas-based training and consulting firm, Roberts & Roberts Associates. He is the author of four books and numerous articles, including several dealing with multitasking. From his research he also developed a training program on this topic that has been delivered to the U.S. Army and private sector companies.

Lon recently wrote an article for Defense AT&L magazine. The article is titled "Too Busy To Think: Cost, Consequences, and Causes of Multitasking Mania," and you can download a copy of the article below.

Download a copy of "Too Busy To Think"

You can register for the February 19th presentation online at www.fwhrma.org.

For more information about Roberts & Roberts Associates, visit their website at www.R2assoc.com. Or contact Lon at (972) 596-2956.

We hope you enjoy the podcast!

Three ways to listen to the podcast:

1. You can listen using our java-enabled player at the top of this post.

2. Or you can listen to the podcast in your computer's mp3 program by clicking the "Play mp3" button below (or right-click on the button and select "save target as..." to save the mp3 to your computer).

3. Or you can download the podcast and subscribe to future podcasts via iTunes.

According to the Washington Business Journal, the government has agreed to postpone the E-Verify requirement for federal contractors until May 21st.  This is the second time the requirement has been postponed.

The regulation would require all contractors working on government projects to check the E-Verify system to determine if workers are legally eligible to work in the United States.  The requirement was originally set to be enacted on January 15th, but then was pushed back to February 20th. 

For more information about the E-Verify requirement, please read Mike's original post regarding the details of the E-Verify system. 

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The Texas Legislature is currently convened in its 81st Regular Session. As legislators grapple with the state's economic woes, other issues important to Texas' employers are also under consideration.

On February 12th, the Texas State Council of the Society for Human Resources Management will host a legislative conference for HR professionals in Austin. Imperative Information Group supports the efforts of both SHRM and the Texas State Council, and we are proud to sponsor this event.

Lon Williams is a partner in the Dallas office of Bracewell and Giuliani. He is the Director for Legislative Action with the Texas State Council, and he is our guest today on the Imperative Podcast. We hope you will listen as he discusses what HR professionals can expect at the legislative conference.

Under the Bush Administration, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) revised the Form I-9 by amending the documents acceptable for verification of employment eligibility. The new form I-9 was to go into effect today (02/02/2009).

Apparently, in it's review of all pending actions initiated by the outgoing administration, the Obama Administration has announced a delay in implementation of the new form until April 3rd. The public commenting period on the proposed change has been reopened until March 4th.

The most significant change to Form I-9 is the requirement that all documents presented during the I-9 verification process must be unexpired. Currently, certain documents, including U.S. passports or drivers’ licenses can be presented as proof of identity and/or work eligibility without regard of their expiration date.

The revised Form I-9 also eliminates Temporary Resident and older versions of Employment Authorization Cards (Forms I-688, I-688A, and I-688B) from the list of documents sufficient to establish both identity and employment authorization (referred to as "List A"), since these cards no longer are issued and any outstanding cards would have now expired.

To verify the accuracy of the information provided by a new hire when completing the Form I-9, Imperative offers a user-friendly interface into the Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify system. Our interface dramatically improves the ease of use and functionality of the E-Verify system that was, after all, designed by government contractors.

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Not long ago, most people's sphere of influence extended to maybe a few dozen friends and colleagues and, if you really worked your network, some of their contacts. Networking meant working the telephone, going to after-hours mixers, and joining community organizations.

Over the last decade, that's all changed. What started out as basically toys used by teenagers to chat with one another online are being used by savvy business professionals to expand their networks to hundreds or thousands of people and are changing the way companies present themselves to the public.

In this episode of The Imperative Podcast, Mike talks with Shama Hyder of Click To Client, an online marketing firm that teaches individuals and companies how to be online rockstars. Shama says employers can gain an advantage in recruiting and networking by using social media tools because "that's where the people are."

An MP3 player purchased in an Oklahoma City thrift shop was found to have secret US military files, including documents containing the contact information of US soldiers serving in current hotspots.

What many people don't realize is that iPods and other MP3 players are primarily portable storage devices akin to USB thumb drives. When connected to a computer, they can be used to transmit a virus to the computer or to copy files from the computer. Some even show up as with a drive letter in the computer's directory, increasing the chance that sensitive files might be saved to the device accidentally.

 In fact, in NAPBS' accreditation program for employment background screening firms, we required firms seeking accreditation to have specific policies about the use of removable media in the workplace.

Take a walk around your company. How many iPods are lying innocently on desks? How many are actually connected to workplace computers? How many of those computers have access to some sort of sensitive data? What does your policy say?

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In this episode of The Imperative Podcast, Mike interviews Dr. Lee Colan, a researcher and business consultant, and author of nine books including 7 Moments That Define Excellent Leaders and Engaging the Hearts and Minds of All Your Employees: How to Ignite Passionate Performance for Better Business Results.

His best selling book is entitled Sticking to It: The Art of Adherence, which will be the topic of his presentation at the February 4th Mid-Cities HR Association luncheon meeting.

Now that the merger of Wells Fargo and Wachovia is complete, Wells Fargo has decided to terminate 175 Wachovia employees who were previously Wells Fargo employees. They do not meet Well Fargo's employment criteria based upon their history with Wells Fargo, said a spokesman. The 175 employees were less than 10% of the 2,000 former Wells Fargo employees at Wachovia.

Security Management, the monthly publication of ASIS International, has a great primer on what constitutes workplace harassment and how to prevent it. In addition to a number of enlightening anecdotes reflecting the financial cost of harassment lawsuites, facts like this may surprise many supervisors:

In 2001, sexual harassment charges made up 63 percent of all harassment charges filed, while in 2006, sexual harassment charges made up only 52 percent of all harassment charges filed. This trend continued in 2007, when sexual harassment charges made up only 46 percent of all harassment charges. Harassment allegations based on protected characteristics other than sex—such as race, national origin, age, religion, and disability—have increased.

This may be old hat to many HR professionals but, as the article points out, there is still a lot of work to be done in the rank and file. This article (or something very similar) should be a must-read for every new supervisor in your organization.

OK, I'm an HR guy and business owner, not an investment guru. However, I've found that by reading some of the really smart guys who are thought leaders in the investment world (and politics, technology, business, etc.), I can better understand issues facing HR and business owners. One of those thought leaders is John Mauldin. The following is an excerpt from his weekly Thoughts from the Frontline newsletter that explains some of the confusion I've felt when trying to understand recent unemployment numbers. Maybe it will help you, too. Regards, --COFFEY

There are some who see a ray of hope in the recent jobless claims reports, which have dropped back to "only" 467,000 in initial unemployment claims, down from 491,000 for the last week, after being over 500,000 for several weeks. Those numbers are seasonally adjusted. That hope disappears if you look at the actual numbers.

There are bad ideas and then there are REALLY BAD ideas. Yansi.com, which claims to be "the world's leading people search engine" (Ever heard of 'em? I didn't think so), is promoting use of its search engine by "hiring managers to check applicants social status, online identity, and soft references not available from paid financial and criminal background checks." In other words, they want employers to check out applicants' MySpace or Facebook sites before making a hiring decision.

There are a couple significant reasons why this is a REALLY BAD idea.

Our clients are our clients because they see the importance of making a good hire. Past performance predicts future performance and a good background check is an investment. However, what about subsequent behavior outside of the workplace? Should an employer be concerned about the 6,680 hours a year that an employee is not at work?

Yesterday, I saw an outstanding presentation on social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) by online marketing expert Shama Hyder of Click To Client. I'm convinced that social media is going to be a big player in both recruiting and employee communications in the near future and HR pros need to get up to speed on this. Following is an article on Shama's blog related to this issue. (Note my cautionary comment following the article, though.)

How to Hire Star Talent Using Social Media Sites

Also, over at one of my favorite blogs, Fistful of Talent, Jessica Lee ponders the balance between using social media to recruit and then limiting employees' use of the same during working hours. (Note my crotchity old HR guy comment there, as well.)

So You Recruited Me from Facebook, But I'm Not Allowed to Play with Facebook at Work?

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On January 30th, the Mid-Cities HR Association in cooperation with the Fort Worth HR Management Association and North Texas SHRM, will present their second annual Employment Law Symposium titled "What You Need to Know Under the New Administration." Imperative is a proud sponsor of this event again this year.

In this podcast, Mike interviews Michael Layman, the keynote speaker for the symposium. Michael is the Manager of Employment and Labor Legislation for the Society for Human Resources Management and he will be discussing the many federal public policy issues expected to impact human resources professionals in the coming year.

According to the Washington Business Journal, the Department of Homeland Security has postponed the requirement that federal contractors begin using E-Verify by January 15th. Responding to a suit filed by SHRM and other organizations, DHS agreed to delay the requirement for federal contractors until 2/20/2009.

Read more about the E-Verify requirements here.

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In this episode of The Imperative Podcast, Mike interviews Gregg Kronenberger, a partner with Boulette & Golden, an Austin-based law firm. Gregg's legal focus in on labor and employment law issues with public and private employers.

Gregg will be the speaker during the morning session of the Austin Human Resource Management Association's January 15th meeting. He'll be addressing both the ADA Amendments Act and the recent changes to the FMLA regulations.

On Tuesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the regional breakdown of the November employment statistics. Although the nation as a whole saw an increase in unemployment (6.5% in November), the Dallas-Fort Worth area actually saw a net increase of 46,900 nonfarm payroll jobs over the previous year. This was second only in the nation to the Houston area, which added 54,300 jobs in the previous 12 months.

In November, the McAllen, Texas area saw the largest percentage employment increase in the US with a 3.9% increase. They were followed by Grand Junction, Colo. (+3.4 percent), Laredo, Texas (+3.0 percent), and College Station-Bryan, Texas (+2.8 percent). Overall, Texas saw a 2.1% increase in nonfarm payroll jobs.

All in all, Texas continues to weather this recession significantly better than the rest of the United States.

According to an Associated Press article today, cities across the US are considering removing criminal history questions from city employment applications. "Ban the box" or "block the box" initiatives are intended to help former offenders obtain employment. This is a dumb solution to a legitimate problem that will ulitimately negatively impact those ex-offenders who are most likely to succeed.

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In this episode of The Imperative Podcast, Mike interviews Brad Smith, Vice President of Business Development with DBM, Inc., a global transition firm specializing in individual and organization transition. Brad says that the most dangerous conversation a manager can have with an employee is the one that takes place during separation.

Brad will be a speaker at the January 15th Fort Worth Human Resource Management Association luncheon. For more information about the luncheon, visit www.fwhrma.org.

In this Imperative Podcast, Mike and Brad discuss the process for terminating employees. Brad describes how to notify employees about the loss of their jobs in a safe and respectful manner.

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Happy New Year! We're glad to bring you our first podcast of 2009.

In this episode, Mike interviews Julie Ross, a partner with the employment law firm of Lynn, Pham & Ross in Fort Worth. She represents employers and management in both public and private sectors in all aspects of labor and employment law. We hope you'll listen as Julie talks with Mike about upcoming changes with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for 2009.

CareerBuilder.com released their annual job forecast yesterday, and it seems the sun will continue to shine a little brighter in the South in the coming months.

Kathy Rapp, a contributor to one of my favorite HR blogs, Fistful of Talent, questions whether the Dallas Star's indefinite suspension of Sean Avery was appropriate, using the incident as a jumping off point in a broader discussion of performance management. She writes:

Punishments SHOULD fit the crimes - in and outside of corporate America.  Did Sean Avery deserve to be suspended indefinitely and then cut from the team for talking trash about ex-girlfriends....or did he need to face off with his buddies on the ice and let the chips fall where they may?

I don't know if Avery's punishment fit the crime. I suspect however that, as with most performance management issues in more traditional workplaces, Sean Avery's final offense wasn't the whole story.

For the last four years, the National Association of Professional Background Screeners' Accreditation Committee has cussed and discussed, debated and conflagrated, and generally had a lot of fun in the midst of a lot of hard work as we developed what we hope approaches a "gold standard" for the employment background screening industry. In April, we are finally going to roll out the Background Screening Agency Accreditation Program.

The awkwardly-named program establishes a standard against which screening firms can voluntarily be measured. The standard covers issues ranging from data security and consumer protection to legal compliance and sound business practices. Screening firms of all sizes, publicly-traded and privately-held, participated in the process of developing the standard and extensive feedback has been received from the screening industry, legal and privacy experts, as well as a hired expert in establishing and managing accreditation programs.

As a past chair and still active member of the Accreditation Committee, I am proud of the final product that will be rolled out at NAPBS' annual conference in April. It represents the best work of some of the smartest people in our industry. And while the program does not remedy the greatest issue facing our industry, it certainly achieves it's goal of raising the bar for all of us.

Read NAPBS' official press release about the program here.

The Americans with Disabilities Act has caused a lot of confusion since its inception. Specifically, the definition of who is disabled and covered under the law. Effective January 1, 2009, the ADA has been beefed up with an expanded broader defintion of who is covered, among other revisions.

EEOC and OFCCP will be looking at disability accessibility particularly with your web site. At the very least, employers should prominently display an alternate means of accepting applications or applying for a job (paper, mailed, faxes). If the web is the only way that a prospect can apply, be certain it is accessible or that reasonable accommodations can be provided.

Complimentary website reviews are done through the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) http://www.jan.wvu.edu

Visit this site for more information http://www.w3.org/WAI/gettingstarted/Overview.html

Our friend Terri Swain at The HR Consultant shared this information in her monthly newsletter. The HR Consultant is a consulting firm dedicated to helping employers with equal employment opportunity and other employee relations issues. You can reach Terri at (817) 887-8009 or http://www.thehrconsultant.net/.

At today's North Texas SHRM meeting, the incoming president Michele Domes received the Pyramid Award in recognition of her tireless work on behalf of the chapter. That didn't surprise me because Michele, like the rest of the NTSHRM board, is always in go-mode. I'm convinced that the best diet plan in the world is to be on the board of an active SHRM chapter, you'll never get to eat a full meal during a meeting - there's always something to do.

The other recognition North Texas SHRM made today was a surprise to me. I received the HR Professional of the Year award. Outgoing president Kay Schroeder was extremely gracious in her presentation and I was flattered to receive this recognition.

I should point out what a great job Kay has done as president of North Texas SHRM for the past two years. They've put on some of the best employment law conferences and other events I've ever attended.

Patty Revis over at Jobing.com did a nice recap of the meeting.

A few weeks ago, Mike interviewed Audrey Mross about the employment law update she provided to the North Texas SHRM in November.

Audrey has generously provided Imperative with a copy of her presentation. You can download the handouts from Audrey's presentation here.

To hear Mike's interview with Audrey, please click here.

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Mike's guest on this episode of The Imperative Podcast is Bart Castle. He is a principal with the Sapio Group, a human resources consulting firm with a special emphasis on employee productivity and employee performance.

Bart has a unique perspective on the importance of educating employees about their benefits options as well as informing employees on the significance of maintaining a financially responsible lifestyle. He says that an employee's financial wellbeing has a direct impact on employers' bottom line, and in this podcast, he suggests specific things employers should be doing regarding this issue.

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The internet has changed the way companies identify and recruit qualified employees. Sites like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com give recuirters visibility and access to millions of job seekers. Social networking tools like LinkedIn and Facebook are expanding recruiters' network from dozens of people to literally millions. Email, text-messaging, and ever Twitter have put recruiters and candidates in closer contact

One recruiting tool that technology hasn't dramatically changed in the last two decades, though, is the job fair. In this podcast, Mike interviews Brent Arslaner, vice-president of marketing for Unisfair, a company that hopes to drag job fairs into the 21st century. Unisfair delivers what they call "virtual events," including virtual job fairs.

It is the day after Thanksgiving and Imperative is open with a skeleton crew. These are the kinds of days I relish because the phones are silent and I can get caught up on some long-delayed projects. But first, I thought I'd take a moment of personal privilege.

A couple weeks ago, my eldest son, Jacob, and his partner, Grayson, won the Fort Worth ISD's history fair competition in the third-grade group category.

They researched Amelia Earhart and did a fine job. I'm proud of them both for the hard work they put into the project... that they won the competition just makes it sweeter.

Good job, guys!

Investment banks are dropping like flies.  The government has taken over the two largest mortgage loan and loan guarantee companies.  Private-mortgage companies are collapsing.  Overall, the financial weather is pretty dang lousy. 

So what lesson can HR professionals take away from this situation?

Under a Presidential Executive Order that takes effect on January 15, 2009, most federal contractors and subcontractors must begin using the E-Verify system to verify the employment eligibility of new-hires and existing employees.

E-Verify is a free online system developed by the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Correctly implementing E-Verify into new hire practices has proven challenging for many employers but Imperative's clients have additional tools available to make using E-Verify easier.

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In this edition of the Imperative Podcast, Mike Coffey interviews Simon T. Bailey, who will be speaking at Austin Human Resource Management Association on December 18th.

Simon T. Bailey is founder of The Brilliance Institute. He is an internationally known speaker, author, and consultant who inspires individuals to take charge of change and transform their lives from the inside out.

 We announced the release of our study of the problems with Texas DPS' criminal records database late last week. That study is beginning to get some attention. Newspaper and other media outlets across Texas have jumped on the story.

Texas' central criminal records database was found to be missing 36% of the criminal convictions and deferred adjudications included in a study published today by Imperative Information Group. This is the Department of Public Safety criminal records database relied upon by state licensing agencies, employers, youth sports leagues, churches, and a host of other organizations.

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Today, Mike's guest is Colleen Rickenbacher.  Colleen is an expert in business etiquette and trains professionals around the world in minding their p's and q's. 

She is the author of two books: Be On Your Best Business Behavior and Be On Your Best Cultural Behavior.  She has worked with organizations as varied as the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders and Microsoft. 

Colleen will be the luncheon speaker at the Fort Worth Human Resources Management Association's November 20th meeting.

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Mike's guest on today's podcast is Audrey Mross, a shareholder in the law firm of Munck Carter, where she leads the Labor and Employment Law section.  Audrey has been practicing law since 1994 and was a human resources professional for over a decade before that, giving her a unique perspective as she helps her clients deal with their HR-related legal issues.

Audrey will be presenting her annual employment law update during the North Texas SHRM chapter's November 18th luncheon in Denton, Texas.

A few months back, Jobing.com asked Mike to talk about background checks and the background investigations industry.  They also asked Mike to provide advice to individuals who are currently seeking jobs but may have questions about the application process and how it relates to background checks.

Jobing.com split Mike's interview into a small collection of videos and posted them on their website.  Below is a list of those vides.   

Enjoy!

A lot has been written recently about the Millenium generation. Today, Imperative's marketing kid (they hate it when you call 'em that), Micah Taylor offers his take on his generation. Yikes! --COFFEY

A recent Wall Street Journal article discusses a new challenge faced by HR professionals: hiring "trophy kids"...or millennials.  Who are the millennials?  They are individuals born between the years 1980 and 2001, and I'm one of them. 

The author of the WSJ article describes my generation as one having a strong sense of entitlement with great (or extreme) expectations.  He says we're "highly opinionated and fearlessly challenge recruiters and bosses."  The primary point made in the article is that companies who are determined to compete for top talent "must bend a bit and adapt to the millennial generation."  And according to Diana Meisenhelter, a principal with Riviera Advisors and the guest on Imperative's most recent podcast, he's right.

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This week's podcast features Mike's interview of Diana Meisenhelter of Riviera Advisors, a human resource consulting firm. 

Diana has over 20 years experience in corporate staffing and recruiting.  Prior to her role at Riviera Advisors, Diana held the position of Vice President of Staffing and Talent Acquisition for Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, and prior to that she was Director of Worldwide Recruitment for Westin Hotels & Resorts.  Additionally, Diana is on the board of directors for the DFW Staffing Management Association.

Good Morning Silicon Valley, one of my favorite blogs, included the following quote from Apple's CEO Steve Jobs in an article yesterday.

On the possibility of Apple competing on the cheaper end of the computer markets: "There are some customers which we chose not to serve. We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk, and our DNA will not let us ship that. But we can continue to deliver greater and greater value to those customers that we choose to serve. And there's a lot of them."

Even though I use a Dell laptop and don't own a black turtleneck, maybe great minds sometimes think alike?

According to an online article on the ABC News website today, "a review of court records by ABC News found dozens of lawsuits, on behalf of hundreds of people, filed in the last two years against the major criminal records database companies, alleging that background checks contain inaccurate information about criminal convictions."