How to Manage Change At Work

How To Manage Change At Work
(by Sean McPheat)

In this article you will learn how to manage change in the workplace. To learn more read on

Let's face it - organizations either accept that change is a good thing or they die!!!

I know that's a little heavy but it is so true.

I must admit that I am amazed and astonished at the amount of anti-change attitudes that we hear around the country when delivering training - not necessarily associated with the delegates themselves but some of the anti-change stories that we hear from them would make your hair stand up on end!

If it is your job to manage change you do not need me to tell you that it is a tough job.

This leads me nicely into this edition's quick tip!

A trainer of mine was delivering a Change Management Course when a delegate asked the following question:

"How can I sell what change will mean to my team? What can I say to them to make them aware of the opportunities that change will bring?"

We were having a coffee together the other day when my trainer told me of this question that was asked - I thought to myself it was just the ticket for a Quick Tips newsletter!

Here are some selling points of what the individual will miss out on if we do not change as a company:

1. "You'll miss out on the potential for career opportunities with the new organization. Your company is looking for forward thinking employees who can embrace change. We all know what happened to Dinosaurs! You have the opportunity to be viewed as a valuable contributor and one who will have a place in the organization and make a difference".

2. "You'll miss out on the chance to learn new skills and behaviors which will enable you to progress through the ranks a lot quicker - they will even make you more marketable to the outside world. Who would you rather employ? A person who has gone through and experience a lot of forward thinking change or someone who has stood still for the past 10 years? Get used to feeling a little incompetent and confused for a time in order to learn new skills which will help you in the future".

3. "You'll get smarter. There is scientific proof that changing our patterns and ways of doing things creates new neural pathways which make you smarter".

4. "You'll miss out on the opportunity to expand your network and your ability to develop new relationships. Keep in mind, it's not what you know but who you know that matters".

5. "You'll miss out on the possibility of shaping your destiny and reality. If you get on board quickly with the changes, you may be able to create a need and select employees to help you fill the need. Be purposeful as you explore your options".

6. "If you are going to have a whinge, whinge with a purpose! Give constructive criticism and provide specific recommendations for how to make the changes work rather than just having a moaning session about them".

7. "Become informed. Learn all you can about the proposed changes. What do they mean? How will it be carried out? When? Make sure that YOU know all of the facts. Don't find out what is happening through the company grapevine - make sure you have found out yourself".

8. "No matter how pro or anti change you are - CHANGE WILL HAPPEN. So it's best to accept this fact rather than keep on banging your head against a brick wall. Give it a go".

9. "Learn to control the controllables. With regards to the change, what can YOU manage? What can YOU control and what things do you have NO CONTROL over whatsoever? List these down and make a plan of action of how you can deal with each. And the uncontrollables? Well, you have the choice - you can either "Let them go and accept that you can do nothing about them" or you can drive yourself completely nuts and try to drive 200mph with the handbrake on!"

10. "Nothing is as EVER as bad as it first seems".

How to Maximize Employee Performance While Minimizing Employee Stress !!

Many managers and business owners mistakenly fear that reducing employee stress requires reducing productivity or creating a "country club" atmosphere, which in today's marketplace could be fatal. Nothing could be further from the truth; in fact, the opposite is true.

When organizations manage in ways that bring out the best in people, they also reduce employee stress. That's why most of Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" are industry leaders and enjoy high employee productivity. Employees in these companies are both happy and extremely productive.

The key to maximizing productivity while minimizing stress is understanding the factors that influence whether someone working very hard will feel stressed out and burnt out, or whether they will feel motivated, excited, and committed. Scientific research on stress, combined with best practices of high performance companies offers clear clues about the key factors that determine whether employees will be stressed out or energized by workplace demands.

To Maximize Employee Productivity And Performance, Organizations Can:

Give Employees As Much Control Over Their Jobs As Possible - Research shows that control is the biggest factor in whether people feel stressed out or invigorated when facing a challenge. The more control people have over their work, the greater their job satisfaction, the higher their work quality, and the lower their stress level. Giving employees control includes giving them the power to make job-related decisions, the flexibility to organize their work in the way they find optimal, and the authority to find make improvements on how their job is done. Making this work requires providing employees with the training, coaching, and information they need to make intelligent decisions.

Communicate Clearly and Often About Everything Important - One of the greatest sources of employee stress is not knowing - not knowing about changes taking place in the company, not knowing their supervisor's job and performance expectations, and not knowing if they are doing a good job. Communicating clearly in these areas not only reduces employee stress, it also helps them do a far better job.

Talk With Your Employees About What Makes Your Company Great, How You Bring Value To Your Customers, and How Your Employees Make That Possible - People want to feel part of something great, and they want to feel that they are making a significant contribution to that greatness. When they feel this way, they not only become energized by challenges, they're also more able to endure difficulties without becoming burnt out. You can put this principle into action by making sure you always deliver a high quality product or service, by talking with employees about the value your company provides to your customers, and explaining how them doing high quality work makes it all possible.

Make Sure Supervisors Know How to Bring Out the Best in People - Supervisors play a huge role in employee morale, performance, and stress level. Supervisors who know how to provide guidance, support, and encouragement minimize employee stress. Supervisors with poor management skills or with personal problems, not only can't help employees deal with stressful times, they themselves are a tremendous source of stress. The time and financial resources you invest in selecting and training managers will pay huge dividends in reducing employee stress, increasing productivity, and minimizing turnover.

Encourage Employees to Talk Freely and Support One Another - An "all work and no play" environment burns out people quickly. Having a workplace where co-workers can talk without worrying about getting into trouble, is especially important in high pressure jobs. Encouraging connections among co-workers also reduces stress ,because having social support reduces the negative effects of stressful situations. According to a large body of scientific research, having supportive friends and family members is one of the most important factors influencing a person's ability to handle stress and major life crises without becoming physically or emotionally compromised.

Help Employees Design Their Jobs To Be As Rewarding As Possible - Although not all jobs are equally rewarding and fulfilling, much can be done to make even the least desirable ones more enjoyable. The more opportunity employees have to make decisions, use their mind, and take responsibility, the more fulfilled they will be. To make this work, employees need to be involved in the job enrichment process. If changes are made without their input, this will most likely backfire. If employees have worked for years in an environment where they were told what to do, it might take time for them to learn how to take a more responsible and active approach to their jobs.

Improve Your Hiring and Orientation Process - Because the first few months on the job are often the most stressful, new employees are often the most vulnerable to accidents and injuries. For companies that have a "sink or swim" approach to new employees, these first few months are also a time of high turnover. The more effective your hiring, new hire orientation, and training is, the more likely new employees will be well-suited, and prepared, for their jobs.

Make Sure Employees Have the Resources and Training to Do Their Jobs Well - When people feel inadequate, when they feel ill-equipped to handle a challenge, they get stressed out. If employees don't have the tools, technology, time, staff, or training to do their job's well, they are going to be stressed out, and won't be able to work at their true potential. Investing in these areas pays huge dividends both in terms of reduced stress-related costs, and in increased productivity.

By David Lee

The Value of Hiring from Within the Company

The Value of Hiring from Within the Company

When the time comes to fill an open position within your company, one of the most cost-effective and practical methods you can use is to hire a candidate from within the current employee pool. In many cases, there are employees already working for you who are well qualified to fill your new employment openings. Look around — the perfect person for the job may be right before your eyes!

You can start by making sure to communicate with your entire staff when a position is opening up, and let people know that the company is open to considering current employees for the position. Depending on the size of your business, you can ask the HR department to review the skills and qualifications of people who are already employed by the company to see if there are "hidden talents" among the staff.

Existing employees generally require less training that new hires do, and a current employee brings a wealth of company experience and knowledge to the job. Hiring a current employee ensures that your "new hire" will already be familiar with the company's policies and business goals. In addition, hiring from within the company can save you a good deal of money just on recruiting costs alone.

When a company hires from within, it has the advantage of being familiar with the employee. Having already evaluated the person's strengths and weaknesses while on the job (and having observed him or her in action over the years), employers are in a better position to know if the employee will be a good fit or not. When hiring from outside the company, however, there is always the risk that someone who appears ideal during the interviewing process will prove a poor fit once on the job.

If the employee is looking for a position that is a step up from his or her current one but still in the same department or general area, the switch will be a relatively painless one. If an employee is looking to make a more significant change — changing the course of their career path by switching to a completely different department and different type of job, for example — then while there may be a learning curve to deal with during the transition, you illustrate your company's commitment to employee development by allowing your staff member to learn while on the job.

A company that demonstrates a policy of hiring from within also fosters greater employee loyalty, which can have concrete benefits throughout the company. Employees at all levels are more likely to challenge themselves when they know that there is potential for future job advancement within the firm. This means a lower employee turnover rate and a higher job-satisfaction rate, both of which are always good for business.

[Source: AllBusiness.com]

Negotiating When the Rules Suddenly Change

Negotiating When the Rules Suddenly Change

by Michael Wheeler

How can you negotiate when the rules suddenly change, and no one knows whether your particular market is headed up or down? Regrouping from the cancellation of the 2004-2005 season due to failed labor negotiations, National Hockey League (NHL) teams and players faced this challenge in July 2005 when they radically restructured their collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The new CBA instituted a uniform cap (as well as a floor) on team payrolls. It also set maximums and minimums for individual contracts and declared many more players free agents, allowing them to sign with whatever team made the richest offer.

Imagine that you're an NHL general manager. You have a month, at most, to fill your team's roster before training camp begins. What's your strategy? If you expect that your rivals will go on a spree and overspend for big-name players, it would be smart to sit back, protect your budget, and then scoop up the excess talent. But if the other owners move cautiously in this new terrain, it would be in your interest to aggressively sign stars before the market heats up.

Either strategy carries risks. You wouldn't want to blow your budget on a few marquee players and have little left to round out the team. Then again, there's no point in holding lots of cash with no one worthwhile to spend it on.

Conventional negotiation theory doesn't say much about how to craft and execute strategy in such dynamic markets. Assessing your walkaway point is useful in stable situations but less helpful if you don't know whether your options will get better or worse.

It pays to look for strategic insight from contexts where uncertainty, risk, and change are the only constants. Military science, in particular, offers powerful lessons for negotiators, whether they are settling disputes or making deals. As it says in Warfighting: The U.S. Marine Corps Book of Strategy (Currency, 1995), "The very nature of war makes certainty impossible; all actions in war will be based on incomplete, inaccurate, or even contradictory information."

Many negotiation scholars have shied away from drawing parallels to battlefield strategy, due to its associations with violence and brute force. In fact, contemporary theory of maneuver warfare is surprisingly nuanced and supple. Three axioms apply to negotiators who must cope in volatile environments: (1) make a bump plan, (2) be bold and quick, and (3) learn and adapt.

Axiom #1: Make a bump plan

Military strategist Carl von Clausewitz coined the term friction, "the force that makes the apparently easy so difficult." Friction doesn't just refer to adverse weather or enemy fire. It can also be mental and self-induced, resulting from the "lack of a clearly defined goal, lack of coordination, unclear or complicated plans," and other signs of ill preparation, according to Marine doctrine.

Mental and organizational friction infiltrates negotiation as well. When the stakes rise, so do tension and miscommunication. Totally eliminating friction is unrealistic on the battlefield and at the bargaining table. In both instances, you need the authority and the emotional steadiness to cope in spite of uncertainty.

Strategy is further complicated by the fact that the other parties are independent actors with their own objectives and plans. While you're striving to influence their behavior, they're just as determined to shape your decisions to their advantage. According to Warfighting, appreciating this dynamic interplay between opposing human wills is an essential factor in understanding the nature of war.

When formulating negotiation strategy, strive to view the landscape as other parties see it. Returning to our hockey example, the NHL general managers had to work on at least three different levels as they raced to sign players. They had to assess a particular player's value to their own team and what other clubs would be likely to pay him. They also had to weigh what sort of precedent, good or bad, that deal would set for the other players they were trying to sign. Finally, they had to anticipate how their moves would affect the decisions of competing teams.

Friction was high in each of those domains. Confidential information about contract talks was sometimes leaked to the press. Key players who seemed ready to sign with one team suddenly bolted to another. Some general managers gave fat contracts to players long past their prime. Each transaction altered the overall negotiation landscape.

In rapidly changing marketplaces, you can't provide for every contingency. But you can take a page from Marine Corps practice and develop bump plans. Rather than mapping out every possibility, commanders practice a form of analytic triage by focusing on two negative possibilities, discarding almost everything else. The first element is anticipating the enemy's most likely course of action. The second is preparing for the biggest, most damaging risks by identifying the greatest threats to success.

Translated to the negotiation arena, creating a bump plan means ultimately making an informed bet on how you expect things to unfold, while also contemplating what you'll do if events go the other way. A hockey general manager who values premier goaltending should identify a handful of potential players. But in case he gets stymied with all of them, he should be open to assembling a team that's more offensively oriented.

Axiom #2: Be bold and quick

When the rules of negotiation have changed drastically, should you be bold or cautious? As a general principle, the Marines have a bias for action. For them, a mediocre decision is better than wavering. Applied to negotiation, being proactive allows a firsthand reading of the market and gives you a key role in shaping how the game evolves.

As soon as the new CBA was in place, some NHL general managers moved quickly to buy out the existing contracts of some of their older players. Having read the agreement's small print, they realized that, for only six days in July 2005, such buyouts would not be counted toward the annual salary cap. By freeing up their budgets, they put themselves in a great position to aggressively pursue prime talent.

Boldness and quickness go hand in hand on the battlefield. As Warfighting states, "Since war is fluid and opportunities fleeting, focus applies to time as well as to space. We must focus not only at the decisive location but also at the decisive moment."

Timing is just as important in negotiation. In volatile situations, you and your organization must be poised to act quickly. But don't confuse quickness with frenzy. In the heat of the moment, it's easy to bicker over minor points and lose sight of larger objectives. NHL general managers who tried to play a central role in all contract talks likely were swamped with information and misallocated their time. Those who were willing to delegate would have been better positioned to see the big picture.

Individuals and organizations should operate at a high tempo but not one so fast that they compromise their strategic judgment or tactical execution. Having a metric in place that rates your priorities and weighs tradeoffs will enable you to make good decisions on the fly.

Axiom #3: Learn and adapt

Bolstering your capacity to sense and respond is key to prospering in turbulent situations. It's also at the heart of maneuver strategy in the military. Much of the best contemporary thinking in this realm was advanced by the late Colonel John Boyd, a Pentagon maverick. His decision-making model has become influential in the United States and abroad, in fields as diverse as consumer marketing and college rugby.

Boyd's animating insight sprang from his study of Korean War air battles between American F-86s and Soviet Union-made MiG-15s. Although the Soviet plane could accelerate faster, was better armed, and could perform better at higher altitudes, the F-86s won 90 percent of the encounters.

Boyd attributed the success of the American F-86 to two factors. First, the F-86 had hydraulic controls that allowed it to transition between activities—climbing, banking, and accelerating—more rapidly than the MiG-15. Second, the F-86 had a bubble canopy that gave pilots unobstructed views from all angles—this meant that the pilots had superior situational awareness, enabling faster decision making. Each maneuver increased the F-86's edge over its opponent until it cumulatively achieved a dominant position.

From this example, Boyd conceived of the OODA loop—the repeated process of observing, orienting, deciding, and acting. He concluded that tactical and strategic victory hinges on cycling through this loop faster than the enemy (or by disrupting the enemy's ability to connect those activities efficiently).

The first two elements—observing and orienting—are especially important for negotiators thrust into new environments. Your strategy must be driven not only by your goals but also by what you will learn while achieving them. Thus, negotiating with an individual NHL player has dual purposes: getting him signed and gaining a better feel for what other teams and players are doing. Faxed exchanges of offers might accomplish the former but yield little general intelligence. Your eyes and ears have to be open for clues about where the overall market is headed.

The more novel the circumstances, the more important situational awareness becomes for the negotiator. You need the capacity to organize and analyze data as it comes in so that you can confirm or reorient your strategy, if necessary. That way, you can align your tactical decisions with your larger objectives. The more efficiently you manage this process, the more up to date you'll be on current conditions. Cycling through these loops of analysis and action faster than other negotiators will give you a significant edge.

[Source : HBS Working Knowledge / Published: September 11, 2006.]

Turn Problems into Power and Potential !!

"The things which hurt, instruct."
-- Benjamin Franklin

How do you respond to the problems that continually surface in your life?

If you're like most people, you feel victimized. Moaning "Poor me," we get angry, impatient, depressed and stuck. We think problems spoil what life OUGHT to be. And we do whatever we can to avoid the pain.

For those of us on a spiritual path, problems and blocks are precious gifts that open the door to deeper self-knowledge. Through them, we can identify and release the unconscious fears and negative beliefs that hold us back from higher consciousness.

So what are problems or blocks? From a spiritual perspective, they block the natural flow of energy through our being, creating stress and pain. Operating in the mental, emotional and physical realms, they indicate that something within us is out of alignment with the true nature of who we are - our spiritual nature.

Problems involve two different aspects of our human make-up:

Much of our behaviour is governed by our subconscious mind according to our beliefs and habitual patterns and reactions. Unfortunately, we are generally unconscious of the beliefs that sabotage the best intentions of our conscious mind.

We also have both a personality governed by our ego and a higher mind or soul. We see the soul as a unique _expression of the divine that bridges our individual physical being with the almighty power, whatever you understand that to be. As human beings, we all have some understanding of our personalities. Most of us, though, have a limited awareness of our souls.

When we are willing to face and work through our problems, we become conscious of what is now unconscious in us. We begin to see our shadow side, the dark and unknown parts of our psyche that reside in our subconscious mind. We begin to see the beliefs, misinformation and defence mechanisms we carry that no longer serve us.

We also become aware of the divine side of our nature for at the root of every block lies a soul quality seeking _expression. Our ultimate aim is to embrace the opposing forces within us, the "bad" and the "good," and bring them together in wholeness. This is transformation.

From the spiritual perspective, blocks offer our best and perhaps our only path to growth. Paradoxically, we can only get to the positive through the negative. Like it or not, pain gets our attention. Pain also challenges the ego's perception that it is in complete control of life. If we want to be rid of the pain, we must do the work that leads us to greater consciousness.

So there are great blessings in problems. Our troubles come to us for good reasons -- to invite us to connect with our souls and to learn more about who we are. And we are wise to accept the invitation. If we deny the pain and strive to avoid it, the problems will keep on coming, and they'll be even more painful.

Our lives change when we become conscious that every experience of resistance and fear has meaning and purpose. Working purposefully through our problems helps us become whole and healthy. Through them, we awaken to and can genuinely express new and more powerful aspects of ourselves.

"In school you get the lesson and then take the test...

In life you take the test and then get the lesson."

Patrice Steen and John Robson

The Art of Contract Negotiation Technique !!

How to contract negotiation technique: get your point across while respecting the boundries of others.

In the art of negotiation, whether it is business or personal requires planning and execution. Unlike toddlers, who negotiate by crying and rolling around on the floor, adults need to employ a different skill set to get their point across. The following are some tips for successful negotiation. Before the meeting be well rested and well fed- also visit the restroom before “entering the arena” as you don’t want a nature call to have you leave the room or adjourn the meeting early. Wear comfortable, yet appropriate clothing- the commercial _expression “don’t let them see you sweat” is never more applicable. A tight collar and or tie or a skirt that is being hitched or hiked that will cause you to fidget will detract from your image. Focus on issues, not personalities- if you have to deal with persons you don’t like (or those you do like) it is tempting to let your thoughts about that person influence your behavior. Focusing on your goal and treating everyone as an equal will help matters become resolved in your favor. By treating all fairly you will avoid simmering about grudges or worrying about feelings, which can be an obstacle in your success. Speak in supportive statements- Attach credibility to your statements by speaking in facts not feelings. Avoid sentences beginning with “I think” “I feel” or “In my opinion”. When stating facts, be prepared to quote your sources and elaborate or deflect questions meant to deflate your position. Being armed with facts stands up better than trying to justify feelings. Listen (with more than your ears)- Listen for audible content but also watch the body language. Are your opponents sitting with an “open” body posture or are their arms tightly folded across their chest? Are they scratching their nose often in disbelief? Are they looking down or are they engaging you with their eyes in a game of “blink” to establish who is boss? Find points of agreement to build on- pick up points that you agree upon and incorporate them into your presentation. An example would be “I agree with you on the importance of XYZ, and this is how the implementation of PDQ can benefit XYZ". Choose your battles wisely and place some “decoy” items on the table- a trick popular with attorneys is to ask for much more than you want so that you can “sacrifice” superfluous or unreasonable items to gain ground for the important issues. Compromise with care on items important to you. Weigh carefully whether holding out will be in your best interest. Sometimes a speedy resolution isn’t the best. Take minutes- Have someone tape or take minutes so that all that has been said is recorded. Reiterate that your responsibility will be and that you will execute your part right away. If in a business meeting you can end by saying “I will have this in a memo to distribute this afternoon” or “I will make the necessary phone calls to get this rolling right away”. If contracts are involved, have them ready on the spot or as soon as possible to get a signature to what has been agreed. Although most contracts have a “cooling off” period of three days or so, getting a written commitment to your settlement brings you that much closer to your goal. End on a positive note - Shake hands and smile. A smile shows friendliness and confidence and that you are a great person to do business with, even if everyone in the room wasn’t altogether pleased with the outcome. Conversely, if you did not get all you wanted, don’t appear a bad sport. Focus on your “wins” and play down the losses. Take honest notes to yourself on your tactics and see how you can improve for next time.

Written by Virginia Franco

Best Practices in Interviewing

Best Practices in Interviewing

by Mike Poskey

We all know how litigious our society has become in the area of employment-related issues. Every recruiter, hiring manager, executive and department manager must realize that asking the wrong interview questions or making improper inquiries can lead to discrimination or wrongful-discharge lawsuits - and these suits can be won or lost based on statements made during the interview process.

Thus, it is important to incorporate risk management into your organization's interviewing process to help minimize exposure to employment-practices liability.

In addition to questions that might indicate discrimination or bias - such as asking a female applicant detailed questions about her husband, children and family plans or asking an older applicant about his or her ability to take instructions from younger supervisors - it is also possible that the interviewing process could include the offering of assurances or promises that could be interpreted as binding contracts - such as describing the job using terms such as "permanent," "career job opportunity" or "long term."

Because most companies have at least two people responsible for interviewing and hiring applicants, it's critical for HR leaders to create procedures to ensure consistency. Therefore, develop interviewing forms containing criteria to serve as checklists.

This will ensure consistency among interviewers as well as create documentation in the event a discrimination charge is later filed by an unsuccessful applicant.

Illegal Interview Questions

The following are examples of rather simple and seemingly non-threatening interview questions that should be avoided in interviews because they may be alleged to show illegal bias.

a) Are you a U.S. citizen? (adversely impacts national origin)

b) Do you have a visual, speech or hearing disability?

c) Are you planning to have a family? When?

d) Have you ever filed a workers' compensation claim?

e) How many days of work did you miss last year due to illness?

f) What off-the-job activities do you participate in?

g) Would you have a problem working with a female partner?

h) Where did you grow up?

i) Do you have children? How old are they?

j) What year did you graduate from high school? (reveals age)

Companies that use best practices in interviewing and that are extremely effective in consistently hiring top performers, use customized or standard behavioral-based interview guides with interview questions to remain consistent in their line of questioning.

These companies conduct job-analysis audits for every position within their companies to objectively identify the competencies, behaviors, thinking and decision-making styles, as well as the technical skills that are common among their top performers and required for the positions in question.

This process - via interviews, surveys, and testing (both hard skills and soft skills) - establishes hiring "benchmarks" or interviewing "guides" for their executives, department managers and hiring managers to follow.

Here are a few examples of legally defensible behavioral interview questions that will assist in uncovering core competencies:

a) What has been a particularly demanding goal for you to achieve? (This interview question taps into the candidate's achievement orientation and requires them to explain the obstacle and their thought process and actions to overcoming the obstacle.)

b) Can you think of a situation in which an innovative course of action was needed? What did you do in this situation? (This interview question allows you to uncover whether the candidate can develop innovative solutions to work-related problems, and identify potential opportunities and ways to capitalize on them.)

c) What are the typical customer interactions you have in your present position? Can you think of a recent example of one of these? (This interview question focuses on the candidate's customer-service orientation.)

d) Have you ever been in a situation where you have had to take on new tasks or roles? Describe this situation and what you did. (This interview question allows you to probe into the candidate's degree of flexibility.)

e) In your present position, what standards have you set for doing a good job? How did you determine them? (This interview question allows you to uncover if the candidate has high work standards.)

Conducting a job-analysis audit to objectively identify the core competencies required for a given job and then customizing a list of behavioral-based interview questions can significantly reduce an organization's exposure to employment-practices claims and increase the potential for hiring top performers.

[About the Author: Mike is Vice President of ZERORISK HR, Inc., a Dallas-based human resources risk management firm and exclusive provider of ZERORISK Hiring System.]