Remember the first few days you spent in your current position? No doubt you took extra care to make a good first impression. But are you paying the same careful attention now, when you hire a new employee? First impressions go a long way toward establishing mutual feelings of trust and respect in the work place. Of course, it's tough for a smaller business to establish a formal orientation program. But the way you welcome someone into your organization could make all the difference in terms of retention.

In fact, employee retention will continue to be a hot issue for the foreseeable future. With the unemployment rate still well below five percent in our region, qualified employees may be tempted to explore new possibilities.

Of course, one simple way to keep your people on board is to give them more money, right? Well, despite that piece of conventional wisdom, the key to retention for many employees may have little to do with higher pay. In a recent survey, the popular Web site salary.com found that nearly 40 percent of respondents would take more time off in place of a $5,000 raise. That's something to ponder before you sit down for annual performance reviews this year.
(With the recent bout of snow and cold weather, we'd all like to have a few extra days off. I'll take mine in the Bahamas …)

As always, I'd love to hear from you. If you have a comment or question, feel free to email me with your feedback.

Sincerely, Ann Gdovin-Hake

Articles of interest for February 2005...

Dr. Temp - We all know that temporary employees have helped support the medical field for years. But there may be a new trend coming to a hospital or medical practice near you: physicians who work as temps. Their numbers have nearly quadrupled since 1987, according to a recent study. It turns out some docs "just don't want to work 50 to 70 hours a week."

Read more ...
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php
?newsid=18800

Email etiquette - It seems like we've been using email for forever. But, no matter how plugged in we are, we all could use some tips on keeping our business emails more businesslike. Ever forward jokes or "chain" emails? Well, stop. And remember: USING CAPITALS IS LIKE YELLING!

Read more ...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/39727.html

Listen up, all you early birds. 2004 brought a few changes to an already confusing U.S. tax code. For those of you getting a jump-start on your return, here's a guide to some recent tweaks:
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=130215,00.html

Confused by the options presented by your staffing agency? Here's a handy glossary of the terms and programs that we use to match employers and employees:
http://www.gdovin.com/jobseekers/employmentprograms.php

• More than half of employees, or 52%, think that organizations have the right to monitor the use of cell phones in the work place, according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management and CareerJournal.com.
• According to the same study, 23% of employees agreed that organizations have the right to search employee desks and offices. (I guess these are the folks who keep a clean work area …)
• The unemployment rate in York County hovered at 4.2% in November, the same level as October. However, there were 100 fewer people looking for work.
• Where's the economic growth? Healthcare. Overall spending in the health-care sector picked up during the first half of 2004, according to the Center for the Study of Health System Change. After the rate of growth slowed during 2002 and 2003, spending increased by a robust rate of 7.5% between January and June 2004 - far higher than the overall rate of inflation.

The Center for Cosmetic Dermatology, a division of Dermatology Associates of York, is a medically supervised skin care center featuring aesthetic and medical skin care treatments. The Center's professional staff performs procedures that combat damage from chronic sun exposure, weather, age, and lifestyle.

"There has been an obvious need for genuine, quality cosmetic skin care in the York area for some time," explains Dr. Ira Berman, a dermatologist who established the Center during the summer of 2004 with his longtime partners, Dr. Steven Caplan and Dr. John Stoner. "As dermatologists and York's skin experts, we bring a level of care and treatment unmatched by other establishments. This expertise enables us to combine the best of traditional modalities with the newest, proven medical skin-care services to help everyone be their absolute best."

The Center, located on St. Charles Way in York Township, works with men and women of all ages. Popular procedures include physician-performed injections of Botox Cosmetic, Restylane, and Collagen. The Center also offers laser vein removal and hair reduction along with medically focused treatments for anti-aging, acne, rosacea, and hyperpigmentation.

The Center for Cosmetic Dermatology also offers skin renewal therapies such as microdermabrasion, medical peels, and laser photo rejuvenation. Clients also have access to exclusive medical-grade skin-care products, complimentary skin assessments, signature facial treatments, and airbrush sunless tanning.

Gdovin Personnel is proud to have helped staff this exciting new practice, placing three employees: Operations Director Ladye Main, Receptionist Jessica Hagens, and Aesthetician Nicole Clifford.