Dear SafetyXChange Members:

I hope you're all having a great holiday season. Enjoy the parties and the shopping but remember that this is also a great time of year for networking and advancing your career. Here are a couple of items to help you out.

Holiday Reading

Time Inc. is playing Santa Claus this year. At least for you career builders out there. I urge you to take a few moments out from your holiday rush to visit the FORTUNE website. There you will find some excellent insight on leadership. It's all found in a feature called Tools for Success. The source of the advice isn't staff writers but successful business executives who share the secrets of their success. In particular, you should check out:

• The Education of Andy Grove by Andy Grove's biographer who claims Grove is the best model we have for leading a business in the 21st century.
• Ten Top Leaders Tell Their Secrets takes us beyond Grove to success snippets by today's bosses.
• Advice From the Master - edited excerpts from Peter Drucker's 1967 FORTUNE article adapted from his book of the same name.

Holiday Greetings

If you're planning to send out any important e-mail communications, such as a list of accomplishments to your boss or cover letters to prospective employers, keep these points in mind:

1. Always spell check your e-mail. Outlook E-mail and many other browser- based e-mail programs now offer spell check- learn how to use it and make it a ritual before you hit the send button.
2. Proofreading is critical because spell check does not catch many nasty bloopers. Write your e-mail in a Word document with the spell checker function activated. Print the document. Slowly read the note out loud looking at every word with the question in the back of your mind - is this conveying my meaning? When the message is ready, cut and paste it into the body of an e-mail form and send it.
3. If it's a first impression - first contact e-mail - send it to a friend first and ask for constructive feedback.

If you are not familiar with e-mail etiquette and would like to learn some tips for e-mail presentation check out these two web resources that provide guidance in the use of e-mail: www.writerswrite.com/journal/dec99/pirillo1.htm
www.iwillfollow.com/email.htm.

Wishing you holiday cheer and career success,

Lauryn Franzoni
ExecuNet
www.execunet.com

POISON DARTS

Lethal Interview Questions & How to Handle Them

Question: What's your greatest weakness?

Wrong: Denying that you have any weaknesses. Everybody has weaknesses. Employers aren't looking for perfection in a candidate but a mature individual with the capacity for self-evaluation.

Wrong: A candid assessment of a weakness that would cast significant doubt on your capacity to perform the job effectively. Examples:

• "I can be hard to work with."
• "I'm a little disorganized."
• "I sometimes have a hard time establishing priorities and handling multiple assignments."
• "I'm a control freak."

Right:

Option 1: Describe a strength as a weakness or spin an actual weakness so that it makes your candidacy more attractive: Examples:

• "I'm a workaholic."
• "I set high standards for myself and others."
• "I'm not willing to put my own interests in front of the company's."

Option 2: Describe an actual weakness that you have or are in the process of overcoming. Explain how you recognized the weakness and what efforts you made to work through it.

THIS DATE IN HISTORY

1960 mid-air collision kills 136 but leads to improvements in air safety.

December 16, 1960

A United Airlines DC-8 and a TWA Super Constellation collide in mid-air over Brooklyn, NY, killing all 128 on board the aircraft and 8 on the ground. Pilot error by the United plane is found to be the cause. Both planes had been ordered to enter a holding pattern at the same altitude. But the United plane overshot its pattern and got in the way of the TWA plane.

A year later, in response to the incident, President Kennedy orders the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate the nation's air traffic control system. Project Beacon makes recommendations that lead to significant improvements in air traffic safety.

CORRECTION

Sorry, Mr. Lowrie

In last Wednesday's article about preventing workers' compensation fraud, one of the suggestions was to communicate with your employees up front. This was a valuable suggestion and we wanted to acknowledge that it came from John Lowrie of NW Pasta. We've reprinted the note below.

Glenn Demby
Editor-in-Chief
SafetyXChange

Communicate Up Front. . .

My experience with preventing "fake injuries" among our employees is to be very "up front" with this situation. Hoping these types of "injuries" won't happen if we don't bring the subject up with our employees, simply doesn't work.

We train people during orientation and again throughout the year that no-one likes to be injured and that our goal is "zero injuries." But, if one is injured they are to report it immediately. We emphatically state that the primary reason for prompt reporting is to conduct a prompt investigation so that we can prevent its recurrence. Also, we manage a very effective Behavioral Safety Observation Program, where leadership and hourly employees document observations of employees performing their normal job duties. The entire culture revolves around performing tasks safely. As a result of leading this Safety Culture, we have experienced a 67% reduction in injuries and subsequent Workers' Compensation costs this first year at the new company I am presently working with. I can also honestly say that this proactive approach of activities and communication, UP FRONT, has always been just as successful in my prior experiences, spanning the past 25 years.

John Lowrie
NW Pasta

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