Employer taxes are on the rise again — and the expected result is deeper cuts into benefits and comp budgets.

What’s happening? Due to high jobless rates, states’ unemployment funds are drying up. And to replenish the coffers, several states are raising employer taxes.

36 states will get hit

In total, businesses in 36 states are getting slapped with a higher tax bill.

The lucky ones will end up paying only a few dollars more per worker. Others will pay nearly $1,000 more.

The impact on benefits, comp

By taking more money from employers’ payroll budgets, economists predict this will spell even more trouble for employee compensation and benefit levels.

Some even fear that the hikes will contribute to further joblessness.

Where — and how much

Here’s what some states are getting hit with:

• the average tax for businesses in Pennsylvania will increase to $432 per worker (up from $384)
• Virginia employers will pay $171 per worker (up from $95), and
• employers in Hawaii face a gigantic increase to $1,070 per worker (up from $90 per worker).

More bad news: You don’t have to be in a state where the unemployment fund’s gone bankrupt to see an increase.

Even employers in states where unemployment funds are still in the black face tax hikes.

Example: Texas has increased the average tax on employers to $165 per worker (up from $89).

1. How much time will the training take?

If you have an array of topics to cover, it’s best to only cover one or two per session to avoid overloading employees with too much info.

Tip: Set aside time at the end of each session so that employees can ask questions that’ll help the info sink in.

2. Should I create small groups or one-size-fits-all sessions?

It’s rare to find one type of training that’ll work for everyone.

When deciding between small sessions or larger ones, it’s important to keep in mind that smaller, more intimate sessions tend to help people connect better.

3. What type of medium should I use?

Not sure whether to go with a PowerPoint presentation or to take a more unconventional approach?

Consider switching between several different mediums (group discussions, computer training, etc.). It’ll keep people from thinking they’ve “been there, done that” and switching off during training sessions.

4. What will managers be asked?

Mangers are the first line of defense when it comes to answering employees’ questions.

Do they know enough to be able to answer any questions that come their way from employees? Test them to find out.

Tell us in the Comments Box below what you do to help benefits info sink in with employees.

Perhaps you’ve gotten emails like this:

• Do you know a recruiter who specializes in IT (or project management, or supply chain, etc.)?
• Do you know a recruiter in Seattle (or Houston, or D.C., or Podunk, USA)?

When I get this question I cringe.  Not because the job seeker is doing the wrong thing (they are just trying to get a job), but because they are barking up the wrong tree.  Here’s why I say that, based on my experience and observations. I’d love to know what your experience has been…

Recruiters don’t work for you and they don’t care about you.

Really.  Maybe some of them do (okay, I know some of them who do care about you, as a human being), but their job is to match a company’s needs with a candidate who fits those needs.  They work for the company, not you, and when it comes down to it, they get their multi-thousand dollar commission because they placed the right person, not because they spent the time to coach all of the wrong people.

Recruiters aren’t really good at networking.

In Never Eat Alone Keith Ferrazzi includes “headhunters” as that elite group called “power connectors.”  The idea is they talk to people all the time, know everyone, know what opportunities are coming up, and can likely introduce you to the person you really need to talk to.

Wrong.

My experience with most recruiters is they (a) are so busy they don’t know which way is up and which way is down, and can’t take a second to spend any real time with you, (b) are very protective of their network because this is how they make a living (protective of your peers because they might eventually place them one day; protective of company contacts because that’s how they get those big-commission opportunities in the first place – not by charitably help you, rather by signing a contract with the company so they get a piece of the pie when you are hired).

Now, I say they aren’t good at networking, but in fact they are excellent at networking as it pertains to their job.  Don’t expect them to put their networking mojo on to help you figure out who you should talk to – perhaps I should say “recruiters aren’t really good at networking for you.”

When you find that right recruiter, you make THE mistake.

I bet 99% of the people do this.  If you ask me for a tech recruiter in Podunk, USA, and I give you a name or send an email introduction, you do the wrong thing.

What is the wrong thing?

You become a needy job seeker, just like the other 5,000 needy job seekers in their database.

You send them a well-thought-out email that looks a lot like a cover letter, talking about all of your great strengths and accomplishments, and a resume.  You have prepared hours to send this stuff, which makes you sound and look very professional, so you think.

But you look just like 80% of the rest of their candidates.

And then you don’t follow up right.  You ask them a week or two later if they got your email, what did they think, and do they know of any positions open.

Here’s the problem: you are using them like a tool, and they are considering you like a candidate.

UNLESS they have a position open right then that exactly matches what you showed them, or if they can recognize some very special qualities and qualifications and know something might come up where you’ll be the perfect match, you are mentally (and virtually) filed into some “add one more to my 5,000-person database” bucket.

You have marginalized yourself because you played right into the system, instead of actually “networking” with the recruiter.

How do you get around this stuff?  Realize that, as human beings, not all recruiters are the same.  I’d say most that I’ve met fit into this stereotype, but there are some out there who care more about you as a human being I’ve given them credit for.  I’d listen to anything that Steve Levy, Heather Gardner, Nick Corcodilos (aka, Ask the Headhunter – get on his awesome newsletter) recommends.

Here’s my advice, if you get the name of “a recruiter who specializes in….”:

NETWORK WITH THEM.

Don’t send them a resume and cover letter or intro email.

From one professional (that’s you) to another (that’s them), send them an email or make a phone call and network.  Work on a long-term relationship. Nurture it.  I’d start off asking them questions about their openings and how I can help them.  I OFFER to make introductions to my industry peers.  I bring something to them to help them do their job and get that commission. I try and become a power connector FOR them. I try to become helpful, and memorable.

Sure, they’ll know I’m looking, but I’ll stand out from the other 5,000 candidates they have in their database.

My followups won’t be “do you have anything for me yet,” or “have you heard anything at my target companies?”  That is focused on me… rather my followups would be “what can I do for you, how can I help you with your current openings, what kind of professional do you want to get to know.”

Perhaps I’m way off-base on this one – what do you think?

To be sure, some of those issues involve Twitter itself earning Team TweetDeck kudos for dealing with the limitations of the Twitter platform. After all, it isn’t easy coming up with the next earth-shattering, must have, whiz-bang feature when the platform you’re dependent upon not always reliable. It’s also no small challenge when your primary competitor, Seesmic, is aggressively introducing new features (listen to Seesmic Founder Loic Le Meur give me Exclusive Seesmic News during my podcast interview last week on Addicted to Social Media).

And yet, there’s still so much more I want to get out of TweetDeck. What follows is my TweetDeck Wish List. While some of these features may indeed be on TweetDeck’s product road map, I’m hoping Iain and the team might see the light and implement at least a few of the others.

My TweetDeck Wish List

1.    Collapse Columns Instead of Closing

Problem: I’m currently running twenty-two (22!) columns for a variety of clients and purposes. However, while TweetDeck is more stable than it used to be, it still uses a lot of system resources and slows down my computer. Also, having so many columns is inefficient and distracting. The only way to reduce the number of columns I have to close them. Not a good solution.

Too Many Columns? Hell, yes! (Actual screen shot)

Solution: Allow users to collapse, or minimize columns without closing them, like they can do with applications.

2.    Grouping Columns

Problem: I manage the Twitter accounts for several clients and need to monitor a lot of different activity for each one. Consequently, I need to have many columns open at any given time. For example, I need to see all of the tweets I’ve sent, @ Replies, DMs and New Followers. I also have multiple active searches for things like specific tweeters relevant to the client and keyword searches. As mentioned above, this is inefficient and distracting.

Solution: The ability to group columns into a single Macro-Group, then being able to open, close or minimize that group, would be a tremendous efficiency booster.

Grouped and Labeled Tabs

3.    Add Labels and Icons to Buttons in the Column Navigator

Problem: The introduction of the Column Navigator was a huge usability improvement. However, it just wasn’t implemented effectively for two reasons:
1.    The buttons are too small and I’m constantly clicking on the wrong ones.
2.    The popup that identifies the buttons is slow and inefficient.

Solution: The buttons need to have labels and icons for quick identification. There is more than enough room in the Column Navigator space to allow for much larger buttons. However, I would prefer TweetDeck switch to a Tab metaphor like web browsers now use and like Excel has been using practically since its introduction. Tabs allow, at a glance, for users to know where they are and to find what they need quickly, easily and painlessly. Then, if they want to see additional statistics for each column, moving their curser over a Tab to display a popup would be acceptable.

4.    Drag and Drop reordering of columns

Problem: I’m constantly moving columns into new positions. Unfortunately, clicking the tiny “Move column” buttons on the bottom of each column only allows me to move a single column by one column position at a time. It’s also agonizingly slow.

Dragging Columns

Solution: Dragging and Dropping has been a user feature in applications for years. Even many websites offer that capability. Dragging and Dropping is simple and quick way to move columns into new positions.

5.    Resize Column Width

Problem: All of my columns are the same size and they don’t need to be. Sometimes just a sliver large enough to see someone’s avatar is enough to show me that there are new tweets from them. Meanwhile, I would love to widen other columns to make it easier to see more tweets.

Solution: Let users customize the width of each column.

6.    Change Font Size in Columns

Problem: It should be obvious from the suggestions above that column space is at a premium in TweetDeck and that some columns are just more important than others. Users need another tool to help them find the tweets or tweeters they’re looking for.

Solution: Allow users to change the font size of tweets in a specific column, or from specific tweeters. This would allow users to increase the number of tweets in a column (if font size is reduced) or allow tweets from specific tweeters standout (if font size is enlarged), thus improving efficiency.

7.    Stack Columns

Problem: Some of my columns don’t get a lot of traffic, or I simply don’t need to monitor them as closely. In order to save screen space it would be great to be able to stack two or three columns into a single column.

Solution: Let users drag multiple columns and stack them into a single column.

8.    Threaded Conversations

Problem: It is next to impossible to follow conversations in TweetDeck. Unless tweets are directly adjacent to one another, I don’t know who said what when. I often find myself opening Tweetie or Echofon on my iPhone to dig into conversations.

Solution: Add a button to indicate that there is a conversation and that could then be used to expand a tweet to make that entire conversation visible.

9.    Icons to Identify if Someone is Following me Back.

Problem: It’s great that TweetDeck shows the number of followers a user has below their avatar, but I often have no idea if they’re following me back.

Solution: An icon as simple as a dot next to the follower count would let me know if the tweeter is following me.

10.    Who’s Online Now Column

Problem: Because of the large number of people I follow, unless someone is actively tweeting, I often don’t know if they are actually online. What’s more, due to the proliferation of tweet scheduling tools, someone may not even be online even if I do see their tweets.

Solution: A column showing a list of everyone who is actually online. Note that an icon next their avatar within a tweet won’t work because of the aforementioned problems finding tweets. I could do a search, but again, I don’t want to open unnecessary columns and that would not show me everyone at once.

There, that’s ten. Since a friend of mind constantly complains that my posts are too long, I’ll stop here. However, if you would like to read about nine more features I’d like to see in TweetDeck, check out my blog, nealwiser.com.

In the meantime, I’d love to what features you want to see in TweetDeck. Let me know in the comments.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.

10 Features I Want to See in TweetDeck

General manager Mike Andrews gathered up his paperwork as he spoke: “So, Jen, you’ll be sure to take care of everything involving Len Barker’s termination?”

“Sure, if that’s the decision you’ve made,” answered Jen Durso, the HR manager. “I would like to raise one issue before we proceed.”

“Go ahead, please,” Mike encouraged her.

“This termination is going to come less than 60 days after Len complained to the state about safety problems in the warehouse,” Jen noted. “That could look fishy.”

“Oh, that,” Mike nodded. “We did a thorough investigation about Len’s complaint. Even had an outside guy come in and look at it. We got a clean bill of health on that – no violation.”

“That’s true enough,” Jen agreed. “Still, it could look as if we’re firing Len because he complained about a safety issue.”

“As I see it,” Mike broke in, “there was no violation and we’re terminating Len clearly for performance, not the complaint.”

When Len was terminated, he filed a lawsuit charging the company acted out of retaliation for his safety-violation complaint. The company noted there was no violation and asked a judge to throw the case out of court. Did the company win?

The decision

No. The judge refused the company’s request to throw the case out and allowed it to go to trial – and a likely hefty cash settlement negotiated outside the courtroom.

The judge said the firing indeed looked suspicious, coming on the heels of Len’s complaint about a safety violation. When it looks suspicious, it goes to trial.

What about the fact that Len’s complaint ended up being nothing more than that – a complaint – and the company had committed no violation? Doesn’t matter, the judge explained. The employee doesn’t have to prove the validity of his complaint to show there was retaliation. He complained, and he got fired. Let a jury decide if one and one equal two.

One more thing, the judge noted: Safety complaints involve matters of “public policy” since possible violations affect more than just the single employee. As such, those complaints – even more than others – fall under special legal protections.

Important supporting docs
When an employee complains about something as serious as safety and then gets fired, your managers have to be certain to have the right documentation. There’s not much you can do to stop an employee who’s bent on suing, but you can prepare a good defense.

Cite: Kohrt v. MidAmerican Energy Co.

I’m dying because I am following all the prescribed rules except one.

Here are things I’m doing well:

1. I clear my inbox.  I deal with each email the second I read it–by responding, deleting, or transferring to my to do list.

2. I have a single list. I have A’s, B’s, and C’s for my priorities, so I can tell what is most important to do on any given day.

3. I make sure I have long-term goals. And I put them in my list of A’s. I identify the items I must get done before the end of the day. But I also add at least one non-deadline-based item that helps me reach a bigger, life-changing goal.

4. I rewrite the list every day by hand. Because if something on the list is not worth taking the time to rewrite by hand, it’s not worth taking the time to do.

5. I make sure I get all the A’s done first. Only then do I move on to less important items. Just kidding. I don’t do this. But I should. Honestly, I can tell that it doesn’t really matter if I follow all the other rules when I’m not doing this one.

There’s a book by Michael Stainer titled, Do More Great Work: Stop the Busywork. Start the Work That Matters.  I know I have a problem sticking to stuff that matters: as soon as I typed the title, I thought, “Why is the word that capitalized?” I checked back on Amazon twice to make sure. It doesn’t seem right to me.

Then I tell myself I need to look up the AP Stylebook to see what the rule is. I think the is never capitalized in a title and that is optional, but I think, in this case, it looks better as lower case.

Then I tell myself, look, I just really need to get this post done. If I look up the AP Stylebook, and find an answer, which is probably not going to be easy to find because honestly, I’m not the queen of Google searches. Even if I manage to do that, I will not feel like I have accomplished something important today. But if I finish this post, I will feel like I am meeting an important goal of writing a post each day.

Also, I tell myself that the best work I do is when I am not constantly distracted by randomly interesting searches. Like, the last time I remember doing this was, in fact, last night, when I got stuck looking up soporific. It means sleep inducing. But I thought maybe I was missing a nuance of the word because it was in a picture caption in a movie review. Who puts a word like that in a picture caption? So I thought it had another slang meaning or something. And then, when it turns out that it really does mean sleep inducing I didn’t feel accomplished. It was not on my to-do list. And I can’t even figure out how to slip it into my own writing. Unless you find my paragraph about soporific to be soporific.

Stainer's book has a chapter written by me. Which, I’m sure I wrote only because I put it on my A list 400 days in a row, sending it to him, finally, ten days late. Or something like that. And he has chapters by other luminaries who I am convinced do their A list before they even eat breakfast: Seth Godin, Chris Guillebeau, Leo Babauta. The important thing about reading a book like Stainer's is that if I read people telling me that I should not do bullshit work all day, then I am more likely to hold myself accountable to my A list.

This problem comes down to my struggle with self-discipline. I think everyone struggles. I think there’s a Maslow hierarchy of self-discipline. First you have to get out of bed in the morning. Then you have to write a to-do list every morning, and write a schedule to accommodate it. Then you have to have the self-discipline to start giving stuff up because you don’t have time for everything – the highest form of self-discipline is admitting that you will not be doing some things in the day.

I have done all that. So what I’m left with is stuff that is easy to do. But it’s usually B’s. And some stuff that’s hard to do. Those are the A’s.  Today I told myself no surfing. No staring at the wall. No reading my book. (I'm reading Bonk, by the way, which is scintillating, and thank you to Jens Fiederer who recommended the chapter about pig orgasms that last ten minutes.)

But then I saw a GChat link from Michael Roston about the Dutch parliament. I had to click. It turns out that there is a group trying to make sex with twelve-year-olds legal. So they formed a political party in order to get the laws changed. But the group dropped out of the election because they found they are spending so much time campaigning that they are losing focus of their main goal, which is to legalize pedophilia.

And I thought: Dutch pedophiles are more focused on their long-term goals than I am.

My problem is that I cannot write my own long-term goal in as clear a way as the pedophiles. I coach so many people who tell me they can’t move forward because they don’t know where they are going. And I tell them, make something up. I tell them to commit to a goal, any goal, and move toward it until you think of a better one. The act of moving toward something helps you crystallize where, exactly, you want to be moving.

I wish I could tell you I'm doing that, but recently I've been writing about it more than doing it. Because I’m scared. It’s so scary to commit to a goal when you know it’s not the real goal. Success requires a leap of faith that goal setting is trial and error and the process of finding clarity — not the one-time process of immaculate conception of clarity.

When I was learning about to do lists, each step seemed too hard. And empty in box seemed impossible. Handwriting a to do list every morning felt absurd. But in each case, after I did it a while, it felt right and probably essential to me. So I guess I will just have to trust that if I force myself to choose a goal, my goals will get more and more clear, and the productivity piece will start falling into place.

Comment on: How to get unstuck in life

It’s not the first time I’ve had the question asked, so I thought what better way to answer it than by sharing it with everyone here on Twitip.

Absolutes Don’t Exist

I’ll first be honest in saying that there isn’t a black and white answer, and this isn’t something that can be solved without testing. Too many people treat Twitter with black and white answers… with absolutes.

But there aren’t any absolutes.

Instead of looking for a perfect answer, why not claim every name that interests you and play around with them?

The task of playing around with multiple usernames on TweetDeck might be enough to convince you that you can’t manage more than one.

Or…

In playing with one for each niche, you find that it’s perfect for what you’re trying to do.

My Questions

But you still need help getting there, so let’s start with a few basic questions…

Do you plan on selling the associated domain at any time?

If so, then I recommend creating a new account for your domain/niche. Many companies will want the associated Twitter account when it comes time to sell, and at worst, it creates an additional asset that you can use to beef up the valuation of your web property.

Are we comparing apples or oranges?

If you’re trying to decide if you should have a different Twitter name for two different websites in the same niche, then I saw why not create an umbrella that owns them both and then start Tweeting from there?

If you’re trying to decide whether you should use one name for your personal blog and another for your basketweaving website, then I’ll ask you this… do you talk about basket weaving on your blog?

If not, then go with 2… at least try them. If you do, then you’re good with your own name.

Are you cross-linking your websites?

Look, if you plan on linking them all together anyway, then I don’t see any sense in creating one for each website. You’ve got enough on your plate as it is, and I’m guessing that the content will cross over between the two…so save yourself some effort and keep it under a single umbrella.

If you aren’t associating the websites with each other, then you either need to use your name as a global brand, or create one for each niche.

That being said… how effective is it to create a Twitter name for fencing swords? I’m not sure…why not play around and find out?

Common Sense Prevails

I’d like to sit here and pretend that I hold the keys to Twitter salvation, but the truth is that there aren’t any keys.

The best way to figure out what works, not only for you, but for your business, is to get out and try it. Only you know what works for you…and unless you spend time seeing if Virginia Bed and Breakfasts can attract a Twitter following, then how will you know?

Regardless of what these “social media experts” tell you, there isn’t a right answer. We’re still early on in the game, and things are changing rapidly. What worked yesterday might not work tomorrow… so keep that in mind. Be flexible, be fluid, and be patient.

Do that, and you’ll be just fine.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.

One Name or Two? Let’s Find Out

A whopping 71% of employers say they expect higher healthcare costs in general if reform makes it out of Congress, according to a survey by the National Business Group on Health.

Other findings:

• 69% of employers say it’ll boost the cost of their benefits programs, and
• 35% feel it’ll lead to fewer companies providing subsidized coverage.

Employees aren’t happy about it, either

Workers, too, are giving federal healthcare reform the cold shoulder.

According to a second survey by Towers Watson, employees feel reform would:

• result in higher benefit costs (67%)
• reduce available benefits (54%), and
• lower the quality of care (53%).

What’s your stance on federal healthcare reform? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

Spurred by reports that the E-Verify system has glaring holes (see ), lawmakers are looking at bills that would require all workers to produce ID cards that verify eligibility to work in the United States. The cards would have photo IDs and some sort of biometric info, such as a fingerprint.

Some particulars of the bill:

• People currently employed wouldn’t be required to obtain a card unless they switch jobs.
• Requirements would start with designated industries  that rely heavily on illegal immigrants in their work force.
• Enforcement eventually would be phased in for all worker in all industries.

But it would eventually reach tens of millions of Americans, including citizens and immigrants, who are holding jobs legally.

What chance does such a bill have to become law? Congress is hearing a bunch of complaints that could become insurmountable obstacles:

• Cost and inconvenience. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has raised concerns about the costs to employers and potential difficulty checking the biometrics. Card scanners would cost employers between $700 and $800. The bill’s proponents say small employers could be exempt from purchasing scanners and instead send applicants to government offices.
• The “creepy factor.” Getting Americans to latch on to the idea of a scannable ID card is a tough sell. Privacy advocates won’t buy in.
• Amnesty. Some in Congress want to tie approval of a card system to amnesty for illegal workers, who would be required to turn themselves in an obtain an ID card. The word “amnesty” tends to lead to a loss of support for any type of immigration bill.

Loss of privacy is also a primary concern of those who fear the card will develop into a national identification system able to track Americans.

“We’re not only talking about fingerprinting every American, treating ordinary Americans like criminals in order to work. We’re also talking about a card that would quickly spread from work to voting to travel to pretty much every aspect of American life that requires identification,” said Chris Calabrese, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Please comment on the blog, below.  This book is awesome and very useful.  I bet most people you meet at a networking event don’t network, don’t get it, aren’t effective, etc.  This book will change that for you.

I’m at a Networking Event — Now What??? is a book in my Now What series.  Written by Sandy Jones-Kaminski, it’s full of ideas, strategies and tactics to help you take something that is not value-add and make it a high-value activity.

Get it on Amazon here, OR just answer this question below:

Assume job boards are inadequate in your job search. What are one to three ideas you have that could make a job board MUCH more valuable to you?

I’ll send this on to the job board people I know – it won’t fall on deaf ears.

We’ll announce the winner next Monday.

Last week’s winner was recently announced: Congrats to Mauro Pennacchia!