Andraya Carson: Looking out for Arizona Women and their Families

January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Recently, we joined other members of Arizona's Congressional delegation in urging the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate and work with state, county, and local law enforcement to combat human trafficking in Arizona during Super Bowl XLIX.

 Click here to learn more.

Andraya Carson: Think Super Bowl is just about Football? Think Again.

Help end human trafficking. Arizona is hosting the 2015 Super Bowl. Andraya Carson has started a project called Bag of Change. You can find Dray Carson's project at www.bagofchange.com. Contribute towards this project and your proceeds will go to help Phoenix Dream Center. We appreciate your support!

Andraya Carson :: Exploring Sex Trafficking and Prostitution Demand During the Super Bowl

Much has been said about the impact of the Super Bowl on sex trafficking, most of which indicates it is a key variable leading to a dramatic increase in commercial sexual exploitation and victimization. Recent reports and dozens of news articles strongly point to the Super Bowl as the most prominent national event where sex trafficking flourishes, with estimates of as many as 10,000 victims flooding host cities to be offered to willing purchasers intent on buying sex. While this has attracted a great deal of attention in the media and has served as a key point in the national dialogue on sex trafficking, support for such assertions has been sparse. While some such inquiries have been conducted capably, evidence supported research on the influence of the Super Bowl on sex trafficking has been limited.

With the support of the McCain Institute, researchers from Arizona State University sought to investigate and understand the true impact of the Super Bowl on sex trafficking, to further the national discussion on sex trafficking and its local and national impact as well as to develop a baseline understanding of regional sex trafficking trends for the 2015 Super Bowl which is to be held in Phoenix. What follows is what we believe to be the first comprehensive and systematic review of the quagmire that is the Super Bowl and sex trafficking and the first attempt to add clarity to a complex, national epidemic.

Please click here to read the full report

Dray Carson: Workplace Wellness Programs Can Save Us???

There is always so much discourse about the condition of our country’s healthcare system. Wouldn’t it be refreshing, and perhaps more rewarding, if as Americans, we were to focus as much energy on the state of our wellness?

Some could argue that we are a rather sickly nation. According to a recent report issued by the US Department of Health and Human Services, among Americans there is an especially high prevalence of risk factors such as tobacco use, high cholesterol, obesity, and insufficient exercise, which are associated with chronic diseases and conditions such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and hypertension. In fact, 45 percent of Americans, almost half the entire adult population, have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes. Even more frightening, 13 percent of Americans have two of these conditions and three percent are struggling with all three. It’s no wonder our healthcare system is so taxed.On a brighter note, however, these conditions can improve with lifestyle changes. To that end, more and more progressive employers are creating workplace wellness programs that promote, and sometimes even reward, healthier lifestyles.

Corporate wellness programs are nothing new. Traditional programs help employees maintain their health and prevent illness by providing education, fitness regimes and regular health screenings to ensure early detection of problems. Many corporate wellness initiatives even include an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to help employees cope with personal or emotional issues that may be affecting their work and family lives.

In addition to delivering positive health benefits to employees, wellness programs yield employers significant benefits as well. Successful programs have been proven to reduce absenteeism, increase productivity and decrease healthcare costs.

Of course, to be effective wellness programs have to be utilized. Poorly-designed programs can miss their mark if they don’t take into consideration the health needs and interests of the employee population. One Midwestern company, for instance, launched its wellness program by opening a fitness center and implementing a campaign to combat prostate cancer. The gym was a big hit among employees, many of whom already participated in regular exercise, but the prostate screenings were largely ignored. When the company did some after-the-fact analysis, they learned that some 70 percent of their employees were women of childbearing age. They also found that many of their employees were smokers. Obviously, prostate cancer was not a concern for this workforce, but women’s health issues and smoking cessation were.

Conversely, Volkswagen is breaking the mold with a highly-customized wellness initiative designed to take their employees’ performance to the next level. At the company’s new $1 billion assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, newly-hired Volkswagen employees are undergoing on-the-job training in advance of the facility’s production start early next year. As part of their training, assembly line workers are being required to participate in two hours of fitness training each day. The fitness program, which is specifically-designed to help individual workers develop the strength and endurance necessary to meet the physical demands of their particular job, is intended to create “industrial athletes” who are able to grip, lift, bend and push without tiring. (Volkswagen has no intention of instituting a weight threshold for assembly line jobs, but some workers who initially resented Volkswagen’s required fitness training have lost as much as 30 pounds in a matter of weeks.)

Corporate wellness initiatives are usually voluntary, so mandating that employees participate in customized fitness programs so they can better perform their jobs is a provocative concept that could gain traction over time, especially if American’s persistent health issues, such as obesity or high blood pressure, make physical labor difficult or even dangerous. For the time being however, companies are doing well if they can build a wellnessprogram that permeates the corporate culture and genuinely advocates for and promotes employees’ health and wellbeing.

When creating or redesigning a program, employers should try to adopt several best practices: 1.) assess your workforce’s health needs and put them before any personal cause or passion; 2.) consider the whole employee to address all areas of wellness, including physical fitness, disease prevention and detection, and emotional wellbeing; 3.) create a work environment where wellness is pervasive, going beyond the fitness center or health fair to include snacks and drinks available in the vending machines; and 4.) consider incentivizing employees to take advantage of wellness initiatives by holding workout or weight loss contests or offering small give-a-ways for participating in health screenings.

Corporate wellness initiatives cannot fix our healthcare system, but cultivating a more health-conscious culture, not just within one company but throughout our country, could certainly lead Americans to be less reliant on our already over-taxed healthcare system.

Original Post: http://www.gnapartners.com/news/can-workplace-wellness-programs-fix-what-ails-us-11

John Allen, is President and COO of G&A Partners, a Texas-based HR and Administrative Services company that manages human resources, benefits, payroll, accounting and risk management for growing businesses. For more information about the company, visit www.gnapartners.com. Andraya Carson is a business advsisor for G&A Partners and can be reached at acarson@gnapartners.com for a consultation.

Dray Carson: September Report Shows Hiring Up, Unemployment Down to 6-Year Low

Andraya Carson wanted to share this with all of the readers. Please feel free to reach out to Andraya (Dray Carson) with G&A Partners, to find out more about the economic climate and Human Resources related activities. Andraya Carson is one the top sales representatives and Business Development Advisors companywide for G&A Partners. 

by John Zappe on Oct 3, 2014, 11:47 AM

Propelled by strong hiring across a range of occupations and industries, September saw 248,000 new jobs added to the economy, which helped drive down unemployment to a six-year low of 5.9 percent.

The monthly jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also adjusted upward its count of hiring in August and July, increasing both by a combined 69,000 jobs. August’s initial anemic 142,000 estimate, which surprised analysts and prompted worrying about a hiring pause, was upped to 180,000.
Economists predicted September’s numbers would be in the 215,000 to 220,000 range. The higher number, plus the upward revisions, says that the August slowdown — only the second time this year hiring was under 200,000 — man just have been a blip.

Service sector shows strong gains

“The slower gain initially reported for August now appears to have been simply an aberration,” said Gad Levanon, director of macroeconomic and labor-market research at The Conference Board.
September’s job growth was concentrated in the service sector. Retailers and the leisure and hospitality industry added 35,300 and 33,000 jobs respectively. Grocers added 19,500 jobs, most of them marking the return to work of New England’s striking Market Basket employees. Restaurants and bars hired 20,400 new workers.

Other sectors showing hiring strength:

• Health care, up 22,600, the bulk coming from home health care and outpatient facilities;
• Employment services hired 33,600 new workers, with temp agencies accounting for 19,700;
• Professional and technical services added 21,100 positions, including jobs for architects and engineers, software developers and management and technical consultants;
• The financial sector was up 12,000 jobs, a nice gain for one of the sectors hardest hit by the recession.

Goods producers added only 29,000 jobs, with manufacturing contributing 4,000 and construction adding 16,000. Mining added 9,000.

Workforce participation at lowest level since 1978

Wages and the length of the work week changed little in September. Wage growth has been mostly stagnant this year, with hourly pay rates rising only 2 percent. The average workweek for all employees on private non-farm payrolls was 34.6 hours in September.
The BLS report also showed participation in the labor force is continuing to contract, which is a factor in bringing down the unemployment rate. September’s rate of 62.7 percent was the lowest since 1978. Even if no new jobs were being created, the unemployment rate would be decreasing since there are fewer workers employed or looking for work.

John was a newspaper reporter and editor until his geek gene lead him to launch his first website in 1994. Never a recruiter, he instead built online employment sites and sold advertising services to recruiters and employers. As VP of one large media operation, his employment revenue alone approached $2.5 million. Besides writing for ERE, John consults with digital content operations, focusing on the advertising side. And when he's not doing either, he can be found hiking in the California mountains or competing in canine agility events.

For compete article: http://www.tlnt.com/2014/10/03/september-report-shows-hiring-up-unemployment-down-to-6-year-low/

To learn more about how you can receive Human resources, workers comp, payroll and benefits assistance, contact Dray Carson-Hruby through G&A Partners at acarson@gnapartners.com

Dray Carson: 7 steps to successful cold calling

Hello all you sales people who hate cold calling!!! I read this article and it helped me, so I am passing it on to you!

(MoneyWatch) A reader writes:

Will you share strategies that work best when breaking the ice with new prospects over the phone? I have to make some 20-30 calls within a 2 hour period and most clients are rushed and hurried and I find myself racing to get to the point, leaving very little time to build rapport. How do I build rapport immediately in these circumstances? I am genuinely interested in building a relationship to learn as much as I can about their core issues so I can build proposals that directly address their objectives and needs. What’s the best way to engage them (in 30 seconds or less I imagine), which would cause them relax somewhat so they want to share information with you. If you would be willing to share this, I would appreciate it very much.

Absolutely.

Before we get started, though, you need to be aware that there’s a vast difference of opinion, among experts and sales pros alike, about the effectiveness of cold-calling.

Many sales experts think cold-calling is a waste of time and prefer other forms of generating leads. Others see cold-calling as a last resort, while still others see it as a mainspring of any effective sales process.

Later, I’ll discuss some of those other viewpoints. For now, let’s just get the basics down. Andrea Sittig-Rolf, author of “The Seven Keys to Effective Business-to-Business Appointment Setting” is an extremely well-known proponent of cold-calling as a lead-generation technique.

When I spoke with Andrea a couple of years ago, she observed that cold-calling is all about getting the appointment. She therefore gears the entire cold-calling process toward achieving that end. Here’s a summary of her approach:

Research a list of prospects. Before making your calls, research your prospects. Look for prospects who have a similar profile to those who have bought from the past. They’ll be easier to sell. Next to each prospect, note any of your current customers in the prospect’s industry, region, job classification, or anything else that might help you to position your offering. Don’t spend a lot of time on this, just find out enough so that you can pitch using terms that the prospect can understand.

Build your script. Once you know whom you’re going to call, focus on what you’re going to say. Write a brief script (no more than three or four sentences) that introduces who you are, what you do, and what you provide. An effective script asks for the appointment early. Please note that the purpose of the script is NOT to communicate substantive information about your offering. Instead, the purpose of the phone call is to win the right to actually sell to the prospect.

Anticipate objections. Each time one of them materializes, you’ll need to handle them appropriately… and then ask for the appointment. Most objections are common to all sales situations, so you should have little or no trouble listing them out. The trick here is to practice handling objections until the response is automatic. Note: the most important part of handling the objection is asking for the appointment.

Get positive and get calling. Attitude is everything. If your offering has value to the customer, you’re doing the prospect a favor by giving him or her the opportunity to meet with you. Therefore, have confidence in your ability to provide value. That confidence not only helps you communicate more effectively, it provides the motivation that will drive you to actually sit down and start making the cold calls.

Leave a message (if necessary). If you end up in the contact’s voice-mail system, don’t despair. Leave a very brief message based upon your calling script. However, rather than setting a time for an appointment, say that you’ll be calling back on a certain date and time, but would appreciate a callback. The next time you call, ask the admin if the contact is in. If not, tell the admin that you’ve been trying to connect with the contact and would like to know when would be a good time to call.

Handle the objections. Once you’ve got the contact on the line, execute the script. Don’t read it! Put it into your own words, with enthusiasm. In almost every case, you will get at least one, and probably more, objections. Since you’ve anticipated these objections, you should respond to them as necessary and then ask for the appointment again. If you receive more than 3 objections, it’s fair to assume that the prospect is not going to meet with you, so thank the prospect and politely end the call.

Repeat the process on a daily basis. if you’re determined to excel, commit to an hour a day attempting to achieve two appointments. If it takes fifteen minutes to get the two appointments, then you can quit early. Practice this regularly and, according to Andrea, you’ll very quickly have a calendar full of qualified prospects.

This post originally appeared on BNET.com

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

ByGEOFFREY JAMESMONEYWATCH  Originally posted on: September 20, 2012, 1:49 PM

Andraya Carson :: Our Minimum Wage is Low, Really Low

The value of the federal minimum wage has been on a steady decline since it peaked in the late 1960s. In fact, it’s worth 20 percent less today than it was in the 1980s, making it difficult for a full-time worker to pay their monthly bills or even buy the basic necessities. With an income of $15,000 a year, this puts many workers – including many with families to support – below the poverty line.

In fact, the U.S. lags behind many countries when it comes to the minimum wage as a percentage of median income. In America, far too many people at the bottom of the income ladder are working harder and harder but still falling behind.

That’s why President Obama has proposed that we raise the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10. The president’s opportunity agenda is about rewarding hard work and responsibility with fair pay. And that’s why he and Secretary Perez are pushing so hard for an increase.
Raising the minimum wage isn’t just the right thing to do for working families — it’s the smart thing to do to grow our economy. Consumer spending accounts for almost 70% of GDP.  Business owners know that in an economy driven by consumer demand, more money in people’s pockets means more customers for them. That’s especially true for low-wage working people. When you put more money in their pockets, they don’t stash it in offshore bank accounts, they pump it right back into the economy – spending it on groceries, gas, school supplies and more. In fact, more than 3 in 5 small business owners support a $10.10 minimum wage.
Additional spending from this increase could help the U.S. compete on the global stage; greater consumer spending and a higher GDP mean a stronger economy – and fewer countries outranking us when it comes to comparing the purchasing power of our minimum wage to theirs.
by JASON SURBEY on SEPTEMBER 7, 2014
For full article visit: http://social.dol.gov/blog/our-minimum-wage-is-low-really-low/
For more information on ideas on how to lower your overall labor costs, while increasing your value in the market place as an employer of choice, please contact Andraya (dray) Carson for a complimentary consultation at G&A Partners, at acarson@gnapartners.com. 

 

Andraya Carson: Negative Comments on Internet and Companies Dray Carson has Worked With.

Hi, my name is Andraya Carson. Yes, I am actually the real Andraya Carson and not the impersonator that is all over the internet trying to discredit my name. I guess that I really made it in life to have someone else who I don't even know, pretend to be me, Dray Carson, and post things on the internet. Now I really know that there is reality behind the saying that 'just because it's on google doesn't make it real!'. Don't trust everything on the internet. I personally have never ever written something negative about another person or a company that I have worked with, on the internet. As a matter of a fact, I have never helped anyone else who may be doing that type of work with negative postings. I am from the thought that if you can't say something nice, don't say it all at. Especially on the internet. But for some reason, someone who I don't even know, thinks that I have posted something about a company that I worked with, and so they are threatening me and blackmailing me openly on blogs until I 'take down the posts'. Unfortunately, there is no way that I, Andraya Carson, can do that, since I NEVER POSTED ANYTHING TO BEGIN WITH! And this 'person' is saying that I am involved in Sex trade, that I- Dray Carson- am a sex prostitute and have aids and other diseases, and they also name people (who I have never met) that I am involved with for these illegal actions. The irony is that I am actually an activist against Human Trafficking- Sex and Labor Trafficking, and this mysterious person is saying that I am a part of the very industry that I am against. What a joke. And their language is so poor, it's a strange combination of painful to try and figure out what they are trying to say, and hilarious when realizing how outlandish what they are saying really is, to anyone who reads the remarks. So, for those of you out there who have the misfortune to come across this type of content, my apologies in advance for that trouble. For those of you reading this who may be actually doing that drama of posting those things- realize please that you are misguided and think this through clearly- If I could take down the 'information' you claim I am posting, trust me I would have. There are so many things that are important to me that I don't have enough time as it is to do- I would NOT WASTE my time posting nonsense about companies that I no longer am affiliated with. And to be honest- I don't have anything negative to even say about any company I have worked with. I was always in the right place at the right time, and fortunate for all experiences (good and bad) that I have had while working with various companies and persons. I have learned all along the way!

Peace!

Andraya Carson :: Tired of Complainers? How About You Offer Bundled HR Service Plans

IBy Andy Porter · 06.19.2014

magine you’ve just invested a ton of time and money designing and implementing an employee engagement survey so that you can get a real sense of what’s going on in your organization because you know, you care.  Now imagine the big day is here—you’re presenting the findings and recommendations to the senior leadership group.  Overall, the data is quite good (with some pockets of concern), and you’re really excited to get an opportunity to talk about all the good things the HR team is working on and how it’s impacting the business.  But your excitement starts to wane as the team starts to focus (over-focus you think) on some of sub-pockets of poor scores on things like career development and satisfaction with your boss.  The tone of the meeting starts to shift: “HR needs to do a better job of…” and it goes on.

You know these are important components of building an engaged workforce and you also know that the heads of the groups that are driving the poor scores want absolutely nothing to do with HR in any way, shape or form.  And they make sure their teams know exactly how they feel.  In fact, they actively choose NOT to participate in precisely the type of initiatives that would address the poor scores.  You try and explain why, but no one wants to hear it.  You leave the meeting annoyed with a laundry list of things HR needs to do to fix it.

Ever find yourself in that meeting?  Yeah, it’s an annoying one.  Over the years, I’ve come to accept that there are some parts of the business who are eager for support and some who couldn’t care less.  So, I focus on the groups who care.  But HR is often still held accountable for good “scores” for everyone in the company.  This got me thinking that there must be another model for how HR engages with the business. Last month, as I was complaining to my wife about our lack of cable channels she said, “Why do you always act so surprised that we don’t have all these channels?  It’s not like you want to pay for it.  You know we only signed up for basic cable.”  That’s when it hit me. HR needs to adopt a similar model and offer annual service packages to employees… and if we were getting really crazy, charge them for it!  Here’s the menu of options:

The Basic Plan (also know as the “Don’t Bother Us and We Won’t Bother You” plan).  If you sign up for this plan you’ll get basic services taken care of like getting paid on-time, ability to participate in our benefits programs, and well, that’s pretty much it.  You’ll be automatically enrolled in our annual merit program, but you’ll have to wait until everyone else has been given a raise before you get one.  As an additional perk, you won’t get spammed with any requests to participate in any company-wide initiatives.  And if you find yourself with an emergency situation on your hands requiring immediate HR attention, you’re going to have to sort it out yourself (unless you purchase our ER insurance program for a small fee every month).

The Deluxe Plan (also known as the “Employee Development Bundle”).  As a member of our deluxe employee program, you’ll have access to all of the services in the basic plan plus 12 personal coaching sessions per year.  You can use these sessions to work on things like developing your career, getting 360 feedback on your performance or figuring how to better work with Sally in accounting.  You’ll have access to special content like training courses, and you’ll hear about upcoming career opportunities before they become public to give you an edge on your basic plan competition.  In addition to being eligible for our merit program (before the basic plan, people) you’ll also be enrolled in our rewards program where you’ll be eligible to receive cash and other perks based on your performance.

The Premium Club (also known as the “We Have To Invite You To Join” plan).  As a member of the Premium Club, you’ll have access to all the latest and greatest tools and approaches when it comes to developing your career.  You’ll have unlimited personal coaching available to you 24/7 throughout the year, along with a career plan tailored to your specific needs.  Not only will you have access to special content, you can have content developed specifically to suit your needs.  When it comes to new opportunities, you’ll  have the right of first refusal for anything that you’re interested in pursuing.  You’ll also be eligible to receive extra perks like bonuses and stock options… and have first access to the annual merit pool.

If we did this, and segmented employee responses by plan and the people in the premium plan weren’t engaged, then we have a problem.  But if you’re basic plan folks aren’t engaged, you go sell them an upgrade!

SOURCE CREDIT AND COMPLETE ARTICLE: http://fistfuloftalent.com/2014/06/bundled-hr-service-plans.html