(Image:Thinkstock)

• Fewest Layoffs Since 2008

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits dropped last week to its lowest level since April 2008, the government said. The report suggested that layoffs are slowing further and that employers may be ready to hire more aggressively in the new year.

Reports show a clear upswing in the US economy. It is thought to be growing in the current quarter much faster than the 1.8% annual rate that the government now estimates for last summer.

“The economy is carrying some clear momentum into 2012,” said economist Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors.

“The consistent decline in the weekly lines at the unemployment offices is pointing to a firming in the labor markets, fewer layoffs, more jobs being added and most importantly, a decline in the unemployment rate.”

Read more at Yahoo! News…

• Congressman Calls Michelle Obama’s Posterior ‘Large’

Wisconsin Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner was overheard on his cell phone at Reagan National Airport talking about what he said about First Lady Michelle Obama several weeks ago, Fishbowl D.C. reported.

Sensenbrenner reportedly said, “[Michelle Obama] lectures us on eating right while she has a large posterior herself.”

This isn’t the first time Obama has been accused of being too curvy.  Others have commented on her physique and role as leader of the healthy living initiative Let’s Move!

Radio host Rush Limbaugh said February: “The problem is, and dare I say this, it doesn’t look like Michelle Obama follows her own nutritionary, dietary advice…I’m trying to say that our First Lady does not project the image of women that you might see on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue or of a woman Alex Rodriguez might date every six months or what have you.”

The Congressman has agreed to issue an apology for his offensive comments.

Read more at the Huffington Post…

• Congressman Paul’s Racial Writings Raise Questions About His Winning Potential

Polls show Texas Congressman Ron Paul emerging as the new Republican presidential nomination front-runner in Iowa, despite the resurgence of his past, offensive writings about African Americans in his newsletter.

They are projecting that Rep. Paul is now the most likely Republican candidate to win the Jan. 3, 2012 Iowa Caucus, slightly ahead of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and ex-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

In the latest CNN/ORC poll released Tuesday, 45 % of those polled said they would vote for Paul, compared to 52 % for President Barack Obama, if the two ran head-to-head in the presidential election. That makes Paul and Romney tied for the lead among registered and overall voters.

Additionally, a breakdown of the poll reveals that the 12-term congressman would receive 25% of the “non-white” vote, ahead of Romney’s 20%.

Paul maintains he did not write the racially offensive comments published in his newsletter.

Read more at The Grio…

The Senate’s decision not to renew federal extended unemployment benefits became a reality when Tuesday’s deadline hit. The congressional decision worries many state unemployment agencies, whose responsibilities include distributing state unemployment checks to those who are out of work, because most of the recipients count on those checks to pay for essentials such as food and rent.

“It’s a critical safety net program,” said Nancy Dunphy, New York State’s deputy commissioner of labor for unemployment security, to CNNMoney.com. “This is the worst time of year to be running out of benefits.”

Next April, another four million people will join the pool of unemployed whose benefits have been axed. Unemployed Americans whose state benefits have run their course are already blocked from entering the federal system in many states, and after this weekend, those already in a federal emergency benefits system will not be able to move to the next tier to receive compensation.

Are you currently receiving unemployment? Be sure to check with your state agencies to see whether or not you should still file claims or what steps you may be able to take to continue to receive your beneifits.

Related Content:

• So You’ve Been Fired…Now What?
• So You’ve Been Fired…Now What?: How to Get Back in the Game
• So You’ve Been Fired…Now What?: The Accidental Entrepreneur

“It was shocking,” says the former McGraw-Hill academic sales representative, about the unexpected layoff. The then-Maryland resident—one of the leading educational sales reps in his region—began looking for a new job within his field of expertise. Ten to 12 interviews and several months later, DeLavallade relocated to Orlando, Florida, in hopes the job market there would be more inviting.  Although he discovered otherwise, he remained dedicated to his job search until an evening meal at a sushi restaurant in the city made him rethink his decision.

“Your destiny is in your hands,” read the fortune cookie the married father of one cracked open. DeLavallade says the incident sparked a deep conversation with the man upstairs and a sleepless 48-hour stint, which he used to research the golf travel and event planning businesses. In December of 2009, My Golf Concierge LLC, a luxury golf travel and event planning business, was born—launching officially in January 2010.

DeLavallade’s story is part of a larger trend of unplanned entrepreneurship, commonly known as accidental entrepreneurship, springing up in reaction to layoffs and rising unemployment rates.

An average of 340 Americans out of 100,000 created a business each month, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, released last May. This translates into approximately 558,000 new businesses per month, a slight increase from last year’s numbers.

The company’s founder decided to follow his passion for event planning, golf and travel, investing his entire commission check (a total of $65,000 to be exact) into the small business. DeLavallade, his vice president of operations, travel concierge (and intern) make up the staff, excluding the 5 member advisory board. Although they are few in numbers, in less than a year, the first black-owned international golf tour operator has made a mark on the niche industry. The company has coordinated three golf tournaments, 16 leisure trips and two corporate events to date.  They’ve also appeared on the luxe-golf travel radar  by scoring major deals, including being named the official golf concierge for Citigroup Worldwide, landing a contract with Trump International Golf Club Puerto Rico as a property management partner, and holding an event contract with General Motors’ Buick.

“We go above and beyond,” says DeLavallade, whose customized golf experiences run customers anywehre from $500 to $4,000. “You can do dinner reservations or, if you stay in a villa, we can have a caterer come in and do a privately catered dinner, [provide] cigars, have you picked up from the airport, provide your travel and [access to] leisure events—go to an Orlando Magic game or a Miami Heat game. It all depends on where you’re going.”

Read more for advice on how to launch your own business:

• The Sweet Smell of Success
• The Small Business Check-up
• The Entrepreneur in You
• Take Your Dream From Concept to Company

Are you a foodie? Ask a friend if you can cater their holiday party

Good tidings and cheer isn’t all that comes with the holiday season; a lot of us—whether out on break from school or out of a job—see good opportunities to make a few extra bucks in an economy that’s still tough. But getting a job folding sweater at the Gap isn’t your only option (although there’s nothing wrong with that!) “I’ve always believed it is best to go left when everyone is going right,” says Roberta Matuson, job search mentor and president of Human Resource Solutions.

It’s expected that job seekers will flock to retailers for positions during the holidays since those are the businesses likely to the most have openings. But there are many jobs—jobs that can extend well past the holiday season—that are often overlooked. “Jobs on ski slopes across the globe last much longer than a holiday job in a retail store,” says Matuson, as one example. Also, “resorts hire a variety of people during the holiday season and beyond to help handle the peak in their occupancy rates,” she states.

Fresh air and an opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors while you work is a stark contrast from the madness of the malls this time of the year. But if you are an indoor type who doesn’t want to deal with the holiday rush of shoppers or vacationers, working from home may be the option for you to not only make extra money, but to save some, too. “I advise students to look for sites like mine that offer legitimate at home jobs so they don’t have to commute or use up the little funds they make by paying for transportation,” says Shilonda Davis, owner of Virtual Work Team. “I don’t think a lot of college students think of doing something that they are good at virtually.” Davis says other virtual opportunities include social media manager, virtual graphic designer, virtual bookkeeper, virtual clerical assistant and virtual transcriber, a position she says is currently open on her site’s “Job Board.”

Need more options? Here are some other positions to consider for earning extra cash!

House sitting

This time of year, people are traveling to be with family and friends. This is also peak season for burglars who are pulling double duty looking for signs of empty houses.  You can charge a fee for helping someone keep their home looking lived in when they are out of town.

Mystery Shopper

With increased business for retailers during the holiday shopping season, employers of chains will want to know how their employees measure-up in the area of customer service during the holidays. You can help these retailers find out if their employees measure up when the pressure is on.

Catering

If you consider yourself a foodie and you enjoy cooking for others, ask to cater a friend’s holiday party or event. This could be the start of a delicious career.

Gift Wrapping

To most people, presentation is important, and some people have a knack for wrapping gifts so perfectly that the recipient may feel as if the present is too pretty to even open. Not everyone can do that.  And sometimes, folks just don’t have the time. Around the holidays you can find places, often in shopping mall, that do nothing but wrap gifts for customers. Stop by and see if they’re lookign for some extra help.

Picture Taking

People love getting personalized holiday cards made just as much as family and friends love receiving them.  As people tend to their Christmas card list, their making appointments to get pictures taken, whether it’s to show how the new baby has grown or the entire family. That means portrait studios need extra help the season.

Read more on finding the perfect gig.

• Career moves for college students
• 10 Ning networks you need to know
• How to become a successful consultant

But if you’ve been fired or laid off, it’s important to know your next step, so that you can have a plan of action. Giving up is not an option, and all this week in our series, “So You’ve Been Fired… Now What?” we’ll give you the tools and inspiration you need to move forward. Your first step? Knowing what you should do immediately upon hearing those words: “We have to let you go.”

Kelly A. Morgan, CEO of SAGE Professional Strategies L.L.C., and author of Journey to a Place Called THERE: A Navigation Guide for Creating a Balanced Life, (Scribe, Etc; 1$16.95) offers these tips:

First, take a deep breath, focus, and try to think clearly. “Don’t let the emotion of the news cloud your thinking,” Morgan says.  “You will have time to decompress and feel the impact of the situation later.”

Depending on the circumstance, know that the options can slightly differ. “Being laid off typically means you may be called back to work, although there is generally no guarantee of timing,” Morgan says. This is not the case with being fired.

• If you were laid off, ask about compensation options. Severance packages generally cover a certain number of weeks of pay and any payout for unused and accrued vacation. Ask about unused vacation, accrued vacation, and bonus payments. Know the details of your unemployment benefits and your eligibility. Also, find out how unemployment benefits may be affected when you do find employment and how it will affect your taxes.
• Contact and sign up with direct placement and temporary agencies, Morgan advises.  Be prepared to provide your resume and to complete a phone and/or on-site interview and placement test to assess your skills in various areas.
• When job searching, be honest if you were fired. “Despite any ill-feelings you may have toward your former employer, do not bad-mouth your supervisor or management,” Morgan says. “Be honest and succinct in your explanation.”

Get information on your health insurance coverage. Your company should provide you with information on how to continue your current medical and dental benefits via COBRA which will cost more than the employee contribution you made from each paycheck. Clarify exactly when your current benefits will end and whether the company will cover a certain number of months.

Adjust your budget accordingly. Determine your household goals for managing the necessary expenses as well as maintaining your savings and investments, Morgan says.  Also, any extras, such as cable or eating out, may need to be cut down or cut altogether.

Know your rights. Many states have at-will employment laws and in those states, employees can be fired and resign at any time without providing a reason.  If you feel you have legitimate facts regarding your termination that clearly shows you were a victim of discrimination, harassment, or unfair labor practices, legal action may be taken. Be sure to be aware of the legal expenses involved in litigation.

Assess your skills and how to maximize them in alternative ways. “Perhaps now is a good time for a career change and to begin working in an area that is more enjoyable for you,” Morgan says. Consider whether you have the personality and desire for consulting and entrepreneurship.  “If there is something you always wanted to do, why not try it out. Go for it!  You may surprise yourself!”

For more resources on job searching, check out Facebook App Helps Users Find Jobs and Economista: Top Job Search Sites.

Read more from our series, “So You’ve Been Fired… Now What?”

• How to get back in the game

“I sent an announcement to my e-mail group when I got a raise, and one girl asked me not to share when some members didn’t have jobs,” recalls Brittany Miller, whose first raise of the year during this recessionary period nearly ended some of her relationships.  “She said I was being ‘too boastful.’”

Hurt and confused, Miller, who lives and works in the Washington, D.C. area as a finance specialist with a leading communications company, retreated from the group altogether and kept further successes to herself. But surprisingly, the 24-year-old isn’t the only one feeling the pinch.

A recent study from Leadership IQ, a research company in Marietta, Georgia, polled more than 4,000 people who have kept their jobs after corporate cutbacks and found that 62% of them feel guilty, anxious, and angry following company layoffs. “When you are affluent while so many are not, you might feel guilty that you’re not suffering the way everyone else is,” says Alduan Tartt, a psychologist in Decatur, Georgia. “But you worked hard for your success. You should feel blessed that you’re in a position to help.”

Though your first instinct may be to pull away, Tartt says that the best way to allay your guilt is to reach out to your loved ones. “Guilt is caused by a lack of a sense of power. But you do have power,” he says. “You have the power to help [others] by reviewing resumes, introducing them to people in your network, inviting them with you to networking events, and brainstorming with them.”

Tartt also says it’s important to comfort those who have lost their jobs. “When friends are let go, contact them immediately, set up lunch dates, and help them think about what their next move is going to be. Remember: Friends don’t want your guilt, they want your support.”

That’s advice Miller is now following. She’s reconnecting with her friends and even returned to the e-mail group, where she critiques résumés and posts job listings. In the end, Miller offers her own advice: “It’s okay to feel good about yourself and at the same time feel bad for others. Just don’t allow guilt to take over your happiness.”

For more information on managing your relationships during these tough times, check out the October 2009 issue of Black Enterprise.

We all know times are tough. We read daily about some industry sector—retail, financial services, health care, technology or manufacturing—experiencing reductions in force (RIF) in the thousands! These dislocations are painful for the affected employees and the colleagues left behind. Human resources is usually tasked with drawing up layoff lists, coaching managers on what to say and explaining severance terms. Corporations, in their quest to reduce headcount, approach layoffs with the precision of a surgeon’s scalpel or the blunt force of a sledge hammer.

In my role as a managing director and head of the diversity and inclusion practice for a global executive search firm, I am in contact with chief diversity officers on an ongoing basis. Diversity and inclusion (D&I) executives have expressed dismay that many of the gains made in diversity recruitment are being rolled back by business retrenchment. Many a chief diversity officer (CDO) finds themselves watching the dismantlement of succession planning models that have positioned women and minorities to step into new opportunities that no longer exist. Understanding that business necessity makes headcount reduction necessary, they either accept the layoff mandate or lose credibility. Those who decide to embrace the responsibilities associated with corporate downsizing seem to take on one of four roles:

The Grief Counselor: This executive sees his or her role as providing counseling and resources to laid-off employees. The CDO or someone on her or his staff may have personally recruited affected workers, and he or she will provide resources and introductions to ease the employees’ transition. They function as a transition hub for employees making sure that employees get resumes formatted as well as receive interview tips and job leads. They lament the loss of talent and show great empathy for affected employees. CDOs that play the Grief Counselor seldom are involved strategically with the decision on who gets laid off.

The Referee: This professional understands the need for reductions, but wants to make sure there is no adverse impact for protected classes. She or he will work with the legal department and do a statistical means test of which protected-class employees are slated to lose their jobs. If statistically there is an over-indexing of protected-class members, he or she will try to achieve greater balance. The referee sees their role as a compliance officer. If it appears the layoffs are being carried out without bias, this person will inform senior management to that effect.

The Activist: This executive took an active role in all the social movements before joining corporate America: civil liberties, gender equity, racial justice, same-sex marriage, domestic rights, nuclear disarmament, etc. Such individuals are revered for their willingness to “speak truth to power.” The Activist is often seen as the public face of the company. This is especially true of CDOs who work for consumer companies.  Activists often are the most upset at the prospect of layoffs wiping out minority gains. They will camp outside the offices of any senior executives whom they feel they can persuade to save as many jobs as possible. Typically in the face of economic pressures, this approach is not effective; however, the Activist takes great pride if he or she is able to save a few token jobs.

The Partner: The CDO in the Partner role has a seat at the table. Partners are members of the executive committee and are involved in discussions about proposed layoffs. They provide adverse-impact statistics to the group before any decisions are made. Partners look at the proposed gaps in the organization and determine which diverse executive can scale up and take on new responsibility. The reality is that whenever an organization reduces headcount, the remaining positions  often become bigger, given that the same amount of work needs to be done – but with fewer people.

A CDO in a Partner role cannot prevent layoffs, but she or he can ensure that they are fair and that the remaining minority employees are positioned for the coming upside.  In doing so, the CDO not only becomes an integral part of the change management process, but more importantly uses diversity as a tool to achieve greater organizational strength and effectiveness.

Since most would agree that having a CDO who is a strategic partner is desirable, one may logically ask why doesn’t it happen more often? It’s been my experience that there are four barriers that hinder CDOs from playing a more robust role at a company:

The revolving door of CDOs. With an average CDO tenure of less than 3 years, how can one develop true lasting partnerships?

My way or (I go down) the highway. Many CDOs have a clear but often dogmatic view as to how D&I should be implemented (which is too often based on what worked at one of their past D&I posts).  They need to be more flexible in their approach.

Business people partner with other business people. As many CDOs don’t have a deep business background, this makes it much harder for them to be seen as a business partner. They lack the commercial understanding and don’t speak the common language of the astute business professional. CDOs who don’t understand their business have a difficult challenge making the business case for diversity and inclusion.

Lack of diversity. The longer we continue placing primarily women and people of color into the CDO, role the longer we reinforce the notion that the important work of D&I is not an important function for all executives to consider. Since the utilization of human capital is essential to the success of every business doesn’t it make sense for companies to be more inclusive?

I have observed all four types of CDOs. They are not mutually exclusive roles. The best diversity and inclusion executives are a mixture of all four. To be an effective CDO one has to call for a level playing field. You have to be an ombudsman and you have to be courageous when you smell “something rotten in Denmark.”  As a search professional, I seek out clients who want a full partner in their CDO. The full-partner CDO can report to the Chief Executive Officer or the Chief Human Resources Officer. More important than the reporting relationship is the substantive nature of that connection. A partner CDO has to be involved on the front end of succession planning, compensation, recruitment, and training and development.

Some may feel that their organization doesn’t have a partner CDO. The good news is this can change. Although I do believe that a savvy CDO can become a true partner, it will take a lot more than just training, coaching, and commitment to change.  We need to open up the dialogue and talk about the existing CDO reality.  It is amazing how far this function has come.  Who would have believed that so many CDO positions would ever exist? That CEOs would care where their company ranked in the various diversity polls [such as the Black Enterprise Best Companies for Diversity] or that the business press each year would trumpet best company for minorities, working women, gays, physically different etc.  That being said, what has brought us here will not get us to the next level.

Gregg Smith is managing director at Boyden Global Executive Search in New York

Actual revenues were significantly lower than his projections suggested—they should have been 50% higher. “As a business we saw revenues drop, we reacted accordingly,” he recalls. “We cut costs, renegotiated contracts with vendors, eliminated services, and brought the services we could in-house. We cut employees who were not pulling their weight and had people doing more than one thing. Rather than laying people off, we decided to fall a month behind on paying the lease for two of our offices. And that’s how tight things got.”

Cancryn says he figured things would get better and the next month, he would just double-up on the payment. But things did not get better, so he was forced to lay off six employees over the course of the next two years. “It was a last resort.”

While layoffs, salary cuts, and furloughs can help some small businesses stay afloat during an economic downturn, living through it can be traumatic— causing feelings of anger, anxiety, insecurity, and a sense of betrayal for those who are let go as well as for those employees who remain on the job. And, like Cancryn, business owners may feel a personal sense of failure for having to take such measures. Left unchecked, any of these negative emotions can wreak havoc in a workplace already weakened by financial crises.

“The first casualty is usually morale, quickly followed by performance and retention of top talent,” says Chris Bryant, founder, executive coach, and national speaker of Beverly Hills, California–based Rapport Strategies Group. With fewer resources, small business owners must face these difficult times and make hard choices.

In doing so, they regrettably have to manage the results. According to a 2007 study conducted by the global professional services firm Towers Perrin, there is a strong connection between employee engagement and company financial performance (see charts). In Closing the Engagement Gap: A Road Map for Driving Superior Business Performance, engagement is defined as employees’ willingness and ability to contribute to company success. Findings conclude that “the more engaged the workforce, the better the company is likely to perform on a range of key financial metrics.” With a direct correlation between ­productivity and employee morale, a solid confidence and engagement throughout your company—from the top down as well as the bottom up—is necessary if you intend it to increase profitability and thrive.

All Together Now

“First, be aware that what it takes to motivate employees during a downsizing period is different than during a period of growth,” says Bryant. In times of prosperity, employees basically feel grounded and can focus on their daily tasks. But these days your employees are likely to be distracted and disengaged by the reports of “doom and gloom” bombarding the airwaves and the rumors swirling around the office at work. Now, more than ever, they are looking to you for positive leadership and reassurance.

For example, one of the most powerful things you can do as a leader, to show your employees your loyalty toward them and usher in an environment of camaraderie, is to be the first person in the company to take a salary cut. “If you take this step, they are sure to follow if they care about saving the company and preserving a job for themselves later,” says Adrienne Graham, chief talent acquisition consultant and CEO of Hues Consulting & Management Inc. in Alpharetta, Georgia.

It’s also important to let employees know that it requires a team effort to get through the tough times, according to Tanisha Russell Day, managing consultant of KEY HR Consulting L.L.C. (www.keyhrconsulting.com) in Teaneck, New Jersey. “When they see you roll up your sleeves and assist with duties outside of your core responsibilities, that will promote teamwork and boost morale.”

Communication is critical during times like these. Pretending things are OK or keeping silent about the state of the company are big mistakes. “Before this recession you could just tell your employees how things were going to be done. Today, you need to ask them to participate,” says Douglas Duncan, a 30-year human resources veteran and president of Maplewood, New Jersey-based Your HR 9-1-1.com.

For example, when you are looking for places to cut costs, instead of singling out one department to take the brunt of it or making across-the-board cuts, ask your people where they think they can save the company money or what revenue-generating ideas they may have, such as utilizing free or low cost Web conferencing systems such as Skype or telecommuting to save money on utilities. “If you ask them to cut back, you cut back as well and show them. It could be carpooling to work, converting travel meetings to Web conferences, or bringing in your lunch. You can scale back on expensive items and client entertainment expenses,” says Graham. “Whatever you choose to do, make sure your staff knows about it.”

During an economic downturn, employees often feel high levels of stress and powerlessness—a toxic combination. It’s up to you to remind them that you are all invested in the success or failure of the business together. Making the effort to invite each employee into the fold during formal and informal settings and giving them the opportunity to contribute to the continued success of the business in new ways can calm fears, create a sense of camaraderie, and enhance productivity.

Letting Go Gracefully

Cancryn says he didn’t want any of the employees he fired—mostly support staff he interacted with on a daily basis—to feel betrayed. So, before letting anyone go, the 49-year-old exec spoke to each of them individually so they would know their positions were in a vulnerable spot. “I told them where we were as a company, I shared my decision-making process about the layoffs, and I also gave them a chance to give me their feedback,” he recalls.

“They weren’t really surprised by the news because they already knew what was going on in the economy and they could see that the work just wasn’t there for them the way it had been in prior years. But, I think they appreciated the communication because they still came to work, they did a good job, and most weren’t speaking negatively about me or the company itself.”

Experts applaud Cancryn’s approach, noting that open communication with employees about pending layoffs is a key ingredient to keeping morale high. “If you know a lot of people are going to be laid off, it’s better for everyone to hear about it as much as possible beforehand,” says Russell Day. A failure to communicate openly and honestly with employees can be a recipe for disaster.

Layoffs may be necessary to help your company’s bottom line, but a poorly managed execution is a distraction that can burn bridges, destroy morale, and hinder productivity. If you must terminate an employee, do so with kindness, honesty, and respect—for the good of that individual, the morale of the co-workers they are leaving behind, and your company’s reputation. How you operate during these tough times will impact how well you move forward once they’re behind us.

This story originally appeared in the July 2009 issue of Black Enterprise magazine.