This article from abcnews.com discusses different corporate plans to help employees deal with the rapidly increasing gas price.  Of all the creative approaches I have read of late, I think this one takes the cake (my bold):

The career search Web site Jobing.com’s program really helps employees’ wallets. Those who meet certain requirements (such as length of time at the company, a good driving record and completion of a safe driving course) can get their car completely wrapped with the company’s logo. The reward: 100% of the employee’s gas is paid for along with a monthly $500 stipend. The company has an approved list of cars that employees can choose to either lease or buy.

Peter Difilippantonio was one of the first employees to get a wrapped car at Jobing.com. He purchased his Jeep Cherokee in October 2003 and paid it off last year using the $500 monthly stipend. Since the benefit doesn’t end when the car is paid off, he uses that money on household expenses.

I’m sure you caught that last sentence.  Now that is a clever perk.

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Gas prices are driving companies to adjust their reimbursement policy for outside salespeople.  We have seen a handful of salespeople who have taken a real hit due to the fact they are on a monthly car allowance and not mileage reimbursement.

Telecommuting is already grabbing a larger foothold in the work world which is a trend that predated the gas price increase.  Our local Pioneer Planet quotes a recent SHRM report regarding telecommuting:

(The SHRM study) found 18 percent of employers are allowing workers to telecommute, up from 4 percent in a survey a year ago.

That doesn’t sound like much, but a 4% increase in 1 year is remarkable.  We have seen a recent trend amongst our customers to go with remote salespeople located in the territory.  The centralized sales force may become a fossil as companies move to a distributed sales force.

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The Herman Trend Alert enewsletter (sorry, no link) takes a look at last week’s unemployment numbers.  Some interesting items in there (emphasis mine):

This increase in unemployment continues to mask the real situation. Looking at the BLS’ Household Survey, in the month of May, the national unemployment percentages among adult men and women were 4.9 and 4.8. At the same time, the rate for teenagers, ages 16 to 19 jumped from 15.4 in April to 18.7 in May, an increase of 21.4 percent. While part of this increase is due to high school and community college graduations, these new job seekers do not account for this huge increase. Rather, we believe that something else is happening.

We believe that employers are holding on to their skilled, experienced workers and those with lower skill levels are considered more expendable and easier to hire back—as employees or contractors—when conditions improve.

What these data reflect is that the US has a real problem with its under-resourced schools—schools that are either not engaging students enough to keep them there or preparing them for the job market.

I think that last sentence is right - schools are not doing a good enough job preparing students for the job market.  One other note - how can these numbers be analyzed without taking into account the increased minimum wage?  The minimum wage is scheduled to increase again so I suspect companies are not hiring entry-level employees (16 to 19 year-olds) at the same level.

Whatever the explanation, 5.5% unemployment is a historically low number despite what the media reports.

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We are sales recruiters so we have been fairly immune to this question, but it is even appearing in our world.  For salespeople, the question is some variation of “How often will I be expected to be in the office?”  This question doesn’t mean they are planning on playing hooky; the candidate simply wants to start the discussion about working from home, their car, coffee shops, etc.

The Career News newsletter (sorry, no link) offers up a quick article on this topic:

When it comes to making a living, how many miles would you travel? According to many hiring agencies and recruiters, people job hunting are taking climbing gas prices into consideration. “If we were looking at them commuting 20, 30, 40 miles for a work assignment, they’re hesitating,” Blaise Krautkramer at Firstaff Staffing Services said.

Each week, about 50 people walk into our agency office, all of them expressing serious concerns about these high gas prices. A fair amount of these people are passing up job opportunities. “The cost of gasoline is a component in their decision, and it’s a difficult decision for them,” Krautkramer said. A short commute is now a top priority for job seekers.

If you haven’t done any hiring recently, be prepared for this topic.

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These lists seem to come out on a regular basis with different results.  Yet, I’m a sucker for a list so I read them.  The one consistent piece of information I read is that compensation is often overrated.  People may say they changed jobs for a better compensation package, but usually it is some other factor driving them out of their current job.  I’m not sure that holds up well in sales.

The top reasons people have changed jobs:

Downsizing or restructuring (54 percent);

Sought new challenges or opportunities (30 percent);

Ineffective leadership (25 percent);

Poor relationship with manager (22 percent);

To improve work/life balance (21 percent);

Contributions to the company were not valued (21 percent);

Better compensation and benefits (18 percent).

In the online survey, respondents checked all circumstances that were among the reasons they left previous jobs. The percentages add up to more than 100 because people have been in more than one of these circumstances during their careers.

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From CollegeRecruiter.com:

Generation Y a/k/a Millennials promise to:

1. Hold only productive meetings. Hallelujah!
2. Shorten the workday by focusing on productivity.
3. Bring back administrative assistants — even if Gen Y pays for them out-of-pocket and even if they’re virtual.
4. Redefine retirement by taking multiple mini-retirements.
5. They’ll find real mentors by teaching older workers about technology and in return be guided through office politics.
6. Put human back into human resources.
7. Promote people to management based on their managerial skills, not their seniority.
8. Continue to value what their parents have to offer because Gen Y respects their parents and their parents respect their Gen Y children.
9. Trade off potential raises and promotions for higher starting salaries.
10. Re-invent the performance reviews by increasing their frequency from semi-annual or even annual to on-the-spot.

I’m with them on number 1 and 2.

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$4.50 here in the Twin Cities.  According to this Pioneer Press story:

And if the price hits $4.50 per gallon, more than half of the commuters in the Twin Cities said they’ll be looking at changes in their daily commute.

The survey found commuters are most aggressive about looking for options in Atlanta, Dallas and the Twin Cities. They are slowest in San Francisco.

The gas price is a strong lever in sales recruiting right now, but you have to be prepared to discuss the reimbursement side of the equation.  We have noticed a definitive upclick in the discussion of mileage reimbursement/car allowance.  In fact, this topic is coming up in the first or second phone discussion.

Nationally, some 31 percent of 2,915 respondents indicated they’d be scoping out options once gas hits $4. That can include more flexible working hours, taking mass transit, telecommuting or other changes.

“Other changes” is where we step in.  Working closer to home or from home are important incentives in today’s market.  If your company does not have a remote workforce option, you need to implement one - it is that important for sales.  Second, use this option in your sourcing efforts.  I guarantee this topic is at the forefront of almost every salesperson’s mind.

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Here is a list you do not want your company to be on.  From MSN Money:

That reality is borne out in the results of MSN Money’s second annual Customer Service Hall of Shame, a ranking of companies with the worst customer service, based on a nationwide survey commissioned by MSN Money and conducted by Zogby International.

The winner, or is it loser?  Whatever, it is no surprise:

AOL Time Warner

A remarkable 47% of people who had an opinion of AOL’s customer service said it was “poor.” Analysts said that rating may have something to do with its effort to transition from an Internet service provider — where it still has more than 9.3 million paying subscribers — to an ad-supported Web portal.

I simply have never been a fan of AOL even though I have never been a customer of their’s.

The rest of the infamous list:

I am a customer of 4 of these companies, but one of them stands out for me as being the worst.  I won’t say who.

Sprint

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According to Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  According to a recent post on Recruiting Trends and a 2007 survey from DDI & Monster regarding corporate hiring systems:

Less than 50% stated that they were satisfied with current selection systems. At least two-thirds expressed dissatisfaction with the efficiency of hiring systems, even with access to automation technology to help organize and track applicant information.

From our experience in the sales world, I would have to say those dissatisfied numbers are much higher when it comes to the results of their hiring system or process for salespeople.  So why not change the system?  It could be that they are comfortable with what they are doing or don’t think that there is a better way.  Any answer would only be speculation on my part, but it is quite clear from the survey that what they are doing, for the most part, isn’t working well.

In  the sales world I believe that using an applicant tracking system (ATS)  is not the right answer unless your sale always goes through an RFP/RFQ process.  Before you go off the deep end, hear me out.  In an ATS-structured process, you are not even considered an applicant until you enter your info into the system much like a company putting an RFP or RFQ out for bid responses.  If the candidate’s information doesn’t trip the right keywords, they may be missed all together.

But what if a top notch salesperson contacts you directly?  Are they even considered or do you tell them to apply online and you will review their information?  Would you want a salesperson that just goes along with the system, i.e. responds to the quote and waits for a call from you?  Or are you hiring them to get your value proposition in play with a new prospect?

So why not try something different and increase your likelihood of success?  This is the biggest hurdle we face as we move through our unique process with new customers.  Clients seem to get uncomfortable or nervous and want to revert back to their old habits.  I know that Einstein’s quote is often quoted, but the next time you are going to hire a salesperson, stop and review your system before you start down that same path.  Call us if you are stuck in that rut and not sure how to get out.  We would love to help you break the rut.

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Quick-hitter article here from HotJobs.com - Good-Paying Jobs Are Ample, But Training Is Critical.  The article is a fast read and worth your time, but here is what caught my attention:

The job market is always churning. About 7 million workers lose or leave jobs each quarter and, when the economy is growing, more than 7 million are added to payrolls. Companies hiring right now include makers of aircraft and medical equipment, shipbuilders and refiners of petroleum and sugar. At the same time, losses continue to sock the textile, apparel, auto and other industries.

7 million jobs churn each quarter.  That is a staggering number and helps to define what a large economy we have been blessed with here in the US.  But our economy is slow right now so where does this leave us?  From the article (my editing):

The current slowdown is expediting a trend in play for decades: a shift from jobs that produce goods to those that provide services, which are up to 80% of the total.

You can bet there will be lots of good jobs. They’ll be in health care, engineering, management consulting, accounting, education and legal services. Also needed will be sales representatives, executive assistants, carpenters, auto mechanics, truck drivers, nurses, office managers and more. On average, many will pay as much or more than those in manufacturing.

Three decades ago, earning a high school diploma was enough to land a job in a steel mill where a person could move up the ladder to a $30 an hour job. Only 41% of jobs were filled by workers with some college or a college degree.

Today, 60% of jobs are filled by those with more than a high school diploma, and that share will rise to about 70% by 2020.

Education will be the first step, specialized training will be the second.  Finding the right person for the position will be the same as it ever was (to quote the Talking Heads).

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