These types of stories seem to come out once a quarter. This time CNNMoney.com offers America’s best jobs in the hottest markets. I’m sure you are wondering who is number 1. Orlando. The 2 year job growth forecast for that city is 6.8%. In fact, 5 of the top 15 cities are located in Florida while 3 others are located in Texas.
Continue ReadingThe Feathers Are Fine
Velvet Hammer’s recent post, Retention Past Retirement, did not “ruffle my feathers.” Nice try, Hammer Boy. As we read more and more about the “graying” of the workforce, it should stimulate some thoughts and conversation about experience and how to take advantage of the experienced workers wishing to remain active. Elizabeth Hocking, writing in the Small Business Times had this to say: To combat the graying of its workforce while recruiting and retaining younger employees, Cleaver Brooks started a mentoring program about two years ago. Older workers are paired with younger workers to share their experiences and mistakes, helping the younger workers move more quickly up the ladder, Pfefferkorn said.… Read More
Continue ReadingRetention Past Retirement
Most companies are aware of the shrinking workforce for which we are encountering as the Baby Boomers start retiring. One short-term fix is to simply employ these boomers past their retirement age. This approach has many merits that will benefit a company. However, a recent article from Small Business Times – Survey says employers need new hiring strategies – reveals that the vast majority of companies are not implementing any hiring adjustments for this shortage. In the study of 1,000 U.S. employers, 78 percent indicated they were not concerned that an aging workforce might hamper their ability to recruit and retain talented workers. Additional findings support this sentiment, including the… Read More
Continue ReadingInvest In Hiring, Save On Firing
We often speak of the costs of making a bad hire especially in sales. One bad sales hire can send prospects to your competition and sully your company’s reputation in the market all while you pay this salesperson. But what if it goes even further than that? In our litigious society, what if an employee decides to make a run at a discrimination lawsuit? BusinessWeek online offers up some incredible examples in Fear of Firing: -Many of the lawsuits may seem ridiculous. IBM is currently defending a case filed by James C. Pacenza, a plant worker it dismissed for visiting an adult Internet chat room while on the job. In… Read More
Continue ReadingIncreased Pay or Better Benefits? That Is The Question.
So which is more important to employees, pay or benefits (specifically health benefits)? In last week’s Workforce Management’s newsletter, a nationwide survey was recently conducted by the National Business Group on Health that asked 1,619 employed people that specific question. They found that employees in the U.S. consider their health plan to be their most important benefit. Furthermore, in a world of rising health care costs, employees would rather give up wage increases and other benefits to preserve health care coverage. More than 50% said they would accept fewer choices in order to keep their premiums low and roughly 75% would rather receive employer health benefits than get paid more… Read More
Continue ReadingDefining The Battle For Talent
“The biggest challenge employers face in recruiting new hires is the competition between companies for talent” notes Worldwide ERC, the association for global workforce mobility management. According to an article on their website, more than 90% of the companies surveyed are having problems recruiting the right people and more than 20% consider the problem severe. They were asked to give the reasons why they have been running into difficulties in hiring talented people – here are their responses (including percentages from the 2002 survey): 2002 2006 Competition with other companies 47% 59% Lack of qualified candidates 48% 50% Cost of living/housing issues 26% 38% Undesirable areas 22% 32% Dual career/family… Read More
Continue ReadingBest Jobs in America
Salary.com and Money teamed up to offer this article in which they polled more than 12,000 people in their 2nd annual Best Jobs in America survey. One interesting fact that they found was that 60% of those surveyed are considering or recently have completed a career change. Clearly the days of the single-company career are gone (all of here at Select Metrix can attest to that). They have actually broken down the top 20 jobs for 4 different categories, for the young (Gen Y), parent’s returning to the workforce, veterans and for those over 50 (baby boomers). The articles are quite long so allow me to preview the top 10… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Dawn Of Corporate Text Messaging
We are gradually moving towards instant messaging for our internal communications at Select Metrix and away from email. Speed is a big part of this move for us, but email spam is also driving the change. I have a difficult time imagining email disappearing all together, but this article from Inc.com provides some insight: Due to increasing levels of spam, companies may soon have to look beyond e-mail as the primary method of communicating with employees and customers, according to a new study. In 2007 alone, it is predicted that nearly 97 billion e-mails will be sent daily worldwide, 40 billion of which will be spam messages, the study found. In… Read More
Continue ReadingExperience Or Age – Which Is It?
I take a fair amount of grief from the “youngsters” in our organization. Being the elder statesmen has earned me several names and acronyms not suitable for publication. A recent article in Money magazine listed the “Best Jobs” if you’re over 50 and planning a new career. What struck me most, were the following tips – regardless of age or occupation. Make age an advantage Sure, bias is out there. It’s up to you to put your age in a positive light. Talk up your experience and how it fits into what a potential employer is looking for. Is the company trying to launch a service, cut costs or find… Read More
Continue ReadingInterview With The Coach
CareerJournal.com offers something new, at least to me, in the modern-day hiring process – Add One More to the Hiring Process: The Boss’s Coach. Welcome to the latest development in job hunting. You impressed the recruiter, treated the receptionist politely and bonded with the hiring official. Now, you must also pass muster with the executive coach for your likely boss. The rising popularity of such additional screening reflects management’s increased use of coaches and its worries about the high turnover among new hires. I’m not a fan of adding more cooks to the kitchen when it comes to making strong hiring decisions. Our process is geared around group input, but… Read More
Continue Reading