Toby Dayton has an eye-opening post over at his Diggings blog regarding the shortage of talent in the marketplace today. From his post: According to a recent poll in Human Resource Executive, when HR executives were asked whether or not the war for talent was under way today, 22% responded No while 17% were not sure. I didn’t see that poll but it is amazing to me that these HR executives could be so clueless. This analysis from Toby cuts right to the heart of the issue: The single most important function of HR is to make sure that their company has a constant supply of sufficient human capital to… Read More
Continue ReadingTwin Cities’ Hiring Trend
I never put much stock in these types of surveys, but the local Pioneer Press reports on the recent Manpower survey: Twin Cities employers expect to hire at a sluggish pace during the first quarter of 2007, a Manpower employment survey found. Of the companies interviewed about their hiring plans, 28 percent expect to reduce their payrolls. Another 48 percent expect to maintain their current staff levels. Just 18 percent plan to hire more employees. This survey is a Q1 outlook only and one very important piece of data is our current unemployment. Minnesota is almost at full employment. Our unemployment rate is well under the national average so I… Read More
Continue ReadingBenefits Are A Benefit
Allow me to indulge myself for this is a pet peeve of mine. Inc.com offers up this article – Majority of Small-Business Owners Do Not Offer Retirement Benefits. Only 14 percent of the nation’s small-business owners offer a 401(k) plan to their employees, and 63 percent do not offer any retirement benefits at all, according to a new survey. I’m not surprised by this number. I’ve worked for both small and relatively large companies and there is a distinct difference between the benefits. Obviously the larger companies have the capital to offer more comprehensive plans. Here is the pull quote that struck a nerve (emphasis mine): “Small businesses employ half… Read More
Continue ReadingTelecommuting Trend Expands
Telecommuting is the Norm is a quick article from Sales & Marketing Management’s website. I don’t think this trend is surprising to most people. We have seen a tremendous shift towards this approach in outside sales positions over the past 2 years especially. Most candidates now expect some form of telecommuting capability including wireless-connected laptops, VPN connections and PDA cell phones. If your company does not offer these telecommuting basics, consider this excerpt from the article: “The war for talent, combined with commuting times and costs, and an increasing need for work-life balance are all factors that promote telecommuting,” says Jim Lanzalotto, vice president of strategy and marketing for Yoh.… Read More
Continue ReadingHope For Bad Writing Skills
Bad Writing: As Written Communication Skills Deteriorate, Business Schools Take Aim. There is hope and I am encouraged this Monday morning. We comment about writing skills frequently here at The Hire Sense since, well, we have seen some atrocious documents. The article attacks the problem right at the source: But in an era of nonstop e-mail and instant and text messaging, written communication skills within companies may be getting even worse as quality is compromised by the perceived need for speed. The casualness of email and the shorthand of text messaging has crippled writing styles. Now it appears to be affecting basic writing ability. The ubiquitousness of cell phones probably… Read More
Continue ReadingYouTube Resumes
Posting Your Resume on YouTube To Stand Out From the Competition. First, the gist of the article: …young job hunters are starting to make a video clip part of their job application, sometimes even posting them on sites like Google Inc.’s YouTube… It seemed like this day would be coming. But the author does bring up a good point that crossed my mind: Many employers and third-party recruiters remain wary of the concept of video resumes. Those who oppose it say that turning down candidates for interviews after seeing what they look and sound like on video could leave employers open to discrimination lawsuits. When job candidates send in photos… Read More
Continue ReadingMy Dog Ate My Homework
Remember that old line? Apparently some employees believe it still has legs even after graduating. We love lists here at The Hire Sense and CareerBuilder offers up one of my seasonal favorites – Thirty-Two Percent of Workers Called in Sick With Fake Excuses in the Last Year. I have no idea how many companies still separate sick days from vacation days – I was under the impression most companies just offered PTO now. At any rate, a couple statistics from the survey: Twenty-seven percent of hiring managers reported they have fired a worker for calling in sick without a legitimate reason. The most popular motivator for missing work was the… Read More
Continue ReadingChristmas Bonus Trends – Gifts or Time-off
In a recent survey conducted by BNS and sponsored by Kronos, researchers found that more employers will give staff gifts and bonuses this year while fewer plan to extend the holidays by granting three or more days of paid leave. Here are some highlights from the survey: 49% of employers will give employees holiday gift items, cash awards or bonuses this year. This represents an increase over 2005 (40%) and is the highest figure reported in the survey’s 25-year history. 43% of employers are giving workers three or more paid holidays – down from other comparable years when these holidays also fell on Monday (49% in 2000, 47% in 1995… Read More
Continue ReadingEnergy Prices and Recruitment
In a recent survey of 3,000 workers and hiring managers by Robert Half and CareerBuilder, almost 50% of the hiring managers think higher energy prices will hamper their ability to recruit skilled workers in the next year. It is very common for hiring managers to be very focused in finding candidates who are extremely local, said Rosemary Haefner, CarererBuilder.coms Vice President of Human Resources. Job seekers are being a lot more selective now of opportunities that are closer to home or can take advantage of mass transit, she said, so they can have a better work/life balance. Now this article takes this information a little far in attempting to paint… Read More
Continue ReadingUsing Email At Work
Emailing from work is a high risk endeavor especially now that company’s are required to store all company emails. Right on cue, CareerBuilder.com offers Netiquette: The Niceties Of Workplace Email Use. They quote a survey with a rather small sample size, but there is a surprising statistic: A 2006 survey of 416 companies by the ePolicy Institute in Columbus, Ohio, concludes that 26% of them have fired employees for inappropriate email conduct. That’s up from 21% in 2001. I have seen some egregious emails come from corporate email accounts. I have also dealt with many candidates who use their company email to converse with me regarding a job opportunity. I… Read More
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