No real surprises here from the Manpower quarterly survey of 16,000 U.S. companies regarding their hiring plans for the fourth quarter. From the report: Twenty percent of firms surveyed said they will be open to hiring in the upcoming fourth quarter, about flat with the 21% who said they intended to hire in the third quarter this year.For more than two years — 11 quarters, to be exact — the portion of firms who said they planned to hire has hovered around 20%. Interesting that it consistently stays at 20%. I’m no statistician (but I did take it twice in college for . . . nefarious reasons), but that consistency… Read More
Continue ReadingEmployee Satisfaction
I always seem to get drawn into articles with lots of stats in them. I came across 2 short, but interesting articles in last week’s newsletter from Workforce Management. The first article was from a survey conducted by human resources firm Adecco North America. In the article, they cite increased stress stemming from putting in longer hours at work. It finds that about 29% of employees report logging longer hours than they did a year ago, with a reported 32% experiencing on-the-job stress. The second article was from Kronos Inc. and Harris Interactive. Their joint survey that employees who are satisfied with their employer are more apt to extend themselves… Read More
Continue ReadingOutsourcing Your Sales Dept.
Gerhard Gschwandtner of Selling Power released an editorial titled Should You Outsource Your Sales Force? He starts right off with a statistic I have not heard: A few years ago, outsourcing a sales force was a novelty. Today it has become a trend that enjoys a 20% annual growth rate. I’ve always been a skeptic of this approach mainly due to my sales background. I cannot wrap my simple mind around the idea of a person from another company owning the relationship with the customer. Leveraging a better ROI is one thing, placing a degree of separation from your customer (read: revenue) base seems like Russian roulette. What if you… Read More
Continue ReadingMaybe I’m Missing Something…
Inc.com posted this howler today – Fearing Economic Uncertainty, Companies Put Spending Plans on Hold. Obviously, this type of story sounds like it will have an impact on our business for the remainder of the year. The opening sentence: Gloomy economic reports in recent months have many small and midsize businesses rethinking spending plans, a pair of new surveys show. Most of the stories I have read have mentioned how strong the economy is right now so I was taken aback by this revelation. The rest of the article speaks to CEO’s slowing everything down this year. I went back and clicked on the link found in that first sentence… Read More
Continue ReadingA Repeatable Scenario
Diggings has a post that is a microcosm of the impending shortage in the hiring market: In the last 6 years, the number of welders has dropped 10% to 576,000 people and the American Welding Society predicts that by 2010, the demand for welders will outstrip supply by 200,000 workers. We are involved in some highly specific searches right now and are encountering similar supply-demand issues. One search I am working through has led to two different final candidates that parlayed an offer into a better package from their current employers. As demand increases and supply diminishes, I am certain we will see similar behaviors.
Continue ReadingFakin’ It
We can’t stress this enough, if your first pass on applicants is to sort resumes, you are making a big mistake. Granted, you have to look at their history, but odds are you are looking at an embellished document. From workforce.com: ResumeDoctor.com says nearly 43 percent of people in a new study fibbed about their qualifications. The South Burlington, Vermont-based company scoured 1,000 résumés for factual errors on seemingly insignificant items such as dates of employment, educational and professional credentials, and job titles. The résumé-counseling company found that many people intentionally misstate or exaggerate these details in an effort to get better jobs–a tactic it says usually backfires. The study… Read More
Continue ReadingJob Seekers On Your Payroll
This article – MORE AMERICANS FED UP AT WORK (you have to love the capitalization) – is a throw away propaganda piece but it does contain an interesting set of statistics: Fifty-eight percent of workers may leave their employer if the economy continues to improve that’s up 12 percentage points from the 2005 study. Meanwhile, 74 percent say they are actively or passively looking for a new job, and 41 percent of those fessed up to looking for a new job while at work, up from 39 percent last year. We have beat this drum for some time but it is always worth revisiting. The modern worker is easily connected… Read More
Continue ReadingMarketing to Baby-Boomers Part 2
From this week’s SHRM Newsletter: EEOC Backs Targeted Recruitment of Older Workers. We have written several posts related to this subject (Marketing to Baby-Boomers, 76 and 44). The article contains several points of valuable information. EEOC’s Aug. 11 proposed rule change is in response to a Supreme Court decision two years ago (General Dynamics Land Systems Inc. v. Cline, 540 U.S. 581 (2004)), which concluded that there is no such thing under the ADEA as reverse age discrimination. While the current rule prohibits job advertisements favoring older persons, the proposed rule would make it permissible to encourage older people to apply. Employers may post help wanted notices or advertisements expressing… Read More
Continue ReadingPerformance-Based Compensation
As a lifelong salesperson, I have always contended that all employees should be on some variable, performance-based pay. This article from CareerJournal indicates that a trend is forming in this direction. Employers are making employees work harder for their money.Most workers will receive modest raises this year and next, as employers reward employees with performance-linked bonuses rather than broad salary increases, according to a survey by consulting company Hewitt Associates Inc. That first sentence is bunk. I’m guessing the author has not worked in sales. The better lead would be to state Employees now have a chance to earn far more money for their efforts. “More companies are relying on… Read More
Continue ReadingTop 50 Employers of Boomers
If you have read us for any length of time, you know we are suckers for lists. I just caught up to this one from the CareerJournal website: The following are the top 50 employers for workers over age 50, according to AARP. Mercy Health System, Janesville, Wis. Lee Memorial Health System, Fort Myers, Fla. Bon Secours Richmond Health System, Richmond, Va. Leesburg Regional Medical Center and The Villages Regional Hospital, Leesburg, Fla. Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Conn. Volkswagen of America Inc., Auburn Hills, Mich. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. Oakwood Healthcare System Inc., Dearborn, Mich. First Horizon National Corp., Memphis, Tenn. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. (Roche), Nutley, N.J.… Read More
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