This abcnews.com article will tweak every Utilitarian out there (my editing): The federal government has 2.6 million civilian workers, making it the nation’s largest employer. But, it turns out a growing number of these workers are not working. Coburn commissioned the report “Missing in Action: AWOL in the Federal Government,” which tracked the number of absent workers without leave, AWOL workers, across 18 government agencies from 2001 to 2007. It found that federal workers missed nearly 20 million hours of work in the last six years, not including vacation time or sick leave. On average, 2.8 million hours of work are lost per year because of AWOL absences. Can you… Read More
Continue ReadingWorkplace Murders On The Rise
From Inc.com: During 2007, 5,488 people died from job-related injuries, a 6 percent decrease from 2006. However, workplace murders increased 13 percent to 610 homicides. I find that stat a bit remarkable. I’m not sure what would drive the workplace murder rate up, but that is a disturbing trend.
Continue ReadingSales Managers In Over Their Head
Dave Stein has a provocative post regarding some recent poll data about sales executives. This is excellent: Top Five Reasons Executives Are Unhappy At Work Limited advancement opportunities (12.8%) Lack of challenge/personal growth (12.3%) Compensation (11.7%) Stress Level (7.7%) Job Security (7.7%) For sales executives, I believe there is another reason for unhappiness in their jobs: many don’t have the capabilities to perform successfully. It’s too much of a challenge rather than lack of a challenge (indicated in number 2 above). Here are two indicators that this is true: First, tenure of sales executives is getting shorter year after year. These sales executives aren’t leaving their jobs in less than… Read More
Continue ReadingTelecommuter-Friendly Companies
A few months ago I posted on the rising trend of telecommuting. The percent of companies that allow working from home has gone up dramatically over the past few years. From our experience, that trend has been accelerating in just the past few months. More companies are offering salespeople the option to work form home a few days a month once they are through their on-ramping process. We are also being asked by sales candidates early in the process if telecommuting is an option. Not all companies and positions have that flexibility, but that shouldn’t preclude you from looking for alternatives. A recent article from the Workforce Management newsletter lists 7 companies… Read More
Continue Reading2 Jobs In 1
The Wall Street Journal offers an article about companies combining 2 jobs into 1 and then hiring based on the lower level job. The author explains it better than me: Some job hunters have been encountering a new kind of downsizing: companies that aren’t eliminating positions entirely, but are combining a mid-level position with a more junior one — then advertising it as a junior slot and offering a lower salary. I’m not sure this is the best approach to hiring in that you often get what you pay for. One of my suggestions would be to assess the candidates if you go this route. There are many talented, young… Read More
Continue ReadingA Candidate Shortage
CNNMoney.com reports on a specific area that is experiencing a hiring problem – lack of candidates: Despite the slump at lowlier levels of the job market, there’s currently a war for senior management talent. In fact, 70% of executive recruiters surveyed by networking organization ExecuNet (www.execunet.com), say there’s a shortage of people who can step in and run things. We’ve seen this shortage first-hand in the sales arena. Strong sales leaders are in demand right now, especially in one corporate segment (emphasis mine): Companies doing the most executive hiring aren’t necessarily the biggest, the ExecuNet study found. Employers with revenues between $51 million and $200 million are expanding their senior-level… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Best Social Networking – In-Person
I don’t think this is a big surprise, but in-person networking is the most important. From the Career News newsletter (sorry, no link): While the execs expected the importance of online networking to grow from 24% now to 38% in two years’ time, that’s still less important than developing personal contacts (81%), contacting recruiters (63%) or using job boards (51%). Some 93% of the senior executives surveyed said putting time into developing their ‘personal brand’ was a wise career move. While some three-quarters said this was best done offline, two-thirds said they do use social networking sites to look good. Commenting on the findings, Carol Rosati, director at Harvey Nash,… Read More
Continue ReadingVideo Resume Reticence
I’m a fan of the video resume concept for sales positions. Salespeople have to interact with clients in a manner that best represents your company. The video resume provides a glimpse into this presentation ability. Yet, according to RecruitingTrends.com, the majority of companies are not accepting these forms of resumes (emphasis mine): Indeed, just one in four (24%) senior executives polled claim that their companies accept video resumes from candidates reveals the survey, developed by Robert Half International, a staffing services firm specializing in accounting and finance and conducted by an independent research firm. When asked whether their company accepts video resumes from job seekers, 58% of responding executives state… Read More
Continue ReadingAn Electronic Leash
You just knew this was going to happen – companies are using technology to monitor remote employees. The Wall Street Journal provides this article that illustrates what approaches are used by employers: They’re taking photos of workers’ computer screens at random, counting keystrokes and mouse clicks and snapping photos of them at their computers. They’re plying sophisticated technology to instantaneously detect anger, raised voices or children crying in the background on workers’ home-office calls. That seems quite invasive, but it appears telecommuters are generally willing to trade the invasiveness for the work-at-home option. I’m not certain I would be so eager to allow this type of monitoring into my computer. … Read More
Continue ReadingLooking To Increase Productivity
In a survey conducted by LifeCare they asked employees to name the one benefit program that would make them more productive on the job. Their response, in a landslide, was a flexible work schedule. Of those surveyed, 63% gave that response, the second most frequent response was enhanced health and wellness programs (10%). I’m not quite sure of the definition of flexible schedule for the survey, but we are big proponents of a flexible schedule. Anytime you can hold an employee accountable for results, instead of the number of hours they work in the office, I can guarantee you will see more motivated, efficient workers.
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