Retention
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Reveille and Hyperbole
BrassRing closed the third quarter by adding six new clients to its roster including Sentara Healthcare, SolidWorks, LogicaCMG UK (part of LogicaCMG plc), Respironics, one of the nation's largest electric utilities, and,
a leading global financial firm.
Small and midsized business software provider Sage has launched version 6.5 of its Accpac HR series. The enhanced solution offers such features as real-time data updates, more employee self-service options, and additional reporting capabilities, along
with an improved database.
Resolve Staffing, Inc. (RSFF) acquired Project Solvers and Star Personnel.
To help job hunters unlock the "hidden job market" more effectively, CareerJournal.com—The Wall Street Journal's executive career site—has launched SelectRecruiters, a new recruiter search tool powered by Kennedy Information. SelectRecruiters uses a comprehensive
"Executive Recruiter" database, allowing job seekers to identify the most relevant recruiters by searching criteria such as geography, industry, function, specialty, fee structure and pay range. Once the most relevant recruiters have been identified, users can download contact data spreadsheets, PDFs for
label printing, and other tools to manage contacts with executive recruiters—by email, mail, fax or telephone. Per-contact download costs start at 75 cents per record.
TempWorks Software released its latest staffing platform. Version 10R1, based on Microsoft SQL Server 2005.
Deck Chairs
Jean Cholka, who previously led Sales and Marketing at Kanbay, will now become Chief People Officer....Richard Marshall will assume leadership of the
Korn Ferry Communications and External Affairs practice as a Senior Client Partner based in New York. ..
You Should Know
Australia:
- Research highlights mine industry worker turnover New research has found the annual turnover of employees in the mining industry can be as high as 60 per cent at some mine sites. Data has been collected from 13 mining operations, most of them in Western Australia, with a sample of more than
6,000 employees and contractors. Mackie Employer Solutions, the firm responsible for the survey, says the average annual turnover at participating sites was more than 24 per cent. (ABCNews)
Canada:
- Demographer debunks labour shortage myth Sudbury - There is no labour shortage. So says Dr. David K. Foot, educator, author and keynote speaker at the Oct. 6 Emerging Leaders Conference on succession planning. The
conference, held in Sudbury and attended by over 200 people, was the centre of the all-new day program of the 19th annual Northern Ontario Business Awards. The event was sponsored by Service Canada, Northern Ontario Business, the City of Greater Sudbury, the Sudbury & Manitoulin Workforce Partnerships
Board, Northern Life (the sister publication of Northern Ontario Business) and FedNor. (Northern Ontario Business)
China:
- Salaries No. 1 Motivator in China A recent report by Hewitt Associates, shows that employer turnover rates in China are rising
because of continued economic growth and a shortage of qualified talent. Not much of a surprise, is it?. The details are interesting though. Hewitt has identified the fact that turnover rates are rising fast, and they've put a number on it. (Talent
China)
Global:
- Google The Next Commerce Giant Analyst Safa Rashtchy at Piper Jaffray thinks we're in the midst of E-commerce 3.0, where Google stands ready to become the next great online commercial power. Few doubt Google's search supremacy, and its advertising driven profitability has brought in
billions in revenue. That has validated Google's bet on contextual ads. Next, Google may seek to profit from the sales process between people as it revs up its classifieds service. Internet Retailer cited Rashtchy, who sees a formidable Google competing with the existing players in person to person
sales: "Google will be a Craigslist on steroids-a very potent and dangerous challenge to where eBay wants to go." (WebPro)
- How MySpace.com Trumped Friendster The 'network effect' can suddenly prove fatal for competitors The late 1990s heralded newfangled concepts and coined numerous terms, most of which died out when the dot-coms bit the dirt. But a few "laws" stood the test of time, and the
"network effect" is among those that appears to have gotten stronger, holding true to Nietzsche's words: "That which does not kill you makes you stronger." Known by many nicknames (like Metcalfe's law, among others) the moniker states that the value of a network rises exponentially -- as opposed to
incrementally -- as more and more "nodes" or entities become part of the network. (OhMyNews)
- China's outsourcing industry could overtake India by 2015 China's outsourcing industry could overtake India by 2015 if it addresses the serious talent shortage, a senior industry expert has said. Talent shortage will impede the development of China's outsourcing industry, despite the
optimistic prediction on China's IT outsourcing industry in the coming ten years, Qu Zhonghua, a senior programme manager of IBM China's Shenzhen branch, said at the 11th Joint International Computer Conference (JICC 2005) held in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. (Manorama)
Japan:
- More than one million over 90 in Japan The number of people aged 90 or older totals 1,016,000 in Japan. At the same time, people aged 65 or older who are currently working or looking for jobs total 4.9 million, representing 7.4 percent of the nation's total labor force. The graying
population and low birthrate threaten to leave the world's second-largest economy with a labor shortage. People aged 65 or older are expected to represent 11 percent of the working population, in 2015. (Seniorscopie.com)
Saudi Arabia:
- New Recruitment Laws Set - KSA
The Labor Ministry yesterday announced new restrictions on the recruitment of house servants and said recruitment applications would be considered on the basis of family requirements and financial capabilities. (Menafn)
South Africa:
- Survey of income shows fewer women unemployed Women earn proportionately less than men in the highest and lowest income sectors of the Western Cape economy, a study of the income and expenditure of households and outlets in
the province for 2004 has found. The survey used the Living Standards Model (LSM), which classifies households into 10 living standard groups, with LSM 1 being the lowest and LSM 10 the highest. It found that women in LSM groups 2 and 3 earned 49.4% of the salaries or wages earned by males in
that group. In LSM group 10, women earned just 47.2% of the income earned by their male counterparts. (Cape Times)
Thailand:
- Serious skilled labour shortage expected in the next few years The software and technology industry is expected to face a serious shortage of skilled personnel in a few years which could impede the government's plans to
become a knowledge society, according to a study by the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI). According to the study, demand for new skilled software and technology workers in 12 major industries is projected to be about 184,600 this year and accelerate to more than 226,000 by 2009. (Bangkok
Post)
US:
- CAREER PROS: Seniors Search for Welcome Mat If it were left to Alan Greenspan, all Americans might find themselves working as late in life as the tireless 79-year-old chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Though Greenspan might not expect everyone to follow his lead, he did suggest recently
that the age of 68 might be more appropriate as a retirement age in today's market. (California Job Journal)
- PeopleSoft ex execs launch venture Former VPs join wave of entrepreneurs Former PeopleSoft vice presidents Dean Alms and Tim Cabral are the latest, founding an enterprise-level software company that will provide Web-based, "people-centric" tools for managing employee services such as
compensation and benefits, communications and procurement. Agistics Inc., a Pleasanton startup, follows in the footsteps of PeopleSoft founder David Duffield's Workday, which is working on a new generation of enterprise applications in Walnut Creek. (East
Bay Business Times)
- Cultivating a Taste for Mergers Two of the capital's oldest and most deeply rooted trade associations -- both advocates for food -- may be about to merge. The Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Food Products Association could soon agree to become a single group. K Street will
mourn the change. Many of its most prominent players once worked for or closely with these venerable organizations. But truth be told, the disappearance of trade associations is a longtime and probably accelerating trend that experts say will inevitably lead to fewer industry lobbying groups in the
nation's capital. So watch the fate of the foods. There you will see the future of trade associations on K Street. (Washington Post)
- Knight Ridder ‘in play' Investor's bear hug leaves future uncertain for newspaper giant The State — along with The Charlotte Observer, The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News and other Knight Ridder newspapers — is feeling the unwanted embrace of an investor bear hug. Control of Knight
Ridder could be heading toward a proxy battle, and some say the ownership of the nation's second-largest newspaper chain is likely to change. If that happens, the face of newspapering in the Carolinas could changed dramatically as other media companies in the state — Gannett, McClatchy, Lee
Enterprises and New York Times — look to expand. (TheState)
- Y-S readers buck U.S. trend Since 2002, the Appeal-Democrat's readership has grown 10 percent, according to data from a February survey commissioned by the newspaper. Its circulation rose 1.4 percent in the same time period. In contrast, the Newspaper Association of America reported this month
that average weekday circulation at most U.S. newspapers fell 2.6 percent during a six-month period this year. (Appeal Democrat)
- HELP WANTED 'War for talent is on' An increasing number of service industry jobs and a decreasing number of people looking for work have many local employers in a bind. Hiring banners are featured on restaurants such as Mario and Luigi's, Perkins and Ruby Tuesday. Others have more
discreet signs posted, but the need appears to be fairly widespread as local restaurant, hotel and shop owners find themselves competing for potential employees. (CentreDaily)
- Study: Bleak retirement outlook for Mass. boomers For some people, retirement means choosing between traveling around the world or settling at a quiet, oceanside cottage. For Sandy Leyenaar, mother of two, such dreams look far out of reach. "We have no savings. We drive very old cars that
break down on a regular basis," she said. "We don't have money and we don't have credit. We have to make a choice between college and retirement." (Lowell Sun)
- No Rush From The Workforce Louise Story's New York Times feature stirred up much excitement over the idea that women are retreating from the career trenches. Yet, if anything, Story's article showed the opposite: 70 percent of the women in her sample stated a preference for staying in the
labor market, at least part time. This is no massive rush for the door by a new generation disenchanted by the failures of the supermom. (Courant)
- Class Matters Two months ago, in his prime-time address from New Orleans, President Bush called upon the nation to "rise above the legacy of inequality." He was joking, obviously. The president's congressional allies now propose to cut Medicaid, food stamps, free school lunches and
child-care subsides. They do not propose to save money by undoing the tax cuts that have handed an average of $103,000 a year to people making over $1 million. This is a scandal, and not because every liberal spending program deserves protection. It's a scandal because, whether you support this
program or that, inequality is growing poisonous. The meritocratic premise of this country, essential to both its political consensus and its economic success, is starting to ring hollow. (Washington Post)
- Steady job not enough to retire Boomers might always be at work At age 52, Brian O'Grady, of Savoy, can see the light at the end of the tunnel. He thinks retirement may be in reach within the next six years, after his two daughters finish college. "I'm going to have to do, as one
might say, real work for a few more years," said O'Grady, the arts program coordinator at the Berkshire Arts & Technology School in Adams. "My goal is (to retire) by 57 or 58. I hope." (Berkshire Eagle)
- Police hiring technique focuses on role-playing Three sets of eyes watched Jim Graham as he sorted through his in-box. A week's worth of mail, e-mail, and phone messages had piled up, and it was up to him to prioritize each piece under the watchful gaze of his audience. In his job as a
lieutenant at the Bedford Police Department, Graham works without a panel of observers. But in September, when he was up for a promotion, he had to show his audience how well he could perform as a manager in simulated job scenarios. Five applicants were vying for the job of lieutenant. To ensure the
selection process was as thorough as possible, police Chief James Hicks and the town of Bedford decided to evaluate each candidate by means of an assessment center.(boston.com)
Survey Sez:
Largest Single Study of the Workforce Worldwide Shows That Employee Engagement Levels Pose a Threat to Corporate Performance Globally
Towers Perrin Study Shows Mexico Has Largest Percent of Highly Engaged Workers; Japan Has Smallest Percent
Engagement Levels in the United States Have Not Increased Since 2003, Creating Retention Risks in Healthier Labor Markets
At a time when companies are focused on growth -- and looking to their workforces to achieve that growth -- a major new study of employees worldwide offers disturbing news: just 14% of people are fully engaged on the job and willing to go the extra mile for their companies.
The study, the largest of its kind today, was conducted by Towers Perrin's HR Services business in August 2005 among more than 85,000 people working for large and midsize companies in 16 countries on four continents. It shows that there is a vast reserve of untapped "employee performance potential" that
can drive better financial results -- if companies can successfully tap into this reserve.
"For the first time ever, we've given a voice to the workforce worldwide," noted Donald Lowman, a Managing Director of Towers Perrin HR Services business and a member of the firm's Executive Council. "What we're hearing is that people want to contribute more. But they say their leaders and supervisors
unintentionally put obstacles in their paths. The insights from our study give management a very clear road map on how to remove these obstacles and unleash the full potential of the workforce to deliver superior performance."
According to the survey, employee engagement -- the measure of people's willingness and ability to give discretionary effort at work -- varies dramatically worldwide. The highest recorded levels are in Brazil (31%) and Mexico (40%). The lowest recorded levels -- in the low single digits -- are in the four
Asian countries in the study. Across Europe and North America, engagement levels fall in between these extremes.
"The vast majority of the people we surveyed are moderately engaged at best, and a quarter of them are actively disengaged," Lowman noted. "This creates serious risks for companies since our research shows that companies with fewer engaged workers are far less likely to deliver on their growth agendas or
achieve the kind of performance that shareholders demand."
The study shows that highly engaged workers believe they can and do contribute more directly to business results than do less engaged employees. For instance:
84% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact the quality of their company's products, compared with 31% of the disengaged.
72% of the highly engaged believe they can positively affect customer service, versus 27% of the disengaged.
68% of the highly engaged believe they can positively impact costs in their job or unit, versus 19% of the disengaged.
Highly engaged employees are also far less likely to leave for another job than their less engaged peers. Worldwide, 59% of the highly engaged survey respondents planned to stay with their current employer, compared with just 24% of the disengaged group.
"Not surprisingly, workforce engagement is increasingly a boardroom issue," Lowman continued. "We are seeing the notion of a ‘war for talent' give way to a quest for employees' discretionary effort. In my work, I see more and more boards holding senior management accountable for taking steps to attract,
retain and engage the people needed to carry out the company's strategy. It's viewed as a critical part of overall leadership effectiveness, as well as an element of business risk that needs to be managed through the corporate governance process."
U.S. Employees Skeptical About Their "Deal" With Employers In the U.S., engagement levels held fairly steady since 2003, with 21% of workers fully engaged, compared with 22% in 2003. Generally, employees remain frustrated and skeptical about both their senior leadership and how well their company is
delivering on their "employment deal" (defined as the implied working contract between employer and employee). Both of these elements have a major influence on engagement in the U.S.
"Employees in the United States feel they've hung in during the tough years," noted Julie Gebauer, Managing Director and leader of the firm's Workforce Effectiveness practice. "They don't think they've seen enough in terms of pay raises, incentives or other rewards for their contributions -- despite
hearing lots of talk about ‘pay for performance.' And this view appears to be intensifying as the economy regains steam.
"What's more, this perception is also creating retention risks," Gebauer continued. "More than half of our U.S. respondents (55%) are what we call ‘passive job seekers' -- open and vulnerable to other job offers. With competition for top talent starting to increase, companies need to understand how to
create a winning employment proposition that will help them find and keep the necessary talent.
"Our research underscores that an effective employment proposition goes well beyond pay and benefits," Gebauer pointed out. "Elements like career opportunities, fairness and work/life balance are often more important than pay and benefits when people are making decisions about whether to stay with or leave
a company."
Engage Globally, Influence Locally The survey draws on a common set of workplace elements that define engagement across the globe. These include emotional aspects, like taking pride in working for a company, and rational aspects, like understanding how your job fits into the bigger picture at your company.
But how a company establishes these emotional and rational connections with employees differs considerably, depending on where it operates.
Engagement also has little to do with economic conditions in the country where an employee works. Only 8% of Chinese employees in our survey are highly engaged, despite -- or because of -- China's fast-growth economy and the stress it puts on people. In Germany's slowing economy, by contrast, almost twice
as many employees (15%) are highly engaged.
"We now know that engagement transcends geographic, economic and even cultural differences," noted Lowman. "Highly engaged people -- regardless of where they work -- have a similar set of emotional and rational connections to their jobs. Where differences do come into play, however, is in the relative
importance and focus both employees and employers put on these elements.
"This presents two challenges for employers," Lowman continued. "One is understanding, in concrete terms, the nature of the work experience needed to achieve higher levels of engagement. The second is identifying the unique people practices and programs required to shape that experience -- from management
style and behavior to communication and culture; from career and performance management to rewards."
"The people practices that matter most to employees in one country won't necessarily be as important to employees in another country," Gebauer noted. "For example, training and development programs appear to be critical in Brazil, but less so in Germany or the Netherlands. Benefits play an important role
in engaging employees in Ireland, but not in most other countries.
"These differences are particularly important to understand as demographic shifts and differing business and labor cost structures force more companies to relocate operations, export jobs and/or import workers. Most will do all three. This means most employers, not just the huge multinationals, will have
to manage a global workforce. Their success in doing that will depend on their ability to engage people locally. Our data suggest big challenges loom."
Low Confidence in Management's Ability to Inspire and Lead The survey also shows that employees don't have strong confidence in senior management's ability to inspire and lead. For instance:
Just 41% think their senior management supports new ideas and new ways of doing things.
Only 40% think their senior management acts in a way that's consistent with their values.
Just 37% think senior management tries to be visible and accessible to employees.
Only 36% think senior management effectively communicates the reasons for important business decisions.
And a mere third believe senior management communicates openly and honestly to employees.
"These findings are particularly worrisome because leadership in the workplace is one of the key drivers of employee engagement. Employees are looking for guidance, direction, vision and clarity -- from both top management and their direct supervisors -- and they don't believe either are delivering to the
extent they would like," Gebauer said.
"Equally disturbing, we've seen findings like these in our studies for a number of years now. This isn't because companies don't care about the issue or recognize how important it is. Rather, it speaks to the complexity of the challenge it presents. The fact is that it's hard to create a work environment
that encourages people to give their all on a sustained basis," Gebauer continued. "Every day we learn more about what it takes to do that and the level of commitment required from senior leaders."
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