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Reveille and Hyperbole:
Landmark Military Newspapers, Inc. purchased The Destiny Group,
an integrated recruitment company and online business that assists transitioning and former military personnel in obtaining employment or training. The company also provides assistance in generating or improving their resumes and other employment related services. The purchase occurred on June 22, 2006 and
was made from Bill Gaul, the founder and owner of the company that was established in Texas in 1997. The company has business offices in San Diego, CA.
Akamai Technologies, global service provider for accelerating content and business processes online, and Peopleclick announced that Akamai's Web Application Accelerator Solution is providing faster application performance and improved availability to Peopleclick's
clients. Peopleclick's Recruitment Management System (RMS) is delivered as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that streamlines the work of recruiters and hiring managers by automating and tracking the total hiring process. With Akamai's solution, Peopleclick RMS clients are ensured increased
productivity, regardless of where they are located by leveraging Akamai's global network of 19,000 servers.
Accolo, Inc. announced the acquisition of Teten Executive Recruiting, a retained executive search firm that specializes in using social software to reach and recruit the most qualified candidates. The firm focuses on the hedge
fund, private equity, and strategy consulting industries. Founder and author David Teten joins Accolo's Advisory Board.New online job ads increased in May to 2,354,500, according to The
Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series(TM). The May level was 91,800, or 4 percent above the previous month and followed a sharp decline in April. Despite the increase, the number of new ads for online jobs in May was lower than in March, which was the month with the highest count since The
Conference Board launched the Help-Wanted OnLine Data series in April 2005. In May, there were 1.57 online job ads per 100 persons in the U.S. labor force, compared with 1.51 in April 2006 and 1.60 in March. Over the year May 2005 to May 2006, new online job ads increased 17.4 percent, an increase that is
consistent with the rise seen in other labor market indicators during the same period.
The latest Employee Engagement Report by global consulting firm BlessingWhite indicates that even though the majority of employees express positive feelings about their work, their employers, and even their
managers, less than one-fifth are fully engaged in their work. "Engaged employees are not just happy or proud. They are what we call ‘enthused and in gear,' focusing their talents to make a difference in their employer's success," explains Christopher Rice, BlessingWhite's President and CEO. "We found that
only 18% of our survey respondents had all the pieces of this engagement puzzle in place."
Jobing.com, Denver's largest provider of locally-focused job search and recruiting services designed to connect local employers and job seekers, announced today that it will be hosting its Denver Career Expo at the Colorado Convention Center on Wednesday
August 16th from 12 Noon – 5 PM. With over 125 employers and 3,000 job seekers expected to attend, this event will provide local employers with the ideal venue to be recognized as an employer of choice via key marketing opportunities and to identify top local talent in today's marketplace.
Verifications, Inc., a provider of employment screening and applicant processing services, was recently designated a Certified – Third Party Administrator (C-TPA) by the Substance Abuse Program
Administrators Association (SAPAA). Verifications became the first company in the country to earn the C-TPA designation.
The National Council on Aging (NCOA) commends the House of Representatives for passing the Senior Independence Act (H.R. 5293) without dissent. The legislation would reauthorize and strengthen services offered under the Older Americans Act, the chief federal
law governing the organization and delivery of a number of social services for older Americans. Passage of the bill represents important progress toward achieving the number one priority of the once-per-decade White House Conference on Aging - reauthorization of the Older Americans Act. The final report from
the conference is expected in July.
Alberta's labour crunch is likely to get worse, as the province's annual shortfall of workers would reach 332,000 by 2025 if current trends were to continue, the Canadian Conference Board estimates. "The well-publicized current labour shortage in
Alberta is just the tip of the iceberg," said Glen Hodgson, Vice-President and Chief Economist. "Something will have to give, as no economy can sustain such a huge and growing gap between labour demand and supply. If faster growth in labour productivity does not make up for the shortage in workers, the
province will be unable to achieve its economic growth potential." Energy Jobs Network (EJN), a division of Industry Careers Network, is revitalizing job recruitment in the energy industry across North America.
Energy Jobs Network put a twist on an old concept and introduced its vertical market job board, www.energyjobsnetwork.com, to meet the staffing needs of the energy industry. Currently, EJN has a network of 28 affiliate job boards. These job boards include the leading trade associations, websites and media
companies in the energy industry. Energy Jobs Network is a virtual marketplace where job seekers can find jobs and employers can find candidates with energy experience.
Deck Chairs:
Kale Consultants a leading provider of software solutions to Travel and Transportation industry globall announced the appointment of Ajit Singh Vig, as Senior Vice President, Human Resources....SkyWest
Airlines, a subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc. (SKYW) appointed Amber Hunter as director of human resources and recruitment....Mira Ringler and Molly Rosen have been selected to lead
BlessingWhite's Western Region Operations. Ringler will lead operations in Southern California and Asia-Pacific, and Rosen will oversee the Pacific-Northwest operation. Both Ringler and Rosen will be based in BlessingWhite's San Francisco office.
You Should Know:
Australia:
Skilled labour shortage permanent constraint
A chronic shortage of skilled labour is set to act as a permanent constraint on Australia's growth, according to economic forecaster BIS Shrapnel. The firm's latest Economic Outlook bulletin states the country is moving from an economy where growth has been limited by demand to one where growth will be
limited by resource availability. "Australia has entered a new era of constrained growth. Businesses are already grappling with the problems of tight capacity, infrastructure bottlenecks and an acute shortage of skilled labour," senior economist Matthew Hassan says. (QBR)
Canada:
Coping with bullies at work
A top-notch salesman who recently won a prestigious sales award has had 20 years of successful experience with his company. A year ago, a new regional manager became his boss. The manager is criticizing the salesman's ethics and blocking access to needed resources. Do you feel discriminated
against or harassed at work? Are you humiliated or falsely accused of being incompetent? Do you feel apprehensive about going to work or anxious while you're there? If so, you may be the victim of bullying. (Calgary Sun)
Please 'take care of some of my headaches'
More small businesses are handing over specialty functions such as payroll and tax preparation, but they need to do their homework first, experts tell MICHAEL RYVAL (Globe and Mail) Alberta faces big
shortage in workforce
The Conference Board of Canada is predicting Alberta's labour crunch will likely worsen over the next 20 years. In a report entitled Alberta's Labour Shortage: Just the Tip of the Iceberg, the conference board estimates Alberta's annual shortfall of workers will reach 332,000 by 2025 if current trends
continue. (London Free Press)
Tech labour shortage looming
Tech sector bounce-back plus low unemployment rates could lead to a shortage of tech talent
Think you're having trouble finding candidates with all the right tech skills? Just wait. The tech sector has bounced back, which could forewarn of labour shortages across Canada. A new survey indicates that tech sector unemployment rates have shrunk to a minute 1.9 per cent. The study of 600,000 Canadian
tech workers was released by the Software Human Resources Council (SHRC) and shows that the sector's unemployment rate has dropped dramatically. In 2002 the unemployment rate was almost six per cent, but by the end of 2005 it was hovering just below two per cent. (Canadian
HR Reporter)
Global:
With Intense Focus on Strategic Workforce Planning, World-Class HR Organizations Reduce Termination Rates, Drive Other Benefits
With an intense focus on strategic workforce planning, world-class HR organizations drive down voluntary termination rates to 33% that of typical companies, according to Book of Numbers™ research findings from The Hackett Group, a strategic advisory firm and an Answerthink company. In part as a result of
these lower termination rates, companies with world-class HR organizations require 46% fewer hires than typical companies, and fill open positions 11% faster. (CRM2Day)
India:
In pursuit of 'the' personality
Its ability to help companies in selecting right candidates by assessing their psychological facets has popularised the concept of psychometric testing in the corporate world. In light of the various advantages offered by psychometric analysis, can the whole process of recruitment and employee development
be seen in a new light? Sonal Shukla explores (ExpressPharma) TimesJobs.com, the only Indian entrant for the Cyber Lion at The Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival 2006
TimesJobs.com is the Only Entry from India to be nominated for The Cyber Lion at Cannes Lions 2006 Advertising Awards for its "ChartBusters" Campaign - The creative, is a compilation of songs – spoofs on classic hits– by genuine job seekers who take a break from their routine job search. The Cannes Lions
International Advertising Festival is the only annual gathering of the world's advertising, creative, direct marketing, interactive, film, radio, media, sales promotion and marketing communities. During the Festival, over 22,000 ads of the best international advertising, creativity and marketing
communications, from 75 countries are reviewed. The Cyber Lion, instituted in 1998, includes submissions for Websites, Online Advertising & Other Interactive Communication Tools. (AgencyFaqs)
Ireland:
How Ireland Became the Celtic Tiger
In just over a generation, Ireland has evolved from one of the poorest countries in Western Europe to one of the most successful. It has reversed the persistent emigration of its best and brightest and achieved an enviable reputation as a thriving, knowledge-driven economy. As a result of sustained efforts
over many years, the past of declining population, poor living standards, and economic stagnation has been left behind. Ireland now has the second highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita within the European Union (after Luxembourg), one-third higher than the EU-25[1] average, and has achieved
exceptional growth. (See Chart 1.) (The Heritage Foundation)
UK:
Email - Business Enabler Or Corporate Achilles Heel?
Email has become the most critical form of business communication. So why are the majority of companies failing to maximise email to deliver real corporate value? How many companies have direct, searchable access to all email communication - body copy and attachment - from corporate applications such as CRM?
And why, despite the proliferation of mobile devices such as the Blackberry, most users can see only the emails that have arrived over the past few days - do they have no visibility of the complete email history? (IT
Observer)
Outsourcing medical records can play havoc with patients' lives
Outsourcing medical records to foreign countries could play havoc on patients' lives because of typographical errors, the UK's biggest trade union has claimed. Unison said that many health service providers are choosing to get the records typed up in countries like India in order to save costs. But the fact
that glaring typos have occurred could even cost a life, the union alleged. It cited the example of a case where a typist wrote "hypertension" (high blood pressure) instead of "hypotension" (low blood pressure). In other instances, a foreign typist is supposed to have typed, "known malignant" instead of
"non-malignant" and "urological" instead of "neurological" (EarthTimes)
Big guns to woo consulting candidates at 2006 Management Consultancy Careers Fair
A staggering 42 organisations have already signed up to meet consulting candidates at the 2006 Management Consultancy Careers Fair, taking place on
13th October at The Barbican in LondonThis puts the line-up of recruiters on track to exceed 60 organisations, compared with the 41 organisations that exhibited at last year's event. Over 3,000 people are expected to attend the Fair, with 500+ recruiters and representatives of consulting firms on
hand to meet with candidates on the day (Consultant News)
US:
Agency ailing, some say
Lax inspections, 'brain drain' cited
Restaurants with persistent health violations are remaining open. Serious health threats are going unreported to the public. Food inspectors and disease intervention specialists labor under massive caseloads. Communication has stalled. The state Department of Health that once won national recognition for its
work now appears to be neglecting rather than protecting public health. (ClarionLedger)
Corporate venture capital making comeback
It is a cliche in the venture business that corporate venture capital is the first to jump out of the game when things look bad, and the first to jump back in when things start to pick up. Well, corporate venture capitals are coming back. The venture arms of corporations poured $5 billion into start-ups at
the height of the dot-com bubble in 2000 and participated in almost 30 percent of all venture-backed deals, according to a recent survey of corporate venture capital by the global strategy group at Samsung Corp. By 2002, that number had fallen to $1 billion and 15 percent of all venture-backed deals. Now, the
percentage of start-ups with corporate capital is on the upswing, and corporate venture firms are participating in nearly 20 percent of all venture-backed companies for the first quarter of 2005, according to data from Samsung published in April. Even though corporations are investing in more deals, dollars
remain constant, hovering around $1 billion since 2002. (TechJournal)
Deep Release:
Ten Tips for Negotiating Workplace Conflicts
Whether two employees are fighting or a disgruntled client is on the verge of leaving, you-yes, you-can step in and help solve the problem. Master mediator Jeffrey Krivis, author of
Improvisational Negotiation, shares some tricks of the trade.
Conflict happens. It happens in all areas of business. Disputes can arise between employees, between business partners, between a company and a client. And if such issues are not settled, bad things can happen. Good people quit. Profitable relationships dissolve. Great companies go under.
This has always been true, of course. But according to renowned mediator Jeffrey Krivis, in a global economy the implications of conflict are more profound than ever before.
"In a world where relationships matter more than ever, mediation skills matter more than ever," says Krivis, author of Improvisational Negotiation: A Mediator's Stories of Conflict about Love, Money, Anger-and the Strategies That Resolved Them (Jossey-Bass/A Wiley Imprint, 2006, ISBN:
0787980382). "Companies can locate anywhere. People can work anywhere. Clients can stay with you or go with a competitor halfway around the globe. So whether you manage employees or clients or both, it's critical to learn the art of bringing harmony out of conflict."
Krivis serves corporations and individuals from all walks of life, helping them settle disputes before they end up in the courtroom. His book, which is packed with stories from his own career, reveals some fascinating ways he and other mediators have helped people stop beating their
metaphorical heads against metaphorical brick walls and reach creative, mutually beneficial solutions.
What, exactly, is negotiation? Krivis says it's reframing a situation in order to get people to shift their positions in a way that makes a resolution possible. His own formula for negotiation is as follows:
Instinct + Information = Intuition
Intuition + Knowledge = Improvisation
In short, negotiation is part art and part science. You needn't become a certified mediator in order to settle a dispute at work or at home. You just need to understand some basics about human behavior, practice the fine art of paying attention, and offer yourself up as a neutral party who
just wants to resolve the problem.
Here are ten insights and tricks of the trade Krivis suggests you use:
- Let people tell their story. When a person is deeply upset about something, he really needs to get his story out. This is a basic principle of mediation, and one that's important to remember when trying to resolve a conflict with an angry employee, client, or other associate. Yes,
allowing people to speak their minds can increase the level of conflict with which you must deal. That's okay. You have to get through the conflict phase to find the solution. Feeling that he has finally "been heard" can dramatically change an angry person's outlook. Plus, as he tells his story, new
information may come to light that allows a solution to naturally emerge.
"Independence Day," a story in Krivis's book, illustrates this truth. Dan, a systems analyst who had been downsized after 10 years with his company, was suing his former employer for wrongful termination. When he was finally allowed to tell his story in mediation, everyone was stunned by the raw emotion
that came pouring out. "Dan had lost his parents as a child and had always spent Thanksgiving and Christmas with coworkers," reveals Krivis. "He saw the company as family-literally-and thus felt hurt and betrayed by the lay-off. As it turned out, the company was ultimately able to re-employ Dan as a
consultant. He got to start his own business and his old company got to continue benefiting from his services. But if Dan hadn't been allowed to tell his story, and tell it in front of his old boss, the answer would never have presented itself."
- If someone refuses to budge, take the spotlight off her. Isolation tends to create movement. When you are mediating a multiparty conflict, you will often discover that there is one person who insists on taking a hard line approach. She refuses to compromise, shooting down every
solution that's presented and holding out for what she wants. Krivis's suggestion? Take the attention off the "last woman (or man) standing" and begin settling around her (or him). "It's amazing how well the isolation technique works," he remarks. "You'll find that the holdout starts to anxiously call
and send e-mails, trying to get things going again. When her perceived power is neutralized, she quickly sees the value of compromise."
- When someone seems "locked up," dig for the emotion behind the stone face. Krivis recently mediated a situation in which a famous television producer was on the verge of being sued for plagiarism. Essentially, the plaintiff claimed that the producer had "stolen" his idea for a
successful situation comedy TV show. When anyone talked to him about his case, he gave short, robotic answers and showed no emotion. So Krivis asked the plaintiff, "What is it you really want to achieve here?"
"The plaintiff almost broke down," relates Krivis. "He said, 'I never wanted to bring this case in the first place. I just want to break into television.' So I returned to the producer and said, 'Is there any way you can help this guy out?' And the producer said, 'Sure, let me talk to him.' So I got the
plaintiff an audience with this extremely well respected producer, and the producer ended up offering him a development deal. By tapping into this person's repressed emotion, we were able to find a solution that made everyone happy."
- When people are picking flyspecks out of pepper, come in with a reality check. Often in a conflict, the various parties are so focused on minutiae that they lose sight of the big picture and all its implications. As the mediator, you need to bring people back to reality by wrenching
their attention away from the grain of sand and having them focus on the whole beach. Doing so may help resolution arrive at a startling speed.
"I was mediating a case in which a security officer was raped by a superior," recalls Krivis. "Everyone was nitpicking the details, saying, 'Well, we don't know if we can believe the officer, so-and-so is biased, she's asking for too much money, etc.' I had to step in and say, 'Let me
paint the picture the way the jury is going to see it: the horrific crime of rape, a woman in distress, a thriving six-figure career cut short, and so forth. Now you go ahead and tell your story about the sand granule. By then the jury will have made its decision and you're going to wish you had that
moment back.' Once I gave them the reality check, they came to an agreement right away."
- Identify the true impediment. In every conflict, ask yourself What is the true motivating factor here? What is really keeping this person from agreeing to a solution? When you can identify the impediment, you can predict how the person will respond to certain ideas and you can shape
negotiations accordingly. "I worked on a case in which a man was suing an entertainment company for wrongful termination and we just could not resolve it," Krivis relates. "Finally, I happened to ask about the man's family and found out that one of his kids had cerebral palsy. Suddenly, it all made
sense. The plaintiff had to win the lawsuit because they didn't have medical insurance to cover the child's very expensive treatments. So that's what was really driving the lawsuit. Armed with that knowledge, we got the company to agree to pay the man's insurance for five years."
- Learn to "read minds." Mind reading is not magic. It is a combination of observation and intuition, which is born of experience. "You can learn a lot about how each party sees a dispute by paying attention to body language and listening closely not only to their words but also to the
emotional tone behind their words," writes Krivis. "If you give them the opportunity, most people involved in a dispute will gladly talk about themselves, which gives you a chance to ask more questions and gain more information about their perspective. Once you see things from their point of view, you
can stay one step ahead of them by anticipating how they might react and managing the negotiation accordingly." - See followup story for more insights. (bookmark this page and look again in 3 days)
- Think creatively about ways people can cooperate rather than clash. In every negotiation, there is a tension between the desire to compete and the desire to cooperate. Be on the lookout for signals that support a cooperative environment. That's where the most creative solutions are
born. Remember the consulting agreement that came out of the aforementioned "Independence Day" dispute? These kinds of "joint gains" are often born of conflict.
Another story in Improvisational Negotiation centers on Golden State Grocers and its objection to being billed for a three-week "training cruise" taken by its employees of its computer consulting firm Apex. Golden State felt ripped off by being charged for what looked like a vacation; Apex insisted that
its employees worked intensively on Golden State's account during the cruise-and besides, "this is how it's done in consulting." The solution Krivis helped them find involved forming a whole new company, Golden Apex Seminars, which offered training services to other retailers. "Instead of spending my
time divvying up the consulting bill, I spent it building up the relationship between the parties," he explains. "Suddenly, the money dispute that had started the mediation became secondary to the created value of a new, mutually beneficial business venture."
- "Edit the script" to help people see their situation in a different light. "People tend to get 'stuck' in their positions because they are telling what happened from a narrow viewpoint and in a negative and hopeless tone," remarks Krivis. "They've relayed their story over and over
again and their perception has become their reality. They can't see the situation any other way unless you help them to do so."
"As the mediator, you can take a larger view that looks not at one party or the other 'winning' but at both parties working toward a mutual goal," he continues. "One way to help them get to this goal is to edit their script-retell their story about the dispute as a positive,
forward-looking construction. In this way you literally give them the words to see their options in a new light."
- Avoid the "winner's curse" by carefully pacing negotiation. Believe it or not, it is possible to reach a solution too quickly. We all have an inner clock that lets us know how long a negotiation should take. When a deal seems too easy, a kind of buyer's remorse can set in that leaves
people with second thoughts about the outcome. One or both parties may be left with the feeling that if things had moved more slowly, they might have cut a better deal. Here's the bottom line, says Krivis: don't rush the dance or the negotiation will fail. "Even when you know you can wrap things up
quickly, it's to everyone's advantage to keep the negotiation proceeding normally, for a reasonable amount of time, before the inevitable settlement," he advises.
- Finally, realize that every conflict can't be solved. What if you've tried and tried to help two warring factions find a fair solution and you just can't? It may sound odd coming from a mediator, but Krivis points out that some conflicts just aren't winnable. "Not every negotiation is
going to have a win-win outcome," he reflects. "Not everyone can live together in harmony. Look at Israel and Palestine. There are times you just have to accept that both parties are going to leave the table equally unhappy. When you've mediated enough conflicts, you will know in your gut when that time
has arrived. Isolate the participants if possible and just move on."
All this talk of well-paced dances, inner clocks, and gut feelings may seem alien to "just the facts" business types, but Krivis says you'd better get comfortable with the idea that there are no hard and fast rules. Negotiation is all about going with the flow and seizing opportunities as
they arise. You can familiarize yourself with the tools-indeed you must-but there's no substitute for jumping right in.
"Improvisational negotiation is kind of like jazz," he reflects. "You have to know your chords, your scales, your patterns, your licks. But ultimately, these are building blocks, not formulas. The chords you use depend on the chords you hear from the other participants, and vice versa. It's
a conversation. It's organic. There are no limits on what can come out of mediation, and that's what makes it such a powerful skill."
Coming Soon:
Nat'l Assn for Health Care Recruitment
IMAGE 2006
July 10-15, 2006
Boston Marriott Copley Place
$950
Full Brochure (pdf) |
American Strategic Management Institute (ASMI)
Talent Management Summit
July 24-26
Boston, MA
$1995
Register |
OnRec Expo 2006
12-13 September 2006
Donald E. Stephens Convention
Center
Chicago
Register
|
ER Expo Fall Conference
September 12 - 14
Hollywood Beach, FL
$1,495
Register |
NAPEO
Professional Employer & Marketplace 2006
September 11-13
Boca Raton Resort & Club
Boca Raton, FL
|
AESC Researchers & Associates Summit
September 21st, 2006
Tate Modern
Bankside
London, United Kingdom
email
cdavies@aesc.org for more info |
2006
Strategic HR Conference
October 4-6, 2006
Westin Kierland
Resort
Phoenix, Arizona
|
Human Resource Executive's
9th Annual HR Technology®
Conference
Oct. 4-6, 2006
Navy Pier in Chicago, IL
$!095
Register |
Nat'l Association of Personnel Services (NAPS)
Recruiting Life
Oct 11-15
San Francisco, CA
$999
Register |
9th Annual Talent Acquisition & Staffing Summit
October 16-19 2006
Renaissance Atlanta Downtown Hotel
$2099
More Info
Register |
2006 SHRM Workplace Diversity Conference
October 16-18, 2006
Century Plaza Hotel
and Spa
Los Angeles, California
|
Hunt Scanlon Advisors present
"Defining
Leaders"
New
York city
October 18 - 20, 2006
New York Palace
|
HR.com's Employers of Excellence 2006
October 25 - 27,
2006
Red Rock Resort
Las Vegas, Nevada
Register
|
Kennedy Information presents
Recruiting 2006
November 8-9, 2006
New York City, NY
$1,195
Register |
Bangalore HR Summit 2006
December 15 & 16, 2006
Leela Palace, Airport Road, Bangalore-1,India
$250
Learn More |
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