Recruiting In The Trough
Read John Sumser's article, Recruiting In The Trough, in the Electronic Recruiting News.
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IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Cognos(R) (NASDAQ: COGN) (TSX: CSN) announced that the two companies have entered into a definitive agreement for IBM to acquire Cognos, a publicly-held company based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in an all-cash transaction at a price of approximately $5 billion USD or $58 USD per share, with a net transaction value of $4.9 billion USD. The acquisition is subject to Cognos shareholder approval, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. It is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.
The acquisition of Cognos supports IBM's Information on Demand strategy
SunGard Aspiren announced that a new pan-Wales performance management solution, developed in partnership with the Welsh Assembly Government, local government in Wales and SunGard Aspiren, has gone live. Known as Ffynnon, the new system joins up performance management across public bodies in Wales. This marks Wales as one of the first countries worldwide to implement a single software solution to address issues of performance improvement and risk identification.
Apex IT, one of the nation's leading OracleŽ Corporation (Oracle) systems integration (SI) partners, is working with the city of Calgary to implement Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise HR HelpDesk application in order to further automate and streamline the city's front-line employee support and service operation.
You Should Know: Staffing Solutions is privileged to take the time to honor it's families and remember those that have endured a loss by supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation in their honor. Their work in reaching out to children in local communities with life-threatening diseases is so personal to them.
As a sincere demonstration of their support, a portion of each application fee will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Mid-Atlantic, Inc. Staffing Solutions invites their clients and providers to make a difference with them. They encourage each interested party to approach them with creative ideas to help support the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Survey Says: Helping Employees Get Ahead
This year's PAR survey found that many cable companies have been revising their leadership training programs or launching new ones to meet the expectations of younger employees, including programs for entry-level employees of both genders. Companies also are building multiple routes for women to return to work after maternity leave or illness in the hope they will remain engaged and ready to step into senior roles when those become available.
Oxygen Media launched an online scrapbooking program to take employees' wisdom and ideas and turn them into business proposals and programs. By starting with a blank slate and the concept of every woman's experience, the project was inviting to every employee, said Joanne Cleaver, a researcher with Working Mother Media. A multigenerational team of women led the effort, and along the way they gained skills in launching a new brand, analyzing profit and loss, budgeting and marketing.
Cox Communications is the cable industry's undisputed leader in leveraging call centers as talent development environments, Cleaver said. The operator also used vacancies to help train high-potential candidates. This practice enables workers to immerse themselves in new projects or roles for a short stint and without relocating. Of the 11 people who have so far rotated through this "internal assignment" program, 45% were women and 18% ethnically diverse.
Time Warner Cable this year launched a senior executive networking group consisting of women executives, said Tom Mathews, senior vice president of human resources. The operator is also looking to its contractors to find female technology leaders. The strategy gives Time Warner a chance to show these contractors that they will continue to have coveted job flexibility if they join the company. The operator's use of paid internships has also helped recruit women in technology.
Comcast ties 10% to 20% of managers' pay to achieving diversity goals and is requiring search firms to present diverse slates of potential employees. Comcast senior vice president of human resources Charisse Lillie said the company is increasingly attending conferences to lure women and people of color to its ranks. It is also forming formal and informal councils to create networking opportunities. Comcast created an "Emerging Leaders" program to mentor qualified staffers.
Turner recently rejiggered its affinity groups into business resource groups, said senior vice president and chief human resources officer Loretta Walker. The women's group developed business plans to grow the company's female market and two of those plans are now headed toward funding.
"The feedback has been incredible. It gives people a chance to show what they are capable of and has given the company some great ideas and business plans," Walker said.
Deep Release: Many European Companies Taking Advantage of Inexpensive Public Relations and Marketing
Services in America as the Euro Soars to New High
As the euro soars into ground-breaking new territory against the U.S. dollar, many European companies are racing to ramp up the trend of outsourcing their marketing needs to U.S. public relations agencies and marketing firms. Small American-based PR agencies specializing in handling European product launches are reaping the rewards of a weak U.S. dollar as they are experiencing a substantial increase in new business inquiries from European companies.
"The increase in demand for U.S. marketing services from Europe is tremendous -- I haven't seen anything like this in two decades," states Ria Romano, Partner with Boca Raton, Florida-based RPR Public Relations, Inc. "Although our agency specializes in high technology, software launches and consumer product launches for European companies moving into America -- we always had to stand in line with the larger agencies to pitch a new European client. Now we literally have potential international clients calling our office daily -- our European new business inquiries are up 90% in the past 30 days alone. The weak U.S. dollar gives European companies of all sizes the opportunity to initiate marketing campaigns in the U.S. very inexpensively," concludes Romano.
As Marcus Tettmar, CEO of the London-based software company MJT Net Ltd, states, "Approximately 60% of our customers are U.S. based because we provide solutions for Microsoft Windows. Therefore the exchange rate made it extremely cost effective for our software company to select U.S.-based RPR Public Relations, Inc. for all our PR needs. This particular agency understands the U.S. marketplace, has excellent media contacts and is experienced servicing international clients -- plus their pricing was outstanding."
Smaller U.S.-based public relations agencies also are benefiting due to their low overhead, ability to be flexible, personalized one-on-one service, substantial return on investment for clients, and pricing that is on average 50% less than larger PR agencies in New York, Boston, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles. When initially hiring an American public relations agency, many European companies are connecting through the world's largest online marketplace -- http://www.Guru.com -- which is free for employers and provides payment protection, multiple payment options, and detailed reviews of potential service providers.
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