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Talent Management
How Do You Define Talent?, Issue 59 Organizations must “address the needs of talent at all levels of the organizations … thinking of the workforce as a collection of talent segments that actively create or apply knowledge,” declare McKinsey principals Matt Guthridge, Emily Lawson and Asmus Komm. Writing in a 2008 issue of Office World News, the three observe that many firms focus talent management efforts only on upper-level management or on top performers to the exclusion of other groups within organizations. “Unsung segments – frontline staff, technical specialists, even the indirect workforce, such as people who work for suppliers, contractors, and joint-venture partners – are often as critical to overall success as A players,” they note. To avoid alienating segments of the workforce, HR must actively define and promote value propositions that help to engage and retain employees at all organizational levels (Guthridge et al., “The Strategic,” 2008, p. 12). Tailoring Benefits to Appeal to Younger Workers, Issue 59 Offering distinctive benefits may be one aspect of a workplace that Generation Y, or Millennials, will find appealing, notes a 2008 workspan article. Among the unique benefits the publication describes are “company-sponsored refreshments, game rooms, exercise rooms, healthcare membership reimbursement and peer-nominated awards.” Other organizational aspects likely to attract the youngest generation in the workplace are leaders who provide constructive feedback and serve as role models, opportunities to work in team settings, employers that offer a sense of fun and the flexibility to achieve a good work/life balance, and options for career and personal growth (Milgram, “Attracting and Retaining,” 2008, p. 12). Survey Reveals Engagement-Related Attributes, Issue 58 Positive attitudes toward peers and customers and a passion for work are attributes that organizations look for to determine if a candidate will become an engaged employee, according to i4cp’s Pulse Survey Findings: Workforce Engagement. On a scale of 1 (not at all) to 5 (very high extent), the 776 respondents rated a positive attitude toward peers/customers as the top indicator of an engaged employee (3.9) and a passion for work among those attributes that are nearly as important (3.8). Other work-ethic-related attributes sought in employees are a history of hard work (3.6) and a “dutiful” individual (3.4). In each case, these responses were more prevalent in organizations with more highly engaged workforces than in firms with more disengaged workforces (Institute for Corporate Productivity, Pulse Survey Findings: Workforce Engagement, 2008). Better Selection Tops Employers’ Retention Strategies, Issue 58 Sixty-three percent of U.S. employers responding to a 2008 survey on retention said their leading strategy for reducing turnover was greater care in the candidate selection process, according to a survey conducted by Coaching Tops Talent Management Practices, Issue 41 Coaching is ranked number one among 22 of the top best practices for high-business-impact talent management, according to a 2007 report on a two-year study. Titled High-Impact Talent Management: Trends, Best Practices and Industry Solutions and conducted by Bersin & Associates, a research and advisory services firm, the study concludes that management shortfalls represent the leading barrier to business success. Analyzing survey responses from more than 750 organizations and 15 vendors, as well as 55 interview responses from HR executives, the study reports that 34% of respondents overall said performance management was the functional area that spurred the highest business impact. When rating top talent management processes, nearly half (48%) of all participants considered formal or well-established coaching programs for employees to be a key practice in producing "the highest level of business impact"; coaching falls within the functional area of performance management. Ranked second on the top-22 best practices list of 62 process areas was "consolidating staffing requirements across the organization" (42%), followed by strategic workforce planning (38%) and "identification of critical competencies for key job roles" (34%), which fall under the functional areas of selecting and recruiting, workforce planning and competency management, respectively. The study claims to be the first to offer a comprehensive examination of global business drivers and talent management trends across major industries. ("Bersin & Associates Study" [Bersin & Associates], May 2007) Should You Hire a Worker with a Criminal Record?, Issue 41 Almost one in four U.S. employers said in 2007 that parents are taking on more responsibility for helping their college-age children look for jobs, according to a Collegiate Employment Research Institute (at Michigan State University) survey. The April 2007 poll of 750 employers found 41% reporting that parents obtained application materials for their college-age children, while 31% said they received students' résumés from parents. More than one in four poll participants (26%) said that parents acted as employment advocates for their children; 4% said that parents accompanied college students to job interviews. According to institute director Phil Gardner, some parents move from simply requesting application forms for their children to "arranging interviews, negotiating offers or even assisting with work assignments once the student is in the workplace." ("Company Recruiters," press release, Employers Begin Benefits Communications Early, Issue 40
How to Link Employee and Organizational Goals, Issue 39 Firms may be comfortable with using a Balanced Scorecard to drive the execution of corporate strategies, but they are sometimes less adept at applying such measures to the individual employee level. According to Travis Manzione, a consultant with the Palladium Group, cascading strategy execution to the individual requires ensuring that employees understand how they contribute to corporate performance, and a personal Balanced Scorecard can be the conduit. The personal scorecard is set up in the same four quadrants as the corporate scorecard, reflecting goals and progress in financial, customer, internal and learning/growth measures. Obviously, the weighting of these four factors will vary by job, but employees need to be able to designate their target goals that will support organizational goals within each quadrant. Manzione says that five to seven goals, overall, is ideal. The personal scorecard helps employees connect their daily activities with the company's ability to achieve its goals. In addition to measuring progress toward goals, the scorecard helps to reveal what kinds of "strategic competencies" are needed so that employees can embark on a personal development plan to ensure those competencies are built. (Balanced Scorecard Report [Manzione], May-June 2007, pp. 3-5)Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 39
Companies Train Workers to Use Time Effectively, Issue 38 A sizable percentage of businesses train their employees in time-management skills, according to the results of the Institute for Corporate Productivity's 2007 Time Management Practitioner Consensus Survey. Three hundred and thirty-two organizations participated in the survey, which was conducted by i4cp in conjunction with HR.com. Of those responding companies, 48.8% provided time management training. Just over half of those who provided such training designed and delivered their programs in-house. (Time Management Consensus Survey [i4cp], June 2007) Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 38 Engaged Employees May Achieve Better Results, Issue 37 "Talented employees who are fully engaged are much more productive [than other employees], particularly in complex roles," asserts Hamish Deery, Australasia director for the research organization ISR. Deery says that ISR research has concluded that firms with high levels of employee engagement averaged more than 19% growth in operating income annually in 2006/2007. In contrast, ISR found average decreases in operating income of nearly 33% in organizations with low engagement. Deery noted that ISR also correlated high levels of worker engagement with growth in earnings-per-share. (CFOAsia.com [Bacani], March 2007) How to Optimize TM Processes, Issue 37 How are companies improving or planning to improve their talent management (TM) processes? The strategy rated most highly by the 524 participants of the Institute for Corporate Productivity's Talent Management Survey 2007 is to more effectively communicate the importance of talent management. Other popular strategies include improving the quality of the components of talent management, more closely integrating those components, placing greater cultural importance on TM, and improving the metrics associated with TM. (Talent Management Survey 2007 [Institute for Corporate Productivity], May 2007)Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 37
Why Aren't More Women on Corporate Boards?, Issue 36 Women tend to be underrepresented on corporate boards, in part, because board members typically are chosen from the ranks of sitting or retired CEOs - both groups that are likely to have few female members, explains Cheryl Francis, chair of the Chicago Network 2006 Census, an annual accounting of female board membership among the city's top 50 companies. Francis, who also is a board member of Hewitt Associates and Morningstar, suggests several strategies for companies seeking greater female membership for their boards. "Nominating committees need to be more imaginative and flexible about recruiting women," she says. "Look for people who have 'near CEO' experience - heads of major business units, CFOs, general counsels [and] leaders at . large nonprofit or private compan[ies]." She also recommends specialized search firms and women's professional networks as potential sources of board candidates. Further, Francis advocates requiring search firms to present lists of candidates that include specified percentages of women. (Directorship [Francis], February/March 2007, p. 34) Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 36
Managing Talent Tops Executives' Concerns, Issue 35 "Talent management" leads the concerns of senior HR officers in terms of the top strategic issues in 2007, the highest-priority HR initiatives in 2007 and the top areas that consume HR executives' time, according to the annual survey by ORC of its senior HR officer network. Respondents (89 total) represented 35 organizations, primarily U.S.-based, operating in more than one country.For the top strategic issues in 2007, 61.7% chose talent management. In previous surveys, it was the succession planning and leadership development aspects of talent management that were cited most often. For 2007, it was the acquisition, development and retention of talent. For the highest-priority HR initiatives in 2007, 37.1% (the largest proportion of respondents) chose talent management. Other initiatives cited were strategic HR management (22.5%) and benefit review/cost control (10.1%). For the top areas consuming HR executives' time, 33.3% of respondents chose talent management, followed by 23.1% who chose transforming and leading the HR function. ("Senior Human Resource Executives" [ORC Worldwide]. Obtained June 12, 2007) Deloitte & Touche January 2007, pp. 32+)
according to a survey conducted by The Ken Blanchard Companies. The poll of 1,091 global HR and training leaders and line managers found top managers rating recruitment and retention in fourth position on their list of top management challenges for the year. Blanchard reported that both HR and senior leaders ranked development of potential leaders as managers' top challenge. Other people issues on the list included employee engagement and workers' ability to be flexible and responsive to organizational needs. ("2007 Corporate Issues Survey" [The Ken Blanchard Companies], 2007, pp. 1, 4) Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 35Young Workers Challenge Boomer Bosses, Issue 34 When it comes to career expectations for the youngest generation in today's workplace - the Millennials - workers want to see their jobs mesh with their values and their lives, says Penelope Trunk, who advocates young workers' becoming "brazen careerists." Author of the book Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success, Trunk says brazen careerist Millennials are focused on work that has meaning and that doesn't require them to give up rewarding personal lives. "We saw a whole generation give up their lives and their kids to have the huge careers," Trunk says of Millennials' Baby Boomer parents. "It would not be brazen to do what your dad did. It would be brazen to say I don't have to give up my life for my work." Trunk suggests that Baby Boomer bosses recognize the new career approach of their younger workers and learn to adapt to it. "If they don't," she warns, "the Millennials won't work for them." (Tampa Tribune [Simanoff], July 9, 2007, Business section, p. 4) Embed Employees for the Long Term, Issue 34 "Job embeddedness" may be a more powerful driver of employee retention than either satisfaction with one's work or dedication to one's employer, suggests an April 2007 article in Harvard Management Update. As described by Georgetown University assistant professor of management Brooks C. Holtom and his colleagues Terence R. Mitchell and Thomas W. Lee, job embeddedness consists of three facets that pertain to both an employer and the community in which employees reside. First is an employee's perception of how well he or she fits in - not only with the employer, but also within the community. Second is the concept of linkage - a worker's sense of connectedness to others within his/her employing organization, as well as to individuals and groups in the external community. Finally, embeddedness is enhanced by an employee's sense that loss of the employment or the community would be a serious sacrifice. "The more 'embedded' the person is in his job," the article explains, "the less likely it is that he will defect." (Harvard Management Update [Johnson], April 2007, pp. 7-9)Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 34 People Management Crucial to Success, Issue 33 Talent, development and performance were common themes among the top people management issues deemed most critical to organizational success, according to a 2007 global survey of 531 HR and non-HR executives by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and the Economist Intelligence Unit. Participants were asked to select up to five critical people management issues. Following are six of the issues selected most often and the percentages of respondents choosing each: leadership development and pipeline (76.1%); talent management (71.9%); creating a high-performance culture (71.9%); training/development (65.1%); compensation, benefits, and pension planning and management (42.0%); and improving operational efficiency of HR through process and technology improvements (28.7%). (Aligned at the Top [Deloitte Development LLC], 2007, pp. 6, 19) How to Appeal to Young Job Applicants, Issue 33 Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 33
Are You Recruiting Your Customers Yet?, Issue 32 Many employers are finding good candidates for job openings by recruiting their own customers, reports an April 2007 article in HR Magazine. "By targeting customers who aren't actively in the job market, employers can boost the quantity and quality of their candidate pool," the publication observes. Among the benefits of customer recruitment are the ease with which it can be done and its cost-effectiveness. Companies can accomplish outreach through the use of in-store signage, brochures placed in bags along with purchases, online and direct-mail contacts, and special events, as well as by encouraging existing employees to act as recruiters. "Sales staff must be trained to recognize customer recruiting as part of their job description," the magazine points out. Employees can be particularly effective in communicating an organization's employment brand and corporate culture. An incentive program can be used to strengthen the employee-outreach approach. (HR Magazine [Arnold], April 2007, pp. 77-82) Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 32
Searching for Potential High Performers, Issue 31 Google recognizes that the innovative talent the firm seeks may not always be reflected in academic credentials and name-brand industries; a new algorithm screening model may help pinpoint those candidates, Laszlo Bock (formerly of GE) and Todd Carlisle were members of the team that worked on developing the model. The concept is straightforward: Identify factors that predict on-the-job success by surveying the current employee population on various traits and "statistically determin[ing] which of these many traits your top performers and most impactful employees exhibit that differentiates them from bottom performing and average employees," writes Dr. John Sullivan of San Francisco State University, describing the recruiting method in Australian publication Human Resources. These traits may include such factors as teamwork and accomplishments . perhaps writing a book, starting a company or winning a championship. An online survey captures this predictive data from the candidates, and it is supplemented by biographical data from a questionnaire and electronic résumé screening, resulting in "a score between zero and 100 based on how many of the top performance indicators each candidate possesses." Google's goal, writes Sullivan, is to become better at finding people who are "capable of becoming top performers" and who "can do the job in spite of their lack of stellar academic qualifications," rather than "reducing cost per hire by 10 cents." In addition, the process should produce a more diverse group of candidates. (Human Resources [Australia - Sullivan], February 6, 2007)*C*Innovation and CreativityZZZ Measuring Recruiting Effectiveness, Issue 31 Recruitment metrics are often used for planning and budgeting purposes, and measures considered most valuable are total job openings (75.5%) and time-to-fill (63%), according to the 188 international organizations responding to a March 2007 survey by the Institute for Corporate Productivity. Other measures considered valuable by respondents to the Recruiting Function Practitioner Consensus Survey included source of hire (60%), employee retention (54%), cost-per-hire (47%), offer acceptance ratio (45%) and total positions filled by job type (44%). Two-thirds of respondents said that they used recruitment metrics for planning and budgeting purposes, 52% used them to educate managers on the effectiveness of recruiting, half used them to evaluate recruiters, 15% used them when looking at service agreements with hiring managers and 6% used them in sales presentations. The survey permitted multiple responses about uses of recruitment data. ("Survey Results, Recruiting Function" [Institute for Corporate Productivity], March 2007)Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 31
Tracking Turnover in the U.S., Issue 30 One-third of U.S. firms polled in early 2007 placed their turnover rates at 10% to 25%, according to a Novations Group survey of 2,000-plus HR and training leaders. The consulting firm reported that poll respondents confirmed turnover rates as high as 50% among first-year employees. Fifty-four percent of organizations noted turnover rates of 10% or less, according to Novations. Company consultant Tim Vigue observed that "individuals and hiring managers are not sharing enough of the kind of information that would help each side determine if there is a good match." Forty-eight percent of survey respondents blamed their workers' early job departures on unrealistic expectations about what their positions would entail. ("New Hires Seek a Quick Divorce" [Management-Issues], March 9, 2007) Measuring Cost, Time and Quality of Hires, Issue 30 Many organizations fail to accurately measure their recruitment efforts because they don't evaluate the effectiveness of hiring managers' performance, says attorney and management professor Robert J. Grossman of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. Grossman says that businesses have concentrated on measuring efficiency related to hiring - most frequently as cost-per-hire and time-to-fill. "Quality must be the other part," he maintains, suggesting that hiring managers' performance assessments include proficiency of skills in talent selection and development. To measure managers' effectiveness in these areas, Grossman advises organizations to track turnover among new employees, reasoning that a poor selection will reveal itself quickly. Other sources suggest adding metrics that link managers to hires: voluntary versus involuntary turnover among managers' selections, number of hires who become high performers, and hires' promotion records. Experts recommend tracking these measures over several years to best assess the long-term quality and value of managers' hires. (HR Magazine [Grossman], June 2006, pp. 92+)Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 30
"Companies that help their employees succeed in their personal lives attract and retain top talent and create loyal and engaged employees," states a January/February 2007 article in DiversityInc. The publication notes several engagement strategies that have been used successfully by companies that are included on the "2006 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity" list. Orchestrating interaction between employees and organizations' senior leadership has helped some of the firms drive engagement, as has providing workers with opportunities to grow professionally. With the objective of supporting employees' efforts to improve their personal lives, some organizations provide their workforces with programs to encourage wellness and to help achieve work/life balance. Among the balance programs noted in the article are "the ability to work at home, adoption assistance, flexible hours and job sharing." (DiversityInc [Cole], January/February 2007, pp. 32-34) The Risks and Benefits of Lift-Outs, Issue 29 Plucking an entire team from the competition can be a risky endeavor, but such "lift outs" can also bring rewards if the courtship and integration are handled well, according to the authors of a Harvard Business Review article. Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams of Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 29
U.S. workers failed to take advantage of an average of four days of paid leave time per year, resulting in a nationwide estimated total of 574 million unused vacation days annually, according to calculations performed by the travel Web site Expedia.com. A 2006 survey by Expedia found that only 40% of U.S. workers took vacations of at least a week's duration. Similarly, a Society for Human Resource Management/CareerJournal.com (SHRM/CJ) survey the same year found 70% of employees used their leave time to take long weekends rather than longer vacations. SHRM and CJ, quoted in a February 2007 Best Practices in HR article, concluded that "lack of time away from the workplace can lead to stress, anxiety, emotional problems and physical ailments [for employees]," adding that the practice would eventually "impact an organization's productivity, healthcare costs, turnover, and overall bottom line." ("Vacation Deprivation," Best Practices in HR, February 17, 2007, p. 5) Where to Find Talent for Your Firm, Issue 28 In 2006, 26% of new hires at U.S. firms were candidates who were referred by existing employees or other sources, according to CareerXroads, an e-staffing and consulting firm. The company's 2006 Sources of Hire Study obtained data from a survey of 40 "name-brand" companies that, collectively, employed more than 1.2 million workers and filled nearly 190,000 jobs in 2006. While 35% of jobs were filled internally, referrals accounted for the largest external source of candidates. Corporate career Web site contacts resulted in 21% of hires, and print advertising, 7%. Five percent of hires in 2006 were rehires of former employees, CareerXroads reported, while 2% resulted from keyword searches on Internet search engines. CareerXroads noted that print ads as recruitment sources were up from 4.6% over the firm's 2005 survey. (Workforce Management [Ruiz], March 26, 2007, pp. 16-17)Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 28
In order to effectively compete for talent, organizations must be able to articulate and then provide a "signature experience" that reflects the "values and attributes" that make the firm's employment experience unique, say Tamara J. Erickson and Lynda Gratton. Erickson, president of the Concours Institute research organization, and Gratton, a professor of management practice at Do Your Benefits Programs Attract Job Applicants?, Issue 27 Forty-two percent of Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 27 2007 Poll Finds U.S. Employees Restless, Issue 26 Almost 50% of employees in the U.S. say they are actively trying to change employers in 2007, according to a January 2007 report from the online career site Yahoo! HotJobs. The organization's poll of more than 5,000 employees nationwide found that an additional two-thirds of respondents said that the right opportunity would motivate them to change jobs despite the fact that they weren't actively looking. Yahoo! HotJobs vice president Susan Vobejda called workers' desire for change "a critical risk factor for many of today's leading businesses." She suggested that companies "build the pipeline by going after those who would be open to new opportunities in addition to those who are actively searching." (NewsEdge.com [WorldatWork], January 24, 2007) Talent Shortage Holds Some Firms Back, Issue 26 Forty-nine percent of senior leaders in fast-growing companies say that a lack of applicants with the skills their firms need could hamper their organizations' growth prospects in 2007, according to consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. The company's third-quarter-2006 survey of more than 300 CEOs of fast-growth firms in the U.S. found that 38% of the respondents identified skill shortages as a potential precursor for workers' demands for higher wages. Despite the CEOs' negative predictions, PricewaterhouseCoopers reported that fewer than one in three of the respondents said that they included retention discussions in regular leadership team meetings or that they had allocated funds for programs that focused on retention of high-performing employees. In addition, the CEOs said that their firms weren't proactively examining the reasons their firms lost valued workers. (Saratoga Review [PricewaterhouseCoopers], October 2006, pp. 1-2)
Talent Shortages & Benefits Are 2007 Worries, Issue 25 Fifty-nine percent of U.S. HR professionals say that increases in healthcare costs driven by the nation's aging population will have a major effect on workplaces in 2007, according to research by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). The SHRM Workplace Forecast for 2006-2007, based on a poll of 1,232 HR professionals along with additional research, determined top trends for the year. In the area of demographics, SHRM found concerns about growing healthcare costs because of the aging Employment Branding Should Support Strategy, Issue 25 An employment "brand is most effective, on the inside of a business, when it supports the organization's strategy for recruiting, retaining and engaging people," says Mark Schumann, a managing principal for the Towers Perrin consulting firm. Communicating an organization's employment brand, he points out, is all about answering one question for employees: What will the individual gain from working for the employer? Building the brand involves communicating on a practical level, but also on an emotional one, Schumann says. "People look for jobs to engage them emotionally," he observes. "The employer brand is about people who feel a sense of ownership in the business, its values and its aspirations." Schumann quotes Yahoo! senior vice president of HR Libby Sartain, who confirms that an effectively communicated employment brand "will create emotional connections with all the people a business needs to attract, retain and engage." (Communication World [Schumann], July-August 2006, pp. 29-31)
Keeping New Talent on the Team, Issue 24 Providing opportunities for advancement and well-defined career paths are two strategies organizations can take to help keep newer employees onboard, according to Sirota Survey Intelligence. In 2006, the research firm studied voluntary turnover in a sample of nearly 47,000 employees, finding that workers who had less than two years' tenure left employers at twice the rate of their colleagues who had been on the job longer. Sirota suggests that improving workplace practices can result in a 10% to 13% improvement in retention of newer workers. Along with providing better career paths, the firm suggests employers strive to make work stimulating for employees and make sure that managers are communicating consistently with workers. Further, Sirota recommends establishing an atmosphere of integrity and adhering to ethical standards in the workplace. ("Holding On to Newer Employees" [HRTools.com]. Obtained Canadian Employers Target Older Workers, Issue 24 Facing a predicted 48% of its working-age population reaching the 45-to-64 age group by 2015, about half of Canadian employers expect to adapt their recruitment efforts to older workers, noted a survey of 493 HR manager who are members of the HR Professionals Association of Ontario. Published in the Fall 2006 issue of Public Personnel Management, the poll found the HR managers projecting that their firms (public- and private-sector organizations of various sizes) would increase their offerings of flexible and alternative work arrangements, such as telecommuting, job-sharing, flexible scheduling and part-time work. Other tactics in which the survey respondents anticipated increases to appeal to older employees included training in new technologies, advancement opportunities, training in age-related considerations for managers and adjustments to retirement programs to encourage workers to remain in the workforce. (Public Personnel Management [Armstrong-Stassen and Templer], Fall 2006, pp. 247-260) Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 24 Women in leadership yield competitive advantage, Issue 22 "Companies that increase the number of women in leadership roles have a competitive advantage," say Robin Cohen and Linda Kornfeld, managing partners of the Dickstein Shapiro law firm's The evolving technology of automated Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), Issue 22 Organizations' ability to effectively and efficiently utilize the evolving technology of automated applicant tracking systems (ATS) may vary with company size and participation of staff, according to a report in the November 6, 2006, issue of Workforce Management. "Ease of use remains an issue at smaller firms," the article notes, while "midsize companies are adding functions to existing systems, [and] large companies are moving toward full integration of ATS and broader talent management systems." The publication observes that user ability can affect successful implementation of ATS, as can the software's compatibility with existing organizational data systems. A particular problem with ATS use by hiring managers appears to be the infrequency with which they typically access such systems (unless the managers' volume of hires is unduly high); however, industry experts note that system developers continue to work toward including more user-friendly capabilities in ATS applications, leading to projections for more widespread use of automated tracking in the future. (Workforce Management [Hansen], November 6, 2006, pp. 42, 44) Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 22
Reaching Out to Female Talent, Issue 21 Organizations interested in recruiting women might consider offering flexible scheduling, suggests a 2006 survey conducted by the online career site Monster. The poll of 2,000 U.S. adults found that 40% of female respondents said that they'd reject an offer of employment from a firm that did not allow flexibility in scheduling. Twenty-five percent of male respondents said the same. "Based on our findings," said Steve Pemberton, Monster's chief diversity officer, "more women than men are looking for benefits like telecommuting and flexible work days during the job selection process. The bottom line for employers is that promoting work-life balance is key in attracting and retaining people, regardless of gender." ("Should I Stay" [Management-Issues], October 31, 2006) What Makes Workers Leave -- or Not?, Issue 21 Forty-eight percent of HR professionals said that having better career prospects elsewhere was the top reason employees job-hopped in 2006, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and CareerJournal.com. SHRM and the career Web site polled 367 HR professionals and 462 employees in September 2006, finding that 40% of the HR group said better pay was the second-ranked reason behind workers' departures, while 29% said that lack of career development options drove employees away. Career opportunities and compensation also led the list of turnover drivers cited by HR professionals in SHRM's 2004 poll. In 2006, employees (30%) said that better pay motivated them to change jobs. Twenty-seven percent cited better career options and the same proportion said that the desire to undertake something new spurred them to seek new jobs. In 2004, employees ranked pay and career opportunities first and second, respectively, as drivers of voluntary turnover. ("2006 U.S. Job Retention" [Frincke], December 2006, pp. 1, 22) Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 21
When conducting employee surveys, organizations can benefit not only from evaluating the responses they receive, but also by studying groups of employees who do not respond, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. The company's July 2006 Saratoga Review publication notes that non-response analysis can be an excellent indicator of problems in specific departments or employee populations, or problems with specific workplace attributes. The article points out that the way employees feel about the information they possess may influence whether or not they choose to respond to a survey. Further, for workers who aren't well satisfied with their jobs, the choice not to respond may be seen as a form of protest. PricewaterhouseCoopers encourages employers who seek a true understanding of their workforces through employee surveys not to overlook the area of non-response analysis. (Saratoga Review [PricewaterhouseCoopers], July 2006) Helping Workers Improve Performance, Issue 20 Managers who are challenged with delivering negative feedback to employees during performance reviews can take a multistep approach termed MMOT, or the managerial moment of truth. Coined by authors Bruce Bodaken and Robert Fritz in their book The Managerial Moment of Truth: The Essential Step in Helping People Improve Performance, MMOT involves four steps. First, the authors advise managers to state the specifics by pointing out facts - a missed deadline, for instance. Next, manager and employee should study the facts to understand the circumstances that caused the negative situation or performance to occur. Then, say Bodaken and Fritz, managers should encourage employees to devise a plan that will help them avoid making the same mistakes in the future. Finally, a flexible mechanism should be created that allows both manager and worker to monitor the plan's implementation and to make any required adjustments. (Harvard Management Update [Johnson], July 2006, pp. 8-9)Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 20
"There has been a shift from lifelong employment to lifetime job search and career growth", say Kent Burns of the recruiting firm MRINetwork and David Pfenninger, founder and CEO of the Web assessment firm known as "pan" (Performance Assessment Network). Because of that change, the pair says, recruiting has changed, too, especially in light of online capabilities that enable both active and passive job-seekers to access information about available openings. In turn, say Burns and Pfenninger, this access compels employers to build lasting relationships with potential candidates, making the recruiting process more of a long-term pursuit. Further, information exchanges are shifting from the use of résumés to the use of online job application forms that enable employers to sort and utilize data more efficiently. Finally, predict the two, employers will increasingly come to rely on outside vendors that specialize in sourcing, assessment and other specific aspects of recruiting and hiring. (Workforce Performance Solutions [Burns and Pfenninger], July 2006, pp. 30-33)
- consideration of overall organizational goals - grasp of staffing requirements dictated by those goals - identification of positive traits to be included in the brand, including confirmation that the workplace bears them out - coordination of the organization's employment and marketing brands - creation of a plan to communicate the employment brand - development of content and graphics required to communicate the employment brand - determination of appropriate measures to gauge brand effectiveness - creation of a mechanism for ongoing management of the employment brand Says Estis, "The best employment brands extend through the employment life-cycle, motivating your best people to share in the challenge of attracting new talent into the organization." (Bulletin to Management [Darcey], July 11, 2006, p. 218) Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue 19
The ability to execute strategy relies on having the right talent in place, so there are a number of factors that are causing strategic workforce planning to climb in importance. The Conference Board's 2006 report Strategic Workforce Planning outlines some of those factors driving the demand for organizations to engage in forecasting future talent needs. Predicted labor shortages, fueled in part by retirements of aging workers, play into the picture. So do labor mix complexities such as a larger cohort of contingent workers and changing workforces due to mergers and acquisitions. Globalization and an increased emphasis on delivering a return on human capital investments are external challenges, too, that may be assisted by evolving technological tools. (Strategic Workforce Planning [Young], 2006, p. 5) Aiming for Asian Applicants, Issue 3/29/07 With globalization pushing multinational organizations to expand their recruitment efforts to staff foreign locations, recruiting events like the Fifth Annual Asian Diversity Career Expo offer unique opportunities to reach job candidates interested in working in Asia. Two expos, sponsored by Asian Diversity Inc. - a firm specializing in recruiting Asian American professionals for multinational and government organizations - were held in May 2006, in Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue, March 29, 2007
Twenty-six percent of minority employees say that their employers' policies on recruiting and promoting workers are unfair, according to a 2006 online survey of 3,100 HR leaders conducted by the consulting firm Novations Group. In comparison, the survey found that 18% of all workers thought hiring and promotion policies were unfair. Novations reported that 63% of all workers regarded their firms' policies as fair, but only 47% of minority employees did so. Novations vice president Tim Vigue cited the perception of bias in hiring and promoting workers as a leading cause of employee disenchantment, warning that "this simmering resentment undermines teamwork and trust in top management." Vigue pointed to lax applicant selection procedures as being problematic for many organizations, suggesting that firms create "hiring practices that are structured, open and inclusive." ("Minority Employees Have Less Trust in Promotion Policies" [Management-Issues], March 6, 2006) One Key to Outsourcing HR Functions, Issue 3/15/07 Managing change skillfully underlies an organization's ability to successfully implement and maintain an HR outsourcing arrangement, says Scott Gildner, HR sourcing advisory practice leader for TPI, a business-process consultancy. Gildner reports that research by his firm has found that "proactive change management was identified as the most important tool for accomplishing the necessary transformation that accompanies outsourcing." Changes that HR leaders need to make to support outsourcing, he says, include effectively communicating about outsourcing initiatives with all relevant stakeholders, creating a workable strategy for transitioning functions to outside vendors, redesigning retained HR functions, crafting post-outsourcing strategies to maintain the change, and designing training for relevant parties who will work with the outside vendor on an ongoing basis. He encourages HR leaders to initiate change-management efforts early in the outsourcing process. (HRO Today [Gildner], June 2006, p. 58) Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue, March 15, 2007
Salaries Predicted to Rise This Year, Issue 2/28/07 Salary increases for white-collar (nonexecutive) employees are expected to average about 3.6% through 2006 and rise slightly, to 3.7%, in 2007, according to the consulting firm Hewitt Associates Inc. Hewitt surveyed about 1,000 midsized and large U.S. organizations in 2006 and reported that many firms prefer to award performance bonuses instead of raises because bonuses must be re-earned every year and don't increase ongoing wage costs for employers. In addition, reports Hewitt consultant Ken Abosch, bonuses also are "very effective around creating focus" on an organization's business goals. Hewitt expects to see employers expand eligibility for performance-related bonuses to greater numbers of employees and anticipates increases in organizational budgets for variable pay. (CareerJournal.com [White]. Obtained August 29, 2006)Screening for Real-World Skills, Issue 2/28/07 The use of role-playing scenarios as a function of employment interviews can help employers observe and evaluate applicants' responses to potential work situations, notes Marcus Miller, president of the consulting firm LEAPJob. Miller notes that role-playing often is used to evaluate sales position candidates and that such exercises may take various forms. These might include a "unique scenario embedded in an interview" or it may involve "turning the entire sales recruiting process into the ultimate role-play." In the latter case, Miller says, "The recruiting process is set up to parallel the typical sales cycle," calling on the candidate to "demonstrate the key behaviours, skills and knowledge of a senior business developer." Miller observes that role-playing can provide employers with clearer insight into applicants' personalities and professional skills. (CMA Management [Miller], June/July 2006, pp. 13-14
Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue, February 28, 2007
"Employers, knowing their employees could leave, need to recruit their employees every day," advises Genia Spencer, spokesperson for a 2006 survey conducted by the staffing firm Randstad. Noting Randstad's findings that U.S. employees seem less satisfied on the job and their expression (by 86% of the 1,642 employees responding) of the need for employers to reinforce that they value workers, Spencer, along with career consultant Helen Scully, recommends a focus on better employer/employee communications. The two suggest that employers learn what their workforces want in their careers and then institute programming to address identified objectives and needs. Scully points out that a low-cost option for employers who want to provide development opportunities for their workers is placement of training materials and coaching resources on an organizational intranet where workers can access them freely. (Workforce Management Online [Larson], August 2006)
Engaging Employees Is Key to Productivity, Issue 2/15/07 "Measures of engagement will prove one of the most significant indicators that link performance management, productivity and bottom line improvement," suggests London Financial Times employment columnist Richard Donkin. He points out that some organizations tend to question how involved HR leaders should become in promoting such employee-welfare concepts as work/life balance, fairness and diversity. Making the connection between employee engagement, productivity and bottom-line results will demonstrate for organizational shareholders that employee welfare is a valid consideration that can lead to improved financial outcomes for businesses, Donkin maintains. He concludes, "In a well-managed workforce there need be no conflict between concerns for employee welfare and those of the bottom line. Engagement makes the connection." (Human Resources [Donkin], April 2006, p. 14) Managing Tomorrow's Talent Today, Issue 1/31/07 Most organizations (78.7%) entrust responsibility for their succession plans to a particular group in HR or another department, and 74.1% refresh the plan at least every two years, according to the Human Resource Institute's (HRI) Succession Planning Practitioner Consensus Survey. A total of 89 organizations participated in the May 2006 online survey of HRI members. A majority of respondents (60.7%) said they include only critical jobs in their succession plans while 19.1% said they include all jobs. (Succession Planning Practitioner Consensus Survey [Human Resource Institute], May 2006)
Keeping Your Organization's Know-How Intact, Issue 1/16/07 Structuring jobs may be a key to helping preserve organizational knowledge in the face of employee turnover, according to a study reported in a 2006 issue of the European Management Review. Rukmini Devadas Rao and Linda Argote - of IBM and Carnegie Mellon University, respectively - found that "routines can enable knowledge to persist through time in organizations," turnover notwithstanding. The two set up experiments involving 12 groups of university students who simulated real-world work processes, then introduced turnover into the groups. They reported that the groups in which "roles were specified and routines existed" performed better if turnover occurred. Rao and Argote conclude that "structuring work is an effective strategy for retaining knowledge and mitigating the harmful effects of turnover in organizations." (European Management Review [Rao and Argote], Vol. 3, 2006, pp. 77-85)
HR professionals and executives of multinational organizations in China named the ability to motivate others as the top skill their firms consider crucial for leaders in that country. A study by the HR consulting firm Development Dimensions International that focused on leadership in China included a survey of HR professionals from 43 organizations and nearly 400 company leaders. Most of the organizations represented were multinationals. Among survey respondents, 80% of the leaders and 72% of the HR professionals cited motivational skills as the top ability leaders need. Other crucial skills for China's leaders cited by the two groups were the ability to build trust, retain talent, lead high-performance teams and build effective partnerships. (Human Resource Executive [McGraw], April 2006, p. 49) Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue, January 16, 2007
CFOs Concerned About Talent, Issue 12/20/06 Recruiting and retaining talent came in third on a list of concerns expressed by chief financial officers of U.S. organizations, according to a survey conducted by Robert Half Management Resources, a California-based financial staffing firm. The organization polled 1,400 CFOs and found that their greatest concern - voiced by 49% of the respondents - was the rising cost of health care for employees. Thirty-four percent cited cash-flow and debt/equity financing worries, making that category their second-ranking concern. Twenty-three percent of the respondents cited staffing considerations. The survey found that 53% of respondents who expressed concern about healthcare costs were responding to that challenge by cost-cutting elsewhere in their organizations, while 46% said they were upping the contributions to healthcare costs required of employees. ("Health Care and Recruiting Issues Top CFOs' Concerns," Human Resource Executive [Freedman], June 16, 2006, p. 21) Deciding to Stay, Issue 12/20/06 Organizations interested in improving their talent retention rates should give their employees the authority to make more decisions, say global executives surveyed in late 2005 and early 2006 by the executive search firm Korn/Ferry International. Korn/Ferry polled an unspecified number of executives representing more than 80 countries around the world and reported that 42% cited decision-making empowerment as an effective strategy for retention. About a third (32%) of the executives also suggested expanding career growth opportunities for employees, and 16% thought greater emphasis on work/life quality would help organizations retain talent. Six percent of the respondents recommended improvements to employee compensation. ("Salary Is Rarely the Reason for Leaving a Job, Executives Say" [Korn/Ferry International], press release, March 2, 2006) ACE-ing "People Equity", Issue 12/6/06 The ACE model - alignment, capabilities, engagement - represents a method of measuring and managing a firm's human capital through its "people equity," according to William A. Schiemann, CEO of Metrus Group, a New Jersey-based advisory firm. These three key elements are enabled by the firm's leadership, its direction/strategy, its values/operating style and by the direct supervision of its management team. Several factors drive the success of an organization's people equity. Its HR programs, such as talent acquisition, rewards and performance management, are an important factor. So is the firm's structure, its strategic uniqueness and its capacity for innovation. And technology is another factor that drives a firm's people equity. By assessing a firm's alignment, capabilities and engagement, a people equity profile can emerge. This profile can be useful in identifying where the firm is strong and where it is vulnerable. Drilling down to determine the root cause of a problem allows a firm "to home in, directly and decisively, on the leverage points for improvement," according to Schiemann. The profile also allows a firm to make wise investment decisions for its human assets and to connect the elements of people equity to various operating, financial, customer and regulatory measures. (Human Resource Planning [Schiemann], 2006, pp. 34-44) Survey Says Better Planning Needed, Issue 12/6/06 More than half (53%) of U.S. organizations have specific talent management initiatives, but practices related to succession planning are in need of improvement, according to the 384 HR professionals responding to the 2006 Talent Management Survey Report from SHRM Research. In fact, only 31% of respondents overall agreed that his or her firm "builds a deep reservoir of successors at every level," and just 20% said companies "adequately prepare junior or mid-level employees to step into senior leadership positions." Many of the top issues chosen as talent management practices and strategies that are in need of improvement relate to succession planning: Building a deeper pool of successors at all levels (28%), creating a culture that facilitates employee retention (17%), identifying competency gaps in employees and candidates (17%), creating policies that support career growth/development (16%), identifying vacancies that will be created as the firm grows (14%) and locating qualified professionals that match needs (14%). (2006 Talent Management Survey Report [Fegley], January 2006, pp. 3, 7, 10-12)Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue, December 6, 2006
Niche staffing companies may be the answer for organizations that need to hire applicants with high-demand skills or those skilled in areas outside the organization's specialty. Ron Stein, vice president of business development for a Are "Old Dogs," Poaching & Apprentices Obsolete?, Issue 11/21/06 Three commonly used recruitment strategies for filling the CEO spot don't always bring the best results, says a Booz Allen Hamilton study of the world's 2,500 largest public firms, CEO Succession 2005: The Crest of the Wave. First, choosing an executive with prior CEO experience at a different large public company - what Booz Allen Hamilton refers to as the "old dog syndrome" - doesn't generate performance any better than selecting someone without prior CEO experience. Second, "poaching" someone who is successfully fulfilling the CEO role at another of the 2,500 largest firms - a strategy Booz Allen Hamilton labels "beggar thy neighbor" - can result in a domino chain of CEO movement and, likely, executive compensation inflation. Third, the "apprentice" model of moving the CEO to the chairman role while a replacement CEO is brought on can cause an awkward division of authority, undermining the new CEO's ability to succeed. (strategy+business [Lucier, Kocourek and Habbel], Summer 2006) Click here to view and download the full pdf of HRPS Strategic Agenda Update Newsletter - Issue, November 21, 2006
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