Posted on 20 December 2009. Tags: 2009, ADA, economy, Employee Free Choice Act, FMLA, H1N1, HR, human resources, recruiting, ROI, Social Media, suckage
For the most of us, the end of the year signifies an opportunity to think, reflect, and remember the life lessons, events, and topics that demanded our attention over the last 12 months. And professionals within the Human Resource and Recruiting industry are no exception. I think that I can speak for everyone that 2009 was a year many businesses, job seekers, and people in general would like to forget. In short, 2009 pretty much sucked. I’d like to think we are better for it. I’m certainly a believer in that saying that good things don’t come easy and 2009 was more than a pain in my ass.
- Economy. Times have been tough. The banking crisis, AIG, rising unemployment, and declining consumer spending and confidence come to mind for 2009. Unemployment stands at 10.2% as of October for the general population according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. RealtyTrac reports that in 2009, 1 out of every 385 homeowners nationwide received notice of foreclosure.
- Social Media. Social Media has been the one bright spot in 2009 for most businesses as a way to network and grow your business with little to no overhead. The rise in its popularity has also brought increased attention to companies who are fearful of these tools because of the potential legal and lost productivity ramifications. For myself, social media has been a great community in which to grow, learn, and network both personally and professionally.
- Empowerment. This one is a biggie. Stories abound in the media of businesses who have made the best of bad situations and overcome obstacles. Consumers, businesses, and entrepreneurs have found creative ways to adapt in 2009. Small businesses and entrepreneurs have used the slowing economy as a way to differentiate themselves from their competitors while providing a high level of service in a new and creative way. Companies who leverage and build partnerships with these creative small businesses and entrepreneurs in 2010 will bounce back more quickly as these business influencers have a handle on the current and creative pulse of what works and what doesn’t.
- Employment Branding. As we begin to see the signs of an economic recovery in the future, companies have begun to start planning for the upcoming talent churn. Engaging your current employees through multiple communication channels while also listening are extremely important in building your internal brand. Your external image and brand and how you engage the external audience (i.e. potential candidates) are emerging topics that surfaced in mid 2009 and will continue into 2010. Companies must market to current and future employees through multiple channels outside of traditional recruiting channels including job boards and newspapers.
- Healthcare. Average annual healthcare costs have rose according to SHRM 5.4% from 2007 to 2008. How will the proposed healthcare reform changes would, can, and will impact your company’s health insurance offerings? Most HR professionals can certainly relate to cost concerns surrounding their 2010 healthcare plans from company and employee POVs as most companies recently completed annual re-enrollment for 2010 and many opted for high deductibles, new co-pay options, or eliminating certain paid benefits altogether.
- Swine Flu Strategy Preparedness. While this was a huge concern in the latter part of 2009, the methods that HR teams put in place allowed for better communication and education plans within organizations in addition to disaster preparedness and H1N1 awareness. Discussions surround H1N1 led to executives being more open to flexible scheduling options including ROWE and virtual office work environment.
- Compliance & Government. 2009 brought us new I-9 requirements for government contractors who scrambled to comply while government bills including the Employee Free Choice Act kept us more than busy lending to union avoidance planning and training. I spent more than my share of conference calls during the last year educating companies on the potential ramification if the bill would have passed. Having working in both union and non-union environments, I cam thankful that it did not.
- Legal Roundup including ADA, FMLA. I attended one too many legal summits, conference calls, and seminars regarding the changes to the definition of “disability” by the EEOC. Things like bending, reading, communicating, and bodily functions were added to the definition of major added as major work life activities. Yes, IBS or Irritable Bowel Syndrome could now be considered covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. While in January of this year, the Family Medical Leave Act to include greater definition surrounding the care of military families whose active family member has been activated or to care for a member of the Armed Forces who is undergoing treatment.
- Management/Leadership–multiple reorganizations within organizations have exposed fatal flaws within the management ranks. With little or no budget HR professionals have been tasked with training and developing their teams. Employees and their managers are being forced to do more with less–more work, more responsibilities, more pressure, and less resources to achieve company goals and directives.
- HR & ROI. In 2009, most organizations and companies experienced some sort of downsizing or reorganization. Executive teams slashed budgets and outsourced, reorganized, and restructured teams, departments and companies on multiple occasions. Because Human Resource and Recruiting teams are not considered income generating departments, HR leaders worked hard to prove their value to the bottom line. By forcing us to prove our worth, we gained much needed credibility and earned a certain level of respect among our income generating peers leading to what I believe will propel our industry forward in the coming months and years.
Thoughts? Additions to the list. I would appreciate your comments by leaving them below. A special thanks to
Mark Stelzner and
Inflexion Advisors for the unemployment and foreclosure figures.
Posted in Business, HR, Social Media
Posted on 30 September 2009. Tags: carnival of hr, economy, HR, human resources, recruiting, talent management
As we begin to see the rays of sunshine begin to shine through the gloom and doom of the economy and the economic recession, it’s important to remember that change is near. This addition of the Carnival of HR highlights Talent Management and the focus on the current and future economies. With so many great submissions concerning Talent Management, we look to highlight some of the best HR, training, and recruiting minds in the industry today.
But first to know where we’re going, we need to know where we’ve been.
And as the economy improves and the inevitable turnover churn begins, bloggers discuss the important of engagement.
Employee engagement and reducing turnover starts from the top down and bottom up.
The changing face of HR is key in the financial, corporate recovery, and rebirth.
And for those of us who are the more than 16 million looking for work or those who are considering jumping into the job search, our HR Carnival experts offer some great advice.
Or for those that are looking for those that are looking for more. . .opportunities, more hours in the day, and more fun at work.
A special thanks to our contributors, HR Minion our humble carnival ring leader as well as the opportunity to host the Carnival. Look for the next Carnival of HR on October 14th hosted by Strategic HCM.
Posted in HR
Posted on 27 September 2009. Tags: economy, engagement, feedback, Job Search, pipeline, recession, recruiting, retention, survey monkey, talent management, turnover
Talent Management is changing and forward-thinking companies must begin preparing for the changing job market. Over the last several weeks, the news publications and news networks have begun reporting positive changes in the economic markets. The Globe and Mail reported last week, that as the economy improves, we will see a “W” shaped recovery. A W shaped recovery has a large dip which we have already experienced, followed by a rise, and follow by another dip before we return to a stable and improving economic environment. According to EconomyWatch there are almost as many alphabet letters as potential economic recovery scenarios from V, W, U, S, and L. Being an optimist, a realist, and not an economist, I believe what we are currently experiencing is a V recovery although slow. And based on my non-economic assumptions and research, my belief is that in Q2 of 2010 we will begin to see the job market drastically changing.
In this recession, employees were thrust into the job search as collateral damage from corporate cost cutting strategies. Candidates were forced to take lesser positions resulting in lower salaries and benefits in order to feed their families and survive. As the economy being to improve and positions are added, these job seekers will re-enter the marketplace often with short tenures at their previous companies in search of increased benefits, flexibility, and compensation. Job hopping and gaps in employment won’t be near as important factors in considering candidates as previously. As successful business leaders, we must consider the following to compete in the changing job market and consider employee retention and recruiting strategies in this new economy.
- Poll our employees. These high performing and under paid employees who either entered the workforce after being restructured or laid off will be in high demand. Determining what is most important is extremely crucial to lessening and planning for increased turnover. As American’s have spent less, what’s important has changed. Do not assume that salary is most important, scheduling, benefits, and personal development are also motivating factors in ensuring employee retention. SurveyMonkey offers a low cost way to survey your employees and determine their wants, needs, and desires for as little as $200 a year.
- Seek feedback. It’s one thing to survey current employees to determine what’s important. It’s another to actually have a conversation either in a group setting or individually to dialogue and learn more. Host meetings with your teams, be open, and allow them to speak freely about what’s important. Employees who feel valued and empowered are much more productive than those that are managed by fear. They are also less likely to leave their current company.
- Take action. All the meetings and surveys in the world can’t convince employees that you mean business. Develop an action plan based on their input and over communicate your plans as well as your reasoning behind them. In my experience, sometimes the smallest things can make a difference. Be creative in your actions and make decisions with your employee demographic in mind. Adding a $500 gaming system to your break room can be a difference maker to Gen Y employees while offering financial and newspaper magazine subscriptions can appeal to the Boomer and more traditionalist generations.
- Follow Up. Communicate, communicate, and communicate some more. Follow up with your staff quarterly being open to recommended changes and feedback along the way. Yes, following up takes work, but so does interviewing and training new employees. How do you want to spend your time in 6 months after losing over half your staff to new opportunities?
- Build a Candidate Pipeline. Not every employee is motivated by gaming systems and magazine subscriptions. Being reaching out and building relationships with performers in positions and industries you may be interested in recruiting over the next 6-12 months. Develop a strategy to engage these potential candidates as a way to seek out referrals and develop a brand within your industry niche. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to host a networking event, pick up the phone, or work with your local university. As we have seen in the rise of social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and FaceBook, it’s the relationship that matters.
Posted in HR
Posted on 06 February 2009. Tags: economy, jobs, recession, unemployement
January’s jobs report was just released this morning with 598,000 job lost and unemployment at 7.6%. Most consider the silver lining to be the progress regarding the new economic stimulus package. For the unemployed or recently unemployed, here are the details on how it will affect your unemployment and benefits:
- Weekly Unemployment. This stands to increase by roughly $25 per week federally. Some states are pushing to supplement and increase their own unemployment benefits separately as well in the form of a state separate stimulus package.
- Extended Unemployment Benefits. Unemployment typically lasts 26 weeks. The proposal seeks to extend the ability for individuals to receive an additional 20 weeks of unemployment for those who file until Dec. 31, 2009 instead of the original March 31, 2009. The extended unemployment benefits are available to those that reside in states with unemployment percentages greater than 6% which includes 34 states as of Dec. 2008.
- Access to Subsidized Health Insurance. The average cost of COBRA is $1,000 per month. The bill would allow subsidized premiums of 65% for a year. The benefit would apply to those who lose their jobs between September 2008 and the end of 2009. Those who income is 200% the federal poverty guidelines could be eligible for Medicaid. The benefit, paid for by the federal government, would apply to those who lose their jobs between September 2008 and the end of 2010. Interested in what the Federal poverty lines are? Click Here.
Want to know more. Visit www.cnnmoney.com for the entire article and more information.
Posted in Job Search
For the most of us, the end of the year signifies an opportunity to think, reflect, and remember the life lessons, events, and topics that demanded our attention over the last 12 months. And professionals within the Human Resource and Recruiting industry are no exception. I think that I can speak for everyone that 2009 was a year many businesses, job seekers, and people in general would like to forget. In short, 2009 pretty much sucked. I’d like to think we are better for it. I’m certainly a believer in that saying that good things don’t come easy and 2009 was more than a pain in my ass.
