Telecommuting Policy
Technology has brought us many benefits and among those is the ability to stay in touch with the office, even when we are sitting at home in our pajamas. Employers have recognized the cost and productivity benefits of telecommuting and as such, have started to develop policies that govern this well received practice. Having a telecommuting policy in place means a better work environment for...
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HR Magazine
The field of Human Resources changes on a regular basis. It can change faster than we can keep up, so it is easy to lose track if we aren't paying attention. Many HR professionals reach out to publications that are circulated by accredited organizations and that provide a great deal of legislative changes, best practices and recruitment strategies for all industries and markets. If...
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Stick Out from the Applicant Database
There is no doubt that the US economy is on the mend, unemployment has been falling steadily since reaching a 30 year high back in 2009, and growth is nearly five times as much as at this point last year. And, as we reported earlier candidate confidence has returned as MRI network reported a surge in resignations as applicants flock to the jobs boards to advance their careers which have lain...
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Truven Health Analytics Launches Reporting Solution to Help Manage Healthcare Costs
Truven Health Analytics has announced the launch of Employer Insights, an account-group reporting solution and part of the Truven Health Advantage Suite platform. The web-based solution gives insurers and employers comprehensive analytics to manage healthcare costs and improve care while allowing them to compare costs to national benchmarks. In addition to cross-referencing capabilities for...
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New Social Platform MindLink Aims to Eliminate Email Overload
MindLink, a social collaboration platform from Formicary Collaboration Group, is designed to encourage secure, team communication and collaboration within an in-place Microsoft environment. Specializing in social collaboration, MindLink creates a streamlined environment for intraorganizational group discussions via social networking opening up opportunities for peer-to-peer connection at the...
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3 Reasons to Rely on Recommendations More Than Resumes
Are job seekers really who they say they are? It is the responsibility of the hiring manager-turned-investigator during the recruiting process to answer this question, but where can you turn for help? Personal and professional recommendations complete the picture that resumes start -- and recommendations can sometimes even be enough in the absence of resumes. For example, some people will lean...
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Making Yourself Indispensable in the Workplace
Warning: this article contains a lot of ways to suck up to management. These kind of tips won't help your chances of curing cancer, but they might help you get a little extra boost in your career. There are a host of reasons you may have for wanting to impress your boss (a promotion or raise, a glowing reference, work perks), but the question of the day is whether or not putting in extra...
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Don't Lose Your Job for Facebook
Facebook. The network that has transformed our social lives over the last five years is, for many recruiters, the next frontier in social recruiting. And vendors are taking notice: Branchout, Beknown, Work4Labs, and others are using the ubiquitous platform to allow recruiters to search their social networks and those of others for qualified applicants. Great. It's a tool that we're able to use...
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Study Uncovers Why Employees Quit and How Employers Should Respond
As the economy slowly improves, more and more employers are finding it difficult to retain their strongest performing employees. A new WorldatWork/Hay Group study entitled Retention of Key Talent and the Role of Rewards has found that 83 percent of businesses see the rate of turnover for key talent as very costly while two-thirds said that retaining such employees are a primary concern for senior...
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Teradata to Provide First Self-Service Access to Big Data
Analytic data-solutions provider Teradata has announced Aster SQL-H, the first software solution to offer a bridge between traditional business intelligence (BI) apps and big data stored in Hadoop. Aster SQL-H offers a much simpler approach to big data analysis than standard BI in a Hadoop Distributed File System. The app allows analysts to access and analyze text, machine data, and information...
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Employers Spend Average of $2.60 per Hour Worked on Health Benefits
Private industry, state and local government employers paid an average of $2.60 per hour worked per employee to provide health benefits during March 2012, according to a recent Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report found that benefit costs increased significantly depending on the size of the establishment. Small private businesses...
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Too Much Recruiter Self-Congratulation?
My recent discussion of "the real reason why we need recruiters" has prompted at least one reflective reader to question why recruiters need to congratulate themselves or be congratulated just for doing their jobs. His comments (below) got me thinking: If a police chief addressing his officers reminds them that their mission is "to serve and protect", he is unlikely to be criticized...
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Who's King Now? Content or Conversation?
In the history of talent acquisition has it ever been as much about content as it is now? In fact, as recruiting has become more social over the years and talent acquisition pros have moved first toward forums, then blogs, then social networks and finally talent communities and networks, recruiting has dovetailed more strongly with marketing than traditional sourcing or HR practices. However,...
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3 Reasons Airtime is a Poor Hiring Tool
By now you might have heard of Airtime, the new venture from Sean Parker. In case you missed it though, Airtime is a video service allowing you to connect with users based on shared interests. The service lets you connect through your Facebook account and then uses this information to match you with people who share some of your likes and even your circle of friends. It's another in a long...
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DOL Supports Work Sharing Programs
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced it will offer support to state unemployment insurance (UI) agencies that oversee short-time compensation, popularly known as "work sharing." The guidance is part of a series of UI reforms resulting from the recent Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. "Work sharing is a win-win for workers and employers," said Secretary of Labor...
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Using Talent Management Software Boosts Business Performance
London-based talent management software solutions firm Appraisal Software has found that businesses experience a productivity boost when implementing a talent management system that gives employees better feedback when assessing performance. With many organizations struggling with disconnected technologies, manual processes, and HR data silos, talent management success will rely on solutions that...
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Asure Software Updates Virtual Meeting Room Solution
Asure Software, a leading workplace management software provider, has announced its updated meeting room management SaaS solution with improved product-line branding. Dubbed AsureSpace, the platform offers a cloud-based approach to the market with improved Microsoft Outlook integration, LCD panel integration and reporting, and an updated user interface that increasing the platforms ability to...
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Embrace your Uncertainty and Take the Plunge
Like any emotional journey, coming to the realization that a career change is needed has its phases beginning with fear of the unknown and ending embracing that fear and using it to your advantage. And though concluding that your current job or career isn't for you may be a frightening realization, making the major step of career change is not necessarily as hard as it may first seem. Consider...
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A Year Goes by... and then Fair Game?
Typically, third party recruiters give their client a non-solicitation on their candidates – meaning that they promise not to take the candidate that they place back from their own client. But, what if that client isn't a client any more? Is it ever really OK? My whole view on the discussion is shaped by my tried and tested belief that the best way to win more business is to keep your...
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Few HR Pros Finding Seat at Strategy Table
It's the old HR-seat-at-the-table problem again. Once considered tactics for uncertain economic times, initiatives for saving costs and improving efficiency have become primary focal areas for companies when seeking to increase performance and spur growth, according to a new Hay Group Survey. Polling over 1,400 Human Resource professionals and senior executives, the survey found that just 34...
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Paychex Announces Mobile App for on-the-go Access to Payroll and Benefits Info
Paychex, Inc., has a new solution for small and medium-sized businesses desiring the ability of providing employees with mobile access to personal payroll, benefits and retirement information. Paychex Mobile, available for iOS, Android, and Blackberry users, gives Paychex clients tools for on-the-go access to employment-related financial data plus tools to increase productivity. "Paychex is...
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Hearsay Social Unveils Social Media Content Exchange Platform
Partnering with the gamut of major social media providers, Hearsay Social has launched its new social marketing tool Content Exchange allowing users to discover, and post updates to a variety of social media networks including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+. The company has also partnered with media companies to bring users financial and entertainment news, photo and video capabilities,...
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Employers Not Prepared for Affordable Care Act
A new ADP Research Institute survey shows that most HR and benefits decision makers feel that the landscape of U.S. healthcare is experiencing a radical change, with many expressing a lack of confidence that their organizations fully understand the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its implications for American businesses. "The ADP Research Institute's recent survey clearly shows that confusion...
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PackFlash Updates its DotNetNuke Video Module to Provide Social Functionality
PackFlash, developer of web content management system DotNetNuke (DNN) has released its newest version of the platform's video module thus integrating it into the core DNN social functionality also recently released. The new version allows users to post personal journals and community social groups of which they are members onto DNN social pages. The video module is part of the larger...
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Crowdsourced Recruiting?
Amazon, Cisco, Facebook, GE, IBM, Pepsi, Starbucks, PG; what do all these companies have in common, apart from being creators of world class products and services? Answer; they have all used crowdsourcing techniques at one point or another to generate ideas that have already or are expected to turn into new product and service innovations. So what is crowdsourcing and how can it impact...
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SuccessFactors Announces End-to-End Recruiting Solution for Identifying and Attracting Top Talent
SuccessFactors, global provider of cloud-based business execution software, has announced the release of SuccessFactors Recruiting Execution, a combination of the company's Recruitment Marketing platform with its Recruitment Management solution. The paired software offers companies the ability to identify and attract the best candidates in a more streamlined and quicker pace. "The world of...
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OrangeHRM Launches Absence Management System
HRIS development firm OrangeHRM, Inc. has announced the launch of absence management system OrangeAM. The new standalone program expedites the process of defining leave types, work weeks, holidays, leave accruals, and policies that can be applied to such. "Absent management is a critical part of managing your human capital, especially when your organization is growing. OrangeAM is designed to...
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Most States Don't Make the Grade for Employee Leave
A new national report card, released by the National Partnership for Women Families, has graded each U.S. state and Washington, D.C. on the quality of their laws in providing access to maternity and paternity leave to new parents. The study resulted in the allocation of only two As granted to California and Connecticut. The high marks spring from the fact that California is the first state to...
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How Any Startup Can Build a Great Team
Recruiting for a startup can be a challenge, no matter what position you are looking to fill. Startups, like many other organizations, are looking at many factors when it comes to a desirable candidate, such as keeping up with ever-changing work environments, transferable skills, and a work history that proves they are the right fit. Add the sometimes necessary task of recruiting members from a...
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Test Your Mentor
Mentoring is a GOOD thing and I want to preface this article by saying that anyone who takes the time and energy to share their life advice with you should be applauded. Probably 90% of mentors are fantastic, but it happens every once in awhile that your mentor may steer you in the wrong direction or perhaps you've designated someone a mentor that doesn't even know you're emulating them...
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Employees Disagree on Social Media's Role in Workplace Culture
A new study by Deloitte has found that 41 percent of executives feel that social networking helps maintain a workplace culture while just 21 percent of employees hold the same perception. Accordingly, while 45 percent of business executives find social media to have a positive effect on the development of workplace culture, only 27 percent of employees feel the same. The data shows that even as...
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Trust in Employers Hits New Low
Interaction Associates, releasing its study Building Trust in Business 2012, finds that business trust levels are at the lowest point since 2009, especially regarding the consistency, predictability, and transparency of business leaders. The survey found that only 23 percent of employees think that their organization's leadership reflects these features, down from about 40 percent in...
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Where Individuals and Employers Stand on the Health Reform Law
Two surveys by The New York Times and CBS News and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) have revealed where both employers and the public stand regarding the healthcare reform law. While the fate of the controversial law will be determined by the Supreme Court by the end of June, The New York Times and CBS News survey shows where general voting public stands. According...
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Fidelity Argues against Popular Retirement Studies that Predict Grim Futures for Retirees
Arguing that studies showing that the 401(k) account balances of most Americans will not support a comfortable retirement lifestyle, Fidelity Investments cites bad math as the culprit in predicting gloomy futures for retirees. While the company does agree that the average American 401(k) balance is too small to cover expenses, it says that looking at this single average is not enough. The...
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The Buffering Effect of Being Buff: Why Fit Bosses Have Fewer Abusive Fits
According to a recent scientific study, bosses who exercise are less likely to abuse their employees, even if these supervisors are otherwise stressed out. But why is that true? It turns out, as will be explained here, that not only are there several possible explanations, but also that at least two of them are in some sense extreme, mutually exclusive "opposites". The recent...
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Honestly, Do You Like your Employer?
So who wants to talk about the work environment at X Enterprises (fictional brand name)? Are you interested in sharing your views about the company you work for? Are you willing to discuss how the company treats its employees? Are you willing to share your negative views with people who might want to join the company in the future? Is social networking safe enough to try something...
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What New College Grads Look For
While we'd all like to think we have a good handle on what's happening in the job market, for many of us, it's been quite some time since our college graduation - and what eventful years they have been! Even for entry level professionals, the last 3-5 years have seen many changes for college grads, most of them described by the media as "bleak". According to a May Heldrich survey just...
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LinkedIn Recruiter Overview
LinkedIn has been quietly, efficiently and effectively implementing its business strategy in the background while Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter occupy the immediate forefront of public attention. But, is quiet really the right word? We commented in earlier articles about the 2012 Forbes piece, LinkedIn is Disrupting The Corporate Market, which reported sharp rises in revenues from LinkedIn's...
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Benefits Still the Best Way to Retain Workers
The newly released Aflac Workforces 2012 Report has shown that a disturbingly high number of employees are unhappy enough to consider moving from their current employer to a new one. In fact, 49 percent of workers polled reported that they were at least somewhat likely to search for new employment at some point during the year. Of those workers, 27 percent said that they were very likely or...
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Employers Struggle to fill Professional Ranks as Unemployment Remains High
With unemployment for May 2012 at 12.7 million as reported by the Department of Labor, conventional knowledge would dictate that businesses should easily find workers. But according to a report from Achievers, HR recruiters and CEOs are hampered by an erroneous perspective on what employees are seeking in the workplace: professional recognition and a sense of value, as stated in the report. A...
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Yoh Index a Silver Lining in Labor Market
Yoh, a leading provider of staffing and workforce solutions, regularly produces reports on labor market trends. Despite May 2012's disappointing jobs report out of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Yoh's quarterly Index of Wages for highly skilled temporary workers has revealed a few bright spots amidst the gloom that may point to a sunnier economy in the future. The new Index of Wages report...
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Social CRM Market Heats Up
With the recent acquisition of Buddy Media by Salesforce.com, it's clear that social CRM and social marketing solutions are part of a very hot new trend. Social customer relationship management (CRM) tools can help organizations monitor and appropriately respond to customer feedback, praise, and complaints on social media sites. It may be time to dive into these social technologies for your...
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Five Steps to Building a Resume that Gets Noticed
In most sectors of the economy, jobs are scarce and because of the high unemployment rate the jobs that are available are receiving significantly more applications. In fact, it's not uncommon for new jobs at well known companies to receive several hundred resumes. Most companies do not have the manpower to handle that kind of volume. So they've turned to technology that automates the initial...
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Machines — Taking a Big Bite Out of the Job Skills Bell Curve
Life without the average—is it possible? Imagine one day interviewing job applicants and discovering on that day and every day thereafter that all the average types have disappeared. Suddenly, they are all either very young or very old, very tall or very short, very thin or very heavyset, very experienced or very inexperienced, live less than five minutes from the job or more than 1,000...
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Temp Trends Around The World
The American temporary staffing market is booming. In 2010, a year when US growth peaked at 3.9%, temporary workers accounted for about one third of the 1 million private sector hires and are thought to have played a key part in the economic story for that year. The popularity of temporary workers in America is not waning as a report from the American staffing association suggests the numbers...
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National Labor Board Issues Social Media Guidelines for Employers
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has released its most recent memo on social media policies and how the board regards the use of social networking by employees. Known typically for focusing on policies that fail to meet NLRB acceptability, the new memo has identified one policy as generally acceptable, offering businesses nationwide some guidance regarding corporate policy addressing the...
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New EEOC Guidelines Reinforce Idea that Maintaining a Rejectionable Offense List is a Hiring Best Practice
Having a list of rejectionable offenses is a simple way for employers to maintain consistent screening practices in order to minimize opportunities for discrimination lawsuits. Recently, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released new guidelines dictating the manner in which criminal history reports may be used during a pre-employment assessment process. These new guidelines...
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Free Mobile App for Mobile Recruiters
From the makers of SmartSearch software comes a free iPhone, iPad, and Android mobile recruiting app alongside the release of version 16 of SmartSearch. Users of SmartSearch need only to enter their customer ID number and login information to access the full version of SmartSearch recruitment software on their smart phone. Users can investigate job candidates, look up business contacts and job...
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