January 31, 2006

Jobs of the future: the view from Davos
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 12:43 PM

At the 2006 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this past week, US Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao spoke in a session on "Jobs of the Future":

"The greatest challenge is investment in human capital," said Elaine L. Chao, US Secretary of Labor. "Eighty percent of new jobs require some understanding of computers." Her concerns included the way benefit plans can reduce job mobility. "You have to stay with a company for 30 years to gain the full benefits, but the average US worker has had nine jobs through their own choice. The portability of benefits is a very important tool."

Another panel member, David Arkless of giant temp worker firm Manpower, USA, had a different concern:

"We need electricians, plumbers, infrastructure workers and higher-level production workers. We have to persuade children that in the future getting a vocational degree will be as important as getting an academic qualification. We have to make these sorts of jobs, which make cities work, look valuable and feel valuable."

To read more of the conference proceedings and learn about the ultra-high-powered participant group - from Bill Clinton to Bill Gates, Tony Blair, and on down the list - visit the Forum's website.

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January 30, 2006

Romney and jobs: you make the call
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 10:44 AM

In the wake of Gov. Romney's announcement that he will not seek a second term of office, and after his recent State of the State Address, critics and pundits are dissecting his record - and his prospects - as he moves on.

One big issue is jobs in the Commonwealth - how has he done? On the one hand:

''He made us a promise when he first came in, that he wanted to create jobs here in Massachusetts," [House Speaker Salvatore] DiMasi told reporters after a news conference celebrating new tax incentives for the film industry. ''We need to get the economy back. We want to hear from Romney to find out why we haven't created those jobs."

On the other hand:

''When Governor Romney came into office, the state was losing jobs by the thousands every month," said Romney communications director Eric Fehrnstrom. ''Today we are adding jobs, and the unemployment rate is almost a full point lower [than] it was when we took office. But we have more work to do."

What do you think? Has Mitt Romney been good or bad for jobs in the Commonwealth? Let us know your thoughts.

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What's a millennial & why should recruiters care?
Posted by at 10:31 AM

In response to questions, I thought I'd define millennials for all you HR folks out there. Millennials is the name of the generation born from 1982 to 2007. They are the college graduates of 2004 and later and approach the world very differently from Boomers and Xers

Generations tend to have characteristics shaped by national & world events, politics and social norms. This cohort will be our applicant pool for the next 25 years, so unless you are close to retirement yourself, you've got care!

To start your millennial lessons, access your resources. Two of the most often referenced books on this topic are Millennials Rising and Millennials Go To College both by Neil Howe and William Strauss.

From the Millenials Rising webFAQs, we learn about our upcoming generation of employees:

They will offer loyalty and expect it in return. They will seek worklife balance and engage in longterm career planning. They will revive unionism and seek more standard pay scales and benefit packages. They will provide the focus for the emergence of a new American middle class.

As a former college career services director turned recruiter, I'm confident I have an edge. We've been discussing this group for the past 4 years in higher ed.

So start studying up, practicing and changing the way you recruit! Think of this as your most valuable cross-cultural education. My plan is to be completely bilingual (GenX: Millennial) soon. Join me?

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January 25, 2006

Millennials and Sexual Harassment
Posted by at 3:59 PM

As a new poster to this site, I've been wondering what the first topic should be. I'm very interested in millennials as the population of employees we will be recruiting and employing for the next 25 years. Because this generation has its own unique culture, different from that of Xers, Ys and boomers, corporate policies and practices will need to evolve and change to respond to this new cohort. Yesterday's information from the American Association of University Women on sexual harassment in the college student population is a good place to begin discussion of policies and practices that may need to change.

Among college students, the newest generation of employees, 62% have reported encountering sexual harassment and 41% have harassed someone else. Even more discouraging, an overwhelming majority of students do not report harassment.

A majority of students (59 percent) who admit to harassing another student say they did so because they thought it was funny, as opposed to nearly one-third (32 percent) who thought the person liked it, and less than one-fifth (17 percent) who wanted a date with the person.

How should these new statistics inform our practice of educating new employees? Many corporate sexual harassment training programs focus on quid pro quo harassment and that relating to dating behavior. For this generation, however, most sexual harassment behavior is centered in the 'it was just a joke' arena. To be proactive with a population that has overwhelmingly experienced sexual harassment but has not reported it, how should our employee training change?

The on-line presskit found here offers more information and audio clips of students talking about their experiences

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Lacking career development from employers, IT workers seek to move
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 3:51 PM

A survey from CompTIA, one of the leading trade groups and standard-setting organizations in the information technology industry, found that most employers appear indifferent to their tech workers' career development needs:

Information technology (IT) workers are getting little guidance or support from their employers when it comes to career training and education, according to the findings of a survey released today by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA).

The vast majority of respondents to the CompTIA survey – 85 percent – said they decide what IT training and education they need based on their own career plans. Just 8 percent make these choices based on their employer’s requirements or recommendations.

Perhaps even more of interest, the survey results provide these juicy stats on the seemingly orphaned IT workforce:

The survey of 462 IT professionals also found that 60 percent of the workers are currently looking for new jobs. Of those looking for new jobs, 81 percent described their job search as active.

All quiet on the IT front? I don't think so.

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January 24, 2006

A recruiting two-fer
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 3:22 PM

Two-for-one, that is, if my terminology is too obscure. And both of them are right here on BostonWorks' Hiring Hub.

The latest column from Mary Helen Gillespie (aka the Savvy Manager) looks at do's and don'ts for recruiters in 2006:

. . .[L]uckily for all of us there's a lot of interviewing going on right now. But some of the intelligence from the field is pretty darn ugly. In the haste to make that perfect match, the Savvy Manager is hearing and seeing about some rather nasty behavior down in the trenches.

Item #2 is from long-time NEHRA correspondent Roberta Chinsky Matuson, who gives us some tips on how to develop recruitment partnerships:

[Your] job openings are listed with a number of contingency recruitment firms, who only get paid if they make successful placements. But it's been weeks and you have yet to see results.

If this sounds familiar then it's time to analyze your relationship with your recruitment vendors.

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January 23, 2006

Opt-out role model - Sandra Day O'Connor
Posted by Diane Danielson at 2:42 PM

Who knew? Justice O'Connor was forced to opt out of the law profession when her babysitter quit. (No day care back in the 60's). Interesting editorial in the Globe today about O'Connor and "relaunching mothers."

What has gone almost unnoticed, however, is the five-year period that this high-achieving woman spent at home. Yes, Sandra Day O'Connor ''opted out" and was a stay-at-home mom. From 1960 to 1965, after the birth of her second son, she decided to leave her legal practice to be home full time. Essentially, she was forced to quit because her trusted baby sitter left. There were no day care centers in those days, and she could not find a competent replacement. Four years later, O'Connor's third son was born, and in 1965 she returned to work.

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“Recareering” baby boomers
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 11:13 AM

We've heard and read a lot about the impending retirement of baby boomers and the consequent skills and experience gap that will be left in the workplace. But what about boomers who do not retire at 65 - whether out of choice or necessity - many of whom will be changing to new fields? Is the workplace prepared to cope with this "recareering"?

According to this piece from Workforce Management magazine, the answer is "no":

A person who decides at midlife to strike out on a new career path is likely to find the traditional hiring process an unfriendly one, since it’s not set up to assess their transferable skills and abilities. John Challenger, CEO of the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, says that companies need greater sophistication in the way they look at applicants to make the most of boomer candidates who are in the midst of a career change.

"Companies are not hiring people for their skills. They look for people based upon their last title, not their skill set," Challenger says.

Read the entire piece. (Note: One-time free registration may be required.)

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January 20, 2006

CMB = Chief Morale Booster
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 9:47 AM

Don't laugh. Such a position may not be as far away as you think, especially in today's enconomy where the shoe is suddenly on the other foot:

A national survey taken by Personnel Decisions International showed that companies could retain more information technology (IT) workers if they offered professional development programs and gave their employees more individual feedback.
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Employee morale matters. It has a direct impact on job performance and a company's productivity. So new job titles have been popping up. These include culture manager, culture czar, culture coordinator, culture maestro, morale booster, chief morale officer -- to name a few.

Read the piece from Career Pro News.

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January 18, 2006

Most-sought skills in senior execs
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 2:01 PM

What do you think are the top two skills most sought in senior level executives by their employers? Well, according to a new survey undertaken by Right Management:

The management skill that organizations desire most in their future executives is the ability to motivate and engage others, followed by the ability to communicate effectively, strategically and interpersonally, according to a survey by Right Management Consultants, the world's largest career transition and organizational consulting firm.

Another finding of the survey, administered to 168 organizations nationwide:

77% of companies do not have enough successors to their current senior-level managers already working in their organizations.

Read the full piece.

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January 16, 2006

Dream believers
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 9:46 AM

On MLK Day, let's hold up the model from today's Globe of these present-day pioneering African-Americans:

[Dorchester health club owner Christine] Holmes is one of many African-Americans making the move toward self-employment. While the number of businesses nationwide increased 10 percent, to 23 million, between 1997 and 2002, according to a recent Census Bureau report, the number of businesses started by African-Americans during that period jumped 45 percent. Between 1992 and 1997, black-owned firms increased at a less-robust 26 percent.

New businesses mean new jobs and new opportunities, something to be celebrated each and every day. But it is especially poignant today, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. as the living fulfillment of his dream.

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January 12, 2006

Norway's "women on board" program goes into effect
Posted by Diane Danielson at 9:41 AM

From the New York Times International:

OSLO, Jan. 8 - On the first day of this year - and in the teeth of strenuous opposition from many Norwegian businessmen - Norway's leftist government put into effect one of the more radical attempts to achieve sexual equality: requiring that in the next two years 40 percent of the board members of the nation's large, publicly traded private companies be women.

The whole article is worth reading because it looks at how Europe (especially Germany) has a dismal record of allowing women and minorities into corporate management positions, despite the fact that women are outnumbering the men in higher education, and actually making inroads in politics and media.

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January 11, 2006

Government getting serious about gender gap?
Posted by Diane Danielson at 7:59 AM

Legislation proposed to study gender gap.

Two lawmakers leading the fight against the gender wage gap have introduced legislation to establish an institute to continually examine the gap and make recommendations for businesses to combat it. This would be the first time an American institute would be created with the sole mission of studying the wage gap and issuing guidelines to close the gap. The Center for the Study of Women and Workplace Policy would be housed at a public university and would produce annual reports on wages, as well as best-practices guides for businesses.

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January 10, 2006

Retirement planning, Dogbert style
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 8:31 AM

A yuck to start the New Year, from today's Dilbert.

Keep your office humor quota intact by reading Dilbert each and every day. You'll find everyone's favorite cubicle dweller in the lower right corner of the BostonWorks.com home page.

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January 6, 2006

Networking Can Be A Win-Win
Posted by Kim Provencher at 3:48 PM

While preparing for a presentation I am giving next week on networking, I came across a great article that is worth reading, Finding Time: Blending Networking Into Your Life from CareerJournal.com. Since my job is business development for my firm, networking is my livelihood. I simply wouldn't be as successful if I didn't make networking part of each day. In fact, since I've come to this realization, I have found myself giving regular talks on the subject.

There was a time early in my career when I thought networking was something we did when we wanted to find a new job. Yes, that is true and it's when people utilize networking most, but it really can be used for so much more. Through networking we can gain valuable information about the market, our competition or business trends. We can discover best practices and new ways of doing things. We can meet talented people who might just be a colleague, employee or friend some day. And let us not forget that it can play a valuable role in helping us find childcare or a painter for our house!

Despite the many benefits, I find that most people are reluctant to network. They don't have the time because they work. They don't need to because they are well-employed. Reality is we all should be networking all of the time because we never know when things will change personally or professionally. It doesn't have to take a lot of time and it can be done any where as the article suggests, at the gym, in line at Starbucks, at your kid's soccer game. I think once you try it you'll find it's actually very enjoyable. Try to make the time. It'll be worth it.

Some conversations will be fleeting, while other times, the people you meet will become part of your circle. Being open to -- and staying in touch with -- those who cross your path is how you make your own luck. At some point, you'll learn about something that can benefit you professionally before the rest of the world finds out.

"People think of networking as going to a function," says Karen Susman, a Denver-based coach and speaker on networking. "You need to realize you are building your network everywhere all the time."

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Early good news for 2006 job market
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 9:44 AM

From today's Globe, a report that things are looking a little stronger in the overall employment sector, fueled primarily by service jobs:

The nation's service sector grew more rapidly in December and the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell to the lowest level in five years, signs the economy enters the new year on fairly strong footing.
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'We're looking at some positive expansion, solid growth in jobs and in general economic growth, and that's something we see continuing," said Jason Schenker, an economist at Wachovia Corp.

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Regional job shifts at Fidelity
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 9:26 AM

From today's Globe, Boston-based mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments reports moving jobs out of Boston to other New England states:

Fidelity spokeswoman Anne Crowley said the mutual-fund giant told roughly 800 employees of its personal investments group that their jobs will move to locations in Rhode Island in stages by 2008.

Between 400 and 700 additional employees at other units will be shifted elsewhere as well by 2008, Crowley said, some potentially to a company site in Merrimack, N.H. The jobs to be affected are currently located in Boston and Marlborough.

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January 3, 2006

The hidden beauty of career fairs
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 3:30 PM

Happy New Year, HR Blog readers!

Let's kick off the year with an article from Workforce Management magazine on the benefits of an often overlooked recruiting tool, career fairs. WM Contributing Editor Fay Hansen makes the case:

In this age of Internet recruiting, career fairs and job expos have a quaint feel about them. But smart companies are using fairs to pull in highly qualified candidates and cut time to fill down to days, all at a relatively low cost. They are also discovering that career fairs can build the employment brand and fill recruiting pipelines. And when the fairs are staffed by employees, they can help build morale and turn workers into year-round recruiters.

(Blogger's Note: one-time free registration may be required at the WM site.)

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Small business wins FMLA case
Posted by Diane Danielson at 9:25 AM

Leeane Engelhardt worked for S.P. Richards Co.'s office supplies until Dec. 17, 2002 when she was fired for staying home to care for her chronically ill daughter.

The company has fewer than 50 employees, and therefore Leeanne Engelhardt was not eligible for protection under the federal act. In her lawsuit, filed in 2004, she had argued she was protected because a parent company had at least that many workers in the area.

The Family and Medical Leave Act gives rights to unpaid leave to employees with health problems or sick family members or to employees who are giving birth to or adopting children.

US District Judge Paul Barbadoro ruled last week that the employers of the parent and subsidiary companies have stayed separate, each responsible for its own personnel decisions.

''I didn't expect to win," Engelhardt told The Telegraph of Nashua on Sunday, ''but I wanted to fight it because I didn't want other people to lose their jobs because they had a sick family member."

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