The Brilliance of Boring Branding: Filling and Protecting Jobs with Dull Brand Icons
Every national government is an employer. Like every other big enterprises, nations are in the business of staying in business and in a big way. This requires the recruitment and retention of government employees and successful enterprise promotion and performance to protect both the jobs and the organization, including marketing of the national brand, through iconic branding as well as...
Read MoreShould We 86 the 9 to 5?
It was 6:30 a.m. I knew because I could hear my dad barreling down the hallway and into my room. "The sun is barely up and it's already a great day," he would say to me in a booming voice. I certainly couldn't tell how happy the sun was after he flicked the light on in my room considering it was still considerably dark outside. In my teenage and hormone-fueled disposition, I would grunt...
Read MoreKhorus Survey: CEOs Operating in "Hindsight Mode," Negatively Impacts Performance
According to a survey conducted by business management systems provider Khorus, CEOs are largely out of touch with day-to-day progress toward business goals in their organizations. The company polled 200 CEOs of organizations with 50 or more employees about their roles, challenges, processes and initiatives. "The results paint a bleak picture: CEOs are operating blindly much of the time,...
Read MoreWANTED Technologies Expands Talent Supply/Demand data into Canada
WANTED Technologies, a leading supplier of big data analytics for the HCM marketplace, has announced the launch of its talent supply and demand products for Canada. WANTED provides insight into supply and demand for talent using a data warehouse of more than one billion records describing continuous hiring activity since 2005. Clients, which include corporate HR departments, staffing agencies,...
Read MoreAre You Reluctant to Promote Staff?
What is the first thought that comes to your mind when a critical staff member suddenly leaves? Normally, it's call a recruiter/HR or anyone that can action a job posting and start searching for a replacement, right? It's a knee-jerk reaction, often born out of panic, but sometimes coming from a pure lack of imagination of doing anything else, and perhaps even a fear of promoting someone...
Read MoreWork Market Launches WorkSend, Connecting Businesses with Freelancers
Work Market, the online solution helping companies find, manage and grow their freelance workforce, has announced the launch of WorkSend, the company's latest release for bringing best-in-class technology solutions for finding and managing on-demand, freelance workforces. "We are in the midst of a transformational moment as the number of freelance workers is expected be over 50 million by...
Read MoreThe Wrong Way to Make Your Resumé Stand Out
During my final year of undergrad, in the heat of senioritis, I took a class on theater appreciation (it actually ruled, but that's beside the point). The professor was a theater-industry veteran, a jovial old guy who wanted everyone to love plays and get an A. Classes generally consisted of him standing in front of the room and riffing for 90 minutes according to however the spirit moved him...
Read MoreMassMutual, BlackRock Partnership Offers Custom Asset Allocation for Retirement Plans
MassMutual Retirement has teamed up with the BlackRock firm to introduce a customized, lower-cost alternative to managed accounts for defined contribution retirement plans. MassMutual Managed Allocations powered by BlackRock enables financial advisors to offer professionally managed asset allocation strategies to help achieve the diversification and customization that individual plan sponsors...
Read MoreMost Employees Concerned Over Being Moved into Public Health Exchange
A new survey by The Morning Consult has found that two-thirds of those who responded are at least somewhat concerned their employer will move them onto a public exchange. Forty percent were either "extremely concerned" or "very concerned." One quarter were not at all worried. "Workers with employer-sponsored health plans largely have a negative view of what such a move would mean for...
Read MoreThe 3 Key Emotional Messages Interviewees Want To Hear
Research suggests that there is a serious candidate trust problem in the job marketplace. As a result of broken promises, pay freezes/cuts, layoffs, uncertainty and lack of job security during the recession, candidates have lost trust in their employers. The American Psychological Association survey shows that 1 in 4 workers don't trust their employers and only half believe that employers are up...
Read MoreVestrics Updates Workforce Optimization Software with Vestrics Uncover
Vestrics, a leading provider of workforce optimization software, has announced the release of Vestrics Uncover, a new software update including time-saving functionality that enables HR and LD departments to accomplish the work of a data analyst, without the added cost and time constraints. Vestrics Uncover improves human capital investments by providing the ability to quickly and...
Read MoreGoogle is Great, but not for Recruiting
Small businesses have to do a lot more work function with a lot less money. So it's always a good bet to go with a software or office management option that will give you the most for your money. Google currently offers business solutions that are free (or close to it) to over 5 million organizations. And while having an email account connected to an online server, calendar, social media...
Read MoreWhat, if Anything, Do Passive Candidates Owe Their Employers?
Everybody wants a passive candidate. I've written against this mentality in the past, but I'm a realist, and one blog post isn't going to change the hiring world. So the fact remains that people want passive candidates. Passive candidates are abundant, with some sources estimating that they make up as much as 79 percent of the workforce. According to the received wisdom, passive candidates...
Read More3 Easy Ways to Simplify Your Resume
The first week of August is National Simplify Your Life Week. While you're cutting out the clutter in other areas of your life, take time to de-clutter your resume in three easy steps. There's a lot of conflicting advice out there about resumes. Some experts say an objective is necessary, while others urge job seekers to ditch it in favor of a summary. Debate rages on about the relative...
Read MoreKaya Systems Offers Virtual Assistant to Boost Back Office Staff of SMBs
Kaya Services, a virtual assistant company, has announced a two-hour trial of virtual assistant staffing to small and medium-sized businesses to demonstrate the benefits of using a virtual assistant company to complete many digitized tasks. Using a virtual assistant takes the process of using additional help to the next level. Employers do not need to designate space, office equipment, office...
Read MoreMettl Launches Online Certification Platform
Global online skills assessment company, Mettl, has announced the launch of its new online certification platform, providing a secure platform that enables companies to efficiently deliver online IT and other certification programs to candidates around the world. Mettl's new platform reduces the cost and time commitment of conducting certification exams compared to on-site manual proctoring....
Read MoreNumber of Job Openings Rises to Near Seven-year High
Job openings rose in May to the highest level in almost seven years, a sign the U.S labor market will help boost economic growth in the second half of this year. The number of positions waiting to be filled climbed by 171,000 to 4.64 million, the most since June 2007, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor. The number of unemployed job seekers per opening fell to the lowest level in six...
Read MoreGet More Social with Your Recruiting
When it comes to recruiting, taking the social route has never been more important. In an industry where acquiring and retaining quality talent is a constant challenge, it's crucial that HR professionals strive to take recruitment processes to the next level by getting more social and more automated. It's no longer simply about posting on a job board, sending job invitations or tweeting about...
Read MoreThe Art of Putting (Just Enough) Effort into Your Cover Letters
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Cover Letter Tutor, an online tool that walks users through the process of writing cover letters. Shortly after that article went live, the creator of Cover Letter Tutor, Charles Clayton a 21-year-old electrical engineering student from Vancouver, reached out to me via email to thank me for mentioning the program. As it turns out, Cover Letter Tutor is the...
Read MoreTextRecruit Streamlines Mobile Recruiting with Text Messaging
Though not a new concept, TextRecruit is seeking to change mobile texting with job seekers and candidates without going through a personal or company cell phone plane, which don't allow specialty functionality to employers such as tracking, reporting, data storage, or remaining compliant. Startup TextRecruit seeks to create a central location for recruiting teams to send, manage and track...
Read MoreSalary Bumps Forecast for US Workers in 2015
Workers in the United States can look forward to a modest bump in pay next year. Median base salaries will rise by 3 percent across all main employee categories and most industries, according to research by Hay Group and WorldatWork. This increase is below pre-recession levels. After factoring in annualized consumer price index growth at 2.1 percent, the resulting base pay movement for 2015 is...
Read MoreSurvey: 1 in 4 Employers Say Recent Grads Unprepared for Entry-level Work
Did you know that almost 1 in 4 employers say recent college graduates are unprepared for entry-level positions? Or that 37 percent of employers find it difficult or very difficult to find qualified candidates? Although 44 percent of students report feeling well prepared or very prepared for landing entry-level positions, just 18 percent of employers agree with them? This is the latest data...
Read MoreWhat it Takes to Succeed with Remote Workers
More than enough has been said about how technology is changing the world of work. And how organizations should change with the times. Of course, the focal point of all this is to better the way we work. But within all this chatter comes an understanding that change and adaption to it, cannot grow and flourish unless we embrace it. Now, within this giant notion of enhancing the way we work there...
Read MoreDoes Wearing a Suit Increase Productivity?
You'd think that in this day and age with a hoodie-wearing billionaire CEO surfing the waves of corporate boardrooms, that there might be a softening of the assertion that only suit-wearing executives deserve success. But, apart from a little spike in casual dress acceptance in 2007, acceptance of casual dress in the workplace has declined. Since 2002, 53 percent of employers have allowed casual...
Read MoreFixing a Bad Hire: a Case Study
In March, Mozilla made what seemed like a good call at the time and named Brendan Eich its new CEO. Shortly thereafter, a small scandal erupted: dating site OKCupid asked users to boycott Mozilla's Firefox browser; developers pulled their apps from the Firefox marketplace; and some Mozilla employees publicly called for Eich to resign. To be fair, Mozilla made a mistake in selecting Eich to...
Read MoreNew Compensation Management Solution Offered by Ultimate Software
Ultimate Software, a leading cloud provider of people management solutions, has announced new enhancements to UltiPro, the company's HCM solution, for the UltiPro Spring 2014 update, including a new compensation management product. UltiPro's new Compensation Management solution enables managers to navigate through the process of allocating pay and rewards to their people, with new, more...
Read MoreBirthday Damage Control for Older Workers
There are two kinds of damage inflicted by birthdays when you're older: self-inflicted and other-inflicted. They both warrant damage control, irrespective of how the birthday and age issues arise. Some spooky number may have simply clicked into place on your clock, or some inquisitive colleague has asked you your sign as a segue to your birthday and from there to your age. Worse, you may...
Read MoreCan Good HR Boost Share Value?
Now we all know that HR departments has been struggling to get a seat in the boardroom for many years now and some have achieved greater success than others. Yes, a few have made it into the boardroom; others may be in but be granted standing room only, and others may simply have their ear to the door. The general consensus is that in order to excel, modern HR leaders need to speak a more...
Read MoreGood.Co Launches First Mobile App for iOS Devices
Self-discovery engine and social network, Good.Co, is helping employees everywhere "decode workplace happiness" with its recent launch of the company's first mobile app, which is available for iOS. After a successful beta web app with more than 100K users, this new all-mobile Good.Co app provides users with more quizzes and assessments, helping them uncover the many different layers of...
Read MoreOfficeClip Products Available Now on Amazon Web Services Marketplace
The OfficeClip suite, consisting of the Contact Management / CRM, Employee Timekeeping and Issue Tracking modules, is now available on Amazon Web Services (AWS) in AWS Marketplace with hourly and yearly subscriptions. OfficeClip Suite provides small businesses with the ability to manage customers, employees, and projects with one suite of applications. The OfficeClip solution, provided under...
Read MoreCastle Rock Innovations's Retirement Analytics Platform Connects Providers to Data
The AXIS Platform from Castle Rock Innovations is connecting the industry with its centralized data aggregation engine to simplify and automate the process of disclosing retirement plan fees, compensation, and services to plan fiduciaries. AXIS is connected to over 70 record keeping firms and provides a centralized data aggregation, compliance management and distribution solution for the...
Read MoreShould Unemployment Benefits Come with a Job Search Requirement?
I recently ran across an interesting story about what the Abbott Government—the federal executive Government of Australia—is doing with its work-for-the-dole program. The story, "Job seekers to be forced to search for 40 jobs a month as Abbott government toughens obligations for unemployed," is about just that. Beginning July 1, 2015, Australian job seekers will be required to look for...
Read MoreRole of Employee Referrals – Industry Perspective
The growth of any organization depends on the quality of its people and this holds true across industries and verticals. People form the core of any organization making acquisition of good quality talent one of the most challenging tasks faced by any organization big or small. This is one big reason why employee referrals have rapidly gained in popularity and usage. Employee referrals provide...
Read MoreWhite House Economic Advisors Warn Shrinking Labor Force Hurting Economy
A new report by the White House's Council of Economic Advisors states that the declining number of people in the U.S. who are part of the labor force is a drag on the economy and the government should enact policies that will boost the number of workers, including reworking immigration laws. "In the long run, the growth rate of the labor force underpins the growth rate of employment,...
Read More5 Easy Ways to Boost Job Advert Effectiveness
It may be a stretch to suggest that there are any more secrets left when it comes to writing job adverts, but just a quick scan of job adverts on job boards and careers sites shows that many employers are missing a trick (well, several tricks) when writing their job descriptions. These job descriptions are not that well optimized to attract talent. I have no doubt that some of the issues come...
Read MoreVocoli Introduces Digital Suggestion Box to Increase Employee Innovation, Engagement
Innovation management platform, Vocoli, has announced the general availability of its digital suggestion box. Vocoli is a place where employees and customers have a platform to provide suggestions that can improve an organization. Vocoli's workflow encourages stakeholder buy-in and research combined with open collaboration, social innovation, crowdsourcing and gamification. "Innovations come...
Read MoreInfographic from Badgeville Shows the Effects of Gamification on Business Travelers
Badgeville, a top cloud-based gamification technology firm, has announced the release of an infographic encompassing recent industry research covering motivating workplace behaviors, including corporate travel. Statistics show that gamification aids business travelers by positively motivating employees to complete actions that improve their travel experience. The infographic reveals how...
Read MoreFantasySalesTeam Updates Gamification Platform, Allows Entire Company to "Get in the Game"
Is your business having a sales contest and wants to get your C-suite in on the action? Well, the folks at FantasySalesTeam may have just what you need. The award-winning sales gamification provider recently updated its online platform with a new Fans feature, allowing your entire team—from the CEO down to the sales rep—to get into the game. How It Works The game players (sales reps)...
Read More"Interviewing Should Be a Privilege": Can Big Data Discover Your Company's Best Interviewers?
When we think about the hiring process, we're often concerned with the candidates first and foremost: who among them is the best? But what if we started thinking about our hiring managers and recruiters, our HR departments and our interviewers — what if we started thinking about the people who were reviewing candidates to fill the open position: who among them is the best at hiring? Mark...
Read MoreConvergence Launches New Alt Asset Management Product Suite and New Website
Convergence, an information and advisory services provider, announced its 2014 product update. Convergence captures, normalizes, and enriches all registered investment advisors' form ADV, brochure and supplemental schedule information filed with the SEC. This core data is updated daily and supplemented with public domain intelligence relevant to the RIA. Convergence's database contains a...
Read MoreSmall Businesses Unconvinced of the Dangers of Cyber Attacks
According to a study by Kaspersky Labs, small businesses are unconvinced of the dangers posed by cyber-attacks and unprepared to combat them, despite an increasingly reliance on the mobile devices that often offer an easy entry point into organizations for cyber criminals. The study further suggests that one-third of small businesses wouldn't know what to do if they suffered a security breach,...
Read MoreThrough the Looking Glass(door)
If you're like most HR executives, logging into Glassdoor can be like one of those vanity mirrors with the bright lights: even the tiniest imperfection is magnified beyond belief, leaving you gasping in horror at what you see. Many of these executives who read the entries on Glassdoor are shocked to find that those reviews completely contradict how they think their employment brand is...
Read MoreMost Employees Would Continue Working after Winning Lottery, finds CareerBuilder
More than one-half (51 percent) of workers said they would continue working, even if they won the lottery or otherwise didn't need to support themselves financially, according to a CareerBuilder study. Thirty percent of all workers say they would keep their current job. The most common reasons for staying on the job are: • I would be bored if I didn't work (77 percent); • Work gives...
Read MoreSocial Recruiting with the "Big Three"—Advancements with LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook
Anyone not leveraging social referrals is behind the curve. That's a bold statement, but one made and backed up by data from Jobvite's 2013 Social Recruiting Survey. According to the survey results, an astounding 94 percent of recruiters used or planned to use social media in their recruitment efforts last year. That's an increase of 16 percent since 2008. And 78 percent of recruiters made...
Read MoreGreat Bosses and Great Advice
Josh Bersin, principal and founder of Bersin by Deloitte and LinkedIn Influencer, recently wrote a post entitled, "9 Reasons I Loved My First Boss... Advice for Young Professionals." He talked about how important it is for people to have a great boss early in their careers. Bersin's "great boss" was his manager at IBM, Bob. Bersin writes, "I've had a bunch of "bosses" but my very...
Read MoreGiving Clientele a Break From Your Services
I loved this Taipei restaurant from the first meal there; so, naturally, I was disappointed to find it closed when I went back the next day, around 2 PM, instead of 11 AM. Four bucks for a multi-course meal, with all the chocolate and maple walnut ice cream and iced tea I could consume, buffet style, to fight the Taiwan summer sweats. I soon realized that the closing was a daily affair and the...
Read MoreGlassdoor: 82 Percent of College Grads Believe Education Helped Careers
According to a new survey by Glassdoor, 82 percent of U.S. college grads believe their level of education has helped their careers. The Glassdoor U.S. Q2 2014 Employment Confidence Survey found that even though earning a college degree has value, 72 percent of employees still believe specialized training to acquire specific skills is more valuable in the workplace than a degree . The survey...
Read MoreCan You Still Afford to Hire in These Cities?
Ever since the recent financial crash and the economic crisis that followed, we have been living in far more volatile economic times. Last year was considered to be especially volatile with rising geopolitical tensions leading to: currency fluctuations, cost inflation for goods and services and volatility in accommodation prices. The knock-on effects of this can be felt within the talent...
Read More