Recruiting Bloggers.com

Who Will Tell the People?

Posted by Maureen Sharib
Thomas Friedman offers a sobering picture...
We are not as powerful as we used to be because over the past three decades, the Asian values of our parents’ generation — work hard, study, save, invest, live within your means — have given way to subprime values: “You can have the American dream — a house — with no money down and no payments for two years.”

A few weeks ago, my wife and I flew from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Singapore. In J.F.K.’s waiting lounge we could barely find a place to sit. Eighteen hours later, we landed at Singapore’s ultramodern airport, with free Internet portals and children’s play zones throughout. We felt, as we have before, like we had just flown from the Flintstones to the Jetsons. If all Americans could compare Berlin’s luxurious central train station today with the grimy, decrepit Penn Station in New York City, they would swear we were the ones who lost World War II.

Measuring Performance Is The Key

To Good Recruiting.

If you want to plan the human resources needed to execute a project, you have to know what people can normally do. How do you find out? By measuring performance.

First you decide what you are going to measure (speed, quality, customer satisfaction). Then, by comparing the records of various workers, you figure out what experience and personalities the good workers have.

Then you create a list (a taxonomy) of the required experience and personal qualities and use it to guide your recruiting and selection.

Also, once you know what kind of performance is reasonable to expect, you can record your ongoing performance measurements on software that automatically lets you know when it drops below that expected level.

Source: Kevin Wheeler, ERE. See also: What Is A Talent Supply Chain

Another interesting LinkedIn question

Posted by Maureen Sharib

Asokan KB asks: How best can we engage an employee? A wake up call for my HR colleagues!

Where, the research shows: only 36% of employees are actually engaged - These employees are loyal and psychologically committed to the organization. They are more productive, more likely to stay with their company for more than a year, less likely to have accidents on the job, and less likely to steal.

Unemployment for Quitters

Posted by Maureen Sharib
In France, an unusual new proposal, prompted by President Nicolas Sarkozy's push for a more flexible labor market, would allow employees to get unemployment payments even if they quit. Whole story here.

Embrace Complainers

Posted by Maureen Sharib
That person standing before you — complaining — is someone who can help you understand how to improve your company. It's in your best interest — and in the best interest of your bottom line — to deal with them, not just get rid of them.

Here's something to remember — most unhappy customers don't complain; they just go away. Sure, only one of the 100 guests at your hotel complained that the rooms were dirty. But that doesn't mean the other 99 were satisfied. Many of those other 99 guests may have felt the same way, but they didn't want to take the time or energy to confront you. Instead of letting you know, they're just not going to come back and they may even warn other customers away.

Is the job you're working on paying enough?

Posted by Maureen Sharib

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You Could Get Free Career Coaching

If only you could handle the truth.

Sheila Heen claims that people who solicit criticism and respond well get promoted. All you have to do is ask people for feedback on your performance. They will admire your confidence even if you don't do what they suggest.

You Don't Have To Wait For A Crisis

By Richard Becker

Beginning straightaway with the title of David Maister’s new book, Strategy And The Fat Smoker, he shares the pointed observation that most professionals, especially managers, already know what to do for long-term success (and why to do it), but are too easily swayed by bad habits, short-term temptations, and misaligned measurements.

It’s a classic definition of the difference between intelligence and wisdom: smart enough to know, but not wise enough to do.

U.S. Employers: Stop Stressing The Team

By Richard Becker

Watson Wyatt, an international association of human resource professionals, released a study today that may send shivers down the spines of management: a large majority of companies in the United States and around the world are struggling to attract and retain top-performing and critical-skill workers.

The study, which included 946 companies and a complementary survey of 13,000 employees, found that the United States has the highest median voluntary turnover rate, at 11 percent, while Latin America has the lowest, at 5 percent. In addition, more than half of the companies report difficulty retaining top-performing (52 percent) and critical-skill (56 percent) workers. But that is not the most significant finding.

5 Ways Speakers Connect

For those of us on the eve of speaking at ERE in DC this week, Penelope Trunk gives us 5 ways great speakers connect with their audience.

The art of public speaking is actually the art of connecting. And the people we remember most are not those with the smartest commentary or sharpest wit. We remember people we feel we connected with.

1. Tell stories
2. Look deeply at individuals in the audience
3. Be honest about how you’re doing
4. Smile, even if it’s fake
5. Relax