Archive for March, 2010

• Even the hardest working candidate can often only get their foot in the door for the job interview but can’t seal the deal.

• One must have Positive Emotions to push ahead.- Thought credited to hiringsciences

• Key feature in an online assessment : Assessment results that do not require a professional debrief - they should be ready to put to work.- Thought credited to Saleem Qureshi

• The current jobs outlook is better than at any time over the last two years, but job security remains fragile as the New Zealand economy begins to come out of recession, according to Westpac Bank. - Thought credited to Hrmguide

• Statistics Canada reported that unemployment remained at 8.5% in December with little change in overall employment levels. But employment was still down by 323,000 from the peak in the job market in October 2008. - Thought credited to Hrmguide

• According to a study conducted by the University of Michigan, School of Business, about 15-20% of hiring decisions made end in failure. It is astonishing that companies tolerate these failure rates because of costs incurred; companies are losing up to five times the annual salary for the position that was miss-hired for. It is even more surprising because everyone involved in the hiring decision from the line manager to HR manager has a vested interest in ensuring the hiring decision is right. - Thought credited to HRT Magazine

• Almost 60% of surveyed employees plan to leave their present jobs in 2010, according to a 2009 Right Management poll. And a recent Watson Wyatt survey reports that engagement has dropped almost 25% for top performers. - Thought credited to Hrhero.com

• Sixty-five percent of organizations that indicate cost saving is a primary outsourcing objective. They achieved their expected cost-reduction targets through their outsourcing programs. - According to Hewitt’s HR Outsourcing Trends and Insights 2009 survey

• Gen X is perceived to be less far less loyal than boomers. By the age of 32, studies have shown the average Gen X worker has held approximately nine different jobs. In contrast, the traditional employee of yesterday retired after working 30 to 40 years at one company. - According to Hewitt’s HR Outsourcing Trends and Insights 2009 survey

• Despite the economic slowdown, companies continue to invest in and deploy global HRMS and talent management system. 78% of respondents reported their HRMS to be mostly or very effective, and the satisfaction for talent management system is 67%. - Thought credited to Hewitt’s 2009 Global HR survey

• Before the recession, job seekers were careful not to apply for jobs that they were not suited to, however with so many desperate job seekers out there, companies are now being inundated with job applications, many of which are not suitably qualified or skilled for the positions they are applying for. - Thought credited to Gillian Meier

• 43% of HR professionals say in the next five years, a larger proportion of the workforce at their companies will be telecommuting. - Thought credited to SHRM

• 70% of the external customers (applicants) and 28% of the internal customers (hiring managers) indicate they are dissatisfied with the hiring process. - Thought credited to Staffing.org

• 50% of the processes users (managers and recruiters) later regret their “buying” decision (Source: The Recruiting Roundtable). In addition, 25% of new hires later regret taking their new job within one year.
  - Thought credited to Challenger and Gray

• The average American changes jobs every three years, and changes complete career fields three times over a lifetime.- Thought credited to McKinsey & Company

• Routine kills creativity! To do things different, avoid routines.- Thought credited to Alex Putman

• 51 % of hiring managers cited dressing inappropriately as the most damaging mistake a candidate can make in an interview. Speaking negatively about previous employer came in second at 49 % and appearing disinterested ranked third at 48%. Other mistakes included appearing arrogant (44 %), not providing specific answers (30 %), and not asking good questions (29 %).- Thought credited to McKinsey and Company

• “A problem is something you can do something about. If you can’t do anything about it, it’s a fact of life, and so we accept facts: we solve problems.”- Thought credited to Shannon Russo

• Two ways of making your work interesting and fun:
• Find people you enjoy working with.
• Find problems you enjoy solving.- Thought credited to HBR tip of the day

• Aging baby boomers are FINANCIALLY unprepared to retire in US. Mckinsey global institute predicts that baby boomers will save more than spending, slowing down the pace of GDP. This problem can be tackled by allowing baby boomers to work later in life. Enabling them to work later in life would significantly benefit both individual households and the broader economy. By increasing the median retirement age by about two years-from 62.6 today to 64.1 by 2015-the share of unprepared boomer households could be halved from 62 percent to 31 percent.- Thought credited to Mckinsey Global Institute

• Unemployment has come down a meager 0.2 percent to put US at 10 percent, but that’s still the worst level in decades. Even if jobs start to come back sooner than expected-which may happen as more stimulus money starts to kick in-U.S. unemployment is likely to remain high for years to come, as much as 7 or 8 percent even into 2014.- Thought credited to Newsweek

• Recruiters will become aggressive on LinkedIn, twitter and Facebook to seek talent at the start of 2010. Through by Paul Jacobs

• Inference: This means the candidates will start getting more job opportunities and they become selective. This might shift the control in the hands of the jobseekers to keep them on their toes. Recruiters must use a sound assessment system to evaluate their skills, knowledge and abilities wrt the jobs they have applied for.

• Despite China’s enormous pool of university graduates (3.1 million in 2005 alone), MGI research suggests that fewer than 10 percent of Chinese job candidates, on average, would be suitable for work in a foreign company, and the fast-growing domestic economy absorbs most of those who could. - Thought credited to Mckinsey Global Intitute

• India has the world’s largest and fastest-growing off shoring sector, dominated by IT services, which play a major role in the country’s overall economic growth. But signs of strain are appearing that could hamper the nation’s growth. Rising wages and high turnover are evidence that local constraints on talent supply have appeared. Moreover low-wage countries such as China, the Philippines, and Hungary are gearing up to challenge its lead. - Thought credited to Mckinsey Global Intitute

• People used to switch jobs once or twice a in a lifetime. Things are changed now. Most people hold jobs for 18 months to 5 years and gaps in between are not unusual. - Thought credited to Michael Glenn

• Classification of Hires
• Halo/Horn Effect: One that you buy looking at the color is like appointing the candidate on the first impression
• Traits: Strength - The Thoroughbred which can see off the entire race, like a candidate who can perform the task under all kinds of stress and pressure
• Traits: Speed & Agility - The best hire would be a candidate who can outperform others in his work. Similar to the horse who has a potential to win the race- Thought credited to Charles Van Heereden

• Companies around the world are cutting back their financial-incentive programs, but few have used other ways of inspiring talent. Many financial rewards mainly generate short-term boosts of energy, which can have damaging unintended consequences. Whereas non-financial rewards turn out be more effective in the long run. - Thought credited to Mckinsey Quarterly

• Profound uncertainty amplifies the importance of making decisions when the time is right-that is to say, at the moment when the fog has lifted enough to make the choice more than a crap shoot, but before things are clear to everyone, including competitors. - Thought credited to Mckinsey Quarterly

The Google Buzz is yet another innovative creation of Google in response to Twitter and Facebook. How is it better? Well, firstly it has the convenience of, quite literally, being right there in your Gmail Inbox. Secondly, conversations are threaded and can also be made in private but most importantly, it doesn’t have a word limit like Twitter does. You own your content, choose and filter how you want to see your messages and it doesn’t crowd your inbox with notifications.

Businesses and schools can use Buzz for internal communication and information sharing. This could have a huge impact on improving workforce time-management and result in significant financial savings for companies. Eventually Gmail accounts can become common amongst people if Buzz maintains itself to be a point of attraction for the company.