Category: Staffing Management

Remember grade school and the three R’s? We recommend that you apply another set of R’s—reliability, relevancy and results—to assess whether your support departments are staffed appropriately. Like the R’s, these form the foundation for working with benchmarks in almost any organizational setting.

Reliability: Make sure your sources are first-rate
With the proliferation of information via electronic media, it is easy to find benchmarking studies. Some are reliable, while others are … well, much less so. Be sure any data you use is from a trusted source and:

• Includes multiple organizations so that you can slice the data by company size, industry and geography to get the most relevant comparisons.

• Is recent. As business conditions change, so do organizations. Be especially certain you are looking at information reflective of the current economic cycle.

• Read the fine print. In today’s world, sizing of a department is dramatically affected by outsourcing and process automation. Most robust surveys will provide details of what is included in a given benchmark so you can determine if it compares to your situation.

Additionally, always use several reliable sources in order to look at a range of statistics. Never rely on one source of information.

Relevancy: Evaluate how applicable the data are to your organization
The second R involves understanding context—how relevant are the benchmarks for your particular organization?

Although benchmarks can be useful diagnostic tools to uncover problem areas, they should never be used as prescriptive tools to “get to the right answer.” What is right for other companies may not be right for yours. For instance, are you in growth mode? Changing your go-to-market strategy? In the midst of a transformation? Is your competitive advantage directly linked to your people or a unique staffing model? Benchmarks will not reflect the needs of your unique situation. Keep your business context in mind as you compare yourself with others.

Results: Stay focused on what you need to accomplish
External benchmarks that are reliable and relevant show how you stack up, but be sure to also establish internal benchmarks that measure what matters most in your business. In other words, rather than focusing on the number of people in a given department, focus on their results. Probe internal data such as:

• By what percentage have customer complaints been reduced year after year?

• Are productivity levels increasing?

• Is the quality of candidates increasing while the time to fill open positions is decreasing?

• Are your processing times better than last year?

Following these three R’s will undoubtedly put you well ahead of others when it comes to using benchmarks in a meaningful way.

SOURCE: Courtney Mohr, managing director, BPI group, Chicago, May 10, 2010

LEARN MORE: Learn from staffing mistakes made by the federal Transportation Security Administration.

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The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

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Dear Workforce Newsletter

Six percent of CFOs plan to hire full-time accounting and finance employees in the third quarter of 2010, and 9 percent anticipate staff reductions for a net decrease of 3 percent, according to the Robert Half Financial Hiring Index released Monday, June 7, by Robert Half International Inc.

Eighty-three percent of CFOs planned no changes to their staffs.

“Though most CFOs are optimistic about future growth for their companies, many remain cautious in their hiring outlook and are keeping a close watch on economic trends,” said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half.

The survey questioned more than 1,400 CFOs in the United States. 

Filed by Staffing Industry Analysts, a sister company of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.

 

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Dear Solicitous and Sincere:
Employees want to know where your company is going and understand their role in helping it attain its business goals. This responsibility of leadership constitutes the real job of managing in the modern global economy. Here are 10 practical ideas to make sure employee voices are heard.
1. Hold town hall meetings. Share information and ask for input. One global information services firm holds quarterly sessions and recently created an online portal where the company’s strategy was available along with critical measures. High-potential employees were invited to participate in brainstorming sessions regarding these new strategies. This was part of a key development program and did a lot for recognizing star employees.
2. Provide information. Even when business is not performing at the best level, it is important to share the truth. In darkest moments, the leaders need to share the light at the end of the tunnel. In the absence of knowing, employees think the worst.
3. Set quarterly goals. Every goal does not need to be a huge stretch. Set some reasonable ones that are easier to achieve. You might even consider eliminating the dreaded performance review, replacing it with quarterly goal-setting and face-to-face monthly progress meetings.
4. Develop recognition programs. Midlevel managers would appreciate a recognition checklist that helps them see the range of informal ways to say thank you. Train your managers and give them simple tools.
5. Invest in training. Customer-service training is intended to help employees understand how they impact the customer experience. Through this, you also could learn what they value. One hospitality company in San Francisco introduces the concept of “knock-your-socks-off service” at new-hire orientation. Every new employee is asked to name a favorite shopping experience. This activity creates a connection with the new person and helps the company’s culture come to life.

6. Write “thank you” notes. I know this sounds old-fashioned, but these notes can have a big impact. We are all pleased to get feedback, especially when it is not expected. Have simple cards prepared so that you can give one out each week to deserving workers.
7. Create cross-functional task teams. Give employees a chance to participate in a team problem-solving task force. Use your shared intranet to post the problem for the quarter and ask those interested to volunteer on a team. Highlight their suggestions at an all-hands meeting. Act on those who present sound solutions backed with business case analysis.
8. Create a wellness team. To underscore that you value employee wellness, dedicate a group of employees to research projects and plan some wellness activities. Several health care organizations in Southern California have used this approach to gain measurable business results, including reduced absenteeism and increased contributions to 401(k) programs (since they also addressed “financial wellness”).
9. Highlight career opportunities. Offer detailed write-ups on career paths and an online job bank with skills defined for key categories needed. Enhance internal postings. Offer career-coaching lunch-and-learn sessions. Build online references for expanding skills.
10. Assess leaders. Take the time to develop managers and train them on engaging and respecting employees. Have managers make visible simple investments that support openness, such as open-space floor plans or new ways to communicate and share knowledge across teams. There are some inexpensive Web tools that help promote sharing.
Reassess how your business works and how you might inspire your team. Ask your leaders if they are willing to focus attention, time and budget on engaging talent. Start small, but take action to show your employees that this is important to you and your company.
SOURCE: Sherry Benjamins, S. Benjamins & Co. Inc., Seal Beach, California, May 3, 2010
LEARN MORE: The article “What Drives Engagement in the Digital Age?” disputes the long-held corporate notion that more money is the best way to manage employees.
The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.
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The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

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Dear Workforce Newsletter

The New York City economy continued its rapid rebound in 2010 as employers added 15,700 jobs in April and the unemployment rate dropped for a fourth consecutive month, dipping into single digits for the first time since July 2009.

“It’s certainly getting better faster than I thought it would,” said James Brown, principal economist at the state Department of Labor. “Strength this month was quite broad.”

Indeed, the job growth spanned the city economy, with construction adding 2,600 jobs, retail trade rising by 1,400 positions and law firms adding 1,300 jobs, according to an analysis of state Department of Labor data by real estate service firm Eastern Consolidated. Even the securities industry, which was the one blemish on the March employment report, gained jobs in April, adding 500 positions.

Job growth in the city is now outpacing job growth nationwide, according to Barbara Byrne Denhem, chief economist at Eastern Consolidated. “This is remarkable,” she added, “given how the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 froze markets around the world, prompting many to presume that New York’s economy would suffer more than the rest of the U.S.”

The city’s unemployment rate dipped to 9.8 percent from 10 percent, while the state’s jobless rate also dropped slightly, to 8.4 percent from 8.6 percent. The U.S. rate for April was 9.9 percent.

The number of unemployed in the city—at 390,000 for April—is at its lowest level since June 2009.

“It certainly looks like we’re in the recovery phase,” DOL’s Brown said.

Year-to-date job growth in the city now stands at 53,500 jobs, and the net loss in jobs since the August 2008 employment peak has fallen to 131,000 jobs from a high of 184,500 as recently as December, Eastern Consolidated reported.

Despite the recent good news, Fiscal Policy Institute chief economist James Parrott estimates some 400,000 jobs still need to be added to get back to pre-recession levels of employment in the city. In addition, a 5 percent decline in total nonfinancial sector wages in 2009—the worst since the 1970s— will make for a more difficult recovery, he said. Also, while the city is finally adding jobs on a net basis, initial unemployment claims are still about 25 percent higher than they were before the recession hit in 2008, Parrott said.

Another cautionary note: The 1,200-job gain in health services in April did not take into account positions that could be lost due to the closure of St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village. And NBC’s recent announcement that the TV staple “Law & Order” will end its flagship series in New York City could seriously hurt the city’s film and broadcasting industries as well as catering and other related industries, according to the Eastern Consolidated analysis.

“Today’s report makes it clearer that there will be sustained recovery, but we still have a long way to go,” Parrott said.

Filed by Daniel Massey of Crain’s New York Business, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.

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Unemployment in Illinois dropped for the first time in more than three years, while companies added to their payrolls for a fourth consecutive month, according to state figures.

The state jobless rate dipped to 11.2 percent in April from 11.5 percent the previous month, the Illinois Department of Employment Security reported.

A year ago, the jobless rate stood at 9.6 percent. The three-month average, at 11.4 percent, remained the highest since August 1983 as more unemployed workers enter the job market.

The report also showed companies added 19,100 jobs during the month, the fourth straight monthly gain. For the year, the state has seen an increase of 51,500.

“The job market in both the nation and Illinois is beginning to show signs of improvement,” IDES Director Maureen O’Donnell said in a statement. Four straight months of job growth provides cautious optimism that the effects of the national recession on the state’s labor market might be softening.”

Nationwide, payrolls jumped in April by 290,000, the biggest monthly gain in four years. The unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent from 9.7 percent as thousands of job seekers entered the workforce.

In Illinois, the gain was led by a rise in government, professional and business services, transportation and manufacturing employment. IDES attributed the rise in government jobs to hiring for the 2010 census.

Filed by Monée Fields-White of Crain’s Chicago Business, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.

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Michigan’s unemployment rate in April slid slightly to 14 percent, from 14.1 percent in March, according to data released Wednesday, May 19, by the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth.

“Employment rose in April as persons entered the Michigan job market, while the number of unemployed individuals in Michigan was essentially flat over the month,” said Rick Waclawek, director of DELEG’s Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives, in a news release. “The state’s workforce has been increasing in 2010, following sharp reductions in 2009.”

However, the state’s jobless rate in April was still up 0.8 percentage points over the year-ago rate of 13.2 percent.

Filed by Amy Lane of Crain’s Detroit Business, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.

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Dear Diversity Dilemma:

We are a little uncertain whether your manager needs leadership skills, greater aptitude for dealing effectively with a multicultural team, or both. Let’s take them one at a time; but first you should ask this person which type of help he feels might be needed to prepare for this assignment.

If the project represents this person’s first foray into a leadership role, you should be looking for some good, near-term opportunities to quickly ramp up his leadership skills prior to beginning the dam project. Some possibilities:

1. Let him co-pilot (or at least observe) another project team for a while with a skilled, veteran project manager.

2. Following a rigorous assessment of this individual’s leadership competencies (e.g., communications, decisiveness, problem solving, etc.), get him some skill-specific training from a reputable provider.

3. Consider hiring an executive coach to work with him beginning now, and continuing deep into the project. Make sure that the areas of emphasis and expected outcomes are clearly prescribed.

If you’re more concerned with his ability to work cross-culturally than his leadership skills per se, here are a few options:

1. Get him some quick, immersive exposure to the cultures of the principal homelands of his new teammates. If lead time permits, have him go live in a couple of those countries for a month. (“Living there” doesn’t mean camping in a four-star hotel on an expense report. Go there, get a job for a couple of weeks, and learn what it’s really like.) At a minimum, he will come away with something more in common with his new teammates.

2. At the very least, get him tutored in Swahili, the other (besides English) dominant language of Kenya.

3. The ability to be effective on a diverse team hinges on one’s ability (and willingness) to listen, really listen, as much as anything else. Get him some specific help in this area.

Finally, one thing that falls a little outside of this individual’s development, but is vital nonetheless, has to do with the quality and characteristics of his boss. This fellow is taking on a difficult and important project in a place far from home. Make sure that he is working for someone who is also up for the task—someone who knows and understands him, is willing to support him no matter what, and has the energy to go the distance with him.

Good luck. We wish him and you well.

SOURCE: Richard Hadden and Bill Catlette, co-authors, Contented Cows MOOve Faster, April 26, 2010

LEARN MORE: Companies sometimes use special onboarding initiatives to help leaders adjust to their expanded roles.

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The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

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Dear Pigeonholed:

You have a big challenge, to state the obvious. The challenge with your boss isn’t as big as you may think. The challenge is with addressing the core issue: how to create and apply a recognition program that meets the needs of a large and diverse employee population. A recognition program strategy will be supported if it is possible to implement, is reasonable and is tied to results.

To make employee recognition programs more effective, it is crucial that managers:

1. Think more strategically about how to tie awards directly to results.
2. Reward employees for great work in a much more timely manner.
3. Use a wider menu of options for employee recognition.

There are many kinds of recognition. One of the easiest and most effective—and underutilized—forms of recognition is praise. To look at it another way, it is difficult to provide too much positive feedback to deserving employees. We’re not talking about superficial pats on the back here. Giving sincere praise is a skill that is developed. So be sure to list this as a key part of your strategy. Beyond that, here are a few ideas.

Create your own award certificate templates: This might involve a small investment in a professional document designer or perhaps the leveraging of your in-house creative graphic artist to develop certificate templates. But before you design the certificate, design the recognition criteria. Who gets the certificate is most important. Examples of templates might be: a Great Idea Award, Customer Service Award, Quality Award or High Performance Award. Putting the certificate in a nice frame is a plus.

Generationally sensitive awards (cash-based awards): To address your concern about the generational differences, conduct small, informal focus groups to gain a better understanding of different ideas and see the reaction (body language) of participants. When the creative juices start flowing, individual responses to ideas that come from the group, or from you, will be easy to read compared with doing a survey. Here is a range, based on investment required:

Three-day/four-night trip for two to anywhere (location must fit the time frame): I’ve seen too many “trips” to a specific destination be received with a rather “Oh, thanks” response. For example, there was a time I was visiting Orlando, Florida, much too often. If I had been rewarded with a trip for two to Disney World, I would have donated it to my assistant. Whether the recipients choose the wine country in Northern California or the Cayman Islands, the cost won’t be very different. You can also put a top cap on the total price. Think how much fun someone of any age will have being able to choose the trip they’ve always wanted to take but hadn’t been able to.

Local weekend package for two: Use the same concept, capping the value at whatever amount is appropriate. The recipient gets to investigate and choose/design his or her own weekend. All arrangements made by the company’s concierge service (in-house or delegate it out). The idea here is to not just hand over the equal value in money.

Parking space for a month: This can be a great one for the shy person. Shy people want to be recognized, just not embarrassed. One “watch out” is to ensure the award is completely results-based and not politically based.

Dinner for four at their favorite restaurant: This isn’t very expensive (even for the most expensive restaurants) when it comes to recognition programs. Same concept: Let the recipient choose; the company handles all the details. Many restaurants will go along with a direct bill to a company credit card and treat the foursome with royalty and special amenities such as the best table, guest’s name on the special entrée of the night, etc. Make it for four so the recipient can “explain” (nice form of bragging—and they deserve some bragging rights) to their closest friends how they received the special gift.

Tickets to the company’s reserve seats at sporting events: These are usually owned by the marketing department. Then, when the tickets can’t be given away, they turn them over to HR to find someone to give them to. What if you were to reverse that? HR owns the tickets, gives them out as recognition awards, and when an employee says, “No thanks”—because it is on the worst day to go to a football game, or the team is in last place—then HR can turn them over to the marketing department to give to their best clients/customers/business partners. If you are going to give away reserved-seat tickets to sporting events as part of your recognition program, pick out the best dates and games.

Donation to a nonprofit of the recipient’s choice: This one can be tricky, but with certain parameters spelled out ahead of time can be very effective. There are some people who believe strongly in a nonprofit organization’s cause. By excluding religious and political organizations, you can have more confidence that the donation (amount based on the level of recognition) will go to an acceptable organization (from a company PR standpoint).

To summarize the points, keep quality a part of the recognition selection process, spell out the policy for recognition so that selection of recipients supports a “results-based” program, and build in as much flexibility and variability as possible so that the recipient has a say in the award’s makeup.

SOURCE: Carl Nielson, Dallas, The Nielson Group, April 7, 2010

LEARN MORE: Cutting budgets for recognition programs during recession may be worse than keeping the funding intact.

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The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

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Dear WorkforceNewsletter

Two Illinois men face charges of unlawfully hiring dozens of illegal aliens to send out as temporary workers, the U.S. Department of Justice for the Northern District of Illinois reported.

Clinton Roy Perkins was the president of Anna II Inc. and Can Do It Inc., both located in Bensenville, Illinois, according to the Department of Justice. Perkins’ son-in-law, Christopher Reindl, was office manager.

The businessmen allegedly hired illegal workers and paid their wages in cash without deducting payroll taxes or other withholdings, the Department of Justice reported. Their companies supplied workers for janitorial services, freight handling and other jobs.

Perkins and Reindl repeatedly withdrew money in the amount of $9,800 from bank accounts to pay their workers’ wages in cash, believing that withdrawing amounts of less than $10,000 would not trigger banks’ currency transaction reporting requirements, according to the Department of Justice.

The two face a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the Department of Justice. Perkins may also face the forfeiture of $488,095.  

Filed by Staffing Industry Analysts, a sister company of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.

 

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