If your company is currently hiring, you’re probably also doing a lot of interviewing as well. In most cases, the person who walks through your door is a complete stranger. What happens next is anyone’s guess. As your candidate gets ready to walk into your office, he or she is most likely to:

• A. Give yourself a pep-talk about how you’ve got this one in the bag
• B. Check out your reflection in the glass doors to make sure you look as great as you think you do
• C. Chug the last of your beer and toss the can in the trash

If you chose C. then you actually wouldn’t be alone (though you might want to re-think employing this individual). According to the results of CareerBuilder’s annual survey on outrageous and common interview mistakes, one job candidate actually polished off a beer before walking into the reception area on the day of his interview. And a job candidate with a buzz going is only the tip of the interview-blunder iceberg.

Following are actual examples from hiring managers about the strangest job candidates they’ve encountered.  

• Candidate provided a detailed listing of how previous employer made them mad.
• Candidate hugged hiring manager at the end of the interview.
• Candidate ate all the candy from the candy bowl while trying to answer questions. Continue Reading …

Last month, I spoke with Heidi Grant Halvorson, author of the recently released book, SUCCEED: How We Can Reach Our Goals, which takes a unique approach to helping people achieve success: unlike other motivational books that rely on personal experiences and anecdotes to prove a point, SUCCEED draws from years of  scientific studies to uncover practical but effective strategies that have been proven to help people from all walks of life achieve even their most hard-to-reach goals.

While SUCCEED is written for all audiences, Halvorson was kind enough to take a moment and offer insight into how managers in particular can apply the lessons in the book to their own careers, especially in regards to engaging and motivating their employees.

Here’s what she had to say about the following management topics:

On motivating your employees…

“People need to feel that their work has impact – that it matters to someone – even if that someone is their immediate supervisor.” Halvorson says she hears a lot of complaints from employees who’ve put a lot of work into a project that ultimately – for whatever reason – gets tossed by someone up the chain of command, making them feel as if their efforts were worthless. “As the manager, something you need to remember to do – besides just saying, “Bummer” – is to make them feel like their work wasn’t pointless – that even if that project isn’t getting the green light, you as their manager, noticed. You thought their work was excellent. You are impressed with the way they tackled the challenge.” You may not have the power to give every project the green light, but you do have the power to create a feeling of impact among your employees. Use that power. Otherwise, your employees will start to feel like they’re wasting their time, and little else is better at killing engagement.

On giving workers the freedom of choice…

“Realistically, most employers can’t just let employees run around making their own decisions about everything, but there are a lot of studies that show that giving people ‘the feeling of choice’ is just as effective.” Equally as important to workers as feeling like their work matters is a feeling of autonomy. Here again is an instance where you as a manager have more control than you may realize, because you can create that feeling of autonomy by allowing employees as much choice as possible.  Even if you can’t give employees total control over their job, you can at least give them certain jurisdiction over certain aspects of their work – no matter how small. “People need that feeling of choice,” Halvorson says. That feeling of control – “that feeling like you’re sort of the master of your own destiny,” as she puts it – weighs heavily on engagement.

On what she really thinks about annual performance reviews…

“They’re awful. From a psychological perspective, the annual performance review does everything you don’t want it to do in terms of motivating people.” One of the major problems with the annual performance review, says Halvorson, is that it focuses too much on where employees are – rather than how far they have come.  “People don’t get enough points for improvement. Someone who goes from being a terrible communicator to a mediocre communicator, that’s actually a pretty good step forward. So let’s applaud that.” None of this is to say, however, that any sort of feedback should be abolished altogether. Rather, feedback should be frequent (on a weekly basis, ideally), as specific as possible, and focused on progress. “Managers need to own up to a responsibility that they don’t simply tell people that they didn’t do well, but help them figure out what the recipe for success is.”

On the art of giving feedback…

“People tend to either see a goal as an opportunity to gain something or seeing it as an opportunity to avoid a loss.” For instance, one person will look at an upcoming performance review and say, “This could be great for my career. It will help me climb the ladder”’ and another person might look at it and say, “I want to do well on this because I don’t want to lose my job.” Therefore, an employee who tends to focus on gains will find optimism very motivating, whereas for someone who focuses on loss, “giving them the ‘rah rah’ motivation speech doesn’t work for them, because on some intuitive level, they’re thinking, ‘If I allow myself to believe that I’m awesome, I’m going to let my guard down, lose my motivation, and fail,’” Halvorson says. Managers are most effective when they can recognize which type of employee they’re dealing with, and give feedback accordingly.

On regaining momentum as we come out of a recession…

“There’s an opportunity here to say, ‘Here’s what having less has taught me about what makes me happy and what actually makes me feel effective,’ and to remember that experience.” Given everything you and your employees have had to deal with over the past several months – longer work hours, fewer resources, extra workloads – it’s to be expected if you’re all feeling a little disengaged right now.  One of the ways to combat this feeling is to take a moment to reflect on everything you have gone through together – and worked to overcome – and use that as motivation for future endeavors. “Having weathered the storm, you realize you’re capable of handling adversity that you never thought possible. This can be confidence-building. The best way to look at this experience of getting through a difficult time is to go, ‘If I can do that, what else am I capable of?’”

Heidi Grant Halvorson is a motivational psychologist and the author of SUCCEED: How We Can Reach Our Goals, now available on Amazon.com.

Courtesy: I’m Blogging IT

This post originally appeared on TLNT, an HR blog about “The Business of HR,” with news, insight, and topical information from experts and thought leaders in HR, talent management, and all areas related to HR and managing a workforce.

As the nation’s economy begins to stabilize following one of the deepest recessions felt across the globe, employers are shifting their focus from cost containment to growth and have begun to hire again.

They have also taken on the challenge of repairing employment brands which may have been affected by tough decisions around layoffs, compensation reductions or negative press tied to financial hardship. In a recent CareerBuilder study of more than 2,700 hiring managers, 70 percent of employers said they are taking measures today to strengthen their employment brand to prepare for when the economy turns around.

Employers are facing new market realities and need to reassess their go-to-market game plan for expanding their talent bench. Through an “Applicant Experience Survey” of more than 1 million job seekers over the last year, Personified, the talent intelligence and consulting division of CareerBuilder, gathered information on what job seekers said motivates them to apply, what deters them and how elements of the recruitment process impact their perceptions of a potential employer.

From the survey and other Personified research came a rebuttal of six common myths around talent acquisition that are important to keep in mind when planning recruitment strategies for 2011.

Myth #1 – The top competitor for talent is in your industry. Personified looked at a variety of companies, tracking who applied to their jobs and where else those candidates applied. On average, in 80 percent of the cases, the top competitor for talent operated outside of the company’s industry.

Tip: Expand your reach beyond industry borders to build up your talent pool for hard-to-fill and high volume positions. Use social media, niche sites and targeted advertising to connect with other workforce segments with comparable skill sets.

Myth #2 – I can wait until social media is better tested before incorporating it into my recruitment plan. Waiting will likely translate into a competitive disadvantage. One-in-four job seekers expect companies to have a presence on social media today. More than half become fans or followers of a company through social media because they would like to work there.

Tip: Master one social medium before going to other platforms. Promote the unique benefits of working at your company, cite awards received, include employee testimonials, highlight jobs and keep an open dialogue with visitors.

Myth #3 – The top motivator for applying to a company is salary. While compensation is one of the first things job seekers will look for, it is often not included in job ads. When asked which factors were most influential in getting the candidate to apply to a recent job posting, location topped the list followed by the company’s reputation and whether the industry itself was considered desirable. Interesting assignments also made the top five, ranking higher than benefits and work-life balance.

Tip: In the wake of a recession that was fraught with uncertainty, emphasizing the stability and longevity of the company and positives about the industry is a necessity. You also have to really sell the position if you want a top performer, presenting exciting opportunities and specific examples of a work experience they won’t find anywhere else.

Myth #4 – When a job seeker speaks to a company recruiter or hiring manager, they typically walk away with a better perception of the company. One-in-five job seekers (22 percent) who recently spoke to a representative at a potential employer didn’t feel the person was knowledgeable about the company and position. Twenty-five percent didn’t think the representative was enthusiastic about the company being an employer of choice.

Tip: From the recruiter to the hiring manager, the greatest ambassadors of your employment brand are your current employees. Regularly survey new hires and job applicants to identify where improvements can be made in verbal and written communications.

Myth #5 – The failure to acknowledge an application won’t impact the company image. Some 38 percent of job seekers reported they have a worse opinion of an employer who didn’t respond to their application. Another 30 percent stated they were less inclined to buy goods or services from companies who don’t acknowledge applications.

Tip: If limited resources and large volumes of applications prohibit a customized response, at the very least, set up an automatic reply with a quick note on the time frame of hiring, so the candidate knows you received his/her application and is aware of your hiring timeline.

Myth #6 – The main deterrent from applying to a job is typically content-related. While the content of a job advertisement is undoubtedly critical, the main cause for drop-offs in the application process is often technology-related. Nearly one-in-four (23 percent) of job seekers reported that they recently quit in the middle of applying to a position because the link didn’t work. Some 20 percent cited a computer/Internet connection issue.

Tip: Triple check links on your company career page, online job sites, social media pages, etc. to make sure the connection is live and leading to the right information.

GUEST CONTIBUTOR: Co-Authored by Mary Delaney, President for Personified, a division of CareerBuilder, and Sanja Licina, Ph.D., Senior Director of Talent Intelligence and Consulting for Personified.

Courtesy: I’m Blogging IT

Just a couple of years ago, the world watched as Wall Street began to rapidly unravel, and we continued to watch as the weeks and months to follow showed further signs of trouble and revealed cracks in our economy that many of us hadn’t the slightest idea existed. When what we were going through was finally officially labeled as a recession, many employers had already thinned out staff levels, cut back budgets, and slashed benefits. Consequently, businesses were forced to “do more with less” (you know, that phrase you’ve heard 1,000,001 times by now.)

No money, no problems?

Faced with fewer resources, many companies decided to roll up their sleeves, get creative, and find new and inexpensive ways to communicate with their clients and job candidates. Some of those inexpensive ways of communicating included Web-based tools like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, and they were really starting to take off. Not surprisingly, many human resources professionals were suddenly tasked with taking them on, in addition to all their other responsibilities.

Without proper methods of tracking candidates found through sites like Facebook and Twitter, however, HR managers and recruiters were spinning their wheels and wasting a lot of valuable time. In fact, according to a recent CareerBuilder study, 60 percent of recruiter time was being wasted on non-value-added activities, the majority of recruiters weren’t measuring ROI, and candidate tracking was often only 25 percent accurate due to ATS limitations. Executives were expecting HR to perform miracles through social media — and it wasn’t happening.

While HR was focused on time and cost to hire candidates, business executives were stressing the need to convert HR data to business intelligence.

Now what?

CareerBuilder realized companies needed a solution that accomplished both parties’ objectives — and soon after, Talent Network was born.

Okay, but what is it, exactly?

Talent Network, a custom career site that helps employers build their own pipeline of talent,  enables employers to connect the dots of all the things they are doing to attract job seekers, engage interested candidates, and measure the success of their efforts. Let’s break it down:

Awareness

Talent Network builds awareness for your jobs through five key areas:

1. Social — Add a link to your Talent Network on social sites all over the Web, including Facebook (via CareerBuilder’s Work@ employee referral system) and Twitter.
2. SEO — Turn your internal job terms that may be abbreviated, vague or full of company lingo into title descriptions that job seekers instantly understand, and in turn, show up in more search engine results for job seekers looking for your open position.
3. Mobile — Your Talent Network site is mobile-enabled, giving you instant reach to people searching for jobs on their mobile devices. Tap into a market with explosive growth.
4. Career Site – Get a designed, hosted and supported career site, drive your target candidates there, and track your progress.
5. Job Distribution —CareerBuilder’s partnerships with sites like Indeed.com help you gain strong referral links to your jobs.

Engagement

Interact with candidates who have expressed interest in your business or open positions and give them a more satisfying experience.

• With the click of a button that exists on sites all over the Web, potential employees can arrive at and join your talent network, stay keyed into your available job opportunities, and get personalized alerts with jobs at your company that most match their interests and experience.
• Capture job seekers’ information before they leave your site, welcome them to your community, and start connecting with them on a deeper level.
• Send members of your network tailored job recommendations and customized messages. You can even send automated communications when you need to get a broad message out to many people at once.

Measurement
Quality measurement matters. Drive informed business decisions with accurate and in-depth information about your Talent Network’s search traffic, job interactions, and candidate conversions; in other words, gain the most insight available about members of your network.

A better way

How does Talent Network solve some of the biggest recruitment and business challenges companies are facing? Let’s take a look:

Old way: Potential candidates are gone before you can get them to take any action on your website.
Talent Network: Encourage visitors to leave a footprint before leaving your website.

Old way: You’re missing out on job search traffic because your jobs are hidden behind your ATS.
Talent Network: Expose and search engine-optimize your jobs, driving relevant candidates to your job openings.

Old way: Your recruiters keep contacts in their own databases, which creates a lot of one-off lists.
Talent Network: Keep all recruiters’ candidate contacts in one location.

Old way: You know who your target candidates are, but you’re struggling to reach them.
Talent Network: Take advantage of the custom SEO landing pages developed exclusively for your organization, and get in front of those elusive candidates.

Old way: You’re not really sure where your website traffic is coming from.
Talent Network: Get detailed, helpful insight into where your visitors are coming from, as well as what they’re doing once they get there.

Still have questions? Learn more about Talent Network:

Watch a short video

Visit the Talent Network page

Read the press release

Feel free to post comments and questions here as well, and we will do our best to answer them.

Courtesy: I’m Blogging IT

Dropping to 9.4 percent in December, the nation’s unemployment rate is now at its lowest level since April 2009, according to the Labor Department’s employment situation report for December. Good news, yes? Well…

While much of that .4 percent decrease represents those people who are no longer unemployed (yay!), it also represents those people who gave up their job search last month (boo!).

Also according to the report, employers added 103,000 jobs last month. Good news, yes? Well…

While this was more than double the number of jobs added in November (yay!), it fell far below economists’ expectations (boo!).  Here are some highlights from the report:

• Private employers added 113,000 jobs, while the Government shed 10,000 jobs.
• The number of unemployed persons dropped by 556,000 to 14.5 million.
• Looking at specific industries, employment rose in leisure and hospitality, which added 36,000 jobs, and in health care, which added 29,000 jobs.
• Despite losses in November, in December, retailers added 12,000 jobs and manufacturers added 10,000 jobs. Job losses continued in contruction, which cut 16,000 jobs.

A year in progress: 2010 vs. 2009
A still-over-9-percent unemployment rate is certainly nothing to brag about (not that anyone is trying); however, compared to where we were a year ago, the difference between the economy of 2009 and the economy of today is like the difference between Jersey Shore’s Jwoww of season one and the Jwoww of today – not a total train wreck, but a vast improvement. Take a look at the progress from the past 12 months…

• The economy added 1.1 million jobs in 2010.
• The unemployment rate decreased from 10 percent in December 2009 to 9.4 percent in December 2010.
• The number of unemployed persons went down from 15.3 million in December 2009 to 14.5 million in December 2010.
• Average hourly earnings have increased by 1.8 percent in 2010.

Good news, yes? Well…
While the economy is showing much needed signs of improvement (yay!) there’s still a lot that needs to change – specifically, the economy needs to add about 250,000 jobs per month before the unemployment rate goes down significantly. (Over the past three months, we’ve averaged 128,000 jobs added, which is only just enough to keep the rate from going up again.) Boo!

Getting to where we want to be will be a daunting effort for sure, but  – let’s end this post on a high note, shall we? - both economists and employers anticipate that 2011 will be an even better year than 2010 in terms of economic growth and employment (yay!).

Thoughts?

Courtesy: I’m Blogging IT

While you were busy beating the odds of one in 178 million, eagerly awaiting M. Night Shyamalan to announce he’s making a movie about this (if the world doesn’t end first), or wrongly believing there aren’t enough reality shows in general (and about this family in particular), here’s what was happening in the world of workforce management this week…

• Lois Lane Not the Only One Fooled by Glasses Beware job candidates who wear glasses to interviews. A new study suggests job seekers who wear glasses to interviews are more likely to be hired because they’re automatically viewed as more intelligent and more professional than their 20/20 counterparts.  (Daily Mail)
• Even Obama’s Having a Hard Time Filling Open Positions Overwhelmed by incoming cases, the federal courts say they are in desperate need of candidates to fill about 10 percent of vacant seats right now. I’ll do it! (NPR)
• Pulled “a Boehner” Lately? Don’t Make a Habit of It Incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner may get away with it, but crying at the office is still a workplace faux pas, says business writer Allison Lynn. (Life, Inc.)
• Now Recruiters are Just Picking People Right Off the Street You really never know where your next employee will come from, do you? After hearing a homeless man showing off his self-described “God-given gift of a great voice” on the local radio, a recruiter for the Cleveland Cavaliers called in and offered him a job with the organization on the spot. (MSNBC)
• Goldman Sachs Wants It Both Ways While Goldman Sachs officially prohibits Facebook use among employees, the firm recently invested $450 million in Facebook. At the same time, employees are expected to be able to educate less tech-savvy clients about the social networking website. Catch-22?  (FastCompany)
• B-Schools, Employers Try to Help Graduates Bring Their A-Game Business schools have started soliciting input from companies that want to hire MBA grads, in hopes to shape their curriculum around skills that will help graduates’ job prospects. (Wall Street Journal)
• Lawmakers Now Free to Act Like Every Other American Worker During Meetings Thanks to a new rule from the incoming House Republican majority, members of the House may now use electronic devices on the House floor as long as it doesn’t “impair decorum” (which, apparently, tweeting does not do).  (TheHill.com) And finally…
• Overqualified Workers Aren’t the Devil, Study Shows A new study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology suggests that hiring overqualified job candidates doesn’t necessarily lead to turnover. In fact, they may even stay longer because they enjoy a better work/life balance. (Human Resources Executive)

Courtesy: I’m Blogging IT

What do drive-in movie theater dates, Hypercolor t-shirts, and Justin Bieber-inspired haircuts have in common? They’re all trends that have passed through our lives over the years (or, in some cases, are still in our lives). New trends seep into our everyday existence all the time, and the world of hiring and the workplace is no exception. A new CareerBuilder and Harris Interactive survey of more than 2,400 hiring managers and 3,910 workers nationwide identified 10 key trends in business, hiring, work culture and job search to watch out for as we kick off a new year.

Let’s get right to it – here are the 10 top hiring and workplace trends to keep an eye on in 2011, according to survey results:

1) Shifting Business Directions: A whopping 42 percent of employers said their company has changed business directions as a result of the recession. The majority of these employers kept their core business, but added new revenue streams – although 27 percent of those who shifted direction said they changed their core business altogether or expanded into areas that will eventually become their core business.

2) Working Leaner: Thirty-five percent of employers said their current staffs are smaller than pre-recession levels. Of those employers, most don’t foresee adjustments to headcount in 2011, with 57 percent reporting that they have become used to handling the workload with less people.

3) Changing Jobs: Workers are becoming more optimistic about their job prospects in 2011. Fifteen percent of full-time, employed workers are actively seeking a new job, and 76 percent said that although they are not actively looking, they would change jobs in 2011 if the right opportunity came along.

The majority of workers aren’t necessarily focused on a bigger paycheck, either. Sixty-eight percent said affordable benefits are more important to them than salary.

4) Creating New Functions: Along with more traditional job opportunities, employers are adding new functions within their organizations in response to popular movements. Jobs centered around social media, green energy and health care reform are just a few of these “emerging” roles being added in 2011, and hiring managers reported that “cyber warriors,” whose roles are to protect Internet sites from security breaches or fraudulent activity, are in high demand as well.

5) Video Interviewing: With smaller recruiting staffs facing larger numbers of job applications, employers are turning to technology to help find the right candidates. Six percent reported they have conducted video interviews with potential job candidates, while 11 percent plan to do so this year.

6) Less Moonlighting: While making ends meet is still a challenge for many U.S. households, fewer workers are reporting the need to work more than one job. In addition, only 12 percent plan to take on second jobs in 2011, compared to 19 percent in 2010.

7) Taking a Global Perspective: Nearly one in five U.S. employers (18 percent) reported they will be hiring for their operations in other countries in 2011, while 5 percent stated they will likely recruit workers from other countries to work in U.S. locations.

8 ) Relocating Talent: Of workers who were laid off in the last 12 months and found new jobs, 23 percent relocated to a new city or state. For those workers looking to relocate this year, good news: 33 percent of employers said they would be willing to pick up the moving tab for select candidates this year.

9) Promoting Without Pay: Forty-one percent of employers are concerned about losing their top talent as the economy improves. While the majority of employers plan to increase salaries for existing staff in 2011, 39 percent will not be providing raises. As a gesture of recognition to employees without pay increases, however, 13 percent are offering higher titles.

10) Going Casual: Employers are becoming more relaxed about set schedules and dress codes as they work to enhance the typical work experience. Fifteen percent reported they will allow for a more casual dress code, and 33 percent expect to offer more flexible work arrangements like telecommuting and alternate schedules in 2011.

Brent Rasmussen, president of CareerBuilder North America, offers his take on the trends:

“The recession produced fundamental shifts in how companies and workers view the market. “Businesses are becoming more agile and changing direction. They’re operating leaner and recruiting for opportunities in emerging areas. Workers are transitioning to new fields, are more open to relocation and are more apt to consider opportunities outside of their current employers.”

Which trends do you foresee most aligning with your business direction in 2011?

Courtesy: I’m Blogging IT

Are you one of those people addicted, not to love as Robert Palmer once claimed you were, but to work? Or worse yet, are your own employees stuck to their ergonomic yet stifling cubicle chairs, desperately looking for you to help them regain a sense of balance?

You might have caught my recent blog post about the increased usage of mobile devices, and how the technologically “on” mentality these devices spur is affecting the way many people work — even when they’re not actually at work. While access to mobile devices may add pressure for workers to be available at all times of the day or night, it’s just one of many reasons people are spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about, talking about, and even dreaming about Ryan Reynolds work these days. A new CareerBuilder study of more than 3,100 workers examines signs of work addiction, takes stock of how many workers are suffering from it, and explores ways workers can find a happy medium between work and personal time as we dive into 2011. 

Can you identify with any of the following signs of work addiction?

1. You spend most of your day – including your free time – thinking about work. (24 percent of workers surveyed reported that when they’re at home or out socially, they’re still thinking about work. Nineteen percent say they often dream about work.)
2. You’re more concerned about what your boss thinks than your own family.
3. You would rather be in your cubicle than in your home. (15 percent of workers surveyed said they feel this way.)

Longer Hours and Water Cooler-Themed Dinners

The leaner staffs and heftier workloads of 2010 encouraged (or forced) many employees to work longer hours than usual and take work home with them. One out of two workers said their workloads have increased over the last six months, and there’s no indication that trend is changing:

• More than half of workers (52 percent) reported they put in more than the standard 40 hours a week, while 14 percent said they work more than 50 hours a week.

• As far as taking work home, 31 percent bring home work at least once a week, while one in ten bring home work at least every other day.

• Some workers just can’t stop talking about work to family, co-workers, and friend, either. Sixteen percent of workers said most of their conversations – at work, home or out socially – always tend to focus on work.

A High Price to Pay

If you guessed that all this heightened focus and pressure on work, work, work is taking a toll on workers’ relationships with themselves and with their families, as well as increasing their stress levels and causing health issues — well, you’d be right on target.

• 22 percent of workers reported they don’t have time to pursue personal interests because they say they’re always working.
• 12 percent said the amount of time spent on work is causing friction with their family.
• 27 percent have not taken a personal or sick day in the last few years.
• 26 percent have experienced health issues tied to stress on the job.

“With increased demands at the office and greater accessibility through mobile devices, the workday literally never ends for some workers,” said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.  “While a strong work ethic is valued, a lack of balance with your personal life can ultimately work against you in the long run.  As the year wraps up, take inventory of your personal time and see where you need to make adjustments in 2011.”

Stop the Insanity

So what’s an overworked soul to do? Well, if you find you or your employees are hitting the Excel spreadsheets a little too hard, and neglecting the gym, the dinner table, or the kids’ soccer games, here are some tips, courtesy of Haefner, for achieving a more manageable schedule and a better work/life balance:

1)    Set aside personal time. You schedule business meetings and events successfully, so do the same for “me time” or “family time” and stick to the schedule you create.

2)    Let go. Learn to delegate work-related tasks and responsibilities to others.

3)   Take off the e-leash. In most cases, that e-mail or text can wait.  Turn off your electronic devices at a certain time.  Take care of personal commitments and put the kids to bed before turning it back on.

4)   Talk to others who understand your situation. Check out support groups such as Workaholics Anonymous and find out what others have done to achieve their recovery.

New Year, New “You” Time?

As we enter a shiny new year, unmarred by any mistakes we will inevitably make (and hopefully learn from), we are ambitious in our determination to make this year better than the last. Rather than solely focusing on revenue, productivity, and the “bottom line,” then, let’s pause and ask ourselves this question: Am I being mindful of balance in my own life — and in the lives of my employees?”

Only you (and your employees) know the answer.

Courtesy: I’m Blogging IT

Okay, I couldn’t resist the urge to squeeze in one more “year’s best” list…but can you blame me? (Don’t answer that.) From flight attendant freakouts to too-sexy bankers (is there such a thing?), and everything in between…let’s just say that if the following workplace stories were people, Barbara Walters would be interviewing them during sweeps.

So while you were busy deciding to go with an understated-yet-elegant look, clarifying that you are in fact not a witch (although who isn’t, on some level?), or saying, “Dictionary, schmictionary!”…here’s what was going on in the world of workforce management this year…

1. Getting Fired Over Facebook is So 2009 In what became a groundbreaking case highlighting workers’ rights when it comes to social media, the National Labot Relations Board filed a complaint against a company the group said illegally fired an employee for criticizing her supervisor on her Facebook page. (For the record, none of this stuff ever happened with Friendster.)
2. Sorry, Mario Lopez, but A.C. is No Longer the Most Famous Slater Steven Slater became a household name in August when the then-Jetblue flight attendant, after arguing with a passenger (and possibly overreacting), dramatically activated the plane’s inflatable emergency slide and literally slid off the job in a huff.  
3. Jenny the Office Assistant Punk’d Us All Hot on the heels of Slatergate (sorry, I’ve always wanted to ‘gate’-ify something) emerged another working class hero: Jenny, the office assistant who emailed her entire office a series of photographs of her holding a dry erase board with messages revealing that she was quitting – and, oh, yeah, the boss is kind of a perv. The photos went viral and made Jenny a social media star…until it all turned out to be a hoax.
4. We’ve All Totally Been There Ever been fired for being too hot? That’s what a former Citibank employee claimed when she filed a suit against the bank, saying she was unfairly terminated for being too attractive. Citibank, however, has said the termination was due to poor job performance and has refused to comment further.
5. Working for Oprah is Just as Awesome as Being in Her Audience In September, Oprah surprised every O Magazine staffer with an Apple iPad, customized leather iPad case, and a check for $10,000. Y’know…just cuz. (Okay, it was actually to celebrate the magazine’s 10^th anniversary. But still.)
6. Sometimes a Simple “Thanks, Here’s a Starbucks Gift Card” Just Won’t Do In a bold move to boost morale, Google announced a surprise 10 percent pay raise and $1000 bonus for all of its workers in November. Unfortunately, one person in particular is no longer eligible for the perk: the (now former) employee who leaked the news to the press. So close!
7. Twitter’s Use as a Business Tool Knows No End In February, Jonathan Schwartz resigned his post as the CEO of Sun Microsystems by sending out a message on Twitter. The best part? He did it in haiku. Hip and romantic! 
8. Football Players Act Improper in the Locker Room (Spoiler Alert!) In September, after several New York Jets players were cited for treating a female reporter with “unprofessional conduct,” the National Football League ordered the team to pay for workplace conduct training for the entire league. This will surely take.
9. It’s Like You Can’t Even Call People Bigots on TV Anymore…CNN was less than pleased earlier this year when newscaster Rick Sanchez made some controversial comments on air in regards to Jewish people in general and Jon Stewart in particular, calling the “Daily Show” host a bigot, among other things. Not 24 hours later, CNN told Sanchez to take his rants elsewhere.
10. Workers Who Wanted the Freedom to Drink During Work Hours Got Their Wish If you’re going to drink on the job, well, don’t. But especially don’t do it in front of a local TV news crew. In September, Chrysler fired 13 employees whom a local TV station caught drinking beer and smoking what appeared to be marijuana while on break from their jobs.

Okay, what did I miss?

Courtesy: I’m Blogging IT

 
It’s a non-denominational holiday miracle! (Okay, ’miracle’ might be a bit of an oversell, but regardless…) Good things are in store for the job market this coming year, if CareerBuilder’s 2011 Job Forecast is any indication. 

Released today, the annual survey shows that more employers plan to grow jobs and increase salaries than last year – indicating a stronger overall employment picture for 2011.  According to CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson, in a statement for the press release:

“More than half of employers reported they are in a better financial position today than they were one year ago…Our survey indicates more jobs will be added in 2011 than 2010, but job creation will remain gradual. The year will be characterized by steady, moderate gains across various industries.”

For this year’s annual survey about the state of the job market and employment trends, CareerBuilder surveyed over 2,500 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries and company sizes.  Below is a summary of the results: 

HIRING AND EMPLOYMENT TRENDS IN 2011

• Continued Growth of Full- and Part-time Staff: According to the survey, 24 percent of employers plan to hire full-time, permanent employees in 2011 (up from 20 percent in 2010 and 14 percent in 2009), and 13 percent said the same of  part-time employees (up from 11 percent in 2010 and 9 percent in 2009).
• Less Downsizing Planned: In another promising sign, plans to downsize staffs are trending below the last two years.  Only 7 percent of employers plan to decrease full-time headcount this year, marking an improvement from 9 percent in 2010 and 16 percent in 2009; and only 5 percent plan to decrease part-time staff (down from 8 percent last year and 14 percent the year before). 
• Increased Reliance on Contract and Temporary Workers: In order to supplement leaner staffs in the comin year, 34 percent of hiring managers say they will hire contract or temporary workers, 24 percent of whom expect to add more than they did last year. Moreover, 39 percent of employers plan to extend permanent job offers to these workers.
• More Competitive Compensation: Amid increasing concerns over top talent leaving, 61 percent of employers said they will increase compensation for their existing staff in 2011, up from 57 percent in 2010. When it comes to hiring, 31 percent plan to increase their job offers to candidates, up from 29 percent last year. 

REGIONAL HIRING:  Similar to last year’s forecast, the West surpasses other regions when it comes to hiring plans – but only slightly – with 26 percent of hiring managers in the West reporting plans to add full-time, permanent headcount followed closely by 24 percent in the Northeast, 23 percent in the Midwest and South.  As for downsizing plans, 8 percent of employers in the South expect to decrease headcount followed by 7 percent in the Northeast, Midwest and West.

HIRING AND COMPANY SIZE: While small businesses have been slower to recover, hiring is gradually improving among companies of all sizes.  Thirty percent of employers with over 250 employees plan to increase full-time, permanent headcount in 2011, followed by 27 percent of employers with 51 to 250 employees and 14 percent of employers with 50 or less employees.  Five percent of employers with 1 to 50 employees plan to reduce their workforce compared to 6 percent of businesses with 51 to 250 employees and 9 percent with more than 250 employees. 

Download the full CareerBuilder 2011 Job Forecast here.

Courtesy: I’m Blogging IT