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3 Tips For Reducing Turnover At Your Company

Is your company losing talent? Are your employees quitting and moving on to your competitors?

Here are some tips for reducing turnover at your company from Donna Levin, VP Care.com Workplace Solutions and Co-Founder of Care.com.

1. Understanding WHY employees leave in the first place.

If you’re having retention problems, you need to think about WHY your employees are running for the door.

“People don’t leave companies; they leave bad situations, dead-end jobs, and micromanagers,” says Levin. “They leave to find greener pastures, professional development and work-life balance.”

Understanding what’s triggering people to quit in favor of a new opportunity will help you improve deep-seeded problems within your culture. Fixing these problems will make recruiting and retaining talent much easier for you...

To read full article, click here.

Source: Ariella Coombs (www.careerealism.com)

Temporary Jobs To Grow Over Next Five Years

Do you have job commitment phobia? Are you reluctant to sign on to a full-time staff position? Or are you in between jobs and need a temporary job in the meantime? Well then CareerBuilder has some good news for you. Temporary employment is on the rise.

When the recession ended and companies looked to slowly rebuild their workforce, temporary help services were among the first industries to add jobs. Temp work rose 15 percent from 2009 to 2010 and 57 percent from 2009 to 2014. According to a CareerBuilder study, temporary jobs are expected to grow 13 percent over the next five years, which equals more than 350,000 jobs. In addition to that, a separate CareerBuilder and Harris Poll study reported that 46 percent of employers plan to hire temporary or contract workers in 2015. Approximately 3 million people are employed in temporary jobs today...


To read full article, click here.
Source: Kristen Felicetti (www.jobs.aol.com)

U.S. jobless claims fall as labor market gains momentum

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, offering fresh evidence that the labor market was gathering steam.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 283,000 for the week ended Feb. 14, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

"The jobs market has its pedal to the metal. We have crossed the dividing line where there are more signs of labor shortages now than there is an excess supply of discouraged workers pounding the pavement," said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank in New York.

Economists had forecast jobless claims falling to 293,000 last week...

To read full article, click here.

Source: Lucia Mutikani (www.reuters.com)

So You Want to Be a Headhunter?

Recruiting for my own team is a natural part of being the director of a recruitment company. However, what I’ve discovered is that many people don’t have a clue what being a headhunter means. The title sounds fancy and seeking out exceptional talent sounds glamorous, but before you pursue a career in recruitment, there are a few important things you should know first.

1. It’s a fast-paced business!

There are no promises or guarantees in our business, meaning that priorities and objectives can change very rapidly. A single call from an important customer or an email detailing a new job order may change the entire plan for a given day, especially when you work in a success-fee mode. Being “close to the money” is usually the best indicator that you are working on a) the right things in b) the right order, but remember…situations can change quickly!

This also means unpredictable schedules. Timing is everything in recruiting…but time also kills deals! As a recruiter, you can’t be afraid to set firm deadlines with your candidates and clients. As headhunters, we are paid to deliver results in a timely manner. Recruiters need to constantly react to changing circumstances and ensure that candidates and clients are both on the same page...

To read full article, click here.

Source: Adam Lyko (www.linkedin.com)

Five Things That Repel Candidates

All the data shows that we're about to enter a period of massive talent shortage. The events of the global recession have acted as a bit of a smoke-screen to the underlying facts - more and more businesses are growing, and there is less specialist talent.

As unemployment is falling, so too are there other forces at work. More start-ups than even before. The increase of remote working. And perhaps most influential of all: the effect of social - with the internet, most candidates have made up their minds on a company waaayyy before they turn up to interview (if they decide to attend in the first place).

All this means that hiring managers need to be more careful than ever when interviewing. News travels faster than ever - your reputation is more important than even before.

Here are five things that all hiring managers must avoid:

1) Not following up quickly (or even worse not following up at all)...

To read full article, click here.

Source: Jas Singh (www.linkedin.com)

Before You Hire Anyone, Ask These 2 Questions

Building a business is scary, challenging, frustrating, but above all, ultimately fun. It's a rush to know your company is getting bigger.

And because it is, and because the work tends to pile up so far so fast, you might be in a hurry to add people to your team. That's understandable.

But whether this is your first hire or your 40th, it's a good idea to ask these two questions before you start issuing anyone a W-2.

1. What are we missing?

You always want complementary skills. Some people only think this is required at the beginning, when you look to find a Ms. Outside to your Mr. Inside. But they are not thinking big enough.

Yes, of course, when you are first getting under way, you want someone who offsets your weaknesses with his or her strengths.

But even when you are growing, you want to keep that concept in mind. Companies, departments, and teams take on characteristics of their own and they can become over-indexed in an area. You can end up with too many number crunchers or too many people who are great at strategy but not enough who are implementers. Balance is important at every stage of a company's growth. When things get out of whack, problems usually follow.

And that brings us to point 2...

To read full article, click here.

Source: Paul B. Brown (www.inc.com)

Is it intelligence or personality that matters?

It probably goes without saying that most organizations strive to attract the most talented people, whether it’s through direct employment, or more recently via open innovation challenges. It doesn’t always work out however. I’ve written before about studies that explore this topic, and in particular the belief that having lots of talented people will inspire and cajole the best out of each of them. The study found that having talented people in a team did little to raise the performance of less talented people in that team.

Studies throughout the past few decades have generally correlated intelligence with good performance at work. Most of these studies were conducted in an environment where the duties expected of an employee were relatively tightly controlled, and certainly didn’t account for things such as collaboration or anything outside of the job description.

A more recent study highlights how in the more modern work environment, intelligence is a much less accurate proxy for performance. The study, conducted via a meta analysis, honed studies down to a final short list of 35 that explored things like collaboration and citizenship within the workplace.

Whilst the meta analysis did reveal a small link between general intelligence and citizenship behaviours, this link was significantly smaller than between intelligence and task performance. The researchers instead found that personality was at least as influential to collaborative behaviours as was intelligence...

To read full article, click here.

Source: Ado Gaskell (www.linkedin.com)

The #1 Way To Hold On To Your Best Performers

The number one way to hold on to your best performers is to let go of them.

Your best performers should be spending the least amount of time around you. Let them go to do their thing.

Your Best Performers Are Clear. Best performers are clear and if they are not clear they get clear, so you can let them go to get the job done. You don't have to look over their shoulder and equate whether you can see them or not with how hard they are working. They empower themselves and know the difference between self-empowerment and authority. They don't run amok and they ask for needed authority which you can give. You cannot empower them, and they know it...

To read full article, click here.

Source: Linda Galindo (www.linkedin.com)

The 2 Most Powerful Words A Manager Can Use

With all the professionalism and political correctness in today's workplace, we sometimes miss out on the fact that people really want to feel appreciated — and a 'thank you' is all it sometimes takes.

A very close friend of mine is Eleanor, who is a teacher and probably one of the most conscientious and hard working people I know. Eleanor goes beyond what is expected of her every day to make sure she brings out the best in every child in her class. She is happy to plan her lessons until late at night to make sure they are exciting and engaging.

All her official feedback and performance reviews have rated her as outstanding. What might surprise many, however, is that Eleanor has just quit a job she loves because she feels unappreciated. Instead of all the formal but impersonal feedback, all she wanted was some appreciation from another human being…

But she didn't get it.

Our local school and children are suffering a major loss, because the people managing Eleanor didn't act like people. They didn't do the one thing all of our mothers probably told us to do when we were kids: they didn't say thank you....

To read full article, click here.

Source: Bernard Marr (www.businessinsider.com)

ADP: Businesses added 241,000 jobs in December

The labor market ended 2014 on a strong note, payroll processor ADP said Wednesday, as businesses added 241,000 jobs in December.

Economists expected ADP to report 225,000 new private sector jobs. They estimate the Labor Department's closely watched survey this Friday will show 240,000 payroll gains by businesses, as well as federal, state and local governments.

Last month, small businesses added 106,000 jobs, mid-size ones, 70,000, and large companies, 66,000, ADP said.

Professional and business services led the employment gains with 69,000. Trade, transportation and utilities added 44,000 jobs; manufacturers, 26,,000; and construction, 23,000.

"The job market continues to power forward," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, which helps ADP compiled the report...


To read full article, click here.

Source: Paul Davidson (www.usatoday.com)

New York's Minimum Wage Set to Rise to $8.75

New York's minimum wage will rise from $8 to $8.75 an hour on Wednesday, giving a boost in pay to some 700,000 workers.

The state is one of several raising its minimum pay rate in the new year, with increases taking effect Jan. 1 in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Florida and other states.

New York lawmakers approved the increase in 2013 as part of a series of steps to bring the wage to $9 on Dec. 31, 2015.

It could go up even higher if lawmakers pass another increase in the 2015 legislative session. Supporters of a higher minimum wage are calling for a $10.10-per-hour minimum and want to give cities like New York the authority to raise it even more...

To read full article, click here.

Source: David Klepper (www.jobs.aol.com)

Weekly US Unemployment Aid Applications Fall

WASHINGTON (AP) - Fewer people sought U.S. unemployment benefits last week, as the continued low levels of applicants reflect growing job security.

The Labor Department says weekly applications fell 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 294,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, ticked up a slight 250 to 299,250.

Over the past 12 months, the four-week average has plunged 10 percent...


To read full article, click here.

Source: The Associated Press (www.jobs.aol.com)

17 Top Executives Share Their Favorite Interview Question

Interview questions like, "What's your biggest strength?" and, "What's you biggest weakness?" aren't as telling as they seem.

That's probably why most savvy CEOs and executives steer clear of these cliché queries and instead ask more meaningful ones.

In fact, many top execs have their one favorite go-to question that reveals everything they need to know about a job candidate.

Some prefer to ask more serious questions, while others believe that silly queries about costumes and the zombie apocalypse, for instance, best uncover an applicant's creativity....

To read all 17 questions, click here.

Source: Jacquelyn Smith (www.businessinsider.com)

The Occupations With The Strongest Growth This Month

Job seekers concerned with limited hiring as the end of the year approaches will be heartened to learn that job postings in the vast majority of occupational categories have actually increased over the past month, heading into the fourth quarter.

According to SimplyHired‘s November 2014 U.S. Employment Outlook, job openings increased in 42 of the 54 listed occupation categories, with some occupations seeing greater than 10% gains in posted positions. To determine the occupations with the strongest growth this month, SimplyHired reviewed the month over month change in job postings in each occupational category.

Topping the list of occupations seeing the biggest increase in hiring is Firefighters, including Fire Investigators. Job postings in this category increased a healthy 13.55% over the past month. Nurses follow close behind, with a month over month increase in job postings just over 13%...

...Further down the list, Financial Specialists, including Accountants and Tax Professionals, as well as Mathematicians, including Actuaries and Statisticians also make the list. Martindi attributes this to the coming tax season, saying that while most people won’t begin preparing their taxes until early 2015, these professionals are being onboarded now in anticipation of the increased demand....

To read full article, click here

Source: Kathryn Dill (www.forbes.com)

It's still an employer's market

The job market is still overwhelmingly in the employer’s favor and it is changing the way companies recruit.

As a result of these tough economic times, companies are:

• Becoming very selective and hiring only the perfect match.
• Using more consultants, freelancers, and temps to avoid paying for employee benefits and over-staffing.
• Delaying their hiring decisions or waiting longer to extend the offer since there is less competition around for job candidate.
• Deferring start dates by about 6 months to a year.
• Hiring less international students because TARP fund recipients are required to hire Americans before foreigners.
• Experimenting with new hiring methods to cut cost, such as using resume screening software, pre-recorded phone interviews, social networks, etc.

Read More:
You’re hired – next year
How the recession has changed hiring

Coping with resume overload