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Sprint Plans Layoffs as Losses Mount
Sprint Nextel Corp. has reported that its cell phone business suffered a net loss of 300,000 monthly subscribers in the fourth quarter and that the struggling wireless company will cut 5,000 jobs. Sprint said it expects its 2006 results to be in line with its previous guidance, with full-year revenue of $41 billion to $41.5 billion and adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization of $12.6 billion to $12.9 billion.
[Source: Associated Press]

PeopleCube Releases New Version of Scheduler Plus
PeopleCube, a provider of on-demand Human Process Management (HPM) solutions, has announced the latest release of Scheduler Plus and Scheduler Plus ii, a centralized event and resource management solution. This new release features enhancements based on customer feedback that simplifies event resource reservation workflow and provides enhanced support for the FireFox browser.

Mission Federal Credit Union Selects Learn.com
Learn.com, a provider of on-demand workforce development and productivity, announced that Mission Federal Credit Union, a nonprofit financial cooperative serving the San Diego community, has selected the LearnCenter platform, a workforce productivity suite, to provide training for its employees dispersed throughout 22 San Diego County branches. Mission Federal Credit Union was seeking a learning and talent management solution that could be quickly and effectively implemented to handle their rapidly growing employee training needs.

Employee Ratings of Senior Management Dip
While employee ratings of senior management shot upward earlier in the decade, those numbers dipped slightly in 2006, a survey by Watson Wyatt Worldwide has found.

Watson Wyatt’s WorkUSA 2006/2007 survey of 12,205 full-time U.S. workers across all job levels and major industries showed that senior management’s ratings from employees have dropped slightly since 2004. In contrast, many of those ratings had risen considerably from 2002 to 2004. Only about half (49 percent) of employees said they have trust and confidence in the job senior managers are doing, down from 51 percent in 2004. Fifty-three percent said that senior management makes the changes necessary for the company to stay competitive, down from 57 percent in 2004. And 66 percent of employees said they have confidence in the company’s long-term success, down from 69 percent.

The survey also found considerable disparities among companies in the frequency of senior management’s communication with employees. Forty-three percent of employees reported that their firm’s senior management takes an active, visible role in communicating to employees, down from 45 percent in 2004.

Watson Wyatt’s survey found that highly engaged employees were much more likely to report receiving communication from senior managers at least once a month. More than half (56 percent) of highly engaged employees receive communication from senior management at least monthly. In contrast, 42 percent of low engaged employees say they receive annual communication or no communication at all.

More...

Competencies that Drive High-Performance Companies
Bersin & Associates, a research firm focused on talent management, has released “How Talent Management Drives Financial Performance,” a comprehensive study on the relationship between performance reviews, competencies and business success.

Findings of the report show a clear correlation between the competencies used in performance reviews and business outcomes such as financial performance, employee retention, business resilience and profitability. For example, fast-growing high-technology organizations manage and value “innovation” and “creativity” much more heavily than low-growth companies in the same industry. Successful retail organizations heavily value “teamwork” as a critical competency.

Findings include:

• One-size does not fit all - Effective competency-based performance management varies widely by industry, market maturity and phase of growth.
• Growth-oriented organizations commonly focus on strategic competencies to drive leadership behavior.
• Organizations in lower growth markets typically focus on general management behaviors.
• High-performance organizations value competencies that build organizational capabilities.
• Lower-performing organizations focus on competencies that build individual capabilities.

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Middle Managers Unsatisfied with Their Organizations
Middle managers around the world share a lack of satisfaction with their current organizations and describe their companies as mismanaged, according to the findings of an annual survey released by Accenture.

The survey of more than 1,400 middle managers in nine countries in North America, Europe and Asia found that, on average, just four in 10 (39 percent) of respondents said they were “extremely” or “very” satisfied with working at their current organizations. Furthermore, one in five (20 percent) is specifically dissatisfied with his or her current organization.

Additionally, when asked to describe their organizations, the largest share (30 percent) of all respondents selected “mismanaged,” and this was consistent across all the countries.

Almost one-quarter (23 percent) of respondents said they are currently looking for a job elsewhere. Of these, 25 percent said their primary motivation is lack of prospects for advancement at their current jobs, and 22 percent cited better conditions at another job. There was some variation across countries, with respondents in the United States, Spain, Germany and Australia generally showing higher levels of satisfaction than those in other countries.

When asked to indicate the most frustrating aspects of their jobs, the greatest number of respondents – 44 percent – chose insufficient compensation. About the same number (43 percent) said they feel as if they are doing all the work but not getting credit for it. More than one-third (35 percent) reported that they are frustrated by trying to balance work and personal time, and the same number said they are frustrated because they have no clear career path.

While approximately half of respondents gave their organizations high marks for how they manage working conditions and benefits – 53 percent said their companies manage working conditions, and 48 percent of respondents said their companies manage benefits, in a “good” or “the best possible” way – they gave lower scores to a variety of other functions. In fact, only about one-third of respondents reported that their companies were good or excellent at managing compensation (selected by 30 percent), flexible work arrangements (34 percent), helping them communicate bad news (35 percent) or prospects for advancement (35 percent).

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Employment Options in America Reaching a Tipping Point
A new economic reference, “The New Career Economy” is the end result of a 2006 research study commissioned by The Entrepreneur’s Source. According to the study, the days when individuals will work for one or two employers, receive lifetime benefits and retire boasting double-digit service time from one employer are gone. The study did suggest that in the future, long-term security would be gained through individuals managing their own careers through self-employment and other alternative career options.

The research cites the many threats to an individuals job security and financial freedom that never existed before such as company downsizing, lengthy layoffs, the elimination of benefits, enormous corporate bankruptcies, colossal consumer debt and social security insolvency.

For those that will work for employers in the future, the research states that W-2 wage earners can expect to have 6 to 8 job changes within a chosen profession in a working lifetime; and/or to completely change their working profession at least 3 times.

The research findings point out that since traditional employment options are becoming unreliable, individuals may have to provide up to 50% of the income they’ll need for the more than 20 years they may live in retirement.

Additional findings:

• In surveys by the Roper polling firm, 27% of all households making more than $100,000 a year say they cannot afford to buy everything they need.
• 20% of Americans say they "spend nearly all their income on the basic necessities.
• 60% of families have so little financial reserve that they can only sustain their lifestyle for about a month if they lose their jobs.
• For the first time since 1996, wages increased by an amount that failed to cover inflation.
• Four in ten consumers live paycheck to paycheck.

More...

Finance & Accounting Outsourcing Surpasses $2B in 2006
The global Finance and Accounting Outsourcing (FAO) market is predicted to grow in excess of 30 percent in 2007 as the global infrastructure matures to enable F&A solutions that take advantage of low-cost offshore talent and robust supplier process offerings underpinned by F&A technology, according to a new report released by the Everest Research Institute.

The global FAO market has grown by more than 45 percent since the beginning of 2005 and reached $2 billion in expenditures in the United States last year, according to the Institute’s Finance & Accounting Outsourcing (FAO) Annual Report 2006. The study reports North America-based contracts continue to account for over half of FAO revenues, with increasingly rapid growth in Continental Europe. Among the industry verticals, manufacturing and energy and utilities are leading the FAO adoption, capturing nearly 50 percent of the market. Retail and financial services are the most under-penetrated sectors with high untapped demand.

The FAO annual report for 2006 activity examines the global FAO market and provides insights, detailed analyses and implications for stakeholders along three key dimensions: (1) market size and buyer adoption, (2) transaction characteristics and value proposition, and (3) supplier landscape. The report found that offshoring is now established as the key value lever in FAO with more than 80 percent of all contracts including an offshore component. While India has emerged as the premier offshore destination with the largest number of scaled FAO centers, Eastern European locations are also becoming an integral part of supplier strategy to support European operations.

Regarding supplier activity, the report suggests that the FAO industry is witnessing an increasingly level playing field. In 2006, Genpact, HP, Infosys BPO, and Xansa significantly increased their market share. Accenture, IBM, ACS, and Genpact currently lead the market on a capability market success matrix, but there is still an intense battle for overall market share.

The Institute also reported that despite the phenomenal growth over the past few years, the FAO market is grossly under-penetrated across all regions and verticals, and there is still substantial opportunity for growth. The market is now experiencing an aggressive growth phase fueled by cost reduction from offshoring and the adoption of multiple accounting processes integrated within a single outsourcing provider.

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High-End Job Market Sees Surge in Activity
U.S. employers added 167,000 jobs to nonfarm payrolls in December, sending a signal of strong economic health for the American economy. What does this growth mean for the higher-end $100,000+ job market? There will be a spike in job-hopping activity in January, according to TheLadders.com, an online service for $100,000+ jobs. The company’s Quarterly Executive Employment Outlook for Q406 found that opportunities abound for the nation’s top earners and top employers.

TheLadders.com’s Executive Employment Outlook measured hiring activity across a variety of metrics and found the hottest $100,000+ job markets to be San Francisco, New York, Boston, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and San Diego. Thanks in large part to renewed growth in the technology and Internet sectors, San Francisco has emerged as the top talent magnet; it’s the metro area with the highest number of job-seekers from other locations looking to get into the Bay Area. San Francisco also has the least competition for every available job; it currently boasts a 1:1 ratio between job seekers and job postings on TheLadders.com. Among the firms doing the most high-end hiring in the region are Cisco Systems, eBay, Sun Microsystems, Google and Charles Schwab.

Elsewhere in the U.S., New York and Boston have also seen exceptional strength in the financial and healthcare sectors. Companies such as Citigroup, Fidelity Investments, Ernst & Young, Schering-Plough, Wyeth and The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory all contribute to the allure of the east coast. Likewise, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Chicago and San Diego have maintained a steady balance of job openings and job-seeking activity.

The tightest markets among the top 20 DMAs in the US are Detroit, Tampa and Dallas. All three have seen decreases in out-of-state job searches and stiff competition for every available opening.

Among active job seekers, optimism reigned supreme in the fourth quarter of 2006. A strong majority (62 percent) of executives said that now is a better time to be in the job market than last year. Moreover, 36 percent anticipated having to apply to less than 20 job listings before getting an offer. During the same period last year, the same percentage of job seekers anticipated having to apply to 20-50 listings. Optimism is on the rise. Likewise, 35 percent of this year’s job seekers expect to be in the job market for just 3 months or less. In 2005, executives braced for longer 3-6 month searches.

In a sign that January will live up to its reputation as the prime time for executive job searches, 32 percent of those surveyed by TheLadders.com said they knew of at least 2 peers who were also actively seeking a new position.

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White Paper: The Role of Web-Based Self-Service in the Support Organization

Today, as enterprise knowledge and content management takes on greater importance, self-service technologies are allowing users to search disparate, dynamic data sources using such sophisticated search mechanisms as natural language processing, precision optimization and adaptive learning. Not only are users exploiting Web-based channels to find answers to questions, diagnose problems and download fixes, but to perform such transactional duties as product registration, email opt-ins, user profile enhancements, service agreement updates and more. (please note – you will need your member log-in to view this white paper)

Read the full white paper

Call Recording in the Call Center Can Facilitate Coaching
Call recording is a great tool to use in the call center as it enables center managers and supervisors to effectively monitor a conversation between an agent and a customer. This call recording also presents an effective coaching and training tool that can be used to empower agents to be better equipped to perform the tasks involved with their jobs.
Full Article...

Why New IT Managers Fail
It's an old story: Brilliant individual contributor gets promoted to IT manager, then crashes and burns. But why? For 15 years, Harvard Business School professor Linda A. Hill has studied workers struggling with the transition to management. Difficult as that shift has always been, she says, it has become even harder as companies have gotten leaner, less siloed and more integrated with customers and suppliers. Hill says that although most new managers see themselves as leaders, use the rhetoric of leadership and feel its burdens, they just don't
get it.
Full Article...

Simple Gestures Count the Most
One of the best kept secrets in management today is the power of recognizing employees. Study after study has demonstrated that what employees most want is to be acknowledged for the job they do day in and day out. This recognition does not have to be anything fancy — in fact, the simpler and more direct, the better. One of the most motivating forms of recognition as reported by employees is very simple indeed: taking the time to personally thank an employee for something they did well.
Full Article...

Seven Strategies for Attracting and Retaining Top IT Talent
Wouldn’t it be great to start the New Year armed with award-winning IT organizations’ best practices for attracting and retaining top talent? The IT departments that effectively support and enable their companies in the next decade will be—pure and simple—the ones that have enough of the best people. Those that fall behind will do so because they underestimated the competitiveness of what many economists predict to be the most intensive war for talent in the history of American business.
Full Article...

Who Rises to Power in American Business?
Who achieves success and power in the United States? In the twentieth century, the easiest path to power was available to certain individuals—mainly men, mainly white—who were otherwise favored with the right religious, family, geographic, and educational ties. But a significant number of "outsiders” created their own road to success, overcoming significant odds. The new book Paths to Power explores the demographics of leadership in the U.S. over time and offers lessons for the next generations. In this Q&A, author Anthony Mayo discusses what research tells us about who makes it to the top of the American business ladder, how access to power appears to be widening today, and how the face of leadership might change in the future.
Full Article...

Executives, talent managers, and human resources professionals who want to compete and win will have to face these workforce changes with open eyes and innovative strategies. Drawing from experts across a wide spectrum of disciplines, Workforce Wake-Up Call is an all-in-one guide for business leaders seeking to move into the future of talent management and face these challenges head-on.

State of IT Outsourcing Report Released
In September 2006, Supportindustry.com and McGarahan & Associates conducted a survey on the state of IT Outsourcing. Impressively, 93.30% of respondents said they would outsource again and 94.10% said they would recommend outsourcing. However, although you can easily save money outsourcing, if your customers are not being serviced and it starts to affect productivity and have business impact – then the cost savings is not what it appears to be on paper.

Get your free copy of the executive summary here...

Research: 2006 Service and Support Metrics
The valuable research provides insight into a range of issues and challenges important to service and support executives, including the channels organizations are leveraging to deliver support, the technologies they’re deploying to improve service delivery, the metrics they’ve established to measure their performance, and the salaries they’re paying their help desk staff, contact center agents and higher-level support executives. Click here to get your free copy!

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