|
|
|
| Lack of Accountability and Capability as Key Talent Management Challenges |
A new study by Hewitt Associates, a global human resources consulting and outsourcing company, and the Human Capital Institute (HCI) reveals that while a growing number of companies have made significant progress in managing talent, most are still struggling to build the capabilities necessary to consistently execute their talent management programs.
The State of Talent Management: Today's Challenges, Tomorrow's Opportunities, a comprehensive study of 700 senior-level talent leaders, reveals that 92 percent of business leaders recognize superior talent as providing a vital competitive advantage. Despite this, the study shows a key gap in talent management execution, particularly around lack of accountability. In fact, few organizations consistently hold managers (7 percent) or senior executives (10 percent) accountable for developing their direct reports through performance management processes.
Lack of accountability is just one of the hurdles to today's talent management efforts. The study identifies four additional challenges to well-executed talent management programs:
Gaps in talent development capabilities: Only 5 percent of organizations report having the managerial capability to grow people in their jobs or provide feedback to support employee development consistently across the organization.
Lack of alignment between human capital and business strategy: While human capital is viewed as important, only 17 percent of respondents indicate their workforce strategy is consistently aligned with their business strategy across the organization.
Inconsistent execution of talent programs: Most companies have fundamental talent management processes in place, such as workforce planning, high-potential development programs and succession planning. However, few consistently execute these programs across the entire organization.
Limited use of meaningful analytics: Most organizations track traditional workforce measures, such as headcount, turnover and cost-based metrics, but few have graduated to tracking the metrics that matter. A mere 10 percent of companies consistently measure the effectiveness of talent management programs and even fewer (7 percent) consistently use quantitative frameworks to align human capital investments with their business strategy.
Despite these challenges, Hewitt and HCI found that some organizations are making significant strides in managing talent and have differentiated themselves in the following ways:
Depth and consistency of practices: These companies have effectively institutionalized specific talent management programs -- such as conducting talent reviews, performing succession planning and improving manager ability to develop employees -- and are applying these programs more deeply and broadly into their organizations.
Higher commitment for talent development: Successful companies view talent management as a shared business and HR responsibility and require active engagement, commitment and accountability from leaders and managers.
Progressive and innovative practices: Some organizations are introducing new and innovative ways of managing talent, including progressive approaches to workforce planning and more effective employer branding strategies. While still an emerging trend, a growing number of companies are also using predictive analytics to guide human capital decision-making and business alignment.
|
|
[Full Article]
Dec-02-2008 |
| Young Workers Demand Access to Mobile Technology |
For those employees under age 30, there likely never was a time in their lives without a computer or some other form of personal technology. And so it goes that the younger employees believe they should be able to use their own technology and mobile devices while at work.
The demands are so great that younger employees are increasingly choosing where they will work based on how accommodating companies are to their personal technology preferences, according to a survey by Accenture. The survey also found that 60% of employees in the Millennial Generation (born between 1978 and 1995) are either unaware of their companies' IT policies or choose not to follow them.
The survey gathered information from more than 400 U.S. students and employees in three age groups: 14-17 (younger Millennials), 18-22 (mid-Millennials) and 23-27 (older Millennials). The survey found an increasing demand for high-tech devices to connect with colleagues, peers, friends and family.
According to Accenture, the survey's key findings highlight specific workplace implications for today's employers that affect corporate IT:
Millennials want to choose their technology. Young people in the workplace and in school say they expect to use their own technology and mobile devices for work rather than those supplied by their employer. In nearly every category of workplace technology, more than 20% of the respondents said that employer-provided technologies did not meet expectations, while one-third of the mid-Millennials said they expect not only to use the computer of their choice, but also to access the technology applications of their choice once in the workforce (32% and 34% respectively).
No need to seek corporate approval. When asked which technologies they currently use or access for work-related activities that are not supported by their employers, mid-Millennials cited mobile phones (39%), open source technology (19%), instant messaging (27%), online applications (12%) and social networking sites (28%). Similarly, they regularly download non-standard technology, such as open source communities, “mashup” and “widget” providers, from free public Web sites. Mid-Millennials report that they have accessed online collaborative tools (75%) and online applications (71%) from free public Web sites when those technologies were not available at work or not meeting their expectation.
Lack of workplace education on corporate policy. Only 40% of all respondents said that their employers have published detailed policies related to posting work or client information on public Web sites. Nearly one-third (31%) of respondents said they don't know if their company has such a policy; 17% said their employer hasn't published such a policy, 6% said that whatever policy their company has published is too complex to understand, and 6% said they will post work or client information on public sites regardless of any policy, at least when communicating with colleagues.
Younger employees insist on state-of-the-art technology. More than half (52%) of all Millennials surveyed said that state-of-the-art technology is an important consideration in selecting an employer. More than half (56%) of the mid-Millennials and two-thirds (67%) of the older Millennials still in college claim that whether or not an employer has state-of-the-art equipment will be an important factor when choosing where to work.
Organizations will need to provide new communication and collaboration channels. Millennials expect employers to provide communication channels like online chat, instant messaging, mobile text messaging and RSS feeds to communicate with their customers and clients. However, only 6% say their organization provides online chat and instant messaging, while 21% say they should and similarly 5% said their organization supports text messaging, though 18% felt they should since it is an important channel. In addition, just 5% said their organization provides RSS feeds versus 12% who felt they need to.
Privacy may be melting away. One out of four (26%) working Millennials said that they write openly about themselves and friends online, and one in six (17%) share openly details of their life online.
Coming to the end of e-mail as we know it. While older Millennials say they spend an average of 9.5 hours a week writing or receiving work-related emails, mid-Millennials already in the workforce spend only 7.7 hours a week on e-mail. High school and young college students spend less than two hours a week e-mailing, instead preferring text and instant messaging and communicating on social networking sites.
Blogging is more myth than reality. Regardless of age, Millennials spend an average of only 30 minutes a week blogging. This is far less than the time they spend searching for information on the Internet, listening to portable devices, text messaging, instant messaging, communicating on social network sites or interacting in virtual communities.
|
|
[Full Article]
Dec-02-2008 |
| Down Economy Brings Tough Decisions for Employers This Bonus Season |
The end of the year brings bonus and performance review discussions for many employees, and this year the economy has prompted talks of slashing bonuses and layoff announcements. Many companies are also asking employees to do more with less, according to Hay Group, a global management consultancy firm.
According to Hay Group, the coming months are going to be tough for employers trying to balance suffering performance and a down economy with the need to reward and motivate employees for their efforts during the year.
Five things companies should avoid as bonus and performance review season approaches:
Silence can be deadly: Organizations often hunker down and limit communications to employees in an effort to appear calm during tough times; however, being straight and visible with employees is more important than ever in this environment. Avoid "decree by memo."
Reviews or bonuses in a vacuum: Many organizations are working to establish tight linkages between performance goals and payouts - but if employees don't know what their bonus signifies, the organization is wasting its money.
Pulling the rug out from under employees: If an organization decides that it can and should limit bonuses in a tough year, executives and managers should lead by example.
Reward only with cash: Many employees work in organizations for reasons other than money - and there are a number of ways to reward employees besides salary increases and bonuses. Recognizing and showing an appreciation for employee's efforts in ways other than monetary compensation can go a long way.
Getting stuck on the "here and now": Organizations and their employees should remember the longer-term perspective. It's easy for an employee to feel disadvantaged this year because of the economy and their resulting bonus - but by differentiating "career income" employers can maintain high levels of engagement, which is critical.
|
|
[Full Article]
Dec-02-2008 |
| Employers Share Most Unusual Tactics Job Seekers Have Used to Get Hired |
As the job market tightens, job seekers are becoming more creative in their efforts to attract the attention of potential employers. One-in-ten hiring managers (12 percent) surveyed by CareerBuilder.com reported that they are seeing more job seekers try unusual antics to capture their attention in 2008 compared to previous years.
Some of the most memorable tactics identified by these hiring managers include:
Candidate advertised on a billboard.
Candidate brought a broom to the interview to "clean up the waste and corruption in the office."
Candidate wore a shirt to the interview that said, "Please hire me."
Candidate showed up with breakfast for the employer every day until hired.
Candidate approached the hiring manager in a restroom.
Candidate sent a giant cookie with "Hire Skip" written in frosting on it.
Candidate wrote a poem about why she wanted the job in her cover letter.
Candidate promised to give the employer a foot massage if hired.
|
|
[Full Article]
Dec-02-2008 |
| U.S. Contact Centers See Job Gains |
U.S. contact center employment picked up in August, with a gain of 1,831 positions, reports CB Richard Ellis's Labor Analytics Group, compared with a net loss of 513 jobs in July.
Among the new openings and expansions domestically are: Charles Schwab & Co, Indianapolis, Ind., West, El Paso, Texas, AT&T, Richardson, Texas, Startek, Decatur, Ill., NEW, Meridian, Miss. and Amazon.com, Kennewick, Wash.
Meanwhile a big layoff -- 8,000 workers by Deutsche Telekom in Germany -- led to an unusual loss of nearly 4,800 positions overseas. On the other hand, offshoring openings and expansions continued with one center, Lone Star Global, being the largest single site going live worldwide in August.
The recent financial turmoil has not hit the U.S. domestic contact center employment picture. Initial figures for September showed that 4,520 new contact center positions were created, up from 4,290 in August as opposed to 1,935 losses in September, down from 2,469 in August.
|
|
[Full Article]
Dec-02-2008 |
|
|
|
