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HR News & Trends

Weekly Wrap: Why Do We Beat Up on the Poor, Old Résumé?

by on Jan 27, 2012, 12:15 PM  |  No comments yet
© stryjek - Fotolia.com

Want some shocking news? The Wall Street Journal reports that, “Many job seekers have long suspected their online employment applications disappear into a black hole, never to be seen again … (and) their fears may not be far off the mark.”

I know; you are probably stunned and surprised that lots of people apply for jobs online and never hear anything back about it. Who knew?

The Journal also published another story (proving that dumb stuff comes in pairs) titled No More Résumés Some Firms Say that uses anecdotal evidence from three companies (yes, 3 is not a misprint) to declare that, “(businesses) are increasingly relying on social networks such as LinkedIn, video profiles and online quizzes to gauge candidates’ suitability for a job. While most still request a résumé as part of the application package, some are bypassing the staid requirement altogether.”

This makes me wonder: what is going on with the good, old résumé?

Read more…

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Benefits

Health Savings Accounts: Is It Time to Make a Change For Your Workforce?

by on Jan 27, 2012, 10:45 AM  |  No comments yet
healthcare-dollars

Last week’s mail started the avalanche of end of year statements and one of the first to arrive was my HSA statement.

I am lucky to be in pretty good health so I don’t mind having a high-deductible health plan. As a result, I also get to watch my HSA (health savings account) continue to build up year after year so this is one statement I usually look forward to opening.

But this past statement didn’t show much growth beyond the actual contributions and to make matters worse, there was a $2 monthly service fee that had been eating into the little bit of interest that had been posted. Since my employer funds a significant portion of my annual HSA contribution, I didn’t have a choice as to who the HSA plan custodian was when the account was opened. When we had switched to the HSA and high-deductible health plan a few years ago, a local credit union had wooed us with an easy-to-manage employer-funded HSA and even waived the account fee for the first 12 months. Read more…

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HR Insights, HR Management

Do Professional HR Certifications Really Help Job Seekers?

by on Jan 27, 2012, 9:42 AM  |  1 comment
HR certiifcations

Professional HR certifications have become commonplace in the past 20 years.

The HR Certification Institute (HRCI), affiliated with SHRM, has awarded the PHR (Professional in Human Resources) and two other certifications to 115,000 professionals. WorldatWork has awarded a CCP (Certified Compensation Professional) and five other specialized certifications to 22,000 rewards professionals.

Anne Ruddy, Executive Director at WorldatWork, reports that over half of all WorldatWork certifications have been awarded in the past 10 years. Other organizations also offer HR certifications, including the Human Capital Institute and many universities.

Both HRCI and WorldatWork report that relevant certifications are often required for HR positions, that payment for most certifications is provided by the employee’s organization, and that testimonials and survey data indicate that HR professionals value certifications. Read more…

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HR News & Trends, Legal Issues

Another Case to Watch in Debate Over the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act

by on Jan 27, 2012, 9:17 AM  |  No comments yet
Computer Security

By Brent A Cossrow

The past year has produced noteworthy decisions from the Sixth, Ninth and Eleventh U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals – and recent Congressional hearings – regarding the applicability of the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act (CFAA) to employers’ claims that disloyal employees accessed their employers’ computers in order to take trade secrets, source code, and other valuable electronically stored information.

The CFAA provides a federal, private right of action against any person who “knowingly and with intent to defraud, accesses a protected computer without authorization, or exceeds authorized access, and by means of such conduct furthers the intended fraud and obtains anything of value… .”

The recent decisions and Congressional hearings are fueling one of the hotter debates within the judicial and legislative branches of the federal government: the extent to which Congress meant to “federalize” certain computer-related disputes between employers and their employees. Read more…

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HR Insights, Recruiting and Staffing

Want to Drive Change? Be Like Steve Jobs and Hire Pirates

by on Jan 27, 2012, 7:37 AM  |  1 comment
pirates-for-hire

Dollars to donuts, Fast Company is the best publication out their for anyone in the business world!

They hit a home run in my book recently with the article, An HR Lesson from Steve Jobs – If you want Change Agents, Hire Pirates! “Why? Because pirates can operate when rules and safety nets breakdown.” Here’s more from the article:

A pirate can function without a bureaucracy. Pirates support one another and support their leader in the accomplishment of a goal. A pirate can stay creative and on task in a difficult or hostile environment. A pirate can act independently and take intelligent risks, but always within the scope of the greater vision and the needs of the greater team. Read more…

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HR News & Trends, Recruiting and Staffing

Big Question After Monster Gets Battered: Where is Job Market Heading?

by on Jan 26, 2012, 5:11 PM  |  No comments yet
monster_com

Monster is taking a battering on Wall Street after the company missed the earnings expectations of the financial markets and warned it may just break even in the current quarter.

Monster’s stock price was down almost 20 percent at lunchtime in New York, a drop of $1.79 on the day. Trading below $10 for so long that Standard & Poors moved the company out of its S&P 500 stock basket in December, Monster’s price is now right at $7.19 a share.

The jobs advertising company, which yesterday laid off 400 employees, issued its fourth-quarter and full-year financials this morning before the markets opened. Despite growing revenue by almost 14 percent for the year, the company fell short in the final quarter. It earned 11 cents a share versus the 12 cents analysts were expecting. Monster’s revenue for the quarter also fell short, coming in at $250 million instead of the $259 million average estimate of Wall Street analysts. Read more…

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Global HR, Talent Management

Following in Japan’s Footsteps: How a Lost Decade Could Impact Employers

by on Jan 26, 2012, 11:35 AM  |  No comments yet
Japan

Amid the chaos and clamour of the banking crisis, the recession and the ongoing Eurozone crisis, one troubling question is being asked – is the West about to embark on a “lost decade,” like the one Japan suffered in the 1990s?

Certainly, there are many worrying similarities between the West’s current economic predicament and Japan’s experiences when its property and credit bubble burst in 1989, leading to 20 years of economic decline.

Japan’s “lost decade” resulted in a fundamental shift in the nation’s employment landscape, changing the way the country worked. And the signs are that the West could follow suit, so employers would do well to take note of two key developments from the Japanese experience: Read more…

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TLNT Events

Want to Get Played by Brad Pitt? Just Be a Big Talent Management Innovator

by on Jan 26, 2012, 10:30 AM  |  No comments yet
BEANE

Here’s something I keep wondering:

What would it be like to see your life played out in the movies? More than that, what if you were played on the big screen by a handsome, well-known, big name actor — say, someone like Brad Pitt?

Sounds pretty amazing, doesn’t it? But then on top of that, what if Brad Pitt’s portrayal of you in a movie was so good that it was nominated for, oh, an Academy Award for Best Actor?

Hard to imagine, isn’t it? Well, it’s not so hard if you are Oakland A’s Vice President and General Manager Billy Beane, the man behind the book and movie Moneyball, and the keynote speaker at TLNT’s Transform conference in Austin, Texas next month. Read more…

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HR News & Trends, Legal Issues

3 Ways For HR to Avoid Unlawful, Overbroad Social Media Policies

by on Jan 26, 2012, 9:25 AM  |  No comments yet
Social media policy

By Eric B. Meyer

The National Labor Relations Board announced yesterday that it had issued a second social-media report to help provide further guidance to practitioners and human resource professionals.

What does that report say? And how can you bulletproof your social media policy?

The social media memo, a copy of which you can obtain here, covers 14 cases, half of which involve questions about employer social-media policies. Those seven cases that address the scope of social-media policies underscore that they should not be so broad as to chill employee’s rights to engage in protected concerted activity such as the discussion of wages or working conditions. Read more…

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HR News & Trends

Politicizing Job Creators: Why It Won’t Help Create New Jobs

by on Jan 26, 2012, 8:59 AM  |  No comments yet
we-need-jobs

Ah, job creators.

You know it is election season when the buzzwords fly like the mosquitoes in the Florida Everglades, and certainly the term job creators has been on the forefront of the discussion about the economy, taxes, and the business atmosphere in the U.S. If you look at the recent buzz, you might think that some people have something against job creators.

I don’t quite buy that anyone has it out for business owners. By any measure, a politician, especially one seeking re-election, logically wants as many people to succeed as possible, job creators included. And although that doesn’t mean business owners have it easy, it doesn’t mean politicizing it is going to help make things better.

Read more…

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