Hiring & Human Resources

Keeping Employees Engaged in a Downturn

Cost-cutting and layoffs may be a fact of life in a recession, but organizations lift employee morale with "stretch assignments" that benefit both parties.

Peter Capelli, the Director of the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School, recently wrote an article for Business Week on this topic.

TIPS TO AVOID COSTLY HIRING MISTAKES

Why is it, most organizations spend so little time and resources helping managers hire the right people? I could argue that it is one of the key activities that can make or break a company. This isn't rocket science, folks. Look around. The companies, who invest in getting it right on the front end, tend to be financially successful, have less turnover and have a better reputation overall than their closest competitors.

Stop Worrying About The Cost-Per-Hire - A "Better Metric" Is The Quality Of Hire

I hear HR professionals say they want to be strategic, but often their actions indicate otherwise. Take the all too commonly used "cost-per-hire" metric. Sure it's used by lots of people, but so is astrology. Let me explain what's wrong with it and how it could be improved.

What's wrong with cost-per-hire?

The Friendly-Factor Creating a Work Environment that Attracts and Keeps the Workforce

By the year 2011, the U.S. will face a worker shortage of 8-10 million people. In many industries today, jobs are going unfilled. It should go without saying, if you cannot attract and keep your workforce, then you must change what you are doing or face the consequences.

Tips for Managing & Retaining Superstars

Old management tools no longer work. In the past, volumes have been written about the importance of compensation and work flexibility in motivating and retaining employees. Most executives will not argue the role these factors play. However, recent workforce trends are forcing managers to re-evaluate the tools used to keep top-notch talent. To reduce turnover, you must first seek to understand the primary causes behind it.

A Contingent Workforce Strategy as an Effective Part of Workforce Planning

In a constantly changing world, successful organizations must become more flexible. Just as the human body can react and “shift resources” when an infection strikes, successful organizations must also develop contingency plans that allow them to shift their resources rapidly.

5 Overlooked Ways To Hire Winners

Here is a true story. My dentist did a "clinical" evaluation of my teeth. That is his fancy way to say he looked in my mouth and stared at my teeth with his own two eyes. He found no cavities in his "clinical" evaluation. I felt happy and relieved!

But then he took a quick x-ray. Lo-&-behold, the x-ray immediately spotted a cavity hiding behind one of my fillings!!

In other words, what you see is not always what you get!!! An objective x-ray found a lot more important information than a highly trained eye.

Likewise, some applicants seem fine in a job interview. But, they then proceed to flop after you put them on the payroll. In fact, huge amounts of research prove most interviewers poorly predict how an applicant will perform if hired.