HRmarketer.com's "News For HR" Newsletter

Article: 25 Top Companies for Leaders

Article: Executive Briefing: Survey on Stress and Economical Turmoil

Article: Top 25 HR Digital Influencers 2009

White Paper: The Need for Financial Wellness

HR Humor: Pilot Comedy in a Simulator

Webcast: Making Sense of Group Retirement Plans

Podcast: Handling Promotions and Compensation the Right Way

HR 180: Career Tests

What's New? The Latest in HR Software and Services
• Recruitment & Staffing
• Compensation & Benefits
• Talent Management
• Training & Development

Article: 25 Top Companies for Leaders
Source: Beth Kowitt and Kim Thai for Fortune; Hewitt Associates; The RBL Group

Most large companies love to talk about developing strong leaders. But when it comes down to it, many of them don't know how to turn their words into action. So Fortune teamed with human resources consultants Hewitt Associates and the RBL Group to find out which companies do it best. The names that top our list, like IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) and Procter & Gamble (PG, Fortune 500), have gone beyond the basics of grooming strong leaders and have come up with new ways to test their employees in the global marketplace.

Article: Executive Briefing: Survey on Stress and Economical Turmoil
Source: People NRG, Lawrence Polsky and Antoine Gerschel

Onboarding programs rank high on the list of HR programs that get little respect or attention. When managed well, onboarding programs can have a dramatic and measurable impact on employee productivity, retention, employment brand, service/product quality, workplace safety, and future hiring success.

Focusing on Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East and Africa, this is a fascinating study of stress and economic turmoil around the world.

Article: Top 25 HR Digital Influencers 2009
Source: John Sumser's HRExaminer.com

We are starting to be able to measure influence. For most of human history, figuring out how things worked always meant guessing (and asking) about who influenced things. As the world got more crowded and older institutions started to strain, the question of influence became more pertinent. Older hierarchical organizations are losing their grip as we move to a flatter more agile economy. In that world, influence is the way that institutions are governed and that people get things done. Where power is the ability to make things happen, influence is the ability to increase the probability that things will happen.

White Paper: The Need for Financial Wellness
Source: GuideSpark

More than 80% of financially distressed employees are dealing with financial issues at work, resulting in an 8-13% drop in productivity. Stress, a leading cause of illness, is at unprecedented levels and job satisfaction is wavering. Employers have much to gain by taking ownership of the financial health and well-being of their employees - studies have shown that financial wellness initiatives can generate a return on investment of more than 3:1. This white paper discusses the impact of poor employee financial health on organizations. It also analyzes approaches to effectively address these issues. Strategies include Web-based financial education and tools, live seminars, personalized one-on-one financial coaching and others.

HR Humor: Pilot Comedy in a Simulator
Source: YouTube - Thank God You're Here (Australian tv show)

If you are flying for the holidays, this one is for you. May your skies be clear and landing soft.

Webcast: Making Sense of Group Retirement Plans
Source: Jeff Gates, financial advisor for The Partners Group

Jeff Gates, financial advisor for The Partners Group, discusses why a company would want to establish a group retirement plan, reviews the most common retirement plans available, and takes a closer look at 401Ks-the most commonly used group retirement plan.

Podcast: Handling Promotions and Compensation the Right Way - Not the Dunder Mifflin Way
Source: HRWatchesTheOffice.com with host Matt Dubno

The old saw, "Everything old is new again," certainly applies to the field of collaboration. While technology has moved ahead by leaps and bounds, the important everyday practices that form the foundation of healthy and effective group practice remain much the same. One big difference: Nowadays, collaboration is seen as vital to achieving success strategically.

David Straus founded Interaction Associates in 1969, and his best-selling book, How to Make Collaboration Work, has sold more than 600,000 copies worldwide. With a unique perspective across four decades, David looks at how far collaboration has come - and explores the key challenges that remain.

HR180: Career Tests
Source: careerpath.com

This is a collection of fun and interesting career tests that are scientifically proven and reliable. Each test is designed by psychologists and utilized by professional counselors and career educators across the world. The variety of career tests offered provide you with a customized tool, depending on where you are on your career path, and what area of your career you are looking to learn more about.

Contribute to News for HR!

Want to get published? To submit your article, white paper, webcast or other HR-related content (including interesting non-fiction and non-HR related material for our HR 180 column) for consideration in News for HR, please send an email to newsforhr@hrmarketer.com with a link to your content.

What's New? The Latest in HR Software and Services

* Please note that the editorial team at News for HR does not recommend or endorse any of the companies or products mentioned in our newsletter. We also cannot support any claims made by the respective companies. These are products and services we have found interesting and are sharing with our readership. If you have any experience with these companies you would like to share with us, we'd love to hear from you!

Recruitment & Staffing:

Recruiters can spend countless hours scouring the Internet to find potential candidates for open positions. TalentSweep, a resume sourcing technology recently announced by NowHIRE, enables recruiters to quickly locate quality candidates and reduce time-to-hire. TalentSweep is available as a stand-alone product or can be integrated into the nowHIRE applicant tracking system. TalentSweep automates the recruiting process through a Web-based interface that allows recruiters to input a job description, select the search criteria and schedule searches for a pre-determined time. The technology scours the Internet, including social networking sites, free job boards and paid job boards subscriptions, as well as the existing candidates in a company's database. Read the press release here or visit the web site.

Compensation & Benefits:

HRAdvance announced it is making available to the public a library of resources for organizations to evaluate their Dependent Eligibility Audit Alternatives. While more than two-thirds of mid-sized and large companies in the U.S. have evaluated or are conducting a Dependent Eligibility Audit, the ROI (return on investment) varies widely depending on the type of audit and provider's approach. The Dependent Eligibility Audit Evaluation Resources Kit will help organizations to evaluate their audit options, and build the business case for Dependent Eligibility Audit (i.e., define the specific value to their organization). View it here.

Talent Management:

MrTed, a provider of on-demand talent acquisition solutions. is releasing MrTedTalentLink v9 - the latest iteration of its flagship "cloud computing" product designed to help companies attract, hire, and retain top talent. Leading research and advisory consulting firm Bersin & Associates, in their September 2009 assessment of the state of the talent acquisition market said MrTedTalentLink Cloud 9 "brings the next generation Talent Acquisition Solution towards the market, (as it) will fully embrace the cloud computing technology and enhance its partnerships." Visit the MrTed web site for more information or see the press release for more information.

Training & Development:

WorkSimple today announced the release of a new performance management, onboarding, and learning solution for small and mid-sized businesses. Through WorkSimple, employees and managers gain access to a complete historical record of their contributions, achievements, and interactions with colleagues. Employees are also able to immediately collaborate on daily challenges and can see how their individual contributions align to larger department or corporate goals. View the press release here or visit their web site.

About "News For HR"

"News for HR" is a monthly newsletter profiling new products and services in the human resource marketplace and timely articles on various HR topics. The newsletter's content is selected by our editorial committee and is not the result of paid advertising.

Most of the content comes from the Human Resources Directory - one of the HR industry's largest and most up-to-date knowledge centers with a library of over 2,000 white papers, webcasts, podcasts, articles and more. Please let us know how we are doing by e-mailing newsforhr@hrmarketer.com.

Newsletter Info:

Publisher:	HRmarketer
Editor:	JWillaman
Circulation:	70,000+
Distributed:	Monthly
Advertising:	Details

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Stat of the Day

Employers Note Increased Use of Company Health Plan and EAP

Source: WorldatWork and Watson Wyatt's 2009 Staying@Work Report

Watson Wyatt's 2009 Staying@Work survey of 282 U.S. companies found:

- 42% of employers note an increase in employee utilization of the company health plan

- 47% of employers are seeing an increase in their workers' use of the employee assistance program (EAP)

- 30% of employers are seeing an increase in workers filing disability claims

- Unplanned absence is rising among workers at 22% percent of U.S. companies.

- 51% of companies are planning no change or a slight increase to their health and productivity program budgets, 44% are planning cuts and 72% of employers have already enhanced their onsite offerings with programs geared toward stress management, EAPs or health coaches, or expect to do so in the next 12 months.

- 78% of employers cite excessive work hours as a leading cause of employee stress; yet only 21% of employers indicate they are taking action to address it properly. Lack of work-life balance was cited as a leading stressor by 68% of employers, yet only 38% are taking appropriate action. Another leading cause of stress, fear of job loss, is cited by 67% of employers but is being actively addressed by only 41% of companies.

For the full story, you can click here.

Quick Tips

The READS Method for Remembering Names

Source: Phil Gerbyshak

Repeat - I repeat folk's names as often as I can when I first meet them. I use it with them. I introduce them to other people. I say their names over and over in my head until I have the name down cold.

Evaluate - Is there something unique about this person? Do they look like anyone I know? Do I know others with their same name? I'm focusing on first names here, though a unique last name can be really helpful too. Or a last name that rhymes with their first name. Or the same first letter. Try to picture the name. I actually think about typing the name on my computer keyboard, and it helps me remember it. I evaluate where on the keyboard each letter is.

Ask questions - I like to get to know the person a little more, so I ask some questions of the person. Where they're from, what they do, what they're looking forward to about the conference. Something interesting about them. This is also a great opportunity to repeat their name a few more times, to keep it in my head.

Deliver them to someone else - If you can introduce someone to somebody else and use their correct name (pronounce the last name too if you think you have it) and a few cool things about them (this is where your questions come in), you can remember someone forever…and you can be memorable to them. Deliver the other person with a smile, a nod, a handshake, a hug; whatever makes you (and them) comfortable.

Smile and walk away - Now that you've learned someone's name, and a little bit about them, and introduced them to someone else, now is the perfect time to meet the next person. Just smile and walk away, knowing you've made another connection, and you've connected your new acquaintance to another new person too.