HRmarketer.com's "News For HR" Newsletter

This issue of "Program Perspectives" presents BLS data on the frequency, accrual of benefits, and alternatives to frozen defined-benefit plans as well as the length of time since the plans were frozen.

Kelly Outsourcing and Consulting Group (KellyOCG) and the Human Resource Outsourcing Association (HROA) have released their annual Global RPO Report 2010. This report builds a picture of global business leaders’ views and practices related to recruiting and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO).

The results reflect the uncertainty that pervades businesses large and small. There are signs of stability but still no marked upswing, and a sense of unease about the skill shortages that prevail in spite of massive job losses.

More than half of the hiring managers surveyed say they are still experiencing difficulties in recruiting staff, a number that is virtually unchanged from last year.

The greatest challenge is in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) where 65 percent are experiencing difficulties. In Asia Pacific, there has been a significant improvement over the past year, but still 50 percent report difficulties. In the Americas, the position has actually deteriorated.

The top recruiting challenge is a shortage of skilled staff, cited by 58 percent of respondents. Europe is the worst affected, while Asia Pacific is impacted by what is described as uncompetitive salaries. The quality of candidates is the biggest factor slowing the hiring process.

Two thirds of organizations plan to use recruiting firms in their hiring efforts.

The top job categories to be filled are business operations support and mid-level executives.

Some 60 percent of HR units are operating with five or fewer staff. More than a third spend less than 10 percent of their time on recruitment, and only 20 percent devote at least 75 percent of time to recruitment.

The share of firms outsourcing all or part of their HR function stands at 46 percent, up slightly from the previous year. Recruitment remains the biggest area of outsourcing, and the largest organizations are far more likely to outsource.

Familiarity with recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) continues to rise steadily. Knowledge remains higher in EMEA and in the Americas, and among larger employers.

More than a quarter of firms are outsourcing their recruitment process, with spectacular growth in the Asia Pacific region.

The biggest expectation from an RPO partner is improved hiring times, followed by lower cost, and integration of multiple sourcing channels. The average cost-per-hire is reported between 1,801 Euros and 2,500 Euros (US$2,501 and US$3,500).

To read the full report, click the "more" button below.

White Paper: The HR Technology Challenge: Finding the Right Balance
Source: NuView Systems, Inc.

Every day, organizations around the globe respond to the pressing need to effectively manage and support their workforce by trying to implement robust HCM/HRMS solutions at the speed of business. However, as research continues to point out, when various trade-offs and underlying dependencies are not fully taken into account, the wide range of positive business outcomes expected from these solutions often gets translated into a much more narrow range of tangible business benefits.

This white paper brings the concept of "finding the right balance" to the forefront when discussing or considering the best approach to deploying HCM/HRMS solutions.

To really succeed in a business or organization, it is sometimes helpful to know what your job is, and whether it involves any duties. Ask around among your co-workers. "Hi," you should say. "I'm a new employee. What is the name of my job?" If they answer "long-range planner" or "lieutenant governor," you are pretty much free to lounge around and do crossword puzzles until retirement. Most other jobs, however, will involve some work.

There are two major kinds of work in modern organizations:

1. Taking phone messages for people who are in meetings, and
2. Going to meetings.

Your ultimate career strategy will be to get to a job involving primarily No. 2, going to meetings, as soon as possible, because that's where the real prestige is.

It is all very well and good to be able to take phone messages, but you are never going to get to a position of power, a position where you can cost thousands of people their jobs with a single bonehead decision, unless you learn how to attend meetings.

The first meeting ever held was back in the Mezzanine Era. In those days Man's job was to slay his prey and bring it home to Woman, who had to figure out how to cook it. The problem was, Man was slow and basically naked, whereas the prey had warm fur and could run like an antelope. (In fact, it *was* an antelope, only back then nobody knew this.)

At last someone said, "Maybe if we just sat down and did some brainstorming we could come up with a *better way* to hunt our prey!" It went extremely well, plus it was much warmer sitting in a circle, so they agreed to meet again the next day, and the next.

But the women pointed out that, prey-wise, the men had not produced anything, and the human race was pretty much starving. The men agreed that was serious and said they would put it right near the top of their "agenda!" At that point the women, who were primitive but not stupid, started eating plants. And thus was modern agriculture born. It could never have happened without meetings.

The modern business meeting, however, might be better compared with a funeral, in the sense that you have a gathering of people who are wearing uncomfortable clothing and would rather be somewhere else. The major difference is that most funerals have a definite purpose. Also, nothing is ever really buried in a meeting.

An idea may *look* dead, but it will always reappear at another meeting later on. If you have ever seen the movie "Night of the Living Dead" you have a rough idea of how modern meetings operate, with projects and proposals that everybody thought were killed rising constantly from their graves to stagger back into meetings and eat the brains of the living.

There are two major kinds of meetings. Click below to learn more about them...

Have you ever played RISK? Winning in RISK and recruitment is about covering all your bases and eventually dominating your opponent.

If you are interested in dominating your competition, this webinar is for you. Unlike recruitment training, which focuses on recruiting techniques, this webinar will focus on business strategies and business techniques. What are niche leaders doing? What should every recruitment manager know?

HR180: Why Men Are Superior to Fish
Source: Modern Mechanix

Why Men Are Superior to Fish. Read More Below.

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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:

Recruitment & Staffing: Using Pfeiffer methodology and research in the emotional and social intelligence area and customizing the core technology used in a 360-degree evaluation tool from RealTime Performance, Pfeiffer has introduced the Web-based EISA 360. This 50-item 360 assessment measures emotional and social intelligence across five key dimensions. More information here.

Compensation & Benefits:

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced the availability of a new tool to help America’s employers ensure their employment policies and practices do not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities. The online Disability Nondiscrimination Law Advisor helps employers quickly determine which federal disability nondiscrimination laws apply to their business or organization and their responsibilities under them. Access it here.

Talent Management:

Talent Management (new book): Leaders who trigger emotional engagement release 400 percent more discretionary effort than those who trigger rational engagement. In his latest book, "Love at Work: Why Passion Drives Performance in the Feelings Economy," Juice Inc. co-founder Brady Wilson explains how emotional engagement in the workplace can lead to improved business results.

Training & Development:

The TRACOM Group has expanded its online library of training and development materials with the addition of three new videos at its YouTube channel. The short videos (free) provide a quick overview of SOCIAL STYLE and highlight the benefits of understanding these behavioral preferences. Viewers learn how they can improve personal and organizational performance by applying STYLE principles. The videos can be viewed here.

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.