Employers Competing for Market Positioning – career and recovery

Employers are awakening to the need to position themselves more strongly in the employment marketplace. Alert leaders realize that competition for top talent is intensifying. Human resource professionals partner with marketing colleagues to brand the organization.

Employers are moving more aggressively to make themselves more attractive to top talent in increasingly turbulent employment market. While many US companies still lag in this effort, employers elsewhere are very active, seeking recognition that will garner the attention of workers.

As Canadian employers increase salaries and benefits, there is a clear move away from cost-cutting measures. In the annual Watson Wyatt Canadian Strategic Awards Survey, it was obvious that the direction of corporate policy is changing. Liz Wright, Toronto practice director of Strategic Rewards at Watson Wyatt, observed that [employers] seek “to strike a balance between holding the line on costs and holding on to their people.”

The survey shows that critical-skill employees—those with skills needed for organizations to remain competitive—are in demand, while non-critical-skill employees are most vulnerable to workforce reductions. More than one-third of organizations surveyed (34 percent) plan to significantly increase their hiring of critical-skill employees this year, while only 3 percent plan to make reductions. Thirty-four percent of employers indicate they experience moderate or great difficulty in attracting critical-skill employees, while 20 percent indicate the same for retaining those employees.

“These results highlight the importance of striving to become an ’employer of choice,'” said Graham Dodd, practice director of Watson Wyatt’s Human Capital Group. “The best employees are naturally drawn to the most successful organizations.”

England’s “Trinity Mirror newspaper reported that “An ‘exceptional understanding’ of its workforce’s needs helped earn Johnson’s Coach Travel, Henley-in-Arden, a special achievement award from Warwickshire County Council. The Employer of Choice Award was made in recognition of the firm’s work in helping employees balance their lives inside and outside work.”

Similar activities and recognition are underway in other countries like Australia, New Zealand, and Oman. In the United States, Employer of Choice, Inc. owns the Registered Trademark for Employer of Choice® and recognizes qualifying employers with the coveted Employer of Choice® Award. *****

From “Herman Trend Alert,” by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists, copyright 2004. (800) 227-3566 or www.hermangroup.com.

Education will be the Competitive Edge – career and recovery

More Americans are complaining that their jobs are going to foreign nationals. Indignantly, they point to American companies giving preference to citizens of other countries—for the work to be performed in the United States or in some other country. The accusations charge that the employers are choosing the foreign alternative to save money, that the foreigners will work more cheaply than Americans.

Our research has uncovered a much different situation. American employers need workers who can perform the jobs that need to be done. The foreign nationals are hired because they have the necessary training and education. Essentially, they can do the work! Human resource professionals bemoan the fact that they must hire foreign workers in preference to American candidates, but they are unable to find Americans who are qualified in their areas.

The answer is a stronger emphasis on career education in the United States. Workforce preparedness must receive more attention and resources from local, state, and national organizations—governmental and non-governmental. Community and technical colleges will accept a great deal of this responsibility, but secondary schools must play a larger role as well.

This reality will hit employers in the very near future, even though they are still in denial that they will be affected by any kind of workforce shortage. When they suddenly need trained and educated workers who are not available, the employers will blame the schools for not producing the quality of graduates that they need. The schools will blame the parents. Everyone will blame the elected local school officials, who will blame the taxpayers for not providing enough funds. Eventually, the finger-pointing will shift to people working together to find solutions they should have been working on for years.

Some communities are waking up. Local leaders are taking action to build bridges between employers and educators—at the community colleges and in the public schools. Those communities that take action now will be in a much better competitive position to attract employers, draw skilled workers, and strengthen their economies. Those communities that do not will find their jobs going elsewhere—domestically and overseas.

From “Herman Trend Alert,” by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists, copyright 2004. (800) 227-3566 or www.hermangroup.com

In March of 2003, as part of a strategic branding initiative, we launched our new name and our new website. Today, continuing to achieve our objectives, we’re excited to introduce the new name for

Career Voice International – career and recovery

our Newsletter: “Career Voice International”. This new name reflects our vision and our purpose. As the World’s Voice on Career Issues, you can expect to hear more from your professional association as we continue to promote you and the quality work you do. We’re going to continue to ask for your expertise and advice as we move our industry promotions forward. When we speak to the press, we want your ideas and thoughts to be at the front of every conversation. This new name was created thanks to the power of suggestion from each of you and then finalized by our POP! team led by Kathy Voska, Claire Coldwell, Jayne Mattson, Bill Pitcher, Teresa Daly, and Kristina Vohma.

Because we are the World’s Voice on Career Issues– we want to hear your voice. Follow the lead of your peers who have written in our newsletter and submit your article today. We’re always looking for ways to publish your good news and expertise. Share it with us and with the world.

To view the first edition of Career Voice International, click here: http://www.acpinternational.org/members/highlighter.html

ExecuNet seeks Executive Coaches and Career Counselors – career and recovery

ExecuNet, the premier career management organization for $100,000+ executives, currently sponsors meetings in some 40+ cities around the United States and Canada.

Many executives around the country have asked us to expand these networking meetings to their areas. We would like to do that, but in order to have the meetings, we need the “right” facilitator to run them. To that end, we are looking for seasoned Executive Coaches and/or Career Counselors who might be interested in serving as facilitators.

Areas where we are interested in starting meetings include: Phoenix, Austin, San Antonio, Indianapolis, Hartford, Colorado Springs, Columbia, SC, and Wilmington, DE.

If you are looking for increased exposure in your marketplace and a chance to turn a business development activity into potential business, you can contact Dave Opton at ExecuNet via email: dopton@execunet.com, or by phone: 800-637-3126, Ext. 127.