pres·en·tee·ism – n. the practice of coming to work despite illness, injury, anxiety, etc., often resulting in reduced productivity.

Presenteeism only promises to continue as a major workplace problem in 2012, so the Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO) thought we’d share some insights into the issue.

Speechly Bircham’s Employment group is a UK-based employment law practice.  In their in-depth 2012 survey of HR directors and senior HR professionals across the UK, they determined that working hour increases are linked with higher stress and staff turnover, while longer work hours and presenteeism are set for big increases in 2012.

A review of the survey can be read at The State of Human Resources blog.  Conclusions include:

• Greater business uncertainty is linked with higher stress, absence, presenteeism and workforce discontent.
• Talent shortages for 40 percent of organizations exist and are linked with longer working hours, stress and presenteeism.
• Presenteeism is now a major workforce issue, linked with more grievances.

Today’s workplace has changed from two or even one decade ago. Some of these changes have contributed to the growing incidence of presenteeism.

Causes of presenteeism

• Increase in dual-earner and “sandwich generation” households.
• Fear of note meeting Employer expectations.
• Little or no paid sick days available or accrued.

Employer Solutions

• Recognize the problem.
• Rethink the use of disciplinary action to control absenteeism.
• Develop a workplace policy on presenteeism and inform and educate employees.
• Provide Paid Sick Leave and/or Paid Time Off (PTO) to Workers.
• Make an Effort to Boost Employee Morale.
• Offer a flu vaccination program.

The image of a sick-as-a-dog employee who comes to work as being a dedicated and valued worker is no longer fitting. Presenteeism costs are a real and potentially significant drain on a company’s financial well-being. Employers need to make a concerted effort to develop a workplace with healthy and highly functioning workers. This will go a long way toward meeting goals for company productivity and profits, and fostering a healthy work culture and environment for employees.

A talent management system (TMS) is an integrated software suite that addresses the “four pillars” of talent management: recruitment, performance management, learning and development, and compensation management.

Talent management systems focus on providing strategic assistance to organizations in the accomplishment of long-term enterprise goals with respect to talent, aka “human capital.”

HRO Today has announced its 2012 TMS Baker’s Dozen Customer Satisfaction Ratings.

The Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO) team took a look at the Top Five apps on the list:

1. 1.     Lumesse
2. 2.     myStaffingPro
3. 3.     Kenexa
4. 4.     iCIMS
5. 5.     SilkRoad

Lumesse

Lumesse, Europe’s largest independent talent management solutions company, has released a new version of its Lumesse Mobile app for Apple iOS, with an enhanced user experience, multi-lingual capabilities and improved usability. The Lumesse Mobile app allows businesses worldwide using Lumesse TalentLink 12 to give managers access to key process steps and employee information in multiple languages from their iPhones (the app is also iPad-compatible.)  Lumesse Mobile is designed as a true native iOS app to ensure a responsive, high quality user experience on mobile platforms.

myStaffingPro

myStaffingPro is a full-featured applicant tracking and recruiting software system with advanced applicant screening capabilities.  myStaffingPro provides professional staffing software tools designed to help users achieve hiring goals while saving time and money.  myStaffingPro Elevate: social recruiting and employment branding software that harnesses social media, job distribution, network building and career site techniques.  myStaffingPro Express: economical solution for companies looking for the essentials in applicant tracking.

Kenexa

Kenexa offers unified business solutions for human resources that support the entire employee lifecycle, including:

• Recruitment Solutions (RPO)
• Employment Branding
• Employee Assessments
• Talent Management
• Compensation Solutions
• Engagement Surveys
• Leadership Solutions

iCIMS

iCIMS is a leading provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) talent acquisition software for growing businesses.  iCIMS’ Scalable Talent Acquisition Software offers:

• Secure Web-based platform accessible from anywhere, anytime
• Fully automated job publishing to social networks
• Electronic onboarding documents and communication
• Robust searching and reporting functions
• Free 24×5 access to award-winning customer support

SilkRoad

SilkRoad Technology is a leading provider of social talent management solutions.  RedCarpet, SilkRoad’s HR onboarding program, helps organizations better plan and manage employees during transitions using tools that include:

• Onboarding management – Automated workflows, standardized task assignment, reporting, global localization and an intuitive user-interface designed to help HR professionals and managers efficiently streamline the onboarding process.
• Employee portals – Branded content, social network integration and ongoing communication help transition employees into company culture and keep them in-the-know during transitions.

Electronic forms – Auto-populated fields, electronic signatures and instant delivery help HR managers keep compliant with E-Verify and I-9 while eliminating time and cost associated with paper-based administration.

Veterans employment is in the news these days and the Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO) team wants to do what it can to help in this vitally important area.

 In the March issue of HRO Today, the cover story “Fighting for Jobs” addresses the issue of why organizations need to consider veteran hiring programs.

Since 2010, the federal government has increased its focus on veteran employment due to an interest in reducing unemployment costs and aiding those who have served our nation at war. This includes the passage of the Hiring Heroes Act of 2011, new tax credits for hiring veterans, and the creation of the White House’s Joining Forces initiative.

Veteran hiring stems from humble beginnings.

During the past two decades, a variety of factors have combined to spotlight just how valuable the U.S. military veteran population is as a source of talent for corporate America.  A noteworthy percentage of Fortune 500 CEOs are veterans.  More than 180,000 veterans leave active duty military service each calendar year, so the military offers a highly qualified pool of jobs candidates. Perhaps most importantly, the performance, development, and bottom-line impact that veterans have had across multiple industries has been significant.

As part of the American Jobs Act signed by President Barack Obama in November 2011, the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior Tax Credits offer tax incentives to businesses that hire unemployed or disabled veterans. Through Joining Forces, Pres. Obama is challenging the private sector to hire and train 100,000 unemployed service members or their spouses.

In addition, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has launched Hiring Our Heroes, a nationwide program to help veterans and military spouses find employment.

Corporations are also joining in the fight. GE plans to hire 5,000 veterans over the next five years and sponsor 400 veterans’ job fairs this year.  And JPMorgan Chase, along with other partners, launched the 100,000 Jobs Mission last March, with the goal of hiring 100,000 transitioning service members by 2020.

Let us know how you think you can help.

“Spring, the sweet spring, is the year’s pleasant king…”

–Thomas Nashe (1600)

Though we at the Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO) primarily staff the business office with professional talent, the first day of the sweetest season makes us think beyond the desk.  Here’s a round-up from CareerBuilder.com naming a few jobs that get you out and about:  “10 Great Jobs to have in the Springtime” by Rachel Zupek.  Our Top Six are:

1. Vendor

Springtime means enjoying the great outdoors.  Baseball season means hot dogs, cold beer, cotton candy and frozen lemonade. Education: On-the-job training

Annual salary*: $19,876

2. Sportswriter

Sure, sports take place year round, but for me, spring is when some of the most exciting sporting events go down. Exhibit A: March Madness basketball games. Exhibit B: Major league baseball spring training and season openers. Exhibit C: NHL playoffs. Exhibit D: NBA playoffs and draft picks. Exhibit E: The Masters golf tournament. Sportswriters can take their pick making predictions, following games or analyzing who is going to be the next Tiger Woods.

Education: College degree, preferably in communications, journalism or English

Annual salary*: $36,994

3. Florist

April showers bring May flowers, after all.  Springtime means blooming flowers, weddings and generosity (aka, bouquets of roses “just because”). Florists will stay occupied during this busy season, while enjoying the budding blossoms that have been buried all winter.

Education: High school diploma

Annual salary*: $33,859

4. Fashion buyer

Springtime is synonymous with fashion. Buyers get to shop through all of the new spring lines and buy clothes that have color, flowers and designs for our favorite retail shops — a far cry from the black and gray turtlenecks and tweed we’ve been sporting all winter.

Education: Requirements vary depending on the organization, but large stores and distributors prefer applicants who have completed a bachelor’s degree program with a business emphasis.

Annual salary*: $50,796

5. Landscaping worker

It’s growing season!  Snow is off the ground and grass, trees and flowers are ready to be planted and fertilized. Lawns need to be mowed, weeds pulled and trees trimmed, all of which add up to a lot of time outside, doing what landscapers do best.

Education: No minimum educational requirement, though most states require licensing or certification for workers who apply pesticides.

Annual salary*: $23,980

6. Construction worker

What’s better than being outside all day working on your latest project? It seems like constructing a house or building would be much more enjoyable in nice weather than in the freezing cold and snow.

Education: Most positions have no specific educational qualifications, but apprenticeships are encouraged and require a high school diploma or equivalent.

Annual salary*: $31,781

Rachel also includes on her list Meteorologist (Annual salary*: $67,004), College admissions counselor

(Annual salary*: $98,796), Pest control worker (annual salary: $28,056) and Housekeeper (Annual salary*: $19,619).

*U.S. national average salary figures based on data from CBsalary.com, powered by SalaryExpert.com

New hire learning curves can be expensive, so the Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO) team took a look at some recent research about ways to properly “onboard” new employees for optimum results.

Aberdeen Group recently published findings on the impacts of learning during onboarding and the early stages of the employee lifecycle. The report “Accelerating Time to Performance” by Mollie Lombardi, research director of Aberdeen’s human capital management practice, makes the argument that effectively training new staff members can increase their level of execution, as well as encourage retention.

Reports Aberdeen’s Lombardi:

“Time is money, as the old saying goes, and companies today can ill afford to waste either when it comes to bringing a new hire up to speed.  Learning plays a critical role in transforming the onboarding process from an exercise in efficient tactical execution to an experience that accelerates performance, builds engagement, and fosters a sense of connection between new hires, their managers, and their team. This Insight will examine how learning in the onboarding phase of the employee lifecycle can improve time-to-productivity and set the stage for long term excellence.”

Research is also money, of course, so interested parties can purchase “Accelerating Time to Performance” from Aberdeen for $399.  Click here for more details.

Fortunately, HRO Today has summarized the report in an article titled “The Need for Speed.

Onboarding typically includes a few different elements: benefits enrollment forms, orientation, socialization and culturalization.  The report notes that forming strategic connections makes onboarding part of a broader learning and development strategy, rather than a tactical state of recruitment.  Also becoming increasingly popular, as shown by 64 percent of respondents, is enrollment of employees in learning and development programs, which is now being included more often in the onboarding process.

According to the Aberdeen report, onboarding typically begins with three top objectives:

• Better assimilation of new hires into company culture (66 percent of respondents)
• Getting new employees productive more quickly (62 percent)
• Improvement of employee engagement (54 percent).

Training is a key component to getting new hires up to speed. The more quickly that new employees understand business goals, the happier both hiring managers and customers become.

“Learning is an important part of onboarding,” Lombardi says. “Organizations should focus on goal setting and helping employees understand the resources that are available to them to achieve those goals.”

The Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO) team likes to share good news:

There is a growing number of jobs available in the manufacturing and healthcare industries and even the hard hit construction sector, according to a recent CNNMoney article.

And the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports that finding workers to fill many highly-skilled jobs remains difficult.

But there ‘s also a downside.

Good old fashioned well-paying employment remains hard to come by for many workers in the U.S., according to a CNNMoney survey of economists, who say that just 135,000 jobs were added in December and that the unemployment rate likely rose to 8.6 percent.

At the core of the problem: sluggish consumer spending and a housing market in a quagmire.  Declining home prices make it harder for people who might want to move to a state with better job prospects. People are trapped where they are.

“The real estate market will continue to inhibit job growth,” said Ray Stone, an economist with Stone & McCarthy Research in Princeton, N.J. “When you are underwater on your mortgage, you can’t move from New Jersey to take a job in Chicago.”

SHRM LINE® Report

Though far more companies are expected to hire than lay off in February 2012, the numbers will lag compared to one year ago according to an SHRM report on a survey of 500 service-sector companies and 500 manufacturing companies.

The report shows that on an annual basis – comparing February 2012 to February 2011 – service sector hiring will drop by a net of 12.3 points and manufacturing sector hiring will fall by a net of 2.5 points.

The findings are detailed in the SHRM “Leading Indicators of National Employment® (LINE®) Report.” LINE is the only national employment index capturing HR professionals’ month-ahead hiring expectations, and past-month recruiting difficulty. The report also includes a new-hire compensation index and an index of exempt and non-exempt job vacancies.

A close look at the SHRM LINE service-sector hiring index shows that a net of 20.9 percent of employers plan to add jobs in February 2012 compared with a net of 33.2 percent that did so one year ago—a 12.3 point drop.

The month alone, however, shows a more positive outlook with more service-sector companies planning to hire (26.3 percent) than layoff (5.4 percent).

The U.S. business services sector consists of about 340,000 companies with combined annual sales of about $580 billion, according to a Research and Markets: 2012 Report.

The manufacturing-sector hiring index also shows that February 2012 – when examined on its own – will have significantly more companies hiring (49.1 percent) workers than cutting (8.9 percent) jobs.

“The economy is showing gains in job growth but not at the pace needed to significantly bring down the unemployment rate,” said Jennifer Schramm, GPHR and manager of workplace trends and forecasting at SHRM.

Regarding past-month trends, the SHRM LINE Report shows the recruiting-difficulty index and new-hire compensation for January 2012 rose slightly in both the manufacturing and service sectors.

“Despite the high number of people seeking employment, finding workers to fill highly-skilled jobs remains difficult,” said Schramm. “Those job seekers able to land such job offers are likely the ones seeing the small gains in new-hire compensation tracked in the SHRM LINE report.”

Most everyone enjoys a pretty picture, and the Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO) team is no exception.  We like this Infographic from HireRabbit (click link), a maker of social recruiting software.  The graphic visual is filled with interesting details about the role Facebook is currently playing in helping employers and employees find one another online.

For example, 48 percent of all job seekers (and 63 percent of those with a profile) did social media job hunting on Facebook in the past year. That’s a lot of eyes searching for opportunities, and if your brand is already active on the network, it could be worth engaging power users to recommend applicable candidates.

In December 2011, Nielsen Company, which tracks usage on the Internet, counted 153 million unique U.S. users on the Facebook website for the month.  Here are further interesting stats from the graph:

What are Job Hunters doing on Facebook?

• 84% of Job Seekers have a Facebook profile
• 48% of all Job Seekers (63% of those with a profile) have done at least one social job hunting activity on Facebook in the last year.
• 1 in 5 Job Seekers added professional information to their Facebook profile in the past year.
• 16% of all Job Seekers received a job referral from a Facebook friend.
• 56% of all Job Seekers are male
• 64% are under the age of 40
• 36% earn more than $75,000
• 42% are college graduates

Recruiters—How to Be Awesome on Facebook

• Design beautiful career pages, avoid clutter
• Share fresh and interesting content to tickle your audience
• Listen to candidates and be responsive
• Engage your prospective hires through quizzes and contests
• Give industry insights, post employee experiences
• Schedule updates and monitor results
• No “Silver Bullets” — it’s a long-term investment

Comments on the LinkedIn page that reviewed the story included these two cautions:

Ryan Johnson

I hope businesses and companies pick up on this who hire directly, on the other hand I pray “professional” 3rd party recruiters leave Facebook alone. There’s enough spam on Facebook as it is.

Herve Peitrequin

Social media users spend around 30% of their webtime social networking, mainly on Facebook. But still, most Facebook users in Europe don’t feel like being engaged by companies on the network itself. Employer branding, viral job ad spreading, yes.  Direct people sourcing, less easy.

First impressions are lasting, and in the case of a job application, critical.  The resume is usually one of the first items, along with a cover letter and sometimes job application packet, which a potential employer encounters regarding a job seeker and is typically used to screen applicants.  If the resume is satisfactory, only then will an interview follow.

The Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO) team has seen many a good resume, and rejected many a poor one.

Having a solid and effective resume can increase your chances of getting a call from a recruiter. Applicants need to be aware that recruiters spend, on average, about 10 seconds reviewing a resume, so having a top-notch resume is critical to land the interview.

A good resume will:

1. Have the basic information listed: At the top of the page, all relevant contact information should be listed which includes your name in larger font as well as phone and email information.  Also, check that your voice mail message is appropriate. If a recruiter calls and hears an inappropriate voicemail message, they may just hang up.
2. Be current:  a recruiter is not in favor of finding out during the pre-screen that the resume they have is not current and is missing relevant information.  So keep your resume current! A current resume demonstrates you are serious about finding a job and is detail oriented.
3. Have a career objective: what is the objective of the applicant’s career path.  Be realistic.  Writing you want to be President of the company but yet have not made it to management is probably not realistic.
4. Use the right key words: Recruiters are now using electronic databases to mine for applicants, which mean they put in key words into a ATS (Applicant Tracking System) and if your resume doesn’t have the key words they are searching for, chances are you are already out of the running.  One way to understand what an employer is looking for is to review the job posting and job description. Identify what the employer is looking for and add those key words into your resume.
5. Include professional accomplishments vs. responsibilities:  What are some significant professional accomplishments that could possibly get the recruiters attention?  Use action verbs and statistics here.  For example, “Project managed a team of board operators to design and implement a new manufacturing process which increased production by 30% resulting in $300k in revenue per quarter.”
6. Include a descriptive past professional experience:  Applicants should list, most recent job title, company name and brief description of the company, City, State and dates of employment.  For example,

Director of Manufacturing

“XYZ Company, a semi-conductor manufacturer “ Ontario, CA

Jan 2009-present

If you have been at one employer for several years, you may want to note all positions you have held there and include the skill sets you developed.  It can also show you are promotable.

1. Demonstrate Continual Education, Professional Development & Professional Memberships:  In this area, the recruiter is looking for educational credentials and looking to see how the applicant is staying current in their profession.
2. Be straightforward and to the point: Save some stuff for the interview, please.  One of the oldest rules of resume writing is “Limit it to one page.”  Also, use bullets; a recruiter does not have time to read a full page of text so keep your thoughts straightforward and to the point.
3. Keep work experience relevant to the job you are applying: Recruiters are looking for applicants that have a solid experience in their profession.  It could create an unfavorable image if you mentioned you were studying culinary but are looking for an accounting job.
4. Proof read your resume:  Recruiters frown upon resumes with typos, and one small typo can decrease your chances of landing that interview.  So proof it a couple times and have someone else proof for you.

Every business has at least one HPE: a habitually problematic employee.  As an owner or HR manager, your lucky day comes when that employee parts ways with the business—lucky, until another employer calls for your opinion of HPE.  Awkward.

So what now?  Do you tell the employer what you really think about HPE?  Do you gloss over HPE’s 2-hour lunches?  Do you fake static and hang up?  Not only is this situation uncomfortable, but it presents potential legal troubles if improperly handled.

Some businesses solve this problem by routing all reference checks through the HR Department.  There, only basic information is verified, such as dates of employment and job title.  This option will definitely keep your business out of legal hot water, but it may displease managers who want to shout HPE’s negative qualities from the rooftops.  In these cases, advise miffed managers how important it is that the business distributes consistent, carefully worded statements.  Even the most truthful statements, if poorly worded, can be twisted into legal ammunition.

Another way to shield personnel from these uncomfortable inquiries is to deal with HPE proactively.  There are two ways to do this.  First, ask HPE for a signed release allowing the business to give out reference information.  If HPE refuses to sign, explain to reference-seekers that HPE did not consent to release information.  Second, tell HPE at the exit interview that the business won’t be able to provide a positive reference.  That should be enough for HPE to look for support elsewhere.

As businesses gradually return to hiring new employees, they may feel out of practice when developing recruitment strategies.  This is a good time to revisit how to attract the best and brightest with effectively written job descriptions.  It goes without saying; the best job description will clearly lay out the duties and expectations of the position.  The information that should not be included in a job description may be less obvious.  Job descriptions should be free of errors and potentially misleading statements that could upset employees and pose potential legal troubles.

To make sure your latest round of job descriptions isn’t saying more than you mean, be careful to avoid these common wording mistakes.

1. Elaborate Job Titles – To prevent misunderstandings, it’s important to use plain English in job descriptions, particularly in job titles.  It may be tempting to reword job titles to sound more attractive to candidates.  That’s how a secretary can become an office administrator or a janitor can become the director of waste management.  This seemingly innocent reinvention could mislead candidates, or worse, affect the position’s overtime eligibility under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
2. Excessive Physical Requirements – Every job has some sort of physical requirement.  An office worker may be required to move boxes of office supplies or copy paper, while a warehouse worker may be required to regularly lift and carry heavy loads of inventory.  The typical problem is, nobody really knows the realistic lifting limit for those jobs.  An arbitrary figure, such as 50 pounds, is often used in the job description.  This may seem like a good idea to cover the bases, but a candidate who can’t fulfill that requirement won’t see it that way.  Any arbitrary physical requirement opens the door for discrimination lawsuits, so be certain any physical requirements in a job description are accurate.
3. Promises of Advancement – Job descriptions should describe the available position, not tout future advancement opportunities.  This includes avoiding language such as, “This position is the first step toward [a higher position],” as this may imply a future promise of advancement or an employment contract.  To avoid this potential pitfall, keep the job description simple and focused on the position at hand.