SHL, which sells tatlent measurment solutions, says its Global Assessment Trends Report survey revealed that while leadership and employee engagement have risen to the top of the priority list, organizations see much less value in employee development programs – with only one-third of respondents considering it a priority, and even fewer using it as a retention strategy.
Additionally, while the majority of organizations saw the value in using talent measurement data to inform business decisions, many lacked the know-how to apply it to achieve quantifiable business outcomes.
“Our Trends Report has shown that as the economy continues its recovery, organizations are recognizing that their attraction and retention of top talent is what will propel them to the top of their newly reformed market landscapes,” said David Leigh, CEO of SHL.
“This may seem obvious in theory, but it’s proving to be difficult in practice. While these organizations aspire to make the best business decisions based on key talent measurement data, many lack the ability to do it effectively. So there is a tremendous opportunity for companies worldwide to put their People Intelligence to work to create positive, profitable business outcomes.”
Participants in the survey were asked to comment on a variety of topics such as the use of social media in the hiring process, employee retention, the importance of career development, company culture and more. The survey focused on three key areas: the 2012 HR landscape, assessments used in organizations, and the overall use of technology throughout HR processes. The accompanying results were benchmarked against last year’s trends to identify areas of growth for 2012. Key findings from the report indicated:
Disconnect Exists Between Talent Decisions and Business Outcomes: While the majority of those surveyed (more than 80% of respondents) recognize the connection between talent decisions and broader business goals, less than half actually collected quantifiable metrics to assess impact and inform large-scale business initiatives and outcomes.
Increased Emphasis on Engagement and Leadership: 56% of respondents earmarked engagement/retention and leadership development as top priorities for 2012 while approximately 70% of respondents indicated their organizations had formal and/or informal processes in place for such initiatives.
Career Development Takes a Dip: Despite a growing emphasis on internal talent for hiring, only one-third of HR professionals viewed career development as a top priority, and even fewer viewed this as a successful employee retention strategy.
Assessment Use Continues to Grow: Increasing numbers of companies (now more than 70%) use assessments for internal and external hiring decisions, with a focus on current behaviors and potential vs. past performance and experience.
Social Media as a Powerful Recruitment Tool: More companies are finding new ways to use social media for recruiting and hiring, and acceptance for this usage is steadily growing – with positive perceptions up 10 percentage points from last year alone.
More Companies Turn to Mobile: Asia continues to lead the way when it comes to Smart Phones and other mobile devices for recruiting, and not surprisingly, boasts a higher number of candidates requesting to take mobile-based assessments as compared Europe and the Americas.
For more information on the findings of the 2012 Global Assessment Trends Report, request a copy at www.shl.com/trends
Hiring optimism among U.S. employers is gaining momentum as positive outlooks are reported broadly across all industries and geographies, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey released today by ManpowerGroup.
While current gains are incremental and the economy’s growth may be slowed by rising gas prices, we’re still seeing numerous reports of increased hiring, corporate spending, and consumer optimism. We saw a recent news story that said even economists are seeing signs the U.S. economy is poised to accelerate.
This Manpower report suggests we’re not imagining things.
According to the seasonally adjusted survey results, the Net Employment Outlook for Quarter 2 2012 is +10%, up from +8% during the same period last year and from the +9% Outlook during Quarter 1 2012.
ManpowerGroup’s research concludes:
Growing Optimism Adds Up: Quarter 2 2012 marks the first double-digit Outlook since Quarter 4 2008, when the Outlook was also +10%, and is 12 percentage points higher than the recessionary low of -2% in 2009. This demonstrates a considerable improvement in employer confidence that is not easily seen quarter over quarter, with the last eight quarters showing only relatively stable or slight improvements in hiring conditions.
Workforces Expected to Grow Across All Industries: For Quarter 2 2012, employers in all industries across all regions surveyed indicate a positive Net Employment Outlook.
Nine Out of 10 Companies Steady or Growing: According to seasonally adjusted data, nine in 10 U.S. employers surveyed have conveyed that they plan to increase or make no changes to their hiring in Quarter 2 2012. The rise in confidence marks 10 straight quarters of positive overall survey results, which were preceded by three quarters of pessimistic employment plans.
All States Positive: Hiring intentions improved significantly among the states, with employers in all 50 states, Puerto Ricoand the District of Columbia reporting positive hiring plans. North Dakota remains a leader among the states with a significant increase in job prospects as the Outlook rises from +14% in Quarter 1 2012 to +26% in Quarter 2 2012. Other states with strong hiring forecasts include Alaska, Vermont, Delaware and Oklahoma, which all report a Net Employment Outlook above 20%.
Positive hiring intentions widespread
“Our survey data for Quarter 2 2012 is particularly encouraging because the positive hiring intentions are widespread across states, regions and markets,” said Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup president of the Americas.
“Positive hiring intentions tell us that employers are seeing increased demand for their products and services, and that is good news for the labor market. Although we are not out of the woods yet, our data shows that this hiring progression is increasingly solid.”
Of the more than 18,000 employers surveyed, 18 percent anticipate an increase in staff levels in their Quarter 2 2012 hiring plans, while 6 percent expect a decrease in payrolls, resulting in a Net Employment Outlook of +12%. When seasonally adjusted, the Net Employment Outlook becomes +10%. Seventy-two percent of employers expect no change in their hiring plans. The final 4 percent of employers are undecided about their hiring intentions.
Healing process further along than realized
“It is well documented that this recovery is atypically slow. However, if we were able to see a time- lapse video of the recovery, we would see there is a noticeable positive trend,” said Prising. “Compared to three years ago at this time, the seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook increased from -2% to +10%, which is considerable. The data tells us that the healing process is further along than most realize.”
According to a study done by ManpowerGroup, sales representatives constitute the second most difficult position for employers to fill, only behind those with skilled trades. Despite a national unemployment rate of 8.3 percent, it seems that many organizations are continuing to experience challenges in recruiting the right sales people.
The cost of hiring the wrong person in a territory can be significant for your business.
Not only do you need to consider the cost of hire (fees, interview costs, management time, and opportunity costs), but it may take between 3–6 months for you to truly understand whether you have made a mistake. During those months you’re footing the bill for their salary and expenses, while they give away your market share to the competition. So how do you build a successful sales team?
Hiring the wrong person can cost you
“Make no mistake, hiring the wrong person could cost you well beyond six figures,” says David Mattson, CEO of Sandler Training. “What most people don’t realize is that they might find that their ideal sales representative is already working for their company — just not in the sales function. We work with business owners and sales managers who are open to building an effective sales team by developing this talent within the organization, as well as hiring from the outside.”
Sandler Training offers these tips for organizations that are looking for the right internal candidates to fulfill the sales function:
Create The Ideal Profile. Create a job description and identify the primary functions of the role for which you are recruiting. Use this to develop a custom profile of your ideal candidate and accompanying hiring criteria that is specific to your type of business, the sales environment within which it operates, and the level of performance you are seeking.
Most importantly, if the last five salespeople that you hired didn’t work out, challenge your hiring criteria by seeking an independent third party to help you connect the dots and find what commonalities these people have to establish the trends that didn’t work.
Chances are that you are hiring the same “type” of person without even realizing it. Screen candidates and score each one against that ideal profile. Make sure that the individual you are interviewing is ready to assume the role. If they don’t fit the profile, don’t take them any further in the process.
Find the Innate Traits. So what character traits do successful salespeople possess that others do not and how can your business decide what can be learned versus what is innate?
“The traits that are often attributing to making good salespeople may actually be traits to avoid,” counsels Mattson.
“We have seen study after study refuting common misconceptions about salespeople’s personalities, such as a good salesperson is Mr./Ms. Personality — one that everyone loves; or the perception that a company has to hire from outside the company to get the talent it needs. These may be among the worst misconceptions that companies have.”
Instead, look for a person with the right qualities who can learn the sales function. A successful sales process is a mathematical, scientific function that can be taught by training the behaviors that lead to the intended results. If you find the right people, sales is a discipline where success can be taught, duplicated and multiplied time after time with the right training and reinforcement program.
Train and Retain. Retention is just as important as recruitment and you need to ensure that your best salespeople are fully on board with recruitment decisions that will impact their team.
Involve them in the interview process and ensure that all new sales team members are provided with advanced training that equips them with the tools they need to do their jobs, and outlines what behaviors and actions they will need to become successful. This will ensure that they can contribute to the success of the entire sales team and will help you retain the right people.
Business.com says that more than half of all job applicants list untrue information on their resumes, so you may want to run a background check before hiring.
If so, this infographic from Business.com fills you in on how to go about it:
Visit Business.com for background checks and other business resources.
Technology executives expect continued information technology (IT) hiring in the second quarter of 2012, albeit at a slower pace than three months ago, according to the just-released Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report.
In the latest quarterly survey, 8 percentof chief information officers (CIOs) interviewed said they plan to expand their IT departments, and 5 percent expect cutbacks, for a net 3 percent projected increase in hiring activity.
Most CIOs plan to maintain their current staff levels: 85 percent of those surveyed plan no change in hiring, up 15 points from the first quarter.
In the same survey, 87 percent of technology executives were somewhat or very optimistic about their companies’ growth prospects in the next three months, and 77 percent felt confident in their firms’ second-quarter investment in IT projects.
The IT Hiring Index and Skills Report is based on telephone interviews with more than 1,400 CIOs from companies across the United States with 100 or more employees. Executives are asked whether their companies plan to increase or decrease the number of full-time IT personnel on their staff during the coming quarter.
The survey is conducted by an independent research firm and developed by Robert Half Technology, a leading provider of IT professionals on a project and full-time basis. Robert Half has been tracking IT hiring activity in the United States since 1995.
Key Findings
The net 3 percent increase in anticipated IT hiring activity is down seven points from a net 10 percent increase in hiring activity projected last quarter. Eighty-five percent of CIOs plan to maintain their current staffing levels, up 15 points from the first quarter.
Networking and IT security professionals are in greatest demand, followed closely by help desk/technical support professionals, according to survey respondents.
Sixty-five percent of CIOs said it’s challenging to find skilled professionals today.
Eighty-seven percent of CIOs are somewhat or very confident in their companies’ growth prospects in the next three months.
Seventy-seven percent of technology executives expressed confidence in their firms’ second-quarter investments in IT projects, rating the likelihood that their companies would be investing in IT projects a three or higher on a five-point scale, with five being most confident.
“Although hiring in the second quarter isn’t expected to be as robust as it was at the beginning of the year, the trend remains positive. Those in hot specialties, such as networking and IT security, will continue to be in strong demand,” said John Reed, executive director of Robert Half Technology. “Mobile media is an especially important area of growth right now.”
Confidence in Business Growth and IT Investments Eighty-seven percent of CIOs reported being somewhat or very confident in their companies’ prospects for growth in the second quarter of 2012; 77 percent of technology executives expressed confidence in their firms’ second-quarter investment in IT projects, rating the likelihood that their companies would be investing in IT projects a three or higher on a five-point scale, with five being most confident.
Skills in Demand The functional areas in which executives say they are experiencing the greatest challenge in finding skilled IT professionals are networking (16 percent) and IT security (15 percent). Help desk/technical support, applications development and data/database management followed, cited by 14 percent,13 percent and 10 percent of survey respondents, respectively.
Network administration remains the skill set in greatest demand, cited by 55 percent of CIOs. Database management and desktop support were next, with 54 percent and 51 percent, of the response, respectively.
Regional Outlook CIOs in the Mountain(1) region plan the most IT hiring in the second quarter with a net 12 percent of executives anticipating adding IT staff; 17 percent plan an increase in hiring, and 5 percent expect to cut back.
Industries Hiring Executives in the wholesale industry expect the most IT hiring in the second quarter. A net 12 percent of CIOs in this sector plan to expand their IT departments. This was followed by the transportation industry with a net 9 percent of technology leaders anticipating hiring increases. Manufacturing was next, with a net 7 percent of executives in this industry planning to add staff.
Spending on public and private IT cloud services will generate nearly 14 million jobs worldwide from 2011 to 2015, according to a new study by the analyst firm IDC. The research, commissioned by Microsoft, also found that IT innovation created by cloud computing could produce $1.1 trillion a year in new business revenues.
“The cloud is going to have a huge impact on job creation,” says Susan Hauser, Microsoft corporate vice president of the Worldwide Enterprise and Partner Group. “It’s a transformative technology that will drive down costs, spur innovation, and open up new jobs and skillsets across the globe.”
One way in which the cloud is helping companies to be more innovative is by freeing up IT managers to work on more mission-critical projects.
“We deployed Microsoft Office 365 and Windows Intune for one of our clients, and the comment we heard from the chief operations officer is that he can actually schedule a meeting with the IT director to talk about strategic applications,” says Carol Reid, sales director for Agile IT, a Microsoft Tier 3 Cloud Champion Member headquartered in San Diego, CA.
“Whereas before, the IT director was chasing fires and tending to pretty basic plumbing, he now has the bandwidth to pursue truly strategic projects that move the business forward.”
Cloud improves sharing with customers & partners
In addition, many businesses are using the cloud to improve how they work with customers and partners.
“One of the trends we’re seeing is that companies are using cloud-based collaboration software not just for their internal employees, but to engage and share information with partners and vendors,” says Aaron Nettles, co-founder and CEO of Vorsite, a Microsoft Tier 3 Cloud Champion Member based in Seattle, Wash. “So it’s really not just about maintaining technology but also about leveraging it to drive revenue for the business.”
To accommodate the growing interest in the cloud, Nettles plans to double the size of his workforce this year. “It seems like a threshold has been crossed where customers are no longer asking, ‘Is the cloud right?’ but ‘When can we get it deployed?’”
“Are there jobs there? Yes,” he says. “We need more resources to get this technology into the hands of our customers, which is to their benefit and delight.”
Moving to the Cloud
Of the 14 million new jobs that the cloud will generate between 2011 and 2015, a roughly equal number will accrue to large and small businesses, according to the IDC study.
Although small businesses make up the majority of employment in most parts of the world, they are generally less computerized. At the same time, IDC expects small- and medium-size businesses to adopt cloud services faster than large companies, many of which are constrained by existing legacy investments.
“So when you put it all together, the two trends balance out, and you get a 50-50 split,” says John Gantz, senior vice president at IDC and author of the white paper.
Jobs will be proportional to industry size
The study found that the number of new jobs produced by cloud computing will be somewhat proportional to the size of each industry, but not entirely. In some industries, such as professional services and retail, the high percentage of small- and medium-size businesses will drive up adoption.
In other sectors, such as banking, security issues will slow the move to the public cloud, but may increase adoption of private IT cloud services. Overall, three industries expected to generate the most cloud-related jobs are communications and media (2.4 million), banking (1.4 million), and discrete manufacturing (1.3 million).
The highest percentage of new jobs will occur in emerging markets, according to the study, especially China and India, which together are expected to produce nearly 6.8 million cloud-enabled jobs between 2011 and 2015.
This can partly be attributed to the size of their workforces, and partly to the fact that many Chinese and Indian companies aren’t bound by large legacy system investments. “We tend to think of China and India as emerging markets, but they’re actually early adopters of the cloud,” Gantz says. “They’re not bound to existing systems. They’ve skipped that step, so there’s less holding them back.”
1.2 million cloud-related jobs will be created
Nearly 1.2 million new cloud-related jobs will be created in the U.S. and Canada, according to the IDC study. An early adopter of cloud computing, the U.S. accounted for 62 percent of worldwide spending in public IT cloud services in 2011.
IDC developed its results by analyzing cloud spending trends in more than 40 countries and then using this information to forecast the number of jobs this spending will create.
“Enterprises that embrace cloud computing reduce the amount of IT time and budget devoted to legacy systems and routine upgrades, which then increases the time and budget they have for more innovative projects,” Gantz says. “When IT innovation happens, business innovation is reached, which then supports job creation.”
In a blog post about the study, Robert Youngjohns, president, Microsoft North America, calls the cloud “one of the most profound transformations in computing history.”
“Given the current difficult economic environment, every business is looking to empower their people, reduce costs, improve their customer connections, and create new opportunities through their technology investments,” he writes.
Hauser says Microsoft customers are using the cloud as an opportunity to re-examine their business models for working with customers, vendors, and other stakeholders. By moving to the cloud, for example, one auto sales parts customer has been able to source its parts faster and develop new inventory that will improve the customer experience.
Likewise, a large pharmaceutical customer is leveraging the cloud to obtain feedback from think tanks around the world, which it then shares with customers to improve health care. “Again and again, we’re seeing how the cloud is helping our customers save costs and improve the customer experience,” she says.
Ultimately, the cloud will be an important force in helping to restore worldwide economic health, Hauser says. “The cloud is the No. 1 topic among CIOs from around the world,” she says. “They want to know how they can use it to fuel growth. And they want to be sure they have the right people and skills in place to make it happen.”
Job creation among small businesses continued in February, albeit slowly. This slow growth was accompanied by a small uptick in compensation and slight decrease in hours worked.
As an overall trend, employment is up modestly, but the number of hours worked by hourly employees is about the same as last month, seasonally adjusted.
February’s report estimates that small business employment grew by 0.2 percent, equating to an annual growth rate of 2.9 percent, and approximately 45,000 new jobs.
Intuit plans to recalibrate its Employment Index in the coming months and expects these numbers to be lower. This is a common statistical practice and the recalibration will be based on new data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which are used as inputs into the Index.
While employment grew slowly in February, average monthly hours worked decreased slightly by 0.04 percent, or six minutes, and average monthly compensation increased by 0.15 percent, or $4 per worker.
The Index is based on figures from small businesses with fewer than 20 employees that use Intuit Online Payroll. More information on the index is available at index.intuit.com.
“We saw another month of tepid improvement for small businesses in February, echoing pretty much all of the other indicators of economic activity,” said Susan Woodward, the economist who worked with Intuit to create the Index.
Employment up, hours worked down
“As an overall trend, employment is up modestly, but the number of hours worked by hourly employees is about the same as last month, seasonally adjusted.”
“Compensation is up very slightly in dollar terms, but adjusted for inflation, it is essentially flat. The hiring rate is slightly down on a seasonally adjusted basis, and sits at about half of what it was before the recession was underway. The low hiring rate reflects the reluctance of employees to leave their jobs in such an unsecure job market, so employers do not need to hire to replace them. This phenomenon is present in firms of all sizes, and is not unique to small firms.”
Based on January’s numbers and revised national employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Intuit revised upward the previously reported January growth rate to 0.3 percent. This equates to 55,000 jobs added in January, up from a previously reported 50,000 jobs, though these numbers are expected to be lower once the Index is recalibrated.
Slight Decrease in Hours Worked, Increase in Compensation
Small business hourly employees worked an average of 108.5 hours in February, a slight decrease of 0.04 percent from 108.6 hours in January, making for a 25-hour workweek. Average monthly pay for all small business employees increased slightly to $2,686 in February, an increase of 0.15 percent from the January revised estimate of $2,682 per month. The equivalent annual wages would be about $32,200 per year, which is part-time work for many small business employees.
Small Business Employment by Geography
The Intuit Index shows employment growth in all census divisions, except for the East North Central region.
“Interestingly, the biggest gains were seen in the states that have suffered most from the recession – the majority of the western states, plus Florida,” said Woodward. “The area around New York continues to look softer than the rest of the country.”
U.S. Census Division
Percent Change in Employment
East North Central
-0.03%
West North Central
0.07%
Middle Atlantic
0.11%
Mountain
0.6%
New England
0.15%
Pacific
0.4%
South Atlantic
0.3%
East South Central
0.4%
West South Central
0.4%
Small Business Employment by U.S. Census Division continues to grow in most parts of the country. The data reflects employment from approximately 73,000 small business employers who use Intuit Online Payroll. The month-to-month changes are seasonally-adjusted and informative about the overall economy.
State
Percent Change in Employment
Arizona
1.0%
California
0.4%
Florida
0.5%
Georgia
0.3%
Illinois
-0.09%
Maryland
-0.04%
Massachusetts
0.3%
New Jersey
0.3%
New York
-0.06%
North Carolina
0.2%
Oregon
-0.18%
Pennsylvania
-0.16%
Texas
0.5%
Virginia
0.6%
Washington
0.8%
Small Business Employment by State is up for most states in which Intuit Online Payroll has more than 1,000 small business firms represented. The month-to-month changes are seasonally adjusted and informative about the overall economy.
The Intuit Small Business Employment Index is based on aggregate and anonymous online employment data from approximately 73,000 small business employers, each with fewer than 20 employees..
It’s undeniable that small business is the growth engine of the economy. The Small Business Administration reports that there are 22.9 million small businesses in the United States.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states that 90 percent of all net job creation from 1996-2007 came from small businesses. There is little question that if the US is to recover from this recession and if unemployment is to be driven down, small business will lead the way. Yet, not all small business owners choose to grow.
By Doug and Poly White
Polly White
Harvard Business School teaches that the primary objective of a business in our capitalist system is to create shareholder value. To oversimplify only a little, businesses increase shareholder value by growing the bottom line.
To be sure, if a business has financial investors, there is a fiduciary obligation to grow the bottom line. You might think that this is a no-brainer. Certainly all business owners would want to grow their enterprise. What we found might surprise you.
During the course of conducting research for our new book, Let Go to Grow; why some businesses thrive and others fail to reach their potential, we interviewed the owners of more than 100 small and midsize businesses.
More than a few had made a conscious decision not to expand their companies any further. Growing their businesses is simply not something they wish to do or feel they can do. We found three primary reasons that small business owners decided not to grow.
1. To avoid risk and maintain their lifestyle – We spoke with a concrete contractor who has revenue of about $2 million per annum. The owner pulls enough cash out of the company each year to make a very nice life for himself and his family. He has time for a wonderful personal life and is able to pursue some hobbies that he loves.
As a businessman, he is highly respected in his industry. Because he is honest, trustworthy, reliable, and good at what he does, there is usually more work than he can accept. Even when times are tough, he keeps his crews busy.
There is little doubt that he could grow the business significantly if he decided to do so. Growing the business would mean buying more equipment, hiring more people, probably working longer hours, and definitely delegating significant decision-making authority to new managers. The owner has decided not to take that path, at least not right now.
All things considered, it’s a completely reasonable decision. We spoke with numerous business owners who, like this concrete contractor, had made the decision not to grow their businesses to avoid further risk and to maintain their comfortable lifestyle.
2. To avoid regulation – A local bank was very successful. Through hard work and excellent customer service, it had grown its assets exponentially. In the process, it had created wonderful jobs and hired many people. It was a great example of small business fueling the growth of the American economy.
As the number of employees grew the diligent head of human resources approached the president and said, “You know, when we hit 50 employees; we’ll be subject to FMLA” (the Family Medical Leave Act). After gaining a thorough understanding of the complexity of complying with the Act, the President made a conscious decision to stop the growth of his bank. Job creation came to a screeching halt.
The president wasn’t opposed to extending the benefits of FMLA to his employees. Rather, he made an informed decision to avoid the considerable cost associated with the complexity of maintaining records and making judgments about what qualified for FMLA and what did not―so much for small businesses fueling the growth of the economy.
Large Fortune 500 companies may be able to afford the cost of regulation because they can amortize it over tens of thousands of employees and over billions of dollars of revenue. Unfortunately, small businesses don’t have that luxury. Further, a company doesn’t have to reach the 50 employee mark to be subject to significant regulatory requirements.
In fact, in the Commonwealth of Virginia (a relatively business friendly state), we count dozens of different state and federal regulations with which a business must comply when it hires its first employee. They include acronyms such as CCPA, FLSA, USERRA, OSHA, FICA, FUTA, HIPAA, ERISA, and the list goes on and on. It’s enough to make an entrepreneurs head explode.
We spoke with a small general contractor who, after trying to grow, made the conscious decision to eliminate all of his employees to avoid the burden of these regulations. He remains in business as a “solopreneur.” We were quite surprised to find that a government, which claims to be focused on reducing unemployment, is actually crushing job creation with over regulation and yet, there it was.
3. To avoid having to delegate responsibilities – Through hard work, perseverance and sacrifice, George Carson had grown his cabinet business, Riverside Manufacturing, to a company with 40 employees. The employees operated the equipment. They built and installed the cabinets. They made sales calls and resolved customer service issues.
They scheduled production, shipped product, sent invoices and paid bills. Overhead was still very low. There were no supervisors or managers. To the extent that there was any formal organizational structure, everyone reported to George.
George was unwilling to let go of decision-making responsibility and he wouldn’t delegate the hiring or management of any of the workers. Once his capacity to perform these tasks was exhausted, growth stopped. Although he struggled to explain why, George just wasn’t comfortable delegating decision-making authority.
He was probably right, because Riverside lacked the infrastructure necessary for successful delegation. It didn’t have the right managers in place. It didn’t have well documented processes to communicate to employees how George wanted things to be done. Finally, it didn’t have a robust set of metrics to let George know what was going on in his business if he weren’t personally present.
Without these three things, delegation is risky at best. George chose to continue making all of the decisions himself. When George’s capacity was exhausted, Riverside’s growth stalled because he decided not to delegate decision-making responsibility and he wouldn’t delegate because he didn’t have the right infrastructure. Although he didn’t realize George was the constraint to growth in his own business.
Whether it’s satisfaction with the status quo, a desire to avoid the burden of regulation or not understanding how to delegate, many small business owners have implicitly or explicitly made a decision not to grow their businesses. Some pundits subscribe to a mantra that in business you have to grow or die. We found example after example of entrepreneurs who debunk this myth every day.
It’s completely reasonable for business owners to make an explicit decision not to grow because they are satisfied with the current size of their enterprise. That’s their choice. It’s shameful that our government incents small businesses not to hire and crushes job growth with unnecessarily burdensome regulation. It’s unfortunate that some entrepreneurs unwittingly become the constraint to growth in their own businesses because they don’ know how to delegate properly.
Doug White
Doug and Polly White are Principals at Whitestone Partners; a management-consulting firm that helps small businesses build the infrastructure they need to grow profitably. They are also coauthors of the groundbreaking new book, Let Go to GROW; why some businesses thrive and others fail to reach their potential (Palari Publishing 2011). The book, which was named a Best Business Book of 2011 by the NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business) explains how entrepreneurs can avoid the most common pitfalls as their businesses grow and is available at www.WhitestonePartnersInc.com
Hiring in professional fields is likely to continue rising in the second quarter but at a slower pace than forecast for the first quarter, a new Robert Half survey shows.
A net 2 percent of executives interviewed for the Robert Half Professional Employment Report plan to add full-time staff in the second three months of 2012, down from 10 percent last quarter. The biggest trend in the survey is the increase in the number of respondents who anticipate no change in hiring activity: 89 percent versus 78 percent last quarter.
Against this background, 91 percent of executives reported they are somewhat or very confident in their companies’ growth prospects in the second quarter, up four points from the first-quarter survey. In addition, more than six in 10 respondents (61 percent) indicated they are having difficulty finding skilled employees today.
Key Findings
Five percent of executives anticipate bringing in additional staff, and 3 percent expect personnel reductions. Eighty-nine percent of respondents project no changes to the size of their full-time, professional-level teams in the second quarter.
Nine out of 10 (91 percent) executives expressed confidence about growth at their firms during the quarter.
Sixty-one percent of those surveyed reported recruiting challenges.
The legal field is again expected to see the strongest hiring activity, with a net 22 percent of lawyers planning to increase staff levels.
Businesses in the East South Central1 states anticipate hiring most actively, with a net8 percent of executives in the region expecting to add professional-level staff.
Respondents in the transportation sector are most likely to make staff additions in the second quarter; a net 9 percent said they anticipate hiring.
Hiring Expectations: By Profession
Increase
Decrease
Net
Increase
Total
5%
3%
2%
Accounting and finance
4%
5%
-1%
Advertising and marketing
13%
3%
10%
Human resources
4%
2%
2%
Information technology (IT)
8%
5%
3%
Legal
26%
4%
22%
Sales and business development
7%
2%
5%
Executives Reporting Recruiting Challenges: All Professions
Quarter
Executives Facing
Recruiting Challenges
2Q12
61%
1Q12
67%
4Q11
59%
3Q11
42%
2Q11
37%
“Although the hiring outlook for professional-level positions remains positive overall, it could be tempered somewhat in reaction to issues such as the fiscal uncertainties in the Eurozone and weaker growth in Asia,” said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International.
Added Brett Good, a senior district president with Robert Half International, “Companies that are not ready to make a full-time hire often fill human resource needs on a temporary basis so they can staff up or down as business demands change. Temporary and project professionals provide access to skills on a right-now basis and can give businesses more control over their personnel budgets.”
Professional-Level Hiring — By Region
Executives in the East South Central states expect the most active hiring levels in the second quarter, with a net 8 percent of respondents planning to add staff. “A number of companies, especially manufacturing and distribution firms, have relocated some of their operations to these states, driving hiring activity,” Messmer commented. “Businesses are seeking staff accountants and the planning and strategic expertise of senior financial analysts, as well as database developers, network administrators and desktop support professionals.”
Freelancer.com, the world’s largest outsourcing marketplace, has disclosed its findings on the fastest growing online jobs with the release of the Freelancer Fast 50 for 2011, together with the company’s predictions for 2012.
“We are uniquely positioned to comment on jobs conducted online, with over 3.2 million users and 1.5 million jobs posted on Freelancer.com to date,” said CEO Matt Barrie.
The Freelancer.com Fast 50 charts the top 50 rising job categories in the online labor market quarter by quarter. The 2011 Freelancer Fast 50 is the amalgamation of those results for the year.
“Each year we examine hundreds of thousands of jobs posted on Freelancer.com. This year our team of data analysts uncovered insights, backed by empirical evidence, regarding trends that are frequently commented on by the press. The techniques we use enable us to gauge community and developer interest more accurately than the traditional methods,” Barrie concluded.
TOP TRENDS OF THE FREELANCER FAST 50 FOR 2011
2011 saw the rise of a new generation of Web 2.0 entrepreneur
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Smartphones: It’s all about when Android will beat the iPhone ecosystem..
Tremendous growth in iPad jobs; BlackBerry Playbook stillborn.
This data was extracted from the skills specified in 783,373 jobs posted on Freelancer.com in 2010 and 2011. The Freelancer.com Freelancer Fast 50 is the leading gauge of online hiring trends. The Fast 50 is calculated by looking at the fastest rising and falling job sectors on Freelancer.com where job volumes exceed 1,000.
The GSMA today announced new research findings that demonstrate the positive, long-term economic impact of the global mobile industry.
The research, developed byA.T. Kearney, GSMA Wireless Intelligence and Machina Research, indicates that global mobile industry revenues will grow fromUS$1.5 trillion dollars in 2011 to US$1.9 trillion in 2015.
The data also predicts significant growth in mobile industry employment; today, more than 8 million people around the world are employed by companies in the mobile ecosystem, and by the end of 2015, mobile industry jobs will grow to approximately 10 million.
Creating a “connected economy”
“The mobile communications industry is creating a “Connected Economy” across the globe, through network investment, job creation and contributions to public funding,” said Anne Bouverot, Director General, GSMA.
“Clearly, as the economic indicators show, the mobile industry is success story, particularly in light of the lingering worldwide economic crisis. Perhaps even more powerful, though, is how mobile is transforming adjacent industries, such as education, healthcare, payments and transactions, transportation and utilities. Mobile is connecting the world as no other technology has before.”
Mobile Industry Snapshot: 2011-2015
2011
2015
Mobile Connections
6.6 billion
9.1 billion
Mobile Subscribers
3.6 billion
4.6 billion
Mobile Broadband Connections
1.3 billion
3.2 billion
LTE Connections
10 million
353 million
Mobile Industry Revenues
$1.5 trillion
$1.9 trillion
Mobile Operator Revenues
$984 billion
$1.1 trillion
Mobile Industry Capex
$189 billion
$204 billion
Mobile Operator Capex
$158 billion
$173 billion
Contribution to Public Funding
$617 billion
$718 billion
Total Mobile Industry Jobs (worldwide)
8 million
10 million
Revenues and capex in US Dollars
Over the next four years, 2012 through 2015, the mobile industry will invest US$793 billion in capital and contribute US$2.7 trillion to public funding(1) across the globe.
Beyond the global economic impact, mobile is a significant factor in the growth of local economies. According to the World Bank, a 10 per cent increase in mobile penetration drives a 0.6 per cent increase in a developed country’s GDP and a 0.81 per cent increase a developing country’s GDP. In low-to-middle income countries, a 10 per cent increase in Mobile Broadband penetration yields a 1.4 per cent increase in GDP.
Initiatives for Growth
Mobile operators are focusing on several key areas that will contribute to further industry growth.
These include making continued significant investments in Mobile Broadband and LTE technologies to connect the world’s population to the Internet; accelerating the adoption of embedded mobile technology to create the ‘Connected Life’; and driving the adoption of SIM-based mobile NFC handsets and services to grow mCommerce.
Through these and many other initiatives, and through organic growth, the mobile industry will experience significant improvement across all key economic metrics.
“As an industry, we will build the Connected Economy while ensuring interoperability of services across operators, networks and countries,” continued Bouverot.
“We will provide a single point of trusted customer care to users to address any issues related to their devices or services. We will ensure the security of our customers’ services and data. And we will respect and protect our customers’ privacy. That has always been, and will continue to be, mobile operators’ core promise.”
Is the resume an outdated and increasingly less effective hiring tool? Startup Unrabble thinks so, and CEO Kevin Watson says his company’s cloud-based software leverages social media to provide potential employers with much richer profiles of job candidates.
“That way they can focus on exactly what they’re looking for,” Watson says.
Founded in 2009 by Watson, Chris Rickborn, COO, and Marc Slack, CTO, Unrabble has closed a $3 million round of funding in 2010 from C/max Capital and Morgenthau Ventures.
It is one of 60 innovative tech firms presenting at the Southeast Venture Conference in Tysons Corner, VA, next week. The event is nearing sell-out capacity.
Unrabble is looking for between $3 million and $5 million in growth capital.
We’ve seen quite a few firms attempt to update the hiring process for small to medium-sized businesses that do not have the financial clout to hire recruiters or staff large human resources departments. But, Watson notes, “We’re the only non-resume-based system of this kind.”
Its major competition, he adds, is from traditional applicant evaluation systems – typically an in-box full of resumes.
The company evolved after Watson and the other Unrabble founders left identity verification firm Verid when it sold to EMC in 2007 where Watson was chair and CEO. Prior to Verid, Watson founded C/max Capital, where he led investments in Verid, which raised more than $20 million in equity backing.
Watson also served as acting CFO at About.com, leading its $86 million initial public offering.
Find a need and fill it
Watson says that when his team left Verid, “We started talking about what to do next. We realized that we had put together a terrific team, but if we wanted to hire someone, we had to spend days looking at resumes or pay a recruiter thousands of dollars. We looked around for a better solution, but there really wasn’t anything.”
What does a good entrepreneur do when there is a need and no solution? Create one.
“We saw the explosion in social media profiles,” Watson says. And thus, Unrabble was born.
“Hiring is one of the problems that is uniform across industries and stage,” he points out, “but large companies have HR departments. Smaller ones are stuck with the outdated resume process that can be painful and costly in terms of both time and money.”
Since the Unrabble team were not HR pros, they were not constrained by traditional hiring processes. “We just wanted a better way to manage it,” he says. “We want it to be an incredibly intuitive process anyone can use without training or implementation, from a VP of customer service to mom and pop firms with a handful of employees.”
Feedback on the product has been excellent, and the company already has more than 1,000 employers signed up. “We focus on the employer,” Watson says, “but they can post jobs wherever they want, all their social media sites, job boards, their own site, email. Candidates are directed via a link to a white label page where they submit their profile, which can be from LinkedIn, Facebook, or done from scratch.”
Unrabble offers a free plan, a $29 a month plan, and a $49 a month plan – each based on the number of active jobs and selection of features.
The annual survey released today compiles responses from 300 family firm executives from a wide range of industry sectors. 54% of respondents indicated that they intend to hire more workers in the next twelve months, while only 8% said they would be reducing their workforce.
This is the latest of several reports suggesting the economy is looking better to businesses large and small. Many seem to feel the recovery may still be fragile, but without shocks, it is likely to accelerate this year.
Longevity and stable leadership
Longevity and stable leadership are among other attributes of family-owned businesses. 33% of respondents represent companies that have been in business between 30 and 60 years, while 44% have been in business for over 60 years. Among these well-established firms, more than one-third of the respondents have had the same executive running the company for over 20 years.
Although 50% of the respondents indicated flat or lower revenue as a result of the recession, only 34% have reduced their workforce. In fact, many older firms demonstrated core strength in the face of a tough recession – one-third of businesses with between 60 and 100 years of operation actually increased their workforce over the last couple of years.
“This year’s survey reaffirms the bedrock principles of family-owned businesses based on what we know from academic research,” said FEUSA President Ann Kinkade.
“Because of their focus on long-term, sustainable growth, family owned businesses are committed to their employees and communities over time. Family firms have leadership tenure four to five times longer than shareholder-controlled businesses. They also have greater workforce stability and are more likely to hire and retain employees in the face of a tough economy.”
Not looking for tax breaks
The FEUSA survey also found that family businesses are not interested in special tax breaks and short-term stimulus. In fact, 53% of respondents favored long-term predictability when it comes to the tax code, over more favorable short-term tax provisions.
Uncertainty in the tax code and in government regulations is the biggest impediment to job growth, according to 44% of those surveyed. Support for long-term predictability versus short-term benefit ran greatest among businesses that have more than 30 years in operation.
Issue priorities for family firms centered mostly on tax and regulatory issues with estate tax being the number one issue at 65%. Tax reform that eliminates loopholes and reduces rates ranked second and general regulatory reduction ranking a close third.
The new health care law is also of concern to family firms, with 61% saying they believe that the new law will result in higher premiums making it harder to pay for employee health care. More intensity on the impact of the health care law was found among family businesses of 100 employers or more.
The 2012 Annual Family Enterprise USA survey received 300 responses from executive-level officials from family firms between November 2011-January 2012. 48% of respondents hold the title of CEO or President, 26% are owners of the company, and the balance hold senior leadership positions.
Responses were received from businesses in 33 of the 50 states and represent over a dozen different industry sectors, including manufacturing, finance, construction, retail and wholesale trade, restaurants, and agriculture.
Twitter is teaming with American Express to launch its new automated system for advertisers – freeing them from the need to deal with Twitter sales reps. Initally, the system will be open only to businesses who accept or use American Express cards.
Amercian Express says it will buy $100 in Twitter ads for the first 10,000 qualified U.S. small businesses that sign up.
Later this year, Twitter will open up the system to other businesses and marketers.
The micro-blogging service, which has 100 million users, made approximately $140 million last year, according to eMarketer. It probably needs to do better than that before launching an anticipated initial public offering of stock. Emarketer predicts it will make about $250 million selling ads this year.
By comparison, Facebook made $3.2 bllion and Google $36.5 billion last year.
Yelp prices IPO stock at $12 to $14 a share
In an amended SEC filing, Yelp, which publishes recommendations and reviews of restaurants, shopping and entertainment and services, says the starting price range on its upcoming initial public offering of stock will be $12 to $14. Yelp filed for the IPO in November.
The company, which disclosed $58.4 million in revenue for the first three quarters of 2011, the bulk of it from advertising.
Rocky Agrawal recently editorialized in VentureBeat that Yelp advertising rips off small businesses by charging 1,000 times more than the industry standard and the ads are poorly targeted.
Flickr co-founder launches another startup
Caterina Fake Caterina Fake co-founded photo sharing site Flickr with Stewart Butterfield in 2004. Flickr was purchased by Yahoo in 2005. Fake also co-founded Hunch, in 2009.
Caterina Fake, co-founder of Flickr, has launched a new startup called Pinwheel, currently in private beta.
Pinwheel lets users create notes and pin them to locations. Users can follow others – much like Pinterest. It will make money from sponsored notes.
San Francisco-based Pinwheel is backed by Redpoint Ventures, True Ventures, BEtaworks, Founder Collective, SV Angel, Obvious Corp, and angel investors. It is currently hiring iOS developers.
Virtualization as the technology foundation of cloud computing has ushered in new challenges, new day-to-day responsibilities and, now, new roles for IT professionals as business leaders within their organizations.
A recent survey by SolarWinds Inc. (NYSE: SWI), a leading provider of powerful and affordable IT management software, indicates that IT departments plan to invest in key areas of business in order to play a more competitive role.
“IT’s role of creating and maintaining infrastructure is transforming to act as more of an intermediary or broker in addition to those traditional roles,” said Jonathan Reeve, SolarWinds’ senior director of product management. “IT professionals will need to demonstrate their expertise by identifying and implementing the most appropriate virtualization and cloud tools that fit their company’s needs. Investing in areas such as competitive analysis, marketing and product management will help them on their way to becoming successful business leaders.”
Survey Findings: SolarWinds recently conducted a survey in December 2011 and received responses from nearly 65 IT professionals. As part of the survey, SolarWinds asked each IT professional a series of questions related to their predictions and organizations’ plans regarding cloud andvirtualization. Survey findings include:
Nearly 65 percent of respondents plan to invest in competitive analysis vs. external services.
More than 60 percent plan to invest in marketing IT services back to the business.
Nearly 60 percent plan to invest in product management for those IT services.
“IT departments looking to stay competitive should ask themselves what direction their company is heading, identify the goals and determine IT’s strategic role,” continued Reeve. “The good news is that IT departments already have the upper-hand in understanding the unique requirements of the businesses they support.”
Three Tips for IT Pros Developing a Competitive, Business Skill Set:
1. Embrace the evolution of virtualization. First and foremost, IT professionals need to be up-to-speed on the evolution of technology and know how to manage a virtual infrastructure, including its performance, availability, capacity and applications. A core understanding of virtualization and cloud technologies has become table stakes for IT leaders.
2. Develop partnerships. IT professionals will need to identify and collaborate with vendors that are making it easier to adopt features that enhance virtualization and facilitate the transition to cloud computing. Start experimenting early and often. This will simplify the process for IT professionals whose companies are looking to move into a cloud infrastructure. Another advantage is that this will demonstrate their ability to develop and manage vital partnerships that provide the right enhancement features for their companies’ needs.
3. Become a successful business leader. This is the defining piece. IT professionals need to become prominent leaders and advise their companies on the right infrastructure needs to drive the business forward. Skills such as marketing and product management are not only for vendors, they are becoming increasingly important for IT departments whose delivery of IT services is inevitably going to be compared to outside service providers.
The imminent reformatting of Facebook looks set to further expose the private lives of its users.
The standard layout will be transformed into a timeline of events, a collated year by year account of user’s movements on Facebook since their birth, or Facebook sign-up date.
It has, understandably, caused a stir amongst employers and employees, because of the backlog of history now so readily available to browse and click.
In short, if nothing is tailored, made private or deleted, employers have immediate access to a potential candidate’s ‘social’ history – warts and all.
Guardian Jobs acknowledges it is an interesting issue and a subject of great debate. It raises questions around the relationship between employers, jobs, candidates and networking sites whether professional or social.
Social sites offer their users a powerful connection tools, based on interest, or personal data matching like where users live, or like to shop. But the line between social networking and socialising can be a thin one.
While Facebook has arguably moved things forward within the recruitment process – opening doors of networking and opportunities for many – it has also enabled employers to shut down potential candidates based on their online profiles – including photographs of people socialising.
Employers using Facebook & other social networks as a filter
In the UK 76% of all Facebook profile photos are of people in an inebriated state, the highest figure globally. And numerous surveys have shown that employers and recruiters use Facebook and other networking sites to filter and check the profile and background of potential candidates.
On one hand, this can work very well for the employee by showcasing an involved informed candidate able to discuss industry trends, and taking an interest perhaps in raising money for charity.
But the threat to a candidate’s privacy, ability to let off steam and have fun whilst not at work is also present, and we all need boundaries between work and play. Prospective employers will have – if settings remain public – access to Facebook footage in all its glory: whether drunk and vulgar abandonment or informed engaged professional.
Guardian Jobs advises users of social platforms whether social or professional to consider their online footprint. This means typing their name into a search engine and checking what comes up. They also advise that candidates may want to consider having professional accounts, and that they must check privacy settings.
Guardian Jobs’ Facebook page is full of news, articles and ideas to help candidates and professionals progress cyber careers. Knowing how to network without jeopardising reputation is a challenge but there is plenty of credible, free advice available to internet users.
Are workers really retiring anymore?A new study shows 57 percent of workers age 60 plus surveyed said they would look for a new job after retiring from their current company, showing that retirement no longer means the end of one’s career.
It included more than 800 U.S. workers age 60 and older and more than 3,000 hiring managers and human resources professionals between November 9 and December 5, 2011.
When asked how soon they think they can retire from their current job, one-in-ten (11 percent) respondents said they don’t think they’ll ever be able to retire.
Other responses included:
1-2 years – 26 percent
3-4 years – 23 percent
5-6 years – 22 percent
7-8 years – 7 percent
9-10 years – 7 percent
More than 10 years – 4 percent
While an increasing number of mature workers are putting off retirement, the good news is that more employers are looking to hire more seasoned staff.
More than 40 percent plan to hire workers over 50
According to the survey, 43 percent of employers plan to hire workers age 50 plus this year, while 41 percent said they hired workers age 50 plus in 2011.
Seventy-five percent of the employers surveyed would consider an application from an overqualified worker who is 50 plus, with 59 percent of those employers saying it’s because mature candidates bring a wealth of knowledge to an organization and can mentor others.
“Whether mature workers are motivated by financial concerns or simply enjoy going to work every day, we’re seeing more people move away from the traditional definition of retirement and seek ‘rehirement,’” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.
“At the same time, employers are seeing the value these mature workers can bring to an organization, from their intellectual capital to their mentoring and training capabilities. In a highly competitive job market, mature workers can use these skills to their advantage.”
Mature workers can find job-search success by emphasizing the qualities that set them apart from other workers.
PrimeCB.com offers these tips:
Leverage your professional and real-world experience – When updating your resume or interviewing for a job, think about your experience in terms of both work-related and life skills. Whether it’s your strong leadership skills or your wherewithal to weather a tough economy, play up the strengths that come with having more years under your belt.
Bring value to your company in other ways – If you’re looking to stay with your current company beyond retirement, find new ways to contribute to the organization, outside of your day-to-day tasks. Spearhead a mentorship program or offer to train new hires.
Consider part-time or freelance work – For workers who aren’t ready to completely stop working, part-time employment may be a good solution. Forty-nine percent of workers age 60-plus said they will most likely work part-time once retired. Check out job boards, talk to staffing firms and tap into your social and professional networks for part-time, freelance or temporary work.
Think cover letters are passe when applying for a position? Think again, a new OfficeTeam survey suggests. More than nine in 10 (91 percent) executives polled said cover letters are valuable when evaluating job candidates.
In addition, nearly eight in 10 (79 percent)respondentsindicated it’s common to receive cover letters even when applicants submit resumes electronically. The results mirror those from a similar survey conducted in 2008.
The survey was developed by OfficeTeam, a leading staffing service specializing in the placement of highly skilled administrative professionals. It was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on telephone interviews with more than 1,000 senior managers at companies with 20 or more employees.
Managers were asked, “When evaluating prospective job candidates, how valuable is the cover letter that accompanies the resume?” Their responses:
Very valuable
21%
Somewhat valuable
70%
Not valuable at all
9%
100%
Managers also were asked, “When you receive a resume electronically from a job candidate, how common is it for that resume to be accompanied by a letter of introduction or cover letter?” Their responses:
Very common
21%
Somewhat common
58%
Not common at all
16%
Never receive resumes electronically
5%
100%
“Although the job application process has increasingly moved online, the importance of a cover letter shouldn’t be underestimated,” said Robert Hosking, executive director of OfficeTeam. “It often is the first opportunity to make a positive impression on hiring managers. It’s also a chance to provide context for your resume, expand on key accomplishments and explain reasons for employment gaps or career changes.”
Added Hosking, “Professionals can stand out from the crowd by using the cover letter to demonstrate their knowledge of the company and explain why they are the best fit for the role.”
OfficeTeam offers five tips for job seekers when writing and submitting cover letters:
Follow directions. Before sending your materials, read the job posting carefully. Employers frequently list specific instructions to follow when applying, such as including the job requisition number in the subject line of the email or submitting your cover letter and resume in a certain file format.
Start smart. Address the letter to the hiring manager by name instead of using “To Whom It May Concern” or “Dear Sir or Madam.” If you don’t know the contact’s name, call the company and ask.
Create a hook. A strong introduction offers a compelling reason to read on. Indicate which position you’re applying for and if someone referred you, then state how you can help the company meet its business objectives.
Keep it short and to the point. Limit your cover letter to two or three brief paragraphs. Avoid sharing personal details that don’t relate to the position.
Get it right. Have a friend or family member proofread your materials for typos. Before submitting, confirm the correct documents are included.
SHL, which sells tatlent measurment solutions, says its Global Assessment Trends Report survey revealed that while leadership and employee engagement have risen to the top of the priority list, organizations see much less value in employee development programs – with only one-third of respondents considering it a priority, and even fewer using it as a retention strategy.
Hiring optimism among U.S. employers is gaining momentum as positive outlooks are reported broadly across all industries and geographies, according to the latest 
According to a study done by ManpowerGroup, sales representatives constitute the second most difficult position for employers to fill, only behind those with skilled trades. Despite a national unemployment rate of 8.3 percent, it seems that many organizations are continuing to experience challenges in recruiting the right sales people.
Business.com says that more than half of all job applicants list untrue information on their resumes, so you may want to run a background check before hiring.
Technology executives expect continued information technology (IT) hiring in the second quarter of 2012, albeit at a slower pace than three months ago, according to the just-released 
Spending on public and private IT cloud services will generate nearly 14 million jobs worldwide from 2011 to 2015, according to a new study by the analyst firm IDC. The research, commissioned by Microsoft, also found that IT innovation created by cloud computing could produce $1.1 trillion a year in new business revenues.
Where are the most green jobs? Believe it or not, Los Angeles and New York City hire the most workers in environmentally friendly jobs.
Job creation among small businesses continued in February, albeit slowly. This slow growth was accompanied by a small uptick in compensation and slight decrease in hours worked.
Hiring in professional fields is likely to continue rising in the second quarter but at a slower pace than forecast for the first quarter, a new Robert Half survey shows.
The GSMA today announced new research findings that demonstrate the positive, long-term economic impact of the global mobile industry.
By Allan Maurer
Despite the tough economy, family-owned businesses remain optimistic about hiring and retaining employees, according to the 
Twitter is teaming with American Express to launch its new automated system for advertisers – freeing them from the need to deal with Twitter sales reps. Initally, the system will be open only to businesses who accept or use American Express cards.
Virtualization as the technology foundation of cloud computing has ushered in new challenges, new day-to-day responsibilities and, now, new roles for IT professionals as business leaders within their organizations.
The imminent reformatting of Facebook looks set to further expose the private lives of its users.
Are workers really retiring anymore? A new study shows 57 percent of workers age 60 plus surveyed said they would look for a new job after retiring from their current company, showing that retirement no longer means the end of one’s career.
Think cover letters are passe when applying for a position? Think again, a new 
