By Gerry Crispin, SPHR and Mark Mehler
mmc@careerxroads.com
Since 1996 our CareerXroads Update has been a monthly public commentary on the staffing industry. As we kick off our 12th year, we’ve added a second members-only publication: “CareerXroads Colloquium Bellwether” to highlight short news items that we find of interest. If you’d like to learn more about the Bellwether and our Colloquium click here. We welcome hearing from you at 732-821-6652 or mmc@careerXroads.com with ideas and queries.
Staffing Conferences 2007: All Boats are Rising
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The ERE Conference in late March (San Diego) may have been a harbinger of good fortune when its attendance broke records (although the "Unconference" at Electronic Arts in January offered some surprising insights into what the year might have in store). In rapid succession the Staffing Management Conference in New Orleans (our panel on the candidate experience with Jeff Hunter from Electronic Arts, Kristen Weirick from Whirlpool, Carmen Hudson from Starbucks and, Annie Jiang Lenovo in Beijing was especially satisfying) and the Kennedy Conference in Las Vegas also posted record numbers.
Even the events hosted by various ATS vendors this spring and HCI's Summit touted record attendance with great programs and networking. New conferences are being planned for this year and next and major vendors like Monster are also offering specialized and highly customized professional development events for their clients. This industry attention to professional development coupled with the willingness (and budget) of participants to attend is evidence, we believe, of a sustained level of competition in the market.
Next month at NACE, SWACE, EACE and especially at ONREC's London conference and SHRM's Annual Conference back in Las Vegas, we hope to comment on the improvements we see in the staffing pages among Fortune's "500" and this year's 100 Best Companies in America to Work For. Applying to 100 plus firms under an assumed name is offering a slightly skewed perspective with video and chatrooms making some interesting gains.
With all the conferences, expos, summits and symposiums, firms will eventually have to choose between events (or get a much bigger budget and devote more time to personal development -- ok, not so likely). We believe that quality content will be one of two deciding factors for companies to send their staffing pros and leaders. This could be a problem for some. The second and perhaps even more critical factor is that an event should focus on its core audience. Reaching too far afield in a misguided attempt to be all things in staffing to all manner of staffing professionals could be (in our opinion) a serious mistake at this time.
The real gap we see in most conferences is to offer staffing leaders (not by title but by attitude and action) a real development experience. We'll be pushing our thoughts about this in future commentaries.
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Immigration is the #1 US issue in Staffing
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SHRM is one of several folks lobbying for an improved employment verification system. The current paper- based verification process is broken and SHRM, voicing its members needs, is pushing for a new system that offers:
It would be an amazing feat. Can anyone point to a regulation ever made by the US government that met these criteria?
This is of course just the tip of an iceberg. We are sending the best and brightest students from all over the world back home rather than welcoming them for an extended stay. We are delaying the issuing of "green cards" until our corporations have to send them to Canada for a year in order to game the system. Get staffing involved with your government affairs professionals.
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Targeting Second-Generation Americans
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Speaking of immigration, here's a quick scenario:
Imagine you are the US Government in need of hiring second-generation US citizens. The parents of your target groups likely came to the US directly and they still have significant ties to their motherland. The cohort you want is working age, was born in the US but speaks their native language fluently and is capable of getting (eventually) a secret clearance.
If you can answer these questions and have experience doing any of the above, let us know. We promise to call you back and, potentially, offer you an interesting experience.
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AJB Countdown
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30+ days and counting. It's not about replacing AJB. It is about satisfying the claims made in your AA Documents and the ones covered under appropriate legislation. America's Job Bank made it simple. By posting to AJB, employers met (for example) the Jobs for Veteran Act (JVA) requirement that Federal contractors list all employment openings with the appropriate employment service delivery system. After June 20, when AJB shuts down, Employers will be seeking alternatives to American's Job Bank. Several organizations including Direct Employers and NaviSite are claiming solutions.
According to Terry R. Hankerson, Chief, Branch of Regulations Development & Evaluation, Division of Policy, Planning & Program Development, U.S. Department of Labor, ESA, OFCCP, "(The)OFCCP is (still) in the process of reviewing the public comments regarding the NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) to determine the best course of action. At this time, we cannot provide you with information on the anticipated final rule procedures that will satisfy the job listing requirement. OFCCP will address this issue and others, received through public comment, in the OFCCP pending final rule."
Terry's emailed comments on May 17 were in response to a query by Shaker Advertising vice president, Mike Temkin, seeking more definitive guidance for clients and Terry did offer that "(OFCCP) officials are considering several options, within the framework of the JVA statute, to limit the burden hours and expedite a contractor's job listing requirement."
Mr. Hankerson offered that the OFCCP's published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) was issued on January 20, 2006 and that a copy of the proposed rule is available on the DOL web site at http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/fedreg/proposed/2006000440.htm. Mr. Hankerson further advised that "Until the final rule is published, contractors should continue to list all employment openings which exist at the time of the execution of the contract and those which occur during the performance of the contract at an appropriate local employment service office of the state employment security agency wherein the opening occurs or the America's Job Bank until the phase-out of the program." "For your information" Hankerson added, "employment openings include all positions except executive and top management, those positions that will be filled from within the contractor's organization, and positions lasting three days or less. This term includes full-time employment, temporary employment of more than three days' duration, and part-time employment."
Our interpretation is that ANY service which can accept or scrape ALL covered positions then distribute each appropriately to the specific local employment office(s) (the ones nearest to where the position is to be located) will satisfy any and all legislation such as JVA as well as AA statements developed through EEOC protocols and procedures.
But it is also our humble opinion that while some services can assist firms to comply with federal regulations, none will even come close to replacing the potential that AJB offered --- and admittedly never fully realized.
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Website Association Agrees to a Sniff Test
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The International Association of Employment Websites (IAEWS) started last year by Peter Weddle has published an employment website code of ethics. We are thrilled to see this first effort and applaud the industry initiative. The code includes much of what we once described as a basic "sniff test."
The importance of having clearly written standards adopted by the industry to both protect and inform job seekers and employers cannot be overstated. We would recommend without exception that employers eliminate or demand that any posting be eliminated from any job board that did not adhere to these standards - once they are developed and agreed to.
As several folks have stated, the initial efforts are not perfect but, they are a legitimate step forward. The biggest step however is yet to come: getting job boards to agree on independent audits to certify that what the job boards say they are doing is, in fact, what they are doing. (Newspapers have had independent audits of circulation for decades.)
The following Code of Ethics is what the IAEWS essentially agreed on.
Confidentiality We will maintain a privacy policy that is open and
transparent. We will adhere to generally accepted principles for the use of
information acquired online, to include the full disclosure of what personal
information is collected and how it is used and/or released to others. For
example, Members will carefully protect hosted individual passwords and clearly
indicate the use of all individual contact information.
Fairness We will operate with respect for our customers and deliver our products and services as promised. In addition, we will compete fairly in the marketplace and not slander our competitors. For example, Members will provide easy-to-find and up-to- date contact information on their sites for both employers and job seekers.
Honesty We will not engage in deceitful or deceptive business practices. We will deliver our products and services as they are represented in our sales and marketing materials and provide accurate data on their performance and our operations. For example, Members will make every effort to ensure that all job postings displayed on their sites are genuine employment opportunities.
Responsibility We will serve the interests of all of our customers-employers, recruiters and job seekers. We will resolve customer issues to the best of our ability. For example, Members will clearly state how long a resume will be archived on their sites and respect that commitment.
Self Regulation We acknowledge that compliance with the IAEWS Code of Ethics is a condition of membership in the Association. We will adhere to the Code in all aspects of our business operations and expeditiously remediate any areas of noncompliance.
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More than 85 Broads
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After working at Goldman Sachs for 14 years, Janet Hanson founded More than 85 Broads (a nod to Goldman's Manhattan address). Her book of the same name, describes how it grew to a network of 17,000 women around the globe. Broad Impact is her new consulting firm. We recommend her views on how to find and keep great female employees.
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Video Resumes versus Video Screening
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Video resumes have been a flash in the pan for thirty years and never gotten much traction (possibly because the notion of plodding through candidate videos - digital or otherwise - is about the most unappealing thing a recruiter can do). Now however, the video horizon has tilted with all the attention on v- blogs, YouTube and the like. Two efforts we've been reviewing, Hirevue and InterviewStudio , are interesting and potentially efficient alternative solutions for phone screens once the initial sourcing and database searches sort out the most likely applicants.
Someday (but not today) we'll also be able to search the actual video of applicants answers to questions posed in a job descriptions and tee up a paired comparison of the best responses to select the finalists. Interviews, whether live and in-person or, remotely and digitally taped, have much in common. In either case you would be hard pressed to prove that one is significantly more likely to lead to better selection decisions than another.
We're seeking data from corporations that have adopted video screening processes and consistently employ them for a specific job or job family.
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Got Any Hot Technology Tools for Recruiters?
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Speaking about Recruiter Technologies, Gerry is moderating a panel at the HR Technology Conference in Chicago later this year (October) which will showcase 4 - 5 cool tools for recruiters. He's tapped several well regarded hands- on folks to assist him on the panel (Shally Stackerl, Eric Jacquith, Fraser Donnell) and they plan to put a dozen or more of the best that surface through their paces this summer. What is your team in love with? Let us know.
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Where you'll find us next:
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Full details of CareerXroads' schedule can be found here.
Good Hunting! Gerry and Mark
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Links to CareerXroads are much appreciated but we provide no reciprocal agreements with any site. We want to maintain a level of objectivity free from even perceived conflict of interest regarding our opinions. We have no direct relationship with any job board or career site.
Gerry and Mark work full time consulting, educating and discovering how talent and opportunity connect through emerging technology. If we can be of help, you know how to reach us.
CareerXroads
The Staffing Strategy Connection
By Gerry Crispin and Mark Mehler
mmc@careerxroads.com - 732-821-6652