Excerpts from features and blogs written for others:
‘After nearly two years of layoffs and record numbers drawing unemployment, it comes as no surprise that the well is running dry. And it’s employers who will be hit hardest in the wallet in the years to come, as the burden of fund replenishment falls to Corporate America. Experts predict unemployment insurance rate hikes at the state level of up to three times current levels by 2012.
As an employer, your best offense is a good defense, as they say. The first step is to understand what’s occurring and how it will impact your organization starting in 2010. Once you know what to expect, you can employ strategies to mitigate the effects.’
— From a white paper written for a national staffing firm seeking to educate its client base on the impact of SUTA increases.
‘Organizations must be prepared to confront a “perfect storm” — burnt-out employees exhausted after doing more with less throughout the recession, non-existent or skeletal recruiting departments to source the next wave of talent (likely a permanent makeover), and fewer qualified candidates in the workforce. At the same time, Human Resource departments are evolving from that of pure-play recruiting, staffing, and benefits functions to managing more pressing priorities: performance management and succession planning.
So where does HR focus now — recruiting new people, or driving performance? Should talent acquisition remain a core competency… or is their more important role putting a strategy in place to acquire talent that may even extend beyond the walls of the organization?’
— From a blog written for a regional staffing firm to address the evolution of HR core competencies in a post-recession world
‘As an organization grows and the demand for labor increases, it becomes even more critical to manage labor cost. Transferring fixed cost to variable can save companies a bundle, but more complex staffing models are required to realize savings. Buyers with significant hiring volume are increasingly turning to the popular Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) solution staffing companies have developed to address this. RPO is broadly defined as outsourcing part or all of the talent recruitment process, from requisition creation through employee on-boarding. While it originated as a full-time recruitment solution, the model is increasingly being applied to a contingent workforce. Typical characteristics include the following:
-
RPO provider has 100% exclusivity and accountability for requisition and fulfillment of in-scope positions
-
A dedicated recruiting team with management oversight
-
A customized recruitment plan
-
Technology that enables automated assessments and reporting
-
Buyer owns the candidate database
-
Provider’s performance is measured by compliance to Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
- Efficiencies and process effectiveness result in significant savings to the buyer over time
A common misconception is that arrangements of this type are only appropriate for large companies with thousands of employees. While it’s true that mega corporations have an urgent need to create efficiency and contain recruiting cost simply due to the sheer volume of hires they make, the importance of having a strategic staffing partner is equally critical for small to mid-size firms to support their growth.’
— From a feature article written for a provider of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) solutions on outsourcing trends in staffing.
|
Not surprisingly, attendees of industry conferences report getting more value from speakers with experience in their industry than from those without it.
