Wednesday, September 20, 2006

ERE Miami: The Best Part of Recruiting Conferences
Posted by Sean Rehder (Permalink) | 1 Comments


ERE Miami was my third in a row conference with them, David Manaster and Kate Bruener ran another great event with well over 400 attendees which has been growing with each event.

The keynote speaker was Seth Grodin, basically the king of marketing it seems, and he put on an extrodinary presentation. He said it was the first presentation he had done specifically for recruiters, but you would never have known that. As as big fan & promoter of CRM over ATS, his ideas of marketing and "farming talent" was music to my ears. My only worry was that recruiters in the audience were fearful that it is much easier said than done when you work in a "req based" hiring world. Or where the hiring managers have a "hire the best who applied" mentality, farming might not be so easy. But...believe me...it can be done...and is being done.

This was the second time in an row that ERE brought in a "outsider" to do the first day keynote, which I loved, and have them relate their world to the recruiting world. Last time is was the editor of Fast Company and he did an unbelievable job because it was pretty close after they published the "Why We Hate HR" edition. But... I still liked Seth's better.

We also had another great "Poker for Charity" night where the "wanna be" sharks raised $2,400 for ERE's Children's Foundation. Gerry Crispin was the "floor boss" keeping everything and everyone in line. Congratulations to Russel Glass of ZoomInfo who won...again.
Much big thanks to the nights sponsors who have made it possible to make these ERE poker games a sort of tradition...


To me...and to some others...the best thing about these conferences is these side activities that go on at these conferences and the people that are there that can "make it happen." ERE had a lot of them there and they were looking for ways to bring innovation to recruiter's desktops, outside of what they already have. These "couch conversatons" (or poker table conversations) are where these "actions forward" come from. I was involved in some and listened to others of these new "partnerships" that were worked out right there that can help bring the profession forward. Legitimate ones that really are going to move forward...two of mine already are and I know of another (because of the two guys involved) that am sure is moving forward as we speak and am sure that readers of Recruiting.com will love.

So big congrats to the whole ERE Crew and I look forward to the next conference in San Diego.

Great job!!!


Monday, September 11, 2006

Rendezvous Hotels & Resorts International has been voted a finalist across three major categories in the 2006 Australian HR Awards
Posted by Sean Rehder (Permalink) | 0 Comments


"Pat Sheehan, Vice President of Human Resources, introduced the Rendezvous HR Strategic Plan which established five key projects for 2005/06; Employer of Choice, Life Long Learning, Performance Focused, Communication, and Measurement and Reporting. The projects are built upon a series of objectives that are guided and measured against sets of performance metrics, timelines and corporate impacts. Mr Sheehan explains, “Rendezvous not only acknowledges the need to grow and secure talent but specifically plans for personal and professional development of its people. The Company has established a series of opportunities including: taskforces, job enrichment programs, conferences, internal promotions and management traineeships.

...We build commitment through our Exclusively Rendezvous New Employee Induction program; Rendezvous Culture program; Service Excellence Everytime program and our extensive employee recognition and reward programs. This commitment has been rewarded through the designation of People Developer Standard in Singapore; and gaining the Promising Brand Award.

At Rendezvous, vacancies generally do not last long. For each vacancy, the Company receives on average in excess of 50 applications. Over the last twelve months, 20% of our positions are successfully filled internally without the need for external advertising. "

Full article.


How HR improves employee productivity
Posted by Sean Rehder (Permalink) | 0 Comments


Vinita Gupta writes that the changing role of HR has made it a key player in improving employee performance and consequently organisational growth."

"What is the root cause of an IT organisation’s success? Is it path-breaking and innovative technology? Great products and brands? No. It is a workforce of dynamic and motivated individuals who take the organisation forward with their hard work and passion for excellence. It is consequently very important to develop their skills and competencies and provide the right environment for individual and organisational growth. The HR department of a company can play a strategic role in this effort."


Full article.


Thursday, September 07, 2006

A Relationship Worth Noting: Jeff Hunter to Blog at SimplyHired.com
Posted by Sean Rehder (Permalink) | 1 Comments


This week Jeff Hunter, Director of Talent Strategy & Technology at Electronic Arts, and SimplyHired established a partnership where Jeff will be an ongoing contributor to SimplyHired's blogging project.

Jeff, who has been blogging and will continue to blog at www.Talentism.com, won the Recruiting.com blog of the year award last year and I have had the extreme pleasure to have been given the opportunity to work directly with Jeff since last November.

Here is what I said about Jeff months ago on his LinkedIn.com profile...

"By having the ability to turn "big ideas" into "business process," Jeff Hunter is a person that turns philosophy into practicality. Perhaps the best thing about Jeff, is how he can take his personal experiences and "deliver a message" in a way that all of those around him get to learn." (May 5, 2006)

I'll be looking forward to reading the new blog posts.


Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Next Wednesday: Seth Godin at the ER Expo 2006 Fall in Hollywood Beach, Fl
Posted by Sean Rehder (Permalink) | 0 Comments


"Is Your Company Remarkable, or Is It Invisible?

Invisible companies end up hiring average people. Best-selling author Seth Godin will tell you how your company can become more remarkable and more visible — and as a result, help you hire more top people."

Now in its sixth year, the ER Expo conference series has helped hundreds of corporations develop and sustain world-class, industry-leading recruitment and staffing functions.

This year, ER Expo 2006 Fall will land on the beaches of South Florida for the first time. Together, we will discuss the most pressing issues and challenges facing the recruiting industry today, and you will take back to your office tried and true tactics and strategies to implement.

Don't miss this opportunity to learn from the top experts in the field, exchange ideas, explore new technology solutions, and network with other leaders from Fortune 500 corporations and other companies from across the globe.

Full conference info.


Creating Leadership Opportunities in Law Departments
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By Pamela M. Fay

"Almost every law department struggles with ways to create career paths where none exist. In the traditionally flat structure of a law department, there are simply not enough management appointments to go around.

One general counsel, Susan Lichtenstein at Baxter International, is working on a solution. "You can't have 75 of your people demoralized because they're in those [nonmanagement] jobs," says Lichtenstein. With only seven management positions in the department in addition to her own, Baxter's GC relies on leadership opportunities to motivate the lawyers in her department.

The difference between management and leadership can be subtle. Those in management have others reporting to them; those involved in leadership participate in activities that can have an influence on the actions of a group, such as heading a task force or contributing to the department's knowledge-management repository. "

Full article.


Culture and reputation count more than money in war for talent
Posted by Sean Rehder (Permalink) | 1 Comments


"A company's reputation and its workplace culture are more important than pay and benefits when it comes to attracting top talent, new research has suggested.

An international survey of more than 500 HR executives by global talent management firm, Bernard Hodes, has found that the quality or reputation of products and services, the corporate culture and the work environment were a business's most important attributes when it came to bringing talent aboard.

Ethical reputation also scored highly. But benefits and compensation were, perhaps surprisingly, bottom of the list."

Full article.


Employers hunger for attitude, efficiency, punctuality
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By Dawn Anfuso

"HR professionals polled recently said that employees complain, waste too much time, and abuse attendance policies too often.

Survey respondents said they wish employees in their company would stop doing the following:
  1. Complaining/having a poor attitude (19.5 percent of respondents)
  2. Wasting time (10 percent)
  3. Abusing attendance policy (9 percent)
  4. Looking for other jobs/leaving (8 percent)
  5. Being complacent or having no enthusiasm for the job (6 percent)
Other responses included:
  1. Blaming others/having no accountability
  2. Gossiping
  3. Having a sense of entitlement
  4. Lying
  5. Abusing e-mail.
Along with the above daily issues, HR professionals said they are challenged with keeping good employees and finding talent to replace those who retire or leave their organization.
"As many baby boomers prepare for retirement, retention and succession planning has become a critical issue for thousands of organizations," said Steve Harvey, managing partner."

Full article.


How to Compete in the War for Talent : A Guide to Hiring the Best
Posted by Sean Rehder (Permalink) | 0 Comments


Carol A. Hacker is an educator, speaker and the founding president of Carol A. Hacker & Associates, one of the country's foremost skill-building enterprises for human resource management. For more than two decades, she's been a significant voice in front-line and corporate human resource management to Fortune 500 companies as well as small businesses. A master of adult education, her client list spans North American and Europe where Carol imparts time-tested strategies for selecting and keeping winning employees to diverse audiences of all sizes.