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THE DIMISHING RETURNS OF ADVERTISING
Are you spending more and getting less from your advertising dollars?
HIGH TECH TURNOVER RATES
A summary of the feedback to our November Issue of the Month.
WORLD CLASS EMPLOYMENT FUNCTIONS
Do you meet the standard to be world class? Take this self-test.
PRESCREENING FOR SECURITY CLEARANCES
Here's how to ask the pre-employment question to assess clearability.
In these times of virtually full employment, employers are finding their
dollars spent on traditional print media advertising are producing fewer
and fewer hires. The Employment Management Association (EMA) reports the
average dollars spent on advertising to net one hire has risen from $1,882
in 1995 to $2,669 in 1996, and again to $3,295 thus far in 1997. Clearly,
there is more to this than just inflationary ad costs.
On the supply side, we know we are in the midst of a baby bust. Twenty-two
years ago (1975), about the time when most of today's college seniors were
born, the U.S. experienced it's lowest birth rate in the last forty years.
Couple this with today's high demand, and the result is a lot of employers
are running short-handed. In fact, most of the high-tech employers in the
Washington, DC area report vacancy rates of 10% or more
On the other hand, many employers are spending money unnecessarily on
advertising. This is usually attributable to managers who continue to think
of advertising as the first step in recruiting, rather than a last or next
to last step (before calling in the search firms). If they were made aware
of the various low- or no-cost sourcing options available to them, they
might be less likely to spend their recruiting dollars on expensive print
media ads. We, as employment professionals, need to inform them on these
sourcing alternatives.
Managers and recruiters alike need to realize that the people we are seeking to
hire are probably employed by someone else today. More importantly, we need to
acknowledge that because they are employed, they are probably not reading the
classified ads for which we are paying so much money. As "passive job-seekers",
the talented people we are trying to lure away from our competitors are more likely
to be reached through networking. Employee referrals, professional society meetings,
user groups, etc., are the places where we are more likely to convert "passive"
job-seekers into actively interested employment candidates. Perhaps these programs
are where our money should be spent.
Last month, we asked you to share your 1997 turnover rates with us. Here's what
we heard from about 15 DC area I. T. and Telecom industry employers:
The average turnover rate for all the respondents was 24.17% per year.
The range ran from a low of 10% for a local division of a large, national
defense contractor, to a high of 41.8% for a local high-tech employer
which has had several projects end this year.
All of the respondents who reported turnover rates in the teens or low
20's reported they felt good about their results in today's competitive
market. Those reporting above the mid-20's acknowledge that they have
a recruitment and/or retention problem and are looking for solutions.
Working with a variety of companies which are all trying to be the best,
most efficient, recruiting organizations they can be, we have seen a
common set of "standards" arise in most of them. Based on these common
themes, how does your organization stand up to the "world class" model?
Check each of the following which describes your employment function:
___Has a high rate of customer satisfaction among managers and applicants.
___Is perceived as the preferred provider in terms of both time and costs
versus outside providers (agency and search firms).
___Has a shorter cycle time (time to fill) than your competitors.
___Places the primary responsibility on the hiring managers.
___Has simple processes which are easily understood and consistently
followed.
___Has just-in-time capabilities to be instantly responsive to
customer needs.
___Can immediately advise any applicant about the status of his
or her candidacy upon request.
___Uses the latest technology for applicant information management,
communication and reporting.
___Trains and requires all managers and recruiters to use objective
and measurable decision criteria.
___Continually measures every aspect of its own performance (#'s
and $'s) and seeks to improve each year.
If you checked more than 8, you are probably among the best in your
industry; 6 to 8, you are probably keeping up but not getting ahead;
5 or less, your competition will eat your lunch - - get help soon!
Many recruiters are being asked to screen applicants for the ability to obtain
a U.S. government clearance to work on current or anticipated government (DoD)
contracts. We all know that we are not allowed to ask about numerous personal
issues in a pre-employment interview, but we really cannot afford to waste time
with candidates who are unlikely to be able to meet government requirements for
a clearance. Rather than guess, ask the unaskable, or "read between the lines",
here's what many government contractors are doing to screen out most of the unlikelies.
Tell the applicant, "The job for which you are being considered will
require you to obtain a U.S. government security clearance which entails
an extensive background investigation. I am going to tell you about
some of the factors which often prevent individuals from obtaining
these government clearances. I do not want you to tell me anything
about any of this issues, but when I have finish, tell me if you think
you might have a problem getting cleared. The factors include, but are
not limited to:
- You must be able to prove that you are a U.S. citizen by birth or
naturalization;
- Your immediate family, including anyone with whom you share a
residence, must also be U.S. citizens;
- Recent and or frequent travel to any former iron curtain country
or other restricted-travel country may be a problem;
- Current or past "exploitable" character problems such as:
excessive use of alcoholic beverages,involvement with illegal drugs,
personal bankruptcy,multiple divorces, or,felony convictions
may also cause you not to qualify for a clearance.
-Also, you should know that for certain assignments a polygraph
examination may be required.
Based upon what I have just told you, do you believe you will have any
problem obtaining the required clearance? Just answer yes or no, please."