Click on a Topic to Go There.
LOOKING FOR DINOSAURS
Are you in touch with the expectations of today's typical applicant?
THE SHAMROCK ORGANIZATION
Alternative staffing methodologies are gaining market share.
COST PER HIRE TRENDS
Look what's happening to traditional sourcing costs.
UPCOMING EVENTS
A Schedule of major Human Resources & Recruiting meetings on the way.
The rapidly changing job market has brought with it a shift of applicant expectations.
No longer are applicants looking for the paternalistic corporation that will
nurture them and protect them until they retire. Today, the typical applicant
is looking for a meaningful project or assignment that will look good on his
or her resume when it's time to look for the next meaningful assignment. Companies
who seek applicants who won't be "job-hoppers" are looking for dinosaurs.
The career planning professionals have been telling us for the almost ten
years now that the new workers of the nineties will have between seven and
ten different jobs or careers in their lifetimes. Even President Clinton said
this in his first inaugural address. So why is it that so many of today's
managers still think they can find someone who has the same values (read as
"loyalty") that they have? We know that loyalty went out the window with the
mergers, acquisitions, right-sizings and down- sizings of the '80s and '90s.
All that remains is employability - - translated,that's marketability of one's
life's experiences. And, the more and varied experiences one has, the more
employable one will be.
The message obviously has not reached the majority of hiring managers we recruiters
attempt to serve. They refuse to interview well-qualified and interested candidates
because "they change jobs so frequently". Perhaps no one has told them that
the average technical professional is spending only 18 months with an employer
before they move on. In our task-oriented businesses today, the "fun stuff"
- design, development, implementation - is usually done in that time. Then,
it becomes dull and repetitive maintenance work - - work which the top people
don't want to get stuck doing.
If you want to make a significant impact on your organization, perhaps you
should re-educate your management team about the realities of today's job
market and the expectations of applicants. Help them select someone who can
meet their immediate tasking requirements, then try to retain them (turn them
into a dinosaur) by offering them new and exciting "careers" within your own
organization. Isn't that one of the primary roles of management? Shouldn't
we have been doing this all along?
In the early '80s, Alvin Toffler, author of "Future Shock" told us it was
coming. Then, David Pearce Snyder, publisher of Futurist magazine, picked
up the baton. More recently, Charles Handy, author of "The Age of Paradox",
finally put a label on it. The Shamrock Organization. An organization which
is comprised of one part employees, one part temporaries, and one part consultants/contractors.
For many organizations, it has arrived.
With downsizing, many companies have realized that their core employees should
really be the strategic thinkers and drivers of the business. The everyday
tasks can and, in many cases, should be handled by specifically skilled workers
who can be brought in as needed and released when not. The financial advantages
are significant when you take into account all the savings in benefits, training,
taxes, and administration costs.
If you don't believe that alternative staffing or outsourcing is becoming
the way to do business, look at the number of staffing-related services that
made the INC 500 List last year. At least 14%, or one out of every seven firms
that experienced significant revenue growth during the last five years was
a temp firm, contracting firm, employee-leasing service, or other employment
service. America's corporations are buying their services at an accelerating
rate.
As we enter the next century, the futurists have predicted that our work force
will be comprised of approximately 35% full-time employees, 25% contractors/consultants,
20% temporaries (of all types and levels), and 20% outsourced services.
Take a look around your company. You may be moving in that direction a lot
faster than you think. How will this affect your role as a staffing professional?
Shouldn't you be the one to take the lead on this issue? The staffing manager/professional
of the year 2000 will have all these resources in his/her arsenal. Will you?
Over the past decade, we have been monitoring employment costs and sourcing
trends for the Employment Management Association. While EMA/SHRM is conducting
its survey this month to capture 1996 data, here's what we know about 1995
averages and their implications for 1997 and beyond.
The 1995 average cost per hire for an exempt professional was $8,663 for Business
and Manufacturing organizations. Cluff & Associates predicts the 1996 average
to be approximately $9,350, and 1997 to exceed $10,000. The reasons for this
should be obvious. With demand exceeding supply in many professional categories,
and corporate recruiters being over-loaded with staffing requests, third-party
recruiting services are relied upon more than ever, and they do not have to
cut their fees to win the business. Historically, the EMA survey has shown
that these circumstances always escalate the average cost per hire.
The average agency fee paid in 1995 was $13,233. For the same reasons noted
above, the average now should exceed $15,000 per agency hire. Advertising
netted a hire for $1,921 in 1995. With increased demand and competition for
the limited resource of active job seekers, this average will probably exceed
$2,300 per advertising hire this year.
The EMA/SHRM results should be published by early November. Watch this space
next month for an update. This information could be critical to your recruiting
budget in 1998.