While you were busy scoring tickets to a screening of “New Moon” this weekend, fighting back your tears at the announcement that Oprah is canceling her show after a 25-year run, or wondering how you’re going to fill the void of your Pumpkin and Eggo Casserole this Thanksgiving, news in the hiring and recruiting world may have slipped right by you. Not to worry — we’ll catch you up.

• Turns out there’s at least 15 ways to determine if your workplace is dysfunctional — read ‘em and (hopefully) don’t weep.

• Many workers fear that settling for a survival job may = career suicide. (Employers, what do you think?)
  

• Surprised? Heavier workloads + longer hours x strained resources = low employee morale.

• Innocent mistake or just plain careless? Recruiter offers job via e-mail – to the wrong candidate. Yikes!

• Employers beware: office stickups and robberies are on the rise.
  

• Bailed-out companies and 2009 holiday parties? Not so much. A better idea? Team volunteering.
  

• Did you know? For the first time ever, women hold half the jobs in the U.S.

• It turns out most Fortune 100 companies need a Twitter tutorial. Stat.

• Taking time off from work for the Thanksgiving holiday? Ensure a stress-free vacation!

• Posted by: Amy Chulik on November 20, 2009
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• Categories: Week in Review

If the recession seems to have taken a toll on your workplace morale, you’re hardly alone…

A new CareerBuilder survey, released today, indicates that nearly a quarter of employers (23 percent) rate their organization’s current employee morale as low. According to Jason Ferrara, CareerBuilder’s Vice president of corporate marketing, low morale is an unfortunate side effect of this recession.  

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• Posted by: Mary Lorenz on November 18, 2009
• There are 2 Comments. Join the discussion.
• Categories: Employee Engagement, Survey Results

Last week, I listed the top traits recruiters and hiring managers look for when identifying their organization’s next leaders. Now, I’d like to follow up that post by discussing why now, more than ever, businesses need to put focus on developing their leaders (if they’re not already doing so) – and what areas they should concentrate on to get the best return on their investment.

Spending money on leadership development may seem like a lot to ask during a time when budgets are already tight, but it is critical that employers invest in ways to engage and retain their leaders right now, according to Elizabeth Craig, a research fellow at the Accenture Institute for High Performance in Boston, in a recent Business Insight podcast.

Unfortunately, businesses tend to see employee training and development programs as an expense, making these programs among the first to go when companies look for ways to cut costs. On the contrary, it is these very programs – these investments – that will better position companies’ competitive standing when the economy turns around. Continue Reading…

• Posted by: Mary Lorenz on November 16, 2009
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• Categories: Employee Retention, Leadership Development

While you were busy getting suspended for your “wild” Bengals haircut, threatening to walk off the set of “Larry King Live”, or making a case for “Bikini Fridays,” here’s what was happening in the world of hiring and recruiting this week…
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• Posted by: Mary Lorenz on November 13, 2009
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• Categories: Week in Review

(Actually, this list is one better than a “top 10” list, because it goes up to 11.)

Last week, readers, I challenged you to tell me what qualities you consider most important when identifying new leaders.  I guess this question struck a chord, judging by the number of passionate responses I received in general, and the number of responses that referenced how a leader emerges during times of uncertainty in particular. 

No doubt several of you were drawing on your own experiences from these past several months, as you witnessed those around you being forced to make tough management decisions, seeing who emerged as true leaders – keeping employees motivated, adapting to stay ahead in a difficult economy, thinking outside the box to keep business going – while perhaps witnessing others “falter and fail,” as one commenter put it. 

While sorting through the over-200 comments, there were several words that emerged over and over again to describe leaders. Here, I give you the most frequently mentioned leadership characteristics - and a few of the reasons given for singling these traits out. Continue Reading…

• Posted by: Mary Lorenz on November 12, 2009
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• Categories: Uncategorized

You may recall a season two episode of “The Office” in which Michael Scott starts a suggestion box for the employees of Dundler Mifflin. Michael encourages his employees to submit their “constructive compliments,” and at the suggestion box meeting, one of the first suggestions from the box reads: “You need to do something about your B.O.” Things go south from there.

CareerBuilder recently asked more than 2,900 hiring managers about the most memorable employee requests they’ve received in the office suggestion box. To say the results were “interesting” would be an understatement.

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• Posted by: Amy Chulik on November 11, 2009
• There are 2 Comments. Join the discussion.
• Categories: Survey Results