CareerBuilder’s Recruiter Business Unit was at the conference, and in knowing that many of you have been unable to attend many conferences this year, we’ve posted recaps from this, the largest and most recent staffing conference this year, on our YouTube page. Check it out for highlights from the showroom floor and key takeaways, including:

• Interviews with keynote speakers Steven B. Wiley, Founder of the Lincoln Leadership Institute, and Joe Calloway, President of Engage Consulting Group
• Interviews with ASA Executives Richard Wahlquist, Ed Lenz and Steve Berchem as they discuss current ASA and industry trends
• Daily conference recaps and insider information from CareerBuilder directors

Check out a preview here, and then visit CareerBuilder’s YouTube page for more:

If you were at the conference, what did you think? Leave your thoughts here, and stay tuned to The Hiring Site for more conference highlights. 

In case you missed the opportunitiy to attend one of CareerBuilder’s informational sessions, you can download the full presentation decks here. Also watch the full presentations taped during the SHRM conference.

The Ression’s Over – Now What? Presented by Jason Ferrara, VP Corporate Marketing

 Unlocking Your Organization’s True Potential Through Its People Presented by Corey Epperly, VP Personified

Shared Apply: The Best Change You Haven’t Made Presented by Mike Dutter, Strategic Services Director

Recruitment Has Changed – Have You? Presented by Matt McCloskey, Director of Corporate Marketing

London Calling – Staffing Reactions Abroad Presented by Robert Stinsa, Director of Pan European Sales

Please let us know if you have any questions about the material presented here. Leave us a comment and we’ll get back to you with more information.

For even more up-to-date videos and news from SHRM 2009, click here to visit our virtual site or simply follow our updates on Twitter!

While talking about how a company becomes a best place to work is not a new topic to The Hiring Site, Burchell was able to share some enlightening tips.

Burchell started his presentation saying that any company could be a best place to work – regardless of industry, employee demographics or work status. Through his company’s 20 years of research on this topic, Burchell found the one thing all these companies have in common: Trust…These companies are all places where employees “trust the people they work for, have pride in what they do, and enjoy the people they work with.”

The Three Components of Trust:

1. The relationship between employees and management.
2. The relationship between employees and their jobs/company (pride).
3. The relationship between employees and other employees (camaraderie).

Building this kind of trust enables companies to reap positive business benefits and increased productivity through increased caliber of employees, increased quality of products and increased levels of risk taking and innovation.  It’s an investment, but a worthwhile one.

Having this kind of trust also decreases costs by lowering turnover (best companies typically have a voluntary turnover of 9% or less) and lowering  resistance to change.  Surprisingly, it also lowers health care costs: Employees who feel trusted – and trust their companies in return – tend to have healthier lives outside of work because they leave work at work, leaving them with more to give to their personal life (family and community). This also means that when they are at work, they show up because they want to and are ready to contribute. (Bonus!)

Building Trust
Trust between employee and company (and vice versa) begins during the pre-hire stage; although the treatment employees get on their first day of work really sets the stage for future trust. Employees who feel welcomed and appreciated generally foster a genuine level of trust much faster than those employees who are just shown to a desk to begin working right away. Makes sense, right? You’d be surprised how many companies overlook these little details. Burchell continued by saying that employees who have the opportunity to interact with senior leadership very close to their hire date are better informed and feel true value and connection immediately.

Best Companies to Work For also…

• Motivate
• Empower
• Listen
• Thank
• Develop
• Care
• Celebrate  
• Share

Common Benefits that Best Companies to Work For Offer:

• Job sharing
• Telecommuting
• Compressed work weeks
• Flexible scheduling
• Phased retirement
• Paid sabbaticals
• Child services
• Dry cleaning
• On-site mailing
• Free beverages or snacks
• Personal travel experience

And while this list of perks is impressive in and of itself, what truly makes the difference is how the company communicates these employee benefits, supports them and enables employees to take advantage of them.

The Hidden Benefit to Being  a Best Place to Work
Earlier, I mentioned the benefits a company gains by striving to be a best place to work – such as higher productivity and profitability - but there’s also this other (kind of huge) perk: Once word gets out that your company is a great place to work, you’ll really start to see more qualified applicants applying to your open positions.  I’m talking about people who understand your company’s unique culture and want to be a part of it because they feel a connection to your values. 

2009’s Best Small Company to Work for in America, Badger Mining, was also present at today’s session and commented on how “they hire for potential and character based upon a match with their company’s culture. People are trainable, but soft skills are the true foundation.” Go here to learn even more about what makes Badger Mining the 2009 Best Small Company to Work for in America.

Managing Trust in Today’s Challenging Economy
Burchell wrapped up his session by with the following insights into becoming a best place to work in our present economic situation:

• Layoffs need to be a company’s last resort.
• Survivor guilt lowers company productivity.
• If your company does have layoffs, turnover will be higher when the economy turns around. You must plan ahead for this.
• Continually communicate about the state of the business.
• Focus on team building and community building.
• Manage talent wisely.
• Now is the time to start recruiting and building a qualified bench of talent again.
• Pay attention to your high performers.

While much of this information may not seem new, it is wonderful to see so many companies really trying to step up their game to become a best place to work. To see the full list of the 50 Best Small and Medium Employers to Work for in America, revealed today and SHRM, and the details around this contest, go here.

Remember, employees are your greatest asset. If you build around this model, everyone benefits. Hiring gets easier. Top talent is retained. Production increases. Profits grow. Build a best place to work and you build a foundation for ongoing success.

Explore our previous Building the Best Place to Work article series to gain insights on our five basic building blocks and other tips for creating the best working place. As always, we welcome your feedback in the comments section of this post. Tell us more about your own hiring and employee engagement experiences.

Want to see more video and highlights from SHRM? Click here to visit our virtual site for up-to-date conference news and info.

Day one of SHRM is a wrap!  The day’s  conference highlight was an opening keynote discussion with Jack Welch, who described HR professionals as his personal heroes.  Among the business writer’s other notable soundbites, below are some of my personal favorites:

• HR should be as important as the CFO. How do you do this? Deliver.
• Jack Welch’s tough love advice for HR: Do not be a victim. Make change and impact.
• HR is important in good times but defines a company in bad times.
• The number one thing HR can do to elevate status: raise the bar by developing and training the team.
• Government involvement in corporate bonuses is stupid. Top talent will always follow the money.
• Get voice and communicate like hell. Let people know what’s going on every step of the way.
• See everyone as a teacher around you and take from the best.
• People buy into change because they understand it and know what’s in it for them.
• The only way to win is with creative thinkers and innovation. Act faster and smarter.
• Trust. Earn it everyday.
• There is no such thing as work/life balance, just work/life choices. Make the choices that you are passionate about.

Meanwhile, at the expo, CareerBuilder featured a Top Chef Reception featuring celebrity chefs Brian Malarkey, Casey Thompson and Richard Blais of Bravo TV’s hit reality show “Top Chef“. Check back in the coming days for the recipes for all the delicious treats they prepared.

Were you at the opening day of SHRM? What were your reactions? Anyone get spotted by our secret shopper for wearing your CareerBuilder beads? Don’t forget to check out our virtual SHRM experience site, where we’re constantly adding new video, or stop by and say hello.

Roughly 75 SHRM attendees, including 20 CareerBuilder employees, teamed up with Beacon of Hope, a non-profit organization founded by Denise Thornton, whose entire Lakeview neighborhood flooded after the levee at the 17th Street Canal breached in the aftermath of Katrina.  Beacon of Hope’s mission is to coordinate and facilitate the infrastructural repairs needed to be done in order to make a neighborhood viable.

The work this organization and its volunteers are doing is truly making an impact in the local community and helping visitors like the SHRM group more fully understand the devastation the city endured after Katrina.

The group spent the morning working on various projects in the Gentilly neighborhood — ranging from planting trees and laying sod to painting. And while the residents of the neighborhood need physical help, even more, they need hope and the knowledge that the world has not forgotten about them. A special thanks goes out to all the people who donated their time to give back to the New Orleans community before the start of the SHRM conference.

Corporate philanthropy can be a great way to build team relationships outside of the office. It is also a way to enforce your company values and attract talented candidates interested in working for companies that don’t simply focus on the bottom-line results. Looking for ways for your company to give back? Check out fellow Hiring Site blogger Amy Chulik’s previous post on what you need to know before committing your company to corporate philanthropic initiatives.

For another perspective on the day’s events, check out Workforce Management writer Rick Bell’s story.

With all the activity over the next few days, we built a virtual site to keep you up to date with everything happening at the CareerBuilder booth and the conference as a whole. This site is designed for all of you at the SHRM conference, and all of you who were unable to make the trip this year.

Stay tuned for:

• Video updates featuring our Top Chef cooking session on Sunday June 28, information on all CareerBuilder presentations, updates on our new solutions and more
• Live blogging from The Hiring Site and our friends at The Work Buzz
• Up-to-the-moment Twitter updates from our four main accounts: @CBforEmployers, @CareerBuilder, @CareerBuilderPR and @CBforJobSeekers

Other features of the site:

• The full schedule of events for the CareerBuilder booth, including presentation times and demonstrations
• Updates from our PR team and the CareerBuilder SHRM press kit, including information on CareerBuilder’s latest product launches
• Suggestions of what to do and where to eat put together by New Orleans natives Mary Lorenz, blogger for The Hiring Site, and her sister Kate Lorenz, blogger for The Work Buzz
• Link to CareerBuilder’s new online brochure highlighting our progression from the nation’s largest job site to the global leader in human capital solutions
• Link to the CareerBuilder store, in case you miss the opportunity to score some of our CareerBuilder Koala swag

We encourage all of you at the show, and those of you following online, to interact with us either at the booth or virtually. Leave us a comment on this post or send a tweet to one of our four Twitter accounts about what you’d like to see us cover in depth. We’ll try to incorporate it into our live coverage at the event. We’re really excited about the show this year and hope all of you in New Orleans enjoy the event! Don’t forget to stop by booth # 2037 and say hello.

Visit the site at www.careerbuilder.com/SHRM2009.

Come experience an exciting roundup of events, games and learning opportunities at CareerBuilder booth #2037. To see the full schedule, vist: www.careerbuilder.com/SHRM2009.

Whether you attend SHRM 2009 or not, don’t miss out on the action. We’ll be live blogging from the conference. Also follow our tweets at www.twitter.com/CBforEmployers and www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR.

DOWNLOAD a free one-day expo pass, compliments of SHRM. Print the download page, complete the form and bring it to the SHRM registration area located in Hall F at the Morial Convention Center.

We hope to see you there!