---Human Resource Publications

Employee Benefit News	Human Resources News (select "The Latest News")
HR Live	Training & Development
HRMagazine	Workforce Online
HR On-Line	Workplace Today Online

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---Workforce Trends

The search for the young and gifted by John Byrne, BusinessWeek, October 4, 1999. To locate this article, select "Wanted: The Young and Gifted," under the "Management" category. How leading-edge companies (Cisco, America Online, Federal Express, Amazon, Dell, etc.) are attracting, retaining and developing employees in an era when talented people are a company's greatest competitive advantage. Among the approaches discussed: building a shared corporate culture, strong commitment to training, greater individual authority and responsibility—along with less management hierarchy, employee job performance evaluations of managers and more stock options and other shared-ownership plans. Seven Changes That Will Challenge Managers – And Workers by The Futurist. Based on literary research and interviews with over 200 work professionals, seven trends are discussed that will change the work environment in the next ten years: • Virtual organizations where workers are connected electronically from --different sites • More "just-in-time" workers: temporary employees hired only when needed • Increasing importance of knowledge workers to a company's success • Computer-based training and performance monitoring • Greater worker diversity • Older average age of workforce • Dynamic work environments with rapidly changing job responsibilities Be Cool! by Shari Caudron, Workforce (Workforce requires that you complete a free registration before gaining access to its articles). Connects the concept of "cool" to desirable places to work. Among the factors that define a "cool" company – and therefore make it attractive to Generation X: • Acknowledging through such benefits as flexible work hours that --employees have a life outside of work • A sense of purpose where employees feel connected to the company's --products and mission • True diversity where the company accepts differences in "gender, race, --sexual orientation, work style, temperament and opinion." • Integrity, such as a company that is communicating the truth to employees --and cares about the products it creates. The Coming of the X Managers by Nancy Hatch Woodward, HR Magazine, March, 1999. Profile of the management style of Generation X managers and how it contrasts from that of previous generations. Excerpts: "Xers tend to be flexible, good at collaboration and consensus building, and mature beyond their years" and can handle many different responsibilities at the same time. They also require frequent feedback on their efforts and may feel frustrated when they do not have the authority to give the rewards they believe their employees deserve. While boomers often prefer formal meetings, Xers prefer to interact as the need arises. Making Stay-at-Homes Feel Welcome, by Anne Tergesen, BusinessWeek, Business Trends by Bernard Hodes Advertising. Select from a menu of articles on the latest trends in human resources, such as "Issues Like to Be on Employees' Minds" and "Trust in the Workplace." Death to the Cubicle! by Leigh Gallagher, Forbes (Forbes requires that you complete a free registration before gaining access to its articles). Read about new ways of providing workspaces to employees, such as "hot-desking," where employees grab a workspace, complete with computer, on a first-come, first-served basis each day. At Your Library: "The New Organization Man," by Nina Munk, Fortune, March 16, 1998, Vol. 137, No. 5, page 62+. The article starts by discussing the huge demand for college graduates with the right business and/or computer skills, resulting in good pay and other work benefits. Then, learn about how employers have adapted or nurtured work environments to accommodate the preferences of "Generation X." For example, casual attire (sandals, T-shirts, etc.), a laid-back atmosphere and flexible work hours have become the norm at many companies. Also covered are the things that motivate them the most, such as fun jobs, freedom of expression and being in control of how they get their work accomplished. Outsourcing Permanent Jobs Shrinking, Contract Staffing Growing by Workforce (Workforce requires that you complete a free registration before gaining access to its articles). Summary and analysis of a study by TAC Worldwide Companies indicating a strong trend towards "contract staff and outsourcing of all but core competencies." In addition to detailed statistics about this trend, the article discusses the reasons behind it (ex. "Volatility in the marketplace requires a flexible staff that can be moved out when projects are finished.") and where contract staffing needs are increasing, such as technical staff in computer-related professions. Sometimes it pays to stop being the source by Jan Norman, Orange County Register. This article focuses on one question: How can businesses make profitable use of outsourcing? Interviews are conducted of companies that outsource and those that meet outsourcing needs, such as temporary agencies. The benefits of outsourcing are reviewed along with some projections about its increased use in the future. Good Workers Are Wanted As Outsourcing Trend Grows by Tracey Rosenthal Drury, Business First. Covers a variety of facts and issues about outsourcing, such as the growing use by smaller companies of temporary workers and the job functions that are most commonly outsourced.

---Salary Surveys and Other Compensation Information

JobStar Salary Surveys Connect to over 300 salary surveys from this site, both general and specific to a profession. Wage Web Salary information on over 150 "benchmark" positions. There are separate charts for occupations in such business areas as human resources, administration, finance and sales/marketing. Salary Calculator "Use this calculator to compare the cost of living in hundreds of U.S. and international cities." You enter the city where you are living now, your current salary and the city where you might want to move. The calculator displays the salary you would need to earn in the new city to maintain the same standard of living where you live now. Datamasters offers a similar salary calculator for cost-of-living comparisons for 400 U.S. job markets. It might be interesting to compare the results you get from each calculator. Compensation Trends Two trends are discussed: the decreasing pay gap between experienced and inexperienced workers and the increasing pay gap between skilled and unskilled workers.

---Company Profiles

Human Resource Management Walt Disney World hires and trains its employees based on a well-defined corporate culture that focuses on the satisfaction of its "guests." Employee Benefits Andersen Consulting and First Tennessee Bank go the extra distance with employee benefits, such as concierge services where the company runs personal errands for its employees.

---Exercise

Human resource and other company professionals frequently evaluate prospective employees by asking a series of tough interview questions. Such classics as "Why do you think you would enjoy this kind of work?" and "What is your greatest weakness?" have challenged graduating students for many years. Find out how well you might answer these and other questions by sitting in on your own virtual interview. Since the questions appear in random order, you may see the same question twice before being asked a new one.

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