I am an unabashed follower of the HR philosophy of Jack Welch, former CEO of GE. He is a proponent of a “business-like” approach to HR that emphasizes its critical role in impacting organizational results. Welch is certainly controversial in HR circles because he advocates many things that “softies” in …

Over the course of my nearly 40-year career in human resources, I have witnessed almost a dozen recruiting booms (where recruiting budgets ballooned) and busts (where there were sharp and painful drops in the need for recruiters and for recruiting). While the primary factor driving each differed, all were attributable …

There is nothing more important in the business world than demonstrating the dollar impact of what you do. Every major business function from marketing, sales, finance, supply chain, customer service, and production routinely demonstrate their return on investment. However, as with many aspects of corporate life, HR tends to be …

Most of us have read about upcoming workforce trends like decreasing employee loyalty, differing generational expectations, and the impending retirement of the baby boom generation, but surprisingly few organizational leaders are fully aware of how those issues will impact them. Several of the organizations I have worked with in recent …

Over the course of the last three years, employment branding has grown from a concept a few organizations were spending a little money on to a full-blown discipline that many large and small organizations alike are investing heavily in.   As of April 2007, more than 57% of the Fortune …

Many organizations struggle to get enough high-quality applicants. While corporate websites, job boards, and events generate lots of flow, most agree that the quality is lacking in a vast majority of applicants. The culprit might be how organizations sell their opportunities. A quick scan of major job boards, print advertisements, …

In Part 1 of this article, I outlined the first six of 13 key factors that differentiate great workforce planning efforts from mediocre workforce planning efforts. Here are the remaining seven points to note. Factor #7   Demonstrate the likelihood that your recommended actions will actually work. In addition to …

A better question is: why do you stay in your job. This more positive approach gives significantly different answers than the traditional exit interviews. Just as a marketing expert focuses on a product's best qualities, you must focus on the reasons why people stay in their jobs. Reinforcing these factors …

Few would argue that workforce planning is not a hot topic these days. Just five short years ago, it was nearly impossible to find a titled role for workforce planning in corporate America. Yet today, more than 54% of the Fortune 100 have dedicated FTEs to the activity.   Even …

Recruiting Rule #1: You must declare war and act like warriors in order to win. It takes an aggressive approach to get the best talent. Aggressive recruiting starts with competitive intelligence and a strong desire to win. It ends with the goal of continually improving everything you do so that …