Nap
Time
If you're feeling a little drowsy as you read
this, rest assured, you're not alone. Like a large
percentage of the American workforce, you suffer from a
lack of sleep.
According to the National Sleep Foundation
(www.sleepfoundation.org), 51 percent of the American
workforce reports that on-the-job sleepiness interferes
with the amount of work they get done. More specifically,
19 percent of workers-nearly one in five-report making
occasional or frequent work errors due to
sleepiness.
Managers, take heed: Employees estimate that the
quality and quantity of their work is diminished by
approximately 30 percent when they're sleepy. That's a
daunting number, especially when you consider that 27
percent of adults say they are sleepy at work two or more
days out of the work week.
How to deal with this problem? More use of nap
rooms, and encouragement of employees to take power naps
at their desks. In the future, watch for workers to be
sent home to rest after a reasonable workday.
Personality
Tests
If you're considering the use of personality tests
in hiring employees, consider this: The test should be
used as a tool to help you screen people into your
organization rather than a hurdle to keep them out.
If the statistics are any indication, many
job seekers aren't convinced of the benefits of
personality tests. In a poll taken by CareerBuilder Inc.
(www.Careerbuilder.com), one-fourth of respondents said
they were either reluctant to take employer-mandated
tests or would refuse to take them. Of this number, 12
percent would end the interview immediately; 6 percent
would refuse the test, but would want to continue the
interview; and 8 percent would take the test
reluctantly.
According to Rob McGovern, chairman and CEO of
CareerBuilder Inc., the key to developing personality
tests that don't turn-off potential employees is to make
them job-seeker friendly and not overly lengthy. "Great
emphasis should be placed on communicating why the test
is helpful for the job candidate," says McGovern. It's
also important that time is spent communicating with the
applicant throughout the testing process so they see that
the benefits of using the tests outweigh the
risks.
Ruthless Recruiting
As the labor market continues to tighten,
recruiting is becoming more aggressive. A growing number
of recruiters are giving the whole recruiting process a
bad name with their often unethical tactics.
According to Trend Alert (www.herman.net), the
employment market's increased competition has driven more
employers to hire recruiters who will stop at nothing to
bring home their prizes. Operating much like bounty
hunters, these recruiters apply a battery of incredible
tactics to reel in prospective employees.
For example, computer companies' recruiters may go so far
as to position themselves in their competitor's parking
deck, approaching employees as they leave work. And
information technology recruiters visit college campuses
to find undergraduates, declining to wait until students
get their degrees-and you can be sure the recruiters are
not working through placement offices.
If the labor market remains in its present
condition-and all signs say it will for the foreseeable
future-aggressive recruiting will undoubtedly continue,
with a certain percentage of workers and employers
falling prey to the hard-chargers. Ethical recruiters
will differentiate themselves through standards
established and enforced by the emerging association of
professional recruiters.
Girl Power
There's a revolution occurring in the business
world. As of 1999, there were 9.1 million businesses in
the United States owned by women, employing over 27.5
million people, and generating $3.6 trillion in sales.
According to the Business Women's Network, a full 50
percent of all American businesses will be owned by women
by 2005. Furthermore, women bitten by the entrepreneurial
bug are starting new companies at twice the rate of
men.
Marilyn Ross, author of "Shameless Marketing for
Brazen Hussies" (Communication Creativity, November
2000), predicts that entrepreneurial women will change
the face of business, in part because they are
"intuitive, good listeners, and well-organized. Plus, we
think holistically and are as tenacious as pit bulls,"
Ross says.
Generating and capitalizing on free publicity,
cheap advertising, strategic alliances and nontraditional
sales channels are all methods women will put to use as
they increase the growth rate of new enterprises. "We
have just as much 'juice' as the guys and play hardball,"
Ross says. "We just do it differently."
October 2000 News for a
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