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News and insight about working in and with today's contingent workforce.
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Workforce news and insight from Sean Rehder, a former Recruiter, 1099 Independent Contractor Compliance Manager, and Supplier Qualification Program Manager turned web developer.
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Saturday, November 29, 2003
 Online Event: Strategic Employee Performance Management
Topic : Strategic Employee Performance Management
Date : Monday December 8, 2003
Time : 1:00pm Eastern US
Presenter : Jay Weir, HR.com
Description : As HR strives to become more strategic to the business, the idea of Strategic Employee Performance Management represents a truly unique opportunity. This seminar will outline a framework for strategic employee performance management, summarize the current practices, key business drivers and benefits, and discuss emerging trends and the current software market landscape.
posted by Sean Rehder at 7:59 AM, (Permalink)
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 The Role Of Human Resources During A Merger
Joan Lloyd answers the following question about mergers and the HR role...
Question: I have just come across your article “Making Mergers Work”. I am wondering if you have any insight on HR’s role in a merger. We are about to combine two companies. My job will now mean that I will be flying out to the other two locations of our newly formed company.
They have not had an HR position there and I will have to establish myself and build up rapport and a comfort level with the other employees. What should the first steps be?
posted by Sean Rehder at 7:47 AM, (Permalink)
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Thursday, November 27, 2003
 News Articles
from Workforce Reporters
A closer look at changes in new law
Seattle Times, WA
By Aaron Zitner. For the 40 million seniors and disabled Americans who rely on Medicare, some big changes are in the works. Congress ...
ADAM Geller THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Provo Daily Herald, UT
NEW YORK -- Steady improvements in the job market over the past few months helped push consumer confidence in November to its highest level in more than a year ...
CONSUMER Confidence Rises in November
Hartford Courant, CT
By ADAM GELLER, AP Business Writer. NEW YORK -- Steady improvements in the job market helped push consumer confidence in November ...
HOW Can I Get Money from Venture Capitalists?
Fortune (subscription)
VCs, as they're called, are a gimlet-eyed group—but if your business plan contains these key elements, it will stand out from the crowd. By Anne Fisher. ...
AUTODESK to lay off up to 18 percent of its workers
Detroit News, MI
By Michael Liedtke / AP Business Writer. SAN FRANCISCO -- Software maker Autodesk Inc. said Tuesday it will shed up to 18 percent ...
ORACLE to launch PeopleSoft proxy fight
Seattle Post Intelligencer, WA
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE. SAN FRANCISCO -- Business software maker Oracle Corp. reassured investors Monday of its resolve to buy resistant ...
SILICON Valley pioneer Eugene Kleiner dies at 80
USA Today
By Michael Liedtke, The Associated Press. SAN FRANCISCO — Silicon Valley pioneer Eugene Kleiner, a founder of Fairchild Semiconductor ...
YOU may now call me 'Mr. Success'
Bradenton Herald, FL
... Todd Raphael of Workforce News tells of an employee who changed her name to that of her employer's Web site. Now Karin Robertson is known as GoVeg.com. ...
STATE unemployment edges lower to 6.5%
WFAA (subscription), TX
By VICTOR GODINEZ / The Dallas Morning News. The Texas unemployment rate fell slightly to 6.5 percent in October from a revised 6.6 ...
posted by Sean Rehder at 8:57 AM, (Permalink)
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Friday, November 21, 2003
 Curt Rosengren, the Passion Catalyst, writes about horses, carts, blindfolds, and bullseyes
What do horses, carts, blindfolds, and bullseyes have to do with finding that career that lights your fire? Read on to find out (it makes sense, I promise).
Many people approach their career change with the cart placed well before the horse. They think, "Hey, this job bites. What else can I do?" They pick a new job and they're off to the races. Trouble is, they've skipped step one, i.e., getting a deep understanding of themselves and what makes them tick.
Impatient to make things happen, they pick a new career and run full tilt, flying straight past step one without so much as a glance.
No surprise, really. Self-exploration takes time and a degree of stillness and introspection that is at odds with the Cult of Action that runs so deep in American culture. Unfortunately, missing that first step often results in a wagon careening out of control down some hill while the horse is still back in the barn munching on oats.
Before you choose that new career, ask yourself this question:
"Do I have a really deep understanding of what turns my crank? Can I look at an opportunity and give an in-depth answer as to *why* it appeals to me?"
If you can't answer a resounding "YES!" to that, you aren't ready to choose a new path. Your first step is to get a good solid feel for what is actually important to you.
Trying to find that dream job without doing the introspective work up front is a lot like playing darts by blindfolding yourself, spinning in circles, and throwing a dart when you stop. You might hit the bullseye, but the odds are stacked against it.
posted by Sean Rehder at 7:36 AM, (Permalink)
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 | Project Management Tip
from Tom Mochal at www.Tenstep.com |
Estimating the Work - Before You Begin
Normally you cannot estimate cost and duration until you have already estimated effort hours. Once the effort hours have been estimated, duration and cost can be estimated using effort as a starting point. However, before you create your estimate of effort hours, prepare by looking at the following areas.
- Get a clear picture of the work that is being estimated. Many problems with estimation come because the estimator is not really sure what the work entails. You should avoid estimating work that you do not understand. This does not imply that you can know every detail. The estimating contingency is a way to reflect some of this uncertainty.
- Determine who should be involved in the estimating process. Does the project manager know enough to make the estimates on their own? Maybe not. Look for estimating help from team members, clients, subject matter experts, etc. This will usually result in the estimates being far more accurate than you would get by yourself.
- Determine if there are any estimating constraints. Make sure you know if there are project constraints that will impact the effort, duration or cost estimates. For instance, is the end date fixed (timeboxed)? Does the client need six-sigma quality in the deliverables, or will the 80/20 rule apply? Is there a fixed budget that cannot be increased? Knowing these constraints will help the estimators make valid assumptions regarding the whole cost/speed/quality balance.
- Use multiple estimating techniques if possible. When you get ready to do an estimate, there are a number of techniques that can be used. Where possible, try to use two techniques for the estimates. If the estimates from multiple techniques are close, you will have more confidence in your numbers. If the estimates are far apart, you need to review the estimates to see if you are using similar assumptions. You can also try to utilize a third (and fourth) estimating technique to see if one estimate can be validated and the other rejected.
Estimating Costs
You may be able to estimate non-labor costs fairly quickly. However, you cannot estimate labor costs until you have estimated the total effort hours. If you have already estimated effort hours on your project, you have most of what you need to estimate the project cost. If possible, however, also estimate the duration before you estimate cost.
- Estimate labor costs. At a very high-level, project costs are estimated by looking at labor and non-labor items. The cost of labor is derived by looking at the effort hours of each resource and multiplying by the hourly cost of each resource. In many companies, estimated labor costs for internal employees are assumed to be zero, since their costs are already accounted for in a departmental budget. This does not imply there is no cost. Rather, it assumes there are no incremental costs over and above what the company is already paying for. If you calculate an average hourly cost per employee, this number might or might not include benefits. Again, in some companies the employee benefits are added back into the full project estimate. In other companies, these costs are not factored in. If you include the benefit costs, usually this is calculated as a fixed percent of the hourly costs.
If you are using external contract or consulting resources, their costs always need to be estimated and budgeted. Again, you have to determine the type of external resources you need, what the hourly rate of the resources is, and then multiple out for the total cost per resource. If you are not sure what the actual resource will cost, you need to make some assumptions based on the general type of resource. For instance, there may be a standard hourly cost for accounting contractors, or programming contractors. If you are not sure whether your project will include external resources, you can make some basic staffing assumptions and document them.
- Estimate non-labor costs. Non-labor expenses include all costs not directly related to salary and contractor costs. (They may be indirectly related items, like travel and training.) These costs include:
- Hardware and software
- Travel expenses
- Training
- Team building
- Facilities
- Equipment
- Material and supplies
- Document all assumptions. All the details of a project cannot be known for certain up front. Therefore, it is important to document all the assumptions you are making along with the estimate.
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posted by Sean Rehder at 7:22 AM, (Permalink)
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Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Monday, November 17, 2003
News Articles
from Workforce Reporters
SHOULD I Spring for an Ivy League MBA?
Fortune (subscription)
By Anne Fisher
... qualified career counselors. Q. I have a bachelor's degree in computer science as well as an MBA. Both degrees are ...
FIRMS tackle web abuse
VNUNet, UK
By Madeline Bennett [14-11-2003]. Almost half of UK firms have taken disciplinary action against employees because of internet misuse ...
posted by Sean Rehder at 7:04 AM, (Permalink)
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Saturday, November 15, 2003
| Project Management Tip
from Tom Mochal at www.Tenstep.com : Estimate Work |
Include Project Meetings and Collaboration Time in Your Project Estimate
Departmental and company meetings are not typically within your control and are not accounted for on the workplan or in the work estimate. However, they should be accounted for in the estimated duration if you factor in a reduced number of available hours per day for each resource (say 6.0 or 6.5 hours per day). The reduced number of hours takes into account these types of meetings that you have no control over.
On the other hand, meetings that are project related should be included in the workplan and should be added to the estimated effort of the project. This is because meetings of this type are within the control of the project team. The project manager can schedule these for one hour every other week or they could be scheduled every day.
Likewise, try to account for the total time required for all participants in any collaborative meeting. For instance, if you are planning deliverable walkthroughs, make sure you include the time of all participants. When you are circulating documents for approval, include some review time for each person that you think will be involved. If you are planning on having review meetings at the end of each milestone, make sure to include time for each participant.
Start Off With an Estimate Range
There are many times when you are asked to give a high-level estimate for a project or an individual work activity. Usually you are asked to produce one number, for instance 1000 hours. However, if at all possible, these high-level estimates should be given in a range. The range reflects the level of uncertainty for the estimate. For instance, a high-level estimate might only be accurate to within 50%. In our prior example of 1000 hours, for instance, you could estimate the work to be between 500 and 1500 hours. Another way to say the same thing is that you estimate the work at 1000 hours, plus or minus 50%. If there is a lot of uncertainty on the estimate, your margin of error could be plus or minus 100% or more. However, the purpose of providing the range is to help manage expectations. If you say that you estimate a piece of work to be 1000 hours - that is probably the number you will be held to. Given the information you know, this could be a hard number to achieve. If you provide an estimate range, however, you will have a much better likelihood of delivering the work within the estimate, and you have a way to show the level of uncertainty in the numbers.
Wishful Thinking Almost Always Will Get You in Trouble
Anyone who has provided estimates of work knows that there is pressure from your client to make the estimate as low as possible. Ultimately, the client wants to get what they need for as little effort (and cost) as possible. In many cases, there is a tendency on the part of the estimator to get caught up in that mindset as well. Usually, it is because you think about what it would take to complete the work if everything went right. You may recognize the potential for problems, and the fear of the unknown. However, when you do an estimate, you take a mental shortcut of thinking that everything will go right. You might even think in terms of a range of effort for the work, but then too often you end up committing to an estimate at the lower end of the range. Even though you know better, almost every time you use wishful thinking on your estimates, it comes back to burn you.
If you want to make an estimate based on wishful thinking, use three factors instead. Create an estimate based on everything going right, everything going wrong and an estimate you think is most likely. Using this techniques provides a more well rounded final estimate by using (best case + most likely case + worst case)/3. If you want to provide more weighting, use the PERT estimating technique of (worst case + 4*(most likely case) + best case) / 6. Again, if you can provide the final estimate in terms of a range, you will be better able to manage expectations. |
posted by Sean Rehder at 7:48 AM, (Permalink)
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Thursday, November 13, 2003
News Articles
from Workforce Reporters
SECRETS of an Executive Recruiter
Fortune (subscription)
... Is it okay to exaggerate your current pay in order to get more money? Read on. By Anne Fisher. To many, the world of executive recruiters is a bit of a mystery. ...
DEPLOY Solutions to Host Complimentary Webinar on Measuring Staffing Performance
Yahoo News (press release)
... Past presenters include Dr. John Sullivan, HRchitect, John Sumser, Peter Weddle, FleetBoston Financial, Naomi Bloom, William Hannum, Phil Wolff, Allan Schweyer ...
TWO More Mutual Fund Casualties
Newsday
By Tami Luhby. Two more top mutual fund executives lost their jobs yesterday as the industry's scandal over trading practices continues to widen. ...
Age bias: Does it apply to the young?
By Warren Richey | Staff Writer
The Supreme Court Wednesday considers reverse-discrimination claims that older workers are favored in retirement plans...
Jobs, health care: odd mix
By Mark Paul -- Bee Deputy Editorial Page Editor
For everyone who's finished the comics section, here's an extra-credit Sunday brain teaser: What do these three things have in common?
Health-benefit plans change each year
By AMY JOYNER, Staff Writer - News & Record
The flier reminding Lori Smith to sign up for health benefits has been on her dining-room table for a week. She has until Monday to decide which insurance plan is best for her family. But she's been postponing the annual ordeal.
Salary survey: Lawyers' bonuses to rise
Sarah Butcher
Lawyers working in investment banks can expect bonuses 10%-20% higher this year than last, according to Sheffield Haworth, a recruitment firm.
The Price They're Paid
David M. Katz, CFO Magazine
Even without stock options, top finance chiefs are changing in hefty pay packages.
Apprentice Program Develops IT Skills 'To Go'
Story by Mary Brandel
A national apprenticeship program combines classroom and on-the-job learning to develop skilled IT workers faster.
Don't fear the exodus: paying for IT staff to get qualified is a worthwhile investment
by Robert Chapman
Employers who do not fund staff training for fear workers will move on will pay the price.
Exodus ahead as job market improves
Brendan January, CBS MarketWatch
For the past three years, American workers have been overworked and overstressed. But they have stayed put.
posted by Sean Rehder at 7:17 AM, (Permalink)
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Tuesday, November 11, 2003
News Articles
from Workforce Reporters
BROKEN promises
Richmond Times Dispatch, VA
BY ADAM GELLER. Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part series on the widespread illegal use of eastern Europeans and other ...
HEALTH-BENEFIT plans change each year
Greensboro News Record, NC
By AMY JOYNER, Staff Writer. The flier reminding Lori Smith to sign up for health benefits has been on her dining-room table for a week. ...
WORKING smarter: Irwin company finds survival in continuous ...
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA
By Jim McKay, Post-Gazette Staff Writer. Larry Gould builds made-to-order valves at PBM Inc. much as a pizza maker assembles a pie. ...
US job growth picking up pace
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA
By Jim McKay, Post-Gazette Staff Writer. The nation's businesses added 126,000 jobs in October, almost twice as many as economists ...
SIEMENS to cost Wendell 106 jobs
Raleigh News, NC
By KARIN RIVES, Staff Writer. Siemens Energy & Automation, a manufacturer of low-voltage switch gear and breaker products used to ...
FEWER firms provide for retirement, says study of census data
Seattle Post Intelligencer, WA
By KATHLEEN PENDER. The percentage of US companies offering retirement plans has dropped sharply since the late 1990s, according ...
TECH board predicting hiring to restart in '04
Dallas Morning News (subscription), TX
By VICTOR GODINEZ / The Dallas Morning News. Dallas was home to a huge proportion of the telecom workforce at the end of the boom. ...
A Biodiversity 'Scavenger Hunt'
Newsday
... We can't care about what we don't know about," said Kevin ... Quentin Wheeler, director of the Division of Environmental Biology for the National Science Foundation ...
posted by Sean Rehder at 11:33 AM, (Permalink)
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Thursday, November 06, 2003
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
News Articles
from Workforce Reporters
FORMER US Attorney General patrols WorldCom scandal
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE. Former US Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, a self-described missionary for the rule of law, is on a crusade ...
SAFEWAY Drops Effort to Sell Dominick's
Los Angeles Times, CA
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer. SAN FRANCISCO — Supermarket giant Safeway Inc. said Monday it will try to salvage its struggling ...
SCHWARZENEGGER prepares energy deregulation sequel
Wilmington Morning Star, NC
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE. California's first attempt to deregulate its energy market led to rolling blackouts, insolvent utilities, market ...
WAL-MART sting reveals foreign recruiting firms
Houston Chronicle, TX
By ADAM GELLER. The first clue came when police investigating an apartment burglary in the eastern Pennsylvania town of Honesdale ...
CASE focuses on use of illegals
The Tallahassee Democrat
By Adam Geller. EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first in a two-part series on the widespread illegal use of eastern Europeans and other ...
IMPORTED Labor Exploited
The Ledger, FL
... recruitment abroad and ex-ploitation by unscrupulous contractors. By ADAM GELLER. The first clue came when police investigating an ...
OUTSIDE the law in the contract cleaning trade
Penn Live, PA
By ADAM GELLER. (AP) — When investigators in north Florida began tracking six men wanted for recruiting and employing illegal workers ...
NUMBER working in region continues downward slide
Greensboro News Record, NC
By Amy Joyner Staff Writer. With the national economy rebounding, some of that growth is already filtering down to the Piedmont Triad, economists said. ...
HOW to Disagree with Your Boss
Fortune (subscription)
By Anne Fisher. I recently started working for a division head who has been doing things the same old way for a very long time. (He's been here about 20 years. ...
JANITORS' new pact ups health coverage
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA
By Jim McKay, Post-Gazette Staff Writer. Unionized janitors who clean Downtown office buildings will have improved access to health ...
EMPLOYEES became family during slide
Raleigh News, NC
By KARIN RIVES, Staff Writer. In 12 years as a Midway Airlines pilot, Jerry Hudson has been laid off four times and rehired three. ...
JOBLESS: Survival Tips for the Short Term and the Long
New York Times
... Be Cool When It Happens First, keep your head when the bad news hits, said Michael B. Laskoff, whose own bouts of joblessness show that having a Harvard MBA is ...
'SKIMMING Operation'
Newsday
By Tami Luhby. Washington - A fuller, darker picture of trading abuses within the mutual fund industry emerged yesterday as another ...
EXPERTS debating future of IT careers
Dallas Morning News (subscription), TX
By VICTOR GODINEZ / The Dallas Morning News. Many educators, employers and labor experts insist that technology is so pervasive and ...
WIRELESS programmers may see demand grow
Dallas Morning News (subscription), TX
By VICTOR GODINEZ / The Dallas Morning News. They are the sites of a new training program for wireless software programmers from cellphone company Nokia. ...
MORE join ranks of self-employed
Dallas Morning News (subscription), TX
By VICTOR GODINEZ / The Dallas Morning News. Recruitment executive Jon Davis is seeing the first signs of a recovery in the job market ...
TECH skills pop up in manufacturing
Dallas Morning News (subscription), TX
By VICTOR GODINEZ / The Dallas Morning News. Traditional tech industries are still losing jobs, but experts say technology jobs are ...
TOUGH tactics for a tough market
Dallas Morning News (subscription), TX
By VICTOR GODINEZ / The Dallas Morning News. As president and chief executive officer of Dallas-based Signalogic, which designs and ...
COMING January 2004: SHRM's HR Measurements Forum
SHRM Magazine, VA
... But Kevin B. Wheeler, president of Global Learning Resources Inc., a recruiting consulting firm in Fremont, Calif., cautions that “it shouldn’t be your ...
posted by Sean Rehder at 10:36 AM, (Permalink)
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Weblogs that list current hiring needs and contact information. |
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Sean Rehder is a Contingent Workforce Developer who administers this site and specializes in building online solutions for workforce issues. Also, a former Independent Contractor Compliance Manager and Program Developer for such companies as Oracle, Cisco, Seagate, Inktomi, Ariba, CommerceOne, etc.
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Sue Becker is the owner of From Piles to Smiles™ professional organizing service. She is a C.P.A., and spent 20 years in various auditing, accounting, finance, and marketing positions at a variety of companies, including The Quaker Oats Company and Ameritech. The organization and time management skills that she used in these positions led to numerous accolades, including a prestigious leadership award. She started From Piles to Smiles early in 2000.
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Alice Snell is Vice President of
iLogos Research, a division of Recruitsoft. As a leading industry analyst, Ms. Snell has authored numerous
articles and reports on recruiting technology issues including best
practice staffing management methodologies and jobseeker behavior online.
Ms. Snell has been frequently called upon to provide expert commentary and
analysis regarding staffing management technology issues and is quoted in
leading media including The Boston Globe, Chief Executive, The New York Times
, PC Week, IT Recruiter, Chicago Tribune, and CNBC.com.
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Simon Meth builds rock-solid staffing systems. Incorporated are all facets
of the recruitment process including recruiting, identifying, behavioral or
competency based interviewing, selecting, and hiring the best-and-brightest
candidates for his clients. These people make a difference each-and-every
day.
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James R. Ziegler, Ph.D. is author of the "Contract Employee's Handbook", a free,
online resource for technical and professional contractors. Dr. Ziegler is also the Founder and Executive Director of
the Professional Association of Contract Employees (P.A.C.E.),
a unique employer of record service for Contract Professionals.
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As a Passion Catalyst (sm), Curt Rosengren helps people discover their passions and create careers that ignite them. His work is based on the Occupational Adventure Guide (sm), a passion pursuit / career development model he created to offer people an easily understood and effective approach to finding the career of their dreams.
Curt shares his thoughts daily at the Occupational Adventure Blog, "an ever-unfolding mixed bag of nuts, loosely clustered around the the central theme of Occupational Adventure - that is, a career that really gets you juiced." He also writes a monthly passion pursuit e-newsletter called Passionkey (sm).
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Jason Butler is the editor of numerous workforce related sites including "The Job Blog" and "The HR Blog" on the BostonWorks.com website. He has also written for the past three years on his personal blog, at jpbutler.com. Jason has worked in the Internet space since 1997, as a project manager for PlanetAll, as a program manager for Amazon.com, and as Director of Product Development for Abuzz, a division of New York Times Digital.
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Allan Schweyer has been involved in Internet recruiting since 1994 when he pioneered e-recruitment solutions for Human Resources Development Canada. He also currently consults with large organizations on HR strategies and specializes in e-recruitment projects. Alan is a senior researcher and analyst with HR.com and the guest editor of the HR.com staffing vertical.
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Tom Mochal is President of TenStep, Inc., a methodology development, consulting and training company. He has published a book on project management called Lessons in Project Management (Apress 2003). He has also developed a complete portfolio management process for companies called PortfolioStep (www.PortfolioStep.com), a project management methodology called TenStep (www.TenStep.com) and a framework for implementing and supporting project management within companies called PMOStep (www.PMOStep.com). Tom has over 23 years of IT experience, at Geac Computers, The Coca-Cola Company, Cap Gemini E&Y and Eastman Kodak. Tom has published hundreds of columns, and has presented and trained on project management and life-cycle topics around the world.
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