World of Warcraft claims 10 million players pay a $15 month subscription fee and play this multiplayer game for an average of 22 hours a week. Subscribers' average age is 27 and about 85 percent are men.
This CIO Magazine reprint of an in-depth Harvard Review report, Leadership's Online Labs, suggests that complex gaming environments are the key to future leadership development. Already one study shows that 4 of 5 managers 34 (years old) and under describe themselves as having "significant gaming experience."
Might be an interesting poll of hi-pots to see how many already view themselves as gamers. If true, it would be an interesting differentiator of applicants and a unique source of hire - except there could be a gender bias.
Insider Referral NetworksEight years ago Cisco pioneered the "Make a Friend" initiative: Cisco Employees volunteering to communicate with interested prospects would refer some of them, who were then moved to the next screening stage and eventually hired. It was a blow to the "black hole" recruiting model but ran its course when the number of interested prospects overwhelmed the available volunteers. Too much noise from unqualified prospects.
Bruce Ge, founder of Jobirn is trying to build a commercial version of "Make a friend." In an effort to prevent large numbers of overzealous job seekers from gaming the system and trying to meet potential employees in every company for a referral, Bruce has installed a simple system of limits and audits. Additional features using IM and remote skype-like screening capabilities make this an interesting new model.
The founder of Jobirn has no prior staffing experience. Just a smart jobseeker who knows what he wants. Not to be outdone, Jobfox has introduced "Jobfox Intros," giving job candidates another way to get interviews and directly network with employers. Whether these models succeed or not, we continue to predict that the evolving models will eventually offer real value to jobseekers - with the right qualifications.
On the Other Hand: The Newest Twist on Money LaunderingWe received this email last week: "Hi there! Just a reminder about the launch party tomorrow that we're hosting for our new company, Moneybackjobs, Inc. If you haven't RSVP'd yet, please do so at the Evite link below. We already have over 100 people that will be coming, so this will be a great networking opportunity for you.
Also, Moneybackjobs is offering its first promotion to Employers who create a profile and post a job. For each job that you post from now through Friday, August 8th, you will receive a $20 Visa gift card. If you post 10 jobs, that's a $200 Visa gift card that you'll get. And with job postings only costing $50 each, you won't find a cheaper place to find those hard to hard-to- attract candidates! Click here to get started: http://moneybackjobs.com/employer/signup.aspx
And of course, we'll see you at the party tomorrow at Space Gallery!"
Maybe its time to audit the recruiter's choice of job sites - - - and conduct that corporate ethics talk you've been putting off.
Survey Says: New Grads Have a Blind Spot in their NetworkThe WSJ's online Careers section made note last week that "most first-time job hunters search for work without getting help from others", (according to a recent survey of 504 U.S. college students and graduates. Conducted by - uh-oh -CareerXroads, and AfterCollege.com). Seventy- eight percent of respondents said they research prospective employers on their own, while just 22% seek guidance from their school, family and friends. The more telling stat is that sixty-four percent avoid networking for jobs unless someone makes an introduction for them.
We would love to see confirming surveys but the data suggests that the most networked generation in history has a blind spot when it comes to calling the previous year's crop and getting referrals. This could change with the explosion of social networking sites launched by college alumni associations.
They Just Have to Be Kidding: CareerBuilder's Newest OfferingWhen we got the following pitch we just had to try it out: "It's long been understood that color can affect your mood, but what about your career choices? What do the colors you are drawn to say about your suitability for certain careers? The Color Career Counselor, a new online personality test offered by CareerBuilder, is a validated color-based personality test that looks at the relationship between colors and career compatibility. The Color Career Counselor, powered by the Dewey Color System(R), uses a scientifically validated, color based online test to aid job seekers in determining what career best suits them."
What BS. We'll be blogging shortly in a more detailed fashion about the experience but, anyone using CareerBuilder ought to seriously complain that they are embarrassing an entire profession in a pitiful attempt to separate desperate jobseekers from their money. And if you are paying for their professional consulting services, well, we'll pray for you.
SHRM Surveys Offer Insights for Trends and BrandingTwo of the 12 new surveys available to SHRM members that are relevant to the staffing community offer interesting insights worth mulling over.
The SHRM and CCHRA 2008 Global Talent Sourcing in the United States and Canada noted that the "primary reason for recruiting and/or hiring foreign national workers (in both the US and Canada) was an inability to successfully recruit citizen and legal resident alien or landed immigrant status workers with the necessary skills." However, more than half of the US respondents indicated they would not hire a single foreign worker in the coming year.
Broken bottles, broken systems - - -everything is broken - Bob Dylan
SHRM's 2008 Job Satisfaction Survey Report is an excellent report contrasting by various demographics i.e. age, level, diversity etc. the importance of 30 factors in the environment.
Is your staffing brand in alignment?
The Gathering Storm: A Desperate Shortage of - - -Models?Rahgav Singh, in an article published on ERE.net late last month informed his audience of a new crisis: "fashion models coming to America have to compete for the same H1-B visas that every immigrant software engineer and developer does."
Clearly this has to be addressed as a priority - and apparently it is. Anthony Weiner, a congressman from New York is sponsoring a bill in Congress that would create a separate category of visas for fashion models, the P-4.
Broken bottles, broken systems - - -everything is broken - Bob Dylan
Benchmarks are starting lines, not finishing linesThis excellent article from Staffing.org putting Benchmarks in perspective.
We are fans of simply and critically examining practices before assuming they are the "bench" for anything.
Hewitt Claims Talent Shortage as Boomers Retire - Duh"U.S. employers are facing an unprecedented talent shortage, with 25% of the workforce nearing retirement age, according to a new Hewitt Associates survey. In response, an increasing number of companies are considering implementing phased retirement programs, Hewitt said. According to Hewitt's survey of more than 140 mid-size and large employers, more than half (55%) have already evaluated the impact that potential retirements could have on their organization, and 61% have developed or will develop special programs to retain targeted, near retirement employees."
According to Hewitt, "47% of companies said they have some type of phased retirement arrangement available to their employees, but very few (5%) have actually formalized those programs. However, almost 40% expressed an interest in establishing a phased retirement program in the future."
Perhaps Hewitt might offer a consulting service! lol
On the other hand: do you know who succeeds them when they do retire?The Institute for Corporate Productivity has published some decent benchmarks for large firms regarding companies prepared with succession plans, at least for the highest levels.
The real challenge is whether Staffing leadership is aligned with succession planning activities or merely a bystander.
Where You Can Find UsWhile going over this fall's conference season we were struck by the number and quality of the conferences available (in an economy where lots of folks are pulling back on travel budgets). Let us know if you are at the conferences below (our full schedule is at the link above) - we like to get Colloquium members together for good conversation over a casual dinner or drinks.