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HR Bulletin August, 20, 2010

The August 2010 issue of HR News magazine (5.05 MB) is now online.
The Summer 2010 issue of Public Personnel Management (2.3 MB) is available online.
Press releases on the IPMA-HR Web site may be accessed here.
To access archived issues of the HR Bulletin, click here; you must be a member of IPMA-HR in order to access these archived issues.

Local Governments Job Cuts to Continue

A survey conducted by the National League of Cities (NLC), National Association of Counties (NACo), and the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) found that local government job losses in the current and next fiscal years will approach 500,000. The three associations conducted a survey in May and June to determine the amount of local government job losses due to the recession. There were 270 responses to the survey from 214 cities and 56 counties. The surveyed local governments reported cutting 8.6 percent of total full-time equivalent positions over the previous fiscal year to the next fiscal year. If applied to total local government employment nationwide, this would result in 481,000 local government workers losing their jobs.

The local job losses will impact most heavily public safety, public works, public health, social services and parks and recreation. The organizations noted that local governments almost always seek to protect public safety services from cuts in staffing and funding. The survey found that 63 percent of cities and 39 percent of counties report cuts in public safety personnel.

NLC, NACo, and the USCM call on Congress and the Administration to “act now to create jobs quickly and help stabilize local government economies.” Additional information is available here.

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Experienced, Mature Workers to Compete with College Students for Internships this Fall, Finds New CareerBuilder Survey

CHICAGO – Competition for internships will be stiff this fall, as experienced/mature workers and college students vie for ways to get a foot in the door. Nearly one-quarter (23 percent) of employers report that they are seeing experienced workers, those with more than 10 years experience, and mature workers, workers age 50 or older, apply for internships at their organizations. This is according to a CareerBuilder survey conducted among more than 2,500 employers between May 18 and June 3, 2010.

Regardless of applicants’ ages, more than one-quarter (27 percent) of employers said they plan to hire interns during the remainder of 2010 to help support workloads. Fourteen percent said they anticipate hiring paid interns, while seven percent said they won’t be paying their interns. An additional five percent said they will hire both paid and unpaid interns. Fifty-three percent of employers said they plan to pay interns $10 or more per hour, while five percent said they will pay $25 or more per hour.

When it comes to responsibilities, employers reported the following tasks that interns at their organizations typically handle:

  • Hands-on experience related to their goals – 73 percent
  • Office support – 52 percent
  • Working with customers – 35 percent
  • Running errands – 23 percent
  • Office maintenance – 19 percent

“The last 18 months have reshaped internships as more than an experience-builder for college students. Now, they’re also a way for experienced workers to explore new opportunities,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. “Internships can act as an extended, full-time job interview and potentially lead to more opportunities for college students and for more seasoned employees. In fact, 52 percent of companies we surveyed said they are likely to hire interns as full-time, permanent employees.”

Haefner recommends the following tips to help land an internship this fall:

Get connected: When applying for an internship, ask family and friends if they know anyone who works in the field you’re interested in. As in any job search, an “in” at a company may help you land a job—especially if the company doesn’t have an established internship program.

Start your search now: If you think you’ll have time to do an internship in the fall, start looking as soon as you can. Visit sites like CareerRookie.com for internship listings.

Be open-minded: Be open to a variety of different organizations, such as local charities or even small start-ups. Organizations with limited budgets are often especially receptive to the extra help an intern provides.

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 2,534 U.S. hiring managers (employed full-time; not self-employed; non government); ages 18 and over between May 18 and June 3, 2010 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset of U.S. employees, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 2,534 one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1.95 percentage points. Sampling error for data from subsamples is higher and varies.

CareerBuilder is a leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract their most important asset—their people. CareerBuilder works with employers, providing resources for everything from employment branding and data analysis to recruitment support. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc., Tribune Company, The McClatchy Company and Microsoft Corp., CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia.

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Sibson Consulting Releases Findings from New Rewards of Work Study

NEW YORK – Overall employee engagement at work—knowing what to do and wanting to do it—remains low these days, with engaged employees representing 52 percent of nearly 2,000 workers surveyed online from a wide range of age groups, industries and levels of responsibility. This is a key finding of Sibson Consulting’s 2009 Rewards of Work Study. Additional findings include:

  • The highest correlations to employee engagement are employee feelings about affiliation with the employer and the content of a person’s work—the top four measures with the highest correlation to engagement were organizational support of the employee, understanding of performance management, trust in management, and performance management effectiveness.
  • Specific measures of affiliation showed positive increases between 2006 and 2009, despite the onset of the recession. For example, favorable attitudes toward an organization’s reputation were up six percentage points to 81 percent in 2009. Trust in management increased by seven percentage points but was still only at 64 percent of those surveyed in 2009.
  • Employers should pay particular attention to millennials, a segment that was less satisfied, less engaged and more likely to leave than any other age group.

“Particularly disturbing,” says David Insler, senior vice president at Sibson Consulting, and one of the authors of the survey, “is that although 69 percent of those surveyed know what to do, not all of those want to do it. Employers need to provide strong leadership in strengthening employee engagement. They can do this through clear leadership direction, improved communications, support and feedback to employees, setting a high performance bar and rewarding top performers accordingly.”

Since 1997, Sibson Consulting has used its Rewards of Work Study to explore what attracts, motivates and retains the U.S. workforce. Sibson developed the survey elements to capture information from individuals about their attitudes toward work and the rewards they receive for their efforts.

Earlier this year, Sibson consultants met with employers that were most interested in the results of the 2009 Rewards of Work Study, both to give them a first look at the data and to discuss the findings and implications in detail. The full report of these discussions and of results from the Rewards of Work Study is available here.

Sibson Consulting, a division of Segal, provides strategic human resources solutions to corporate and non-profit employers. Sibson’s services include benefits, compensation, talent and performance management, communications, sales force effectiveness and change management.

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July CEO Turnover Down 30 Percent from a Year Ago

CHICAGO – While notable chief executive officer departures by Hewlett-Packard’s Mark Hurd and Sara Lee’s Brenda Barnes have grabbed headlines in early August, CEO turnover in July was relatively subdued; falling to its lowest level in 16 months.

A total of 88 CEO changes were recorded in July, 18 percent fewer than June’s 107 and 30 percent fewer than the 126 CEO changes announced in July 2009. The July total is the lowest since April 2009 when 82 CEOs left their posts, according to the latest report on CEO turnover released Wednesday by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

So far this year, 761 CEO exits have been announced. That is just four percent more than the 733 departures at the same point a year ago. Despite the slight uptick in CEO changes this year, turnover remains well below the record pace set in 2008, which saw 848 departures announced from January through July, and ended the year with 1,484 CEO exits. 

“It is not unusual to see a drop in CEO departures during the summer months. In four of the past five years, CEO turnover was lower in July than in June and, in three of the past five years, the July total was lower than the annual average,” noted John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

“It is too soon to tell if this July’s decline is part of a bigger downward trend in CEO turnover or simply a byproduct of the typical seasonal cycle that seems to slow corporate activities and decision-making during the summer,” he added.

The most common reason for CEO departures in July was resignation, which accounted for 34 (39 percent) of the 88 exits. The relatively vague “resignation” has been used as the reason for departure 235 times this year, which represents nearly one-third (31 percent) of all the announced departures. Retirement accounts for 205 departures this year, including 14 in July. 

The service sector saw the heaviest CEO turnover in July, with 12 departures. It was closely followed by the health care and government/non-profit sectors, which each had 11 CEO changes during the month. While tying for second in July, these two sectors lead all others in CEO turnover for the year. The health care sector has seen 123 CEOs leave their posts, while government and non-profit agencies have lost 108 CEOs.

“These sectors are still trying to find their footing in this recovery. Both continue to struggle amid massive budget shortfalls and may be seeing higher turnover as they lose leaders who are unwilling or unable to guide the organizations through the rough patch,” said Challenger.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., founded in the 1960s, is an outplacement consulting firm. The firm’s primary goal is to assist displaced workers to make the transition to reemployment.

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More and More Agencies Creating Separate Policies to Address Blogging, Social Web Sites and Instant Messaging
IPMA-HR Continuing to Post Sample Polices to Web Site

Tobacco, shorts, and blogging; what do these three things have in common? They are all the subject of sample policies on the IPMA-HR Web site.

With no relief from the summer heat, you might need to update your dress code and remind workers that certain beach attire is not office appropriate. And, several IPMA-HR members recently contributed their smoking and  tobacco use policies to the listserve. If you missed the e-mails, you can find the policies right on our Web site.

Blogging, social Web sites and instant messaging are all frequently mentioned on the listserve as well. More and more agencies are creating separate policies to address these workplace issues. Policies from seven agencies and two articles are now posted to the IPMA-HR site.

Want to share your policy? Please e-mail it to IPMA-HR Professional Development and Research Coordinator Heather Corbin at hcorbin@ipma-hr.org.

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Interested in Becoming Certified? DCHRS Online Course Starts August 25

The IPMA-HR Developing Competencies for HR Success online course is a comprehensive training program that teaches the benefits of understanding HR competencies, how to apply them and how to integrate them into business plans. The next scheduled course will begin on August 25.

As a standalone training program, completing Developing Competencies for HR Success is the best way to become a strategic player within your organization. This course will help you and your staff shift from managing “people issues” to managing “people-related business issues.”

Learn about self-assessment, building teams and coaching staff, resolving disputes and reaching consensus, creating a risk-taking environment, communication skills, building trust relationships, using consensus- and coalition-building skills, and more with IPMA-HR’s Developing Competencies for HR Success.

The online training consists of 11 weekly sessions. Benefits of taking part in the program online include the following:

  • You decide when and where to take classes.
  • You can complete the program in 11 weeks.
  • You can continue to work full time while participating in the classes.

The entire program costs $795 for IPMA-HR members; the cost for nonmembers to take part in the course is $995.

Completing IPMA-HR’s Developing Competencies for HR Success is a step toward certification. At the core of the IPMA-HR certification program is an appreciation of the importance of HR competencies. If you or any member of your staff desires to become certified as an IPMA-HR Certified Professional (IPMA-CP) or an IPMA-HR Certified Specialist (IPMA-CS), learning the concepts that are the foundation of this course is a necessary step.

Click here to enroll today for this online class.

Visit www.ipma-hr.org to learn more about IPMA-HR’s Developing Competencies for HR Success, or contact IPMA-HR, either by e-mail at meetings@ipma-hr.org, or by phone at (703) 549-7100.

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Learn About The FISH! Philosophy at the 2010 IPMA-HR International Training Conference

Join us for the 2010 IPMA-HR International Training Conference & Expo, which will be held October 2-6 at the Sheraton Seattle in Seattle, Wash. This conference is the largest gathering of public sector HR professionals anywhere and you don’t want to miss it!

Highlights of the 2010 International Training Conference education program include:

  • Three outstanding keynote speakers, including:
    • John Christensen. Christensen is a nationally recognized filmmaker, speaker and leading producer of corporate learning programs and the CEO of ChartHouse Learning. His session, The FISH!  Philosophy: Catch the Energy, Release the Potential, will take you on a virtual visit to Seattle’s Pike Place Fish and explore how the four practices of the FISH! Philosophy—Play! Make Their Day! Be There! and Choose Your Attitude! can be used to create energetic, unified, and successful work environments.
    • Rodd Wagner. Wagner is a New York Times bestselling author and a principal of Gallup. His session will highlight maximizing employee engagement and he will share results from Gallup’s world-renowned research.
    • Cindy Maher and Carol Grannis. Maher and Grannis are cofounders and managing partners of Leading Edge Coaching & Development. They will create an interactive session on finding out how the emotional intelligence competencies of self-awareness, social-awareness, relationship management, and self-management link to employee engagement and organizational success.
  • More than 20 educational sessions from your peers.
  • President’s Welcome Reception at Seattle’s Space Needle.
  • The IPMA-HR Conference Expo, filled with the latest cutting-edge products and services for the public sector HR professional.

To review a full list of session descriptions, click here. Advanced bird rate ends September 9, so make your plans and register for the International Training Conference & Expo today.

Make Your Hotel Reservation Now!
The Sheraton Seattle Hotel has set aside a limited block of rooms for IPMA-HR conference attendees at the special rate of $189 (+tax)/night for single and double rooms. The special rate is in effect until September 9. All rooms are available on a first-come, first-served basis or until the room block is at capacity. After September 9, or until the room block is at capacity, reservations will be taken on a space- and rate-available basis only. Reservations can be made by calling the Sheraton reservation line at (800) 325-3535 and referencing the IPMA-HR Conference.

Questions about the conference can be directed to the IPMA-HR meetings department by e-mail at meetings@ipma-hr.org. Please continue to check the conference Web site at www.ipma-hr.org for updates.

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On the Calendar

August 25
Online Course
Developing Competencies for HR Success

September 19-22, 2010
Eastern Region Conference
Adlephi, Md.

September 22
Online Course
Developing Competencies for HR Success

October 2-6, 2010
2010 International Training Conference & Expo
Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers
Seattle, Wash.
Contact IPMA-HR Director of Membership and Professional Development Jessica Allen at jallen@ipma-hr.org or click here for more information.

October 6
Online Course
Managing Employee Performance as an HR Business Partner

Watch the HR Bulletin and our Web site for more information on educational opportunities.

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