Trends in Employee Benefits
According to a recent study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), uneven economic growth and related uncertainties about the nation’s fiscal health are having an impact on benefits offerings. As fewer employers offer defined-benefit pension plans and more are using other savings plans, they continue to shift more of the cost burden to
Recruiting’s Leading Edge
Enter ACE (Automated Candidate Experience) from PeopleClues. ACE is anifty new means for employers to deliver value to their candidates.Simultaneously, these leading-edge employers are giving themselves acompetitive advantage, by identifying the job fit of their bestcandidates. Once people have applied to the participating employer, the applicantstake an assessment. Once completed, they are presented with their
Using Games and Play to Boost Productivity
Back in 2004, we wrote a Herman Trend Alert called "The Future of Gaming." The future is here today. According to a recent study from Pew Research, 97 percent of teens and more than half of all adults play video games. Moreover, Gallup’s recent research suggests that more than 70 percent of employees are “somewhat
Compliance Issues Threaten Internships
In response to a recent United States Department of Labor (DOL) warningabout intern compensation and exploitation, the issue of unpaidinternships has attracted considerable attention. The DOL subsequentlyissued "Fact Sheet #71: Internship Programs under the Fair LaborStandards Act" (April 2010). This document clarifies employerguidelines about what constitutes "trainee status" to qualify for acompensation exemption. The reaction
Herman Trend Alert: Health Care Reform
As the United States thinks about health care reform, it seemsappropriate to look at ways to reduce medical costs without sacrificingquality of care. Some of the leading-edge health care solutions areclearly non-traditional. They include "disruptive" healthcareinnovations, such as medical tourism, retail clinics, medical homes,alternative and integrated medicine and cyber visits. To help employerscapitalize on these
Herman Trend Alert: Older Workers Recognized as More Valuable
Employers are increasingly turning to older and previously retiredworkers for hard-to-fill positions for two reasons. First, they will dopractically anything to reduce costs and second, employers, like mostof us, are uncertain of the near-term future. We are already seeing anuptick in the number of special projects given to these seasonedemployees. The good news about hiring
Herman Trend Alert: 2009 Workforce/Workplace Forecast
Each year at this time, The Herman Group issues its annual forecast.This year, once more, we offer you our full forecast for the comingyear: 1. Certain Skill Sets Continue to be in Short Supply. In spite of the global economic slowdown and massive layoffs, certainskill sets are in short supply. All but the most short-sightedemployers