Happy Friday!
Monthly Archives: January 2010
Manpower Inc. Identifies Four Mega Trends
Manpower Inc. is a strategic partner of the 40th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, held in Davos, Switzerland this week. At the Forum, key Manpower Inc. executives are participating in discussions around a slate of topics ranging from global commonalities to gender parity to the future of employment to social networking.
In conjunction with the Forum, Manpower Inc. released information identifying four Mega Trends which are transforming and accelerating the world of work. They are:
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The Talent Mismatch is deepening as the working age population declines and the nature of work changes. These significant shifts in talent supply are transforming the global labor market.
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Individual Choice will be exercised by those with the skills that are most in demand, requiring companies to think differently about how jobs are defined and how they will attract and retain scarce talent.
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Rising Customer Sophistication requires businesses to work in a new way, driven by innovation and delivering greater value and efficiency.
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Technological Revolutions have the power to change where, when and how we work, enabling organizations to be more agile and innovative – if they know how to leverage it.
“In recent weeks, the status and significance of the rapidly expanding temporary workforce has been widely discussed – and woefully misunderstood,” said Jeff Joerres, Manpower Inc. Chairman and CEO. “Companies will increasingly look to temporary workers to gain the flexibility and agility required to appropriately and strategically adjust to consumer demand. At the same time, individuals are increasingly exercising more choice when it comes to pursuing employment that meets their expectations and taps their motivations.”
“Business leaders around the world will need to ask themselves what the trends mean for their organizations and what they will do to respond to them, according to Manpower research. Organizations need to carefully consider their people practices, a critical element to navigating the changing world of work.”
“As the economy rebounds, companies will need to prepare for a new normal, carefully adjusting their business strategy and evaluating their workforce,” said Joerres. “In the past, access to capital gave companies their edge; soon talent will become the competitive differentiator and companies will compete for talent as rigorously as individuals now compete for jobs. “
“Given these trends, the temporary workforce will lead the way as the world recovers and companies are forced to do more with less and meet consumers’ ever-rising expectations,” Joerres added. “To attract and retain these ‘workforce accelerators’ who offer highly specialized skills, smart companies will strive to create a workplace culture that is healthy, flexible and satisfying.”
To see an executive summary, click here…
Good stuff! Take note America – things are changing before our very eyes.
Oddball Interview Questions
People ask peculiar questions of one another all the time. When the person asking the questions is a potential employer, however, there may be more riding on your response than mastering off-the-wall chitchat.
One of my favorite old Stephen Wright comedy pieces (paraphrased below) illustrates that point.
“I was at a job interview, and I stopped the interview and asked the guy ‘If you were in a car traveling at the speed of light, and you turned on the headlights, what would happen?’ He said ‘I don’t know.’ I said ‘Well then I don’t want to work for you!’”
The folks at glassdoor.com have compiled their list of the top oddball interview questions of 2009. How would you do if your next job depended on your response to one of these questions?
1. What was your best McGuyver moment? – view answers
Asked at Schlumberger. More Schlumberger Interview Questions
2. How many tennis balls are in this room and why? – view answers
Asked at Yahoo. More Yahoo Interview Questions
3. If you were a brick in a wall which brick would you be and why? – view answers
Asked at Nestle USA. More Nestle USA Interview Questions
4. How would you move Mount Fuji? – view answers
Asked at Microsoft. More Microsoft Interview Questions
5. If two cars are traveling in a two lap race on a track of any length, one going 60 mph and the other going 30mph, how fast will the slower car have to go to finish at the same car to finish at the same time? – view answers
Asked at Morgan Stanley. More Morgan Stanley Interview Questions
6. Are your parents disappointed with your career aspirations? – view answers
Asked at Fisher Investments. More Fisher Investments Interview Questions
7. Tell me how you would determine how many house painters there are in the United States? – view answers
Asked at Acquity Group. More Acquity Group Interview Questions
8. What should it cost to rent Central Park for commercial purposes? – view answers
Asked at Bain & Co. More Bain Interview Questions
9. If I put you in a sealed room with a phone that had no dial tone, how would you fix it? – view answers
Asked at Apple. More Apple Interview Questions
10. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why? – view answers
Asked at Pacific Sunwear. More Pacific Sunwear Interview Questions
11. How many hair salons are there in Japan? – view answers
Asked at Boston Consulting. More BCG Interview Questions
12. If both a taxi and a limo were priced the exact same, which one would you choose? – view answers
Asked at Best Buy. More Best Buy Interview Questions
13. How to measure 9 minutes using only a 4 minute and 7 minute hourglass? – view answers
Asked at Bank of America. More BOA Interview Questions
14. What are 5 uncommon uses of a brick, not including building, layering, or a paper-weight? – view answers
Asked at Kaplan High Education. More Kaplan Higher Education Interview Questions
15. What is the probability of throwing 11 and over with 2 dices – view answers
Asked at American Airlines. More American Airlines Interview Questions
16. What is your favorite food? – view answers
Asked at Apple Store. More Apple Interview Questions
17. Say you are dead- what do you think your eulogy would say about you. – view answers
Asked at Nationwide. More Nationwide Interview Questions
18. Given a dictionary of words, how do you calculate the anagrams for a new word? – view answers
Asked at Amazon. More Amazon Interview Questions
19. How many lightbulbs are in this building? – view answers
Asked at Monitor Group. More Monitor Group Interview Questions
20. Given a square grid of numbers, considering all the numbers at the boundary as one layer and numbers just inside as another layer and so on how would you rotate each of the layers of the numbers by a given amount. – view answers
Asked at Microsoft. More Microsoft Interview Questions
21. How would you sell me eggnog in Florida in the summer? – view answers
Asked at Expedia. More Expedia Interview Questions
22. Develop an algorithm for finding the shortest distance between two words in a document. After the phone interview is over, take a few hours to develop a working example in C++ and send it to the manager. – view answers
Asked at Google. More Google Interview Questions
23. Given a fleet of 50 trucks, each with a full fuel tank and a range of 100 miles, how far can you deliver a payload? You can transfer the payload from truck to truck, and you can transfer fuel from truck to truck. Extend your answer for n trucks. – view answers
Asked at Palantir. More Palantir Interview Questions
24. You are in a room with 3 switches which correspond to 3 bulbs in another room and you don’t know which switch corresponds to which bulb. You can only enter the room with the bulbs once. You can NOT use any external equipment (power supplies, resistors, etc.). How do you find out which bulb corresponds to which switch? – view answers
Asked at Goldman Sachs. More Goldman Sachs Interview Questions
25. If you saw someone steal a quarter. Would you report it? – view answers
Asked at Amazon. More Amazon Interview Questions
See more at the glassdoor.com blog
As if interviews weren’t already stressful enough!
Posted in Employment, Humor, Interesting Internet, Interviewing, Uncategorized
Tagged Glassdoor.com, Interview, oddball interview
Click on image to enlargeCanadian IT departments understaffed.
A recent survey by Robert Half Technology revealed that a significant number of technology executives feel that they could use more help. Thirty-seven per cent of chief information officers (CIOs) interviewed said their IT departments are understaffed in relation to current workloads.
The survey was conducted by an independent research firm, and was based on telephone interviews with more than 270 CIOs from companies across Canada with 100 or more employees.
CIOs were asked, “How would you describe the staffing level of your IT department in relation to current workloads?” Their responses were as follows:
- Somewhat understaffed ……….. 37%
- At the appropriate staff level … 59%
- Somewhat overstaffed …………… 4%
Within the professional services and business services sectors, CIOs noted an even greater discrepancy between staff levels and workloads, with nearly half (46 per cent), respectively, reporting that their departments are understaffed.
“Many technology departments experienced cuts to their staffing levels and have been challenged to manage workload demands,” said Geoffrey Thompson, vice president of Robert Half Technology. “While companies are often able to operate with lean teams in the short term, longer periods of understaffing can harm the overall productivity and morale of the organization.”
To keep projects on track and prevent burnout, Thompson recommends that IT managers bring in extra support, if only for a short duration. “Contract professionals alleviate the demands of workload peaks and major projects, allowing existing staff to concentrate on crucial initiatives. Observing professionals in the work environment is also an excellent way to evaluate them for full-time opportunities.”
Posted in Employment, World of Work
Tagged Canada, I.T. Staffing, Staffing, Survey
Can we recover in time for the Recovery?
It seems that most of the expert sources are now in agreement that the recession has bottomed out, and that we’re moving into a period of recovery. Thank goodness! Now it’s time to really gear up and jump into the recovery in high gear – we’ve got a lot of ground to make up.
If you’re one of the lucky ones, you’re still working! Obviously, the acts of becoming and remaining employed involve a great deal more than mere luck, so let’s say instead that you’re one of the fortunate ones. (This is relevant, so please bear with me.) Assuming that you’ve been working consistently during the last year or two, the chances are pretty good that your actual workload has increased, and that the phrase “Do More With Less” has either passed through your lips, your ears or both. It’s become a mantra, a battle cry and in some instances, a bleak joke.
Your department just got downsized? Ha-Ha, guess you’ll have to Do More With Less. Already pushed to the limit? Tough. Suck it up and just Do More With Less!
Here’s the conundrum though: We’ve proven that we can all Do More With Less – but for how long? Everyone can kick it up a notch in a pinch, somewhat like an athlete getting a “second wind”. That act can even be exhilarating, especially when it’s teamed with learning new tasks/skills, and stepping outside of your normal duties for the good of the cause. At what point though, does our overall productivity begin to fade into Doing Less With Less? When in this Do More With Less marathon do we hit the wall and stop being able to put one foot in front of the other through sheer force of will?
I hope it’s not now ’cause there’s a Recovery looming ahead of us, and we’ve got work to do.
If we’re at a threshold at which job fatigue is about to replace job adrenaline, how do we maintain productivity while allowing for some type of downtime? How do we recharge the batteries?
My belief is that the answer lies in some combination of 1) strategically adding people to provide some level of reinforcement, 2) temporarily relaxing quotas and/or goals, and 3) building in some type of “active” downtime.
1) People – if you’ve ever been involved in a picnic tug-of war, especially one that lasted for a while, you can picture the immense advantage that one side would have by just adding one more energetic tugger. In some instances, well-thought out staff additions could provide momentum to help carry you strongly into the Recovery.
2) Quotas – while any organization needs to achieve growth-related goals, this may be the time to right-size those goals to today’s market realities and the fatigue described above. Even a thoroughbred horse will only go so far so fast without a break, no matter how much you whip it.
3) Downtime – Remaining conscious not to inadvertently add to existing stress levels, team building or fun-themed events may be a way of allowing employees to catch their breath. Rebuilding positive feelings about the workplace can help to return it to a more vibrant, interesting and socially fulfilling place, rather than it being a hellish sweatshop.
I’d love to go on, but I’ve got to take a break!
Posted in Employee Engagement, Management Tips
Tagged Mike Lynch, Motivation, productivity, recovery
Survey Says… Jan-March 2010
Manpower’s quarterly Employment Outlook Survey polls over 28,000 employers nationwide in order to determine their hiring intentions for the upcoming 3-month period. As with the data derived from any survey, most of us fall somewhere towards the middle, but there are always the extremes…
Here then, are the strongest and weakest areas (by Metropolitan Statistical Area) when it comes to hiring.
Click on image to enlarge
Click on image to enlarge
Note: The Net Employment Outlook number is the difference between those employers planning on adding staff, and those planning on decreasing staff.
The entire survey can be found at www.manpower.com.
Posted in Employment, Manpower Inc.
Tagged Employment, Manpower, Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, MEOS
Friday Funnies: Office Popcorn – Dilbert
Click image to enlarge
November U.S. Unemployment
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment rates were higher in November than a year earlier in all 372 metropolitan areas. Seventeen areas recorded jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, while 13 areas registered rates below 5.0 percent. The national unemployment rate in November was 9.4 percent, not seasonally adjusted, up from 6.5 percent a year earlier.
Closer to home, Iowa’s unemployment reached 6.4 percent in November, up from 6.1 percent in October and 4.1 percent in November, 2008. In the Des Moines-West Des Moines MSA, roughly 19,800 or 6.2 percent of the workforce was out of work.
Click here for full press release
Click image to enlarge
Posted in BLS, Employment, Workforce Statistics
Tagged BLS, Manpower, Unemployment, US Unemployment November 2009
No room to complain…
After being generally cold and miserable for the last couple of days, conditions to which I am not normally accustomed, I had to see how we stack up against the rest of the frigid world…
According to TheTravelAlmanac.com, these are the 10 coldest locales on earth:
| 1. | Vostok, Antartica | -89.2 °C | -138.6 °F |
| 2. | Plateau Station, Antartica | -84.0 | -129.2 |
| 3. | Oymyakon, Russia | -71.1 | -96.0 |
| 4. | Verkhoyansk, Russia | -67.7 | -90.0 |
| 5. | Northice, Greenland | -66.0 | -87.0 |
| 6. | Eismitte, Greenland | -64.9 | -85.0 |
| 7. | Snag, Yukon, Canada | -63.0 | -81.4 |
| 8. | Prospect Creek, Alaska, USA | -62.1 | -79.8 |
| 9. | Fort Selkirk, Yukon, Canada | -58.9 | -74.0 |
| 10. | Rogers Pass, Montana, USA | -56.5 | -69.7 |
I don’t feel quite so bad about our forecast now…
Stay warm!
What’s your engagement resolution?
Now that 2009 is in the history books, it’s time to turn our attention towards the prosperity we all hope the new year will bring. Traditionally, this is a time that we confidently look forward and make resolutions designed to better our health, relationships and lives in general. Maybe you’ll give up the smokes, or drop those extra pounds that have been hanging around for entirely too long. I wish you the best!
When it comes to your workplace, your resolutions will take the same level of diligence if you intend to succeed. Chances are, you’ve already been forced to trim down and are as lean as you can be. The new battle will be maintaining the staff you’ve fought hard to preserve, and keeping them engaged (or re-engaged) as the job market improves and their alternatives increase.
According to BlessingWhite President and CEO, Christopher Rice, the following steps should be part of your resolution for success:
1. Quit or commit. You need to decide if you are ready for another year leading your company. You have been bruised, so make sure you are ready for 2010. If feel like you are working at Dunder Mifflin, then you need to move along because you cannot lead unless you are fully engaged. Your employees deserve more than a leader who is half-in.
2. Communicate the vision. You need to create excitement and trust in your leadership. You should highlight the initiatives of 2010 and create faith that your company is on the right path. Your employees now have a choice about where they work. The large majority want more than ‘just a job’. You had better inspire them to be part of your future.
3. Talk about careers again. The top reason employees leave a company is a perceived lack of career opportunities. Don’t be fooled into believing that your leaner organization can’t satisfy those cravings. You have more priority initiatives than employees, so there are plenty of opportunities for individuals to build skill sets, acquire valuable experience, or try something new! When you scratch the surface of what people mean by ‘career’ you often find it’s all about meaningful work and personal growth. Today’s careers are built not on promotions but on assignments.
4. Forget about performance reviews. You need to do ‘engagement reviews’. You already got rid of the people who needed their performance ‘fixed’. And when using the right definition, engagement actually covers off on performance: Fully engaged employees are at their peak — of maximum contribution and maximum satisfaction. When you focus on engagement, results — and retention — follow. Engagement reviews are vastly different in tone from appraisals. There is a lot more dialogue, and the manager is more likely to end up with a rating than the employee. Engagement reviews explore:
- a) The strategy of the company
b) The importance of the employee to the success of the team and the company
c) What’s important to that employee (overall job satisfaction, meaning at work)
d) The employee’s career aspirations and growth goals
e) Focus and alignment of the employee’s talents and goals with critical organizational priorities
f) Your own engagement and commitment (unless, of course, you aren’t sure of your answer to ‘commit or quit’ above!)
Your challenge: Your employees don’t wear labels that declare their engagement level on their foreheads. And you can’t assume that the chronic complainer is totally burnt out and disengaged or that the team member who never makes waves is fully satisfied and aligned. Engagement reviews enable you to exchange information to ensure that the employees you rely on are connected to your organization’s larger purpose, getting what they’re looking for at work and applying their unique expertise to carve out a successful future in 2010. See full story…
Now’s the time to start making sure that your organization is as fit as it can be for the year(s) to come. The journey to success isn’t a sprint, it’s more of a triathlon. With the proper training and execution, almost anyone can get there. Me, I’m going to start by working up to ten sit-ups!
Posted in Employee Engagement, Interesting Internet
Tagged Career, Des Moines, Employee Engagement, Iowa, Manpower, Reviews
