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Dear Holly,
In 2008, the first Baby Boomers will turn 62. And as
Anthony Carnevale (Former Chairman of the National Commission for
Employment Policy) put it recently, "We are about to face a
demographically driven shortfall in labor that will make the late
1990's seem like a minor irritation."
With
retaining key workers, ever-increasing healthcare costs, and the need
for technical talent such critical concerns, companies are searching
for inexpensive ways to add to their current mix of benefits and
perks. Here are some ideas for you:
- Movie tickets, Starbucks cards, instant lottery
tickets on birthdays
- A reward of some kind after three months of
employment (one company provides a "Mickey Mouse" watch
as a reminder to have fun, according to Bob Nelson's book, 1001
Ways to Reward Employees)
- Fridays off for one month out of the year
- Paid parking for one month a year
- An Employee Assistance Program:
psychological/legal/financial counseling services which employees
access in confidence
- Project work for retirees/former employees/or
new parents - 8 hours of work a week - mentoring current
employees, writing a newsletter, research, etc.
- I-pods and pets at work
- Volunteer Day - the entire company volunteers
at a charity for one or more days a year - the employees
recommend/choose the charity
- $500 "new baby" reimbursement for
take-out food in first 4 weeks (Google)
- Car wash or oil change coupons
- Massage therapists, yoga, tai-chi or pilates
instructors at work
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Our Clients Say it Best
ZOLL
Lifecor Corporation (www.zoll.lifecor.com), is the manufacturer of the LifeVest wearable
cardioverter defibrillator and has experienced rapid growth resulting
from market expansion. Providing protection for patients at risk of
sudden cardiac death, the LifeVest offers patients and their families constant
monitoring, immediate protection and peace of mind.
ZOLL
Lifecor needed to fill five key management positions quickly with top
people. In four months, all of the positions were filled, at a cost averaging less than 10% of salary.
Here's what Mike Saporito, ZOLL Lifecor's Chief Financial Officer, had
to say about our services:
"On a scale of one to five, I would
rate HMK Associates a '5'. They found high quality candidates,
screened them carefully, and kept in touch throughout the process. I
was able to achieve significant cost savings over traditional
contingency search firms and avoided having the management team
spending valuable time recruiting when they could be devoting their
time to their primary jobs."
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We
wrapped up 2007 with 22 new clients, 23 new hires and a 4.7 rating on
our services. We're working on a new website design and rolling out
an exciting new product in April. Details will follow.
Holly
has several speaking engagements coming up. Call us if you would like
to register or would like further info . . .
February
21: "Retention Strategies" for The Technology Collaborative
March
14: "Human Resource Risk Management" for the Pennsylvania
Institute of CPA's
May
7: "Face the Hiring Squad" Event, MIT Enterprise Forum (job
seekers, get ready! Or if you'd like to be on the panel of employers,
let me know)
June
10: "Hiring Strategies", University of Pittsburgh
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Alan
Weiss, author of Million Dollar Consulting, made some
interesting and provocative points recently at a meeting of the
Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Speakers' Association. Here
are some of them:
- Everyone has a battery - The trick is to match
the size of the battery to the job that needs to be done. If the
battery is too small, or the job is too big, then the person will
get stressed and frustrated.
- When you hire an employee, there are four things
abouth them you won't be able to change: level of
assertiveness, persuasiveness, attention to detail, and level of
patience.
Paul
Zelinsky recently spoke as part of the Black, White and Read All Over
series. When asked by one of the kids why he stopped being a professor
to move to NYC and become a children's book illustrator, he said,
"I realized I was sorry for the students I was teaching. It just
didn't seem right to have them have me for a teacher!"
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Definition
of the Month
"Barticulating"
- a drunken conversation at a bar (sometimes precedes a
"bargument") from Brocabulary, a new book by Daniel
Maurer, to be published by Harper Collins in October 2008
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We are looking forward to a great year working with
you. Give us a call if you would like some help.
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Holly
Maurer-Klein
HMK Associates, Inc.
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