Great Article from the Forbes website.

The Great Recession has resulted in a cease-fire in the war for talent–or so goes the thinking of many executives and managers, as economic uncertainty and unemployment remain high in the U.S. and throughout much of the world. On the surface, you might think employers have the upper hand and can hire and retain all the talent they need while spending less developing employees.

But the reality is anything but that easy. A prolonged period of cutbacks, reductions in human capital investment and extreme reliance on existing top performers–all in an atmosphere of uncertainty and scarcity–can easily undermine an organization’s ability to attract, develop, retain and engage skilled, valuable employees.

The organizational pipeline of key people and future leaders is more important now than ever. Yet the talent management processes in many companies are missing the mark. They see talent management as something done to and for high-potential employees, in service of the organization’s needs. But another emerging perspective is the key to effective talent management: the view from inside the pipe.

The employees and managers who are inside the leadership pipeline don’t see themselves as a stream of talent to be funneled and directed by the organization. They bring their own perspectives, desires and experiences to the process. You need to understand and appreciate what’s going on with your people if you expect to have the talent you will need 2, 5 and 10 years down the road. Paying attention to the view from the pipe will not only pay dividends in the future but also increase the engagement of key talent immediately.

Even today high-potential employees can and will go elsewhere when it suits their needs. Although 95% of high potentials say they are committed to their organizations, 21% are actively looking for another job anyway. If a fifth of your best people are looking to leave and many more could be persuaded, what are you to do? Here are three main things.

Clearly identify your high potentials. Who is your top talent? How do you identify these people, and what does it mean for them and your company when you do? How effectively is this communicated to them, and by whom? The transparency and formality of your high potential identification will affect how employees see themselves and the organization.

This is an excerpt above, for the full Article HERE

Results from an independent survey of leading employers in South Africa shows that these organisations are set to increase the number of graduate vacancies in 2011 by 17 per cent compared to 2010.

The SAGRA Graduate Recruitment Survey 2010 is based on responses from 70 of the largest and most well known graduate employers in South Africa. It provides good news for university students as vacancies for those graduating this summer look set to rise despite difficult economic conditions.

The SAGRA Graduate Recruitment Survey 2010 is produced by The South African Graduate Recruiters Association (SAGRA) and is based on feedback from 70 employers in April 2010.

Nine of the twelve industries that are tracked will see an increase in graduate vacancies for 2011 with one of the largest recruiters of graduates – the accountancy and professional services industry – set for an 18 per cent increase in graduate positions.

The research will also alleviate some graduates’ fears over starting salaries – nearly two-thirds of employers expect a ‘cost of living’ increase to graduate salaries.

For the full PDF article click HERE

Source: “http://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/joininggoogle/hiringprocess/”

“We don’t just want you to have a great job. We want you to have a great life. We provide you with everything you need to be productive and happy on and off the clock.” Larry Page, Google Co-founder, Stanford University

Job search
The process begins with searching for a job opening that interests you by job department, location, or even by key word.

Applying at Google
Once you apply for a job, your qualifications and experience will be reviewed by one of our recruiters to determine if you are a fit. If you are a possible match for the position, a recruiter will contact you to learn more about your background and answer questions about our hiring process and what it’s like to work at Google.

Phone interview
You’ve applied for the position and your skills fit the job. The phone interview assesses your technical skills and proficiency, to the level of determining whether you should be brought in for in-person interviews. Typically phone interviews are conducted by someone in a similar role and last about 30-40 minutes.

Onsite interview
Our interview process for technical positions evaluates your core software engineering skills including: coding, algorithm development, data structures, design patterns, analytical thinking skills. During your interview, you’ll meet with several engineers across different teams who will give a cross-section view of Google Engineering. Interviewers will ask you questions related to your area of interest and ask you to solve them in real time. Our interview process for business and general positions evaluate your problem solving and behavioral abilities. Remember, it’s not a question of getting the answer right or wrong, but the process in which you use to solve it. Creativity is important.

Hire by committee
Virtually every person who interviews at Google talks to at least four interviewers, drawn from both management and potential colleagues. Everyone’s opinion counts, ensuring our hiring process is fair while maintaining high standards as we grow. Yes, it takes longer, but we believe it’s worth it. If you hire great people and involve them intensively in the hiring process, you’ll get more great people. We started building this positive feedback loop when the company was founded, and it has had a huge payoff.

What happens next
Following your interviews, we will decide if you are suitable for the job opening. We take hiring very seriously and like to make consensus-based decisions. To that end, it can take up to two weeks for us to make a definitive decision as to whether we’d like to have you join the team. Please be patient with us – your recruiter will keep in touch with you when feedback has been received and decisions made. Also feel free to get in touch with your recruiter at any time.

By Catherine Parker

The advantages of using LinkedIn as a recruitment tool have already been widely written about. Through its online CV format and “friend of a friend” introduction system, LinkedIn uses social media to allow you to tap into networking circles in order to find a new job, research the job market, or network with others in your industry.

Beyond just its recruitment capabilities though, as business owners and entrepreneurs, you can use LinkedIn to increase your company’s exposure to the LinkedIn community, and to establish yourself as an expert in a particular subject area. Used successfully, these two elements mean more quality job applicants to your company, an increase in partners, vendors and clients for your business, and an improved reputation within professional circles. Like many social media platforms, LinkedIn is free, which means you’re only limited by your own time constraints in how much you can leverage the site in this way.

Here are five steps to get you started – Click here for the full article

In a survey conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, an overwhelming majority of technology experts and stakeholders believe that social networking and online sharing is more than just a fad for today’s youth.

More than two-thirds of those surveyed indicated that the Millennial generation — otherwise known as Generation Y — will continue to use social networking tools as they mature into adult life stages and have families of their own.

The research is part of Pew’s fourth “Future of the Internet” study which includes responses from selected experts and Internetusers who were asked to think about “the future of the Internet-connected world between now and 2020.”

When it comes to Millennials, 67% of experts in the respondent pool agreed with the following statement:

“By 2020, members of Generation Y (today’s ‘digital natives’) will continue to be ambient broadcasters who disclose a great deal of personal information in order to stay connected and take advantage of social, economic, and political opportunities. Even as they mature, have families, and take on more significant responsibilities, their enthusiasm for widespread information sharing will carry forward.”

Full Article HERE

From mybroadband.co.za

The 2010 World Cup gave Sport24 and Supersport a massive boost in traffic, but not everyone benefited.

The 2010 World Cup brought thousands of international visitors to South Africa, but despite this increase in tourism, the impact on local Internet traffic was uncertain.
Some industry players predicted that local Internet and website traffic will slide to levels typically seen during the December holidays while others felt that the influx of tourists would boost local traffic.

The latest Nielsen Online website statistics showed that there was in fact no significant slowdown or growth in local website traffic which is possibly an indication that the influx of international visitors cancelled out the effect of school holidays.  In June local OPA registered websites attracted 20,481,203 unique visitors, a decline of only 0.85% from May.

Unsurprisingly the two biggest benefactors of the 2010 World Cup in terms of June website traffic were Sport24 and Supersport.  In June Sport24 showed an impressive 86% growth compared to the website’s traffic in May while Supersport showed a 24% growth over the same period.

The following table provides an overview of the largest websites in South Africa according to the latest total traffic report from Nielsen Online.

It should however be noted that only OPA registered websites are listed in the Nielsen Online report, and to get a rough idea of which websites are the most popular among South African Internet users Alexa’s country statistics can be used.

According to the latest Alexa rankings the ‘Top Sites’ in South Africa are:  Google, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo, Twitter, WikiPedia, Blogger, Gumtree, News24 and FIFA.

From mybroadband.co.za

We talk about “top” talent and “top” performers, but how do you know you’ve reached the “top”? Is there some kind of altitude marker? A sign that reads “Welcome to the Top”? Unfortunately, no. But of all the recruiting metrics in your talent capital toolbox, one indicates a recruiting job-well-done above the rest: Quality of Hire.

Every CEO, manager, and corporate investor knows that hiring the best people is what ultimately drives an organization’s long-term success. Yet the recruiting metrics most companies employ evaluate efficiency rather than quality. Metrics like “time-to-fill” and “cost-per-hire” only tell us about the process, not its impact.

What matters most is how new hires perform and how much they contribute to your organization’s growth and goals. “Top” performers can exponentially increase your productivity and profitability, while those with lower standards can damage your bottom line and plummet your reputation. Those numbers far outweigh how much time it took to fill their position. Yet the question remains: How do you evaluate the quality of your hires?

Read the full Article Here

37signals co-founder Jason Fried shares his tips for hiring great employees.

Hiring people is like making friends. Pick good ones, and they’ll enrich your life. Make bad choices, and they’ll bring you down. Who you work with is even more important than who you hang out with, because you spend a lot more time with your workmates than your friends.

Wait, why am I talking about hiring? Isn’t unemployment stubbornly high? Aren’t tons of folks unable to find new work? That’s certainly the case for many industries, but not ours. In fact, our company’s job board — which lists positions for programmers and designers across our industry — has more help-wanted postings than ever. We recently hired two new people. Something is going on.

Full Article HERE

You’ve finally decided to enter the social media fray and create a Facebook Page for your brand. Fantastic! Since you’re fairly web-savvy and it’s about as complicated as a monochrome Rubik’s Cube, you decide you don’t need a social media guru to do it, confident Facebook’s simple user interface will guide you through the process.

After a few mouse-clicks, there stands your brand-spanking new fanpage, with one fan – yourself. Lonely, isn’t it? Here then are 10 easy ways to grow your fanpage as organically as possible.

Full Article HERE

Recent trends show that more than half of US employers are blocking social media access at the workplace. A variety of fears have led to the restriction, led by certainty that time spent on Facebook or Twitter is productivity the company can never get back.

By implementing a complete block of social media, leaders and managers are able to rest easy, secure in the knowledge that their employees are spending their time doing the work for which they’re being paid.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. The truth is…

• Blocking social media access is a costly exercise that simply doesn’t work.
• Employee use of social media doesn’t necessarily adversely affect productivity.
• There are distinct advantages to allowing — and even encouraging — employees to use social media sites while at work.
• The future of business is a networked future. Employers who figure out the right balance will be more competitive. Those that don’t will be left behind.

Full Article HERE