The Workforce Institute

John Hollon’s Observations on SHRM San Diego

Joyce Maroney — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:38:19 +0000

John Hollon and I both attended SHRM in San Diego last month, and recently chatted about our impressions of the show. You can listen to a podcast of our conversation here: John Hollon Podcast 7.26.10 You can find John’s blog posts from SHRM at TLNT.com. John writes frequently on topical issues in the HR and talent [...]

Help! My Wife Is In The Wrong Bucket!

Joyce Maroney — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:29:44 +0000

Our guest blog today is courtesy of John Morrison, Chief Scientist at Kronos… “Maybe I should get one of those new phones,” my wife said to me the other day, looking down at her well-worn clamshell model purchased in the middle of the last decade. There is no QWERTY keyboard, much less a touch screen, to [...]

July Retail Labor Index

Joyce Maroney — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:49:13 +0000

Dr. Robert Yerex of the Kronos Staffing Science Team provides the following context for this month’s Retail Labor Index report: Retail employers increased the number of hires they made in June to a level that was more than 30% higher than in June of 2009. Unfortunately for those seeking a position, the number of applicants also [...]

Your Best Hires are a Tweet Away

Joyce Maroney — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:11:39 +0000

As the economy recovers over the next year, organizations will need to focus more on strategies to retain valued employees. Many published surveys during the past 18 months have revealed that employees have been protecting their job security at all costs – even if they weren’t feeling particularly fulfilled or engaged at work. As demand [...]

Part 2: Measure Twice, Cut Once

Joyce Maroney — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:50:59 +0000

The following is a guest blog post from Phil Mangos, a senior scientist at Kronos. In the following post, he discusses candidate assessment strategy. We’ve discussed this topic in a prior post in 2007. Phil’s discussion digs a little deeper into not only mapping job competencies, but prioritizing them as well. As an industrial-organizational psychologist, I [...]

Dear Liz (and the rest of the class of 2010)

Joyce Maroney — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 01:52:37 +0000

Dear Liz, After four years of seemingly insurmountable volumes of reading, term papers and theses delivered through overnight marathons and lifelong friendships born as adolescents bloom into adulthood – it’s over. You’re a college graduate. You’re starting your post-college life in a new city, luckily with good friends and some family close by. The world awaits you [...]

June Retail Labor Index

Joyce Maroney — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:24:10 +0000

Here is the June release of the Kronos Retail Labor Index, submitted by Kelly Northrop of Kronos. This data reflects similar trends seen in the May employment data released on Friday that indicates very modest gains in job creation beyond the temporary US census jobs. The June release of the Kronos Retail Labor Index reveals that [...]

Life Skills 101 from the Girl Scouts

Joyce Maroney — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 21:07:08 +0000

In her Wall Street Journal blog (The Juggle) yesterday, Sue Shellenbarger questioned whether fundraisers like Girl Scout cookie sales are helpful developmental experiences for kids or just one more responsibility for working parents to shoulder. The comments following this blog are running about 50/50 pro and con regarding fundraisers and whether they teach kids responsibility [...]

What’s Your Online Reputation?

Joyce Maroney — Wed, 19 May 2010 16:42:41 +0000

Joan Jett may not have cared about her Bad Reputation, but job candidates who are active online need to be conscious managers of their personal brand. Likewise, as recruiters are increasingly leveraging search and social media tools to source and screen candidates, they need to be careful to comply with existing EEOC guidelines related to [...]

May Retail Labor Index

Joyce Maroney — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:31:22 +0000

The May release of the Kronos Retail Labor Index reveals that in April 2010, both applications and hirings increased approximately 20% over March 2010. Applications increased slightly more, bringing the Index down to 4.10% in April, from 4.17% in March. This seasonally adjusted Index level means that for every 100 applications received, 4.10 hirings occurred. One [...]