Human Resources |
Stuff Happens: Planning for Multi-tasking Disaster |
Published June 2002 in PM Network, the Project Management Institute's trade magazine for professional project managers |
| (Excerpt) |
| In a project manager's ideal world, vast numbers of people show up and cheerfully complete their duties ahead of schedule and under budget. But in the real world, lean corporations with shrinking project budgets often require fewer team members to complete jobs by multitasking. |
| Successful project managers have mastered the art of juggling several jobs at once. Some team members, however, who routinely handle multiple responsibilities in a traditional work setting may crumble under the stress of project deadlines and budget constraints. Factor in the possibility of illness, internal wrangling over resources and unpredictable labor markets, and you have a recipe for disaster. |
| Your challenge as a
project manager, particularly in a multitasking
environment, is to assemble a team that allows you to
seamlessly harness key resources. |
Two completed assignments for Quinlan Publishing, a Boston publisher of print and electronic HR newsletters. |
Right Place, Right Time: |
Where and When to Recruit Online |
(Assigned and completed September 2000) |
| Are you recruiting enough qualified candidates in today’s tight labor market to fill your organizational needs? If not, perhaps it’s time to develop an online advertising strategy or re-evaluate your current one. |
| According to Ronan McCann, Internet Recruiting Manager at Intel Corporate Staffing, 90% of resumes generated for their company come from the Internet. What are industry giants like Intel doing and how can you benefit from the same strategies? |
| Most HR managers post openings on huge job sites like Monster.com and Headhunter.net, which draw thousands of potential employees. Advertise on those big sites, but couple your efforts with one or more narrowly defined markets. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Apparently, when to post jobs online is not as important as where. "The most active traffic at Intel’s employment site is during the work week," confirms McCann, "indicating that most folks are browsing the web on company time." |
| It seems actively employed job seekers spend a portion of their workday looking for new opportunities on other sites, too. Emily McKittrick, Public Relations Coordinator for Monster.com, indicates that resume postings and job searches are consistent during the month, with no significant spikes or drop-offs. "By the week," McKittrick reports, "we have less activity on Saturday and Sunday." |
Need additional resources? |
| InterBizNet evaluates 15,000 recruiting sites annually and compiles the data into a book. Purchase price is around $2000, but a free mini-version of 1999’s Top 100 Electronic Recruiting Sites may spark ideas for where to post. (HINT: If you need IT personnel, visit their #1 pick for this year, Computer Jobs Store.) |
| Annual subscriptions to Weddle’s Newsletter for Online Recruiting start at $99. Each monthly newsletter contains ten site profiles and related articles. |
Creating an Effective Corporate Recruiting Site |
(Assigned and completed October 2000) |
| Corporate recruiting sites require a simple layout, a well-crafted message, and an easy application process. What else should you know before creating and placing content on your pages? Plenty! |
| DESIGN. Regardless of whether you hire a professional or use in-house personnel to create your Career Section, don’t be talked into using flashy, techno-gadgetry. Candidates want quick information, and slow loading pages will send them surfing for opportunity elsewhere. |
| Provide easy access to employment opportunities in one click from every page on your site. Mark Mehler, international staffing technologies consultant and co-author of CareerXroads, points out where most companies go wrong. "Out of the Fortune 500 corporations, 496 have web sites. Of those, 125 do not have a Jobs button on the home page and many others hide it down at the bottom." |
| MESSAGE. Draft a powerful opening statement for each position. Which of these (taken from actual online job advertisements) make you want to read more? |
|
|
| Follow your opening with a colorful job description that provides more than just a title. Forget a boring list of duties; explain what projects the successful candidate will tackle. Emphasize words like career instead of job, and opportunities instead of responsibilities. |
| Describe your corporate culture using language today’s job seeker understands, but don’t alienate older applicants by sounding too hip. |
| Summarize your benefits package and - yes, candidates want to know a starting salary or range. List educational requirements, certifications, or experience required. |
| Career pages should include a statement or link to information about your company’s products or services and locations. State your vision/mission, and explain how the new hire can help contribute toward it instead of being just another employee. |
| Visual messages are powerful, too. Post photographs of current employees and their brief statement about why they like working at your company. |
| APPLICATIONS. Include specific instructions about how to apply. |
|
| Projected staffing needs determine whether these or an electronic fill-in-the-blank application will work best for you. Generally, multiple options = more responses. |
| If a job seeker is not a good match for current openings, offer to email them when future vacancies match their qualifications. Let them advertise for you by including a "refer this job to a friend" button on each page. |
| You can use an auto-responder that immediately emails the candidate and acknowledges receipt of their application. But why not have a human personalize the email or answer inquiries on a 24/7 basis? This personal touch can mean the difference between landing or losing a potential employee that might otherwise disappear from the job market within days. |
| Finally, include your corporate URL on business cards, stationery, brochures, all in-house and outside recruiting advertisements, and in the signature section of outgoing emails. |
| Want to know more? Mehler indicates that none of the Fortune 500 career sites "have all the bells and whistles," but Cisco and Hewlett Packard contain many of the recommendations in his recent IT World article, How to Design World-Class Staffing Pages. |