2014 Compensation Trends Focus on Employee Retention

2014 Compensation Trends Focus on Employee Retention2014 Compensation Trends Focus on Employee Retention2014 Compensation Trends Focus on Employee Retention Rodd, PayScaleSurges in growth and hiring have created a growing concern about the retention of top talent, as evidenced in Payscales 2014 Compensation Best Practices Report.The reports findings are based on data collected from mora than 4,700 survey respondents, including human resources professionals, business line and executive managers who share their thoughts on compensation, talent retention, and recruiting.Why Employees LeaveAs companies of all sizes begin to recover from the recession, the smart ones are looking for new innovative ways to get smart about employee performance and compensation structures.In 2013, better compensation was the number one reason employees sought employment elsewhere. As more jobs become available, employees may start to look towards greener pastures, especially if green means more money.2013 In dustry GrowthInformation, media and telecommunications companies showed the fruchtwein development, as reported by 63 percent of respondents from these industries.Interestingly enough, only 51 percent of respondents from the finance and insurance industry reported financial growth as 13 percent saw a decrease in size.Respondents from the healthcare and social service industries are the least confident, and 8 percent expect a decrease in financial performance. Across the board, small and medium sized businesses are growing the most in 2014.A Need to Retain TalentMany companies are feeling optimistic about fiscal performance in 2014, but only if top talent sticks around. Of the companies surveyed in the report, nearly 60 percent listed retention as a top concern. Additionally, 54 percent of businesses plan to hire in 2014, while 88% plan to give raises.The Payscale report also states that small and medium-sized companies are the most optimistic about financial performance many reporte d a need for market-based, real-time salary data 75 percent reported some degree of dissatisfaction with their current data and insights. The job skills gap is also a concern, with half of companies surveyedciting the challenge of filling skilled positions.Industries that experience growth also tend to experience an increased concern in employee retention.Companies are willing to pay more to remain competitive 88 percent of the companies surveyed intend to give raises in 2014. Small companies reported the highest wage increase of 4.9 percent.No matter what your financial outlook, here are some key points to consider as you begin to reevaluate your compensation strategy. If left ignored, you may need to open the doors for new hires.Retention has continued to remain a top concern for many organizations. Even if you arent concerned now, your competitors may be. Additionally, salaries will increase across various industries, so up-to-date data and insights are crucial.While there is sti ll some debate regarding The Fair Minimum Wage Act, 40 percent of companies surveyed are in favor of a $10.10 minimum wage.The majority of respondents, regardless of company size, chose to either maintain or increase their organization size. Larger companies are the most likely to downsize, especially in industries where wage growth is slow.23 percent of respondents indicated their organization grew by 0-5 percent since January 2012, and another 23 percent report growing 6-10 percent.Many respondents indicated that school reputation is less influential when it comes to hiring decisions 40 percent felt experience is more important, while 31 percent value skill set over pedigree.A Gap in Growth and HiringEven with the projected growth, companies are treading cautiously when it comes to expansion and hiring. Half of respondents agree with the statement There is a lack of qualified applicants for our open job positions, indicating that the skills gap is still a big concern for many busi ness leaders.Although there may be a greater demand for in-demand positions, the talent is not necessarily available to hire. Large companies seem to really be feeling the pinch, as 50 percent reported having positions open for six months or more, compared to their small and medium counterparts.Social Mediain theWorkplaceBeyond compensation, social media usage in the workplace is another area where companies are beginning to evaluate employee usage, and recruiting potential.Larger companies are most likely to have a formal social media policy in place, while small and medium-sized companies reported a more relaxed attitude in regards to employee social media access. 61 percent of respondents in PayScales report indicated that social media was an important recruiting tool.Regardless of industry or size, it seems that many companies are looking to grow and expand their workforce in the coming years, with the demand for fresh data being vital to maintaining a strong workforce.Take a lo ok at Payscales 2014 Compensation Best Practices Report to see how your industry performed.

Top Tips and Lessons from Ft. Bragg Resume Writing Class

Top Tips and Lessons from Ft. Bragg Resume Writing ClassTop Tips and Lessons from Ft. Bragg Resume Writing ClassTop Tips and Lessons from Ft. Bragg Resume Writing Class TOP TIPS AND LESSONS LEARNED FROM FEDERAL RESUME WRITING CLASS AT THE HIRING OUR HEROES TRANSITION SUMMIT, FT. BRAGG, APRIL 26, 2017By Kathryn Troutman, President, Resume Place, Inc.Left to Right Daniel Serrano, Ten Steps Trainer Kathryn Troutman andCecelia Wallace, Director, Army Community Services Center, Ft. Bragg, NCI got to the Iron Mike Conference Center early and three people came in. I thought, Oh no, I flew here from Baltimore for ten people? Dreaded speakers thinking The place was pretty empty-looking at 830. Class starting time was 900. This was the ONLY class on Federal Resume Writing. There would be three more Federal Employment classes by OPM later in the day. I brought 50 copies of my latest Jobseekers Guides (8th edition) in case 50 soldiers showed up.Then at 845, they started to come in fast By 900 there were 80 soldiers in the room, standing room only GREATSo, I began Step 6, Writing Your Outline Format Federal ResumeThe BIG Lesson for the 45-minute session was this++++ The Outline Format Federal Resume is the BEST Possible Format for USAJOBS and Federal Human Resources Specialists and Managers ++++The features of this easy-to-read, impressive federal resume format areReverse chronological resume format.Small paragraphs (8 or 10 lines long) for the Duties and Responsibilities section.Use the USAJOBS Resume Builder Job Block for the last 2 or 3 positions 5,000 characters for each jobFour or five pages total length.A few selected ALL-CAP KEYWORDS that match the Required Qualifications section of the job announcement.At least two or three Key Accomplishments that will stand out and grab the attention of the human resources (generalist) specialist, to help him or her understand how good you are at your job. Hopefully these accomplishments can help you get REFERRED to a supe rvisor. These same accomplishments could make the supervisor want to MEET you in a job interview Thats why accomplishments are so critical in the Grand Plan to get a federal job interview.EASY to copy and paste into the USAJOBS BUILDER (The best method for a beginner federal applicant to use is the USAJOBS Resume Builder, not the Upload feature.)OTHER IMPORTANT FEDERAL APPLICATION TIPS COVERED IN THE 45 MINUTE PRESENTATION Use of the USAJOBS BUILDER, rather than the Upload, is recommended. The Upload is downright dangerous, because you might leave out critical information that the builder will be asking for.Give yourself all the credit that you can in the Questionnaire. You should strive for a score of 95% at least.Apply to U.S. Citizen announcements as much as possible, because veterans preference is applied to those types of announcements. The Federal Employee announcements are great also, but veterans preference is applied to U.S. Citizen announcements.Prepare for the federal job interview with five stories about your work within the last five years. Recent is betterTHE JOBSEEKERS GUIDE 8TH EDITIONAND TEN STEPS TO A FEDERAL JOBThe Jobseekers Guide 8th Edition is your guide to a federal job. This is a Ten Steps to a Federal Job book, and it takes you through the steps of landing a federal jobStep 1 Review the Federal Job Process learn what federal job is right for youStep 2 Networking and Non-Competitive Hiring Networking Veterans ProgramsStep 3 Find Jobs on USAJOBSStep 4 Find Your Keywords in the AnnouncementsStep 5 What are your best core competencies?Step 6 Write the Outline Format Federal Resume COVERED IN MY CLASSStep 7 KSAs, Questionnaires and AccomplishmentsStep 8 Apply for Federal Jobs Hot TipsStep 9 How to Track and Follow Up on your ApplicationsStep 10 Interview for a Federal Job this is a TESTTen Steps to a Federal Job is taught bi-monthly at the ACS office at Ft. Bragg. See the schedule and register for classes hereGET HELP WITH YOUR FEDERAL RESUMETARGETED TOWARD unterstellung TYPES OF POSITIONSGET A FEDERAL RESUME QUOTEGet your own copy of theJobseekers Guide

Henry Bessemer

Henry Bessemer Henry Bessemer Henry BessemerAt the time of his death in 1898, Sir Henry Bessemer the father of the steel industry had 100 British patents, a small fortune, and a knighthood to his credit. But were it not for the probing questions of his fianc, he might have remained an anonymous bureaucrat and our world might still be built of cast iron.Bessemers famous one-step process for producing cheap, high-quality steel made it possible for engineers to envision transcontinental railroads, sky-scraping office towers, bay-spanning bridges, unsinkable ships, and mass-produced horseless carriages. In the U.S., where natural resources and risk-taking investors were abundant, giant Bessemer steel mills sprung up to drive the expanding nations rise as a dominant world economic and industrial leader.Bessemer was born in 1813 in Charlton, Hertfordshire, England. His inventive ways manifested themselves early, and his earliest innovations were focused on the family geschftliches mitein ander of typography and printing. His father, a metallurgist, showed young Henry his innovative techniques for making lead type harder and longer lasting by adding other ingredients to the molten metal.Relocating to London at age 17, Bessemer earned a living selling decorative metal objects. In those days, forgery and the falsification of Britains official authorization stamp for documents such as property deeds was rampant. Recognizing the lost revenues tied to this problem, the British Stamp Office was receptive when the ever-inventive Bessemer came forth with a novel forgery-proof printing technology. He developed a unique press that embossed official stamps into the fibers of official paper documents. The Stamp Office loved the idea and, although Bessemer received nothing for the invention, he was offered the position of Superintendent of Stamps.His fianc was thrilled at the promise of a steady income and marriage. But, she posited, wouldnt it be cheaper just to modify the gover nments existing stamp to include a date? As it turned out, Bessemers wife-to-be was on to something. He took the simpler idea to his boss, who appropriated the idea and rewarded Bessemer with a pink slip. It was a teachable moment and Bessemer never again left anything to chance in safeguarding his intellectual property rights.Molten steel being poured.Case in point In Bessemers time, there was a large demand for ornate picture frames and other decorative objects with the metallic luster of gold. German paint companies had long concealed their secret methods for producing metallic paint, and their monopoly created artificially high prices for objects painted to resemble gold. Bessemers friends in the print-making industry enlisted him to use his metallurgical know-how to create inexpensive metallic paints. Bessemer developed a machine that created an inexpensive bronze dust that could be added to paint to create the desired glittery effect at a fraction of the price. Bessemer kept h is machine designs under wraps for decades and plowed his profits into building a brass foundry in London. There, he learned to create the raw materials that would shrink the modern world.In the wake of the Crimean War in the 1850s, Bessemer was working on the problem of how to create more durable cannons for the British navy. Cannons were traditionally made of cast iron, but that material was proving unsuitable for use in the new, rifle-style generation of guns that fired spinning balls through a grooved barrel. High pressures frequently caused the guns to explode, killing nearby crewmembers.Steel was the obvious choice of metal to replace cast iron. Yet it was only producible in small batches, and the extremely high temperatures required to burn off impurities such as excess carbon required large amounts of costly fuels.In 1856, Bessemer was studying the brief but spectacular display achieved when air was blown across a mass of molten iron. As he examined the hardened product of h is experiments, he realized he had created a new form of steel using the cheapest commodity around oxygen.The underlying chemistry and physics of the process were not understood at the time, but he realized that the blast of compressed air burned out impurities in the liquefied iron such as excess carbon. As he refined the process, Bessemer found that his steel was lighter and easier to shape than traditionally made metals, and that he could produce far greater quantities of it at a rate 10 times faster.However, when other foundries tried to duplicate Bessemers process they failed miserably. Bessemer soon realized that his experiments had used iron that was free of phosphorus, whereas the plants in other parts of England depended on iron with much higher phosphorus content.Although the phosphorus problem limited the initial acceptance of the Bessemer process, it gave the inventor a unique opportunity to corner the steel market by opening his own foundry in the north of England where phosphorus-free ore was plentiful. Eventually, other metallurgists learned to address the phosphorus problem, and his patented method began to take off in both England and, under license, in the U.S. The effects of Bessemer steel on the industrialized world were profound beyond calculation.Bessemer became even wealthier in the wake of this success, but for most of his life, he harbored resentment of his treatment by the Stamp Office decades before. In his later years, he sought compensation for the governments appropriation of his anti-forgery innovations. Instead, the government arranged for an honorary knighthood and the title of Sir Henry Bessemer in honor of his lifetime achievements.Michael MacRae is an independent writer.The effects of Bessemer steel on the industrialized world were profound beyond calculation.