Fact or Fiction?

Fact!

A new website dedicated to odd jobs, Odd Job Nation, recently launched. One of their first odd jobs is that of a “corporate seat-filler.” These folks are being used to make corporate environments seem full and bustling with activity so that when clients visit these offices they see no negative effects of the economic turmoil.

Along with this wild new world of odd job opportunities, the economic situation has spawned a whole new breed of blogs and websites offering help, information, support and comic relief for those who lost their jobs recently. A personal favorite: “Pink Slips are the New Black,” a blog for unemployed people by unemployed people. Their tagline is: “We’re angry. We’re frustrated. We’re unemployed…Like You.”

For the full article and listing of more sites and blogs, click here.

The Astron Road Show

Next up on our tour, Astron Solutions and Bond, Shoeneck & King, PLLC are giving joint presentations regarding the latest changes in labor legislation. National Director Mike Maciekowich will present these seminars along with the BSK team lead by Partner Lou DiLorenzo. From March 24th through the 27th, and March 31st, Astron and BS&K will be on tour in upstate New York. Then on April 2nd and 3rd, we’ll be in New York City and Long Island. For more information on upstate New York dates, locations, and how to register, please click here. For more information on New York City and Long Island dates, locations, and how to register, please click here.

Soon after our presentations with BS&K finish up, Astron will attend the Human Resource Conference & Legislative Day hosted by The Business Council of New York State. For more information about the conference and how to register, please click here.

That’s our calendar for the coming six weeks. More events will be announced as we get more details. We hope to see you on the road!

Astron’s 10th Anniversary Interview

Now, without further adieu, our first interview with John E. Sindoni of Meridian Health:

- Name?

John E. Sindoni, SPHR Sr. Vice President, Human Resources

- Which organization are you part of?

Meridian Health

- Tell us about what your organization does

Meridian Health is a not-for-profit leader in Monmouth & Ocean Counties in New Jersey providing quality health care services, facilities, and program. With 76 locations, annual system revenue of $1 Billion dollars, 8600 dedicated Team Members and affiliations with over 1400 of the area’s finest physicians, Meridian is the largest employer in Monmouth and Ocean Counties and one of the Best Places to Work in New Jersey.

- What type of growth has your organization seen this past decade?

Meridian has experienced enormous growth over the past two years, particularly in our Partners companies such as Home Care & Hospice,Long Term Care, and Ambulatory Care. Meridian has recently entered into a memorandum of understanding with two independent hospitals in Monmouth and Ocean counties that have expressed a desire to join our system.

- When did you first work with Astron Solutions?

Shortly, after we formed Meridian Health, about 10 years ago

- Why did you decide to first work with Astron instead of another consulting firm?

We started a compensation project with a large consulting firm, however, they did not provide all of the deliverables that they had promised, not withstanding the fact that their fees were exorbitant.

- What was your first project with Astron?

Our first project involved training leaders on how to develop quantifiable measure for their position specific competencies for Performance assessments. We also did an exit interview project.

- Why did you continue to use Astron Solutions?

We continue to utilize Astron Solutions because of the reputation, knowledge, and responsiveness that Mike Maciekowich and his team bring to the table. And they do quality work at reasonable fees.

Thank you very much John, for taking the time to chat with us and for being such a valued friend of Astron Solutions. We look forward to the 20th year interview!

Since the year 2000, organizations around the world have come face to face with the millennial generation. Children of the baby boomers, this fresh crop of workers definitely have different views and opinions about work. They also share the same concerns that the baby boomers and generation X employees had about their journey into employment. With the economy in a downward spiral, many organizations are seriously debating skipping the college recruiting season altogether. Could this be a costly mistake or a reasonable solution to an organization’s financial problems? In this edition of Astronology, we take a look at what it takes to recruit and retain the class of 2009.

"Talkin' 'Bout My Generation"

To the untrained eye, Generation Y, or the millennial generation (children born roughly been 1978-1989), may seem to be the most complex generation to understand. This generation’s use of technology contributes to this perception. To the common Generation Y worker, accomplishing a task could take less than ten minutes thanks to technology. Due to their ease and willingness to use technology to its fullest, many have described Gen Yers as the generation that craves Instant Digital Gratification.

The Herald Square further explains the uniqueness of these employees: “Gen Y employees are good workers. They are diligent and task-oriented but they are not concerned about time or place. Hence if the work is done, why hang around?” The article also predicts that since Generation Y has this attitude about presence in the work office, offices may become drop-in centers. In fact, presently Sun Microsystems has 56% of its employees working from home one or two days a week.

According to research from Robert Half International, among typical millennial workers:
• One-third of respondents were concerned about finding/keeping a job.
• Benefits were listed in the top 3 deciding factors for a millennial evaluating an employment opportunity.
• A whopping 73% showed concern about balancing professional and personal obligations.

What does this mean? Contrary to popular belief, the millennial generation does share some common ground with the previous generations. Concern for the future, balancing a healthy professional and personal life, and finding & securing a job are anxieties everybody can identify with.

Many of the core apprehensions that we all face in our work are part of Generation Y’s worries as well. If anything, Generation Y may have heightened fears since they’ve witnessed their own parents fall victim to downsizing, and entered adulthood during the second Bush presidency, which included an atmosphere of economic uncertainty, war, and fear of terrorism.

Why Recruit Generation Y?

Besides Gen Y’s obvious technological strengths, all employees are keenly aware that the baby boomer generation is quickly reaching the retirement age…which means positions that need to be filled are becoming vacant. While this trend may have temporarily slowed due to the economic crisis, in time retirements will happen. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 73 million Baby Boomers, 49 million Generation X-ers, and 80 million Generation Y-ers.

There are nearly half as many Generation X-ers as Generation Y-ers, and more Generation Y-ers than baby boomers. Although the talent pool is large, every employer wants to secure the cream of the crop.

How Do You Recruit a Millennial?

People Management, a UK HR magazine pointed that it costs an average of £5,000 (or approximately $7,000) to recruit just one graduate to an organization. This can be costly when considering the possibility of signing the wrong candidate for the organization. Clearly, in this deteriorating financial environment, no one can afford to carelessly throw away monetary resources. As the recruitment market becomes crowded, and dollars more scarce, the magazine advises the following:

o To tempt potential graduates, focus on your branding of the organization:
      • Establish a brand that is clear and distinct
      • Develop a winning brand that excites applicants

o Get in contact with the career services departments at universities and colleges where your organization has an interest:
      • Ask what recruitment media tends to work for their university
      • Look into cheaper multimedia approaches
      • Consider running an “interested session” near the end of the semester to attract graduates
      • articipate in on-campus job fairs

Keeping in mind that Generation Y-ers are the generation of technology, it may be time for an organizational upgrade in terms of presentation. Simply put, this is the generation of YouTube. To them, PowerPoint is very old news. Kristen Clemmer, director of recruiting for Katzenback Partners, upgraded to a Flash presentation in 2005. Since then, the staff has expanded from 120 to more than 200. She points that the Flash presentation is not only stimulating, but also is more customizable.

A great deal of the statistical data in the Robert Half research indicates that the millennial generation is also a caring generation. Experts have suggested that due to their exposure to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, this generation has developed a desire to find substance in their lives, whether through their jobs or elsewhere. Lisa Giannangeli, Director of Marketing for MBA admissions at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, laments, “One student recently told me, ‘I’m not looking for an extreme career. Instead, how do I make each day matter?’” An organization can find many ways to fulfill this question; whether it’s through philanthropic efforts employees can get involved in (such as Operation Backpack) or career coaching. Making sure to highlight these opportunities to potential graduate candidates will definitely attract concerned and dedicated candidates.

BNET, a business management resource site, presented a feature on millennial graduates in 2008. The very first tactic suggested to attract millennial graduates to an organization is the idea of peer recruiting. The ideal person to send from your organization to gather top recruits should be someone close to or in the millennial age range. Lisa Feldman, a recruiting director at the University of California stated, “Millennials in particular are peer influenced. They don’t automatically relate to some older person that might have different views.” Because of this, she suggests coaching the college recruiters to be prepared to discuss traditional and unorthodox topics about the organization. Try to find a balance between discussing the organization’s philanthropy efforts and corporate responsibility with policies such as flextime and the workplace lifestyle.

The Financial Crunch and 2009 Graduates

As the entire world deals with the spiraling economy, many organizations are debating whether to even bother financing to recruit graduates this year all together. Experts believe this to be an adverse plan. Instead of abandoning new graduates altogether, Kevin Wheeler, president of Global Learning Resources, Inc. suggests organizations should become smarter at recruiting:

• Develop a talent strategy:
      • Look at the overall skills needed that the organization possesses today and will have a need for in the near future.
      • Look for job/skill/knowledge matches for your future needs within your current workforce.
      • Provide career guidance and retraining opportunities for key talent you don’t want to lose.
      • If you’re facing layoffs, keep your talented recruiters busy and growing by having them assist employees who have been laid off to find new jobs either inside or outside the organization.

• Refocus your recruiting approach:
      • Choose two or three disciplines most needed by your organization.
      • Match the need to just a few campuses as close to your physical location as possible.
      • Couple job recruiting with internship programs.

• Leverage your technology:
      • Use the internet to find and communicate with students on campus and reduce or even eliminate the need to involve the placement office.
      • Start a chat room or listserv for college students to talk to employees (a tech savvy way to peer recruit!).
      • Start an online mentoring or coaching program where volunteer employees offer students homework help or tutoring or just provide advice.
      • Use online assessment to reduce the amount of “face time” needed on campuses.

• Keep in Touch:
      • Even if your organization is locked in a hiring freeze, it is still a good idea to keep in contact with college career services departments. At some point, the freeze will be lifted.
      • If in the event your organization does find itself hiring some new millennial graduates, work hard to keep them.

Keeping in mind that the economy will eventually turn positive should motivate organizations to look for inventive ways to recruit some millenials to their team. Millenials themselves are fully aware of the current economy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate rose from 7.2% to 7.6% as of January 2009. In October 2008, The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) reported flat hiring for the graduating class of 2009. Some gradates will be hired, just not at a higher rate than last year’s projected numbers. 2009’s Generation Y graduates will bring their best to the table, giving organizations the opportunity to observe how worthwhile their recruiting efforts will benefit their organizations in the future.

Looking for a top-notch presenter for your human resource organization's meeting? Both Jennifer Loftus and Michael Maciekowich present highly-rated sessions on a variety of compensation and employee retention issues. For more information, send an e-mail to info@astronsolutions.com.

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Copyright 2009, Astron Solutions, LLC

ISSN Number 1549-0467