Tuesday’s Call (March 10)

Here is the recording of this week’s call. We answered quite a few more of the questions that have been submitted. Hope you find yours in the mix.

Call #5: Answering Your Questions 

In addition, I’ve provided the recording from the previous week where I discussed Finding Your Ideal Career. Please listen and let us know your comments and/or questions.

Call #4: Finding Your Ideal Career

Next Week’s Teleseminar Details

Thank you to all who participated on tonight’s call!  Rick and I enjoyed it and hope that you were helped.  For those who missed the call or want to upload it to your computer, here is the link:

Call #1: The Accomplishments Worksheet

If this works correctly, you should be able to right-click and then open or save the file. I will post the details for next week’s call soon.   In the meantime, if you have any comments you would like to share from tonight’s call or if you have a question that you didn’t get to ask, feel free to post them/it here.  We would love to get a dialog going. Til next time.

Terry

New Teleseminar Series Starting Tues. February 10th!

It’s finally happening!  Join Rick Gillis and me for the first in our new  series of FREE teleseminars.  We begin next Tues., Feb. 10, 2009 at 7pm Central.  You can either call in or listen in through your computer.  The details are at:  http://www.artofthejobsearch.com/ts1.  (If for some reason this link doesn’t work for you, please email me at terry@artofthejobsearch.com and I’ll get you the info. you need.)

In these weekly teleseminars, we are going to be covering all kinds of issues relating to job search, in an effort to help make your search successful and as short as possible.  Because an effective resume is THE most important piece in your job search toolbox, we will be starting there.  We will teach you how to structure a PresumeTM that will get noticed, both in person and online.  You will also learn about the Accomplishments Worksheet – what it is and why you absolutely must have one.

When you sign in, you will be given the opportunity to share with us your most important question regarding your career or job search.  We welcome all your questions because we want to be sure that these teleseminars address the issues that YOU think are most important.

We look forward to “seeing” you on the calls!

Terry

The ART of the Job Search Team

Terry Atkinson and Rick Gillis

“Layoff Missteps Offer Substantial Opportunity”- Rant from Career Cross Roads Newsletter

The following is a little longer than a typical blog post but I think it is worth sharing.  It comes from the new Career Cross Roads newsletter.  I wish that all companies who are laying off would pay attention and show a little more caring and concern for their people.

Terry

Rant of the Month- Layoff Missteps Offer Substantial Opportunity

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The meltdown of the economy may also have melted the business sense of those responsible for layoffs in some of America ’s largest and, until now, most admired firms. In New York alone, 250,000 jobs are essentially lost.

The deeper problem is that companies are letting their employees go with little or no notice. They clean out their desks and work areas and are escorted off the premises – all within hours of the decision. No outplacement, minimal severance (or conspicuously capped severance for the longer term employees). The obvious exceptions are C-level execs with fat exit contracts having little to do with their performance.

A post holiday layoff explosion is anticipated to kick-in and, if these layoff resource-lite business decisions continue, we believe the resulting loss of productivity and long-term choices of a new generation of employees reluctant to return to corporate life will hurt stockholders and employers for years to come. Survivors will certainly take note of how their colleagues are treated and will be more likely to jump at the first opportunity.

An article on MSNBC Guilty and stressed, layoff survivors suffer, too was included in SHRM’s knowledge management newsletter which noted “A flurry of research after the economic downturn of the 1990s found that layoff survivors reported high levels of distrust and lower levels of motivation and engagement. Absenteeism went up, productivity went down.”

And John Zappe’s article, Guilt, Anger Cuts Productivity Says Layoff Survivors noted that:

• 64% of surviving workers say the productivity of their colleagues has also declined.
• 81% of surviving workers say the service that customers receive has declined.
• 77% of surviving workers say they see more errors and mistakes being made.
• 61% of surviving workers say they believe their company’s future prospects are worse.

Productivity will suffer measurably as firms’ managers fail to re-engage their remaining workers. And those rushed out the door are likely to tell their friends (and their friends) affecting the choices of the best and brightest candidates – who always have a choice.

One notable exception to the knee-jerk layoff trend is Bank of America. B of A ought to be highlighted for their efforts to retain some semblance of intelligence in executing layoffs. Having agreed to absorb Merrill Lynch in a moment of public panic, B of A seized an opportunity and, while it was inevitable that some fallout would take place, their actions were planned, measured and transparent in the face of a failing business economy.

We think B of A is more likely to reduce fears from within. (Unfortunately, the recent announcement about their layoff, as reported in Workforce Management Online, “Bank of America to Ax 35,000 jobs in Newly Merged Firm”, (as well as in other media) had the typical “scream-for-attention-headline” that is terribly misleading if you failed to read the details – and the details are critical.

The B of A downsizing is over three years with efforts to maximize the natural turnover and retirements (which might account for more than half). Promises of severance and support where necessary were made (and reported in the Workforce article). There are more details in the B of A approach but the point is easily made that a firm’s reputation as an employer of choice is not just about how they handle the good times.

Recruiters quickly recognize that the doors to many firms that have handled layoffs poorly are wide open and the pools of candidates are waiting for them. The survivors will easily give up the names and contact info for the best that have left as well as the best that remain.

Top recruiters with any amount of sense also realize that if their company can’t live up to its EVP during these difficult times then it might not be the best place to be trying to woo the next crop of top talent as the economy turns.

« Previous Page