Month: August 2012

Employee engagement has become a buzzword for professionals in recent years. But, many business leaders may be unsure of how to create conditions in their workplace that will facilitate increased engagement among employees.

And, with the economy still struggling, many firms remain focused on survival, leaving leaders with little time to spend on team building. However, most continue to acknowledge the importance of maintaining employees’ morale and interest in their work. A 2010 survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit found that 84 percent of employers believe alienated employees form one of the greatest threats to their businesses.

Psychologist Robert Hogan told attendees of the American Psychology Association’s annual conference in August that bad management contributes significantly to workers’ stress levels and can affect their engagement and productivity.

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, a business psychology professor at University College in London, told USA Today one part of the problem may be that individuals are often placed in situations that do not suit them. The effect can be greatly exacerbated when unsuitable candidates are selected for executive offices or other leadership positions.

“People choose jobs that are not ideal for them,” he says. “The realities of the job market today is to have a job or take an offer without thinking whether it’s the right job for them. That leads to dissatisfaction and complaints.”

This highlights the importance of placing the right professionals in the right positions. Recruitment firms can provide expertise that helps their clients place individuals in jobs where they will be well-suited to their work and remain engaged over the long-term.

Through a comprehensive individualized assessment of each candidate – including an in-depth interview process and contextual research – professional recruiters help companies evaluate their needs, identify leading candidates and recruit their top choice for any given position.

A number of public school districts in the Boston area have begun accepting tuition-paying students from overseas in a bid to bolster their strained budgets.

Arlington, Marblehead and Hopkinton have hosted international students in the past five years. And, communities including Natick, Avon and Burlington are currently awaiting approval from the federal government to begin issuing student visas.

Administrators from these school districts told The Boston Globe that hosting students from abroad offers a “win-win” opportunity for their communities. On the one hand, it adds to the area’s cultural diversity and offers native students a chance to broaden their knowledge of the world. And, it also brings in much-needed revenue for their education systems, many of which have been strained by deep budget cuts in recent years.

“I’m not opposed to pulling in revenue,” said Kevin Meagher, acting business manager of Marblehead, which will host five full-time international students in the coming school year. “We’re not in business for the sake of business, but if we have an open seat, we’re not averse to charging a student who is coming from another country.”

U.S. colleges have been in the business of attracting international applicants for many years. The full tuition paid by foreign students helps institutions offset the rising cost of higher education and expand their program offerings.

For budget-conscious school districts, local governments, non-profit organizations and even private businesses, it is sometimes essential to find creative ways to increase revenues or cut costs. Working with a financial project consulting service can help any organization identify and take advantage of opportunities to put itself on a stronger financial footing.

According to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the U.S. economy added 163,000 jobs in July.

This is being taken as a very positive sign, as the report offered a significant rise in job creation, compared to the figures reported during the preceding three months.

For those firms that are looking to capitalize on the current bout of economic growth by hiring new workers, it may be in their best interest to partner with a firm of professional recruiters. Working with experts offers several key benefits to a company.

Partnering with professionals eliminates the need to rely on personal connections to come up with candidates in a timely manner, which can lead to imperfect outcomes. Also, professional recruiters have a level of experience and focus that allows them to provide a significant aid to their clients throughout the recruitment process, helping companies to identify, evaluate and recruit their top choices for the positions that they are looking to fill.

However, it is important for businesses to ensure that they are prepared to expand their staff before taking on new payroll and benefits commitments. The news in last month’s jobs report was not all positive, as the unemployment rate rose slightly to 8.3 percent, due to the expansion of the workforce. And, as we’ve reported previously, global events such as the European financial crisis continue to exert a drag on the U.S. economy.

Working with a financial project consulting service can help your company determine whether this is the right time to be making significant long-term commitments by bringing in new staff members.

Key committees in both chambers of the U.S. Congress recently approved legislation that would remove decades-old restrictions on trade with Russia, which were implemented in 1974 to pressure the Soviet Union to change its human rights policies.

The removal of these outdated trade barriers may create a significant number of opportunities for U.S. businesses. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has estimated that U.S.-Russian trade, which was about $10 billion in 2011, could double or triple as a result of normalized trade relations.

The Chamber has also asserted that the Russian state will require nearly $500 billion worth of infrastructure development over the course of the next five years. This could present a particularly lucrative opportunity for American construction firms, especially given that the domestic real estate market has still not fully recovered from the bursting of the housing bubble.

However, doing business overseas and dealing with foreign tax and regulatory systems can be challenging. It requires careful planning and attention to detail. Emerging markets can present a particularly high level of risk for investors.

Working with a financial project consulting service can help business leaders identify and act on opportunities in a way that maximizes returns and mitigates risks.

For firms that are seeking to take advantage of renewed trade with Russia and other opportunities abroad, retaining the services of an international tax consultant can be extremely helpful in navigating other nations’ taxation systems and ensuring that new business ventures will generate enough revenue to be worthwhile. An interim investment analyst can also aid companies that are looking to put their capital to work in emerging markets.

According to a new study conducted by research firm Truven Health Analytics, eliminating employees’ health benefits may put businesses at a significant disadvantage with regards to their ability to recruit and retain talented professionals.

Under the terms of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), businesses with over 50 employees that do not offer health insurance plans to their staff will be required to pay fees that will be used to support public health insurance exchanges. However, the Truven study asserts that employers’ calculations must account for more than simply balancing current healthcare costs against the nominal penalties established by PPACA.

The study states that “employers must provide market value – in benefits and compensation – to retain skilled workers.” It goes on to explain that employers will find it difficult to unilaterally eliminate benefits, due to the need to offer compensation packages that will be attractive to leading professionals.

Dr. Raymond Fabius, chief medical officer at Truven, asserts that “Not only is eliminating group health coverage not cost efficient, it would have an enormous negative impact on an employer’s competitive market position.”

Recruiting and retaining high-performing executives and financial professionals may turn out to be especially difficult for firms that eliminate health benefits, as the most talented individuals may be accustomed to a compensation system that includes comprehensive health coverage.

Working with professional recruiters can help companies identify and address obstacles in their recruitment process and position themselves to experience greater success during an executive or financial professional search.