As social media makes its way into the workplace, executives are weighing the potential risks and benefits. Nearly half (47 per cent) of chief financial officers (CFOs) interviewed recently for an Accountemps survey said their greatest concern is that employees are wasting time during business hours using sites such as Facebook and Twitter. CFOs also expressed worries their staff may behave unprofessionally or post inappropriate information online. However, almost one in four financial executives (24 per cent) said these sites can help staff members expand their networks of valuable business contacts.

The survey was developed by Accountemps, the world’s first and largest staffing services firm specializing in accounting and finance. It was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on interviews with responses from more than 270 CFOs from a stratified random sample of Canadian companies with 20 or more employees.

CFOs were asked, “What is your greatest concern for your company regarding employees using social media?” Their responses:

Wasting time at work....................................        47%
Behaving unprofessionally.................................    14%
Posting negative comments about company........   11%
Posting financial/confidential
  company information......................................      5%
No concerns....................................................     12%
Access not allowed………………………….....           3%
Other…………………… …………………….               3%
Don’t know/no answer.....................................         6%

CFOs were also asked, “What is the greatest benefit to your company of employees using social media?” Their responses:

Expand networks of valuable contacts..........         24%
Enhance company’s reputation..........................   22%
Provide better customer service........................    18%
Can secure new business..................................    5%
No benefits......................................................    21%
Access not allowed………………………….               3%
Don’t know/no answer.....................................        8%

“Many organizations are still determining how social media fits into their workplaces,” says Kathryn Bolt, Canadian division president of Accountemps. “Executives are concerned with the possibility of added distraction from their employees’ daily duties, which may affect productivity and efficiency on the job.”

Bolt also added, “On the other hand, more firms are realizing that the rewards may outweigh the risks, as social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter can be used by employees to expand their networks of valuable business contacts and enhance the company’s reputation.”

Accountemps has more than 350 offices worldwide and offers online job search services at www.accountemps.com. Follow Accountemps for workplace news at twitter.com/accountemps.

Financial executives are more optimistic today than they were this time last year, according to the annual Robert Half Global Financial Employment Monitor. The vast majority (83 per cent) of financial leaders surveyed worldwide are at least somewhat confident in their companies’ growth prospects, including 30 per cent who are very confident. Respondents also reported challenges locating skilled professionals for certain jobs.  

But while a healthier business environment and rising recruiting difficulties suggest the job market in accounting and finance may be improving, employers today seem less concerned about keeping top performers than they were one year ago. Forty-five per cent of those surveyed said they are at least somewhat worried about their ability to retain staff in the coming year, down from 53 per cent in 2009.

The fourth annual Robert Half Global Financial Employment Monitor was developed by Robert Half International and is based on surveys conducted by independent research firms. The study, focusing on hiring difficulties, retention concerns and other staffing-related issues, includes responses from more than 6,300 financial leaders across 19 countries.

Key findings include:

• Financial leaders are optimistic about the outlook at their firms. Eighty-three per cent of those surveyed said they have confidence in their organization’s growth prospects.
• Employers reported difficulty finding skilled candidates for specific functional areas. Respondents cited particular challenges filling finance, accounting and operational support positions.
• The most active hiring is expected to take place at the entry and staff levels.
• Retention concerns have subsided. Forty-five per cent of respondents said they are worried about their ability to keep top performers, down from 53 per cent in 2009.

“While an air of caution remains, there are signs pointing to an improved hiring outlook,” says Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International. “Business confidence and, in some cases, demand are rising, and firms will need highly skilled accounting and finance teams to sustain their momentum and support growth initiatives.”

Executives bullish on their businesses
Globally, 83 per cent of financial leaders said they are either very or somewhat confident in their companies’ growth prospects for the next year. Nearly all managers in Brazil (98 per cent) are at least somewhat optimistic. Other countries where executives are particularly confident include Italy (93 per cent), Switzerland (93 per cent), Canada (91 per cent), Austria (88 per cent) and the United States (88 per cent).

Talent shortages persist
Despite high unemployment rates in different parts of the world, recruiting can be challenging for employers. Financial leaders cited the most difficulty hiring for finance, accounting and operational support positions.

In Brazil, 24 per cent of respondents said they are having trouble locating skilled accountants, 23 per cent noted challenges hiring auditors, and 22 per cent said finance professionals are difficult to find. An additional 13 per cent reported operational support roles as the hardest to fill.

Hiring plans to focus on entry and intermediate levels
Global Financial Employment Monitor respondents said they anticipate making the most hires at the entry and staff levels, as cited by 26 per cent and 25 per cent of those surveyed, respectively. “As the global economy improves, companies need personnel who can facilitate growth simply by performing fundamental accounting and finance responsibilities,” says Messmer. “Firms seek financial professionals with the expertise to make an immediate contribution and a commitment to advance their careers with the organization over the long term.”

Many employers anticipate hiring more experienced professionals as well. The majority of those surveyed in Hong Kong (58 per cent) and 50 per cent in Singapore indicated plans to add senior or management personnel. Globally, 22 per cent of respondents expect to hire for these positions.

Retention concerns ease
Although the job market has begun improving in many countries, financial leaders worldwide are less worried about retention. Fewer than half (45 per cent) of respondents said they are very or somewhat concerned about losing their most valued employees to other opportunities in the next year, compared to 53 per cent in 2009.

Heightened retention concerns were reported in Brazil (76 per cent), Singapore (75 per cent) and Hong Kong (72 per cent). Even in countries where the job market has just begun to recover, worries about retaining staff exist. In Canada, for example, more than a third (35 per cent) are at least somewhat worried about their ability to keep top performers.

“Employers who delay their retention efforts may risk losing valuable employees,” says Messmer. “When the competition for financial talent intensifies, these professionals will be even more difficult to replace.”

The study, based on the results of a survey developed by Robert Half International and conducted by independent research firms, includes responses from more than 6,300 financial executives and managers across 19 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The number of respondents varies by country and provides a representative sample of businesses in each. The results are within 95 per cent certainty, and the overall margin of error is approximately +/- 1.3 per cent.

Robert Half International was founded in 1948 and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its financial staffing divisions include Accountemps, Robert Half Finance & Accounting and Robert Half Management Resources, for temporary, full-time and senior-level project professionals, respectively. The company has more than 350 staffing locations worldwide and offers online job search services on its divisional websites, all of which can be accessed at www.roberthalf.com.

Results from the 2010 Best Employers in Canada study indicate that executives of Canadian employers believe the return on investment in socially and environmentally responsible practices justifies the expenditure. Their instincts are correct: there is a strong correlation between employee engagement and employee views of their employers' record on corporate social responsibility.

Hewitt Associates, the global human resources consulting and outsourcing company that conducts the Best Employers in Canada study each year, partnered with Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR) to understand the relationships between CSR perceptions, engagement and other work environment factors. Between the Best Employers in Canada study and the companion Best Small & Medium Employers in Canada study for smaller organizations, Hewitt and CBSR gathered opinions from over 100,000 employees and 2,000 leaders at more than 230 workplaces.

"This is the first large-scale quantitative Canadian study to investigate the relationship between employee engagement and perceptions of corporate social responsibility," says Neil Crawford, Hewitt's leader of the Best Employers in Canada study. "The findings demonstrate that organizations with high employee engagement have a higher degree of readiness to focus on CSR as a strategy to improve overall organizational performance and better meet the needs of employees and external stakeholders."

When executives were asked what they viewed as the potential benefits of investing in or pursuing socially and environmentally responsible practices, their top three responses were a positive organizational reputation, higher or sustained employee engagement, and eliminating waste/reducing their impact on the environment. Eighty-six per cent of employees at organizations with high engagement agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that they worked for an employer that was socially and environmentally responsible. That figure was 71 per cent at employers with moderate engagement and only 60 per cent at those with low engagement.

The most frequently implemented CSR initiatives for Canadian employers are:

• Community investment - fundraising and sponsorships
• Waste reduction - recycling, reduced usage
• Business travel reduction - use of videoconferencing or teleconferencing
• Responsible purchasing - equipment and supplies

CSR initiatives least frequently employed include:

• Offsetting business travel - carbon offsets
• Subsidizing low carbon travel - public transit or parking for alternative fuels vehicles

"Not only do the results establish the strong connection between CSR and employee engagement, we've learned that declining employee perceptions of CSR within an organization can be a significant threat to engagement for over a third of organizations," says Barb Steele, director of membership, CBSR. "Combined initiatives to sustain both employee engagement and support CSR transformation will likely yield a better return on investment than individual non-coordinated efforts."

For more information about Hewitt, please visit www.hewitt.com/canada.

Founded in 1995, CBSR is a business-led, non-profit CSR consultancy and peer-to-peer learning organization that provides its members with candid counsel and customized advisory services as they formulate powerful business decisions that improve performance and contribute to a better world. For more information please visit www.cbsr.ca. 

Sixty-three per cent of Canadian executives agree that having talent management processes closely linked to business strategy is critical to help an organization achieve its goals, according to a recent survey by Towers Perrin. However, only 22 per cent of those same respondents have integrated their current talent management processes. And fewer than half rate many of their current talent management practices as effective.

If a connection between business strategy and talent management is so important – particularly in today’s environment – why are so many companies slow to execute it in an integrated and effective way? The answer may lie in the fact that almost half (49 per cent) of those surveyed also believe full integration with business needs is one of the most challenging parts of the entire talent management process to implement and sustain.

“Companies are making strides in connecting talent management activities with business strategy, though admittedly the obstacles can be daunting,” says Kevin Aselstine, managing principal of Towers Perrin’s Toronto Office. “Implementation challenges arise from all corners as companies deal with current recessionary pressures – from cost concerns, to lack of senior leadership commitment and focus, to constantly shifting business priorities. Yet, as organizations emerge from this downturn and the fight for talent intensifies, companies that are doing talent management ‘right’, via an integrated approach, will have a significant competitive advantage.”

The results of Towers Perrin’s recent talent management survey affirm that the positive impact of effective integration is worth the effort. Those organizations with fully or mostly integrated talent management approaches are far more confident about the effectiveness of various processes than those without integrated approaches.

For example, Canadian organizations with more integrated systems are far more effective in their Performance Management processes (86 per cent are effective, versus only 54 per cent for those with less integrated systems).

“These differences can put companies at a significant disadvantage as the economy strengthens and the labour market begins to follow suit,” Aselstine says. “Those without effective talent management processes, especially around high potentials and top talent, will not only have to worry about losing those individuals to other organizations, but are likely to have a harder time attracting new talent and bringing people on board fast enough to effectively support their growth focus. Time can become the enemy here if a company finds itself behind competitors because it can’t source, hire and deploy the right people fast enough to make a difference in results.”

Who Is “Talent”?
The very definition of talent is also evolving and expanding, according to the Towers Perrin survey results. Specifically, respondents now view talent as including critical contributors at all levels – a significant shift from the traditional focus on current and emerging leaders. While senior leadership was highlighted as a key talent segment by the largest number of respondents (67per cent), other employee segments followed closely behind: 

• Mid-level potential leaders (cited by 61per cent)
• High performers (cited by 59 per cent)
• Key contributors/technical experts (cited by 55 per cent)
• Those in roles critical to delivering the business strategy (cited by 48 per cent)
• Those with skills in short supply and high demand (cited by 36 per cent).

 
“We’re encouraged by this expanding view of talent, since cultivating and managing people with critical skills at all levels are key components in any business’ long-term success,” said Aselstine. “It’s interesting, however, that so-called ‘hot-skills workers’ – those with skills in short supply and high demand – actually fall lower on the list of defined talent segments. This suggests companies currently may be focusing on buying, not building, such talent, recognizing that they are the least likely to stay put in a job anyway, and therefore are more of a short-term ‘rental’ than long-term investment.”

Talent Management in the Economic Recovery
Canadian survey respondents expressed cautious optimism about the economic rebound; just about three-quarters expect to see the economy turn around in 2010, with the group evenly divided about recovery in the first versus second halves of the year. And while 60 per cent indicated their top strategic action over the next 18 months remained expense reduction, a smaller portion of the group saw growth in their immediate futures, with 41 per cent citing expansion into new product lines, 35 per cent citing expansion into new markets, and 31 per cent forecasting medium-scale acquisitions. Optimistically, 80 per cent of respondents do not foresee large scale workforce reductions on the horizon.

In outlining their talent management priorities, the respondents focused chiefly on the “tried and true” – core practices they felt they did well, including performance management and assessing and developing high potentials and top talent.

They were less likely to emphasize a number of other practices that will arguably become more important to success over time, including manager training, mentoring of key talent, and career development and deployment. More disturbing, these were all areas that survey respondents saw as points of weakness in their current talent management practices, suggesting that their adherence to the status quo in setting talent management priorities could set them back significantly in building up a broader and more leading-edge set of processes for the future.

“As economic recovery speeds up, companies are likely to find themselves supporting a leadership team and workforce with new expectations and priorities,” says Aselstine. “Building efficiency in the more challenging areas of talent management, like onboarding, mentoring, competency identification and manager training, will be critical in effectively supporting the emerging new employee deal and long-term business priorities.”

This survey was conducted online in both the US and Canada, with over 400 HR and business executives, including 191 Canadian respondents in a cross-section of large and medium-sized organizations across all industry sectors.

Towers Perrin is a global professional services firm that helps organizations improve performance through effective people, risk and financial management. More information about Towers Perrin is available at www.towersperrin.com.

With the economy cautiously turning the corner, senior leaders are focused on hiring and developing talent, according to a survey of more than 450 senior executives on LinkedIn by Right Management. Ninety-four per cent of executives said talent management is a top priority for 2010. Right Management is the talent and career management expert within Manpower, the global leader in employment services.
 
The findings present good news for employees and job seekers. Employers are preparing themselves for growth opportunities as the economy rebounds and are looking for ways to enhance performance and productivity. One-third of the senior executive respondents will be hiring new talent in 2010, while 36 per cent will focus on developing current talent. Twenty per cent reported that increasing engagement is a top priority. Career development opportunities and efforts to increase engagement typically improve retention, which may explain why only 4 per cent of senior leaders indicated they would be focusing efforts on retention.
 
Leaders in finance functions are the most focused (44 per cent) on developing current talent, followed by information technology executives (36 per cent). Skills gaps were acknowledged by business development executives, as well as operations and information technology leaders, who will all be mostly focused on hiring new talent next year.
 
“Whether hiring or developing, we anticipate there will be heightened efforts for employers to assess the competencies needed to be successful in 2010 and beyond,” says George Herrmann, Right Management’s group executive vice president of the Americas. “Businesses and governments will continue to demand highly-specialized skills and behaviors. The pressure to find the right skills in the right place at the right time will increase as the working age population declines, the economy rebounds and the nature of work shifts.”
 
Herrmann advises that the most competitive companies will ensure they have an assessment process to identify competencies of their current workforce and clarify gaps. “This will streamline hiring efforts, while also creating a roadmap for precise talent development initiatives. And we know that developing talent also fosters higher levels of employee engagement. The priorities for 2010 look like a win/win for employers and employees.”

The LinkedIn survey of 461 senior executives was conducted between September 17 and October 20, 2009 in the United States, Canada and Latin America.
 
Right Management is the talent and career management expert within Manpower, a global leader in employment services. For more information, visit www.right.com. 

Today’s employees believe in themselves, but not necessarily in their leaders. That unsettling statement is one of the findings of rogenSi’s Global Mindset Survey. The survey results provide a wake-up call to senior executives to build mental toughness and resilience by creatively connecting with and inspiring their people at a deeper and more meaningful level or risk high levels of disengagement.

The rogenSi Global Mindset Survey captures the mindset of employees around the world during the economic upheaval of the past year. It provides a disturbing picture of how employees view themselves, their team, their leaders, and the organizations in which they work. If left unaddressed, cautions rogenSi, it may only be a matter of time before self-belief erodes to match the current low levels of motivation and emotional control.

Mental toughness reflects a person’s ability to rise to higher levels of performance and thrive in the face of adversity. The study, led by rogenSi’s Dr. Cory Middleton, presents groundbreaking research into what makes peak performers mentally tough and is a leading model of how to develop strength of mind.

“Now, more than ever before, organizations need to invest in their people by developing their mental toughness so they can gain a winning attitude and embrace change,” says Alex Jakobson, director, rogenSi North America. “Companies appear to be losing productivity because their employees are absolving themselves of taking responsibility for their results by blaming the economy and their leaders for poor performance. This lowers mental toughness and therefore lowers their commitment to execute strategy. Based on the results of the study, there is a huge opportunity for leaders to engage and inspire their people, which will be vital as they prepare for future growth.”

rogenSi’s Global Mindset Survey, which polled more than 2,000 employees of various ages and job titles and across a wide range of industries at companies around the world, reveals some startling results:

- Employees are passionate about their work and have a strong work ethic but have diminished or reduced belief in their leaders’ ability. As a result, their motivation is unstable and diminishing. They seek greater influence from their leaders in setting direction and appropriate processes which, in turn, can deliver exceptional performance.
- Younger employees (25-35 years old), more than any other age cohort, have lost faith in their leaders and in their organization as a whole, believing there is not enough skill, strategy, teamwork or leadership to successfully manage the challenges ahead. They are more stressed, more doubtful and more distracted than their colleagues. This is cause for concern, warns rogenSi, because if these future leaders remain disengaged there is no doubt this will have a damaging effect on their performance now and in the years to come.

• Sales people have been the most negatively affected by current challenges. According to the study, they have reduced knowledge about how to handle the challenges ahead, find little comfort from their colleagues’ skills, and are reluctant to turn to their managers for support. These beliefs and behaviours will inevitably and progressively have a negative impact in their energy, confidence and resourcefulness, leading to decreased sales performance. And if sales are down, it can have a ripple effect on the wider workforce.

• The call for stronger leaders isn’t just coming from 9-5 desk workers but cuts across all industries and job titles. Interestingly, the survey revealed that employees in the mining/resources industry are most in need of more engaged leaders, followed closely by employees working in information technology and the medical/pharmaceutical industries.

• Canadian employees have the highest passion and work ethic out of all countries surveyed yet they are not feeling emotionally stable in the workplace.

According to rogenSi, leaders may find they are effective in positive times but they must also learn to adapt their leadership style in times of adversity. In tougher times, they need to pay extra attention to ensuring their team members are clear about the tasks on which they should be focusing.

“As evidenced by these intriguing study results, executive managers need to understand how to develop a corporate mindset that is made up of individuals who have the mental toughness to continue toward their goals despite significant adversity and pressure,” says Jakobson. “It’s natural for motivation to be down during an economic downturn, but successful and creative leaders will turn it into an opportunity to help their employees shine.”

rogenSi is a global consultancy for exceptional performance, helping leaders and their teams deliver results in leading, inspiring change, and driving sales growth. For more information, visit www.rogensi.com.

Employers that fail to address and implement policies aimed at attracting and retaining Canada’s visible minorities are not tapping into a large, dynamic pool of skilled and professional workers, believes Deborah Gillis, vice president, North America, Catalyst. In the fifth and final report of a groundbreaking research series on visible minorities in corporate Canada, Catalyst has uncovered a gap that exists between organizations’ intentions to create inclusive opportunities for its visible minority talent and career satisfaction among visible minority managers, professionals, and executives.

Catalyst research found that visible minorities had lower levels of career satisfaction than their white counterparts. They perceived that opportunities for advancement were not made fairly available, that who you know outweighs what you know, and they feel excluded from social and business networks. Perhaps most significantly, says Gillis, is their lack of access to critical relationships, such as mentors and others to champion their success and advancement.

Canadian corporations cannot afford to underutilize the nation’s diverse talent pool – especially as Canadian business faces a turbulent economy and the need to maximize and leverage the best talent from an increasingly diverse workforce.

In this final report, Career Advancement in Corporate Canada: A Focus on Visible Minorities – Diversity and Inclusion Practices, Catalyst offers concrete examples of successful talent management practices that can improve engagement and career satisfaction among visible minorities and help develop, attract, and retain key talent.

“When you consider that talent management practices, such as mentoring, employee networks and diversity training for managers, increase career satisfaction scores for visible minorities by up to 22 per cent, the ROI for Canadian businesses is clear,” says Gillis. “Still, fewer than half of the employers surveyed reported policies and practices that address the concerns of visible minorities. By following the lead of the organizations and examples in this report, Canadian businesses can take an important leap forward in their support of diversity and inclusion and ultimately strengthen their competitive position.”

“Embracing a diverse workforce is a rich part of Canada’s economic history and now is the ideal time to leverage this national competitive advantage,” said Zabeen Hirji, chief human resources officer at RBC, the lead sponsor of the study. “Canadian companies have grown by welcoming the talent and ingenuity of diverse, smart, and energetic people from all over the world. Employers who take steps to eliminate the barriers facing visible minorities not only reflect the increasingly multicultural landscape of their client base, they attract and retain the talent they need for business success.”

According to Catalyst, Canadian organizations can learn from the experience of corporations with successful diversity and talent management practices to help improve career satisfaction for visible minorities and strengthen their bottom line. Gillis notes that the report contains specific information about 11 different programs from both Canadian and international companies. These programs could provide the templates that other organizations can adapt to suit their workplaces.

To this end, Catalyst recommends:

• Incorporating diversity and inclusion considerations into talent management processes, such as recruiting and promoting practices, as RBC does with its diversity recruitment team, to offer equal opportunity to all employees seeking career advancement. Not only does RBC have specific visible minority outreach efforts, it strives for a diverse slate of candidates for senior level job openings.
• Encouraging open dialogue to address sensitive issues, including race and ethnicities. Enhancing the exposure of visible minority employees to potential mentors and champions within the organization.
• Creating an inclusive environment where managers understand and respect employees cultural differences as IBM Canada has done with its “Mindsets” manager training program.
• Introduce critical relationship networks that provide employees with access to senior-level executives and employees from other departments and backgrounds.
• Help influence business partners who implement daily talent management practices by appointing a senior-level diversity and inclusion executive as Deloitte & Touche LLP Canada has done through its Chief Diversity Officer position.

“When organizations create a more inclusive environment, they also create and retain employees who are engaged, productive, and creative – and contributing fully to the success of that organization,” concludes Gillis.

RBC is the study’s lead sponsor. Deloitte and IBM Canada are the participating sponsors. The Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration is the supporting sponsor.

A full version of the report is available at www.catalyst.org.

If top performers feel that the next rung on the career ladder appears out of reach, they may decide to move on, a new survey suggests. One-third (33 per cent) of executives interviewed said good employees are most likely to quit their jobs because of a lack of advancement opportunities. Unhappiness with management was the second most common answer, cited by 31 per cent of respondents.

The survey was developed by Robert Half International, the world's first and largest staffing services firm specializing in accounting and finance. It was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on interviews with 100 senior executives across Canada.

Executives were asked, "Which of the following is most likely to cause good employees to quit their jobs?" Their responses:

	2009	2004
Limited opportunities for advancement	33%	38%
Unhappiness with management	31%	18%
Lack of recognition	17%	25%
Inadequate salary and benefits	8%	8%
Bored with their job	6%	8%
Other/don't know	5%	3%
	100%	100%

"Helping top performers reach their professional goals is essential to retaining them," said Michael Gooley, branch manager for Robert Half International's Toronto operations. "If ambitious employees don't foresee growth potential, their companies risk losing them to other opportunities."

Gooley added, "If the current business environment is hindering the ability to offer a promotion, managers may consider rewarding high-potential employees with professional development opportunities and projects to help expand their skill sets."

Most employees who are looking for a new job will send out warning signals. Robert Half identifies the following five red flags for supervisors to be aware of:

1.  A noticeable change in attitude. A formerly enthusiastic staff member may seem withdrawn and indifferent. In addition to examining the individual's performance, look for changes in behaviour in team settings.

2.  Longer lunch breaks and frequent absences. This may be a sign that someone is using the time for job interviews. It also could indicate the person is bored with the work.

3.  Missed deadlines and increased errors. Everyone misses a deadline from time to time, but apathetic workers make it a habit - one that can throw off the efficiency of an entire department or company.
Numerous errors from a previously conscientious employee are a sign of disengagement and may signal lost interest and an impending departure.

4.  More professional attire. An employee who shows up for work wearing suits even though your company has a business casual dress policy may be going on job interviews with other firms.

5.  A drop in productivity. A decline in performance or work quality and increased forgetfulness about deadlines, meetings and appointments could indicate a worker who is gradually disconnecting from the job.

Robert Half also recently issued survey findings that show employers' greatest staffing concern is employee retention (www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2009/08/c5869.html).

Robert Half International has more than 360 staffing locations worldwide and offers online job search services at www.rhi.com.

A new report, Severance Practices Around the World, issued by global consultants Right Management provides benchmarking data for human resource professionals and senior executives responsible for separating employees from their employ.

The global study across 28 countries draws from more than 1,500 responses from human resource professionals and senior managers responsible for making severance decisions in their organization.
 
It is not surprising that either a reduction in workforce (77 per cent) or an organizational restructuring (75 per cent) are the main triggers for activating the provision of severance, notes Douglas J. Matthews, president and COO of Right Management. “The fast-changing and demanding global market is placing increased pressure on companies to compete more effectively. The subsequent result may be frequent restructuring, downsizing or cutbacks. And when those initiatives are implemented, departing employees need to be supported with severance practices that are aligned with the company’s sense of corporate responsibility and values.”
 
Understanding how severance practices vary by country is a critical component of an effective global workforce strategy. Key findings from the study include:
 
Severance Policy

• Across all regions, severance and termination policies are primarily governed by a combination of company policy and local/national law (62 per cent).
• In the event of employee termination, most companies (63 per cent) are required by law to give a certain amount of advance notification to the employee.
• Just over half (58 per cent) of those surveyed said their company had a formal, written severance policy.
• Eligibility for severance differs by region, with over half of companies in the Americas (54 per cent) having no minimum requirement and far fewer companies in Europe (32 per cent) and Asia Pacific (34 per cent) saying the same.

 
Severance Calculation

• Top executives earn the most severance per year of service, whether they are voluntarily separated (3.39 weeks per year) or involuntarily separated (3.52 weeks per year).
• Regardless of position or type of separation, severance is most frequently offered throughout the world as a lump sum payment.
• More than half (56 per cent) of the companies surveyed put a cap on the severance calculation.

 
Benefits

• Regardless of employee level, the most common benefits included in a severance package are assistance programs (like outplacement and financial planning), continued benefits (such as healthcare and financial compensation), and to a lesser extent, company resources such as an office or car.
• Seventy-three percent of terminated employees are required to sign a waiver or release before they can access severance benefits.
• Although not legally required, most companies (73 per cent) provide outplacement services.

 
“Whether you are responsible for managing a workforce in one country or many, senior executives and human resource professionals in organizations of all sizes and industries can use this data to compare their own practices with broad-based norms to ensure they are providing fair and equitable packages to those who need to leave their employ,” says Matthews.
 
Intended for anyone responsible for making severance decisions, the full report on “Severance Practices Around the World” can be downloaded at www.right.com/globalseverance. The report includes differences by region, industry, market maturity and level of employee.
 
Right Management engaged International Communications Research to conduct the study in 28 countries between July and September 2008. Of the 1,524 survey responses received, 45 per cent were from the Americas (including 456 from the United States), 34 per cent were from Europe and 21 per cent were from Asia Pacific. A broad cross section of industries was represented. Right Management is a leading provider of integrated human capital consulting services and solutions across the employment lifecycle.