Ricci Case Was Not the End of the Run

When the Sontomayor confirmation hearings were recently held much to do was made of her decision in the New Haven Firefighters case. Many projected that the use of tests in hiring was going to be greatly impaired. Now this morning the Law Firm of Ford and Harrison reports that A recent announcement by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) that Gerber Products Company will pay $900,000 to settle findings of hiring discrimination against 1,912 rejected minority and female applicants may be a reflection of the increased aggressiveness that has been promised by the agency. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis stated that the settlement "should put all federal contractors on notice that the Labor Department is serious about eliminating systemic discrimination." The hiring disparity was discovered during a scheduled compliance evaluation conducted by the OFCCP. According to agency investigators, the disparity was caused in part by inconsistent selection procedures used for entry-level positions. Additionally, the agency found that the company used pre-employment tests that negatively impacted minority applicants and determined that there was insufficient evidence of validity to support Gerber's use of the test. Under the terms of the conciliation agreement, Gerber will pay 1,912 minority and female applicants $900,000 in back pay and interest and will also provide 61 entry-level positions, 11 of whom have already been hired.
It indicated to employers that OFCCP is serious about routing out these types of situations. Review your hiring procedures and make sure that no one is being given the short end of the process.

Are we really lost in the candle?

I happened on the TED community website and found a presentation by Dan Pink, who is a business connection who presented some very strong arguments for changing the way we relate with our employee base. For as long as I can remember, it has been the contention that the way to improve the engagement of our employees was to increase the rewards we provide them. Dan suggests that social scientists know what corporate world fails to see. Look at the video which can be found at http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html

A new look at business

I am in the middle of reading the book The Uniform Improvement Cycle, in which the author says that among the areas of waste within an organization is the area of creativity. This comes from the tendency to make the assumption that management only knows what is best for an operation. The along comes a Fortune 100 executive who suggests we are missing the boat. Companies must get creative if they hope to survive the current economic downturn and be positioned to compete in the new, global economy that will emerge, says former Fortune 500 business executive Kathy Robison.
Creativity leads to finding ways to improve the way we operate and it leads to full engagement of our employees. Do you respect the views of the line workers who are in the trenches or are you ready to see a decline in the level of corporate spontaneity?

Whose right?

If we listen to some of the pundits the only way for us to get out of this economic crisis is to get government out of business and lower taxes. Stimulus won't work. Then we see the results of the Robert Half Career Builder survey in which they state that the economy has posed many challenges for businesses - including the need to make sure they are prepared for the upturn. According to a new survey, managers are planning to hire a combination of workers to support both long- and short-term initiatives. Fifty-three percent of employers expect to hire full-time employees over the next 12 months while 40 percent will hire contract, temporary or project professionals and 39 percent will add part-time employees. Then Deloitte adds their input that followed the Robert Half survey:
New research from Deloitte issued today shows that although most major companies surveyed believe that the U.S. economy will start improving in early 2010, many of those same companies will lag behind the general economy when the rebound occurs. The reason: Too much focus on short-term, tactical actions and little attention to structural changes and strategic investments that are needed to support growth in the new business environment.

Approximately 55 percent of companies surveyed feel the U.S. economy will start showing signs of recovery in the first or second quarter of 2010; though 25 percent think relief won't come until the third quarter or beyond. But, when the upturn does commence, Deloitte believes many companies will struggle to deal with the new economy, which will likely be a completely different playing field from what companies have seen in previous recoveries.

Sign of the Times?

According to Stars and Stripes European Edition ,The Marine Corps eliminated cost-of-living pay for new local hires this month, and other military employers may do the same after the Department of Defense dropped the requirement. All DOD agencies, including the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, may now decide whether to pay post allowance to U.S. workers hired abroad since May 6, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness said in May. The Marine Corps stopped paying the benefit to new hires on Aug. 10. Officials with AAFES, the Army and the Air Force said Friday that decisions were not yet made on the post allowance pay. U.S. citizens hired in Europe and the Pacific could lose out on thousands of dollars in annual salary if post allowance is abandoned — money co-workers recruited from the United States will continue to receive. It is an abrupt reversal by the DOD, which last year ordered the military to pay all locally hired, full-time workers the allowance — plus tens of millions of dollars in back pay — which had been withheld by some services for about a decade.
The question is whether this trend may carry over to the US corporations dealing with both expats and domestic employees. COLA's in this economy may be open to providing employee's with funds that might not be necessary.

Merger Announcement

Residential real estate firm Weir Manuel Realtors has teamed up with foreclosure specialist David Trott to acquire Coldwell Banker Schweitzer Real Estate Inc. The new firm, to be called Coldwell Banker Weir Manuel, represents a major consolidation in the residential real estate brokerage community for Metro Detroit.

Just When We Thought We Had a Handle on it

My wife and I were talking the other day about the nature of the "neighborhood" that we live in has changed. It is not the community we moved into 28 years ago. People have moved in and then moved out and we have maintained very few contacts with any of them. There are 76 homes in the subdivision and I am not sure I could tell you everyone who lives here. In addition we just completed, with the assistance of Lynne Lancaster of Bridgeworks, just finished the preparation of a seminar entitled "Chaos int he Workplace-Multigenerational interactions in the workplace." In preparing the material for the seminar we looked at each of the four generational groups and what they wanted and liked. The once I thought we had it finished, along comes a new book called ReloVille which claims there is a group that I did not consider. This group is referred in the new book as the Relos. They are middle management employees earning around $150,000 who get moved by a company every three to five years who leave behind no real roots. The book is written by Peter Kilbourn of the New York Times. He contends that to enhance their careers the employee is willing to put up with this life with no real place to call home. The subject is discussed in the latest issue of HR Magazine from the SHRM. Do you agree with this assessment of a sub-culture in the four groups?

Relocation Announcement

Koalaty provides electrical stimulation products used for pain management, rehabilitation and physical therapy and also distributes electrodes, orthopedic pillows, braces, batteries and topical analgesics. Moving from Tampa to Austin, TX due to a merger and acquisition completion.

Relocation Annlouncements

First Data moving corporate headquarters from Denver to Atlanta and creating 1000 jobs over next three years.

Relocation Announcement

Husqvarna Outdoor Products Inc. has already started the relocation of its headquarters to Charlotte, N.C., the result of a global reorganization plan by the Sweden-based lawn and garden equipment maker. Not all the 100 employees will be offered the ability to move to Charlotte.

Following the Green Brick Road

Back in 1972, my college roommate urged me to come talk to his boss about joining a contingency recruiting firm- and thus was my exposure to being a recruiter which I did for almost five years. Earlier today I attended a meeting of local corporate recruiters, and one of the topics being considered was what recruiters have done to stay relevant. I can remember receiving a job requisition and seeking out a candidate from a competitor who might be interested in looking at a move. Today, for every job that is open corporations are receiving 400-500+ candidates for each opening and the majority of them can do the job. So how do they make their job easier? They are turning to very unconventional sources like social media. A very interesting article on this can be found at http://b.mjob.com and click on free white paper. which looks at the move to mobile recruiting. Other corporations are turning heavily to using Twitter ( Do you know what a Tweet is? If not be sure to find out. How are you using Twitter or the likes in your daily routines in any aspect of human resources? Lets see if we can construct a view of the uses of the new technology in our businesses.
If you need more evidence take a look at this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

Beware of Your actions

The Jackson Lewis Law Firm in a posting on the Employment Law Network email reports that more than just the corporation can be held liable for the actions of the firm. Reinstating the plaintiffs’ complaint for unpaid wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal appeals court in San Francisco has held that the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and a manager responsible for labor and employment matters could be held individually liable for unpaid wages. Boucher v. Shaw, No. 05-15454 (9th Cir. Jul. 27, 2009). In this case, the employer was subject to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding. Stating that “the [employer’s] bankruptcy has no effect on the claims against the individual managers at issue here,” the Court reversed dismissal and returned the case to the district court for further proceedings.

Relocation Company ReBrands

Brookfield Residential Property Services ("Brookfield RPS"), a leading global provider of relocation and real estate services, technology, and knowledge, and a division of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:BAM), announced today that it has re-branded its Royal LePage Relocation Services business unit and re-named it Brookfield Global Relocation Services (http://www.brookfieldgrs.com).

Where are our priorities?

We are faced with a rapidly changing global marketplace in which the successful worker needs to be competent in the methodology of how business operates. This means they need to understand the theoretical and practical aspects of the business operations. I would expect that these business leaders need to understand math, science and geopolitical theory. Further thye need to understand the economics behind business. Every day we read in the newspapers stories about the state of the economy - teachers being laid off, government agencies cutting services, colleges restricting the number of students they can admit due to lower revenue costs. I may get crucified ,but I found a major disconnect when the news this morning posted an announcement that the football coach for the University of Florida got a new contract paying four million dollars per year. In order for us to stay competitive in the global economy, we need to enhance the learning of our students. Football does not add to that ability to compete in the real world.
Instead of paying for sports, we need to realign our priorities to meet the needs of the business community in which our graduates are going to need to compete in. Do you agree with me or am I missing some aspect ? Let me know.

Relocation Annlouncements

AVI BioPharma, Inc. (AVII), a developer of RNA-based drugs, today announced the impending strategic move of its corporate headquarters and much of its leadership team to the greater Seattle area. The company plans to build upon and broaden its clinical development and drug discovery skill base by drawing upon the region's scientific expertise. The move will enable AVI to streamline its corporate operations and upgrade its capability to add new drug candidates to its pipeline in neuromuscular, immunological and viral diseases. The move is from Corvallis, OR.

Changes in the Works

Effective August 1, 2009 we have shut down the Wordpress version of this blog. In addition we have changed the URL from corporate-relocationnet-speed.blogspot.com to hrstrategistatnet-speed.blogspot.com

What Happened to Equal Protection?

In reading the press and the web in the past couple of days, I have been struck by some rather conflicting reports regarding the health care crisis which affects each and every one of us. Some of us are blessed with corporate provided health plans which to varying degrees cover our health needs, but there are a large number of citizens who have no coverage at all. I am not trying to preach to the choir, but I am amazed that two scenarios are playing out. The first was the report that William Kristol appeared on the Daily Show and with a straight face said that the military provides it's members with the "best medical care int he world." When asked about the rest of the population of the country Mr. Kristol's response was that even if it is horrible coverage, the American Citizens don't deserve any better. In the other scenario, the members of Congress get free medical care for life based on their service. Are they so much better then you and I that they don't think we deserve the same level of care in this country? In these hard economic times, our system allows for a laid off employee to continue their medical coverage from work at outlandish prices. For example, a friend for the 18 months following the layoff was able to continue to be covered by the company's program at a cost of over $900 a month for just employee and spouse. In many states that amount would eat up almost the entire unemployment compensation.
We hear corporate management complain about the lack of engagement by today's workers. Is it any reason that we do not treat employees as critical parts of the organization that the work environment is what it is?

Relocation Company Consolidates

Paragon Relocation Resources, a worldwide leader in global mobility and relocation services, today announced that effective January 1, 2010, it is consolidating its Connecticut and California relocation operations to Dallas, Texas. These changes being made in 2009 are designed to position Paragon Relocation in the right locations with the right relocation services for today and years to come."The state of Texas is recognized as the number one business location in the United States for a variety of reasons which includes access to experienced, well educated relocation professionals. Paragon's senior management has chosen to implement this move at this time to allow for a proper and well coordinated transition while volume is down to impact the least number of customers and in preparation for future economic recovery," said Joseph Morabito, Paragon's president and chief executive officer. "All impacted Paragon staff members will be offered relocation benefits and encouraged to make the move to Dallas, which will provide them a more affordable standard of living and quality of life."
All assigned Account Director/Managers and Client Relations Consultants will remain in region in the Danbury, Connecticut and Rancho Santa Margarita, California offices. Their teams, connected by sophisticated video equipment for regular meetings, will be based in Dallas.
In addition, beginning in 2010, Paragon's Global Customer Service Centers in Dallas, TX and Chicago, IL, as well as Dublin, Ireland and Hong Kong, China will expand office hours to 12 hours a day from 8am to 8pm in their respective time zones to provide better access to relocation services for customers around the world.

Just When You Thought You Knew What Was Going On

Word to the wise. The environment in the HR field is like the weather in the midwest. Wait a minute and the weather will change. First we had Ricci et al who sued over the use of exams in promotions that goes up to the Supreme Court. The court made their infamous Ricci decision and now a Federal Judge in New York City said that the exam being used to determine promotions in the fire department were discriminatory; 2) were NOT job related and therefore were invalid. One more case that you need to be very cognizant of what you are testing for and more important why.

Relocation Announcement

The U.S. Department of Justice is relocating some of its U.S. attorney operations from Washington to South Carolina under a 20-year lease agreement with the state's flagship university, officials announced Monday. The federal agency will be relocating its Executive Office for United States Attorneys to the building that now houses the University of South Carolina's Darla Moore School of Business.

Miami-based Avocet, a provider of aviation repair and maintenance, teardown services and sales of aircraft parts, along with sister company Aircraft Parts Sales Inc., will relocate its headquarters to Orlando Sanford International Airport.