FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                      Contact:  Barry Siegel

                                                                                bsiegel@ho.hodes.com

CAN THE U.S. SUCCEED IN A KNOWLEDGE BASED ECONOMY?

How critical is human capital in that equation?

Houston, Texas…It is widely recognized that the U.S. and the world have moved towards a knowledge-based economy—one where knowledge and technology are vital to economic growth.   Knowledge, of course, is embodied in human beings and thus the use of the term “human capital,” which seems to hold the key to our nation’s future success and its ability to compete in a rapidly changing global landscape.  Social observers in fact agree that a city’s prosperity depends on finding, attracting and retaining the nation’s most skilled and creative knowledge workers.

That’s a tall order for a city, let alone a corporation.  What about your organization?  Do you attract the best and the brightest?  Are you in a position to move forward in an economy, which demands the best?  Can your human resources department locate the quality of hires, which can lead your company towards accomplishing its business goals?

If you answered no to any of the questions above, you are not alone.   Human resource departments are overburdened and understaffed.  Hiring managers end up spending too much time with unqualified to fair candidates rather than working strategically towards finding quality hires.  If human capital is indeed at the core of our economic growth, why is the recruiting function not given priority treatment by top management?

That situation may be changing.  A survey of CEO’s conducted by “Chief Executive Magazine” in 2004 revealed the highest level of concern for the recruitment and retention of talent since the year 2000.  And with good reason.  US Labor Department statistics indicate:

            Employee attrition continues at a rate of 10% and is rising;

Discontent among employees with as many as 60-80% indicating they will seek employment elsewhere

The younger talent pool is not large enough or skilled enough to assume current positions being vacated.

To compete in today’s “war for talent” companies must be skilled in a number of areas including:

Career web-site design

Interactive, multi-media and relationship marketing techniques

Resume mining or the acquisition of candidate resumes from the Internet;

Sales and networking;

Customer service;

Recruiting and HR information technology;

Hiring process re-engineering;

Staffing metrics;

Screening and interviewing;

Behavioral and/or personality assessment;

EEOC and OFCCP requirements;

Skills and drug testing and

Background investigation.

Most companies can’t afford the time or financial resources to concentrate on every function or process, which is required to run their business.  As we look at the implications of a technology driven revolution, it is clear that organizations should focus on their core competencies. Many have begun to look at the outsourcing process for some non-core competencies.  In fact, 73% of CEO’s surveyed by “Chief Executive Magazine” in 2004 are currently outsourcing to allow management to focus on core business issues.   And that includes the recruitment processes.

If an effective recruiting process, a positive employer brand and focus on key skills retention increases shareholder value from 5.4% to 14.6%, as global consulting firm Watson Wyatt suggests, isn’t it incumbent upon every corporation in America to take notice of its current recruitment practices?  Perhaps recruitment process outsourcing, which is the transfer of hiring process ownership from the buyer (a corporation) to the provider (a third party company specializing in talent management) or (RPO) is one of the solutions.

Find out in 5 easy steps if (RPO) is right for your organization.  Simply log on to www.resjobs.com and take the Recruitment Enhancement Services assessment.