As reported in HRI, as human resource outsourcing (HRO) evolves, bigger, established vendors are now providing end-to-end HRO services to their clients. The biggest end-to-end provider is Hewitt Associates, according to Workforce Management magazine. The company handled the complete suite of HR functions for over 30 clients in 2005 and did $2.8 billion in total business. Some of its key customers are Sun Microsystems, Wachovia Corp. and PepsiCo. Although Accenture far outperformed Hewitt in total business volume with $15.6 billion, it handles end-to-end HR functions for only 12 clients. Of the big HR BPO players, Ceridian has the most end-to-end clients (26) even though it has one of the smallest overall volumes ($1.5 billion). (Workforce Management, January 16, 2006, p. 14)

As reported in HRI, as a new wave of mergers and acquisitions spreads throughout Europe, many European governments are taking protectionist stances to slow the expanse of cross-border deals. After years of strong corporate profits and attempts by the European Union to create a unified market, companies have begun taking more interest in targets outside of their borders. When Italy’s largest electricity company, Enel, made it clear it wanted to acquire French water and power company Suez, the French government stepped in to complete a merger between Suez and state-owned Gaz de France, thereby shutting out the Italians. Spain is also trying to enable a domestic merger to prevent German power company E.ON from acquiring Endesa. Italy has not just been on the receiving end. That country’s government recently blocked foreigners from taking over two Italian banks. France has gone so far as to designate 11 "strategic" sectors that should be safe from foreign takeover. Some analysts see the trend as a positive, marking just how strong the European M&A market has become. (The Economist, March 4, 2006, p. 55)

As reported in HRI, sometimes a team does not need a leader so much as a facilitator, a guide to "help the team help itself." This is especially true in a learning team. A learning team is a team whose goal is just that, to learn. It can be formed as part of training and development or be a subset of a project team. Joe Raelin, director of the Center for Work and Learning at Northeastern University, examines what it takes to facilitate a team in a learning environment. Facilitators must remember they are not directing the learning; the team members are. Some of the behaviors facilitators need to model are patience, non-judgment, tolerance of ambiguity, openness and honesty. By adopting these behaviors, a facilitator can help the team become more autonomous.

A good facilitator does not teach a learning team, but instead helps the team learn how to learn. Instead of solving problems, the facilitator will have the members give each other suggestions. Facilitators will also suggest resources from which to learn about the topic at hand or even challenge the group to come up with new solutions. Raelin also suggests that it is more important for the facilitator to be an expert in group process than an expert in the technical subject matter the team is focused on. This can allow the facilitator to help the team cooperate, learn and function better without getting bogged down in the particular function the team is trying to perform. (Organizational Dynamics [Raelin], 2006, pp. 84-87)

As reported in HRI, frontline managers need to be trained themselves before they interview, select and train international assignees, says Mary Beth Nitz, certified relocation professional with Prudential Relocation’s Consulting Group. In addition to having general knowledge of the rigors of international assignments, managers must be adept at identifying the personality features associated with successful overseas tours; foremost among these is the absence of prejudicial bias that can impede critical decision-making while on assignment. According to Nitz, the "Overseas Assignment Inventory" employed by Prudential Relocation can help with the selection of international assignees by rating candidates on 14 personality traits that include "expectations, trust, flexibility, initiative, interpersonal interest, open-mindedness, tolerance and patience." ("It’s Not Judging - It’s Assessing: The Truth About Candidate Assessments" [Nitz], 2005)

As reported in HRI, rather than dipping into local Chinese worker pools, companies are more frequently extending or localizing expat assignments, according to analysts with Prudential Financial. Increased localizations have been the result of a shortage of qualified local talent that has thwarted an earlier strategy emphasizing knowledge-transfer to locals. Expats who want to continue their assignments in China are receiving localized packages with reduced benefits phased down over a designated period of years. Newly localized workers can expect to see their housing, transportation and international school allowances gradually diminish. (Moving Forward Monthly [Prudential Financial], November 2005)

As reported in HRI, UK employers anticipate hiring more migrant workers from eastern European countries in 2006, according to research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). In late 2005, the CIPD reported that about one in four UK firms expected to hire migrant workers during the winter season. Employers in London (35%) and those in the public sector (26%) were found to be most apt to hire migrant workers. CIPD researchers noted that organizations expected to focus more on hiring workers from eastern European countries - so called European Union accession member states. According to the CIPD, UK employers previously chose to hire migrants from western European nations. ("CIPD Labour Market Outlook Points to Jobs Slowdown - Yet Employers Increase Efforts to Recruit Workers from Eastern Europe" [Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development], press release, November 16, 2005)

As reported in HRI, European companies rate the amount of moving expenses as second only to the size of pay and benefits for international assignments, as reported by 131 firms polled in "European Mobility Trends: A Best Practices Survey from Pricoa Relocation." Outpacing taxation expenses for the first time, housing expenses came in third, reflecting a rise in real estate costs throughout Europe. The following table shows how respondents rated average costs in euros for two-year assignments:

(Moving Forward Quarterly [Prudential Financial], December 2005, p. 3)

As reported in HRI, although they express confidence about the hiring decisions they make, too many professionals use an ineffective, unstructured approach to interviewing job applicants, according to the University of Toronto’s David Zweig, a professor of organizational behavior. Zweig, along with Professor Derek Chapman of the University of Calgary, studied interviewing techniques used by more than 500 Canadian and international organizations over a three-year period. The two concluded that informal, unstructured interviews don’t provide the information needed to make sound hiring decisions. Instead, they advocate structured interchanges based on behavioral and situational questions. Behavioral inquiries require an applicant to recount past behaviors that speak to specific skills, while situational questions pose hypothetical scenarios and then ask how the applicant proposes to respond to them. (Canadian HR Reporter [Klie], December 19, 2005, p. 3)

Part 2

What the researchers learned explains why some people seem to do their most creative work under tight deadlines, while most people find that this kind of pressure produces only small increases rather than real insight and creativity. Extreme time pressure leads to overwork and burnout when people feel as if they are on a treadmill and are experiencing:

·         Constant distractions and workdays fragmented into many different activities 

·         Little control over their time and many last-minute changes in plans and schedules 

·         More time spent in meetings and group discussions than is available for collaborating one on one

·         Little sense that what they are doing is especially important

On the other hand, it is possible to have identical intense deadline pressure and produce ingenious solutions and creative insights if some of these conditions are changed so that people see themselves being on a mission. These individuals feel that they:

·         Are doing something important that offers them a positive challenge 

·         Have better control of their time because they are allowed to focus on a single activity for a major portion of the day 

·         Have been freed from doing less-essential tasks 

·         Are able to set their agenda by working on issues they have identified as relevant to the mission, as well as those they have been assigned

Working conditions that allow a degree of control, autonomy and protection from short-term distractions, according to Amabile’s research, help convert urgency into creativity. Without these conditions, time pressures are likely to undermine, not spur, creative thinking.

A strong sense of being on a mission feeds the "got to make it happen" drive of the innovative grower. It also distinguishes the more discovery-oriented creativity of the less time-pressured academic and R&D lab researcher from the minimal creativity usually exhibited by individuals working on autopilot with neither a mission nor a difficult deadline. The job of a growth leader is to use goals and a sense of urgency to turn off these autopilots and treadmills. The sense of hope, optimism and possibility conveyed by the grower can also act as an antidote to the anxiety and fear that otherwise tend to accompany intense time pressure.

Excerpted by permission of the publisher from Bigger Isn’t Always Better: The New Mindset for Real Business Growth by Robert M. Tomasko. Copyright 2006, Robert M. Tomasko. Published by AMACOM, AMA’s book division. For more information about this title and other AMA books, visit www.amanet.org/books.

Robert M. Tomasko is a specialist in organizational effectiveness and has advised companies, including Coca-Cola, Marriott and Toyota. He is a frequent speaker.

As reported in HRI, forty percent of workers say that their colleagues’ behaviour has bothered them so much that they’ve chosen to look for jobs elsewhere, according to a July 2005 survey by TrueCareers, an online career-search site. The poll found that 60% of the 2,200 employees who responded thought that their co-workers’ problem behaviors were so troublesome that they affected workplace productivity. Seventeen percent of respondents told TrueCareers that co-workers’ behavior had prompted them to seek transfers. An Employee Benefit Plan Review recap of the survey results noted that negative behaviors cited by respondents included "loud phone conversations, tardiness, hygiene issues and constant complaining about job assignments." (Employee Benefit Plan Review, December 2005, p. 41)