HR Insights

Much is made about workplace superstars who may be (depending on who you believe) the cause of 80% of a business's profits.

Whatever feats this elite class of employee is actually capable of, they command a lot in terms of industry respect, compensation, and the advantages of desirability to many employers.

But according to Harvard research, Toxic employees have more bearing on a company's success than the stars do.

One of the hottest topics in HR is the growing importance of "Intangible Assets" or "Soft Skills" — which can include many personal talents related to emotional intelligence, natural problem solving ability, and the ability to think on one's feet.

These are personal gifts which can't be tangibly measured, but they're necessary for any company which will thrive.

Your business definitely wants to hire the best and brightest, but unless the best and brightest can find your job listing, they may pass over your open position. 

This is an increasingly common scenario for job listings that aren't optimized for mobile.

More people are searching for jobs on mobile devices than ever before, and your hiring team needs to keep up with the trend.

Sandwiched between vocal/demanding Boomers and Millennials, Generation X has been called the "forgotten middle child" of the modern workplace.

Development Dimensions International has data to indicate that the Millenials are advancing much more quickly than the X's did/are.

The differences can be starkly felt in the workplace, because Gen X is only about 2/3 the size of the generations on either side of them.

If you're part of the tech industry, or you've seen HBO's Silicon Valley, you know that women are a very small minority of this field.

It wasn't always this way. The gender ratio of computer science workers was much more equitable in the 80's, but today just 27% of STEM workers are women, and only 13% of engineers.

One analyst blames the startup phase, when new businesses are too busy trying to stay afloat to worry about workforce diversity and humane work schedules.

Those anticipating the big HR trends of 2016 aren't calling for a lot of surprises.

Recruitment is likely to remain the biggest challenge for many companies, as many industries can't find enough applicants for their open positions.

Recruitment problems bring with them other considerations, like how to best accommodate the needs of a multi-generational workforce, and how to compete for workers with great benefits when it's becoming more expensive to do so.

In a time where great talent is in short supply, most businesses are looking for ways to find an edge.

One of the best ways to get a sense of staffing trends in your industry is to look at large staffing firms' monthly revenue changes.

This is made available through public industry analyis, and can give you a clue when the most talent will be available for hire.

There were 5.5 million jobs open in the United States this September, the best month for job openings since 2000.

Nonetheless, national hiring rates dropped in September, with half a million of these job opportunities left unfilled. 

This trend includes industries as diverse as insurance and mining.

Because of the challenges of hiring and training a great team, new companies need to always be on the lookout for great new team members. Startups sometimes look at hiring as a distraction from product development.

Instead, the author recommends being on a constant hunt for talent - whether or not you need a specific role filled.

One of the most pressing concerns for staffing teams is sales turnover. Most company sales forces have a 25-30% annual turnover. At this rate, that's a new team hired and trained every four years.

Depending on the field, turnover costs can total tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per employee.