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10/24/04
SURVEY When New York-based InScope Corp. asked 233 senior human resources executives what they value most in the president of the United States, 89 percent said personal behavior. InScope, located in Purchase, develops models or instruments that help companies evaluate workers' performance. The company's survey also revealed that the personal behaviors of President Bush and his Democratic challenger, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, could determine how the respondents vote on Election Day. Paul Storfer, president of InScope, said HR professionals are more likely to look at competencies - the qualities, skills and behaviors needed to perform a job - when judging whether a job applicant or candidate should be hired. That doesn't surprise political analyst Tobe Berkovitz, associate dean of the College of Communication at Boston University. ''They want someone who has good values, someone who is truthful and honest,'' he said. Storfer said HR professionals are more likely to examine the behaviors that would predict future performance. When asked which are necessary in a good president, they chose good judgment and integrity. ''They also said that the characteristic that is least important is charisma,'' Storfer said in a telephone interview. He said the respondents also evaluated the two presidential candidates, and their measurements were close. In terms of good judgment, for example, they judged Kerry ahead of Bush by 51 to 48 percent, said Storfer. On integrity, they judged Bush ahead of Kerry by a 52 to 48 percent margin and, on whether they were forward thinking, they judged Kerry ahead of Bush, 52 to 46 percent, he said. Only 23 percent said Bush has displayed cultural sensitivity, but 75 percent described Kerry as culturally sensitive. When asked whom they would vote for if they could elect a president today, 45 percent said Bush and 44 percent said Kerry. Eleven percent were undecided, according to InScope.
RECRUITING A California technology consulting company has found a unique way to hold onto top recruits at its division in Hyderabad, India: It encourages job candidates to bring their parents to work. The company, Sierra Atlantic, employs 700 people at its Indian location and is among several US firms that are battling intense job hopping among Indian recruits. Hoping to reduce raiding by other firms, Sierra Atlantic recently invited 70 potential job candidates and their parents to attend an orientation at the firm. ''We traditionally maintain turnover rates of under 10 percent per year in India, but this year it is 15 to 17 percent,'' said Sierra Atlantic executive vice president Marc Hebert. ''These are very impressive kids. Many have multiple offers when they graduate, probably more than two. It is a lot like it was at the height of the dot-com era here. Parents are instrumental in the decisions they make.'' Take Farheen Syed Fazaluddin, a 23-year-old software engineer trainee at Sierra Atlantic. Her father's favorable impression of the firm convinced her to take the job. Fazaluddin, who graduated in August, holds a master's degree in computer science from Osmania University in Hyderabad. She said the company provided her parents with information about Sierra Atlantic's growth prospects and values. ''They spoke to my father,'' she said. ''They showed him the kinds of things they want in their employees, and how this position could give me a global identity.She said her father was impressed by Sierra Atlantic and was convinced ''that the company would help me with my career.'' According to Hebert, the typical college graduate earns about $10,000 per year to start, but their parents are usually more concerned about the values of the firms that are recruiting their children.
SERVICES A Boston-area firm has launched an emergency backup child-care service for employees whose children might be impacted by a flu outbreak this winter. Parents in a Pinch said its Flu Insurance Back-up Childcare Program will allow employees of participating firms to access specially trained child-care providers who will go into the home to care for children stricken by the flu. The service will also include babysitting for the healthy children of stay-at-home or telecommuting parents who come down with the flu and need help meeting their children's needs. The company, which has 200 child-care workers, said all have received training in the care of sick children. Barbara Marcus, the president of the company, said most parents want to be home with their children at the start of an illness. ''Our child-care providers take over during the long, slow recovery days,'' she said. Marcus said the new program will offer employees of participating companies with up to 10 days of emergency back-up child care during the flu season. Parents will pay $12 per hour for the service, but their companies may choose to help subsidize a portion of the fee.
THE OFFICE Here's a news flash for those of you with an extra sweater draped over the back of your office chair: The room temperature can impact how well you do your job. Cornell University ergonomics professor Alan Hedge has found a 74 percent increase in typing mistakes and a 46 percent reduction in typing productivity when office temperatures fall from 77 degrees to 68 degrees. His findings were presented at the 2004 Eastern Ergonomics Conference in New York City this summer. Hedge said he was interested in investigating the ties between changes in environmental conditions and work performance. So, he placed miniature temperature recorders at nine workstations at the Insurance Office of America's corporate headquarters in Orlando, Fla. The devices examined air temperature every 15 minutes for a month. That data was then compared to information on work productivity. When the temperature was 77 degrees Fahrenheit, the workers typed 100 percent of the time, with a 10 percent error rate, he said. But when the office temperatures dropped to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, their rate of typing or keyboarding dropped to 54 percent and the error rate rose to 25 percent. Hedge also said the decreased productivity rate resulted in a 10 percent rise in labor costs per employee each hour. --DIANE E. LEWIS
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