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Preparing for a Disaster

With the current political world events and hurricane history of the past few years, it would be a good idea for employers (large and small) to develop a disaster plan and review your procedures at least every six months. Some guidelines to follow are:

Create a preparedness publication for employees which should cover policies, emergency phone numbers and information to follow based on the disaster.
Create a communication plan and phone tree to re-establish communication with employees.
If possible, purchase satellite phones and/or establish a toll-free 800-number outside the area for employees to listen to a recorded message or leave one themselves.
Distribute to all employees a phone listing of manager’s emergency cell phone numbers.
Establish a dedicated web site with disaster recovery information.
If you have a HR department, make them the contact for donations so that employees can get critical items such as diapers, formula, clothing, etc.
Stockpile emergency food supplies for employees and families.
Establish a procedure of getting cash to employees so they can deal with the aftermath of a disaster.
Establish a pay policy in the event employees cannot make it to work after the disaster.
Set up a charitable fund that will allow employees to donate vacation time or cash for co-workers through payroll deduction.
Cross-train employees to perform certain basic duties in the event that the operation has a skeletal crew.
Back up computer files.
Review your leave of absence policy.
Have a contingency plan.

Recruitment Strategies

One important recruitment strategy is to have a solid workforce plan in place. Workforce planning is an excellent way to project budgets; however, the numbers of companies that have actually implemented the process are few.

Workforce planning actually requires companies to set formal staffing plans for their workforce needs that take into account factors such as projected growth, retention rates and compensation and benefits trends. An accurate workforce plan is useful because employers can set their annual recruiting budgets according to how many positions they project that they must fill each year. For example, say available data on the average cost for hiring a certain position is $2,500. An employer with an accurate workforce plan or talent forecast would then be able to project an average cost for hiring 10 positions it needs for the year at $25,000 and be able to adjust those costs up or down as recruitment needs change.

The emphasis in recruitment three to four years ago was on reducing costs and everything was completely cost-driven. Now the focus is finding the best way to hire employees who perform and stay on the job and to do this in a fast and cost-efficient way.

One of the strategies employers are using to keep their recruiting functions lean and flexible includes finding the appropriate mix of outsourcing, online and computer-based tool usage, and in-house recruiting. Another effective way of keeping costs down and recruiting services flexible is by using contingent or contract workers. Contingent or contract workers can give employers a lot of flexibility.

Recruitment budget plans should be reviewed quarterly and stay flexible. Recruitment strategies and budgets can no longer be set by looking back to see what has been done. The pace of business, especially in the high-tech industry, moves very fast today. Managers must adapt and be able to shift their focus almost immediately. A review of recruiting budgets quarterly will enable companies to shift resources accordingly to adapt to any changes or issues that tend to crop up and to avoid the most costly mistake in recruitment, which is over hiring.

Enrollment in Employer-Sponsored Health Plans Decline

The percentage of working Americans with moderate to middle incomes who lack health insurance for at least part of the year rose to 41% in 2005 - a dramatic increase from 28% in 2001.

Many small business have opted not to offer health insurance altogether. Another reason for the decline in health plan participation is that far fewer married couples enroll in plans at each spouse’s company. Premiums and costs have risen high enough that more of these couples pick whichever plan offers the best deal and sign the whole family onto it. Families in 2005 paid an average of $226 in monthly premiums – about 25% of the total premium.

Employees with relatively low salaries are increasingly going to drop health coverage as premiums continue to become more expensive. High –deductible plans with health savings accounts (HSA’s) might be an unattractive option for many workers who cannot afford to save money in the accounts.

Employers more and more are faced with the dilemma of continuing to offer a health care benefit, which becomes more expensive each year both for employees and employers and coverage that is shrinking.