FRACAT - Free Resume And Career Toolbox Blog

So, I was over at some boring recruiter-oriented site when I came across a great article titled Employees Are Not Assets.

While it’s written from an employer’s standpoint, I thought it had a great message for employees as well:

One of our problems is that we think of employees as assets, or things we control and dispose of as we see fit. Unfortunately, this characterization leads to behaviors that are incompatible with reality. Employees cannot be owned, taxed, depreciated, or disposed of as machines or other tangible assets.

They are investors in our organizations and they freely choose to share their expertise and skills with us or not. Each employee has a built-in return on investment meter that is constantly sampling the atmosphere and deciding if she is gaining or losing from a continuing association with the firm. As long as employees feel they are gaining, they don’t look for different jobs.

But in this job market, whenever the balance shifts even slightly, employees become vulnerable to any offer that may present itself. That is why having managers who have a history of good employee loyalty and low turnover are so valuable.

This leads to questions that we should all ask ourselves:

• What Does My Company Think I Am? - If you’re something to be owned and controlled, you may want to start looking elsewhere. Frankly, this is why I’m still and independent recruiter and not working for an agency.
• Do I Provide a Good Return On Investment To My Company? - Obviously this is the other side of the coin. Are you providing more value than it costs the company to pay you, manage you, and give you benefits? Think carefully before answering.
• As a Manager, What is My Turnover Rate? - If you’re managing people anywhere, what does your turnover look like? Don’t tell me, “the same as the rest of the industry” because that means that you’re no better than anyone else in the industry (and completely replaceable). The “manager experience” is a huge reason why employees stay or leave. What experience are you providing?

Enjoy the Search!

Dan
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Daniel R. Sweet
Chief Cook-And-Bottle-Washer / Technical Recruiter
FRACAT.com - Free Resume and Career Toolbox
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielrsweet
Call me on Jaxtr: http://www.jaxtr.com/fracat


Photo by: Clinton Steeds

Whatever your age, you’re going to start having a lot more work options soon and it’s going to last a long time.
The Boston College Center on Aging and Work has released a factsheet titled “Age and the Labor Force” (heads up: it’s a PDF) that has some very interesting information for workers of all ages (hat tip: Louise Kursmark posting over at CareerHub).

There’s some good news for workers of all ages in this report, so read on for some good encouragement!



Find information on Diversity recruiting at DiversityJobs.com.


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