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Herman Trend Alert: Perfect Memory Storm

From "Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists GREENSBORO, NC — If you have experienced memory challenges, you are not alone. Key trends have come together to create the “perfect memory storm” for civilized humanity. According to THG consultant Bill Jensen, author of “Simplicity,” “the most conservative estimates show business

Herman Trend Alert: Don’t Offshore, Lakeshore

A fact of corporate life is that there is constant pressure to “beat yesterday,” to increase corporate earnings and push more profit to the bottom line. In their drive to increase profits, many organizations have resorted to outsourcing outside of their home countries. We call that “offshoring” and for years, The Herman Group has been sounding the alarm that, in most cases, the savings from offshoring are simply “not worth the effort.”

Herman Trend Alert: Graduates Lack Life Skills

One of the refrains we often hear from employers is that graduates lack skills, particularly life skills. They tell us that many young people graduate from high school or college without knowing the basics: literacy, numeracy, what it takes to hold a job, or balance a checkbook. In a study by the Pew Charitable Trust, 50 percent of college graduates were found to be lacking in simple life skills. These grads were tested for three types of literacy skills: analyzing news stories and other prose, understanding documents, and having math skills needed for balancing checkbooks or figuring restaurant tips.

Herman Trend Alert: Healthy Lifestyles to Play a Greater Role in the Workplace

Based on a study recently released by the Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) in Indiana, we believe more employers will put more pressure on their employees to live healthier lifestyles. This study, released last month found that lifestyles play a greater role in health insurance claims than was previously believed.

Herman Trend Alert: Maintenance SOX?

In the past decade there has been a dramatic increase in corporate accountability. High profile accounting debacles have brought management practices under close scrutiny. To answer calls for justice from shareholders, employees and the public, courts are holding governing boards and the executives they hire to task.

Herman Trend Alert: 2007 Workforce/Workplace Forecast

Each year at this time, The Herman Group issues its annual forecast. Typically, we have offered an abbreviated version. This year, we offer you our full forecast for the coming year.

Herman Trend Alert: Spam Affecting Productivity

When Joyce was in the direct marketing industry decades ago, she likened advertising mail (to call it “junk” was sacrilegious) to a flower that blooms in the wrong place. No matter how beautiful it was, it was characterized as “a weed.” So it is with unwanted advertising e-mails. We call them “spam.” According to a Reuters report out of London, spam now accounts for a full 90 percent of all e-mails. The report details that “criminal gangs using hijacked computers are behind a surge in unwanted e-mails peddling sex, drugs and stock tips.”

Herman Trend Alert: Evolving Employee Benefits

From "Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists GREENSBORO, NC — One sure sign of a tightening labor market is employers’ willingness to sweeten the pot to aid recruitment and bolster retention of qualified workers. According to a recent employer survey this trend is exactly what happened over the first

Herman Trend Alert: Internet Recruiting and

As the saying goes, “Information wants to be free.” Savvy job-seekers know this. Millions of people go online every day to research companies and compare potential employers. Company web sites, job boards and other recruiting sites, and blogs posted by disgruntled former employees and upset customers provide a treasure trove of information to help us make career decisions.

Herman Trend Alert: Manufacturers Being Squeezed

In the United States and elsewhere, structural (non-wage) costs for manufacturers, as a percentage of the total costs, are continuing to rise. According to a study released in September by the U.S. National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), The Manufacturing Institute and the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, structural costs increased from 22.4 to 31.7 percent of the total costs, compared to similar costs for similar companies in nine trading partner countries in 2003. “(This) sharp rise in these non-wage costs represents a significant and long-term problem for our nation’s manufacturers and America’s economy,” said John Engler, president of the NAM.

Herman Trend Alert: Minority Recruiting to Deepen

Employers are not satisfied with the number of minority employees in their organizations. They want more minority employees, particularly those with the capacity for advancement, expansion, and leadership roles. Recruiters are charged with finding and hiring Afro-Americans, Hispanics, and Asian-Pacific Islanders to increase the proportion of these population cohorts in the overall employee population. A special drive is underway to attract, hire, and retain minority college graduates.

Herman Trend Alert: Robots Respond to Skilled Labor Shortage

Just in time for the annual AAPEX show out in Vegas, we learn of an interesting new technology being used at casinos that could have applications in other industries as well.