Workforce Week®

	www.workforce.com
	January 7 - 13, 2007 Vol. 8 Issue 2

In This Issue...

Workforce News of the Week
Feature: Toyota—Driving Diversity
Feature: Taking the Measure of Agilent
Forum Post: Military Leaves of Absence
Commentary: Why VPs of HR Don't Become CEOs
Quick Takes: New Year, Old Problem; Diversity Deal; Relocation Merger; Ultimate HR Software; U.K. Shakeout; Vendor Roundup

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Workforce News of the Week:

Talent Management Cited as Top Issue for HR in 2007: When asked about the highest-priority HR initiatives for 2007, 37.1 percent of survey respondents say talent management, while only 2 percent mention succession planning.
Click to read more. >>>

PBGC Takes Over Delta Pilots' Pension Plan: Delta has said that shedding the plan was essential for it to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The airline is continuing another pension plan covering other employees.
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A Call for More Shareholder Say in Executive Pay: Rep. Barney Frank decries Home Depot CEO's $210 million exit package and cites the need for executive-pay reform. He also calls for a deal between Democrats and the business community that would offer expanded worker protection in exchange for such measures as immigration reform and the easing of rules on foreign direct investment.
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Oasis Buys PEO Arm of Kelly Services: Selling off its professional employer organization makes sense for Kelly, since the company's strength lies in staffing, not the other HR work associated with PEOs, says Oasis chief executive Mark Perlberg.
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Jobster to Cut Staff by 40 Percent: The online recruiting service aims to generate positive cash flow in 2007, partly by shifting away from in-person sales and support.
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State Retirement Plans Consider Automatic Enrollment: Automatic enrollment for government employees is on the way, following the lead of corporate defined-contribution plans. Passage of the Pension Protection Act brings the issue to the front burner in the public sector.
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Insurers Blend Consumerism, Limited Access: Some health insurers have begun to combine aspects of consumer-driven care and restricted access by offering high-deductible health plans that use a less expensive but more limited network of health providers that are part of health maintenance organizations.
Click to read more.

Feature
Diversity at Work
Toyota: Driving Diversity

"Diversity champions" at Toyota Motor Sales serve as grass-roots leaders to promote diversity and inclusion internally and at regional sales and distributor offices throughout the country.

Feature
Training Tools
Taking the Measure of Agilent

Attention to top leaders, including evaluations by an outside firm, is at the heart of a plan to turn around the testing technology company.

Discussion
Military Leaves of Absence—Are There Any Circumstances Where an Employer Can Say No?

Posted in the Benefits & Compensation Forum:
A reader writes: "We have an employee who takes one to two military LOAs a year in conjunction with his National Guard duty. These have been relatively smooth, but the employee is now anticipating an extended leave of seven to eight months later this year. Are there any circumstances where an employer can decline the employee's request, and if so what are those circumstances?"

Join the discussion. >>>

Work views
Why VPs of HR Don't Become CEOs

It's incredibly rare to find a Fortune 500 vice president of HR who has been promoted to CEO within his or her organization. It's a striking indication that HR still has a long way to go.

Quick Takes – A Digest of Workforce Management News and Events

New Year, Old Problem: Dissatisfied workers on the prowl for new jobs in 2007.
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Diversity Deal: Capital H Group of Chicago has acquired a diversity training company.
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Relocation Merger: Primacy expands its presence in Europe.
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Ultimate HR Software: HR software company Ultimate Software has acquired RTIX Ltd.
Click to read more. >>>

U.K. Shakeout: Outsourcing, recruiting drive overseas HR deals.
Click to read more. >>>

Vendor Roundup: Vendor announcements and deals taking place worldwide.
Click to read more. >>>

—Items compiled by contributing editor Garry Kranz and the Workforce Management staff.

Accommodating Older Workers

Has your company made any accommodations for aging employees?

36%: Yes.
37%: No.
16%: No, but we will need to in the near future.
    5%: No, my company makes every effort to get rid of older workers before they become a liability.
    6%: I don't know.