Fed launches new $200B consumer credit program
By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer Jeannine Aversa, Ap Economics Writer – Tue Mar 3, 5:00 pm ET
WASHINGTON – The government launched a much-awaited program Tuesday to spur lending for autos, education, credit cards and other consumer loans by providing up to $200 billion in financing to investors to buy up the debt.
If the program succeeds, it should help bust through the credit clogs in place since last year and make it easier for Americans to finance large and small purchases at lower rates, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress. That, in turn, would help revive the economy, he said.
Created by the Fed and the Treasury Department, the program has the potential to generate up to $1 trillion of lending for businesses and households, the government said. It will be expanded to include commercial real estate, though that won't be part of the initial rollout.
"There's a looming crisis in commercial real estate whereby owners of shopping malls, hotels, rental properties and many other types of buildings are unable to refinance or to pay for new construction because the (commercial) securitization market is completely shut down," Bernanke said during an appearance before the Senate Budget Committee.
The program will start off by providing $200 billion in loans to investors with the goal of jump-starting lending to consumers and small businesses. The program, dubbed the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, was first announced late last year and originally was scheduled to start in February.
Participants — companies and investors that pledge eligible collateral to back the loan — must request the new government loans by March 17. The Fed will provide the three-year loans on March 25.
"We should see immediate benefits to students, to credit cards, to small businesses, to consumer loans," Bernanke told lawmakers.
Under the program, the Fed will buy securities backed by different types of debt, including credit card, auto, student and small business loans. The credit crunch — the worst since the 1930s — has made it much harder for people to obtain such financing , and those that do can be socked with high rates.
Before the financial crisis, banks relied on packaging such loans into securities and selling them to pay for additional lending. That process had financed about 25 percent of consumer loans in recent years until the credit markets ground to a halt in October, the government said.
Anil Kashyap, a professor at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, said the program should make it easier for consumers to get loans. But he cautioned that the Fed's involvement in this area could have unintended consequences elsewhere by making other debt securities not backed by the government less attractive to investors.
"We'd really rather the credit markets just work properly," Kashyap said.
The Fed plans to keep the program running through December, but said it could be extended.
The Fed and Treasury expect that securities backed by car-fleet leases as well as by certain equipment, including for heavy construction and for agriculture, will be eligible for Fed funding in its April operation. Participants in the second round of funding must request the government loans by April 7, which the Fed will disburse on April 14.
The program, the Fed said, will remain focused on securities that are best able to aid the economy and financial markets and that can be added at a low risk to the government.
Limits on executive compensation that apply to financial institutions receiving capital from the $700 billion rescue program won't apply to lenders and other participants benefiting from the program. That's because it wants "to encourage market participants to stimulate credit formation" and use the program, the Fed said.
___
AP Economics Writer Christopher S. Rugaber contributed to this report.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Happiness!
"The U.S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness,
only the pursuit of it.
You have to catch up with it yourself."
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American statesman, scientist & printer
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
The "No Jobs" Myth -
Recently the news media, economists and any pundit who could get space in a newspaper, on TV or on the radio talked about the US losing over 500,000 jobs in the month of November. For those who lost jobs, as we know, these are difficult times, financially, socially and emotionally.
We do not minimize that loss for anyone.
As we consider what this means to our company (and the unemployed we continue to help), it is important to keep things in perspective. Compared to the media's version of our job market, the real data is encouraging when we consider our economy's: 1) total jobs and, more importantly, 2) overall hiring activity.
First, consider the number of jobs lost in November – 533,000. We're told that: "It was the most jobs lost in one month since December 1974." That's a nice sound bite if you are writing a newspaper article. Another accurate sound bite is: "In the month of November, we lost 34 one hundredths of one percent of the total jobs in America." And it looks like this:
And consider that in each month of the first 10 months of this recession over six times as many people were hired. How does that make sense? How can we be hiring millions and be losing jobs at the same time? The answer is employee turnover and what economists call "churn".
Churn refers to the natural number of businesses failures and startups. Employee turnover refers to such things as employee quits, relocations, deaths, terminations and retirements. Even when there is not economic growth, both churn and turnover lead to job openings, which in turn lead to hires. And the number of hires each month is a more relevant and meaningful number for both the unemployed and the staffing industry.
So how many hires do we normally have and how has this recession affected the number of hires? In a good economy such as September 2006- September 2007 the number of hires was 58 million. In our current recession the following year (2007-2008) it has fallen by only 8% to 54 million according to the latest data. And it looks like this:
So, even in the middle of this recession, though you wouldn't know it from the media, there were 54 million hires. This means that if you were in an average US town of 100,000, employers hired 17,500 people in the last year. In the year before, they would have hired 19,000 people. Fortunately, for our company and the job seekers we place, employers keep hiring, even in a downturn.
Staffing has grown to be a great solution for employers who need people to keep their businesses healthy as well as for job seekers who need jobs to keep their lives and families healthy. Staffing companies save both employers and job seekers time and money and are a key in keeping our country healthy in this economic downturn. Instead of stepping back and waiting for a recovery, this is a time to step forward and help make it happen.
We do not minimize that loss for anyone.
As we consider what this means to our company (and the unemployed we continue to help), it is important to keep things in perspective. Compared to the media's version of our job market, the real data is encouraging when we consider our economy's: 1) total jobs and, more importantly, 2) overall hiring activity.
First, consider the number of jobs lost in November – 533,000. We're told that: "It was the most jobs lost in one month since December 1974." That's a nice sound bite if you are writing a newspaper article. Another accurate sound bite is: "In the month of November, we lost 34 one hundredths of one percent of the total jobs in America." And it looks like this:
And consider that in each month of the first 10 months of this recession over six times as many people were hired. How does that make sense? How can we be hiring millions and be losing jobs at the same time? The answer is employee turnover and what economists call "churn".
Churn refers to the natural number of businesses failures and startups. Employee turnover refers to such things as employee quits, relocations, deaths, terminations and retirements. Even when there is not economic growth, both churn and turnover lead to job openings, which in turn lead to hires. And the number of hires each month is a more relevant and meaningful number for both the unemployed and the staffing industry.
So how many hires do we normally have and how has this recession affected the number of hires? In a good economy such as September 2006- September 2007 the number of hires was 58 million. In our current recession the following year (2007-2008) it has fallen by only 8% to 54 million according to the latest data. And it looks like this:
So, even in the middle of this recession, though you wouldn't know it from the media, there were 54 million hires. This means that if you were in an average US town of 100,000, employers hired 17,500 people in the last year. In the year before, they would have hired 19,000 people. Fortunately, for our company and the job seekers we place, employers keep hiring, even in a downturn.
Staffing has grown to be a great solution for employers who need people to keep their businesses healthy as well as for job seekers who need jobs to keep their lives and families healthy. Staffing companies save both employers and job seekers time and money and are a key in keeping our country healthy in this economic downturn. Instead of stepping back and waiting for a recovery, this is a time to step forward and help make it happen.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
“It’s the visionaries that are searching and hiring right now, those companies who are able to take advantage of the top talent that is available right now like never before.”
“I am seeing this in both big and small companies, public and even more so private companies who still have access to capital, willing to reduce today’s profits to have an explosive payout when the economy turns around, AND even take advantage of market share opportunities in this economy.”
Stan Taylor, CSAM
Management Recruiters of Vancouver.
“I am seeing this in both big and small companies, public and even more so private companies who still have access to capital, willing to reduce today’s profits to have an explosive payout when the economy turns around, AND even take advantage of market share opportunities in this economy.”
Stan Taylor, CSAM
Management Recruiters of Vancouver.
Friday, November 7, 2008
What Recruiting Will Look Like After the Recession
by Kevin WheelerNov 6, 2008, 6:00 am ET
This is a strange recession.
It is not affecting employment across the board as many of the past ones have, but rather seems to be targeting specific sectors and types of work. Obviously banking and financial services, but also manufacturing and anyone in a semi-skilled job such as auto workers are especially affected. Needs are pocketed and specific. Talent shortages remain.
Yet, I have had calls from search firms looking for key sales and marketing people, and for R&D talent. Senior HR executives are in demand, especially if they have global experience. Sectors still largely unscathed by the recession – healthcare, gaming, entertainment, pharmaceuticals, and biotech – are still facing talent shortages and global competition.
The growth of global supply chains, increasing automation, and greater process efficiency means we can do more with fewer. New jobs are being created daily, but they all require education and skill beyond that of many current candidates.
This, combined with the different attitudes candidates and employees have about work and about how they live their lives, changes how we recruit and employ people.
The highly skilled, experienced, and educated will have an increasing edge in employment. And this recession should be a clarion call for an increased focus on education, training, and employment development. Everyone involved with talent will need to look at both development and acquisition as channels to meet their needs, rather than focus entirely on recruiting.
There are a number of permanent changes we will see.
Candidates Become Smarter, Warier
The first change is that many candidates will be reluctant to work under the same conditions as usual. Candidates have access to unparalleled information about a prospective employer through the Internet and its many sources. Reliance on a single firm for security has already eroded, and this recession will strengthen employees’ wariness about promises and deferred compensation. More top employees will seek employment contracts that include clauses that spell out layoff pay and benefits.
Candidates will probe positions more deeply and they will want more influence over the type of work they do. Prepare for candidates to negotiate what they will and won’t do.
Free Agency
Recessions have, in the past, increased the pool of people who decide to become free agents – contractors, consultants, and part-time workers. More people than ever are trying out life as independent workers. Many will not make it and return to the corporate fold, but they will be wiser and better prepared to abandon ship than they were before.
Many others will find they would rather work on their own than go back under the very insecure and fragile corporate umbrella. Companies will have to identify and take care of their key producers better than ever. While many firms do work hard to keep key talent, they will have to increase this effort and explore more creative ways to engage those people.
Charles Handy, a management writer and educator who has written numerous books on the organizations of the future, predicted that up to half of some company’s talent may eventually work as free agent, contracting to those firms as temporary staff, contractors, or part-timers. This will be a lasting change that is accelerated because of the recession.
Recruiters and HR staff will have to accommodate these free agents. Our internal regulations will have to be modified to make the use of contractors legal and compliant with IRS regulations and it may be necessary to lease employees, employ more employment contracts, and learn to share talent between organizations.
These changes will be fought by the legal department and more HR leaders, yet I believe companies will eventually have to embrace these ideas to be competitive.
Values Rule
Gen Y candidates, in particular, but all employees to a growing degree, are seeking companies that hold values high and make and keep commitments to their employees and their families. They seek environmentally sensitive, charitable, and ethical firms.
Gen Y is the tip of a spear followed by the even more morally and environmentally committed Gen M. They will have even higher expectations than the Baby Boomers ever did. While shareholder value will always be a core concern of the management team, they will also have to understand how important employees feel that values are and how close a scrutiny they will give every corporate action and statement.
Recruiters have to understand the values of the firms they work for and find better ways to match people to those values. They will have to also convince the management of firms that what they DO is just as important as what they say and that this emerging candidate pool focuses on actions almost entirely.
Flexible Work Arrangements
Employees now want to work where they want. The Internet has made it possible for most services and knowledge workers to be located far away from the physical center of their company.
Designers, call-center staff, sales people, some HR folks, and most anyone who works with information, writing, or data can effectively work wherever they wish. Only a handful of people – those whose work requires their hands or eyes on the work being produced – will need to physically be present. Even jobs we cannot yet imagine being remote, such as that of a diagnostic physician, may soon be possible using instruments and video from anywhere.
Recruiters will need to encourage flexible work arrangements and lobby with hiring managers to make these arrangements normal.
Recruiting will be more challenging and those recruiters who like to “fill positions” will find themselves looking for other kinds of work. Recruiters will need to be proactive, great influences, technically savvy, and adaptable to emerging work trends.
Article printed from ERE.net: http://www.ere.net
This is a strange recession.
It is not affecting employment across the board as many of the past ones have, but rather seems to be targeting specific sectors and types of work. Obviously banking and financial services, but also manufacturing and anyone in a semi-skilled job such as auto workers are especially affected. Needs are pocketed and specific. Talent shortages remain.
Yet, I have had calls from search firms looking for key sales and marketing people, and for R&D talent. Senior HR executives are in demand, especially if they have global experience. Sectors still largely unscathed by the recession – healthcare, gaming, entertainment, pharmaceuticals, and biotech – are still facing talent shortages and global competition.
The growth of global supply chains, increasing automation, and greater process efficiency means we can do more with fewer. New jobs are being created daily, but they all require education and skill beyond that of many current candidates.
This, combined with the different attitudes candidates and employees have about work and about how they live their lives, changes how we recruit and employ people.
The highly skilled, experienced, and educated will have an increasing edge in employment. And this recession should be a clarion call for an increased focus on education, training, and employment development. Everyone involved with talent will need to look at both development and acquisition as channels to meet their needs, rather than focus entirely on recruiting.
There are a number of permanent changes we will see.
Candidates Become Smarter, Warier
The first change is that many candidates will be reluctant to work under the same conditions as usual. Candidates have access to unparalleled information about a prospective employer through the Internet and its many sources. Reliance on a single firm for security has already eroded, and this recession will strengthen employees’ wariness about promises and deferred compensation. More top employees will seek employment contracts that include clauses that spell out layoff pay and benefits.
Candidates will probe positions more deeply and they will want more influence over the type of work they do. Prepare for candidates to negotiate what they will and won’t do.
Free Agency
Recessions have, in the past, increased the pool of people who decide to become free agents – contractors, consultants, and part-time workers. More people than ever are trying out life as independent workers. Many will not make it and return to the corporate fold, but they will be wiser and better prepared to abandon ship than they were before.
Many others will find they would rather work on their own than go back under the very insecure and fragile corporate umbrella. Companies will have to identify and take care of their key producers better than ever. While many firms do work hard to keep key talent, they will have to increase this effort and explore more creative ways to engage those people.
Charles Handy, a management writer and educator who has written numerous books on the organizations of the future, predicted that up to half of some company’s talent may eventually work as free agent, contracting to those firms as temporary staff, contractors, or part-timers. This will be a lasting change that is accelerated because of the recession.
Recruiters and HR staff will have to accommodate these free agents. Our internal regulations will have to be modified to make the use of contractors legal and compliant with IRS regulations and it may be necessary to lease employees, employ more employment contracts, and learn to share talent between organizations.
These changes will be fought by the legal department and more HR leaders, yet I believe companies will eventually have to embrace these ideas to be competitive.
Values Rule
Gen Y candidates, in particular, but all employees to a growing degree, are seeking companies that hold values high and make and keep commitments to their employees and their families. They seek environmentally sensitive, charitable, and ethical firms.
Gen Y is the tip of a spear followed by the even more morally and environmentally committed Gen M. They will have even higher expectations than the Baby Boomers ever did. While shareholder value will always be a core concern of the management team, they will also have to understand how important employees feel that values are and how close a scrutiny they will give every corporate action and statement.
Recruiters have to understand the values of the firms they work for and find better ways to match people to those values. They will have to also convince the management of firms that what they DO is just as important as what they say and that this emerging candidate pool focuses on actions almost entirely.
Flexible Work Arrangements
Employees now want to work where they want. The Internet has made it possible for most services and knowledge workers to be located far away from the physical center of their company.
Designers, call-center staff, sales people, some HR folks, and most anyone who works with information, writing, or data can effectively work wherever they wish. Only a handful of people – those whose work requires their hands or eyes on the work being produced – will need to physically be present. Even jobs we cannot yet imagine being remote, such as that of a diagnostic physician, may soon be possible using instruments and video from anywhere.
Recruiters will need to encourage flexible work arrangements and lobby with hiring managers to make these arrangements normal.
Recruiting will be more challenging and those recruiters who like to “fill positions” will find themselves looking for other kinds of work. Recruiters will need to be proactive, great influences, technically savvy, and adaptable to emerging work trends.
Article printed from ERE.net: http://www.ere.net
Thursday, October 30, 2008
PayScale’s 2008 Market Pricing Practice Survey
Summary of results:
· Organization’s employment growth between 2007 and 2008 was not as bad as economic news might indicate. Only 23% of organizations reported downsizing their workforce between the period, while 45% of organizations reported increasing their size and 32% remained unchanged.
The average decline rate was 15% of the total workforce. Organizations employing less than 100 full time employees declining by 22% while organizations employing more than 100 full time employees reported declining by just 11%.
Industries that experienced employment growth were Telecommunications, Pharmaceuticals, Banking, Staffing/Recruiting and Human Resource Consulting, Healthcare and Technology/Computers/Software. Industries that declined were Real Estate, Hospitality, Mortgage Financing, Wholesale, Insurance and Construction.
· Only 11.6% of organizations reported that their compensation data budgets declined from 2007 to 2008, while 48.5% reported that their budget had increased. Additionally, 48.7% of organizations reported that they expected their 2009 budgets to increase, while only 9.7% believed that their budgets would decrease in 2009.
· While 2007 industry forecasts indicated that employee retention would be the top HR priority of 2008, only 28.2% of organizations reported retention as their top concern. 26.3% of organizations reported that retention was only one of many concerns and almost half of all respondents, 47.5%, indicated that retention was only a minor concern or not at all.
Interestingly, organizations were split between whether employee retention would be an issue in 2009, with 52.5% of respondents indicating that they thought it would be, and only 47.5% thinking that it would not.
The top three reasons that HR professionals reported employees leaving a job were personal reasons, 41.4%, poor performance, 41.1%, and seeking advancement opportunities elsewhere,34.6%.
· Employee retirement does not appear to be affecting many employer’s recruiting or retention efforts. Only 15.5% of organizations reported that retirement affected their 2008 staffing efforts and only 21% believe that it will be a factor in 2009.
· When it comes to structuring compensation, it appears that organizations broadly fall into two buckets: ad hoc programs to meet objectives and formal structures. 65.8% of organizations use Salary Ranges to structure their pay while 26.5% set pay on a case-by-case basis. Only 7.7% of organizations reported setting pay using broad bands.
Half of all organizations, 49.5%, adjust their pay structures as needed, while 44% of organizations set their pay every year. Only 7.7% of organizations reported adjusting their pay structures every other year. Of the organizations that structured their pay as needed, only 40% reported doing a benchmarking project in 2007. 62.6% of organizations conduct focal point reviews at a specific time each year, while the remaining 37.4% adjusted compensation on the employee’s anniversary.
· Types of bonuses used vary significantly across organizations. 72.1% of organizations offer incentive bonuses, but only 29% of those organizations offer bonuses across the board. 59.8% of organizations reported using spot bonuses, 27.3% hiring bonuses, 17.5% retention and 67.1 target incentives.
Survey Results:
How has your workforce changed in size in 2008?
Increased – 45%
Decreased – 23%
Remained the same – 32%
By Organization Size: Increased Decreased Remained the Same
<100>1,500 Employees: 49% 21% 29%
By Industry: Increased Decreased Remained the Same
Telecommunications: 65% 25% 10%
Pharmaceuticals: 63% 25% 13%
Staffing/Recruiting: 62% 23% 15%
Human Resource Consulting: 57% 14% 29%
Banking: 54% 21% 25%
Healthcare: 54% 10% 36%
Retail: 48% 15% 38%
Finance: 47% 26% 26%
Technology: 44% 33% 22%
Manufacturing: 42% 24% 33%
Government: 41% 14% 45%
Construction: 36% 43% 21%
Insurance: 34% 34% 31%
Wholesale: 33% 24% 43%
Hospitality: 13% 19% 69%
Real Estate: 7% 57% 36%
Total 45% 23% 32%
How big a concern has retention been to your organization in 2008?
Not at all/somewhat – 47.5%
One of many concerns – 26.3%
Top concern – 28.2%
Do you believe that retention will be a major issue in 2009?
Yes – 52.5%
No – 47.5%
What are the top three reasons people leave your organization in 2008?
Personal reasons (family, relocation, work/life balance) 41.4%
Poor performance (organization initiated) – 41.1%
Seeking advancement opportunities elsewhere – 34.6%
PayScale, Inc. - (886) 699-0709 www.payscale.com
· Organization’s employment growth between 2007 and 2008 was not as bad as economic news might indicate. Only 23% of organizations reported downsizing their workforce between the period, while 45% of organizations reported increasing their size and 32% remained unchanged.
The average decline rate was 15% of the total workforce. Organizations employing less than 100 full time employees declining by 22% while organizations employing more than 100 full time employees reported declining by just 11%.
Industries that experienced employment growth were Telecommunications, Pharmaceuticals, Banking, Staffing/Recruiting and Human Resource Consulting, Healthcare and Technology/Computers/Software. Industries that declined were Real Estate, Hospitality, Mortgage Financing, Wholesale, Insurance and Construction.
· Only 11.6% of organizations reported that their compensation data budgets declined from 2007 to 2008, while 48.5% reported that their budget had increased. Additionally, 48.7% of organizations reported that they expected their 2009 budgets to increase, while only 9.7% believed that their budgets would decrease in 2009.
· While 2007 industry forecasts indicated that employee retention would be the top HR priority of 2008, only 28.2% of organizations reported retention as their top concern. 26.3% of organizations reported that retention was only one of many concerns and almost half of all respondents, 47.5%, indicated that retention was only a minor concern or not at all.
Interestingly, organizations were split between whether employee retention would be an issue in 2009, with 52.5% of respondents indicating that they thought it would be, and only 47.5% thinking that it would not.
The top three reasons that HR professionals reported employees leaving a job were personal reasons, 41.4%, poor performance, 41.1%, and seeking advancement opportunities elsewhere,34.6%.
· Employee retirement does not appear to be affecting many employer’s recruiting or retention efforts. Only 15.5% of organizations reported that retirement affected their 2008 staffing efforts and only 21% believe that it will be a factor in 2009.
· When it comes to structuring compensation, it appears that organizations broadly fall into two buckets: ad hoc programs to meet objectives and formal structures. 65.8% of organizations use Salary Ranges to structure their pay while 26.5% set pay on a case-by-case basis. Only 7.7% of organizations reported setting pay using broad bands.
Half of all organizations, 49.5%, adjust their pay structures as needed, while 44% of organizations set their pay every year. Only 7.7% of organizations reported adjusting their pay structures every other year. Of the organizations that structured their pay as needed, only 40% reported doing a benchmarking project in 2007. 62.6% of organizations conduct focal point reviews at a specific time each year, while the remaining 37.4% adjusted compensation on the employee’s anniversary.
· Types of bonuses used vary significantly across organizations. 72.1% of organizations offer incentive bonuses, but only 29% of those organizations offer bonuses across the board. 59.8% of organizations reported using spot bonuses, 27.3% hiring bonuses, 17.5% retention and 67.1 target incentives.
Survey Results:
How has your workforce changed in size in 2008?
Increased – 45%
Decreased – 23%
Remained the same – 32%
By Organization Size: Increased Decreased Remained the Same
<100>1,500 Employees: 49% 21% 29%
By Industry: Increased Decreased Remained the Same
Telecommunications: 65% 25% 10%
Pharmaceuticals: 63% 25% 13%
Staffing/Recruiting: 62% 23% 15%
Human Resource Consulting: 57% 14% 29%
Banking: 54% 21% 25%
Healthcare: 54% 10% 36%
Retail: 48% 15% 38%
Finance: 47% 26% 26%
Technology: 44% 33% 22%
Manufacturing: 42% 24% 33%
Government: 41% 14% 45%
Construction: 36% 43% 21%
Insurance: 34% 34% 31%
Wholesale: 33% 24% 43%
Hospitality: 13% 19% 69%
Real Estate: 7% 57% 36%
Total 45% 23% 32%
How big a concern has retention been to your organization in 2008?
Not at all/somewhat – 47.5%
One of many concerns – 26.3%
Top concern – 28.2%
Do you believe that retention will be a major issue in 2009?
Yes – 52.5%
No – 47.5%
What are the top three reasons people leave your organization in 2008?
Personal reasons (family, relocation, work/life balance) 41.4%
Poor performance (organization initiated) – 41.1%
Seeking advancement opportunities elsewhere – 34.6%
PayScale, Inc. - (886) 699-0709 www.payscale.com
Friday, April 11, 2008
Note from Boss Saved 50 Years: Little Things Do Matter
It's amazing how the little things mean so much, stan.
By Elaine Quayle, BLR Editor
Just MY E-pinion
We may think that small tokens of appreciation don't matter to workers, but here's the story of a boss's congratulatory letter that was treasured for 50 years.
My mother put only her most valuable things in her white leather jewelry box. And since her jewelry collection was meager, she used the drawer in the box to hold pictures, newspaper clippings, and other important memorabilia.
After she died, as I was going through the drawer, I came across an ecru vellum envelope with my father's name handwritten in script across the front. When I took the letter out, the first thing I noticed was the indentations made in the translucent paper by the punctuation marks, hit hard by the keys of a typewriter. Then I noticed the dark blue embossing on the top: William S. Simpson, General Manager, Raybestos Division, Raybestos-Manhattan. It was a letter from my father's employer that my mother had kept for more than 50 years!
This letter came to mind when I was editing BLR's update of the Encyclopedia of Prewritten Personnel Letters (see below for info), which includes sample letters of congratulations. And that is exactly what this letter was.
Dear George:
Congratulations on winning the Men's Industrial Horseshoe Championship. Raybestos is proud of the record set by our team and hopes that you enjoyed being a part of this activity. In recognition of your victory, we have arranged to give you an award, which we trust will serve as a reminder of your accomplishment.
Sincerely,
Bill Simpson (signed in ink)
It may have been the "Bill" that prompted my parents to save this letter; he was always referred to as "Mr. Simpson" out of respect for his position and the esteem the workers held him in. Or it may have been because the company was "proud" of my father's "accomplishment."
Raybestos-Manhattan in Stratford, Connecticut, was a "family-friendly" company long before the term was coined. My father, uncle, and several other relatives worked there making brake linings. I had seen Mr. Simpson several times at the annual children's Christmas Party, where there were goodies, clowns, and presents in a giant pile for a child to select from. And his face was on the monthly factory newsletter, along with the bowling scores, births, birthdays, and results of the safety incentive program. I had even spoken to Mr. Simpson when he attended the wake of my father, who was a 30-year employee.
I recently thought of this letter again when I read in our newsletter Best Practices in HR an interview with Judith M. Barwick, Ph.D., about what she has named the "Psychological Recession" in American's workplace, which is causing low productivity, employee apathy, and high turnover. "When people are perceived as a cost and not a resource, when they are treated as a liability and not an asset, when no one seems to know or care that they are there, [employees] don't work well, and they don't stay," says Barwick.
This statement made me wonder if, in our current workplace culture, a worker would have anything meaningful from an employer (and I don't think a printout of a generic email would count) to save in a jewelry box for 50 years. Would your employees? Are your employees a part of the psychological recession, or are they made to feel, like my father was, that they are important to the company no matter what their job?
By Elaine Quayle, BLR Editor
Just MY E-pinion
We may think that small tokens of appreciation don't matter to workers, but here's the story of a boss's congratulatory letter that was treasured for 50 years.
My mother put only her most valuable things in her white leather jewelry box. And since her jewelry collection was meager, she used the drawer in the box to hold pictures, newspaper clippings, and other important memorabilia.
After she died, as I was going through the drawer, I came across an ecru vellum envelope with my father's name handwritten in script across the front. When I took the letter out, the first thing I noticed was the indentations made in the translucent paper by the punctuation marks, hit hard by the keys of a typewriter. Then I noticed the dark blue embossing on the top: William S. Simpson, General Manager, Raybestos Division, Raybestos-Manhattan. It was a letter from my father's employer that my mother had kept for more than 50 years!
This letter came to mind when I was editing BLR's update of the Encyclopedia of Prewritten Personnel Letters (see below for info), which includes sample letters of congratulations. And that is exactly what this letter was.
Dear George:
Congratulations on winning the Men's Industrial Horseshoe Championship. Raybestos is proud of the record set by our team and hopes that you enjoyed being a part of this activity. In recognition of your victory, we have arranged to give you an award, which we trust will serve as a reminder of your accomplishment.
Sincerely,
Bill Simpson (signed in ink)
It may have been the "Bill" that prompted my parents to save this letter; he was always referred to as "Mr. Simpson" out of respect for his position and the esteem the workers held him in. Or it may have been because the company was "proud" of my father's "accomplishment."
Raybestos-Manhattan in Stratford, Connecticut, was a "family-friendly" company long before the term was coined. My father, uncle, and several other relatives worked there making brake linings. I had seen Mr. Simpson several times at the annual children's Christmas Party, where there were goodies, clowns, and presents in a giant pile for a child to select from. And his face was on the monthly factory newsletter, along with the bowling scores, births, birthdays, and results of the safety incentive program. I had even spoken to Mr. Simpson when he attended the wake of my father, who was a 30-year employee.
I recently thought of this letter again when I read in our newsletter Best Practices in HR an interview with Judith M. Barwick, Ph.D., about what she has named the "Psychological Recession" in American's workplace, which is causing low productivity, employee apathy, and high turnover. "When people are perceived as a cost and not a resource, when they are treated as a liability and not an asset, when no one seems to know or care that they are there, [employees] don't work well, and they don't stay," says Barwick.
This statement made me wonder if, in our current workplace culture, a worker would have anything meaningful from an employer (and I don't think a printout of a generic email would count) to save in a jewelry box for 50 years. Would your employees? Are your employees a part of the psychological recession, or are they made to feel, like my father was, that they are important to the company no matter what their job?
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