Where your company is headquartered makes a big difference to your bottom line

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Where a business is headquartered can make a huge difference in the skill level of your employees, raising capital and attracting customers. This time of a year is an important reminder that where your company is headquartered also can have a significant impact on your bottom line.

For startups deciding where to establish roots or for growing companies looking to relocate, these factors should be top of mind when deciding on home base, since corporate taxes differ greatly by state. As the Tax Foundation notes, for example, some states have no traditional corporate income tax (like Texas, Nevada and Colorado), while Alaska collects a whopping $993 per capita.

And while taxes are not the only consideration a company should give when deciding where to locate, the significant variance can affect the bottom line by a substantial amount and has led to an influx of companies moving into lower-taxed locales.

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About the Author

Craig CasselberryCraig Casselberry is the founder and president of Austin-based Quorum Public Affairs, Inc., where he has managed more than 100 strategic communications projects for half of the Fortune 50 companies, issue coalitions, and federal, state and local public policy campaigns for corporate clients of all sizes. As a 20-year-veteran of the Texas political and business communities, Craig is a sought-after speaker and consultant, advising firms like AT&T, FedEx, Dell and Ford as well as early-stage companies on their growth strategies in Texas.

Engage your employees in the training process

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Companies invest in employee training and talent development programs for one reason: to get results. The problem is that too often they see training as an “event” rather than a process, and they earn a miserable return on investment.

See if this rings true. You hire an outside consultant to conduct a two-day training session. Your expert trainer delivers a ton of value. Trainees give the session high marks. But a few weeks later you realize your people aren’t deploying the skills they were taught. You’re frustrated. Where are the results? Where is your return on investment?

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About the Author

Steve MeyerStephen Meyer is CEO of the Rapid Learning Institute, which provides bite-size e-learning to companies, nonprofits, educational institutions and government. Prior to starting the Rapid Learning Institute and its parent company Business 21 Publishing in 2002, Meyer was the Director of Publishing at The Hay Group, a leading HR, benefits and compensation consulting firm. At RLI he developed the model for six- to 10-minute “Quick Take” rapid learning modules. Meyer received his MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Examining the State of the U.S. STEM Workforce: Today and Tomorrow

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One of the major STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) debates currently underway today in the United States revolves around whether or not there is, in fact, a STEM workforce shortage in the country.

To further examine the myth versus reality discussion, this year’s Bayer Facts of Science Education survey, the 16th in the series, polled talent recruiters at Fortune 1000 companies both STEM and non-STEM alike, about their companies’ current and future STEM workforce supply and demand needs. We chose talent recruiters as the target for our survey because these are the people on the front lines of the STEM shortage argument.

Several trends emerged in the survey.

1. STEM Degree Holders are ‘As’ or ‘More In Demand’ for both STEM and Non-STEM Jobs.

Today, STEM skills are in demand by employers for jobs that are traditionally considered non-STEM, with demand for two- and four-year graduates equipped with these skills exceeding demand for their counterparts who don’t have these skills.

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About the Author

Laurel Rutledge is the vice president of Human Resources for Bayer MaterialScience LLC. She is responsible for providing human resources strategic leadership to meet the challenges and objectives of the business. The Bayer Facts of Science Education is an ongoing public opinion research project commissioned by Bayer since 1995 as part of the company’s award-winning Making Science Make Sense® (MSMS) initiative. For more information about this survey or other Bayer surveys, please visit www.bayerus.com/msms.

The Secret to Successful Recruiting

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Recruitment has always been a tricky business. So many times a candidate can sound like the perfect match on paper, only to prove a disappointment at interview. Then there are the even worse scenarios, where a candidate comes across both in real life and on paper as perfect, only to then not meet the criteria when actually in the job. There must be a way for recruiters to ensure that they hire only the best and most promising candidates, those who are almost guaranteed to perform and stay in a role for the long term.

While workplaces are swiftly becoming more and more advanced in cloud computing, using social media for marketing purposes, and generally becoming au fait with modern technology, there is one area which is sadly lacking when it comes to technological advancement. Despite the realization that computer software greatly enhances the efficiency with which businesses operates, the use of recruitment software is not widespread. The simple fact is that not many business leaders are aware that recruitment software can transform your HR practices for the better and make hiring a simpler process.

Why should you invest in software for your HR department? There are several reasons for doing so, each of which is detailed below.

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About the Author

From her 25 years in business, Elizabeth Hill aims to pass on knowledge and skills gained in that time through her writing. She loves walks in the countryside, spending time with family and friends, and is ever so ‘slightly’ addicted to coffee.

The Final Piece to the Quality Hire Puzzle

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Your company’s hiring managers are working tirelessly to write accurate job descriptions. You’ve made interview checklists and performed background checks, but somehow several new team members are just not working out. And, it’s costing your company big. So, what went wrong? What can you do? First, let’s examine what exactly these bad hires can do.

Bad hires can wreak havoc

HR.com, the largest social network and online community of HR executives shares some eye-opening information about who you are really hiring. For instance, did you know that 53 percent of all job applications contain inaccurate information and that 34 percent of all application forms contain outright lies about experience, education, and ability to perform essential functions on the job? It’s activity like this that can really do some damage to your bottom line.

In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that the average cost of a bad hiring decision can equal 30 percent of a person’s first-year potential earnings. So, for example, one bad hire with an annual income of $50,000 could equal a possible $15,000 company loss. Don’t you work too hard to have your company take a hit like that?

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About the Author

Greg MoranUtilizing more than a decade of human capital management, sales and leadership experience, Greg Moran is Founder and CEO of Chequed.com. Chequed.com is redefining the way companies hire with a singular goal… No Bad Hires. Ever. Their Predictive Talent Selection™ platform helps leading brands worldwide make hiring more efficient and data driven through cloud-based, automated, predictive reference checking. In partnership with the University at Albany, Chequed.com works with organizations to implement best practices in talent selection, which are scientifically proven to reduce cost per hire, increase quality of hire and improve organizational productivity. For more information, visit www.Chequed.com.