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Re: STC chapter question -- what should an employer expect? (take II)
Subject:Re: STC chapter question -- what should an employer expect? (take II) From:Bill Swallow <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Sat, 5 Mar 2005 21:00:45 -0500
> IOW, if the employer is willing to pay, but the pubs manager is
> uncertain that they can justify 6 memberships to the point that he
> does not try, what can the local chapter do to turn this around?
Plan events around common areas of interest to start, and don't make
them simple "meet and greets". I hate simple meet and greets... I can
do that at the local bar if I wanted to. Instead, have a generally
interesting topic being presented by an expert on that topic (you must
have a local expert on something) with a message of quick ROI. That
usually perks the eyes and ears... "Indexing tips that will take days
off your process and give you a better index in the end" or "Using
pre-fab skeletal text to add process around and trim time off content
authoring" or something like that...
> 1) It is difficult for an employee to leave an employer; all things
> being equal, the employee will stay.
Very true.
> 2) Losing an employee costs an employer money, productivity, and a
> bunch of other things.
Though sometimes those are justified costs... ;-)
> 3) Keeping an employee in a dark closet with a bag over their head so
> they are not exposed to edumacation and possible recruitment is one of
> those things that most employees will come to dislike about an
> employer.
True.
> 4) An employer should make conditions such that an employee wants to
> stay, even in the face of a good job market, active recruitment, and
> seminars on how to get jobs.
Right.
> At the very least, an employer should think of the following as
> important for employee retention (I am sure not all of these are
> necessary; however I am unsure how many are necessary at a minimum):
>
> a) Pay
> b) Professional development of the writer
> c) Challenging and stable work environment, in terms of what the
> writer gets to do and whether it keeps him interested and in terms of
> employee turnover, employer org chart, etc.
> d) Coprorate environment, in terms of is it a sweat shop or are
> employees allowed to have lives
All true.
But, how likely will an employer shell out for a conference that
features several job hunting and positioning sessions? Professional
development is one thing, but paying for professional development with
a chance that an employee will favor the job aid courses instead is
another.
I don't think this way, but I know of a few employers who do, and they
can't be the only ones, I'm sure.
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