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HRintelligence eNewsletter |
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Industry Intelligence for HR Service Providers
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Greetings!
Welcome to the first edition of the HRintelligence eNewsletter (formerly called Fish Rap), a new monthly publication from HRmarketer.com created for HR service providers. The information in this newsletter comes from our new HRintelligence service and will help vendors identify press release and article topics that are newsworthy and meet the current editorial needs and interests of journalists.
Each month we'll cover the top advertisers, top editorial placements, top stories in the HR marketplace, and we'll also rate the health of the Human Capital marketplace. In this first issue we highlight the months of January and February.
| Top Advertisers |
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Top advertisers are determined by measuring advertising placements across the major monthly HR trade publications, not including advertisements placed in buyer guides and/or or end-of-magazine directories/product listings. The top 5-10 advertisers are included in alphabetical order.
January 2005
AARP, ADP, Aetna, Delta Dental, Great West Healthcare, Hewitt Associates, Magellan, MetLife, Performance Assessment Network, Prudential, Spectrum, United Van Lines
February 2005
AARP, ADP, Aetna, Aon, Delta Dental, Great West Healthcare, Hewitt Associates
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| Top Editorial Placements |
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To determine the organizations receiving the most media coverage, we look at the number of non-paid editorial placements across the major monthly HR trade publications. We typically include the top 15-20 companies in alphabetical order.
January 2005
Accenture, Aon, ASTD, Ceridian, SAP, CIGNA, Definity Health, Hewitt Associates, IBM, Mellon Financial Corp, Mercer Human Resource Consulting, MetLife, Microsoft, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Recruitmax, SAP, Segal, SHRM, Towers Perrin, Watson Wyatt, Workstream
February 2005
Aetna, Aon, The Conference Board, Employee Benefits Research Institute, Hewitt Associates, IBM, JP Morgan, Lucent, Kaiser Family Foundation, Medco Health Solutions, Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Oracle, PeopleSoft, PricewaterhouseCoopers, SHRM, Towers Perrin, Watson Wyatt, WorldatWork
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| Top Stories in the HR Marketplace |
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Based on the top stories in the major HR trade publications. Visit HRmarketer News for a comprehensive listing of HR news over the last 90 days.
HR Outsourcing
Human resources outsourcing is expected to continue its significant growth in 2005. Several factors for this growth include the fact that vendors are seeking new markets, an expected jump in merger and acquisition activity this year will likely prompt more firms to outsource their HR functions, and employers already outsourcing are looking to take advantage of expanded services. HR outsourcing is already a $25 billion market, according to research firm Gartner Inc. This year, it's expected that more than 85% of U.S. employers will outsource at least one HR function, Gartner estimates.
Rising Health Care Costs
Employers and employees continue to deal with rising health care costs and what to do about them. Some unions are even contributing for the members' benefits for the first time while companies are contributing less on behalf of each employee. In fact, employees are open to assuming more responsibility for their own and their families' health care, but they are woefully unprepared for the role according to many HR executives.
HSAs
Since Health Savings Accounts were introduced in December 2003 as part of the omnibus Medicare reform bill, a number of financial institutions - including giants such as JPMorgan, Mellon, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp - have announced partnerships with insurance carriers and debit card manufacturers to offer their own versions of HSAs. Financial institutions feel that HSAs could possibly become an investment vehicle like 401(k) services.
Brokerage Investigations Continue
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and other state attorneys continue to investigate broker compensation practices. In the wake of these highly publicized insurance industry investigations, some consultants are recommending that employers use online bidding for their plan purchases to avoid any hint of impropriety.
Flexibility and Work-Life Balance
In companies of all sizes, more attention is being paid to motivating employees through means other than increased compensation and benefits. Successful employers provide flexibility for employees as a key success factor. With an ever-competitive global labor market, employee retention and motivation becomes increasingly important, and so flexibility and work-life initiatives are vital for an organization's success.
Educating the Boards
HR is playing a more prominent role in educating and training boards of directors in light of compliance concerns, which is keeping the board members sufficiently compensated and actively involved.
Ethics Training on the Rise
Companies are revamping their ethics training programs in response to an amendment to the FSGO of 1991, which went into effect November 1, 2004. This amendment outlines much stricter ethics training requirements and emphasizes creating a legal and ethical company culture.
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| Human Capital Health Indicator = Great |
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Our unscientific measure of the human capital industry's health looks at the aggregate number of advertising placements across the major HR trade publications and our subjective analysis of other "activity" within the sector including new investment money flowing into the space, IPOs, M&A, closures, etc. We then benchmark against the previous month to come up with a 5 point rating system of Excellent / Great / Good / Average / Poor. Again, we caution readers that our rating is a subjective analysis and may not be a true reflection of the industry's health.
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| Marketing and PR Tip of the Month |
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When responding to a media query for story information, it's important to summarize how you can meet the writer's story needs, but be sure to save your time and energy for the "live" interview.
"Recently I received a response to a posted query that had all of the answers to my questions written out as if I were conducting a survey, not seeking to interview someone. I'd prefer to talk in person, rather than communicate via e-mail because when people are quoted in articles, they're supposed to sound conversational, not written. They understood and set up a live interview."
- Joanne Wojcik - Senior Editor, Business Insurance Magazine
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