I have coined the term "the Spa Effect"(TM) to refer to a major growth driver not just in spas, but in the wider personal care services market. That driver is the belief that an investment in a personal care regime, like an investment in a health care regime, is beneficial for well-being in the short term, and for the quality of life in the long term. Personal care regimes, like other regimes, are more effective when used in conjunction with products. Spas are one of the biggest winners of this new consumer attitude. The expectation of a beneficial payoff from a personal care regime is the result of a combination of a number of different factors and of social developments. Among these factors are the larger numbers of appearance-conscious but ageing baby boomers, and higher levels of health-awareness, along with knowledge of product development in related fields. The latter is due to the enormous media attention devoted to, for example, in the health field the "wonder drugs" (such as Botox and Viagra), in skincare to new anti-ageing products, and in food to the many nutritionals (that promise the added value of health). READ MORE

Top executives agree that the "good old days" of rewarding employees for 35 years of loyal service are a thing of the past. Years ago, individuals who had experience at several companies were considered "job-hoppers". Potential employers wondered what was wrong with them and why they couldn't hold a job. Today, changing jobs has become a necessity if individuals expect to advance their careers. The very traits that made them unstable are now hallmarks of a well-rounded, ambitious and assertive professional. Change and its associated risks are never easy. To quit or not to quit is often a gut-wrenching decision - requiring careful consideration and soul-searching. READ MORE

It seems to be an employer's dream come true: tens of thousands of resumes out there in cyberspace, waiting to be plucked. Need more? Then list your position on the Internet and They Will Come. Alas, while companies across the country have experimented and implemented electronic recruiting as a very beneficial and cost effective tool, results can be decidedly mixed for recruiting for all positions. In order to understand the potential and the pitfalls of on-line searches, those who are considering a cruise on the Internet may appreciate a few words of explanation first. Much of this business presence is found on the Internet, the "Yellow Pages" of cyberspace. All sorts of for-profit and nonprofit organizations have established Home Pages on the Web to promote their products and services (and, in some cases, to advertise for job applicants). READ MORE

Certainly, anyone who works in today's corporations knows that far too few employees are trying to do far too much work with far too limited resources. At some point in the last century, people were those companies' most important resource - but that was then and this is now, dude. If not ignored or placed on hold by corporate edict, hiring has become a necessary evil as opposed to a golden opportunity. And with every possible ounce of cost being wrung from corporate budgets, it seems to make sense to hire on the cheap: waste-not, want-not. This has led to the creation of computerized "vendor management systems" for personnel procurement; applicant-tracking software that classifies, files and retrieves r'esum'es electronically; "preferred recruiter" lists based largely on search firms' willingness to discount their services; increased reliance on online job boards, and so on. READ MORE

Chances are you've built or inherited a team that most days seem to work pretty well. Perhaps you yourself are a part of a higher team. Perhaps your team members have their own teams in place. Looked at from this perspective, the entire organization is a collection of overlapping teams - from the board of directors to the smallest sales office and production unit. The organization thus functions like a complex molecule, with the various teams as its atoms and each leader as a nucleus. And as long as any given team does not show obvious signs of radioactive decay, the comfortable assumption is that it's stable and performing as intended. Naturally, team members have their foibles. Tom, for example, tends to become passive-aggressive when assigned tasks he doesn't enjoy. Amanda is too inclined to criticize other members of the team. And Ed shoots first, asking questions later. How many - if any - of such foibles should be accepted as normal human behavior? And how are they affecting overall team performance? Could the team be doing better than it does? READ MORE

Professional baseball teams have developed a lucrative sideline letting middle-aged males sweat it out for a week at a real-life training camp. It's the dream of a lifetime for avid fans, and their mates pay dearly to send them, usually in honor of an otherwise depressing birthday. Travel with us instead to Fantasy Interviewing Camp, where Major League players make the hard-to-master process of candidate attraction and selection look easy. Note that we said "attraction" as well as "selection," because interviewing is a two-way street. It's great that you have chosen Mary as better qualified than Joe, but what if she has not chosen you? Oh, yes: And leave your baggage behind. If your organization is like most others around the world, interviewing is a hit-or-miss process, with more misses than hits. Let's take a fresh look. READ MORE

Recession and recoveries both have a way of sneaking up on the unsuspecting. With the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, government economists now believe that the current recession began the early part of 2001. In fact, the warning signs of an end to a decade of seemingly boundless growth stretched back to the previous fall, when various engines of growth began to sputter. Those warning signs included the implosion of the dot-com economy, lagging sales of telecommunications and computer hardware, a sagging stock market, the drying up of capital investment and the curtailment of corporate hiring. READ MORE

Organizations seldom set out to pick the wrong person for a job - but all too often succeed at that task despite themselves. When the hoped-for superstar proves to be not so super, or maybe just a poor fit, much of the benefit of filling the position has been lost. Last year saw a record number of new CEOs lose their jobs, as their Boards decided that one misstep was one too many. At lower, less visible levels the weeding-out process may take longer. But, sooner or later, mistakes must be corrected, or they will begin to eat away at organizational effectiveness. READ MORE

Is there a silver lining inside the clouds of the economic slowdown and the slow recovery out of recession hanging over the U.S. and other countries? Is a less overheated economy secretly good news for employers desperately seeking employees? As we all know the current Conflict with Iraq has put a major halt on economic growth. As layoffs increase the pool of unemployed workers, will companies have an easier time of hiring - now and in the future? Is it therefore time to slow down from overnight job offers and scale back those astronomical hiring bonuses? READ MORE

Interviews are like blind dates: one prays for the best but fears for the worst. The job candidate hopes that he or she will find the perfect next place of employment - bright people working for a great organization that has its act together and operates with a powerful sense of purpose and high degree of urgency. The employer, likewise, hopes to find that rare individual who walks on water and motivates others to follow. Yet sometimes, for a variety of reasons, the parties fail to put their best foot forward, spend a frustrating day learning little about each other and part company uncertain about the outcome. Much has been written about the interviewing mistakes that candidates make. Less has been written about the other half of the equation. But, as one byproduct of tens of thousands of candidate debriefings after their "blind dates" were over, Sanford Rose Associates has compiled a list of 10 common employer mistakes, along with some practical suggestions for avoiding them. READ MORE

The truth is that leadership is generally more apparent by its absence than by its presence. How often in recent years have corporations replaced their CEO with either the current Number Two officer or with the savior from outside the company - only to regret the decision within months, if not days? The answer to that not entirely rhetorical question is more than half the time. Companies, nonetheless, crave leadership and cite it in survey after survey as the most needed ingredient in CEOs and general business managers. Many search firms therefore tout their skills in identifying that elusive trait. READ MORE

As the old saying goes, if there weren't problems, God wouldn't have created managers. And anticipating problems is at least half of the battle for solving them. The smart manager therefore, with the active participation of the organization's HR professionals, will do a little brainstorming to identify the "what-ifs" that may be lurking just around the corner. The even wiser manager will address existing issues and concerns as well. READ MORE

What began as a dream search turned into a recruiter's worst nightmare. The top candidate for Marketing Director of the company's consumer products division had impeccable credentials, understood branding like few other individuals in the universe and was a natural leader. Highly recommended by the outside search consultant and by numerous references, he had survived tough interviews with the vice president to whom he would report, as well as a senior HR professional. Now it was time to meet the other division officers. All went well until he walked into the office of the division's legal counsel, who said, "I think I've met you before." READ MORE

When it comes to people, we tend to think of the workplace as pretty homogeneous. Certainly our inner circle of peers consists of people pretty much like us - in age, schooling, professional background, athletic and cultural preferences, family size, residential choices and even attire. Workers older than we may not seem quite "with it," while younger ones may dress a little funny. Nonetheless, the employees of any particular organization (be it corporate headquarters or manufacturing plant) seem to be cut pretty much from the same bolt of cloth - or are they? READ MORE

Do employers pay the same degree of attention when they devise a hiring plan for a critical position opening? Good ones do, of course. Less adept practitioners often fall victim to fuzzy thinking and obscure outcomes, hoping to make up the plot as they go along. ("I'll know the right person when I see him.") Candidates meanwhile find it difficult to audition for their roles, having received only the vaguest description of the part they are supposed to play. Strong endings result from strong beginnings, and it is difficult to spend too much time at the start of a search nailing down those factors that will lead to a successful conclusion - the employment of that individual who will make a genuine difference in organizational performance. READ MORE