Talented workers are hard to come by. The average quality of a worker has declined by 10 percent since 2004, and the time it takes to hire a talented worker has gone from 37 days to 51 days, so HR departments must be vigilant in their recruiting efforts. Using an integrated system, such as an ERP system, helps HR departments identify and retain that rare talent. Seventy-five percent of managers surveyed by the Corporate Executive Board said that attracting and retaining talented workers was their top goal. The consulting firm McKinsey & Company groups jobs into three categories: transformational, transactional, and tacit. The first two job typesconverting raw materials into products and performing easily automated business eventsare shrinking compared to the tacit category, which requires a worker to have a high level of judgment. From 2000 to 2006, the number of jobs requiring a high level of judgment increased 2.5 times more than the transactional jobs, and three times compared with all jobs. Roughly 40 percent of U.S. employers now require workers with a high level of judgment. Furthermore, with baby boomers reaching retirement age, the consulting firm RHR International estimates that by 2012 the nations 500 largest companies will lose half of their top managers. Companies are trying to find ways to lure workers away from their current jobs. With downsizing a concern for many workers, employees are often eager to be lured away. To find candidates, companies will comb through lists of attendees at conferences, look for scientists who created new patents, or even buy information on the competition. Companies are also using corporate Web sites for recruiting. Surveys have shown that 95 percent of large companies in North America use their corporate Web sites for hiring. The sites often are connected to HCM software at the home office that screens resumes. The hiring of good employees is so vital to a companys success that HR managers are now commanding larger salaries. HR executives for Black & Decker, Home Depot, Viacom, and Timberland are among those companies five highest-paid employees.

Questions: 1. Why is the hiring process more crucial than ever for companies?

2. List some incentives, other than salary, that a company could use to encourage a prospective employee to accept a job offer.