May 14, 2008

The Latest Business Headlines from WWJ Newsradio 950

Council Moves to Remove Mayor | Detroit City Council Tuesday passed three resolutions aimed at removing Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office. | Story

GM Ready to Act | General Motors will lower spending and boost liquidity if the current tough economic conditions persist or get worse, Dow Jones Newswires reports. | Story

Dura Bankruptcy Exit Cleared | Dura Automotive has received court approval of its reorganization plan, clearing the way for it to exit bankruptcy protection, Reuters reports. | Story

Smart Car Scores Well | The 2008 Smart ForTwo commuter car has earned high marks in crash tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. | Story | Related Podcast

Greektown Hearing Set | The Gaming Control Board will consider a forced sale of Greektown Casino because it isn’t hitting financial goals, Crain's Detroit Business reports. | Story

EDS Deal Lowers Dow | The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 44 points on a 5.5 percent drop in Hewlett-Packard, after the company unveiled plans to acquire EDS for $13.3 billion. | Story

This Week in 'Your People'

Why mentoring programs can be good for business.

Survey: Financial executives like the idea of consulting.

American Axle talks stall again.

How to help employees with pain at the pump.

Today's Worldwide Automotive Report podcast.

WHY MENTORING MAKES GOOD BUSINESS SENSE

With the exodus of baby boomers from the workforce, an increased focus on recruiting and retaining millennials, and fewer dollars available for traditional training and development opportunities, many companies are finding that mentoring programs make good, economical business sense.

In fact, 70 percent of Fortune 500 companies now have formal mentoring programs, according to the American Management Association. And it's a trend that Jim Perrone has seen taking shape for the past 20 years.

As the managing partner of Perrone-Ambrose Associates Inc., a 30-year-old Deerfield, Illinois firm, Perrone has helped design and implement formal mentoring programs worldwide for a number of public and private organizations. His clients have included the U.S. Postal Service, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Towers Perrin, Watson Wyatt Worldwide, and Newell Rubbermaid.

"We see people getting much more deliberate about structuring these mentoring programs," Perrone said. "And with just enough structure, these [programs] tend to really take off." More...

Consulting an Appealing Prospect for Executives, Survey Shows

Executives nearing retirement will be seeking a more gradual bridge to their golden years.

A new survey from Robert Half International, a staffing services firm specializing in accounting and finance, suggests many will be going into business for themselves.

Seventy-five percent of chief financial officers interviewed said they view consulting as an attractive way to ease into retirement. The most commonly cited reason: 47 percent of respondents cited the chance to remain in the workforce, while working fewer hours. Also mentioned were the chance to earn money to supplement retirement income (38 percent) and gaining experience from working for a variety of firms (11 percent).

The survey, conducted by an independent research firm, was based on telephone interviews with more than 1,400 CFOs across the U.S. More...

SNAG HIT IN AMERICAN AXLE TALKS: American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. said Tuesday that negotiations to reach a new labor contract that would end a 78-day strike by the United Auto Workers union have stalled because of disagreements over health care benefits and unemployment pay. More...

HOW EMPLOYERS CAN HELP WITH PAIN AT THE PUMP: As gas prices continue to climb, many employees are feeling the pinch of the commute in more ways than one. But experts say employers can ease some of the pain by providing several options to employees that allow them to stay off the road more often. Experts say businesses benefit too – by providing such alternatives, they tend to earn more employee loyalty. More...

MICHIGAN COMPANIES TO BE HONORED FOR MENTORING PROGRAMS: Several years ago after members of the Greater Ann Arbor Society for Human Resource Management (GAASHRM) created a mentoring program for the association, HR professionals who belong to the chapter began asking for more information – they wanted to build mentoring programs in their own workplaces and businesses. More...

MILLENNIALS EXCEL AT MULTITASKING, TECHNOLOGY: Companies like Cisco have discovered some welcome traits in millennial employees – they excel when it comes to multitasking, collaborating, and using new technology, according to a recent article on the Knowledge @ W.P. Carey Web site, from Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business. At Cisco's San Jose, California headquarters, it's not uncommon to see young employees sitting in front of computer screens with four to five windows open, emailing, texting, instant messaging, and participating in a teleconference all at the same time. More...

WORKERS SUE SPRINT IN PENSION DISPUTE: Workers have filed a class-action lawsuit against Sprint Nextel Corp., alleging that the company mismanaged its pensions by steering investments into company stock even though its value continued to decline during the past year, the Wall Street Journal reports. The complaint, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Kansas, maintains that all employees and retirees participating in the plans were negatively impacted by the sharp drop in company stock value. The suit names 12 Sprint board members as defendants. To read more, click here.

NEW DOL ONLINE TOOL HELPS EMPLOYERS COMPLY WITH LAWS: The U.S. Department of Labor has rolled out a new Web-based tool to help businesses comply with federal employment laws. Released last week, the FirstStep Recordkeeping, Reporting, and Notices elaws Advisor, assists employers in determining which laws apply to them and what they need to do to make sure they are in compliance. The new eTool is one of several free Web-based tools on the DOL Web site. More...

SMALL EMPLOYERS IN GEORGIA WILL QUALIFY FOR HSA TAX BREAKS: Small business owners who have high-deductible health insurance plans and offer health savings accounts (HSAs) to their employees now will qualify for some tax breaks under a new Georgia law. Under the new legislation, signed into law last week, an employer with 50 or fewer employees will receive an annual $250 tax credit for each worker enrolled in the plan. More...

FEDS ANNOUNCE IMPROVEMENTS TO E-VERIFY PROGRAM: The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency is enhancing its E-Verify program to boost its effectiveness and improve the rate at which employment eligibility of new employees can be verified. The system now will include naturalization data, which will allow employers to instantly confirm the citizenship of naturalized U.S. citizens. More...

WORLDWIDE AUTOMOTIVE REPORT PODCAST: The American Axle talks hit yet another new snag. General Motors will focus more on fuel economy. The Smart car does well on crash tests.