• Jobless rate hits 4-year low
  The unemployment rate in the U.S. fell to 7.7% in November, its lowest level since 2008, but economists said that was largely because many workers gave up their efforts to find employment. The official jobless rate dropped because 350,000 Americans disappeared from the workforce and no longer were counted as unemployed. The Christian Science Monitor (12/7), Reuters (12/7)      

• How tech firms are reinventing recruiting
  Technology firms in California are bringing innovation to recruiting with interview processes that apply mathematical formulas to worker productivity and corporate culture, and by buying entire companies in order to acquire talent, observers say. "You have to think of more creative solutions for the process. It's not just about bringing people in for an interview anymore," says Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, a cloud-based file-storage system. San Francisco Chronicle (12/8)      

• Wells Fargo spurs employee engagement with environmental programs
  The sustainability program at Wells Fargo is seen as a way to keep employees engaged, with workers organized into "green teams" that promote environmental awareness in the company and the community, executive Krista Van Tassel says. Van Tassel offers suggestions on how companies can use similar programs to spur employee engagement. GreenBiz.com (12/7)      

• Do you know the true value of your wellness program?
  Employers often collect incomplete data about their wellness programs, leading to inaccurate assessments of these programs, experts say. For instance, employers often fail to factor in indirect costs, such as the effect wellness plans have on turnover, "presenteeism" and workplace conflict, they say. Business Insurance (tiered subscription model) (12/9)      

• Study: Employee satisfaction with health benefits dropped this year
  Thirty-six percent of workers said in a Mercer survey that their out-of-pocket medical expenses were "definitely" commensurate with their employer-provided health benefits, a drop from last year, when 44% of employees said the same. "[T]he perceived value of benefits by employees is down across the board -- a surprising reversal of five years of generally improving perceptions of benefit value," the study says. Workforce online (12/5)      

• "Right-to-work" legislation is set to spark protests in Michigan
  Union supporters say they're planning demonstrations this week in Michigan to oppose a "right-to-work" measure that could be signed into law by the end of the week. Reuters (12/9)      

• Court says company isn't required to rehire poor-performing veteran
  Minco Products does not have to rehire a veteran with a poor performance record who was dismissed from the company after returning from his military service, a federal appeals court has ruled. The veteran had argued that discrimination based on his military service led to his dismissal, and that he was entitled get his job back under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. Workforce online (12/5)      

Featured Content

• Give your employees the gift of leadership development
  The best bosses know when to step back and let their employees take the lead, writes Jennifer V. Miller. Leadership development shouldn't be reserved for people with a formal title, Miller explains. "When you provide your team members with an opportunity to exercise their leadership muscles, you're giving them a tremendous gift," she writes. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership (12/6)      

• Robotic "bird buggy" lets parrot make his rounds
  A University of Florida graduate student has created a robotic "bird buggy" to help his flightless African grey parrot, Pepper, get around. Pepper uses a small joystick to steer his motorized perch, allowing him to move around without being stepped on. The Guardian (London)/GrrlScientist blog (12/7)      

Top five news stories selected by SmartBrief on Workforce readers in the past week.

• 5 tips for offering feedback that works (NetworkSolutions.com)

• 5 compliance issues your company may need to address now (BenefitsPro.com)

• 11 ways to inexpensively find talent (BusinessManagementDaily.com)

• Now's the time to prepare for older workers (Harvard Business Review online)

• Managers learn how to conduct job interviews (The Wall Street Journal)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

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Alas for those that never sing, But die with all their music in them." --Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., American physician, writer and poet