MARKET GUIDE: Working Better

PUBLICATION NAME: Workforce Management
FOCUS: HR personnel who want to achieve business results for their
organizations, helping them get more customers and be more profitable and
more productive.
FREQUENCY: monthly
CIRCULATION: 50,000; with 350,000 registered online users
OWNER: Crain Communications
PAYMENT RATES: $.50-.75 cents/word to start; $1/word for experienced
writers
PAYMENT TERMS: on acceptance
KILL FEE: 50 percent of the assigned length; haven't paid one in awhile
CONTRACT: all rights
ARTICLE QUERIES TO: Executive Editor Carroll Lachnit,
xxxxxxx
ADDRESS: 4 Executive Circle, Suite 185, Irvine, CA 92614
PHONE: xxxxxx
FAX: xxxxxx
EMAIL: xxxxxx
WEB SITE: www.workforce.com

Despite Workforce Management's shift to more deadline-oriented journalism - which started in 2002 as a result of its purchase by Crain Communications - and plans to hire some staff reporters, Executive Editor Carroll Lachnit still believes freelancers will continue to be a part of the content-producing mix. Certainly, at other long-time Crain-owned publications, that's true.

Since Crain has owned Workforce, stories have gotten newsier, and more of them are directly keyed to what's happening in the news. "We have the greatest need for freelancers who are accustomed to working fast - good reporters who have the know-how to turn around a story quickly," Lachnit says.

The best place to break in is the FOB Outfront section. The turn-around time is no more than a week because Workforce holds this section open until the last moment to make sure that the 400- to 800-word stories are as timely as possible. Lachnit says, "We like to be able to see something in the Wall Street Journal and take it the next step or spin it in a different way so that it furthers the story for our readers."

In the current issue, the lead Outfront story speculates on how IBM's staffers will be affected by the sale of its PC unit to Lenovo, China's leading computer maker. Another story discusses two self-insured mining companies' experiment in controlling healthcare costs by seeking out the best care - no matter where it's located. A third story measures the benefit savings of a public/private partnership, and another looks at whether sliding scale payments - which currently are out of favor - will make a comeback. Query with an idea, but don't be surprised if Lachnit decides to offer one of her own.

Features can be as long as 2,200 words or more, if you count the sidebars. Virtually every story has a newsy peg and illustrates a trend. "We look for stories with larger implications. We also like stories that readers can use to help solve problems in their own companies," Lachnit says.

In the January issue, the cover feature is about Home Depot hiring military veterans because of their skills and work ethic. The story proves the point with statistics about turnover, training and education. Another story looks at President Bush's employment-related goals, including his proposed changes to Social Security, pensions and healthcare. FLXer Charlotte Huff wrote a piece on companies cutting healthcare costs and bolstering productivity by encouraging employees to lose weight. Lachnit says this piece - with its multiple graphs, charts and sidebars - did a particularly good job of providing information that HR execs can use.

Insider, a section in the back of the book, is in transition, Lachnit says. Currently, it's a series of departments focusing on issues that HR departments handle, including healthcare, retirement, ethics, relocation, etc. Each is about 1,000 words and focuses on a trend. In January, the retirement benefits department looked at women's differing needs and concerns. A department on management recounts Cirque du Soleil's efforts to prepare its employees for life beyond the spotlight. The column on healthcare benefits looks at the trend of larger insurers purchasing smaller, consumer-driven plan providers. The approach for Insider may differ in the future: "What we would like to see more of are trends that haven't crested yet but are growing issues," Lachnit says.

Crain Communications loves special projects. This year Workforce is undertaking a monthly sector report. These aren't advertorial, Lachnit emphasizes. They are feature packages that look at issues in human resources, including training, recruitment and retirement. Each will include a topic overview, a discussion of controversial topics, a look at key players and a prediction of the future. The specific subjects are outlined in the editorial calendar - you'll find a copy of it at the bottom of the Freelance Success forum. Assignments have been made through April.

Pay starts at 50 cents per word and climbs to about $1 per word. Workforce seeks all rights. Query via e-mail. Much of the content is available online.